9 Lessons and Carols for Godless People

In 2008 Robin Ince started these Godless shows as a way of showing that us atheists can celebrate Christmas too (let's face it, it's not got too much to do with Jesus, these days). And since the shows began (or at least since I got to know Robin's work) I've really wanted to go. They've had various special guests such as Ricky Gervais (who, bizarrely, I'm not too bothered about seeing anymore!), Tim Minchin (who I'm having a renewed obsession with since seeing him!!) and Alan Moore. Last time I was in London (October 2009) I decided I wouldn't go back until I saw Godless in 2010. I don't believe in cosmic ordering or anything but I do think that if you want something enough it'll happen (and for me that meant wanting it so much I booked tickets as soon as they went on sale and got front row seats!).

Going to see the show was a lovely reason to see our brilliant friends in Surrey (next time we should just have a cosy DVD night; we miss them!). The show was really long (but felt so short, as the acts were only on for five to fifteen minutes each and we could've easily have sat there for another few hours).

We went to the Saturday night show (each show will have a slightly different line up). Unfortunately Chris Addison was snowed in so we didn't get to see him. But we did have a surprise guest to replace him who made up for it!

The Bloomsbury Theatre is awesome! I wish I'd had more time just to wander around and look at all the cool stuff on the walls. It's such a lovely venue and I'm sure I'll be back there for more comedy at some point.

The orchestra (it really was a month of orchestras) - The Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra - were on stage all the time (Martin White was at the back so I couldn't see him very well) and as they were getting set up we saw Danielle Ward wander past (how lovely). The orchestra would play short bursts of Christmassy music when the guests were leaving the stage/coming out on to the stage.

The show began with our lovely host, Mr Robin Ince, who was excited though tired and admitted he was wearing his second-best cardigan! He was on stage for various bits so I can't remember when he said what. Oh, I think in the first bit he was talking about people overreacting to snow. 'Thanks for braving it.'

The first act was Richard Wiseman, a psychologist who used to be a magician who was really wonderful and showed us some optical illusions. He was really funny and confident.

Then we had the lovely and charming Isy Suttie (who I'd seen quite a while ago at my Uni and remembered but wasn't hugely bothered about but now she plays Dobby in Peep Show - and gets to pretend to have sex with David Mitchell, lucky, lucky girl!) who I really enjoyed seeing. She read a really funny letter from her mum then did a song about alternative medicine. "Mother, don't make me take those pills." She kept singing in a really deep voice for comic effect.

And then it was Richard Herring doing his pope application letter (from his Someone Likes Yoghurt DVD and from his AIOTM) - it was funny as we'd been talking about that earlier in the day! It was lovely to see RH even if only for ten minutes and he looked very well dressed.

Then Robin Ince was back on! At some point he was talking about how someone (in a comments bit of The Telegraph) had called him 'the liberal elite' which was really good.

Marcus Chown was next. He's a scientist and journalist who's written a book called (hilariously) We Need To Talk About Kelvin. He came across as really nervous but his stuff was really funny and interesting. He was doing an award ceremony for scientists ie ones for underestimating. He was great. I might read his book in 2011.

Then Jo Neary came on. She was even more nervous than Marcus had been. She could barely speak and was asking for a glass of water as her mouth was too dry. After a few seconds of acute embarrassment we realised this was part of the act. She was doing a talk on sex toys from Christmas but had had (obviously fake) problems with the computer so had to show us her drawings. I loved her!! Really hilarous!

Then Robin Ince was back to introduce Martin White (who, of course, was on stage all the time anyway) to play his funny song from Dave Gorman's radio show (the podcasts are great!) "Dudley and his magic pants" which was loads of fun especially as we all got to join in with the chants of "Dudley!" I love Martin White and dream about him more than is usual (though I don't fancy him, or do I?!)

Then Robin Ince introduced Frisky and Mannish by saying he'd discovered them at Latitude and really enjoyed them while eating a cake. Then he saw them without the cake and still loved them (this isn't always the case!). I didn't know what to expect from Frisky and Mannish. I'd heard of them but didn't know anything at all about them. I didn't know that they were a musical act or that Frisky was a woman and Mannish was a man. But I loved them! And I didn't even have cake. They deconstruct songs in a similar way to Bill Bailey and James Sherwood but their song impressions are much more accurate (Frisky can impersonate so many singing styles, she's amazing.) I really need to see them again! Frisky had a cool tattoo - and I'm not normally bothered about them - three forte signs.

Then in the interval Richard got Robin Ince to sign his book and I took this lovely picture of them.

I think that Robin Ince is one of the loveliest people I've ever met; he's entirely unprententious and is geniunely interested in chatting to his fans about things.

Part Two:

I honestly can't remember the order of the second half. None of us can! But the acts were (roughly in this order!):

The first act after the interval (I'm fairly certain!) was Matt Parker, good looking, Australian, stand up mathematician. Yay! He's really funny, lovely and smart. And Australian!! We'd seen his show Your Days are Numbered: The Maths of Death in Edinburgh (Richard and I) and had given stickers with "My days were numbered" written on to Katja and Rich. Katja was looking for her sticker to show me when Matt Parker said "it's not TV, Miss! I can see you looking in your wallet!"

Josie Long was on - she did a character that was pretty much the same as her "been up space" character but instead of space she was giving a talk on the Thames barrier (!). Then she asked the orchestra to hit it and began to sing "All I Want For Christmas Is You"...to the barrier. Then she snapped out of character, did a few political jokes ("Nick Clegg promised he was gonna be here."),told us about the Black Panthers and wished us a Merry Christmas. She can do no wrong!

Helen Arney played some songs on her ukulele about wanting to have sex like animals. But it's very scientifically specific. Very very funny!http://www.youtube.com/user/newhumanistmagazine#p/u/11/ubMhA8AS68Y

Simon Singh answered five questions on the entire universe in five minutes and ended by electrocuting a gherkin! He's a great guy but what's going on with his hair?!

Robyn Hitchcock said that this gig was his last (is it? Was it?) I enjoyed his set (with two young, female backing vocalists who were great) but was getting a bit sleepy and needed something a bit more lively to perk me up. He was really good though.

Ben Goldacre was in shock as finally the rest of the country had caught on to his way of thinking and begun to hate Gillian McKeith!! He mostly talked about her and asked if we thought she was a liar (she said he was!). We said she was - he took a picture (and maybe video) and said we'd made him a very happy boy this Christmas. I love Ben and his mad hair! Sexy doctor!

Mark Thomas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our surprise guest and the most excited person about it being Christmas!! He was so clearly delighted to have stepped in at the last minute and was having a wonderful time. I'm really glad I'm seeing him next year. Yay!

Baba Brinkman - I've seen Baba do his Evolutionary Rap stuff quite a few times now. He's brilliant, clever, inventive and Canadian. He's great! Hope I get to see him do something else in 2011 (but doing that set makes sense for Godless!!)

Robin Ince finished the show (and did quite a few bits in between but can't remember exactly when) and was/is/always will be brilliant!!

Uncaged Monkeys tickets are here: http://www.ents24.com/web/artist/12597/Robin_Ince.html so that'll have to keep me going until Godless 2011! (It won't though, sure I'll see Robin in Edinburgh too!)

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!!

One week - two orchestras (and ONSIND!)

I hate snow. I didn't always hate snow - I used to love it and imbue it with magic and romance. Those times are over. But I don't want to dwell on the evil ice water for too long. The snow's ruined two Saturdays in a row but here are some of the things that it didn't ruin:

Belle and Sebastian

I got tickets for this gig at the Sage in July - B&S had long been on my (mental) list of bands I'd never seen before but really wanted to see. It was at the top of this list (along with They Might Be Giants, Pavement, Weezer, XTC, The Shins and The Smiths) so I was prepared to go to Manchester, Glasgow, London, Edinburgh or anywhere just to see them. Amazingly, they were playing in Gateshead! (Which is just as well as I couldn't travel that weekend. Gah!)

A while later I got my usual email update from Daniel Kitson and found out that he was the support for the gig!!!! I would've paid loads just to see him so to be able to see him as part of something else was an unexpected delight.

The night was exciting from the start as we walked in to find the stage full of music stands (they were playing with the English Heritage Orchestra). Daniel Kitson and Gavin Osborn came out - I'm not sure how many people knew who they were. I think if you were expecting an entirely musical support you may have been a bit surprised to see Daniel - a comedian telling a story - and Gavin - a musician. But what they did was truly wonderful and magical. They each told a heartbreaking story which then linked together to become a tale of unrequited and possibly requited love. Beautiful.

And then B&S! They were amazing! The orchestra made it an even more special night (though I'd love to see them with or without the orchestra, they're so great) - especially for the newer songs (and "Lord Anthony" and "Dear Catastrophe Waitress"); there were just a few where they sat silently ("Piazza New York Catcher" was done in a lovely low key way - just Stuart sitting on the edge of the stage being brilliant). "I'm Not Living In The Real World" was really fun - Stevie got everyone to join in the "ooh ooh ooh ooh" bits which was brilliant. Some girls (and a couple of guys) got to dance on stage and were given medals that said 'I made it with Belle and Sebastian' - how sweet!

An amazing night.

ONSIND

An interesting night in the house of two boys I don't know - it began with stories of shit (including someone accidentally shitting on a fox!) I felt quite old (everyone else there to begin with had been born in the early nineties, argh) and was very relieved when the people I knew started to arrive.

Crywank (the guy who'd had most of the stories) played first - he was really good. He apologised for not singing in his accent and said he didn't think anyone'd want to hear a Northern accent! What?! The best bands in the world sing in Northern accents!!

Then Winona Forever played (JC - who I'd never seen play on his own) - he was great (and really funny too!)

And then ONSIND who were amazing (as always) and even did the Billy Joel bit from in between "You Should Probably Keep It All In" and "If Anyone Needs Me I'll Be In The Angry Dome" which was great fun and showed how much everyone there listens to the album! "Suicide Is Painful" almost made me cry (as it usually does live).

Alas, we had to leave before seeing the wonderful Casual Terrorist (CJ) but we got to see him the week after in the end (hurrah!!!).

Another wonderful night made slightly less wonderful by silly snow, sleet, ice etc.

Tim Minchin

Last year I had tickets to see Tim Minchin at the City Hall - they were amazing seats (second row) and I absolutely couldn't wait to go! And then I was ill. And I missed "Ready For This?" which was one of the most horrendous things to happen in my life (I've had a pretty nice life!). Anyway, I felt like I'd waited quite a while to see Tim - and it was very very worth it.

He began with a really mad dramatic song about arenas ruining comedy, mocking egotistical performers by emulating them. Then once he was sat at his piano he played "Rock and Roll Nerd" and then came to the front of the stage to introduce his orchestra: "This? Oh this is just my orchestra." And he played with the conductor's baton - pretending to be Harry Potter etc. He really had fun with his orchestra the whole night (even getting them to join in with 'motherfucker's in The Pope Song - which was amazing to hear live!!).

There was a great song about a miracle, one about context, a brilliant one about cheese that crossed a million different genres and included jazz hands. He ended, as I'd hoped he would with "White Wine In The Sun" which was really special as it was so near to Christmas.

I love Tim so much - I love his piano, his strong wrists, his hair, his voice, his secular humanism. He is so fucking wonderful and brilliant! I think so much of what he sings about (in a comedy way) is what I really think about the world but find it hard to articulate.

It was a good week for gigs (and an even better week for babies!) - just ended up taking me ages to write about it.

Edinburgh 2008 - Day One

Over two years ago I set off for my second Fringe with Richard and Nat. It began, as most things do, with bagels. (I do have a good memory but I don't have an insane memory - I'm writing this with a copy of a letter I sent Liz when I came home) We were really excited and we were there for ages. We'd gone up for the very first day - which was a bit annoying as there was a huge cavalcade in the city when we arrived so it made getting from venue to venue harder.

We began (an amazing start to a Fringe, not to be beaten until the wondrous Kevin Eldon) with a play, What's Wrong With Angry which remains one of the best plays I've ever ever seen. I think the main reason we saw it (although that really is hard to remember) was that Stephen Fry recommended it (he must've been quoted in the programme). And it was about being gay. And it was set in a school. Yep, those three things are enough to make us see a play (me and Nat anyway!).  Oh, maybe this poster had something to do with it:

Anyway, the play was wonderful - it was about being gay in school (aged 16) and was set in the days where the age of consent for gay men was 21. Which seems mad now. However, the nineties weren't all bad and this play really captured the dance/pop music of the period ("What is Love" by Haddaway etc) which was evocative of my childhood. And the dancing in the play was really brilliant - I'd never seen dancing like that in a play that wasn't a musical. And I loved the important points it made about being gay, about hiding and about love. It's always good to see a play that changes and enriches your life. It was made into a film (Get Real) but you can't buy the actual play anywhere that I've found.

After that I think we begun one of our Edinburgh traditions when we went to the crepe place for the first time (that isn't in my letter, I just remember that!). It's a van in Bristo Square (where the big purple cow of the Underbelly, the Gilded Balloon and the Pleasance Dome are) where you can get crepes - they're yummy and more importantly quick to make and eat when you have barely any time between shows.

Then we saw Not Stalking David Tennant (aka Having It All) from which we learned the very important lesson: do not be swayed by the name of a sexy and talented actor in the title; the tenth Doctor had barely anything to do with it. We'd hoped it would have been an interesting take on obsession, love, TV (you know, the things that matter) but instead it was weird. Bad weird. It was a one-woman play split into four parts, in each part she played a different female character. The first role she played was a woman in therapy. It was well done and intersting though a bit depressing (but depressing is fine; some of my favourite things could be called depressing though they don't depress me).  In the next bit she was being a chav; it wasn't great. It wasn't funny. It could've been an okay sort of thing though nothing special if not for the third bit: the dreaded physical theatre. It was some super prententious Japenese physical theatre called Butoh. It was really slow and tortured - I absolutely didn't get it. Anyway, the final bit was about David Tennant (at last!); we kept checking watches, eager to make our next show and escape this strange woman. The DT bit wasn't bad. Anyway, you're supposed to see some absolute shit at the Fringe so that was fine!

Then we saw an all female production of The Picture of Dorian Gray which was pretty cool - they did some really interesting things with props, making a picture frame become a table etc. Very inventive. I hadn't read the novel at the time. 

The last thing we did that day (we really didn't do too much in the early days!) was see Andy Zaltman's Political Animal which included Zaltz's trademark "we apologise for the late start to this show; this is due to the unstoppable march of time" and was a really good show (despite being in the boiling Underbelly) featuring:

Andrew Maxwell, an Irish stand up who'd been doing comedy for various soldiers on both sides (Irish and Northern Irish), Kevin Gildea, also Irish, not very political but funny (mustn't have been too hilarious or life-changing as I haven't seen him again) and also that night was how we discovered the amazing James Sherwood who is brilliant - he sings and plays the piano - topical songs and he's really sweet, very funny. I always try to see him. Wonderful special man. And here he is:

Sunday was quite rainy but that was nothing compared to what was to come. Still, it was a great start to an amazing week.

Charlie's Comedians - A - Amos, Stephen K

Aaah! I knew alphabetical order wouldn't quite work out! I forgot about SKA (ooh what good initials) - which is probably mostly because I'm not very bothered about him. But I'm trying to be comprehensive and I did see Mr Amos at a Guardian Podcast (in fact he stood on my foot as he arrived late - the perils of the front row!) and he always seems like a really nice guy. Just not that funny. Or not my sort of thing - he seems to be one of those comedians where their only aim is to be funny - and that's fine but I'm much more interested in deep, meaningful story shows that make me cry.

And here he is:

Charlie's Comedian's - A - Anderson, Wil

I've seen Wil Anderson only once and that was just for a mini spot (twenty minutes at most) in the Stand, Edinburgh (beloved place). I can't find pictures of him looking exactly how he did that night but he honestly looked like a T-Bird (leather jacket, cool Danny Zucko hair, gorgeous). He was funny too. And I will have to see him again when he returns to Britain (he didn't do Edinburgh this year).

I've been searching youtube to try to remember why I liked him so much and the main stuff I've found is very Australian (jokes about politicians, biscuits, TV channels and sports people I'm unfamilar with) but I do remember him being on a Guardian Podcast (in the wonderful days where Miles Jupp hosted them every week day of the Fringe) and talking about how his best friend had died and that was what his show was about. Okay, I've found the podcast so I can have another listen! I know I'm not up to the Js but I do love adore Miles!!

Actually, all of the podcasts are well worth a listen and if you go to the Guardian website there's a picture of us enjoying one live:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/audio/2008/aug/09/edinburgh.comedy.podcast.06

Oh, right, yes, I remember now why I liked him! Also, he seems to have hosted a marriage equality rally. How lovely. He said: “I’m assuming that thanks to my involvement, gay marriage will instantly be made legal and there’ll be no discrimination against homosexuals from that day forth.” Brilliant, sexy and liberal - and here's a picture:

Charlie's Comedians - A - Amstell, Simon

I have always been fairly fond of Simon Amstell - I remember watching PopWorld when I was doing my GCSEs (I specifically remember that as Miquita Oliver was doing her GCSEs too and I couldn't believe that while I was doing nothing but revision, going bowling and watching endless amounts of Daria another sixteen year old girl was meeting popstars!) I ended up leaving that world behind and didn't really think of him much until he took over from Mark Lamarr on Buzzcocks. It wasn't something I watched all the time; I always preferred HIGNFY but whenever I did watch it Simon Amstell was funny and engaging - mean too, but mean to vacuous people I'd barely heard of.

When commenting on Katy Perry's song Ur so gay he said something along the lines of "and if you're offended by that, Jew off and stop being so black about it." And then he left so he could persue stand up. This surprised me. I couldn't imagine him doing stand up. I was so wrong.

His show Do Nothing was amazing - funny, sweet, beautiful. For some reason (I'm an idiot) I hadn't realised he was gay until we saw his live show (duh) - which was about looking for a skinny boy to love. He tortures himself, obsesses over details and is painfully shy; he is truly one of us. He was being obsessed with Jared Leto (in terms of him being Jordan Catalano in My So Called Life rather than his more recent, less interesting successes with 30 Seconds To Mars!) I love MSCL and watched it when I was far too young for teen drama (about eight or nine). So I loved that stuff. I think a lot of the stuff in his show has featured hugely in Grandma's House which I really enjoyed (though his live stuff is better, I think).

I'll definitely see him again someday and in case you don't have a television here's a picture of him. Lush!

'Out of the way!' - out of order

I love music and I really enjoy going to gigs but recently I haven't gone to as many big gigs - mostly as I've got into a lot of brilliant music that I just see in pubs, houses etc and partly as I've been seeing loads and loads of comedy. For whatever reason I hadn't been to the Academy in Newcastle (once Carling, now O2, neither of these brands mattering) for ages. (I think since The Smiths Indeed back in February.

I'm not really a fan of the Academy. I'm against O2 customers not having to queue (it goes against the idea that true fans will turn up hours early and get the best places) and the atmosphere is not generally great (this applies to Newcastle specifically, the Academy in Glasgow is a beautiful building and the atmosphere at Flaming Lips was perfect) and most of the bands on there aren't my sort of thing.

But when I do go (and I used to go a lot) I'm constantly taken aback by the rudeness and aggression of the security staff. They yell. A lot. And I'm not a child; I'm a paying customer (actually, so are the children that are there!) and I expect to be treated with respect.

The atmosphere of being caged in makes people behave like animals. One guy shouted 'out of the way!' as he pushed me out of the way. This doesn't happen anywhere else. It simply isn't right.

To lighten the mood, here's a picutre of the beautiful band:

Charlie's Comedians - A - Addison, Chris

Chris Addison is lovely. He's very very thin and quite tall with dark curly hair that makes him look boyish (especially in The Thick of It where he plays Ollie/In the Loop where he's Toby). I've only seen Chris Addison once (as in stand up; I've spied him wandering 'round Edinburgh!) and his recent show is supposed to really different to his older ones which were big thematic shows in which he dealt with topics such as evolution, the perodic table and Englishness.

I wish I'd seen these shows - very much! But that's not to say his current stuff isn't up to much; quite the opposite: his show is one of the best I've seen. It may be partly a question of expectations - I wasn't sure what he'd be like or if I'd find him that funny (I love him on TV but then they're not written by him so I didn't know - I'd always thought of him of one of Richard's people rather than one of mine and so ensured we got front row tickets for R's benefit). The front row seats ended up having a lovely benefit for me (Chris Addison kept responding to me and how much I was laughing which was so great). Also, he's very charming and has a lovely Northern accent (he's from Manchester) and the same (or at least similar) political ideas to me and my friends (generally). But he's somewhat posh (well, a bit middle class, I guess) and he does a fair amount about that.

One of the best things about him was how angry he was (and this was February when we still had a Labour government) about things being so shit. And he really cared about voting and the then-upcoming election. There were bits of his show about the gym (which he doesn't need) and his school. He didn't talk about Skins - but then why would he?

I'll definitely see him again (in December actually as he's doing 9 Lessons... - of which loads more later!!) and would recommend him with hesitation!

And here he is:

He's 38! Can't quite believe it.

Really Desperate Housewife

Note for Nat (and whoever else) : Desperate Housewives Season 7 spoilers, sorry.

In Season 6 of DH Susan Delfino inherited a strip club when her first husband Karl died. She was shocked and appalled at this. She wanted nothing to do with the place and sold it as soon as possible, she 'rescued' the intelligent Robin (who escaped the Lane and the show by running off with Katherine Mayfair which was great), what's more she was really angry with Mike for going to the club. (As she should've been.) Anyway, the result of this storyline (other than a beautiful girlfriend for Katherine) was that Susan had money - enough to pay off some of Mike's debt. So she did. And Mike went crazy - for some reason it hurt his macho pride that the wife and mother of his child felt that whatever they had (or lacked) was shared.

Somehow, this debt must have got out of control and even Susan's stripclub money couldn't help. The Delfinos had to lease their house (to Paul Young of all people) and move to a little apartment which is five minutes away. Understandably, Susan wants to get back to the home her children grew up in. Less understandable is the way she goes about getting the money back.

She ends up (after not persuing many alternatives) becoming a sexy cleaner (cleaning in her underwear on a webcam). A desperate situation that you'd expect the writers to portray with heartbreak and misery. No, the situation is played for laughs with typical Susan physical comedy. She keeps this huge secret from her husband and prances around in her brand new underwear with glee. Empowerment? I don't think so.

After a while a bigger company is going to buy the small stripping company from Susan's landlady. They are going to put up a huge bill board of Susan; Susan gets this stopped but at a price. She needs more money so agrees to one-on-one online sessions. How niave is she, exactly? She does one but gives up after the man asks to see her breasts (what precisely was she expecting?).

Lynette finds out what Susan's been doing and doesn't understand; Susan explains she wants MJ to have hot lunches. Which is fair enough but to resort to this is somewhat extreme. However, Lynette is a good friend and doesn't want to judge.

In the same episode Lynette is totally on form and on message - telling her mother-in-law that in her house her sons get up of their asses to get their own drinks and under no circumstances will her ten-year-old daughter be taught to mindlessly serve men.

So, what is going on with Susan (or rather with the writers)? Why is she so quick to sell herself. Later in the episode she realises she must sell her grandmother's jewellry. At this point I was almost shouting at the TV: "Why on earth didn't you sell that before you starting selling yourself?"

The issue remains unresolved. And I'll keep watching and hope for a positive outcome but I really do hate this storyline. I know DH can be silly and soapy. And I understand not all of the women on the show are good feminist role models - that's fine. I love Gabby, I love them all. But Susan - she's supposed to be an artist. What happened to that? What happened to Susan? For some women there are few options but Susan is lucky - middle class, both her and Mike have jobs, they're not living in luxury but they have a nice enough place. Whatever their problems are (and they're pretty temporary) there must be another way to solve them.

Plenty More Lesbians In The Loch

The main problem I have with Lip Service is that it's British. So there are only six episodes in a series - and five of them have been on. Luckily, the box set comes out on Monday (before the last episode airs, eep!) and I think I will pre-order it as I don't want to wait until Christmas to start sharing this with people. It's good. It's really good. I love so much about it; it's British, which is great as there is nowhere near enough good British TV; there aren't enough dramas on - and I don't mean Midsomer Murders - I mean the good stuff. We had This Life but that was ages ago. That was on when I was too young to be watching it (I always had to go to bed, it was years and years later I finally got into it - watching/taping it every night and watching it all in a month). Then there was Queer As Folk which I mention not because of the gay connection but because it was a brilliant, brilliant show. About ordinary people.

I'm trying to think of good recent British dramas and struggling. There is Doctor Who, of course, oh and Sherlock (but with only three part is hardly a 'series' - though I think the next one will be longer!) Jekyll was great a few years ago. (What would we watch without Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat?) Other than that there is only Torchwood (which had its good and bad points but ultimately triumphed with "Children of the Earth") and Skins (which rarely lived up to its potential but was absolutely amazing and incredible when it did, honestly!) which is a teen show. And I love teen shows but I'm very far from teenaged now.

Lip Service then is the show for us - our generation. (The characters are in their late twenties/early thirties.) And it's not set in London! (I love London but it's so removed from the rest of the UK. It is entirely its own place.) It's set in Glasgow - a busy city that I'm fond of (but not one that I love), a rough, rainy place with a beauty you have to look for.

Laura Fraser plays Cat, a sensible architect. I've loved LF since I was about fifteen and saw Virtual Sexuality - a wonderful film about losing your virginity. Cat's great - she's probably the character I can relate to the most. She's always being stressed and really organised, she's still really upset and messed up from Frankie leaving her years ago. And LF seems especially tiny in this - very cute and Scottish.

Then there is Frankie, she's the one in all the trails and publicity for the show - she's the dark, dangerous one you're supposed to like. And she's great but I much prefer Cat and Tess. Maybe that just means I'm growing up.

Tess is amazing! (She's played by Fiona Button who apparently graduated the same year I did.) She's an out of work actress who's been recently dumped. She's incredibly pretty and funny. And then there's Ed, Cat's little brother, a writer who is Tess's best friend and is in love with her. This is without doubt the best storyline in the whole show - so tender and heartbreaking. Unrequited love portrayed brilliantly. And Ed is so sweet and lovely.

The Cat/Frankie storyline is brilliant too - estranged exes with a lot of history to work through. Frankie has all of this other stuff going on too - her dead aunt, mysteries about where she came from. There's loads going on. I haven't even mentioned Jay - probably because he's not as interesting as everyone else. He's an architect and works with Cat and is friends with everyone especially Frankie.

And if that's not enough Miles Jupp even appears in an episode! Amazing.

Never Let Me Go

I read a lot - and I did once try to write about everything I'd read. It was too hard and exhausting. But I feel that it's important to say something when a book is amazing. And this one is so good in so many ways. I know it won the Booker prize about five years ago but I didn't know what it was about or anything.

I'm still not sure precisely why I liked it so much as I did - I think a lot of it was to do with how it was about school and growing up. I still love things about schools, particularly boarding schools (which seem even more intense than normal schools) and the unique nature of this particular school was absolutely fascinating.

This book is one of those books that's not technically sci-fi and is regarded as high brow and somehow 'proper' but is nevertheless about clones. There are mysteries and secrets throughout the book and even the by the end it's still all weird and messed up. It was genuinely chilling and addictive. I'd like to read some more of Kazuo Ishiguro's books - they all same wildly different from each other. Which is great but pretty sad for me as I want to read more books exactly like this.

I decided to read it after seeing the trailer. I hope the film is as good. Keira Knightley's in it and although she annoys me quite a bit she is in some of the best films - Love Actually is amazing, the first Pirates film was brilliant (though a bit ruined now by further efforts) and the Atonement adaptation is great too (and that's one of my favourite books, definitely top ten, maybe top five, once it was second or third favourite!). Erm, let's not mention Pride and Prejudice. Jennifer Ehle is the best and only Lizzy!

Right now I'm reading Jacqueline Wilson's The Longest Whale Song - I decided to read a children's book to escape from the world for a while. Except it's heartbreaking and keeps making me cry. Amazing though. Also struggling with silly Michael McIntrye's stupid autobiography. Why am I bothering? I think there are many reasons - to judge him properly, to see what he thinks/writes about Edinburgh, the Fringe and people I do like/love. It is dull so far though. And far from funny.

Oh, another interesting thing about Never Let Me Go is that I read a lot of it in the sky. I have a weird memory and always seem to remember where I was for things (which train or house or library) so that will stay with me too.

Hit Me Like You Did The First Time Part Two

Edinburgh, Sunday 26 August 2007:

Edinburgh is beautiful. It's a city unlike any other city I've visited. It's especially unlike a capital city. It's smaller and quieter - really old and lovely, everywhere you go (almost) is just breathtaking.

In the August excitement though, you pass by it all in a hurry. You're constantly in a hurry. But from time to time you have to stop and notice how absolutely amazing it all is. It is the perfect city for the Fringe and the Fringe is perfect for Edinburgh. I've visited at other times of the year and I always love it but August is something else.

My other times in Edinburgh are:

For one night with Nat, John and Deborah - lovely but we didn't see very much!
For one night with Richard and James - to see Tilly and The Wall (amazing) and meet up with Paul (lovely) - again, we didn't see much of the city!
March, 2009 with my mam (brilliant, saw Alex Horne for the first time, went to the zoo, etc)
April, 2010 with my mam (again, wonderful holiday - more comedy and nice meals)

So, I do truly appreciate Edinburgh for all itself and not just the things I see there! Anyway, we began our Sunday by seeing The Early Edition which is like The Late Edition from TV (though it hasn't been on in quite a while!!) but in the morning. Marcus Brigstocke presents with Andre Vincent. The guests (loads of them as it was its final day) were: Robin Ince, Andy Zaltzman, Nick Doody and Carrie Quinlan. At the time I didn't know who any of them were! But I really enjoyed the show - and there was a mad bit where Brendon Burns wandered on stage, having won the Comedy Award the night before! He was so happy and hadn't slept and then he was on the phone to his mum. It's the sort of spontaneous weirdness that makes the Fringe such an enjoyable place to be.

After that we did something I wouldn't recommend for Fringe time: we went to Holyrood Palace. Which is good if you like palaces, especially if you're into Mary Queen of Scots (I'm more of an Elizabeth I fan) and was really great for us as Paul got us in for free. But I'd say unless you're not likely to be in Edinburgh again or you're not into seeing millions of shows - don't bother with the touristy stuff at the Fringe. Go another time and see stuff. The zoo is the best! The tour of the vaults is ridiculously filled with ghostly bullshit (including a rapist ghost). So, the palace was good and then we must have had some food at some point - it's hard to find places to eat that aren't full!

Then we went to see The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players - one of the most amazing shows I've ever seen. They're a lovely family - Jason (the dad) sings, Rachel (the daughter) drums, Tina (the mum) operates the slide projecter! They go around yard sales etc and buy old slides and make up songs about them. They're absolutely brilliant - fun, meaningful and exhilarating. Seeing them remains one of the best nights of my entire life. And, if anything, Richard liked it even more than I did! It was a really short set due to the show before overrunning (this is mercifully rare during the Fringe; in general things run to a really tight schedule!). But it began with this song "The Complicated Life" which they came onto. Then the stage was set up like an old sitcom and they did funny little skits/sketches between songs a bit. Really unusual but totally wonderful. Anyway, they played "Beautiful Dandelion", "Eggs", "Mountain Trip" - then afterwards we met them all and bought CDs and t-shirts and got the CDs signed. I'm still waiting to see them again!

Then, walking along in a happy daze, Richard saw Charlie Brooker outside a bar - smoking, trying to give up, bless him. This was in the days long long long before he married Connie Huq, he was with Al Campbell (aka Barry Shitpeas), the director of Screenwipe. Charlie was everything he is on TV: lovely but swear-y and offensive (but obviously not really offensive!). I told him I'd started watching The Wire (I had but didn't ever get very far with it, maybe one day), he said "so you fucking should" or something then Al was saying he hadn't seen it so they got in a little argument about that. I told him I had a book of cuttings of all of his columns. He said "you're fucking sick" but in an affectionate way. Al took a picture of us and then Charlie made him take another one as he didn't like the first one. He then mocked him for being a director and taking such a rubbish picture. Here is the second one:

Now in a giddy state we attempted to walk to George Street but I took us the wrong way up the Royal Mile. A huge argument ensued. At some point either Stewart Lee or Richard Herring wandered past. Oh, and on the Saturday I saw Adam Hills (as in spotted him, well Richard did as he is better at spotting people!) which was lush.

I'll not dwell on the argument too much - we got to Rich Hall on time and he was brilliant! I've seen him loads now and can't remember what stuff's from the first time but he's great!

On the Monday we went to see a mad version of Pericles because the guy flyering like Richard's velvet jacket (we do all sorts of things if people like his jacket!) and it was quite good but had a weird game show bit in it (!) and so our first Edinburgh Fringe came to an end.

Our lives had changed forever.

Ah, music, a magic beyond all we do here

As I walk to work each morning, especially as it gets colder and colder and I think of Nat in sunny California, I'm not always in the best of moods. I'm growing less and less fond of my job and the walk down the hill (it takes 15-20 mins; 10 if you're a fitter person) is where I listen to the things that make me able to get through the day. And it's not just music. The Dumbledore quote above is one I love though. And listening to music is one of the most immediate mood changing things you can do.

So, here is the stuff I listen to most:

One Night Stand In North Dakota - well, obviously! ONSIND are always always the band I go to first to be cheered up. Particularly "Suicide Is Painful" and "Heterosexuality Is A Construct" at the moment, at least. Often, I'll put them on shuffle and every song comes as a lovely surprise.

The Futureheads - after I saw them at Split Festival I've been really into them! I don't know why I wasn't years ago! I always meant to be.

The Casual Terrorist - because there is nothing like hearing the words "trying to fit in just so fucking boring" really really loud at 8.30am en route to your unfulfilling job! Also "Anarchists Make Better Lovers" is one of the best songs ever.

Dogs Die In Hot Cars - one of the best bands ever based on the first album. Still waiting for the elusive second one! DDIHC are fast and happy and meaningful. Wonderful. I'd love to see them live so much!

Pavement - always cheer me up, especially "Shady Lane" which I was obsessed with when I was growing up. I'd love to see them play live too!!

Daniel Versus The World - Daniel's beautiful songs are absolutely amazing. Can't wait for another CD to come out!

They Might Be Giants - are another childhood passion that has remained. My brother and I used to love dancing to "Birdhouse In Your Soul" when our parents had it on a record! Then years later, James and I had our big friendship defining moment listening to "Ana Ng". Pushing Daisies made me get into them again.

Weezer - another obsession from my younger days that has carried over. They've gone a bit strange now but still are one of my must see bands.

Then there are things I listen to occasionally that I wouldn't listen to all the time but every once in a while are really what I'm in the mood for:

Crash Test Dummies - are really brilliant. I love "Afternoons and Coffee Spoons" best.

Every so often I go through a The Shins phase and barely listen to anything else. They are so soundtrack-y; I feel like I'm in a cool art film rather than in my life listening to them.

There are obsessions that pop up from time to time. I listened to a lot of Lady Gaga recently - really energising and energised music. I'd love to see Gaga. There are more things too: Golden Virgins, Flaming Lips, Ben Folds, Chris T-T. But at the moment, it's mostly Futureheads.

Oh, unless I'm in a mad hurry in which case, it has to be something fast from the Glee soundtrack. "Safety Dance" can provide so much happiness in three minutes that I'm hyper the entire rest of the day.

Then there are the podcasts:

Dave Gorman is one of my favourites for feeling like you have company for the walk. I love Dave Gorman, Martin White and Danielle Ward and the three of them are so good together. I'd never re-listen to one though. However, Robin Ince and Josie Long's Utter Shambles is worth listening to again and again. They are meaningful, funny, have amazing guests. They're one of my favourite things in the entire world.

Richard Herring and Andrew Collins - I tend to listen to the Six Music podcast rather than their own as it's louder and more focussed. It's really funny.

As It Occurs To Me - is Richard Herring's stand up and sketch show with Emma Kennedy, Dan Tetsell and Christian Riley. I really enjoy it.

I like Seven Day Sunday too for the combined comedy of Andy Zaltzman, Chris Addison and Sarah Millican (all favourites).

If I'm not walking to work I might watch David Mitchell on the bus - short but funny video podcasts.

Then there are radio programmes that I can listen to again and again:

That Mitchell and Webb Sound - consistently brilliant!
Cowards - Bizarre and wonderful. Could listen to Tim Key all day long.
Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive - topical comedy after it was topical but still hilarious!
Toby Hadoke's Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf - I could write an entire entry just about Moths! One of the most wonderful hours of entertainment I've ever encountered. Moving and funny - and so so meaningful.

And then, I arrive at work - whatever happens now, I am ready. I have reminded myself this is not it - there is more. So so much more.

Hit Me Like You Did The First Time Part One

In 2007 I went to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time ever. To say it was life changing is an understatement. Ever since I was a little Python-watching girl I dreamed of going to the Fringe. I had an idea of what it was: the place where famous people became famous, the city in which all of my favourite actors and comedians made their name. As I grew up and discovered Fry and Laurie, Mitchell and Webb and the Mighty Boosh, I knew I'd have to go to the wondrous place.

When I was at University I went to a few comedy nights on my own and met up with people I didn't know very well. They'd been to the Fringe and told stories of meeting Eddie Izzard and having wonderful times. We were eighteen and they'd managed to do the thing I wanted to do. And I lived much nearer to Edinburgh than they did! It seemed so unfair.

So when I finally got on the train a few years later it really meant something to me. I was excited, hyper and ready for the most amazing time of my life.

It was even better than I expected. We arrived, Richard and I, on a rainy (probably, I can't remember) Friday night and I was raring to go and wanted to see all manner of midnight shows. But when we got off the train and met Paul and headed out into the busy evening I wasn't too impressed. What I didn't understand until later was that Princes Street is not really where the Fringe is. It's where the shops are and it's nice but of course it is the Royal Mile that is the embodiment of the Fringe. We didn't end up seeing any crazy late night shows - we simply headed back and hung out before bed.

Saturday was our first real day there and we saw, looking back, hardly anything! We began with Adam Hart Davis at a book festival event (I love the book festival but just wish I didn't overlap with the Fringe as I barely get the chance to see anything there now!) I'm not sure why we saw him as neither of us is especially bothered about him but we did and he was okay - I think we were expecting more exciting experiments but it wasn't too brilliant. The Book Festival itself though is wonderful. It's all in lovely marquees and is in beautiful Charlotte Square Gardens. It has cool shops and bars.

After that we saw Justin Somper who writes the Vampirates books - it was a childrens' event which didn't put me off as I love his books - it should have put me off though. Singing pirate songs with children was somewhat embarrassing. Then we I met him it wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be.

I can't remember when we first went to the Royal Mile but I think we must have been there more that year than other years as we saw so few shows! The main thing I remember is the brilliant Goose, a suicycling, fire-juggling street performer from New Zealand. He is wonderful.

Even though nothing amazing had happened at this point it was still a great trip - there were comedians and actors everywhere. It was overwhelming and it was happening everywhere and I just wanted to get further in, nearer to the creativity and craft of it all.

We saw a play in a church in the afternoon called Writer's Block - it was a bit weird but mostly good. My main memory of it is that the protaganist was obsessed with this girl and started going out with her and could only write about her. Then he tries to rape her and she kills him with a typewriter!

But as we were leaving this church venue we were handed flyers for a show happening later that night: Hedwig and The Angry Inch. I was deliriously excited about that - and it began at midnight or some such hour and we were free. I assumed we'd go.

Next, the highlight of the day and one of the highlights of life was Stewart Lee: 41st Best Stand Up Ever - I'd never seen Stew before (nor had Richard though he'd loved him for a long time) and wasn't sure what to expect but I loved him. It was a wonderful show (in a purple cow which Lee clearly despised!) though the audience were somewhat annoying (constantly out for drinks etc!). This was the show about how he was voted 41st best stand up on a Channel 4 poll and how everything was going wrong. If you haven't seen it you should buy the DVD! Absolutely wonderful.

We didn't end up seeing Hedwig which I regretted forever (at least until we saw it this year!) instead we had a night out where I was so tired I could barely stand up (I realise now - that's simply how you feel throughout the Fringe!).

I'll save Sunday for another day.

Hello!

I'm writing this blog as I need to write something and right now I'm not writing anything. When I worked part time I had time to write novels; I wrote two. They were never published or anything but they made me happy and I loved writing them. And now there is no time. Or maybe that should be I can't find the time. I have friends who get up an hour or so earlier than usual to write. It is admirable but I am just not that dedicated. I could, I suppose, write at night. Except I don't do that either. My nights are spent seeing comedy, music, films and plays to the point of exhaustion. My evenings at home (if I'm not catching up with a friend in person, on skype or on the phone) are spent watching television.

Ah, television. Much of this blog will be about TV and here's why: TV is awesome! There is much inverse snobbery about the world of TV - it is mocked, dismissed and constantly undervalued. In the early days of the novel, the highly respected novel, people thought they were a silly distraction for silly women. And yet now to study literature is seen as noble and worthwhile (although I'm afraid it has few practical uses). TV is simpy in its infancy.

I'm not, of course, defending the crap. X Factor, indeed most reality TV is insulting. Soaps, I don't bother with though if I were to watch one it'd be Neighbours. There is a lot of bad stuff you could watch on TV but there's so much amazing stuff too. And if you watch all the amazing stuff it means you're busy quite a lot of the time.

I will come to my obsessions as time goes on but for now I'll just mention the best of the best of TV:

Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Gilmore Girls
Dawson's Creek
Angel
West Wing

and some current examples of genius:

Mad Men (of which a lot more later)
Doctor Who
Grey's Anatomy
How I Met Your Mother
Chuck

Lip Service started this week - I'm very excited about that. But for now I must go and watch the first episode of Season 7 of Desperate Housewives.

I haven't even mentioned music yet. Or comedy (where most of my money goes).

I leave you with Virginia:

"Nothing has really happened until it has been described. So you must write many letters to your family and friends, and keep a diary."