Meet New People #15: About Time

I’ve known my friend Laura since 2009. We met at my first job out of uni and she trained me in the role. We bonded over shoes and Neighbours, and even though we both left the company we both worked for, we've still kept in contact and see each other a few times a year.

She’s getting married in September and it dawned on me that I hadn't actually met her fiancé Rob! On Friday I went round to have a girlie night watching Gerard Butler and Ryan Gosling films and I got a chance to meet Rob as well, who's a great guy.

I’ll be seeing Laura before the wedding, and I’ll next see Rob on the big day itself.

Reconnecting #18 and Meet New People #14: Cricket Traditions and a Bowling Cameo

Today my dad and I went to Lords Cricket Ground to see the first day of the England vs New Zealand test. The day started with a bit of reconnecting. We go to the cricket once a year and for the past few years we start the cricket day with getting a Boots Meal Deal from Baker Street station Boots. And every year we get served by the same guy, and today was no different. We got talking to him and even got a picture with him. His name is Islam and no doubt in a year’s time we’ll be served by him again!

Cricket wise it was a great day, England ended up scoring 354 runs after starting off 30-4 which was a great achievement. They announced that in the tea break Steven Finn would be signing autographs. Steven Finn is an England bowler who used to play test cricket but now plays ODI cricket. So I went up to him at the stand he was at, got an autograph and then got a picture with him. He’s the 4^th cricketer I’ve met and for some reason I always get nervous around cricketers, so I barely said anything.

And you may think I look particularly small in the picture, but Steven Finn is 6’7!

New Album #14: Turning to Broadway

My other sister Lucy is a big musical fan, and in particular Broadway musicals. When we went to New York a few years back, the trip was timed so she could attend the Broadway Flea Market, where she could buy lots of memorabilia.

                                                  Us on Broadway a few years ago

Lucy recommended I’d listen to the Hedwig and the Angry Inch soundtrack. Now it’s a first to listen to a soundtrack to something I haven’t seen before. And with most musical songs they are very narrative based. I read a quick synopsis about the show and sort of got the meaning of the songs. The vocals are really strong and Neil Patrick Harris doesn’t falter. I believe the show was in the West End a few years ago, so I’ve missed my chance to see it, but if ever came back I’d like to go.

New Album #13: The DJ recommends

I’m a big fan of the Radio 1 DJ Greg James. Have been for years and one year my sister wrote to him asking for him to write me a birthday card….and he did! My friend Linsey also designed this fetching mug a couple of years ago for my birthday as well.

Linsey saw on his Facebook that he put up a post about the Maximo Park, A Certain Trigger album being 10 years old. She recommended that I’d listen to it for the challenge and that’s what I've done.

I recognised a few of the songs, Apply Some Pressure being one of them. And considering it came out 10 years ago which was when I started uni, most of the songs were probably played at LRV our student union…..and that alone makes me feel very old!

New Album #12 and New Book #15: A country double

For the latest album and book I’ve read I have to credit my sister Lisa as she is a huge country music fan and the large majority of the country music albums I listen to are hers. Country music for her started with Taylor Swift and it grew from there. In 2012 we even took a holiday to Nashville, which is one of the best places, the people are so friendly. It was part of a music holiday for me and my sisters and a way to mark the end of the Harrold sisters’ education. The second part of the holiday was to New York as my other sister Lucy is a huge Broadway musical fan.

It was in New York that I spotted Brad Paisley’s book on sale and Lisa being a big fan of his also, got his book and it’s the latest book I’ve read for my challenge. Diary of a Player: How My Musical Heroes Made A Guitar Man Out of Me is an autobiography or as Brad says a life in progress. It shows how he got to where he is.

The book is a good read and by the end of it, it made me want to jump on a plane and go back to Nashville! It was interesting to read that Brad got a D on guitar at college and his story about how his sons try a press down on the strings of the guitar while he is playing reminded me that either me or my sisters did that when we were younger when my dad played guitar.

Going back to Taylor Swift, I listened to her new album 1989. Having listened to all her previous albums thanks to my sister, I have to say it wasn’t as good as her previous albums. Red currently is the standout album for me. The songs on 1989 were okay, Shake It Off and Blank Space were both good, but the others not so much. For me it felt like some of the depth in the songs was lost in transition from country to pop. It’s good that she’s ventured into a pure pop album; as a result it might strengthen her country songs as a result.

 The Gulch where Taylor Swift was apparently living when we visited Nashville back in 2012.

New Book #14: Sisters are doing it for themselves

I have 2 sisters; Lucy and Lisa, both very creative and talented. Lisa did fine art at uni and is currently a teaching assistant. She’s kept up her art with her great blog Always Arty and she has just written her first children’s book, which I of course I read for my challenge.

It’s about a little girl called Lucy (I'm hoping I'm a character in the next book) and she wonders what it would be like to live in different places.

The story is great for children and the illustrations are amazing. If anyone is interested in buying a copy let me know!

New Album #8-11: A random Music Marathon

After my weekend of reading lots of books I decided to have a weekend of listening to lots of music. It started with Olly Murs’ Never Been Better album. It’s his 4^th album and I've got the first 3. There were no surprises with this album and he stuck to the same formula as his albums, a few ballads, few album fillers and very catchy ones that would be singles. Stand out songs for me were; Did You Miss Me? and Beautiful to Me.

           At the X Factor Concert in 2010 where it all began for Olly Murs.

The second album was lent by my sister and was Regina SpeKtor’s FaR. I've heard the odd song of hers before but never an album in full. It was a very whimsical sounding album, but there weren't any stand out songs for me. Potentially there were a few songs that could be growers so maybe I’ll give it a 2^nd listen.

Following this album was The Age of the Understatement by The Last Shadow Puppets which features Alex Turner, my friend Linsey's favourite. She lent me the album and I wasn't sure what to expect but I loved it. The whole album could have been a soundtrack for a very stylish film, or any of the songs could have been Bond themes. The songs were narrative based and I could easily imagine music videos for every one of them.

The final album was also recommended by Linsey who until this challenge I didn’t realise what a variety of music she was into! Led Zeppelin’s Mothership album is a very lengthy 24 songs, could it count for 2 albums on the challenge?! The whole album felt like a master class in guitar riffs and their songs have been used for so many things. Whole Lotta Love is a great song and I got really excited when I heard Kashmir as that is sampled on one of my favourite songs called Come with Me. So it was great to hear the original.

So 4 completely random albums, and I enjoyed listening to them all.