Kix Takes A Stage Dive

Image: Neil Lupin/neillupin.com

The snow relented for a second day yesterday – not that I wanted to go anywhere – but it encouraged hopes across the nation that within a couple of days, the frozen white blanket that has enshrouded the country might disappear.

It was not to be. At 7:30am this morning a fresh wave of thick snow started to fall once more, making the ice underfoot all that more slippery and dashing all our sunny wintery hopes.

Thankfully, I’ve a decent pair of shoes to get around in but some think pumps are still a good idea; teenagers to be precise.

I got totally caught up in the redesign of my wife’s website for her photography business yesterday. It’s a slow process to get the initial template design perfected, which has been made more complicated with the fact her business has two main streams – weddings and portraiture – but it’s coming on. I’m also messing around with some new CGI scripts this time around (it’s basically an HTML/CSS site) and I may have a dabble in a new landing page with embedded Flash, but that’ll come later.

The hours slipped past way too quickly while I worked on this stuff and I never noticed the time. So not only did I not get any writing done I also missed my dinner! Working on my wife’s website isn’t a chore or an excuse not to do any other work, I do enjoy it and I want to help her push on with her own dreams as much as I can. There’s not much she can do in return to make me a better writer, but while there’s things I can do to help her I will. The advantage is that I can try things out with her site that I can then go on to use with other clients so there’s a benefit there too.

I received an email from Jill Irving, organiser of the (in)famous Beaujolais Breakfast that I attended in November. The overall total raised at this year’s event came to a staggering £2,909.23, which isn’t bad for a few hearty all-day drinkers and Marie Curie has benefited superbly once again.

Nicky Woodgate, brother of the Madness drummer Woody, has released a solo album called MAGIC CARPETS. I bought a copy on Saturday (there’s only a short run of physical CDs, which comes complete with art work by Annie Catford, and design manipulation by Mark Bedford in a high quality colour printed Eco-Wallet) but you can download the 10-track album for only £10. I did and it’s a super album. Nicky plays everything you hear himself and the result is quite remarkable. It’s an album that’s pleasant to work to (not many albums can I have playing on repeat while I work) but to get most out of it listen to the lyrics. Eliose is a personal favourite as is Heaven Knows Your Name. Take a listen to the album and purchase it here.

Speaking of Madness, saxophonist Lee ‘Kix’ Thompson finally met his match at the Leicester leg of the UK tour on Saturday night. Famous for his climbing and swinging antics while on stage, he was clambering on top of some stage-side speakers to give a sax solo when he grabbed into a lighting stand. To his surprise, it wasn’t firmly attached to anything and he fell backwards, plummeting off the stage and landing in the security pit. The old boy was rushed to A&E and missed the rest of the gig (as well as last night’s in Leeds) on doctor’s orders, but he’s going to be OK and all fingers are crossed he’ll re-join the band for the remainder of the tour starting tomorrow in Nottingham. For anyone interested, Steve Turner of The Violin Monkeys (and Madness brass backers) stepped in to fill his shoes.

I’ve launched a special Christmas offer for the remainder of December. Between and and the 31st, you can get 20% off all my poetry books – FRINGE FANTASTIC, POOLSIDE POETRY, SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE VOL.2 – when you order from my website at www.colingalbraith.co.uk. Simply quote BEREMARKABLE305 at checkout.

Until the morra!

CHRISTMAS DEALS

Get 25% off STELLA, my spy novella with a twist, when you order the e-book from the publisher’s website at www.eternalperss.biz. Simply quote 612JMZN67VZX at checkout.

Grab issue 24 of Open Wide Magazine for only £1 (one British pound) and you can read my short story, LETTING GO. It’s well worth it!