A Couple Of Reviews I Wrote For Diskant
Lightning Bolt live at the Grand Ole Oprey
Snow On Moss On Snow by Drowsy
Labels: music
link | 1 comment(s) | links to this post
Friday, May 12, 2006
Stabbed In The Face
Yesterday, the missus received her first paycheque from her new job and, feeling flush for the first time in ages, we went on a bit of a post-work spending spree. She got some clothes, I got Ico, and together we spent far too much money on music, and some tickets for forthcoming gigs. (Lightning Bolt on Sunday, A Silver Mount Zion on the 1st of June.)
This week has been especially warm and sunny, which helps my moods considerably but does contribute to increased alcohol consumption, particularly since we've discovered that the refitted Renfrew Ferry has a nice little open-air spot, and doesn't get too busy dead on 5pm, since it's a little out of the way, but convenient for our office.
I played the much-recommended Ico for a while when we got home. (Taking Guitar Hero out of the Playstation for the first time in a fortnight.) It's certainly beautiful, and there's much to like about it, but I'm not quite in love with it yet. I admire the way that it's storyline slowly reveals itself without pointless exposition, the fact that it keeps the screen uncluttered by health bars or text (save for occasional subtitles during the cut-scenes, which are, thankfully, in the original Japanese, and not dubbed by fourth-rate voice actors), and the gentle ambience of its understated soundtrack. For all it's lovely presentation, however, the jumping/climbing/pulling switches dynamic is all very Prince of Persia, to the extent where, at times, I feel like I'm playing through that game again, with the prince reduced to a twelve-year-old. I'm not far into it, however, and there's still time for it to grab me.
Looking forward to Lightning Bolt on Sunday, now that my ears have just about recovered from the pounding that Wolf Eyes inflicted the other week and can stomach some nasty guitar noise once again.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Toronto Airport Code In Morse
Three weeks into shiny-new blog, and it's already a wasteland of wind and ghosts. I haven't even started messing with the template yet. It feels like taking delivery of a new car, and just driving it to the shops and back once in a while without even taking the plastic wrapping off the seats. I think. I dunno. I've never owned a car. Do new ones come with plastic on the seats? If they did, it would be like that, anyway.
My excuse, if I have one, is that we've been playing Guitar Hero until our fingers ache and when we close our eyes all we can see are coloured circles hurtling towards us... red, red, red-yellow, blue, blue, ORANGE!
I seem to be meeting a lot of gamers lately, and it's nice to be around people who speak the same language with actual sounds and that, instead of just on the occasional messageboard. Guitar Hero, despite costing fifty quid in the shops and making you look like a fanny while you play it, seems to be a massive hit, with most of the PS2 owners I know splashing out on a copy over the last few weeks. And there's no denying that it is stupidly fun. The announcement that Guitar Hero 2 will contain YYZ by Rush - a tune which may teenage self spent far more time than is decent miming along to, ensures that the pain ain't going away any time soon.
I would write more, but that solo in "Bark at the Moon" is a killer on hard, and I need to save my fingers.
Friday, May 05, 2006
After The Storm
Last night it rained and rained and rained and rained. And then it rained a bit more. I honestly have never seen a thunderstorm of that magnitude over Glasgow before. It was quite exciting. Today, the sun has come out, and is gradually drying the massive puddles. Appropriately, my head feels a bit clearer, also, and I'm not feeling quite as gloomy as I was yesterday. Whether I stay that way depends on how the weekend goes. Weekends without distracting plans of the going-out variety are dangerous places for me. I could either get lots done and feel good about it, or, as is common, spend it paralyzed on the sofa hating myself until Sunday night, then hate myself some more for pissing away a perfectly good weekend.
Labels: diary
link | 1 comment(s) | links to this postThursday, May 04, 2006
Boom, etc.
The outside world was strangely warm when I left the office. Far more so at half-five than it was at lunchtime. Nothing to complain about, but it's a bit odd when that happens. We wandered around the shops for a bit, glad not to have to wear a coat, then went for something to eat. As the train pulled away from Glasow Central, the sun was just going down. It felt nice. There's something about a hot city at twilight that I like. As we got close to home, however, the sky darkened quickly and we saw the first flashes of lightning in the distance.
Naturally, the heavens opened just as we got off the train, so we had to make a run for it. The flashes got more and more frequent, and soon we were in the middle of the biggest thunderstorm I can remember witnessing above British soil. R, rightly, made me run round unplugging everything. Then I would plug it all back in again as the storm seemed to be dying down, then re-unplug it as it built up once more. I knew that attempting to take a still photo of the lightning was pretty futile, but I had a go with the video function of my camera and managed to capture the bolt you see here.
I like thunderstorms, me.
link | 1 comment(s) | links to this postToday, I Will Be Mostly...
... being sucked into a deep dark pit of depression and hopelessness.
It's shite being made of chemicals. I really is.
Labels: moods
link | 0 comment(s) | links to this postWednesday, May 03, 2006
Symphony of Procrastination
A nice long weekend has just past, which despite only being long on one side, felt longer for being busy with gigs (Buck65, Aphex Twin) and a gradual regression to childhood. Went out to the Glasgow Science Center on Monday with J which was fun. It's really for kids, but we had a ball.
But the biggest time-sink this weekend has been Guitar Hero, to the extent that a low-grade RSI is making it difficult to type this. They impregnate the plastic from which the controller is made with crack, I swear. Still, if I have to get signed off work because of my crippled hands, I'll have more time to play Guitar Hero, and will hurt my hands more, so I can have more time off work, so I can play more Guitar Hero....