Metarie

Snafu would be crackin' but would it not have to be on a week night, thus limiting fun for those responsible working stiffs? I reckon Drummonds has untapped potential for Fudge Awards.

If it's going to go all Kilau then I want to know about this 'New Kilau' malarky. Is it a new shop, a second shop, a bigger shop? Where, when? I probably could have written my dissertation at home but to be honest I like typing away in public. Yes, it looks pretentious as hell, but if I work at home I get distracted by the CDs, DVDs or computer games. I'm weak. Cooler than thou attitude certainly goes hand in hand with independant businesses. Having worked for independant bars, shops and restaurants around Aberdeen, I can definately see that. Although I did have an interview at Kilau once and got the distinct impression that they were looking for a certain kind of person, all the interview questions were things like 'what kind of biscuit would you be' and what my highest score in Scrabble was.

Kilau is my wee haven, wrote most of my dissertation there and the staff have changed the music from sappy emo stuff to cheesy party stuff when I was moping after a row with an ex. Sometimes get the feeling they think they have a 'cooler than thou' attitude but that can be said about anyone who works in a independant company or bar in Aberdeen. My only gripe about the place is the price, it's a bitty expensive for a bog standard coffee shop, but like I say, it's independant there's not really another place like it so I don't mind.

I love that you couldn't (or chose not to) find a more recent Atom photo. The last Atom gig looks to be utter carnage, looking forward to it

Deadloss soundcheck for an hour? o_O

I second the Prince of Wales, just as a generally good pub. How about Chi? I suppose it is a Belmont Street pub technically, but it has cheap booze and a less pub-ish atmosphere than most places.

Aye, he was asking if I was having folk back to the flat after close but I had work the next day.

From what I've seen recently the police don't seem to have a clue about who to deal with drunk folk, let alone folk on drugs. And the bouncers in town are fucking inconsistant when it comes to chucking people out. Some guy came to talk to me and a buddy last night in Bassment and was quite clearly on something. He wouldn't take no for an answer, kept trying to grab at us as the bouncer walked past and only left when our friend who works behind the bar came over to the table to say hi. About half an hour later the guy and his group were chucked out because one of them knocked his head on a light hanging over the bar :S I've never had a problem with the police, I know lots of people love to jump on the band wagon and moan out how they do a useless job but I've always felt sorry for them. It must be a shitty job and they had my sympathy, but in the last few weeks I've seen folk being treated appallingly. A guy was outside Moshulu in an awful state, shaking, crying, couldn't stand up and was perfectly coherrant. A chick had already suspected she'd had her drink spiked that night and was taken away in an ambulance and yet this guy was just left on the pavement and the policement were stepping over him. I understand that 99% of the time folk who are in a mess on a Saturday night are just pissed, but it's their fucing job to look after people, regardless of age, sex or race. So many of them seem to have a total chip on their shoulder and you've got to wonder why they do the job if they have so little time or respect for the people they are supposed to be helping. Anyways, the fact remains that we all know the bars and clubs where you can get drugs if you want them. Surely the best way to combat this 'anti social behaviour' is to go and bust all the shadey bars where the dealers lurk in the corners? Set up one of these machines in Belmont Bar or Kode and then we'll see what happens.

Anyone seen him since Friday night (In moshulu, dressed as the god of war with a pint o' cider in his paws)? I woke up to a few weird half finished texts from him on Saturday morning and haven't seen able to get in touch with him. Slightly concerned about the big mooch...

It's awful! I was waiting for an 'oh my god, that's, like, so totally awesome' after she gave me the time. I don't know what I'm more upset about, the fact that that is Tinkerbell's voice or that someone thought it was a decent enough gimmick to warrent putting it on the talking clock. To be fair though, most folk I know use their mobile and not their house phone, so the talking clock is pretty much redundant.

The opening rift sounds like The Darkness. Over ten years and that's what they come up with? Rhyming 'visionaries' with 'missionaries'? It's not terrible but it is a bit heavy on the guitar wanking.

My mum got a new job and the lass who replaced her did a similar thing continuously. She also sent out job applications via her work email address, knowing (but perhaps forgetting) that the managers were able to access her work email account. You need to put a lot of planning into a good sick day. Forward planning is the key...start with a sniffle or general complaint a few days before hand and build it up during the week. Don't do what a girl I worked with did and phone in with 'food poisoning' on a saturday morning when she'd been talking about getting drugs for the weekend a few days before.

Theres something very strange going on with her boobs there. I had no idea she was in School of Rock though, I knew I'd heard that fucking awful voice before. Female comedians are often only funny about being female. They do the whole 'oh aren't men/periods annoying and isn't childbirth painful and oh I love chocolate so much blah blah blah' or they get screechy and loud about sex. I'm not sure which annoys me more. The chick from Conchords was brilliant, I love that awkward comedy, I just wanted to give her a hug. Josie Long is good too and there was a girl who did a show called Watching The Dectectives at The Lemon Tree over a year ago which was ace.

Snafu is looking considerably sexier thses days, only one negative comment based on being there this Monday just past (13th): the lights were blinding. Proper retina scorchingly bright...but then maybe that was just because Bloodnut were on stage so we didn't have to peer at their mugs

winner! Assume it's on the 18th as well, any idea of times?

Prehaps Juston does, I couldn't possibly comment on Justin's performance though How did I know that as soon as I mentioned sex, you would make some lewd comment

What's this 'Albyn School for Girls' malarky in your signature? Are the lassies actually coming to entertain the Moorings crowd or has someone named a band after the school?

See, that's kinda what I'm scared of. They'll know it's me and they have the potential to completely fuck me over seeing as I often have to at work for 6am. At least I can console myself that they seem to have a really bad sex life. 5 minutes tops of bouncing bed springs then someone wanders off to the toilet...who says romance is dead

Justin did offer to last night I was thinking of getting the 'Nut over to practise a few nights a week, that'd probably put an end to it

She ended up apologising to me in tears. I'm not above resorting to being sullen and arsey with customers if they're rude, but more often than not I'll tell them manners don't cost a penny and watch them squirm. When I was working in a resturant a few months ago I found that making a shitty customer look like a tool in front of their date/coworkers/friends resulted in big tips. Fun times!

To be honest it's not so much the noise as the utterly anti social nature of it. Like I say, when I did go up last I got a balding, toothless 30 year old guy right up in my face, coked off his nut telling me to fuck off because I couldn't make a complaint unless it was after 10pm at night. I went downstairs and had a proper freak out about it, not helped by them pounding on the door half hour later shouting apologies at me. I'm not easily intimidated by things but living alone doesn't make this an easy situation to deal with.

Exactly. I've served some awful people in the past, people who literally see you as the job you do and nothing more. One incident in particular stands out when I was working in The Lemon Tree and had some woman (who was the last customer and was still there at 4.45 when we'd closed at 4) fly off the handle at me because I asked her to leave. She actually said 'I don't have to take this from you, you're just a waitress', to which I calmly (and a little smugly) told her that no, actually I worked there part time and was studying at honours level in a 500 year old university. Even if I was 'just a waitress' I would hope that that wouldn't lay me open to a torrent of abuse.

For the last year or so I've been dealing with some really obnoxious neighbours and despite trying to talk to them repeatedly about the noise levels I'm getting nowhere. Last time I went upstairs to complaing I got a mouthful of abuse from some guy which left me really shaken and then had them banging on my door 'to apologise'. It's not even just music at night, as soon as they come home around 5pm the bass starts, there's bangs and crashes and I can hear their TV through my ceiling. Not to mention the thundering up and down the stairs at 3am. It's getting to the point where I know they see me as a pain in the ass and I reckon they find it really amusing to piss me off. I've tried reasoning with them, asking to keep the bass down, to move speakers off the (poorly insulated wooden) floor but nothing is working. Has anyone made a complaint about neighbours and had it be dealt with properly? I'm reluctant to make a formal complaint but I don't know what else I can do. It's regularly becoming a problem and interfers with what I do in the flat and after complaining to them face to face last time I'm actually too chicken shit to go up and face them again.

Maybe you caught them on a bad day, we all have them. The Belmont staff i know are all cracking folk and generally good banter is had by all. Cut them some slack.

They're a very cheery bunch...what's happened?