Today we were hit by a surprise bout of heat and sunshine so i did something i haven’t done in a long time – sat out in a garden in a recliner chair.
I’d forgotten how nice it is to actually have a garden.
I thought this was well deserved as we had been on the go all day up to that point. This included me moving a load of my stuff to my lady’s for my week stay. Included in the move was Moomin, our little hamster.
Moomin hasn’t been well recently but today, rolling around in his ball in the garden, seemed to cheer him up. If you have a hamster you should get him / her out when you can and let them explore. There’s nothing Moomin enjoys more than running around freely in the living room; exploring the furthest reaches of his home.
I read an article this morning about a guy who blogged every day for a year and how it had accustomed him to noticing more of the smaller things in life. I have decided to try the same – this is actually my third day in a row so far so that’s good.
Some days the posts may be mundane while other days may have items of interest. However i will endeavour to find some nuggets of interest in those days that tend to be rinse and repeat, i.e. work days.
Mulholland Drive is a dream i often like to get lost in. It is one of my top five films and is a film where i am happy to be led into the darkness of David Lynch’s genius.
A friend of mine and me were lucky enough to get tickets to the first showing of the newly-restored version of this film as part of Birmingham’s flatpack festival.
It was everything i imagined and hoped it would be. Key scenes were even more powerful on the big screen; Rebecca Del Rio’s a cappella version of Crying; the leading up the secret path; Betty’s audition with Woody Catz.
Not only was it immersive behind the screen, but so too was the crowd that i found myself fortunate to sit with. This was the first time in all my cinema-going history where i have taken part in a full-on applauding for the film in both it’s starting and finishing.
The trip back home proved annoying as my main route was closed and had to follow diversions for an extra half an hour. My arriving home at half twelve in the morning didn’t mark the end of my day however. You see, it was also the day of the Prison Break season 5 premiere and I wasn’t gonna miss this one for the world.
I enjoyed the new episode. Of course it didn’t have the wow factor that the revealing of the tattoos did at the end of season one’s premiere, but i guess it’s hard to recapture that. I wasn’t disappointed though. I enjoyed seeing the old characters back and look forward to seeing where their paths take them.
Today I took my mom to Middleton Hall for the afternoon and had a great time. After lunch in the small cafe, within the old stables, we ventured around the Hall itself and surrounding gardens.
It’s amazing how much interesting history is right there on your doorstep. For example the Middleton estate was leased to the Knight’s Templar in 1185 by the owners at the time, the de Marmion family. Also one of the commanders at the largest naval battle of World War One, The Battle of Jutland, was from the Willoughby family. The Willoughby family owned the Middleton estate for about 500 years.
Those are just two snippets but you can find out more on their website. Also one of the ladies working there was very knowledgeable on the whole subject. She gave us loads of facts and figures but I can’t lie – there was simply too much to take in during one sitting. But very helpful nonetheless.
Growing up with great parents, I took a lot of my early tastes in music from them – my Dad specifically. But through growing up and exploring new styles, my taste in music has grown significantly.
I started by hearing bands like Fleetwood Mac; Supertramp; Meat Loaf; Whitesnake; to name a few, and I still have a place for them. In fact just this week I have been listening to Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell 2 again.
Jim Steinman is a composer mostly known for his work with Meat Loaf
One of my favourite songwriters of all time is Jim Steinman – the composer behind Meat Loaf’s early music as well as many other theatre shows, films and varying other bands.
On leaving school and going to work in London I was about 18 years old and was getting into heavy metal and gothic rock. Bands like Marilyn Manson; Korn; Slipknot; Linkin Park often did the rounds on my little CD player – much to the annoyance of my co-workers.
Later on at college I would find myself being introduced to more rock bands – this time older bands like Iron Maiden; Judas Priest; Ozzy Osbourne.
Leaving Home
When I moved out of my parents’ house I moved in with a friend and her then-boyfriend, who was a DJ and producer. I would often hear him playing dance music and, although it never grew on me that much, still found it interesting to hear this new style. Alhtough saying that I did once go with him and some other friends to hear James Zabiela live, which was fucking insane. Also I did get introduced to Aphex Twin through him. He did also play older, more indie types of music too – like The Stone Roses and The Smiths which then turned me on to that style.
Aphex Twin is an experimental electronic musician
When I first moved out of my parents was also when I started teaching myself to play guitar. Because of this I inevitably started listening to more guitar orientated music. My taste in music grew to include Joe Satriani; Steve Vai; Paul Gilbert; and Buckethead big time. In fact I was pretty obsessed with these guys. I would also learn finger-picking folk music too. Artists like Joan Baez; Janis Ian; and Lindsey Buckingham were very inspiring to my learning.
Recent Years
Ladyhawke is an Australian multi-instrumentalist.
When I was first learning the guitar and was looking for inspiring artists I became a bit of a music snob. If someone had suggested Taylor Swift back then I’d have laughed in their face. But things do change. I have since gotten into lots of female-led artists/bands. One of my all-time favourite artists now is Lana Del Rey. I also love people like Ladyhawke; Grimes; and yes, even Taylor Swift.
Also in recent years, in fact in the past 12 months or so, I have gotten really into Grime music – rap music mainly out of London, although it can be performed anywhere. Artists like JME; Big Narstie; Kano; Giggs. All these guys I love listening to. And often enjoy watching the BBC Radio One Fire In The Booth and the 60 Minute Takeovers.
The Future
As I go forwards I’ll continue to try and widen my taste in music. I probably wont like it all, but you don’t know until you explore. What I can say is that this past week I have been getting heavily into this whole Retro New Wave genre I’m hearing. I re-emergence of 80’s-inspired music. But the good, synth-led music; none of that bloody Culture Club stuff.
As I’m writing this current review, of Bat For Lashes’ latest album, I’m realising that I’m gaining a deeper understanding of the songs than I would have done simply from just listening to them.
I’m finding myself focusing and even studying the music and the lyrics and feel like I’m getting so much more out of the album.
I have noticed it before with other albums I’ve reviewed recently, but it’s with this one – and specifically the song “In God’s House”, that I’ve have really noticed it.
Playing through The Last of Us again. I think that this is the first game since final fantasy 7 where I’ve started it again as soon as I completed it. This time I felt more bad ass because I know the enemy patterns and what to expect when.
Listened to Foxes’ new album today. Is pretty good on first and second listen, which reminds me I still need to write up my favourite albums of 2015.
Tickets have been booked for me, Aaron and Dwayne to go see Chas and Dave in April.
Decided to Install Windows 7 back on to my P.C. as the primary operating system, then run GNU/Linux within virtualbox. Thought I’d give steam games on windows another go as I’ve got 8gb of ram sat there not really doing much. This way all my development stuff can be encapsulated within the virtual machine.
Also looks like I could be going to see Chas & Dave in a couple of months. I’d never heard much of their music until I started working at PM Connect. I gotta say they are growing on me.
Missed yesterday’s entry by 50 minutes — been sat in the bath listening to this week’s episode of The Infinite Monkey Cage.
Finished The Last Of Us: Left Behind. Another great addition to the world and characters from the original game. Although the relationship between Ellie and Riley was doomed, it was still nice to see their friendship. It gave more depth to Ellie’s character too.
Cant wait to get on to Metal Gear Solid 5 next. Just need to power through 1-4 first. I don’t have to, but I’d like to experience the whole story.
I think I may be addicted to playing Bitcoin Billionaire. It’s annoying because I know it’s a waste of time and yet I still find myself tapping away like a mad person.
Discovered a new album through some random listens today — Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans by Uffie. From the first song on this album I was hooked.
Tinkered with my site again tonight. I think I’m gonna add in a playlists post type too.
Think I’m gonna now have an hour or so on The Last Of Us: Left Behind. So far I’m loving it.
In the early afternoon we went for a run around Kingsbury Water Park. A load of the water’s-edge trees have been cut down, not sure why though. When we got there it was nice to see that the car park was pretty empty – no masses of people to avoid when doing our laps.
Later on, after getting caught up with the new X Files series, Lizzie cleaned out and changed Moomin while I washed up and Cooked the tea.
I’m quite impressed with myself in keeping up this 100 days so far.
Today I saw possibly the worst film of my life – Dirty Grampa – at Vue, Star City.
I think in parts the humour actually offended me. I couldn’t believe this was the same guy I’d seen in Jackie Brown.
On a more positive note, me and Liz did go for a nice meal at the Green Man in Middleton. My only quarm was that my otherwise nice burger came on a bloody brioche bun.
Then on the evening we watched the first episode of the new series of The X Files. Despite the mixed reviews I actually liked it.
Currently sat in Sainsbury’s cafe once again. My nectar points are gonna be through the roof by Christmas.
I’m thinking about restarting the ecommerce CMS I started for my last 100 days attempt. Except this time not part of the 100 days. Cant help thinking it’s a waste of time as there are already so many. But if I treat it as a learning curve, then it will have some benefit.
Randomly thought about how far we’ve come with technology and yet I’m sat here stirring my tea with a wooden stick.
Mid last year I heard about the idea of the 100 days project.
In a nutshell, you pick some form of creative pursuit — no matter how simple or complex — and commit to performing that action every day for 100 days.
I put the idea to some co workers. One person out of a few interested people actually completed it.
I failed in that challenge.
So I decided that I’m going to start again with an alternate take on Jeremy Keith’s 100 words for 100 days. My plan is to write 100 words the first day, 99 on the second, 98 the third etc.
Three weeks ago I launched a new website side-project.
This was a purely creative outlet for me, doing something I’ve wanted to do for a while — write album reviews.
Well, they’re not specifically reviews; more like recommendations. When I hear albums I want to share with people, I now try to write a little piece about it.
At the time of writing this, I have not long finished the third album — Priest’s eponymous debut. But I am already starting to worry that I’ll run out of ways to describe these albums.
I know that they are all different and I know the thoughts I want to get across to readers, but I’m just worried that I wont do these artists I love listening to justice.
I’m going to continue this in the same vein as the 100 days project, except I’m going to publish one every week on a Tuesday evening. I just know that if I tried to do one a day the writing would be even worse and I’d probably fall behind and end up not actually doing any.
So a realistic goal like once a week should be manageable. You can see the reviews I’ve got scheduled on the coming soon page. Cheers, Dave.
I have just written this post and then lost it without saving. I am annoyed. That said, I’ll try and rewrite without rushing too much.
I’m always tinkering around with this website. As a result I tend to sometimes get bored with it. I feel the design just looks dull and uninspired, and find that my backend could be a lot cleaner… phrasing. I then feel that my website needs to be improved – and as a result rebuilt.
This is the inner critic talking.
You know that guy/gal right? They are the one that sits back doing naff-all and only pipes up to say something when you’ve created something, or are thinking of doing so, and says “That’s shit – what are you thinking?”. The inner critic is a fecking wonker (intentional fake swearing) and needs to be put down.
Something I listened to last week really hit home with me about this. On this episode of The Web Ahead podcast, Jen Simmons talked with Jeremy Keith about understanding the web. I am always inspired when hearing Jeremy talk about the web and building for it
This is when the site never gets launched because it’s never quite good enough. The number of designers who haven’t launched because it doesn’t look quite right, or the number of developers because they haven’t finished writing their own CMS.
In this episode He and Jen were talking about how people – in general – are so used to publishing on the web through a service – or gatekeeper as they called it. Also they mentioned about people’s habit of self-censoring and imposing their own restrictions.
It was after listening to this that I realised that my own reasons for thinking I needed to rebuild my site were all self-imposed reasons and that it was stopping me from actually writing stuff. I have been concentrating too much on the tools of publishing instead of actually just publishing.
So this entry is a way for me to try and break that habit. Let’s see how long I can keep it up for… phrasing.
