What have I done?!
So is the new layout any good? Firefox and/or LJ was being a biatch and making options appear and disappear at will, so it was a bit of a mission. Then I ended up settling on this layout where it wouldn't let me make any red anywhere. Hmmm.

We had a shocker of a gig at the Masonic last night - what could go wrong, did, almost. Firstly, none of us bands got a soundcheck, cause that would have scared away the rugby watching punters. Then, it turned out the sound guy didn't know what he was doing - for the first band, the vocals had more bass in them than the bass guitar, which was barely audible. The guitars were an indistinct mess. And the bands upstairs could be heard through the ceiling.

When we played, John was cramped up against the wall, and could barely keep a hold of his sticks. Kent's strap broke mid song. We tuned down a song too early without John realising, so played the second to last song in the wrong key. I managed to retune back up somehow, only to find myself in the wrong key for the actual last song. And overall, we were pretty damn loose.

Lucky it was just a gig in front of a few North Shore kids and some rugbys, huh? It's 10pm on Saturday night now, and I'm waiting for Kent to turn up as we're playing at a Fleet FM gig, at 3.20am. Yep. AM. There are something like 15 bands at this thing apparently. I've been tired all day, and am looking forward to much sugar-free V consumption to keep me awake till then. If not alert.

Speaking of V and the like, I went to the doctor a few days ago to get some more Losec. It's a heartburn medication, perhaps the most effective medication for anything I've ever taken. It prevents all problems associated with heartburn 100% with no side-effects, it's crazy. If you don't know what heartburn is, it's not as scary as it sounds. Like, it doesn't mean your heart is literally on fire or anything. In fact, it's got nothing to do with your heart, so yeah. It's basically just acid from your stomach coming up your oesophagus, causing discomfort in the back of your throat, particularly at night, or when you lie down.

Anyway... so I got some more of that, and the doctor talked about possible causes - alcohol, spicy food, too much food, sugary drinks, non-sugary but still carbonated drinks, caffeine - you know, everything I happen to like. These things don't cause any problems while I'm taking the Losec though.

 Alternatively, it could be an oesophageal hernia. That's where the top of your stomach sticks up a bit through your diagram, making it easier for acid to come up. It's highly unlikely, but how they fix it is by some kind of wrapping procedure. I can't remember exactly what, but one of the downsides of that is you can never vomit again. I didn't quite catch whether that was a fact or an order, come to think of it. But if alcohol is one of the things to avoid in order to prevent it occuring, what reason would I have to vomit anyway!? Haha. Anyway, she told me to lose weight too. That'll help eliminate the heartburn once the current prescription of Losec wears off. I told her I'm now going for long walks a few times a week, or at least trying to. "That's great," she said, "but make them runs". D'oh.

But being in a band, I'm constantly being offered free beer. Well, not constantly, but more than I'd otherwise be given. Well, I suppose all this won't happen overnight... but at least I've started. And if I'm going to play a gig at half past three in the fucking morning (which'll probably end up being half past fucking four), air and water alone isn't going to keep me awake!