Don't Look Back Album Concerts

There seems to be a vogue for this sort of thing given the success of Meltdown earlier this year. The line-up is varied but there are some good bands performing one entire album of their choice. It kicks off at The Apollo with Iggy and The Stooges next Tuesday - other bands to follow over the autumn are: Dinosaur Jr, Gang of Four, Belle and Sebastian, Mudhoney et al. See here for further details.

Get Me Out Of Here!

Business lounges cater for the most varied range of people. I normally fall into the category that most proper business travellers sneer at. They only sneer at me because they wish they could shamble into the lounge in jeans, lurex socks and fashionable Stan Smith trainers. Instead they are forced into the uniform of suit with un-matching shoes, suit carrier, pda and big cumbersome brief case. Then they have to talk extremely loudly into their mobiles berating someone for not getting them a window seat or talking about finding another sort of 'window' for another boring meeting with a textile supplier in Bonn. Meanwhile I recline whilst reading a two day old International Guardian and sip champagne. And take photo's of them while they are not looking!

Anyone for smoked pork knee?

Or Pork Knee Spears as we re-named it. It was funny at the time....

More rant

I prefer this sort of thing.

home soon

I managed to get out and about today for a while. God - Prague has been ruined. It's full of bloody badly dressed tourists hanging around staring at the famous clock waiting for it to perform! And the rest....what on earth did the woman top right think she was wearing - yes - I took this picture a few hours ago not in 1973!

Friends/Strangers

Wow. The power of Flickr - or just the internet in general. Some months ago I donated a Flickr pro account to a recipient of my choice. I chose 'Hotjeans' or 'Riz' as he is otherwise known - a photographer based in Pakistan. I stumbled across his photo's one day and really liked them. He sent me an incredibly grateful note back and then didn't post any photo's for months.

I e mailed him a few weeks ago as I wondered if something was wrong? I got this reply today. The power of the internet is an amazing thing. His life sounds really stressful and the e mail made me feel a bit sad mainly because it was so honest. Here it is:

hi rock mom,

i've been busy, mid life crisis i guess, loads of ups n down, accidents, illness, happines, u name it, i've been through a lot lately and have been mentally psyched out and physially exhausted. i miss the days when i used to roam around like a bee and take pictures of everything / anything. i have ste up my own phtoo studio (in my house) and have been shooting my friends / colleagues (i just completed a short course in fashion photography) and now i'd be going to weddigns and also doing bridal shoots too hopefully. plus i work too. i have a job at a call center that tires one up like what cant be explained in words, so yeah i make loads of efforts to survive. i have loans to pay and also gather money to get married soon, maybe if i could find a girl. this month i turn 31, so it's all happening with me and sometimes i feel i have no clue where i am headed - i feel so lost. but i do vehemently feel guilty for not posting photos on the flickr site. some days ago some woman from a radio show contacted me coz she liked my pics and they wanted to do a report on pakistan. i just didnt have enough time to reply. would u believe i dont even have time to sleep these days. i assure you i do plan on coming back, meaning i will definitely be working on my flickr site - there are some delays yeah but certainly no full stop.

right now i am at work and have loads of calls in queue so i will get back to you later. i thank you for being so caring. sorry i didnt ask how life is goign on at your end. oh and where in uk are you anyway ?

take care, wish you the best of everythign in life.

riz.

D.I.S.C.O.

Apologies for the slightly blurry photo but I was trying to take the photo in secret. This man, believe it or not was Airport Security! And yes - his vest does say Disco King Born to Dance on it. Wonderful. He was very stern which is why I had to zoom in and take the picture quickly. We were filming car stunts on the top floor of the main airport car park and this guy was assigned to us to check that we weren't stepping out of line. Amazing.

Me me me

I went out to get some water yesterday and discovered that I have my own brand in the Czech Republic. It's suntan lotion. I haven't needed it as I am currently acting out Lost In Translation and working from a hotel room. Things could be worse though. We have finished filming and despite a few major hiccups it all went really well. Not so great - the BBC passed on my blogger documentary idea. Back to the drawing board.....

today I have been mainly.......

doing what I did yesterday. Although I am actually going to get 8 hours sleep. Last shoot day tomorrow. Feel like I have been living in Prague forever. Feeling so divorced from my normal home life - weird. Was going to upload a few photos and think I may have left my camera in the van. Tomorrow....is another day. When I get home does anyone want to go to this?

eye 'n' eye is tired

Ouch, my eyes hurt. Am very tired. First day of shooting went well. More tomorrow. This post has been accompanied by traditional Persian music radio courtesy of itunes. Very relaxing for a change. Another 18 hour day today. I reckon I will have done 126 hours this week by Sunday. No wonder student doctors complain and/or keel over.

whinge whinge...not very glamourous

It's very gruelling here. We start shooting tomorrow for three days. Anything that can go wrong has and anyone who can get anything wrong has. In short, what should have been an enjoyable, fairly straightforward job has become a journey of epic and biblical proportions. It really is too complicated and boring to go into here. I've worked 56 hours since Monday and will have slept a total of 16 hours in three days. Must go and get five more now. More later. This picture was yesterday when we were all in a slightly better mood than today. The man in the picture is the best 1st Assistant Director in Prague. He has worked on more films than I will ever eat hot dinners. A legend and a gem.

pills and thrills and no doubt bellyaches

pills
Originally uploaded by rockmother.

Before I retire - I forgot. There was a 'welcome bag' in my room when I arrived. Beside other stuff there was this at the bottom of the bag - a bottle of sinister looking matte orange pills. Ingredients are as follows:
100 mg Vit C
100 mg Green tea
100mg Taurine - how much?
80mg Caffeine - I'm very awake now
20mg Gingko Bilboa - I can't get to sleep

I spend my life avoiding that evil combination of Taurine and Caffeine - terrible. Oh - the the top of the bottle says: Swallow and Win. Perhaps I'll take one before the meeting tomorrow and see what happens.

my supper

supper
Originally uploaded by rockmother.

Foolishly passed on the 'packed meal' that was offered at the gate as basically it looked really un-appealing and I didn't feel hungry. Then we got on the plane and went nowhere for about 45 mins. Very hot and boring. Finally got to Prague and main mission was to (a) find a trolley and (b) take photo's of weird looking people - neither of which I managed. Got into a car which had "airbags disabled' lit up on the dash and with a driver that had three pins in his leg due to attempting a wheelie on a motorcycle at 50mph on Prague's main drag. Nice. Comedy capers at reception and finally got into afore-mentioned confusing room. Raided the minibar for my supper - half a bottle of Famos Austrian Red Wine and a tub of Pringles. Yuck - but I was too hungry to care. Now I am very tired. I know this job is going to be very hard. More later.

bad design

room
Originally uploaded by rockmother.

This is my room that I finally fell into about an hour ago. The mirror you can see is actually a sliding door into the bathroom. It's all a bit confusing - or maybe it's just me but once you get inside there are another two frosted glass doors - one to the shower and one to the loo. It's a bit like a hall of mirrors and I keep either walking into doors or pulling them back too hard and making a dreadful clanging noise. Perhaps its just me?....

bored

frequent flyer
Originally uploaded by rockmother.

He ate his 'packed lunch' and promptly fell asleep. The stewards have nothing to do except walk up and down looking bored and crestfallen if you don't take their only offer of water as that is the only thing they do have to offer on this flight!

the onslaught begins.....

wing
Originally uploaded by rockmother.

Finally got on BA 0858 to Prague. Forsook the 'packed lunch' they offered me at the gate. Wishing I hadn't.

my brain (desk)

my messy desk
Originally uploaded by rockmother.

This is my desk at work. For me - it's messy. I don't really like it like that and I always clear it away into neat piles before I leave. Looking at it, it made me realise how my brain works - lots of things on the go but arranged into their own separate piles. Am off to Prague today to shoot a Skoda commercial. Blog might be even more scarce than of late but will try to update from there. it's all feeling rather hectic right now. And in reply to Paulie at the fantastic nevertrustahippy blog - please don't envy me of my job - it's not glamorous and really eliminates any chance of family or social life most of the time. A constant battle to maintain the status quo. I couldn't do anything else though - except cook and grow plants. Now if I could do that and get paid for it then that would be a different story!

Robin Cook

Here is a link to probably the best and most well executed resignation speech ever. Robin Cook died today. A huge loss. I felt rather upset when I heard.

the drugs don't work

Here's a picture of our friend Adam. He is chronically addicted to cocaine and we are really worried about him. I think he is pretty good proof that the drugs don't work!

eve pollard

bad wig
Originally uploaded by rockmother.

Here is a picture of Eve Pollard looking like me in a bad Eighties wig. My friends fortieth - need I say more.