Advent: Dec 1st

So here we go again, lets see if i can manage to keep up to date with this. Saying that I'm already a day late. So I'm going to keep the format from last year, google 'December First/Second/Third.....' and just use whatever image is on the first page. Though i doubt anything too exciting will happen. Way to sell yourself.

The first day of December didn't yield much. I shaved off my Movember attempt and it felt good to get rid of a ginger moustache that looked like i should be in the 80's or the 6th member of the Village People. I spent most of the day playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 which isn't worth the £40 price tag, it should have just been an add-on download for x amount of Microsoft points since it really wasn't anything substantial. The story and the set pieces were amazing but it was just a small follow up. I think 5 hours of game play and that was it finished. Compared with say Fallout which usually has about 30 hours of game play before you finish.....

The multiplayer is where its at for me, as was Modern Warfare 2. Playing against another person is always better and more unpredictable than playing with a AI. I never liked Zombies that much but i love Survival mode. Its brilliant, much like in Gears of War where you have to survive waves of enemies. On line is as usual, sometimes its good and fun, sometimes its just full of people hiding till you run round a corner.

I had work but was only for two events, so after the Grand Prix was ran i cycled home, played a bit more Call of Duty, watched a film and bed. Looking forward to (today) Friday as I'm going for drinks with people from work which has taken too long, 5 months and no alcohol with work people is odd. And then Saturday is my friend Kats birthday so mucho drinko to be had.

Tales of a Drunkard: Learning

Last night i went to Sahara in Reading for their EDS (Educated Drinkers of Sahara) night. The idea of the EDS is for the members to become educated about the drinks they provide. Which for this Drunkard is a nice respite from just necking drinks for the sake of it. This meeting was the year anniversary for the EDS so was special for them and the drink of choice was Tapatio Tequila. Along with the different Tequilas was a history lesson from Duncan, from Speciality Brands which was amazing. I had no idea where Tequila came from, where it was made and the different types of Tequila, so for me was a nice eye opener into a spirit which is usually just necked on a night out. So the presentation about this family owned distillery was informative and funny and with the tasting afterwards meant you were more appreciative of the drink.


The tasting of the spirit was akin to wine tasting. Little measures were poured into a wine glass, you let it breath then put your nose to it to pick out the different aromas. Then the tasting. The first glass was the Blanco  which was very spicy and very nice. A bit too spicy for me and this tequila is bottled a few weeks after its been made. The second glass was the Reposada which is aged for a few months and was a lot smoother to drink, not as peppery as the Blanco and was my favourite of the night. The third was the Anejo which again is aged at about 18months. This tequila was a little bit peppery than the Reposada but still smoother than the Blanco. There was a bit of a kick afterwards but again nice and smooth, which you could just sip all night.


They are the three Tequilas that Tapatio make, the fourth bottle and tequila we sampled was the Reservas de la Excelencia, the Family Reserve which was usually just available to drink at the distillery or in the local cafes/bars. Speciality Brands twisted their arms and managed to get bottles of it to sell. It has now been discontinued which made the drink that much nicer. It is aged for about 4 years but the one we had was aged for 7 years if i remember correctly and was so smooth. Not as spicy as the Blanco, smooth like the Reposada and full of flavour. By far the nicest Tequila i have ever had and will probably ever have.


As it was a birthday party of sorts there were party rings, chocolate fingers and hula hoops and marshmallows on offer and like someone said "Food fitting of a 3yr olds birthday". After thanking Duncan for an insight into the La Altena Distillery, which has been making Tequila for 70 years, we moved upstairs where Dan the manager made us some cocktails to enjoy and some made with the Tapatio tequila, we sipped, shared and enjoyed the company. Had a couple of birthday shots and i bought some rum daiquiris. Chatting to some of the people there we decided to get some drinks on the way home since we lived in the same direction so Hobgoblin for a nice pint of cider then a walk to Up the Junction for a nice beer. Always nice to meet new people and friendly ones at that. I got home about 11:30 after stopping off to take a couple of pictures in Palmer Park as it was really misty and looked amazing. Though both my DSLR and digital compact were out of battery so my trusty medium format camera was placed on the floor so who knows if it worked, might pop back there again.


So all in all a good educational drinking session was had. Can't wait for the next one.

Advent: Dec 6th

This picture pretty much sums my mood up, not explosive but dry and irritable.
The day started out pretty good. A lay in which was lovely and an egg sandwich made for me when i got up. A nice walk to work with some equally nice music, some new bands suggested by a friend on Twitter and some classical music i downloaded.
Got to work and had a cuppa tea. Immediately it was apparent this day was going to take some bull horning, which is probably the wrong phrase to use if it is even a phrase. Basically i had to take charge of the day. Which didn't happen, much. Everyone was stressy at work, i mean it was a working day so why wouldn't they be.
For the most part the working day was good. Talked to lots of customers about cameras, pictures, gifts and gadgets. No arsey customers which is always a bonus. I was just counting down the hours till i could go pick my bike up from my mates flat. If you recall i had some issues with my bike on Saturday (See Advent:Dec 4Th) and i really don't like walking that much, not when i can cycle.

I'm pleased to report that the doors stay closed for the most part, as soon as its about 18 degrees the doors are open till it gets below 16 then the doors shut. Its a compromise i suppose, one i really cant be bothered to argue, also the placement of the thermometer is also a bit stupid but loop holes are there to be made and used.

So the day goes past without any complications and i trotted off to pick my bike up from my friends, stop off at Primark to get some trousers (too small) and i forgot to get some Icing Sugar so my friend gave me hers. Stayed for about 30Min's and chatted then left. I get my bike get on it and start pedalling, as soon as my left foot puts any weight onto the pedal it only goes and fucking comes flying off sending me down onto the frame of the bike and scratching my thigh all against it.

Cue a 5 minutes of me trying to work out how it screws on, neither normal 'lefty loosey, righty tighty' or the opposite work, so I'm guessing its something less trivial than that. So I'm pretty pissed off with that, not only the bike but the bike shop ACTION BIKES IN READING. The first issue was the pedal wasn't screwed in properly and about 2 weeks after buying the bike i took it back and had to get the entire crank replace, which on Saturday completely fell off. Now the pedal fell off after i had to pay and get a new one attached.

So 5 weeks of owning a bike and i have been back three times. The chap who did the road safety inspection on my bike, who also changed the crank the first time after the person who did the road check did the pedal wrong (himself). Funnily enough i learnt on Saturday that he no longer works there.... Hmm wonder if it has anything to do with failure to fucking sort out a bike?

I'm not unreasonable am i? My old mountain bike lasted two years. After i purchased it i forgot to get the 6 week check sorted and had no problems. About a year later i go to Action Bikes and get a service where they find my brake pads need replacing. Which was fine but then i had to pay for each pad to be fitted, on top of the service and purchase of brake pads. Then about a week after i get the service my back tire feels really dodgy when riding. So i take it back and low and behold i suddenly need a new tire fitted as the axle was broken. Something i would have thought they would have spotted during the service? So then i had to pay for that to be fitted and a whole new tire.

As strange as that was i had no complaints because it had lasted a fair long time without ANY problems. Then it got nicked.

So tomorrow i am going to have to go to this bike shop and get arsey. I hate arsey customers because they get nothing accomplished but when i went in Saturday and i was being nice i was basically told that the reason the crank came off was my fault. Now i don't get that. Again i don't want to go back to a bike shop unless i need a new tire, or handlebars or brakes... Not because of what seems to be failure to put a bike together...

No doubt Advent:Dec 7Th will have either a happy ending or an enraged rant/open letter to the people of reading regarding bikes.

Time to swot up on the Sales of Goods Act 1979.

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 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.

Wednesday Ususal

So Wednesdays are sort of becoming New Music Wednesdays, thanks to BBC Introducing and the Oakford in Reading. This time we went and saw two bands of varying quality. First up was The Joe Public who were amazing. I was sat a little too close to the drummer for my ears liking but it was worth it. Shades of Rage, Incubus and Queens of the Stone Age. It was that good that after they finished both myself and the four other people that i was with, all went up and bought their EP, a thing i havent done for years. So i thoroughly reccomend giving them a listen or if you can, check them out at one of their gigs.

Second band was The Good Natured. They look different and they sound pretty good. They had 'Jedward' style hair going on and Micheal Stipe face paint, but thats beside the point. The lead singer was seriously cute and she sounded amazing. I probably need to listen to their music again, to get abit more into it, but what i heard was pretty good.

So far BBC Introducing has had a good effect with me. Its beginning to become a good night out with friends and some amazing music. Looking forward to this weeks offerings and my friend is even playing there on the 17th March, 13D

New Music Wednesday

So being that it's Wednesday and the Oakford in Reading hosts BBC Introducing each week I decided to go with my friend Jemma to watch some live bands. And tonight was especially exciting as the gorgeous Eliza Doolittle was in attendance.

I first saw her video for the new single 'Skinny Genes' the other day and thought it was quite catchy. Then I heard it on Radio 2 late at night and thought "yeah I really like this" and now after seeing her live and playing the other songs, I can see her becoming really big when the summer hits. Her songs instill that warm summer glow in you, even if your in Reading on a bit of a crappy night.


I can't remember the track names so forgive me but I enjoyed them all and thoroughly recommend a listen, a purchase or a trip to a venue to see her. Lets hope I get to buy it on vinyl soon.

And sorry to the band before Eliza, I didn't catch the name. And after the atmospheric start and Radiohead style opener I started to like their songs. Part Madonna, part Pet Shop boys with a little Depeche Mode and Placebo thrown in. Good sound, and think it would sound better either on a CD or at a festival.

I'm beginning to like this scheduled live music. I'm just sad that after an outing in London on Saturday I missed Tom Williams and the boat

Edge of Darkness

Here we go again.
Edge of Darkness stars Mel Gibson as a bereived dad trying to find out what happened to cause his daughter to get killed. Now i'm not a massive fan of Mel Gibson. I liked Lethal Weapon and What Women Want was a good chick flick. I massivly enjoyed both Payback and Ransom which i hold as some of the best films i have seen. And from the trailer this film looked just like it. "Rejoice" i hear you say.

The start is a little long, then some action, then some pondering and Mel Gibson looking old yet good for his age.

Eventually the action picks up, and with a few mumblings from Ray Winston the larger picture is formed, Mel Gibson gets even more pissed off. And more bad guys die. It's enjoyable and its the first film to make me physically jump in a cinema since.... well i don't think a film has ever made me jump. So kudos for that.

I'd give it a 6/10 only because the ending was all nicey nicey.

Book of Eli: Review

Now this will be a new avenue for me. In my sober daze i have found myself on i have coherent thoughts, which put towards a film, culminate in a review.

Just got back from Book of Eli which i saw with a friend, and well here goes...

A couple of friends have seen it and said things like "Well i wouldn't really pay to see that" or "utterly pointless".. Anyway. From the very beginning it is what you would imagine a post-apocalyptic dystopia to be. Raiders, bleached sky, no water and more importantly no hope. Denzel Washington, as with most roles, brings his A game. Putting everything into Eli. A man on a mission, even if your unsure of what his mission is. Walking the wasteland with his book on his back unleashing justice, of sorts, on those who come into his way.


Fight scenes were quick and decent to watch "You put your hand on me again and your not getting it back" was brilliant. The other characters just set the story really. From Gary Oldmans 'Carnegie' and Mila Klunis 'Solara'. Two of the best characters are the old couple, with the brilliant Micheal Gambon.

The whole undertone surrounding Eli's book is religion. Which as stated in the film is how people understood the war to have started, and as a result went around burning all the books. Leaving Eli with his only copy and his quest to take this to the West coast of the USA. There is a twist to the story, and its a good one but will leave you with a 'WTF' moment or two as you replay parts of the movie over in your head trying to get around what you've just learnt, and how it could come to be that Eli is and does what he does, but its all a matter of faith ;)

Really good film with a superb soundtrack which works well with the post-apocalyptic world in which it's set in.

I'd give it a 7/10. Only because i was thinking 'Fallout, this is kind of like a Fallout film'... shame.