Stalled...

Okay, so here's the skinny. I was way too knackered to attend the Old Explorer blues jam last Thursday. I'm going to make every effort to go this week, though, assuming it's still running. Watch this space.

Practice and progress were non-existent last week. The weekend was no different. I have temporarily stalled... hopefully not for long. I can't afford to lose momentum like this or I'll end up going backwards. Unfortunately I don't see myself getting moving again until tomorrow. Too much to do about the loft to bring it back to 'habitable'. All plans for the weekend slipped away when we heard that some friends of ours who live in Paris were over. We were out most of the time, drinking... [hic]. No regrets, though. Good friends, good times. Weather-wise the weekend was f**ked up! Friday was a beautiful Summer's day, Saturday was Spring-like if a little damp. By Sunday it was snowing!

In other news, I've ordered a micro-recorder that works through my iPod. I keep getting song ideas but before I can play them they disappear from my head. Think mini-dictaphone for the mp3 generation. I can't imagine that the quality will be great, given the low-low price tag, but hey, I figured it was worth trying. If I can just capture one or two song ideas it'll be worth it. It should be possible to use it for recording guitar, too. Have to wait and see. I often jot down lyrics in a notebook, but by the time I get round to reviewing them the musical concept has evaporated so I'm back to square one. Oh, the device is called an Xtrememac MicroMemo if you want to google it. I'll let you know how well it works.

Other musical news...

Going to see the Oli Brown Band play on Saturday. Looking forward to that. They're showcasing their debut album, which is being released by the German outfit Ruf Records.

Bought a couple of albums on a whim. One by Matt Nathanson, entitled "Beneath These Fireworks" and one by The Nadas, "Listen Through The Static". Both were artists I discovered through Pandora Radio. I got them on the strength of a couple of songs so we'll have to see whether the rest of the tracks are up to much.

Finally, I found out on Friday that the upcoming Clapton gig in Hyde Park not only has The Man Himself playing, along with Sheryl Crow and John Mayer, but now Robert Randolph & The Family Band AND Jason Mraz have been added to the roll.

I just don't like listening to concerts in places like Hyde Park. Bad acoustics and you end up a mile and a half from the stage, wondering what the hell's going on most of the time... needless to say that even if VIP seats up front were still available, they'd be price prohibitive.

Having said that, since buying "Unclassified" I now desperately want to see Robert Randolph perform live and I'm not afraid to admit a bit of a closet Mraz-a-fan. I mostly dig his solo acoustic stuff, but I've seen him play in Houston and London and his shows are a guaranteed fun time.