"Sheila goes out with her mate Stella..."

I've had a comparatively long time back in Winchester of late, though it's not like I've been idle. I've been having interesting meetings about my future, planning next year some more (Latvia ahoy! Also: Scotland), booking a Welsh show to placate the guy who KEPT posting about it on here, and even opening my chocolate advent calendar. Check me. There was also a cool show in Norwich, which gave me a chance to catch up with old friends.

I've been writing, as ever, and I've started veering more into 'political' territory; that is, 'political' in the same sense that any MD lyrics were 'political' (see 100,000 interviews for my thoughts on that). Basically, while I still have no intention of telling anyone else how to live their lives, I've still got some shit to say, observations to make etc. In the aftermath of MD it was nice to get away from that approach for a little while and tackle some other topics (more personal stuff), but fuck it, I'll write about what I want! Ha! So what this all really boils down to is that I finished a new tune entitled "Thatcher Fucked The Kids" the other day. It's a face-rocker. And I must admit it's fun to be back on that ground every now and again.

(Incidentally, I broke my own personal speed-songwriting record with that one - scratch to finished item in 24 hours or so, and I even recorded the thing in a grand total of 2 1/2 takes! Safety)

Finally, just a quick mention of some stuff that's been cheering me up of late - check out www.airwavesback.com, a great little webzine that my mate Ed runs. I have a t-shirt and everything. Also, check out Jamie T for the future of music, yes yes.