Vietnam

Vietnam
Originally uploaded by powerfulpierre.

Well, what an amazing country. Just back from two weeks starting in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Hoi An, Hue, and Hanoi. Lasting image is of the frantic traffic of Honda bikes everywhere. Seeing Ho Chi Minh's pickled corpse was pretty interesting too.

Elvis Costello - Brighton Dome

I love Elvis Costello - he can sing a song like no one else, and when he did Shipbuilding and Good Year for the Roses it was great. He played a lot of old numbers - (I don't want to go to) Chelsea, Pump it up etc and they were fine, but I kind of think he should leave that alone now and do what he's best at - which isn't the old punky stuff. The new songs were good, lovely country harmonies. And what a pro he was coping with a dodgy guitar sound.

One moan - why oh why does the Dome close its bar as soon as the act comes on? It's so annoying. All they need to do is stop people taking drinks in - they could still have the bar open if you need to nip out for a while - I nearly died of thirst but for emergency satsumas!

KT Tunstall - Komedia

Well, she was okay. She does have a good voice, but too many of the songs just sounded the same and there was not enough light and shade / use of different arrangements. Felt very like the audience was not the kind that go to many gigs and their response was completely over the top - you can see people just as good as this almost any night of the week if you look.

Lent - what are you giving up?

It's a huge sacrifice, but as of Wednesday, I will be giving up pancakes for lent.

Dobra Robota

Audio file now available clicky.

IT nightmare

Anyone else ever been trying to sneakily print off a job application form only to have the printer jam up with your boss hovering around? Let me tell you, it's a little nervewracking...

Home education

Interesting article in today's Guardian about home education. There are an estimated 170,000 children being home educated, it says.

As someone who was home educated from 11-14, I find this whole area very interesting. The writer asks "But what about when the children grow up? Can they go to university, forge a career?"

Well, I have a BA and an MA, and what you could call a career. The increasing emphasis in schools on league tables, SATs, key stages and all the rest of it seems to me to always miss the point - that children should be encouraged to make the most of whatever talents they have. It's sad that the education system seems unable to achieve this - I wonder if it ever can.

What do you want the South East to look like in 2026?

The South East Plan is open for consultation here.

This plan will shape the future economic development of the whole of the South East of England for the next 20 years. The Tories on the Regional Assembly are doing all they can to scupper Prescott's plans for increasing housing supply in the region.

If you're concerned about the lack of affordable housing - let them know.

The Kills

Right, first gig of the year is The Kills at the Concorde2. I loved their first album for its dirty guitars especially. Live, they were a bit disappointing. Whenever I hear a drum machine backing track, the spectre of Carter USM rears its head. They would sound so much better with a human rythmn section. And the vocals were completely burried, although I think that's how they like it.

Realised this morning that they reminded me of a 80s band called Scarlet Fantastic who had a hit with a song called No Memory (which I still have on red vinyl...)