Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Collapsed Lung @ Concorde 2, 23rd July 2016

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Ned's again, at the Concorde 2 in Brighton. They were supported by Collapsed Lung, who had a minor hit with Eat My Goal in 1996 and again in '98, but it was used in a number of programmes and adverts, and so I was looking forward to seeing them too.
Doors opened at 6pm, which was early, but I expect that there was a club night or something on after Ned's - they were due to be wrapped up by 10. I caught the train at 5:08, to be precise, from West Worthing, expecting to be in Brighton by 5:30. Unfortunately the train ran slow and I didn't get my connection at Hove, and so didn't get into Brighton until gone 6pm. I headed straight for Sawadee, a Thai restaurant we used to frequent from time to time when we lived there. I had fishcakes to start, a perennial favourite, and then a Massaman curry, which is flavoured with peanuts - if you like Thai but haven't tried a Massaman, I'd recommend it.
Anyway, I headed from there to the Bristol Arms for a restorative orange juice (no really), and then wandered down to the Concorde. Collapsed Lung had already started by the time I got there, so I went straight through to the main room and listened to their stuff. I was really impressed, they had a good vibe going and although there weren't many people there watching, I think those that were there enjoyed it. The tracks had a vibrancy, one of the main guys (Jim Burke) was quite striking in that he was wearing a moustache, glasses and a baseball cap. And certainly the group seemed to be enjoying themselves, which is always infectious. They played a few new songs, I think, including one called "New Song Old Band" which is going to be a single in November apparently - I enjoyed that. And of course they played "Eat My Goal", which went down a treat with its call and response chorus. And then they were gone. I would certainly go and see them again, given the chance, and who knows when that might be?
I had seen on Twitter that Ned's were due on at 8:40, so I wasn't really in a rush to get the venue. I did wonder why they opened the doors so early? I normally like to get there as early as possible, but to be in the venue from 6pm and the main band weren't playing for two and a half hours? That just seems a little bonkers. Still I was caught out like that when I went to see Cud at The Garage a couple of years ago...
Anyway, the tunes which the DJ played after Collapsed Lung left the stage took me right back to the early 90s... Carter USM, The Weddoes, Jesus Jones, the Stuffies, EMF even, Mega City 4, Senseless Things, Prodigy... Excellent stuff. And then the song announcing the band was an old crackly version of "I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside", and Ned's ambled on to the stage.
They started with a couple of songs I didn't recognise, I thought the first was probably a b-side from something off of BrainBloodVolume, and someone has already put up the set listing here. All the songs were recognisably Ned's tunes, but I didn't recognise them all. I thought that at points the gig was a little dark, as in brooding, but maybe that was due to me being a little jaded - I had been out at a friend's birthday party the night before, and I was a little off-kilter still. The crowd loved it all though, there was a vibrant moshpit at the front, and a couple of crowdsurfers too. Jonn, the lead singer, certainly enjoys throwing himself around the stage while the bassist guys are sawing away at their instruments, and I think that encourages the moshing. As the night went on, and more familiar songs were played, that moshpit extended out further and further, and the dancing was infectious. The band certainly seemed to enjoy it, and almost seemed surprised that so many people recognised their songs. They even threw in a new one, called "Self Defence" by the sound of it, and it fitted in perfectly with the set.
All in all, it was a good night, and it was worth going. I was intending to meet up with an old friend who I've known since I was 17, but unfortunately she couldn't make it due to family commitments. I was looking forward to seeing her after such a long time; maybe I can find another gig to tempt her down to the South Coast at some point in the future...? Anyway, having seen Pixies at the start of July, and with the Wedding Present in August, Ride in September and JimBob in December, it's shaping up to be a good musical year.

Dolly Mixtures? Or Liquorice Allsorts?

I had a slice of cake on Friday which had a couple of Dolly Mixtures on top of it, as decoration, and since then I had a hankering for Dolly Mixtures. TW went out yesterday on some errands and asked if there was anything I wanted, to which my reply was "Yes! Some Dolly Mixtures. Or some Liquorice Allsorts". I don't know where the longing for Liquorice Allsorts from, I suppose I must associate them in some way with Dolly Mixtures. It's a little odd, perhaps, as Dolly Mixtures are made by Barratt, and Liquorice Allsorts are made by Bassetts:



When she came back, she had forgotten to get me any Dolly Mixtures or Liquorice Allsorts. "Not to worry", I said.

She went out later as well. "Can you get me some Dolly Mixtures, please?", I asked, "or some Liquorice Allsorts?"
"Sure, of course I will", she replied as she slipped out of the door. I looked through her bags when she got back, but I couldn't see any Dolly Mixtures or Liquorice Allsorts. Maybe she had already put them in the treat cupboard? I thought to myself. I had a look there, but I couldn't see them.
"Did you get me some Dolly Mixtures?", I asked, "or some Liquorice Allsorts?", hopefully. "Oh, sorry, I forgot", she said. Then we went down to the beach for some fresh air, and the girls got in the water as much as they could.

On the way back, she suggested that we stop at the Co-Op so that I could buy some prosecco for her, and at the same time I could pick up some Dolly Mixtures, or some Liquorice Allsorts. Getting the prosecco was easy enough, they stock about four different brands these days, and there is always at least one type on special offer. So I picked up two bottles which were on special offer and headed to the sweet aisle. I browsed the shelves but I couldn't see any Dolly Mixtures or Liquorice Allsorts. I was a bit worried that I would find some of the Co-Op's own brand, which I wasn't sure were going to hit the mark, but as it was they didn't have any Dolly Mixtures or Liquorice Allsorts, either Bassett's or Barratt's or Co-Op's own brand, so I guess I dodged a bullet there. However, I still hadn't been able to sate my desire for some Dolly Mixtures, or some Liquorice Allsorts. Last night I had to drown my longing for Dolly Mixtures or Liquorice Allsorts in some wine and distract myself with a thrilling episode of Banshee.

Today we had a visit from TW's mother and grandmother, and they all went into town, and took the children as well. I was to be left on my own for a couple of hours in silent bliss, which I was looking forward to. "Do you want us to bring you anything back?", asked the MiL. "Oh, yes", I replied, "some Dolly Mixtures, please. Or some Liquorice Allsorts. I did ask your daughter several times yesterday to get me some Dolly Mixtures or some Liquorice Allsorts, but she chose not to". "Okay", said the MiL and with that the crowds headed off into Worthing Town to leave me to my own devices.

I played a lot of slither.io and did some washing up.

When they got back, the MiL handed me some Liquorice Allsorts. "We weren't able to find any Dolly Mixtures", she said, "sorry about that". "Do not worry at all", I said, "at least you were able to bring me either some Dolly Mixtures or some Liquorice Allsorts, which is something your daughter clearly failed to do yesterday".
It was 1pm or so by then, so it was time for lunch, and TW made a salmon and tabouleh deliciousness. After lunch TW said "Can you open the Liquorice Allsorts?" "No", I said, "I've just eaten. I'm not hungry. If you want one, go ahead and open them yourself". "I want you to open them", she said. "But I am not going to", I replied. So TW went and opened the Liquorice Allsorts which the MiL had bought for me, and she ate some. I managed to show a modicum of restraint and wait until the MiL and the GiL had gone, but that was also partly because I was a bit greedy and didn't want to share my Liquorice Allsorts with more people than I had to.

I have been grazing on my Liquorice Allsorts since about 4pm, and I have to say that they have lived up to the hype and expectation. They are Bassett's Liquorice Allsorts originals and I have enjoyed them immensely.
The next time I feel that there is something missing in my life I will consider buying some Dolly Mixtures or some Liquorice Allsorts, and see if that fills the gap.

TTFN.

My New Old Chromebook (Toshiba this time)

So I picked up a faulty Toshiba Chromebook (CB30-B-103) off of eBay for £27. Unfortunately it had no power supply and the screen was cracked. When it arrived I switched it on briefly and it seemed to be okay, but it switched off pretty quickly because it was not charged. I did ask the seller if the unit would come with a charger and he advised "yes", but then followed up stating that this was an error and the unit came as was with no added parts.
So I had to buy a charger separately, which was £11 (£10.99) with free postage. That took a few more days to turn up than expected, but it seems to work well. As it is an after-sales charger, though, I am not intending to leave it unattended in case there is any issue with it.
Then I cast the screen to the TV so that I could check that the Chromebook worked, and it seemed to be fine, so I decided to invest in a new display. The new display arrived yesterday, but I was watching cricket in Hove last night and so I saved the pleasure of fixing the unit until this morning.

Before

I unpacked the new display and got my set of small screwdrivers out, and got to work. It's pretty easy to remove the bezel, since it is plastic, and there were two screws at the bottom which also needed to be removed. I'd watched a tutorial on YouTube and so I was comfortable removing the four screws holding the display in place, and detaching the display wire. I'd also followed almost exactly the same procedure with a Samsung Chromebook and my trusty Acer C720.

The tricky part was reattaching the lower part of the bezel, I had to remove and retry several times. I compared the old display to the new display, and the part of the board under the display was much more rigidly held in place on the original display. So anyway, I got it reattached, the bottom of the bezel could be more secure, but I am using the Chromebook now to write this post. The display was £32.31, with free postage, and so for the grand sum of £76 (oh. Was it that much?) I have a working Toshiba Chromebook 2, which I am quite happy with. Looking on eBay I can't see working versions of these type selling for much less than £90, so I have saved a few pounds and improved my display replacement skills - to be fair, I just like playing about with these things a bit, and display replacement is well within my comfort zone. If you watch the YouTube tutorial, it is as easy as unscrewing a couple of screws and then attaching the new display to the video cable:

After

Now I can play with it for a while and see whether I want to keep it or sell it on; I guess I will need to compare it with the Acer C720 and see which I prefer.

Brighton Station

I use Brighton Station most days and I mostly forget to look up and appreciate what an amazing piece of architecture it is. That is more often than not sure to the trains being delayed or overcrowded. But here are some pictures which I hope show its beauty to a small extent... 

Working From Home

Yesterday I worked from home in order to look after Hyena, the youngest, since her teachers were on strike. She was looking forward to it, but was soon bored by the reality as I had to concentrate on work and also had to come up with things for her to do.
To her credit she tidied her room, brushed her hair and started making her fancy dress for later in the week. Then, after an early lunch, she went off with a friend to her sister's sports day.
Later I listened to England crush Sri Lanka in a T20 International on BBC Radio 5 Extra, since these sports events have been sold off to Sky. I was washing up at the time, so it was a good way to get two things done at once, but I would prefer to be able to watch it on TV - however, I am not prepared to give Sky any more of my money. Since the rugby is also sold off I only got to know that we had beaten Australia 3-0 in Australia on the news later. If these international sports events were protected then we might be able to watch them. My worry is that if fewer people see these events, that will lead to less support for these sports in the future.
TTFN.

The Views From Cissbury Ring

So today we cleared our heads with a walk up Cissbury Ring. The views were spectacular...