Lotte

Hello there,
My friend Pat sent me a postcard asking if I had a 100yr old sister. Check this address out if you want to see what she looks like.
http://raster.art.pl/schad/il_o_lotte.htm

Love,
Tracyanne x

are scrap yards the new charity shops?

I'm left wondering whether this is the case, (although with less cordorouy).

I remember going to scrap yards years ago, trying to find bits for my first car, which was to be fair, a bit of a donkey. but its been a long time.

recently, after accidentally running into the back of another car, i realised that it was perhaps time to renew my acquaintace with scrap yards in order to find a new headlight. i looked up yell.com and found a long list of scrap yards in Glasgow and set off to wander round them hoping to find a new headlight and who knows, maybe some other bits and bobs (carting loads of musical gear around in the back has casued a certain amount of wear and tear on the old thing over the years, trying to squeeze amps and bass drums into the back seat in a 2 door car is never recommended if you want to keep your seat levers and seat belt holders intact).

they've all gone, all of them (almost). It appears that new health and safety guidelines consider rows and rows of cars stacked on top of each other that people crawl in and out of in an attempt to find booty a danger to the public. In the end i only managed to find one of the Glasgow breakers yards still open, and it didn't have any mark III golfs.

After a tip off from an old friend, i heard rumour of a place in Paisley that was still open, still going (could it be true!!) yes indeed. i found it, buried along a small lane at the back of an industrial estate near Paisley town centre. Rows and rows of cars that people are allowed to crawl in and out of trying to rescue booty. Its amazing, i got a new boot lock hasp thing, cause my boot hasn't been shutting properly for too long, but the headlights had already been blagged. Realising that time is of the essence, and that not being able to drive at night cause i have a defective headlight, isn't really ideal, i went online and found online scrap yards (cheers to Kenny). Obviously, you can only virtually crawl around dangerous towering rows of cars in search of booty, but you get what you are looking for. I ended up buying a new headlamp instead of a scrapped one, but it was loads cheaper than from my local VW dealer, so result.

I HAVE TWO HEADLIGHTS AGAIN!!! now, i just need to buy new bulbs to put in it.

BUT i have a plan. I shall frequent this scrap yard, keeping my eye out for mark III Golfs and when they come in, buy up all the bits and bobs i need to make my car great again, and when this has been achieved, what then? Well, i was thinking i should give it to 'Er Indoors and buy myself my dream car. I've been after a Morris Minor for longer than i care to imagine, and after approximately 18 years, its about time i finally got off my arse and got one. what do you think?

Gav

I'm sorry I've been extremely quiet on the blogger front. It's just that I haven't been up to much recently and don't have much to tell. I've been busy with group stuff I guess, so I assume that sort of gets me off the hook a bit? Maybe not. What can I tell you? I had a dream about the Queen last night and she told me she liked my shoes. Hmm, Maybe I'll stop there actually, even I think I sound a bit sad dreaming about the Royals. It doesn't happen often, honest. What else? Oh I know. I was waiting for a bus yesterday on Byres Rd and a Dennis the Menace mug fell from a tenement flat up above and just missed me. I could have died but I didn't. So, that's been my eventful weekend in short.
It was nice blogging to you. I'm off to rehearsal now.

Tracyanne

34 Today! You Wear It Well...

Happy Birthday To You,
Happy Birthday To You,
Happy Birthday Dear Gaaaavin.....

EVEN THE ANARCHISTS WEAR LIPSTICK HERE

It’s the summer and a window of opportunity was taken. My friend from Montreal was going to be in Paris for one week only. We spent all day Tuesday in a studio in Glasgow town with Mr McDonald and a lovely bloke called Ian at the helm. We completed a couple of tracks, which we intend to use for our future album recordings. Of course, it was a cracking day outside while we worked our arses off indoors.
I had to leave a little early as I had yet to pack even a pair of socks for my trip. This was my first to Paris and I had little idea of how hot it was going to be. Being a very fair skinned young gent, I naturally packed away enough sun cream to cover the Eiffel tower twice over, but Jesus, the heat. On arrival I waited for my good friend at the Opera metro watching exasperated scooter drivers gesticulating wildly at the intrusive cars. A lot of honking and swearing amidst the heat. I always could understand why much “civil unrest” occurs in such heat, I know I can certainly become a little cranky when the mercury rises.
My friend found me and we headed to Montmartre to check out various well-regarded and hugely expensive patisserie and confiserie establishments. My friend works as a pastry chef in Montreal and was therefore very much at home talking (in French) with the proprietors of these gloriously smelling shops whilst I sort of hung around trying to remember how to say things like “je voudrais des timbres” and other useful phrases I learned at school. In the evening there was, of course, wine and there were fireworks. July 14th, Bastille day. The town goes a bit nuts and in the evening I saw a drunk Parisienne grinning like an idiot whilst trying to indulge others with his small bottle of vodka, he was unsurprisingly ignored by the families flowing by him on their way to check out the light show. Poor wee guy, we heard a bottle smash as we turned a corner.
The next day we ventured into the salubrious Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise. A graveyard for rich, famous folks. If the band were to ever make enough dough then I will probably book a place there for myself. We couldn’t find big Jimbo (Mojo Risin’) but contented ourselves with reading the poetry on big Oscars vault. On leaving the cemetery, an old drunk guy garbled something, which sounded very poetic, to my pretty female companion. Something about fantastic beauty and smooth skin. Girls, come to Glasgow and an old Jakey may ask, “how’s about it doll?” Just say no. The sun beat down onto us until I became in danger of turning into a big walking, ginger lobster.
We walked through a park, saw the Eiffel tower, stood under the Arc de Triomphe and drank on the street. All very well, but believe me when I tell you that we found not one bleedin’ charity/thrift shop. What’s that about? Anyway, we drank more wine and later my companions made me eat most of a huge gateaux, later I felt sick. Jocks abroad!
Earlier on, my friend told me that she had been feeling wary wandering the streets of Paris as she felt her attire to be under scrutiny from well-dressed Parisiennes, besides, a friend in Quebec had once told her that in Paris “even the anarchists wear lipstick.”

Lee

News! Action!

We don't spend all our time on countryside jaunts, sometimes we do work. Oh I'm only joking, its just a spot of djing and its not even with records- CD only (so expect a lot of Fopp £5 specials, Scots readers ((if there are any)).

Some of us are putting our names to an evening by the lovely Shoeshine Records at King Tuts featuring The Beauty Shop from Illinois, USA (that means America),
Eugene Kelly (some old guy), and The Hermit Crabs who we have frequently championed and invited to support us once (not in a care in the community sort of a way).

Poor old Mr Shoeshine is so excited about it (and the prospect of missing it by touring with a bunch of fannies at the time) that he got the dates wrong on the poster ho ho. And its true, his shoes really are in a sorry state.

So here are the details
King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow, Sunday 7th August, doors at 8:30 pm

Thank you readers xx Carey xx

The Electric Brae

With half the band off Gallivanting round Europe, Nigel in Italy and Lee in France, obviously, in an attempt to keep up, I ended up in Ayr yesterday.

Burns Country they call it. I didn't see any fires though.

I did take a drive by Burn's Cottage, although didn't go in, Rab's got the painters in at the moment, and the were also touching up the thatched roof. But i reckon a proper day wandering around the Burn's Heritage Centre and Burn's cottage is on the cards soon. He was quite a cool guy, and i think its time i learned a bit more about him. I did take a wander over the Brig O'Doon, the bridge featured in the climax of Tam O'Shanter where Tam's Horse Meg leaps to Safety over the River Doon since the witches can't cross running water and saves Tam, losing her tail in the process. That was beautiful. The bridge was built in the 1400's and is all cobbled and old school and the view up and down the River Doon is rather splendid.

The highlight of the afternoon was driving round to the Electric Brae (also known as Croy Brae) which is a quarter of a mile stretch on a wee hill on the Ayrshire Coast. If you stop your car on the hill, and take the brakes off, your car rolls up hill. I stopped in both directions so i got to experience the car rolling backwards and forwards up the hill. In less enlightened times they thought it was caused by an electric/magnetic current within the Brae (thus the name) but these days they reckon its an optical illusion because of the way the land lies around it, and whilst it looks like you are rolling up a slope, you are in fact rolling down. In my opinion its no optical illusion and rather than being electromagnetism, its actually magic. These Scientists dont know what they are talking about.

Gav

The Last Post !

Firstly, I have to say a big thanks to those who posted replies to my message last week. It caused much upset to our drummer Lee who could not understand why anyone would reply to my message and not his, which was, “much better”. Maybe it was something to do with me pleading for people to reply?

Anyway, it’s been a funny old week and last Saturday’s Live8 gigs seem a long time ago now, so much has happened in the UK since. What with the G8 protests and the G8 meeting itself in Scotland and the London Olympic bid success quickly followed by the London terrorist bombs, the journalists certainly couldn’t complain about it being a slow news week.

When I think of the euphoria in London surrounding the success of the Olympic bid quickly followed by the shock and grief the following day, it occurred to me that you just never know what’s around the corner. I suppose we just have to take each day as it comes and try to make the most of it.

Back in our own little world, it’s been a productive week. Last Sunday Blair took some photo’s of the band in a nice little park in the southside of Glasgow. It’s one of these parks that you often pass but never venture into. I havn’t seen the photo’s yet, but I’m sure they’ll be up to Blair’s high standards. We’ve also been working hard in rehearsals to get some of our new songs ready for some pre production recordings we’re going to do this week. We’re now getting really excited about going back into the studio to record again and there will hopefully be some news up on the website soon regarding this.

I have to point out that I’m writing this on Sunday morning and I’m feeling a bit rough. Last night most of the band went along to the 13th Note café where Lee was playing drums with his new band (don’t worry, he’s not left Cam Ob, it’s just a bit of a side project). Anyway, they’re called “Love Pump” and they play funky, electronicy, dancy sort of stuff. Gotta say it was pretty tight for a 1st gig, so if you ever get the chance and you’re into that sort of thing, try them out (that’s assuming they ever play again?).

Finally, I have some extremely sad news to share with you all. Hedges, our pet hamster, passed away quietly in his sleep on Thursday night. Thankfully, being the band trumpet player, I was able to give a very moving rendition of the Last Post, whilst Claire sent him into the hamster afterlife, via the rubbish chute in our apartment.

Bye for now.

Nige

Hello this is the elusive lead singer. I've been painting my front room and the paint fumes are very stroooooooooooooooooooooooooooong...

Let's work together to end Sunday Night Syndrome!

Do you, like Sir Bob Geldof, dislike Mondays? Do you experience tetchiness and low mood on Sunday evenings? Do you feel the remaining hours of your precious weekend speeding past you? Is your enjoyment of these last few hours spoiled by thoughts of tasks/studies not completed, or friends and relatives not contacted, books unread, shoes unbought, thoughts unexplored, sunshine missed etc?

If you can answer yes to one or more of the above, then you may, like me, suffer from Sunday Night Syndrome (SNS), which affects individuals to varying degrees according to their enjoyment of their job, or the jealous knowledge that others have Monday off.

I am relatively lucky; I only have to work every second Monday, and I love my day (and sometimes night) job. My heart goes out to those of you in jobs you hate, especially if life outside work is pretty good.

I would like to invite you, wherever you are in the world, to join me in fighting the scourge of SNS. Please send us your stories, links and suggestions, and help us put Sunday Night Syndrome on the medical map as a recognised mental health issue!

In the meantime, I can recommend the following distractions:

1) Staring into Space

2) Count Arthur Strong, a true star.

3) Laughing and laughing at David Hasselhoff. Always a worthy pastime...

Bye for now

Kenny

I Wonder Who's Reading This ?

Well, hear goes! This is all a bit strange for me, as I’ve never had to leave snapshots of my life online or anywhere else for that matter. It also occurred to me that here we are, all laying bare our souls to… well, that’s my point. Who ??? For all I know, nobody knows about this Blogger site yet. The band may be the only people actually looking at these messages. So, come on you Camera Obscura afficionados, let us know you are out there and get these replies and comments coming in. Just remember, we’re all sensitive souls deep down, so don’t be too cruel.

After that rant, I’ve just realised I don’t have very much to say. Not a lot happening down at trumpetland just now. Oops, that’s not true. I will be adding a parp or two to the wonderful sounds of Butcher Boy tonight Saturday 2nd July when they play at the Ramshorn Theatre in Ingram Street, Glasgow. If you’re in town tonight, you should check them out. I’m sure many of you will recognise their songwriter and chief crooner, John Hunt. He of NPL fame.

On a personal note, I’m getting myself organised for a little road trip that my beautiful mol Claire and I have planned for this summer. We leave in a couple of weeks and plan to drive down to Florence in Italy, before going over to Venice and then back home. I’ll take my trusty laptop with me and if I can get an internet connection, may even update you on our progress.

Well, that’s all for now. Hope to hear from you all (?) soon.

Nige

The girls here rarely get a chance to wear their summer shoes.

Ah! Sweating in the rain, my very favourite sensation. Lovely!
The band has been busy of late as we have this guy helping us out and we all fear him. He's a hard arse and he's getting us all to talk to y'all. You may think that it seems like a long time ago that we actually really done anything but plans are afoot boys and girls. I suppose this is a way for you folks to get to know us guys a little better but there will be tears and there will be laughter.
I am a little hungover today as I went out for a little drinky with my sister last night, it was her birthday last week and I promised to go out dancing with her. She has a son. He's three years old and looks like a little Buddha, a big lad. We went to the Art School union here in Glasgow town. There was drinking and there was dancing and there was me complaining about my itchy chin. You see my sister is making me grow a beard and it's driving me nuts. She will have a beard AND a baby to look after, we can't have that! Very itchy indeed. I've even consulted our very wise and properly bearded guitarist for tips. I don't know if I can last any longer. Maybe I should start up some kind of poll on this very prickly issue. I probably complained a lot about my ever increasing beer belly too. It's getting bad, certain much loved shirts can no longer be worn in public, but the beer is so sweet. I don't want to get all Bukowski on you but sometimes life is just no fun and the beer takes away the hard edges if you know what I mean.

Oh Yeah! Before I sign off, I would like to indulge in some shameless advertising for an upcoming gig involving my other band. I don't know if I can (or want to because you'll laugh at me) tell you the name here but check out the 13th Note website/literature. The gig is on Saturday the 9th of July at the 13th Note cafe, King St, here in Glasgow. It is free and the music will be eclectic. There will be a live performance by my gang. I don't know how to describe the music but there is a drummer, a bass player, an egg headed computer/electronic music boffin and a sexy lady singer. The music is fun and we demand some dancing. I will DJ (Can, Tortoise, Faust etc) as will my friend Christie (robotic fun) and also a dj/i-pod set from Glasgows finest and most glamorous electro rockers, The Retrosexuals. www.theretrosexuals.com
Hasta luego.
Lee