I'm still not Schlieri's girlfriend

Just by chance,I was looking through the archives of PVE,and discovered that today (well the next 20 minutes) is actually the second birthday of my second-born blog! Happy birthday blog,look,you can share one of the cute little Maison Blanc cupcakes we bought Sophie for her birthday.




Sooooo much has changed in the 2 years since I started writing PVE,I've lived in 5 different houses,which is quite impressive,I've seen my musical hero in concert twice,I put on 26 pounds and lost 16 of them...But some things never change.Namely,the way in which an alarmingly high number of visitors come across this blog.More people than I care to count end up here through googling "Gregor Schlierenzauer's girlfriend." I can assure you that I am not her,though I imagine I would be immeasurably more happy if I was ;)

Anyway,other interesting searches resulting in this blog include:
- "skinny french guys naked" (someone in central France)
- "dover ferries" (someone in India)
- "prohor shalyapin speak english?" (someone in America)

Now for the final one,I can be of service.Yes,yes he does speak English.



God I miss Fabrika Zvezd...

Thanks to the 3000ish people who've taken the time to read any of the rubbish I've written on here.It's much appreciated :)

Yesterday...

...was a very busy day for me,starting with my gym induction at the new and pretty special (read: ridiculously expensive) Surrey Sports Park.It certainly ain't built for students to use,and will cost about a million times more than the £12 a month we're paying when it opens properly.But more about that another time.

After that,me and Keira went straight off to London to the Chocolate Festival,where there were many lovely things to eat and look at.Dinner and fab non-alcoholic cocktails at Las Iguanas,followed by an hour and a half in the company of the wonderful Teitur Lassen,which you can read about here,because I actually wrote a review this time!

When we got home we stuffed our faces with chips and chocolate covered pretzels,listened to some schlager and threw balls of various sizes around Keira's room,which resulted in some amusing pictures of me,her and Rich.The perfect end to a busy semester!

Back in Kent for a month now,though I have a lot of work to do,as well as various other things.Next stop: Germany in 11 days time!

Don't know why I still fall apart for you

The other night I was familiarising myself with the work of Sarah Connor.Probably something to do with Radio Flensburg,I can't remember.Normally when I'm choosing songs to listen to,I'll read the lyrics first as an indicator of whether I think it's worth pursuing.Fall Apart was one that I felt worth pursuing.Not least because it's probably one of about 4 songs of Sarah's that isn't all about sexual innuendo,the words actually have some substance.It turned out the tune is pretty damn good too.It sort of gets better and better,the verses are good,the bridge is cool,and the chorus is fabulous.

What do you use to patch up an injured mallard?

Duck tape! Hahahahahahahahahahaha. :/

Myself and Rich were having lunch just now when we were unexpectedly joined by a guest.



I'm calling her Diana.Assuming the brown ones are the girls,I can never remember.

She came waddling down the grass like she owned the place and then sat staring at us through the window until I threw some bread out.It fell in the gutter though and she made a big drama out of jumping down to get it.I don't know what's wrong with the lake these days but we're finding ducks everywhere at the minute.There were 2 outside reception the other day sounding like they were having a good moan.I think they would have come in and sat in the armchairs had I not shut the door quickly behind me.

Please come back to the quiet generation

The sun's out for the first time in about 5 years,as of next week we have a whole month off,and in 8 days time we're going to the Southbank Chocolate Festival and then to see Teitur.Today is one of those days where you can't help but feel happy.And Louis Louis is one of those songs that can't help but make you feel happy.

I tried so hard not being a part of you

Good old Radio Flensburg has delivered the goods again.Tuned in for the first time in ages this evening to be greeted by this lovely song.As far as I can tell,Synje Norland is a northerner and that so far,she's only released one album.Tried So Hard is the only song I've heard from it so far,but if the rest of it is anything like this,it's probably pretty super.I'll be looking out for it when I'm in Flensburg in 3 weeks time.

Eurovision Windmachine

Just came across a very amusing Eurovision blog.It's auf Deutsch,but Google Translate's German efforts are normally quite good.I should know,I've used it enough times in my coursework...Anyway,the idea of our song being called "That Sounds Good to Pete" made me chuckle,so go and read!

Sexy Russian Boy*

I bet World's Most Beautiful Man Aleksei Vorobyov would have appreciated the effort I made to look nice tonight.And I bet he's not vulgar,is neither emotionally stunted or unstable.And I bet his shows are a lot of fun.Especially if you happen to be in the front row during the slow bit in Reality.



*Tina Karol had a song called that once.

I think this story needs another ending

I absolutely adore this song...



I've only listened to it twice so far,so don't really have the words to describe it yet.It's not often I hear a song and love it immediately,but this is definitely one of those songs.Who knew there was so much musical talent in the Faroe Islands?! So much criminally underated talent too.

Greeks and Eurovision and Smorgasbords

As promised before,here's my lobster :)



And my lizard on a rock



My mum and dad certainly delivered on the tat front :)

Just got back from a nice evening in London with James- probably the least stressful trip to London I've ever had.Started off at the Scandinavian Kitchen,where the Smørrebrød was lovely (expensive too,but I guess that's all part of the Scandinavian Experience).I had Norwegian meatballs,prawns and roast beef with remoulade.Yum.

Speaking of which...



So happy.

The recording of Recorded for Training Purposes at Broadcasting House was great.It lasted nearly 2 hours,everyone there was lovely and civil and not annoying in the slightest,and the chairs were really comfortable.

And of course I'm going back up to London with Keira on Friday to see Your Country Needs You.Very exciting,even though I don't really have any interest in who wins or what our song is.But Alexander Rybak and Bruno Tonioli will be there,so that's all good :) I don't even like Rybak,but Fairytale has been my ringtone for ages now,so there must be something there :)

iExhibition was good fun last night,even if we did get bullied off stage by the Greeks.They didn't have anything personal against me and Keira,just everyone in general by the sound of it.We weren't playing "the right music". Read: we weren't playing Greek music.Which we would have done if they'd have given us the chance,but we were forced to cut our set short because of their moaning.The Greeks at this university get too much their own way,they're the worst noise perpetrators here,they're messy and very arrogant.I've been to Greece,and everyone I met there was lovely and friendly.As are the few Greeks I personally know here.But it does seem to be a Brits Abroad syndrome for the majority unfortunately.Despite all that though,last night was still fun.I was a bit scared to start with,as there were literally a few hundred people there,and seeing as we normally have 6 listeners on the show...But people were dancing to our music,even Trend by Mediengruppe Telekommander.

Di's boyfriend took some pictures of us,which is cool,even though we do look a bit worried in this one...



But I could either have that one,or one of us visibly singing,or one of Keira doing air guitar to the Work Your Magic remix :)

Miscellaneous post #9

Guess who's going to Your Country Needs You on Friday? :)

iFestival

Although this morning I really wasn't in the mood,I'm really looking forward DJ-ing at the union now.We've found some very cool tracks and shall be playing as follows:

- Mediengruppe Telekommander: Trend
- Philter: My French Connection
- Ruslana: Wild Dances
- Dima K: Work Your Magic (Deep Zone Remix,obviously)
- Basshunter: DoTA
- Anna Abreu: Vinegar
- Antti Tuisku: Levoton (amazing intro!)
- Christophe Willem: Berlin
- Dima B: Gore Zima
- Sakis: Ola Kala

Because you have to cater for the Greeks.That much we have learned.

I hope he's happy that he has you

How heartbreakingly lovely is this song?



It's Harel Skaat in case you were too busy reading the words to notice.Israel's ESC final is coming up this weekend,I can't wait :) Anyway,I love that song (Ve at it's called).I wasn't that fussed about it until I read the translation.

I've been in a bit of a Harel mood this weekend,I'd forgotten about this song until I saw it in my youtube favourites.Which is odd,seeing as it's one of the best songs I've discovered this year.I forget what Kama od Efshar means,but either way I like to think of this song as an Israeli version of Love is All Around :)



In other news,I've been back in Kent this weekend,a bit of a spontaneous thing only decided on Friday.Done lots of visiting,not very much work,and a fair bit of eating.Oh,and I'm now the proud owner of a purple lobster with springy legs,as mentioned before.He wasn't quite what I expected,but there shall be a picture tomorrow.

Also,I've just filled out the application form for the European Studies Masters in Germany.I can't afford to do it and am still not sure I want to do any more studying,but I can't let the chance go by.Especially as in just over 4 weeks time I'll be in Flensburg and will undoubtedly fall in love with the place all over again.

Anyway,I have to go to bed now.Need to be in Guildford for 11 tomorrow,which means getting up at 8ish to catch the train at 9ish.I need to give in a translation,go to the gym,buy new headphones,work out 2 playlists,find something nice to wear for DJing at the Union,eat,DJ at the Union,do Sounds of Europe.In that order.Ugh.Hopefully James will be around again to help with the show.Even if it does just mean picking track numbers at random :)

Miscellaneous post #8

This is me today



Only less cute.

I haven't felt this rough in a long time.I knew I had a cold coming on Monday when I was on the train back to Guildford.I had to blow my nose at every stop on the way to Victoria,which was embarassing as I tend to make a hell of a lot of noise when I blow my nose.But despite lots of German Grippostad C tablets (my saviours when I lived in Kiel),and tons of tissue,it's just getting worse.I literally didn't sleep last night because I was so hot and uncomfortable,so there was no chance of me getting to lectures today.I tried sleeping throughout the day but just ended up having weird hallucinogenic half-dreams about massive dragonflies and stuff.It was a bit scary :/

Other than that it's been a good week so far.Monday's Sounds of Europe was so much fun thanks to our guest.Never in a million years did I think James would want to be on the radio but he really enjoyed it and it's gone to his head now.He's hoping to become the next presenter of Women's Hour on Radio 4.

Last night we went to see the Archbishop of Canterbury who was doing an interview which I think was broadcast on BBC Surrey.It was really interesting,and although I spent most of the time concentrating on not sneezing,I remember one person asking "how can you believe in God when there is no scientific proof he exists?" Answer- "Do you need a scientific reason for why you prefer broccoli over peas?" True dat :)

One more lecture this week and then I think I'm going to spend the weekend making culinary delights.I've got polenta and sundried tomatoes in the cupboard but I have no idea what to do with them as yet.I also promised James a chicken and mushroom risotto about 2 months ago so I should probably do that too.Speaking of food,I'm quite excited about going to Scandinavian Kitchen on Tuesday.We're going to Broadcasting House for a Radio 4 show recording and this place is 5 minutes away from it.I'll be going to stock up on Danish remoulade which is one of the things I miss most about Schleswig-Holstein.But looking at the Smørrebrød and everything on the website,I think the bank account could take a bit of a beating :)