My Pet Shop Boys

I just got the new Pet Shop Boys album Fundamental a couple of days ago and listened to it properly today. Unfortunately, when I pre-ordered my copy online months ago I didn’t know they were going to have a limited edition version with a second CD of all remixed tracks. Now that I got mine I went online to check stuff out and saw that now amazon has the limited edition one. I ordered it but it says it takes 4-6 weeks to dispatch. Oh well. I still want it. I’ve transferred all the songs from the CD I got onto my iPod so that I won’t use the CD and will give it to my fellow PSB fan, S – who, along with E, has danced with me to the extended version of “A Red Letter Day” on repeat for literally hours on end!

Anyway, on to Fundamental.

But first, let me start by saying that I am a massive PSB fan, and I have been since childhood. In the 80s I was listening to whatever my older sisters were listening to so I was well acquainted with the Pet Shop Boys by the time I owned my first album, Discography (a greatest hits of sorts) in 1991. But through Discography I discovered a whole new world of my own. Specifically, “Being Boring” changed my life – not to sound over dramatic but it really did in however “real” of a way a song can actually change you. I remember the first time I heard it, sitting with my sisters and two of my older cousins and it came on TV – it was the first year after the invasion. I was 12. And it blew me away. The whole thing – the video, the song, the lyrics. I would say it was at that moment that my own private love affair with the Pet Shop Boys truly began. PSB songs have a way of reminding you about everything you’ve ever lived through, and everything you’ve ever dreamed or imagined or just simply felt. Songs like “Being Boring” and so many others – they remind you of when you were younger – even if just a few years ago: of the way you used to fantasize about the future, of walking down city streets at dawn, of laughing in fits of hysterics, of saying tearful goodbyes, of spending the night in a car, of dancing through the night, of travelling with friends, of sitting on rooftops talking for hours, of falling in love and dealing with death, of doing things you might never be able to do again – days when you were at your most free, when you were at your craziest, when you were at your happiest, and when you were at your saddest. They make you feel flamboyant, and they make you feel tragic. I guess that sums up Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe themselves – flamboyant, and ever so tragic. And genius…pure genius. If my life had a voice, it would be the voice of Neil Tennant.

Anyway, on to Fundamental.

But first, to give you a frame of reference of my taste, my favourite PSB tracks are (in chronological order): “End of the World” and “Being Boring” (from Behaviour), “Miserablism” (B-side track from 1989-1990), “A Red Letter Day” (all versions!) and “Survivors” (from Bilingual), “In Denial” and “Footsteps” (from Nightlife), “Home and Dry” and “I Get Along” (from Release), and “Flamboyant” (from Pop/Art – and a remix version is on the second CD of the limited edition of Fundamental). I’ve had other favourites come and go – especially when I was younger – but in recent years these have been the ones that have given me most pleasure. I’d say out of all of these “Being Boring” has been with me the longest, and is perhaps most significant. All of these songs make me want to dance and make me want to cry at the same time. That’s the beauty of the Pet Shop Boys. They’re songs are all so bittersweet.

So, finally, here are my thoughts on Fundamental after one day of listening. Overall, the album is certainly not disappointing. As a PSB fan, I hear the same something special in this that I heard in all their previous albums when I first listened to them. I have formed different relationships with all my PSB albums – usually (to me), every song on every album works in its own way, and so you get used to listening to it from beginning to end, and form a relationship with each track one by one. As such, I need some more time to get to know this album to be able to really give it my full account. But, after listening to the album through from beginning to end twice today – first with the CD booklet in hand and second on my iPod while walking around London in the rain – I already have my favourite tracks. After listening to it a few more times I know I’ll start listening differently – hearing things my ears didn’t pick up immediately. But in the meantime, here is my immediate assessment of the first most memorable tracks:

“The Sodom and Gomorrah Show” – very much that flamboyant theatrical side of PSB that brings out the West End performer in you. But by the first chorus you forget all about theatrics and want to just sing at the tops of your lungs, and dance with your arms outspread and your feet barely touching the ground.

“Numb” – the one with the powerful lyrics that makes you want to cry and speaks volumes when you’re in a dark mood – which is sometimes a perfect PSB mood. “I think that I feel too much, I’ve seen too much, there’s just too much thought in my head, I wanna be numb.”

“I’m With Stupid” – the classic PSB dance track. Actually reminds me a bit of “Miserablism” – only higher tempo. This track should be easily palatable to PSB fans and casual listeners alike.

“Casanova in Hell” – absolutely my favourite on this album, from the first second I heard it. For those of you familiar with the tracks I listed as my favourites of all time above, this should come as no surprise. I love it when Neil sings that slightly higher pitch like he does a few times in this song (“what he will write, will recall the bite, of his wit, and legendary appetite”) – it just tugs at my heartstrings. This song will last a long time for me.

“Indefinite Leave to Remain” – another great one. What I love about PSB is that they write beautiful songs about things that most musicians never even consider. Like about applying for citizenship in a country that you have fallen in love with – a place that you have made your home and want to make official. “Seeing you here, you’re my nation, this is my application, give me hope, keep me sane, give me indefinite leave to remain.” Reminds me a bit of their song “London” on Release which was written from the perspective of two Russian immigrants in London (another beautiful song).

“Integral” – the anthem of the album. Every PSB album needs an anthem, and this seems to be it.

Let's see how things change as I keep listening to it. For now, I'll leave you here with some lines from my favourite PSB songs listed above:

“Prophets all predicted extinction, the virgin spoke in apparitions, and if it all came to pass now, you feel we’d all deserved it somehow. But if someone tried, you’d realize, it’s just a boy or a girl, it’s not the end of the world.” (“End of the World”)

“When you’re young you find inspiration in anyone who’s ever gone and opened up a closing door, she said we were never feeling bored. Cause we were never being boring, we had too much time to find for ourselves, and we were never being boring, we dressed up and fought, then thought: make amends, and we were never holding back worried that time would come to an end … we were always hoping that, looking back, you could always rely on a friend.” (“Being Boring” – phenomenal lyrics in the whole track – they travel with me throughout my life, just like the parting words of Stephen Dedalus in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.)

“Meanwhile your life is still directed as a drama, with realism on the sparsest of sets, every performance tends to reach the same conclusion, no happy endings but a message to depress.” (“Miserablism”)

“All I want is what you want, I’m always waiting for a red letter day, like Christmas morning, when you’re a kid, admit you love me and you always did.” (“A Red Letter Day”)

“If life is worth living, it’s got to be run, as a means of giving, not as a race to be won, many roads will run through many lives, but somehow we’ll arrive, many roads will run through many lives, but somewhere we’ll survive.” (“Survivors”)

“My life is absurd, I’m living it upside down, like a vampire working at night, sleeping all day.” (“In Denial”)

“Loneliness and useless fear, like waves against a ramshackle pier, when thunder and rain, scar the windowpane, once again, I want you near.” (“Footsteps”)

“There’s a plane at JFK to fly you back from far away, all those dark and frantic trans-Atlantic miles. Oh tonight, I miss you, oh tonight, I wish you could be here with me but I won’t see you till you’ve made it back again, home and dry.” (“Home and Dry”)

“Stuck here with the shame and taking my share of the blame while making sudden plans that don’t include you…” (“I Get Along”)

“It all takes courage, you know it, just crossing the street, well its almost heroic.” (“Flamboyant”)

Check your voter registration

Courtesy of iDip, here are the links to use to check if you're registered to vote in the upcoming elections or not (mainly for people who are out of town and might be concerned, like I was). This is great - I must say I am impressed with the Ministry of Interior. It's impressive for any of our ministries to go automated, let alone so soon after elections have been called!

Men
Women

See, this proves that when Kuwait wants to, it can be efficient. It's the same reaction I had when I first walked into the new Social Security building in Kuwait City last year. The institution was always quite organized, but in the new building it actually feels like a private sector office building, not a public sector service building. You actually have smiling, happy employees, people waiting patiently for their number to be called, an abundance of service terminals, a no smoking policy, ample parking, proper security, and managers who actually go to work everyday. It all depends on who's in charge, but if a government office or ministry wants to be efficient in Kuwait, it can. I know that the fact that every Kuwaiti is guaranteed a job in the government sector puts a strain on the country and produces an overly saturated bureaucracy, but I'm starting to feel like that's a poor excuse for stagnation. It's a pitiful place to be where the more employees you have, the less efficient you become. It should be the opposite. The more employees you have, the quicker each person should be out of there when trying to get a simple procedure done. All it needs is a good leader with good organizational and management skills, and every ministry in Kuwait could be like the Social Security office. Then again, hopefully now that we've started having female ministers things will start to change. I had a meeting with Dr. Masouma al-Mubarak (Kuwait's first female minister, Minister of Planning) in January and she showed up at 7:30am on the dot. I don't think most male ministers would have been on time that early in the morning.

There is my spontaneous rant for the day. Anyway, thank you iDip for the link. Enjoy finding your names online all - I must admit it's a bit thrilling when you see your name and information come up. I cynically thought that it wasn't going to work once I hit enter.

Kuwait

I hate being so far away from home and having missed out on everything that's been going on. I heard that voters have to register to vote by June 3. Does anyone know if/how I can register in absentia? I'll be in Kuwait by June 29 to actually vote (and I plan on voting my ass off) but I am not going to let them say that I can't register just because I'm overseas. I should call the embassy in the morning but just wondering if anyone might know anything offhand?

Update: I called the embassy to ask and apparently I misunderstood what I had read and that the June 3 deadline is for candidates to register to run. He said that voters were supposed to register in February each year. I said I knew that but there weren't supposed to be elections this year so what about the women who were planning on registering next year, before the 2007 elections? In polite terms: that's their problem. Bollocks. That's the government's problem, not mine. I plan on voting this year no matter what they say.

Redemption: "A new set, a new trip."

Here are all the goodies for the lastest electronica set, entitled "Redemption", mixed by the one and only system.s. I must say, this is the best one yet. Anyone who enjoys and appreciates electronic music, at a level far above the mainstream, should check this out.


Genre: Progressive House / Progressive Breaks
Duration: 54 minutes , 29 seconds
BPM: Various


Download "Redemption" Set:
High Quality
Medium Quality

Download "Redemption" Artwork:
CD Case
Poster (with full track listing)
Mood Analyser

"Mr. Moose is up, it's done, done, done!!"

I'm done! Done with all my coursework for my MA. Finished my last exam today. All I have left now is my dissertation, which is the fun part. Holy crap, what a month it's been. Absolutely mentally and psychologically draining. I must say one thing, I hate the British concept of exams! They make it so...arbitrary. How you perform on an exam says nothing about how much you know or how much you've learned - it merely says how you were doing that day, and whether or not you prepared for the exact question topics that appeared on the exam. It's impossible to revise every topic covered throughout the year, so it becomes an issue of strategy. And if you "strategize" wrong, you're screwed! Luckily, I anticipated the right topics on the exam. Now it's just a matter of waiting to see how I actually did, which I'll find out in...December! By then, who cares? I'll already be deep into my PhD programme, other people will have jobs, so who really cares if you got a distinction or a merit? See, it all becomes so arbitrary and, administrative almost. All that matters really is the overall experience, and how much you got out of it. As far as that part goes, the experience and knowledge gained here has been unparalleled.

Anyway, after my exam ended at 1pm today I spent the day hanging around campus with friends - it was that "end of term" atmosphere which I haven't felt in years. Some people still have exams but most finished today. We spent the entire day just milling about the pub on campus, went for dinner, walked around town to a couple of different spots. It felt nice being footloose and fancy free. But the only downer has been the weather - it's been raining all week and right now it's around 13˚ but it feels colder.

I'm taking the rest of the week and weekend off. I'll start researching for my dissertation on Monday. Tomorrow I'm going up to Camden Town with a couple of friends to spend the day with our friend Walter in his neighbourhood - we promised each other a "do-nothing" day - hang out at his place, watch movies, walk around Camden Town. Then Wednesday I'm going shopping, which I haven't done in ages. I need a new pair of 7even jeans. You get the picture - a do-nothing week. Then on the weekend I'm going up to Manchester with some friends. Most are heading up on Friday but Walt and I are catching the train up together on Saturday to meet them there. Then we're coming back to London on Monday (so I guess I'll start on my dissertation on Tuesday). I'm a little antsy about traveling with a bunch of people I've never traveled with before, but it's a fun group so it should be good. Nice to get out of London for a bit. We really need the break!

A special day

Happy birthday to my precious P. I wish I was by your side today...

Today was my darling mother's birthday too. I wish she was by my side today, and everyday...

And happy two year anniversary to Raine and her O.

Two down...

Holy crap I've never experienced this kind of pressure before in my life. I am beyond stressed. I am so stressed, I think I've come full circle and become totally relaxed, if that makes sense. It's not that I don't give a shit anymore, it's just that it doesn't really matter whether or not I give a shit anymore. It's outta my hands now. Well, almost...Monday...

One down...

...two to go.

Take a straight and stronger course to the corner of your life

"Well I tell you that one day, man, better be your life, man. Because, you know, you can say, oh man, you can cry about the other 364, man, but you're gonna lose that one day, man, and that's all you've got. You gotta call that love, man. That's what it is, man. If you got it today you don't want it tomorrow, man, 'cause you don't need it, 'cause as a matter of fact, as we discovered in the train, tomorrow never happens, man. It's all the same fucking day, man." - Janis Joplin

"Until you've seen this trash can dream come true, You stand at the edge while people run you through, And I thank the Lord there's people out there like you, I thank the Lord there's people out there like you, While Mona Lisas and Madhatters, Sons of bankers, sons of lawyers, Turn around and say good morning to the night, For unless they see the sky, But they can't and that is why, They know not if it's dark outside or light ... And I thank the Lord for the people I have found, I thank the Lord for the people I have found." - Elton John

01:30am...

...in the library.

The nuts that are my friends...

...and the little things that make me realize exactly why I love them all as much as I do:

The fact that S smses me regularly at every outing or event that I’m missing out on in Kuwait to give me the play-by-play scoop for the night, just to make sure I’m always kept in the loop. Makes me wonder what his mobile bills are like these days.

The fact that every time (male) A is on msn when I’m on he sends me a message opening with “pbuh!” and then jumps right into conversation. That, and the fact that every time I pick up my copy of “Orientalism” I think of him (“…and all”).

The fact that G sent me a message yesterday while I was in the library, offering to (brilliantly) protect my honour in the face of impending warfare with my neighbours, and then proceeded (as always) to compliment my ever-deteriorating Italian (just being polite, I’m sure, which makes it all the sweeter!).

The fact that (female) A is the only person in the world (other than telemarketers) who actually calls me on my home phone, and calls on a regular basis to check in on me and chat, just like my family does.

And then there’s P...and the fact that, whenever I call him to say goodnight and accidentally end up waking him up (which is almost every night!), he doesn’t care that I’ve disturbed his sleep and I can immediately hear the smile in his voice.

Just a few things I thought about tonight while in the library, which calmed me down in the midst of all my multiple levels of stress.

Neighbour Shit: Take 1001

I'm hesitant to even write about this, because those of you who have been following my blog for the past couple of months will think I'm just lying now. So here's a bit of proof.



I've been sleeping on the couch the past few days and leading up to my exams because it's the only way I know I won't get woken up in the middle of the night by my idiotic neighbours thumping over my bedroom. Well anyway, yesterday morning I woke up at around 8am to the sound of water dripping. It was raining but the sound was too close to be outside, and I realized there was water leaking through my ceiling onto my dining table, and also all over my kitchen counter area. I immediately called Tom, the head maintenance engineer for our building who has become my new best friend. Anyway, he said he'd send someone immediately but to go upstairs in the meantime and see if there was leakage upstairs too. So I knocked on their door and the same guy I've had my confrontations with before answered and I told him I had water leaking and to check the area above my dining room, and he said he couldn't because it was his flatmate's room (the girl who's name the lease is in) and she wasn't around and her door was locked. So I called Tom back and he said to tell him that if they didn't track her down by the time the engineers got there (in like half an hour) they'd have to break her door down to assess the damage immediately. Of course when I relayed the message the guy got all pissy and argumentative, as if I was the one who wanted to break the door down. Anyway, I just responded by saying that Tom said for him to stay home and wait for the engineers and I went back down to my flat. 10 minutes later the guy knocks at my door and says he couldn't get through to the girl, and that he wanted to come in to check how bad the leak was himself because he didn't think it was necessary to knock down her door. I didn't let him in and said the engineers were on their way to do that themselves, and said that there was major leaking and they had to stop it immediately. He kept arguing and making it seem like I was exaggerating the leak and finally I just raised my voice and said "Look, I'm just telling you what Tom said. If you have a problem with it, take it up with him when he gets here." And then he argued back and said "As usual, you're overreacting to everything!" and at that point I just shut the door in his face. He started yelling through the door and finally yelled out "Bitch!" and went upstairs.

Anyway, the engineers came over (not Tom) and turns out the girl was on her way home so they didn't have to break the door down. They checked my flat and then went upstairs and I didn't see them again. A few hours later I called Tom to get an update and also told him about the fight and the profanity, and he told me I should call the landlord's management office (who he works for) and tell them everything. He said that, like the boiler situation that happened last week, this was their fault as well. Apparently they burn incense all the time and keep throwing the sticks out the window onto the drainage area and eventually all their trash blocked the opening for the water to go down and that's what caused the flooding. And he said that last week, because they didn't report that the boiler was leaking until it eventually exploded, what would have been a £100 repair turned into a £500 repair. He sounded like he'd had it with them too - he said they're also totally neglecting the flat (pigs). He told me to speak to someone specific (who I've never spoken to before) and tell him everything from my end because he'd already reported everything to him that was maintenance-related. He said that way, if they know my complaints along with the maintenance problems, chances are they won't renew their lease.

So I called the guy this morning but he was in a meeting and I left a message and my mobile number. Let's wait and see.

Previous posts on neighbours:
February 12, 2006
February 16, 2006
February 18, 2006
March 22, 2006
March 25, 2006
March 29, 2006
April 26, 2006
April 29, 2006

A violating turn

I wish I had never put a stat counter on my blog. It's opened up a whole new can of worms for me. I originally started this blog to keep my friends and family at home updated on things going on in my life while I'm here in London. For the first few months I seriously did not think more than like six people were reading my posts. Then I gradually started getting comments from people I didn't know, and it got me curious. So I put a counter on my blog and was shocked to see that I get like 50+ unique visitors a day (and plenty are returning). I know that's nothing in comparison to what a lot of you guys out there get, but for me...it just shocked me! Who are all these people? It's hard for me to imagine why people who don't know me would find my posts interesting enough to keep coming back. I mean, I understand to an extent because there are a couple of personal blogs out there of people I don't know personally that I read on a more or less regular basis (you know who you are!) but the difference is, theirs are actually interesting! But anyway, I've actually gotten comfortable with the other members of the Kuwaiti blogger community who I don't actually know who have started visiting - it's obvious where they've come from and I'm fine with that (so don't worry, I'm not complaining about you!).

But the most disconcerting thing of all is seeing where some people are logging in from. I can understand all the Kuwaiti ISP's, and some of the U.S. ones who I know are people who stop in on a regular basis. But today, for example, there is a UK visitor who came in by way of a blogger search for "Kleio" - and they stayed on for quite a bit, navigating around the archives and all. Was this person looking for me in particular? And if so, who the heck are they? I mean, I understand if people click on my link when I comment on someone's blog and come in that way - but this is the first time someone has done a search for my blogger name. I don't know - it feels wierd. I haven't shared my blog with anyone here in London, simply because this is something that I share with my friends and family at home (and if other people come across me that way, so be it) and since I'm writing about my UK life, I prefer not to bring my UK life into it. Maybe it was just a fluke and this person was looking for something else but it just feels...violating in a way. I know it's ridiculous for me to say that since I'm posting on the internet for the world to see and I shouldn't complain, but still. I just find it strange that someone was searching for it - if they were being referred by someone else they would have the link and wouldn't have to search.

I started this blog with a very particular reason in mind, but since it's starting to bother me maybe I should stop. I'll keep an eye on things for a few more days and then see.

Another year

My Dad was in town for one night on his way to the States, so yesterday I went over to the Heathrow Hilton where he was staying. We had dinner together, hung out and talked and caught up. Then he had booked me my own room at the hotel for the night so I wouldn't have to go back into London. This morning we had breakfast and hung out until he had to go back to the airport and I saw him off at security check.

What a lovely night. I have so much fun with my Dad. We just talk non-stop about all sorts of things. It was so nice seeing him here, and being able to escape from central London for the night. I love staying at hotels. Usually I prefer small, family-run hotels (but CLEAN!), but once in a while there's nothing like staying at a big five-star chain and spoiling yourself. After my Dad went to sleep in his room, I got my books out and actually got quite a bit of studying done. But at the same time I couldn't resist the temptation to order a plate of fries from room service at 1am and watch TV in bed for a bit. (Hey, there was an interview with Keifer Sutherland on - a.k.a. Jack Bauer - I wasn't about to miss that!)

Suffice it to say that when I got onto the train after saying good-bye to my Dad, I felt sad and homesick. Then when I got home, there was a big envelope from my university waiting for me. It was my official acceptance letter into the PhD programme starting in September. I'd already heard from my supervisor last week that I'd been offered a seat in the programme - there wasn't much chance that I wouldn't be admitted since I've been doing well on the MA and have already started working with my supervisor, who makes the final acceptance call. But reading the letter, and having to sign my acceptance of their offer - for some reason it just made me feel strange. I was officially signing myself off to another year here (since the remaining two years I'll be in Kuwait) - alone, away from my Dad and sisters, and away from my P. I know I'm here for a reason, and I do want to be here, doing what I love. But making it official...well it just broke my heart.

I'm off to the library.

Dammit...it's spring!

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous this week. And it's pissing me off, because I feel trapped indoors, studying for exams! Today was the deadline for all written coursework to be submitted to the university...essays/papers. I finished off all my papers a couple of weeks ago and turned them into the department earlier this week. But there was an alarming number of students who had left things to the last minute. Most of my friends were working like dogs the past few days (and nights) to get theirs done to meet the 4pm deadline today. I just can't understand that. We've known about the May 5 coursework deadline since the start of the year! Some departments have their own fixed deadlines throughout the year, and if you miss those deadlines you lose 2% per day until you submit your work - but the university deadline was today, after which no work will be accepted for evaluation. The history department does not have fixed deadlines and basically all work had to be submitted by the university deadline (i.e. today). I turned in my first round of papers in December/January, and my second round this week. But the majority of students were cramming in their second round of work this week. I could never work like that - under a 72, 48, or even 24 hour truncated deadline. It's insane! I guess that's one of the advantages of taking time off between undergrad and postgrad - you get out of that undergrad "all-nighter" mind-set and budget your time more realistically. The only students I know who planned their time properly have been the "older" students.

And now exams are upon us, and it's so frustrating because, finally, after a long cold winter, spring has finally hit! The sun is out in all its shining glory, and all you feel like doing is sitting in the grass in a tanktop and soaking it in...but then you have to go back into the library after a half-hour study break on the lawn. But this is it...two more weeks. I have never looked forward to anything as much as I am looking forward to May 22. This spring feeling makes me feel happy and giddy. Knowing that in two more weeks I can thoroughly enjoy it is enough motivation to get me through it all.

Off topic, my university has a public art gallery in one of its buildings, and this month there is an exhibition of photographs of Kuwait by Kuwaiti photographers (none that have anything to do with my school). I went to check it out today. It was strange...being in my university, in the middle of my life in London, looking at photos of Kuwait. Artistically, they were OK...as a once-photographer myself (life has sucked all the time I could invest into that part of myself away), they didn't really blow me away. There were one or two that were quite good, but the majority were more or less snapshots with good lighting. Anyway, for me though, they were cool because they momentarily let me escape from my hectic life here and go back home. You had the usual stuff - the Kuwait Towers, dhows, old Kuwaiti houses, etc. But there were also a couple of "modern" Kuwait - which unfortunately were just pictures of shopping malls. But the one that I loved seeing, up there on the wall in my uni, was one of the marina at Souq Sharq, because it showed the yacht that I rented out last year for a surprise party for P's birthday. We cruised up and down the coast for six hours at night, and it was such an amazing time - and everyone who was there, many of whom might be reading this now, agreed that it was one of the best nights they'd ever had in Kuwait. So, for a momentary escape down memory lane, I zoomed into the photo and took a picture of the yacht with my Sony Ericsson so that I could post it for you all here.


(It's not the best quality, since I took it with my phone, but oh well...it did the trick!)

Life

Don't you love it when you get that same feeling you get when you're going downhill on a rollercoaster - that excitement in the pit of your stomach - just over nothing...over everything?