The Chemistry of Common Life

procrastination is a fine art form.

2009-11-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

so this blog actually was going to have a proper purpose to it, until i forgot what that was in the time spent trying to guess my password for this site.

Until i remember i'll just bore you with what ive been up too, which is in fact not a lot. The most exciting thing i have done here is to take up drum lessons, this escalated one late autumn's evening which started with an advert on my mums intraweb at work, which then led to several phone calls and a 300 mile trip up north..and now I am the proud owner of a Drum Kit :)

I finally started my distance learning, today i read a grand total of 5 pages.

ahhh yes, the main point.. the reason why i only read 5 pages...

So like most people i procrastinate beyond belief (its taken me 2 months to start my uni work) and today i remembered why i cant listen to music whilst doing my work.

today i started out very much in the mood for some REM, i listened to about 3/4s of murmour before deciding i was bored (not because of the album - tis a good un)and that i was in the need of something new. So yes, i started listening to teenage fanclub, which then led me to Jad Fair and Half Japanese. Then i remembered it was homecoming live next weekend which led me to king creosote. All in all, no work done, but 3 favourite new bands.

and once again, this blog = procrastination.

Its All About Escaping

2009-10-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

Soo long time no see.

whats new then.. currently taking up residence in Scotland and will be here until July 2010. I actually love this country. I live in Guardbridge (between St Andrews & Leuchars) and well theres two big beaches 5minutes in either of the neighboring towns, sadly Guardbridge backs on to the Estuary but there is the "nature reserve" across the road. its actually just a field with a path round it. But yes.. Scotland is awesome, so beautiful and so far this Scottish weather ive been warned about has yet to strike.

Other new things.. i have taken up the drums. lesson no. 2 tomorrow :)

Arrested Development is awesome. Thanks to Lee for the heads up on this, but its so damn funny i love it. Im actually gonna watch it again.

Oh and the reason I moved north.. well, im like a proper adult now i have a flat, a car, and a full time job! well its actually my placement for the year but its actually good fun, i like having my own lil research project and not having a set of instructions to follow a la cooking stylee.

so yer life is groovy, travelling to gigs is a bit poo but it adds like a new adventure and a sense of shit is the car gonna be there when i get back?! especially for Glasgow. None the less its all added fun.

Well hello there...

2009-05-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

firstly apologies for the lack of attention ive given this blog ive been busy-ish..

so yess its been a wee lil while since ive written here and well not much has changed its exam time again, ive watched epic amounts of telly, and been to a fair few gigs as well.

Gigs worth mentioning:
Franz Ferdinand
Young Knives
Bats For Lashes / School of Severn Bells <<< awesome
Fujiya & Miyagi
Jeffrey Lewis << more on this in a min
Die! Die! Die! / KASMs << D!D!D! disappointingly only played a few songs as much as i like KASMs there set was twice as long
The Maccabees

so yerr just a few, my favorite by a long shot - Jeffrey Lewis & the junkyard. also this involved a trip to the Thekla a gig on a boat! had a nice bit of food/drink on the top deck with the man himself (he was sat on the same table as us) then tootled on down to watch the show all in all a wonderful night.

Back to the onslaught that is exams broken up nicely with Graham Coxon, Metric & Dot to Dot festival. i actually have something to look forward to in this torturous time.

A Lack of inspiration

2009-03-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

this title applies to pretty much all aspects currently:

1. im sat here failing to do my lab stuff (for which i have a viva in tomorrow morning)
2. also lab related, in the knowledge that i have 2 weeks to complete my final phys lab report i failed to get it done last week so have now given my self 2 lab reports to do come sunday night / monday morning (as i know its not gonna happen any sooner)
3. musical inspiration, theres nothing coming out of my fingers other than im actually going back and learnin stuff on my guitar instead of picking it up and making what is actually just noise but not constructive noise.
4. lack of anything

meh.. i could actually go on with this list but that would just be rather dull and uninspiring.

24 awaits - best way to start the day! maybe i will stay awake whilst im at uni tomorrow my notes from this mornings lecture are actually just scribble. still i had a nice nap.

erm.. what else... Televised Crimewave, Franz Ferdinand, BOTB at moles ooo and ive just purchased some lovely tickets for Bat for Lashes at the Ritz for easter time :)

A long week

2009-02-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

yes so this week ive learned - Late nights and Early mornings... its possible as a cup of tea works wonders like it always does!

Also this weekend has consisted of spending a fair amount of time on trains which im not a fan of really esp when i have my big headphones on, which are pretty good at blocking out noise except for stupid gangsta wannabes in tracksuits with hip-hop blaring out of a phone speaker. Im not a fan of hip-hop at the best of times but dont ruin it even more my making it sound incredibly tinny and i can hear the shite over the top of whatever it was i was attempting to listen to.

Biggest news of the week goes to >insert imaginary drum roll here< Exam Results!
Im pretty happy with them, not extactic as could of done a fair bit better if i could concentrate for longer than 5 minutes, but i passed them all except for 1 (Phys Chem - stupid MCQs you cant do chemistry by multiple choice - its fecking trivia not knowledge) as you can tell im not too happy about that one nevertheless no resit needed and well i got a 1st in the one paper i thought i messed up big style (Group Theory) and a 2:1 in the other paper i ran out of time on (Organic)! How this happened i shall never know, well maybe after feedback week.

Second biggest news of the week goes to Purr! What a good lil selection of bands there, the colour of the night appears to be Red as KASMs front woman has a bright red top on & matching hair and also Fight Like Apes front woman also has a red top on (i realise this may not be very interesting i thought they both had red hair until i found some pictures). KASMs were like a female fronted Televised Crimewave (theyve covered each others songs and toured together) its the whole dark pop, grungey, post-punk thing which works ever so well. Turbowolf they were good to start with and then the rest? well it was all the same which just got turned into one big blur of im not too sure what as i switched off. Flight Like Apes well if you wanna like this band go see them. I listened to their album prior to this gig and thought not much of it, it was missing something a little bland at times and a bit of a mish mash of synths and guitars. How wrong was I? that missing ingredient was the energy they have on stage its not captured much on record. You wont see them banging beer crates together in the middle of the audience through your stereo. So yes.. go see them. i did, and well if you have to buy the record first the artwork is better.

Whats instore for this week..
Monday night Late of the Pier/ Tripwires @ Komedia
General uni bumming around attempting to do work
Chemistry Ball seen as Gang Gang Dance is cancelled :(
Back to dear old blighty ie. Stafford again for the weekend

Heaven Is Indeed A Place On Earth

2009-02-15T18:33:00.000-08:00

The Cribs / The Thermals / Jack Lewis and The Fisherman Three
London, Heaven 10/02/2009

So I’ve managed to make it across to London after missing the train by a minute and found the venue, stood in the que with a nice cup of tea and then had security chuck my crisps away. No midnight snack for me then on the way home. The bank gets broken paying for a pint and then I make my way over to the stage for Jack Lewis & The Fishermen Three.

Here is where the fun starts, Im familiar with the other Mr J Lewis’ work but the only taster I’ve heard of Jack is a quick listen off myspace and well I shouldn’t off bothered because that doesn’t really give this man the justice he deserves. Its hard not to compare him to his brother but this is a bit more folky and some of the solos are even a bit country sounding, this is not a bad thing though as its brilliant. The thing to see here is Jack’s playing, his fingers just seem to elegantly roll over the bass strings and I got a bit lost just watching him play. Minus the jokes, this was a great little set and I was truly impressed.

Next up was The Thermals, and if I’m being honest here I was looking forward to these most tonight, mainly as since seeing them the last time they supported The Cribs I became hooked and can you blame me? Those catchy post-pop-punk tunes or whatever genre they’ve defined them self as is just well darn good, so I will forgive them for interrupting Pink Steam by Sonic Youth as they came on stage. Kicking off with Returning to the Fold I may actually be in Heaven, especially when later in the set when Pillar of Salt begins. O yes. And how do you top Pillar of Salt? With No Culture Icons, this song sounds so dirty on record and well comes across even better live. I didn’t think it was possible to like this band more but it is, as I now love them.

In these 8 months which have passed since I last saw The Cribs take to the stage in The Kasbah, I forgot the charming cheesy tunes which the audience is graced with before they take to the stage and tonight is no exception, “Girls just wanna have fun” then goes into “These Boots are made for walking” as The Cribs walk on stage and then launch into “We Were Aborted”. Good Start! I’m liking this heavier sound due to the extra guitar courtesy of Johnny Marr who may I add is stood a few feet in front of me, yes my teenage guitar hero is playing within spitting distance of me (not that I ever would spit on Johnny Marr). The set continues mostly consisting of their third album but that’s what the majority of the crowd is here for and it does go down well, but for me this is not why I’ve travelled 100 miles I’m here for the new stuff and fingers crossed some 1st album outings other than Another Number. This wish paid off – What About Me! Yikes! I’m slightly struck as to why I didn’t noticed this instantly but then I realised Marr is also playing, this is not a bad thing, its given it a different edge, again its heavier, the guitar riff is not as in your face and the bass stands out more and even though I’ve heard this song a fair few times that bass line is pretty nifty.

My theory on the different sound on previous cribs tracks is that on the 3rd album Marr plays the keyboard parts so this doesn’t really effect the overall sound of these songs it gives the songs extra depth live, where as on the first two records there is no keyboard parts to play and as you cant kick a band member off stage or have them stand there doing nothing for a few songs Marr seems to play some bass-like chords which drowns out Ryan’s guitar a tad which is effectively a third of the music. This of course may just be a load of bollocks and just what I’m hearing over the speakers, which is obviously not the best way to comment as they are a bit shit. So back to the reason this tour is going on - road testing new material. In total there were 5 or so new songs played the stand out track for me was Hari Kari, the bit in particular was the chorus where Johnny, Ryan & Gary all were stood at the front of the stage screaming into the mics, and it looked so good! If only I could actually reach into my pocket to take a picture but I’m pretty pinned against the barrier and I’m starting to get the feeling from the security that any sudden movement may involve me being thrown out. There really was no need for that amount of force they obviously are used to dealing with some rough boys in the usual club nights, but this is just a bunch of sweaty kids having a bit of harmless fun. Nevertheless this was a great insight into what to expect from the new album – it’s exactly how they described it The Cribs playing with Johnny Marr only now it’s just The Cribs.

The Chemistry of Common Life

2009-02-09T15:25:00.000-08:00

This is the title of my blog and also the title of this entry and why? well i could of said the reasons when i choose it but i havent wrote on here for a few days so i thought i would provide you with a small insight to my brain.

This title seems to reflect the two pretty big parts of my life: Music & Chemistry. simple as. you need further explanation?
well, i study Chemistry and conveniently The Chemistry of Common Life is the name of Fucked Up's 3rd album, which i rather like. so there ya go simple enough?

Also this gives a further insight into how my brain works these days, i like things to be interpreted in different ways, also a lot of things have two meanings take the word "Live" for example, its a pretty cool word. Pretty much anything can be misinterpreted even the small things in life one person will take something competely differently to someone else which is quite frankly fascinating.

for those who remember (or those who read this then went back) the favourite lyric ive ever written is "I Cut off my fingers so i can play" Now this to a regular person can seem quite freakish and the thought wtf? may pass through their head. But to me this was a reoccurring theme (i still have all my fingers dont worry). The problem at the time was infact a rater simple one It was fecking cold, when trying to play my guitar i couldnt actually feel the strings as my fingers were numb, therefore i had to wear gloves but i still couldnt play with my gloves on so i simply cut off the fingers of my gloves so i could play. Simple. Secondly i was reading (and still am as Im a painfully slow reader) Rip It Up and Start Again, in particular the chapter "contort yourself", the quote which still stands out to me is from Lydia Lunch:

"I'd use a knife, a beer bottle..Glass gave the best sound. To This day i still don't know a single chord on the guitar"

Ive seen/heard this done many a time before with drumsticks, microphone stands etc. sliding up and down the fret board, but these words seem to click and therefore fingers are not actually needed to play at all so i might as well cut them off.

Fascinating stuff eh? Maybe I'm not as miserable as you first thought. Good luck sorting through the rest of my thoughts. Im sure theres probably some fancy word which describes the Live/Live situation but English was never my strong point.

..snow day..

2009-02-05T12:55:00.001-08:00

Like the rest of the country it snowed in Bath. this turned my street into a ski slope and later on a ice slide and then even later on... nothing back to being its normal stupidly steep hill which i live on.

For people who have never been to Bath, it consists of hills. I live on one hill, town is at the bottom and my uni is on top of the other hill, also these hills are in fact hills steep in places, and long. My journey to uni consists of a nice jaunt up the 1 mile stretch called North Road (its a mile to the bottom of this hill in the first place). Anyway i rather enjoy my walk i listen to my ipod which keeps me happy and i drift of pretty unaware of everything else, although the last few days has involved some manoeuvring due to the snow-sludge-ice-brown mess, which is slippy which is therefore not good for tackling hills. However after getting up this morning and making my appetising ham sandwich, uni was shut. SNOW DAY!! yey! this gave me the perfect opportunity to build a snowman, christened snowy.

After this i proceeded to use my snow day to much use, i did absolutely nothing, apart from to sledge/ snowboard down my street on a baking tray. I jumped on and moved all of 1cm, i actually moved further when i skidded on the snow in my shoes.

Fun day. Tomorrow Im going to a foam party as an elephant.

Theres not a lot going on....

2009-01-31T17:55:00.000-08:00

The title says it all really there is feck all going on at the moment, except for the usual degree related barely existent work as its first week back into lectures so just the one lab report to do.

on the other side of things you could say ive been busy.. i took my bike in for a service (a well needed service) the guy behind the counter kindly told me it wasnt worth it and would be cheaper getting a second hand bike. I kinda took this information to some use as i did buy a bike but a brand spanking new one. so tomorrow lab report permitting, i shall be taking it for a spin somewhere which im not too sure where yet. i have an OS map of Bath town center which isnt much use.

also left over from attempted revision and now attempted lab report ive done the usual thing of picking up my guitar first, some useful things i learned today from that use a bar blade - the noise!! My plans to buy a violin bow was somewhat cut short yesterday as when i went into the shop, the violin section was blocked off with a step ladder and the shop assistant said he wasnt going to be of any use in the type of bow i would need (i hadnt mentioned it was for my guitar). So erm.. what type of bow do i need?! cheap and cheerful i think.

So things ive been listening to this week.. Beat Happening (mainly as i was trying to learn a couple of songs and the fact they are awesome), Pavement - BTC: NC (i finally bought this yesterday so far splendid) and Sleater-Kinney (im falling in love with this band).

Next week.. Late of the pier on Tuesday. not to sure what to expect of the venue it kinda goes under my road but ive never been in there so who knows! music wise LOTP are meant to be a decent band live so im excited.

Freedom

2009-01-25T16:12:00.001-08:00

Finally my exams finished friday morning. about fecking time too. Coming back to uni is normally a fun affair but returning after christmas i became attached to my desk for 3 weeks, the only separation from my desk was a temporary affair which mainly involved being reattached to a desk in the Uni Halls for exam purposes. Not the best 3 weeks of my life.

So what do you do to celebrate freedom? drink at 11am and come 9pm when the beer has definately kicked in i was asleep. After getting a lift home i sat in bed and watched house, which has become a fairly common habbit as ive become addicted. I love the dark comic moments and the medical side of it isnt half bad either. Saturday my plan was to go Bristol or London record shopping but after the tip off a record stall in bath i went there and acquired the smiths and sonic youth nothing new there then, still Sister sounds magnificent on my record player. A decision had then been made to go Bristol as train tickets to london ate into my record funds (ie. Student Loan). However on returning home i fell asleep again and upon waking realised i wouldnt be able to have a proper mooch around bristol record shops (also i needed to find them first). So i went round my friends and drank again and once again come 9pm i nodded off for a little bit but woke up more awake then ever and took a gamble on being able to get a ticket for the SU night. Fast forward some drunken hours and im asleep on the couch again.

Not a bad weekend just needed another day i reckon to chill before the joys of Phys Labs at 9am monday morning. House and bed again i think.

ps. Televised Crimewave / Popular Workshop / Section K = 1st gig of the year, the bar has been set high, rather high for that matter.

...

2009-01-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

today i put my procrastination skills to some kind of use, i had a bit of a scout round on the internet for upcoming gigs that im planning on going to, starting with Televised Crimewave / Popular Workshop this thursday.

after that theres Gang Gang Dance, Animal Collective, The Young Knives, Wild Beasts, and Fleet Foxes (if i can get a ticket as its sold out currently). i will at some point in the near future be purchasing tickets for them so it could change and well most are in brisol or london so theres transport issues but i always ignore that small fact hence being stuck in Brixton til 5am.

Festival plans? well im registered for glasto... t in the park may be the closet festival though or even rockness, depends on the line ups for these things though and of course a new thing.. using holiday up.

I currently only have tickets for the Cribs featuring support from the thermals & jack lewis (im not sure who im more excited about seeing) and then there's franz ferdinand cant remember the support off the top of my head, but yes hopefully some more dead cert gigs will be added to this list.

another day, another post.

2009-01-17T05:35:00.000-08:00

hello. as you can see i made a few changes to how this thing looks but still has the nice game of hangman to play at the side.

an update. well im still revising. 2 down 3 to go. not even half way yet and it will all be over this time next week. arghh! so yes revision a fun thing, a week is no where near the amount of time i need. so why am i writing this instead of doing yet more revision? well the simple answer i cant concentrate on one subject for no longer than 10 minutes. so its 10 minutes work, 10 minutes fun. and this cycle repeats until i fall asleep.

so what have i learned the difference between fun and not so fun sentences:
a fun sentence - Interstellar cosmic collision produce remaining isotopes.
a not so fun sentence - Correct selection of the base for deprotonation is crucial to achieve a high concentration of the desired enolate.

the not so fun sentences are todays work. so my attention span decreases to 5 minutes. its going to be a long day to say the least. in the words of thom yorke "a chemical reaction, hysterical and useless"

Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

2009-01-16T11:25:00.001-08:00

I thought i would do a lil review here as ive listened to this a few times now. Also Merryweather Post Pavillion has arrived, wow, but it arrived 15 mins before i had to leave for my exam yesterday so that review shall be posted shortly once ive listened to it a few times. For the mean time though...

Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand.

The third outing from the Scotsmen. So where to start, well their first album i think is a great debut and the second album continues where it left off with a few beatles-esque tracks (Eleanor put your boots on, Fade together). So this album ive been waiting for, especially after hearing some new material at cribsmas, but that was a while back and my memory of cribsmas is just a big happy blur so i cant remember what it was i just knew it was good.

The album opens with Ulysses, the lead single, and i think it sets you up nicely for what you expect to hear from the rest of the album. With lyrics like "Im bored, c'mon lets get high" over the funky bassline. its a good start.

The album continues with disco beats and guitar hooks that still will get the girls dancing like they intended to back in the beginning. Its a consistent album, upbeat and catchy, and all with that trademark indie-pop franz ferdinand sound you were hoping for.

This album is like a soundtrack to a standard night out:
Ulysses - Pre-lash drinks n smoke
Turn it on - exactly what it says
No You Girls - "Oh Kiss me..."
Twilight Omens - "Should i give you a call.."
Send Him Away - "Can’t you let me stay tonight?"
Live Alone - "the greatest love is always ruined by the bickering" drunken argument with someone close
Bite Hard - "breaking their hearts and breaking their minds"
What She Came For - "whoa, look out, your what she came for"
Can't Stop Feeling - "and you leave me dancing alone"
Lucid Dreams - dancing. just that song where you just dance to. clubland style.
Dream Again - the comedown song slow acoustic ballad.
Katherine Kiss Me - almost an acoustic no you girls. so if you were lucky the next morning.

Overall its a good solid album from Franz Ferdinand. Its still them just a bit more disco and funkier but it works. Its what you would hope for in a third album, it shows progression but still its their sound which you know and love.

Bring on March 9th!

7/10.

1 down.... 4 to go....

2009-01-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

a depressing title if there ever was one, yes 1st exam is done, finished and ermm... well thats all the good things about it, the less said the better me thinks. Still, i took tremendous joy in returning a stash of textbooks to the library today straight after the exam finished, so now my cupboard looks a little emptier.

so yes.. 4 to go.. next one thursday. Bring it on so to speak.

Still no merryweather post pavillion to report upon. Im now thinking this has to do with Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust as when ordering records off the internet i have a problem with ordering just the 1 record, £60 later i wish this problem did not exist. So yes im now blaming sigur ros for my non-arrival of animal collective.

Why?! well i upon hearing that Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust was being released on vinyl i straight away ordered it off amazon.co.uk. This was set to arrive before i broke up for uni before christmas, then in the last week of term a delay and delivery now expected in time for christmas. Delivery address changed and then just after christmas a second delay, now expected just before i return to Bath. Having returned to uni empty handed a week later i had an email about it being cancelled and my money refunded. Then it came to pre-ordering animal collective, and i noticed recordstore said that sigur ros was in stock so i obviously ordered i copy amongst other things. Out of curiousty i had a scout round on the internet for Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, how recordstore have it been despatched within 3-14 days im not quite sure. HMV say this record is out of stock, and Amazon.com says its not in stock til Jan 20th, and amazon.co.uk says sign up to know when this becomes available. Now i have no insider knowledge on the in and outs stocks n how these companies work, but the sigur ros site only links you to HMV and amazon and well if there not in stock there i some how doubt very much that recordstore have copies. So how this links to Merryweather post pavillion... I clicked send by courier as it was a lot cheaper, so that means waiting until all my orders are available for me to recieve all my orders. so yes its all sigur ros' fault or my lack of money to buy their limited ed. deluxe package, which looks ever so sexy, and then i would not be having this problem.

yes i do realise that most orders take 3-14 days to be dispatched and animal collective was released monday and today is tuesday im just a tad impatient when it comes to records n gigs n generally anything music related. However im a pretty patient person overall.

and another thing 24!!!!! oh my golly god! i forgot how much i love this show.
4 episodes in two days = heaven.

A Long Day.... of sorts.

2009-01-11T13:03:00.000-08:00

I've been up a grand total of 9 hours so far but today seems like the longest day of my life mainly because im very very tired, so im off to bed shortly as i have my first exam in t-2days. fun.

Anyways in the 9 hours i have been "awake" ive managed to fit a lot more in than i normally do for being awake for 18 hours.

Today i managed to listen to the following:
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (I still cant get enough of this album)
Gang Gang Dance - Gang Gang Dance
The Thermals - More Parts Per Million
Animal Collective - Feels
Gang Gang Dance - Gods Money
The Thermals - Fuckin A (Im currently listening to this as i type)

Also I watched:
24 last two episodes of season 6
Frankie Boyle Live, which featured alot of gags from mock the week.

And finally managed to have a lickle practice on the ole guitar and plan what tickets i need to buy for various gigs and then associated train tickets.

O yes and i finished going over my kinetics notes. so thats erm.. a third of my phys chem exam covered out of a total of 5 exams. really not much in the bigger picture.

moving away from the diary style entry... still tomorrow hopefully i shall wake up to find merryweather post pavillion has been delivered. ive resisted temptation in tracking it down and giving it a listen as i shall take time out of revision to sit and listen to my LP. Im excited. Christmas all over again... although my bikini kill holiday pack courtesy of KRS has yet to arrive.

Back to my work in progress:

Kid_3

I don’t know what’s right and wrong anymore
The line got blurred along time ago
Confusion for the paranoid

A lack of Colour
but its not all black and white

Everything backs up to one thing
Everything that is wrong feels right
A catalyst to escape to
A yearning for more
Down is indeed the new up

A Lack of Colour
but its not all black and white

Something to take the edge off
A counter culture
Rejection amongst the rest

a small annoyance

2009-01-10T14:32:00.001-08:00

revision is annoying as it is for starters, but i have finally settled down to do work in the day time and enjoying the likes of the steady state approximation etc..
however continuing the kinetics theme im not impressed with two things both of a similar nature:
Oscillating reactions in particular the Lotka-Volterra Mechanism (1920), i spent a good half an hour or so reading this only to find at the bottom of the page. No known Chemical Reaction follows this mechanism. However oscillating reactions moved on from that and then i found this the briggs-rauscher reaction.
Secondly Lindemann mechanism most of my afternoon/evening was spent going over this and once again at the end... this theory is wrong particulary for big molecules. Marvelous.. it did however redeem itself with the lindemann-hinshelwood process.

a fun day to say the least. still i bought a new pair of headphones and got a cheeky sub on my short outting into town.

ps. dont quote me on the theories etc.. i may be talking about a whole load of bollocks ive sat at my desk too long once again which is never a good thing especially as ive been munching through a packet of tangfastics. yum yum.

A thought

2009-01-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

So.. ive just been watching Dara O'Briain Live somewhere in london on the old lappy T. and was left with a thought of the difference between a comedy show and a music show. With a gig theres a general structure bands tend to follow:
Open with a couple of crowd pleasers latest single
some album material
chuck in an old song or a bside for the hardcore fans
crowd pleasers followed by some more album material / new material
last song tends to end with a drum kit/ microphone stand been kicked over or a crowd surf (Wrong Way to be - The Cribs) or something that builds and builds (Untitled 8 - Sigur Ros)

however with a comedy show it could almost end at any point in the show. Comedian comes on a bit of picking on the audience, a few jokes, reference back to previous joke/audience, more jokes and the end. What i do like however is how they all seem to finish their joke and then just straight away go thankyou & good night, no ripping of the "hidden" mic and stamping on it, just them walking off stage like nothing has just happened.

I do love watching comedy i tend to laugh at the stupid immature things and some things just tickle me and then im left laughing still a few hours later. these are generally quick one liners related to a previous comment. Still they are both there to entertain and maybe even inform. Ricky Gervais does call his shows lectures. If only my lectures were like Gervais' i would maybe stay awake.

Blah...

2009-01-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

ok so its 2.30am.. normal reasons for being up at this unearthly hour generally revolve around drink and well just plain old nonsense. however tonight and the last few nights its been due to revision. This is what my life has become staying up working til 2.30am not the so called student life you regularly here about. This is not through lack of effort in the day. If i was given marks for effort in trying to do work i would have a 1st already. The good thing about work at this time of night is well everyone is in bed so there is no one to talk to. General noise making is kept to a minimum in order to not disturb housemates and there you have a sort of environment i can work in. The only noise coming from around me is due to myself and also my music (which is constantly on, hence the large number of play counts on lastfm).

In revision times convenience outweighs quality. This can apply to large variety of things:
- food (anything that can be bunged in the oven for some time is perfect - chips & sausages/ chicken dippers is my diet for the next 2 weeks)
- mp3 over my beloved records (as much as i love picking up my LPs and placing them carefully on my turntable it becomes a slight pain if when your close to understanding something you have to have a slight interval, however this also proves a great distraction from work esp when the 7" go on as 3 to 4 mins is blantantly not long enough to do work so therefore i have to sit and listen, what a shame)
- clothes (grab whatever is closet)
i could go on but i wont you get the general idea

Another thing.. its fecking cold.. my house takes a while to warm up when the heating gets switched on in the early evening / late afternoon it takes a good few hours to circulate my room. so its warmest point is around midnight. This has a big effect on revision as when i tend to revise it doesn't involve a lot of moving around its either sitting at my desk or on the floor. The little movement means I'm therefore very cold. And before you ask.. i have numerous layers of clothing on and what can really only be described as leg warmers but for your wrists. ie. fingerless gloves which continue down your forearm. However i cant really wear these and play my guitar as if i take my arm warmers off i cant feel my fingers, unless there holding a cup of tea, so therefore struggle to play anything.

so yes.. bed me thinks.. same again tommorrow.. up early, breakfast, wash, sit at desk, lunch, sit at desk, dinner, sit at desk. an action packed day.

a few things

2009-01-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

I've come to a conclusion that sitting with your book open with your notes out on the next does not qualify as doing work. If for someone miracle was to happen in which all the information on my notes were to make the short jump across from my desk and into my brain then i would in fact be a genius, however this is not the case.

Secondly.. Jay Z mash ups. WHY?! I know Jay Z did two albums worth of acapllas but that doesnt mean they have to be used.

A Small Distraction

2009-01-06T07:34:00.000-08:00

Theres not really anything new to report here as i have been "working" away at my group theory nonsense. I use the term "work" loosely here as mainly this has involved taking my little model of a octahedral structure and spinning it round and round to see how long it will spin for before falling over. This promoted a small scientific investigation into which molecular structure spins best.

The contenders:

- Octahedral
- Tetrahedral
- Trigonal Bipyramidal

Results - Octahedral spins the longest

is this a fair test i hear you ask.. well i spun them all on the same surface with the same hand. so yes.

evaluation? well the tetrahedral structure was difficult to spin due to no two atoms in an axial position compared to the other two, so therefore could not be spun correctly. The Octahedral lasted a tiny bit longer maybe due to the fact it has 4 equatorial atoms and the trigonal bipyramidal has 3. who knows.

A full investigation is likely to take place with extra geometries.

also if anyone would like video evidence please inform me as i am more than happy to take time out of revision to sort this out.

Animal Collective

2009-01-05T04:38:00.000-08:00

So after months of attempted listening to this band which mainly involved playing an album only to switch it off a few tracks in and left thinking wtf. Thing is i knew i would like this band if i gave them a proper chance and a proper listen. Finally strawberry jam just happened to come on via the wonders of shuffle and wow, its finally making some sense, again WOW!

Merriweather Post Pavilion could not have been released at a better time! i shall invest as soon as its released thats something to get me through these bastard exams. Which i now hate for numerous reasons:
1. i have to do some work
2. Doing work stops you from doing anything else
3. I was looking forward to seeing Televised Crimewave / Popular workshop and now i cant due to exams (my last exam may i add thats how close i was to seeing them)
4. I now have to miss out on Animal Collective
5. May exams during Morrisseys tour, timetable not up yet so dont no if i can go which probably means allowing some greedy bastard on ebay to make a profit
6. Doing revision points out my lack of intelligence
7. Doing revision also points out how distracted i can get... hence this blog post

So good things to come out of revision so far... a love for animal collective. Good Days work i think.

< Insert New Year related title here >

2009-01-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

A new year if you had for reason missed this minor point, as the extra second caused your brain to melt for whatever reason. So yes.. 2009 so far pretty similar to 2008, although i did a jigsaw puzzle today havnt done one of those since erm.. at least 2007.

This may seem a bit miserable for this time of the year, but the thing i do not get is why if your life is obviously not what you want it to be do you have to wait until the new year to make a change. This is my main reason for no resolutions.

Back to the cheery side of things.. New Year was a sophisticated start compared to the previous nights attempt to drink the alphabet (I gave up at N and returned to beer, as at this point as it was getting difficult to think of drinks beginning with each letter of the alphabet & also remembering the alphabet was becoming more and more difficult).

Highlights from 2008 include - Getting an electric guitar, funky lil gigs here and there (too many to mention), these gigs also brought to my attention some great bands proving that the best way to get into a band is by seeing them live (Los Campesinos, Venus Bogardus, etc..), Finally getting a record player which works, and last but not least getting a job for the year.

So my plans for 2009 so far - Exams, Last 6 months of being a teenager, Relocate to Scotland.

as i have said many times this year already... 2009 - Have a Good un!

Kid_n project

2008-12-18T16:34:00.000-08:00

So i gave you Kid_1 (lyrics), this will hopefully make up some part of my new project Kid_n.
Kid_n aims to be a collection of my thoughts and musings. As this is a work in progress i do not no how this will turn out all i have to go on is the sounds in my brain, these just need to be converted to guitar then to record.
whats to be expected? well... Im a fan of Radiohead, The Cribs, Sonic Youth, Comet Gain, Pavement, Modest Mouse, Bikini Kill..... I could go on but if your not starting to get the gist of my influences you will find more here.
So again this is a work in progress so be patient...

In the mean time:

Kid_2

I cut off these fingers so I can play

I turn to the dark side to feel alive

The cold absorbs and turns to stone

A cancer that spreads and holds no bars

Things shouldn’t be this hard

Trapped inside these walls

Anchored to the desk

So anchored down beneath the sea

It will take more than a tug to set free

back in the 'shire

2008-12-15T15:53:00.000-08:00

so from the title you may of guessed I'm back in my home town (no prizes for guessing where)
this should bring a certain joyous feel to it as its Christmas and I'm with family but.. it also means it start back at the very mentally challenging bar that i work at during any time which isn't term time, and then also i like my independence, the fact that every move is not questioned or requires some sort of okness, if not i am ignored for the following week and the phrase "I am disappointed" is used to much effect.

so the choice of sitting on my own in the freezing house that i rent, or return to a land that has heating and a break from the so called student life. The latter was chosen. The cold or "flu" has taken over my throat and refuses swallow without severe pain, this as my dad decided was his victory over me in a drinking contest ( i think not ).

so back in this normal free and easy life i live the ridicule i have received has been unprecedented ( i have been home for no longer than 24hours ), and my brother has proceeded to pick up my electric guitar and pretend he his Kurt Cobain (of Nickelback fame according to him, with the constant question of "is this a chord?" at least he kinda wants to know), i shall kinda let this slide but the subwoofer pointed at my wall at 8am this morning was not appreciated.

so yes in brief back to the high life ( well midlands, not northern )

Kid_1

2008-12-14T14:47:00.000-08:00

A blank canvas before me
a headache that surrounds
a drip that's not rain
a dark side emerges

you may analyze
depending on how you do depends on the result
a particle in a box

no chorus
no rules
so nothing to break

---------

watch this space...

I'm Wide Awake It's Morning

2008-12-12T01:37:00.000-08:00

Is the album im currently listening to but i just got me some cribs tickets for London Heaven so im very happy at the moment. Contemplating getting tickets for Morrissey but I have exams around then and no dates been close to me could not be a wise idea if it turns out i have an exam the next day.

Anyways heres a list of my top tracks from the year:
Wild Beasts - Assembly
Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place
The Research - I Think Shes The One I Love
Betty & The Werewolves - Euston Station
Los Campesinos! - My Year In Lists
The Cribs - Im A Realist / Bastards of Young

ok so this was harder than first thought i realised that i havnt really paid any attention so singles this year and those in my list are the best out of the ones ive bought. Bit of a Cop out but hey who reads this any way.

A bit of science

2008-12-11T13:52:00.000-08:00

Im a Chemistry student so by default i like science more than the average person, it does however mean people assume you have this amazing brain (which i do not possess, sadly i actually have to read something in about 5 different text books before it may start to make some sense, and then theres the whole remembering it).
When first talking to people about this fact the Questions are standard and their responses to my answers are also standard:

"So your at Uni, What you studying?"
"Im doing a chemistry degree"
a look of why?! and disgust comes across peoples face followed by "so you must be really clever then?"

there is never "Oh i bet thats really interesting"

So im going to now force upon you some chemistry as this is a new way of procrastination (one of the reasons i started this blog) but hey.. at least its on the subject im meant to be studying.

Actually i really should finish this sheet on advanced kinetics which im not going to go into any detail on as I have no idea myself. So i shall leave you with the happy thought that i have just found a sneaky pre sale link for Franz Ferdinand (through their own website not so sneaky really) so I now have my ticket in my hand for London. Now I just need to get some Cribs tickets tomorrow morning.

Life and times of a chem student let loose in bristol

2008-12-09T08:08:00.000-08:00

so in my 1st post i said i would use this blog however i see fit so..

A little insight into the wonderful world of a chemistry student in there final week before i head back to the 'shire and return to the other side of the bar.

Last night I finally succumbed to the Chem Society christmas party shindig (amongst other societies). A nice big group (6 coaches to be precise) ventured west and landed in Bristol in Oceania.

My first thoughts on this trip where to get very drunk 1. as i havnt really been out this term due to touring the country in search of a placement and the main reason im at uni - work, and 2. its a big club so theres dancing and personally not my choice in music therefore drinking allows me to dance and forget theres crap ruining my ears.

So the drinks started at about 6pm i finished my bottel of vodka then was handed a can of strongbow not wise, as i forgot how dry strongbow is. Then we got to the bus station for our coach and began to drink some vodka orange my friend had some how acquired. This was followed by the obligatory pitcher of Cheeky Vimto (Port and blue WKD) in weatherspoons.

Now this is where the fun starts i go the toilet and return to find the pub empty and everyone had decided it was time to venture to Oceania, which not being there before i have no idea where it is, luckily just round the corner. Once inside a find a few people and then was presented with a bottle of magners. This goes down rather nicely and then i was presented with another. At this point i was making conversation with people i had been introduced to and then decided to mention i was looking after a bottle of vodka for a friend in which he had forgotten about, so it seemed it was going to waste until the genius idea (at the time) was to mix the two by adding the neat vodka to our nice bottles of magners.

I think its obvious to say it went downhill from there on, fast forward a few more vodka magners and hours and well we got back on the bus missing a person. ( He later turned up at his house after being not allowed back into the club then wondering bristol for a few hours and then decided he was best getting a £40 taxi back). We eventually arrived back in bath at around 2.30ish which was then followed by a rather chilly walk home in the opposite direction to everyone else. I forgot about this small fact and soon regretted not taking headphones to sooth my ears after the onslaught of club music. However i made do with the speaker on my phone and blasted out some songs, the only one i personally remember is Comet Gain - Record Collection, this is due to the fact that i believed i could play this on my imaginary guitar and proceeded to prove myself right. So if anyone saw a 19 year old female walking through Bath at 3am on their own drunkenly air guitaring along to music, i apoligse.

So things i learned from my trip to oceania:
1. oceania is massive
2. rather tricky to find anyone
3. vodka then cider is wrong
4. vodka mixed with cider in the same drink is extremely bad
5. dont keep telling people u dont like muse as you dont make friends that way also confessing to a love of radiohead & sonic youth doesnt help things either (esp. when people dont know them at all)
6. Air guitar is fun

Purr 4/12/08

2008-12-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

Ill Ease - The multi instrumentalist Elizabeth Sharp was first on, and what a way to start the night. The pounding rhythm of drum beats and Looped basslines and addictive Riffs gave the whole set a dancy but lo-fi grungy feel to it. For me I found the whole thing inspiring all that energy from one person.
http://www.myspace.com/illease

Colliding Lemons - All girl band combining mainly C-86 and post-riot grrl pop with a toppping of a good old fashioned girl group melodies. A polished performance.
http://www.myspace.com/collidinglemons

Betty And The Werewolves - Insanely catchy punk pop tunes, a song about David Cassidy, what more could you want?
http://www.myspace.com/bettyandthewerewolves

Piney Gir And The Age Of Reason - Tonight's headliners, sweet indie pop, accordians and banjos. I would love to see them again just in a field somewhere in the middle of summer, that would be perfect background for their music.
http://www.myspace.com/pineygir

An Afterthought

2008-12-06T15:24:00.000-08:00

ok so i gave you my top 5ish albums of the year and Ive been thinking about it over the last few days again and somethings i forgot to mention

- Radiohead - In Rainbows was physically released in USA on the 1st Jan 2008 therefore does it count for best of 2008?

- also narrow contenders for the top spots No Age - Nouns, British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music, The Research - The Old Terminal, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash, The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent and finally Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls

Its that time of year....

2008-12-03T06:03:00.001-08:00

... For the albums of the year

so here is my unranked top 5/6 take note if you want:

Xiu Xiu - Women As Lovers (Kill Rock Stars)
The sharp attention grabbing sounds underneath Stewarts soft sounding vocals
Favourite Track - No Friend Oh!

Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (XL / EMI)
A more pop sounding record happy uplifting but still epic songs
Favourite Track - Inní mér syngur vitleysingur

Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster... / We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (Wichita)
Yes i do realise that i have grouped two albums here but alas i can not decide which i prefer both brilliantly catchy pop songs
Favourite Track - Knee Deep At ATP (HON,Y...) / Ways To Make It Through The Wall (WAB, WAD)

Venus Bogardus - Tourist (Pretty Mouth Records)
Sonic Youth- esque beauty
Favourite Track - New Glam Underground

Shrag - Shrag (Where It's At Is Where You Are)
I know its just a compliation of their singles with a few added tracks but still its all on 1 CD now!
Favourite Track - Pregnancy Scene

First Post.... A Good Start

2008-12-02T13:23:00.001-08:00

Hello, Welcome, Whatever...

A quick summary of me i like music & science

i go by the name Cath, Cathode or Kid C take ya pick

this blog thing will be used however i see fit:
reviews, discoveries, and maybe a sketchy demo or two if i ever get round to that