music money and vietnam, or thriller?

so michael jackson is still dead... his memorial service was 'awe-inspiring' and caused me to shed a tear. had you fooled, i just watched the highlights and it looked like boredom over 9 hours or so.

also recently dead; allen klein. who is he you say? you are right to ask this question as he was a very important background player. allen klein was in fact one time manager of the beatles and the rolling stones-so only the biggest pop band  and biggest blues/rock'n'roll band that there have ever been [respectively].

so why was he important? because he fucked over the rolling stones and the beatles, mick jagger suggested to macca that he would be good and was then part of the reason the band broke up. [i think that jagger did this on purpose :P] but yes, klein owned abkco records which did at one point own the stones back catalogue before 1971, and i think that this is still the case.

but he didn't work for the rolling stones, and once released from his contract sued the band and won, resulting in the acquiring of the rights to their music. though it seems minor, he got rich off the back of the band-and sued the verve for their use of 'the last time', thus giving sole credit for the song to jagger/richards. the rolling stones did not sue the band, management did.

but klein was described as the price of an education by keith richards, as they seemed to get screwed over so much. joe strummer also cited richards when discussing contracts, as aparently richards prescribed reading glasses to bands-as contract details are often in the tiniest print.

since the stones, bands such as the clash, radiohead and also factory records have protected their own interest. the clash's manager bernie rhodes set up a company called nineden records who bought the rights to the clash's tracks-which the band have said was so so important as otherwise they'd have been completely fucked.

 [the clash, 1976-1983, were in debt to the record label from conception until 1982 due to their drive to be true artists-and release what they wanted taking massive losses on their sandinista album-for which they received no money at the time. it was only after they were strongly told to play the u.s. festival in 1982, for which they got paid $500,000, that they would finally see them out of debt]

but factory records had a 50/50 split between artist and management/label and this was so important-you can't have one without the other. and now radiohead's manager brian message is/has/will be launching polyphonic records which will allow bands to retain their own copyright-splitting profits the same way factory did. well done to him.

so klein provided a dramatic swing in the change for band management and all that stuff, the almost as important backroom drama. but nothing is made of his death, a shame as he seems like an interesting guy, if a bit of a knob.

death number two. robert s mcnamara. again, who is he? he was a former ceo of ford, introduced the seatbelt across the ford range and later had it made manditory, youngest lecturer at harvard university at the time, leader of the world bank and between 1961 and 1968 was the u.s. secretary of defence [spelt in british english, as we invented the language].

for anyone who has seen the fog of war [or is james cleary] needs to read no more as a way of receiving an education on the man. for those who haven't, you should watch the documentary on him by errol morris. i can't review the film strongly enough-its the finest documentary that i have seen [that isn't on a subject i know about, and so i'd have bias].

basically mcnamara [from here on in just rsm] led the u.s. into the vietnam war, and has since come to realise that he may have been a tad heavy handed and not have been justified. his life lessons learnt from the war are the main subject of the film. but he gives a reason for his decisions to do with the war, and his anti-communist feelings. this man helped put his home country into a war that was poo and very fucked up, pitting ideology versus ideology-something not seen before or since [complete lie].

i'm sort of running out of steam of what to say, because partly there are builders right outside my bedroom window who woke me at 8am, i smell as i've yet to leave bed and other factors such as mild boredom setting in. just watch the fog of war-its a brilliant film, despite the forest of mirrors as the sight and sound review said.

but please, take heed and take an interest in these two men.

allen klein and robert mcnamara ftw! mj, just...

keep it rockin'

how can you defend the undefendable?

my day has reminded me of a day a month or so ago (this is absolute toss, i've in fact been mildly badgered into describing what happened by my friend davesimondavesimon)

but we [me, 5'5'' and dave, 6'4'' or so] were walking down the street, we were discussing what we would be doing with our lives in the near future as we were at this time neither graduands or graduates. we were students. so taking a merry wander we were saying basically that we wished to find jobs and the like and we rounded the corner onto portswood high street.

it was a lovely day, i can't remember what day it was but still, and we moved slightly apart to let a man through. there was ample room as we are both nice guys. the man, being in infinite wisdom passed through the gap slightly bumping into my right arm. he was carrying a bag of seed. as dave and i continued on he turned and began to hurl abuse at us-and this isn't even an over exaggeration, people were turning round to see what was going on and purely by chance my flatmate ben was passing by on a bus at the same time.

the mentalist, henceforth called the seed-bag-mad-man, verbally abused us for being students and apparently walking along a road like, i dunno a student? apparently we each walked with a swagger that blared out that we were students-maybe it was our t-shirts that read: look at the way we walk, we're horrifically in debt and will be entering the worst job market in over twenty years- AND WE LOVE IT!

or maybe not. maybe the seed-bag-mad-man was in fact just, as his name entails, a mad man who was in a rush and annoyed that he couldn't feed his mum the seeds that he had purchased.

so here's to you my friend [not dave, he is a stinky willy poo face], but instead the seed-bag-mad-man. i'm no longer a student, i'm on the dole! how dya like them apples?

job seekers allowance. a small amount for doing little, so in actuality it is a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. the daunting task of signing on in chatham happened on thursday, and was made better by the welcoming sight of around 10 chav twat wankers hanging out the front of the building smoking and drinking stellas outside at 11am-nice!

but entering was intimidating, like sex ;) but after getting help up [by this i mean directions-not being carried up the stairs like a lame wimp] to the 1st floor for new claims you escape the real shitters of society and are greeted by people who simply help you out and are great... i was very impressed.

so next friday i must attend and officially sign on and prove i'm looking for jobs, lying time! who knows i may well get something... not likely!

now to assault pop music, a favourite hobby of mine :D

muse. i've had at them before, but this time i must assault them further. at rainham mark grammar school [especially the sixth form] i was nearly the only person to not like them, and i stand by this claim. i appreciate they are technically good [as in good on there instruments not technically technically etc] but here is their new album title... ready?

the resistance

and the tracklisting is thus:

1. uprising

2. resistance

3. undisclosed desires

4. united states of eurasia (+collateral damage)

5. guiding light

6. unnatural selection

7. mk ultra

8. i belong to you (+mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix)

9. exogenesis: symphony part 1 (overture)

10. exogenesis: symphony part 2 (cross pollination)

11. exogenesis: symphony part 3 (redemption)

delete tracks 4, 7 and 9-11 :) and i'm happy, the rest are bearable

matt bellamy stop trying to be a poo radiohead, thanks!

but having discussed previously with friends, what is pretentiousness? is it the clash doing a hip hop/rap song before any other white artist? is it morrissey with his impassioned yet annoying manc singing voice? is it me with my mild guitar playing and poetry writing abilities? is it mick jagger singing like an america and hailing from dartford? is it david lynch never describing his films? is it the dark knight escaping a harsher certification simply because it was 'fantasy' and had no swearing?

the pretentiousness is generally the antithesis of what you like, if it challenges you and you don't like it you can write it off for being pretentious. its not trying to better yourself or do something different is it? i say this because i don't like muse and find their naming of songs utterly shite and uber pretentious. i also hate being told to listen to them saying they are good. i appreciate them, that is the end.

same with michael jackson. i appreciate him, but when confronted with a statement suggesting that his death was worse since lennon-just no. i won't even get started-i shall simply name three names, johnny cash, joe strummer and george harrison.

in terms of michael jackson-it seems to be that you can't make jokes about him, it's too soon! and also that you shouldn't see his professional career through his personal life. ok, that's fine.

wait no! if this is the case, gary glitter is a great singer and never a paedophile twat, brigitte bardot is the former beauty queen of the world and not a horrific human being [she was married to the leader of french national front, and has been in court for citing racial hatred].

in the case of michael jackson, he was acquitted of his charges-however once you are termed as a paedophile you will never lose this term. especially when you are a race changing man who held his child over a balcony and is clearly not in his right mind. his childhood was fucked up, but the victim doesn't have to turn to be a victor [couldn't think of the correct opposite phrase].

you could instead of having children sleep in your bed, ya know instead set up a charity foundation... use your talents (which i've never doubted he had) to raise money for the cause and not take media attention surrounding your family life.

but he is dead. his talent is gone and will be missed, but his eccentricity and questionable behaviour will not-and in fact he shall be the butt of many a joke because of this. something that i agree with.

i have more to say, but i wish to not bore.

keep it rockin'

this is the med-way

icanhascheezburger.com, what a site!

on a morning where the world is mourning for michael jackson-you can always rely on lolcats... what is the appeal though? why is the juxtaposition of pictures of cats and internet slang phrases so funny (it is before you question it)?

they seem to make me laugh like a total arse, it makes me act like a total child, just kittehs looking straight into the camera is funny... too cool!

my internet browsing is so poo, my list of websites that get a regular viewing is pitiful... nme.com, wwtdd.com, news.bbc.co.uk, facebook.com, sussed.soton.ac.uk and hotmail.com. such an extensive list...

right! onwards in a not so rambling way, the above is scatter shot.

so medway, i'm back and enjoying it. the pub quiz being a focal meeting point for all us lads (oop) to meet up and that, with my parents, and from what we've learnt i was right about the term pebbling-it IS to do with curling... so thats that. signing on next monday, getting a cv sorted as well, to get some money (mother dearest just informed me of how much my parents have spent putting my brother and i through university, and simply fuck!) and start to live again.

in the mean time, i shall have a bath and then head to the rainham library for a writing session, who knows what my weird, wonderful and frankly pretty damn sexy mind shall come up with! ego trip, thanks!

re-watching the documentary, boys and girls alone, which is great! watched blue britannia also yesterday, gorsh darn i love keith richards-his voice is so intriguing, like a real world weary bluesman :) the delta folk seem inclined to pick up a guitar and spin a web of sound! estuary punks for the win.

more ramblings when more stuff happens...

keep it rockin'

an ending fitting for the start

"this is the end, beautiful friend." (the doors, the end, the doors)

apocalypse now and that... more on that later!

i'm currently recreating the film and music room on the fifth floor of the university of southampton's hartley library within my room, which is now bereft of 99% of its personality. at least i can sit in my underpants in my room, however memories are conjured up of a recent escapade where wearing 'fit' pyjamas in the room did in fact happen...

so yes, university is more or less at an end... lectures have ended, people are going home, no more essays have to be written and the very last £50 lays sitting in the overdraft waiting to be spent. from october 2006 until june 2009-university has occurred, all the memories exist somewhere lodged in my head from the first and second years, but for me it is the enjoyment of the third year that has really made university worth its weight in paper gold.

there seems to be a direct correlation between fun levels and money levels, as one goes up t'other plows down haha but does that matter? no! can you really put a price on meeting innumerable people? no!

i can name you plentiful names that mean the world to me, and these people would never have been met had university not occurred...

for all the drink, sleep, learning, gigs, fred perry's, waitrose products, banter, laughs, no's, dancing, films, shouting, making connections, music, dust, sport, sunburns, dvds, knocking on windows, smiles, singing and lazy days.

an extended holiday with all your best friends, that is what university has been. a holiday away from the mundanity of real life, the foreboding loss of real life in place of hard work and boredom in a meaningless 9-5 shuffling paper and having to work on things that you care so little about that within 5 years you have deluded yourself into thinking that you do care about it and that to get somewhere in life you forego fun in place of a 48 hour sleep session at the end of a week, or failing that starting a family and then losing the next 18 years, if not more in caring for them (i feel considerable more sympathy to a family man than a drunk man).

am i a well read genius? did i enjoy every single minute of it? did i get a girlfriend?- no, no and erm no

am i a more rounded person? do i have a long list of new life ambitions? am i going to be very emotional when saying goodbye to everyone?- yes, yes and almost certainly yes

as a first time for using capitals (sort of) in this blog -this is my declaration of gushing love for university and more than anything the people i've met and now know! THANKS UNIVERSITY, THUNIVERSITY!

"without people you're nothing" joe strummer

as a brief return to the opening of this blog post, brando is quite an overrated arse... i don't know how people can think he is good-he brings his pompous, arrogant and annoying character to the film... overpaid and nostalgic poo man! martin sheen had a heart attack, went mentally ill and gave one of his finest ever screen performances, well done he!

keep it rockin'

face for the radio

i have a face for the radio, thats all...

thats not all, for now i have free reign to ramble on and on!

but faces, they are a weird thing arent they? yes they are. i'm currently writing this with a flask of lovely coffee in the film and music room on level 5 of hartley library, and there is a very attractive female behind me working away-and by work i mean just being very attractive, and distracting lil old me from this business of writing just 1000 words-this write up bollocks...

but i shall tell a tale of this female, with straight forward descriptions... really well styled dark hair, history student, very attractive, quite mouthy but worthy of my attention :)

here it is, this is the truth: looks are important!

for all those that deny this, just stop it. its not being vain to look for a version of beauty/attractive that you like, and there are no two ways about it-you have to find someone attractive to make any sort of emotional bond with them... it annoys me when people (yes i know more than one person, i'm amazing) say 'oh i went out with her cos she has a good personality', and so the fact they are very good looking doesnt come into it? just admit it.

i raise this point as i am a victim of prolonged singleness, nothing i can really do about that is there? if you have any ideas, please do tell me. but yeah, i can declare from the roof tops that i wouldnt go out with someone i didnt find physically attractive! and i am well aware of this from the flipside of the coin, because as well as suffering from singleness (8.6gb says this is a fact, haha) i also suffer from being 5'5'' and not being the most aesthetically pleasing gargoyle there is. i think i've an ok personality, but facts say otherwise-i need to find my fundamental flaw and get it repaired... or better than that find someone without looking for them, this seems tricky... answers to life's problems on a postcard please :)

but yeah i have a friend who is a talented singer, and there is no doubt about that and she is trying for x factor, again. the problem is here that she is not particularly attractive, and would be as good a popstar as rick waller (also from medway, thanks!) the tragedy for me is not that to be the perfect popstar you have to be attractive, this just is a fact-and one i shant argue with, but the tragedy is that this poor female is somewhat deluded into thinking that she maybe a success... i will back her 100%, but she just won't win, its a somewhat lost cause... she would be a good backing singer, and thus i believe she should try this

after sending a copy of my cd (well mine and rob's cd) to my parents, my mum's hairdresser and friend sharon said i should go on on x factor... i retorted with my face for the radio remark, but my mum countered with the term (or name if you like) mick jagger... quite true, and the annoying pixie face cunt matt bellamy from muse, but they are rock stars-thats what i want, thanks :) the path has been cleared for me!

on the subject of uggos and talent, susan boyle... bless her... but don't treat her like a commodity, it really annoys me (this must be hypocritical having just moaned about the opposite, yep thats the definition of the term) when they (who are these they? my answer the media, i'll be broad) were so surprised, its not like ugly or not conventionally/at all attractive people have talent? its retarded how she is patted on the head for her talent, which she undoubtedly has, because of all people PIERS 'SHITFACE' MORGAN and AMANDA 'SIMPLETON' HOLDEN think she is worth being basically laughed at behind her back (like a fucking freak show)

hang on, fuck x factor if britain's got talent takes on uggos-lets get me there! now to discover a talent, well everyone knows i'm a ladies man... thats gotta be a talent :D

keep it rockin'

numbers and words

i bloody love numbers... 21, 1, 0, 2:2, £-20,000... they really instill a sense of hope within you! at least the first three numbers, which are dull and boring are better summarised by a song from 1965 which made an entire supply of a product sell out-(i can't get no) satisfaction... i bloody prefer words to numbers, much more fun and upbeat, for example paul hardcastle's na na na na na19. vietnam war in song, 'vietnam the musical' great :)

i'm not an annoying english student who judges people for not reading books, as i myself am a tad guilty of not reading... well this is untrue! but i read lyrics to songs, jokes on websites, reviews of films, film scripts, short stories, cereal packets, swine flu leaflets, poetry, street signs, t-shirt slogans, dvd covers and the headstocks of many a guitar... novels are lost on me! i'm not gonna be an extensive reader of trashy paperbacks, hard hitting hard backs, entertaining red tops, literary masturbating broadsheets, just plain funny black tops and other works of fiction (the bible-satire!)

i shall return to subject of words in a bit, but there is a car parked outside my room (old red renault clio) which has a small badge saying versailles on it. this is much like the yellow 'peril' in the inbetweeners which is a cinquecento hawaii, which i think is fair enough... but a versailles clio? name it after the place in france where germany had the entire first world war blamed on themselves-condemning the world to another world war? sure the treaty of versailles officially ended an horrific battle (series of, as its a war) but also it did the aforementioned of being a key trigger for the election (DEMOCRATIC, may i add, the nazis were elected) of the worst western european maniacal power since the UK (oop political) and its heavy handed ruling of well just about the whole world

all i'm saying is; sure paris is possibly an overused logo for france but versailles? yes! thats our choice, not champagne the unofficial home of fizzy wine, bordeaux another home for wine, marseilles, nice, la rochelle (thats for my generation :]), corsica... i could go on... point proven? then on with the word play (or word gay, mr gillespie)

i like reading, just not what i'm told to read... escapism? music and film (where the wild things are by spike jonze looks exceptional) cover this... enjoyment? music, friends and film... art? music, friends, film and art... and i'm out of reasons to read a novel... unless a friend has written it, i wont bother reading it!

t-shirts... i saw someone a while back wearing one saying 'i facebooked your mum' i found this funny, i also saw someone wearing a t-shirt that said 'iPood' i found this funny, i also saw someone wearing a t-shirt that said 'iBooze' i nearly went mental! the first two show arent high brow humour but have some wit, the last was on someone i can't remember... option a: science student, hopefully this is wide term that others will understand what i mean (example, simon the comp geek from the office) option b: a rugby sorta person, a lad... i've bemoaned them before and will do so until they fail to exist, but these people are the scum of university life...

they might as well say, aherm: AM i a LAd?! aM I EvA!!!!!!! i have literally nothing in my life apart from drinking, my friends are all the same and we have fun doing it!!!!!!!!! i dont mean to judge (and make sweeping statements), but get some hobbies... i drank four cans of fosters, then i put the empty cans on a hardhat, i'm mental!!!!!!!!! is this really the state that society is in? brilliant... don't get me wrong, i love drinking and do it with my friends but i also things like moan (hopefully in a somewhat articulate manner) and get barely educated, try the same? or die! thanks

'i want you to be crazy, cause you're boring baby when you're sane'

the road to hell is paved with good intentions

business coffees with jews, nice!

to work or not to work? that is the question... the futility of an essay that shall do nothing more than boost my chances of doing nothing in july! ah yeah

band names, this herein is a rambling moan about band names. if you're forming a band, THINK about the band name... obviously the band's name is reinforced by the sound of the band/person themselves but some require thought, here is a list of band names that are not great but genius:-

the streets, slayer, the rolling stones, black sabbath, cream, metallica, sonic youth, the smiths and obviously as my choice the clash

these band names are tripe:-

does it offend you yeah?, ting tings, the enemy, linkin park and dananananakroyd

the tripe list is noticably shorter, BUT buy a copy of the NME or any music magazine and you'll find around 20 bands with names that are bad... in my humble opinion a good band name can sell the band and make it big, or just people will go-thats a good band name, i shall listen to them... if you're forming a band, there shouldnt be an essay that explains the name-it should either be there when you strum the first chord and spit the first lyric...

one of the first rules is dont bore your audience (the wall and pink floyd), or for that matter anyone

point two- DO NOT DRESS LIKE A CUNT, JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A GAPING WHOLE IN YOUR LIFE WHERE YOUR PERSONALITY SHOULD BE! having just found images of an old school friend wearing the most ridiculous get up, stop trying to be skinny cool and be yourself... also wearing sunglasses inside is as cool as getting punched in the face- which 'weirdly' will happen if you persist in dressing like a knob... know how you look, your limits and if you dare to challenge these limits do it with a huge sense of irony and sarcasm... and i mean huge, plaster it on your chest because by god the world will see you for who you are, a dick!

sean lock- if you're introduced to someone who's a character you aren't going to meet the next [insert intelligent writer/ philosopher/ thinker  as i fail to remember his example], you're gonna meet someone who puts their dick in your pint. or just can't walk past a shop without trying on their hats

i shall now commence in an armitage shanks defecation scenario... for fuck sake i love chris morris