Brother Duano also sent this...



...for all of you folks who are going to "The London" to see the duo in May. And also those who can't make it. And if you're in the mood for reading, Mr Zaremba's Norwegian travelogue is over at BusyBuddy. Doing his bit for Scandanavian tourism.

Brother Duano tells me that there’s a problem with viewing this here blog on a Mac using Safari & Firefox browsers. Have you experienced this? Intuition tells me that it’s possibly something to do with not having changed to the updated version, but maybe not. The important question is, does anybody know how to rectify this problem or the root cause? Any info would be gratefully processed. It’s bad enough reading stuff from a screen without it being all scrunched up.

It might even be something to do with that facebook “networked blogs” palaver that I found myself getting into. One of those “devil making work for idle fingers (as opposed to hands)” type deals. I apologise for this aesthetic problem and assure you that teams of technicians are working on fixing the problem. Nothing, as I’m sure you know, is ever simple. And even if it was, if anyone could find a way to get into a fankle then that would be me. I have witnessed this browser problem for myself now and will do what can be done to rectify the situ. Even if it means having to ditch this format.

I’ve no idea where we’re at with all that or where the blog is accessed from. Going forward, that’s where efforts will be focussed. There’ll be a fizzogbook presence to up until they start to try and exact a subscription. Myspace, I never or hardly use. Messages do sometimes appear there but anyone who is in regular contact surely knows by now that isn’t a reliable method of contact. Twitter is about to be jettisoned. I don’t do the mobile thing so that is of little point. I did think about starting a series of 140 character album reviews but thus far haven’t got to first base with it and probably never will.

Still smarting from being fleeced with almost £3 in additional guff with regard to the FAK tickets. I would happily give the act £12 a scud. More even but the murky world of add-ons and handling fees – particularly for shows of this size in tiny venues – ensures a revenue stream for the promoter and seller but I wonder how all that breaks down with regard to the artists cut? Likewise, a record store selling tickets is entitled to a cut for their trouble however it pales into insignificance compared to this. Tickets were £8 each - £2.90 (36.25%) each added for the ticket agency. Not a consumer friendly percentage by my estimation.

Just have to chalk it up to a necessary evil in this instance. My own particular opinion on this is to boycott events that use this type of agent. Support the ventures that sell via the record stores, individuals and venues themselves. In essence, those who add a perfectly reasonable small charge per transaction. As rackets go, the sale of tickets tends to dwell at the more heinous end of the street. Body swerve this practice at every opportunity and be critical of it publicly.

I doubt we’ll be able to shame the bastards but it’s worth a skelp.

My planned Glasgow Film Festival antics look likely to be curtailed this weekend. A mix of priorities and necessity I’m afraid. That and a train strike on Saturday which Scotrail reckon won’t have a detrimental effect but have heard that one before. Besides, I need to conserve my energies (and meagre funds) for Stockholm in two weeks time.