Now This Red Cap Takes A Rap From His Critics.

I have nothing profound or emotionally engaging to write about.

The first blog for blogging sake I guess?

Well in a weeks time I will be at Reading Festival seeing two bands directly from my adolescence. Limp Bizkit and Blink-182 are without a doubt going to be the highlight of the weekend for me and I am grateful that I get to share it with two of my best friends.

Blink-182 became one of my favourite bands thanks to Mr Tom O'Dwyer. After being introduced to their amazing live album in year 10 of school we sang the whole thing pretty much everyday on the German Exchange trip. Getting told off by teachers for the less than radio-friendly lyrics will always be a memory I will share with Tom.

Limp Bizkit. Shaun O'Neill. Could two names ever go more hand in hand?

I don't quite know where the Limp Bizkit obsession started with me and Shaun. There were many times during Sixth Form where we would be driving around instead of being in free periods, or driving into school after nights out feeling worse than wear, when Limp Bizkit and the modern day poetry of Fred Durst acted as the soundtrack.

The refrain to Take A Look around could quite often be heard blasting from the windows of my car as me and Shaun came back into school after a lunch time jolly.

Screaming "NOW I KNOW WHY YOU WANA HATE ME!" with him in a weeks time, undoubtedly on the way to mass inebriation is going to be amazing. I am excited for Reading like a young child on Christmas Eve.

Thursday 26th: The adventure begins. O'dwyer, Peett and O'Neill hit Reading 2010.

Someone better pack the beer bong!

peace.x

It has been a long long time since I last wrote a blog on here.

There has been a few reasons I haven't written anything. One of the main reasons is that I haven't had a lot to use as content. I started this blog months ago as a way of venting my feelings online, and while I was in Stoke I had a lot to vent.

As I've been back in Cheltenham I have been living a relatively easy life. I haven't had anything to complain about for this reason.

For one reason or another I haven't really listened to any new music, nor had the opportunity to go to any gigs to review.

The one gig I have been to this summer that really has stuck in my mind was when I saw Another Breath in Stoke. The show was a really good advertisement for the current hardcore scene.

The support bands really stepped up to the plate and threatened to steal the show. Unrestrained were a small band from America who blew my mind. Between songs the singer talked about how music has effected his life, and he really connected with the audience.

Another Breath played a fantastic set, drawing from material from their most recent album The God Complex. This album has an amazing lyrical content that questions the existence of God and through very auto-biographical writing the album is extremely personal and moving.

Songs such as The God Complex and No God spoke massively to me the first time I heard them, and seeing it live just exaggerated the passion and desire the band put in to their work.

I haven't though about morality and religion a lot since I finished my A-Level in R.E but the lyrics of this album coupled with getting a new job have kick started my mind.

I've started working as a Ward Clerk at the hospital where I live. I was originally sceptical about this job, but in the week I have been working I have started to find a massive amount of respect for both the staff and especially the patients. The ward I am working on is the cancer ward and it is this that has made me think more about the theological world.

As i was walking through the ward I saw the Catholic chaplain going into a patients room.

These are seriously ill people who inhabit our ward and it perplexed me as to how he could do this job.

I do not disrespect people with religious belief, I have just never found comfort in religion.

The question I asked myself was, what does the Chaplain say when he is with a patient.

They have been stricken by a chronic, life shortening illness and are close to death. Does the Chaplain try to rationalise what has happened to them? Does he apologise for the fate that their God has put upon them? How can people hold belief in a God when they're life has hit such a dreadful period?

I question God for this reason? God loves and cares for his people, but if so, then why would anybody with a chronic illness like Cancer be allowed to die?

It does amaze me when you see some of the patients, although they are ill they have a positive attitude that defies belief. I have a massive respect for them

The nurses deserve a huge amount of respect for the job they do. When someone dies suddenly after perhaps being nursed by a small team for weeks or months, it must hurt inside, do they wonder if they could have done more?

Seeing the workings of this tight unit from the outside looking in has given me a new perspective on life.

No matter how hard you think you have it, there are people much worse off, who despite all of their problems are positive.

peace.x

T.V heaven, T.V hell....

The new series of Big Brother is upon us.
And may I add, the FINAL series of Big Brother.
This is the original reality television series and probably the most successful, going world wide and spreading the infection.

I'm not really aware of the past series, but this one has a Circus Theme to it. It is very fitting considering the range of freaks and clowns they have put into the house to battle it out to become the Ultimate C-List Celeb of 2010!

Good luck to all of them I say.

Let every single poser, fake, bitch fight it out for the viewing pleasure of a majority of the UKs viewing public.

Why do we love this type of visual drudgery? Is it because we look at these people and think "there are people worse than me out there" is it because everyone has a secret voyeuristic element inside them and this lets them indulge in this fascination without the stigma attached to voyeurism normally....

When I say "we" I try not to count myself in this demographic.

Big Brother and reality TV: The reason that I stick to listening to music.

Good luck to all the freak, tarts and oddballs.

In other news...

N.W.A and Dr Dre currently playing on my Mac. Straight up Gangster shit!

Peace.x

Know Your Enemy.

Ahhhhhhh where to begin?!

I haven't blogged for a long time as I haven't really had anything negative to rant about!

I've been enjoying my time back in Cheltenham since returning from Uni, last week I had a mini-gathering with some people who I hadn't seen for a while before hitting town.
Staying up til 4.30 playing Fifa, followed by beer for breakfast and a 4 mile walk home at 3 the next morning made for an entertaining evening!

Before all of this happened I got to spend just under a week with my girlfriend as she was back from University briefly.
While we only had 6 days together and with time taken out by work schedules it was still really good times. 6 days seemed to turn into hours though as it always goes too quickly, roll on months together over the summer, hopefully it wont fly by!

Last night I was lucky enough to see Rage Against The Machine at Finsbury Park.
In simple terms, they were incredible. Every song they played was delivered with conviction and energy, this was a band genuinely celebrating their victory against the giant that is the Pop industry.

Highlights of the set for me were Bullet In Your Head, Township Rebellion and Freedom. Every song Rage played was an anthem and the capacity crowd screaming the refrain of "Fuck you I wont do what you tell me!" to Killing In The Name was incredible!

On another note, I started work today. Working on a factory line packing boxes. It ain't glamorous, it ain't fun, it does however pay well!

peace.x

A grey tinge on the summer day.

I just heard the news that Slipknot bassist Paul Gray has been found dead in a hotel room in Iowa.

While I am not the biggest Slipknot fan, I have a few of their albums, but more than that I appreciate how much the band has done for heavy music and how important their debut album was for the rock scene.

Really tragic news, especially as its not long since Dio passed away.

R.I.P Paul Gray.

May Slipknot and all of the associated families pull together and stay strong through this.

Tragic.

Summer.

Ahhhh so the sun has finally decided to rear its head and bless England with some beautiful weather!

Unfortunately I've had to spend a few hours each day stuck inside my bedroom re-painting the walls while my dad is at work as he doesn't want to do it. This has just given me a reason to listen to a stupid amount of music as I work so I'm not too upset about it.
Listening to the new Trash Talk album and lots of old Black Flag gave me the idea to make my painting a little bit more rock and roll so I added my own designs to the wall....

When I have managed to get in the sun I have made the most of it. Today I went t

o play golf with some friends and I was blown away by

what a fantastic day it was.

A few wisps of cloud in the sky and gorgeous sun all afternoon made it great regardless of how badly I was playing.

We were all shocked that there were so few people on the course, but relieved as it meant less embarrassment

when you had to head to the hedgerows to retrieve your ball!

As it was so beautiful I decided to take a few photos of the course to share with everyone else!

Fantastic day out in the sun having a laugh with some mates! Perfect!

To conclude the first of my Summer Blogs I will leave you with the soundtrack to the summer for me.... Mariachi El Bronx.

Down.

Recently I have rekindled my love for Down.

I am a massive fan of this groove laden sort of rock music. Being a hardcore fan primarily it may surprise some people that I like this sort of rock.

Down manage to blend both groove and melody with power and heaviness to create a sound that I absolutely love.

Where the love for Down begins is with their iconic front man Phil Anselmo.
Anselmo has a stage presence that is nothing short of menacing. He prowls the stage commanding his band like troops and challenging the crowd with his eyes alone. Anselmo had a lot of problems with Pantera what with drugs and falling out with Dimebag Darrel. He never got to apologise to Dime, who as well as being a band mate was also a very good friend. This loss affected Anselmo deeply.

His performances with Down show the true power of Anselmo as a songwriter principally and a frontman secondly. He writes lyrics that have real thought and meaning, yet are delivered with true power and aggression.

What I find about Down is that they harness a sense of power. The riffs and vocals ooze control from the speakers. When you watch a live video of the band, they seem to be effortlessly churning out these huge grooves like they were born to do it.

Down are a band who I would love to see in the near future. With rumours of another album coming out I may yet get the opportunity.

I shall leave you, my dear readers, with a taste of Down in full flight. A set I would love to be able to time travel to and watch for myself.

peace.x