I spent Sunday evening watching the Olympic closing ceremony.  A great combination of a big event, music and beer (I was at the pub at the time!).  I enjoyed watching it, and not just because of the beer.  There has been an increasing sense of belonging as the games progressed.  And by the end of the weekend, there were people on Twitter actually wishing it would continue a bit longer, I know how they felt.
Now it's back to normal which means bad news will return to our screens.  It's amazing how the Olympics has managed to push most of the bad news out of the picture, and leave us with mainly, well, good news!  I'm all for positivity (as long as I can still moan about things) so I think for me that will be the lasting effect of the games: the positive effect it had on everyone.  Even if you didn't like sport it pushed away a lot of negative stories and everyone can benefit from that.

Oh, and Queen with Jessie J has a lot of potential, I think we should see more.

GIGS
Back in my little world, I played 2 gigs last week, both bookings for a change.  The first was the White Swan in Leeds on Thursday night which is next door to City Varieties.  Resisting the temptation to play 'On Mother Kelly's Doorstep' I played a 20min set including some of my songs.  The venue is pristine, and a couple of free drinks for performers are always welcomed!  I'm still feeling my way a bit with the solo gigs.  I used to do these sort of gigs 3-4 times a week so now I feel just a little bit rusty, under-rehearsed and over-aged!  Let me just say I'm enjoying it immensely though.
On Saturday night I played at the Rose & Crown at Greetland, which is a local venue to me and a different style of gig.  Here I did the full night, around 2 hours' playing in the end, and it's largely a covers gig with the emphasis on entertainment.  The crowd is so welcoming there that it's a very enjoyable experience.  I just wish there were more places like this, I shall keep looking! 

This week is a little quieter as we're doing some mixing for BitterSweetShop, but I will be at the Chemic Tavern again on Thursday (16th) continuing my 're-learning curve'.

LISTENING
If someone had told me 15 years ago that I'd one day be talking positively about a Noel Gallagher album I'd have put them straight.  But times change, and so do tastes.  His 'High Flying Birds' album for me is very good indeed.  It's also extremely well-produced.  Whilst his voice isn't as penetrative as Liam's his songwriting most certainly is.  I really rate this album, in particular the signature song 'What A Life!', a really tasty production job.
I also listened to Jethro Tull's 'Rock Island' album.  I'm still a newcomer to their music, which can be a bit challenging at times.  Some of the lyrics and sections are so far off the wall it's hard to fathom, but I must say I love the flute bits which sound really distinctive.