existentia

So it’s the end of Triptych and I was lucky enough to get a ticket for the sell out all day gig at The Tramway in Glasgow where the mighty Mogwai were headlining (one of my all time favourite bands). Having newly moved to Glasgow (see my previous post) I had never been to The Tramway before but I have to say it is a rather nice place and the ideal setting for a day of fine music.

Although I was there for Mogwai I knew there would be a few other acts on the bill that I was going to be impressed by. I wasn’t disappointed and was particularly impressed by Errors and opening act RememberRemember. I believe they are both bands local to these parts and so I’ll be trying to catch them live as soon as I can. I think they both have albums coming out soon as well so keep an eye out for those.

Here is a little snippet of Mogwai closing their set (apologies for the sound quality - it was very loud!):

Wow…it took someone contacting me privately about my adventures in Angola (via last.fm - after reading this blog!) to remind me that I actually have this blog in the first place! Okay, time for an update on what has been happening in my life recently, should anyone be interested…

2008 is going to be a year of change for a lot of people and I’m proving no exception to this. The Angolan adventure came to a mostly successful end in March after I completed what was necessary of me in the project. However since the start of this year, when I discovered things in Angola were coming to an eventual end, I started to think about the direction of my career. I realised that although working in Angola had been a very worthwhile experience my technical skills had been left to stagnate somewhat (the role I was performing in Angola was more process driven than technical). This tied with the fact that there was some re-structuring going on back at my company in the UK meant that I took the time to look for a fresh challenge in my career. This search became more urgent once I realised the flat I was renting was to go on sale (and in fact was sold last month). I had no ties left in Aberdeen aside from my current job and so I targeted the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and London as all potential locations for the next step in my career.

So what developed? Well, I didn’t have to look very far for a new opportunity and in the end have not actually left the company I was working for before. Instead I’ve transferred to a new team and will begin working in the wonderful world of Enterprise Content Management from the end of this month. This also includes the exciting prospect of finally escaping the gray and dreary city of Aberdeen and relocating to Glasgow. I’ve already been lucky enough to sign a lease to look after a friend’s flat for a year in the lovely Merchant City district (see below) and will be moving in over the next couple of weeks. I can’t wait!

It’s only April and already this year I have a new job and I’ll be living in a new flat, in a new city. Who knows what else lies in store!

St. Andrew’s Church, Glasgow
The view from the living room of my new flat!