Here comes the summer…

I haven’t blogged in a while, which is mainly down to time and energy levels. It didn’t really occur to me that working full-time, studying architecture on day release and another three night classes over the course of the year, tied in with between 1-3 football games a week would make me feel as tired as it has, but it did. I’ve been neglecting music and photography and writing, although I’ve happily found enough time to read as I rattle from one destination to another on Glasgow’s painfully inadequate public transit infrastructure. In fact, if it weren’t for my constant inveterate rage at the world, humanity and every piece of technology ever invented, I think I’d have faded away to nothing a long time ago.

I did have the notion of writing a long and eloquent paean to my…erm, pain, but I feel so vexed, I’m just going to rant.

So, since my last post I’ve finished all the work required to pass the first year of my HNC in Architectural Technology; whether it’s of the standard required is another matter, but I’m 90% sure it’s fine. This should mean three months of not having to worry about when the next assessment is due in. This also means I don’t have squeeze a five day workload into four days at work, meaning the office should be a less stressful place for the next 12 weeks or so. I would have liked to go on a short holiday somewhere (I had planned on travelling across Switzerland, Germany and Austria, to the point where I enrolled in a German class to brush up my grasp of the language), but my finances mean I’m not likely to be able to afford such a trip. I’m saving up for a car and a deposit for some form of house, and such fripperies cannot be sanctioned I’m afraid.

And so I find myself returning home from work each evening, unable to raise the enthusiasm to do little more than browse the internet. It’s a slightly worrying state of affairs, given that I’m already likely to fret about how little talent I have without wasting the modicum of creative bent I do possess. I’m not sure what I can do about it however as I no longer have the vim I possessed in my teen and early 20s.

I touched on this with my friend Kevin the other evening, as we talked about Blur’s 1997 self-titled album. He commented that it was far superior to the Manic Street Preachers’ new release, while I contended that it was an unfair comparison, as the latter are in their 40s while the members of Blur had just entered their 30s when ‘Blur’ was recorded. It would appear that most pop/rock/contemporary musicians produce their best material in their 20s, and I can’t personally think of too many acts where this isn’t the case, although I invite suggestions. I did have a brief reminder of the passion of my youth this morning when I read a lovely piece by John Harris of the Guardian on Blur’s reformation this year. I’ve been a fan of Harris since I read his marvellous book ‘The Last Party’, and the article reminded me of what I loved about music and music criticism in the mid to late 90s; incisive, eloquent scribes writing wonderful copy about musicians that were producing great works of art in the midst of personal circumstances that would make your average person hide in a cupboard. I found that Q magazine, my preferred read, went downhill markedly around the turn of the century. I suspect this was due to the paucity of characters in the music industry during that period. Coldplay have been one of the biggest bands in the world for much of the 21st century so far, but it must be hard for music journalists to find an angle on writing about them. Aside from Chris Martin’s marriage to Gwyneth Paltrow, there’s not that much for the amateur psychologists, sociologists and philosophers that make up the music press to get their teeth into.

Hopefully though I’ll be able to find a bit of a creative spark over the summer. This coming Friday, I’m going down to Cardiff for four days, specifically to take part in the annual Photomarathon contest. I’ve wanted to enter since I first heard about it in 2006, but due to one circumstance or other, I’ve been unable to until this year. I had to buy a 35mm film camera especially, as I no longer had a functioning one of my own. I managed to pick up a Minolta XD-11 for £25 from the local camera shop, and I’m shooting a roll of film at the moment to make sure it’s working ok. I got a bit of a rush of inspiration the last time I went to Cardiff, so I’m hoping the same thing happens this time around. Oh, and I finally got around to buying a dedicated camera bag for my D300 and all its bits and pieces.

Turning to my other obsession, football, I can happily report all is more or less well. My team Rangers won the league and Scottish cup double, and I’ve been keeping my hand in with 2-3 games of five a side a week despite my ongoing shin problem. It hasn’t all been plain sailing though, I did almost get in a fight one night in Hamilton (over-reacting to being smacked in the face at point-blank range with the ball), and in two Saturday games at Townhead I’ve twisted my ankle and done something to my knee. I really shouldn’t have played the two games I did this week, but I got talked into it…

So, having seen Doves and Manic Street Preachers so far this year, I’m off to see Oasis at Murrayfield on Wednesday. I’m not so much a fan of the latest album, and I don’t think seeing them in a stadium setting will be great, but it should be a fun night out for all.

I think I’ll touch on the ranting in a further update.