Tales of a Drunkard: Year in review

Well considering i have only written one thing this year (Not counting the current Advent series) i thought a year in review would be good. Both for anyone reading and wondering what i have been up to (No one) and myself to just recap.

So in January i became the manager of the Go Kart track i worked at, spent alot of time at Sahara drinking and house parties. February was the month of snow, shit loads of it. February also bought weird dreams, lots of drinking and discovering Mixcloud.
March was a Skyrim month, which i should start playing again, that's all March had for me other than drinking at Sahara, learning about El Dorado rum and hiring staff from nights out drinking.
April, Spring. Such a time for things to come. Also fuck you April. The beginning was good, i saw my first Wall of Death at a Steam Fair and then my faithful Mongoose Crossway bike broke, broker harder than a broke broker. So i bought myself a fancy new Fixed gear bike, a Mongoose Maurice. Nice black and orange thing going on. It was also a night out with some friends for some cocktails and general drinking. All was going swimmingly. I went and got the bike on the train, came back and was a bit wobbly with a fixed gear as i had never ridden one before, managed home and back into town.

Then we started drinking. Which is where the fun began i suppose. We left and i walked my friend home then i made a stupid mistake of getting on my bike and cycling off rather than not. Worst decision i have ever made as i got about 1/4 of the way home and came off my bike. Blacked out when i hit the road and a passer by picked me up and helped me to the side. Nothing really hurt but i was bleeding from my head and cut my jeans and fucked my leg up. Oh and part of my shoulder was sticking out. Went to hospital and had a month off work, well about 6 weeks really. Couldn't walk that well for a few weeks.
My shoulder is still fucked, I'm pretty sure i tore the Coracoclavicular ligament. I might be wrong but it is that one. Common with rugby injuries and Freddie Flintoff had the same ligament damage i had, probably through drinking too!

So that was my April, it was spent on the sofa, watching TV, my laptop broke and i got shit all money from work. My bike was fucked but that was easily repaired. I was in that range where i didn't need surgery if it wasn't totally necessary. I spent most of April just hanging out and drinking, as walking into town wasn't too bad in a sling.

May brought 2ManyDjs, Real Ale festival and Simon Amstell. All in all was a good month of nights out. And that was May done really all while having lots of painkillers and a sling.
June was my birthday. Not the whole month, I'm not greedy like the queen having multiple birthdays, just the beginning of June. The 6th for future reference. I got some handlebars and a brake lever from a mate which is good as i fucked mine up when i fell off. Saw Promethues, not all that, realised that letting friends ride your bikes will end up with broken bikes (Thanks Lee and Ed).

Then that's it really. The rest of the year has been so-so. I got a cool Icarus tattoo on my left arm, half a sleeve, and got a Zombie hand holding a NES controller on my right bicep. I have been out drinking alot, i went to Bruges and met some cool people. Met up with some of them in London and spent a day and night having fun. I went to the Paralympics and spent some time in Hyde Park watching the Olympics on the big screens.
I went to Rumfest for the first time and was amazed by so many Rums, i was the best man to my friends wedding which was a very good day and night and honoured to be part of their day. Although i didn't get to go to any festivals this year i did get to go see Ugly Duckling, Frank Turner and coming up this Friday is Phillip Glass which i'm looking so forward to.

That's about it for the year, fun, exciting, sad, expensive, broken and regretful. 

There is only less than a month left, but not sure where it will go. Christmas is looming and New Years soon, hoping both will be great.
Hmm i didn't really do much this year.

Advent: Dec 1st

It's that time of the year again. It's dark, wet, windy, moody, cold, wet, cold and it's also Advent time. I don't really do advent calenders so this is my advent thing. Every year i try to write every day and every year i fail and get behind or forget. Last year i was 1 day behind at the start and this year i am 7 days behind already.
As like before the pictures are from Google and i search for "December First" and so on and take a picture from the first page.

So Dec 1st came and went. As days usually do. I was recovering from the night before and work was a struggle. Thankfully it came and went quickly and i was off home getting ready to go out and see some friends and go out. Well i thought we were going out, we instead watched TV and had a couple of drinks. We did end up going to a gig at the Turks to see a band that played covers, they were pretty good. Afterwards i went to Mix to see my friend Dave and had a few drinks. They do THE BEST beer called Kozel, its amazing. Then we went to Sahara for a few drinks and that was the first day of December over and done with. Stood around chatting before having a very cold cycle home.

Advent: Dec 14th

So today we agreed to meet at my mates at 11:30am, which was tough for me but i made it just about on time. I got there to find the two playing Call Of Duty, so naturally i joined in and we spent about an hour playing that. We walked to town to get some food (Burger #1) and some train beers. Nice 25min train to London and a good chat and drink and we were ready. The plan for the day was go to Trocaderro to play some arcade games. So a long we caught the tube to Piccadilly Circus and we were confronted with a protest about the Congo (i think) which was nice to watch and for about a 1,000 people there was a helicopter, 6 riot vans and lots of ground patrol. At one point they made a brilliant move of sitting down but after about 2 Min's were ushered along. We went to the Trocaderro but it was shut, at 3pm, on a Wednesday.... WHAT THE FUCK LONDON.

Turns out from my friend Sam that they have moved the entire 2 floors of arcade games to the bottom floor, and to just a little room? Really? Is that possible and fucking sane? I loved that place, the merchandise they offer there is fun and the games are amazing. But fuck you we will go to the one on the embankment from now on.

So with that obviously done we decided to check out Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, not sure if you had to pay so we went to see and you didn't have to pay. We walked around and saw the sights and for some reason the German Christmas tradition is to have lots of fun houses? And watered down beer, and Pizza express... Well that's what i saw, and lots of shit fun fair rides. But the ice rink did look cool. We walked around and then headed to the o2 to see about these VIP tickets we had.
Turns out we got there early so walked around the o2 as neither of us had been there and settled on Harvester for food (Burger #2). We proceeded to the gates? But were told we had to wait till they opened. Our VIP tickets were pretty much just a separate bar rather than the normal stadium style bar everyone else had to go to. Which was nice as it was pretty chilled and we sat down.
Got a beer and chatted then walked upstairs to our seats to see the first band who i don't even know who they were, some female singer who screamed alot and started to strangle the guitarist with the mic cord and then wear a badger mask. They were pretty shit. But through her incessant screaming i realised i would need ear plugs so i set off and a friendly doorman said customer services would give me some so i got three pairs.

The second act was Miles Kane and they were really good, i recognised a few songs from them and they were enthusiastic too. They finished and off i went to the loo and back before Kasabian started. The entire floor for Kasabian was packed, from front to back. We had good seats but they were seats.... Kasabian started and for the the entire set they did not let up. The energy from them were amazing.... I'll try to upload some videos but my fucking god they were amazing. One of the best performances i have seen in years and there was at least two moments where i had a 'moment', like "I need to fucking change things" which was unexpected but the only downside was we were on the side in the seating area. I would have preferred to have been down on the floor with evetone else dancing along. There were a few people around us drunk and dancing but that is nothing to being in a crowd of people dancing. So the set was brilliant, just wish i was a bit more active in the dancing :)

After the gig we waited outside and had a cup of tea and (Burger #3) while we let the crowd die down as it was fucking mental with everyone getting to the tube station. After about 20 minutes we managed to get to the station and a tube fairly quickly and we managed to get to Paddington fairly easily. Unfortunately the train we rain for was fucking packed, i was gladly going to stay behind for 30mins as the people on the train were packed in like sardines. Come on people.... for fuck sake you would be on a slow train for an hour pressed up against the glass, just wait 30mins and get an empty(ish) train. I don't understand. So we stayed behind but then they opened up another 3 carriages so we all piled on. I just sat in the luggage rack of the train for the hour journey, wasn't too uncomfortable. Got to Reading about 1 ish and got a taxi back to cemetery junction. I treated my mate to some food as he got us the tickets and i also decided on two Mr Cod mini burgers (Burger #4) and we went back to eat and play COD. We ended up watching Wipeout USA, which was fun and a very good looking bride lost out on $50,000 by 20 seconds to a M Night Shalamanan lookalike. Gutted.

Got home about half two and just collapsed into bed. A fucking amazing day, a long day and an unexpected day

Advent: Dec 10th

Well firstly the December Tenth image is pretty damn good. Its of http://wfmu.org/ which is an amazing digital radio station from New Jersey, USA that has a brilliantly diverse schedule, check out the live broadcast or hit the archives to check out the previous weeks broadcasting.

I had to get up early to work so i was glad i didn't go out to see DJ Yoda but then again Saturday turned out to be a a really quiet day with parties and that's about it really. The day passed without any incidents which was good as i had a friends gig to go to in the evening and wanted to be out sharpish, and like all circumstances when you want to get out on time, or go somewhere, life dicks you. So getting to when i should be leaving the person to cover me wasn't showing up. Cue frantic phone calls and texts to find cover or where he was and to be fair wasn't sure if he would turn up. No cover available but thankfully he turned up late but turned up. So pedalled my little heart out and turned a 30 min bike ride into 20 minutes by ignoring a few red lights on the way. Got home, changed and back out in 15mins and to Marks to lock up my bike and he was waiting outside with a walking beer. We walked to Plug N Play where my friend was playing with his band 13D (Check out the album at the link)

I hadn't heard them live since they played Pilton in 2008 i think it was, for a battle of the bands to play Glastonbury, Micheal Eavis was on of the judges however they didn't win that time. We also watched Kill the Joker who were pretty damn good too. We stayed and drank till the last band finished then grabbed a walking beer and headed to the turtle about midnight, it was fucking cold. The shaved head didn't help but my god it was a chilly walk to town. Turtle these days has been a bit 'meh' for me. Nothing that fun happening, no random conversations with people, might be the weather or might be the fact i cant be arsed? Who knows but its not the Turtle i once knew and loved. We stayed till about half 2 then walked home, wasn't as cold walking home as it was walking to Plug n Play and Town before.

Advent: Dec 7th

December 7th. What a day. Historically of course, for me it was another day of nothing. Woke up to a cooked breakfast and did some work in the garden for my mum. Started playing Call of Duty again for about an hour then watched the first episode of long forgotten TV show First Wave. Its pretty much aliens invading but Nostradamus saw this happening.... yeah sound shit, surprisingly isn't. So ill barrel through that eventually. Erm watched Our Idiot Brother, which was fantastic. Amazing cast, well written and easily in the top 5 films of the year for me, so i suggest you watch it!
I noticed today my pile of books to read has gotten out of hand. Theres 12 Terry Pratchett books, Gormenghast Trilogy, Mr Nice, Game of Thrones, HP Lovecraft collection, Lemony Snickets - book 2, The Secret War, Stephen Frys autobiography. I know there are more hiding somewhere in the house. I'll get round to reading them eventually, just takes time i suppose.

I just spent the day reading Cracked.com, talking to people and watching TV. South Park is aired at night on Comedy Central, always fun and never old.

DJ Yoda is playing Sub89 in town on Friday so hopefully i can get tickets for me and my friends to go. Haven't seen him since he played a venue called Po Na Na in Reading years ago. So will be good, considering i missed Ash last week. So here's hoping.

Music and Movies

To me the arts are a complicated thing. You have paintings for example, which some people just sit and stare trying to figure out the meaning. Maybe there isn't a meaning, maybe the artist just drew what popped into their head.
The same with photos. When someone takes a picture why does it have to convey the emotions the photographer was feeling or trying to capture. Why can't it be about capturing a moment in time before it flutters away never to be captured again.

Music in film and television is vital. It tells the audience whats happening. It reminds me of the Shifty eye dog episode of The Simpsons. Dramatic music makes him look sinister, though changing the music behind it would change it to a jovial nature or whimsical. How do you know he wasn't checking for traffic before he crossed the road?

Aside from music leading the narrative, i like when the soundtrack is part of the movie in more than a 'background noise' way. Films where the music and whats happening on screen are intertwined are brilliant. Recently there has been Inception, Tron: Legacy and Social Network that have all amazing soundtracks which i love listening to but are part of the film too.

Some films have also given me new bands to listen to. Wristcutters: A Love Story introduced me to Gogol Bordello, a band which i now love. Garden State introduced me to The Shins and Stir of Echoes introduced me to Rolling Stones via Paint it Black, the soundtrack to Juno, to me, was amazing. It determined the pace of the film, showed the same emotions as the characters.

As well as soundtracks having good bands, music that is made specifically to the film are detrimental to a good film. Who here cant hum the Superman Theme? Or the theme to Star Wars. John Williams and Danny Elfman played some of the best ones of my childhood. Which is why i suppose that Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Superman sound the same :)

Classic soundtrack overtures like the ones in Shawshank redemption, Gladiator, and even Star Trek are also brilliant to have in a film. To me a film that has stagnant score behind it, or music that doesn't fit anything that happens on screen is a flop.

This is the overlying music from JJ Abrams Star Trek.

Its the theme that plays over pretty much anything dramatic that happens in the film. Its haunting in a way but i love it.
Speaking of haunting music and the correlation between film and music, that will be addressed in my next post.
But i will leave you with my first love of music in movies/trailers and the one that got me more into what happens in film other than actors speaking.

This is a trailer for the 2007 film Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor) Its a brilliantly visual film, great story but this trailer is what did it for me. Lots of WTF moments happening at once and when the yellow bus enters the screen, that music that kicks in was it. The band are called M83 and that track made me search them out straight away. Give the film a watch and also the bands album Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts.

Tales of a Drunkard: No Sweat Fest

When my friend Tom usually says "Hey I'm going to a squat party, you should come" I usually envision a dark and dingy building with lots of drug addled protesters and hippies. I was pleasantly surprised.
We started off in Reading at the Allied Arms having a quick drink before we headed to the train station to get some drinking beers and food. On the train to London we chatted, I took pictures and general tomfoolery.
The squat was in Hackney so a bit of a trek from Reading, but a tube here and a bus there we got there. The reason for the bus was the tube was being its usual crappy self, only problem with the bus was Arsenal had just won 6-0 and was letting out time when came past. We got to Hackney around 7pm, fashionably late i know, and the place was amazing. Like an old theater it loomed at an awkward angle.
A lot of people were already outside, sitting in a boat, on the floor or standing around chatting. We paid the £5 donation then went to get some beer from Iceland. Apparently me carrying in two 4 litre bottles of Ye Olde English wasn't the thing to do so i settled with 4 cans of strongbow to start with.

We sat around chatting to random people and some of Toms friends came and chatted to them. The music was from 2pm onwards and we caught a few of them, mainly Punk with some ska-punk too.
There was one band that was pretty good, after a few songs the singer would read some of his poems. One went "What kind of man are you, who rubs his elbows against mine on the tube. Must be a poof" Then 10 seconds into his song a guy ran out of nowhere, jumped on stage, lamped him and grabbed the Mic stand trying to hit the guy. The singer grabbed his bass to try and defend but the crowd divided them.
Apparently the singer has a history of saying homophobic or sexist remarks. Shame as it was a good band up until that point. Ah well. Punks eh?

I don't remember how or when, partly due to drugs and or alcohol, but i sat down talking to some people, Ann, Angela and Caroline. Good chats about life and such, probably the drugs, but at one point Angela was helping this guy Morgan who was absolutely battered. We got him some water and Angela went to find Thelma, a sexy secretary looking polish girl who was his girlfriend. She couldn't so i tried, failed but helped him inside so he could pass out somewhere.
Hours passed, drinks were drunk, chats were had and dancing was done. Yes theres probably photographic evidence of me skanking it up but it was fun.
It got to about 2.30am and i started chatting to a girl called Lisa about Pokemon, Stargate and other such nonsensical wonderment that long nights of drinking bring forth. Which was a nice end to the night.

Tom was talking about an after party in a warehouse but at time of leaving the squat, 3ish? There was no word. Morgan appeared out of nowhere and said he was going to a party so i left Tom, Anders and the others to head back to Paddington, while i stayed with Morgan. Outside he was chatting with some guys and i asked him for directions back to Paddington, he gave them to me but as i helped him when he was drunk he wasn't going to let me wander the streets of Hackney alone. Which was good because i had about £800 worth of stuff on me.

We walked through Hackney sharing a bottle of rum and coke when he laid the bomb on me that he had nowhere to go as he was Homeless. We continued chatting, about himself and how he came to be on the streets. Unfortunately he was a victim of circumstance. Foster homes, run ins with police etc, I'll leave alot of that discussion out.
He came to London from Ireland about 10yrs ago but again circumstances meant he was on and off the streets. We sat around talking for hours. He met a couple in the off license and they came and we all sat around chatting till the sun came up. He is actually a graphic designer and currently has two websites up and running, he uses free WiFi to update etc. He was a really nice guy, and now a friend on Facebook, hopefully I'll see him at some point again.
It got to that point where i had to find my way back to paddington otherwise i would just curl up in a ball and pass out. I said my goodbyes and jumped on a bus that said 'Via Kings Cross' as i vaugley knew where that was.

OK due to me endlessly twittering to keep me amused during my journey it helps piece together things. Apparently i left the squat at 3:54am with Morgan and we chatted till 6:44am which is when i got on the bus to nowhere. Due to that nice bus trip it meant i was back in Hackney about 7:30am because i went to McDonald's to get some breakfast. Now i have only had 1 McDonald's in about 4 years and that was on New Years Eve.
After walking a while some guy called Gary proceeded to tell me that he 'Doesn't drink or do drugs but needed some money for a hot chocolate" I ended up getting a tube from Highbury and getting to Paddington at 9:29am. So it took me 3hrs of walking and the such to get me about 8miles, impressive display of idiocy.

I think my experience of Hackney is summed up by this tweet

"I cant seem to escape hackney. Ive walked in every sodding direction and taken a bus yet I'm still in fucking hackney"

Not having much money i was pleased to see the gates in London were open and if i had any trouble in Reading i would just say i came from Twyford. As soon as the train left Paddington i must have sparked out in the vestibule because i woke up as we just pulled into Reading. I then remembered i sodding cycled to Reading so had a 4mile bike ride home. Slowest bike ride ever. I walked into my home around 10am, and fell asleep till 4pm. Then went to a friends from 8pm - 2am. No point wasting a day in bed :)

All in all i had an amazing time in London. The squat party was brilliant and was for a good cause so check out the website No Sweat. The people i chatted to were amazing and I even enjoyed the walk home.

I think that's about it, unfortunately this probably doesn't seem that good, but to me it was a fun evening and I'm sure some of it has been lost in translation.

Bilbao BBK Live 2010

This year i embarked on another long arduous journey to Spain for the Bilbao BBK Live festival. This time i swapped friends and took my friend Mark. We set off from Reading around 1pm with a Subway in hand and a couple of Fosters too. Got to Portsmouth and headed to the Trafalgar wetherspoons to continue the drinking while we waited for the ferry boarding time. We then decided to take a walk and unfortunately we walked about 2miles with our backpacks, for which we didn't need to at all. Sat watching the Netherlands game in the ferry terminal while playing shithead. Once boarded we showered, changed and hit the top deck while we left the port. Started drinking and playing shithead while watching the P&O Players perform.

Due to the ferry crossing time we were at sea for a whole day so we just bought a crate of Fosters and sat on the top deck sunning ourselves and listening to music on speakers. Was nice and chilled though i got horrific sunburn on my arms (the burn turned purple at one point). The ferry was pretty much just us drinking and playing cards. We did get a chance this time to see some Dolphins and i got a picture or two of them.

We got to Bilbao at about 8am and made our way into Bilbao. We got to San Mames and waited for the coach which wasn't too bad as the queue was short. We managed to get up to the festival quite easily and went to the second campsite. Last year we camped in the car park as that's all we thought was available. So we opted for the campsite that had trees, giving us a bit of shade from the heat. I was right in that part. However after all my toil and slaving my tent was at a 45 degree angle and the ground felt like cows had been walking over it for months.

Bands didn't start till around 5pm so most of the day was spent in the sun drinking and playing shithead. I won't go into each band but we saw the following over three days:

Bullet for My Valentine
Skunk Anansie
Slayer
Anti-Flag
Rise Against
Rammstein
Gomez
Coheed and Cambria
Dropkick Murphys
Biffy Cylro
Gogol Bordello
Alice in Chains
Pearl Jam
The Macabees
Feeder
Los Campesinos
The Soundtrack of our Lives and
Manic Street Preacher

Out of all those bands i think Rammstein where the best due to the show they put on, for me Gogol Bordello were amazing and i dance my arse off. Dropkick Murphys, Los Campesinos and Gomez were bands i hadn't heard before and were amazed by their sets too.

On the Friday me and Mark walked to Bilbao city center to have a look at the Guggenheim museum but was a little too pricey so didn't bother going in. Instead we took pictures of the outside and wandered around Bilbao before heading back to the festival. Most of the nights were relatively problem free but on Friday it got a little worse for wear.
We had spent all day drinking warm beer then polished off half a bottle of Jaegermeister and 1/3 a large bottle of Vodka. This kind of made Gogol Bordello that little better and as i said previous i dance my arse off which i haven't done in a long long time. A fact that was reminded to me when my knee caps and feet started hurting a few hours later. After that we just sat on the hill over looking the festival and drank a few litres of cold San Miguel. Got chatting to some nice Australian girls and around midnight Mark turns to me, fear in his eyes, and says "I've got to go" and after a few questions of safety he proceeded down the hill and that was that. As much as we laughed and wondered why he had done that i said the exact same words about 30Min's later.

We had a conversation about how Spanish people smoke alot of hash. I didn't smell any weed at the festival just hash. As we were talking a Spanish guy overheard and gave us his joint to smoke, so i duly obliged and had a few tokes. This then sent me overboard and I'm reminded of what Heather (Australian Girl) said to me "Grass then beer, your in the clear. Beer then grass, your on your ass" which reminds me of the age old drinking rhyme "Beer then wine, you'll feel fine. Wine then Beer, you'll feel queer" Which has for many years guided me in my drinking. Anyway i digress.
I turned to Heather and said "I've got to go", though as long as i chatted i was fine. When there was a silence the music of Pearl Jam just sent me flying. Couldn't focus on anything and had to focus on something. I eventually said that i was going to toilet and i MAY be back. I walked to the top of the hill and bought a coke to try and 'sober' myself. After a while Heather came to find me and we walked to the second stage for Dropkick Murphys.

I had just about overcome myself and we watched Dropkicks, a band that i have never really heard but they were amazing! Really good and we got rather close, a little too close as my ears were fucked. We walked to the coach line as Heather had to get back to Bilbao but it was 3am and the queue was going to take about 1.5 hours so i offered my tent. The only problem being that having a tent at a 45 degree angle isn't the best for two people to sleep in. So cue a restless sleep trying to stop not only myself from falling down the hill but also her.

Due to the late night from me, and the early departure from Mark (He doesn't remember how or when he got back to the tent) meant that on the last day we took it easy. Don't think we even touched a litre of beer at all that day. We just sat around watching the music from the hill and just resting really. Saw some good bands that day. Met up with Heather briefly on the hill overlooking the festival and chilled. We had to get up stupidly early on the Sunday as our ferry back to Portsmouth so we left before Faith No More played but listened to them at the tents. We missed out on Jet which I'm sure would have been amazing but the early wake up etc meant we didn't.

Woke up early and were waiting at the Ferry port about 2hrs before we were meant to but we just sat and played shithead till boarding. The very [not so] friendly Spanish border polizia officers wouldn't stamp my passport as they only do it for kids. But i like stamps in my passport too. Reminds me that i have so much more of the world to see.

The trip back was quicker for some reason and again we just chilled and drank, watched the P&O players do their thing, watched everyone get way too over excited about the Dolphins. I swear they ran back and forth that much that they rocked the whole ferry. The only exciting thing we saw on the trip back was an American Nuclear Submarine leaving Portsmouth. Was pretty cool.

We got back to Reading about 7pm and made a quick dash to our respective homes then went to the Gym straight after, dedication eh?

All in all Bilbao BBK is a fantastic festival. Great surroundings and somehow a small festival that's only been going 5 years manages to get some amazing bands. The only things i have a problem with is the language barrier as its not entirely Spanish as its in the Basque country. But that's easily overcome. Can't wait to see what happens next year.

Until next time.

Buenas Noches

BBC Introducing LOS & Strobe Circus

In the last outing to the Oakford we had two amazing bands for BBC Introducing. Strobe Circus and LOS. First on were Strobe Circus who were amazing. They sounded so relaxed and vibrant. They sounded great with their fusion of Drum and Bass, reggae, dubstep and dub sound. Got everyone dancing and i genuinely enjoyed listening to them play. Hopefully get to see them again and this time not sitting down.

The second band were LOS (Sorry couldn't find them on myspace) This band were insanely good as well. Just three of them, drums/guitar and synth. They reminded me alot of Queens of the Stone Age for some reason, just that crisp sound of Rock. Very loud and really long songs meant i was happy for the whole set, I'm hoping someone will read this and send me the link to their page.

The night continued on, as per usual, with drunken revelement. My friend Sophie had her birthday on Wednesday so she was in the Oakford with her friends, was good to say hello. After such a time as boredom kicking in, we ventured to The Turtle again. I won't bore you with the details as it was a usual night out and, well, frankly i cant be bothered.

Another good night sponsored, in part, by the BBC. Glad to see my tax money hard at work.

Tales of a Drunkard: Politics, Alcohol and RPGs

Wednesday was, as fast becoming a tradition, Oakford night. More live music courtesy of BBC Introducing. However it was just two of us this time, myself and Geordie who you might remember turfed out 3 old ladies when we went to Stoke.

Unfortunately they were all out of cider and I had to buy a bottle, which ended up costing £5.... So we just sat outside, listened to a band and decided on a night out. Our friend Ed was in town with a guy named Pavil who was over from Czech for a holiday to see Ed and his friends. The plan was to go to Hope Tap for a drink, then Pavs then meet them in the turtle. So we hot footed it to the Hope Tap and sat down talking about Religion, Mythology, Politics, Gaming and Photography. Not your usual topic. We went to Pavs, had a pint and played the hunting game to which I lost.

Turtle was next and, as always is last on the menu, we found Ed and the Czech contingent and hurriedly got drinks and played table football. I saw a really attractive girl with blue hair that works in Las Iguanas so made Geordie talk to one of the guys he knows so we could go talk to them. We got talking to them and had a laugh, at one point I touched a mans nipple, then when he dropped a chip I ate a cheesy chip off his hairy chest. As you can see the night was going well.

We somehow got talking to two squaddies who were on R&R from being posted in Cyprus and having been outside Helmand for awhile. Cue talking about politics (briefly) and having shrapnel wounds shown to us (RPG hit one of them and the other guy pulled him out of the way of fire), I decided to buy them, and ourselves, drinks. Sat around chatting to them about everything really and then suddenly the lights come up and it's kicking out time. They wanted to go elsewhere but due to it being a Wednesday, everywhere was shut. Everywhere apart from the Casino.

A short walk later and we were in the casino and bought another round for us all. Started drinking and playing Blackjack, which is a game I don't usually play but have found a love for it. Again we just sat around talking and drinking and before we knew it they were kicking out too. That was about 5am. I only spent £20 on Blackjack and walked away with £8, so yeah a loss, but it was fun.
Geordie walked to the station to get a taxi and I chatted to the guys for awhile, I got their British Forces Postal Number things so next time my mum sends off shoe boxes of gifts to troops, these guys get one specifically for them. And apparently they want Pot Noodles!
Walked with them to the station and hopped on a bus home. Got in around 5:45am and had to get up for a job interview with Toys R Us Head Office in Maidenhead. That was a struggle but I think it went well.

So the Drunkard is getting out and about, having a good time and random nights occur even when the immortal line "I'm not up for a late one, I have a job interview in the morning"

Think that's its for this months outings. This drunkard needs to go the gym as I've missed a few sessions, but there is an all you can eat Chinese happening on Saturday and we get to break in some friends new Sofa.

NB: The picture I took this morning on the way home from my interview. Was opposite Back of Beyond fyi.

Tales of a Drunkard: The Return

It's a welcomed return to our intrepid drunkard, a.k.a ME! I've ventured out into Reading now and again, and I've been round houses for nights out but I feel Saturday was a proper night out for me. Though saying that the previous Saturday was a proper night out... And so was Wednesday. Fuck there goes my blog about beginning to go out more. Bollocks.

OK so I went out on Wednesday for BBC: Introducing and saw a pretty good band at the end of the night, another ensemble band which I love, as you always get more diversity with more instruments. Anyway we went there, had a few drinks then went to the Turtle as per most nights out. Spent a bit of time and money drinking there then walked home. On the way I stole a Subway poster and was quite proud. We came to Jacksons corner and did something I've always wanted to do ever since watching a documentary.

Basically, I'm annoyed that all the lights in shops stay on overnight, theres no need. I don't want to window shop at 3am and it's a waste of electricity. So this documentary followed people in France turning off all the shop lights in Paris at night via those Red 'FIRE' switches outside. Now I'm still in two minds as to whether A.) It turns off all the power inside so the fire brigade don't electrocute themselves or B.)It triggers the fire alarm.

In my drunken state I decided to find out so flipped the switch. Nothing happened. I screamed "SCARPER LADS" to my mate and pegged it while giggling away to myself for saying scarper. Stopped about 50yards away and just saw my friend meandering along at a leisurely pace. The lights remained on, and I didn't hear any sirens. Along the way I also stole a tyre from outside a tyre center thing in Reading. Don't ask me why but it's now sitting outside my door.

All in all, it was a good night out.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

The year has come again where the massive droves of teens with their parents cash descend onto Reading, for Reading Festival has announced its lineup. At the moment the phones are clogged, the Internet is clogged and at this precise moment in time, the entrance to HMV in the Oracle is clogged.


Now if you've seen my Festival reviews and what not you will know that I'm a fan of the festival. I love the atmosphere, the music, the people and the five stages of Tring.

All in all, the picture at the top (of my friend Ed) encapsulates all that Reading Festival is. Notice he has a bottle opener on a necklace. He is covered in mud. Its late. But look at that face. He is having the best time in the world. THAT is Reading Festival. Queueing up for 24hrs outside a music shop isn't. Queueing on the phone/Internet for 4hrs is not. And paying extortionate amounts on websites like Viagogo or eBay is not.

Word of warning kids. The cost should be around £180 give or take service fee. If your paying £200+ you need your head sorted. Reading Festival is not the best in the world. It used to be. But look at European festivals for a change. If your parents are willing to send you to Reading Festival, I'm pretty sure they'd send you to Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland, or any other festival in England...

I've seen a lot of shit happening at Reading. Stupid drug,drink and boredom fuelled shit. And I've never been to a festival that's so irresponsibly run. The stewards are nice and friendly, the Security are heavy handed. They turn the music off around 12pm due to the noise, and the tents that stay open 'later' have the music on low. The only entertainment for you after midnight is taking 2 hours to walk to your tent, drinking lots and going walkabout to see what is happening in the festival camp grounds. More often than not its people burning everything/anything in sight and general violence.

The violence isn't aimed at anyone, its just boredom. Because there is a silent disco or a pikey fun fair to amuse 70,000 people.

Its stupid.

Still one of the best festivals i have been to. That's largely made up from the people I'm with. One of which is covered in, hopefully, mud in the aforementioned picture.

If you get tickets, enjoy and be safe, the lineups not too bad. If not, then don't pay too much!

Not sure what my ramblings are about. Confusion. Irritation. The longing for a ticket?

BBC Introducing Dead Legs & Kill it Kid

Well let me say i rarely gush with excitement over a band but two bands tonight just blew my socks off. Firstly Dead Legs performed some balls out deep and dirty rock that shook you to the bone. With the deep husky and raw sound from Harriet Rock, the trio blasted through a set of short, sharp shocks that left you wanting more but also running for cover. I regret not knowing of them before tonight, but i surely won't be forgetting them anytime soon. I really need to start remembering what songs they play so i can tell you which ones were amazing, but to be fair the whole set was really good. I implore you to check them out at their next gig, either in Bristol or on May 1st at Plug N Play in Reading.

The second band to come on were Kill it Kid. A band that, in true blues style, must have gone to the crossroads and struck a deal with the devil. The 5 piece from Bath have a nice blend of Blues and Americana Rock that meld so well that you just want them to keep on playing. Ranging from the soulful violin driven songs to the piano hammering ones, this is a band that have the sound to hit it big, well they already have. On their last song one of Chris Turpins guitar strings decided to inconveniently break, and with style and pure tenacity, continued to play furiously without a care. If any of you out there are off to South by Southwest next week then i wholeheartedly suggest you find the time to go to the Driskill Hotel on the 18th March and/or the Raddison Hotel & Suites on the 20th March.

On the basis of the last few BBC Introducing nights at the Oakford, I'm surprised at the poor turnout for some of the fantastic bands that are playing there at the moment.

Next week we have my friend 13D, aka Graeme, playing with his band. A heady mix of blues/punk/rock/hip hop. Really looking forward to listening to him live, as the last time was last year at some point, if not the year before.

Must go to more Gigs!

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ~Berthold Auerbach

I was watching the music video to Resistance by Muse, and the whole place was jumping, literally jumping. It just looked like an amazing show to be at. And that struck me. I'm 25 and have only ever been to two gigs. The Moody Blues at the Royal Albert Hall when i was like 14, and Avril Lavigne at Wembley Arena.. very conflicting shows i know.

I've been to festivals since 2002, in various countries. Just never got around to going to a gig. Which is shameful i know. Well i've seen bands in small venues playing a handful of songs, but no massive tour. So i shall be venturing out to gigs more frequently as i feel thats my duty. Though just need start searching out which bands are touring and what to see.

I'll hopefully be going to festivals this year anyway, more on this later, but i feel intimate gigs are better, and more special. Dedication to the cause. I want to leave with my clothes covered in sweat, beer and god knows what else. I want my ears to ring slightly more than they already do.

For now i will settle with BBC Introducing at the Oakford in Reading on Wednesdays. Its new music and its Live music. So its something to fill the gap while i source out gigs.

BBC Introducing Sobriety

So my first outing into Readings nightlife was to the Oakford to see I Blame Coco and 30 Watt Bayonets. I was a little bit apprehensive as I'm not drinking but i went along as my thirst for new music is far greater than the need for alcohol. I Blame Coco were excellent. A nice breath of fresh air, very polished and sounded awesome. A nice and husky voice coupled with a brilliant band it screams for you to listen to her. A slight twinge of Sting in her voice (Understandable considering that's her father), especially on some of the long notes, and well on the most part of Ceaser. Definitely a band i need to keep an eye on as they were amazing.

The next band was 30 Watt Bayonets which, frankly scared me, but in a good way. From the get go the lead singer was banging the drum with fury, and spent most of the gig in the crowd. I'm a big fan of crowd participation but i hid. Shameful i know but there were alot of scared faces in the crowd. But that's what made it a good gig. Not afraid to be different, challenging the preconception that artists should stay on the stage. Was really good to see and sounded great.


So i think I'm going to make the Oakford a regular occurrence as i need new music in my life, and with the two bands I've seen I'm thoroughly looking forward to the upcoming nights.

Tales of a Drunkard Pt 7

Another weekend, another trip down drunken lane.


This weekend I had a live music journey in good 'ol Reading town. First off was to see my friends Jemma and Nick perform at the Rising Sun Arts Center. It's a small venue that is very good for those intimate gigs, but also has shown its wild side with, what used to be a regular occurrence, Kraked. This was an audio visual feast that threw a barrage of electronic music, chilled and heavy, and mixed it with some amazing visuals, both shapes and colours and some feature presentations, all projected onto walls, ceilings and the odd battered TV at the front of the hall. But I'll leave that trip down nostalgia avenue for another time.

The gig started out well. The cider was flowing and merriment ensued, until two over zealous so-and-so's were enjoying their conversation a little too much. So much that we could hear them above the music, and across the room. Now not being one for confrontation i didn't say anything to begin with, hoping that they would see about a dozen people staring at them with amazement at how ignorant they could be. But enough is enough and i walked over while Jemma was singing, and trying not to be loud and obtrusive told them to "Shut the fuck up, we are all here to listen to music and if you want a sodding conversation then fuck off outside and talk" (Wasn't exactly how i said it, but for dramatization sakes, we shall leave it) Regardless of what i said and how i said it, they shut up straight after. Much to the enjoyment to everyone else listening and to those performing.

Another highlight of the Rising Sun was an amazing band called Tom Williams and the Boat, who after performing one night in Tunbridge Wells had their cover of Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal picked up by the Internet and mainstream media alike (Radio 1). The cover linked was from their gig at the Rising Sun on Saturday.

We left after their great set to go to the South Street Arts Center, where DJ ScotchEgg was performing a free gig before he was going to London for Offset Festival. I'd heard of the name but fuck, it was amazing. One of the most enjoyable gigs i have been to in a long while. I was feeling pretty worse for wear by the time we left South Street, but we wandered off to Global Cafe. We sat down with our Westons Organic Cider, and after the first sip of it i had enough and needed to go home. But as soon as i got up Tom grabbed my arm and said "Where are you going? Follow me".


I magically gained a second wind and danced to some Dubstep in the room, which was pretty good, and got chatting to this girl about things, mostly just talking about work and the odd question about cameras as i work in a camera shop. Was pretty cool chatting to her and her boyfriend, leaving my mates to discuss political things.

We left Global for the walk home and, as anyone who knows me will tell you, the inevitable stop off at the Murco (24hr off license/garage). Always handy for that one or two walking beers.


On the way to the Murco there was some jumping in a bush for some reason, lots of scratches, traffic cones throwing (The steam roller had it coming). Wearing the traffic cone and running about was a bad idea. I smelt like wet dog, dirt and judy plain damp. We also wrestled our mate to the ground, picked him up by his arms and legs and while we held him up from the floor we really didn't know what to do with him, so he bit one of us and then stormed off to the Murco. As we sat down on the wall outside, one guy tripped and fell off the wall which was about 3 feet high, causing a nasty gash on his elbow and, when i saw him the next night, had a limp too.

I got home about 3ish, or half three. I don't really remember. All I do remember is the sodding great hangover i had to endure while at work.

Good music. Good company. Good times.

Till we meet again alcohol. We must break this bond of sobriety that has befallen me.

Tales of a drunkard Pt 6

Recently I went up to London to see my friend Jemma perform at the Blag Club in Notting Hill and once again both her and Nick Bates were on top form. There were other bands too, of which i didn't get any names, which annoys me as there was this one female singer who was awesome. Quirky voice and lyrics akin to Joanna Newsom. I will find out who she was.


Then a couple of days later there was a night at Sakura in Reading that we all went to as it was a Hed Kandi night, so we hyped it up as a few of us have and do listen to Hed Kandi Cd's/Records both the chilled music as well as the more upbeat kind.

The night was pretty average, most of the people went into the club around 6pm for two-for-one cocktails before the night. I met them about half ten after drinking a bottle of Bacardi with a friend. The night was pretty average, which was a shame because we all wanted it to be a good night, hell it was a Hed Kandi night.

Alas it was not meant to be, not all the cocktails or averagely price alcohol in all the land could have made that night better. And to think people would have had to pay £10 just to get in for what was essentially a normal night in Sakura.

Not sure if it was because Reading Festival was on, therefore people were either at the festival or didn't want to come into town because they thought it would be busy, or the fact that it was Bank Holiday Monday and people were away for the weekend, but the whole atmosphere of the place sucked pretty big.


Hopefully when i go out on Friday it will be better. Seeing Jemma play at the Rising Sun Arts centre in Reading, so if you want to see a few bands play and performers then pop along.

Festival Season

As Reading Festival draws ever closer you'd think, given my past posts, that i would be getting ready to endure another weekend of carnage, music and fire. But alas this will be my first year in the past six that i haven't gone to the Festival. Not sure if that's a good thing, as it gets to be quite an expensive weekend, or if i will regret not going. Its become a bit of a tradition to go to Reading Festival as it is only just down the road. Am i becoming older and therefore the appeal of festivals waining? Hell no, its just the festivals these days, in particular Reading Festival, is full of kiddies running around like morons burning the shit out of everything. There used to be a kind of etiquette to the carnage. The game of trolley would start, security would take said trolley. Then we steal it back. It was a game of cat and mouse, and when we got bored we burnt things.

Festivals in England need help. They are starting to overprice these events. For the same price as a weekend camping ticket to Reading Festival you could go to Spain/Holland/Germany/France/Italy/Hungary and Serbia for some of the best festival line ups in recent years. But people don't. And i have no idea why. I love festivals in mainland Europe. They are cleaner, friendlier and have the same lineups, if not better at times.

Festival goers of England. Open your eyes to European festivals. Trust me you won't regret it.

Tales of a drunkard Pt 4

So Monday night, after weeks of being told how good this band are and how I won't be disappointed, I sorted a night out for me and a few friends. Started out somewhere cheap since the gig would be expensive for drinks. Few pints of Westons cider down me and I was on the way to being merry, so we trundled over to the gig. It's quite a small venue so I knew it would be sweaty but, my god, it was so sweaty in there.

We got there just as the 4th band was finishing, pretty much just noise. Lots of shouty shouty. I went to talk to my mate who was putting the night on, and he was excited to see the last band, Monotonix, and so was I by this point. We got a few more beers in before the band came on and settled in for a night of the unknown.

The band set up, putting the drums way out in front of the actual stage and started playing. Before the singer even sang a note he took my beer from my hand and poured it over the drums while the drummer was, well drumming. After a few songs they then moved a drum onto the bar, the guitarist stood on the bar and singer was in the crowd. They never really stood in one place for too long. Shortly after the singer took the drum and got a few of us from the crowd, myself included, to hold the drum above our heads, he then climbs atop, sings and dives into the crowd where my mate and others caught him. They played out in the hallway, in the toilet and all over the place in the main area. It's safe to say I havent been that entertained at a gig in some time. It was amazing! Music was good, their presence was awesome and they were genuinly good guys when I spoke to them afterwards.

We went to the Turtle for a drink where I proceeded to get thrown out for some inane reason or another, so we walked to Up the Junction for a drink before walking home. The night ended around 3am and was unfortunatley ruined by a phone call at 10am from my manager saying "Where are you"? "Why arent you at work?" and "Get here now".

My next drunken adventure takes me to the New Forest for some camping fun over the weekend. So the camera is charged and alcohol bought. Fun times ensue.