RaG Weekly Update #2

Hiiiii.
First, a question. Does anyone know how to make a pretty design for this here blog? I am technologically retarded and do not like any of Blogspot's offered templates. This one included. Shit, innit? Anyway, if you do, please get in touch and we'll talk visions.

So... weekly update number two eh? This week has been largely boring. Sorry. Noteable things that have happened though include me getting a 2:1 in an essay about Riot Grrrl, the discovery of Raspberry Pavlova ice cream (the meringue bits on top detract from its awesomeness slightly, mind) and my BRAND NEW WEEK OLD flip flops breaking. Fuck you, Primark.

Our friend Grete went to see Findlay Brown and then accidentally wrote us a review in a Facebook message. There's a lot of Elvis comparisons and some wicked photos taken by the girl herself. Read it here.

I went to a grand total of er.. no shows this week. This is baaaad. I have this (stupid) thing about going to more shows each year. At this point last year I'd been to 16. Currently this year I've been to 18. So marginally ahead. Argh. The best one of 09 so far has got to be Selfish Cunt at Hoxton Bar and Grill. I have a deep love for Martin Tomlinson, the sexy bitch, ever since that full page photo in the NME back in the day. The one that shouldn't be so hot yet for some reason turns me wrong every time. What a guy. ALTHOUGH. I ordered a SC shirt off t'net TWO MONTHS ago and I still haven't got it, nor has their manager replied to any of my mails. Thanks for essentially robbing me of £19. Not like I could use that money to not be completely skint or something. No. Not AT ALL.

Anywahey. Since I've not been to any shows, I've spent most nights sat in my room with a mug of tea and various versions of I'm Going Down blaring through my tinny laptop speakers. I'm replacing my recent Leonard Cohen addiction with a Bruce Springsteen one. Soz Leonard. I'm Going Down is fucking heartbreaking. Seriously. "I remember back when we started/My kisses used to turn you inside out" makes me weep every time. Particularly on the Kid Harpoon/Florence and the Machine duet. I still don't quite know where I stand with Florence. I saw her at Standon Calling in the summer and was completely put off by the "I'm well wacky, me" drama student vibe that exuded from her. Then, I saw her at the Moshi Moshi 10th Birthday thing at Matter and it was completely different. Odd. And then there was the Glasvegas collab at the NME awards where she essentially repeated the same syllable a million times and fucked me off again. She writes pretty good songs and has a killer voice, but there's this whole contrived feel to it most of the time that makes me a bit suspicious. Like how White Lies changed their name from Fear of Flying, started dressing like Editors trying to be the Horrors and then writing songs to match and are now consequently huge. Makes me think there were other motives involved other than wanting to play a different style of music. Or I could just be being a huge cynic/conspiracist. Who knows. To Lose My Life is annoyingly catchy though, and not in a good way.

I've listened to a grand total of 0 new records this week. Bad times. Like I said, mostly been getting down to the Springsteen. Occasionally, mixed things up with new Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Zero, Heads Will Roll and Hysterics are easily the standout tracks) and old Futureheads. In visual terms, I've been reacquainted with America's Next Top Model. I literally watched all of Cycle 11 in a day with the help of youtube and am now up to speed with Cycle 12. Recently, I finished watching every episode of Sex and the City and am now on the lookout for something new to watch instead of doing work. Recommendations welcome, bearing in mind I like throwaway TV that is almost certainly a waste of my time but will make me feel good and probably includes plotlines involving relationship issues and amazing clothes that I can covet longingly.

Talking of which, LOOK AT DIOR'S SUMMER COLLECTION! It makes me die inside to know I won't own any of those pieces.
Also. I want this hat and these shoes

Essentially, I would like to be Carrie Bradshaw. Thanks.
Finalllly. I've been thinking alot lately about moving to New York. No, really. When I'm done here at Goldsmiths, I want to go to NYU and do a masters in Magazine Journalism.
I was looking at the website earlier and its based near Greenwich Village, Broadway, Fifth Avenue... using that Google Streetview thing I took a virtual stroll around and it
looked fucking lush. I could see myself there. Also, the course looks/sounds amazing. Only problem is it'd cost me like $20,000, if not more. And I have no idea how much that is
in £. So that'll probably remain just a dream. I did promise myself that if I did badly on a couple of essays I had to write before Christmas I would drop out, get a job, save up
some dollar (literally) and move to NY next year. I got a third and a 2:2, which is a lot better than I was expecting so I kind of can't drop out based on that. Hm.

I'm going to go listen to some songs that make me think about New York and then maybe watch some TV that is set in New York and after that, who knows, I might actually do
some work.
Au revoir mes cheries
xx