"If the music don't move yer like it should..."

As I sure most readers will know, music is my first love.
I adore it & I'm always keen to bring in new blood. Recently I've been accumulating loads of new music. So much so I'm actually close to drowning under the weight of it all.
Obviously the whole point of music is to listen to it, not to merely add it to one's collection. Now, I make a lot of time to listen to my tunes; I have my pod on at work (when I beat Crisp Fiend & his amazing world of cheese to it. Honestly, he has some stuff on there that even Lordy B would balk at, such as the pull-your-ears-off-horror of "Total eclipse of the heart"- the cheesy dancy version by some dodgy bird), I usually have at least an hour or two a day at home, I have tunes on in the car & I always go to sleep to the sound of some tunes.

Things are getting silly though, The Duke Of Jokes gave me 4 new (well, new to me) albums at the weekend & I'm bloody struggling, I tell thee.
So far this year I have acquired 31 new albums & 2 very old albums that feel like new. I'll expand on those in a bit.
Now albums do seem to have a habit of arriving like the proverbial buses; you wait a while then they turn up mob handed. Historically this has proven to be of detriment to some of the albums in question. It's a survival of the fittest scenario. For instance, earlier this year I got the following within a couple of weeks of each other;
"Black holes & Revelations"-Muse
"Victory for the comic muse"-The Divine Comedy
"Razorlight"-Razorlight
"The Eraser"-Thom Yorke &
"The Great Western" - James Dean Bradfield.
Now as "Black holes & revelations" is quite simply one of the best albums ever recorded in the history of music* & "Victory for the comic muse" was very instant & quite lovable, I found it very difficult to spurn them in favour of getting my ears round the other ones. I still don't really know the Razorlight album well enough to pass judgment on. Thom Yorke's effort pretty much passes me by (other than "Harrowdown Hill" which is hypnotically excellent) & JDB's album has enough quality on it to know I'll really like it one day if I can ever give it the attention.

Then at the beginning of September I got Kasabian's "Empire" album. I didn't listen to it though as I buggered off to Czech. When I got back it was overlooked & I still haven't given it a proper listen yet.
Then it started, the onslaught that has yet to stop...

• Costello music - The Fratellis - I like it, it's bouncy & raucous & a little bit Arctic Monkeys but I have this feeling that I'll tire of it quickly. I hope I'm wrong.
• Sam's Town - The Killers - It's been strutting around I-tunes like the dominant alpha male of the pack. I mean it's getting regular listens. I think it's a very good album. Perhaps it hasn't quite got the highpoints of "Hot fuss" but it's a much more consistent effort. I'm digging it muchly.
• Shine on - Jet - Hmmm, bought it the same day as the Killers & it subsequently hasn't had much of a look in yet.
• The Bluetones - The Bluetones - Ahem, just the one listen so far. I'm sure it'll be great because the Bluetones make great records. Fact.

Then, courtesy of the DOJ...

• The New Fellas - The Cribs - They're from Wakefield y'know & I know at least one reader has seen them live (Hello Spins!). Sounds ok, so far.
• The best little secrets are kept - Louis XIV - He's a bit mental but he's got something. I think I like it.
• Give me a wall - iForward Russia - Oh I reckon I'm gonna like this a lot
• Progress-Reform - iLikeTrains - Yup, this'll float my boat too. All dark, sombre & noisy.

As if that wasn't enough, the utterly ace Mark Reed dangled this in front of me & could I resist? Why would I?

• Jarvis - Jarvis Cocker - Not played more than a couple of tracks yet but it's Jarvis, It's bound to be quality.

I'm seriously hoping there are no more releases on the horizon for a month or so, just to give me a chance to digest all that lot.

Now I mentioned earlier, 2 old albums. Some things are just so obscure that they've never been re-issued on CD. So these two relics from the early 80's have been lost in vinyl hell for a good 15 years or so. Finally though, due to this magical internet malarkey, I have re-acquired them. And I've been listening to them a lot. What are they? Well, does anyone have any idea who this lot are?



















They may well look like a bunch of gypos, but they are actually an early incarnation of a very successful (in their day) pop group. A group I really, really liked when I was younger.
Over their very up & down career they released 8 albums of varying quality.
At one point in the mid 80's they were so big that Madonna guested with them in their Live Aid slot. They are, of course...














Back in the day, I loved the Thompson Twins. However, before they became the poptastic trio that you may remember, they were actually the seven piece indie guitar band you see above. They released two albums in that guise; 1981's "A product of..." & 1982's "Set". I always liked these albums more than the poppy stuff. They are awash with great, great songs. The proof of the pudding was when I found myself effortlessly singing along, word for word, despite the eons that had passed since the last time I'd heard them.
I know that it probably doesn't mean anything to anyone one else but the reappearance of "A product of..." & "Set" is a source of massive joy to me.
Finally, another thankyou for the DOJ who had actually transferred these albums from vinyl for me even though the internet pipped him to the post.
Here's the thing, the final track on "A product of..." is called "Vendredi saint", it's some sort of Indian chant which has a very infectious melody. Back in the old days though it used to get on our nerves a bit. So we used to play it at 45rpm instead of 33. The DOJ only did me a digital version of it at 45rpm. He's a geezer! And it's like being 13 again.
Anyway, I've got tunes to listen to so I'm off.
Cheerio.





*Yes, it bloody is.

"Haven't seen your family tree in quite a while"

I had a bloody horrible cold on Wednesday & Thursday but my weekend was fine & dandy.

The Boy & I headed on up the M1 the visit the family in my newly acquired Flashmobile mk.43. I must try & do a look back at all my crap cars sometime.
Anyway, we arrived about tea-time, which meant Fish & Chips! Yay for proper Yorkshire Fish & Chips!
Shortly after that The Boy was off with his Auntie for the night & I was off with the grand old Duke of Jokes for the evening. We met at the train station, where we marveled at how incredibly stupid/fearless we were when we were kids who liked to play alongside the thunderous trains that would hammer past us. We were headed up to Leeds, a workmate of the DOJ was playing a gig in the city with his band & it was written that we should check them out. It was in a little bar full of people in black clothing & too much heavily applied make up. With the exception of the women who were inexplicably dressed as Little Bo Peep, whose clothes were red & blue.
It had been yonks since the DOJ & I had last met up so we had lots to natter about over a pint or 3 of Starosomething. The DOJ attracted the attentions of the hot barmaid with his iForward Russia t-shirt. He nearly summoned up the courage to get her number when she jotted down a list of local bands to look out for. Nearly.
The band, Cyberslide, came on & did their thing. They were by no means bad (unlike the sound system that did them no favours) but they perhaps should have been named Sub-NitzerModeOrder.
We then agreed to head back to Wakey to see out the nights drinking. So a short train ride later we were outside Mex (I think it's called that) with a couple of jars.
Not long after that the DOJ introduced me to a blast from the past. A fella who I was friends with at school. I hadn't seen him in 20 years, so I didn't recognise him straight away. It was very strange. We were never big mates but it was kind of nice to see him. It also gave me the opportunity to apologise for still having his OMD album that I borrowed from him (The Pacific Age).* His young companion looked very uncomfortable throughout & he hardly said a word. They soon left us to it & pottered off. Twas then that the DOJ told me that our old schoolmate has a bit of a taste for young men.
We then went to a club-type affair & proceeded to quaff ale & natter about anything & nothing for the rest of the night.
Then it was time for food where the DOJ was shellshocked to hear me say that I didn't want anything. I was kinda shocked myself actually but I had eaten two fish before coming out.
Twas, as always, a fine night in fine company. Cheers DOJ, see you at Crimbletide.

Saturday started with just a mild headache, which was nice. Then it was off to go & pick up my Mum's cake. Ooh I don't think I've said yet, but the primary reason for this trip to Wakey was to celebrate my Mum's 70th birthday. Anyway, the cake was splendid, but don't take my word for it...














I ummed & aahed about whether I should take The Boy to Elland Road for the first time to watch the once-mighty Leeds United. In a rare moment of financial prudence, I decided against it. Turned out to be a great decision as Leeds were whooped 4-0 by Stoke City in what the DOJ (season ticket holder for many a year) later described as "the worst performance I have ever seen". £50 saved there then!

Instead we played Chess & went into Wakefield for a look round the shops.

The evening came round which meant it was time for the family outing to what was, for us a least, a fairly posh restaurant. It was a nice evening & we all had a smashing time. OurKid's fella (who is waiting patiently at the name allocation counter) ordered ostrich. I had a taste & can confirm for you that it tastes almost exactly like beef but it's very, very chewy. Therefore, my advice would be; just have beef.
Here's the Family Flash in our finery...














At the end of the night, The Boy & I went back to OurKid's place. He was soon tucked up in bed, while OurKid, fella & I sat down for a game of Buzz on the playstation. It's a music quiz with buzzers & stuff which OurKid had earlier assured me that she always, always wins & that she would whoop my ass.
I won at a canter.
Then her fella & I shared a very potent spliff.
And we played again.
This time I struggled to put my bloody name in & was soundly thrashed.
Mmmm.

After that, they cracked open a new game that they hadn't played yet; SingStar. It's pretty much Karaoke, but it was hella cool! They had the SingStar Rocks edition & I was thrilled to see some of the tunes on offer. I went with Maximo Park's "Apply some pressure", amongst others. It was great fun.
Sometime after 2 we all called it a night.

Sunday was all a bit of a rush. Went to see Mum & give her prezzies & stuff, Nipped to the car boot sale (Star Trek: First Contact DVD for a quid!), Popped down to chez DOJ to pick up an avalanche of tuneage (more about that next time out), Did Wakefield to Crapsville in just over 90 minutes in a car that cost just £180 & returned home to spend the evening with my lovely girlfriend who had sadly caught the bloody horrible cold.
Poor Nice.
So I looked after her.

Twas a fine weekend.

*I feel the need to strongly state that this is not normal Flash behaviour. I know how much I bloody hate it when some fucker doesn't return something I've kindly lent to them, so I don't approve at all.

"Just a man, with a man's courage..."

Oi!
I saw this over at Mark's place, liked it, nicked it.
The boldness & the italics just came at me from nowhere, feeling scared & intimidated, I scarpered. (See; courage)

1) My ex is: currently hovering around at a mild 6 on the mentalistic scale.
2) I am listening to: The new Bluetones album; thrillingly titled "The Bluetones".
3) Maybe I should: get a new job.
4) I love: love.
5) My best friend: (s) are more important to me than they'll probably ever know..
6) I don’t understand: Long division
7) I lose: control far too readily.
8) People say: ..lots of nice things about me that make me feel all gooey & warm inside.
9) The meaning of my screen name is: A deconstruction of my own troubled psyche using the stark juxtaposition of the lightning fast superhero against the lazy fucker typing away with a fag dangling from his lips.
10) Love is: ace!
11) Somewhere, someone is: shaving satanic symbols in their partner's back hair. I bet there is!
12) I will always: endeavour to be happy & to have fun.
13) Forever seems: to be something you shouldn't commit to
14) I never want to: accept the truth.
15) My cell phone is: A Sagem myx6. it's cack.
16) When I wake in the morning: I rush
17) I get annoyed when: people turn music down to really low levels. Just turn it off.
18) Parties are: rarely what you want them to be..
19) My dog is: a figment of your imagination.
20) Kisses are the worst when: someone is in your place & in your field of vision.
21) Today I did: smile a little smile when lightning knocked the power out at work for a few minutes.
22) Tonight I will: watching a film.
23) Tomorrow I will be: looking in the Crapsville Express for a car (& because I like to keep my finger on the pulse).
24) I really want: you. Right here, right now. Come on...don't think I haven't noticed that little twinkle in your eye when I comment on your blog. Champagne?

"...cos I'm not planning on going solo"

Work is very slow on The Album That Won’t Record Itself.
I’m currently working on a brand new tune. It’s a strange one for me as I’ve written the music first, with no melody or lyric at present. I don’t usually work that way, I usually have a melody & at least a partial lyric before I even start trying to put a track together. The new tune has a working title of “Groove” but I think it may well become “What is this real life you’re talking about?”
I did a bit on it yesterday & introduced some nice trumpet stabs to it.

Tonight, I’m moving the whole project forward in a very welcome manner. The idea of Gnu Cnu was that it was Reckless & I. The dynamic duo! Some songs were left off “Confessions of an idiot” because they needed real guitar on them. “Hate Farm” should probably have been one of those in hindsight. However, we did not have the technology to do real guitar last time out, so “Confessions…” became a solo album in reality.

Now I love Reckless dearly, he’s my bestest friend (along with Funny Dance, who I saw briefly on Thursday night, by the way) & Gnu Cnu has always been about him & I. The terrible truth is that Reckless is not that good a guitarist. He has problems keeping to a beat. In truth, he couldn’t keep time if his life depended on it. Both Dream Girl & Myself have spent a good 2 or 3 years gently trying to get him to grips with this problem. She bought him a metronome for his birthday one year, I gave him my old drum machine to play along with & have since installed software on his computer to help him along.
He hasn’t succeeded.
He hasn’t succeeded because he hasn’t tried.
That pisses me off a little. Actually it pisses me off a great deal. His lack of rhythm isn’t too much of a problem when we’re just jamming with the acoustic. I can & do compensate for any lapses. Obviously, when it comes to recording, mistakes are not acceptable.
Also, Reckless has never made any effort to devote any time to this or the previous project. That pisses me off too.

So, my hand has been forced…
Tonight, a work friend I’ve known for 12 years is coming round with his guitar. He’s a very talented guitarist & we did briefly try to start a band a few years back with another colleague. His blog name shall be QuietBoy, for that is what he is.

He has a copy of “Confessions…” & likes it, so he knows what kind of thing we’re up to.
I’m hoping he becomes deeply involved & that The Album That Won’t Record Itself will sound much more organic than “Confessions…” At the very least, I’m hoping that we can complete a lovely old song of mine called “Relentlessly” which is simply a guitar & voice number.

So, I guess I’m saying I feel terrible for abandoning Reckless but I can’t & won’t be held back.

Difficult second album? They’re not kidding!

"I can't believe the news today"

Ooh, I feel like a blogger reborn, I tell thee.
I just wanna blog!

Today, in an idea blatantly stolen from this fella, I'm going to try & give you an insight into what sort of place Crapsville really is. I'm going to do this by sharing the contents of this week's Crapsville Express. The weekly local newspaper, available every Thursday for just 42 English pennies.

So the screaming front page headline?

What have you done?
District leader launces attack on town council.

As this is Crapsville & not one of your big metropolitan cities, the district leader has not gone steaming into the council offices brandishing an Ak-47 & a fistfull of grenades. No he has instead "hit out at the town council for providing nothing but tax increases since it was set up more than three years ago". Blimey!
Remember folks, this is the front page.

So onto page 3. Here's a selection of the headlines...

Fixed penalty notice issued

House opens for charity fair

Fall woman angered by state of pavements

& my favourite; Helicopter creates a stir
This goes on to tell us that "The police helicopter hovered low over Crapsville town centre for around 15 minutes on Tuesday afternoon"

By now, I expect you are all feverishly making phone calls to your estate agents. "Put my house on the market, for I wish to move to Crapsville. It's buzzing there, y'know"

On page 4 we have the Letters to the Editor section.
All 7 featured letters are blathering on about the recent closure of the outdoor swimming pool. As they have been for the last few weeks, hey!, it's a hot topic!
A very switched on Mr Brown opens his letter with "I don't want to read about the outdoor pool anymore". Right on, Brownie. He later observes "Wake up! This is Crapsville, not the Costa del Sol".

Over on page 5 the earth shattering news stories keep coming thick & fast...

Mirrors broken off cars

Attacked lambs make good progress

Ten years of stomping good fun - "A line-dancing club in Crapsville celebrated it's 10th birthday last week." The wonderfully named Stomping Boots linedance club. Personally I can't believe people still do linedancing but each to their own, eh?

The helicopter has been busy apparently, as page 7 tells us...

Copter called for stolen bike

and rather intriugingly...

Nursery raises cash for "yummy mummies". Lordy!

Pages 8 & 9 keep us gripped with some more gripping stuff such as...

Coffee mornings' special brew

By page 10 we're onto the family announcements, even though I'm not Crapsville through & through there is always someone I know in there. This week is no exception as I find that a lad I used to work with has become a father again. Most proper locals know everybody.

The next 3 pages are filled with the Village & discrict diary. This used to be called Village voice, which I think is a much better name for it. Down in Crapper-than-Crapsville there's an event not to be missed; "The annual conservative club Conker Challenge will be held on Saturday, with all conkers supplied by the club". Bloody good job! I wouldn't have bothered going if I had to bring my own!

More news on 16 & 17...

Canadians learn more at Country Park

Stolen goods sold on E-bay (Gasp! No!)

And perhaps the most worrying story yet...

Blueprint of the future is delayed.

To the centre pages now where we find a rather charming pullout featuring photos of all the new children at all the area's schools. And of course the gargantuan property pull out which, more often than not, has more pages than the actual newspaper.
My favourite part of the whole paper is on the centre pages & it's not because it's called Flashback. It's because it reminds us that Crapsville has always been a hotbed of incident & action. This week...
50 years ago... "Crapsville borough council raised no objection to the county planning officer, regarding a British Timken application to erect a large neon sign at their factory".
25 years ago..."Dry-mouthed members of the Crapsville rubber ducks CB group munched their way through more than 150 cream crackers during a sponsored event in aid of charity".
10 years ago..."Twitchers flocked to Crapsville country park after 2 rare birds, a Baird's Sandpiper & a Wilson's Phalarope, were spotted at the reservoir".
Oddly enough, I don't recall that happening.

From then it's the classifieds, the jobs & the cars until we get to the sports bit. One of the town's 2 teams, Ford Sports were whooped 7-1 at Boston & find themselves rooted to the foot of the UCL premier division with just 3 points from 9 games.

Here's where Crapsville has a bit of a scoop. The weekly "column" - "Our man in the middle" - The thoughts of Premiership football Referee, Peter Walton. This week he's boasting how he's had two good weeks, been on Sky twice & had no complaints from Mr. Ferguson about the penalty award against Man Utd for handball.

And there we have the most shocking news in the whole "news"paper. There was a penalty awarded against Manchester United! Crikey!!

Ok, joking aside, I realise that the lack of murders, violent assaults, rapes & other such heinous crimes makes Crapsville a smashing place to live in many respects. Not least as a place to raise one's child.
It just doesn't make for a very good read on a Thursday.

"Someone call an ambulance, there's gonna be an accident"

It was spring, 1988.
After a couple of years of teenage heartache, Monochrome Baby had finally become my girlfriend. I had traveled to Crapsville countless times but the time had finally come for her to visit Wakefield.
She was being driven up by her friend; TruckerGirl in her little old brown Mini. I had caught the bus down to Wooley Edge services so I could meet them & guide them the last few miles rather than expect two teenage girls to successfully cope with directions (snigger).
Bar the incident I'm going to tell you about I actually remember very little else about her visit.

I think it was the second day when we went to hang out in Thornes Park. We had quite the little posse. There was Gentle Giant, who was on a ill fated mission to woo TruckerGirl, MarriedAProperBitch & Dot had now also come up from Crapsville too. I think Ridgeley may have been about too, but I can't be certain.
We were just all hanging about on the grass, larking about & doing nothing in particular. At one point MarriedAProperBitch decides to go & get ice creams, TruckerGirl goes aswell. In fact everybody except Monochrome Baby & myself goes. Now, here's the thing; the ice cream van is, at a guess, no more than 300 yards away. Yet they all decide to go in the cars. Muppets.
Honestly, MarriedAProperBitch would drive to the toilet if he could fit his car up the stairs!
So the two of us are lying on the ground at the top of a gentle hill in the park, and, as you may expect, we having a bit of a canoodle. MarriedAProperBitch returns in his van which he drives on to the grass & skids to, what he must have thought was an ace stop alongside where we we laying. Monochrome Baby & I were suitably unimpressed.
Then comes TruckerGirl's brown Mini. Fully laden with 4 passengers. She's obviously seen MarriedAProperBitch's super stunt driving & fancies a go herself. However she is not pulling up alongside us, she obviously thinks it'll be a hoot to head straight for the lovebirds & stop in front of us.
We were laying across her path, Monochrome Baby had her back to the car but I was facing it.
And it kept coming.
I remember thinking "Silly cow, I have a go at her for that stunt. Someone could get hurt."
Yet it kept coming.
I distinctly remember TruckerGirl's face changing from mirthful laughter to abject terror as she realised that the car was skidding onwards no matter how hard she applied the brakes.
I dare say she recalls a similar transformation of my features.
And it kept coming.
And then it hit us. Monochrome Baby took the full force of the impact. The next few seconds were just pure terror. We were being pushed along the grass by the car, Monochrome Baby was screaming, actually I think everyone was screaming.
After what really did seem like an eternity, we eventually came to a halt. TruckerGirl got out of the car. "Fucking reverse now!!!" I screamed at her. Which she did.
I was physically OK but I was shaking with fear & shock.
Monochrome Baby had not faired so well. She had been wedged under the bumper & had sustained some sort of back injury. In hindsight, we were lucky it was a Mini, if it had been a normal car it would've simply run over the both of us, which would surely have been a lot worse.
I recall going mental at TruckerGirl, calling her all sorts of names. I later apologised.

So then an ambulance came & whisked my girl off to nearby Pinderfields Hospital. Where she would remain all week. Her Mum & Dad came up to be with her & I hardly saw her.
I was devastated.
I was inconsolable.
Even seeing her naked bottom for the very first time as she was wheeled past me on a hospital trolley wearing one of those gowns that are open at the back couldn't lift my spirits.
I remained like this for days, I hardly spoke to anyone. I hung out with TruckerGirl & Gentle Giant. She was staying in his family's caravan at the front of their house.
They & Gentle Giant's folks were trying to cheer me but I was beyond hope. I was absolutely mortified that this had happened on my turf, that my girl was in pain in hospital &, most of all, that it had been her & not me that caught the brunt of the collision.

Then completely out of the blue, something appeared on the television that made me smirk a little. I hid it for fear of my smile being read as a betrayal of my stricken girl.
Shortly afterwards I was wearing a broad smile & seconds after that I was laughing out loud. Real proper belly laughs.
The source of my amusement that day was a character that will forever have a place in my heart.
Dear readers, I give you...
POB!















After wetting myself to Pob's antics, I brightened up & started putting the whole sorry business into perspective. I got over it.
Monochrome Baby made a full recovery in time, though she often was susceptible to lower back pain from then on. And some months later I got to see her naked bottom again.

As for Pob, well he went on to kick up quite a stink. There were calls for him to be banned from our screens as he was allegedly teaching the nations pre-schoolers to spit at their TV screens & to speak in a strange manner.

He'll always be a hero to me though.
Pob, I salute you.

As I do Charby who unwittingly brought him to the forefront of my mind. And don't forget to look down below for the lyrics quiz.

"The lyrics aren't supposed to mean that much, they're just a vehicle for a lovely voice"

Righto!
I saw that this had been done whilst I was AWOL & I couldn't resist it.
I stuck my I-pod on shuffle & hit play. I omitted anything with the title in the first line, anything by an artist that had already come on & I also skipped a few of my more obscure tunes.
All you have to do is figure out what they are...

1. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong, maybe I've been here too long" -Swiss correctly identifies Razorlight's "In the morning"
2. "Showbiz glamour, it ain't Las Vegas, you better come on take a look"
3. "I never found out, what made you leave" - Ooh, Lord Bargain's halfway there. It is early Duran Duran, but what's the song? It's "Anyone out there" as spotted by Babs
   
4. "Please could you stop the noise I'm trying to get some rest" - Ooh it's Mr Mark Reed who steams in front of ST who both knew it was "paranoid android" by Radiohead
5. "Completely untouchable, I knew no surprises" Good spot from Lordy B (Who I actually knew would get that one) : "Violently" by Hue & Cry
6. "Wait around I've been walking quite a while, don't be late"
7. "Diamond mine to the factory, everybodys doing what you've gotta keep on doing for society" - DOJ is on the mark with "Warriors of the Wasteland" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood
8. "To lick your wounds and crack through the morphine sweet darkness" -Hello Minx! Your right to say it's the Longpigs. Title still up for grabs though.
9. "Need someone to nurse me, Reach out for the first person I see" - Whoo hoo, a new person! Well done Cat for getting "Comfort comes" by the Manics
10. "Standing on my own, it didn't mean that much to me"- It's "Love's great adventure" by Ultravox as spotted by the DOJ
11. "Do you remember a guy thats been, In such an early song" - It's "Ashes to ashes", it's David Bowie, It's Cody Bones!
12. "When I was young they said to me, don't play with electricity"
13. "Closing in on empty spaces, winners laugh too soon" -Nik Kershaw's "Human Racing" is spotted by Lordy B
14. "Everything about you is how I'd wanna be, your freedom comes naturally" Of course it's "Bliss" by Muse, Well done Chapstick
    
15. "Mom & Dad went to a show, they dropped me off at Grandpa Joe's" - Mark gets Nirvana's "Sliver"
16. "In that moment I was frozen out, of a story I knew all about" -"This time" by Starsailor as spotted by Lordy B
17. "This bed is on fire with passionate love, the neighbours complain about the noises above" - It's James with "Laid", spotted by Swiss Toni
18. "Y'all know me, still the same O.G., but I been low key" - Adem correctly spots "Forget about Dre" by Dr. Dre (funnily enough)
19. "The more you see the less you know, The less you find out as you go" -Lordy B again: "City of blinding lights" by U2
20. "Oh, I've been working a week, I'm tired Yeah, I've been working a week and I'm..." - another point for Bargs as he gets Hard-Fi's "living for the weekend"
21. "And how does it feel like to wake up in the sun, And how does it feel like to shine on everyone" - Contentious one here, Cat gets that it was Chemical Brothers but the DOJ has nipped in with the title; "Let forever be"
22. "I set off this morning down the road along the river, Which I take but once a year" Yes, Chapstick it is Ash
    
23. "Take time to see the wonders of the world, to see the things you've only ever heard of" - Cody Bones scores again with the Human League's "The things that dreams are made of"
24. "Sweet dreams all met with derision, this train it was armed for collision"
25. "Eye to eye stand winners & losers, hurt by envy, cut by greed" - TheDOJ spots it again; It's Propaganda's "Jewel" though I would've accepted "Duel"

Well, I think my beloved, sexy, nameless little beast has been very kind there. I'd be surprised if 20 of them aren't recognised. I actually think that only two will go un-answered.

Or do I have to much faith in you, the reader?

Another post coming later (I'm back with a vengeance!).

"I was alone, falling free, trying my best not to forget..."

OK, I am a bad blogger.
Only one poxy post in the whole of September is simply not good enough, eh?
It's not like I haven't thought about posting, there's probably not a day goes by where I don't compose part of a post in my head. I'm forever doing that.
I just haven't sat at the computer & physically done it.
It would be very true to say that I don't have the passion or enthusiasm for my blog that I used to have in it's heyday. It is also a fact that I'm not ready to abandon it either. Mainly because of of you, the reader. There are far too many people out there that I care about to sever the ties.
So I'm getting back into the saddle.
Allow me to take you through some of my recent thoughts & experiences...

"There might be buildings & pretty things to see like that but architecture won't do"
I awoke in my hotel with some degree of excitement. I'd been waiting all week for this day. I got dressed & wondered down to the railway station. At the ticket office I whipped out my crib sheet of Czech phrases that my interpreter had helped me compile & correctly bought a return ticket to Prague. It cost about £1.50. Digressing for a moment, the prices of everything were wonderfully inexpensive. Less than a quid for a pint, £1.50 for a packet of fags & about 2 quid for a decent meal. Nice!
Anyway, as my train snaked it's way into the Czech capital I realised with mild horror that the camera I was going to use had been left back at the plant in Beroun. Bollocks! There was no way I could visit Prague & take no photographs so action was required. I had been wanting to buy myself a decent digital camera for some time so I figured I'd take advantage of the lovely Czech prices & finally buy myself one. Which I did in my first half an hour in the city.
Result!
Armed with my new toy I started exploring the city in earnest. I wondered around with no real purpose or destination. After a short while I found myself at the river Vltava. I decide to take a boat trip.














This proved to be a great decision as it allowed me to familiarise myself with the layout of the city & all it's attractions. Afterwards I strolled along the river to the famous Charles' Bridge.














I crossed the bridge & decided to head for the mighty St Vitus cathedral that dominates the whole city. By now I had been in Prague for a couple of hours & I was getting a little miffed with the enormous amount of tourists filling the old streets. I know; pots & kettles & all that, but it really did get on my nerves a little.
Some time later I arrived, sweaty & breathless, at the top of the hill where the cathedral stands. I then entered the great church & proceeded to climb the 287 steps of the very cramped spiral staircase to the top of the south tower. It was not pleasant toil, I tell thee. Not only was it physically gruelling, it also emitted the scent of thousands of sweaty stairclimbers past. Eeew.
It was of course a worthwhile effort when greeted by the spectacular views of this very beautiful city.














By the time I'd descended those bloody stairs I was thoroughly fed up of walking about on my own. So I went back to the old town square & sat myself down in the George & Dragon for six hours of live Premiership football & several pints of Stella. The place was absolutely chock-a-block with English stag parties. Stag do's are great when you're a part of them but as an outsider I just found all the lairiness to be rather intimidating. Then I toddled somewhat erratically back to the station & caught the train back to Beroun.
The next day I headed back into Prague again. This time I trawled around a few more of the sights before returning to the George & Dragon to watch my beloved Leeds United lose to an injury time goal against Wolves (Well done ST).
As the title alludes to, I didn't actually have a wonderful time in Prague. It is unquestionably an extremely beautiful city. The architecture is nothing short of wondrous with even the most unspectacular buildings boasting ornate carvings & statuettes.
I was lonely though, I had no one to share my experiences with & it really took the shine off my visit. Obviously, I spent a lot of alone time in Lyon but Lyon was my home & I soon felt like I was part of the city. That couldn't be achieved in just 2 days in Prague.
I'm very thankful for the opportunity to see such a famous place, I just wish I had some company while I was there.
Oh well...















"Oh you handsome devil"
It's quite well known that if you get called something often enough you'll start to believe it. Usually (in my experience anyway) this will be something quite negative. However I have been the very welcome recipient of some positive conditioning.
Seems that after all these years of worrying that my attractiveness was on a par with a bullfrog, I am actually handsome!
Who knew?!!
In recent weeks there has been many an encouraging sign affirming this. Obviously Nice is forever telling me but the other week I turned round in the nightclub & actually caught someone doing an "Oh my god he's gorgeous!" face at Nice when she pointed me out to someone. Also while I was doing Karaoke the other week a couple of ladies were overheard saying "Ooh, he's so fit!" about me. One of the Czech ladies I worked with practically swooned in my presence! And of course there have been comments here in blogland too, not least after my freshly cropped hair picture taken in Amsterdam.
So I guess it's official; Flash is indeed a handsome devil.
Hurrah!

"Travel round, I travel around"
Unless you're new here (does that actually happen anymore? Are there ever new people here?) you'll know that I have become something of travelerer over the last 12 months. In honour of those travels I have made a little piece of "art" based upon my journeys. I had been amassing a little collection of keepsakes from these jaunts such as tickets, flyers & other such stuff. I decided to put them on display in a collage type affair with some of my favourite photos. I'll just grab my camera & see if I can get a decent picture of it so I can show you... Hang on...














Apologies for the reflection of the flashbulb. Unavoidable at this time, I'm afraid.
So what can we see? Well, from Lyon there are 5 photos, a boarding pass, an Olympique Lyonnais lighter, A hotel key card from the City Suites, my metro pass, a metro ticket, a flyer for the Smoking Dog pub, my Coldplay ticket & a plastic hippopotamus that was once stuck into a rather succulent steak.
From NYC we have 4 photos, a boarding pass, a ticket for the Empire State building, a subway ticket (which I reckon has at least 5 trips still valid on it!) & a couple of quarters.
From Amsterdam there's just one photo, a boarding pass, a receipt from the hotel & a train ticket.
From Kaiserslautern there's one photo & my world cup ticket.
From Prague (& Beroun) there are 3 photos, a boarding pass & a fifty Koruna note.
There are also several Euro coins on there too.
I really enjoyed putting it together & I love seeing it whenever I walk into my home.

"Turn off the TV, look at a book"
Though I am hardly a bookworm, I have read quite a few books in the last year or so. 9, I think.
Now I know I'm not alone in this, as Dream Girl has expressed the same feelings to me, but I almost always find myself disappointed in the endings of novels. With the exception of the much-maligned Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons" & "The Da Vinci code" I usually find myself thinking "What? That's the end? Hmph!". It's not like I haven't enjoyed reading the actual book. In most cases I've really gotten into the book & maybe that's what amplifies my disappointment with the lacklustre endings.
For those booky types among you the 9 books in question were:

• Angels & Demons
• The Da Vinci Code
• Deception point
• Digital Fortress (All by Dan Brown)
• A year in the Merde (Stephen Clarke)
• A long way down (Nick Hornby)
• Velocity (Dean Koontz)
• Timeline (Michael Crichton) - Great book/Bloody dreadful movie
• Cocaine nights (J.G. Ballard)

I also started reading Atlantis but it's a big pile of steaming plop so it remains unfinished.
So do you guys often find yourselves hacked off with the ends of your books?

Anyway, I'm back & I'm gonna make a big effort to keep it that way.
Time will tell, eh?