stoneydelph and gaydon; why i love england (part 1)

on the journey up to birmingham, actually a village outside tamworth which is outside birmingham itself. but on the way up to farnborough on the train, i decided to think about my dissertation-this scared me far too much so i just listened to music smiled and thought about what my come in the near future (mon 12- fri 17, nothing existential or philosophical, which i KNOW you were thinking of me)

being met by a homeboi cruising in a light lilac citroen c3, i was already having fun! then we started to discuss literally the funniest programme on tv at the moment, the inbetweeners. i had seen it advertised and assumed it was part of the comedy that included little miss cunting jocelyn and those awful programmes-however it is not. it stems from the peep show of channel 4 tv, and deals with the period of school known as sixth form, a-levels and all the fun of properly growing up (16-18) and is thus awesome! it is very much for a male audience but luckily, and maybe surprisingly, i fit into that category… and for any person who has friends like that or wish they did-its more than worth a watch.

but yes after a bit of bonding (well not real bonding, as rob and I have done too much together [not that way you filthy person] to not be friends) we carried on back t his house waiting for a lift up to the gloomy midlands… this maybe a cliché but its true, it was overcast everyday… but knowing that rob’s uncle has a recording studio in his garage, i wasn’t expecting a shitty little nissan micra but a top of the range audi, thanks ants!

being chauffeured through the home counties in a car that is just too nice, seeing the waitrose hq, learning about broadmoor psych hospital (strangely you can’t see it from the road, rob told of a time in junior school when they were all ‘allowed’ to go home as one of the prisoners had managed to escape and so for safety sake the kids were taken home… lovely haha), seeing the world whiz past whilst sitting ina shitting comfy leather seat in a car with bose sound system-bo selecta!

arriving late pm, like excited lil school boys we trotted up to the back of the garden where lies loads of time and oney invested into a hobby. an unassuming lil building containing 7 guitars, a bass, an impressive drum kit, a 250w half stack marshall amp as well as lovely lil editing area… being eager to crack on we had a nice lil lasagne then started up on laying down bass and guitar parts… moving onto the drums we had our first real experience of niggling studio annoyances, re-miking the drum kit which with around 20  mikes took a good hour… so the first day was done, there is plenty more but i can’t think atm

On the train back to southampton atm, so typing isn’t very easy on a constantly moving railway system… listening to the new yeah yeah yeahs album and it is pretty good based on the first coupla tracks

we originally planned on doing 5 tracks, but this spiralled into 7 as we chose a simple playlist and wanted to just get moving on with it all… it also helps that we rehearsed all day on tuesday (the preliminary recordings were done on tues evening and not mon, this is me cocking up) and then just recorded the songs quite well-taking only a few takes to get most of them, one take on about 3 songs-i was pleased with not being branded a retard, before realising i’m not such a good singer as i’d falsely accused myself of being beforehand… but yes we recorded solidly on weds and thurs and got it all done except the vocals on oen song, which was undertaken on friday morning… i do have a cd of the the preliminary produced songs, rob’s uncle clive will do further work on them all before we get a final sound 100% correct

(more shall come, am tired...)

its a good friday out there somewhere

eminem... why do you have to have such a divide in your work? the new single is a 'witty' comeback that attacks modern culture, just like the lead single off your past 2-3 albums... stop it!

i have not heard the rest of the album, as its not out obviously, but the man does songs such as stan, mockingbird, sing for the moment, lose yourself and others that contain some validity-are well written and have a titting meaning and then on the other side its the i'm back song and attacks fucking idiots that are best left alone in music... we know amy winehouse is a mess, but the shame in this lies in her wasted talent not that she's a fucking waster who's gullible enough to take drugs and get fucked up by a keen british media following her every escapade, with camera in her face and another on the ground to capture her skag ridden body falling out of a taxi exposing her cunt!

there is no doubt that winehouse is a victim of ehr own success, and whether you like her or not she is one hell of a singer... but fame should always be the upshot of good deeds, hard work and genuine ability-and it should not be the driving force behind a fucking career... big brother was in its first incarnation a genuine social experiment where people were changed in their environment... now people go on there for fame

i'm not going to go into detail about her but jade goody is this... (read parky's piece on her, perfect) she gained fame from first BB then went into CBB, this is ludicrous she became famous through no work but through being a stupid and laughable character brought up under shit circumstances (this is not under question, essex, smack and council estates-lovely stuff) but there is always opportunity for people from shit situations to get big, through not a mix of talent and hard work

i despise the song as it is hypocritical shite, but lennon's 'working class hero' does have a bit of truth... northern bands, oasis/ stone roses were bands who worked themselves to the bone in the early years playing gigs, rehearsing and 'having it large'... but they fit the bill of lennon's track, it is through perseverance, hard work, luck, talent, arrogance and self belief that they got to be where they were... they didnt go 'lets go on BB and 'ave it, errrrrrr' instead they worked hard on what they liked

did jade? really? does being a buffoon really count as hard work... i suppose prolonged 'blondeness' is beneficial to the cause of education...  but everyone cocks up from time to time saying things that are silly and happens when the mouth moves before the brain, but to make a career out of this? say some ludicrous things and then within a year become a national fucking treasure!

i'm well aware of the fact that people can change, i believe jade goody to not be a racist just a stupid and ignorant person-no doubt shilpa shetty actually forgave her or simply took the moral highground as any person that good looking or talented would... goody wasnt a racist but just stupid, but the media loves a common enemy but within the space of a coupla years she dies a hero? there is something that deeply concerns me about this, and how the turn around was sick and didnt seem to come from a factual place

it seems that if shes a national hero, the nation is a joke... praising the idiots and allowing the educated masses to sit back and mock whilst allowing the majority of the population adores goody... not my cup of tea

the song-it says here by billy bragg looks at this to an extent, media, press and the like... there is a lot of left-wing politics in the track but what he says is important, listen to it! similarly to in high fidelity, discussions over sadness and pop music, do people read shite papers as fact because they are stupid or can't the vast majority use the things in their skulls to decipher the important aspects of life?

entertainment is brilliant and necessary, but thoughtless and vacuous crap fill the screens of itv and bbc1... my family, jesus thats crap-this is my opinion and so blar blar blar

BUT another piece of fact has annoyed me: this

(hopefully this works, if not search for craig david mtv on bbc news)

i'm not against pop music, i like some of it, but this shows how fucking stupid the general public are... craig david having the 2nd best album since 1981, sorry? let me just repeat that for you, craig david's album 'born to do it' was voted 2nd best album of the past three decades behind 'thriller' by michael jackson... its all subjective but i'm comfortable with thriller being up there but CRAIG DAVID, please let this be a practical joke otherwise it renders the general public retarded! i shall name some bands that have existed since 1981 and how their music may have changed the way music is actually played/heard/adored, by some bands i shall say:

radiohead, pixies, nirvana, the smiths, the stones roses, blur, the libertines, the strokes, the white stripes... if thats not enough for you, and you say thats just rock music-hip hop and rap were basically invented in late 70s early 80s new york, so apparently EVERYTHING produced by all these artists isnt as good as craig david-who without the man wouldnt be making his music-THINK! for fuck sake stand back and think

mtv is a joke, as is the nme... top 100 riffs of all time, positions 1, 2, 3 and 4 are muse tracks... then two two songs by jimi hendrix, you have to love the numb minds of people who can't see past 2000, let alone the 1960s... the pixie twat matt bellamy says he picked up a guitar cos of hendrix, i think even he would be angry with that list... ridiculous

i believe this to be my longest post yet, and dealing with fame and the fucking idiots of the real world is sapping, thus coffee

keep it rockin'

actually rambling along a moonlight mile

its 9am and a jam will soon occur at the most r'n'r of venues-30 shakespeare avenue, bass, guitar and drums-ah yeah! music in the morning is the way forward...

still as tired as ever, but so much more chilled for reasons that seem quite odd but also cool! on tuesday i wandered for miles and miles and miles-this time not on my own, but instead with a friend i hadn't seen for months... it was good fun chatting, wandering and that was about the sum total of events but its somehow helped to chill me out, and not get stressed by bollocks work and the stuff that sometimes plague a person

times spent in medway were good, the only downpoint was feeling a billion when we were in the old tap'n'tin... £1 drinks! that would have been great fun around 3 years ago but now as old men, we left for the alex where the pints were £3 but you also felt you're age and discussed the rolling stones and astro-physics, especially with an irish friend clad in red jeans like jack white haha good fun

meeting people is easy, but staying friends with some of the best people in the world is good fun... this is the worst thing about leaving uni for me-the people, the work can go fuck itself but its the chatting, hanging out, laughs and drinking that make the university fees worth it... its a lot of money but in my humble opinion its worth it-when life is for the taking, take it! this is the advice i gave to my friend that i wandered about medway with, as university is the place for friends and nice people... you do meet some, what term shall i use erm CUNTS, but you can ignore them and eventually post uni lose contact. not a massive loss, if any loss at all, and respect grows for people who you care about and then respect slips for people who don't give you their time, moan and don't listen, and go against your actual morals... anyway...

link of the day: onlookers on myspace, their new song self hinged brother... brilliant

shower, food, music, work... quite a day!

keep it rockin'

(i'm aware this is a shit update, so don't moan)

the science of selling yourself short

today began with scratching at my door... oh the pleasures of home, cats and parents just circling waiting to say something (cats don't do this well) that will inevitably wind me up, it is basically like being 14 and is so gay, and poo and nipples... witty sarcasm there

i seem to be plagued by a recent move towards blonde females, this by no way means i've forsaken my roots (background picture on my computer is monica cruz, as fit if not fitter than her sister) but it is weird... having visited my friends for her 21st birthday, she had brought back some of her uni friends back to the old medway, and this reminded me of a time in the first year and a regret that has since become obvious

when i visited my friend in halls, i was still sporting the worst decision i have made ever, aka long hair... what a cunt... but yes visiting the cold and foggy south west on a super expensive train ticket, i was visiting the whitest city in the UK (racism doesn't count here, as there are literally no black people-it is like going back in time :S) and my friend therein... i remember playing a few bass licks i had on her guitar (no euphemism) and i think impressing some of her friends/ flat mates, and one of them who is still nice seemed to take a shining to me

...

as a note- this maybe bollocks, but to quote eternal sunshine: why do i always fall in love with a girl who shows me the slightest bit of attention? so back to the story

...

and at the time my friend asked me who i thought who i liked best of her friends and i foolishly named another friend (who i didnt talk to) who wasn't even as attractive, and i believe that this was a diversionary tactic... but yes here i am in 2009 thinking over a bad decision from winter 2006, life is progressing well isnt it...

ah, how ladies play so much of a role in males lives, especially for those who have been single for so long your eyes bleed... those who have almost certainly bold-faced embarassed themselves by admitting their feelings for someone and getting turned down, once or numerous times... those who have stockpiled a ludicrous amount of pornography that gets quite regular viewing due to the relationship status and having a boring life... on the back foot saying you can't be tied down to one lady, or any lady as a way of not admitting defeat... knowing that with all my knowledge i will do it all again-because if you don't do your mistakes again, where will that take you?

however as is written in scripture at the house of doherty, album one track eleven: if you've lost your faith in love and music then the end won't be long... as a philosopher and thinker i take this to mean, make the mistakes as many times as necessary and never learn from the lessons, and call yourself a hopeless romantic, until one day it does pay off, as i truely believe it will- everyone needs to place some blind faith in themselves and their abilities, otherwise they will be in a job they hate, 'content' and living for the piss up at the weekend... more than that please

youtube link: search-american idol faceplant, always funny :)

keep it rockin'

the med way

day one: rainham's culture is done in an afternoon, second hand bookshop for works of the master poets... they didnt quite exist in the bookshop, there were a few but (not to my surprise) the fine people of my corner of medway don't read-OR they are massive collectors of the american beat generation, blake, keats, beckett... i think we all know the answer to this

as james suggested, link of the day: download the documentary on christianity and darwinism... its very interesting and eye opening, facts are hard to come by but this doc looks at the development and historic beliefs towards the bible, creationism, ultra darwinism and the stuff related to the subject... well worth a look as it shows that, unsurprisingly, britain isnt full of bible belt american christians like the lead cunt dawkins says... darwin was a christian turned agnostic NEVER AN ATHEIST! he designed evolution to work with christianity, but for a friend of mine who shall remain unnamed, this seems to be a little remembered FACT, what actually happened and not some horrific wish fulfillment of an oxford don twat making sweeping statements because you hate religion...

very important film, i'm soon to email the guy-a lecturer at university of nottingham-praising his work for giving a voice to rational people on the middle ground, which seems to be forgotten... in praise of reason and the unspoken middle ground!

discussions over belief, michael moore, the middle east and more and more, with little mother dearest... interesting stuff and never before has it happened-good stuff!

tomorrow brings about a drive around town with maths in his car cos he can afford it... discussions also developed my understanding of my future, mixed and bleak... sign on, look for a crap job and get only enough money to survive and then write write write, read, listen to music, make music and make films... hows that for a slice of fried gold? it's a small scale revolution but self-belief and getting others to invest is the plan :) get some moneys for travel, guitar and amp... stay back in my small room and complain whilst working my heart out to go somewhere different, ie london

generation y has a voice, and its me... loving the overstatement? i am, but expect big things-or at least bigger things than nothing from lil old me

beddy byes

keep it rockin'

you're on speaker phone... tits! gonads!

the first post written in the throngs of a sunny and nice day, it essentially means i have to weave a fully worked dissertation in about a weeks time-but it will get done, it always does-it'll be a fucking rush but fuck it!

after messing about with a loop station, distortion, delay, echo and all the lovely effects that james has spent hours pissing about with-i have a new determination in life, and that is to get money for a good guitar/amp set up... get a guitar rigged with P-90s and a nice lil vox/fender amp... yes it is a small fortune, and sure i'm no virtuoso but why buy a shitty guitar when you're not just gonna let it rot in a cupboard somewhere

its a bit of shit quote, but radiohead wrote a song with the name and it is true that anyone can play guitar... and i do know a LOT of guitar players, however i only know of three who i consider truely play guitar-listen to what they love, adapt it on guitar and embrace it... take what already exists, adapt and it make it your own

pretty much all of my favourite bands have done this, and for me thats what becoming good is about... a lot of hard work practice and determination, rather than a cover band *cough* oasis *cough*... there are more than just a handful of bands, there are a mind-blowing number of genres, listen to them... don't have a niche and love it, love all... don't prejudge musicians based on there media representation, ie mike skinner i thought was a chav cunt until i listened to what he was saying, and how it was put together so well... prejudice is the anti-thesis of progress (this is pretentious, and i am 100% aware of that) but has a strong resonance and truth

thats the boring stuff out of the way

i'm being haunted. one of the inspirations for this blog was a bit of facebook stalking, obviously! as if no-one has taken an over active interest in anyone else? no? i'll be in prison on my own then... but yeah she (ooh...) looks fine and dandy but has the same smile in all her photos-this isnt a vast over statement, she literally has a weird grin on every photo... but she is nice, the old conundrum kicks in though-would she like me? no, thats that one dealt with... also height, as being a diminutive lil bugger there arent many females looking for a small, blonde and odd looking male now are there? haha its funny because its true

medway tomorrow, seeing people then back for dissertation... yes!