Nitid Nicola: November 2009

This is the name of the first album of Sweeney Straddles the Sun. Hooray! Jason's new project. I just LOVE the album. Despite having to listen to each and every component on many, many, many different occasions, I still love hearing every track when it comes on the stereo. In other words, I'm not sick of it and I should be. Is that not the best review of an album you've ever heard?

My favourite tracks are Castlemilk Town Hall Disco, Superheroes Fight the Cause for Me & You and Stories.

The whole album is wholly listenable and I can't wait to have it blaring out up at the studio.

All this rain.....

Whenever it rains endlessly for days, the Armageddon side of my brain comes to the fore and I wonder if there will be a time in the not-too-distant future when the sunshine will be a distant memory and a generation of people will be born that know nothing but rain. While in this mood, I'm always minded of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QWmahMdeGU Those readers of a certain age may remember it. The film and the images have stuck with me since I saw it once as a child but it wasn't until I did some investigating the other night that I found out what it was called (God Bless Youtube). Apparently, the poignancy stuck with many other kids who saw it in the 80's as it is one of the most requested film-related questions on Metafilter. It must resonate with computer-literate nostalgic people in their mid-30's: who are scared of all this rain..... If you have a spare 25 minutes, watch the film and remember that the rest of us who are nostalgic about it saw it but once, maybe at school, about 25 years ago yet it stuck with us despite the dark setting and lack of special effects. Here's the short story it's based on. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Summer_in_a_Day There's a word version of it at the bottom of the wikipedia page, it's only 2 & a half pages long. Ray Bradbury also wrote this story - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sound_of_Thunder - which has the accolade of being the most reprinted science fiction story of all time. I read it as a youngster at primary school and remembered loving the story. It was made into an unsuccessful movie in 2005 that I haven't seen yet.

Singing along with Jason

Here we have Danny on the barrel. I don't know whether he's being complimentary about Jason or whether he's asking me to shut him up. Without facial expressions, it's hard to say....

Daylight robbery from Quickquid

Check out these cowboys...www.quickquid.co.uk...I saw their television advert the other day and couldn't believe my eyes. This is the small print at the bottom of their website...

"Terms and Conditions apply. Finance charge will be between £10 and £14.75 per £50 borrowed. Typical 2356% APR. Loan amounts are based on consumer's credit history and ability to repay loan. Not everyone may qualify for £1000. QuickQuid performs traditional credit checks, while still accepting those with less-than-perfect credit. QuickQuid verifies applicant information via various national databases. Funds will be deposited the same working day, if approved by 14:30. Approval may take up to 30 minutes in most cases. Payday advances should be used for short-term financial needs only, not as a long-term financial solution. Customers with credit difficulties should seek credit counselling."

2356% APR. Two thousand, three hundred and fifty six percent APR!!!! Let me put that in perspective. Your bank account currently pays at the most, about 2% APR into your bank account. The most generous mortgage at the minute is probably about 4% APR. These guys are charging 2-3-5-6% APR. £14 for every £50 borrowed. So if you borrow £500 from them, and you pay it back the next day, you have to give them £640. And that doesn't count how much it would cost to pay it back over several weeks. Oh sweet be-jesus, there will be poor poor souls out there doing this. They have the cheek to suggest credit counselling. It's daylight robbery and it shouldn't be allowed. Grrr.

Water obsessed!

Danny is obsessed with water. It's origin, it's wetness, where it goes when it drains away. He just loves all things H2O. Unusual for a cat. Hilarious to watch. He's so curious about it!

Dressmaking wih Danny

Dressmaking with Danny. He just loves to be doing what I'm doing, no matter what it is. He follows you from room to room. I remember young Scooby doing this too. This week I was dressmaking and trying to do so sans interruption. Aye right.

Sylvia & Nicola's new kit

Thanks to Eliza Betty and her lovely dressmaking mum, Sylvia & Nicola have a new piece of hardware. A wonderful Singer sewing machine from 1973. Eliza's dad bought it for her mum for her 21st birthday (awww) and it's still going like a dream. After many years of usage, she wanted the space instead and Eliza got in touch to see if we could use it. Being vintage dress makers, it was fantastic to be able to give a vintage machine a home. And it will be loved and used constantly!

Thank you so much, Mrs Freer!

With love

Sylvia & Nicola

Look who's back...

For two weeks, we have the pleasure of young Danny's company. The most vocal, cuddly and adventurous of the cats that we look after, he is (secretly) our favourite moggy. If our cats are anything like Danny, I'll be delighted. He has settled in and is a lovely addition to our wee household. It's lovely having another wee energy source padding about the flat. He's lying purring on my lap as I'm typing this. Awww. More Danny-related posts to follow....

Fireworks Night

Formerly Guy Fawkes Night, then Bonfire Night and now Fireworks Night. I think. I'm not sure of the politics. Thousands of people wandered down to Glasgow Green to see a Fireworks show on 5th November. Me and Jason went down to Mark's flat in Merchant City to pick up him and David and also to see young Ben. Ben is a wee westie and so wild. I just love him. He was delighted to see us and jumped around getting excited. We left Ben in the house and headed down to the park just in time to see the start of the show. As it was the Homecoming Year, the fireworks display was set to the music of Scotland, in all its wonder and glory. About 10 seconds of Gaelic and the rest of it was Lulu, Deacon Blue, Texas, Franz Ferdinand and The Fratellis, among others. It was a nice display with some interesting fireworks and it lasted about 10-15 minutes. Mark said it only lasted for two songs the year before because of the rain, but the sky stayed lovely and clear this year and it wasn't even too cold. It was a nice event and I'm glad I went but not as exciting as I thought it would be. Still, at least it wasn't raining.

Footnote - I just watched the video again and I forgot about the guy in front of me with dark hair and a balding crown. He kept walking in front of my shot, it was so annoying! Grrr.

Malcolm Tucker

My new hero.

"You were like a sweaty octopus trying to unhook a bra! It was like watching John Leslie at work!"

Thanks to Michelle for reminding me of these magnificent words. He makes me pleased to hear a Scottish accent on the telly. On English telly no less. The fact that he's Scottish gives him a magnificently scary persona and the accent suits swear words superlatively. I love him. Any time he walks into a room, I am mesmerised. I can't wait to see what he'll say/do next. And everyone is so terrified of him. A brilliant character, expertly played. Scathing and horrendous. Genius.

Mmmmm, Sheridan's

Jess came up last night and after we polished off a bottle of wine, I wanted more booze, as is always the case! Decided to crack open the Sheridan's, a Christmas present from David. It was Delicious. Divine. Tasted like coffee caramel cremes from a box of Roses. Yummmmm. I would highly recommend it. It also sat like a wee pint of Guinness.