Flaming Nora

Off to see The Human League this weekend in London. They're performing all of their 1981 album Dare which for those of us of an, um, certain age, remains a seminal work. I can type words like seminal but I'd never say them in real life. A full gig report, as always, will be blogged in due course. In the meantime, remind yourself how bloody good Human League were by having a look at Empire State Human , Sound of the Crowd and then treat yourself to A Crow and a Baby . Ok, I know only one of those is from Dare but still, all cracking stuff. Gotta go now and find that black eye liner pencil. I think I left it somewhere back in 1981.

Found out this week that someone I know has had his first novel published. Filth Kiss is a horror novel written by CJ Lines. It's had a great review in Gorezone magazine that read: "...written with the style of a poetic genius. Don’t let the word poetic put you off; it’s just my way of saying ‘God, this guy can f**king write!’ and write with a viciousness you’ll have never encountered before.” If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can find out more here on CJ Lines' website and order the book from Amazon here .

Woke up this morning to -2.5c on the weather station, a lawn dusted with frost and frozen roses in the garden.

Sore nose, eyes hurt, lungs wheeze, second day off work wrapped up in a dressing gown watching brain-rotting daytime TV, fed up, feel down, nose streams, eyes run, ears ache, muscles burn, hair tingles.

To Camden Roundhouse this week to see Siouxsie. Fantastic. All things considered, it was my second favourite gig of the year, coming close to, but not quite pipping this one. When I went to see Editors recently, I cried out for the return of the hot and sweaty live music gig. Siouxsie at the Roundhouse provided all that and more. She did most of the new album Mantaray - which doesn't have a note wrong on it. She rocked it and knocked a few rough edges into it which made Into a Swan my song of the night. And she also threw in a few old favourites which kept everyone happy and made me jump up and down like I was 17 all over again. A wonderful gig.

Like writing in your spare time? Want to learn how to get paid properly for it? Then, my friend, you need to buy Linda Jones' new book. It's not called The Greatest Freelance Writing Tips in the World , for nothing, you know. It's dead helpful, and is a tactile book of the exact shape and size that will make you want to keep picking it up and reading it. It's excellent and I highly recommend it. Linda also blogs about freelance writing here too.

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas. And I'm not ready for it, not yet. Well, ok, I've ordered my Christmas cards from here and got my leave and train ticket booked to head up north, but I'm not feeling in the least bit tingly about it just yet. It's weeks away, it's too commercial and Santa Claus isn't real. He's not, you know. I'm just hoping I start feeling like this over the next few weeks.