Monday, October 3, 2011

The Revival Tour 101

So this is my 101st post and it couldn't be a better topic. Last night was The Revival Tour at Rock City. Doors opened at 7.30 and everyone shuffled in to be welcomed by all Dan Adriano, David Hause, Chuck Ragan &, of course Brian Fallon.

The entire gig was crazy, it basically consisted of these 4 guys along with John on Double Bass and Jim on the fiddle/violin all just playing their own music with the aid of each other. David Haus sang on virtually every song but 6. The gig could have lasted 6 hours instead of the 3 hours. It felt kinda rushed and made song selection a little harsh one the less popular ones.

David Hause played first with a few good songs I can't really remember any besides Jane and Trusty Chords. He also did another cover which I think was a Patty Griffin song called Long Rode Home. Chuck kicked it up a gear a bit with some For Broken Ears, California Burritos, Do You Pray along with a few others before ending with The Boat.

Dan Adriano played a few of his own and then a few of Alkaline Trio's song, namely Every Thug Needs a Lady, Blue Carolina & Emma. Brian Fallon played a couple of The Horrible Crowes' songs, Ladykiller & Crush. He also tore a couple in the crowd a new arsehole because they were talking over him while he was talking to the crowd, it was pretty out of the blue and savage. He nailed the rest of the songs and it's always great to hear him sing especially when he plays Old White Lincoln.

So at the end they all came on stage and played a song each, I can't really remember what anyone played apart from Dan Adriano singing I Was A Prayer which was pretty damn amazing. They ended with a song that they sang a cappella then all just started kicking in and going for it. It was a pretty immense experience with such a good vibe of good friends playing good music for a good crowd of people (minus a few idiots)

Here are a couple of videos uploaded to YouTube from last night. Hopefully there will be many more good ones to follow!



Sunday, September 25, 2011

How to be a (better) Man

I have been reading the website The Art of Manliness for some time now and it provides good little insights of age old information and skills you are expected to know as a man but no one really teaches your or shows you. There are a lot of decent articles on the site, some more useful to a select group of people.

The article that stood out to me most recent was this one here. It just give a little bit of a guide into how actually having some sort of routine to your day can make everything that little bit easier. It also shares little gems of information such as thoughts on decision fatigue and how to adapt your day as your life changes. If anything it's worth a quick read to understand what a difference a plan to your day can make.

The website also has a 'Trunk' of useful links to blogs and articles that have either been sourced by the site or submitted by readers

Monday, September 19, 2011

Start of my Tuesday

I have no idea why but this song seems to be a good morning song for me



It's by a guy called Greg Rekus who is a little minnow in a big fucking sea but one of the best minnows around. He is currently doing tours wherever he can in Canada and hopefully be crossing the pond come Spring 2012. Whether it's to play a few gigs or a cheeky vacay, who knows!?

Check him out here

P.s The dude plays with a stomp box, 'nuff said.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Talented Friends Pt.3

New job for me and any resolutions made about updating my blog have well and truly gone out the window.

The third mini instalment of my many gifted friends is actually a band called Hearts & Souls. I have had the privilege of working with their lead singer Lucinda previously so I naturally I had a lot of heads up about their stuff. I'm not going to go in and write a piece of who or what they sound like. It's up to you to make up your mind. Some will not like it I'm sure but for the ones who do, help support a fantastic British band.





If you like the single check here for the iTunes link.

A bit of a lazy and rushed update, least it's an update

Sunday, July 31, 2011

HUCK

Well I have been really lazy recently but have been in the pivotal point of transitioning from professional student into a suit.

I quit my job at Apple, which was a liberating thing and have spent the last few weeks just watching TV shows (Sons of Anarchy is retardedly brilliant) and chilling out with friends. I have also been pushing my liver to new boundaries of alcoholic torture to see what I can really achieve. It showed when I went football training and hurled after a sprint warm-up.

George Street (@george_street) reminded me a few weeks back about my lack of updates and I promised an update, low and behold here it is (3 weeks later than promised).

The main driver that made me want to update today is huck magazine. I get a bit of banter about it being pretentious and likes but it is a well put together magazine in a similar style to Vice minus the crass attitudes and nudity.

Check it out at huckmagazine.com. Also check out gnarhunters.com

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Delta Airlines: Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport

So this is my complaint e-mail I sent to Delta and coincidentally I haven't had a reply from them, shock horror. I tried to write it as if I wasn't me and someone who was trying to be polite about being absolutely pissed off. Yeah it's got an uppity attitude and mild exaggerations but to no avail it seems. Fuck Delta.


"I cannot believe the level of service I received today for a flight to JFK that was delayed and then ended up cancelled. It has ruined my whole plans of flying home to England to be there for the Royal Wedding.

To even say I was disgusted at the lack of service implies that there actually was service when there wasn't any at all. I waited in the line to re-arrange details of my flight. I handed the ticket to the woman, whose name I did not make a note of and she did not so much say a single word to me let alone apologise for the flight being cancelled. She then proceeded to ask me if I knew any other places I could fly through to get to Manchester, UK, which I didn't but I expect people who work for the company day in day out to know this fact.

I had to put back my plans by a whole day, which results in more costs of booking a hotel for the night and then expenses of eating and drinking, arrangements to and from the airports on both side of the trip which is a costly thing.

I'm so outraged sat here writing this, I will never fly Delta again and will be sure to strongly recommend anyone flying with Delta, you are a disgrace to your partners who provide such good service, such as KLM and Air France. I'm not shocked as to what other passengers had to say about there previous terrible experiences with Delta. I picked you guys because you were cheap, I wish I had spent £200 more on a reputable airline that actually caters to it's customers needs. The reason for the flight being cancelled was never explained to me, the plane was there and I saw a crew head down the ramp so I have no idea, an explanation is the start of trying to rectify this terrible level of service"

Sunday, April 24, 2011

My Bad

So I failed on the Song a Day Attempt as it got pretty boring and laboursome and coincided with my visit to the ROC so I have hung off on updating it while I have been here.

I have had an awesome time, seeing lots of old friends and 'family'.

I have drunk copious amounts of decent beer, fired a variety of firearms, ate enough to feed a town in Ethiopia for a month, raved so hard at Wolfgang Gartner my arm nearly fell off, watched season 4 of Dexter, watched some terrible/amazing movies but most of all just chilled out and reset myself before the cuntmass that are my final ever exams before the real world, seriously wish I didn't have to do them but hey ho, I gotta do what needs to be done.

Real world awaits and brings plenty of unknowns, some I couldn't give a fuck about, some are key to where I'm going to be. I'm sure I'll do what I do best and just go with the flow and do what I think is right.

Wednesday I get back in Mans Vegas, living it up for a night there or at Cock City then back to a temporary real world of work, politics, studying, sucking the glass dick etc.

Some of the photos are here. I never take my camera out drinking so those are all stashed away in the old think tank

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 26

I know ow to play a few songs on bass but this one sprung to mind for some reason. Quite a fun feel good song with pretty good lyrics as you would expect from Anthony Kiedis

Monday, April 4, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 25

This is one of the funniest songs from one of the funniest movies ever!

No embed, just link I'm afraid. Click here

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 24

This is a serious request for a song to be played at my funeral. Always has been, always will be.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Friday, April 1, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 22

A song that you listen to when you're sad, it has to be one that lifts your spirits!



Listen without 1911 by the way

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 21

I am always pretty happy when listening to music but this one has a feel good vibe about it.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 20

A song I listen to when I'm angry? I don't really listen to music when I'm angry but one that pumps me up is this tune right here

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 19

I have no single favorite album but one of the first albums I ever liked was Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation by FFAF. Biggest tune I first hear by them was shortly after it's release when I saw it on a stick on a random lamp post near my town.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 17

I don't really listen to the radio so I don't have a song for this, but I'll share this re-worked classic

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 15 & 16

So I slipped up and missed yesterday so I'm going to cheat and bang it in here. There aint much a song that desribes me so I'll put one in that most people listen to and think of me.



A song I use to love but now hate is a tricky one as there are not many songs I can think of on that basis. I went with an obvious one. Abused my nightclubs everywhere, 'oooo increased tempo to give it a club feel' fuck that noise.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 14

I have such a varied taste in music so I don't know if someone expects me to like this or not. Such a soulful tune

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 13

A pure guilty pleasure. So many to chose from but I went with the most homo-erotic melody and vocals

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Monday, March 21, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 11

A song by your favorite band. It was a tough choice between Brand New and Gaslight Anthem, but today is a nice sunny day and this song came straight to mind.

And in the wild desert sun, we drove straight on through the night.
We rode a fever out of Boston.
Dreamed of California nights.
Come July, we'll ride the Ferris Wheel.
Go round and round and round.
And If you never let me go, well I will never let you down.



I also want to draw the attention to this as this was the very first song Brian Fallon wrote for The Gaslight Anthem. Enjoy the demo quality

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 10

A song I can fall asleep too. This song was a standard song of coming in drunk and passing out too. You might recognise it from Trigger Happy TV.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 8

So it had to happen sooner or later, this next one is a Gaslight Anthem song. It could have been one from many but I chose this next one as it's a good sing a long song and of course one I know all the words too as requested by the rules today

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 7

I didn't want to put this song in there as I wanted something more upbeat. I am confused as to how I have not got any Gaslight Anthem in here so far. I'll be sure to put some in soon. So this next song is again related to me growing up. When we were younger we always use to listen to this song to bum us out and piss and moan about how hard shit is when we are having the time of our lives and everything is as easy as it's ever gonna get. The exact event this reminds me of is being in New Jersey with Slaney watching this live at Bamboozle to a New Jersey sunset with thousands of other people, stellar.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 6

This next song is meant to be a song that reminds me of somewhere. It was pretty hard to make me think of a song that reminded me of some place as most songs remind me of a certain point in time somewhere. This song reminds me of the ROC. A year of Neverland. Never growing up but just growing old. It's a nice tune to start a shitty Wednesday with.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 5

Today's song is meant to be about a song that reminds you of someone. I have an infinite amount of songs that remind me about all the amazing people in my life so it's hard to actually pick just one and not offend but I'll have to do it nevertheless.



They know who it is for as it's right here on my arm.

(Note: the embedded video is the best I could find, click here for the official embedded disabled one)

Monday, March 14, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 4

A song that makes you sad. Not many songs make me sad but still was difficult to chose from so I went with the standard for me.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 3

A song that makes you happy. If this does not get you up and jumping about there may be something wrong with you.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 2

Today you have to post one of your least favorite songs For me it has to be Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA. I had to hear this song like 20 fucking times a day on the radio on a kitchen shift during my placement. So hard not to go postal just to try and grab a break from it.

Here it is.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Song a Day Challenge: Day 1

So I'm getting on the bandwagon as I hope to rediscover some old tunes I have seemed to forgot. Day 1 is all about your favorite tune, it's so subjective at the time so I'm just going to pick the song that I always pick on my iPod while walking to Uni, seems logical that it might be my favorite.

Dead Prez - Hip Hop

Missing Film Reunited

I posted a while back now about some guy who had found a roll of film which was taken during a blizzard in New York. He had endeavored to find the person the film had belonged too. Anywho he has just released the third part of the video and it is truly quite amazing. For part 1 click here

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

(W)Hoarder

Today I was working through my Global Marketing notes try to get a grip on some theory for my report (exciting, no?) when Mr. Batho popped up online. Me and Jon have been friends since Year 7 and not once ever had an argument worthy of remembering, we have done stupid shit that friends don't usually forgive friends for, but we do anyways. We have been to plenty of gigs together and some of the best times we have spent together have been outside in the freezing cold waiting to get into the show.

Jon is an electronic hoarder too, he has so many CDs of random videos, text files, pictures and music that it is too hard to comprehend. He has just sent me a piece of writing I did about 4 years ago now and it is absolutely hysterical. I don't wanna share any of it on here as I'm in a very different place and I like to think a much better person. My writing style hasn't changed much though, still very much the same. The piece of writing he sent has literally made my day, I couldn't stop laughing about some of the stunts and the way our minds worked back not too long ago. It's amazing how much naivety and lack of life experience can make such a funny entertaining read. One day I may share it, but for now it's just a personal thing. If anyone remembers the Mansfield days of 'sarging' you will know most likely what literature I'm talking about.

Many amazing songs and little snippets of mine and my friends life have been lost in the digital ether, but it's these little bits that make us remember larger parts of the past. Little digital keepsakes that make us think of happy times and give reason to keep seeking more. A little video of me burning my pubic hair because we were bored or a little song I did because I thought I could sing, these are what make life what it is. I'm not going to apologise for being introspective and possibly pretentious right now, because I believe now and again a little kick start is what you need to get some fuel on the fire and keep you burning long into the night.

When I'm older I hope my failing memory doesn't rob me of these good times, I hope that when I'm grey and old I'll still remember what I am writing right now. My Grandad managed to write some of his life down in a book, it was insane to read what it was like when he was younger. It had left an everlasting impression on me and subconsciously this may be a driving factor of why I bother to post a blog.

I'll be honest when I first started writing this post I didn't expect anything like this to come, the beauty of opening your mind for a split second and letting it all flow out. The problem with this is lack of cohesion in writing, but for my blog and my mind, it's how I do.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Paintball Massacre

Last week was Mr Batho's 24th birthday and we had arranged to go shoot each other with little balls of paint forced through a little metal tube with the aid of a renowned killer, CO2. Paintballing.

It was a mint day, awesome group of guys, who all shared a common trait, a huge competitive nature. Having won the first game very easily we had to play another with only 5 of us against 8 which is safe to say the reason we got tanked on the next game we played. So the day went back and forth and points were shared. Ultimately we won in the end and got our little TopGun certificate along with an invitation to return.

It wasn't so straight forward during the games, there was a lot of paintball etiquette simply thrown out by the opposing team, namely this guy dressed in camo (tool?) who kept wiping paint after being shot or not 'realising' he had been shot. Needless to say he became a target. By the end of the day his head was absolutely battered, it was the only place that he didn't have a single bit of protection. Needless to say during one game, I triggered about 4-5 successive blows right to the shining orb which was his head, it was a glorious moment, lit him up like the night sky on the 5th of November. I came back pretty unharmed, just a battered knee from diving around and crawling in prone position, not realising I was playing in real life and no on Black Ops.

The next night we spent it celebrating Batho's birthday a little more traditionally, drinking with good friends in Mansfield and dancing our little socks off in Liquid. It was an absolutely awesome night, got to see a lot of old friends, some I hadn't seen in years, some a couple of months. There are some really funny photos flying about on the 'book, go check them out.

Updating has been slow due to me being quite busy or being hungover, a huge combination of the first and second, predominantly the first though. This week I'm hoping to get into the Peaks just for a day and I'll endeavor to get some photos to share with you all!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Winter Varsity

So the 19th of Feb rolled around and it was Winter Varsity time again. I have never been before as I have always had work or something else on but this year I made it my mission to go, even sacrificing a lie in on a Saturday morning.

Me, Adam and Lex kicked it off in Champs while waiting on Rob to finish work. Watched the final minutes of Crawley Town's dream fixture play-out then headed in a taxi to Ski Village. When we got in I saw Joel and Aaron with one of their mates. They managed to get in free by sneaking through the top of the hill, classy guys right there. Once we got ourselves a few drinks we heading up the middle of the slopes to watch qualifying. Some big tricks were pulled, some nice rodeos and front flips, from Sheff Uni though, none from our boys at Hallam unfortunately. The riding was fun to watch but entertainment also came in other forms.

Lex was just minding his own business dropping someone a text when he slowly started sliding down the hill before full of face planting it in the mud with beer AND phone still safely in his hands. Only problem was that he had tipped the beer upside down and lost it all, his biggest mistake of his life. It was a moment you had to be there for to full appreciate the hilarity of the situation, it literally hurt to laugh for the rest of the night after that.

Unfortunately for Jon, he didn't see what happened to Lex and made the unfortunate mistake of standing in the exact same place where, not only did he fall down, he actually took some poor innocent Uni girl straight down with him too, it was like see Flamini take out Ćorluka in the mid-week European games. The fall didn't hurt Jon, but I think his pride took a bit of a beating. He recaptured the moment later on in the night, but this time failed to take out any snow bunnies with him.

After all the slipping and sliding on the slopes, we headed back down to the lodge where, unfortunately for us, Sheffield Uni were announced the resounding winners. Nevermind though, I think we showed them how to party like champions. The beer was flowing, random people were pouring beer in my mouth, the favour was repaid in kindness to others passing our group. Straight arm drinking ensued, leading to very messy beards and t-shirts. The DJs were getting naughty with some of the big tunes they were dropping. One point me and Lex were getting jazzy on the dancefloor and we were throwing ourselves about a bit and I ended up smashing my face into his fist, sub-conscious payback for the fit of laughter I was in earlier I think. The night got crazier as it went on and ended up with several people dancing from the rafters, it was literally a mental asylum for snowboarders.

The night ended with a coach ride back to the HUBS and a brisk tired walk home. I collapsed in bed thinking of how I had to be up in 5 hours for work to only be awoken by Jimmy who I had accidently locked out.

All in all it had been one of the best nights out of my Uni life and wouldn't mind reliving it over and over again

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Talented Friends Pt.2

Basically this week and part of next week are hell so instead of having anything expressive or creative to write I'm gonna cop out and let another one of my friends do the talking.

DC has been living in NYC for the last few years and has probably one of the best blogs to read, little stories, music recommendations , sick photos etc. I can't remember the first time I met DC but I remember the last time I saw him. It was somewhere in lower Manhattan near Fat Cat, it was a pleasure as always. The first time I visited NYC DC was kind enough to put me up and I had a sick time riding round Central Park and the streets, I didn't quite have a fun time getting locked outta the apartment, where upon DC's return from work, finding myself curled up on the door mat sleeping.

So that's enough for my mangled brain to handle right now, check it out here

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

A Must Have

Please someone buy me the DVD shown here

An amazingly low budget, raw and gnarly DVD from the guys at Peepshow. Jess Kimura & June Bhongjam & Esthera Preda are the guys that founded the collective. There are some really good riders stapled throughout along with what happens off the snow too. Summed up beautifully by Huck Magazine ' Urban riding, style, fresh talent, beer, boobs and blunts.

A real snowboard film.

Let's Make Better Mistakes Tomorrow from peepshow on Vimeo.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Blotto Photto

I'm sure I have mentioned this blog before but you need to re-discover it, Blotto Photto

The guy is definitely one of the best action sports photographers out there, he captures not only the most amazing motion shots he also captures the not so graceful landings and brings a bit of a human/non-superhero side to the 'athletes'

There is plenty to read in the archives as well so check it out, this guy has been in the game for a long time and been at the top for most of it so take note!

EDIT: He will also post you stickers out for free so you can decorate any of your prized possessions or the lamp post outside your house.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Talented Friends, Pt.1

I have some very talented friends. Some crazy talented some more sanely talented but all still talented.

I have known Matt for years but only became friends with him like 7 years ago. He has always been a creative guy with design work which he had his own business for. Now he is in a different place and wielding his creativity with a camera in hand. Matt's photography is simple but beautiful, putting himself at different angles to his subject to achieve the effect he desires. He also gets plenty of chance to go out to the Yorkshire Dales which makes me a bit envious.

Photography is all an interpretation of the viewer, like any art really. You can check his work out here .

It's in.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Piece of candy!

A nice little edit here from Bataleon from most of their riders during this season. Nice to see some of the guys staying true to their brand and the ideology of the brand too.

Great riding, great music and great brand

1011 BATALEON FAMILY EDIT from MR. B bataleon snowboards on Vimeo.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Skate

I have always had a a fascination with skateboarding. A frustrating fascination sometimes at the fact I can't skate and quite an elating one when you see a friend work really hard to nail a trick before finally riding away clean. This infatuation developed into snowboarding and bmx but there is just something that always brings me back to skating. The culture, the characters, the progression and overall diversity of the skating lifestyle.

I recently watched a short documentary on youtube simply called Canvas: Skateboarding Documentary (Link here) . It really showed what skateboarding is all about. Just hanging with your friends, letting your actions do your talking, having a good time and pushing yourself through physical and mental barriers. The biggest thing that struck me about the documentary was how it was then and how it is now, the clothes, the music, the quality of boards, the brands, the skates, the tricks, all different but the underlying skate culture is the same. Sure now and again you get a clic of absolute morons who spoil it for the rest but they are few and very far between.

One guy who stood out then and who still does now is Rodney Mullen, an absolute geek and legend. He is the biggest skateboarding dork ever but one of the most technically proficient skates to ever ride a plank of wood. In the documentary he is nailing tricks that would look brand new and innovative in this day and age, he has such a rare style that you never really see anymore so it's a blessing he is still on the fringes of skateboarding.

Enough waffle, get watching.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Simple

Recently I have made the effort to start getting active. Not to sure why. I reason to myself it's that whenever I do an activity of some sort I only have to worry about the skill part of it but not the fitness. Since playing football last night, my logic is completely flawed. The only way I can get fit for a sport is to really play it as well as train.


I had a super weird dream last night about Taekwondo. No idea were it came from and it's the second night in a row that people from work have been in my dreams. I can't escape them at all! My new sleeping bag came today though which made my day a bit happier after my pay got fucked up again. It is all part of the equipment I'm building for a little solo camping trick in the peaks.

I'm gonna end with a video now, I have no idea but when I was talking to Jon last night it just came into my head as some form of advice... to a certain degree



All about the hot pink. Too much of a guilty pleasure

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Lomo Vienna Diary: 8th March 2010

I have several updates in my Lomo diary from way back that I feel should have a place on here to fill in some gaps.

Just updated my previous entry online. Jules made one of the funniest videos ever on FaceBook. I will not spoil it. I'll just post the link under here. (Note, I have no idea what I meant at the time of writing this)

Me and Angela spoke today via text.

Just watching the UK Office trying to write in this dam red light.

M&M cookies are yum.

I'm glad my friends are here for me right now.

To Do List:

Clean my room if I don't go riding after work tomorrow.

I need to get all my insurance papers together.

There is loads more which I can't think of right now.

Update NYC blog (yet to be written) and edit photos.

Hope to have all this done by Wednesday night. I'll let you know how it goes.

It went pretty bad.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Revival

Soooo yeah, my blog/motivation died for me to keep this thing going but I have decided, at possibly the worst time ever to start posting on my blog again.

The reason it's the worst time ever is that I am just looking for more excuses to distract me from the mountains of work I have to complete. I have decided that this year be my last full academic year ever and I give someone permission to shoot me if I decide to further my education in the future.

I'm not going to sit here and write about what I have done since my last update as I find it far too tedious and to be frank you may too. This is not to say my life has been boring, it's been one of the best parts of my life. I have achieved so much that I wanted to do. I have done some things I'm really proud of, some pretty I'm much ashamed of.

So as I say no talk about what I have been up to as this is the present and the present is now. 2 things have got me motivated to update my blog. The first one is the fact I watched Into The Wild last night which destroyed me completely. Completed knocked me out and put my brain all over the canvas. One of the best films I have seen, hands down. Secondly is a video my girlfriend had sent me. It's a pretty cute video, the guy narrating sounds like a friendly borderline stalker type of guy but it's still a cool story.