This afternoon I'm off back to England, so I thought this would be a good time to round things up. I'm going back for a few days to celebrate birthday and see a few friends, then Katie and I are going to Germany for a few weeks on a road-trip. Should be fun!

The tour planned for the end of september is more or less finalised with 2/3 dates still to be booked. So if you live in London or Paris and you want to help us get these final dates I'd appreciate that more than you know.

I've spent the last couple of days getting the flat into shape; there's nothing worse than coming back to a dirty flat. Wow. Wouldn't have caught me saying that a few years ago. It didn't help that last night I went out with the boys in the band. We arrived at the Frog at 18h and proceeded to buy happy hour cocktails by a convoluted game involving throwing darts at random numbers. So by about 20h everyone had imbibed rum, gin, vodka, tequila, triple sec cachaca, beer, wine etc. The barman thought it was his lucky day and started giving us free shots as well. We rounded the night off in another bar with some Guinness, so you can only imagine how great I felt at 4 am when I woke up on the couch fully clothed. Mmmm.

Anyway, everything's sorted more or less. Neighbours are kindly watering plants etc. Woot.

I just need to finish packing and get out the flat now. Am instead listening to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs whilst updating my blog. Hmm.

Bye! and check out the band's myspace (http://www.myspace.com/beautifullunarlandscape) to see if you can make it to one of the gigs on the tour. Check back as there'll be more dates added.

Love ben x

If you stumble across this and see that I have indeed updated, pat yourself on the back, and be proud. You are the persevering type.

My news is mainly music based I am afraid. Work being as it is, since the massive strikes a few weeks ago, most departments have grinded to a halt, and my time is nearly up. Have renewed said contract though, so invitations to Bordeaux extend to end of next year now.

With Beautiful Lunar Landscape the gigs are coming along nicely, and we're getting good feedback on our myspace. But the biggest news I suppose is our impending tour across France Belgium and England. This will be in the first week of October, so we'll let you know as it comes along. We're getting some exposure on local radios and a London radio called playvybz. All good.

For summer I have August down as holiday around Germany in car with tent. Should be great.

Let me know how you are... and who you are!

In true Ben style, it has been a good month since the last update on here. I was only really reminded to update as my good friend Oli asked me for the address, and he has a smart blog on Myspace. I didn't want mine to look so pants.

Anyway, it has in all fairness been a busy month. I actually have the time to sit here and write this mainly thanks to the Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and his lousy CPE youth work contract ideas. This proposal has been angrily shoved back at him by most universities and colleges in France, and in the wake of the autumn riots, the French youth seem to realise that there are some serious problems that need to be addressed. Now many different issues are falling under the same umbrella such as the problems with the advantaged middle classes with their own private colleges and universities against the state run and thoroughly decrepit uni systems. Along with the massive youth unemployment rates and miserable prospects, institutionalised racism is prevelant in every sector of this flaky secular society.

Which all means I don't have to go to work for a few days which is great.

Over the last few weeks we've been recording and mixing our first proper demo. You can see/hear/comment upon the results at

http://www.myspace.com/beautifullunarlandscape

We are very happy with the results, and without wanting to hideously jinx things, we are getting some great interest from local organisers and people in the music scene. We are being lined up to support a well known French band called Calc who have had success on both sides of the Channel and who have a record label in Oxford. Fingers crossed.

Ben x

Here are some swans 

Hello. It's February now, and Bordeaux is picking up in the general weather and work stakes. I have failed dismally at sticking to my 'less than 30 mins on the internet a day' resolution. My eyes are now feeling pretty messed up. I've been posing the new year's resolution question to students, and they have been pretty obvious, with the exception of the guy who said he wants to sell his bike and use his car more. Fair enough.

I am currently procrastinating from lesson planning by updating my blog. I should be preparing a two hour lesson on illegal downloading and file-sharing and the like. Time is running out.

Music is going particularly well at the moment as we are rehearsing loads more than normal. This does have it's problems as evenings get eaten up, but then we are searching for the greatest offering to music since Stiltskin, so we musn't grumble, we must focus Daniel son.

Went to Basque country the other day for a mini holiday in the Basque country which was just perfect. Here is the farm/hotel if you're interested, and the room was Socoa-

http://www.ostalapia.com/chambre_fr.html

The French part of the Basque country is beautiful with diverse geography for such a small area. From the farm we could see the purplish Pyrenees mountains, and a kilometre the other way are some beaches. We'll go back in the summer to see what it is like. Probably more full of tourists.

Oh, and I drove back from Biarritz. Was really weird driving on the right (wrong) side of the road. Kind of fun though. Less fun in a rented car, but fun all the same.

Ben x

It has come to that cherished time of year when I start to wonder what the hell I am going to do over the next few years. It's something to do with spring I think. Staying in Bordeaux for a further year is looking sensible. Any suggestions for a career plan are very welcome. I can state that I don't really want to be a teacher, although it can be good fun at times and the holidays are great.

Music continues to go well if not slowly. We're working on lots of new stuff, which is more sophisticated emotionally, but hampered somewhat by my intensely cliched lyrics. It only seems to work if I set my poems to the music. Writing lyrics after the music is written results in trash.

I have a scary claw for a right hand after cultivating my nails for a few months. Classical guitar sounds loads better though, and I gave my guitar the present of new strings the other day. Students are a-coming. They're going to be subjected to modals and prepositions. Lucky day. Good bye.

Happy New Year!

Am back to France on Thursday after a hectic but great few weeks in rainy old England. Lovely to see people from Bristol and home, and anyone I haven't seen I am sorry and we must meet soon.

Work at uni is going very well. Students are great and teaching is strangely satisfying work. Katie is well and teaching more than me whilst being paid less. Yes I am fighting for equality in the workplace.

www.beautifullunarlandscape.blogspot.com is where it's at with regards to the music. We're recording in January with a guy in the wine country. He is great and doing it free of charge (says he likes the music. Little does he know when we're all together we can explode).

Anyway, come to Bordeaux, eveyone's invited, eat and drink with us in our little flat.

Ben x