Wednesday 17 December 2008

I Bin Bizzy

I’ve neglected the blog for nearly a week now, but I have some absolutely sparkling excuses:

* It’s Christmas – which means I have to do a lot of obligatory last minute shopping (have you any idea how difficult it is to buy a hat for a dog?), and then get bladdered at a variety of respectable locations. The best was a couple of years ago, when I got completely soused on free Champagne here (rumour has it that if the Champagne is good enough, you won’t get a hangover – a rumour that, I can report from extensive personal research, is a complete falsehood).

* Last night I found myself here. Why? Difficult to say really. As I tried to figure out exactly why I was surrounded by 3,000 hippies, Hawkwind came on. I was still none the wiser.

Here’s a picture of Huw Lloyd Langton, possibly the skinniest support act I’ve ever seen.


* Man flu, which as everyone knows, is probably the debilitating disease on the face of the planet.

* This.

* Trying to decide what to finish watching/reading first: the first season of Homicide, or the book Homicide by David Simon. That said, I have the first season of The Shield to watch, plus Dexter and the fourth season of The Wire. There’s just too much good stuff out there that needs to be watched right this very minute.

* Inbetween all this assorted nonsense, trying to find some time to rewrite my Red Planet misfire following some stellar script notes from Script Doc. The problem now is that – even after going down the route of writing a detailed step outline – two of my characters have now decided to sleep together, the bastards. How dashed inconsiderate of them.

What with shopping for dog hats, the odd bladdering, a bout of man flu and standing in huge rooms full of hippies, I’m all tuckered out. Time for another episode of The Shield.

9 comments:

Sofluid said...

It's such a hard life being a writer... Watching all the great TV shows, drama series' and films and then writing some of our own, in between socialising, going to gigs and getting pissed ;)

I think you've done pretty good considering! And everyone deserves a break at Christmas, no matter what profession. Fuel for the creative demons I say...

Chip Smith said...

My new year's resolution is going to be to drink and write at the same time, thereby freeing up valuable time to er, drink more!

Hic!

Jonathan Edwards said...

I walked past the Astoria the night you were there. I must admit it never crossed my mind that you would have been in there. Was Matthew Wright there?

I'm so envious that you've got seasons of The Wire and The Shield left to watch,

Chip Smith said...

Hello Jont - rather worringly, there were two people headbanging on the balcony, so I'm guessing one of them may have been Matt!

Seasons 4 and 5 of The Wire to go. If you're having withdrawl symptoms, you could try Homicide by David Simon (Waterstones have it on a 3 for 2 at the moment) - a real doorstop of a book, and about a million times better than the TV show...

Jonathan Edwards said...

Cheers, Chris. The Homicide book is on my Christmas list so fingers crossed.

Anonymous said...

Come on Chip, don't be so coy: no one accidentally sees Hawkwind. It takes being in a particular place at a particular time and having the money to buy a ticket, all deliberate acts.

I'm loving David Simon's writing, and intend to finish the book before starting on The Wire.

Chip Smith said...

Believe it or not, Adrian, it pretty much was by accident! My brother had a spare ticket, so I went with him (and I didn't have to pay!). That said, I have seen them before (not as much as my bro tho' - the Astoria show was his tenth Hawkwind gig - yikes!), but I'm trying to keep that little episode quiet.

Speaking of David Simon, been trying to find The Corner on Region 2 DVD without success, which means that I'll have to read the book (which is probably better).

Anonymous said...

I am not averse to a bit of The Wind myself. Not seen them for more than a decade, but I did see them a good few times over the years, and one of my recent CD investments was 'In Search of Space' for £3 -- a bargain, if only for 'You Shouldn't Do That'. Do people (ie blokes) still wear painted labcoats to their gigs?

Chip Smith said...

Yes, there was a painted labcoat there - apparently, 'the labcoat guy' is a Hawkwind gig staple. I meant to ask why he was wearing a laboat, but clean forgot...

Last time I saw The Wind, Nik Turner was fronting - what a star. He came on in a flourescent blue Tron outfit complete with rollerskates - about three songs in, he removed the steering wheel (!) that was attached to his chest and proceeded to drive himself about the stage. When he was wasn't doing that, he was honking simulataneously on 2 saxophones. Suffice to say, the man is one of my heroes (and I don't even like Hawkind that much).