In the bleak Midwinter

Liverpool tends towards the Goldilocks-esqe weather-wise(you know: not too hot, not too cold; not too wet, not too dry; neither too salty nor too sweet... Or something like that), most of the time at least, so we've largely avoided the blizzards. This is a good thing, as I bloody hate snow, but it was giving it its best shot when I went shopping earlier. It's a bit too wet to stick at the moment but there's still a chance that I may wake up to a Winter sodding Wonderland tomorrow. Grrrrrr. And also brrrrrr.

Well, I've mostly ridden out the January gloom by keeping extremely busy. I'm going to be paying for it - literally - in February, though, so it's going to be a quiet month. This is no bad thing, of course, and having just finished a four month GMing stint (Call of Cthulhu for my Monday group, and Warhammer for the Thursday one) I actually get to read some books that aren't gaming related again, for a while, at least. I'm already making a list in my head - I've nearly finished "I Capture The Castle", after which I'll probably start Emma again, as I only got 150 pages in last time, before other things got in the way. And then possibly Coraline - finally; I've had it for a few years - before I see the film. And then, and then, and then ... There's never any point in planning too far ahead as I'm such a slow reader I'll probably be in a completely different mood by the time I finish the book after next.
I have not the first clue how many books I own that I haven't read. To put it in round figures though, it's a LOT. And then some. But I'll get there. Or I'll die in the attempt :)

Last weekend saw my second trip to the Smoke in three weeks, and it was as Siberian as the time before, but just as fun. Wayne Hussey was worth the trip, and actually made me wish that I'd seen The Mission live before they split up. He played a combination of old Mission favourites - I only have an old hooky copy of The First Chapter, Carved in Sand on tape and a 'Best Of' on CD, and I still knew most of the stuff he played - and a number of covers (I'm afraid his version of 'Like a Hurricane' has always kicked the stuffing out of Neil Young's original, because, while Neil Young is probably the better song writer, he also has the most irritating, whiny voice ever). All in all, it was very well received, at least by the people who were interested in listening to him play. Unfortunately a small, but extremely vocal, minority were clearly not that interested in hearing the man they'd paid to see, even when he asked - three times - for people to shut up. It's a credit to Hussey that, while clearly not having a great time on stage, he still did his best to put on a decent show. Easily the rudest audience I've ever encountered. Does the fact that I was harbouring murderous fantasies towards some of them make me a bad person, I wonder? Maybe it's just too much Dexter. Although possibly 'people who talk at gigs' wouldn't fit his criteria of people who deserve to die ...

I was glad to hear that Vagabonds had a good turnout - in fact it sounds like it would have been a little too busy for me. As it is, a combination of us being far too faint-hearted to face the journey back in the sub-zero temperatures, with a wind-chill from Hell (the Northern sort, not the Christian one. So that should be Hel, then), and a New Club to check out, led us to Unholy. Which was,as it turns out , the least-good choice we could have made. The venue, although architecturally rather fab, was cold, both physically and in less tangible ways. This is never a good start, and it did nothing to improve on the situation with the music, which, mostly, sucked. Or to be more fair, it just wasn't aimed at us. I never liked grindy bleepy shit, even when I was chemically enhanced - which I haven't been in a long time - and my liking for metal really only goes as far as classic 80s and 90s Rawk - GnRnAllThat. It's beyond me why they even bothered with the pitiful space that they put aside for anything vaguely goth related. Was it just so they could cover that particular alternative base on the flyers, to pull in the widest possible crowd on the first night? Either way, I'm glad we checked it out, and I'm happy that it seemed to get such a good turnout. I shan't be pushing to go back, however ...

All in all though, an excellent weekend and a good end to my birthday month. I was very sorry to miss sahra_patroness on the Friday, though. I hope you're feeling much better :)

Yesterday included Turkish nibbles for lunch (hummus, ezme, dolma and falafel. Yum.) with Cath, a wander round town, followed by an early evening showing of The Secret of Moonacre (AKA The Little White Horse). I've never read the book - as a title The Little White Horse always entirely failed to grab my interest - but it was a sweet little tale. The tension was a little lacking, and some of the acting was rather ropey - although this may be the fault of the script. The story was entertaining enough though, it looked as pretty as fantasy films always do these days, and the costumes were utterly gorgeous, so while I wouldn't necessarily hurry to recommend it, it was an enjoyable enough couple of hours, and had I been a quarter of a century younger I would have absolutely adored it ...

A big hi to nezumi_sama :) . I try not to bitch and whine too much on here, honest. And sometimes I even succeed ;)