Along with a plethora of other quality blogs (XO, Chartrigger, Robopop, Pinkie, Digital Technique, Slippy Disco, both Dans, etc.) I visit Poppostergirl daily to see what words of wisdom she has up her sleeve for me. Being quite enigmatic adds to her mystery and I often call her google girl or veronica mars for her ability to mine quality pop from every conceivable country and in every conceivable language. Apart from keeping an eye on BWO, I've never paid attention to Melodifestivalen or whatever it's called but this year, i've lived it vicariously through PPG and fallen in love with the following three songs... ~ Magnus, Live Forever: Anything that pays such homage to the amazing sound of A-Ha has got to be pretty special. In fact if you put this in a mash up with the A1 version of Take On Me, it would probably be a pretty seamless transition. Now this is the sort of pop that i miss with an aching passion. Plus I am still pretty enamoured with his Christmas swedish album and can't wait to hear some more English Language stuff from the dude :)
~ Instinct: I don't get to read this very often as it's quite hard to get in Angleterre, but I always pick it up when I see it. It's like a slightly more refined AXM magazine without the pages and pages of pervy yet hilarious phonelines ("gagging for a shag with a chav") at the back. Plus a homes and fashion issue? RAR!!!! It's like it was written for me:)
Bon Vendredi to one and all. I am absolutely worn out this week - i'm not tired/sleepy, I am just tired exhausted need to recooperate. I really got into the swing of things with work this week, but at the cost of ever sitting down for a minute. Still, I am so looking forward to some much needed rest and relaxation this very weekend. Which is right here right now. Huzzah for the weekender inventor. Darren is doing his yummy hip enhancing (and hips don't lie) beef lasagne this weekend and I look forward to having him inside me. Er, I mean it. It inside me. Then we are going to have a mammoth lounging session catchingup on Shameless and Lost, while I flick through a whole bunch of magazines i've yet to read (including the soon to feature me new look Gay Times!) Plus I changed the bed sheets this morning - i love new bed sheets day. It always seems to crisp and luxurious when you get into it of the night. Which was quite appalling English but what are you going to do. Moving the mouse cursor backwards to delete and change is such an effort. OH! I tell you what else was an effort today... not throwing up on the way to work when some cheap skank walking alongside me answered her phone and after hello, the first words she spaketh were "oh for fucks sake, it was not a fanny fart". And we are talking front bum fanny here not rear end like what it is in America, etc. I mean honestly, who knew such things existed (though she did have a wicked camels toe) and secondly, it's not really what one wants to hear when one is eating a museli bar for breakfast, is it? And it definitely put me off the offer of a Cadbury's Creme Egg at lunchtime. Spew! PS ~ I'm the size of a small house at the moment, so must type faster to work off some excess calories...
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THE A-LIST ACTS WITH B-LIST SINGLES:
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Yes, i'm back to harping on about how rubbish singles choices often are when made by the record company. Though probably sometimes the band as well, no doubt. Not the band No Doubt that is, it was just an expression. But sometimes rubbish singles choices are saved by ooo kiss me and roger me twice level b-sides (ie, very good). Let's look at a couple of acts I have the passions for (did you know that soap is being cancelled?! I am agog, I am aghast) - one musically and visually, and the other, well obviously it's just the music...
~ The Feeling, Rose: I mean, yes there is hardly any filler on their album which means they could have released something much more marvelous for Valentines Day. I Want You Now practically sizzled with lust and harmonised longing, while Strange could have appealed to everyone who didn't have a date (that was mean). Both better songs commercially and after all Rose is currently languishing at 38. Granted it is from a multi platinum selling album, but 38? Luckily I have been utterly seduced by the studio version of Fill My Little Fanfare which opens their live shows and is a cunning stunt of a song, which couldn't sound any more Beach Boys-esque if Brian Wilson were in the house. Dan's original version of Sewn (demo) is still charming in a rough round the edges way (RAR) and an acoustic version of Rose almost made me forget what an amazing album track but rubbish single it is. So The Feeling are forgiven. As long as they don't spend too long recording their second album (Maroon 5, I'm glaring at you!)
~ Magic Numbers, This Is A Song: My initial feeling was that this wasn't a great choice for single, but i have proved myself wrong because it is indeed very good, if nothing new from my fave richard bacon insultees. However, the b-side Might As Well Live In My Head just proves their ability to knock out an amazingly catchy tune quicker than they can snarfle down a plate of low fat donuts. I love the way they can put bitter sweet lyrics to such uptempo tunes that Ruthiepoos and I worship so much in the summer festivals. It just makes me want to falalalala all weekend long!
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LINK: Buy Rose
LINK: Buy This Is A Song
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THE GIRLS I IGNORED THAT I AM NOW FLIRTING WITH:
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All of a sudden there is a spunkage of girls returning to the pop scene with songs that are not too bad actually. For some reason at some point I made a conscious decision that actually having let me down with follow up material, I wasn't going to bother again with any of the three Sheilas below. But hey, here I am declaring them on my radar again - on a trial basis mind you. Lets not get too generous...
~ Natasha Bedingfield, I Wanna Have Your Babies: Her forthcoming album cover looks like something Sophie Ellis Bextor might poo out when she is bored, yet once again la Nat has won me over with her lead off single. First time round it was Single which suggested she was going to be a bit of a funky dance diva, but then she wasn't and god forbid I look for or reward diversity so I buggered off. However, this song, I do quite like. It's a bit twee, but it has a lovely singalong quality to it and the title is nothing if not unique. So she scores a "i'm mildly interested to see what the album will be like" from me and I move onto the next lass...
~ Joss Stone, Tell Me About It: I generally have quite loathed the stone. At first she was all cover versions and annoying. Then she was just annoying with that "you had me you lost me you found me, you sold me you made me messing with my mind" cack, which actually (don't tell Ruthiepoos) I secretly like. Then she did the whole "oh those first two albums aren't really me - this is me" thing for this single which is a bit of a slap in the knickers to all those people who bought her first albums isn't it? And to be honest, I can't tell the difference so I must be getting more tolerant in my old age as I didn't immediately kick this to the curb. I am getting marvelous!
~ Macy Gray, Finally Make Me Happy: Now this i love! It's so Macy doing something new but still reminding us of how good Still and I Try were. It's not that i shut Macy out of my life, more like I lost track of her and her ego and her hair with it's own post/zipcode but I am glad to have her back. For coffee and a bagel at least. I think it's fair to say that this song struts along with attitude, pep mixed with a certain charm that is hard to resist. I'm scared to rave too much about it incase Ella judges me ;) It does go on a bit at the end though!
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LINK: you may find songs from these artists at other sites - particularly here, here and here
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THE OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE:
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I thought maybe my obsession with all things Wicked would be over by now. Or at least have calmed down a little bit. It hasn't. And it seems just 5 months after opening, most of Britain has seen it too - from celebs like half of Girls Aloud, Gary Barlow, William Young, the History Boys to regular theatre goers, it's racked up a whopping £12.5 million in box office receipts (though paid out a corking £50,000 a week to Idina Menzel) and continues to have only crap seats available for ages. And Bev from Corrie is now going to play Madam Morrible. Lumme! It's the music that tells the story that still has me coming back for me everytime. I just discovered some piano only versions of the songs that are just so intricate and lovely, it's hard not to fall in love with this outstanding piece of work all over again. Plus it motivates me to keep practising piano so I can sound as amazing as this. As Long As You're Mine sounds so yearning and powerful as a piano solo, and Popular just sounds positively tingly. So, adding to the list of things i'm obsessed with (Lois and Clark; Beauty and The Beast; Love, Actually; Harry Potter) means I have more stuff to rotate revisiting on a regular basis. When will i get time for new stuff?!?!?!
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LINK: Wicked the musical website
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QUICK BITZ/BLOG WATCH:
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~ only one today. The last four minutes of Season four of Shameless were stunningly done and a joy for any take that fan. Sure it was a "shameless" rip off of this, but who cares. I'm going to watch it all over again. Here.
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Coming tomorrow ~ some swedish dudes, some fashion stuff, and news on the last zapping post as we know it. Sob, etc.
Hello gang! I can't believe how busy and tired I have been with work this week. But it's been in an enjoyable way and i'm really starting to feel at home there now, so it's all good. The only downside has been missing out on some great opportunities - no pop show for me, hence no interview (yet) with Beyond, no hanging out with Digital and no coffee with Switch22 :( Then tonight I was given the opportunity to go see zapping fave Scott Ashley but couldn't go again due to finishing off work stuff. It's exciting to be given opportunities like this but kinda sad that i am missing out :( Oh well, that's life. I will just need to finish my novel, get it published and retire to do writing and blogging full time ;) Still, it should quieten down a bit at work now I am (as Madonna once said) into the groove of it all. This weekend I will be getting the all new zapping website ready and giving a few of you a sneaky peek at the finished product. Ooo you lucky souls! Anyway, gotta get this up and posted so will stop yacking and let you carry on you lovely people :)
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THE ONE WHERE PAUL LETS RUTHIEPOOS BE ON TOP:
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Mine (Ruthypoos) and Lou's night with the Indigo Girls (and many many other lesbians!) started beatifully with Katherine Feeney who is not only visually pleasing but has a haunting voice and interesting tunes which compliment her style perfectly. A great opening act whom I'm afraid i have to skip over in order to try and demonstrate how awsome the Indigo Girls were! First a quick apology to Paul who was my intended 'date' for this gig I did miss you gig buddy and boo to work for making you unable to go - may it never happen again!! That said it was wonderful to be at a gig in a heterosexual venue and still feel totally able to snuggle with your woman! Add to this the amazing talents of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers and you have a night made in heaven! To say the guitar playing was out of this world would leave me short of an analogy to use to describe the vocal harmonies - suffice to say their CD's sound fabulous - live they defy my vocabulary - (although I'm sure Paul with his eloquence could have found words!) They played a very varied set (off about 26 songs) mixing songs from deep in their past with more recent songs and a lovely mix from their new album. I think the most memorable songs for me were Moment of Forgiveness, Power of Two, Closer to fine, Fill it up again, I believe in Love, Little Perrenials and a lovely lively medley of 2 songs, one of which I think is called Have you ever been Lonely? and the other I didn't know but they gelled together magnificently. Having highlighted but a few i must stress that every single song was spine tinglingly good. The Indigo Girls are very much at home with their performance skills and their audiences which made for interesting and perfectly timed mid song banter, such as one of them saying "it's kinda small in here I feel like we're playing in a bar" and the woman standing next to me shouted out "you are!" causing much hilarity and a good natured "ha that explains it then" response! Another classic moment was Amy forgetting a verse to a song - apologising and missing out the verse with such genteel humour that I think she could have got away with forgetting a verse in every song! I guess a review of any Indigo Girls gig has to mention their politics which still run strongly through their songs, I think however that this was perfectly reflected in the openness of everyone at the gig - when me and Lou went to the bar between acts a woman standing next to us offered to 'save our space for us'! Now that doesn't happen everyday! Amnesty International were there with very worthy petitions the details of which can be seen on their website www.amnesty.org.uk/ Finally for their encore the Indigo Girls finished perfectly with two of my favourites In Love with your Ghost and finally a roofraising performance of Galileo! We had an amazing evening which I cannot wait to repeat and I implore the Indigo Girls to return to the UK soon! Just as an end to this gushing review me and Lou were having a sneaky snog in the car when I dropped her off home and pulled apart just in time to see a nosey man passing by walk right into a lampost!! A comical end to an uplifting evening which won't be forgotten in a hurry!
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LINK: Purchase Despite Our Differences
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THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK:
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Remember Drew Seeley in High School Musical? No? Although he actually co-wrote and lent his voice to songs that Zac mimed like Breaking Free and Getcha Head In The Game, he wasn't actually in the film. But no longer is he destined to be the male equivalent of whoever voiced Audrey Hepburn's part in My Fair Lady as he has replaced Zac on the HSM tour that is currently wowing tweens and D'Luv all over the states. It's like the days of Kids From Fame. I went to that tour. I nearly fainted with over stimulation during Hi-Fidelity. But I digress (as I so often do!). A quick google search tells me that Drew was part of a boyband called No Ground who has a cd out in 1999. Brillo, etc. What with Corbin doing more tv movies with record breaking ratings, Ashley and Vanessa doing their own brand of pop and Lucas Grabeel doing er, not much, this is one sensation that looks set to run and run. Drew has a debut album coming out soon and having had a sneaky listen to it, it's got all the r'n'b appeal of Justin Timberlake mixed with some pop sensibilities to make it more accessible. Super dooper.
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LINK: Drew's myspace site
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THE ALWAYS BOYS:
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Aw, my little Erasure. I have to say I mainly got into them because of sitting next to Michelle Gregory in French class aged 16 (around the time of Crackers International) and being totally amazed by her devotion to them. To me they seemed like they were the cooler edge of pop - maybe how Girls Aloud seem now compared to Atomic Kitten. Anyway, I was soon sneaking to concerts in London with Michelle to see them, being addicted to Wild and a little later on being stunned by the musical capabilities in I Say x 3 and the classic Erasure album. Recently I've not been as wowed by their music, though I always find something to enjoy in their most recent projects and am always happy to see them back. Their latest single I Could Fall In Love With You is vintage Erasure ~ plinking pianos, soaring falsetto and their best chorus since the quite amazing Breathe. It's got me all excited for the new album and playing my fave Always lots all over again. Sigh.
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STREAM: Pop over to arjanwrites to stream the single
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QUICK BITZ/BLOG WATCH:
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~ Look! It's Ruthiepoos and Lou! And it's Lou's birthday! And we love Lou! But not as much as she loves Ruthiepoos. We don't even mind the fact that they have lezzed it up at our apartment :) Happy birthday Lou! May you have a clitterific day!!
~ Electroqueer has all the goss from popshow. Colour me wicked green with envy!
~ David Tennant looking RAR on the cover of radio times? 98p. Laminating it at work for later enjoyment? Priceless...
~ I got ridiculously confused with this post! I thought Nick had a competition to win some Dragonette stuff. I was wrong :(
~ aw Samuel Hotstuffguy. Not only has he alerted me to a new HSM photo (though he seems a bit off with it. BOO!) he left a nice comment about me being right about how good Simon Curtis is on my myspace. See, never doubt thezapping!
~ I'm very jealous of XO's lamp. And his ability to give me cds of amazing music by Lucky Soul in NYC. Bless him!
~ What with work, i got a bit behind with Poppostergirl, but I am all caught up now and happy to read anything about Gareth Gates.
~ I so need to catch up on my correspondence with Dan this weekend!
~ Can you believe the lovely Bernice only has four myspace friends - and one of them seems to be a skanky scammer! Add her ass now!
~ and stream the always amazing Digital over at my myspace this very week!
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~ coming tomorrow and saturday - some Roberts, some girls i didn't think i liked but now i do, some fashion, some b-sides that i prefer to current a sides, and possibly some other stuff. See you around!
Today was destined to be a bad day. First of all, I was due to be in London for two days and I was going to be able to go to the popshow event that is on probably right now. With so many acts that I have big-upped that it seems very unfair that I am not there :( Then this was cut down to one day in London and an early start in Manchester tomorrow. So no overnight stay or opportunity to go to popshow. And I was hoping to have a bit of shopping time in London before I got my train home, but no! My meetings finished around one - and then i got a call from head office asking if I could work on something urgently for them, and I felt too new in the job to say no :( So no shopping/coffee in starbucks either. BOO!! Oh well, i am still loving my new gay class merc and I am excited that I get to give it a good run up to Manchester tomorrow! Hurrah! And i can blast new music in the car and use my sat nav. Darren and I have got all technological this weekend - we finally got our wireless connection set up around the apartment, we both have sat. navs for the cars and we got a laptop so I can blog in any room in the house :) Hurrah. Note to self. Must stop spending money... Anyway, todays post has a slightly religious theme, but not necessarily about religion. Just go with it - it's still packed with pop goodness!!
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THE TIME TO CONFESS:
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In about two hours flat, I completed the amazing book "Confessions of a Mormon Boy" by Stephen Fales. Actually to call it a book is an understatement. It's more of an experience and is also a play that is currently doing a very successful run in LA. In many ways Stephen and my upbringing are mirrored. We were both good little Mormon boys, serving the church as we should, raised by devoted families and struggling to come to terms with being gay and reconciling that with religious teachings. Stephen went a lot further in his devotion than I did by serving a full two year mission, getting married and having children before realising he couldn't live this lie any longer. Moving to NYC and become a high paid escort probably weren't part of his plan, but what makes the book so engrossing is the very human way Stephen deals with wanting to be part of his family's life still and also trying to hold onto the values of his youth and upbringing. Very touching and quite similar to the interview I have done for Gay Times that will be out in a month or so. I am hoping the play will come to London this year so I can revel in new words like oxy-mormon and mormosexual. And I am SO going to try wearing a BYU (Brigham Young University) t shirt next time I am out and see if it has the same effect as it does on an often chatted up Stephen! Truly a book that made me smile and cry at the same time... .
LINK: Mormon Boy website
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THE OTHER CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY:
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Reading Stephen Fales book reminded to dig out that other great mormon story - Latter Days. A story of a sexually confused mormon missionary who meets a party animal out gay bloke and takes a bit of a fancy to him. The story deals with many interpersonal issues that aren't at all limited to gay life and would cross boundaries to mixed religious marriages and differing moral values. However, the exploration of religious issues in same sex relationships is handled incredibly well and the main cast give incredibly nuanced performances that lend the story heart and soul. Jacqueline Bisset as the motherly restaurant owner has the most amazing line of the whole piece when she is discussing with Aaron (the mormon missionary) the rules of his church and says " so your church forbids drinking of alcohol and doesn't like gays? Frankly i can't imagine heaven without either." Ultimately the story is about the amazing transformational power of love and how sometimes, just sometimes, you can create your own family when yours rejects you. I'd be most interested in hearing what Stephen Fales made of this story...
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LINK: Purchase the Latter Days dvd
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THE RETURN OF THE ALTAR BOYZ:
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I know I only wrote about the altar boyz off broadway show a couple of weeks ago, but since then I have really gotten into their soundtrack and am enjoying it immensely. Plus it fits nicely with the theme of todays post. The idea for the show - an out and proud Christian boyband with it's stereotypical characters (honestly throw in a eskimo and you would have a full set) - could easily have been a one trick pony, but is actually a life affirming examination of friendship and a brilliant music satire all wrapped up into one fine package. In fact the cd is presented as an album by the fictitious band, complete with corny in character liner notes - there is little to identify it as a soundtrack to a stage show and could easily be misclassified in shops! The musical style is catchy pop/rock and contains some of the most cheesy yet hilarious lyrics this side of an adroit Simpsons musical number. An utter delight from start to finish, one can only hope that this is another show that makes it over to England...
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LINK: The Altar Boyz website
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THE RETURN OF THE ALTER BOY:
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Ooo. Another piece on Simon Curtis. Well he is my top tip for 2007. And he has a few songs on his forthcoming album that fit nicely with the religious theme of todays post. Simon grew up in what is commonly known as the Bible Belt of America and in his song Religion Reduced tackles some of the issues around organised religion and the actual chaos/hurt/distress it can cause. I particularly like the way the song starts off with some sinister sounding synth strings and a choir-esque voice bringing the song in (I'm a firm believer in the fact that a song is enhanced if the music mirrors the lyrics). It's clear that Simon feels organised religion is far from the idea of how spirituality should be and for me the fact entire groups of people can be excluded for who they chose to love is astonishing. Insightful lyrics like "you're no better than the bible belt/make a mockery of things I have felt" and "history has been proven to repeat itself/ignorance can lead to hate so educate yourself/forcing other eyes to comprehend your vision/i think we'd all be better off without religion" utterly enforce the need to look at the ways people worship and how many things happen in this world that are as far removed from God's will as can be, yet are done so in His name. Jadion said in a recent interview that Simon is a lyrical genius and he certainly is. Pop so needs someone who tackles weighty issues with conviction and not just for shock factor. I get something new from his music every time i listen to it. Stunning.
EDIT (22/02/2007) ~ Jadion emailed me with some slight corrections that i'm sure he won't mind me sharing "You didn't quote the whole line, it is "Kaballah you're no better than the bible belt;make a mockery of deeper things that I have felt". This song deals with all the FAD religions like Kaballah and Scientology as well as the hipocrisy of the hard core bible belt Christians and the utter insanity of the murderous Muslims who are hell bent on taking over the world SOLELY because of their religion, not because of ANYTHING the USA or Britain did. The psycho left wing liberalism in the west and northeast of America is JUST AS BAD AND JUST AS HIPOCRITICAL as the right wing bible thumpers, the left wingers too are a religion. The message of this song is basically, Spirituality is a relationship between man and God... RELIGION is a relationship between man and MAN." Thanks as always for the input :)
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QUICK (PHOTO) BITZ/BLOG WATCH:
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~ I've been loving the homohollyoaks storyline with genius lines like "I'm not homophobian" (better than when some guy on a documentary went "I'm not racist, so i don't mind gays"). And they scrub up well for the photoshoot in the top pic. However, even the sign on the wall seems to be against them in the pic below it...
~ Is this the cover for the Feeling's american album release? Am so disappointed if so. I love the quirkiness of their UK releases...
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~ Is that a phone in his pocket or is Jakeypoos just happy to see me. Please god, let him be happy to see me. Or my good ami Simon!
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Coming Thursday - yes dudes, I am taking tomorrow off as have a very long day at work. I might get something up so check anyway! If not will have some yummy goodness for you on Thurs involving some Roberts...
