Song of the Week: Hips and Lips - Maximo Park

HIPS AND LIPS. What a song. Apparently Maximo are going to be playing London soon; I'm considering using my free ticket offer on that now. What do you think? Anyone seen them live before?

Hope everyone's week is going alright. If you follow me on Twitter you might be aware that I had a free haircut on Monday. If not, well, yeah, I had a free haircut on Monday. That's not just it, though. I got PAID for it! Yeah, THEY paid ME. £30!

Now hold it. I know what you're thinking. Don't. It sounds dodgy, but it wasn't. Honestly. Nothing went wrong, I didn't get scalped and they WEREN'T weird hair fetishists (just a couple of the thoughts that crossed my mind on my way to the salon) - everything was normal.

Well, kind of.

Ha ha ha. Turned out I'd actually signed myself up to get my hair cut to a studio full of visiting Japanese hair students.  Yeah, I thought it'd just be a trainee cutting my hair whilst the head stylist watched on but no, fancy professional teacher and Japanese students. Lots of them. And they all watched intently, filmed and took photographs. It was a strange experience.

Still, I got the last laugh, right? Proper hair, thirty quid and "HAIR MODEL" on the old CV.

Aside from that I've not done an awful lot. Just sort of just waiting to start my new job, really. Wish me luck! I start Friday so that's a bit cushy; one day in and then four days off for the Jubilee! Gonna head home for three of them (can't wait!) and then, naturally, I'll be spending the actual Jubilee back in London. Must find a street party...

What are your plans? Come on, you too, international readers!

Still life, you know I'm listening.

Sorry this post's coming to you a little late in the day! I got caught up in the BAFTAs...

Yeah, I'm really getting into this Instagram lark, aren't I? Apologies. I swear I won't do it every post.

As you know (possibly, if you've been paying attention) I had tickets to see The Horrors play Brixton Academy on Friday night. I went with my (HORROR OF A) (har har har) sister and we had a really brilliant time! Well, apart from the bit where she got all dizzy and fainty, but thankfully she pulled THAT stunt towards the end, so we didn't miss too much.

She loves fainting at gigs. Honestly, it's like a tradition for us now; at least once a year we must sit with a paramedic whilst she gulps down water and the last song of the night plays in the distance. Last year it was a Koko Pop recording. Lee Ryan walked past and next thing we knew she had to sit down coz she was gonna swoon "pass out". She still swears to this day that it was the heat that did it but I think we all know the truth... ;)

Anyway, the gig was brilliant and we had a lovely couple of days making the most of the sun around London. Sadly she left this evening on an over-packed, over-heated coach (the perfect recipe for a good faint!) back to Bournemouth though and I miss her already :(

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

London, you are too hot (a sort of "my week in photographs" post, instagram style) #hipster

L-R: birthday cake for nadia's ma, morrissey t-shirt, we're ready for our close-up, open mic night in camden,  the v&a, i think i found the queen's oyster card, happy birthday moz, impromptu chocolate cake

Wow, what amazing weather we're having this week! It's almost like it's SUMMER or something. And just before I start full-time employment, too. Lucky! How have you been spending your days?

Tomorrow I've got my sister coming up for the weekend which I'm pretty excited about as I haven't seen her since my birthday in March and we're seeing The Horrors (thanks again, Xfm!) There was actually a bit of a mix up with the tickets (which has since been rectified) and as a result I've been offered a couple of tickets to a gig of my choice for my "inconvenience", ha! Any suggestions on who to try see? I'd love Jack White but I think I might be a little late.

Also, before I go, today is your last chance to cast your vote on the YouTube Audience Award, the only BAFTA chosen by the public, so get voting (Sherlock) if you haven't. ;)

Song of the Week: Tennessee - Meg Myers

Oh my god, is that a mustache tattoo on your finger? I've never seen that before.

Psych.

"That's not just good news; that's GREAT news."

Good news, guys! I've finally got myself one of those job things people are always going on about! From the 1st of June I'm a web and media apprentice with DDB UK - aaahhhh!

Also today I met Danny Wallace and made him sign things!
I'm not normally the signing type but I made an exception for Danny because his signing was in a pub.

Har har har, I jest. I made an exception for Danny because he's brilliant and the Xfm Breakfast Show is currently a big flat favourite. We're confirmed listeners, you know...

Plus it was in a pub.

The signing was for his new book "Charlotte Street" and the original plan was to go say hi with Nadia but sadly she couldn't make it and so I ended up saying hi alone (yeah a book signing alone, the epitome of cool), getting her book signed for her as a surprise and then, coz I'm cheap and don't currently have my own copy of his book, getting his London Now paper signed for me.

Thanks Danny!

P.S. Heads up, I've bought a ticket for tonight's lotto so if I don't blog on Monday you can assume I'm too busy living it up millionaire style.

ETA: Yeah, I'll see you Monday.

£6 for a pot of tea? It's gotta be Maison Bertaux!

the tea

bit o' noel fielding art in the loo

And English Breakfast at that. 

Nadia and I popped into Maison Bertaux for a spot of tea and writing yesterday afternoon and, being as poor as we currently are, thought we'd better watch our pennies and opt for just one "large" pot of tea between the two of us. (no cake) (or pastries) (!!!)

Yeah. One plain pot of English Breakfast tea. That'll be reasonably priced, we thought.

Ha ha ha. As if! That one plain pot of English Breakfast tea cost SIX QUID.

Six quid! Now I know it's Soho, and I know it's Maison Bertaux, but come on. £6 for one ("large") pot of English Breakfast is a rip off anywhere. I'll maybe pay £6 for a cup of your lovely coffee and chocolate cake but one pot of TEA? Tea is a basic British right. A pot of it should not cost you £6. And anyway, we quite obviously ordered ONE pot between TWO because we're poor, yeah? Don't do that.

And our waiter was a knob.

Sorry, I didn't really mean for this to turn into a rant but it seems to have taken a turn for the worse. It's not even one of those cool rants, either. It's on tea. Also despite the extortionate prices (that aren't displayed) and sleepy staff the place somehow still remains one of my favourite places so it's not even like I really want to bad mouth them properly. It's just... £6 FOR A POT OF TEA?!?!

Am I being silly? I don't think so. How much would you be willing to pay for tea? Have YOU or a member of your family been shocked by the price of tea recently? Get in touch!

Rufus Hound's Teenage Diaries - Robert Webb

A few weeks ago I requested tickets to Rufus Hound's Teenage Diaries radio recording through Applause Store and was lucky enough to get a pair. I'd been once to a recording of the show last year (the wonderful Julian Clary and Rob JUBILATE! Deering were guests) and it was brilliant, absolute comedy gold!

Now in case you're not familiar with the show, basically, a celebrity comes along and reads extracts of their teenage diary aloud to a room full of strangers.

I know, sounds great already, right?

Well hang on. It gets better... because last night the special guest was ROBERT WEBB!!! 

Now if you don't know who Robert Webb is, we should rethink our relationship ;) He's one half of the brilliant double-act that is Mitchell and Webb, the stars of Peep Show, one of the best sitcoms in the world, and is one of my favourite people ever.

Yeah! Knew you knew him. Anyway, needless to say I was chuffed, we had a great time and the recording itself was wonderful - really funny, totally honest and devastatingly heartrending at points. I'm not sure when it'll be aired but definitely try and keep an eye (ear?) out for it on Radio 4, it's well worth a listen!

Brighton, fish & chips and The Vaccines! (Song of the Week: Wetsuit - The Vaccines)

brighton pier

obligatory fish and chips

Had a brilliant time seeing The Vaccines on Monday! Me and my flatmate Nadia actually booked the tickets on a whim last month and I'm really glad that we did now - the gig was the last of their "seaside tour" and they put on a really great show, plus I love Brighton (it reminds me of home) and the trip made nice for a break from old London, even if it was just a couple of days!

I also return with a tiny bit of news on the job front - I'm through to interviews after that Group Assessment I told you about a couple of weeks ago. Also got some BBC feedback too, which is helpful!

I'll let you know how it goes...

I go to gigs! Plus how you should never underestimate the kindness of strangers (or the power of Twitter)

Hey pals! Listen up, bit of advice - if you're ever in that position where you want to see a gig but it's gone and sold out/you can't really afford it/you're a bit of a scav [delete as appropriate], just have a look on Twitter. Honestly, it's brilliant! In the past week I've managed to see two wonderful bands (Dry The River and the ALABAMA SHAKES!) at short notice, for absolutely nothing, all thanks to some nifty tweet searches and a couple of extremely kind and generous Twits needing rid of their tickets.

Dry The River @ the Electric Ballroom

Alabama Shakes @ Electric Brixton

Of course, naturally you do feel a little guilty taking some poor person's passes and having fun on their behalf but really they would have just gone to waste otherwise. Plus it's far cheaper than going to a tout. And nicer, too; a fan to a fan!

Besides, if you really feel THAT guilty you can always offer to pay.

No?

Ha! ;) Anyway, it's definitely worth a try - let me know if you do. Also, whilst we're on the subject of good gigs, the Camden Crawl's happening right now! Any of you been? I'd love to see The Cribs at Koko tonight but I'm saving myself (and my money - twitter can't help me now) for The Vaccines tomorrow (and those tickets ARE paid for) instead.

Yeah. I'm, like, SO into music right now. Totally hip cool.

Film: Une Femme Est Une Femme (1964)

source

I watched Une Femme Est Une Femme ("A Woman is a Woman") a few nights ago and have subsequently fallen head over heels in love with a) Anna Karina (whom I will inevitably be doing an inspiration post on soon) b) Director Jean-Luc Godard and c) New Wave Cinema. OH MAN.

The film's story is of Angela (Anna Karina), a striptease artist who desperately wants to settle down and have a child with her ambivalent boyfriend Émile (Jean-Paul Belmondo). To her dismay he constantly refuses and so, feeling forlorn and rejected, she decides to pursue his best friend instead...

It's such a brilliant film filled with whimsy, beauty, humour and anguish ("I don't know whether this is a comedy or a tragedy") and I'm totally, absolutely smitten. Honestly, I'd never even seen any of Jean-Luc Godard's films before this but now I'm determined to find and watch them all (and that's no mean feat, he's been directing since the 1950s!) - you should too.

ETA: Thanks for all the recommendations! I'm on 'em.