I remember when I started to read the NME in the mid-90s I would devour its entire contents. But then I would turn to the crossword. And much to my frustration, I'd manage to get about five of the answers, almost always to contemporary clues. They'd sit marrooned in a ocean of empty white squares, mocking me, like an abandoned game of Minesweeper. So instead I turned back to the latest spat between Blur and Oasis and thought nothing more of it.

Then, around a year or so ago, with time having healed the wounds of failure, I attempted the crossword once more. And to my astonishment, I completed it. Not straight away, but at a reasonable speed. And then the next week's. And the next. Every so often a clue would stump me. But I can and do complete the majority of crosswords by the time the next week's issue comes around. Fifteen wasted years of relentlessly pouring sounds and words into my brain have served some sort of purpose.

But it's one of those accomplishments that I'm not entirely sure I'm pleased about. It pretty much confirms me as a lost cause music geek. But I think I knew that anyway. Only other lost cause music geeks will be remotely impressed. I certainly won't be using it as a fresh chat up line for girls... however musically geekified they themselves are...

"Hey baby, how about we go back to mine for some fine wine, beautiful music and a hard, long think about what 7 Down is? I thought it was The Auteurs, but that doesn't quite fit..."

1. Elastica - Never Here
2. LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
3. Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
4. The Vaselines - Son Of A Gun
5. Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
6. Dananananaykroyd – Fall For You
7. The Beatles – Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds (Remastered)
8. New Order – Regret
9. The Chicks - Daria
10. Florence + The Machine - You've Got The Love (xx Remix)

"The Animals! Yes, it's The Animals! You gorgeous creature, kiss me..."

Could happen.

No.

Labels: geek, girls, guilty pleasures, music

Over the weekend, I finished reading Haruki Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart at my parent's house. Another haunting novel from the author, with Murakami once again riffing on the themes of loneliness, loss and unrequited love. So, pretty much business as usual, but still quite wonderful. As far as I'm concerned, you can't go wrong with that sort of thing. Feeling spiritually satiated, I set down the completed book and picked up the other novel I'd brought with me. Stephanie Meyer's Eclipse aka Twilight III: The Revenge (probably. I've not got far into it as yet...)

Now, I have to confess, I've been completely sucked in by the Twilight series. Having dismissed Harry Potter out of hand as a kid's book, I can only plead that Twilight is at least a teenager's book. Melodramatic, moody and often ridiculous: I just love it! And in a vain effort to balance out some of the female furore surrounding Robert Patinson, I must say I'm rather taken by Kristen Stewart, who takes the lead of Bella in the films.



Um. Yes please. When's the new movie out?

Anyway, yes, so no apologies for loving Twilight. A friend described it to me as like junk food. You know it's not good for you, but you can quite resist it. Which is so true. And as I seem to be stuck in a state of permanent arrested development circa about 16, it seems perfectly appropriate. Although I do wonder at what point that stops being charmingly endearing and starts to stray into the worrying territory of Bryan Adams' risible '18 til I die'...

...probably about ten years ago...

1. Stars - 14 Forever
2. Johnny Boy - You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes and You Get What You Deserve
3. School of Seven Bells - Face To Face On High Places
4. The Go! Team - Bottle Rocket
5. Camera Obscura - French Navy
6. Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire
7. Maps - Let Go Of The Fear
8. Golden Silvers - True No 9 Blues (True Romance)
9. Bloc Party - Signs
10. Coldplay - Life In Technicolor II

Gravity release me and don't ever hold me down, now my feet won't touch the ground.

Labels: books, movies, music, top 10's