Barbershop Quartet

Purely for self amusement, I have been trying to convince a few of the guys at work to form a Barbershop Quartet with me, and just to show them how dapper we would look, I did a quick mock up of the four of us on Photoshop. From left to right, Grant, Me, Mark and Dean...check me out, looking sublime on that stool! :)

Electronique Soundz (da da) by Clem

Check me out in this far out futuristic music video, playing a three handed keyboardist!!!

25 Things about me

1. I don’t like going to café’s, sandwich bars, fast food counters or anywhere where the menu is on the wall behind the counter, because my poor eyesight means I can’t see what they have to offer and I don’t want to make a tit of myself when the person asks what I would like to eat.

2. The first album I ever bought was ‘Jagged Little Pill’ by Alanis Morissette, I still love this album to this day and play it regularly.

3. When I was at school I used to tell people I hated Rugby and sport in general, and would never get involved in PE, but I secretly played for a local Rugby team outside school. I still haven’t got a clue why I did this?

4. The only material thing I want in life, is my own home.

5. My secret ambition in life would be to star in a cult comedy series.

6. I hate people that borrow things from me long term because they heard 'I want them back as soon as possible' as 'please keep them forever'. Hey I paid £10-15 for that CD/DVD so yeah I want it back. I want my guitar tab books back, what I lent you, so you could learn a particular song and never gave back.

7. I once had a den and tree house on a huge roundabout which we called “The Island” I miss my childhood.

8. I grew up on the largest council estate in Europe (called ‘projects’ in the US I think).

9. I have a phobia of going into the sea. Ever since I saw Jaws as a kid I have had a fear of the sea, not just for getting attacked by sharks or giant squid or whatever, but mostly because you don’t know what is beneath you.

10. I miss every dog I ever owned and look forward to meeting all of them again on whatever plane exists outside of this one.

11. Although I respect anyone who joins up to fight for their country, I wonder were they find the motivation, when they are fighting for someone else’s big salary, pension and big city bonus, I couldn’t do it.

12. The first gig I went to (not including local bands) was Peter Green’s Splinter Group

13. My favorite meal in the whole wide world is Sausages, mash potato and onion gravy, followed closely by Mash potato, beans and Steak and Ale Pie, followed closely by Madras Curry.

14. I own a Fender Stratocaster and her name is Mary Jane.

15. My top five favorite movies ever are (1)Aliens (2)Predator (3)Ghostbusters (4)High Fidelity (5) Shaun of the Dead

16. I dislike ambitious people and find them very disturbing.

17. My favorite song ever is ‘Heard It Through The Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye.

18. I think that ice hockey is the greatest team sport ever invented. I would follow/support it if I lived in the US.

19. I was once banned from the local ice arena for 9 months, for fighting with fairground Gypsies.

20. I will always feel guilty because I once had a fight with my younger brother and broke his hand, meaning he could no longer play his drum kit, because his hand starts to cramp and ache.

21. I was very shy when I was younger (still am to some extent) but I have always pushed myself into situations which force me to conquer my shyness, I nearly pushed myself too far once when I joined a band as lead guitarist, and almost fainted after playing the first song, when everyone started clapping I suddenly felt very self-aware.

22. I have hated almost every moment of being employed by other people, but on the flipside, I have met some brilliant people and made some good friends through my employment.

23. I will be 31 on 2^nd March and still don’t know what I want to do in life, I just keep drifting through life with little care and attention, but every now and again I have a little panic and wonder where I will find a woman who I will settle down with and have children, then on another day I ask myself, am I really bothered?

24. I hate greedy and ruthless people who seem to need more then most people and will stop at nothing to attain it. True capitalists! Oh yeah, and twisted people who only seem to feel happy when they are dropping you in the shit or trying to make you feel unhappy.

25. The first movie I ever went to see at the cinema was ‘Return of the Jedi’ with my uncle Tom. The first movie I ever went to see on my own with friends was ‘Home Alone’.

Rubbish Eyesight And A Lack Of Protestors

A shot of the Humber bridge from the south bank, taken from the window of the car on the return journey.

What I think is an interesting looking part of the oil refinery.

Local and national news teams report on the workers strike.

Today was my driving test, I had a 1.5 hour driving lesson before hand and afterwards my instructor said he thought I would easily pass my test (providing I could get through the eyesight part) going on my standard of driving over those last 2 or 3 lessons.
Unfortunately I didn't get through the eyesight part of the test and was not able to read a number plate from 20.5m, getting 2 of the 7 digits wrong. So I didn't even get to drive the examiner about so he could asses my standard of driving. As a result I am not legally allowed to drive a car at all and can no longer take lessons.
I hope I can go back to my optician and squeeze a little bit more from my prescription but know this is unlikely as my problem isn't one that can be corrected with specs or any form of surgery. I have a genetic eye disorder called 'X-Linked Retina Schisis' which is a desease of the nerve tissue in the eye. It effects the retinal cells in the macular (the central fixation point of vision in the back of the eye, and is also the area responsable for fine detail) but I had to give driving a go or I would never have known if my eyes were good enough! Anyway I personally curse the DVLA/DSA to a thousand years of bad breath and vow to give them all a Chinese burn!

This afternoon my friend Rob and I decided to take a drive over to the other side of the Humber bridge into north Lincolnshire to mingle with the Lindsey Oil Refinery protestors.
Workers had been angry a sub-contractor was "excluding" british workers in the way it was importing a ready made workforce from Europe. This sparked a number of similar protests around the country over the last week!
Unfortunately the protestors were nowhere to be seen, as they had gone to a meeting to discuss a possible end to the protests and therefore scuppered my chance to get some gritty monochrome photo's of the workers protesting with their placards!
Rob was also interested in talking with the protestors and gaining their views on the matters!

A bit of snow!

This was the scene at 5:45am in Hull city center, as I spent 35 minutes walking to work this morning. A bit of snow and the country falls to pieces, with lots of people not making it into work all over the country today......tut tut!

Feeling happy over the past few days as I can now make/record music again. It is almost exactly a year since I last recorded an album due to various issues, but now I'm good to go, the only thing is that the ends of my fingers have gone soft, so I quickly get sore fingers when playing my guitar. I reckon it'll take a few weeks before I'm back up to a reasonable standard, and my fingers stop feeling sluggish.

Driving test on Wednesday morning, starting to feel a little apprehensive, although it could be canceled if the "extreme" weather does get any worse! That would be annoying because I'm well and truly fed up of walking to work in the freezing cold every morning!