Watched MOTD on BBC2 last night when Arsenal endearingly pissed 4-1 on Norwich. And I don't even like football. What the fuck is happening to me? Henry in the post-match interview was hilarious. Just the way he speaks is sufficient to crack me up. Anyway earlier on, the Belgian GP was even better than the Hungarian one, but that was hardly going to be a difficult thing to achieve, given the Hungary race had all the life of a 90 year old homosexual witch in a coma. I suspect that I might also profess a small preference for Belgium because I won £65 on Kimi. That'll teach the bookies. Sometimes they have no idea about F1. Although it was a waste putting £5 each way on Coulthard (stupid, stupid, stupid) and only £2.50 each way on Raikkonen. (started 10th, won the race) Remind me to never ever put money on Coulthard (started 4th, finished 9th) again. I wonder what I should gamble on when the F1 season ends in October. Now that the Olympics are also over, it seems football (yuck) and horse racing are the only options. I know squat about both...
Unsuccessful attempts to get a temp job continue. It puzzles me why O2 should want to interview me for over 2 hrs for a job that isn't even 20 hrs a week ... and why HSBC should want temp associates in Leeds "who can work 2 years minimum". Perhaps the world has gone insane and 'temps' are actually widely considered 'permanent'.
Aside from starting Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being, I have been mooching around the house listening to Brendel playing the most famous Beethoven piano sonatas. I must confess I don't actually admire Brendel's style much. He seems to have a very ill-considered sense of time and metre. But since it's the only recording I have of these masterworks I suppose it will have to do.
Listening to: Beethoven 'Tempest', 'Waldstein', 'Appassionata', 'Pathetique', 'Moonlight' Sonatas (Brendel)
Monday, 30 August 2004
Saturday, 28 August 2004
the fields of Staffordshire and the fields of South Africa
Sorry it's been a fair while since I posted. Life's been busy. (What a lie) Anyway I went to V on Sunday in Staffordshire, which was amazing! Not quite sure what Big Brovaz were doing at a rock festival. Another thing that struck me was how many old ppl there were at V. So much for rock standing for the music of the under-represented and rebel. Or perhaps that was the irony? Ubiquitous air of geriatricism aside, V was great. Even if I did have to stand around and wait over 9 hours for my idols Muse to come on! But it was worth it. I gave a thumbs up to Matt Bellamy who grinned at me idiotically and returned it. And the set was great. And I've started constructing sentences. Like an idiot. Excuse me.
Latterly been attempting to shore up a job in time for the start of uni, which isn't far away now. This year looks set to be great. It will also involve shredding my balls to - well, shreds - to get that First.
The subject of my rant today is "President" Mugabe. This has developed into a classic case of 'reverse apartheid' (discrimination against whites) on the basis of Mugabe's beliefs that when the EU invaded, (especially the UK) subduing Rhodesia in the process, farmland was illegally seized from black farmers and given to white ones. As I understand it he (or rather, the population acting on behalf of him) is killing white farmers and 'retrieving' the land for black farmers. My first problem is that the race of any given farmer does not, and should not, have any correlation with the productivity of a particular farm. My second problem is that when Europe invaded South Africa, they killed small numbers of Rhodesian farmers. This appears to be the basis of Mugabe's hatred towards the white farmers, so forming a seemingly unshakable view that he/his population is/are justified in killing the minorities. In my eyes, this makes him as bad as Hitler. Problem 3: not stopping the violence is tantamount to endorsing it. If he doesn't continue the slaughter he will be overthrown anyway, and Mugabe-rent-a-clone will appear to further the legacy. Politicians seem to forget that human life is one of the most precious commodities in the world. I have no idea how anyone would solve this problem, and I don't claim to be an authority on the matter. Ideas, ppl?
Listening to: Hootie and the Blowfish: "Cracked Rear View"
Latterly been attempting to shore up a job in time for the start of uni, which isn't far away now. This year looks set to be great. It will also involve shredding my balls to - well, shreds - to get that First.
The subject of my rant today is "President" Mugabe. This has developed into a classic case of 'reverse apartheid' (discrimination against whites) on the basis of Mugabe's beliefs that when the EU invaded, (especially the UK) subduing Rhodesia in the process, farmland was illegally seized from black farmers and given to white ones. As I understand it he (or rather, the population acting on behalf of him) is killing white farmers and 'retrieving' the land for black farmers. My first problem is that the race of any given farmer does not, and should not, have any correlation with the productivity of a particular farm. My second problem is that when Europe invaded South Africa, they killed small numbers of Rhodesian farmers. This appears to be the basis of Mugabe's hatred towards the white farmers, so forming a seemingly unshakable view that he/his population is/are justified in killing the minorities. In my eyes, this makes him as bad as Hitler. Problem 3: not stopping the violence is tantamount to endorsing it. If he doesn't continue the slaughter he will be overthrown anyway, and Mugabe-rent-a-clone will appear to further the legacy. Politicians seem to forget that human life is one of the most precious commodities in the world. I have no idea how anyone would solve this problem, and I don't claim to be an authority on the matter. Ideas, ppl?
Listening to: Hootie and the Blowfish: "Cracked Rear View"
Saturday, 14 August 2004
shuttlecocks and Ronnie Scott's
Afternoon, just come back from playing my old man at badminton at the nearby leisure centre. Whipped him in three straight games, but then he is old. We are going to Ronnie Scott's in London later to see Monty Alexander play, but we will have to make do with standing room only. Dvorak's Requiem and Mass in D (op. 86/89) is playing on my hi-fi. It is astonishingly beautiful.
I can't think of anything to rant about today. For all that is wrong with the world, it is, as new-age outfit Explosions in the Sky would say, "not a cold dead place." Perhaps I am mellowing out, or perhaps I am developing worrying pushover tendencies? Who knows.
I can't think of anything to rant about today. For all that is wrong with the world, it is, as new-age outfit Explosions in the Sky would say, "not a cold dead place." Perhaps I am mellowing out, or perhaps I am developing worrying pushover tendencies? Who knows.
Thursday, 12 August 2004
absolution
I have had Muse's monumental (ho ho) CD in my car for at least a month now and I never tire of hearing any of it. Sonically expansive and frighteningly huge in scope, they have been compared to, in no real order, Queen, The Darkness, and Radiohead; the former two for their 'bombast' and pomp-rock attributes, the latter for the ecstatic/wailing vocals used. I'm getting a little tired, frankly, of people who think 'bombast' is a bad thing. But then again I don't suppose they were one of the 450,000 people at Queen's Rio de Janeiro gig, way back when. My point is, Queen proved that there's a huge, huge market for entertaining, OTT rock, and Muse have merely taken this aspect into the 21st century. As for The Darkness, well you tell me which band is stuck in the 80s? And finally Radiohead, ah, Radiohead. 3 crucial differences between Muse and the boys from Oxford.
1. Muse produce an audio palette that is at least as wide-ranging in scope as Radiohead, if not more so, and have 3 band members instead of 5.
2. Muse definitely have a 'sound', even if it is a sound that some don't like. Radiohead dabble in so many genres that it would be like doing the Times crossword when drunk to pin down what their 'sound' is.
3. Most importantly of all, Muse don't make me want to slit my throat with a bread knife every time I hear them!
So there you have it, this is the future of rock. Also, it's not all glory for Muse - the piano work of Matt Bellamy gets over-rated some of the time. People think that technically he is a 'genius' and 'has skills that a performance major would blush over' but to be honest all he's really playing is arpeggios on a synth. Listen to any keyboard-intro-based track, e.g. New Born, Bliss, Space Dementia, Stockholm Syndrome, etc. The only real moment in Absolution when he gets to digress from this sort of filler material, albeit hugely entertaining filler material, is on 'Butterflies and Hurricanes', where he's plonking down chords so violent that it sounds as though he's trying to dig to Australia. Again, these violent chords aren't terribly difficult to execute as they are basically 3 long bars of G minor and A major chords, with the odd diminished 7th thrown in for good measure, before Matt's vocals come back at 4:01 in D minor. My argument is that Matt is a good keyboardist, then, just not a brilliant one.
End of review, lol.
Today I am going food shopping (joy) then starting some sketches for my major in Composition next year, which is my last in Leeds. How time flies... oh well.
1. Muse produce an audio palette that is at least as wide-ranging in scope as Radiohead, if not more so, and have 3 band members instead of 5.
2. Muse definitely have a 'sound', even if it is a sound that some don't like. Radiohead dabble in so many genres that it would be like doing the Times crossword when drunk to pin down what their 'sound' is.
3. Most importantly of all, Muse don't make me want to slit my throat with a bread knife every time I hear them!
So there you have it, this is the future of rock. Also, it's not all glory for Muse - the piano work of Matt Bellamy gets over-rated some of the time. People think that technically he is a 'genius' and 'has skills that a performance major would blush over' but to be honest all he's really playing is arpeggios on a synth. Listen to any keyboard-intro-based track, e.g. New Born, Bliss, Space Dementia, Stockholm Syndrome, etc. The only real moment in Absolution when he gets to digress from this sort of filler material, albeit hugely entertaining filler material, is on 'Butterflies and Hurricanes', where he's plonking down chords so violent that it sounds as though he's trying to dig to Australia. Again, these violent chords aren't terribly difficult to execute as they are basically 3 long bars of G minor and A major chords, with the odd diminished 7th thrown in for good measure, before Matt's vocals come back at 4:01 in D minor. My argument is that Matt is a good keyboardist, then, just not a brilliant one.
End of review, lol.
Today I am going food shopping (joy) then starting some sketches for my major in Composition next year, which is my last in Leeds. How time flies... oh well.
Wednesday, 11 August 2004
Oriental autumns and Indian summers
Good morning :) I am feeling pleased today, very pleased actually as I have finished the piece I was working on for the last few days, titled Oriental Autumn: An Alternative Motion Picture Soundtrack to 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. Bit of a mouthful so I reckon I'll just leave it at Oriental Autumn. What do you think?
The weather is good for once. I know lots of people who have complained about the amount of rain and generally shite weather we have gotten so far, but things seem to be taking a turn for the better. Hopefully it will stay like this long into October so we can have a bit of an Indian summer.
Before you ask, yes, the pic in my profile is me, and no, I don't dress like that usually. It's quite an old pic actually, I was on my way to the end of sixth-form Leaver's Ball, dressed as Bond, albeit sans an exotic girl hanging on my arm. Oh well, can't have everything. Notice the Wilko bag in the corner, thus providing a neat counterpoint between high art and low art.
In my experience the supermodel-look type girls usually have incommensurate brains to go with it. I'm not saying that this automatically means you need to find a girl who looks as though she's been hit by the back of a Ford Transit to find a partner with an IQ higher than her tit size, but you usually have to compromise.
I have no idea what to do with myself today. I could start some sketches for a new piece but the heat is soporific. Random thought: here is a great way to break up with a girl; tell her that "our relationship is like a disjunctive syllogism." By the time the hackneyed, cliched look of confusion and incomprehension registers on her face, you can hang up. By the time she's actually worked out what that means, you can be safely away in the next country.
What shall I rant about today? Ok ok, here is something. Along an A road linking my town to the next, the local council recently put a bollard in at a residential T junction. Not just before the junction, not right after it, but actually on the apex, meaning anyone who wanted to turn into the road has to do a much more extreme manoeuvre. So when the council observes that the pesky bollard is, in fact, causing people more work, it decides to re-locate said bollard 5 metres down the road, at a cost to the taxpayer of £100,000. It beggars belief. Can't they think of something better to spend our money with?
The weather is good for once. I know lots of people who have complained about the amount of rain and generally shite weather we have gotten so far, but things seem to be taking a turn for the better. Hopefully it will stay like this long into October so we can have a bit of an Indian summer.
Before you ask, yes, the pic in my profile is me, and no, I don't dress like that usually. It's quite an old pic actually, I was on my way to the end of sixth-form Leaver's Ball, dressed as Bond, albeit sans an exotic girl hanging on my arm. Oh well, can't have everything. Notice the Wilko bag in the corner, thus providing a neat counterpoint between high art and low art.
In my experience the supermodel-look type girls usually have incommensurate brains to go with it. I'm not saying that this automatically means you need to find a girl who looks as though she's been hit by the back of a Ford Transit to find a partner with an IQ higher than her tit size, but you usually have to compromise.
I have no idea what to do with myself today. I could start some sketches for a new piece but the heat is soporific. Random thought: here is a great way to break up with a girl; tell her that "our relationship is like a disjunctive syllogism." By the time the hackneyed, cliched look of confusion and incomprehension registers on her face, you can hang up. By the time she's actually worked out what that means, you can be safely away in the next country.
What shall I rant about today? Ok ok, here is something. Along an A road linking my town to the next, the local council recently put a bollard in at a residential T junction. Not just before the junction, not right after it, but actually on the apex, meaning anyone who wanted to turn into the road has to do a much more extreme manoeuvre. So when the council observes that the pesky bollard is, in fact, causing people more work, it decides to re-locate said bollard 5 metres down the road, at a cost to the taxpayer of £100,000. It beggars belief. Can't they think of something better to spend our money with?
Tuesday, 10 August 2004
a response to animal extremists, an unusual fire, and pimps
As one might cleverly deduce from the title, so-called 'animal lovers' are the subject of my slowly-burning hatred today. As if it wasn't enough trying to do something pro-active in your miserable shitty life by campaigning on behalf of animals who are below us in the food chain, you have to compound this by claiming that we should outlaw scientific research. Well it's your own fucking fault if you die of arthritis age 77 because scientists haven't developed a cure as they can't do any lab tests. I wish people would think before they spout so much shit.
On a lighter note, I was in a mood of much hilarity earlier today when I eyewitnessed what has to be the stupidest, most incompetent asinine prat in the history of the world attempt to casually drop a letter in the postbox at the top of my road, only for her to drop her fag into the 'box as well, thus managing to set off a not inconsiderable fire. Well, I know what most people would do in that situation, and that's to get the hell out of there then dial 999, but what does she do? She plants herself firmly at the top of my Most Idiotic People Ever list by trying to put the fire out, but only succeeded in catching her hair on fire instead. So this is why DV camcorders were put on earth ... besides filming your girlfriend, of course. The idiot lady in question was saved, (or rather, her hair was) however, courtesy of a quick-thinking resident and a bucket of water that looked as though a dozen cows had gotten diarrhoea and decided to empty their bowels simultaneously in the same bucket. A rather apt metaphor. I actually think today is the hardest I have ever laughed in my whole goddamn life.
This mood was sustained in the pub when I overheard a drunk old lady screech out: "I had two Pimps (Pimms) earlier". I briefly considered asking her whether she had indulged in both Pimps simultaneously before deciding that I didn't actually want to know the answer.
On a lighter note, I was in a mood of much hilarity earlier today when I eyewitnessed what has to be the stupidest, most incompetent asinine prat in the history of the world attempt to casually drop a letter in the postbox at the top of my road, only for her to drop her fag into the 'box as well, thus managing to set off a not inconsiderable fire. Well, I know what most people would do in that situation, and that's to get the hell out of there then dial 999, but what does she do? She plants herself firmly at the top of my Most Idiotic People Ever list by trying to put the fire out, but only succeeded in catching her hair on fire instead. So this is why DV camcorders were put on earth ... besides filming your girlfriend, of course. The idiot lady in question was saved, (or rather, her hair was) however, courtesy of a quick-thinking resident and a bucket of water that looked as though a dozen cows had gotten diarrhoea and decided to empty their bowels simultaneously in the same bucket. A rather apt metaphor. I actually think today is the hardest I have ever laughed in my whole goddamn life.
This mood was sustained in the pub when I overheard a drunk old lady screech out: "I had two Pimps (Pimms) earlier". I briefly considered asking her whether she had indulged in both Pimps simultaneously before deciding that I didn't actually want to know the answer.
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