The realist pessimist / optimist debate

It's been a strange few weeks. I've had some job interviews (one of which I came tantilisingly close to getting), but I don't yet have anything on the table. Nevertheless, I'm trying to stay upbeat, and I have a few other ideas which I haven't fully explored yet. For obvious reasons there's not much point in going into detail on this topic.

I've also been keeping other plans in the air as part of this juggling act. The first ever Action and Action tour is going to happen with our friends The Psyche Out Musikland Big Band, from 9th - 16th April inclusive. This is now only 10 days or so away, so I'm quite excited that it's (mostly) come together as planned, through a lot of hard work and persistence. So far the tour goes:

Monday 9th April - SOUTHAMPTON, King Alfred's Pub
Tuesday 10th April - LEEDS, Joseph's Well
Wednesday 11th April - SLOUGH, Eco Bar
Thursday 12th April - LEWISHAM, The Fox and Firkin
Friday 13th April - ?
Saturday 14th April - HIGH WYCOMBE, The Roundabout
Sunday 15th April - ?
Monday 16th April - PORTSMOUTH, 10 Grove Road South

I'm hoping we'll get to play to some new people who may like the music we make. I'm equally happy to be able to hang out with my friends in both bands for what will amount to a short holiday, and I think it'll also help to establish a work ethic and resilience for our band in a live setting. The last gig we played was a let-down, so I'm determined that we become a leaner, more dependable machine.

Almost as exciting is that we have a new 7" record that's planned to come out to coincide with the tour, as a split release with Psyche Out. You can hear both of the songs at our respective Myspace pages, Action and Action here, and Psyche Out here. There have been a few headaches in the last few days as the test press came back from the Czech republic (where all of this stuff is done nowadays, presumably due to UK wage rates) with a problem on our side. Dave has been bothering them multiple times about it, so now we just have to pray that the final pressing happens quickly enough that we have it ready to sell on the tour itself. More stress.

Before any of that happens, I'm going back home to Cardiff (which I also did this week for the annual Cathedral Choir Easter concert at St David's Hall). I'll spend the latter part of Holy Week with my family, as I do every year, which will be a welcome break.

And then there are wedding arrangements to be made, as the big day looms closer. I'm supposed to be booking our hotel in Malcesine (Lake Garda, Italy) today, which will be an expensive phone call. Then I'm meeting Naomi after work to book the suit hire from Moss Bros.

The title of this post relates to the discussions I often have with people who are close to me about whether my views amount to realism or to pessimism. Whatever happens, the next month should be pretty eventful.

Is this the worst band of all time

There's a great Chris Morris radio clip from many years ago when he talked about how Sade was the epitome of the 'production' artist - i.e. no substance, no performance, all-studio.

Today, I came across this travesty which not only somehow encapsulates everything that's wrong with corporate rock (and I know I'm taking on a pretty easy target there), but everything that's so truly vacuous about young people of the age that spent their teens living vicariously through Myspace.

From the way their vocals are CONSTANTLY autotuned, to the preposterous Duran Duran-style hairdos, this band actually makes me feel a bit ill.

As I remarked to Jack and Mike M at the Make Believe gig last week, the kids are not alright.