Dear Santa,
I'm not asking for much this year, just a few things to make my life a little bit easier this Winter.
1. A high powered flame thrower
This first request may sound like an odd, and potentially dangerous one, but I've only got good intentions with it I swear. What with all this snow reeking havoc upon our country, and making travel a real pain in the arse, a flame thrower sounds like the perfect solution to me. Think about it, as I'm walking along the path, I hold my flame thrower out in front of me and it will melt all that slippery ice away, meaning that I won't slip over. It would come in real handy when walking down the alley-way near my house, as every time we've had snow, it becomes so compacted down there, that you can't get down it without ice skates.
I'd therefore become a local hero, as I'd clear all the paths, and allow everybody else to walk around too. But why stop there? Stacey has been stuck at my house for days now, as she hasn't been able to drive home along the dangerous roads. Even now that the main roads are more or less sorted, it is still going to be a struggle to get out of my neighbourhood, as our roads are more backstreet. What I believe is that I could safely attach my flame thrower to the front of any car that I'm travelling in, be it Stacey's or my own, and as we drive along, the road in front of us would clear a safe path for us to follow thanks to my trusty present.
With these reasons in mind, I hope that you, Santa, also feel that bringing me a flame thrower this Christmas is a good idea.
2. An extension to our house
Now I know that our house is a little crowded, so you're probably assuming that this extension that I'm proposing it to give us an extra bedroom, or perhaps another place to shower. Well Santa, if that's the case, you'd be wrong. What I want is a sauna, and a steam room. I've been feeling worse and worse the past few days due to the horrible cold weather, and I feel that a sauna is just what I need to help me feel better and to keep me warm over the chilly months still to come. While you're at it, could you also include an indoor swimming pool, as we could do with one of those to keep us cool in the summer, as well as to give us a fun form of exercise. With it being an indoor pool, we could also continue to use it during the Winter, at which time we could turn up the water temperature, so as to not get cold.
I hate the cold.....
3. A 'Cure anything' medicine
If any laboratory in the world could pull this off Santa, I know it'd be your one at the North Pole. See, I'm feeling rather run down and just plain ill today with a rotten cold, and just want to feel better. Your elves are a smart bunch, and if the movies are to be believed, can make anything, so I really want them to make this medicine for me, so that it can cure my common cold. As it could cure anything, it would also come in handy for the rest of my life, as illness comes in many forms, and is sometimes deadly. Therefore with my medicine, I'll never again have to suffer.
I originally imagined this medicine to take the form of a pill, but on second thoughts, I have decided that it should come as a liquid medicine. Growing up I have always enjoyed the taste of liquid antibiotics, Pixilix, Piriton, and of course my personal favourite: Calpol. So please make sure that this medicine also has a delicious, disease-killing flavour to it.
Thank you for reading my humble wish list Santa, I know that you'll come through for me. Have a safe flight later this month, and Merry Christmas.
From James, who promises that he has been very good this year.
Saturday, 4 December 2010
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
UK Tour - Part Two
Happy December everybody, and for the benefit of those of you currently skiving off: Happy Snow Day!
A couple of blogs back I wrote about the first part of my November UK tour, and with December now upon us, that does indeed mean that it is over with, finished, gone with the wind, finito. So, as you may know if you are one of my loyal readers, part one consisted of travelling up to Manchester on the 8th to see the television taping of WWE Monday Night Raw at the Manchester Evening News Arena, heading to the O2 arena to see a non-televised Raw show on the 9th, and then seeing the awesome Linkin Park the very next night, once again at the O2 arena.
The following Sunday saw part two kick off, as after a day at work, Stacey and I travelled a great long distance to Tunbridge Wells, to see the stand-up antics of Sean Lock live at the Assembly Hall. Part of his 'Lockipedia' tour, Sean was on top form, and had the audience in fits of laughter all night. In my opinion this was one of the funnier stand up shows that I've attended, and was far, far, far superior to Frankie Boyle back in June.
The three weeks that followed were the same old in the wonderful life of me. They consisted of work, study, writing, film watching, reading, Stacey, family, etc....
And then, we got to this past Monday, the 29th November. Stacey had a half day at work, and I had the whole day off, and in the early afternoon she drove us down to Brighton. We checked into our hotel, which despite the ominous look of the scaffolding outside, was actually very nice. We had a nice TV, a comfy bed and a good hearty breakfast. What more could you want? Before the gig, we went for a wander around, and had ourselves a walk on the pier. The lights were on, but nobody was seemingly home, as it was pretty much empty. There were one or two people wandering around on the pier, and the arcades were open for business, but the rides were shut, and the end of the pier was in total, eery darkness. We soon left as it was bloody freezing on the pier, and there wasn't much to do there to occupy our time, so we headed back to land in search of a place to eat.
That's when I discovered Harvester for the first time in my life. Why has nobody ever suggested going to one before? It was awesome! For little over £30 we both had a starter and access to the salad bar, I had a pint of ale and an 8 ounce sirloin steak, while she had some veggie burger and a cocktail. We both shared a massive pudding, and I had a cappuccino to wash it all down. Bargain!
After food-time we walked up to the Brighton Centre and wound up queueing half way around the building. Once we finally got inside, and into the warmth, we took our seats and were pleasantly surprised to find just how close we were to the stage, as the Brighton Centre is nowhere near as big as some of the other venues I've attended, which in no way means it is a bad venue. You're probably wondering what it was we went to see, as I haven't yet mentioned it in this blog yet. 30 Seconds to Mars is the name of the band. That's right longtime reader, for the second time this year we went to see them play live. And it was much of the same as last time, which was in no way a bad thing, as more of the same was exactly what I was wanting to see. Lead singer Jared Leto had been sick that day, but you wouldn't have been able to tell as he once again poured in 110% to his performance. He is by far the most charismatic front-man out there in terms of crowd interactivity. If a section of people weren't standing, or looking lively, Jared soon made sure they were up and having a good time. He also repeated his trick from the Wembley show earlier this year, by leaving the stage while we were distracted, and reappearing somewhere else in the arena with an acoustic guitar. This time he played from the back of the venue and treated us to acoustic versions of their songs From Yesterday and Alibi, as well as a bizarre cover of Lady GaGa's Bad Romance.
Our hotel was only two doors away from the Brighton Centre, so it was only about 200 hundred steps to make until we were tucked up in bed, and could drift to sleepville with Family Guy on in the background.
The next day we did a bit of shopping in the coastal city, before deciding to leave earlier than planned due to news of snow back home. Although it was snowing in Brighton, it was setting, which was not the case back in Kent.
As we drove, the more inland we got, the more snow could be seen, and it was when we were nearing our destination that we entered into a Winter Wonderland.
Fortunately we got home safe, even if the car did slip once or twice. Of course today things are much worse, so I'm thankful that the gig wasn't a day later than it was.
And so ends my UK Tour. I can't believe that November has already come and gone, and my little adventure around the country is at an end. I now turn my sights to Christmas, which has got me especially excited with the opening of door number one on my advent calender. I'm also receiving daily Simpsons quotes via text from Pete Town. If you too would like to receive a daily Simpsons quote direct to your mobile phone, then follow this link to Pete's always brilliant blog, and leave your number in his comments section.
In memoriam
I'd like to end today's blogging by paying my respects to a comedy icon. Leslie Nielson passed away at the beginning of this week, and as a child, nothing even came close to making me laugh as much as the classic movie Airplane always did. Rest in Peace Leslie, as long as they're not calling you Shirley up there, I'm sure you will.
A couple of blogs back I wrote about the first part of my November UK tour, and with December now upon us, that does indeed mean that it is over with, finished, gone with the wind, finito. So, as you may know if you are one of my loyal readers, part one consisted of travelling up to Manchester on the 8th to see the television taping of WWE Monday Night Raw at the Manchester Evening News Arena, heading to the O2 arena to see a non-televised Raw show on the 9th, and then seeing the awesome Linkin Park the very next night, once again at the O2 arena.
The following Sunday saw part two kick off, as after a day at work, Stacey and I travelled a great long distance to Tunbridge Wells, to see the stand-up antics of Sean Lock live at the Assembly Hall. Part of his 'Lockipedia' tour, Sean was on top form, and had the audience in fits of laughter all night. In my opinion this was one of the funnier stand up shows that I've attended, and was far, far, far superior to Frankie Boyle back in June. The three weeks that followed were the same old in the wonderful life of me. They consisted of work, study, writing, film watching, reading, Stacey, family, etc....
And then, we got to this past Monday, the 29th November. Stacey had a half day at work, and I had the whole day off, and in the early afternoon she drove us down to Brighton. We checked into our hotel, which despite the ominous look of the scaffolding outside, was actually very nice. We had a nice TV, a comfy bed and a good hearty breakfast. What more could you want? Before the gig, we went for a wander around, and had ourselves a walk on the pier. The lights were on, but nobody was seemingly home, as it was pretty much empty. There were one or two people wandering around on the pier, and the arcades were open for business, but the rides were shut, and the end of the pier was in total, eery darkness. We soon left as it was bloody freezing on the pier, and there wasn't much to do there to occupy our time, so we headed back to land in search of a place to eat.
That's when I discovered Harvester for the first time in my life. Why has nobody ever suggested going to one before? It was awesome! For little over £30 we both had a starter and access to the salad bar, I had a pint of ale and an 8 ounce sirloin steak, while she had some veggie burger and a cocktail. We both shared a massive pudding, and I had a cappuccino to wash it all down. Bargain!
After food-time we walked up to the Brighton Centre and wound up queueing half way around the building. Once we finally got inside, and into the warmth, we took our seats and were pleasantly surprised to find just how close we were to the stage, as the Brighton Centre is nowhere near as big as some of the other venues I've attended, which in no way means it is a bad venue. You're probably wondering what it was we went to see, as I haven't yet mentioned it in this blog yet. 30 Seconds to Mars is the name of the band. That's right longtime reader, for the second time this year we went to see them play live. And it was much of the same as last time, which was in no way a bad thing, as more of the same was exactly what I was wanting to see. Lead singer Jared Leto had been sick that day, but you wouldn't have been able to tell as he once again poured in 110% to his performance. He is by far the most charismatic front-man out there in terms of crowd interactivity. If a section of people weren't standing, or looking lively, Jared soon made sure they were up and having a good time. He also repeated his trick from the Wembley show earlier this year, by leaving the stage while we were distracted, and reappearing somewhere else in the arena with an acoustic guitar. This time he played from the back of the venue and treated us to acoustic versions of their songs From Yesterday and Alibi, as well as a bizarre cover of Lady GaGa's Bad Romance.
 |
| There were even giant balloons during the gig; what more do you need for a fantastic show? |
The next day we did a bit of shopping in the coastal city, before deciding to leave earlier than planned due to news of snow back home. Although it was snowing in Brighton, it was setting, which was not the case back in Kent.
As we drove, the more inland we got, the more snow could be seen, and it was when we were nearing our destination that we entered into a Winter Wonderland.
 |
| Driving through a Winter Wonderland |
And so ends my UK Tour. I can't believe that November has already come and gone, and my little adventure around the country is at an end. I now turn my sights to Christmas, which has got me especially excited with the opening of door number one on my advent calender. I'm also receiving daily Simpsons quotes via text from Pete Town. If you too would like to receive a daily Simpsons quote direct to your mobile phone, then follow this link to Pete's always brilliant blog, and leave your number in his comments section.
In memoriam
I'd like to end today's blogging by paying my respects to a comedy icon. Leslie Nielson passed away at the beginning of this week, and as a child, nothing even came close to making me laugh as much as the classic movie Airplane always did. Rest in Peace Leslie, as long as they're not calling you Shirley up there, I'm sure you will.
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Joe Public can be an arsehole
I'd just like to share a small moan with the world. As those of you that know me will know, and many that read these blogs may know, I currently work in a shop. Now, part of the job is to deal with customer complaint, which isn't so bad when the customer is understanding and reasonable. Sometimes though, you wind up serving an arsehole, and I could swear that more and more of the consuming public is fitting into the arsehole category of customer.
One example, the one that inspired this very blog, occurred on the Friday night just gone. I was working with two of my colleagues, Jason and Tom, and thankfully we weren't very busy (most likely due to Children in Need being on the box). I say thankfully because the credit card machines were down, meaning that we could only take cash as payment for the whole night, and it would have been a complete nightmare if we'd been busy, as for those that ignored the signs and still attempted card payment, we had to send them outside to the cash point before completing their transaction. People were generally fine with this, and went out to make a withdrawal with no fuss whatsoever, I mean, it's not like it was our fault that the card machines were down... right?
Well, according to one customer it was. This, who was being very greedy anyway, had filled a pick-n-mix cup to bursting point. I'd never seen one filled so much, it was ridiculous! He came up to the till, placed it next to one of the many signs that explained that it was cash only for the night, and I scanned it through.
'That's £4.49 please' I said (he was buying a large cup).
The guy just stared at me, looked at the sign and looked back at me, not saying a word.
'Oh, sorry, I'm afraid the card machines are down, but there's a cash machine just outside the door' I say.
Still not uttering a sound, the man walks out, and 30 seconds later, he's back. In that 30 seconds I'd started to help another customer, so Tom takes over just as I'm saying thank you and goodbye to the other customer. The man then suggests to Tom that he should get a discount for going to the cashpoint, and we all chuckle in that awkward way when a customer makes an unfunny joke. Of course, it turns out that he isn't joking and actually believes that he has earned a discount. I politely say that we can't do that, and apologise again for the small inconvenience. The man then decides to continue arguing, and asks why exactly the card machine isn't working, to which I explain that there's a fault with the BT line, meaning that the card machines can't put through any transactions. According to the man, that's a lie, as his BT phoneline 2 miles away is working fine, and therefore out card machines must be working. I assure him that they are not, and he mumbles something about seeing a manager. I ignore the manager part, as it was her night off anyway and argue the basic point of: 'Why would we pretend that our card machine doesn't work? And especially on a Friday night!' He's still not having it, and as he pays, is still having a go at us. He tells us that we have lost his custom (Thank God) and that he'll go to a certain internet rental store, because they always let you pay by card (no sh*t). In complete disbelief I wish him a super weekend on his way out the door (hopefully forever) and then we all burst out laughing once he's gone. What a douche! Someone should tell him that not only are the online rental company in question apparently going under because nobody can ever get the films that they want from them, but that they also don't sell pick-n-mix.
Rant over :-)
One example, the one that inspired this very blog, occurred on the Friday night just gone. I was working with two of my colleagues, Jason and Tom, and thankfully we weren't very busy (most likely due to Children in Need being on the box). I say thankfully because the credit card machines were down, meaning that we could only take cash as payment for the whole night, and it would have been a complete nightmare if we'd been busy, as for those that ignored the signs and still attempted card payment, we had to send them outside to the cash point before completing their transaction. People were generally fine with this, and went out to make a withdrawal with no fuss whatsoever, I mean, it's not like it was our fault that the card machines were down... right?
Well, according to one customer it was. This, who was being very greedy anyway, had filled a pick-n-mix cup to bursting point. I'd never seen one filled so much, it was ridiculous! He came up to the till, placed it next to one of the many signs that explained that it was cash only for the night, and I scanned it through.
'That's £4.49 please' I said (he was buying a large cup).
The guy just stared at me, looked at the sign and looked back at me, not saying a word.
'Oh, sorry, I'm afraid the card machines are down, but there's a cash machine just outside the door' I say.
Still not uttering a sound, the man walks out, and 30 seconds later, he's back. In that 30 seconds I'd started to help another customer, so Tom takes over just as I'm saying thank you and goodbye to the other customer. The man then suggests to Tom that he should get a discount for going to the cashpoint, and we all chuckle in that awkward way when a customer makes an unfunny joke. Of course, it turns out that he isn't joking and actually believes that he has earned a discount. I politely say that we can't do that, and apologise again for the small inconvenience. The man then decides to continue arguing, and asks why exactly the card machine isn't working, to which I explain that there's a fault with the BT line, meaning that the card machines can't put through any transactions. According to the man, that's a lie, as his BT phoneline 2 miles away is working fine, and therefore out card machines must be working. I assure him that they are not, and he mumbles something about seeing a manager. I ignore the manager part, as it was her night off anyway and argue the basic point of: 'Why would we pretend that our card machine doesn't work? And especially on a Friday night!' He's still not having it, and as he pays, is still having a go at us. He tells us that we have lost his custom (Thank God) and that he'll go to a certain internet rental store, because they always let you pay by card (no sh*t). In complete disbelief I wish him a super weekend on his way out the door (hopefully forever) and then we all burst out laughing once he's gone. What a douche! Someone should tell him that not only are the online rental company in question apparently going under because nobody can ever get the films that they want from them, but that they also don't sell pick-n-mix.
Rant over :-)
Friday, 12 November 2010
UK Tour - Part One
I need sleep. I've not had much of the stuff over the last week, but it was all with good reason. I have had one of the greatest weeks of my life so far. This month, November 2010, is the month of my long awaited tour of the United Kingdom. No, I haven't become famous from writing this blog, I simply happened to book tickets to all sorts of different events that are happening all around the country. The term 'UK tour' may be a little deceiving as I'm only seeing events in England, but I personally think it sounds much cooler than 'England tour'.
Anyways, my tour kicked off this week with a bang, as I travelled with a couple of guys up to Manchester to see the television spectacular that is WWE Monday Night Raw be filmed for worldwide transmission. Sam had hired a rental car for the trip, a brand new 60 reg VW Golf. It only had seven miles on the clock when we picked it up, I think it had over six hundred by the time we gave it back. The drive was long, but not nearly as bad as we had expected, despite the weather's attempts to deter us. We turned up the CD player and had us a good old sing-along, which got us there in seemingly no time. We didn't get to see much of Manchester, in fact, all we saw was the carpark, the arena, and the train station attached to arena. It didn't matter though, we weren't up there to see the sights, we were there to see some wrestling. We all got to see our favourites, and from some pretty good seats. I won't go into huge detail about the event here, as I did that already during this week's Positively Raw column. If I had to choose one highlight from the show that I could watch over and over again, it would be this comedy skit that was absolutely hilarious live: Santino's Tea Party!
After the show Sam drove us back the 250 miles to Kent. Sam did all the driving for me and Andy (partly because he was the only one allowed to drive the rental car) and for that I'd like to say thanks. We stopped at a service station at about midnight for a snack before travelling the rest of the way back. Unfortunately, once we reached the M25, the home stretch so to speak, we were met with road works and a sign telling us that the east side stretch of the motorway was closed. We had to got the long way round annoyingly, and I fell asleep for about half an hour. I awoke to find that Sam had nearly driven the full stretch of M25, and we were soon home. I got home at about 3:30am and was happy to be able to go straight to bed.
The next day was a WWE Raw house show (non-televised show) at London's O2 Arena. Stacey and Jason joined us for this one, and I travelled up with them, meeting Sam and Andy at the arena. Now, almost every time that I go to the O2, I seem to end up having a drink or two in a bar there called Thai Silk. This was where we all met up on Tuesday evening, and with time pressing on before the start of the show, we wound up eating in there for the first time. The food was good value, and tasted great, even if my chilli-beef did burn my tongue like hell. We then took our seats, which were up in the top tier, but the front row. Sam, who has a bad fear of heights wasn't loving the view when edging his way towards his seat, but admitted it was great when seated. This show was a lot of fun, in that when they don't have to play up to the TV cameras, the wrestlers go out there and put on a really fun show for the audience in attendance. Our main event was a great, hard-fought battle between golden boy John Cena, and my current favourite The Miz. Sadly The Miz lost, but he sure did dominate the match. Jason found it funny to hum Cena's theme music after the show, much to my chagrin.
Probably the highlight of this show though, was a triple threat match for the United States Championship, as reigning champion Daniel Bryan defeated R-Truth and Englishman William Regal. Daniel Bryan won the match, and was booed by the crowd who were in favour of the home-country hero. Regal soon grabbed a microphone and announced that after 27 years of wrestling, that he was probably getting too old for it all, and that this tour may well have been his last. If that remains the case, then it truly was an honour to see Regal's last matches in England. William Regal is a legend of the 'sport', having wrestled in England during British Wrestling's heyday, and wrestling for America's biggest companies. I've already found his speech on Youtube, watch it if you're at all interested:
After two events in two nights, I was feeling tired enough already, but that wasn't the end. On Wednesday night, I decided to make it three in a row, as I had tickets to see one of my most favourite bands of all time, Linkin Park with Stacey, Tam, and Andrew. I had seen Linkin Park once before, nearly three years ago now back in January 2008. They had put on a good show then, and they put on another fantastic show now. Rather than playing mostly new stuff, Linkin Park know how to strike a good balance, so that each of their albums gets a fair representation, resulting in a concert full of all different sounds. From the heavy, to beautiful acoustics.
Linkin Park perform 'One Step Closer' live at the O2 Arena
We were sitting very far back, and up high, but Linkin Park's live performance is so strong (sounding just as they do in their recordings) that everyone in the arena couldn't help but get into it.
All in all, it was a great few days. Thinking back to when I was twelve, the two most important things to me at the time were WWE (then known as WWF, before that Panda organisation sued) and Linkin Park. These three days would have been the most exciting imaginable to me then, and to be honest, I really did have a brilliant time that will be hard to top. The excitement for this month doesn't end here though, as this Sunday I'm going to see Sean Lock's new stand-up tour, and then on the 29th, I'm going to see 30 Seconds to Mars in Brighton. The November UK tour is rolling on baby!
Anyways, my tour kicked off this week with a bang, as I travelled with a couple of guys up to Manchester to see the television spectacular that is WWE Monday Night Raw be filmed for worldwide transmission. Sam had hired a rental car for the trip, a brand new 60 reg VW Golf. It only had seven miles on the clock when we picked it up, I think it had over six hundred by the time we gave it back. The drive was long, but not nearly as bad as we had expected, despite the weather's attempts to deter us. We turned up the CD player and had us a good old sing-along, which got us there in seemingly no time. We didn't get to see much of Manchester, in fact, all we saw was the carpark, the arena, and the train station attached to arena. It didn't matter though, we weren't up there to see the sights, we were there to see some wrestling. We all got to see our favourites, and from some pretty good seats. I won't go into huge detail about the event here, as I did that already during this week's Positively Raw column. If I had to choose one highlight from the show that I could watch over and over again, it would be this comedy skit that was absolutely hilarious live: Santino's Tea Party!
After the show Sam drove us back the 250 miles to Kent. Sam did all the driving for me and Andy (partly because he was the only one allowed to drive the rental car) and for that I'd like to say thanks. We stopped at a service station at about midnight for a snack before travelling the rest of the way back. Unfortunately, once we reached the M25, the home stretch so to speak, we were met with road works and a sign telling us that the east side stretch of the motorway was closed. We had to got the long way round annoyingly, and I fell asleep for about half an hour. I awoke to find that Sam had nearly driven the full stretch of M25, and we were soon home. I got home at about 3:30am and was happy to be able to go straight to bed.
The next day was a WWE Raw house show (non-televised show) at London's O2 Arena. Stacey and Jason joined us for this one, and I travelled up with them, meeting Sam and Andy at the arena. Now, almost every time that I go to the O2, I seem to end up having a drink or two in a bar there called Thai Silk. This was where we all met up on Tuesday evening, and with time pressing on before the start of the show, we wound up eating in there for the first time. The food was good value, and tasted great, even if my chilli-beef did burn my tongue like hell. We then took our seats, which were up in the top tier, but the front row. Sam, who has a bad fear of heights wasn't loving the view when edging his way towards his seat, but admitted it was great when seated. This show was a lot of fun, in that when they don't have to play up to the TV cameras, the wrestlers go out there and put on a really fun show for the audience in attendance. Our main event was a great, hard-fought battle between golden boy John Cena, and my current favourite The Miz. Sadly The Miz lost, but he sure did dominate the match. Jason found it funny to hum Cena's theme music after the show, much to my chagrin.
Probably the highlight of this show though, was a triple threat match for the United States Championship, as reigning champion Daniel Bryan defeated R-Truth and Englishman William Regal. Daniel Bryan won the match, and was booed by the crowd who were in favour of the home-country hero. Regal soon grabbed a microphone and announced that after 27 years of wrestling, that he was probably getting too old for it all, and that this tour may well have been his last. If that remains the case, then it truly was an honour to see Regal's last matches in England. William Regal is a legend of the 'sport', having wrestled in England during British Wrestling's heyday, and wrestling for America's biggest companies. I've already found his speech on Youtube, watch it if you're at all interested:
After two events in two nights, I was feeling tired enough already, but that wasn't the end. On Wednesday night, I decided to make it three in a row, as I had tickets to see one of my most favourite bands of all time, Linkin Park with Stacey, Tam, and Andrew. I had seen Linkin Park once before, nearly three years ago now back in January 2008. They had put on a good show then, and they put on another fantastic show now. Rather than playing mostly new stuff, Linkin Park know how to strike a good balance, so that each of their albums gets a fair representation, resulting in a concert full of all different sounds. From the heavy, to beautiful acoustics.
Linkin Park perform 'One Step Closer' live at the O2 Arena
We were sitting very far back, and up high, but Linkin Park's live performance is so strong (sounding just as they do in their recordings) that everyone in the arena couldn't help but get into it.
All in all, it was a great few days. Thinking back to when I was twelve, the two most important things to me at the time were WWE (then known as WWF, before that Panda organisation sued) and Linkin Park. These three days would have been the most exciting imaginable to me then, and to be honest, I really did have a brilliant time that will be hard to top. The excitement for this month doesn't end here though, as this Sunday I'm going to see Sean Lock's new stand-up tour, and then on the 29th, I'm going to see 30 Seconds to Mars in Brighton. The November UK tour is rolling on baby!
Sunday, 31 October 2010
'This is Halloween, This is Halloween'
The 31st October, one of the year's most unique 'holidays' Halloween. To most, Halloween will be signified by trick or treaters, sweets, egg throwing, pumpkins, scary movies, and dressing up. To me, while it is also symbolised by all of the above, it also means that the countdown to Christmas is officially on! It is also the first day if the year that I allow myself to watch my favourite film of all time: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Created by Burton, and directed by Henry Selick, the film tells the tale of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, who has grown bored of celebrating Halloween year after year, and wanders off into the night after yet another Halloween. He wanders into the woods and stumbles across the collection of trees seen during the film's opening in the video above. After seeing all of the different doors on the trees, the one in the shape of a Christmas tree draws his attention, he opens it, and falls into Christmas Town.
After being swept off of his feet in amazement by all that he sees in Christmas town, Jack decides that the residents of Halloween town should produce Christmas this year in an effort to do something different. Unfortunately, when the citizens of his town don't understand that Christmas is meant to be a jolly, happy, fun event, Jack gives in and decides to do Christmas the Halloween way, despite love-interest Sally's desperate pleas to abandon this crazy plan. Sally has had a vision of Jack's Christmas going terribly wrong.
Things do begin to go wrong, when Jack makes the mistake of hiring the trick-or-treaters to kidnap Sandy Claws (Santa) from Christmas town, and rather that follow Jack's orders of making him comfortable so that he can enjoy a Christmas off, they take Santa to Oogie Boogie (The Boogey Man) instead. Meanwhile, the people of Earth don't take too kindly to Jack's terrifying version of Christmas.
This is without a doubt my favourite film. Firstly, because of the sense of nostalgia that washes over me as I watch it. For I can still remember being in awe of Christmas town and the all of the strange, bizarre characters that inhabit Halloween town. The fact that there could be trees with doors that lead to all of the best parts of the year somewhere in the world also seemed like an extremely magical concept in my mind. The characters are all well envisioned by Burton, and the score, composed by the legendary Danny Elfman, is truly one of the best movie soundtracks ever heard.
Between now and Christmas I will undoubtedly be watching this film several times. It is one of the only films that can be considered both a Halloween film, and a Christmas movie rolled into one. In my humble opinion, this stop-motion, scary, Christmassy, animated, musical, Disney feature really is the greatest film of all time! If you have never seen it before, do yourself a favour and pick up a copy NOW!
Monday, 25 October 2010
A Positively Bashful Month
Good day all, I hope that October has found you all well. I can't quite believe that the month is nearly behind us already, and that in one week's time we'll be the final sixth of 2010.
This month has been a bit of a funny one, in the sense meaning it's been pretty darn odd! At the beginning of October, many of my close friends once more waved me goodbye as the drifted back to their random corners of the nation to study... and more likely drink the time away until they all return at Christmas. Only kidding, slightly.
On the 14th I myself had something to study for, as I sat my last ever (hopefully) exam. It was in Film and Television History, a course which I thoroughly enjoyed reading, and one that I am hoping to receive a good grade for. I don't find out the result until December though, so for now, only time will tell.
With that course out of the way, I have been making some headway with my next, and final, OU course Children's Literature. The first assignment for this is due in by midday on Thursday, so I really should be cracking on with it, although the need to write this blog has kind of taken over for the minute.
Speaking of writing, the writing bug has really hit me this year, as not only do I produce for you this fine blog, but I have been hired by 411mania.com to write a weekly column for their wrestling section. The column was an idea that I had to find at least three positive things to say about WWE Monday Night Raw each week. For those of you not in the know, Raw is the world's biggest weekly wrestling show, and because of that, comes under the most criticism each week by commentators on the net. I've therefore made it my mission to help rid the world of some of this (mostly undeserved) negativity. If you're at all interested, the first ever edition of my column Positively Raw can be found here.
I've been enjoying my week long tenure with 411mania very much, but alas it's unpaid and only something I do for fun because I enjoy both wrestling and writing, which all means that I still have to do proper work for money. As far as work is going at the moment, I can't complain at all. I'm enjoying myself at the store, and getting on with it rather nicely. It's been all change this month though, as two long-serving members of staff have moved on to better and brighter positions at other branches, which has allowed room some new - but familiar to me - faces. Our video-rental store is now inhabited by two of my former Woolworths colleagues in the brilliant Stacey, and my old partner in crime Tom. We're considering changing the name of our branch to WoolBusters!
This month has also been one of pain - in a physical manner - for many that I know unfortunately. Firstly one of my brothers was attacked by a fellow schoolboy on his way home one Friday, leaving him black-eyed. He reckons he got a few good punches in himself though, so more power to him. My good friend Chris was then in what sounds like a terrifying accident on the M25. Another car swerved across towards him while driving along Britain's most dangerous road. Luckily he was OK, even if his poor car wasn't. And to round things off, Stacey's brother celebrated his 18th birthday this past weekend. Rather than end his night in a nightclub though, he cracked his head open and spent the final minutes of his momentous coming of age in a hospital bed. Again, luckily he seems to have survived.
It also seems relevant to mention that I survived unscathed after a trip to Crystal Palace, watching the football team face off against Millwall. Those classy Millwall fans proved once again just how charming they are by throwing a smoke-bomb onto the pitch during a minute long round of applause in memorial of a former player, Malcolm Allison, who had died that week.
The month isn't quite over though. In two days I'll be taking Stacey out to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the date that I first asked her out. Funny enough it's also the anniversary of the first time that I threw up from too much alcohol consumption. Then on Friday it's my Dad's birthday, meaning that he'll be even more of an old man. And finally, Sunday, the last day of the month, is Halloween, which means that I will be watching my favourite film The Nightmare Before Christmas for the first time this year. I may even have to writes something down about it to post on here.
For now, I've got to get ready for work, so until next time, stay tuned.
This month has been a bit of a funny one, in the sense meaning it's been pretty darn odd! At the beginning of October, many of my close friends once more waved me goodbye as the drifted back to their random corners of the nation to study... and more likely drink the time away until they all return at Christmas. Only kidding, slightly.
On the 14th I myself had something to study for, as I sat my last ever (hopefully) exam. It was in Film and Television History, a course which I thoroughly enjoyed reading, and one that I am hoping to receive a good grade for. I don't find out the result until December though, so for now, only time will tell.
With that course out of the way, I have been making some headway with my next, and final, OU course Children's Literature. The first assignment for this is due in by midday on Thursday, so I really should be cracking on with it, although the need to write this blog has kind of taken over for the minute.
Speaking of writing, the writing bug has really hit me this year, as not only do I produce for you this fine blog, but I have been hired by 411mania.com to write a weekly column for their wrestling section. The column was an idea that I had to find at least three positive things to say about WWE Monday Night Raw each week. For those of you not in the know, Raw is the world's biggest weekly wrestling show, and because of that, comes under the most criticism each week by commentators on the net. I've therefore made it my mission to help rid the world of some of this (mostly undeserved) negativity. If you're at all interested, the first ever edition of my column Positively Raw can be found here.
This month has also been one of pain - in a physical manner - for many that I know unfortunately. Firstly one of my brothers was attacked by a fellow schoolboy on his way home one Friday, leaving him black-eyed. He reckons he got a few good punches in himself though, so more power to him. My good friend Chris was then in what sounds like a terrifying accident on the M25. Another car swerved across towards him while driving along Britain's most dangerous road. Luckily he was OK, even if his poor car wasn't. And to round things off, Stacey's brother celebrated his 18th birthday this past weekend. Rather than end his night in a nightclub though, he cracked his head open and spent the final minutes of his momentous coming of age in a hospital bed. Again, luckily he seems to have survived.
It also seems relevant to mention that I survived unscathed after a trip to Crystal Palace, watching the football team face off against Millwall. Those classy Millwall fans proved once again just how charming they are by throwing a smoke-bomb onto the pitch during a minute long round of applause in memorial of a former player, Malcolm Allison, who had died that week.
The month isn't quite over though. In two days I'll be taking Stacey out to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the date that I first asked her out. Funny enough it's also the anniversary of the first time that I threw up from too much alcohol consumption. Then on Friday it's my Dad's birthday, meaning that he'll be even more of an old man. And finally, Sunday, the last day of the month, is Halloween, which means that I will be watching my favourite film The Nightmare Before Christmas for the first time this year. I may even have to writes something down about it to post on here.
For now, I've got to get ready for work, so until next time, stay tuned.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Revision vs Procrastination
Exam time is once again almost upon me. Next week, in 8 days to be exact, I will be taking my third and final exam with the Open University. I'm looking forward to getting through it and to that feeling that always follows me out of the exam hall of relief. Exams have become almost second nature, as in the last 5 and a half years, I've taken more than I care to remember. If I were to try and remember though, the list would include:
As far as the cramming of information goes, I have also always hated revision. I think this goes back to my GCSE days, when my Dad, in an attempt to 'motivate' me, gave me the nickname TrolleyBoy, as he kept telling me that if I didn't do well at school, that a trolley-boy was all I'd ever amount to. The thing is, it was an extremely irritating nickname and actually put me off of bothering, seeing as how I was supposedly never doing enough anyway and in the end, the whole family were calling me TrolleyBoy anyway!
I don't think there is a perfect way to revise. With my A-Levels, particularly the Law one, I found that mind-maps worked well, although they took an age to create. I also find that writing notes, memorising them and constantly writing them back out without looking also works alright. No matter what though, I never do as well in the exam as I've done in my coursework which quite plainly sucks! With my Open University courses for example, the exam has pulled the mark that I worked hard to obtain via coursework down every time. I just have a sad feeling that it will happen again, which would be terrible and upsetting, especially considering that the finally piece of coursework for this module was a double-length piece that was worth double what the other essays were towards the module and that I scored a whopping 80%.
I also hate revision because the urgency of a deadline is missing.
'Surely the exam is the deadline?' I hear you all cry. Well no, not really. You see I don't have to give in my revision notes like I would a piece of coursework. It's not the same at all. Therefore I find that like many others most likely experience, I procrastinate.... a lot!
Suddenly that novel I'm reading becomes much more enthralling, or I suddenly become addicted to a new videogame, or I'll even find myself watching any old crap on the telly. I'll agree to more hours at my part-time job just to skive off of revision, or, as I've done recently, decide to begin and get ahead on my new course despite there not being any assignments due for a few weeks because this course is new and shiny, whereas the old one is nearly over and expects me to pass an exam!
I probably should get on now, after all I'm procrastinating further by writing this blog. STOP DISTRACTING ME!
I have in the last few minutes turned down the option to go into work a couple of hours earlier this afternoon. I was very tempted to go in just to get away from the textbooks, but alas, a passing grade will be worth more than an extra tenner in the long run I'm sure.
Stay tuned!
- GCSEs for all 10 subjects that I took.
- AS Levels in Film Studies, ICT, and Law.
- A2 Levels in Film Studies, ICT, and Law.
- Driving Theory Test.
- Driving Practical Test.
- Exams in various modules as a part of Broadcast Operations at Ravensbourne.
- End of course Exam for Open University Module Understanding Media.
- End of course Exam for Open University Module Approaching Literature.
As far as the cramming of information goes, I have also always hated revision. I think this goes back to my GCSE days, when my Dad, in an attempt to 'motivate' me, gave me the nickname TrolleyBoy, as he kept telling me that if I didn't do well at school, that a trolley-boy was all I'd ever amount to. The thing is, it was an extremely irritating nickname and actually put me off of bothering, seeing as how I was supposedly never doing enough anyway and in the end, the whole family were calling me TrolleyBoy anyway!
I don't think there is a perfect way to revise. With my A-Levels, particularly the Law one, I found that mind-maps worked well, although they took an age to create. I also find that writing notes, memorising them and constantly writing them back out without looking also works alright. No matter what though, I never do as well in the exam as I've done in my coursework which quite plainly sucks! With my Open University courses for example, the exam has pulled the mark that I worked hard to obtain via coursework down every time. I just have a sad feeling that it will happen again, which would be terrible and upsetting, especially considering that the finally piece of coursework for this module was a double-length piece that was worth double what the other essays were towards the module and that I scored a whopping 80%.
I also hate revision because the urgency of a deadline is missing.
'Surely the exam is the deadline?' I hear you all cry. Well no, not really. You see I don't have to give in my revision notes like I would a piece of coursework. It's not the same at all. Therefore I find that like many others most likely experience, I procrastinate.... a lot!
Suddenly that novel I'm reading becomes much more enthralling, or I suddenly become addicted to a new videogame, or I'll even find myself watching any old crap on the telly. I'll agree to more hours at my part-time job just to skive off of revision, or, as I've done recently, decide to begin and get ahead on my new course despite there not being any assignments due for a few weeks because this course is new and shiny, whereas the old one is nearly over and expects me to pass an exam!
I probably should get on now, after all I'm procrastinating further by writing this blog. STOP DISTRACTING ME!
I have in the last few minutes turned down the option to go into work a couple of hours earlier this afternoon. I was very tempted to go in just to get away from the textbooks, but alas, a passing grade will be worth more than an extra tenner in the long run I'm sure.
Stay tuned!
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