bloody great gigs

after my box office shift that seemed to go on for an aeon i joined steen at clwb ifor. i say joined, i actually passed him on my bike and got there before him, which made me feel very smug indeed. we were there for the joint prowess of ISLET and RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND, both i've seen before and both give me butterflies when i'm watching them: they are great! the instrument swapping, hypnotic primal yell of islet was a great compliment to the urgent looping and guitar hero seriousness of right hand left hand. i know i bang on but it must be said, rhodri viney is a genius. loads of people were out for the gig and the atmosphere was really warm and friendly. there were parties afoot but i was quite tired and steen and i sneaked out and headed off home.

sunday i was ushering for STAR TREK, an enjoyable romp that i'd seen before (with a very hot spock) and then SUNSHINE CLEANING, the new film from the people who did LITTLE MIS S SUNSHINE. this was another film that was firmly located in middle america, showing you a people that usually get dismissed by mainstream films. when it started i was worried it was going to be a bit cutesy, an ex-cheerleader who starts up a crime scene cleaning business with her sister and often having her geek-cute little boy in tow. the family-in-a-van thing had already been done with their previous film. instead it was really quite nuanced and the performances kept it from being too unbelievable and contrived. amy adams was wonderful in many scenes such as when she is confronted with a reunion of her former schoolmates who live a dull and privaleged life in sharp contrast with the desperation of her life scratching out the living of a single mum. the grisly pragmatic job of cleaning up after the dead is turned into a compassionate turn by people who care about making everything better.

monday was another gig night, this time in the dreaded buffalo. thankfully they have replaced that godawful logo projection with a series of ace little youtube films including an obama-mccain presidential dance off, bettie page 7 veils strip (my favourite bettie page video!) and the horrific murder scene from american history x. JOY OF SEX were on first, with a new line up but the same shy but ballsy blasts of angular guitar and lo fi drums (very lo fi in this case, the new member was only playing one drum and looked so young he resembled the little drummer boy). i finally got to use some of my accountancy knowledge when max announced "this one's called double entry and its not about sex..." "is it about accountancy?" i heckled. "yes!" he laughed, surprised i got the reference. score! i didn't go to nightclasses for nowt! in fact i used to guffaw every time the teacher announced that we were about to do some double entry only to be given death stares by the class. did no-one else find this funny? clearly not. i was too immature for a career as an accountant. next up was TARTUFI. my friend anne said she'd looked them up and was looking forward to it but i'd not heard of them. well, good call anne, they were great. an unfussy woman with a guitar and three mics and a drummer looping sounds into gathered, fevered intensity. i loved them. will bought the album and i bought a beautiful print their friend had made for them (5/20). MARNIE STERN was the main attraction though and what an attraction, a female guitar hero with uninhibited ability and fun. the songs were great pop punk numbers that got everyone dancing along and they had a great approachable air. a good night!

tuesday i went bowling on a bar cafe staff do. something was learnt that night: i am shit at bowling. i scored something awful like 21 versus the three figured heights of my colleagues. it was fun, but i felt like i was only starting to get it in the second to last shot. hmph. i watched phil and nims do their thang on the dance mat and admired (although i'm not sure that's quite the word) the ugly beauty of the red dragon centre. horrible horrible most horrible.

wednesday was JUNKET CLUB DAY! woohoo! these are always so much brilliant fun. we arrived at the insole court, a beautiful building rendered gothic by the storm that had descended upon cardiff. since it was the junket fete it was quite appropriate for it to be sunny with showers, lisa and ben had created a brilliant atmosphere as usual and will and i had numerous goes on jonny bull's tombola and even a roll at paul barnett's rolly ball thing and went along with mike bubbins' banter at play your cards right. a lovely bit of cake from anna ellis and a cup of tea from iain and leah and we were ready for a bit of comedy. bridget christie was on first with her tales of being a dogsbody at the daily mail. she was very good and had some brilliant observances on working on the hate rag though sometimes she overplayed it a little, i preferred it when she was just telling the tale and not relying on being too hammy. in the interval i talked to my friend chris and the two steens went to watch willie downie and nic amongst others get themselves into funny positions during giant twister. superclump was on next, the brilliant improv group comprising of a few cardiffian comics and some london based ones. they had some really inspired sketches, my favourites were the grown up storybook heroes (the boy from the snowman and the famous five) trying to solve "the mystery of the tiny door" that turned out to be a catflap and the kabuki performer who is searching for work in the recession. the junket club is so much fun and they do loads to make it special, it is a joy going every time. long may they reign!

thursday i was ushering for the BEYOND REPAIR dance company. the first performance was inspired by the women who helped the strikers in 1984 and was very measured and beautiful. the second performance i wasn't too keen on, it was a futuristic idea and felt a bit stylised and dated. i see so many established companies it was interesting to see a new young company that have not quite worked out their style yet.

on the sunday afternoon i had ushered for the entertaining but not in any way demanding NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2 and the more effective PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE. comparing them is like oranges and apples but pippa lee was a wonderful film. it could have been a cliche-ridden nightmare, a middle aged woman moves house and considers her worth and looks over her life but everyone in the cast were surprisingly wonderful (keanu reeves, winona ryder, who i usually can't watch without wanting to tear the screen apart) and it was shot in candy colours and the character of pippa was sort of a blank sheet trying to write and understand her life story so it avoided being chick flick snooze enducing. wonderful.

we had planned that weekend to be in borth for the square festival but will got asked to dj for the FAIRPLAY FESTIVAL so we stayed in cardiff instead. i was working on the friday night, sleepy on the saturday but on the door for sunday so had to turn up! we caught most of the brilliant CYMBIENT and then i played with my friend's gorgeous baby alice for about an hour whilst taking money from friends and strangers, all for a good cause. it was a lovely atmosphere and i was sad that i couldn't make the rest of the weekend. it was truly like a festival in a pub. peaceful progress peeps had decked it out with artwork and every aspect of it was thought through to give locals a taste of hippiedom. ace. it left me with a wonderful warm feeling and a love for my friends and a real sense of family in canton. well done fairplay!