I dreamed I was a robot

Two robots are having a conversation. A human observer, one newly awoken from cryo-sleep enquires:

"Why do you employ melody, and harmony in your communication? There are much more efficient, more mathematical ways to convey ideas". 

The robots converse briefly, in their melancholy accents and then reply to the human: 

"Because it's beautiful"

Run Time Error

Going back though my youtube subscriptions and stumbled across this little gem. Run Time Error was probably the most fun I've had in a band. Four nerds, no agenda, no egos. We did about four gigs over two years, and they were mostly weddings. the rest of the time was just spent jamming and being nerds. Lee, the lead guitarist started documenting our jams, with the hope of eventually releasing a rawkumentary to accompany our album. We never really got round to either, though we had a lot of fun along the way.







 

Britney Gets a Makeover

This is Britney. The story behind her name is long and dull, but suffice to say, she does not carry this moniker without reason. Today I acquired an engraving pen - nothing special, just a simple, £6 battery one, and did some tests on beer bottles. It proved to be fairly easy so, bolstered by my many long minutes of experience, I decided to let loose on Britney. I'm reasonably satisfied with the results:

Catfish

While turning the house upside down tonight for a wooden spoon (long story), I found this little gem. Won’t mean anything to most of you, but means a lot to me. Back in the day I was in a band called Catfish. It went through many line-ups, including 3 singers (all at the same time) , 2 guitarists (at the same time), 3 bass players (at different times), 1 drummer, 1 cellist, 2 keyboard players, a saxophonist, a violinist and a trumpet player. By the end it was a 6-piece funk outfit on the cusp of success, but then everyone left Uni and went their separate ways. We got a couple of recordings down by the end, along with some dodgy gig recordings, but what I found tonight took me right back to the very beginning. The first ever gig, in the Grovel, the bar in the Whitworth Park halls of residence in Manchester, with the original line-up of 3 people. One of them is still one of my best friends, and still my favourite person to jam with. I can’t believe it’s been more than a decade since the first gig. Since I’m blogging this, I may as well add some gig pics too.

The original setlist

The Boys

Battle of the bands Round two in the Hop & Grape (now academy 3)

Words of wisdom and comfort from Dr Boardman

And of course the sock. On the right is Guppy, desperately trying not to look at my arse.

And finally the sock itself. It’s original owner is now a well-respected San Francisco-based blogger, Married to a Biochemist who also happens to be an inspirational bass player that I had the great pleasure to be in a band with for too short a period. Catfish. Good Times.