The Boy Least Likely To

we saw daniel from x factor yesterday. he was coming out of a newsagents round the corner from shoreditch high street. pete wasn't at all excited about seeing him, but i was. embarrassingly so. he was only a few feet away, and i just stared straight at him and shook nervously. i think he saw me, i wasn't at all collected or subtle about it.

just to explain, in case anyone doesn't live in the uk or does but has better things to do on a saturday night than eat takeaway pizza and watch tv talent shows, daniel evans is a contestant on the x factor, which is a tv show that is quite similar to pop idol and american idol, except groups and old people can compete in it too. daniel is a pool cleaner from essex, and his wife sadly died while she was giving birth to their daughter. daniel now looks after their daughter on his own. his story is a sad one.

anyway, i always get slightly starstruck when i see people off reality tv shows, and i'm not sure why. it's the same with tv presenters. it doesn't even have to be someone i like. it usually isn't, although i do quite like daniel. i remember one of the only other times i was this excited about seeing someone famous was when i saw george janopolus from the tv dating show 'would like to meet'. he was working as a bouncer somewhere and i was so in awe i had my photo taken with him. it's weird, but i'm never as impressed when i see genuine celebrities like pop stars or film stars. it must be something about the ordinariness of people like daniel and george. it's because they're not particularly famous or always on the tv or making public appearances that it makes it all the more exciting when i do see them. the chances of seeing them seem so much less. they're like folk heroes to me. i suppose it's the same with writers and painters. they're just that little bit more elusive.

anyway, i won't be able to watch x factor this week because we'll be onstage in cardiff while it's on, and then i'm going to miss the results show because i'm going to watch the voluntary butler scheme at another venue. oh well, it's nice to get out and perhaps i'll be able to get back to my hotel room in time to watch it repeated later on. this week the contestants have to sing british songs. i think i'd like daniel to sing the song 'bright eyes', because i think it's the saddest and most beautiful song ever written about death, and after seeing him perform 'to where you are' by josh groban i think it would be a very touching performance. either that or he could do 'daniel' by elton john, just because it would be a bit weird.

here is a list of things i never thought i would mention in a blog:

daniel from x factor
george janopolus
josh groban

i'm sorry. the next blog i write will be all about slint.

x

we're playing in cardiff at the weekend as part of the swn festival and there's a lovely poster that someone has made for it.

we're onstage at seven o clock and are very excited indeed. now we must practice.



x

"i have learnt a great deal from using junk. i have seen life measured out in eyedroppers of morphine solution. i have seen a cell full of sick junkies silent and immobile in separate misery. they knew the pointlessness of complaining or moving. they knew that basically no one can help anyone else. there is no key, no secret someone else has that he can give you. i experienced the agonizing deprivation of junk sickness, and the pleasure of relief when junk thirsty cells drank from the needle. perhaps all pleasure is relief."

– william s burroughs

i feel relieved. i'm sitting on a train on the way in to london, and i know it's a bit early to be thinking about christmas but i'm really excited about it this year. we're doing lots of exciting things for christmas. exciting for us anyway. we're throwing a christmas party and the whole world is invited. but only a couple of hundred people will be able to get in. it's being held at the hoxton bar and grill on monday the fifteenth of december. and then we're doing some other, perhaps even more exciting things, but i'll write about them towards the end of the week.

before that, we're playing in cardiff on saturday the fifteenth of november, as part of the swn festival. we're on at about seven o clock in tommys bar. but if i were you i'd just go down there from lunchtime and stay for the whole day. you might be too drunk to see by the time we come on, but sometimes that's the best way to enjoy us.

so there it is. it hasn't been the most enjoyable year for us, but i think it's going to be fun again now. happy christmas everyone.

x