Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter will be holding a discussion about their latest novel; “The Long War” at the London’s Institute of Engineering & Technology (2 Savoy Place, London WC2R 0BL) on 25 June 2013. The two men will discuss about parallel world theories and the future of Datum Earth. The event will be an hour long, and the books will be on sale (courtesy of Forbidden Planet) which will be specifically stamped for this event. There will also be an opportunity to buy signed books by both authors. These books will be limited, and there will be a hat-draw for which 50 participants will be privileged to obtain them, in exchange for hard earn money.

You can obtain a ticket for this event which will cost £10.00 from here.

If you are unable to attend the event you can pre-order a signed by Stephen Baxter and stamped copy here. 

How i wish i was in London… (this sentence has crossed my lips many times, especially when i hear about the various events taking place there). This time it is because Neil Gaiman will be signing copies of his latest novel “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” on Monday 17 June 2013, from 12:30-1:30pm (local time) at the Forbidden Planet London Megastore located at 179 Shaftsbury Avenue (WC2H 8JR).

Here are two pics Neil posted of himself signing multiple copies of the book.

(The pictures are not my property)

More info on this event here. 

There are many bands which i have had the pleasure of watching them multiple times. If I like them and they happen to cross my path, i will revisit them. 

I have attended two The Smashing Pumpkins concerts….and they couldn’t be more different. The only thing these two concerts had in common was the name of the band, Billy Corgan and my dad’s concern, but i will get back to that later on.  The tickets as you can see from the image above are totally different. The Greek one shows the band in one of their promotional pictures, and all information about the venue, time etc must have been in the section which was cut off. The US one is a small thick paper issued by ticketmaster and lists all relevant information.

The location was different: the first was in Greece’s Lycabettus open air theater which is a lovely venue vs the second one which was in United Palace Theater, a restored church venue in NYC (USA) which was was heavily carved. At the first concert i had friends with me and i was standing on the sideways of the stage. On the second concert i went alone and had a seat at the balcony.  The time was also different: 9 June 1998 vs 7 November 2008, an actual decade between these two concerts. The band was different.

But let me relate my two experiences separately.

The year was 1998, mobile phones and the internet were still at their first years of operation. I was in the second year of high school and it was exam time. The next day i was supposed to have an end of the school year exam on physics. I spend 14,000 drachmas to get two tickets for the concert, which for a child my age was a lot of money. Me, my sis and a friend of ours headed up the hill of the Lycabettus theater. Our friend did not have a ticket, but she came along having in mind she would see the concert on top of the rocks that surround the theater. The plan was that we would return home with her mother. But we were not sure if she would stay the whole concert. So we had our father as back-up to pick us up. The concert started so we got separated. The place was packed. The weather was not good, at some point it started raining, but the band continued to play. On the drums Kenny Aronoff had joined Billy Corgan, D’arcy Wretzky, and James Iha. We saw the concert from the side of the stage. It was phenomenal. Everything i had hoped it would be. The setlist included Perfect, Tonight Tonight, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, 1979 and ended with an awesome re-rendering (it would be a shame to call it a cover) of Joy Division’s Transmission. Following the concert we met up with our friend, talked about the concert and when her mother came along to pick her up we were certain that our father was also on his way  to our rendez-vous point: Saint George Lycabettus hotel. However, an hour had passed and we were left there waiting. I went inside the lux hotel and asked to make a phone call home. My brother informed me that dad had already lied down and scolded us for not being back yet. Thirty minutes later we got into dad’s car who was not happy with us. I do not recall  how i did at the test the next day.

November 2008, NYC, Obama had won the elections last month. I had arrived at the States a few weeks ago and had purchased the ticket prior to stepping a foot in USA (oh the joys of the world wide web) the cost of which was $49. This was my second concert there. Prior to going, i talked to dad on skype and when he learned the location of the venue (Washington Heights, 175th Street) he got all concerned, cautioning me. He used to live in NYC during the 70s and he was still under the impression that it was rough out at night, especially in Harlem. I reassured him that there were thousands of people going there so there would be safety in numbers. I rode the subway uptown and when i arrived i was starstruck by the venue. A church from the 1930s, every inch of it carved. The venue was seated only, and it had sold out its 3,293 seats. I headed for the balcony. The band started playing at 8pm sharp, with no opening act. This was the band’s 20 years anniversary concert (they also had a show the previous night, with completely different set list, i was fortunate to pick the date i would enjoy the most). For these two shows, Jimmy Chamberlain joined Billy Corgan, and the rest of the band was comprised by new individuals whose names i do not recall. Corgan was dressed in gothic black playing hits like Ava Adore,1979, Soma, Zero, Disarm, Gossamer, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Cherub Rock (which i particularly liked since Siamese Dream was one of my favorite albums in high school). I recall that someone light up a cigarette during the show, and since it was a closed space at a place where smoking in-doors at public spaces is forbidden i was struck. At some point something weird happened, a disgruntled fan was brought on stage, he was there last night as well and commented that the previous show sucked. Later on i read that the show he was referring was a debacle. Corgan offered to refund the man, and commended “By the way, I like that song you wrote. I believe it was number one. “Take Your Dick Out of My Ass and Stick It in My Mouth”? That was a big hit in Europe” he said both jokingly and bitterly, adding “Yes, the circus is back on the road”. The two and a half hours set was filled with jams. I returned home the same way i got there, alone, ridding the subway, safe. 

For referencing purposes i also want to add that on 29 August 2007 The Smashing Pumpkins were to play in Terra Vibe venue, Malakasa (Greece). But that summer there were wide spread fires all over Greece and near that location, resulting to the concert being cancelled. Manic Street Preachers and Kassabian were also set to perform. I got the ticket (50€) a day prior to the show, asking the vendor specifically if the show was to take place given the fire danger. He assured me that the show was a go. Next day the show was cancelled. I returned the ticket for a refund. This was the ticket (picture found online):

For our 3rd concert ticket post i thought about sharing my first concert abroad. This was on Thursday 18 October 2007 at the most unique venue in Bristol, the Thekla: an honest to God boat, docked at the riverbank. Where i watched the Canadian Broken Social Scene. The opening act was the unknown then Noah and The Whale. I thoroughly enjoyed that concert, the first of the many that followed at that venue. In this pic you can see both bands on stage singing.

Up until I went to the UK to study, i haven’t been abroad on my own. Since then i have made it a habit to travel abroad whenever i can and have the funds, to watch shows. 

Looking through the ticket stubs from the UK i realized that the majority of them are simply stating the act, date, venue and price. There is no artwork involved. Different venues have different styles of tickets, but that is it.

However Thekla had really nice posters listing the upcoming events.