doubleshiny

What I'm currently up to...

Got the Sylar episode guide up to date finally on Zachary Quinto .co.uk , managed to remain mostly spoiler free but not completely - dammit!

Getting excited about The Cribs DVD of Cribsmas, more on www.thecribsonline.co.uk

Getting into the swing of things on the radio show, and had the first edition of the long awaited Challenge Kev. We'll be online soon.

Trying to stop Kev from making the world end by accidentally starting Buffy movie rumours on End Of Show.

Accidentally being rather filthy on the Heroes Podcast 'The List', which is now the only Heroes podcast in the UK! Get in there!



In real life....

FACT film quiz on Tuesday, apparently I am guaranteed to get at least one right, according to the quiz master.

Too many birthdays this month! Me, my brother and both my sisters within two weeks of each other.

Still decorating, this is getting ridiculous now. I still have to finish taking the carpet up, painting the floor and painting the ceiling. Then I have to put up three bookshelves, and buy a bed. All before Christmas. Which is less than a month. Oh God....

One of my newly acquired friends is leaving for Thailand for nearly a year! We've only just met! Something I said I suspect..

Running the radio project and watching the kids get so excited about being on air has re-ignited my passion for radio. I'm remembering what it was like to still get an adrenaline rush from broadcasting. Good times.

Played the old squeezebox at a tribute concert for my friend who died this summer. It was a strange but moving affair and I'm glad I did it.

Today I was juggling for money, in that I was at work and I was learning how to juggle on company time. The circus skills guy is called Harry and he's a regular fixture at my workplace where we're always trying to get the students to do stuff whether they like it or not. Whenever we need a bit of team-building or confidence training or any other buzzword we call Harry and he brings his juggling balls and devil sticks down until senior management are happy that we're all having fun.

I like the diablo, but despite the fact that I must now have been through Harry's circus school half a dozen times I still can't do it very well. I can throw it up and catch it but that took me almost a year and I haven't progressed much further. Circus trainers have a weird effect on people, we seem desperate for their approval. It's so rare that we're actually starting to learn an elementary skill any more that it almost seems imperative that we have constant re-assurance. Every time I twizzled that devil stick or caught the diablo I was looking up to Harry for approval and possibly a treat. A weird phenomenon.

Today I met someone who dosn't know how to do McDonalds. I didn't think these people existed outside of some former Yugoslavian territories but a middle aged guy who was with us had no idea how McDonalds worked. He was trying to order a McMuffin at 1.30pm, didn't understand the concept of the meal deal, couldn't work out where the bin was and thought that he had to eat outside because he mistakenly asked for his filet o'fish 'to go'. He assumed there was some VAT related reason why they even bothered differentiating between 'to go' and 'to eat in' and was probably worried that the manager would come and turf him out of a seat or demand an extra 6p if he didn't immediately vacate the premises.

More DS Bulletins

My brother borrowed my laptop whilst I was away and now it won't load the internet from our wireless router for absolutely no reason. The little dialogue bubble keeps taunting me by saying 'Connected to Belkin54g, and the signal is bloody brilliant, why don't you dive in?'. Then I click on Firefox and it looks back at me as if I'm an idiot. I feel like it's the internet equivalent of gluing a pound coin to the pavement and watching people try to pick it up.

I have some new pics of Zachary Quinto at the Ojai playwrights conference that I found through clever sleuthing (or clicking on their weblink, as it's sometimes known) and I feel fine.

I had another damn sex dream about a slightly embarrassing TV actor. Ten DS points if you can guess who it was (Kev, you can't play and I wish i had never told you).

Tomorrow I'm off to London to see The Cribs. Hurray!

...and some came from abroad! Well, Inverness anyway. Operation Minibus was on yesterday, a folly consisting of trying to get 16 Cribs fans from the North West to Coventry for a 'warm up' gig at a nightclub called the Kasbah.

A guy calling himself KnackeredConverseBen posted on the Cribs forum back in March to say that there would be an 'intimate' gig at the nightclub where he was the booker, and told us that we could have £200 towards a minibus if we got one down. How I got involved I don't quite remember but it could be something to do with the fact that I'm a busybody Queen of Entropy. So, three months later, after cancellations, swapping about and a last minute double booking by a complete fool from Advance Travel Leeds, I was stood at Oxford Road station in Manchester waiting for two people I'd never met before to get on this 16 seater to oblivion. Luckily neither of them were murderers, one had come all the way from Inverness on a coach to be here, and the other had come from Sainsburys, rather less impressively.

Most people were getting on at Leeds, a random assortment of forumers and their assorted friends, all of them thoroughly nice people. 'The Cribs' went on the CD player, and after a stop for birthday cake at the service station (more of that later) we were outside the Kasbah looking like weirdos as we had an impromptu buffet served from the minibus step.

Moving to the more traditional picnicking arena of a grass verge we sat eating sausage rolls, pringles and scotch eggs, being eyed cautiously by the scenesters making their way into the venue. Kelly Cherrypicks was due to turn 24 at midnight so we sang to her and after a few lethally strong vodka and lemonades in plassy cups we went inside, amazingly getting past 'security' with a pro digital SLR camera and a digital voice recorder!

The Kasbah is pleasing to the eye but the queues at the bar were ridiculous, the bar staff stretched to their limits and the beer was so expensive that it formed the only topic of conversation for the assembled crowds. There was a chorus of "How much?!" every time someone got served which must have been fun for the barman. The venue is absolutely rammed and we've already been split up into two splinter groups so some of us start off upstairs where there's a bit more room and you can actually still see the stage if you don't mind it being slightly blurry through some tinted glass. After Kelly hassles some bouncers they open up the balcony doors and we havethe best view in the house from stage right.

Shrag are excellent, full of bounce and madness and the front row are responding to it. Later me and Kelly saw the girls in the toilet and let out a girly cry of 'Hi Shrag!' to which they replied "Hi!" in unison and we all collapsed into giggles like a missing scene from Sex and the City.

When The Cribs finally make the stage Ryan whacks his head on the doorway before they launch into Bovine. By now there are many more people on the balcony and we're having to do a stupid balancing act with two half pints of lager because the bar has run out of plastic pint glasses. I've never seen the pit at a Cribs gig from above before but it looked like a swarm of crazy, sweating bees and I was glad I wasn't down there getting bounced around like Ms Pacman. As Danny Glover once said, I'm getting too old for this shit.

The setlist is awesome, dropping in bsides and storming through most of MNWNW and The New Fellas. I hear the familiar chugging of one of my favourites, North of England, and Ryan announces 'This is for the cool people'. I translate this into 'This is for the minibus people' and it sounds twice as good. Everything's going brilliantly until Gary says "I can't do this anymore, I'm just being honest. It's nothing to do with this band but just me personally. I can't do this anymore.' Donna and I stare at each other with that 'Did I just hear right?' look, and the crowd boos. As the guys start playing again there's a real buzz of confusion which doesn't subside until Be Safe calms everyone down with the dulcit tones of Mr Ranaldo and his funny pipe. Be Safe is such a great song that it should inspire great works of art, symphonies and architectural wonders but for lack of brushes, instruments and blueprints everyone just points and jabs the air.

As the boys wander off stage everyone is cheering extra hard in the wake of Gary's comments (or Gary-gate as it came to be known on the forum today), in case this is the last we see of them. Then the DJ comes on and tells us all he'll be playing songs until we all drop dead so we bag a nice booth on the balcony and submit to the ultra-priced bar. We've been told there's an aftershow but it seems to consist of what we in the real world would call a club night. Just around the time this kicks off I go looking for Ben the promoter because he owes me the £200 I have paid for the minibus. Strangely he's nowhere to be found and no-one knows where he is. I wonder if he's some kind of mythical figure and then I notice that one of Team Jarman is outside, having been thrown out for being too young. Now, we were never made aware of the fact that under 18s weren't allowed in the venue after the gig, what are they supposed to do, round them up and do DNA testing? Anyway I have an altercation with the bouncer, who I would describe as a neanderthal except for the fact that neanderthals had the brain power to use simple stone tools and this bloke would struggle with a twig and some berries.

Eventually Ben appears and it's a Wizard of Oz moment as I realise he's about 19 and incredibly affable. We sort out our bit of business (Ben = ace bloke) and I am escorted off the premises by another security guard, seemingly for the crime of talking back to a knuckle dragging simpleton in a bomber jacket. After a last minute sweep for stray Team Jarman members me and Melissa head out looking for cheap booze houses who don't much care about ID. We find a dodgy looking 'student wine bar' and settle in with two hammered regulars, the rastafarian landlord and four Cribs fans from Manchester who've been chucked out for smoking in the beer garden. The Kasbah's a nice place but they need to sort out their security, it comes to something when even the band on stage have to interrupt the gig to tell them to leave their fans alone.

Back on the minibus we're heading for home and Kelly's distributing birthday cake (actually it was chocolate logs but that was all I could get from the service station). After a while everyone's napping on each others shoulders even though some of them have only met a few hours ago. We drop most of the busers off at Leeds station and by 4.30 I'm back at my hotel and Rob and Mikey are off to Oxford Rd and hopefully then Inverness.

Some of them came from the North of England and some came from abroad

This weekend has completely passed me by, I think it's because I haven't got the ability to really relax at the moment. Next week I'm going to London for the weekend and I know I'll be able to relax there because no-one there wants anything from me. Sure I've made a few plans to meet people, but if I then upped and disappeared it would be completely fine and no-one would hassle me. I'm going to be able to check into the hotel and do whatever the hell I want, which is why I hardly ever stay with friends in London. I always get offers, which is really nice, but I'd much prefer the freedom to come and go whenever I like. I'm tempted to not even have the bloody phone on all weekend, though I might come back to the hotel on Saturday night and see a nationwide campaign on TV called 'Find Kirsty So We Can Hassle Her'.

I hate my phone. I hate that people can reach me whenever they want when it's not even important. Increasingly I turn it off at weekends and leave it like that but it's caused so much consternation amongst people that now I can't do it so I just leave the ringer off and only look at it when I can be bothered. If I'm at home on my own I don't answer the house phone, I find it galling that people should be able to make you stop what you're doing to talk to them. If you went to someone's house, rang the doorbell and then went and switched off your TV so that you had their full attention you'd think they were rude and obnoxious, but people even get out of bed or out of the bath to answer the phone. I know what you're thinking "Oh, but it could be an emergency!". It never is though, is it?

So I've let this weekend go and I'm focusing on Thursday when I'm off to see The Cribs in Coventry, and next weekend when I'm off to London, train strikes notwithstanding.

So to today's Writer's Block..

If you were exiled to outer space, where would you be sent and what would you bring along?

Now, I'm all for imaginitive questions, but how bad must I have behaved to constitute being exiled to Outer Space?! You don't even get 20 years for murder these days, what heinous crime not only calls for a harsher punishment than taking a life, but won't even allow you to continue to live on this planet?

Anyhow, let's say I was exiled to Outer Space, I have no idea where I would be sent. I'm still battling with the concept of exile being used as a punitive measure so I'm really not ready to try and map the solar system looking for a suitably uninviting planet. Let's say Jupiter so we can get on with this farce.

Everything I might normally take on a trip would be useless on Jupiter, why take paper and a pen? Who is going to read what you've written? I'd probbably take a ball. What's the gravity like there on Jupiter? Good? Yes, a ball and a wall to kick it against. Just me, on Jupiter, kicking a ball against a wall until I die. Is that what you want, Livejournal question setters?

Name your top 10 most played bands on iTunes:

1. The Decemberists

2. Morrissey

3. The Beatles

4. They Might Be Giants

5. Suede

6. Vampire Weekend

7. The Smiths

8. The Cribs

9. Kirsty MacColl

10. Rufus Wainwright

What was the first song you ever heard by 6 (Vampire Weekend)?

I believe it was Mansard Roof which was what they opened with when I saw them on Sunday, yay!

What is your favorite album of 2 (Morrissey)?

Oooh, too hard but I'm going to say Viva Hate

What is your favorite lyric that 5 (Suede) has sung?

Far away, we'll go far away, down to Worthing and work there (The Next Life)

How many times have you seen 4 (They Might Be Giants) live?

Unfortunately only twice, once in Manchester in 2003 and once in London in 2005.

What is your favorite song by 7 (The Smiths)?

Still Ill

What is a good memory you have involving the music of 10 (Rufus Wainwright)?

I saw him at the Lowry and the look on my friend Nico's face when Rufus stripped off and put on a witch's outfit was something to behold.

Is there a song of 3 (The Beatles) that makes you sad?

The first on that came to mind was 'In My Life', but I'm not sure why.

What is your favorite lyric that 2 (Morrissey) has sung?

Yout think you were my first love but you're wrong, you were the only one (I Know Very Well How I Got My Name)

How did you get into 3 (The Beatles)?

My dad owned every record they ever made, and some they didn't. There was no choice involved.

What was the first song you heard by 1 (The Decemberists)?

I can't remember, but I think it was probably Shanty for the Arethusa

What is your favorite song by 4 (They Might Be Giants)?

Man, It's So Loud In Here

How many times have you seen 9 (Kirsty MacColl) live?

Never got to see her

What is a good memory you have involving 2 (Morrissey)?

On a sketch I did called 'At Home With The White Stripes', Nico played Morrissey and had to channel him in an amusing way.

Is there a song of 8 (The Cribs) that makes you sad?

I nearly cried when they played Be Safe at Cribsmas but I wasn't sad.

What is your favorite album of 5 (Suede)?

The amazing DogManStar

What is your favorite lyric that 3 (The Beatles) has sung?

When I hold you in my arms and I feel my finger on your trigger I know nobody can do me no harm. (Happiness Is A Warm Gun).

What is your favourite song of 1 (The Decemberists)?

The Engine Driver

What is your favourite song of 10 (Rufus Wainwright)?

The Art Teacher


How many times have you seen 8 (The Cribs) live?

Lost count, about 15

What is your favourite album of 1 (The Decemberists)?

Picaresque

What is a great memory you have concerning 9 (Kirsty MacColl)?

Dancing around mentally to England 2 Columbia Nil with my friend David.

What was the first song you heard by 8 (The Cribs)?

Things You Should Be Knowing

What's your favourite cover by 2 (Morrissey)?

That's Entertainment

 

Oh Brixton.....Not been there for years and unfortunately my hotel was a billion miles away so I just got there in time for The Cribs.This tour has seemed a bit weird to me - it's the crowds, and knowing that some people are not there for The Cribs, which is an unusual feeling. It's kind of a relief that it's all over and now we can get back to proper tours.

Went to the front but the ever swelling tide of knobheads pushing round were making it hard to stand up. Having worked all day then travelled for four hours to get here and walked all over bloody Kings Cross looking for the world's best hidden hotel I was in no mood to stand and be elbowed repeatedly by some idiot. I stood at the front for about half and hour and then headed towards the back to find somewhere to stand where I could actually see something.

The back of a Cribs gig is a strange place, I've never been there before! People were actually standing still while songs like Hey Scenesters! were playing, it was really surreal. There were definitely some people there who had been guestlisted and didn't want to be there because they were just chatting - yes, actually chatting! - while the band were playing. 'Sod this for a lark', I thought and went back into the melee where there was a bit of atmosphere. The lads were playing brilliantly but they didn't seem to be having much fun, they looked a bit tired.

Be Safe was excellent, there had been rumours that Lee Renaldo was going to be coming on stage in person to sing it but that didn't happen. I don't know if it ever was but I think if it had transpired I might have passed out with pleasure and been stretchered out. Incidentally, this is the first Cribs gig I have been too where I have been in no way injured, so something of a milestone for me, though I did miss the adrenaline of not knowing if I'd survive the night. (A bit dramatic maybe, the last injury was a piffling scratch to the hand from a broken plastic cup, not exactly Keith Moon territory).

Afterwards headed to the afterparty thing at Jamm in Brixton with my mate Clarry. There were a couple of really good bands playing and the Cribs were supposed to be DJing but that never happened so we got Russell from Bloc Party. He was alright I suppose, throwing in some superbly cheesy 90s dance music, but there was an indie crowd there being treated to trance and a lot of people wandered off until he relented and played something singable. Jamm's a good place, and the crowd there were really friendly and happy, not like the deplorable poseurs you get in some London clubs on Fridays.

So it's the end of the tour, I've travelled over 600 miles, spent a fortune, seen four superb Cribs performances, been branded by the worlds biggest stamp courtesy of the Jing Jang Jong, been scratched by Shippo's cat, drunk my weight in bitter and vodka and come out the other side. Same time next month then.....

Still sleep deprived from last night I got an early train up to Leeds for the HMV signing. I've never been to one of these things before and the whole thing seems a bit odd but I thought I may as well. After finding myself in the wrong HMV, and then in the wrong end of town I finally saw the mini queue and got in it, before realising that I was supposed to buy something from HMV first (this wasn't actually the case but as usual there was some kind of Chinese whispers going on about the hoops you had to jump through to actually get something signed). I was too tired to fully understand the situation and ended up buying a Klaxons album I didn't want to get the NME vinyl which I've already got. Luckily some lad kept my place in the queue, but I ended up sandwiched between the cast of Skins who were all trying to get off with each other over my head. It was as it this point that the bouncers came round handing out the NME vinyl for nothing and I quietly seethed.

The lads were running late, by about an hour, but the queue moved quite quick and got my album box thing and vinyl signed. I handed over a CD to Ryan of Men's Need and Foundations being played on the pan pipes. Apparently it was played at the after party accompanied by various confused looks.

Managed to find my hotel even though it was hidden away down some back alley and I was back out meeting up with uber fans Kelly, Emma and Donna at the Pack Horse. We made it to the Leeds Uni Refectory by about 8 ish I think. Some guy approached me with a camera and asked could he take my picture for the Joe Lean website. "Of course!" I smile, not realising that he's about to stamp my arm with a 6 x 4" Joe Lean logo. Most of it rubbed off on people in the pit, leaving just a large black smudge on my arm. The picture isn't up on the gallery yet but I'm sure I look demented.

Bumped into Mrs Jarman who was dismayed at the length of the toilet queue. Do they not have toilets back stage at the Uni? Poor show to make a triple A guest queue up for three hours. Saw a load of people from Cribsmas which was nice. We went up to the front when The Cribs came on but there was a massive screen blocking off most of the left hand side of the stage so we had to go into the melee to see anything. I can't remember the setlist for the life of me, but they played most of the last album. Be Safe was superb. Johnny Marr made a re-appearance having been MIA for the last few dates to play Panic and something else which I've forgotten.

Kelly and I went on to the Library where Jonny Strangeways was playing upstairs. I got asked for ID on the way in, which made my night. It's a great venue, never been there before but it has the added advantage of a stage for all the show off dancers who've drunk too much. (Like me for example). A lot of the people from the gig were there as it was billed as the aftershow party for the gig, though the band (minus Ryan, get well soon ) and assorted crew were actually downstairs in the main pub.

What ensued after is best left to the school of "What goes on tour stays on tour".Onwards to Brixton and annihilation.

Manchester last night was a bit of a weird one. I think we all knew that there'd  be a different atmosphere on this tour and that there would be a lot more, for want of a better word, Scenesters, about. I never thought it would be this bad though: for a start, maybe I'm just getting on a bit but everyone there seemed to be about nine years old. I avoided the bar because the scrum was a joke and I knew I'd have to pay about £4 for slightly less than a pint of lukewarm watered down beer. I don't care what they say, it is watered down, because I can drink about eight pints of it and still recite Hamlet.

I settled down the front with some children. Honest, they were children, they were barely out of nappies. Does It Offend You, Yeah? They were rubbish. I was trying to like them but I just couldn't, it was crap. I got a MIDI keyboard a few days ago and my attempts to learn how to use it were about the same standard as what they played. It sounds really soulless and flat, and I don't think lifting your keyboard above your head and screaming is any way to end a set.

Joe Lean and his Jing Jang Jongers were up next, but first I can see Shippo wandering round on stage - he looks like the other techies are bullying him and he looks a bit lost. I'm sure that wasn't the case but I was half expecting him to be at the bottom of a piley on within minutes.

I quite like Joe Lean but Jesus Christ, they're all freakishly tall.What's going on with them? They look like the Tim Burton House Band, all pointy bits and black clothes. I liked the drummer, I thought he was brilliant, and they were interesting to watch but it got a bit tired quite quick.

At this point I decided to move because I already wanted to murder everyone around me. I went outside for some fresh air and got accosted by someone trying to sign people up to the Joe Lean mailing list. The Academy's being remodelled or something so there's a big corridor of red steel leading up the portaloos they've set up. All the smokers are out here. As I'm walking back in a guy points at me says "See? That's what it's all about!".I have no idea what that meant.

Back in and I decide to swap sides of the stage and get near Gary's end, as it were. What a grave error. Started out okay, I went to the front but there was a gaggle of glitter faced girls in front of me,blocking my view. Out of the corner of my eye I see Ryan coming out of a side door.

"Look! It's Ryan!" says I. Cue a screaming stampede as the girls run towards him waving their cameras about. I slot into the second row nicely as Ryan gets mobbed by them. Sorry mate, survival of the fittest and all that.

Unfortunately I'm stood behind My Little Fucking Pony, who keeps swishing her mangy tail into my face every 5 seconds. I amuse myself by blowing it out of the way until she tucks the thing into her jumper where it belongs. The view here is okay but I'm surrounded by complete idiots who seem to know all the Cribs' lyrics but don't know that when you stand in the front at a gig you might get shoved around. All the way through some outrageously camp bloke and his hefty friend are jabbing me, kicking me, shouting right down my fucking ears. I stopped carrying a knife a long time ago, lucky for these two. I couldn't reach into my pockets or I would have stuck them with a Cribs Online badge.

Anyhow, the gig was excellent. Bastards Of Young, Bovine, I've Tried Everything were really good. Be Safe was great, I had a feeling they might bring it into their set after the Brudenell because it worked so well there. I didn't realise until today that there had been a film of Lee on the big screens, I was too far forward to see, but that's an ace idea, I hope to get a look at it on Thursday at Leeds. The lads had a picture of their recently deceased dog Olly on their drum skin, which made me quite emotional cos my own dog died a week ago. I'm sure they'll be playing happily in doggy heaven, both sick of hearing The Cribs being played constantly round the house.

I was beginning to think that Johnny Marr wasn't gonna come on because they were getting closer and closer to curfew time, but just before the end Ryan announces him and on he comes to applause which I think they call 'rapturous'. Truth be told I think some of the crowd were too young and stupid to know who we was. I swear to God someone next to me (the same girl who screamed at the top of her lungs when Gary walked out) said "Is that their brother that they said was dead?", Ryan having previously called Olly the 'fourth Jarman brother'. Panic was really good, it actually suits the Cribs, it's quite angry and anthemy isn't it? Never thought of it like that with Mozzers dulcit tones on it, but Ryan adds a bit of edge.

I couldn't hear what Marr was doing quite frankly, because the sound was awful, but it looked good. Ryan looked ecstatic when he walked on stage. They finished off with I'm A Realist,which I enjoyed from the back of the room as I was worried about the old 'night in Oxford Road station' that I've risked so many times before.

In terms of experience this was probably the worst Cribs gig I've been too, which isn't a reflection on the band at all, they were superb as always. I just felt a bit out of it, like it was a festival performance where you're the only one there to see them. Liverpool's always a good craic, so fingers crossed that'll pick me up on Thursday.

After another good long lie in for the girls it's out to Leeds to seek out some food. We end up wandering round the Corn Exchange before heading to Nandos where we have a chat about The Cribs.

Mia asks me how I got into the band and I relate my too-long-to-tell story. I was managing a radio station and working all the hours God sent, and I was hearing virtually every new song, every new band around, and none of it was doig anything for me. I'd given up on new music, and I was so close to putting a full stop after my record collection. Was The Thrills really the best that music could offer? I was disillusioned and fed up, I'd fallen out with music. Amid a hectic day yet another CD landed on my desk for me to listen to. I really couldn't be bothered and held out no hope that it was any good. Well, I heard the opening bass riff of Things You Should Be Knowing and 2 minutes and 53 seconds later I'd put music back into my life. I had to know everything about this band, they had be on my A-list, and all of a sudden I cared about what music we had on the station. I made sure me and my staff were always seeking out new stuff and going to gigs, and I've not looked back since. The Cribs renewed my faith in what music could be - pounding, raw, real and visceral.

"That's what you should have said to Ryan, " said Mia. "You know, instead of just kissing him like a knobhead". That's not exactly what she said, but you get the gist.

Back at the Brudenell and we're sitting in the lounge again. Jon Slade is wandering about,as are The Kaiser Chiefs. There's a strangely muted atmosphere, like everyone knows it's coming to an end. Ryan's wearing his 'Christmas suit' and looks right handsome. The b-sides from this album are ace aren't they? I haven't got much to say about it really, it was just brilliant.

Bingo is being called by Ryan, but the LED board's broken. Jonny ends up just writing numbers on a bit of paper, and then just whispering them. There's nothing scientific going on here and pretty soon it's all chaos again.

Shippo introduces the Kaiser Chiefs and off they pop. I'm not one to be unkind but if the mince pie eating contest had gone ahead I think we would have had a clear winner with Ricky Wilson. He's a healthy lad, there's no mistake.

Another auction and I, in my inebriated state, find myself bidding. I'm about to go £200 into the hole for a pair of Ryan's jeans when my Sensible Brain (Drunk Brain's sickly sister) tells me to put my bloody arm down and stop being so silly. The person bidding against me is one Kate Nash. Now what does she need with an old pair of her boy's jeans? Kate - listen to your conscience and send them to me girl.

Ross is the Jarman VS the barman, who is actually Peanut from the Kaisers, and he wins by a country mile. It's those muscly arms you see.

Anyone who's been to the tour dates this year has seen most of the new album being played but there's still the matter of Be Safe. Everyone was hoping that Lee might make it over the water to join the lads on stage but that's a treat for the future. He's on a tape and it's still brilliant. At the end of the set, after Don't You Wanna Be Relevant, the crowd are still chanting for more. "We're really happy that you want us to carry on," says Gary. "But we literally haven't got any more songs". The crowd responds by singing the intro to Another Number, so they come on and do that before collapsing, dead on the stage.(That didn't actually happen, but it might've).

For the last three nights I've been handing out badges featuring Gary and Ryan from The Cribs Online. Some people are a bit suspicious, giving me that 'How much?' look. By far the most asked question is "Why aren't there any of Ross?" The truth is, he doesn't stay still long enough for me to take his picture, but I'm working on it.

There's no rest for the wicked tonight though, we're off to Wire to hear the Cribs DJ set. It's all ticket and we have to queue outside in the bloody freezoing cold but at least it's warm in there. Jonny's playing a lot of Cribs and before I know it I'm being pulled into a rough waltz to The Watch Trick by a handsome young man who turns out to be our own Duke of Wakefield from the Cribs forum. The place is packed and there's a great atmosphere so the time flies by and before we know it it's 4am. Gary and Nick Scott have been spinning discs, Ross has also had a go but Ryan's settled in with his missus. I'm dancing in a haze as usual when Mia grabs me and says "Come and meet Gary!" dragging me into the corner. He's very taken with Mia as she's come all this way and they're chatting away while I try and stay upright.With him is the guy who's been filming all three nights and Gary mentions that there'll be some kind of book of pictures coming along with the DVD. We have some pics taken with Our Gaz and then we're off, walking through the streets of Leeds as the sun starts to come up.

Roughly three hours later Mia is off to catch her flight back to Estonia via Dublin and I'm still sound asleep, trying to recoup the energy lost over 3 days. It's been emotional.

Well, I wasn't sure if I'd make it when this was announced. Everyone, but everyone wanted a ticket. A few early mornings with people on standby at the computer, work forgotten, a few favours and a begging email to my boss to let me have the time off and at 4.30pm on Wednesday December 19th I'm off to Leeds.

My room mate at the luxurious (!) Comfort Inn is Mia aka Backseat Driver from the official forum, which I where I seem to have been living recently. She's already booked in and there's the small matter of the bill which has to be paid up front. Now I've stayed in hotels all over the place and never have I been asked to pay for the whole stay on the first night. Quite a hole in the old beer fund but then it is the Brudenell we're going to.

Mia's lovely and we have to get to know each other in the taxi queue. I have to give a spare ticket I got to another girl from the forum, Kelly, who's waiting for us outside. She's grateful to say the least, I've never been hugged so much by a perfect stranger in my entire life, but then I like being hugged so I feel more Christmassy straight away. The lovely bustling ladies at the bar are charging something like 12p for a pint and my liver seems to kick me internally as if to say "Calm down!". Us three girls and Kelly's mate set up on a table in the lounge and we're soon accosted by two Scottish lads with absolutely impenetrable accents. I catch the odd word, like 'Cribs' and 'pissed' but the rest means nothing to me, we're just all smiling and nodding at each other. Mia, who's Estonian, managed to catch more than me, what does that tell you?

Having previously been determined not to spend a fortune this week I've already passed £18 quid over for a wrongly spelled Brudenell tshirt and a Cribsmas badge. I'm beginning to regret bringing my very bulky, very expensive leather jacket which is much to hot to wear inside this place. As we queue and go into the gig room my core temperature shoots to about 400 degrees and I have to carry it round all night.

It feels a bit weird to actually be here. Feels like I've been building up to coming for years when it's actually just over 6 weeks. Inside my Team Jarman tshirt has attracted a few other forum members (it's also my avatar), including Lizzy from Durham who comes to hang out with us as we soak up the carnival atmosphere. As The Cribs come out and run through their early demos and get to I Gotta Go To LA I'm transported back to when I first hear them in 2003, when this was one of the few songs I could get hold of off Limewire. After that mini-set they're off to recuperate and we're going to play Bingo with Jonny. It's very exciting, but I never win at Bingo,I can't actually remember what the prizes were but I think they were probably good. Gary's calling the numbers with the help of Jonny's professional looking LED board.

Franz Ferdinand are on next, I feel like another trip to the bar as it's calmed down a bit, I'm just ordering my pint when out of the corner of my eye I see two people snogging each others faces off. Being a nosey cow, I have to have a little look and lo and behold if it isn't Ryan and Miss Kate Nash. It's hypnotic actually, hard to tear yourelf away, especially when the said tongue action is so close to your head that you can hear each individual smacking sound. With pint in hand I go and stand at the back of the room where it's a bit cooler while Franz are on. I'm aware of a slight commotion next to me and Ryan and Kate, having stopped kissing, are being accosted by the very same Scottish lads that we encountered earlier. Amazingly, Ryan seems to understand every word that's being said, it's still a mystery to me. Meanwhile, one has broken off to invite me to spend Christmas with his family.

As Franz Ferdinand are closing I'm about to head down the stairs before my Drunk Brain says "Hey, Kirst, why not go and say hello to Ryan? I'm sure he's love that!". Didn't quite work out like that, what actually happened was I said "Ryan?", he looked at me, and at this point my Drunk Brain bailed out, and all I could think of to do was kiss him, so I did. Then I looked at Kate Nash and thought, "He's her bloke, I'd better kiss her too". Thanks Drunk Brain! You're super! Now I'm going to stand in a corner and bang my head against the wall.

Onto round one of Barman VS Jarman with Mr Gary Jarman facing...someone, I can't remember. There's no point in trying to get anywhere near the bar as word has got round that they'll be giving the beer pulled away for free. I gather that it was indeed the Barman and not the Jarman who was victorious. There follows a rather raucous game of Pass The Parcel where Cribs signed records (not by them) and dog toys are won by needy children. The music playing sounds like the Star Wars Christmas Special.

The Cribs come on for act 2 and damn it if they aren't wearing their old 'costumes' from back in the day. There's Ryan in his Gitanes shirt, and Ross in his spangly waistcoat, and Gary in.....well, the kind of stuff he still wears I suppose. The set was obviously the first album chronologically, accompanied by some reminisces about Squirrel Records, Russell from the Research on keys and an emotional crowd surf where the legendary Gitanes tshirt was ripped from Ryan's torso and destroyed. "You should be ashamed of yourselves," says Gary, "he's had that t-shirt for 30 years......Since before he was born."

A highlight for me was Things You Should Be Knowing, my favourite Cribs song, the first one I ever heard, and a particularly special one when it's being sung by The Cribs faithful at this kind of event.

Sweating profusely, we get outside pronto and get a cab back to the Leeds Hilton for a brew and one of those brown biscuits you only get in hotels. I'm absolutely knackered but ready for the next night, here comes The New Fellas.......