Catching up again!

day 20 - a song that you listen to when you’re angry

Johnny Cash - One
Nice and soothing, unlike Bono's whining.


day 21 - a song that you listen to when you’re happy

Northside - Shall We Take A Trip?
Bass guitar!


day 22 - a song that you listen to when you’re sad

Proclaimers - Long Black Veil
Real nice version. Pisses all over 1000 Miles.


day 23 - a song that you want to play at your wedding

Black Grape - Reverend Black Grape
I think this would go down nicely yeah? In all honesty, I have no idea. A wedding is a very long way away in my life. Lets just enjoy some music which is a bit anti-religion yeah? Or whatever it is. Its Black Grape.


day 24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral

Jackie Wilson - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher
Could make that the dress code too. If its dreary and boring, I'll be coming back to haunt people as my gran would say.


day 25 - a song that makes you laugh

Ian Dury - Reasons To Be Cheerful
Doesn't really make me laugh...but raises a smile at the very least.


day 26 - a song that you can play on an instrument

Stone Roses - Waterfall
Can just about whack that out on the old guitar. Capo 4th fret.


day 27 - a song that you wish you could play

Carly Simon - Nobody Does It Better
Probably could play this on the ole piano, but without the music it just won't happen. Add to that actually any string arrangement from any James Bond theme. Being able to do that bit from You Only Live Twice would be almost worth the pain of having to learn the violin or whatever it is.


day 28 - a song that makes you feel guilty

Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime
No song makes me feel guilty, I don't understand that. Love this song though and wanted to shoe-horn it in somewhere.


day 29 - a song from your childhood



Billy Joel - River Of Dreams
Not from my childhood time, but remember mum playing it a lot when I was but a child cos shes a big fan of Billy's for some reason. Always remember this song from when I was little...this and the Superman song. Most of the music I was exposed to as a child was cack.

Psychoville is a great TV programme.

Good night last night, do miss the life and the folks when I'm back home. Got five weeks of boredom ahead of me now, cannot wait! The parents are on their way up, my bedding is in the washing machine and the sun is shining. What a morning.

Thats all the education I'm getting as a third year chemist! I could be graduated in a few months. Terrifying.

day 19 - a song from your favourite album

Stereophonics - Traffic
(From Word Gets Around)
Such a brilliant debut album, could listen to it all day. Love this song, and it always goes down a treat live.
"Waits tables for a crook, who wrote a hard-back book"

Could have just started yesterday on day 1, but following along with some mateys who started on the first of the month. Just in case thats an important fact to know...

This has been popping up on my facebook for the past few days, so thought I might as well do my own version. Obviously got a few days to catch up on, so here goes the bumper edition:

day 01 - your favourite song

Noel Gallager (Oasis) - Half The World Away
I have many favourite songs, but this was a bit special. Awesome night, you wouldn't get this reaction from many b-sides - even the claps are perfect. Got some good words too.


day 02 - your least favorite song
Aw, I'm not going to ruin this blog with terrible music. Lets just say I hate pretty much anything that would get played on Kiss or Capital.


day 03 - a song that makes you happy

James - Laid
Happy song with stupid words!


day 04 - a song that makes you sad

Radiohead - No Surprises
Nice song, but a fairly depressing band.


day 05 - a song that reminds you of someone

Johnny Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down
My Dad laughs at this every time, cos he is convinced that Johnny forgets the word at 'frying chicken'. I don't hear it myself, but there you go!


day 06 - a song that reminds you of somewhere

Stereophonics - More Life In A Tramps Vest
Used to listen to Word Gets Around when I was down in the stockroom on my own working in Argos. Takes me back to a summer spent indoors humping boxes!


day 07 - a song that reminds you of a certain event

Manic Street Preachers - Motorcycle Emptiness
Took my mum to see this rather brilliant band live, this is one of her favourite songs and hearing it takes me back to her happy little face when the intro kicked in. Aww, soppy but a good moment in life. Amazing live band too.


day 08 - a song that you know all the words to

Billy Bragg - A New England
Do like these words, shame the bloke can't shut up about his politics. Should just be about the music man!


day 09 - a song that you can dance to

James - Come Home
I've got the bends from PRESSURE!


day 10 - a song that makes you fall asleep

Mercury Rev - Opus 40
Nice and chilled.


day 11 - a song from your favorite band

Oasis - Live Forever
Don't really have a favourite band any more, but these used to be it.


day 12 - a song from a band you hate

U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
Good music from a band who do my head in. Shut up Bono and play the bloody song.


day 13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure

Pet Shop Boys - Go West
The gayest song ever, but its bloody awesome.


day 14 - a song that no one would expect you to love

Highwaymen - Highwayman
Haha, can't get enough of this.


day 15 - a song that describes you

Young Rascals - Groovin'
I am just chilled. Mostly.


day 16 - a song that you used to love but now hate
I'll repeat myself, not putting anything negative here!


day 17 - a song that you hear often on the radio

OMC - How Bizarre
Tells you all you need to know about the kind of radio station I listen to...



day 18 - a song that you wish you heard on the radio

Inspiral Carpets - She Comes In The Fall
Always gets me moving this one!

/End marathon

Just had my memory jogged...

Meant to post this the other day, came on my player on shuffle when I was walking down to lectures and it blew me away all over again:



Theres only one Johnny Cash! Not very original bigging up this cover, but theres a reason people hype it up. Pure emotion. Video is pretty stunning too.

Should be studying harder...

Penultimate night of the term in the D-Land, sat enjoying a nicely chilled can of Kopparberg (inadequate window insulation does have its plus sides) listening to Otis Redding...and revising. Shame about the working, but this time tomorrow I can have a bit of a holiday from the work. Can forget about organic materials and superconductors for a while as well.



Awesome tune. Just ordered a best of, Spotify is a wonderful thing. It has led me to many a tune.

Nice little read

The itinerary for my little holiday:

Day 1 New York

The adventure starts in the cosmopolitan metropolis of New York City.

Days 2-3 Washington DC

Admire the capital's grand avenues, parks, monuments and memorials.

Day 4 Appalachian Mountains

Take in the beauty of the soaring Appalachian Mountains.

Day 5 Nashville

Toe-tap to country music in Nashville.

Day 6 Memphis

Choose to visit Elvis' Graceland or head to Beale St for a dose of traditional blues music.

Days 7-8 New Orleans

Straddling the Mississippi, this lively city is known for its spicy cuisine, old-style mansions and atmospheric jazz clubs.

Day 9 Houston

Head to Houston and sign up for an optional trip to the NASA Space Center.

Day 10 San Antonio

Visit the Alamo, a reconstructed 18th century fort, then get to know the canals and streets of San Antonio on a walk.

Day 11 Carlsbad Caverns National Park

HIke deep into the caverns, then in the evening witness a noisy exodus of bats from the caves.

Day 12 Santa Fe

Explore the sandstone Aztec Ruins National Monument.

Day 13 Mesa Verde National Park

Travel to Mesa Verde National Park, best known for its cliff dwellings.

Day 14 Monument Valley

Travel through the desert to meet members of the Navajo tribe.

Days 15-16 Grand Canyon

With photo opportunities galore and the option of a scenic flight, the Grand Canyon is a brilliant sight to behold.

Days 17-18 Las Vegas

Get accustomed to the neon lights and excesses of 'Sin City'. Choose to see a larger-than-life stage show, over-indulge at a buffet or have some fun at a casino table.

Day 19 Sierra Nevada

Travel through the heat of Death Valley to admire the rocky landscapes of the Sierra Nevada.

Day 20-21 Yosemite National Park

Discover huge cliffs, sparkling waterfalls and iconic wildlife in Yosemite National Park.

Days 22 San Francisco

Finish this awesome roadtrip in America's majestic bay city and perhaps visit infamous Alcatraz.

Cannae wait. So much work and revision to do before then though! Need to practice my moves as well if I'm going to pull this off:

Happy days

No more labs...ever! Handed in organic this morning, so no more teaching lab for me! Lets just forget that the majority of next year is based on the research project, it doesn't count as the same...also should try and forget about the exam on Friday...



Can't decide if this is good or not. I am a fan of random cover versions though. Speaking of which...



Was trying to find the other version the Manics did of this song, but JDB + acoustic is always fairly amazing. Just goes to show that even the most pathetic excuses for music can be made good by someone with talent. Might put some effort into making a playlist or something of cover versions, they pass the time well.

Route

Just a short trip across the USA. Hitting some awesome places, and a fair few campsites along the way.
Hells yeah.

No going back now!

Booked up my American adventure, which is slightly terrifying. Flights booked, road-trip booked, accomodation in New York booked, insurance sorted, visa equivalent done. All that is left to do is sort out something for staying in San Francisco. Ever so slightly excited. Lots of good planning days to come, need to sort out what I'm doing in New York for the day, same goes for San Francisco. Downside is having to work out the money - not going to be a cheap trip.

Guess more details will appear in the not too distant future!

Lazy Sunday

Can tell the end of term is coming up, I've actually got time to chill and not do work for a day! Wow. Feel that I didn't really get the love for Just Like Fred Astaire across as much as I should the other day. Absolutely brilliant song, even if it is a bit soppy. Don't make 'em like that any more.

Watched Four Lions yesterday. Was pretty good I spose. Thought the ending was a bit grim, not sure if it matched the tone of the rest of the film. Worth a watch anyway.

Keeping an eye on the footy, got a whole £2.50 on the Spurs game, what a wild bet that was! I'm throwing caution to the winds! Its all to help fund a memory upgrade for the computer though (how cool) so all worth it in the end.

Still not made my mind up about the trip across America. On one hand, it will be an amazing experience I might not have the time to fit in again, on the other hand it will cost a lot of money that might mean the trip to Costa Rica will be even less likely. I just don't know. Would like to have a look at the USA though. This trip has a good few days of visiting the musical places and also a day in Houston. Just not sure if the driving will cut too much into time to appreciate where you are. Should be pretty brilliant scenery out the window though.

Crappy labs are back again tomorrow. These have single-handedly turned me off organic chemistry forever. To be honest though that wouldn't take much more than the boring lecture course but the whole thing is a shambles for something that counts for a fairly decent amount of this year. The weekend should be good though. Got a friend from back home coming up which will make for a nice change. Going to be checking out Durham Live Lounge for Detroit Social Club so heres hoping they are at least decent!

I see spending out in my future

Since Monday I am 21 and fed up of not doing anything. This summer is looking long and empty, but there are so many places I'd like to go and things I'd like to do...this has bought me to considering a good old American road-trip. Would be fairly amazing, however can't really do this one on impulse unlike the trip to the Chimp sanctuary in Spain...

I really am tempted, I've got some money saved up for travelling somewhere. Seems a bit short notice though for something so hugely different to anything I've ever done. Spending 22 days on the other side of the world is a fairly massive undertaking...just trying to get my thoughts straight on this.

I've worked my arse off every year since sodding GCSE's, so I think its about time I went for the extravagant gesture. Would be nice to have someone to go with, but then part of the fun is meeting new people. Lots of camping out, seeing the world...Memphis and Nashville. Sadly no wild west type stuff where I'm looking, but I guess the scenery is all there.

Watch this space I suppose.

Just Like Fred Astaire

Tune. Shame about crappy sound quality though.