Wedding Fever

I know summertime is traditionally wedding season but two in one weekend is pushing the whole thing a bit far. Joan and Keith were married, proper white wedding with full Catholic mass, on Saturday then Graeme and Lisa (Alasdair's cousin and his wife) were hitched at Brig o'Doon, big family do with a civil ceremony, on Sunday.

Both were lovely, Joan's was like a girl's night out with communion and Graeme's was great as I got to meet nearly all of Alasdair's relatives in one go, but it would have been nice to spread them out over 2 weeks rather than 2 days. Still, I made it through the weekend without too much drama, I only set fire to one table decoration and just had to mention the safety word once to Sarah for her to weesht so I'd call that a result.

Photos on my flickr page now.

PS I was trying to save a glass of wine from being spilt when I accidentally knocked over the table decoration onto a tea light - I was still sober at the time!

How did this happen?

There are a few 'how did this happens?' that I'm thinking about, firstly I covet a sofa, secondly I'm framing 'art' and thirdly I almost lost contact with someone completely accidentally.

To begin, Alasdair and I bought a mattress on Friday which was long overdue as his current mattress is an orthopaedics dream come true; lumpy, bumpy and uneven. Nightmare. Even I was struggling to sleep sometimes! So we headed down to Argos and pulled my favourite trick of buying something of decent quality in the sale. All the quality half the price. Fantastic.

After that, and a quick trip to his mum's to deliver a birthday bouquet, it was off to Ikea to buy some picture frames. Only it wasn't just picture frames that caught our eye... we now covet a dark brown leather sofa and pouffe and have started saving up accordingly.

Beyond the sofa desire, I'm shocked that I'm not only framing postcards and calling it art but I'm also framing the paper bags they come in and calling them art too. It's not as bad as you think though, they actually look good together, honest.

Finally, I'm a bit annoyed at googlemail. My friend Isla left Glasgow 18 months ago to live in Sydney before going travelling for a few months. We promised we'd stay in touch and we did. But googlemail had other ideas. Any time I emailed her she'd reply with her news and everytime she replied I had no idea. I still have no idea where her emails have gone, maybe I'll get them when I'm old and wrinkly but for now they seem to have disappeared into cyberspace.

Thankfully we met up at their party on Saturday evening and managed to sort our communication problems out. Formal congrats to Zain and Isla and Matt and KP who were all announcing their engagements at the weekend.

We also managed to catch Dean Queasy and David Bowie gigging on Sunday night. Dean Queasy are a great wee band with fantastic lyrics courtesy of Simon Richardson and David Bowie was in the guise of Tigers on Vaseline, an amazing Bowie tribute band. They played all the old Ziggy Stardust hits and with the exception of one particularly difficult note, the singer was spot on. Can't wait to see them again.

Dissertations, Decorating and Dancing

It's all go at uni at the moment with the first draft of our dissertation in and awaiting feedback before the final is due mid July. It is driving me slightly mad at the moment because my academic writing has never been a strong point. Granted, I do always manage to pull it out the bag but it doesn't really come naturally to me so I need to get my head down and get stuck into it.

As always, the practical side of the work is rolling out no problem so I suppose I should be pleased about that. If you want an idea of what I'm producing have a look at Confessions of a Screendance Student. The work will be on display in Dundee this September as well as (hopefully) being programmed at The Arches at some point this winter as well.

Alasdair's been busy too re-decorating his flat. His flat isn't in the best area but it's a good flat with 2 bedrooms and a front and back garden which is great during the summer. Even better now he's got rid of the dodgy 80s decor that's been there since he moved in.

Finally, Lisa, Alasdair and I went to Club Noir this month for some old-fashioned, dressed up dancing. I'd been told that it was full of fag hags in their underwear so, of course, I went wearing my sparkly pants on the look out for new gay best friends to dance with. I wasn't disappointed. Lee, Lewis and Ricky certainly fit the bill and even came prepared with a feather for my sparkly headband - it was meant to be!

Amsterdam Part Deux

Our second trip to Amsterdam in the last six months was even better than the first. As well as being my first time there during the summer it was also my friends, Yasmin and Adam's, joint Hen and Stag do, or 'HAG do' as I like to call it.

The hotel was a huge improvement on the last one simply because there was room to move around without having to climb on the bed or wait til the other person passes. It could have done without the clogs or coos on the walls though!



We spent most of our time watching the world go by, giggling like schoolgirls, drinking freshly squeezed orange juice and wandering around the canals feeling jealous of anyone in a boat.

Saturday night was spent at Club 11, a bar/club/restaurant situated on the 11th floor of a dis-used postal building, which you have to enter by a lift complete with grafitti and ghetto blaster. I think it's the only club I've been to with windows (the only one I remember anyway) which meant we had great nights views across the city and an extremely early glimmer of sunrise towards the end of the night. Gorgeous.



Sunday was supposed to be sports day for the Hag do but the blistering heat combined with varying degrees of hangovers put paid to that. Instead we decided to laugh at Yas in her Hen gear and 'interesting' articles in the Candian Cosmo (apparently women are worse drivers than men because they are 'foolish' and 'apply make up'!!!) and just generally laze about... Can anyone spot a theme here?

All in all it was a relaxing weekend which is lucky because I have a presentation in front of the examination board on Monday for uni and need to have my wits about me.

On the Upside...

Blaze @ Bacchus was brilliant. The dancers were amazing, so much more relaxed than usual, and the DJs were great with a full dancefloor for most of the night. I think the party/performance combo is definitely the way forward for Blaze but a bigger venue will be needed for the next one...

Suggestions on a postcard please.

DISI Rascals

At the beginning of 2005 I was involved in a pilot programme for YDance's Dance In Schools Initiative. The plan was that throughout the course of 3 years, 12 full time dancers would deliver dance to every local authority in Scotland which basically involved lots of early mornings (it has been known for tutors to leave at 4am!), lots of staff rooms and lots of carry on.

As the project has now come to an end, and 12 dancers are now looking for work, YDance decided to soften the blow by throwing a party for everyone involved.

I can't remember laughing so much in all my life. A room full of dancers, some of whom don't see one another from one year to the next, all having too much to drink and dancing like lunatics. At the start of the night everyone was on their best behaviour and looking amazing - we're an attractive bunch, you know - and by the end of it I was being lifted by Dan, the skinniest man in the world, being told I was the coolest person ever by Dan and my new GBF, Allan, (and people wonder why I'm such a fag hag) and dancing like a dafty to Windowlicker. Sarah almost had a fit when Wallace put that track on and ordered him to play it in full or risk getting all his records scratched.

The night ended with me, Sarah and Alasdair continuing the party back at his flat, much to the amusement of his (sober) flatmate who decided he might as well just get up and join us.

Me and Allan strike a pose!

Comedians, Coincidences and Copping Off

The weekend started with a trip to Oban for work before driving to Ardrishaig near Lochgilphead for an overnight stay ready for more work on Saturday morning. Lisa and I had been to the same place the previous week and had caused chaos chatting to the locals and managing to offend one man by asking if he had paid for this new wife from Thailand. With that in mind we were quite glad that there was a comedy night planned, entertainment and something to distract the locals from our big gobs.

The comedians were really good actually with only one exception - a local woman who thought a parody of Flower of Scotland would be a good idea, hmm. Wouldn't have been so bad if it was any good but it was rank rotten. Anyway, the rest of them were really good, particularly a duet who did a whole set of improvised sketches based on audience suggestions. The whole thing reminded me of the Neo-Futurists show I saw in Chicago and when I mentioned this to one of the comedians he told me I was spot on. Not only that but he went to see the Neo-Futurists a few years ago and was only disappointed by the fact that John Jughead Pierson, the man whose music introduced him to Neo-Futurists in the first place, wasn't there. He was on tour. In Glasgow. At a gig my brother organised and I designed flyers for.

Very small world.

And now onto the 'Copping Off' part of the blog. Perhaps a bit of a misleading title as it's probably a lesson in how not to cop off. To the young man from Bothwell in the Sub Club on Saturday night... when trying to charm a young lady with the intention of a kiss and a cuddle at the end of the night, it's probably an idea to establish whether or not she has a boyfriend before kissing her hand and maybe try to learn her name as well and, most importantly, the line 'if worst comes to worst I've got a hotel room booked, hen' is highly unlikely to result in anything more than a slap on the face.

Funniest thing was, about half an hour after I managed to shake him off I walked past him hassling some other girl and overheard him shouting 'HOTEL ROOM' at her face.

Smooth!

Time for Another Shameless Plug

No, not about Shameless the TV programme which I'm sticking with despite the fact I am sorely disappointed with this series. No, this shameless plug is about the new block of classes and our end of term party.

Contemporary, Street and Tap will all be on Wednesdays as of 20th Feb. The block runs for 7 weeks and will cost £42 but there will be savings if you book more than one class, a fiver saved for 2 classes and a tenner saved for 3.

Contemporary 6pm-7pm
Street 7pm-8pm
Tap 8pm-9pm

There will also be a special block of classes for complete beginners to Tap. Learn the lingo, sort out your shuffles and brush up on your brushes. Mondays in March from 3rd to the 31st 7pm-8pm in Hyndland Primary. No class on the 24th as it's Easter Monday. The block is 4 weeks long and costs £24. This block may not run again so if you want to get to grips with the basics of Tap, this is your chance.

Finally, we're having a party. Saturday 5th April, 8pm-1am, Bar Bacchus, Glassford Street, £4. Dance, DJs and drinks. Don't miss it.

Since last time...

It suddenly dawned on me today that I'd started a wee item in the sidebar about my day to day activities and not updated it for a week. So since last time I've been going to Death Disco, partying until the next day at John's, recovering all day, learning fancy DVD stuff, getting feedback from my PG Cert assessment, teaching dance, driving in the snow, watching dance films and planning lots of projects for the year ahead.

So you see, I have been busy.

Back to Business!

I've been off work and uni since the 10th Dec so it's safe to say I'm bored of being off and I'm ready to go back. Uni doesn't start until the week of the 14th but luckily for me (and you) Blaze classes start back next week. Choose from Contemporary - great for core strength, Street - killer ass and Tap - amazing legs.

Get the year off to a good start by joining a dance class, you'll get fit, meet new people and avoid the rubbish on telly at least one night a week!

Contemporary - Tuesdays 7pm-8pm from 08.01.08
A relaxed class where you can work on your body from the inside out, using your core muscles, and have an invigorating introduction to contemporary dance and the style of FireBox Dance Theatre. Suitable for beginners and intermediates.

Street - Wednesdays 7pm-8pm from 09.01.08
High energy and high impact. Incorporates elements of poppin' and breakin' as well as a few moves just for fun. This class is suitable for everyone so come along and get your freak on.

Tap - Wednesdays 8pm-9pm from 09.01.08
Sort your shuffles from your ripples and your beats from your taps, this is an intermediate class aimed to develop rhythmic tapping and combinations.

Each class costs £30 for a block of 5 weeks. You can save yourself £5 by booking any 2 classes, book all 3 and save a tenner. Bargain!

Also, for complete beginners there will be a one-off start up Tap class to cover the basics before joining the main class. See Blaze for more info.

Well, what are you waiting for?

After a start like that...

I don't know if I'll be able to keep up this year. We started the night having a few civilised drinks in Sarah's flat before getting into the Subby in good time for the bells, drink in hand with our spot on the dancefloor well and truly secured. We pretty much stayed there until 5am only nipping upstairs to the Classic Grand for a pitstop or a boogie to some disco music with my old/new GBF (old because I've known him since I was 3, new because I haven't seen him since we left school although he has been looking around London for me - yes, people still think I moved to London! I didn't.).

After a quick freshen up in Sarah's (you have no idea how grateful I was for a quick wash after a very sweaty night dancing) we headed back to John's where the delightful host plyed us with more drinks as well as several cups of tea before packing us off home for the best sleep of my life.

For the record, I did have the confidence to wear my sparkly pants and spent the night getting my bum spanked (mostly by girls!) then giggled as an elderly Asian man dropped his pizza while staring at my legs.

Heeheehee!

Twinkle, twinkle sparkly briefs...

How I love those small fig-leaves
At the top of legs so long
They make my boyfriend sing a song!

Terrible wee poem about my lovely wee pants. I can't wait to wear them on Hogmanay, now I just need to find the perfect top to go with them...

Crimbo Catch Up

Ok, ok, I've been very lax recently with my blog writing and I'm sorry. Lots of things have happened but that also means I've been very busy. Since my last post I've been to Amsterdam, finished (and passed) the first part of my Masters, Christmas shopped on my tightest budget ever and celebrated Alasdair's birthday in style.

Our four days in Amsterdam were great, strolling along the canals, drinking hot chocolate and stuffing ourselves with more dough, cheese and ham than we could handle. The only downside was our ridiculously tiny room. Seriously tiny.



The other minor downside was our incredibly loud French neighbours, every night at around 1am they'd start screaming and running around the room. Not ideal for a romantic getaway. Anyway, on the upside Christmas decorations don't get put up until 12th night in Amsterdam so we were able to actually get excited about the whole thing rather than having it forced upon us since mid-October.

After that I found out I'd passed the PG Cert part of my Masters so now have a few more letters to tag on at the end of my name! Also on the work front, Derrick Linton, one of the Time Based Art students on my course, very kindly came down to Glasgow to a freezing day in the Arches to take our pictures for the new website. I'm busy designing the website right now and it'll be online in the new year but you can have a wee preview of the images on my myspace page (the link is opposite).

There have also been a few good nights in and out in the past month and the Subby was having a Morgan's Spiced night on Friday which to be honest could have gone either way but we decided to chance it and go along for Alasdair's birthday (4 days before Christmas - nightmare!). Good decision. Everyone was being handed Elvis style gold aviators as they entered and Mischief-La-Bas were there doing a press routine and taking polaroids of everyone. The music was pretty good as well and Sarah, Jen and I went mental for 5 minutes while they played MIA (AMAZING!!).



Well it's now Christmas and we'll be having our usual family day tomorrow full of pressies, booze and possibly karaoke - Alasdair doesn't know what he's let himself in for! Have a great one, enjoy it and please remember it's the thought that counts... after all, I'm a student again!

xx

Busy, busy, busy

This week I've been a very busy girl updating websites, myspace pages & blog layouts, learning new software (or trying to at least), planning classes, teaching and generally getting ready for the winter.

At the moment I'm loving...

that feeling of accomplishment when web design software just works first time...
looking forward to what feels like the first big night out in ages...
seeing my dance pals (it's been far too long)...
getting all the doublers off my iPod and realising I have much more space than I thought...
being able to wear all the clothes at the back of my wardrobe that I thought I'd have to throw out because they used to be too small...

However I'm not too crazy about...

having cold hands & feet sitting at my computer...
gossip mongers getting their facts wrong...
not having enough cash to go out and buy new clothes that fit...

Fun & Frolics at Bestival

I was going to attempt to document the whole weekend but so many strange and wonderful things happened that the only way I can organise my brain around them is by using bulletpoints. Some will be self-explanatory and some are 'in-jokes' and just for my own amusement I'm not going to explain them. Have fun drawing your own conclusions.

Thursday

- 7 hour drive to Southampton, mini flip out from me when I spotted my friend's old house
- gorgeous sunset ferry trip to IOW
- manic driving trying to find Newport FC's makeshift campsite 'before dark' despite the fact I already had my full beams on
- tent up 2nd time lucky and a few celebratory drinks
- hunt the seat testicles

Friday

- 3 mile drive from Newport FC to Bestival site taking almost 2 hours
- 2 trips from car to campsite with booze and gear
- tent up 1st time and many celebratory drinks
- Bollywood Bar & Big Top for much dancing, laughing and chatting to strangers

Saturday

- pirate day
- Worzel Gummage drops his rollie
- Christopher Walken
- 'You're a pure pie'
- midnight pizza munching
- Big Top for much dancing, laughing, chatting to strangers and aarrrgghing

Sunday

- zzzip, ksssh, glug glug glug
- let's get married
- worst ale ever
- 'just a band'
- Big Top for much dancing, laughing and chatting to Grotbags

Monday

- 6.30am alarm
- to spew or not to spew
- £26 breakfast
- 7.15pm home safe and sound
- best shower ever

photos are on my flickr page x

Countdown to Bestival

I am getting very excited now. I have a tent, wellies, suncream, tickets and pirate costume all ready to go. A quick trip to asda (ok, maybe lidl) later on for booze and croissants (breakfast is the most important meal of the day after all) and we're all set. I even decorated the envelope with all the important things in it. Yes, I know that's possibly the most pathetic thing I've ever done but that's what happens when I get excited about things.

Now if everyone can join together in a little sundance for the weekend I will be most grateful. Thank you x