Normality resumes....

3 weeks away and back to work this morning. I have quite a bit of jetlag but the work diary is pretty full so I should be nicely busy today which will keep me alert and awake.

After getting home from Heathrow on Saturday morning I spent the day snuggled up on the sofa with my wonderful lady watching a fantastic game of cricket, well I watched some of it in between dozing off.

During this I took a DJ booking for that evening at Sakura in Reading. Pretty quiet in there it was too. Also I was asked to play more charty music which firstly I don't have and secondly I will never have because to me if a song gets into the charts these days it's because, it's anti-music, it's rubbish, it's dross, it's boring, it's predictable......it's just shit. I'm not selling out even more than I have already regardless of the payment.

I mean it's not as if I was playing anything other than what you'd find on the average (or distinctly lower than average) Hed Kandi compilation and even when I stopped playing the good quality house music that had foots tapping and people clapping the atmosphere in the room vanished. So my advice to them would be to just save money and don't book a DJ at all. Just have a compilation CD playing in the background or rig up some kind of automated DJ program. Trying to fix things that are not broken has never been a good thing to do in my opinion.

I understand what they want to do and I'm not upset by it at all and I really mean mean that but with all the sincerity in the world I'm just not the man to do it. Good luck to them :-)

Apart from that I do have some good gigs coming up where I have free reign to get the crowd motivated and of course I'm really looking forward too. This Saturday I once again have the pleasure of sharing the DJ booth at the club I call home with one of my dance music heros Brandon Block over at Bar Mango in Reading. It's always nice to see your name on a flyer under someone like Blocko. Hopefully he'll pull in a crowd and we can all have a wonderfully fun night.





Set times for this are not yet announced but when they are I'm sure they will be posted on the Facebook event page here. I'm thinking a classic house set is really the only way to go here and I'm already getting a nice selection of tunes prepared. If you liked my Remix/Remode mix CD then this will be the kind of night you'll be loving.


After that I have another booking at the same venue for Voodoo's 5th birthday. This event is a very special one because it is also a fundraiser for the promotor's (and good friends) campaign to raise funds for his partners treatment as she is a sufferer of multiple sclerosis. Again you can check the Facebook event page here and if your around please do come down and support this tremendously worthy cause.





For this event I'll be showing my tech house/techno side out in the garden so expect some heavy Sven Vath/Cocoon influence going on. I simply cannot think of any place in the area that even gets close to the Bar Mango terrace. It's always been a very special place for me and I'm just itching to get out there again.

After a couple of years finding it's way it seems Bar Mango has got it's legs back which is good for everybody in my opinion. For me it's still the only venue in the town dedicated to clubbers rather than drinkers out on a jolly. It's a place to go to hear what'll be listed on compilations and blasting out of other bars in a 6 months to a years time once David Guetta has bunged some cheesey vocals over it :-)

Back to my other love.....FOOD

This Wednesday coming I shall be judge and compare for heat 3 of round 1 of the 2011 Reading, Steady, Cook competition. The heat is being held at the marvellous "Tutu's Ethiopian Table". Having taken part in this myself last year I know how nervous the contestants will be so if you have time please do come down and give them a bit of support. It's a great little competition and being part of it again this year is just a fantastic honour.

The Facebook event page for this heat is here so click attending and lets get a few along and maybe have a glass or two of wine afterwards :-)

For more information about this event and it's culmination at the Eat Reading festival pop along to this site. It's dedicated to highlighting all the opportunites our fantastic town has to offer be that business or pleasure.

Toodlepip xx

Blog off.........

So it's been a while and I've suffered from another attack of lazyblogitis. I've been a bit busier at work in the last few weeks which is fantastic but it's left little time to think of bloggy stuff.

I was asked about my lack of blogging activity last Wednesday by a buddy and only yesterday by central Twyford's most wonderous, charming and welcoming pub landlady (Is that enough sucking up Karen?)

Good food, fine Ales and a warm welcome to all right here at the Duke of Wellington.

So a quick update about what's coming up in my world......

Musicwise I've been a little quiet on the DJ'ing front which has actually been quite welcome. I'm getting far too old to be doing it regularly as even though I love it there are other things in my life that require awareness on weekend mornings and the two never really have gone together all that well.

Saturday just gone I was spinning some tunes..........not playing..........don't you just hate it when DJ's say they are "playing" some tunes? I hardly think sticking on other peoples records and getting paid for it is "playing". Strumming a guitar, tinkling the ivories or bashing some drums is "playing".......sorry off on a tangent there !!! Where was I?........Oh I was spinning some tunes for the folks at my more regular haunt downstairs at Sakura. Was a very good night actually thanks to some rather nice tunes that'll shortly be busted out on the beaches at the Miami winter music conference.

The only other booking I have at the moment is at Bar Mango (the place I call home) in April (or is it May) alongside my DJ hero Brandon Block.....more info to follow on that....

Foodiewise I'm excited and honoured to have been asked to be a judge in this years Reading, Steady, Cook! competition. There are several heats leading up to the semi-finals and final which will be held in Reading town centre on the 4th and 5th of June 2011 as part of the Eat Reading Live programme. I had such fun being a contestant last year and it's just so nice to be part of it again this year and I'll also be doing a demo all of my own on one of the kitchen stages on the finals weekend.

Sportwise the cricket season is gearing up to kick off and net sessions down at my club (Sonning CC) have started. I have a small sub committee role at the club looking after all things related to the pavilion so I still have plenty of projects to get under way there before the season starts and in particular for our confirmed match against the MCC. Once the season gets going why not come along and spend a lazy day watching a match, we have plenty for the kids to do, a stocked bar and every now and then the BBQ gets a blasting.

In the professional game I think that the ICC world cup so far has been tremendous, perhaps a little drawn out with all the associate nations involved but I think it's right that they are there and as Ireland showed against England they can compete with the best now and again and they should be given that chance on the world stage, perhaps that result will encourage cricket Ireland to spend more money developing a team that can soon catch up with the test playing nations, they certainly have the talent there.

Travelwise...............not much going on.........

Oh except for that small 3 week trip to Melbourne I'll be taking in a few days time :-)

I'll be keeping you all up to date on that so don't you worry.

Toodlepip for now :-)

xxx

Blocko.......

Happy Monday to you all.

I'm feeling rather energised this morning however the damaged knee is causing me some confusion. Sure it's feeling a lot better, still uncomfortable but the bruising is somewhat strange !! All the pain and swelling is on the front of my knee yet apart from a tinge of yellow the bruising has come out on the back of my leg.

Emily thinks that my kneecap actually came out the back of my leg bless her.

So anyway yesterday evening I got a DJ booking confirmed for the 10th September at The Venue in Reading appearing alongside my all time DJ hero and biggest influence Brandon Block.

This photo was taken last October when I last got to share the booth with a true legend of the clubbing world.



Hmmm just check out that silly grin I have going on .....

It's going to be one of the last club nights at the Venue as I'm told that it's going to be made into a Gentleman's club very soon so perhaps it's fitting that one of the guys responsible for kicking off the whole UK/Ibiza house scene gives the place a proper send off.

I'm pretty sure that he won't be rocking up with his Macbook and controllers and then trying to take the audience on some kind of musical journey that they really are not interested in at all because they are just out to have a laugh, dance and get bang on it.

The guys promoting the event (Garden of Eden/Dark Matter) are keen to make it as cheap as possible for everybody and I'll expect tickets to only be about £5 but as they are not on sale nor is the flyer even made yet I cannot be 100% certain but I will confirm just as soon as I can.

Pub news is all good at the moment. I now have some stock take figures and a copy of the lease that we'll be taking over (fingers crossed). All this information I'll pass on to my guy who will now have all the elements needed to draw up a professional business plan and let us know how much investment we need to find.

All offers listened too .................. :-)

Maybe Blocko would invest? I can see a nice country pub being just the kind of thing that he'd be interested in.