Saturday Round Up on a Tuesday (again)

http://terriblelovesongs.blogspot.com

I have just returned from a lovely time celebrating a wedding in France with my French family. In my absence, London has experienced an unusual bout of warm weather and unfortunately, my poor old courgette plant took the brunt of it. Guess they're off the menu this week...

My sickly looking courgette plant -please note the little bird who flew in momentarily for this photo opportunity

All of this reminded me of the Baz Luhrmann song 'Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)'. Can you believe it's been almost 10 years since it was released?

Baz Lurman - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

In the spirit of this song, I followed Baz's advice 'do one thing everyday that scares you' and sat outside during the electric storm which hovered over our flat yesterday evening. No electrocution thankfully but I did get to experience the sweet smell of rain falling on the bone dry earth, I love that smell. Not sure what to follow it up with today, maybe a look at my bank balance?


In My News:

I discovered that Crowded House singer Neil Finn has a son called Liam Finn and he's a really good singer/songwriter (sorry Liam sure you're sick of hearing people reference your father). Liam is also a very good photographer, check out some of his work here.

This video is Liam performing 'Second Chance' (from his debut album 'I'll Be Lightening') on the Letterman show. Load it up and start it at 1 min 30 to avoid all the pre-performance Letterman twoddle. Liam's voice starts a little high pitched but stick with it because what he can do with his own live recorded loops, drums and energy is certainly worth watching.

Liam Finn On Letterman

If you'd rather see the official video for Second Chance, click here:


BoingBoing reported Yahoo Music are apparently shutting down their DRM server so customers will lose all their paid-for music the next time they crash or upgrade
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/07/24/yahoo-music-shutting.html
This is pretty awful, I do hope they compensate their customers in some way.


If you're a band without a record contract maybe you should try your luck in the Dragons Den. Cambridge Indie band Hamfatter did and came away with a 75K sponsorship deal!
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/07/dragons_den_reappears_this_eve.html


And I discovered I do have something in common with Amy Winehouse. No don't worry, it's not drug taking but a craving for KFC whilst in University College Hospital London. A couple of years ago I was rushed in for an operation in that very same hospital and was nill by mouth for a day. The lady in the bed opposite to me had about 10 family members visiting her and eating a family bucket. Not normally a fast food consumer I was overcome by the smell and my craving was so intense it was the first thing I had to have when I got home. Don't think I've touched one since. Amy, I understand!
http://thelondonpaper.typepad.com/thelondonblog/2008/07/kfc-in-ae-for-t.html


Bands I've been listening to:

Dr. Dog
The Tallest Man On Earth
The Boxing Lesson
Ed Laurie


Final Say

Spare a thought for those poor guinea pigs who took part in oh so many ways in the Peruvian Guinea Pig Festival last week. They not only found themselves dressed up in a variety of costumes, they also appeared on the menu. If you're a vegetarian, you may wish to stop reading now (that's if my KFC story hasn't already turned you off). In the spirit of honesty, I feel I should mention I have tried this delicacy whilst traveling in Peru a few years ago. It wasn't something I actively sought out to do but more one of those situations where the food was specially prepared for me by the locals and it might have been considered rude not to. This maybe a shocker to all of you out there who own or have owned a pet guinea pig but before I get a barrage of abuse for this, a lot of Peruvians really do eat them (some 65 million a year are consumed) just like a lot of people eat chicken in the West. Oh boy, maybe this is a good time to end this post before I lose all my vegetarian readers.

Here are some photos of happier memories from my Peruvian travels:




Be well,

Chalky

http://terriblelovesongs.blogspot.com