the baby tiger journal
Dec. 26th, 2008
01:08 am
Farewell, Eartha Kitt. Cheerio, Harold Pinter. Why is it the biggies all drop like flies round Christmas? I'm looking at you, Hardest Working Man In Showbusiness, and you, Strummer...
Dec. 25th, 2008
Nov. 22nd, 2008
10:03 am
Happily, I passed my exam. It was one of those multiple choice 50-question ones, so I was through it in about 20 minutes. After the stress of last weekend, getting the wee printout afterwards saying I passed released a *huge* amount of adrenaline, I felt quite lightheaded readers.
That was Monday. Monday night I hospital-visited, and now my dad is home again - thanks for the messages, he's recovering nicely.
Since Tuesday I was down in London on a course of Derivative Fundamentals. Now that's a confusing thing to do! I think I just about clung on though...wasn't feeling too hot this week though with the cumulative stress and running around of the past month, but came back up last night and met up with Lesley and co for her birthday, and Dave S who's currently asleep in our spare room. Got to bed at 2am, still totally zonked now, and am going to RELAX this weekend.
Ah, who am I kidding?
Nov. 16th, 2008
05:42 pm - Post Wedding Madness
I should really be studying, but I've been at it all day, I'm finally averaging 80% in the mock exams and 70% is the pass rate, and my head is mince.
What's been happening? ;)
Well, the wedding eventually went incredibly well. It's fair to say that at 6am on the morning before the big day (the Friday) both of us were at our wits' end trying to get everything done - there's nothing quite as surreal as tripping round the James' Centre trying to find poles to stick bits of card on for your tables and actually beginning to believe that it'll be a disaster if you don't find any. Fortunately two lovely Clinton Cards employees sorted us out with some helium balloons and Larry gave us a lift home with them.
Halls both looked fantastic I have to say, with a lot of help from various willing friends. Everyone was genuinely fantastic at pitching in with whatever needed doing, and we got through it all in record time. Which was just as well, as neither of us had really slept or eaten in days and were not too far off passing out. Well, I thought that, but ended up getting about 2 hours sleep anyway.
So to the big day. Well, it pretty much went without a hitch, the ceremony was great and the speeches were too. Fourteenhours, DJ's Nomad Soul and Mr Zimbabwe did the tunes and a phenomenal amount of booze was downed - it was particularly noticeable to Gills and I as we were the soberest people left in the end! And Gillian looked *amazing*. I mean obviously she's normally pretty hot but this was something else. I'm a jammy git, really I am. Still sorting through a ton of photos but I will get around to putting them online in some format or another once this exam's out the way....
Big shout-outs to Larry for his ringmastering of the evening (and also for the awesome hotel room that night - The New York Suite in Le Monde, I highly recommend it), Mark for MC'ing the event, Dan, Tommy and Greig for ushing, Hazel for being a stunning bridesmaid, the parents for all their help and of course Fraser for being a cracking best man. And to everyone else for turning up and being great. I feel like I'm reliving our (totally shambolic and unwritten speech) so I'll stop now.
So we flew to Barbados the next day after an party at the folks' - again, just a great place. We basically slept and ate for the first two days, as everything caught up with us, but recovered a bit after that to sightsee, snorkel, chill out and relax - and unsurprisingly we were gutted to come back.
It feels like no time at all since then, but actually a pile of stuff has been going on. We got a car which has predictably stopped working (the battery's flat and we can't drive anyway!), I've been on courses in London and Glasgow and have been studying a lot (though probably not as much as I should have) for tomorrow's Financial Regs exam. Gah, frankly. Gah. Also a friend we haven't seen in 11 years dropped in for a couple of nights with her 8 and 5 year olds, which was ....interesting. Back in London for another course this week, but if I can get through the exam tomorrow and three days of attempting (and failing) to understand derivatives I should get a bit of a break afterwards, which is really quite overdue, I think. We still have thank-you letters to write for the amazing gifts we got!
And finally...my dad had a heart attack on Wednesday night and is now awaiting an angiogram in the Infirmary. So far it looks like it was relatively minor, but it's still a hell of a shock for everyone and we're all still a bit discombobulated I think. Fingers crossed that everything will go alright....
On that note - Gillian is on nightshift tonight so I'd better go make some chilli.
![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/shock.gif){kind=small}
anxiousOct. 3rd, 2008
02:44 pm - last day of singledom
well, as I type this I can barely see the monitor from tiredness. Also a bit of hunger. Have been running around like a maniac all week trying to get everything sorted for the big day tomorrow, and finally I think we're just about there. Heading off to get the musical gear in half an hour, finally have the decorations, flowers, seating plan, etc and so on - just need to sort out the speech! I may end up just winging it.
Looking forward to tomorrow hugely - I have wanted to marry Gillian for many, many years and I couldn't be happier that it's actually happening. Also looking forward to catching up with so many friends - would love to have even more there but sadly the walls aren't elastic! And then heading to Barbados on Sunday for a couple of weeks' incredibly overdue R&R - mostly spent sleeping, drinking rum daiquiris, reading and sunbathing, I reckon. I can't wait.
Farewell non-married life! It was nice while it lasted. I won't miss you though....
Sep. 15th, 2008
06:33 pm
Once again, it's been BLOODY AGES since I posted anything. Have I been sitting around on my tubby ass doing nothing, I don't hear you ask? No. No I haven't. Yes, I shock you.
W-day (no, not the day monkeyboy gets notice to quit the Big House and make preparations to visit the Hague, that's exactly a month later - it's our wedding day obviously) fast approaches. Two weeks and five days, readers! Many exciting things have happened recently regarding this, and I use 'exciting' in the loosest possible sense.
To recap: We had a venue. It got flooded. 'Feck', we declaimed, frantically scrabbling about for another venue. We went back to the piggy bank, counted up our pennies again, affixed suitably steely-eyed expressions to our faces and sallied forth to HAGGLE. And HAGGLE we duly did. So now our event is happily ensconced in Edinburgh Academy, awaiting the day we turn up and get drunk. And we aren't bankrupt (yet).
Back on Planet Gills, the dissertation continues apace. She's had a *shite* summer frankly, with family members dying, stress and far too much on her plate, but that's her business and not something I want to go into here. Anyway said magnum opus is due tomorrow, and isn't done yet, so it's likely going to be a day or two overdue. Can't be any more than that though, obviously, due to the aforementioned event happening, well, really soon.
Most of the faffing is done, the invites are out, we have a million wee jobs to attend to, not least of which is the recording, burning and packaging of two songs for everyone's wedding favour. Fun but complicated. I'm sure it'll all be fine though.
In other news (hang on, other stuff happens?!) lots of my friends have had children, my job continues to be generally fun, and we haven't booked a honeymoon yet. Us? Disorganised? Nah!
For those of you with memories longer than the average gadfly, this journal was set up to talk about Baby Tiger. However The Tiger no longer exists (boo!) and musicy stuff has been thin on the ground, sadly. Once we're back from, er, wherever we go, this will change. The Stantons have some half-finished songs which are great, I think, and A Very Secret History really need to release this album before we all go pop.
Right. That's enough for now. More...er....probably when I'm married.
Jul. 1st, 2008
07:47 pm
( The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Well let's see. 1) Look at the list and bold those you have read. 2) Italicise those you intend to read. 3) Underline the books you LOVE. 4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them )
( Read more... )
May. 4th, 2008
05:20 pm
Grah. I am BROKEN. Last night was the Fourteenhours album launch party. Fourteenhours are a pop band that the Very Secret History bassist Brian also plays in. I was guesting on keyboards for the night, and The Stantons were supporting, so I had 7 practices in 10 days leading up to it with both bands and a fairly full-on night last night. Great fun though. My friend Pete was organising the event as the 'practical' for his events management course and managed to get 160 punters through the doors of the Cab, so fair play to him. There was an aftershow at the City Cafe too with Mr Zimbabwe and Nomad Soul DJ'ing, including two plays of Calvin Littlest Album track 'The Birds And The Bees'. Hurrah for that. And it was part of Tigerfest, which I've had spectacularly little input to this year. But it's going to go swimmingly without me I'm sure!
A combination of just enough beer, adrenaline, tiredness and good spirits meant I was bouncing off the walls all night, and today I'm WRECKED - sore muscles, knackered and incredibly grateful for tomorrow's bank holiday. Saying that, I'm going out an hour from now for beer and skittles at a friend's birthday in the Sheep's Heid, Edinburgh's oldest boozer. Should be fun!
In other news...actually there might not be much. We found a wedding venue - St Stephen's on St Stephen's Street - and hopefully we'll have a confirmed date of Oct 4th next week, so fingers crossed. Five months today! Better find caterers...
Having re-read the above, it's very dull, but I am very sleepy...
Mar. 5th, 2008
01:55 pm - Three word answers!
nicked from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
circumlocute
1. Where is your cell phone?
In my pocket.
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend?:
Is the tops.
3. Your hair?:
Curly and cut.
4. Where is your father?
In the office.
5. Cheesecake?
Strawberry and frozen.
6. Your favorite thing to do?
Sing, read, accompany.
7. Your dream last night?
Bad American thriller.
8. Your favorite drink?
Beer and beer.
9. Your dream car?
Probably doesn't exist.
10. The room you're in?
Is the office.
11. George W. Bush?
Barack H Obama.
12. Your fears?
Losing, tripping, injuring.
13. Nipple rings?
I think not.
14. Who did you hang out with last night?
My lovely fiancee.
15. What you're not good at?
Planning my time!
16. Your best friends?
Quite a few.
17. One of your wish list items?
An orthopaedic bed.
18. Where did you grow up?:
Bangor, Lisburn, Edinburgh.
19. The last thing you did?:
Ate my lunch.
20. What are you wearing?
Suit, shirt, shoes.
21. Tattoo on the lower back?:
Me? No way!
22. Ketchup?
Only on chips.
23. Your computer?
Flat screen, quick.
24. Your life?
Far too busy!
25. Your mood?
Wee bit tired.
26. Missing?
People arriving tonight.
27. What are you thinking about right now?
This quiz? Duh.
28. Your car?
It doesn't exist!
29. Your work?
Fixed Income Assistant
30. Your summer?
Planning a wedding.
31. Your relationship status?
Totally affianced, like.
32. Your favorite color(s):
Black, red, purple.
33. Last time you laughed?
At a joke.
34. Last time you cried?
Bloody ages ago ;)
35. High school?
Trinity Academy, Edinburgh
36. This quiz:
Is pretty cool.
Feb. 23rd, 2008
03:13 pm
As ever, it's been ages.
I DJ'd at a boxing night last night. Well, that's probably overstating the case a bit. I used my MP3 player to play tunes to introduce the boxers to the ring, and provided a mic and PA for the MC to do the announcements. It overran by a couple of hours, so I ended up standing outside Ocean Terminal at 1am praying for a taxi to turn up, with no power on my mobile to call. Thankfully one did eventually, though only because the guy who'd phoned for it disappeared before it turned up.
That aside, it's been rehearsals all the way, and one gig. The Stantons played with The Wyntown Marshals at Cab Vol, with debuts for new drummer Cricketo Stanton (aka my brother Mark) and Pato Stanton (see what we did there?) aka Dobro Gav. Gig itself was fun but cut very short as the headliners hustled us off early as 'time was short'. They then proceeded to play a 1hr 10m set. Pity, as after 35 minutes quite a few of the 40-odd folk there to see us would have left happy having seen them do a decent Jayhawks-ish set, and might have bought a CD, even. After an hour and ten they were just desperate to leave. Frustrating all round! Still, the Stantons are all blooded now. Stuart McHugh very nicely reviewed it for the Daily Ranger, too. Go Stuart.
New job continues to be generally interesting in an economics-y way, and they really are terrifyingly good employers. The other shoe'll drop soon, I'm sure!
Jan. 28th, 2008
06:03 pm - blatant plug
In late-breaking news, we’ve just discovered that The Stantons’ debut album ‘Welcome To Stanton Country’ has been nominated for best album in Jockrock’s ‘best of 2007’ poll. Voting actually closes on Thursday, so if you can go and vote at the link below in the next day or two we can stage a late insurgency!
If you’d like to listen to a track from the album, go here:
http://www.myspace.com/thestantonsm
Oh – and if you have time, vote Tigerfest for event of the year!
http://www.jockrock.org/jockrockpoll200
Dec. 24th, 2007
10:05 am
Hanging about in work, waiting for 12.30 when I'm off for TWO WEEKS! Yay. Then off to Dumfries for Xmas with the in-laws (are they inlaws when you're still affianced? Outlaws seems a bit harsh, especially when they live in the badlands of Galloway...)
Anyway. Amazon presents finally arrived on my desk ten minutes ago, so the shopping is complete. Just need to sneakily wrap the last few things before I head out of here then we're all set. I appear to be be on cooking Xmas dinner, no pressure there then!
The last few weeks have been as busy as ever, the play went well and I'm playing a vicar in the next production, which is called Suspect, in March. Gillian got her essays in after a truly marathon writing session, finishing up at 9.30am on the Monday morning they were due in having been up all night. Just like old times. She's *promised* not to do that every time...my job is pretty crazy and involves a lot of economics. It's a very steep learning curve, but it's never dull.
Back up to Edinburgh for New Year, but no major plans - a games night for Hogmanay I think. Age is catching us with me! Gillian's working nightshift on NY Eve then backshift on NY Day.
Resolutions (starting now)
Running/football - get these underway, I have more weight to lose before the wedding.
Get the wedding organised - at least a venue and date in the next few weeks.
Get rehearsing for the play
Sort out the Stantons stuff - get back to songwriting and get some albums sent out for review/sale.
Work out what AVSH are actually doing (if anything) about releasing our album.
Get to grips with the new job.
Nothing much then!
Have a great Xmas everyone.
Dec. 9th, 2007
Oct. 20th, 2007
01:23 pm
I'm *rubbish* at this sitting about malarkey. Gills is in Dumfries. My dad's in NI. My mum's in Canada. Mark and Sigi are in Tibet somewhere watching Tibetan burial rites or some such. Bob and Jess are up north. Lots of other folk are here, of course, but I'm paralyzed with inertia, if such a thing is possible.
Never mind. Tonight Fraser and I are plootering through to El Weeg to see The Broken Family Band at Tuts, which will be much fun, and I badly need a weekend of doing not much, having been out rehearsing, gig-organising and generally fannying about for the past few weeks.
In other exciting news, I got a new job, with Baillie Gifford - more interesting work and more money, walking distance from the flat *and* they're great employers by all accounts, so hurrah for that. I start in three weeks. Better buy a suit - they're not nearly as attire-lax as my current employers.
Wedding plans are fairly static so far, and will continue to be like that till G finishes her NLP course in early Nov. Hey, as long as we have a venue sorted by Xmas, it's all good.
In other news, Baby Tiger put on its final gig of 2007 on Thursday, the bands were great and enough folk turned up to make it worthwhile. That said, I'm relieved to be out of it for a while, it's still the case that the hassle outweighs the enjoyment and it's nice to be back to concentrating on playing for a change. And the play rehearsals take up so much time that BT would be frankly undoable just now.
Speaking of which:
Make a date with a little macabre fun
St Columba's Dramatic Society will proudly present the comedy:
BEYOND A JOKE by Derek Benfield
from the 21st to the 23rd of November, 2007
at 7.30pm in St Columba's Church Blackhall, Queensferry Road
In a family country house, six visitors have already died. Who's next, and what will the newcomer think of all these deaths? Corpses do not usually create a favourable impression on potential in-laws, but for how long can the family keep bodies hidden?
Tickets are £5 for Adults and £3 for Children
If you have any questions or wish to book tickets, e-mail stcolumbasds@yahoo.co.uk
There you are, then. I play 'the newcomer'. My name's Geoff.
Aside from that...errr...I have nothing to report. Over and out.
Sep. 29th, 2007
Sep. 27th, 2007
Sep. 25th, 2007
06:55 pm - a fairly short engagement
So. Four years ago, in early October 2003, I turned up on Gillian's doorstep, mini-box in hand, and proposed. She (rightly) said "eh...not now. Maybe later".
Well, later just arrived. In true unromantic fashion, we got pissed at a wedding on Saturday and discovered midway through a conversation that we were, in fact, engaged.
Much shock ensued on Sunday morning when we sobered up, it's fair to say.
Wedding's planned for this time next year - and now it's time to calm down and plan!
Sep. 14th, 2007
12:17 pm
My PC will probably freeze mid-entry and not save, but I'll try and not get too angry...
So. Baby Tiger is on hiatus. Not entirely sure what happens next, but as of now we don't have a venue, we aren't actively looking for one and we're concentrating on occasional gigs (Southern Tenant Folk Union and Blueflint, 18th Oct at Leith Ex-Servicemen's Club, and such) and, well, having lives which don't revolve around gigs for a wee while.
I've got a play to rehearse for, two bands which are seriously in need of some time and attention, and a girlfriend who starts a Community Education course on Tuesday. I also have an exam to sit and a career to sort out. Everything's been on hold for five and a half years, to an extent, and so we'll take a few months out, see where we are and possibly come back next year. Or not. We'll see.
In other news, Mark and Sigi came home for a few weeks, now they're in Burma, en route to Beijing, Tibet and India. My folks are going to visit them in Goa for Xmas. We've been to lots of weddings, birthdays and general functions over the past couple of months, but it all quiets down soon. Actually, that's a lie - I *still* have no free weekends this year. But at least it's less stressful!
Aug. 8th, 2007
07:15 pm
So, once again, it's been a while. In this instance, not so much because I'm lazy and more because BT spent three and a half weeks trying to fix our internet connection and failing. Then had the nerve to slap us with a sixty quid monthly bill because they told us only a router would fix it (this turned out to be untrue).
Anyway. Exciting news...not much. Gills and I are going to London at the weekend to see Niall and Maria, and anyone else in the area who is up for meeting. Lots of my friends appear to be pregnant. Members of my family are getting married. And I've signed up for am-dram.
Yes, come November I'll be appearing in Beyond A Joke, a farce set in an English country house featuring a vicar. I'm not the vicar. Instead, I'm the boyfriend of the daughter of the house, played by my friend Jess (that won't be at all weird, then!) It's seventeen years since my last acting stint, and I have no idea what I'm doing. So it'll surely be fun!
OK. Better go study.
Jul. 4th, 2007
05:02 pm
If it's a weekend in late June/early July 2007, it must be Mull. Yes, The Gills and I shouldered our faux-leather bag, ruckie and miscellaneous green contraption and trained it north to Oban, where we spent a pleasant Thursday night plootering about the town, going for a pint and noting the absence of dolphins in the harbour.
Friday we ferried to Mull itself, there to check into THE BEST B&B IN THE WORLD EVER, Strongarbh House on Tobermory. A *huge* room with kingsize bed, two comfy armchairs, DVD and CD player, telly, selection of films, books and tunes, free Fair Trade Chocolate bar and bottles of water, big bath and ace breakfast, plus tea and coffee making facilities, natch. Could have just stayed in all weekend, to be honest, but we ventured forth along the coast for a wander before coming back for scran. Then we capitulated and went back to the room, there to slump in armchairs, gaze at the scenery and watch 'Team America, World Police'. Well, it's a holiday, innit.
Saturday we bussed and ferried the 60 miles across the island to visit Iona, home of Columba's abbey and John Smith's grave, as well as many miles of the whitest beaches you'll ever see and a big hill. Failed to make it to Staffa as the boat trip was a bit steep, but Iona itself was worth the trip - gorgeous, still and scenic. Got back in time for Dr. Qui's finale and some more food/beer.
Sunday we came back across and hooked up with Gillian's sis Hazel in the Weeg for curry at Mother India - Gillian's been trying to take me there for 10 years, so it was great to finally go. And it is awesome. Best curries ever. Well worth it.
Back home now, kitchen is mostly done and we're figuring out a plan for Baby Tiger's autumn assault on your eardrums. Till next time...
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