The late, late Mr de Crecy

Getting to the O2 for 7pm straight after Friday's working day was ambitious but we did it. The ticket said 7pm start and even Kerry received an automatic call to say the ridiculous early start of 7pm but we naively put it down to thinking it was 2 or 3 hour show ending at 10pm.

Matter is located at the very back of the Dome building but the only way there is to walk out to the ferry station and around the outside. Inside was an impressive club worthy of the French house genius and big enough for the 3 tier, Celebrity Squares inspired stage rig.

We bought a very expensive round of drinks and assessed our surroundings. The balcony view was impressive though the club wasn't filling up as fast as we thought. We tried out the vibrating dance floor which worked well to the throbbing bass sound that YTS DJs were playing. It was more of a gimmick as the bass vibration came after the dance beat which made the experience confusing. The mixing was rubbish in places and the tunes had no order for a sense of a set.

Still we weren't there for the young bassbin muppets. Etienne was our reason for being there but where was the B*stard?? 7:30pm came, nothing. 8pm, no show. 8:30pm, no French bloke. A whole 2 hours we waited and the ticket information said a 10pm finish leaving an hours performance. Grrrr! At least we were right at the very front propping up the barrier.

The set built up from the his warehouse warning alarm sound fused into heavy electro. The lightshow also built up from quite plain square themed shapes then pulsed through to rotating cubes. It was almost like an average comedy film where all the best bits are in the trailer. The music set grew with power and got better with the Fast Track remixed for the live show then a treat right at the end for anyone who's a fan of his Super Discount, first album with the Sensimilia, Marijauna vocal sample. By the end of the set my bad mood had almost gone and I wanted more.

I recorded some video but the camera has the worst position for the mic so the sound quality is rubbish. See my YouTube for 5 videos. Also, I think being further back would have gained a better appreciation of the lighshow.

Peru weather

To get more in the mood and to check what to expect when in Peru, The Weather Channel has a great 10 day forecast service.

Here are the main places to keep an eye on:

• Lima - partly cloudy at 26C
  
• Puerto Maldonado (our jungle stop) - oh crap, thunder storms, 31C high, 21C low (at night!)
  
• Cusco (Nearest to Machu Picchu) - showers, temp average at 19C
  
• Arequipa - partly cloudy at 19C
  
• Ica - hot and sunny at 26C
  

Time flies by when you're busy...

Image by Ginger DJ via Flickr

...and not having that much fun at the moment. The general feeling is rushed madness and sadness with only a couple of weeks to go for our Peru holiday. I'm working evenings to try and finish a website launch for 2nd April which is about as stressful as you can get with loads of problems along the way - will be glad to see the back of it.

On Friday evening, we received some sad news of my cat, Sasha. The lump on his neck is a High Grade Spindle Cell Sarcoma - basically a cancerous tumour. The vet said that an operation was very high risk and if a specialist was to operate it would cost at least £1000 due to complications of the location. The op wouldn't even guarantee the tumour to be fully removed. Its now a depressing waiting game of weeks or months until it gets too uncomfortable for him to eat etc. The thought of putting him down brings a lump to my own throat. The question is how long exactly, will he still be well enough after the holiday? Another vet consultation next week may reveal more.

Etienne de Crecy does a Daft Punk style show

He's playing at Matter on Friday 27th March. Anyone fancy it?
Etienne De Crecy Live 2007 Transmusicales de Rennes from Clement bournat on Vimeo.

Shaved pussy

Another trip to the vet, another sting in the wallet and the second time Sasha, our cat has been shaved. He's had a large lump on his neck for awhile about the size of a small squash ball and the visit was for a biopsy to find out what's causing it. The results are due on Friday.

Since he's come back he's a completely different cat having more energy, sleeping less, playing more and wanting more attention. He's also attacked Kerry with a couple of bites and swipes of his claws.

Injected with the poison

It was our wedding anniversary on 10th March - Kerry and I have been married a healthy 8 years. Usually we do a mini-break but as the Snowdon thing got canceled we treated ourselves to as many restaurant meals and take-aways to celebrate. Hotel du Vin on Ship Street, Brighton was the highlight with some proper posh service and romantic setting.

The Peru holiday meant that we needed some nasty immunization jabs. Unfortunately, I timed my injections for the anniversary date meaning my arms 'died' on me especially where the typhoid one went. Sleeping for the next few days was non-existent as turning to my sides was agony (see photo).

Talking of viruses, Resident Evil 5 arrived much to a lot anticipation. Noticed some PR agency buggered up confusing the general public with decapitated heads and body parts - no Lithuanians were involved. Reviews have been a little harsh but liking the 2 player/split screen approach. I can see some small frustrations comparing it to the RE4 and would say its not quite living upto the high expectations.

jOG for Wii: Jog your character along

Pier to Pier

We canceled the Snowdon trip. There were a few reasons but mainly the weather prediction of snow. We decided on a more local training route and took on the challenge of Seaford to Eastbourne. It had some great scenery, over the Seven Sisters, up and down cliff edges, then the last uphill landmark of Beachy Head. It took about 4 hours to do 13.5 miles all the way to Eastbourne Pier to catch the Brighton bus. By about the last hill for Beachy Head, my hips starting to ache and only the sight of Eastbourne keep us going or rather the lack of any public transport nearby.

Daft Punk and Tron 2

Not one but two bits of news that have made me very excited. 1. Daft Punk are making some new tunes for; 2. the new Tron 2 movie! Someone at Walt Disney has put together what was probably the most obvious but genius music/film combination ever. Data Transmission has the original story with a YouTube trailer of the film which looks like it was recorded on a mobilephone at ComicCon.

There's some film plot details going around as well on Ain't It Cool news.

Our house before we moved in

Just trying out some web stuff testing out Google Documents and publishing to the blog hence the title and images below from a Word document. My dad is still needing a buyer for his business as some guy is messing him about so has asked me for help. He has a website but with a hosting company which doesn't offer any flexibility. So I'm going to create a web 2.0 online presence using just Google tools then advertise the blog with photos, documents, even videos if necessary, through specialist magazines and online forums. His website is www.jagsparesinternational.com.

Rats
They've been living in our cavity wall for months but after hearing falling rubble (okay, something smaller than rubble) inside the wall, the council was called. We've got a drain right outside the front which connects straight to the main sewer under the road. Its been a cosy, winter retreat until their summer holiday at the allotments down the road. According to the council man, the drains have been blocked for awhile by the rats digging out the earth and stone around the crack in the pipework. He laid some traps but couldn't unblock the drain. He quoted months if could cause a real stinky problem and suggested we get in touch with Southern Water. SW has since bounced back the responsibility to us which has been swifty batted over to the council. Fingers crossed we won't have to be scoping out sh*t whenever we use the washing machine.

Not about rats
There were alot of birthdays over the weekend so a party had to be attended. K and K celebrated at their flat with news of selling the place. Another birthday boy, Trev announced his house sale and commitment to Thailand. Happy birthday James also, glad you liked the bumper cars. Mark, Kev, Paul and me supplied the tunes though my laptop has decided it doesn't like DJing by refusing to acknowledge my soundcard even after borrowing then buying a new one. The PCI slot isn't even coming up as a usable port and I can see a hefty repair bill (thanks for trying Paul). Surprised myself finding some decent tunes and USB'd them to Kev's laptop as he also has Virtual DJ. I'm not sure if I was the cause of it by getting carried away with the TK Filter but all of a sudden my last but one tune died on me leaving Kev to pick up the pieces. The laptop was resuscitated after a couple of vinyl injections but died again - poor Kev, I don't think his new tune really got the attention it deserved. Paul's tunes seemed to be a set of a classics from every good Sasha, Digweed or Deep Dish compilation. Shame he had to leave us with the bitter, cheesy taste of Santa Maria.