Hey Fi

I miss my best mate Fi, but she is coming back to the grey fortress of melancholy at the end of July. Hoorah!!

The last time I saw her was at my wedding which was in last October :(

Here's a wee clip from he who loves bass guitars and I's little trip to Houston to visit Fi, like, totally :)

Chow's Poker Night

Hey everyone

I have tried to relax since I submitted my dissertation but now I am freaking out a bit about my final recital.

If anyone is free on 10th June at 11am, come down to the MacRobert Building and I'll sing you a wee tune :-)

In the mean time, if you are not doing anything tomorrow night, come down to The Tunnels.

 

Should be a larf :-D

Since the end of my degree is finally upon me, I am now thinking about what I am going to do afterwards.  I am going to apply for an MMus in Music.  Hey, there's probably no jobs out there anyway so I might as well keep on learning.  

Other ideas I have include harassing Scottish Opera in a manner akin to the Shawshank Redemption when Andy sent a letter to get funding for the prison library.  But in this instance I would be attempting to get some training with them rather than money.  One letter a week for a year?  It would certainly show that I was persistent but that may backfire spectacularly.  I was inspired by the story of the guy who camped outside an oil company to that he could get a job.  I wish I had that kind of bravery, maybe that is why I am thinking about doing something similar myself.  

Help, someone please tell me this is a bad idea before I actually start doing it.

Huzzah!!

Huzzah!!

I've finished my dissertation.  Thank f*** for that.  Thanks for all the offers of proof reading, but I didn't  have everything totally finished until 4am the night before.  Cheers to Billy for having a swatch at what I was doing.  If you are like me and are a bit geeky when it comes to singing, maybe you would fancy having a look about here

I'm going to have a bit of a wee break before I start work for my final recital.  I'm kinda the same as Cameron, there is a wee respite just now, woo hoo!!

Grammar hounds wanted

 

Hey folks

A month has went past since my last post?  Jeez...

I've finally got my scootay back on the road, hoorah!!

 

If you see a metallic purple vespa on the road, sorry I'm new, and I'm sure I will make some mistakes.  It has been nice being able to go places and not have to ask he who has a gig at the Lemon Tree on Friday if he can chauffeur me.

Back on topic:  I am doing a dissertation on vocal technique, and I need help.  I got a good mark for a recent essay (18/20 or 90%).  It's good that I can organise my thoughts, but I am no good at the editing process.  My current misdemeanors include:

• Colloquialisms:  using 'you' instead of 'one' when describing how people should do stuff.  Yes, they are that picky when it comes to dissertations.
• Split infinitives.  I don't even know what this is!
• Sentence structures.  Sometimes I know what I'm trying to say, but when I try to write it down, it is unclear and disjointed.
• Basic grammar.  I just plain suck at it.  I get confused between what is a noun and a verb, sorry world.

So basically I am looking for people who will read my dissertation armed with their trusty red pen of doom, and tell me where all the mistakes are.  I'm happy to pay people too, as it will be quite lengthy, ten thousand words.

Cheers!

The Brain Drain

www.stopthecurfew.com

This was tagged on to a previous post, but I think that it has become more important.

I am fairly bummed about the demise of the Sunday Showcase and Misssy M's film club; two things which, to me, were signs of the creative tide turning in Aberdeen.

Huzzah, a new era for Aberdeen where creative people are valued and supported by Aberdeen City and Shire.

The curfew flies in the face of some good work by the Arts department in the City Council to create more dialogue between creative practitioners in the North-East and encourage cross discipline collaboration. Also to create a support network which is self sufficient in creating opportunities for itself.

The proposed curfew IMO does not tackle the real problem, which is of flocks of drunk people coming out of clubs all at once.

• The Council should tackle the problem at the source, by penalising those licensees who serve alcohol to already-drunk people.
• Conversely, they should reward responsible traders with extra opening hours. This blanket approach didn't work in Glasgow, didn't work in Edinburgh, so why do they think it will work here?
• We bear in mind that seems to have been virtually no consultation with existing licensees on the proposed curfew, despite the fact that the FOI documents that I received specified that a consultation should be arranged before taking the proposal any further.
• ACC have also ignored the initial suggestion by Aberdeen Taxis for the curfew to be one hour from closing and instead have made it 12.30pm for all pubs and clubs. Considering the lack of industry guidance on the issue and the suggestion by Aberdeen Taxis, there is no justification for the curfew to be that early.

I can't help but feel that this city was getting somewhere by means of supporting the arts, but now it is running a great risk of regressing.

Thanks to Andrew Learmonth and Misssy M and their work in
creating exposure for local bands and the North East in general.

They are two of only a few people that are trying to hold back
the tide; people with skills and artistry will probably want to pack
up and leave Aberdeen, and who can blame them.