The Pierces hit Glasgow

On Saturday night, me and Keira went along to see The Pierces play in Glasgow's o2 ABC.  I managed to get quite last minute tickets and I was so chuffed because I thought they'd sold out.

It was a great gig: despite hanging out in the Polar bar until the support act was finished, Keira and I managed to get right down the front, so I had a perfect view, not stuck behind any tall people!  And the whole gig I was just totally enthralled - their voices are so strong and clear, I never heard them waver, and their harmonies always sounded confident and perfect. 

Although it was mainly an acoustic gig, it was still really mixed up and never dragged or felt 'same-y' - there was guitar solos, a tambourine, and an a cabella duet as an encore... what more can you ask for in a gig, eh?

They have a photo competition on, and some of Cat & Allison's favourite gig pics win some kind of prize, which meant that you could take your camera in with you and I got loads of snaps!  Some of them are better than others - not all the cool lighting showed up, but I got some fairly clear close-ups so I was pleased enough with that.

Afterwards, I convinced Keira to hang around outside so we could see The Pierces coming out.  It took a wee bit longer than I thought, and it was raining and Keira was getting a bit fed up... but then just as we were about to leave, they came out!  So, we got a picture with them and Keira got a sneaky eyeliner-ed autograph!

I had a really great time, and I'm so glad I managed to get the tickets - and that Keira agreed to come along with me, I think she's an all-new fan!  I couldn't afford any of the merchandise, but maybe I'll see if you can buy them online when I have more money.  A lot of their stuff has a cool 'speia/retro' feel, and they have this cool app thing you can try out and transform your pics - I've done it on a few of my own already, here's another one of Keira and I out dancing (I'd just pinched some random guy's hat on the dancefloor... but it looks good for the picture, don't you think?!)



I'm back!

Once again, I've let my blog go and haven't written anything for far too long.  I had to blow away the cobwebs when I signed in today.

Anyway, October is shaping up to be quite an awesome month: I've joined a band, Martha and the Moodies, and played one gig already, with another tomorrow.  I'm going to see The Pierces play in ABC, who I love and am so excited about!  I also managed to get a ticket to see Lykke Li after her previously cancelled gig was re-scheduled in a bigger venue, so huzzah for that!  And, of course, it's nearly Hallowe'en time.  I'm not usually too fussed by Hallowe'en - I've always preferred Guy Fawkes night - but for some reason this year I decided on my costume well in advance and have been looking forward to it for a while now.

I'm going to go as a pirate, but not one of those lame, sexy girly pirates you get if you look up 'women pirate costume' in Google images (go on, try it, you'll see what I mean) - I'm going to be an androgynous swashbuckling pirate, with both a beard and plenty of eyeliner.  Awesome.  My new boots from Tenerife will come in very handy for this, I think!

In other news, I've recently been made the Regional Organiser for UK Feminista, along with my amiga Hazel from GFN.  So far we don't really know what we'll be doing but I think it will involve a fundraising event so keep your eyes peeled for that, there will be no excuse good enough for not being there!

The horrible weather has officially set in here in Glasgow, with terrible rain, drizzle, gale-force winds and general dreichness every day.  Not nice.  I heard a rumour that it was to snow in October - although this would be a bit early and would cause untold disruption again, I'd still rather have snow than rain.

With this in mind, I'm trying to squeeze in wears of my fave clothes that will just not be suitable for winter.  So for The Pierces' gig I'll be wearing my incredible star-print maxi dress:



I also have the lovely camel jacket from H&M which I think can safely be layered over jumpers on a cold day, though maybe not a rainy day cause it'll get spotted and marked.  And then when the cold weather really kicks in it'll be full steam ahead for the fluffy Russian-style hat that I got for £1 in a charity shop last year.  It's incredible and I feel like Miss Saigon when I wear it.  With that hat on my head, all I need is a vodka to hand and I'm pretty sure I'd be right at home in Moscow.

Here's a pic of me in the hat last winter in Spain.  I don't always wear the sunglasses, too, but I'm sure you can still appreciate it!

D-Day minus 7

The interviews for Woman Kind are going to be done on the 24th January, which is one week today - every time my phone beeped off today with an email I was scared to open it in case it was a generic rejection notice, but I haven't heard anything from them yet and I don't know if this is bad or good... To be fair though, the closing day was only Friday ,so maybe I should give them a chance to actually have a look through the applications!!

I went along this morning and did one of the volunteering projects that I'm involved in.  Monday's one is at a Chinese centre on Hill Street and we spend a couple of hours talking to the women there about they're experiences coming over from China and building a life here, etc.  Most of them don't speak much (or any) English but they're all really nice and friendly and they smile away all the time.  We have a Chinese girl there who works as a translator and she asks them questions and then we put together scrap-book pages for each woman based on what they told us.  Then we whip out all the arts & crafts and they all go wild!  Glitter and glue dots, and sparkly butterflies, and anything bright and shiny and sticky, they just can't get enough!  It's really good fun and all the woman that come along seem to have a good time.

Afterwards I went round to my granny's with some lunch, and discovered that my granny likes sushi!  I had one of the wee lunch box sized packs from M&S and she had a couple of the wee seaweed rolls.  She also inadvertantly ate a handful of ginger in one go, and, despite claiming to love ginger, I think she was feeling the heat for a wee while afterwards!  Anyway, I never thought my granny would like sushi but now that she does.... hello Yo! Sushi!  Oh, yes.  Even though the lovely hot sushi chef man appears to not work there any more - I have a good stare in the window every time I pass, and I've been in many times with ALA and KM and have never seen him again since that one time I chatted to him and decided to marry him.  Hot and he makes sushi, what more could you ask for, really?

Anyway, I won't hold his absence against Yo! Sushi because it really is my favourite eatable place in the town, and I think I'll introduce my granny to it's conveyor belt of joy one day soon.  Last time I went with my mum she couldn't get enough and ended up with a mountain of plates at the end.  I think she only realised what she'd done when it came to adding up time.

I happen to have not 1, but 2 vouchers that get me 40% off a bill at Yo! Sushi so if anyone fancies a bit of Japanese delight just give me a holler and I'm there!

After saying that the yoga class yesterday was a load of crap, today I must admit that I can feel a good pull in my legs and thighs.  It's not sore but just quite satisfying, in a way, so maybe I'll go back to the class this week.  I guess it can't hurt, eh?



A lovely, simple pearl on a short silver chain.  I love it!

 Oh yeah, today I went in to Accessorize and bought a wee chain for myself - I still had a gift voucher to spend and I'd been saving it til I saw something that really caught my eye, and today, I saw this:





 I think, in the interest of actually being able to sleep tonight, I'm going to say Sayonara to the laptop and get the lavender oil going in my room.  Sometimes I wish I had something stronger.  If you could get liquid Rohypnol I'd skoosh that on my pillow and catch the express train to the land of Nod.  As it it, I'll need to make do with the lavender and hope for the best.

Hasta la proxima!