Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in secretmarie's LiveJournal:

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Friday, February 17th, 2006
6:31 pm	everything beautiful is far away Bah. I keep meaning to mention this very bad news http://www.nme.com/news/grandaddy/22068 I hope this kind of crap news, and the loss off this ace band encourages people to buy the albums of little bands rather than download it. If they'd sold more records, it might all have been ok. Karl and Corinna came for tea last night, it was a fun evening. Glenn made some chilli and I made a start on the 9 bottles of gin that I have accumulated! Current Mood: sad (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 14th, 2006
9:28 pm	kick off your sunday shoes... Apparently, I'm constantly singing the song 'Footloose' from the film of the same name, while wandering about the house. Always. Now, we've been back from the Lake District (where this revelation was made) for a whole day now and I haven't sang it once. I don't recall singing it much ever. This worries me, maybe I am going insane... Anyway, the Lake District was beautiful. We walked up lots of hills, it was gruelling but worth it for the gorgeous views (and the pizza when we got to the bottom). Here is a nice pic... So, I am 30! It's not so bad (I initially typed 301 there, which is admittedly much worse...) but we don't need to talk about it much, just to say that I had the fun on my birthday and on the days since. I got some really ace presents. And I didn't need to do that training of chief execs, it is just a temporary reprieve though. And I have to go to Bristol and train people who have aversions to travelling outside of their hometown. I am envisaging turning up to a room of people with those battle royale style necklaces on, I just don't understand what is so bad about not being in Bristol... I just got back from a singing lesson which was the acest yet. I've been 'techniqueing' so long, I kind of forgot what it was for! Today it all kind of fell in place and we made some quite good noise. What else is happening? We've been watching the Mighty Boosh series 2, god it makes me laugh so much - such a pair of mentalists. The commentary made me laugh, the guy who plays Bob Fossil might be the oddest person ever. The stage show is the weekend after next I think, which should be good. Oh, and we get to see the Go! Team on Saturday. Whoop! The big football is on and I guess it must be tense, as Glenn is actually, literally on the edge of his seat. Current Mood: chipper (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, January 29th, 2006
6:27 pm	the stars don't shine upon us, we're in the way of their light I have tickets to see the Silver Jews! I never thought i'd see David Berman live. I am excited!! I have decided that Battlestar Galactica is the best thing ever to have been on TV. Well, one of the best things anyway. Much better than dull old Lost. Did they actually think; 'for the second series, lets make the characters a lot more irritating, and just lose the whole notion of a plot'? 'Cause that's just rubbish... Oh, training was good! Nothing went wrong, everyone was happy. Which is good, considering the subject matter. The next training session is on my birthday, and may feature a special guest of the Chief Exec and also possibly a member of the Exec team who was responsible for creating my job. And who I see at the window of his office watching me arrive late every day. Ah well, i'm sure it will be fine. I can always go and work in Sainsburys or something if it all goes wrong... We have spent the past few weekends staring in bathrooms in shops and wondering how the hell you get them into your house, and the other stuff out of the house, and the tiles on the wall, and get to still be able to go to the toilet and have a wash while all this is going on. We purchased one this weekend, but still have no real idea of the logistics of these things. Does anyone know? Current Mood: tired (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 17th, 2006
5:46 pm	and here's where the sound, of my tears hits the ground I have too much to think about and too little head-space.  At least I have had my car fixed, that is one less thing to worry about!  I am 86 english pounds lighter though, and despite promise of a discount (the garage guy is a friend of someone I work with) there doesn't appear to be a sign of it on the receipt.  Hmph.  I'll just have to make his wife withold wifely duties until I am duly refunded. I have training to do on Thursday, and it is about stuff i'm not that sure about.  I'm going to try Paul's "now it would be easy for me to tell you, but I think it would be better if it was something you found out for yourself, and brought back to the session" method when I get stuck, I think.  Worst Trainer Ever!  Work is going ok though, in general, despite (or maybe because of) total lack of a boss of any sort.  We asked our pseudo-boss what our plans were to be the other day and were told to busy ourselves until the new structure is in place.  'Busy Yourself' what does that even mean?! I am so tired today.  On Sunday evening, in the pouring rain, we drove to Sheffield (and around and around and around the stupid one-way system - where you can see where you want to go but aren't allowed to get there by any direct methods.  It was like an evil Perplex City card...) as Henry's band were supporting Herman Dune, and I like Henry, and I like Herman Dune.  Plus Julia was by some freak of planning, on a training course in Sheffield the day after, so she could make it too.  It was fantastic.  Henry's band are good, you can tell they like Pavement!  Then there were some really odd and really quite dull band on who were trying to be GSYBE but with banjo, harp, major morgan, accordian etc.  They even had a prayer bowl like what ro_box bought me for christmas.  It had potential, but by the time the chanting started, I was getting irritated, and by the time they came off stage, I wanted to punch them.  Well, not really but you know what I mean.  If you are going to be dull, please do it in your own time... Herman Dune were fantastic as usual, they really have some magic going on onstage, it looks so effortless - though it would be insulting to suggest that it was actually so.  They obviously work really hard as a band and it all works so well onstage.  I could go on about them all day, I think they are phenomenal.  Listen to some of their MP3s and then go and buy their records.  Here is one of the grainy pics I took... I'm going to be 30 soon, and it's not really something i'm all that pleased about at the moment.  Julia is organising a Murder Mystery party, which should be fun, and we are going away to go walking in the lakes the weekend after.  For my actual birthday though, i shall be training.  Someone sneaked that into my calendar while I wasn't paying attention! Ooh, also, Glenn has been working hard on Indietron, sign up and have a look! Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 1st, 2006
8:19 pm	These words are mine... 1.  I've finally updated my flickr  http://www.flickr.com/photos/marielikespavement/tags/ 2.  Any ideas why I receieved a signed photograph of Natasha Beddingfield in the post this festive season? 3.  Happy New Year!   Current Mood: happy (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 30th, 2005
11:24 pm	The whole cashew-raisin balance is askew! Somehow, Glenn and I have managed to watch the entire 4th season of Curb Your Enthusiasm (bought for Glenn by my sister) today.  It is a fantastic series, Larry David rocks.  We've also watched Stewart Lee's stand up dvd, which is so funny I actually cried.  We've spent christmas driving up and down the M6, so we thought we deserved a day on the sofa.  It's been fab and cozy. Santa has been good to me, I got lots of jewels, clothes, dvd's and stuff.  Also an idog, which is so cute it's untrue.  It's currently unhappy so we have to fix that! New year should be fun, we just hanging out with friends and drinking, maybe monitoring what is going on in Animal Crossing (is that soooo sad?!)  My sister has gone to Edinburgh.  I kept asking where she was going for New Year and she kept saying 'to Hogmonay' like it was a place.  I turned out she thought Hogmonay was actually a place. Bless her.  Anyway, I am jealous as I imagine that Edinburgh is really pretty at this time of year (though bloody freezing!!) Hope everyone had a fab christmas.  I had some ace presents this year, lots that I was genuinely touched by, particularly what </a></b>donnoirmade me.  I predict that for the first few months of 2006 I will be obsessed with Mario Kart on the DS (bought for me by the lovely Glenn) it might actually be the best game i've ever actually played!! Hope that Santa was good to everyone else, apart from twats.  I hope he pooed in their stockings!   Current Mood: on fizzy red wine (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, December 24th, 2005
12:21 pm	everyone I used to know is either dead or in prison ahh, Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis, least Christmassy song ever! I just wanted to say that Richard Hawley is rather good, and nobody told me he used to be in the Longpigs.  I guess I never asked... I've had a good, fun and productive few days off work (just back in for 4 hours on Friday) and am looking forward to spending Christmas doing little to nothing.    Glenn has just gone to brave Tesco, i've tasked him to bring me some more of that gorgeous red fizzy wine as it was cheap when I went in there the other day (I could only get two though, i'm not made of hands!)  I hope that he manages to get back in one piece.  We have an evening of visiting and collecting friends and drinking wine to get on with! So...Merry Christmas peoples!  Here is your present...enjoy!; http://s65.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2XKH0NHWNKFGJ1HF7P42CEEKSC Current Mood: giddy (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 21st, 2005
6:02 pm	Spread the facts on the floor like a fan, throw away the ones that make you feel bad So Glenn has done his Albums of the Year list, I guess it is time for mine.  I guess it's not going to vary a great deal.  Only that I am only going to do 10, and i'm too lazy to write about why... 10. Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger 9. Herman Dune - Not On Top 8. Joyzipper - The Heartlight Set 7. The Crimea - Tragedy Rocks 6. Low - The Great Destroyer 5.  Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary 4. Ben Folds - Songs For Silverman 3. British Sea Power - Open Season 2. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy 1. The National - Alligator I've enjoyed other albums of course, and i've probably missed one of my favourites off this list, like an idiot!  I was toying with the idea of Rufus Wainwright being at number 10 for Want Two, but I just don't enjoy it as much as the other albums, it just isn't as good.  As my favourite reviewer once said 'Want Two is the retarded sibling of Want One'.  I also wanted to put Roots Manuva in there as he was amazing at Reading, but I just haven't listened to the album enough.  Same with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.. Ok, so list over.  Someone asked me to fill in this review of 2005 Questionnaire; 1. What's your first musical memory of 2005?  I have no idea what the first was. I dont even know what the first band I went to see was (Glenn will know.  Glenn!) The overwehelming memory of music in 2005 is the National album; Alligator.  O god, maybe it was seeing Rufus Wainwright and him stripping down to a glitzy thong and thrusting at us (we were on the front row). or, the loveliness of Herman Dune at the roadhouse.  I sincerely dont know which came first and I can't be bothered to find out... 2. What was this year's summer jam? And winter jam? Summer: the Arcade Fire at Reading. wheee! Winter: The National in Leeds.  I've never seen such a stunned and amazed audience. 3. If your life in 2005 was a musician, which musician would it be? Tom Waits. Downbeat but brilliant. and quite possibly drunk. 4. Tell me a lyric from this year that meant something to you. "before the day i met you, life was so unkind, your love was the key to my piece of mind" actually made me cry at one point (not from this year though, obviously) or "never tell the one you love, that you do. save it for the deathbed" made me laugh. 5. What was the most awful thing you saw on a stage this year? And the best thing? Best was the National. I cant think of anything awful, maybe pete d at live 8? 6. Name the oldest music you got into in 2005. I've gotten really into Carol King, I liked her vaguely before but I'm learning her songs now and I think she was pretty ace. 7. What was your favourite instrumental of the year?  I dont know that I have one. 8. Your favourite conversation about music this year: who was it with, and what was it about? Probably with the teacher i met at LIPA last week, talking technique. 9. Name one thing you surprised yourself by liking in 2005. Bloc Party as i started off really disliking them.  Not that I love them now, but ya know...  10. Your music wish for 2006 is...? More of the National live, please! 11. Describe the music of 2005 in one word! Juicy. 12. What will be the last music you hear this year? As i'm quite obsessive, probably the national or okkervil river. Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
Monday, December 19th, 2005
10:39 pm	while the cat's away... Never give out your password or credit card number in an instant message conversation. <) says: hello cheeseburger face marie says: i bent my wookie <) says: eh marie says: this is not marie, please leave a message after the moon...... marie says: *moon picture* <) says: ummmm <) says: shall i leave a vile message <) says: maybe not marie says: message recorded <) says: lol <) says: do i not get the option to press to re-record marie says: please press the cats face to re-record marie says: *cats face picture* <) says: *dogs face picture* marie says: *error* <) says: i got scratched <) says: i think i may have contracted toxicara marie says: please press gary glitter's eager face to re-record marie says: *scary smily face picture* <) says: (h5) <) says: reet, if its not marie i dont wanna talk any more <) says: ive been instrcuected to end the conversation and slice some cheese so we can have cheese and crackers whilst watching the Bad Girs Xmas special <) says: tell marie the gay has been online marie says: roger wilco Current Mood: quixotic (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 1st, 2005
8:37 pm	didn't anybody tell you? this river is full of lost sharks. God, I have become addicted to this www.perplexcity.com.  I picked up some of the cards as a christmas present for my mum and for glenn's brothers wife.  I appear to be keeping them all to myself though, I'll have to buy more.  Basically they are puzzle cards, varying in difficulty.  It all started cause workpaul ordered something from firebox that had a free perplexcity card in.  It was a maze, and you had to work out the quickest way of getting out.  I had it on my desk for ages, and took to staring at it when I was trying to distract myself from doing work.  I figured it out, entered my answer on the website and it gave me points and put me on a leaderboard.  Exciting!  As Glenn is a genius, we have solved quite a few of these between us, and I am now 512th on the leaderboard. The whole perplex city thing is intriguing, they have created a whole myth surrounding the city, something that is missing, people who live in the city.  I've just been reading the messageboard and apparently when you complete a set of cards, in the e-mail you receive you get fragments of a leaked e-mail, which appear to be irrelevant to anything but probably aren't at some point. What else has been happening apart from me being lost in puzzle world?  I have just had an intriguing meeting request from my new big boss (also due for the axe soon) for december 5th which seems to be a hint towards reorganisation of our team.  Oh, and the murder mystery party was ace.  I drank too much and maybe got a bit too attached to my pink wig.  I think it suited me though!  We also went to the memorabilia fair on the Sunday and saw both Ray Harryhausen and George A Romero (and Ken Foree, again!).  I got a bit too excited at seeing Ray H, I think he's a bit of a genius really. Um, and that is it.  I appear to still have this stupid cold, and I can't get my new game In Memorium to work on the laptop.  Did I mention that I love the National?  I'm disappointed that their latest album and the Okkervil River one are missing from a lot of 'best of the year' lists. Music journalists are a bunch of philistines. Current Mood: lazy (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 24th, 2005
11:04 am	I can see I'm a little unstable ( Mememememe, copied from Sian ) Current Mood: sick (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2005
4:07 pm	I *owe* her that. I have spent today on the sofa, sniffling and watching Dogville. I hadn't seen it before, it is an amazing film. I'm tempted to sit and watch it again! I popped to the chemist earlier. I hadn't spoken to anyone till I got there and when I said 'Can I get some of those Benylin Day and Night tablets' I shocked even myself with the noise I made. It was kind of like a robot with emphysema. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 21st, 2005
6:19 pm	out among the missing sons and daughters of the soho riots God, I love The National.  We travelled to Leeds to see them on Friday and to Manchester last night.  I have a similar feeling to the one I had after seeing the Pixies at the V festival...I never need to see another band again.  They are just phenomenally beautiful.  And on Jools Holland next Friday, so everyone unfamiliar with them, please watch.  Also, I saw someone at the Leeds gig who could very well have been the brother of donnoir .  I haven't seen him since her birthday about 5 years or so ago?  Maybe even more.  He came to Manchester with us and got drunk, recited Eddie Izzard jokes, spoke Russian, wore a sweetie necklace and was generally fun. Anyway, in my head he now has curlyish long hair and wears a jacket with many badges on it, and goes to see The National in Leeds, even though he might not even live in Leeds anymore and probably doesn't. I have a cold and may have overdosed on Lemsip Max Stregnth.  Plus I ate two chocolate covered coffee beans in Whittards and they made me a bit hyper. Current Mood: cold (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005
12:18 am	there's a lot going on in my mind Hmm, it's been a while hasn't it? I've been away in Edinburgh again for a week, am back for (almost) good now.  I have maybe one or two day visits to do and that is it.  I love Edinburgh though.  My favourite thing is the castle, how you can walk round town, just look up and there's a castle right up there.  In the sky.  From one angle it does actually look like Laputa or something...but even more amazing, cause it's real.  Here are some pics.  Please try and see what I mean, it worked in my head, ok? What else has happened?  We went to see Richard Herring, who was very funny.  We were seated on the front row again though.  He ranted at me a few times about how much he doesn't really care for Yogurt, but I had a lucky escape really.  I could have been called a Trout Whore, like what the woman who sat next to me was. Glenn is playing the Warriors game a lot and has nearly finished it. I'm drinking lots of Smoothies.  I'm hoping that they'll help me stop getting a cold. I'm playing Spiderman on the DS, it is very good. Paul3 and Julia are obsessed now with Animal Crossing, but are making me jealous and I want my game back!!  I missed Halloween, which seems like a good thing in some ways, as people came round to their AC house dressed as Pumpkins and stole their clothes! Am really looking forward to seeing the National when they tour.  I think their album Alligator might be one of my favourites of the year.  Black Sheep Boy, the new Okkervil River is another of my favourites (on constant play in the car at the moment). I'm also reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, which is a huge book that i'm making very little progress through.  It is really very good though. Hey, and today I found out - courtesy of a good old friend - that Jem (of Jem and the Holograms fame) was voiced by Britta Phillips of Luna.  Who knew?! Current Mood: tired (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 19th, 2005
5:11 pm	the river's just a river Hey, get me. Apparently i have a 3 octave (and a bit) vocal range. Not that i can use the top end very much, but i guess that's what practicing is all about. It is scary making high noises. When we are doing practices, sometimes the dog (rufus, second best dog ever) howls. That's very funny, if a bit worrying! I'm assured he always does it, but I think Anna is just being nice... Today I have been working from home (wfh) in an attempt to get away from answering stupid phonecalls. I managed to get a lot of work done, and also washed up and went to Sainsburys. I'd never get that done at work! Sian is coming round for tea and booze, I have some of that nice fizzy red stuff to drink... What else has happened lately? We've been watching lots of Lost (downloaded) and 24 (season 4 borrowed off of workpaul). I finished reading a really good book the other day, The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gattis. Also finished Yes Man by Danny Wallace while I was away. It was funny as near the end of the book he goes to Edinburgh, and that's where I was when I started that chapter. Anyway, it is a really sweet book, I'd recommend that one too.. Current Mood: happy (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 18th, 2005
4:21 pm	you own me...nothing you can do Ok, so stress over. Kind of. For now, anyway. Summary of some of the results; · 80% of staff felt that the quality of the content of the training was very high. · 78% of staff felt that the training was relevant to their job role. · 85% of staff agreed that the tutor was very effective in enabling their learning. Strangely, the guy who said that the training was going to be an utter mess hasn't spoken to me since once enquiring how it was going and me telling him it was all ok... Edinburgh was good. I missed Glenn of course, but he was working nights the first week so i wouldn't have seen much of him anyway. He occupied himself downloading and watching loads of old tv shows and going all wrong in the head. I came back the first weekend for his birthday and all he could say was "egg, like a birds egg!" courtesy of Lee and Herring (TMWRNJ) and when I returned the next weekend it had gotten even worse. It's funny, i'd forgotten all about some of it, just remembering something like those lost Rod Hull sketches (they'd done a series of sketches based on Rod Hull but he died just before the show aired and they decided it would be bad taste to show it) just unlocked a whole series of (admittedly dull and inconsequential) memories surrounding that time. My memory is such that my past is just a huge lump of memories in no chronological order at all. I'm sure some things that I think are memories are actually particilarly memorable books I've read at some point. Like that time I was a pirate... So, Edinburgh. It's such a gorgeous city! I managed to wangle an afternoon off and spent it wandering around Edinburgh, I even managed to get up to the Castle and have a mooch around, which was ace. The view was amazing. When I go back next week I might try and drag workpaul out on one of those Ghostwalks. It would be cool to do things like visiting Greyfriars Graveyard and stuff when it's dark. The training itself went fine. I wasn't really ever nervous about it, i was just worried that they'd ask a lot of questions that I couldn't answer. There were only one or two of those and it didn't really matter as I had set up a 'Phone a Friend' type arrangement for those kind of things. It feels weird being home and behind a desk now. I had one of those moments (never had one before, maybe it was a one-off) when I was mid training and suddenly thought 'yay, this is my job! how cool is that?!' I guess the preparation stuff for this has been so intensive that it's felt a bit of a desk-job for the past couple of months. ANYWAY. Hurrah! Apart from the fact that after eating out for two weeks and not going to the gym has resulted in my clothes appearing to have shrunk a bit. I'm going to the gym this evening though, and then to my first singing lesson for a while too. It's a shame as I really enjoyed my last lesson. We were discussing something called Speech Level Singing, which seems to be a fantastic concept that I don't fully understand. Still, it seems to work, even if i'm not exactly sure what i'm doing differently!! What else has happened? Julia was 30 and we went to see Rob Newman, Glenn was 31 and we went to see Brendan Benson. And *sigh* people talking all the way through Brendan Benson. I still don't get why anyone would pay 12 quid to just stand in front of a band and have a chat. Not just a little chat either, but a full blown dissection of their life. It ruins my pure enjoyment! Anyway, Brendan Benson was aces. Nobody was talking through Rob Newmans politicised stand-up. It was good, though he talks really fast as he is so enthusiastic about what he is saying, and I think he lost a lot of people on the way. Oh, saw Okkervil River as well who were amazing. It was odd there being so many people there we knew/ recognised there due to Superkings supporting. Steve was 31 and we went to the Kelly's for a game of Balderdash and to be pestered by their (admittedly charming) child. Balderdash was good fun, though as ever it dragged on for what seemed like 30 years. We found some of the old Balderdash answers in the box as well, which was good for a laugh. Karl's are the most disturbing ever, I believe... Current Mood: cheerful (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 27th, 2005
6:33 pm	more quiz oddness... In a Past Life... You Were: An Insane Warrior. Where You Lived: Romania. How You Died: Suicide. Who Were You In a Past Life? Current Mood: grumpy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, September 24th, 2005
9:09 pm	wise and virtuous, but old *sob* I came out as Master Splinter on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle test.  How did it know how old I am?! Also, I did the Personality Test thing what Sian did on her Blog, it came up with the following; Stability results were high which suggests you are very relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.. Orderliness results were very low which suggests you are overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense too often of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment. Extraversion results were medium which suggests you are moderately talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting. messy, tough, disorganized, fearless, not rule conscious, likes the unknown, rarely worries, rash, attracted to the counter culture, rarely irritated, positive, resilient, abstract, not a perfectionist, risk taker, strange, weird, self reliant, leisurely, dangerous, anti-authority, trusting, optimistic, positive, thrill seeker, likes bizarre things, sarcastic link I'm surprised that I came out as calm at the moment, i'm probably the least calm i've ever been.  It's all bloody work's fault.  By October 14th, I'll either be very happy or looking for a new job!! Current Mood: tired (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 15th, 2005
6:45 pm	hello, and then goodbye again! the laptop has been broken and is about to be taken apart to be inspected, hence my silence. and continued silence, unless we find a dead mouse inside it and removing it makes it all ok again! i hope that all is well in internet-land! Current Mood: anxious (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, September 4th, 2005
3:59 pm	ahahahahahahahaaaaa!!! i am an indie snob! How indie are you? test by ridethefader You're just too cool for school, aren't you? You're pretty narrow minded and opinionated with regards to music (and probably most other things as well). But you're allowed to be, because you really are better than everyone else. You take pride in obscurity. You probably prefer vinyl too, you elitist bitch. Current Mood: cheerful (3 Comments |Comment on this)