Journal – May 2002 – Well Eye Never

Welcome to another set of journal entries. This month I went to see an ABBA tribute show and attended a wedding reception, as well as having to do revision for university of course, so I was quite busy. I hope you enjoy!

Wednesday May 1, 2002

Ok, it’s May already. Busy month for me, with revision, a wedding reception on the 18th, and other stuff. I got caught in the rain today too – typical! It’s been sunny all day up to now. Just after I get off the train on my way home, it starts to rain. After I get indoors, what happens? It stops! It’s been sunny ever since. Never mind. Not much else to say though, so I’d better do some work.

Friday May 3, 2002

A 3-day weekend – woohoo! I’ve been buying music again. This time it’s a 2 CD set – The Very Best Of The Moody Blues – although the overall title only goes to the first CD. The second CD is a live show called Hall of Fame, which was performed live at the Royal Albert Hall in London on May 1st 2000. I haven’t listened to that one yet, I’m on the first one as I write this, and it’s very good.

Wednesday May 8, 2002

Last night, with 3 of my friends, I saw the ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again, who are on a UK tour right now. Apparently David Beckham and Sven-Göran Eriksson liked them, according to the leaflets. Plus, the band have been going for 13 years now. But would we like them? The simple answer has to be yes, without any doubt.

They looked, and more importantly, sounded very much like ABBA. They were clearly singing and playing live, which was great. There were 6 people on stage, although the main 4 were in charge.

First were the two ladies, who had great singing voices and super outfits too. They just did vocals. Next were the two men, one on electric guitar, one on keyboard. They also had a bass guitarist and a drummer too, which is probably obvious anyway. The guitarist is very good, perhaps not up to a Jimi Hendrix or Brian May standard, but who would be? The vocals and music were of a high standard, certainly. The lighting was also excellent, even if it did go a bit wrong occasionally, although the group made jokes about it so we were laughing with them, not at them.

They played many of the best known ABBA hits in a set lasting a couple of hours overall. They added bits of their own here and there too. One such example of their originality was what can only be described as an ‘interesting’ middle section to Take A Chance On Me involving a bit of rapping by the keyboard guy. While I’m not a rap fan, the way it was done didn’t ruin the song, it made it a bit more fun. It was only a short section, but quite clever.

They also played a couple of songs by other artists at one point during the night, and also to let the guitar player show off his skills a bit more. They were I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll and Livin’ On A Prayer. The latter in particular was an awesome performance, getting the audience joining in with the chorus. It was just one of the many highlights of the night.

So overall it was a great show, well worth my money. My friends loved it too, and one of them bought the tribute band’s album as we left. So if you ever see Bjorn Again coming to your area, go and see them! If you like ABBA, you’re in for a great night. Even if you’re not really a fan and just know a couple of their songs, it’s still worth it, honestly.

Saturday May 11, 2002

Nothing much has happened since my last entry. There’s an IQ test on BBC1 tonight, so I’m going to do it for a laugh. I think I should be able to get a decent score, I love doing puzzles and crosswords and things so my brain is quite sharp. Still, it’s only a bit of fun, the overall result doesn’t mean much. You can’t be judged on intelligence by one set of 70 questions. Not much else to say really though. I’m just going to do some more work today, as exams are in just over 2 weeks time.

Wednesday May 15, 2002

I bought The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on DVD on Monday. It’s only the second half, but it’s about 100 minutes long on its own, and it’s by far the best half. It’s got good picture and sound (including surround sound) too. Wish I had a surround sound system, but I don’t, stereo will have to do. A few songs have rehearsal footage as well, there’s a documentary, the Freddie inserts used during the show (while the next act sets up on stage), photos, and info on The Mercury Phoenix Trust and QueenOnline.com.

There’s also a musical opening in London (too far for me right now, sadly) – We Will Rock You. It has lots of Queen songs in it, but isn’t about Queen directly. When you hear the story though, the connections become obvious. And Queen are also performing at the Queen’s Jubilee Concert in June, so I can’t wait to see that on TV.

Other than that, not much else to say. My friend’s wedding reception is getting ever closer, and revision is going ok still.

Friday May 17, 2002

This weekend I’m having a little trip away to attend a mate’s wedding reception. I know the groom, D, from the school I attended for visually impaired people, as he was a member of staff in the boarding house I stayed in (and was a former pupil there a long time ago, as he has a sight problem too). We’ve always got on very well with him, he’s tremendous fun and a great laugh. He’s left the school to do other things now, but we still see him sometimes. He went on a round the world trip with his bride-to-be over the past year. And he’s Scottish too. I don’t know his wife very well, I’ve only met her once or twice, but they get on really well together.

So I met my friend P at the station today, and we got a taxi to our mate A’s place, as that’s where we’re staying, so the 3 of us can go to the reception together. A is blind and has a lovely guide dog. He’s also got his sister staying over for the weekend, although she isn’t going to the reception. He also has 2 chinchillas and a parrot upstairs too. The parrot makes a lot of noise sometimes (some odd noises too). And the house is quite new, so it hasn’t been decorated yet. But it’s a nice place, in a nice quiet area.

Some of A’s friends were already there and having a few drinks when P & I arrived. One or two were a bit drunk by the end of the night, but it’s to be expected. The 3 of us weren’t though (I don’t want to get in a state like that personally). We got a takeaway delivered too, and we just had a good laugh together.

Saturday May 18, 2002

We got up at about 11am today, then about an hour later we went into town to get our present for the lucky couple. We decided on a box of 6 patterned champagne flutes. They also gift wrapped it in the shop for us, for free. They were very helpful. We got a funny card for them too, containing “a present for both of you that you can use time and time again” – namely a “Do Not Disturb” sign they can cut out and put on their bedroom door! We also had lunch while we were out, before returning to A’s home.

A went upstairs to listen to some tapes and have a nap before the evening’s festivities, while P and myself stayed downstairs with C. There were plenty of options to kill some time, or so we first thought. There was a widescreen TV in the room, with a VCR, DVD player, a GameCube and an Xbox. We fancied a go on the Xbox, and A said we could. But we couldn’t find the mains lead for it, so that idea was stuffed. But I now see what people mean about the big controllers for it! They must be ok once you get used to them, but they look daunting at first. The GameCube only had one controller, so we didn’t have a go on that, as we like two-player games, it’s boring just watching one person play. The CDs for the GameCube are very small though! I’d heard they were small anyway, but they were still smaller than I expected!

We settled on a DVD, a suggestion from C, called Road Trip. It’s a funny film. I’d never seen it before, so I enjoyed it. Then we started to get ready for the evening ahead.

We got a taxi to the hotel for 8:30pm. With the groom being Scottish, it was very much a Scottish do. Many people (including the groom, obviously) were in full Scots gear, kilts and all. And they had a woman for the best man, which was unusual.

We had a few drinks and some food, while chatting and having a good laugh with many people there, including a few we hadn’t seen for a few years. There was Scottish dancing, although we didn’t do it, we didn’t have anybody to dance with. Some people got up and did a turn as well, either singing, dancing or telling some jokes. It was a great evening. I didn’t go to the stag night, which was held last week, but it sounded like that was fun too.

The wedding reception finished soon after midnight. We got a taxi home at about 12:45, and eventually got to bed between 2 and 3 in the morning, having had a great day.

Sunday May 19, 2002

Not much to report today. We got up about 12:30pm, and got ready to go. C put on a DVD called Legally Blonde but we didn’t really pay much attention to it. From what I did watch of it, it’s not my type of film really. We then went our separate ways in the afternoon.

So it was a very enjoyable weekend, a welcome break from studies especially. The happy couple are now off on a honeymoon to Scotland for 3 weeks, so they’ll have lots of fun. I hope it’s a long and happy marriage!

Saturday May 25, 2002

It’s that time of year again, exams are looming. So here are my plans for the next few weeks. I get extra time on my exams too, hence the odd timings:

Monday 27 May
- Economics Exam (14:15-18:00)
Tuesday May 28
- Statistics Exam (09:30-11:23)
- Accountancy Exam (14:15-16:45)
Wednesday May 29
- I’m meeting with my group to practice for the following day.
Thursday May 30
- Management Presentation. We had to do a project on Woolworths (we’ve handed in the report) for another fictitious company. We also have to do a presentation about it, and it’s being recorded on video, as it goes towards our final mark. This is the day I’ll hate most. But it doesn’t happen until 14:00, which is ok.

Then I get a period of relaxation, a whole week to revise for my final exam…

Friday June 7
- Management exam (09:30-12:00)

Then, I get a week’s break, phew! Followed by…

Monday June 17
- The start of a 3-day book-keeping course. We have to do this to go through to next year, it’s an extra tagged on the end. Thursday 20th June is the exam for this.

That is then technically it. The results come out before the end of term…

Friday June 28
- Summer holidays begin. Woohoo! It’s gonna be a long month until then though!

Anyway, back to today. Big Brother has started. I know it’s going to be rubbish but, out of curiosity (that’s what everyone says, but I mean it), I watched a few minutes of it, and promptly changed channels. I’ve never known such a boring bunch of fame-seekers. That’s going to be on for 2 months, so I’m going to avoid Channel 4 like the plague, believe me. Series 1 was ok, as it was a new thing. But it was still pointless. People just go on there to get noticed. Craig, the winner of series 1, is actually a cool guy, it seems, so I’ll let him off the hook. I’m glad he won it to be honest. He used the money well, and has done well himself. Other than that though, I’m not impressed. The best thing about it was the theme tune.

It’s Eurovision tonight too *groan*. We won’t win, I guarantee that. I don’t even like our song much (another Pop Idol contestant I think). What was the point of Pop Idol? There was no one winner, everyone’s releasing singles (and all rubbish too, mainly cover versions). Doesn’t that defeat the object? No, of course not, the record companies are making loads of money, that’s the point!

Anyway, sorry about those rants, I just thought I’d get them out of my system!

Sunday May 26, 2002

Latvia won the Eurovision Song Contest last night, Malta came 2nd, and the UK came 3rd with over 100 points! That’s pretty good for us, considering our poor performance in past years. It was an ok contest, but nothing too special really, and the voting was clearly biased as usual.

There’s a Queen night next week on Channel 4, yay! I had heard there would be one, so I’m glad it’s coming. It’s something to look forward to after my exams.

Tuesday May 28, 2002

3 exams out of the way. Good! They went quite well actually. It’s the filmed presentation next.

Thursday May 30, 2002

Finally got that presentation out of the way, phew! It didn’t go too bad, but I’m glad it’s over. A week now until my next exam, so I can relax now, and revise too of course.

Something a bit different now. VH1 did a poll of the 100 greatest men in music a few days ago, and here they are. I’m not satisfied with the #1 position, but there are some good names in there:

Author: Glen

Love London, love a laugh, love life. Visually impaired blogger, culture vulture & accessibility advocate, with aniridia & nystagmus, posting about my experiences & adventures. View all posts by Glen