The Book of Qwerty

http://www.expressandstar.com/2009/10/29/green-day-red-hot-at-the-lg-arena/

Go. Now.

Green Day = Awesome!

Last night was the best gig I have ever been to. Review to follow!

I bought the latest Silent Hill game the other day. Here are my thoughts:

First of all, let me say that I am a huge fan of the Silent Hill series and in my opinion, they are the best survival horror games out - a decent balance of terror and guns.

So, the start off - the atmosphere is excellent. In the first few minutes I screamed, I whimpered and I almost turned the damn thing off! Sound is such a huge part of these games and as usual, Akira Yamaoka does not disappoint. Honesty, you won't believe how scary the sound of lapping water can be until you play this game.

Now, I have only played this installment for about 15 minutes so i can't say for certain that this game is super awesome. In fact, it will have to do a lot more to be as good as Silent Hill 3, which is the best in my opinion. Still, its going pretty good so far.

There's only a couple of things that really let it down. First is the text that comes up when you find something of interest. It's far too small to read unless you are right up close to the screen. Also, the flashlight is pretty useless so you'll find yourself going back over the same area two or three times because you can't see anything.

But despite these minor gripes, it looking pretty awesome!
 

Yes PMA!

No, it's not some 'women's thing' It stands for Positive Mental Attitude. I have come back from Spain refreshed and ready to rock 'n' roll!

I am learning the guitar, have got a timetable for classes at the gym and have completed the Mages Guild quests on Oblivion - Go Me!

AWESOME! That was the word of the weekend! That, and 'Alan!', but that's another story....

So Gemma, Naidy, Briss, Andy, Pete (eventually) and myself tootled off to Reading for the weekend to enjoy music and shenanigans. Here's what I was lucky enough to see:

Friday:
Madina Lake: These guys were great performers and did very well considering it was 12.45 in the afternoon on the first day
Funeral for a Friend - I liked these guys when I was at Uni but haven't listened to them much since then. They were still excellent and I managed to sing along quite a bit.
Fall Out Boy - I enjoyed this set a lot more than I thought I would. This band really knows how to do songs that make you move! Plus they did a great cover of Journey's Don't Stop Believing, which had everyone over the age of 25 cheering.
Placebo - I saw this band at Reading 2000 and strangely enough, they actually look younger than they did then....Molko's voice is still sharply defined and some of their new stuff blew me away. Will be purchasing more of their tunes soon....
Kaiser Chiefs - As with FOB, I enjoyed these far more than I thought I would. The lead singer (name escapes me) did a fine job of working the crowd up and getting us to sing along. I think he must have overdosed on Red Bull because the guy was flying across the stage and climbing up the scaffolding. I bet the roadies were having a heart attack.
Kings of Leon - The headliners for Friday night. I'd never seen them before and was really caught between watching them and Billy Talent. I opted for KOL because I really wanted to hear Manhattan while under the stars. I got my wish! Despite what the news is currently saying about Caleb having a tantrum, I though the set was great. I didn't go expecting the band to be leaping around the stage or conducting flashy laser shows - I expected good music and a great atmosphere, and I got it.

Saturday:
Fightstar - We didn't really intend to watch Fightstar but were in the arena while they were on and stopped for abit. Jokes about Busted aside, Charlie and Co have really come along and deserved the large audience they had gathered. I think alot of it has to do with the fact that Charlie does have a great sounding voice.....and the girls love him....
Spinnerette - Gemma accompanied me to this set and told me after that, although she wasn't sure if she'd like the band, she did end up enjoying the tunes. I've been a fan of Brody since she was in The Distillers and I love her new sound. Whereas Distillers hit you with a sledge hammer, Spinnerette hits you with a spear - more refined but just as shocking.
Mad Caddies - One of Andy's favourites, I'd never heard of this band but they were awesome! A great ska band with a cracking sense of humour and dance-able tunes.
Maximo Park - Caught the tail end of these guys. They're good but I'd rather go see Madina Lake again instead.
The Prodigy - Unfortunately blunted with crappy sound and high winds, my first taste of a live Prodigy gig was still way better than most sets. I was very impressed that the white-haired fella was still going by the end of it and at one point I though the chant of 'Take me to the hospital' was really a cry for medical assistance. We boogied like mad man and although I only knew a few tunes, I still bopped til I dropped....and got cider chucked over me but who cares! I was in my pjamas! (Don't ask....)
Gossip - Wow! Beth Ditto is an excellent performer and sounds amazing live! She drew a massive crowd and totally rocked the place. Mixing music with some witty banter, she had the crowd eating out of the palm of her hand.

Sunday :
Chipmunk - A hip hop rapper that normally i would have steered cheer of but as the rest of my troupe were attending I though, 'what the hell' And i have to say I was quite impressed. The music really wasn't to my taste but Chipmunk is a cheeky lad with some comedy to his act, which balanced it all out. His set was also a source of great amusement later when one of our number was chatting to a young lady and told her he'd watched 'Squirrel' that day.....Maybe he was thinking of Chipmunk's cousin...?
Mitch Benn - A comic singer that had me in stitches! Jokes about adopting African children and Radiohead were top notch and the man does some impressive Star Wars sounds.
Gallows - A bit too 'RAWR!' for me, these guys were like the Sex Pistols but about 20 years too late. The whole burning flags thing and being a 'rebel' doesn't quite have the same effect when you bring you mum onstage halfway through the set.
AFI - Listened to these guys while sitting out on the grass so didn't pay much attention, but they were enjoyable all the same.
LostProphets - Truly awesome! I danced, I ska'd, I moshed and I loved it. Excellent music and great sing-a-long moments accompanied by swaying and collective jumping! It never felt so good to be that bruised!


So, AWESOME was definitely the word of the weekend. A few dark clouds spotted the event, such as the rather terrifying crush on Saturday after the Prodigy. It was really one of those moments where I thought 'if I fall over, I'm not getting back up.'  Very scary and very nearly a real disaster before the emergency exit gates were opened by some quick-thinking volunteers.
Also the rude fire volunteers who went round putting out camp fires on Sunday night. Yes, some people were being idiots and starting bonfires but we were six older, sober people who just wanted to keep warm. After they tipped water over Naidy and myself and then walked away ignoring our shouts, we complained officially. They came back later and our previously doused fire had re-lit itself, and not by us! Honest! I think our chanting of 'Jesus re-lit our fire!' put the heebie-jeebies up them. Although, despite their bullying, it did make us stay up all night and leave at 5.30am, which meant we beat all the rush traffic and got home for 9.30am. Result!

So, to sum up, apart for a few dodgy moments, the weekend was a total success of AWESOME-NESS! And I've even bought my ticket for next year!

This is a bit late coming but the last couple of weeks have been mad! So, it was Ayacon this year at Warwick University, and my first Aya as well. The last few years I've been going to Amecon at Leicester, so this was going to be a new experience. I'll try to break it down:

Pro's: So, so many!
Masquerade/Omake - I'm really glad I took part in these two events again, because I always forget how much fun they are. Syd and Ben's song seemed to go down a treat and I loved the chance to dance about onstage in front of hundreds of people!
The venue - Ayacon definitely has the upper hand when it comes to room space. It's main hall was massive and so there was no sitting on floors or crushingly hot temperatures.
Syd's Kanzashi Workshop - I was just helping out in this event as it was really Syd's show,, but I loved how enthusiastic and friendly everyone was. I really brought home just how important it is to have nice, welcoming people at these conventions.
Dancing - Just dancing my socks off to songs I've never heard before!
Haruko Momoi - A brilliant singer and performer, Haruko had the energy of a Duracell Bunny on speed. She put on a great show and was totally adorable to boot.
Being Mokona - Totally awesome to be furry and cute all day! Its a new experience....
Drink - I discovered Elderflower and Lime cider! Thank you Actionsloth!


Cons: Not that many.....
The venue part II - Although Warwick has the space for conventions, it does sacrifice some of the cosiness and general mingling atmosphere that Leicester has. I felt that it was very easy to end up alone as there were so many places for people to hang out.
Games - No Soul Calibur in the games room.....very disappointed....
Food - For a place as big as Warwick I did expect more in the way of places to eat. However, whether it was due to the building work being done or the summer holidays, there was only one place on the campus to get hot food.
Karaoke - The sounds was naff so although me and Syd had fun singing Love Hina, no-one could hear us...

All in all it was a spectacular weekend and I am very much looking forward to Amecon next year!

In the past three weeks I have been to Ayacon 2009, which was awesome, and Reading Festival which was also awesome. I intened to write detailed descriptions of both of these experiences soon, but have to wait until my brain has finished spinning and I've lost the double-vision....

Had a disagreement with a co-worker earlier. Apparently it's okay to have your own opinion in journalism, it just has to be the same as the editors' (even though she's not my editor, she would like me to act like she is....fat chance) It's a case of projecting your own insecurities about your position onto someone else, namely me. I was very proud of myself though for not rising to her 'poor me' rantings and I will settle for everyone else who overheard the argument calling her a "mad bitch" under their breath.

I may be young, and have less experience than some people in the industry, but don't talk to me like I just fell out of the womb.

I have recently noted that my wardrobe is suffering from 'Work Clothesitis', where you end up wearing crappy, old, shapeless clothes because your work place disallows any hint of individuality...I aim to fight that assumption and go shopping this weekend.

Now, even though I am female, I find clothes shopping rather tedious and would much rather spend my hard earned cash on CDs, DVDs and other items of amusement. However, these are desperate times and so shop I must. Hopefully I'll be able to find that rare balance between work acceptable attire and stuff I actually like wearing.

On a high note, the new series of Criminal Minds starts tonight. Bring on the Dahmers! Bundy's waiting....

I have been lax in my updates, and I apologise. Moving on...

A recent bout of creative block has kept me rather distanced from my keyboard and no amount of pep talking and coffee was helping. The fog appears to be clearing now so hopefully inspiration will come rushing on like a wave of fat, rabid squirrels.

I have bought an acoustic guitar on impulse. Rather glad I did although tuning the thing is proving a tad tricker than originally thought. May have to defer to an electronic do-hickey before I attempt to busk for pennies.

Merry Festive Season to one and all!


And spare a thought for me at work tomorrow....and Boxing Day....joy....

01. Put your Winamp on shuffle-mode.
02. Open your library. For every question, type the song that's playing.
03. Skipping over and over again until you get a result you like is cheating. Cheating is bad.

FYI- -I'm using my phone music library cos I haven't uploaded my tunes onto my Dad's comp yet, so it's pretty limited...

Opening Credits: When it Rains - Paramore
Waking Up: Love has a Diameter - Biffy Clyro
Average Day: The Real Slim Shady - Eminem 
First Date: Fences - Paramore
Falling In Love: Larger Than Life - Backstreet Boys
Love Scene: The Distance - Bon Jovi
Fight Scene: Tourniquet - Evanescence
Breaking Up: Overture/Going Through the Motions - Buffy 'Once More With Feeling' soundtrack
Getting Back: Don't Feel Like Dancing - Scissor Sisters
Secret Love: Won't Say I'm in Love - Hercules soundtrack (heh, lucky)
Life's Okay: Don't Know Why - Norah Jones
Mental Breakdown: Bullet - Nickelback
Driving: Epiphany - Sweeney Todd soundtrack
Learning A Lesson: As Dust Dances - Biffy Clyro
Deep Thought: Taking Over Me - Evanescence
Flash Back: Something to Sing About - Joss Whedon
Happy Dance: Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot - Caramba
Regretting: My Immortal - Evanescence
Long Night Alone: Rock and Roll Dreams - Meatloaf
Death Scene: I Will Buy You a New House - Everclear
Closing Credits: Ai (Chuu Seishin) - Excel Saga 

Some of you may already have seen this on the BBC news website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7685697.stm and http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/384118_knox21.html

I guess we were due another 'This murder was committed/inspired/re-enacted because of this film/singer/comic/song!' (delete as appropriate) sensationalist media story.

Now as someone who has done a bit of research into these things, I can not say with absolute conviction that certain mediums do not trigger/inspire random acts of violence. However, what really gets under my skin is some of the inaccurate reports that feature on these matters.

If you read the articles above, they bear striking similarities to that 'Manhunt-inspired' murder a few years back, due to the doctoring of facts and bland generalisations. In the Manhunt case, the papers reported that the killer played the game obsessively and became unhinged. The truth is that it was the victim of the crime who actually owned the game, and not the attacker. Funny how that bit gets left out...

With the Kercher case, on the second article listed above, it is said that one of the accused was inspired by a manga featuring vampires but then goes on to say that Kercher (the victim) was dressed as a vampire at a party. Is it just me or is that drawing a pretty stretched link?

I also loved the bit on the BBC article about the description of manga: "Manga comics are often associated with science fiction and fantasy, commonly with violent or explicitly sexual content." How exactly is sci-fi and fantasy associated with murder? Or is that just some background for Joe Everyman? And the violent/sexual content...Does anyone else watch The Tudors? Have you murdered anyone lately?

Again, I'm not claiming to know everything about psychology or dismiss these claims but its the over-dramatising and uber-sensationalism that really bugs me. This crime was brutal and horrific, but doesn't it seem that by using a comic or film as a modern-day Satan, it just cheapens the act itself and appears to excuse the accused?

This may seem like a simplified analysis of this case but it's hard to debate a subject when sitting alone. I also don't mean to deride the victim or anything like that, but it's just one of those things that crops up every now and then and casts a dark shadow over the entertainment industry - for both the press and the public.

After reading Syd's post about princesses, I felt inspired to post this, although its rather off-topic:

*throws herself down on the floor and proceeds to have a full-on toddler tantrum complete with crying and floor-kicking*

"I hate BT, Severn Trent Water, Birmingham Council and all the other god-forsaken, money-spinning, @$%!*& corporate bastards that populate this earth!!!!"

In other words, I am trying to cancel a few things ready for when I move and by the love of zombie-Jesus, is it hard! I swear they do this so you can't cancel at all and have to remain under their power for all eternity.

I want to go back to a simpler time when someone else was in charge of the important things and all I have to do is cook, clean and relax....which is why I'm moving back in with my Dad! :-D Uncomplicated living (and a hefty savings account) here I come!

I have just realised how much crap I have accumulated over the years...it's a lot! I'm having to spend my weekends clearing bag after bag of junk out of my room before I can even begin to start packing! Plus with all the cleaning and tidying to keep up with as well, I'm seriously considering buying myself a worker monkey. I don't actually think it will help me but at least I'll be kept amused as I work :)

Okay, just something for fun...A caption challenge! Not a competition or anything, it's just for fun :) If it catches on I'll do more...

(Plus, can anyone tell me how to hide things under that bold text?)

Turns out I'm not the morning person I thought I was...See, I believed that simply being an early-riser was proof enough that I am a lark rather than an owl but ah, that is not the case. Being an early-riser means squat if you can't actually communicate with anyone before 9am without wishing them a quick and painful death.

For example, the man who got off the bus the same time as me today, at around 7.25am, and commented: "I'll be driving one of those in 3 weeks" Not to be rude Mr Stranger but I don't care if you're planning on sodomising one later whilst singing 'Hungry like the wolf.' However, this sudden flare of irritation could also be linked to the last time I spoke to a quiet, friendly guy, who then turned out to be a raving loony stalker....

But still, I stand by my latest theory, I am an early-riser but until 9.01am rolls around with a cup of tea or coffee, I am not a morning person.


P.S - Thank you to Casper for posting that freaking funny video of Looking for Group. I have now found the web-comic, which is a joy! :)

COMMENT HERE AND I WILL:

a) Tell you why I friended you.

b) Associate you with something -- a fandom, song, color, photo, etc.

c) Tell you something I like about you.

d) Tell you a memory I have of you.

e) Ask you something I've wanted to know about you

f) Tell you my favourite userpic from your list

g) In return, you need to post this on your own livejournal

Must see this movie!!!! *drool*......

http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/repo/

Ack, before I start my rant, a quick apology for being absent from LJ for the last few months. I was going to come up with a great excuse involving hordes of the undead and squideons (more on that later) but the honest truth is I forget about it. Ooops. So anyway, sorry, on with the rantings!

First off, as many of you who know me already know, I'm a TMNT fan, (that's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to those in the know) and as such I started watching the new cartoon when it aired in 2003. And my goddess, was it good! Proper battles, actual on-screen deaths, Michelangelo had his nun-chucks back, it was all excellent. And then the inevitable - after season four the PTB decided that the new season would go in a 'different direction' (that's executive speak for "we're not making enough money...") So, the real season five was shelved to DVD only and the 'new' version took its place. Long story short, the TMNT go into the future, meet April and Casey's irritating offspring and generally don't kill a thing for a year...blah blah blah....
Anyway, when the TPB then announced a return to the old ways, I cheered up immensely! I've seen two episodes of the seventh season now and....I'm having doubts about my new-found joy...Yes, they've gone back to the present day, yes, they've got proper weapons again, (no-one's dead yet but give it time...) but they haven't shaken the 'kiddy' feel on the dismal last season. The characters look like the Disney applicants that didn't make it, and somehow seemed to have gotten younger despite a year passing...
The weirdest thing by far though is the eyes...watch it and you'll see what I mean. The TMNT were not meant to ever have pupils as far as I'm concerned, it makes them look like reject anime drawings.
However, as a true fan, I will persevere for a while longer and hope that Mr Laird come to his senses eventually.

P.S - I've just realised that Flack from CSI:NY was Tag in Friends. Go me!

P.P.S - Squigeons are a cross-breed between squirrels and pigeons. I came up with that at work, then someone pointed out that would be a flying squirrel, until I noted that flying squirrel poo doesn't dissolve stone...

P.P.S - While doing the spell check for this post, I've found that 'poo' doesn't have any suggestions for correction, it's just wrong!