Was reading my horoscope today, for the first time in quite a few months. Nothing really grabbed me, apart from this quote I found on the Electronic Telegraph pages.

"This is the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are sick in fortune, often the surfeit of our own behaviour, we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars; as if we were villains on necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves and treachers by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and adulterers by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on. An admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a star!"
[William Shakespeare, King Lear]

I am offline the next couple of days, so whatever you are celebrating - be it Christmas, Hannukah, Eid, etc - have a very happy and safe christmas !

Well, I went out last night... a bit of a session really. A friend of mine managed to smuggle me in to TFI Friday; the last one with Elton John presenting. Well, as they all say, EVERYONE was SO much smaller than they are on the tv! There was a bit of a line-up; Craig from Big Brother (who I failed to recognise as he walked past me in the foyer, probably cos he's so much shorter than I thought!); had a nice chat with him at the bar, sweet guy ! Ronan Keating was there (also way smaller than I thought), Graham Norton (pissed as a ****!), Victoria Beckham (god she really is soooo thin!), and joy-oh-joy, the Pet Shop Boys! That was pretty cool actually, as I've grown up with their music but never saw them live before. The show finished with Moby & Elton John on stage... nice ! Great fun..

We then went on to my office christmas party; this promised to be a riot, and lived up to all expectations (and more!). Will just go nurse my head...... :)

Oh, and managed to get 2nd row seats for Neil Finn on 4th Feb. COOL!

Funny how computers are.... almost as if they KNOW what is going on around them. I actually had some EXCITING news... and the site is down, so I can't blog for three days!!

Well, for when this comes back up... news is that Neil Finn is performing live in London, 4th February 2001.

Click >here< for more information!

Oh, happy happy days !!

(yes, I did get my tickets already!)

Well, I did promise! For all you cat-lovers, here are a couple of mpgs of my two felines... click on the photos to download the clips (about 1.3mb each in size). Not too well edited I'm afraid (don't have the software yet) but still - very cute !!






If you have a problem with these links, try this one.

That's all folks!

Not to be missed...

I have said this to people several times this year, and still they say "oh, I didn't realise, darn it, I should have gone!". What are they talking about? Having been to more music gigs this year than is probably healthy for my eardrums, some concerts stand out among the rest. Some I am frankly biased towards (Split Enz or anything Finn, or several NZ songwriters in fact!), but some do spring out the woodwork and surprise me.

Including last night. Again. David Gray live in concert (you can capture at least some of the atmosphere (sound!) on WembleyTV.com), but be warned - the picture is worse than useless on a regular modem. But being there - wow !!!! I must admit, it was my 3rd DG gig of the year, and although Portsmouth was a bit disappointing, this more than made up for it. Before you all start yelling "bandwagon", I am one of those lucky few who was introduced to DG before the "Babylon" phenomenon... and have been really pleased to see him get so much attention.

His drummer, Clune, is a total lunatic, and despite WembleyTV's cameras partially obscuring my carefully-planned view of him, he didn't disappoint. If you've ever wondered what a drummer looks like impersonating a drum machine on speed, this is it... drumsticks, tambourines etc all becoming airborne at some point during the evening. This is what REAL drumming is about... the energy, enthusiasm and skill is mindblowing, and a treat to watch. Quote of the evening was a small aside during Babylon's "If you want it, come and get it"..............."what a good quote". :)

Also trying to distract your attention from the rather small man centre-stage with his acoustic is the superb lighting and projection. Using Brixton Academy's lighting rig to its full capacity, and projecting looped film onto the back wall, it really is quite phenomenal. Having been to many concerts where the lighting man obviously has NO clue as to the music or mood, it is so refreshing to see such well choreographed and thoughtful use of colour, movement and effects.

Then of course, there is DG himself... such a voice out of a pretty small man... down to earth, and rather reminiscent of a small child in a sweet shop.. not quite sure how he got there, but pleased as punch. A lot of people have said he has become too commercial since his success, and I must admit the new song he premiered last night was a teeny bit "same-y". But White Ladder was an album made 2 years ago in his bedroom, and the followup "Lost Songs" is a very different kettle of fish. He is an amazing lyricist, performer, and it is a show that would be a real shame to miss.... if not for the songs, but for the energy and joy that he projects whilst performing. And of course, the live version of "Please Forgive Me" is just to die for... that drumming, those lights...

He's all done for this year, but is performing in festivals next year... catch him if and when you can.

Oh and I was a bit naughty this weekend, which in the long run will be good (?!) news for this site. Mum and I went shopping... and we got a DVC (digital video camera). MPEGS here we come... (and it will be higher quality than the poxy pixellated freeze-frame stuff that Wembley TV came up with tonight!).

Firstly I have to apologise for yesterday. I know it was boring. In fact, I have no (or little) idea why I wrote it. I was going to delete it, but then I thought I'd leave it there as a lesson to myself of what NOT to write. Then I got an email to say "that was really funny!!". I have grave doubts about the person who wrote that (they were bored too), but it persuaded me to leave the entry alone.

Actually, it's a lie. I do know why wrote it - I was incredibly bored. Why? I was writing Perl. That's a lie too - I was hacking someone else's Perl. It was only a simple mail form, but it had to be done in a hurry; normally I don't touch nasty icky code like that, so it was a bit of a chore. Now, I am not saying or implying in any way that Perl is boring - some people find it fascinating (as does the person who liked yesterdays rant, but we won't say anything more about that). Or that the people who write it are boring. Just that perhaps there is a Perl "gene" - some people are genetically predisposed to find it interesting, and I just happen not to have that particular bit of the gene...... I think I'll stick to higher-level web stuff. Like ASP. *Ahem*.

Other things - I decided to scrap Jen-X-Music and stick it all here instead.. not enough time to update two blogs and I'll just write about music here (as well as Perl!!) ......

Good news! Not only is Neil Finn touring the UK in April next year, but his brother Tim is, too! There are so many albums coming out in early 2001 it's going to be a bit of a strain on my credit card.... Tim is bringing out a new one, Neil too (some of the new songs are GREAT!), The Divine Comedy are also bringing out a new one, produced by Nigel Godrich (he who produced Travis "The Man Who" and Radiohead)... this latest project should be interesting, as TDC have a very unique sound which has apparently changed considerably with this new production influence....

My friends four day Hombre will also be recording some new stuff in 2001.... they are well worth catching live, as are Breathe (who supported them brilliantly last week @ The Half Moon, Putney). Los Hombres also have Mp3s on their cool website for you to check out. Crowdies House are sadly losing their bass player to Barcelona, but the band is NOT splitting up... they'll just arrange their gigs in long-weekend blocks throughout the year. Their last confirmed gig as a complete band is on 18th January @ The Swan, Stockwelll - don't miss it !

Whatever happens, it means that there are a lot of gigs and new music to look forward to next year, which is always a good thing! Late january is already booked gig-wise (all three in the same week actually!).... April belongs to the Finns.... bring it on!! It all kicks off with a sold-out David Gray gig this saturday... which is nice !

Totally unrelated random fact of the day... February 2001 will be the best time in 11 years to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights). Book your tickets for Iceland, Norway, Alaska or Northern Canada now...

Planes, trains and automobiles...

I was thinking about travel and places and things last night.... people were bugging me about using public transport all the time and being reliant on it. It's not so bad, really ! You just have to work to a different clock, where you add an hour to everything. I don't own a car... I could if I wanted to, as I was kindly offered one recently. But living in the centre of London precludes the owning of a car; it's more of a liability than an asset - they have genetically modified the traffic wardens here to become invisible and a great deal fiercer.

I have been travelling on my own by Tube for about 17 years now (commuting to primary school age 9 by district line - nice!) and I don't actually mind it... now I don't have to travel to work (I can walk it in 10 minutes, but can see myself getting a bike very soon) it's quite a novelty, and so long as it's not the northern line, I quite enjoy the people-watching. It's also a lot more environmentally friendly... until we all move over to electric/gas-powered cars, anyway.

It's just the time that it takes to get places by car, it's not much better than anything else... having driven round a good deal of the country last month, I got the hang of being in London one minute, and then the M25 carpark for the next 3 hours en route to Cambridge....... I did manage to knock 1/2 hour off the RAC-calculated route time to Wolverhampton, but on the way back there were loads of pesky police-cars out, which spoilt my fun rather. I wish they wouldn't creep up on you like that... it's very disconcerting, and I am sure could cause a nasty accident one day. Thankfully I have perfected the art of slowing an automatic from 99mph to 70 without using the brakes... that's the beauty of mum teaching me to drive having once been a cab driver...

I don't like trains any more... used to love them (especially the east coast line past Berwick-upon-Tweed), but the recent crashes and delays and general mucking about has put me right off them... and the cost, of course. Why can't they be more like planes? Or like the Japanese Shinkansen (bullet train); surely the most civilised and pleasant journey I have ever made by train... expensive, sure, but where else on this planet is there such a clean, efficient and fast service (and where else do the stewardesses bow to you as they leave the carriage)?

I much prefer planes. Have had a couple of flying lessons too - terrifiying (the landing for Speke airport in Liverpool is sometimes over the Mersey), but great fun. You feel you're actually GOING somewhere too - the whole process of checking in, waiting, duty-free, plastic lunch trays and free G&T seems to add to the whole holiday experience.

I have asked around, but reckon I must be one of the very few people that actually enjoy the 24 hrs of flying time to New Zealand! Sure, it's a drag losing a day or two (perfecting Scottie's transporter technology will be a huge bonus to the world), but you feel that you have achieved something when you walk out the other end (with your hair sticking out due to the static and a bad cold from the lady in 43c). Oh, and even if you lose your ticket, due to the Warsaw Convention (12 Oct 1929), the airline still has to carry you... a bit of a long shot when you're on the 12.11 to Croydon.

I calculated (with the help of my passport and British Airways Junior Jet Club badges) that I flew more than a million miles by the age of 20. I wonder if I could do a postdated claim on air miles ? Surely that would get me a single economy class ticket to the International Space Station ?!! I would have redeemed them on Concorde, but it's currently standing forlornly on the apron at Heathrow Terminal 4, nose drooping in sadness.

I won't get to go on a plane for a while now. I've used up my holiday time already for next year (Australia in December 2001) and already have things planned months ahead.... my sister's baby due in march, Neil Finn's UK tour in late april (can't miss that!). So I will have to miss out on stale peanuts and watching "Mr Bean Flies Again" for the 11th time. But with friends moving to Barcelona and Paris, I am sure I can think of a pressing reason to be airborne again....

A thought to add to yesterday's discussion...

"wherever I lay my hat.... "

Nursery Nightmares?

Breaking news from the BBC - Pooh Bear suffers from attention deficit disorder and "shaken bear syndrome", as well as showing signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

They've got to think of something to write about other than the American (non)election.....

Oh, and thanks to everyone who asked how Rosie was doing. Here's a (badly edited!) photo of her...

G'day Mate

I was going to write about growing up and art today, but then something happened.

I went over the road to get some lunch (and nearly got splatted AGAIN by a car NOT stopping at the pedestrian crossing, but that's another story!). There's a cool little portugese cafe which sells mediocre sandwiches, but GREAT little spinach quiches and custard tarts (oink!). I walked in shaking (it might have happened for the second time in a fortnight, but being grazed by a speeding BMW isn't a calming influence and not something one gets used to!) and the guy behind the counter - normally grumpy - asked if I was okay. He said he'd pray for me. :)

Then he said something really odd.

"Are you Australian?"

"Why do you think I am from Australia? I don't have an accent!" I replied.

"It's your outlook" he said, and handed over my lunch.

Now, I had barely said 10 words to him ("spinach quiche and one of those wonderful custard tarts please", to be exact). I don't have an Australian or New Zealand accent - it is decidedly English (though where in England is anyone's guess, including mine). I am 'normal' looking (what IS that?!); blondeish, short. No distinguishing features either. No "Aussie Rules" sweater. I do have a pounamu (NZ Jade) pendant, but you can't see it today.

And then last saturday, and several times this year, people have asked me "where in New Zealand are you from?". Now this.

Yesterday I was really homesick. For KareKare, a black-sand beach in northern New Zealand, used as the location for "The Piano" (a film by Jane Campion) and where Crowded House recorded their last album (Together Alone). I say homesick, and I mean homesick; I couldn't think of anywhere else I'd rather be.

So I came to a conclusion that where you are from is not just a result of where you are born, what nationality your parents are, or where you live. It's who you are, how you think about life, and where and whom you feel an affinity with that matters more in the long run.

Of course that does create problems; as I sit here in the damp cold English winter, I wonder why I'm not sitting on the beach in the New Zealand summer right now. Darn that stork. It dropped me in the wrong bloomin' country....

But then I wouldn't be who I am now... the people I have met, the places I have been, the things that have happened; are also an integral part of the person. That brings me back full circle, though.. how one reacts to these events is as important as the external influences themselves. A puzzling conundrum - who are we ? Nature, nurture..... or the result of a stork without a map??

* * * * *

Changing the subject totally... I can't believe I have just sat there for half an hour on the kitchen floor with my fingers in a can of catfood, feeding my cat Rosie by hand. Just the jelly, mind - can't have any of that nasty meat stuff, and make sure it's the really expensive stuff (she purred). As soon as I put her bowl back - "oh no, can't possibly eat it" - she walks off. The things we do for people (and cats) we love.... =^..^= :)

Well, the Christmas tree is now up. Okay, so our Christmas tree is one of the "minimalist" school of trees (read: a glorified piece of kindling), but it still looks pretty good. And we don't have to hoover under it every second day AND it lasts thru christmas (instead of it looking bare by christmas eve - ours is bare of needles from the start!). Mum thought she was being trendy. My mum's god-daughter asked yesterday "can you not afford a Real Christmas Tree?"...

All our decorations go back about 25 years... hand stitched lions in red velvet from Indonesia, tapestry wreaths lovingly made at primary school, those hand-made "stained glass" angels we made with those glass bead kits (how many we burnt in the oven I won't say!). An interior decorator would have a fit - we went for the "throw all the decorations at the tree and if they stick they stay" look - not very House and Garden, but charming in its own way. I haven't looked to see what's "in" for christmas trees this year - last year was very "purple" (according to the Conran shop). Does it matter? We have strict guidelines on our tree decoration anyway - all the old stuff must be used, and nothing must hang from the lower branches (read: naughty cats!!). Oh, and baubles are just SO passe! (dahhhling!).

All this reminiscing over handmade christmas decorations..... does anyone (in the UK!) remember Shrinky Dinks? They were sheets of plastic with Tom and Jerry printed on them, given away in packs of Shreddies over 20 years ago (*ahem* yes I do remember them firsthand!). You coloured them in, put them in the oven and they shrank.... you could then use them as keyrings etc. About 10 years ago there was a resurgence, as people put crisp packets (plastic) into the oven and shrank them to make brooches. You never get decent things in Cereal boxes any more.... Kinder Egg toys also seem to have gone sadly downhill.

While I'm on the subject, I was thinking about old TV programmes. I don't remember some of them too well, as we didn't get a TV 'til I was quite old (tho' I do remember Bagpuss....and also "Listen With Mother" on the BBC World Service!). Last weekend I was out shopping and found a Clanger.... this won't mean much to anyone outside Generation X ("Jen-X"!) but a certain percentage of people will go "oh coooool!". It whistled when you squeezed its tummy (again, only a certain % of the population will get excited about that!!) That evening I was going to a Mutton Birds concert @ Shepherds Bush Empire - their last gig of the tour. Their newest member (on electric guitar) is Andrew Claridge (ex Garageland)... also known as Clanger.... so it had to be bought ! Halfway thru the gig "Tiny" Clanger was brought out, and made his stage debut... whistling down the mic @ The Empire. Sitting just in front of the stage barrier (taking photos for Tony & Clanger), I had to go backstage, I was laughing so much! I am sure that the (large) New Zealand contingent of the audience were very bemused, but the cheer from the UK audience showed the Clanger generation was well represented that night... what does that say about the audience demographics??!!

As a result of all that nostalgia, todays' "site of the day" was chosen to bring back some memories. http://www.tv.cream.org is a great site that covers old TV programmes, old chocolate bars (it's a MARATHON, NOT a Snickers!!!), advertisements, snacks, and other old favourites. You can also download old TV theme tunes... *Warning* - you can spend all day at this site! If you're not British you won't understand a lot of it... but you'll at least get an important insight into British culture and psyche, and understand a lot of the cultural references that seem to baffle the rest of the world...... (and a lot of Brits under the age of 20!)

Things that go Bump in the night..

Well, another momentous occasion in life yesterday. I felt my little nephew or neice (hereby known as "Bump"!), kick ! A couple of weeks ago I visited my sister and bro-in-law and despite some prodding, Bump wouldn't wake up. Yesterday though, all three Rundall girls in the same room (a very rare occurrence, I must add!) and Bump decided to kick to the occasion. No, we don't know what flavour bump.... don't want to either (sez mum). It's really funny - my sis is very skinny - so she looks a bit like one of those Purple Ronnie cartoons... a stick person with a balloon belly !!!! (who else can be 6 months gone and STILL a size 10? Argh !!)

Once I can get my mum's flaky Mac working I hope to get my own copy of the scans, but for now take my word for it.... it's really there, it's real and it's coming to a cot near you in March 2001. Scary !

Oh, and no, I am not getting broody. Honest.

*Ahem*....

... actually it's quite nice - you can give them back when they're not yours and start screaming blue murder ;) *ducks*

(incidentally, I'd love to know what happened in May/June this year... was it the water?? I know 3 babies due within a month of my sister's. Was there a mass breakdown in central heating? A good oyster season? Answers on a postcard, please !)

Well, couldn't get the decent scanner working.... so I'm afraid that a sneaky preview of one of the MB tour photos is all you're going to get for now! Click on the thumbnail below for a bigger image (which will take some time to load - yes, I do know there are a load of white speckles... had the builders in and there's dust everywhere!).


Don McGlashan from The Mutton Birds.
The Junction, Cambridge, UK.
Thursday 23rd November 2000

REMEMBER: Please don't copy these pictures and start floating them around ....
COPYRIGHT Jen Rundall 2000

Got most of my photos developed from the Mutton Birds tour.... a few corkers in there. I really enjoy taking gig photos - the uncertainty, the luck and the joy when a photo "works" (here's one of Neil Finn @ the Millenium Split Enz gig)..... will scan them and post them up later. Must learn how to use the new scanner...

Must get the rest of my site finished else it will go the way of every other project..... need to concentrate and get the content in there. This blogger tool will help loads. Have a few more sites waiting in the wings (one a result of the Belle & Sebastian charity auction, another a band site revamp) so had better get cracking! Have decided for definite that there are NOT enough hours in the day... if I could squeeze in a couple more, life would be even better ! (and I might actually get some sleep!!).

Depressing thought (sorry).... it saddens me that the number of wars in the world increase every day, and that one of the latest casualties is Christmas. I might not be religious, but a quick read of this article brings to mind all that is going on in the world. Please think of this when you don't get what you want for christmas. Remember, it's all relative....

BBC News - Bethlehem cancels Christmas

"Count yourself lucky
That you don't write the software"

Neil Finn, 'Souvenir'

This used to be my email signature for a long while, and is particularly apt; a brutal day at the office that has not yet ended (it's 22.03hrs here in London). In between the DSN settings and the shonky SQL (such a marvellous load of **** that ultradev creates... think I'll just go rewrite it then, shall I?!)..... I managed to fire up the second half of this blog......

.....and thought I'd save a lot of you some time, and post music-related news in a different thread......

....and here it is !!

"Tis time, the walrus said, to speak of many things.
Of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings
Of why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings"

Lewis Carroll

Well, at last - have bitten the bullet and started a blog. Partly because I have a half-written one on my other computer I never got round to doing anything about, partly because a friend of mine has a VERY funny one (I can highly recommend it: http://lifeasithappens.blogspot.com/), and mostly because at the ripe old age of ** (you don't REALLY think I'd tell you, did you??!) I am suffering with memory loss, and have to write stuff down or I forget it.

Pardon?!!!

Anyhow, it's meant to be part of my new site I am gradually getting round to creating... I have the "look", and some of the content (I even have the personalised post-it notes!); am just short on time to match the two together... I should have another blog up in a wee while too, dedicated to music...

....when I get round to it. Story of my life :)

Oh, link of the day... www.celebritysheep.com. Sent to me by a kiwi friend of mine. I do worry...