Dandelion Thing

Seeing as one of my two readers asked, I might as well let you know.

'Dandelion Thing' refers of course to the band formerly known as Dandelion Project, now working under the moniker Bob Clements and the Projects. Discussions are still ongoing to determine a permanent name. Currently in the pot are: The Bob Clements Effect; The Bob Clements Project (and variations on the Bob Clements theme, which I think is wearing a bit thin with us - it's the name of a friend's dog, by the way. Or rather ex-dog, which is how it came about); Tyrannosaurus Reg; 1579 (or: onefivesevennine); Gutty; Posology; Monilial.

Actually, I just got those last three by flicking to a page in a dictionary and writing the first word I saw. 'Posology' is "the branch of medicine concerned with the determination of appropriate doses of drugs or agents," which is actually quite subtly rock and roll. 'Monilial' on the other hand is a "Pathol denoting a thrush infection." I suppose some would argue that's pretty rock and roll too.

Compared to deciding on a name we're finding this creating noises thing somewhat easier. We're working on six currently, possibly coming to a MyFace page near you soon, if we ever do decide on a name. My favourite so far, if only for its title, is 'Pause, Bang, Do Stuff'.

Glaswegian Invaders

I went for a ride round town after work yesterday, about 2.30pm. It was a bit like walking through a packed festival, except the drinking was on an industrial scale the likes of which I've not witnessed before. It was a good atmosphere then though - sure, they'd all taken over, and most of them seemed to be urinating wherever they felt like it, but they, and we, were having fun with it. People were high-fiving me as I pedalled, slowly, through the masses; songs were being sung; bus shelters were being sat on; tram stations had dozens of Scottish people at them, instead of trams.

I went to band practice in the evening. Our room is in an old mill about 1/4 mile from the stadium, on the main route between there and the centre of town. I arrived just after kick off and the streets were empty but for a few lost, drunken Scotsmen. When I came out there was a river of people pouring back into the centre. I could tell immediately that the result was not favourable to the Glaswegian invaders.

I considered continuing on my normal route home, which would have meant working my way through the crowds in my car, but stopped and turned around before it got too busy. It was a wise decision - I heard on the radio two minutes later that they were turning cars over just 300 yards from where I turned back.

There were a few solemn faces at Picadilly station this morning, 9.30am. Some still had cans of Tennants being tilted back and forth to them. The streets were a mess though - my bike tyres crunched over broken glass for most of the two mile ride to work and the smell was everywhere. The city stank of piss.

Writing Woes

I'm thinking of giving this up. It's getting quite boring trying to find words for bland noises. I suppose you could argue that is the skill of the music reviewer. Fine, they can keep it.

Something else I'm getting bored of is advice offered, often without prompt, with regards to The Book (which is about this, if you're struggling to keep up/awake). I've got to the stage with it where I need some unbiased, constructive feedback, but often people read this as 'advice on the futility of trying to get anywhere in publishing'. I was reduced this week to spelling out to one such commenter that given his choice of giving up now, before I'd even really started, or having the balls to give it a go, despite possibly (and I quote) 'completely wasting my time', I'll take the latter, thank you very much.