I catalogued all my cds yesterday. It was fun. I got to find all kind of rubbish that I'd forgotten about. And then I found stuff like Achtung Baby that Andy burned for me about 3 years ago that I'd mislaid. Mary Star of the Sea had gone missing too, but I found that, as well as Trailer Park by Beth Orton. I'm not sure I even like that anymore.

Every cd has its own card in a file thing, complete with band name and album title, particular points of interest, and if the cd is actually missing. As is the case with stuff like Bjork debut and others.  I have decorated the box with pictures of Hendrix, a Strat, a thing that says "rock!", and Justin Hawkins' face. And a thing about the Stone Roses. I feel like I'm about 13 again and drawing spirals with Dan Smith in hommage to the Spin Doctors. 

Notable absences include In Utero and Nevermind and Beck Mutations. Check your collections.

I have stuff which is not mine. I have a spare Pablo Honey and a spare Parachutes. I have the cd for My Iron Lung ep, but no case.

I found some cool old recordings of The Red Shift (my Bristol band) that reminded me that quite a lot of the stuff we did is pretty damn good.

Yesterday I also got a suit for the wedding. It is really nice. It fits well. The only disconcerting thing is that they seem to want you to have the trousers pulled up ridiculously high, like over your navel/tummy  button. It makes you look either like a clown, some fat bastard in a gentleman's club with a brandy and a cigar, Stimpy in that great episode of Ren and Stimpy, or like Alaistar Glynn at school when we were 12 and he used to do an alternative look to his uniform which included tucking his trousers into his socks and such larks.

Happy Birthday Will, sorry it's a bit late!

Hello.

I had a really good bath yesterday. On the plane, I noticed that I had mud on the underside of my forearms, and on my legs. I also had some mud in my hair.

I got a really great email from my Icelandic friend Anna yesterday. She has a very beautiful way of writing in English. Her sentences are very long, and flow just as her mind thinks.

Katie's plane was delayed by a day from Mexico city because of flooding.

As of today I have started studying. Oh yes, this is going to be fun. I'm kicking off with Ariosto, a 16th century high renaissance writer. His Italian differs a lot from the Italian that is around today. So I have just ordered a translation.

Icelandic however has not differed much at all over the last 2000 years, which means that Icelanders living today can read all the sagas with absolutely no problem at all.

Just got back from a few really great days in Bordeaux. We played lots of music, and I spent a good deal of time working on two new songs.

Everyone in Bordeaux is well, and it is very reassuring going back and hearing how we play together.

Last night we had a kind of band party, which ended up with us going to a football pitch and doing penalties at 2 in the morning, drinking rum orange and banana from a pepsi bottle under flashes of lightening.

The flight this morning was less good.

Katie is back today. Hurray hurray hurray.

x

Holy cow, I made it back. The journey was not that fun because I still felt quite ill, but the bloody mary on the plane was perfect. Flying really isn't a good thing to do. Who really knows how planes work? I think it was Catherine who was telling me that she knows someone who was in a plane when the door ripped off and several people fell out, and then chairs started being pulled out of their places from the pressure. This made me want to fly less.
 
Had a good curry last night, and had a bath this morning. Excellent bacon, black pudding, egg, ketchup, hp sauce and worcestershire sauce sandwich for breakfast. Phew!
 
I opened up the prize from Modena for the writing competition last night. It wasn't a book. It was one of these.
 
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000235ASC.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
 
I shall be writing a thankyou letter. It is quite amazing. I have never won anything like that before. A big thankyou also to Miss Snothead McGlade for making me do it too.

Last night was my last night as a third year Erasmus student. It really hit home as I was walking down Via Emila at around 4 in the morning, feeling slightly nauseous. It was a great night. We started in the flat with Lambrusco and the Martini, and then went to the Oca Golosa to eat to a standstill. Everyone seemed very happy, and it felt quite different to most nights. Not because they were happy, but more carefree or something. Maybe it was the drink before. I think with Clare going yesterday it has really made me stop and just think about the year and what I've got out of it. A bigger stomach I think is the answer. A good investment though.

Felt like death this morning, and the sun has got his bloody hat on again, and having a sore head with dehydration and the sun is less than fun.

Bus at 3.20 to Bologna woohoo, then plane.

Should I change the name of the blog?

I feel unbelievably lucky to have shared so many memorable moments with people in Bordeaux and Modena this year (and Barcelona and Mexico). I hope we keep in touch.

I'm rambling again. My mouth is dry. I need iced tea alla pesca yeah.

Saturday I nipped over to Turin with Francesco (not Malvetani) to see Iggy Pop. A solid three hour journey, it was a great opportunity to get to chat to Francesco a bit more; something I'd wanted to do for a while. The gig was unususal for me. I don't normally go to see full on rock concerts, usually I go for more relaxed stuff that I can watch and listen to. In Turin, the crazy crazy people were out in force, creating mosh pit violence and hurting themselves for fun. Good gig though, and Iggy really does go for it. More so than I ever could. Probably drugged up to the eyeballs with it.

Sunday finished essay. It is over.

Monday sent essay. Post office was shut for a few days, so had to go out of town. No surprises though, this is Italy after all. Never rely on any public service ever.

Chatted to Katie face on MSN last night. Not long now.

Sorry for dullness of post, am very very tired, and smell bad. I have run out of deoderant, and am far too lazy to go and buy some more.

Am working on music for Bordeaux (I'm off on Saturday hurrah!), and looking forward to seeing Mum and Dad on Thursday. Will I see Liz? Not sure. Doubt it if I'm going on Saturday.

See you all soon.

x

Me again. Forgot something.

We went to a typical Modenese restaurant the other day that Bastian pointed out. It was good. They did loads of tigellas (little bun things you stuff with parma ham and lard and parmesan), pasta, pudding et al. Excellent. Thanks Bastian. We thought of you. And then ate some more.

Two things.

1) Has anyone heard a French band called Phoenix? Sing in English, nonsensical lyrics, but quite catchy tunes. I'd like to know what the album is like. Kind of what Beautiful Lunar Landscape does, but we have better lyrics and better music. Modesty gets you a long way.

2) Has anyone listened to A Grand Don't Come For Free? All the way through. If you have, please get in touch so I can talk to someone about it.

Dodgy, the greatest band of all time. If it's good enough for you it's good enough for me. They were quite amazing musicians though. Why do bands like them do suicidal songs? Like the Boo Radleys. Not a bad band at all, but then they do Wake Up Boo, that is on GMTV every morning for the next 8 years. And everyone wants to hurt them.

Essay essay essay essay.

So so dull.

Greece won then. Wonder what the odds were like before the tournament?

Had an unexpectedly great night yesterday. After endless days of dull essay writing and distraction tactics, we went out as a flat to the pizzeria where Cristina used to work. We were celebrating Cristina graduating from school. I still don't quite understand if she means school as in A-levels, or school as in American university. She's 21, so I hope she means the latter.

We decided not to eat all day, and then go at 10pm and eat and drink as much as we could. We did. Then we made our way to a park where there is an outdoor pub and an atmosphere not unlike certain cafes in Amsterdam. So today I feel very strange.

Good news concerning Bordeaux. Am making my way out from the 18th to the 22nd to play, and get some music back into the bones after breaking la chitarra. Wish I could be there longer, but I hope to nip back some time over the summer anyway.

Back to the essay woo.