Video: Womanizer by Britney Spears

Very cute. The kind of catchy that will annoy you the more you hear it, but she looks great.

Video: Ghost Town by The Specials

I haven’t said much on here for a while. I’ve been thinking about this blog and what to do with it. I’ve been struggling with it for months, but I feel like a break from it has given me the space to think about what I want to write about and how I’d like to write it.

In case anyone’s interested, here are a few personal highlights from the last week or so.

Someone offered me a four-figure sum to buy a website I’ve been developing (not this one). I agonised over the offer for a few days (credit card bill), then turned him down. I decided to keep it going, in the belief that I can make more money from it in the long-term. Since I discussed the whole thing with my parents, they haven’t said a thing to me about being on the computer too much. I guess they can see that I’ve been doing something of value on here.

I’ve been offered some other web work by a friend of a friend, which could turn into a regular gig. Looks like this could potentially be my new path. My current goal is to be able to quit the day job and work 100% online.

On Tuesday evening I bumped into my old private French tutor (from 10 years ago) on the way home from work. We decided to go to a nearby pub to have a proper chat. We caught up on each other’s news (he keeps himself very busy as an advocate for all sorts of people in need). I spoke a little bit about my worries about my lack of direction and the way that I often change interests, but he told me not to worry, that he’d been the same in his 20s. He also advised me to take up volunteer work, which is something I’ve considered a few times but haven’t pursued. He’s definitely a force for good.

One of my favourite authors is Valerie Martin. I’ve read several of her novels, but there are a few left for me to discover. A few weeks ago I found 2 of her earlier novels in a discount bookshop near my workplace. I bought them both happily. I started one of them, A Recent Martyr, a few days ago. On the train to work on Friday I reached the end of page 34, which was looking like a really critical scene, and found that the next page was the author’s dedication. After that the novel restarted from page one. I was a bit baffled but just turned to the second “page 34″ again. However the next page was 83, meaning that I’d lost nearly 50 pages! Downcast, I put the book back in my bag and turned to look out of the train window. I’ll go back to the shop with my receipt tomorrow in the hope that they’ll have a normal copy. This reminded me of an art project where this guy left a box marked FREE BOOKS in the street, but anyone taking one of these books would have eventually discovered that the last few pages had been tore out.

I started the second Martin book that I’d bought and discovered that I’d already read it. I’m still re-reading it now as I’ve forgotten most of it. It’s a constant feeling of déjà lu: I recognise the scenes as I read them.

I bought four tickets to the NKOTB concert in January, but decided to resell two of them on ebay because most of my friends weren’t interested. I made about £20 profit, but I was happy to just cover my initial expenditure. A couple of people asked me to end the auction early, but I declined as I usually make more money as a lot of people (smartly) wait til the end to bid. There are loads of people selling tickets for the concert at crazy prices, but I think I did well because my start price was reasonable and I have great feedback.

I also bought tickets to see Robin Thicke in a couple of weeks. I was really gutted to have missed out on his concerts here last year, but I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing him in person. (Just realised that he’s got a new album, how did I not know that?!)

Over the last few years I’ve been cultivating interests that aren’t compatible with my existing network of friends, so I’ve decided to go solo when appropriate. I’m fed up of missing out on things because I’ve been reluctant to attend on my own. As Henry David Thoreau said: “The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.”

I hadn’t seen this video in years, so I looked it up.

Nothing worse than a hot murderess, eh Keith? He was quite an inept cop though, first he lets her escape from his car, then he shags her, then lets her escape again while he enjoys a post-coital nap. Hello, handcuffs>bedposts? And why did the other cops shoot her? She didn’t appear to have a weapon. I guess that’s why we should never analyse music videos, even those which are supposed to have a story to tell.

Back in the late 80s and early 90s, a decade before ‘Nsync, The Backstreet Boys, or their derivatives graced us with their pop/RnB crooning, we had the New Kids on The Block.

My favourite member was Jordan Knight. I’m not ashamed to say that I was a member of their official fan club for a while. So when a friend of mine recently sent an email around that pre-ordering their new album, The Block, would give me access to priority booking for their UK tour, I was all over it. Just after midnight this morning the album was ready for download, and I transferred it to my ipod for my journey to work.

(Pic courtesy of nkotbofficial)

Of course there were certain tracks which really appealed to me straight away, such as Grown Man; Big Girl Now; and Lights, Camera, Action; and Twisted, but there weren’t any duds. I loved that their vocal sound was similar to the old days (the harmonies, and Jordan’s unmistakable falsetto), but the production brought up to date. Dance tracks, mid-tempos, funky grinds, ballads – it’s all there.

Now I can’t wait til I can book my concert ticket. Time to dig out my vinyl Step by Step single to sneak it onto my dad’s turntable.

Here’s my favourite track of all, no doubt I’ll be playing this on the ipod constantly for the next few weeks.

NKOTB (featuring Pussycat Dolls & Teddy Riley): Grown Man

My only slight disappointment is that the iTunes download doesn’t include the accompanying album artwork, song info, etc., so I’ll probably end up buying the CD anyway.

NKOTB History on Wikipedia