.....on playing live

After seeing The Who last Saturday, it has really given me the taste for live performances again! I have been in touch with a mate who has also been considering starting another band, and we are going to be getting together in a few weeks for a few jamming sessions over at his house, I just have to purchase the above bass guitar first.....it has been calling my name from the ethereal plains in which a musical instruments consciousness exists, asking me to buy it and give it a name.
So once i have it, I can get practicing and hopefully be playing live again. The downside to this, is that I will have to put the keyboard I was going to buy on hold, and subsequently the music I have been creating at home on my computer will temporarily be put on hold, unless I can use any of it live of course!

The Who

Had a brilliant evening yesterday! I went to the KC Stadium (Hull) to see the who play as part of their European tour, it was pretty fantastic, one thing that really impressed me was the accompanying visuals which were stunning! A large screen which split into four separate screens which moved about in the background, it was great! I only had my phone with me, but I did manage to capture these pics. I made sure I had the best sound as well, I stood in front of the sound monitoring station. What did make me laugh was that after 40 years of playing the same songs, Pete Townshend still can't get those fast guitar licks down town to a T, still, when it comes to chord work he's still a master. Went to the pub after for a couple of beers! It was a good laugh standing in the crowd for 4 hours, although my knees were tired and painfull by the end, I got soaked in beer that people were chucking about the place, and watched as some guys had a fight just in front of us!

Meet Metalrock

Recording has begun!

Layla

Me

The Dogs with the old man

Seeing as it was a nice weekend weatherwise and seeing as it was also a long Easter bank holiday weekend, we decided to take the 20 minute drive to the beach, it's the first time the 2 pups have been, as you would expect, they loved it!

I have now finally begun recording some new songs, and despite my limited equipment, and the lack of a real drummer, I have managed to get some good results. The songs are not finished yet, I still need to buy a keyboard and a proper recording microphone to add some vocals, but I am pleased with my progress. Over the last 4 days I have recorded 6 songs, 5 are proper ones and one is a comedy "piss take" song, for my less serious side which goes under the banner of 'Legend of Sid' of course all songs will appear on my 'Myspace' pages when completed. I have managed to record everything in one take so far, which is what I wanted, as I don't want my songs to sound too perfect, I like to have little mistakes and errors in there, it keeps things sounding real!
When I get a keyboard and recording mic, I intend to record a new song every 1- 2 weeks, some for my serious side and some for my Legend of Sid act!

A bit of art

I finished work early today so I decided to spend a bit of time doing something arty, the above picture is what I painted but with a photoshop swirl added for good effect!

Metalrock's house party & Peter Levy

Last night saw the 14th 'Bi-monthly Peter Levy Apreciation Get Together' which now boasts over 3 members. We meet every other month to celebrate all things naff! One rule....all members must wear a Peter Levy mask at all times...to hide their true identity? Justr take a look at 'Big Chief Lollypop' in the picture above, I don't know if that is his real name, but he certainly is a nice guy. I can honestly report, a good time was had by all! For those not in the know, Peter Levy is a local BBC news presenter!

On Friday I will almost certainly be attending my friend Metalrock's house party, he is a bit of a character and I will try to get a pic to post here, after the reports of his last party, it seems it is not something nobody would want to miss! Last time he got a little bit drunk and stripped down to his underpants and danced like a maniac, telling everyone he is just like Jean Claude Van Damme and then jumped up onto his guitar amplifier which was on top of a heavy chest of drawers, where it then all collapsed on top of him causing a bit of facial damage, with a crowd chanting Metalrock...Metalrock....Metalrock.....Metalrock, errr...... so it should be fun!

Why apples are bad!

As a blogger, I should be in love with Apples. After all, I have an orange and a Banana at home - however, the culture and identity of an Apple leaves much to be desired in my opinion. They are notoriously closed, have rarely embraced any of the potential of social media, and a corporate policy discouraging active participation in the many Apple communities online. None of these are new complaints I am sure, but the one that seemed to be picking up steam in the early part of this year was criticism of an Apple's obstructive "Eastender" policies governing fruit purchased from Walford market. In response, Christopher David Smith recently created waves in the “fruit produce” industry by publishing an essay where he defends an Apple's stance on Digital Hair for fruit by outlining how the big 4 fruit manufacturers have forced Apples into this situation and that it could be solved if only these big labels would allow Apples to be sold stalk-free. It was reading that essay that inspired this post. At the risk of sparking disagreement with many readers of this blog who are loyal Apple fans - here are my three big reasons why I am not an Apple enthusiast:

1. Aside from Product Design, Money Comes First: There is a very customer-centric approach to product design by Apples, but when it comes to marketing products - moneymaking seems to come first. A "granny smith" configured for a UK market, cannot be used on a fruit stall until they are reformatted. You no longer get a power charger with any piece of fruit - THAT must be purchased separately. The "green my apple"campaign is a great collective example of all the policies that Apples have which are anti-green. Ironically launched by a group of admitted Apple enthusiasts, the website does a great job of breaking down the popular myth that Apples are a green environmentally-friendly fruit.
2. Two Sided Approach to Digital Hair - Despite this fruits recent efforts to deflect criticism of an Apple's DH policies to the movie studios, the current situation works in an Apple's favour. Most fruit that is purchased on fruit stalls can never be used on any other London based soap opera, or moved out of the edible product range shelves. Even if all fruit is opened up, the situation would still remain the same.

1. Spoiled Brat Reputation for Business - As well as the brilliant VH1 ads of the "I'm an Apple" campaign... Apples do have a bit of a reputation among wholesale fruit companies as the spoiled brat that always wants what it wants regardless of rules or laws. They wanted the Golden Delicious name, so they took it. They notoriously control marketing and PR - not letting any partners speak about any initiatives unless they allow it. The "green fees" for working with Apples are very high, as any reseller, vendor or supplier would tell you. It is like negotiating with a child, and often seems like a necessary evil for doing business with Apples

So be warned!!!