If anyone could tell me...

... where I could get hold of Mando Diao's new album, Give Me Fire, I will be forever grateful.

I'm still trying to get Bring 'em In and Never Seen The Light Of Day too. But looks like I'll have to resort to the internet for all.

Band on roof

Saw a band playing on a roof today, took me ages to realise it but they were playing All These Things That I've Done.
Got The Cure's greatest hits album with bonus disc and DVD for a tenner, when it cost like a tenner each to buy the DVD and CD seperately and with this boxset I ended up with a bonus disc which was an acoustic version and the original CD. All for a tenner. And in a nice shiny box too.
Pic'n'Mix is expensive.
The NME isn't really all that good really.
Year One, second cinema visit since Tuesday, when I went to see The Hangover, the latter being the better of the two. Year One was good but some of it was quite predictable as well as being quite rude for a film given a 12a rating, including a scene where a woman was working on a banana. What more can I say?
Here's another invite to go see We Are The Physics at The Cluny 2 on 18th July. It's free and it'll be mint, but it won't be on a roof.

Once again...

... it's time to get excited for We Are The Physics, my new favourite band. I've seen them twice now, the first time including the an incident I was involved in, during which bassist and singer Michael M was hit over the head with a rolled up You Can Do Athletics, BTW poster which just happened to be in my hand at the time. The second time involved him giving me his Red Bull Cola because he didn't like it. So I wonder what will happen this time...

I watched Lord Of The Rings today, for what seems like the thousandth time. It's still good though.

Tonight we dine in hell...

...

Apparently Michael Jackson has died from a heart attack.

Alright, Alright ...

So, what do I usually find myself blogging about? Life ... music ... and general crap really, haha. But there's just nothing to report on at the moment, really.
I've spent the past week reading Harry Potter, as well as mutilating my mum's calendar with anecdotes, the most notably being the 'YAY!' I put down for tomorrow as my apprenticeship thing is finally over. I'd celebrate with vodka but firstly we don't have much Tango left, and Tango makes one of the best vodka mixes ever because I can put more in and secondly last Monday I ended up being sick and hanging out of a window. I could just feel myself burning up and my head was spinning, still knowing me I'll most probably end up like that again.
Yesterday I got one of those massive suitcases on wheels and it seemed a bit lopsided as I was pulling it home but got home to find that the wheel bit is all broke. I'm only using it for when I move so I'm not bothered, I won't be walking much with it.
I may have to get one of those proper back pack things for my bass because all I have at the moment is a bit of cloth shaped into a bag with a handle on the side, no padding or anything. And it's not exactly the lightest thing to carry either.
Ok, let's see what My Mate Pete™ © is getting up to this week ...
Not much?!?! He was supposed to have been playing a gig on New Slang in Kingston tonight but it has been cancelled for a 'good reason', whatever that is I don't know, maybe he's due in court or something again ... However, the gig will be rescheduled for early August. Should we say he's been good this week? Oh, go on then ...
Soooo, Narcfest with We Are The Physics on the 18th July and 25th, still at The Cluny 2 is Viva City and it's their single launch party for Have You Ever Felt So Messed Up? which is out the following Monday. So that should be good. Other upcoming gigs are The Cribs at Newcastle Uni on September 30th, Franz Ferdinand are playing the Academy on 15th October as are Biffy Clyro on 4th November. Support from all shows TBC, basically that means I can't be arsed finding out.
See you later.

Narcfest 2009

WE ARE THE PHYSICS ARE PLAYING THIS YEAR!

They'll be playing on the Saturday (18th July) at Cluny 2 and will be on about 9:30. The entry is free but I'm unsure on any age limits, obviously the bar is 18+! But anyway, the point is, it'll be mint so get your self down to The Cluny 2 on 18th July. Doors open at 6pm.

Saw

is full of crap acting. And Michael Emerson.

The Stig took his helmet off

There has been loads of speculation as to who The Stig actually is, but I'm kind of reminded of LOST here, when we were waiting for the identity of Jacob to be revealed. As with both, they could be absolutely anyone and Jacob turned out to be just Jacob.
In tonight's Top Gear, he barged into the studio and removed his mask, but the audience still acted like the whole thing was just a joke. The Stig could be anyone, who's to say it's not just a guy in the suit pretending to be him? So it's still going to get loads of speculation as to who is the TRUE Stig.

I bought some new jeans.

And a new stripy t-shirt, this time it's pink and red stripes, rather than my usual black and white/red.
Wednesday I'm getting a massive suitcase for when I move out and will probably go out and buy more jeans if I can and maybe more stripes or something. But anyways...
Started on a new RCT3 park last night and have gone for a 'wet'n'wild' sort of theme and it's turning out canny good. I have over 3000 guests already and I#ve only just achieved that target on my original park.
Well, I'll be off for now. Please vote on my poll. It's about We Are The Physics videos.

I thought I'd try buying some new jeans

They never make jeans the same as they used to, the ones I tried all ran along the floor, they were far too long but it seems that's 'fashion'. At least I will be the one laughing when someone trips up because their jeans are too long. I think I'll stick with my drainpipes if I'm honest.
Back in school, girls used to complain their feet were getting wet and it's only cos they chose to wear silly shoes during wet weather, nothing much I can do about that as it's their fault. It was freezing one day and I was wearing a massive winter jacket, this girl wearing just her school jumper asked if I was warm enough. No, I was freezing. Why else would I be dressed up warm?
I was about 14 at the time, clearly not a slut like most of the other girls in my year, the sort of kid who was laughed at for being sensible. If being 'cool' meant I'd end up with pneumonia or whatever then it clearly wasn't worth the hassle.
Most of the girls now have kids of their own. I just hope the kids have some sense not to be like their mums.

Masi Oka / Hiro Nakamura / YATTA!

This is Hiro Nakamuro who is one of my favourite charaters off Heroes. He is from Japan and his special ability is to 'bend time and space' which means he can stop time. He can also teleport. He uses this ability by screwing up his face. His most common known phrase is 'YATTA!'.
I came across Masi Oka's wikipedia page and found that we share the same birthday, he was one of the Japanese guys in Austin Powers In Goldmember that were running away from Godzilla and he was also in Get Smart.
I like shouting 'Yatta!', it is a triumphant phrase, meaning 'I did it!' but it can also mean 'okay!', 'it's done!', 'ready!' or 'all right!'. But in my case it's usually just a random thing, although I did think it this afternoon as my NVQ work has finally been marked off! It hasn't properly sunk in yet, I was just worried stuff would get sent back so the feeling I have right now is more one of relief than anything else.

Random bits and bobs

The Cribs have annnounced the title and release date of the new album. 'Ignore The Ignorant' is due to be released on September 7th, one week before I'm due to start uni. I guess it would be good practice to give it a review! When 'Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever' came out I was still doing my radio show and so that was the album of the week for that first week.
It was Chris Dangerous from The Hives' birthday on Saturday and that's reminded me to check their website for any new news. Right and here's the jazz... The Hives now have a youtube page, there is a 50% off sale on their American store and a new competition coming up. Except that there's not much info as to when we hear the new record! They have got a hell of a lot of summer festival dates coming up though.
Pete Doherty is back on the crack! Despite having an anti-drug implant, he tore it out and went back to his old ways. This week... Pete Doherty makes a comparison between Paparazzi and Nazi death camps. This follows on from two recent arrests, one of which included taking drugs in a plane toilet.
We Are The Physics are set to take part in a free festival on Tyneside next month. The Narcfest Festival in Ouseburn, Newcastle, takes place over two days from 18th July and will also include apprearences from Milky Wimpshake and Les Cox (Sportifs).

I figured out...

... level crossing on RCT3. With there being no signal gates people just walk onto the track when the train is coming but they don't seem to be affected by it.
And people keep managing to get into the animal cages of which I have no idea.
When I figure out how to I'll do a film thing of my park and post up. It's just about finished now.

End of the week blog

So once again Friday has been and gone and this week I've not got up to too much. Roll on next week when it's exactly the same.
I've applied for a bucket load of jobs but no one has bothered getting back in touch with me.

Vote for insanity, you know it makes sense...

And the only reason I haven't is because none of the local electory are in the OMRLP. Maybe I should just do it myself...

New We Are The Physics website

We Are The Physics have a new high-tech website which you can view in all its glory here. It's the jazziest thing I've ever laid my eyes on! And there's a brand new sentence generator, so have fun with your F5 button.

Middlesbrough Music Live 2009

This year, rather than attaching myself to one stage I roamed around the site a bit more and visited more stages. This way I did hear more bands but I'm going to focus on the ones I thought stood out.
First band was General Fiasco on the main stage, labeled by Adam as McFly-esque... only better, which is debatable as McFly are one of my favourite bands, but these guys were canny good.
Such Great Heights were one of the bands we happened upon during the first part of the festival. And they weren't that great either but they stand in my mind as being like Paramore. Not good.
We all headed off to Homegrown Outside for Said The Gramophone who all looked about 12 but oh so rock 'n' roll! They've clearly been brought up well, smashing up their guitars as the set closer. We salute you.
Will And The People we just stumbled across looking over the crowd from the Mima roof terrace. They were a lot less reggae than as described in the brochure.
Next up were Seething Floors on the Homegrown Stage. The band are from Oberhausen, Germany, Middlesbrough's twin town. The guitarist provided some amazing solos. Later in the evening we (myself, my sister and Adam) were sat at a bus stop when they bumped into us. They wanted to go to Premier Inn so I was happy to help them with directions.
We popped off to the hotel to check in, arriving back for Raygun and I wish I had been there for the full set! For fans of... [insert power-pop band here]. They have a good future ahead of them.
Album is out on October 26th...
Recent Subways supporters 3 Foot Ninja played the Homegrown stage, to a bigger crowd than earlier in the day. We caught them quite late on in the set, and it was then I decided the Middlesbrough music scene isn't all too bad.
We went to the Sumo stage ready for Twin Atlantic early because of the growing queue of scenesters so we stood through a set by Heaven’s Basement who, despite their comparisons, weren't really all that bad. I must say that it was one of the most violent mosh pits I have ever experienced.
Twin Atlantic! Even better than the first time we saw them! The crowd was a lot less violent, but then again I had pushed through to the barrier. After the set we congratulated half the band, collecting badges, stickers and autographs. Very nice.
Ebony Bones, main stage filler.
The Sunshine Underground I had heard before so was expecting something but was distracted. By this point we were in a royal box as sorts, a platform so far back from the stage intended for wheelchair users and children. From this point we could see most of what was going on in the crowd, and it involved a lot of policemen.
Then there was a long overdue wait for The Zutons due to roadies pretending to be rockstars. And then when they finally came on (half an hour late) they weren't all that great. We left as soon as they had played Valerie but apparently they were on stage until around 11.
So final thoughts... not as good as last year (due to terrible sound problems on the main stage). The line-up was full of bands I hadn't really heard of so it was a case of walking around and finding bands that caught my attention and I was surprised at how many there were!
Oh, and they had t-shirts this year!

I thought it was over

But it's not.
Despite having finished my NVQ, I am still expected to go to the centre once a week to sign an attendace sheet until my NVQ has been verified and apparently it could get sent back with more work to do!

Anyway, Music Live on Sunday... last time it was June 7th I was stood in a club with a load of lads who were singing Girls Just Wanna Have Fun... while we were all waiting for The Cribs to make their appearance on stage. This year it's The Zutons.

YATTA!!

My NVQ has finally been marked off as complete!

Missing plane?

It's in the Bermuda Triangle.
OR
It's crashed onto a magical, unplottable island.

Apparently I was supposed to go to ITEC today...

Instead I applied for some jobs and got my hair cut!
I came home to find they'd emailed me asking why I hadn't gone in so I had to phone them up and just said I couldn't afford to travel up there everyday and if I have enough points to pass my NVQ then I want it passing! But the point is, the guy dealing with it all hadn't even looked at my work today and the last bit of work I needed to do I couldn't do there because of the restrictions on their PCs. So it was pointless going in really. If he thinks I'm going to redo any work, or in fact do more then he can think again because all year I've just been getting this and it does get a tad annoying.

I don't like to complain

But today was a waste of time. I finished on my placement last week and had to go back to the centre, apparently for a full month. However, I found that they don't have the facilities for me to complete my final task. One of my units was using Email, however due to the firewall I was unable to access the relevant programs needed to complete the unit successfully. So I've just spent all afternoon at home trying to get everything sorted and I won't be doing it again. I keep getting all the work sent back, apparently it's excellent in theory though. But that's what I do; I write.