other people's rubbish

I recently acquired a new addition to my penthouse geek pad, turning it from a unique attic space into an amazingly retro hang out.

as with many other unique items in my house, they are things that are seemingly unwanted by other people, found by me on my travels, chucked out and neglected.

yet unlike many of the other unique items that I have brought home, my girlfriend was actually rather impressed that I had rescued an abandoned vintage record player.

I had learnt from previous experiences that if I do not act quick enough, then I am likely to lose out on these spoils to somebody else, and so when I noticed a huge pile of random rubbish dumped outside a property alongside its 'to let' sign, I knew that I wouldn't have long if I wanted to lay claim to the metal mystery box and a wooden case below it that I had spotted and had got me intrigued.

it was lucky that I had invited my brother to swing by, as I dragged him out on a brief mission to investigate further, I politely rang the doorbell before rummaging through the contents of the front garden, prepared to ask if I could help myself to any unwanted goodies, getting no answer, we preceded to unravel the mystery of the mystery boxes.

on top was a reel to reel cassette machine, looking like a control panel of a time machine, even if I had no real use for it, it was still spectacular from an aesthetic point of view.

but the true treasure was below it, a complete record player in a beautiful wooden case, with a Hulio Inglesias 7 inch still on the turntable.

again, I was thankful for my brothers assistance as it would have been too much for me to have carried home myself, and when the journey was done, I plugged it in with trepidation.


Everything worked perfectly and it provided the impetus for me to finally get my arse in gear and rearrange the geek room that had been a work in progress and a storage space for far too long.

the lovingly reconditioned Shcreiber cabinet that had been fly tipped and dragged back from an underpass near Waltham Abbey made its way into the attic, to live out the rest of its life alongside the large wooden trunk that had been chucked out from an old couple down the road that were moving and is now full of fancy dress clothes, the broken briefcases that had been dumped a few roads away and the ikea display cabinet that was actually bought brand new, I put on display my girlfriend's set of Hatori Hanzo samurai swords, plugged in my brothers lava lamp and with all our extra bedding, tomato tins and toilet rolls tucked away out of sight in the eaves of the loft, the geek pad suddenly seemed to be wonderfully realised with these new additions.

there is still work to do in there, it is still a work in progress, but as I now set up to build up a small collection of classic or equally kooky slabs of vinyl through scouring charity shops, I have a rather enviable chill out pad that I'm proud to have put my own unique stamp on.

a second life for street furniture

those that are following this may be please to know that i am now the proud owner of a makeshift computer desk that used to be someone else's filing cabinet

it also handily doubles up as my filing cabinet now

i feel as if i am following in the ikea trend of life by having dual functionalities for my furniture

and i am also following the green way of living by rescuing a piece of furniture from the side of the road (with a lil help from my brother) and thus recycling it in my own home, meaning that not only have i saved this filing cabinet from becoming just another addition to a landfill site somewhere, i have also probably reduced my carbon footprint or something equally green and trendy to be doing by not having to buy a new piece of furniture

although i am in the market for some new furniture

probably from ikea

the home is slowly becoming a contrast of ikea products and stuff that other people no-longer seem to want (should i call it up-cycling, no, cos that sounds stupid)

a couple of our garden chairs had been discarded just down the road from me (although one of them does only have 3 legs, perhaps this is why it was no longer wanted), the extendable table was a bargain from a charity shop and the same goes for a couple of the chairs around it, other chairs in the house have also been chucked out of their old homes for no good reason, our tv unit has been up-cycled (hmmm) from its original purpose as bakery trays, in the spare room there is a, frankly, quite stunning re-upholstered chair that my brother up-cycled (arrgggghhhhhh) and gave to me as a present for my birthday aaand there is still a rather fetching trunk in the shed that i still haven't found a use for just yet, but i shall.

oh, and perhaps lets not mention the horse (or the dog).

it's the geeking weekend!

not that weekend's hold any real importance to me at all, i shall still have to be in work tomorrow morning for what will be my 6th day working in a row, having juggled days off around so that i can go to my girlfriend's cousin's wedding sangi dance on sunday and to a cricket match on monday

so how do we roll on a friday night?

we flick through the ikea catalogue before watching the rest of the Harry Potter film she fell asleep during on sunday, we then quickly pay a credit card bill and discuss home insurance before sticking on another Harry Potter film that she promptly falls asleep during.

leaving me to finish off reading the last couple of issues of Battle For The Cowl instead of having to watch the same film twice over

i'm not quite sure if i'll get the chance to complete a geeky trinity of Harry Potter, Batman and Doctor Who this weekend, as i've been informed that a friend is coming over for dinner and is insisting that we watch Sex and The City

so i have been given permission to hide away in the bedroom and read comics and i shall have to play ketchup after this Bank Holiday weekend's excitement, and for those that have missed it so far, there is a little web-exclusive prequel to the returning Doctor Who knocking around, which i shall stick

right

about

here



and no matter how emotional the mid-season finale or this prequel may be - i still can't help but wanna laugh out loud everytime i read that:

The Doctor will return in

Let's Kill Hitler

my list

there are a number of things in my life that i would like to do

occasionally i find it useful to make a list of the certain things that i want to achieve, and i know other people live their lives by constantly listing, i think i particularly find it fulfilling to cross through my list and slowly whittle it down to a short number og goals that have so far remained unobtainable

ok, so i know i bitch everytime NME decides to publish a list in it's magazine and that my last post was over a week ago, inching ever nearer to that two week mark, but those lazy gits actually get paid for bumping their heads together and sticking a bunch of things in numerical order, i merely try and jot down ever may be going through my mind, writing and updating in whatever free time my hectic life allows me

you've probably missed out on some real gems of blog posts that never were, simply cos i just wasn't able to get near a computer for long enough to communicate my ruminations..

which reminds me of something else i should probably add to the list..

this is what i want to do:

• actually get my Riot Music EP completed
• grow a proper beard
• find a decent modern-looking blue sofa-bed for the spare bedroom
• buy some frames and the blinds for the spare room
• remember to actually properly look at the items on the pages of the ikea catalogue that i folded over so that i wouldn't forget
• write up reviews/articles for the new EPs from Getaway and Twisted Hearts
• try and blag my way into reviewing the autumn Crystal Fighters tour
• and work on keeping Desperately Seeking Susan Boyle a little bit more frequently updated

of course there are tons more things i'll have to do, since i went to my cousins wedding last week instead of having time off for myself the upstairs floors need sweeping, but that was possibly getting far too mundane and pedantic to keep listing, oh and i should bring the wheely bins back up the drive this evening, but that would be stupid to give you each and every task and chore

i just wanted to let people know that i am still here

i am still writing (when i get the chance)

and i am still trying to get my house in order and inch slowly closer to having a complete looking (or at least updated) decor throughout

i'll refrain from using my blog as a noticeboard in the future

credit where it's due:

artwork 'Today's Youth' by DangerDog

acceptable in the 90s

whilst i was quite tempted to post up another superhero offering, i decided against it since i was afraid of offending those less inclined towards comic books

but i can't promise a break at all from general geekiness

and for that, we head to my attic, which has been designated as the geek pad in my house and which i finally got round to starting decorating while my girlfriend was away in india, yep, it was back to colour swatches and once again looking at a whole bundle of similar colours, trying to figure out which particular tone would be best

on monday, it took a step closer to completion as i got rather creative with a couple of shades of red, a paintbrush, and my right hand

(i am sworn to secrecy as to the complete look, but their is a sneak peak right here)

on tuesday, once the (splattered) paint was dry, i took up the plastic sheets, took down the protective wrapping and put the exceptionally priced ikea glass cabinet in its rightful place, stood back and felt proud


my brother had already been round to help put the cabinet together as i was far too excited to leave it boxed, and a fortunate trip to a charity shop resulted in the purchase of quite a few retro action figures, perfect to kickstart my little nostalgic collection, but having the wall painted, the cabinet in place, and the figures standing to attention made all the difference

(before)

courtesy of my brother's fabled idiot blog

(and after)

and sat proudly on the very top shelf of the cabinet is the beautiful animated style Princess Leia statuette that my girlfriend bought me as a present a couple of years ago, it had spent too long in it's box, and since moving into our house i have been super-keen to get it on display so that it can be fully appreciated

there is still plenty of work to be done before the geek pad is complete, but this week it has definitely taken a huge step in the right direction, and i have spent this very night not just blogging, and updating my contributions to byford365, but also scouring ebay for some film posters to grace the walls of my (ahem) penthouse surely my effort redecorating must have upgraded it from being 'just' an attic

a thinker and not a doer

i was sat in the passenger seat of the car on the way to leicester, scribbling down all of the bits that i would like to do in the house, trying to recall all the little quirky ideas and geeky touches that have fallen into my brain over the past few months, as well as any other cosmetic changes that i think would be appropriate.

top of the list was purchasing a 2 seater Karlstad sofa from Ikea, despite the fact that my girlfriend had pretty much won that argument already, having picked up the Isundra Grey covers for the 3 seater earlier that day (tho not the sofa, since it wouldn't fit in the car), i knew it was rather futile, but in my mind i thought i may still be in with a chance of proving myself right once the 3 seater is in place and is slightly too big, as i think it is.

further down are a number of other changes that i would like to implement that i know she already disagrees with

(alas, it is already too late to get a boat in the front room)



my girlfriend glances at the list after filling up petrol and i covet it before she can read too far and start putting paid to all my other intentions for the home.

she tells me:  'you are a thinker and not a doer'



indeed it is true, i like to give things a lot of thought and sometimes overthink things to the point that i don't actually get round to doing them, far too busy wondering if i've made the right choice or holding off doing what i want to do for one reason or another.

whereas she will get sick of me thinking about it and just buy whatever suits herself, this is the reason we now have a bed and will soon have a sofa.


but i like thinking, i spend a lot of time thinking, and this is also the reason i have my blog, it is an outlet, not only can i let my creative side flourish and indulge my passion for writing, but i can also publish my procrastinations, on whatever topic i so desire, whether it is music, ikea sofas, thinking, or, erm, music.