We can get vaccinated against measles, chicken pox, and mumps as babies. As we enter secondary school, we get vaccinated against TB, (and spend the next month avoiding the bigger kids who think it's hilarious to smack your scabbed arm), and if we go abroad somewhere iffy, we can be protected against malaria among other things. Elderly people, and pregnant women can get a free flu jab, as can anyone willing to pay for one privately. Although there's no cure or vaccination for cancer, radiotherapy and chemotherapy can do their jobs and beat the disease into remission. Even A.I.D.S. is no longer the death sentence is was in the 1980s due to advances in therapy.
However, if you get a cold, you are fucked.
There is no way out of a cold, you just have to wait it out. Usually I am in and out of a cold in a day or two, but this seems to have lasted all week. I have said to Mandi that I want to go out to the chemist when I'm fully fit and stock up on every kind of medicine available; Lemsip, Nurofen, cough medicine, vapour rub, paracetamol, ibuprofen gel, (for your forehead), Deep Heat, vitamin supplements, the lot. She asked why I wanted to buy all this when I'm nearly better, to which I gave the obvious answer. I am fed up of never having the right stuff in the house when I am actually ill, and having to do the walk to the shop when all you want to do is curl up in bed. Sod's Law dictates that with a fully equipped medical cabinet, you will never be ill again, which works for me.
I spent most of yesterday preparing myself for a gig, and fending off Mandi's suggestion that I shouldn't go out. Aside from taking yet more medication, I took a hot bath to steam some more of it out, this time while listening to It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah by Black Grape. Even though I knew I was going to a hot venue, I layered myself up and even wore my winter thermal leggings. As I stood in The Chameleon with a thin layer of sweat all over my body, I knew I must be doing myself some good. I'm feeling better than I was, and should be able to do The Sunday Alternative.
Last night was a gig that I'd been wanting to attend for ages, as I missed the chance to see The Ctrl before due to illness. It wasn't stopping me tonight though, especially after the session they did for NottinghamLIVE last week. The whole gig was put together by Prefontaine, who were headlining. I was going to help them do some fliers and posters, but we didn't end up doing it, or needing to as there was a pretty good turnout. The first singer on was a lad called Matt Humphries, who is only thirteen years old yet sounds pitch perfect. I approached him straight away about coming on the radio, and he seemed up for it. It amused me to remember that I don't even think I was allowed out that late when I was his age, and would have wanted to shoot home straight after my set because of the Sunday paper round. There was (and I imagine still is) more money in doing a Sunday round because the papers were bigger and heavier.
The Ctrl are a band who have been on my radar for quite some time now, and although I love their recorded work, I wanted to see if they could do it live. Yes they can, they pulled off an awesome set that showed that they are soon going to outgrow venues like The Chameleon. Prefontaine hadn't been able to sound check, and had to do so before starting. I had been asked to introduce them, and had even thought of a good gag to do. I will use it next time. It was nice to see Prefontaine performing to a bigger crowd than usual, in a different venue too. These are another act who will keep getting bigger.
The Chameleon is a strange place, and I will really miss it when it closes. Or maybe I should say if it closes, because nobody knows for sure what is happening. As I've said before both in this blog and on radio, I am surprised that they've given notice to close. Their policy on making shit up as they go along is what makes this such a random, haphazard venue, and a more fitting ending would have simply been to turn up and find it padlocked shut.
It was best summed up by Prefontaine's drummer, Nick, who announced that he was drinking Jack Daniels with warm Tesco cola. It's what Jack would have wanted.
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