January to April 2008

January 2008

Well chuffed to see myself on a DVD of my recent exertions at the 2007 Eucon (click on the links here to see the October 2007 Blog and also the relevant gallery set in the Gig Gallery). Every year, there are always those who not only film the Eucon, but also put the whole thing onto DVD and give them away to people who simply ask for the DVD - for which I am very grateful (no charge either!). Rather strange to see myself on a DVD - and not playing so bad either if I do say so myself. For most of my performances I am hidden behind the lead singers - Lucy on Bastille Day and Terr Berr on Working Man. Having said that, the ability to hide behind people is probably why shy little 'ole me chose the drums. Obviously I don't know how to rip DVD's - but I am able to show you the above You Tube link that Terr Berr has posted of our second attempt at Working Man. Obviously this is a big moment for me - I have never been on You Tube before and have bored everyone stupid by sending them the link. Look out for the Spinal Tap moment near the end where the guitar strap goes!

Treated myself to a trip to the Cinema to see Charlie Wilson's War. This is based on the true story of Senator Charlie Wilson who many credit with the ending of the Cold War. He did this with the smart idea of covertly funding Afgan rebels to remove the Soviet Union from their country in the 1980's. When he started, the CIA had in the region of $5m per annum to spend on the problem, and close to over a billion when he finished. Giving the rebels anti aircraft rockets was a bit of a master stroke - each one cost a whopping $600, 000 - but each helicopter and plane they shot down with them ran into many millions each time. Thus, the Soviets faced financial ruin as the war went on - in much the same way as the USA found it far too much bother to fight the Vietnam war. Not long after the Russians called it a day, the Iron Curtain fell and the Cold War was effectively over. Sadly, the USA's failure to win the peace led to the very people they had funded and eventually becoming their new enemies. This is good film, but a little too close in style to The West Wing for many people to take (especially as most of the action is of people walking down corridors talking to each other). It will not come as a surprise to learn that Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay. But the cast more than makes up for it - Tom Hanks is the man himself, Julia Roberts is the Houston Socialite who helps him out (and she looks fantastic - most certainly improving with age) and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant as the CIA op who puts the whole thing together. Go and see it - but not if you don't like the West Wing.

Had a day out in our nation's capital - the Big Smoke. London. Not been here for many years and apart from the official business of the day had a quick chance to take out the camera and get some snaps of various things. These can be found in the holiday set in the gallery.

February 2008

Mark and I went to see the latest Coen Brothers film, No Country for Old Men. I have always had a soft spot for the Coen Brothers (Fargo, the Big Lebwoski) so was sure that I would have to go and see this. This is the story of a small town sheriff who is on the tail of a local man who has stumbled upon a fortune left behind from a bungled drug deal. The local man has his own problems as he is being sought by a hit man who would rather like the fortune from the drugs deal. This hitman is played by Javier Bardem and no doubt if you have heard anything about this film then will probably be about his cold and nasty performance - he really is pure evil. Brilliantly filmed and cast - and one of the few films I can think of that totally dispenses with a musical soundtrack (not that I noticed at the time - this was pointed out to me). Like most Coen films, this won't be for everyone - but it is difficult to imagine anything being released as good as this for a while. It really is that good.

George, my young nephew, has been coming round for drumming lessons (which usually includes me letting him loose on the Roland Kit whilst I make his mum cups of tea). I have also been letting him loose on the Pearl Snare Drum (the Chad Smith Model!). It was whilst I was demonstrating the use of the snare drum to him that I found that the poor Remo Pinstripe head was starting to show signs of having had a right leathering and I risked going through it (this is very worrying as I had only really used it once seriously - back when I played with Rubicon in... December 2006 - see the gallery set 03). I figured the only head that was serious enough for me was the famous Remo Emperor (that I use on my toms). I knew that the coated Remo Ambassador would not been strong enough as I once went through one back in the late eighties (when I used one as a snare head - I hit it so hard that it ripped along the middle like a bloody poppadom). I picked up an Emperor and tuned it quite high (the way I have always liked my snares since I first listened to my old 3rd generation copied cassette of Seconds Out by Genesis) - it has to be said that whilst the head is clearly tough (and will last a few years), the sound is choked a little bit - a little disappointing really. So that is the balance - choose a tough head and you lose some sound, choose a light head and you get a nice bright sound until, if you give your drums the chair-leg-treatment like me, you go through the bugger. I have been contacted by Rubicon again and may, fingers crossed, end up playing with them again (I hope they have some easier stuff). I have not played with any other musicians for so long that at the moment I would play with Cliff Richard if the offer was there.

Took Emma to see Juno. This is the film that most people are raving about at the moment - and it is another very ordinary drama - what we used to call Kitchen Sink Dramas back in the 1960's. This did not stop it from taking blockbuster-esque money in the US - $125 million. That's with no special effects, no McDonalds marketing link, no big names and no car chases. This is a great little film about a teenage girl named Juno (Ellen Page - the wall walker-through-girl from X-Men 3), finding herself with an unwanted teen pregnancy. And that's about it - no twists and turns, just good acting and writing - they should all be very proud of themselves. Go and see this film.

March 2008

Discovered what I consider to be the greatest website ever (apart from this one obviously!) - it's called Simpsonize Me and it allows you to use photographs of yourself and puts them through a fairly cool piece of software that allows you to see what you would look like if you existed in a Simpsons episode. Above you can see myself and Emma represented as Simpsons people. I found that it works best if you get as big and bright a picture as you can and fill the frame as much as you can with the picture. Clicking my Simpsons-self above will take you to the site - it's fairly self explanatory and easy to use. However, I do think the software mainly relies on making kids look either like Bart or Lisa.

Went to one of my fave destinations of all - for dog walking that is - Goyt Valley near Macclesfield. This was the first really nice day I have seen and threw the dog into the car and went for a nice long walk that would wear the dog out. On the way back we even managed a trip into the world famous Cat and Fiddle Public House (but I only had a coffee!). I have taken some pictures and you can go to the day out gallery here. Sadly this turned out to be my last trip in the Micra - a slightly more practical replacement was required - though it had to be Japanese and a Nissan.

Went to see There will be Blood at Cheshire Oaks. I have been trying to find the time to see this for a while - especially as most people were raving about the Daniel Day Lewis performance (the Oscar winning one). This is the story of a silver miner, played to the hilt by Lewis, who finds his fortune in the new oil industry in the early years of the 20th century. He gets a tip about a massive field in the town of Little Boston and proceeds to buy the land required for a song - much to the annoyance of the brother of the man who gave him the tip, who is a young evangelist in the town. Obviously, these two men are on a collision course from the first minute they meet. If ever an Oscar was well deserved, this was it - Lewis is just pure evil. He just totally dominates the screen, and that voice. Go and see this.

Came home the other day to find a band playing in my kitchen! Yes, Emma, Gee and Mark have got together a little band in order to play a gig (no drummer included). They call themselves Shiny Head (not a reference to me I hope) play folky versions of tracks like Black Velvet and Gloria. What I have heard sounds bloody brilliant. Check out their pics here, for I have put them in the Gallery (set 2).

April 2008

After Shiny Head practiced in our kitchen last month, it was only natural that they would take the show out on the road during April 2008 - and I was employed in the role of Roadie (the new big-ass boot on the new big Nissan helped a lot here - that's big-ass trunk for my American viewers!). Emma, Mark and Gee put in a great performance at the Albion, Warrington (good pub for real ale if that's your thing). The crowd was nice (well it was kind of a rented crowd as most people who knew the band members turned up to watch). I was well pleased with my missus and her band - but Emma was her own most savage crtic as usual. Like an idiot, I did not take the camera out so the fairly poor camera-phone pics you see here are the best I could do - and the less said about the film that I took on the same phone the better (click on the above You Tube link - at last I have uploaded something to You Tube).

Let's face it, if Rush release something then I am going to buy it - it's hardly worth putting on the Blog. It's no good me saying all of that business about me having all of the tracks already and it just being another Live Rush CD. It's Rush so I am buying it - no further rationlisation required. This is the CD that was recorded during the Snakes and Arrows Tour - in Rotterdam, Holland. I think it must be easier to record live CD's nowadays - in the past you needed to borrow the Rolling Stones Mobile or the Manor Mobile - basically bloody big coaches or trucks that have been ripped out and turned into recording studios - one was famously used by Deep Purple not to record a live album but to record Machine Head in a disused Swiss Hotel in 1973. This new ease of recording has been reflected in the live output of Rush who used to release a live album very rarely to mark the end of every phase of the band; All the World's a Stage to mark the end of the formative (guitar based) years in 1976, Exit Stage Left to mark the end of the early keyboard (and wall-to-wall prog) years in 1981, A Show of Hands to mark the end of the keyboard obsessed years in 1987 and Different Stages to mark the end of the return-to-guitar years in the early 1990's. Now, however, Rush have an album, tour and live CD in one phase - Rush in Rio had a CD, R30 had a CD and now this one. Not that I am complaining at all.

This is not the best Rush Live CD - I think that will always go to Exit Stage Left - my fave album of all time. That one is a lot more honest - no backing tracks or sequencers; just guitar, bass, drums and vocals (and lots of big, fat sounding classic keyboards). It's not a total write off - the drum solo is perhaps the best NP solo ever - this one even has chords played on the electronic drums - and the version of Passage to Bangkok is good too.

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