Oasis, Octopus, Orwell, etc.

Hey everyone,

I know I said I'd write on Friday in the last blog, but by Friday the enthusiasm was gone for writing for some reason, so I'll make this a Monday thing if that's ok with you? Having published the last blog with a bit of success I think I will carry on - and yes Yan, I will drop the "Stay Classy".

So, the last seven days then. Between Tuesday and Thursday I was in Edinburgh to see Oasis (and Kasabian, The Enemy and Reverend & the Makers, although the latter not so much) at Murrayfield. But before we get to that we must discuss the night before, in which Cameron and I went "out" in Edinburgh with a few Edinburghen (?) friends. I must say I had fun - heck it's hard not to with £1 shots - and I'll probably do it again. We negotiated the foreign (well, foreign to us) city well, though our success heavily relied on Cameron's iPhone. It really does have an app for everything, and we enjoyed the travelling aspect so much a trip to Germany next summer is looking possible.

Oasis. Amazing. The build up started for us at half two, roughly six hours before they were on stage, but those six hours proved to be eventful. For a start, the cue waiting to enter Murrayfield was, for me at least, the first time I saw Neds. Not the type you get here, they are like a diluted version of the Ned principle, a sort of Ned-Lite almost. These were genuine. It fitted the stereotype perfectly; "Trackie bottoms" tucked into socks? Check. Buckfast? Check. General deviant behaviour? You get where I am going here... When standing in the cue I could not help but feel the way a Westerner does whilst on a Safari in Africa, or even a visitor to a zoo. I felt like an outsider, someone who didn't belong to their environment. Whilst watching their behaviour it was a mixture of intrigue in fear; I wanted to watch on but at the same time eye-contact would be the death of me. All this before the gates had even opened.

I'll skip Reverend & the Makers when discussing the night. It wasn't that they were bad, infact "Heavyweight Champion of the World" and "He Said He Loved Me" were really good songs. But the lead singer just ooozed tube-ness. His constant peace signals to overcome one-fingered salutes just annoyed me. I ain't a hippy (or a Japanese girl according to Rachael's photos) so I don't do all that stuff. Crowd participation has never been my forte, anyway.

Looking back, I still can't believe that The Enemy or Kasabian could be billed as "support acts" to anyone, Oasis included. The sets they put on were immense, with particular highlights "Away From Here" and "Fire". I recommend them to anyone, and I am now annoyed The Enemy played Oban and I didn't go. Hindsight's wonderful. Remember those people shouting "LSD's for Sale" last week? Well, it was at Oasis too, but on a lesser extent. This time, it was "Poppers For Sale". Are poppers legal? They must be. Either that or the Police have lost the use of their eyes, although that wouldn't surprise me. They can't even hold on to their name tags (in reference to those riots a few months back?)

At roughly 8.30pm, Oasis arrive on stage. And for the next two hours they were superb. They were typical Oasis; Liam, in Parker, staring out the crowd for what seemed for like an eternity at a time; Noel quietly getting on with his own business on guitar while occasionally taking over the vocals, usually with a better singing voice, heck a better voice full stop, than his brother. During "Wonderwall" I phoned Stevie, to which he replied:

"I don't believe than anybody feels the way I do about you now... Utter jealousy! xxx"

I know I'd be jealous. And the three kisses, for the record, that's just how we roll. I received similar phone calls from friends at the Take That gigs at Hampden on Friday and Sunday. I don't care what anyone says, "It Only Takes A Minute" is an awesome song. But would I swap Oasis for the Circus-styled affair? My sexuality says "no".

By Friday I was back working again, which was a reality check if ever I needed one again. Edinburgh, along with Graduation and Rockness, had been amazing and what did I return to? The cleaning of an Octopus, that's what. It sounds bad, yes? Times that by ten. Then add having to dispose of the insides, which I can only describe as yellow puss. Hence, Octopus? Let me know if that is the case.

Played cricket again. Lost cricket again. But at least I scored some runs - 13 to be precise - so it could have been worse, I suppose. I went out Saturday with Stevie for what was meant to be "a quiet pint". With Stevie though, this is seldom the case and four hours later I found myself at Ossians Disco. Again. Secretly I'm ashamed that I always find myself there on a Saturday. Then again, it was actually good for once. It also re-iterated that I will never get bored of "Bonkers". Or "Boom Boom Pow" for that matter.

It's been a busy week, yet throughout this I have managed to read "Animal Farm" and I am currently two-thirds through "1984", both by George Orwell as you probably know. I'm really enjoying 1984, it just feels really relevant these days despite being written in 1940-something. It feels good just to read - and through this write - again.

Busy week again this week, working all week then Athlete at the BA on Friday. I'll let you know how I get on.

DC