New week. New music.

In the mailbox to review this week:
Huron (sampler)
Tripswitch 'Until' (alb)
Papa Roach 'Hollywood Whore' (sampler)
Heaven's Basement (sampler)

HURON
A hefty dirty rock band from Plymouth whose amusingly-titled debut album Cheyne Smoking can be found out 20th April on Rising Records.
'Lust Of War' is all killer riffs and gritty vocals (that sound gloriously like old Anselmo at times) with indulgent slices of playful guitar thrown in. 'Killer In New York' fades into filler territory a bit but 'Pain Is Me' gets back in the stoner vibe with a poisonously infectious chorus. Awesome.
Catch them touring the UK wth Viking Skull and 101% Pantera!

PAPA ROACH
So, the bugs are back in town. Bizarrely, though, the sampler they've chosen to send out features a couple of cheery old tracks among the new, and single 'Hollywood Whore' sinks fast when compared to punchy favourite 'Getting Away With Murder'. It starts with some angsty singing and chuncky guitar action but the chorus drags painfully and you're left with a serious need for release. Complete with a melodic whining from frontman Shaddix and rhythmic repetition about tearing yourself open, 'Scars' isn't much better, remaining the sort of unmemorable track you'd expect to find at the emotional peak of a teenage rom-com. Ho hum.

Beer'n'Blood

Born Sweden, brought up in Spain, living in London and rocking the satisfyingly slick age of 28...I am proud to announce that I am no longer a UFC virgin :-)

Yes, friends, this weekend I didn't just survive, but massively enjoyed, my very first trip to a live fight. 5hrs of live fight, in fact.

I have to admit that however much I'd been looking forward to the experience, I did have some reservations about heading down so early (5pm? On a Saturday? I'm barely out of bed!!)...to collect tickets to an event I had no idea what to expect of...only to get most probably get lost in an area I'd never been (have you any idea how big the O2 is??!!) and pay extortionate prices for beer. That, and being seen cheering on Knock Outs and blood spillage by fellow employees who also got free tickets to my seating section.

But no, it was freaking awesome: Purple cage lights, blasting music, OTT american commentators and bikini-clad gals holding 'Round 1' cards...what more does a Saturday evening need? Beer and blood, you say? All good, not to worry, there was that too. Bargain!

Seriously, though, after a few hours hearing about fighter wins, loses, specialities and profiles, and watching outcomes ranging from instant KOs and painful ankle locks to surprise high kicks and crushing cage mash-ups, I actually feel I'd be well up for following it on TV too. True, I'd miss the bizarre intro music and mad audience (shaved-headed scousers and glammed-up dolly birds being two key features) but I think I'm enough of a convert to cope until the next time I can see my newly adopted punk champ Dan Hardy knock someone flying live :-)

And to think I was considering sacking it off for a BBQ in the sun!

My Learning Curve.

 

While I'm here...I've chucked some more up in order to keep me bettering them in the coming weeks.
The mission starts now.

One of those days :-(

I drew this a little while ago, but think it pretty much summarises today's mood. Mid-week blues, maybe? ;-) Lack of hardcore? Or maybe just a niggling concern that I will need to be rather more fluent in french and spanish if I am to succeed in traveling as much as work's about to demand...?

Back to drawings, though... My work mate (and drawing master extraordinaire) keeps telling me to focus less on surface and clothing and more on body shape... As with all my current attempts, the above is still a little 'flat' I feel, but at least the vibe seems to be improving... Thoughts on a postcard?

More to follow when I get a moment to myself. Naked ones this time. I promise!

Metal and all things rawwwwwwk.

Life's looking up!

Got given tickets to UFC this Saturday in London - Rrarrrr!

Been ok-ed to review 36 Crazyfists and Poison The Well early March, which will no doubt lead to a well-meaning Crobar visit with Luke, Brock and co and ensure I hurt muchly that weekend - ah, yes, inhcwetrust

Got the date confirmed for AC/DC gig in April and, oh yes, I am in the country :-p

All set to snowboard next week :*)

..and pole dancing classes FINALLY start again on the 10th March - bruises anyone...? (gulp)

BRING IT.

Blood worm

A curious weekend.

It started fairly sanely: 4pm beer-o-clock at work, a few drinks in Soho, a Korean BBQ with old school mates...spiraling slowly into beer and spiced garlic shots at the infamous and always best avoided Garlic & Shots on Frith Street. Even so, a fairly average Friday.

Saturday - Valentines Day for some - was cheerily uneventful too; bad hangover tv with my best mate, a trip to Cyberdog (it's moved!) with the credit card and a banter with flatmates.

Sunday, however, was quite frankly odd...

My flatmate was severely hungover after a night out on the town with a stripper who gave him her number last week instead of dancing for him 'because he looked nice' (a box every man should tick before the age of 30, me thinks!) and decided his frogs were starting to starve and he needed more frozen blood worm.

(cough) It's about now I have to point out he once had 6 dwarf frogs up there, and now has 2...not a good pattern for a lawyer.

So...my two flatmates and I set off on an Anica-style hunt for an aquarium both open and selling frog food at 4pm on a Sunday. Clearly this was a bit of a mission and the first shop was unsurprisingly shut, so I rocked out the trusty Android and Googled local aquatic shops. It would seem that there is no shortage of them 'up North' so we rung a few and checked on frog food stock and closing times. As we were doing this (reading out search results and taking it in turns to ring and hassle) I came across the gloriously named 'Fish Guy' who came complete with a mobile number and a nearby address...but sadly didn't pick up the phone. One flatmate was just about done getting directions to a shop with supplies, though, when said Fish Guy (or Barry as he introduced himself as) rung back! It turned out he wasn't actually a shop at all, but was hell bent on giving us as much information about frog food-hunting as possible regardless.

We were in luck, he said, as it's a good area for these shops! (Who knew?!) But - ah ha! - we live in Tottenham Hale, he says, well it just keeps getting better and better! There's a shop on our way home which he's sure will still be open. Oh dear, though.. Sunday, he prattles on aimiably, is a bad a day to hunt for food as shops tend to get fresh stock in on Thursday so Friday is really the winning hunt time.
And so it went on :-)

May he above (or below) bless these Googlable fountains of knowledge willing to be rung on weekends and simply offer advice. Such a change from shop advisors who scowl at you interrupting to ask the way to the show department, don't you think?

Fish Guy: https://secure.192.com/local/WALTHAMSTOW,_LONDON/AQUARIUM/FISH_GUY/XC1BCF716521D44388E023E9FD6176075

Alphabet Thursdays

Thursdays seem to come round rather faster since the guys here at work launched the weekly Alphabet pub crawl. Admittedly, I've failed a bit at regular attendance due to the snow season...but supporting the downing of whiskey and tequila shots made up for it last week, I reckon! That and I've also shown a little moral support by creating a Google ''pub-tracking'' Map (hunting around for photos to add now) and...yes...bracing myself to join in tonight despite a pretty foggy hangover.

Mental note: Don't mix Soulfly and cider.

Cosy & considerate.

So I went to the gym today and honestly think that it was more work dodging umbrellas en route to the gym than it was actually doing a session.
It seems that umbrellas - a little like children - are something that everyone has but no one knows how to control.
I despair.
Use a damn hood.

(Or at least until Dragon's Den invest in a cushioned full-body umbrella which covers the user and the user alone with no fear of decapitating hapless passers-by. One can but dream...)

Feb

There is a serious lack of rock around in February. This happens every year yet still surprises me. January's all about new and exciting ways of living your life...start of a new year...high on fitness, high on fun, high on diverse new addictions (how to top pole dancing and manga learning last year...? Hm, a tough one...Freestyle snowboarding me thinks!)...And then comes Feb. With the realisation you aren't going to the gym as much, have had 3 colds as a result of indulging in snow holidays and catching up with friends more in new and more expensive pubs and, yes, a serious lack of hardcore gigs. Grrrr. If it won't come to me, I shall come to it. Would it be all that tough to start the first live stream warehouse hc venue? Really? Hell, I don't have a house or a kid / dog to take care of. I could invest in the worth cause of accessible chords and aggression. 2009 may well pick up ;-)