PolarMonkey

hiya... i applied for tickets for the main show, but since i haven't heard from the BBC confirming that my application was actually successful up to now, i'm assuming i didn't get them. but if somehow i do get an email stating otherwise, i'd be happy to pass the tickets on. btw, i already have tickets for the Coldplay song shoot, thanks to an all kinds of awesome Coldplayer. so am not looking for a swap. & thanks a lot for your info! i really didn't know what to expect or how to plan my day. was hoping i wouldn't have to queue so early even if the studio is near where i stay. especially considering the freezing cold weather we've been getting in London this week. but looks like that may not be possible...darn. :thinking:

i love how there's a secondary conversation about LotR "love interests" in between all the discussion about Christmas Lights! the 2 of you: legends! :laugh3:

if Justin Bieber wins the Best New Artist Grammy, the world as we know it has ended! :P

noticed it isn't posted here yet, so here it goes... Paste Magazine's 50 Best Albums of 2010 50. Marnie Stern: Marnie Stern [Kill Rock Stars] 49. Flying Lotus: Cosmogramma [Warp] 48. Local Natives: Gorilla Manor [Frenchkiss] 47. Yeasayer: Odd Blood [secretly Canadian] 46. The Black Keys: Brothers [Nonesuch] 45. Deerhunter: Halcyon Digest [4AD] 44. Swans: My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky [Young God] 43. Stornoway: Beachcomber’s Windowsill [4AD] 42. Wavves: King of the Beach [Fat Possum] 41. Anaïs Mitchell: Hadestown 40. Free Energy: Stuck on Nothing [Astralwerks] 39. Sarah Jaffe: Suburban Nature [Kirtland] 38. Josh Ritter: So Runs the World Away [Pytheas] 37. Big Boi: Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty [Def Jam] 36. Spoon: Transference [Merge] 35. Grinderman: Grinderman 2 [Mute Records/ANTI-] 34. Girl Talk: All Day [illegal Art] 33. Blitzen Trapper: Destroyer of the Void [sub Pop] 32. Carolina Chocolate Drops: Genuine Negro Jig [Nonesuch] 31. The Roots: How I Got Over 30. She & Him: Volume Two [Merge] 29. Freelance Whales: Weathervanes [Frenchkiss] 28. Laura Marling: I Speak Because I Can [Astralwerks] 27. Vampire Weekend: Contra [XL] 26. Lissie: Catching a Tiger [Fat Possum] 25. Various Artists: Preservation: An Album to Benefit Preservation Hall [Megaforce] 24. Beach House: Teen Dream [sub Pop] 23. Laura Veirs: July Flame [Raven Marching Band] 22. The Tallest Man on Earth: The Wild Hunt [Dead Oceans] 21. Jamey Johnson: The Guitar Song [Mercury Nashville] 20. Suckers: Wild Smile [Frenchkiss] 19. Elizabeth Cook: Welder [31 Tigers] 18. Cee Lo Green: The Lady Killer [Elektra] 17. Jónsi: Go [XL] 16. Mavis Staples: You Are Not Alone [Anti-] 15. Justin Townes Earle: Harlem River Blues [bloodshot] 14. Band of Horses: Infinite Arms [brown Records/Fat Possum/Columbia] 13. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: I Learned the Hard Way [Daptone] 12. Bruce Springsteen: The Promise: The Lost Sessions of Darkness on the Edge of Town [Columbia] 11. The National: High Violet [4AD] 10. Frightened Rabbit: The Winter of Mixed Drinks [Fat Cat] 9. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz [Asthmatic Kitty] 8. Phosphorescent: Here’s to Taking It Easy [Dead Oceans] 7. Arcade Fire: The Suburbs [Merge] 6. Sleigh Bells: Treats [Mom + Pop] 5. Titus Andronicus: The Monitor [XL] 4. Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy [Def Jam/Roc-a-Fella] 3. Mumford & Sons: Sigh No More [Glassnote] 2. Janelle Monáe: The ArchAndroid [The Wondaland Arts Society/Bad Boy] 1. LCD Soundsystem: This Is Happening [EMI/DFA] i'm surprised (but real chuffed) that Frightened Rabbit ranked above The National's album! tho i do love both albums, Winter of Mixed Drinks was more of a grower for me overall unlike High Violet which i liked pretty much on first listen. or even compared to their own Midnight Organ Fight album. but it's great to see Frightened Rabbit on a list! 2010's been a good year for the lads from Selkirk... :)

i'd say 2010 has been a pretty good year for The National so far. High Violet has been getting a lot of mentions & so far as appeared on a number of "Albums of 2010" lists. haven't really delved into Boxer tho. so far am only familiar with High Violet & Alligator. admittedly i fast tracked listening to Alligator cos i wanted to get to know more of their songs before their gig just this Monday. they had me at Mr November & Abel sealed the deal for me with Alligator (if that statement even made any logical sense at all!).

^^ this. mostly...because i generally liked the VLV album. i can see why Christmas Lights ended up as a Christmas single. i'm a big fan of lyrics that tell a story. & while it's lyrically about feeling sad from a breakup close to a festive season, it's got quite a Christmas-y feel to it, especially from the tempo change...even tho i personally don't celebrate Christmas & Christmas celebrations where i'm originally from are more of a commercial thing. releasing it at any other time of the year would just make it pretty out of place even if their next album ends up sounding like Christmas Lights. at the end of the day, it's a MOR Christmas track not something like Politik which is fine, since it suits the mood of the season well. as for the video, 1st thing that came to mind is the Smashing Pumpkins' video from the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness era. namely the video for Tonight, Tonight actually. but there are hints of Coldplay's own video for The Scientist with that starting scene where they go from a lying down position to standing (deja vu!). but i do think it's quite a nice video visually overall...the whole old school theatre setting & all. * & in general i'm not much of a music video person (i.e. i don't set out to watch the videos for every single that i like). * admittedly, my opinion is likely to be seen as biased still due to my involvement in the video. & i love the snow/winter & London.

not sure if this has been answered, but this thread is seriously looooong to read thru. just wanted to know if Christmas Lights is going to be released as a physical CD/vinyl also or is it digital download only?

i'm going to guess he calls himself "Paddy" cos of him being a stand-up comedian. but "Paddy" is short for Patrick also, tho i think it's more commonly used by the Irish. & "Paddy" also is also a slang term for an Irishman. so it kinda fits with him being Irish & named Patrick. tbh, i've not been to a lot of these events myself either & i agree that it was really cool! & i'm fairly sure that i'm unknown to most anyway...so i'm as new a face as you. heh but if it ever happens that we're ever going to another such event again or a CP/SP gig in the future, we should meet up then. :)

imo, your post is not out of line. but that's just my opinion since i feel the same way as you about this whole thing & i was lucky enough to be on the boat. for one thing, when i first came to England 1yr & a bit ago, i never in a million years would ever imagine that i'd ever be on a music video...let alone Coldplay's! & in a Coldplay song that mentions bits about London! & i also think that they had good reason to try & cover up the shoot as much as possible due to leaks & such. since the entertainment industry can be incredibly anal about leaked songs/videos/movies/shows, especially for highly anticipated material. by disguising the opportunity as a Q&A with essentially the least known of the Coldplay members & 2 of their roadies, they're (theoretically) making sure that not just any Tom, Dick or Harry shows up. because, seriously, how many Coldplay fans, especially those outside of this forum, honestly know who Phil, Matt or Miller are? i still remember in the pit at the final Wembley gig, 1 of the CPers here had a sign & rose for Miller & kept shouting for him during the stage turnover from Jay-Z to Coldplay's stuff. there were ppl around us who were Coldplay fan(s), but were wondering who in the world is this Miller person & why is this girl so excited to see him? & when i'd told them that Miller is the roadie who blogs for the official website, they were surprised about it still. end of the day, i think some things could've been organised better, like having a bit more food or something more filling than finger sandwiches & biscuits as not everyone realises that "refreshments" literally means just that & the timing was pretty much during dinner time. i was lucky once again in that i've been trained to eat up whenever i can before an event & to expect the unexpected during an event from my previous job. BUT for that 1 night in the freezing cold in the middle of the river in my favourite city in the world, i got the totally unexpected privilege & honour to: listen to a yet-to-be-released Coldplay song with 100 others before anyone else in the world aside from the band & crew + probably some other EMI ppl. be there for the shooting of the video for the new song. actually be a part of that video & song. meet up again with friends whom i'd met through this very forum but not seen in a while...some not since Wembley last year. & meet friends whom i'd not had the pleasure of meeting in person yet. go on a free cruise on the Thames River...something i've never done for all the times i've visited London or for the past year that i've been here in the UK. ...now how many ppl can say that, especially the first 3 points? (well, ok...aside from you other 99 ppl who were there. ;)) tho having said that, i have to admit that if it wasn't that i am already in London now or perhaps coincidentally making a trip to London around this time &/or i didn't happen to have something important to be at, i wouldn't have re-shuffled my life or come from far away just for this. even if the band were supposed to appear (which was NEVER promised to begin with). i don't think anyone in Coldplay or Coldplay HQ expected fans to do this either for a Q&A with Phil, Matt & Miller. especially those who made the effort to travel over from abroad (to you, i tip my proverbial hat to for your steadfast dedication!). i understand how those who genuinely came for the original promise of the Q&A would be disappointed (guess those 4 other guys need to get used to the fact that Phil, Matt & Miller have their own fans too! :P), but for those who went just because of the expectation that anyone of the 4 or all of them to appear, then i guess this is a perhaps costly lesson to be learnt. because at the end of the day, once again, there was no promise made that Coldplay themselves would be there for a private gig or to do a Q&A or whatever in the world was expected of them. only excited speculations. & if anyone seriously went & rang the bell at the Beehive/Bakery just because they were disappointed about how the boat trip worked out................ :facepalm:

is that his name?! haha i only remember the Paddy part cos that's how he introduced himself & i thought it was SO corny to have a guy called "Paddy" hosting the Arthur's Day show in Dublin. oh phew! i'm not the only one then! haha i swear that he sounds more Scottish than Irish! :confused: Edith sounds VERY Scottish to me tho...so no confusion there, at least. heh & yes, i was. i take it you were there also? not sure if we may have met/seen each other? there were so many ppl there on Thurs...both old faces & new. :\

yub yub! back from the boat trip! :D & i got to meet Virginie this time! :) we were also at Dublin Castle last night & were making jokes about wanting to go to THAT Pizza Express to wait for Gary... :wink3: well, i know both. so that ups my tally to 4. haha Gary, the 2 Colins, & Liam Neeson. & add to that the stand up comedy guy...whose name i've now forgotten, but i think it's Paddy something...cos he was the guy hosting the Arthur's Day 2010 TV show on ITV. oh & i actually thought all along that Colin Murray is a Scot! until today... :embarrassed:

i read somewhere that Christian (the DJ) kept calling Pablo "Mr. Meat" because Pablo's a vegetarian. i've no idea how true Pablo being a vegetarian is tho...

hmmm...before any further misunderstandings crop up yet again...may i just point out that 20 questions each among 3 guys does not equal 100? that means not everyone's questions will be answered, even among the 100 who were on the boat...tho i'm well aware that not everyone of us 100 who were on the boat have/had a question to ask the guys. but then, realistically, even if the live Q&A happened on the boat, there's no way all 100 of us would've got to ask either of the 3 a question & have it answered...so good luck to those who can think up a great question. hope it gets picked to be answered! :)

last minute train tickets tend to cost a bomb...a friend of mine had to pay £49 return for Bristol to London when she bought on the day before her trip. but if you have the 16-25 Railcard (i remember you're a student here at the moment, right?), then you save quite a bit on train ticket fares. tho this is probably a bit too late to tell you by now if you don't already have it...

i'm making a guess here based on my experience from my old job in events sales & from the info DonQuixote's found out... the arrival time's been changed to 1hr earlier very likely for logistics reasons. by getting us to plan to arrive by 5PM, the event manager from the boat hire company & Coldplay HQ can make sure that 100 persons (or most of the 100 persons) are on the boat or at least at the pier well before 6PM. then there's enough time for registration & boarding so the boat can depart at the planned time range. events ppl tend to always deliberately tell guests to arrive at an earlier time than the event's actual start time. that way we can make sure events start pretty much on time, especially if there are back-to-back turnovers (or to avoid additional overtime pay for the operations staff if the event overruns). just my humble 2cts...

DP...brain's all messed up from working late into the night recently...

+1 to Tonsu's vote to tie up the captain...Ian & Jen should be on that boat at all costs! & this is quite possibly a nonsensical post/idea on my part, but i couldn't help but notice that one of the services the boat hire company offers is a "Personalised Song Service"... so are we going to get a Coldplay/CPing-themed "personalised song service" then? :P

*lol* you girls crack me up! maybe he was analysing if the person who poured it has poured the perfect pint... :p makes me really wonder what happens in that "lucky bunk" on their tour bus to make it so "lucky"... :thinking: :lol: (incidentally, Jason Mraz's 'Lucky' is playing while i type this...& 'Shut Your Eyes' was playing just before it)

oh, no! that's sucks, iPsy! :( :hug: was it a Standing/GA ticket you had? btw, if the guys are already headed back to Aberdeen now, then i'm going to guess that it might be some kinda goodie/merch they are giving away based on postcodes? i was too late to sign up for it (busy with work), but i remember reading that they were specifically looking for ppl in London + they wanted to know your postcode... :thinking:

here's the full transcript of that "Wherefore Art Thou, Pablo" banter...from the description for the 1st video (i wonder how many times that person watched/listened to it to put down the words spoken in that banter moment in full...):

haha...yeah, i loved it as a kid too! & i actually had mismatched socks back then cos of that show. they actually sold official Punky Brewster mismatched socks in the shops! :lol: that is the single most hilarious thought ever!!! & that last GIF...i just saw the video again yesterday & i think Nathan pretty much got molested by Gary there! :laugh3: SQUEEEEE!!! *turns into a blubbering mess* :wacky: thank you, my dear! haha :kiss: & that's the exact photo that they were asking about in TTB's Bradley Quinn interview! :D love that photo & how hilarious it looks... as for Pablo loving, my fave is still the "Pablo Oh Pablo, Wherefore Art Thou, Pablo" banter during the Reworked gig in Newcastle! the lucky bunk of the SP tour bus! :laugh3: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27X6uBO7teo]Snow Patrol - Wherefore Art Thou Pablo, Newcastle 21-11-09[/ame] poor Pablo! you can see him facepalming in his corner there while the others are having a laugh about it... :laugh3:

i think i effectively spit out half of my mug of coffee when i saw that photo!!! particularly cos of Nate looking like some biker porno star...with the handlebar moustache & leather-looking outfit! :laugh3: i've actually seen that promo item go on sale at a music & memorabilias listing site! can't remember how much it was going for & i didn't buy it...it'd be rather awkward explaining why i have that if i ever had the balls to even display it. not to mention possibility of accidental parental discovery even if hidden. :P the AHMS promo item is quite tame compared tho that quirky (yet quite apt given the song title) one for 100 Things...it's just glow in the dark stars. :dozey:

right...got them videos uploaded & sorted. thru YouTube. so here they are! :D [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbK7ScBsOTI]We Are Scientists - Rules Don't Stop (acoustic, partial)[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKOBfbDCksU]We Are Scientists - Impatience (acoustic, full)[/ame]

yes, me too! i confess that i learnt the cheer from him...cos he keeps saying it every time he's talking/writing about Biffy Clyro. :lol: & Many of Horror was listed as the most played track on his iPod on one of his other Q Mag mini-articles. don't blame him...at 1 point, it was the same with me! it's such a beautiful song...even if the lyrics are kinda violent. but i didn't really start from Only Revolutions. i actually started from Puzzle cos i was browsing in a record shop (as i am prone to doing) & saw that album on sale. + i remembered the band name being mentioned somewhere before (which'd be that Q mag article you posted, but at the time, as usual, it'd slipped my mind). Puzzle was cheaper than Only Revolutions & i really liked Machines... & there's the embarrassing matter of me thinking for a VERY long time that Mountains was a Foo Fighters song...i still think the album recording does. but live, it didn't sound like a Foo Fighters song at all! thankfully! tho that's now kinda ironic also knowing that Biffy are going to be supporting the Foos on tour! :D oh & Anna, FYI, that's your answer to the mystery of how is it i know about amazing bands like Biffy...it's mostly from Gary's blogs or Q magazine articles' recommendations (or should i say, "enthusiastic gushings"). ;)

awww, Crests...that's a shame. :( anyway, i found someone in the end via 1 of the other winners & in the process got to meet 3 lovely ladies + very hardcore/dedicated WAS fans. who happened to have met each other at previous WAS gigs. :) but here's some photos i took from the evening...i also saw the guys at the venue entrance, but didn't get a chance to take a photo with them (some others managed to). as i was in the midst of looking for my name on the guestlist. :dozey: [ame=http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimchigang/sets/72157625433774002/show/]We Are Scientists (London acoustic set) - 18 Nov 2010[/ame] i also have a 40sec video of them opening with Rules Don't Stop Me & a full video of Impatience (love that song! & the acoustic version was awesome! :wacky: )...still uploading tho. will post links once done... just a pity that it was a short acoustic set only. & there wasn't a lot of banter (lack of time, i suppose), but what little there was was hilarious...kinda reminds me of Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody's crowd banters at gigs. except Chris banters about...errrmmm...coconuts & guys having an issue with him using a coconut in a song. :lol: