a horserace or a great live band? i’ll take the live band please Bob, and let them rock at the Barfly Glasgow… the national are cracking… my bro got me into them a couple of years ago when we drove to Aberystwyth from Wrexham at new year, and listened to their album Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers…
really don’t know how to describe any style of music, but this is rock country folk with a melancholic twist… just go check them out at www.americanmary.com …

Me and Scott exchanged some delightful CDs the other day. By sheer coincidence we both chose 22 CDs. How crazy eh.

The stand out albums for me are:

• Open Season by British Sea Power

• Achilles Heel by Pedro the Lion

am still chewing my way through the other albums…

this exchange took place before Mr AmaZon delivered me no cities left by the dears … which is also an awesome set of chunes…

go listen.

I was talking with Jenn in the car, and somehow the conversation turned to Acid Rain. Whatever happened to Acid Rain? I thought it was going to destroy the world as we knew it? Looked up what the BBC website had to say on it… the wind takes our acid rain to Scandanavia… so sorry Sven.

Like most student teachers, I love Tony Blair, purely for the reason that my primary school is a polling station so I get Thursday off… plus with the Bank Holiday, that means 3 days in school! Woo Hoo. Now, I am very lucky to have 3 essays due in this week… (why do things come in groups of 3?)… but being highly intelligent, I have them all done and almost dusted… woo hoo. So, real world, I may embrace you once more…
PS use your vote, and stop complaining.

I am just embarking on the final 6 weeks of my school placement. This basically means I will be swamped with work for both school and university… so if it goes a little quiet, here’s why!

Recently there seems to have been an advent (or should that be lent lol) in popular culture of media for the thinking person…

Maybe it was there all along, and now it is just more accessible… well yes that is true…

Three great films I saw last year were Enduring Love, Lost in Translation and Garden State… none had the classic formula of sex, violence, action and big stars (although I did like Team America too!).

Garden State was described as … Beautiful and funny… intimate and real.

This all struck me as I listened once again to Wires by Athlete… which is all about the lead singers new born baby getting ill… very moving song…

I just think this is great that people out there are prepared to go against the grain and put out something deeper, with substance… And you?

Following my complaining about spending and possessions, thought I would join the club and for your info create a nice shopping list on amazon. Don’t really need these things or have a strong want for them all, it just would be nice!

A lot of the CDs are available as MP3 downloads for about $2. Maybe when I stop being a poor student and have a salary I will invest in the hard copies!

These sites are good for music though:

SUB POP RECORDS

3hive

ALLOFMP3

London has so much to do and see. Even historically, it is overflowing with castles and palaces… abroad these would seem so much more exciting and intriguing… do we just take them for granted as they are in our own land?

Don’t know if I like London as a whole though. Yes, it has a rich tapestry of culture(s), but the hustle and bustle, the business, the rushing, the stress… Shops galore. Money. Buy, spend, fashion, image, pressure. Possessions. I want.

Guess it’s a nice place to visit, if you can afford the travels cards and coffee. Maybe I’m just a country bumpkin at heart.

Well… tourism… the film industry… making people lots of cash… Just spent the weekend in London… and on Saturday I went to the Tower of London (2 for 1 if you go by train!). It’s an awesome place, with so much to see and, obviously, so much history. Watched Troy at night… was bitterly disappointed with it when I saw it in the cinema, not as bad this time round, as I expected it to be poor.

Tower of London. Troy. Iraq. The link? Is military might all that we really recognise? History is fascinating. Always loved the big stories, especially the battles. The Tower is most impressive, although Caernarfon Castle rocks more so! Troy wasn’t as bad as I remembered it to be… It is such an epic story, one of my faves. Yet Achilles is so wooden – perhaps he is meant to be (an early Terminator?!). Hector seems to have it more together, going someway to redeem the film. Paris is weak – hardly a prize catch. Alexander, Arthur – epic stories ruined on the big screen. Even the ‘epics’ produced in the 60s were much better… Hannibal & Cleopatra, Spartacus, 300 Spartans!

Yet story, myth, legend, is so powerful… Sacrifice, honour and pride – or greed, power and wealth… depending on which side you are on.

Oooo. Exciting times. Many trailers have been found for Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith… the latest one is here.

There is always a load of hype with these sequels… and I felt let down by the Matrix 2 and 3. This one is looking good though… can’t wait, it’s been quite a while coming, and is the missing piece in the lovely lucas jigsaw. Roll on May.

Need something to look forward to in this busy time of work, study, preparation, work, assignments and er, work.