Music, music, music

Before I take my absence from the internet world for a week I thought I would show you what I've been listening to recently.



I wanted to buy this album for a long, long time. I had heard good things about it but it was always stupidly expensive. A couple of months back I saw it in the HMV sale for £6 so snapped it up. Damn is this album great, I love it! The singer really reminds me to Ian Curtis from Joy Division and that can only be considered a good thing. This has probably been my most played CD since I bought it and I just wish I had picked it up sooner. I look forward to hearing more from Editors.



I can't say enough good things about Bloc Party. They are exactly the sort of thing I am into at the moment and there is not a bad track on the album. I even bought the remix version of the CD and enjoy that almost as much which is rare for me, remixes don't often do all that much for me. Banquet and She's hearing Voices are the stand out tracks but the whole thing is solid.



Now this is what indie music should be. Its such a fun album and you can't help but sing along while trying to do your best Geordie accent. The lyrics are ace and there is just something about shouting "that's enough" at the top of your voice. Anyone who has heard the album will know exactly what I mean, hey Andi ;)



It had to happen in the end, I've started to enjoy bits and pieces of country music. My parents are both very big country fans so I was pretty much bought up on a mix of that, 80's pop and classic rock. Noticing I was starting to miss the songs that my parents used to play I thought I would buy a few of the things that I was bought up on. I thought a good place to start with country was with the man in black, Johnny Cash. This best of is great, it takes you from the start of his career right to the end. His version of One by U2 is amazing, its just beautiful and like with his version of Hurt, he makes it his own.



The Hives are one of my girlfriends favourite bands and due to her knowing how much I like The Ramones she leant me this album. This is their first album and you can certainly hear The Ramones influence. I wasn't all that taken with it at first but after a few listens its certainly grown on me and I have asked if I could borrow some of their newer stuff. I like a bit of punk and this is some of the better "new punk" I have heard.

Walking on sunshine

I'm going on holiday!

Ok, its to Southend which many wouldn't consider an exciting place to go away to but I cannot wait, I'm extremely excited by it! Its been several years since I last took a break somewhere and I think its certainly something I need. To make it even better Natasha is coming with me. I really can't think of anything better than being beside the seaside with the person who makes me happier than anything else possibly could. It's going to be fun!

So what else have I been up to?

Well "The Battle Swans" took a trip to Alton Towers the other week and what a day we had!

I had been to Alton Towers once when I was about 11 and didn't go on a thing. Up until recently I had a real phobia of fast rides and wouldn't go near them. My only experience of theme parks was going on log flumes and rapids. This time round however I decided to stop being such a child and go on everything I could. I had an amazing time! I went on rides such as Oblivion, Nemesis and my personal favourite Air. I now have a love for roller coasters!

Its really strange. In the past 6 months I have really changed as a person. For a lot of my adult life I have been happy but not necessarily living the life I should have been. I tended to do things that made others happy and didn't really think of myself all that much. Since being with Natasha and living with Sid I have really started to see what I want out of life and I certainly have those two people to thank for this. I'm genuinely happy with the way everything is going right now and I can't see that changing, the way I see it things can only get better (TM D:Ream).

I've been told by several friends and members of my family that they have seen a noticeable change in me. That I'm more confident, have somewhat of a spring in my step and don't seem phased by trying new things. I have to agree with that. I don't want it to sound like I led a meek existence before but I can certainly see the change in me and its all for the better. My life rocks and I've never been happier!

I know I say this a lot but I do want to update my blog on a more regular basis. Infact I've tried to update it a fair bit recently but with a combination of my RSI playing up and not really finding the right words to put down I've not been able to. Hopefully when I return from my holiday I can tell you about all the cool stuff I got up to.

In the meantime thanks to everyone in my life who made me smile these past 6 months, Natasha, Sid, Nick and Andi just to name a few. I'm glad your along for the ride and I'm sure the fun and games will continue for a long time to come!

Surely kids shouldn't be playing with this

I promise I will do a proper post on here sometime next week but in the meantime here is anothe great video from YouTube. I have no idea how this was ever released!

We're heading for Venus, Venus

This has made me chuckle, lets hope it does the same for you!

Are you ready?

This is the official poster for WWE Vengeance 2006.



How I'm going to cope that week in June I do not know, first I get the DX reunion and then at the end of the week Superman Returns is released. June 2006 is certainly made for me!

And just for laughs, here is what I will look like when I'm old. Sort of like Frank Butcher but at the same time I look like a kind old gent, the sort that always has a boiled sweet in his pocket and will gladly tell a story about the good old days.

My top 5 albums of the week

Since getting my own space again I've spent a lot time listening to music. It was hard to find the time before but now I don't have to worry about things like playing it when someone wants to watch TV or playing something that others don't like I can sit back and relax with a good tune or two on. I've really taken a step back in what I have been listening to and I have certainly found the sound that appeals most to me. Metal just doesn't do anything for me anymore and I've always been a big fan of rock and indie and that's certainly where my taste is these days. So every now and then I'm going to list the five albums I have had the most pleasure in listening to over the previous week. If you haven't heard of the ones I've listed then download them off the trusty internet or if you know me, ask me to do you a copy as its always nice to try out new things. So without further ado here is this weeks list!

The new album from Snow Patrol is even better than the last album. I must admit I was worried about this as I loved the last and didn't think they could better it, I was proven wrong.

I love Feeder and its nice to go back to Swim as this was their first release and they were a very different band back then. Its cool to see how they started and then listen to how they are now.

I blame my Dad for getting me into Suzanne Vega. he is a big fan and played her stuff a lot when I was growing up. She's a fantastic song writer and her stuff is always nice to play when you want to relax.

I love this album and don't play it nearly enough. Its one of those CD's I totally forget about but when I stick it on it just blows me away. Bernard Butler certainly made the right move when he left Suede, his solo stuff is fantastic.

Not a week goes by when I don't listen to some Third Eye Blind. They are certainly in my top 5 bands of all time and I've spoken about them before here. I love them and urge everyone to listen to them.

Superman Returns trailer

The Superman Returns trailer was released yesterday and it doesn't disappoint! So what are you waiting for, get downloading!!

Superman Returns

Nothing but a good time

Life is officially good for me at the minute. Everything seems to be going my way which I'm sure would worry some people into thinking that can only mean bad things are on the horizon. I'm certainly not like that, I like to embrace the good things that happen to me and if anything bad does come my way I try to roll with the punches and look for the positives.

I had a really great weekend. It all started Friday night (as most weekends do) with a trip to Oxford with Natasha. After a train journey which seemed to consist of every person in the world on one train and a comedic fall by myself which had me landing on two fellow passengers we arrived at Oxford around 5:20 (not sure why the time of arrival is important but I told you anyway!). From there we went straight to the cinema where we watched Silent Hill. I've only played the first game and haven't finished it but from what I have played the movie is very faithful with even some of the camera angles being identical. It was a really good film and one that got us both thinking at the end. After that we were obviously both hungry and went to a rather flash Chinese restaurant where we chowed down on some damn fine food. After a trip to a local pub we headed home and arrived back in Banbury about 11:30. A great night was had by both of us and it put me into a great mood for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday I worked with Sid at the comic shop which is always a good laugh. This weekend we decided to form a band, a hair metal band to be precise. We often come up with silly little ideas that never seem to happen but this seemed different, almost as if it was not something we wanted to do but rather something we had to do, that the world needed us to do this. So 'Air Metal was born and we have already got a full band sorted. Its certainly going to be interesting to see where this ends up, no matter what its going to be a great laugh! I may never be in Poison (the greatest band of all time) but I get to be in the next best thing ;)



Sunday was BAWA and due to the fact we haven't done a show in a while everyone seemed pumped up and ready to give it their all. I think we did just that. The show was a success and the public seemed to have a great time, they certainly got behind me in my match and that was a great feeling, to have people cheer for you and react to what your doing is a real compliment, it shows they have an attachment to you and are enjoying what your doing for them. It was my official return to the ring after an absence of a few months and I loved it. It wasn't the best match I've ever had but it wasn't a stinker either, I'm looking forward to getting rid of the "ring rust" and getting back to the standard I know I'm capable of.

And to top of a great weekend I had Monday off work due to the bank holiday. Yesterday was a quiet day for me, I had a bath, did some washing and watched some DVD's. It nice to sit back every now and then and just do nothing. But that day did have one exciting moment! WWE have just done a tour of the UK and I promised Natasha that next time they toured I would take her to a show. Well it turns out tickets went on sale on Friday and Natasha was online yesterday morning checking what was on over the year. I got a rather excited text from her saying the tickets were on sale so I made sure we got some. Normally WWE tickets sell out very fast but somehow we got lucky and managed to get floor seats about 6 rows back from the ring. The show isn't until November but its nice to have something to look forward to for when the weather gets a bit crap and there isn't much to do.

So that was my weekend, pretty eventful and certainly a lot of fun, I know there are plenty more to come!