Check out this Viral… link

Its definitely my new favourite, I laugh every time I see it!!

Well… its now available to buy on the mathmos website… nice one rich!

They’re a touch on the pricey side at £13 a pop but they seem to be doing a promotion on them at the moment and anyway, they’re going to make great birthday presents for the next year and are far too cool to be worrying about the price!

I moved out of my old flat a couple of months ago at fairly short notice and havn’t yet been able to find somewhere else in the area so I’ve been living on a mates couch since then. Also, work seems to be pretty slow at the moment. I’ve quoted on loads of jobs recently but none of them seem to want to turn into actual work. No work, no money – no money, no flat! Do you see the problem now.

I’m really hoping that some work comes in soon so I can look at a flat and know I’ve got money to actually move into it. Also, it would stop me wasting time playing with applications like ustream (see last post) which actually doesn’t seem to work very well yet – it keeps disconnecting from the server so my broadcast stops. I suppose its still in beta so maybe I’ll try it another time.

Anyway, if anyone knows of a really good shop doorway or 24hr pub with comfy seats in the hoxton area then let me know!

So if you’ve nothing better to do with yourself then check it out.

…the jon burch show

…strumming with pick (02:11)

…finger-picking (01.16)

Obviously the best thing about birthdays is getting presents and this year I’ve so far had a great CD, “see the morning” by Chris Tomlin, a sandwich cookery book and a pedal that was missing from a second hand marshall AS80R acoustic amp I bought recently, but the best thing I’ve had so far is this fuzzy felt birthday card from my girlfriend. Its great, all the shapes come off so you can make it into other things as well (and yes, I have spent a bit of time this morning making rude pictures out of it!!).

I think maybe you have to be of a certain generation to appreciate fuzzy felt – I’m not sure if its still the market leader in toys these days, I’ve got a feeling the xbox360 probably just has it – shame.

I was in the acoustic centre near Liverpool St. when my eyes caught glimpse of 10 avalon guitars hanging all on their own. With no thought of my own safety (or bank balance) I walked over and gave them all a good lesson in how not to play “wish you were here” by Pink Floyd. Knowing I could never afford to get one of these beauties, I tentatively turned over the price tag.

To my horror I realised they had knocked between £600 and £1300 off the price on these guitars. Obviously thinking they must have all been dropped from a great height I called the owner over. He told me that Avalon have decided to no longer sell their guitars through retailers but to do everything online and that they had bought all the remaining stock from avalon for a massive reduction and selling them on to us for similar prices.

I had to leave the shop immediately and pull myself together – a dream guitar for a dream price. I went home and got some advice from a few trusted guitarists (obviously not telling them where I’d seen the offer!) and the next morning went straight back and bought the finest avalon in the shop. The L380 – Cocobolo back and sides, and a Sitka Spruce top. It has beutiful inlays of Abalone, Rosewood, Sycamore and Mahogany – it truly is a fine piece of craftmanship. The sound is bright yet well balanced with great depth. They threw in a fishman soundhole single coil pickup which is great as it clips in and out easily and means I don’t have to do any butchering to the guitar.

Without any further a deux I present the Avalon L380

I just met with a technician called Ed, he was really useful but highlighted a few things that need resolving – I suppose this is all part of the process but its always a bit disheartening when you think you’ve got it all figured out.

Anyway, back to the drawing board!

The websites in French so if you’re that way inclined you can probably read up about the photographer and how he produces these images – I prefer looking at the pretty pictures!

Click the pic below to go to the site – the top image is the best and the bottom one has all the buildings labelled – interesting to test your parisienne knowledge.

I think they’re still perfecting the production model but they’ll be available to buy pretty soon, probably around June. I’ll put up a post when I’ve bought some.