* I am very good at Rock Band drums
* David still makes very good food.
* Chelsea lose every time I come to Edinburgh
* I do not fart in the bed. Therefore, Grundy does.
* I do kick though.
* Stephen Fry can sing. Sort of.
* Bells Macaroni Pies are the greatest processed food of all time.
* Nicky Wire released an album 4 years ago.
* I can find a pointless answer!
* I can very very excited upon finding a pointless answer.
* I am far too jolly at 8 in the morning.
* Lothian Buses are still the best buses in Britain
* National Express are not.
* It is nearly impossible to mime "Shania Twain", "Narnia" and "Rammstein" in charades.
* Rent in Edinburgh is incredibly cheap for the houses you get compared to Oxford.
* I am faster tha koopa the quick
* I am otherwise tosh at Mario 64.
* I can buy Colin Firth DVDs without vomiting all over the place.
* I can not buy Colin Firth DVDS without HMV staff laughing at me.
* It was worth it.
* Andrew Blair is still one of the funniest, wittiest and quickest people I know.
* "A slightly larger tortoise"
* Teviot has a loft bar. Seven years I've been going and I never knew.
* Never talk to Al about music.
* I can just about tell which US State someone is from, even if their accent is now an Anglo-American hybrid.
...and most importantly.
* I still love Edinburgh, it's people, the place, the atmosphere, and my friends and I cannot wait to go back. It's already been too long.
I will be back blogging far more regularly. I promise.
I know the first part was all about the season finale of Lost, but I won't go into that in too much detail because I know there are people who still haven't seen it and don't want spoilers.
However, I will say this:
I was satisfied with the ending on the island. I felt that after six years the right characters got the right endings for them. Except for a few a couple of episodes before the finale. That was just sad. The island ending had the real full circle approach with some beautifuls twists and touches, in particular the slightly cheesy but exactly correct use of Vincent the Dog in the final scene. The show, with all its "eye-open" starts in the series, needed an "eye-close" in the final scene just to say we've gone full circle and I was impressed.
I was less impressed with the ending of the flash-sideways. I guess it's all it ever could have been, but in retrospect we were told that it wasn't that (we, we were told the Island wasn't that, so I guess the producers didn't lie, more divert the truth). The scenes in the flash-sideways though were well written and, again, the nice touch with Ben remaining outside still not showing his hand to us whether he's truly good, bad or misunderstood was good. It was a truly bittersweet resolution for the storyline, and, in fact for the whole series.
If you want to know the whole story ehind Lost, here is someone with some postits (credit to @sequinedhat on Twitter for finding this just as I was writing this entry)
Beware of spoilers:
I was extremely not impressed with Sky and their "internal error" which blacked out the whole of the second part of the finale from 6am when I'd already watch the first hour from 5. That fucked me right off, although they put it on demand for us very quickly, which was nice. I guess.
So that's it. All the TV I watch is coming to an end. House must be approaching its final season soon. 24's all but over. Dollhouse only got as far as a second season. I need some new TV for my two weeks off work.
So after six seasons and all but two of 121 episodes aired, the rollercoaster ride of "OMGQWHATTHEFUCK??!!!?!!?!?!!?" that is "Lost" comes to an abrupt end at the ungodly hour of 5am tomorrow morning. That means if I'm to get any sleep tonight I have to go to bed like, now.
However, I do feel like I have to sum up the last six years of TV heaven that Lost is before it lands in the Pacific Ocean never to be seen again. So here goes:
I'm not even going to bother coming up with a theory behind what's actually been happening and why for the last six years tsince the survivors of Oceanic 815 started pitching up home, waiting for the helicopters or boats that would never come and rescue them. In fact the people that do come to the island have a history of having their modes of transport blown up, the people on them being murderers, or (usually) both.
When Season One started way back in 2004, the creators mostly treated us to one-off episodes featuring certain members of the cast wandering into the jungle to get attacked by polar bears, running away from the Smoke Monster and being heavily pregnant until the story REALLY kicked in in season two when the mysterious hatch appeared and it was revealed that the islanders weren't alone.
After that, and some convoluted storylines about two timelines, flash-sideways, and the whole thing being a hoax we've come down to this final 150-mintue episode where all, some or none of the whole thing will be explained.
Of course, many people want an "explanation", but I feel that one of those rare beasts will be a disappointment. I don't want some shitty magic-trick ending where someone lays it all out and says "this is how we did it", but what I do want is a suitable conclusion to the main characters storys.
I've suddenly discovered that it's difficult to write a blog entry about Lost without spoilers for people who haven't seen all of it yet but are still interested by the finale, but I'll soldier on, I promise.
I'll tell you what I do want explained though, if nothing else, and that is why polar bears appeared on the island, thousands of miles from their original habitat way back in season one in the first place. They've not been seen and barely mentioned since, and it's just one thing that never made any kind of sense to me. That said, I guess it's just some red herring distraction tactic to keep us away from the big picture.
I always loved the character of John Locke. I never liked Jack Shephard as much, but you could almost tell even right back to episode one that the whole story would boil down to them two. The "Man of Science" and "Man of Faith". It's only fitting that the situation between their characters would prove to be the fuel to the season ending fire. It's going to be one hell of a battle when they lock horns.
Various websites I've seen have said that the producers have warned that every single Lost fan should prepare to cry their eyes out too. What that means I can only guess. I'm normally one to get mushy over TV (It's only really happened to any real extent at the season five finale of Six Feet Under - the greatest ending to any TV series ever...closely followed by Angel, but that's another story entirely), but I'm ready to be tested). Come on JJ Abrams...do your worst!
At the end of the day, it's just a TV series, but it's another one of my all time favorites coming to an end. With 24 following suit in the imminent future as well, I'll have to find myself an alternative form of TV-based entertainment and another drama to fall in love with. But until then, we still have to put the full stop at the end of the story of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815.
The last ever (public) Freakishly Long Mirrors gig took place last Thursday night, and despite a poor turnout from the Oxford contingent (considering it is a different town, not exactly unexpected) there were plenty of people there to sample the very best that we had to offer.
Ok, so it wasn't our most polished performance, there were a few duff notes and some misplaced drumbeats and a little of the singing and timing wasn't quite of the higest quality, but the most important thing was that for all five members of the band there were friends and family present, as well as curious punters from the street present to see what was going on.
First up, all credit to Fat Lils. They've been good to our band, and pretty much every band I've ever seen there by allowing very decent length sets, flexibility and a special sectionned off area dedicated to musicians high-value belongings. The lights were fantastic and the sound crisp and clear, and despite the fact the soundcheck started really late for whatever reason, the whole thing was an excellent experience from start to finish.
Beaver Fuel were on first, and they rattled through their fun filled punk set with about as much professionalism as a Sun journalist, but the whole thing was brilliant fun, musically sound and with stomping tunes I find it hard to believe they're one of the more critisized bands in the county. Maybe Oxford music has to be deadly serious to be considered "good". Well, no matter, I've worked with the guys before and they're a proud and friendly bunch, and considering I could only hear them from behind the door at the On a Thursday gig last month, it was a pleasure to see them live.
Headcount on next and they were tighter and more polished than Beaver Fuel, but altogether less fun. I got the impression they knew what they were doing more, but were concentrating so hard on getting it right their stage presence lacked and the whole performance just started, brushed through the middle and ended without anyone really realising they'd ever been on stage. Certainly not a bad band, but there just seemed to be somethiong missing.
As for us. Well, we weren't at our best. There were more mistakes in our set than either the other two, especially the end of One Vision, but the whole thing was an enormous amount of fun. People seemed to be really into what we were doing, and altogether it seemed to be a brilliant sendoff for the band that will become General Alcatraz in its newest incarnation over the course of the rest of the year.
Once we'd ploughed through 8 of our own songs, we roadtested some of the covers that we're showcasing at the Anniversary Party in July (private gig only), just to see what they sounded like live, which gave me my first live vocal performace since the Lighthouse open mike night and my cover of Coldplays "Don't Panic" with guest Reg Anderson in 2005 (the karaoke of "Without Me" at the staff Xmas party two years ago doesn't count). My sister decided to record this (and a few other songs) and the results are below in the setlist. I missed a few notes, but felt it was ok.
*****
The setlist was:
Mosquito
Together we Stand
Towpaths
What have I become?
Artificial Light
The Leaves Turn Brown
Titan
Falling Down (solo acoustic)
20th Century Boy
One Vision (slightly murdered. Sorry)
Boys are Back in Town
*****
Robs solo version of Falling Down was a real moment. It was the first time I realised that this band was coming to an end. Even though four of us are continuing on to do something new, Robs departure is a huge blow for us. But with that said, I'm confident that we put the old songs to bed well. Some songs didn't get a final outing (Village Bells, I Recall and Following Dreams being the main three), but with a set that spanned the entire time that Grundy and I have been there, we felt it was a fitting tribute to let Rob play the last FLM song solo before moving onto the covers.
We don't know yet what we're doing with the old songs. I think personally Together We Stand, Falling Down and I Recall need to be put to bed for good. They're great songs but there's only one person left in the band involved in writing them, and that means we're one person off being the new Sugababes. And no-one wants that. The songs from the second demo (Artificial Light, Titan and Following Dreams) I don't know. I would like to keep them, but there's only two of the four remaining people left involved in writing those too. As for Towpaths, that was Grundys song from multiple previous bands so I think we'll keep that, and I'll be disappointed if Leaves Turn Brown doesn't have a future. There's also a few new songs we'd started writing months ago but never got around to finishing which could feature ("Labrats" the only one with a name as yet, and I'm working on a project called "Burn"), but it's all up in the air. No one yet knows, least of all us.
So goodbye FLM. Keep fighting them in the trenches.
It's the start of my week off from work, and I've been looking forward to it something rotten.
Maybe it's the rest and relaxation, and the fact I don't have to CIT anything or reprice anything, or change any sections around or anything like that. Maybe it's because I don't have to even think about pure cards or warranties for a week, but mostly it's because I'm tired and need to have a long-awaited rest.
So, I've filled my week with activities, as you do when you're, you know, resting. Yesterday I spent most the day with my mum and sister for Easter, filling myself up on the finest roast I think I've ever had. I swear if there's one person who can make a full roast and make it taste like nothing you've ever tasted, it's my mother. Tomorrow, I've got the BBC3 taping of Russell Howards Good News, which I know Kristina is extremely excited about. We're making a day of it, heading into London to do one or two other things beforehand before heading into the studio for the recording itself.
Thursday night, I'm going to the Bullingdon Arms for the first time for live music. I'll be catching former On a Thursday headliners Age of Misrule and Riothouse in their Battle of the Bands heat. Both bands were filled with charming and professional people when we met them in February and March respectively, so I know it'll be a tight, yet loud occasion.
Then on Saturday I've got a weekend of debauchery planned as I head into Cardiff for Matthews birthday. If there's one thing I know about my cousin, it's that he knows no bounds when it comes to having a good booze-fuelled night.
An astonishing performance last night, making the O2 Academy feel intimate for the first time. Despite Al playing with what seems to appear like a concussion since halfway through set-opening "Ores" to the point he could barely stand, let alone play by set-closing "Sook" 75-minutes later, it was still a near-perfect evening.
Words cannot describe it, so I won't bother using many.
This band are headlining our "On a Thursday" night at the Port Mahon on April 29th. This is my favourite song at the moment and I cannot wait.
Prior to that though, we've booked three heavy acts for our March 25th date with Riothouse, Beaver Fuel and Junkie Brush due to hit the stage. We would seriously appreciate it if anybody came.
I hate having colds. They're designed to just appear when you least expect them and make the whole world seem shitty for days and there's nothing you can do about it to make it all go away.
A bit like the various "Footballers have sex with women that they're not supposed to" stories circulating the tabloids.
There was far too much media hype surrounding a football game because two men on opposite sides of the pitch had sex with the same woman and one of them totally shouldn't. It became a mini Big Brother moment where John Terry and Wayne Bridge came face to face for the first time during the Man City vs Chelsea pre-match handshake and this frenzy had suddenly been created whereby everyone was circling like vultures waiting for Bridge to totally bitchslap Terry upside the face.
I'll tell you for something. It was NEVER going to happen.
Oh my God. Bridge didn't shake Terrys hand. That was it. That was all that happened and Sky TV laugh all the way to the bank not because they orchestrated all this...because it was little to do with them, but because the nothing-is-private nature of the British public all wanted to gawp at two men who have a deep personal issue explode.
John Terry did something he shouldn't have done, and now he's been found out he feels like a proper idiot. Of course he does. He lost the England captaincy which is a much bigger blow than many would think over it. I don't condone what happened, but he and Bridge are professionals and while they had little choice over the League game this weekend about being on the same pitch, while both men probably given the choice would rather not be on the same patch of turf, they're professional enough to get the job done for 90 minutes and do whatever it is they do at home. They were never going to create headlines that day for anything other than the rejected handshake Bridge promised, and the football that was played. Now the media circus can end and we can go on with our lives.
But it can't, can it. England have a friendly against Egypt this week and now the focus is on booing Terry every time he gets the ball. Why? What possible good could that do the team? Write shit about him on blogs if you must. Post stuff on message boards to get the message across and chat crap with your mates, but when it comes to an International match, where you're supposed to cheer your team to victory, all you will be doing by booing John Terry is helping the opponent to win. Some football fans those people will be.
Don't get me wrong. John Terry deserves the personal heartache he's getting from losing his friend, a great deal of self-respect and the support of the England manager, but he's making a (very decent) living out of the sport he works for and all he wants to do on Wednesday is help England win a game of football.
I would gladly support him in that because that's what I'd do for my national team. I won't because I'm not English and as such don't care an awful lot about the result, but if I were and did I would.
In other news, Grundy and I have finished booked the next two On a Thursday nights and have started booking the May date as well. Bands are on the right hand side somewhere. Fun times.
What is it about booking the Dead Jerichos in On a Thursday gigs and having it snow? It was the reason our first attempt to bill them got cancelled and seemed to be a major reson behind the second time (where they actually got to play) the show was sparsley attended.
The white downpour started (and started to settle very quickly) about an hour before the doors were due to open, and only when we actually started the first band did it finally stop. It didn't last on the streets fr long, but was enough to keep people away and, as a result, no-one really came to the first FLM performance since London (and the last ever FLM performance under that name), and the only people who saw the Dead Jerichos were already there from seeing the Empty Vessels or were in or with one of the other bands.
That's a huge shame because I felt that while we made a few minor mistakes, the performance was fine and a good one to break Jim into the band for his first live show for years. Not only that but both of the other two bands were incredibly good. Although I didn't get to actually see the Empty Vessels play due to being on the door, I heard every note and it was tight, solid and performed to a very high standard. They deserve their BBC Introducing airtime and whatever accolades are sure to follow. Dead jerichos also proved that they are in it for the long haul because, despite playing about 4 million gigs in the coming and past months they had bundles of energy and got the albeit small crowd pumping and in many cases, dancing too. They're young lads but they've got a lot of professionalism and were a joy to put on stage.
Next time we book them, it's going to be in the summer so it doesn't bloody snow.
It was refreshing to see people from the local music press coming down to check out the bands though. It made me feel like On a Thursday is going to become a mainstay of the Oxford music scene for quite a time to come, and with more bands interested in the upcoming dates we've got some huge strides forward coming up.
I was reading the Truck Festival messageboards fairly recently, and someone on there was complaining at the fact that this year it costs £80 for a weekend (and another £15 if you want to pitch up on Friday).
Yes, this is expensive.
Yes, this is a lot more expensive than last year.
But my first festival I ever went to was T in the Park 2003, which was also a 2-day festival at the time, over seven years prior to Truck 2010, and that cost me £90. I KNOW they had "bigger name" bands and it's a "bigger" festival, but I can guarantee that Truck 2010 will be just as much, if not more FUN than T 2003 and as a result I still consider it very good value for money.
Not only that but a burger and chips at T 2003 cost £6 which, unless you're really really bad at valuing a pound, is extortionate. Thus Truck 2010 is going to be brilliant and economic. So ner.
After the false start of the snow-covered "On a Thursday" night in January leading towards Dead Jerichos and Serotonin both cancelling on the day, and family events meaning that the night on the 21st January were never really ever going to take place, the third attempt at putting on a bands night for myself and Grundy went down an absolute treat.
Fedeterra, a group of 16-17 year-olds who mostly looked like a young Cure were a lot better and a lot more mature than any of us had ever thought. Upon sending them the email that they were being considered for this night I knew they had loads of potential, but when they turned up and opened the night with a series of Fall, Joy Division and other bands of that era covers they seriously impressed the growing crowd at what they were able to accomplish.
Occasionally it was a little out of tune, and one or two of the drums lost time a fraction, but overall it was an energetic and honest performance from a group of people who are of the age group whereby most people want to be in Arctic Monkeys copycat bands. Excellent start to the night.
The New Moon were nearly over before they began seeing as we had an issue with a missing cable during the soundcheck, but a fix was sorted out and when they began playing their subtle blend of semi-acoustic psychadelic rock, they managed to chill out and warm up, but never bore the room. Everyone was hanging off every note this group were playing and so they should. When we found out that On a Thursday were the only night they were getting their proper drummer due to a hefty commute from Canada, we knew they would go all out to make their set an excellent one, and they certainly didn't disappoint. Personally, I loved it. I found the whole thing very pleasing to listen to and feel particularly happy that this group of musicians were gracing the stage.
Then came Age of Misrule. A pretty new band by all accounts, but packing a punch from the get-go with a dirty heavy-rock set that never ever gave up on its audio assault. Frontwoman Caroline Sperko was on top form as she owned the stage (well, the bit just in front of the stage) throughout the remaining 40 minutes of the evening letting the now not-far-from-capacity crowd know exactly what AOM were all about. The whole thing, the whole evening just all seemed to click into place from the very beginning and nothing much seemed to go wrong.
Not only that, but we were only 20 people from a capacity crowd. It was a slow-burner but by the time Age of Misrule started their first note the room was packed and Grundy and I were grinning from ear to ear.
This is what made us dabble in the world of Music promotion. It's not about the money for us. We're in FLM and while we are playing the next event, it's not even about our band either. It's about every single person coming through that door and having a good time. I know it's a bit sloshy to say, but I'm glad that I was a part of something that so many people could enjoy, and for that reason alone, I went down to the main bar and booked another two nights in March and April, and between myself and Grundy we already have two acts almost confirmed (one for each night) .
Everyone walked away smiling, and that's the way I like it.
It's been a long-standing joke in my house at least that I am a one-man goal drought when it comes to playing FIFA. In fact, that pretty much covers any football game I've ever played. I remember playing the Pro Evo league at work over 2 years ago and recording the only 2 0-0 draws of the whole tournament, and six 1-0 wins (out of a total 16 games played.). Basically, I don't score. Ever. But I rarely concede either.
Anyway, rambling about that aside, I was taken by a friend to see my very first ever proper real-life football game in a proper stadium with Bovril and everything to watch Aston Villa vs West Ham in Birmingham last weekend and the score was, as predicted, 0-0.
The irony in this came home with me when my housemates jumped on my goal drought extending to real teams but not only that but it was really rubbed in four day later when Villa produced a 10-goal thriller at the same stadium, defeating Blackburn 6-4 in a Carling Cup game which, incidentally, I did not attend.
Typical.
I guess if I'm to become a proper Aston Villa "fan", (and I'm still not there yet, although there's only one team I like nearly as much as them...and it's NOT Arsenal) then I'd have to go see them more often than once, and hopefully see some goals in the meantime, although as yet I have no desire to start chanting or buying replica kits, so "fan" status is probably still a fair way off yet.
With that said, the game itself was good fun to watch live. It's a very different atmosphere to Sky Sports and I'll not be waiting another 25 years to go back.
What I can wait another 25 years for is another stocktake. Some people who know me know that the day after Tuesday, quite possibly the most difficult day I've ever experienced in my whole life, is not the best day to be having this 13-hour shift whereby the entire second half was taken in near-silence scanning every barcode in the store. I hated the whole thing. Hated it. It was wholly neccessary and the ends justified the means but getting to that end point and having to be up for a 7am start the following day practically finished me off.
When I worked in the Lighthouse in Edinburgh 12-16 hour shifts were common. I used to lap them up. In fact there was a time I'd request them because the hourly pay was a godsend, and the tips I'd earn doing a double shift were well and truly worth it. not only that, but I lived a 3-minute walk from the pub itself so travel costs were nil. It was ideal in every way, even if the guy that ran the company was a complete douche. I don't know if I'm getting old or lazy or what, but 13-hours the other day just felt longer than any shift I ever pulled in there and I was seriously tiring out at the end of it. I really hope it's not age as I'm only 24 and if I start getting old now then I'm screwed in the years to come.
Some of you (but not many) will know that for the last 5 years I've had a semi-private Livejournal. Not many people could read it, and for pretty good reason, but I've decided to publically shut up shop over there and move anything I wish to make public over here. I'll still be writing my private thoughts and that kind of thing over there, but I want to keep people away from that place and bring them all here.
So. What's this blog about?
Well, pretty much everything. I'll either be posting reviews of films, cds, gigs, restaurants and the like here, or commenting on news stories and things that have happeneing in my life I wish to share here, or other such stuff. Basically, this is blog writing 101.
So, since it's the new year and all that jazz, I'll start with the new night that Grundy and I are putting on in the Port Mahon every second Thursday starting, well, tomorrow. With a bit of luck we'll have three bands (Dead Jerichos, Serotonin & From Here, We Run) and a large enough crowd but the whole thing looks like it could end up going down the crapper due to snow. Yes, the white stuff has come and rained down its slushy madness like it tends to at least once a year and as a result the entire city stopped. Grundy tells me that only 5 people made it into work today and that HMV was pretty much the only shop open in the Cornmarket.
Buses ran a limited timetable, and by limited I mean about 4 services ran every million years, and everything pretty much stopped.
With that in mind though, I do intend to persevere. After all if there's a small crowd then we can blame it on the weather. There's not a lot I can do about people who can't get to the Port due to snow, and that's fine. At worst it's an extra, public rehersal for the bands outwith their normal schedule. Dead Jerichos are playing about 400 gigs in Oxford in the next couple of months anyway so the extra stage time will do them good. The Serotonin guys are friends of ours from the Witney gig with FLM in October, so it's good to get a chance to see them again, and From Here, We Run go back to uni very soon so it's one of their last chances to get on stage before they have to go their seperate ways for the term. So as long as the pub stays open then everyone still wins (as long as enough people come down for me to be able to pay for the room).
Music promoters get a lot of stick for snobbery, failure to care about the bands playing, not replying to emails and being just in it for the money. I don't really want to start causing trouble and talk too much about that but there's been plenty of threads on the Nighshift forum about some people in the past. Hopefully Grundy and I will try to break this mould. It'll take a few shows for people to notice us, and because it's our first show tomorrow I'm sure there's going to be something we'll have forgotton, but it doesn't matter as long as three bands turn up, play some music and go home having made paying customers happy. After all, Oxford has a strong compliment of up and coming acts and I want to at least try to be a part of it.
Until then though, the snow is my biggest enemy. Hopefully it won't cause so much havoc we're left with an empty hall, but even if it is, it's an experience nonetheless. There's going to be stuff to take on board for the next show in 2 weeks, and hopefully we can make it bigger and better.
