| Jun. 17th, 2008 @ 08:46 pm Moods |
|---|
Current Mood:  meh
Current Music: Alistair Griffin, "Is It Me"
Apologies in advance, this post rambles like nobody's business.
So it's been a weird couple of days in my head. I've been off the Prozac for a couple of weeks, not through choice but because my prescription ran out and I either kept forgetting to book a doctor's appointment to renew it, or when I did phone up there weren't any slots available (my doctor's very popular.) In the end I just asked to see another doctor at the practice so you'll be pleased to know my brain's chemical balance is on the way to being right again. In the meantime though I've been a right moody bitch, snapping at everyone.
It also doesn't help that it's been a while since the last OUT event. Much as I love the friends I've made there, I do often wish I had London-based friends who weren't connected to the website and events, just to give me a different social circle and make me less dependent on that specific social calendar (events tend to bunch up so for instance this month has been quiet so far, then in the next fortnight there's three events I can go to.) In short, when I've been home in the evening in front of the computer I've been a bit lonely (no offence to those of you I chat to online, but sometimes you do actually need to see someone in person.)
Which isn't to say anyone should worry that I've gone back into a proper depression (trust me, I'd know) but last night I had a really dramatic mood shift. As ever, I had my iTunes on random, and it rolled round to a (dodgy, recorded live) version of Alistair Griffin's song "Naked." For those who are relatively new round these parts, I co-founded and used to co-run Al's official fansite until a couple of years ago, when I pretty much ended up severing all ties. My contact with Al himself is now pretty much a couple of texts a year (for things like wishing happy birthday) which doesn't particularly get me down in itself (it's not like we were bezzie mates, our contact was mainly to do with promotional stuff and we only socialised a couple of times1) and I certainly don't regret leaving the site2. I do, however, miss there being new songs from him because whatever my experience with him and his fans, I genuinely think he's a hugely talented singer and songwriter who sadly got caught up in the backlash against reality TV popstars without having the big record label money behind him to fight against it.
Aaaanyway, back to my mood swings, and "Naked" is one of Al's more upbeat songs which made me want to listen to some more of his, so I listened to the downloads that were released last year by his short-lived band, Albion (and which are totally legal and everything kthxbai.) Unfortunately much as I love them most of those tracks are a bit more downbeat and I very abruptly went into a grump, not because of the songs themselves but a combination of all the history attached to them and the fact that there's not much sign of anything new being released any time soon.
Still, earlier today I had a look at Al's official MySpace, and despite the only things to look forward to being news of "hopes for a second album" and "writing a comedy project for the BBC" which have been around, ever-optimistic, since the year dot, I found it quite cheering. (I hadn't heard the new upbeat version of "Is It Me" before; I'm glad something's being done to deal with the problem Al himself was aware of a couple of years ago about him not having that many attention-grabbing punchy tracks to reintroduce himself with, and the new version works, but I do kinda miss the weird, atmospheric older version.)
Anyway, Al's MySpace with a couple of tracks on it is here; I'd be interested to know what the more recently-arrived Americans and other aliens round these parts think, since their ears won't have preconceptions.
Wow. It seems like ages since I posted about anything other than theatre and telly, it comes as a surprise sometimes to remind myself how disjointed the contents of my head can be, and how random the connections can get. Don't worry, I'm back on the evil!brain!drugs again3 so normal service should be resumed soon. In the meantime, sorry if you're used to the reviews and ting and thought this might be going somewhere. I don't think brains work that way. Mine certainly doesn't.
1although I'll always remeber walking down Oxford Street with him one night when a couple of drunk, aggressive looking guys walked past and one clearly recognised him (this was back when he was still on TV every so often.) I thought trouble was clearly in store but instead the guy's face just lit up and like a little kid he yelled "Oh my god! It's Alistair!" Al's response was along the lines of "that's what it's always like, I never get any aggro, everyone loves me except the radio."
2it roughly coincided with me starting this blog; frankly I think, self-involved as it may seem, if I was going to spend a lot of time on the net writing about someone it was probably better if it was about myself rather than somebody else; at least here I know if someone replies to a post it's because of something I've said, not because they hope I can get them in contact with their favourite singer. I couldn't, anyway.
3yes I know major doubts have been cast over Prozac's genuine effects recently, but all I can say is if it's a placebo it's been a remarkably effective one for me for over a decade. |
|  |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
nick730's journal
irritated