RIP Panda Eyes - 2006 - 2010

Cutting a long story short, Panda Eyes is no more.  No drama, no name calling, no eyeball scratching, Jan the guitarist decided he didn't want to carry on with it.  As part of the core creative duo in the band, it isn't really appropriate to continue with Panda Eyes as an entity or use the songs.

It's a weird time.  Panda Eyes was my first band*, they took a chance on me and I like to think that I did a reasonable job.  I've gone through a number of states since it happened; sadness, anger, emptiness, numbness, resignation and finally thankfulness and hope.  I feel sad for a few reasons, not least the last gig we did I thought it was the best I had ever played.  I joined Panda Eyes because I liked the songs, and ultimately it'll be the songs I miss most. 

Well, the songs are still linked at the side of the blog there. It still makes me a little sad to listen to them but mostly I feel proud of how far I've come along in the one and a half years I played in the band.

Here comes the the hope!  Marie-Claire the singer has asked Chris the drummer and I to start something new with her and we quickly agreed.  New people, new songs, new direction.  Watch this space for developments...

*not counting the one-off ska band I played in mere weeks before my wedding ;)

Home improvements

I had a week off work last week and as well as a bit of socialising I got stuck into a few jobs which needed doing.

Garden stuff - We've made a start on clearing the crap out of our garden and bomb BBQ shelter.  My dad very kindly offered his assistance and his trailer.  Long story short, we moved 3 trailer loads to the dump civic amenity site recycling centre - a load of wood, a load of rocks/bricks/rubble and a load of general junk.  Treasure found so far - an amount of lead cuttings (from flashings presumably), a rear reflector for my bike, some garden tools (hoe, edging shears).  Disappointment of the proceedings - a table saw which had been left to rot in the shelter.

House stuff - Jayne varnished the fireplace surround to make it darker, I replaced the toilet seat (one of the hinges had broken), we tried some colours for the hall/stairs.

Guitar stuff - The body of the Victory Artist is nearly completely sanded (save for some annoying areas in the horns) and it is officially an Artist once more:

Short story: it's a white backed laser water slide transfer, printed black except the writing, covering the whole piece then protected with several coats of Plasti-kote Fast Dry Enamel, cut back in between with 1000 grit sandpaper.

I have found somewhere to make a 5 ply b/w/b/w/b copy of my pickguard and it went yesterday.

Last week I might have drunk some Guinness.