Saturday, December 23, 2006

Noughties via the 90's

I recently discovered Robin Thicke supported John Legend on the U.K leg of his tour. Gutted is my reaction after checking press details for the gig and deciding against purchasing tickets. I could have seen what Thicke is like live. After being encouraged by the incredibly catchy first single release Little Too Late which topped the AOL music charts (the embodiment of cutting edge music amongst young America) I gave Jojo's The High Road a listen. There is some good production and she has a good voice but most of the songs are samey. I decided to journey into the early 90's :

  • Mary J. Blige- Real Love and Reminisce.

  • Brandy- I wanna Be Down

  • Dru Hill -In my Bed Remix featuring Jermaine Dupri and Da BRat is sick.

  • Horace Brown- Things We Do For Love, One for the Money

  • Mase feat. Total- Tell Me What You Want

  • Boyz II Men

  • Jade- Don't Walk Away

  • Soul For Real- Candy Rain

  • All -4-One- I Swear

I got goosebumps because the beautiful thing about music is it can define periods in our lives. For me it was getting into r'n'b and hip hop music. I remember my rap phase where I could recite the lyrics to the DMX albums and got the LOX album just to hear Jada Kiss rhyme. My taste has matured and expanded with age but I look back with amusement and embarrassment in some cases (3T?). A lot of modern r'n'b and hip hop is driven by sex, bling and empty arrogance. Neo-soul was supposed to be the saviour with Jaguar Wright, Jill Scott, Bilal et al doing much to write some wrongs. It seems the mainstream buying public like the superficial. I am visually blunted by most r'n'b videos- the club, the girls in the club, in the car, in the strip club, the pool etc.

After fighting my way through the hoards of shoppers I finished my Christmas shopping. Attention turns to new year's eve because last minute plans tend to be rubbish. Unless one of the boys (Hugh, Clive or any other hotties) invite me to be their plus one at some uber cool party I am fearful of the possibilities. Overpriced nights with drunk semi -comatose revellers bonded by the need to not spend new year alone.

I found myself reading my dad's December issue of Time magazine. The cover has a mirror reflecting the fact that the individual is the person of the year because we are responsible for the explosion in web 2.0-based web sites. The sites allow users to upload items on websites, a right previously exclusive to the web master. The growth of my space, youtube, friendster, hi5 and facebook are examples of the popularity of such sites. In the search for entertainment have we become consumers with nano attention spans, going to increasing lengths to amuse ourselves? Where will it stop? My Bum -hot or not? (R) trademark of jadefox05.blogspot.com and subsidiary companies.

A friend's dilemma reminded me that as women we want a guy in the middle who is not adverse to the possibility of meeting the parents at some point down the line (preferably before you elope) but not too eager. First date and there is talk of meeting the family=running as fast as your heels will take you. A sensible period of time is needed to establish you are a couple and get to know each other. Is this too much to ask?

I attended a friend's boyfriend's friend's girlfriend's house party. Past experience of people being incredibly nice to you despite your obvious gate crashing gave me confidence to do this. The desserts were amazing and the only thing that stopped my greed was the thought of being physically sick. A good time was had. Relatively early to bed and definitely not early to rise.


Photos: Robin Thicke , Jojo

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Lifehouse

A friend put me onto this. Check this out

Sunday, December 17, 2006

The Halls Are Decked With Holly. Whatever.

The course was very useful in improving my practical techniques (catheterisation, central/peripheral line insertion, airway management etc). It was intensive with many lectures and few breaks. A&E was really busy this week and I can honestly say I have gained more from this attachment than some of the previous placements put together. The only downside is that sometimes we don't get to witness the outcome for many patients. I tend to ask the doctors a couple of days later.

As I walked home in the gale force winds that punctuated the weather this week, I was transported to Malaysia's hot beaches in the East for a brief second. The pangs in my heart... Another course at the end of this week which was extremely well organised and invaluable for finals and postgraduate medical training. I legged it at the end to attend Christmas dinner. The music was jazzy, food delicious and company delightful but I was so tired from the past couple of weeks, I didn't stay too late. The next morning I attempted to cobble together the numerous piles of items I had set aside during the week and packed to go home.

My friend and I were discussing the Christmas holidays. Yes it is nice to have a break but families start to grate on you after a prolonged period of contact with no public transport or escape plan. I actually am not bothered about presents, wish I could remove the stresses of Christmas shopping and sleep for a considerable period. It was my friend's birthday night. We had a themed party with gifts, games and forfeits. The lateral thinkers out there may understand but I don't want to give too much away. We went clubbing afterwards and had one of the best nights ever. What is it about arrogant guys? We hate to love them. I know women have a reputation for being catty but really if you are going to wear dental floss out in public expect a few stares from either sex. I am all for people dressing how they like but I'd rather be relatively clothed. Have I missed the uprise in the trend to go out in winter without jackets?

When no one in the crowd is dancing it is possible they don't like the music. In contrast to most venues, where you want to actually get on the decks because the DJ is bordering incompetent. The DJing and music selection was faultless and the crowd were up for it.

The best line this week at 04:30 a.m. Are you cold? I can help you keep warm.

I got home at 5 a.m and woke up feeling great. Do I have to go in? Hell No! Roll on the holidays. I am contemplating a last minute trip to Hogmanay in Edinburgh.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Polka Dots





Fireworks out of my window on saturday night (see photos).

For the hundredth time in my training, we attended a meeting which was of zero relevance to us. Cue attempts to stay awake and act interested.

Blondie, the sister boutique of Absolute Vintage in Shoreditch opened recently. Some of the items are garish and the most sought after pieces were sold out. Suprise Surprise. Live Search from Microsoft has arrived- whopee doo. Do they really believe they can compete with google?

This friday was fun. Polka bar in soho made a nice change from the usual west end bars. Dinner then on to a club where I realised in the words of my friend I'm too old for this. Charty r n b, posey people, thank goodness for my friends. It's interesting how clubbing attire has evolved. In the 90's it was all dresses and no jeans. The millenium brought denim chic and now we are onto 80's- leggings and bold prints. I got home at 3 a.m and woke up feeling o.k.

I considered seeing Nelly Furtado when she plays the Apollo next February then I thought of the crowd- teenie boppers galore. Em maybe not.Will I fiish watching the Matrix on DVD? Others have ridiculed Keanu's acting skills and I can see their point. Reaves spends most of the film staring intently at his co-stars in a confused manner. I'm going on a course tomorrow which I am looking forward to.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Moody




Can someone prescribe a mood stabiliser for my blog?


The budget for December is spiralling out of control mainly thanks to transport costs. Train journeys to and from GP placement, surprise day trips to random hospitals and general tube fares. You get the picture. I will be spending most of my time with my doctor colleagues in the future. As I sat amidst the F2 doctors, some who thought they were so 'hot', I actually got incredibly irritated. What is the big deal? You were a final year or F1 two years ago so get over it. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as the final years spent considerable conversation time listing their entire foundation school rankings. Rumours of hospital closures don't help.

A chance meeting with an A-level student on some sixth form access to medicine course thingy brought a cynical smile to my lips. ''I'm definitely going to put this university down as first choice''. Naive, young lady. I would advise going somewhere else, preferably with more of a social life than the I'm a Celebrity Z-listers put together. I suppose it doesn't matter because after 3rd year theoretically your holidays and social life disappear.

What is it with grave yards being used as parks? Don't let your children and pets play on any bit of grass, there are dead people under there. I wandered Oxford Street and the Christmas feeling isn't quite there yet maybe it's better at night.
I had a play with my friend's HP photo smart printer (Photo) and it's official I want one. The ink cartridges can be pricey in store but it's all about online shopping. A couple of years back people didn't even know about kelkoo or play.It has taken so long for the entire population to jump on the bandwagon. Also if anyone has a Chanel quilted lambskin bag lying around, feel free to post it to me. A girl can dream..... I had the i-pod conversation with someone this week. Why do you have to justify having any other mp3 player? I'm sorry, superior features versus an mp3 player that looks girly with minuscule storage capacity? Tough one and don't even mention i-tunes.
Check out this song by NDubz. It is sick.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Asian Beer

Drinks with friends in the evening mid-week. I've never had honey dew cider and it was an experience but I'll stick to Asahi next time.

My time on ITU was o.k with the potential for learning procedures virtually non existent. They were reluctant to let the SHOs do anything invasive let alone myself. The wealth of managers on every ward never ceases to amaze. Medicine continues to evolve and this along with the lack of substantial anatomy teaching on the course leaves me looking to the past. Going out tonight because the MTAS ball and chain has disappeared. I pity the poor person who has to read hundreds of applicants waffle their way to a job. I apologie for the pessimistic slant but may I refer one to the article on SHOs who had to move back home to their parents and claim benefits.
Grey's Anatomy season 3 looks as exciting as ever and I can't wait for the release of Yimou Zhang's Curse of the Golden Flower.

More new music:
  • Brian McKnight 10
  • Bianca Ryan Bianca Ryan. The pundits describe her as Christina Aguilera meets Celine Dion. The 12-year-old winner of Simon Cowell's talent search in the States has a great voice.
  • Omarion 21. Although Omarion hasn't offered any thing new in the male pop r'n'b market Icebox produced by Timbo is sick.
  • Nuttin But Stringz Struggle from the Subway to the Charts. These Juliard trained New York natives fuse classical, hop hop and jazz.
  • Brazilian Girls Talk to La Bomb. Eclectic quartet release their second album.