I was absolutely sickeningly appalled by the front page article in today's Daily Mirror. For those of you unsure what i'm referring to, the Mirror, as well as TV news programme's and radio shows have been discussing the game Manhunt all day, claiming it was the reason a 17 yr old child went and hammered and stabbed a 14 yr old, both of them boys. The article can be found here:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/tm_objectid=14472336%26method=full%26siteid=50143%26headline=boy%2d%2d14%2d%2din%2dvideo%2dgame%2dcopycat%2dmurder-name_page.html

Now, whenever a media form gets blamed by the media themselves for the death of an individual, I immediately sit up in interest, because 9 times out of 10, the accusations are truly unfounded, and blasphemous towards the company who created said media. Here's where I pick out why this Manhunt article is an absolute disgrace, and why Rockstar North should be looking to sue The Mirror for it.

"Stefan Pakeerah, 14, was battered to death by Warren LeBlanc, 17, who was obsessed with the 18-rated Playstation 2 game Manhunt. It awards points to a "hero" for murdering people and was banned in New Zealand six months ago."

First off, anyone can commit a crime, and then claim to be obsessed with a film, video game, TV show, etc, that they claim influenced them to do what they did. But on the flipside, he genuinely could have been obsessed with Manhunt but I fail to see where this problem lies with the creator's. My mum's obsessed with Elvis. I see people who create websites dedicated to their favourite mass murderer's. But they shouldn't be blasted just because they have a fascination with something which isn't considered the social 'norm.

Secondly, it does not award points to a "hero". You play a criminal in Manhunt, and while you never actually find out what crime he committed to be sentenced to death by lethal injection, you know it had to be pretty bad for such punishment to be carried through. I can understand how some idiot kid could sit there thinking, "WOW! I'm going to be playing as a sick criminal!", but that's down to the kid's interpretation of what's being presented before him. I can tell you for a fact that not once in the game is your character ever portrayed as being a hero. Every character in the game is as sick and evil as the other, only some are moreso. The article only concentrates on the fact you gain points for murdering people, like that's the only way. It doesn't comment on how you also gain points for being as quick through a level as possible, sometimes skipping the killing parts so as to get those extra 'time' points. Typical.

"Stefan's father Patrick, a 41-year-old civil servant, said: "Stefan's murder compares to how the game is set out, using weapons like hammers and knives."

If you mean how the killer in this case killed his victim with a hammer and knife as in the game then yeah, you're right it does compare. But in your son's murder, where there such incidences as the killer being directed by a higher voice? Did your son's murderer dress up in a pig suit and wish he had a chainsaw instead? Was your son's murderer a fucking unwilling participant in a snuff video, for which a very tiny microscopic but thriving community eagerly await it's release? No, there wasn't, he didn't, and he wasn't. Manhunt is a million miles away from what happened with your son. Here's another game which compares with what happened to your son:

http://www.gamespot.com/gamecube/action/supersmashbrosmelee/screens.html?page=169
http://www.gamespot.com/gamecube/action/supersmashbrosmelee/screens.html?page=168

The game I refer to is Super Smash Bros. Melee which can be found on Nintendo's Gamecube console, a console which targets the younger audience of games players. The two images show you a very popular Nintendo character known as Kirby (and to my closest friends as my spokesman ;) ) using a hammer, and a sword, in which he can beat up and destroy his enemies to take victory. And if you think Manhunt is crude in its scoring system, you'll find SSBM's just sickening, as it rewards you for special techniques used, only using weapons, defeating your opponent by throwing them over a ledge, ending the match with a 'Smash' move (which basically means your character used a super charged impact move to send your opponent flying to their doom), and yet because this is a 'cute' looking game, it never got picked up on, and Manhunt instead is dragged through the mud. Let's carry on...

"The violence can most certainly be attributed to that game - and if games like this influence kids they should be taken off the shelves."

So, every single kid who plays a video game with even the slightest hint of violence within, they're going to turn into psycho mass murderer's. Ok then, why not go back to the 80's where Super Mario was jumping on monster's heads to kill them. HE WAS JUMPING ON THEIR FUCKING HEADS!!! if you jump on someone's head in today's society, they're liable to suffer a very, VERY serious injury, with possible permanent damage sustained. But nope, that's ok, because Mario is a cute character who only hurts monsters, and not humans. Ah, ok then.

"The object of Manhunt is not to just to go out and kill people. It's a point-scoring game where you increase your score depending on how violent the killing is. That explains why Stefan's murder was as horrific as it was. If these games influence kids to go out and kill then we do not want them in the shops."

Just so you know, not once throughout the article does the Mirror ask why a 17yr old child has in their possession a copy of Manhunt. They must have forgot this little detail. Also, they hastily forgot to mention how there's sections in Manhunt where you have to protect your family, and members of the public from being murdered too. But then the article wouldn't be any fun then would it?

"Manhunt explores the depths of human depravity in a vicious, sadistic tale of urban horror. I think there are an awful lot of youngsters who have access to video games that they shouldn't."

And so, this is Rockstar North's fault because...? I fail to see how their kid having a game which is was illegal for him to play is the company who made the game's fault. The parents are solely to blame and you can't argue with that. How did this 17yr old come to own this game then?

1. If the parent's didn't know he'd bought it, where did he get the money from?
2. If he HAD saved up the money from birthday's and pocket money or even a job, then why didn't the shop ask him for ID, because he does look drastically young?
3. Maybe he had asked his parents to buy it for him, and them being so clued up on the world of video games (just wait till you see what his uncle had to say on the matter) decided to go and buy their child a game with disturbingly sick and gory content, to please him.
4. Maybe he just lent it off a friend, and his parents were truly unaware he even had it.

"Retail chain Dixons today reacted swiftly to the outcry and removed all copies of Manhunt from its shelves."

The stupid idiots wait for the game to be mentioned all across the press, TV, and radio before they pull it off the shelves. This game will rise in the charts because of this coverage, so how ironic that while everyone's shouting off about the game's content, they don't realise at the same time they're lining the coffers of the very company they're trying to bring down. This part I DO sit back and smile with glee at. :D

"Last night, a spokesman for the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers' Association said: "We reject any suggestion or association between the tragic events in the Midlands and the sale of the video game Manhunt. "The game in question is classified 18 by the British Board of Film Classification and therefore should not be in the possession of a juvenile. There is no evidence to suggest a link with events carried out in everyday life, as many eminent experts have continually concluded."

Whoever this dude was should be applauded, because they say exactly what i've said throughout this blog.

All of this was just from the Mirror's web-site. In their actual excuse for a tabloid, they interviewed the victim's uncle, and he had the following to say... brace yourselves...

Stefan's uncle, airline worker Gary Broomes, 39, likened the games to child pornography, saying people who watched it were "more likely to commit acts of paedophilia". He said: This game is about taking a life and yet it is legal."

Just read that paragraph again. Not even people who 'played' Manhunt but people who 'watched' it. WHAT THE FUCK??? So, let me get this straight then; I own Manhunt, have played it all the way through and completed it, enjoying it so much that I immediately started playing it again from the start and that makes me a paedophile. Carl Houghton is a paedophile because he played a very violent game, a game which NEVER brings children into its storyline, nor do you ever even actually see children in it, but you're still a paedophile because you kill fully grown adults. That's the biggest load of shite I ever fucking heard. The uncle amazingly goes on to dig himself an even bigger hole:

He added: "If they had brought out a game that encouraged people to kill animals there would be an outrage. The fact that it is humans doesn't seem to matter.

Again, another pause for you to grasp this lunatic's jabberings... The guy doesn't seem to comprehend the idea that guess what?? There ARE COUNTLESS GAMES OUT THERE WHICH INVOLVE THE MAIN IDEA BEING TO KILL ANIMALS!!! From the top of my head I can think of Deer Hunter, Duck Hunt, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis involves using a snake to choke out a muskrat, in Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day, there's instances in each of killing animals, and not only with conventional jumping or punch / kick methods either. But nope, according to this tool who obviously has never played a game in his life, there are no such games involving the deaths of animals out there.

I could go on, and on, and on, but I think i've made my point. As if I didn't already hate our tabloid newspapers enough, the Mirror comes along and finally buries the ol' red-tops for good in my opinion. This article was an absolute travesty, and one which doesn't justify the paper it has wasted in it being published. I will never ever buy a tabloid ever again.

I've sent the following letter to The Mirror's mailbox, in response to their disgusting article:

To whom it may concern,

I was absolutely disgusted by the amateurish approach taken to your front-page story dealing with the 17 yr old killer and his 14 yr old victim, which all revolved around the video game 'Manhunt', sold on Playstation 2. I have never felt the need to send any newspaper my views on a story i've read, but today's article made me boil with fury. Just so you know, this is one less reader of your tabloid, and also of any tabloid out there on release. You've shown yourselves to be extremely inept at research the actual story you're writing, and because of this, have tarnished the reputation of a videogame developer which in the world of videogames, is held in very high regard by fans of that media form. I have also never felt offended by anything, but when I read the uncle's comments about how people who play 'Manhunt' should be considered 'paedophiles', I was rocked to the core. I am a huge fan of 'Manhunt', am 20 yrs old, and have never, ever felt the need to abuse a child after playing the game. I would like to see an apology to all the people out there who have bought the game and enjoy it on a regular basis, for being labelled as child molestor's in your newspaper. It was absolutely disgusting.

Carl Houghton

PS: Go buy Manhunt, it's one of the most under-rated, and greatest games the PS2 has ever. If you're old enough that is. And if you're not, don't try getting it through other ways, because i'd hate to see a hard-working high-street employer being sacked for the wrong reasons.

It's now technically Tuesday so...

YESTERDAY... I was greeted by a sight which infuriated me greatly. And not only me, but my brown skinned bro Lee (he's been on holiday). Because while we were in HMV today, I mean yesterday, we were greeted by signs proclaiming Jennifer Ellison's in-store appearance at 5pm. It was no big deal to us because we see her every now and then in and around our shop were we work, so we just continued to browse around the store while teenage girls and middle aged men waited in the ever increasing queue (which sadly followed the aisle which is where all the metal music lies). Anyways, me and Lee continued to look around the rock 'n' pop aisles, when we noticed metal railings being placed at the end of them, so as to stop a flood of teeny-boppers flooding the area where she would be signing copies of her shite new single (it's the area by where the DJ is located, who plays all the shite music that you've heard a billion times before on the radio). Which is understandable, like her or hate her, it would genuinely be a very fucked up predicament if security was so lax as to let a tidal wave of gobshites flood the little starlet. Anywho, we continued down to where the sales albums were and then to our confusion, noticed black suited heavies halfway down each aisle, stopping people going any further. So, in otherwords, if you wanted to reach the J - Q section of the albums, you were fucked. Same applies to the next few aisles, could only go as far as the heavy was stood. Me and Lee were pretty fucking pissed now, but we let it go because we'd got our shit and couldn't be arsed hanging around watching all the scallies, for once justifying why they have their hands down their fucking pants all the time, eagerly awaiting the appearance of their queen.

Anyway, we went upstairs to the DVD and games section (best section ever of course), and found it to be reminiscent of a ghost town. Which was great!!! But an insult to its content. We got our stuff, viewed item's we didn't have the money to afford, then set back off downstairs again, to see if the 'pop princess' had shown up yet. Needless to say, she had, but it'd have been impossible for Joe Public to garner a look, as HMV had now sealed off EVERY aisle. You couldn't check out ANYTHING. Nor even go look at the shirts, magazines, books, etc. It was a fucking joke. We were on our way out anyway, but to think that HMV had basically sacrificed any album / book / clothes / magazine / singles sales from 5pm onwards for the sake of some horny old guys and disillusioned scally girls was just a fucking tragedy. But their loss.

I'm not against signing's, nor who's signing either. Ellison could sign in every shop in town for all I give a shit, but you shouldn't be forgetting the rest of the public, who have no interest in her, and who have kept YOUR shop open. If I want to look at Sarah McLachlan's imports, I should be able to, without some steroid pumped twat telling me we couldn't go because of 'security measures'. if I want to check out all of Mike Patton's albums, as well as his Mr Bungle, Faith No More, and Fantomas work, I should do with no problems. But because HMV had some Z list celebrity in the very far CORNER of their store, the whole public had to suffer. You guy's want to lose money, then do that every single day of the week. Get Busted in, McFly, Westlife, The Cheeky Girls, Liberty X, whoever the fuck you like, cos soon as you close, everyone will flock to the likes of Virgin, Music Zone, GAME, Gamestation, and even online-stores. His Master's Voice fucked up big time. We never had these problems when the dog listening to the Gramophone was their leading mascot.

There's a lot of people who are important in my life at the moment, who are unsure about a variety of things. Whether it be themselves, people around them, untold events that have been sprung upon them, whatever, and it's tricky for me to be standing on the outside looking in, because with so many things going on, even I don't have, not necessarily time for them, more the capacity. Like, if I got too wrapped up in one person's trials and tribulations, i'd only end up neglecting someone else in their hour of need... so fuck em' all, i'll just worry about myself and see what happens through their own decisions for once. :D What's that? I'm an heartless cunt??? Maybe, maybe not, after all, i'm usually sticking my beak in where, it might be needed, but isn't always necessarily listened to, but that's not my main beef with this lot. I guess it'd just be interesting for once to see where everyone goes, without ANY input from me. Nowt, zilch. Just the odd comment here and there for me to go along with what they're saying. Perhaps.

My friends wonder why I call you all of the time,
What can I say?
I don't feel the need to give such secrets away,
You think maybe I need help, no, I know that I'm right,
I'm just better off not listening to friends' advice...

PS: I don't know who Maddox is.

No personal stabs / digs / proclamations / shout-outs / mentions / criticism's / advice to anyone in this update then. Just me rabbiting on more than I usually would. Which can be boring. Especially at this time of my 3:02AM when i'm sitting here in a dazed nether-world, with my arse sweaty from sitting at this seat for fucking too damn long.

Anyone else wish they could block certain people from reading their blogs? At the same time, I guess letting these certain people keep reading can give you chances to show them how happy you are without actually telling them face to face, and that feeling that they're out there somewhere seething BECAUSE you're happy is kind of cool. I sound like a fucking teenage Heat reader or something, but I dunno, I just guess there's some bastards out there who I haven't had the mispleasure in actually seeing in so long, that i'd love to think that they're somewhere out there just HATING the fact my life feels so fucking ace right now. :D God that sounds extremely fucking petty. Still, always good to have a harsh back-stabbing bitch about people isn't it? Even if, again, they might be reading it... which is even better! Revolution 9: Number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9...Number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9...Number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9...Number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9...Number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9...Number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9...Number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9... number 9...numbernumbernumbernumbernumbenrumenbenbumernbuemrbrenerumnme...........

What goes around comes around. Always has, always will. Glad to see that life treats the misfortunate of us out there with a shake of gold now and then. Even if it is only for but a blink of an eye's time worth.

Claim your inspiration. Claim it, grasp it, never let go, and certainly NEVER give it out to a friend to share. Or it'll be in, in, in, shape?

Funny isn't it? Because I have a blog, it means I can type ANYTHING. ANYTHING. At all. I could type out racist comments if need be, I can type out politically charged comments in a hope to swing some people's opinions on our government if I wanted to. I could bash a band that I despise, not because I have a reason to, but just because I can. Freedom of speech can be fun, but at the same time, a truly huge amount of shit. Because as i'm proving, it often leads nowhere. Sure some people might peer in to see what's going on, and go away with a smile / sigh, but either way, some of us actually sit here after typing these thinking, "MY GOD, i'm a fucking god because my typed writing is somewhere in that neverending void called the internet." Maddox himself knows what the fuck that's all about. But as he'll never read it (because he's above shit sites and blogs like this one) he has nothing to worry about. Because there's nothing to worry about with me. I have no power, so can't stray out of line. Which is kind of a good thing. But not something I intended on.

And because I can, I will!!! There's the heart of showbiz for you people!!! The majority don't understand it but what the hell, they go along with it anyway, and you know what that is folks? That's russian roulette for you. While sat at a table with a date in the corner.

For a start, I never, EVER said that was a good thing.

Or did I? ;)

Laura:
hullo master auto

Auto says:
Ahoy hoy.

Laura says:
yalret

Auto says:
Yeah, just found a song I haven't heard in years. Ya know when ya sat there aimlessly doing something, and someone else puts a song on, and your ears twitch as if to say, "What the hell... what is that song???", as if you've heard it in some past life? Well that happened today, and now I have that song on my pc, and it's so beautiful.

Laura says:
lol what is it

Auto says:
Mother Nature's Son by The Beatles.

Laura says:
groovy

Born a poor young country boy--Mother Nature's son
All day long I'm sitting singing songs for everyone.

Sit beside a mountain stream--see her waters rise
Listen to the pretty sound of music as she flies.

Find me in my field of grass--Mother Nature's son
Swaying daises sing a lazy song beneath the sun.

Mother Nature's son.

Skip, unless I read your comment wrong, I think you may have mistook what I said about 'Genie In a Bottle'. I loved the song. I thought it was fantastic, and had high hopes for the lass. As I said, I even bought the single because I enjoyed it so much. But after that it went so downhill. My argument was that while pop at the moment is devestatingly bad (Save for Timberlake), Christina seemed like a light of hope in the stagnant mess of recycled shit we have today. But t'was not to be. Which was a shame. And what d'ya mean??? ABBA aren't THAT bad!!! :P

Just come off a 3 - 7 shift in the endearing Thorougoods. Came home, cooked myself two lasagna pies, and I dunno, but I must have cooked those fuckers wrong because i've got a wicked case of the squits right now. Shotgun shit comes to mind. Still, tis' always fun not putting any effort in. :D Dunno what i'm going to do tonight... might try a bout of gaming with the following:

Gameboy Advance SP: Final Fantasy Tactics
Gamecube: Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
Playstation 2: The Simpsons Hit and Run
Nintendo 64: Conker's Bad Fur Day

Plenty of scope for entertainment there. I also watched 'Caddyshack' for the first time in fucking ages with my dad last night, and as always, we pissed ourselves all the way through it. Whether it be Rodney Dangerfield's never-ending stream of insults, Ted Knight's vibrating angry lip, or Bill Murray making grass that you can play golf on and then get stoned on afterward, it's just one of the funniest films ever made. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out, and if you refuse to, you probably enjoy the likes of 'Dude Where's My Car'. Oh, and while i'm on the subject of comedies, you should also try 'Dead Man on Campus' or 'Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo', both also very high on my funniest films ever list.

I think i'll leave this blog here for now as it is. Not a lot of information I guess, but then it's not a fucking bulletin board i'm producing here now is it?... or is it...!

So i'm listening to Harvey Danger's fantastic 'Terminal Annex' tune,
and while doing this, I decided to see if Play.com had copies of their
album 'King James Version' in yet. I'm greeted with McFly's album on
Play's music page. McFly. Who could ever have envisioned that our
beautiful rock genre could be stagnated by such fuck's. Their other
half, 'Busted' (hell, throw Avril Salt and Vinegar in there too) are
just as bad. Whoever in Virgin records, and Busted and Vinegar's
companies decided it would be great to tarnish rock's rep with this
shit should at least be commended by doing such a cruel, but no doubt
very handsome turn. Sure the music's shit, but these, and I say this
very VERY slowly so as to let it sink in, 'ARTISTS' are now raking it
in for some fat ass company exec who no doubt see's these kids as the
future of rock music. You know there's a prob when scallies actually
like a group who plays instruments. However, suggest the likes of Pink
Floyd, Yes, and hey, even my boys Harvey Danger for this matter, and
you'll no doubt be greeted by blank stares, or be branded a pot-head.
Or even better, "Pink Floyd? Who's he?". Ask them about Busted tho,
"They're fucking wicked them la', now where did I leave my brick...?"



I dunno what's going on. It seems that no genre is safe. The likes of
Sum 41, Blink 182, they bug me where metal, punk, just harder music in
general is concerned. They take away the seriousness of it, and while
some would actually be applauding them for such a move, I can't stand
it. Bring up Linkin Park, and I WILL defend them. I've never understood
the argument against them, especially when the people moaning about
them where no doubt quick to rush out and get their first 'Hybrid
Theory' album.



Pop's another one. Pop used to be something to enjoy, where everyone
could possibly latch onto the latest pop hit and sing along with their
friend's who may also like it. It's not like that anymore. Britney
Spears, Robbie Williams, the Spice Girls / Take That / BoyZone /
Backstreet Boys / B-Witched / N-Sync (well, the whole influx of girl
and boy bands), Christina Aguilera (who's first single 'Genie in a
Bottle' I will ALWAYS defend because it's the only tune that didn't
feel forced by her record company but was also a good tune while not
sounding cheesy. I also own the single, which added a nice acapella
version to the original. She went downhill after that, and 'Dirty' is a
huge low-point for her musically, though the sales say otherwise), they
have all contributed to the downfall of not only pop, but also the
music industry in general. Not only do our individual genre's get
brought down by the industries' insistence on making it all popular for
the masses of brainless teenage pricks, but they're trying to
monopolise the market for their own greedy bastard needs. Kerrang's
charts I can take; Top of the Pops tho, is a fucking joke.



To end this update, here's lyrics from my afore-mentioned tune of the
moment, 'Terminal Annex' by Harvey Danger, which is REAL music peeps!
:P REAL music!!!

Here's something beautiful
Now smash it to bits
Save your little wheelchair empowerment films
Save your swoons i'm spoken for
It isn't pretty to think so
But i can't feign interest now
Dreaming of the fistfight i never got into
Thinking of the mean shit i wish i'd said to you
Such a fancy lady call her secretina
She didn't get all the good stuff
But she looked like you
Like a zero drowning in a sea of higher numbers
Everything you say to me is dumb,
(at least it's stupid)
Twenty heavy hammers smashing down
Here's a doorstep you can never darken
You complain about an overflowing cup.
Don't forget that i'm the one who filled that fucker up
Like a zero drowning in a sea of higher numbers
I remain as ever intrigued but no more astounded
Like a zero drowning in a sea of higher numbers
I think that i like you better when you just ignore me
So i sit and notice shadows growing
I think of how the clocks are slowing
Hoping hope's eternal flowing springs will do their thing and save me
From myself
Like a zero drowning in a sea of higher numbers
I remain as ever intrigued but no more astounded
Like a zero drowning in a sea of higher numbers

You want ego? i will show you ego
I'm jealous now


PS: Blog's making these blog's a fucking joke to publish lately. You
expect it to look one thing, then publish only to find your paragraphs
have gone askew and your cock all limp.

Not only did Blakely ask me if he could lend Rush's new EP 'Feedback' tonight in the KH, but I also troddled along over to www.allmusic.com and saw what can only be described as a beautiful review 0f it. And don't ask me why I haven't stopped this link running on because Blogger have started a new interface and I haven't got a fucking clue what's going on with it. So anyway, Rush's 'Feedback' EP, please buy it, even if you've never heard of them, or heard them. They're worth it, they truly are, and the best part is that once you've found them, you've got them for the rest of your life; like I have. Bastard link.

Stayed over at the Gray-Z House last night, and it was a rather enjoyable experience! Me, Dave, and Becky decided we'd watch Roy Chubby Brown, big Bro at 10, then Phone Booth, then The Royal Tenenbaum's. i don't think they appreciated the Tenenbaum's as much as i'd have liked em' to, but at least they laughed throughout Chubby Brown and really enjoyed the supremely short Phone Booth. Sleeping arrangements dawned with me having the now defunct Anneka's bed, and becky in her's. Did i tell you I kept the girl up all night? I really oughta see the doc about my snoring. In the end, she ended up buggering off downstairs because my noise was unbearable. Was a fun night tho, even if we didn't get pissed. The drunken antics can wait till tomorrow...

Skippy's last comments were very nice, and even moreso that there's someone out there who takes my film suggestions under their wing. :P I was always under the assumption people heard me go on about relatively unknown films only to run off to the Blockbuster to pick up the latest hollywood hit instead. I understand 100% about the blog comments too. It's a pretty good prediction for why my blog's running quiet lately. Still, rather this than getting lots of viewers because i'm depressed! :P

PS: Oh sick, sick, sick, even this is De-ja-vu!!! What the fuck am I typing??? I just remembered a constant dream I have involving no-one I know, but which involes my bedroom being the way it looks but instead utilising a bar where my bed actually is right now, and some weird guys who sit there looking out of the windows and... why has this just come to me??? I fucking hate worrying fucked up dreams like them. The inexplicable continuing ones that never progress with time. :(

I gotta admit, the comments typed up by peeps supporting this little thing of mine (my blog, not my penis) were extremely heartfelt and supporting. I am going to keep typing, but as I said, it just doesn't feel the same anymore. Still, if i'm reaching to any people, even if it is just providing debates for Skippy at work with Lexy babe, then at least i'm useful for something. :) Which is a good thing. So yeah, it's staying for now, just see how things go, but really, thanks for the positive responses, they mean a lot!

Went to Southport today with the Blakely, my mum and dad, and wee baby Alex. It was a great day! It was good to go on the Traumatizer, Chaos, the Sand Storm with it's gravity induced sickness symptoms, Cyclone (Fucking rickety bastard), and the Wild Cat (amongst others) with my mum who seemed to forget just how 'wild' it was for her, and she had to clutch onto me throughout the ride, poor dear. :) But yeah, it was a really fun day, the food was fantastic as always, we saw the Orange Lodge doing their thing (Bloody catholics), and the weather was splendid. It's no Blackpool, but it's a second best for us lot on the west coast, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a fun laid back day out.

Finally received Rush's new EP, 'Feedback' today which is essentially 8 cover songs by bands who inspired ma' boys. And it's brilliant! Listening to it, you wouldn't know they were covers unless you had heard the songs before, because Rush almost make the songs their own. We listened to it on the way to Blackpool, and my mum loved it like I did. Rush, you've excelled yourselves again. :D Just impress me in September, and you will be my gods...

Apart from that, not a whole lot else to talk about really! My brother's gone to Greece for two weeks with his real mates, so it's relatively quiet round these parts now. I hope he's enjoying himself, because I had from an unreliable source that there's a blackout currently in progress in ol' Greece. Imagine that. :D If it's the truth, i'll be pissing myself when he regails me with his tale of electric-less woe!

Quite a few expected comments to my last update, but I gotta disagree mostly with Velvet who described uni as just a school with grown ups in. Just on the basis that the one's I see about me are so fake, full of shit, and living up the student lifestyle bigtime. The student lifestyle is tricky to figure out. You see it portrayed on comedy shows in one way, the Viz magazine decides to go all the way and depict students as being huge gobshites who try their hardest to use 'long' words and talk about shit they haven't got a clue about in the vain hope that someone might be sitting within their presence thinking, "This guy / gal knows what they're talking about!", and students themselves try to live up to the ideology that being a student is cool, and envied.

Fuck that. The students I know are trying their hardest to be this stereo-typical student in the hope that they'll be accepted, most notably the ones who've come from outside of Liverpool. Don't get me wrong, i've met students from as far as Essex, Scotland, Italy, and Scandinavia who are genuinely nice, but their attempts at being accepted inadvertantly push away a lot of the genuine feel about them. They don't feel real. And it's why I have mostly kept to the scouse lot in JMU, who DO feel very honest. The likes of Kristine, Jenny, Marc, Michelle, amongst others, are the sole reason i've remained sane in Uni. If I didn't have them there, i'd end up wanting to go crazy in there, with all the posing and bullshit that goes on in there.

I'll give it one thing tho; the lecturers are fucking ace. Yannis Tzioumakis, David Sorfa, Claire Horrocks, Trevor Long, even the amazing chair battling Corrin Willis, these people are splendid, and always a wonder to watch. And when they joke about how their class look tired from a night out on shitty cheap ale, I can't help but sit there and think that they're wasted on such 'prospects' as us lot.

On a sidenote, my blog's definitely becoming less and less popular as time goes on. Maybe people have got bored of me finally. Maybe old faces have went, because i've pissed them off or whatever. Anywho, if it gets to the point where I feel like i'm typing blog after blog for barely anyone, i'll likely ditch the fucker, but save it in a text format or something. Don't forget, I only continue to type this up because people ask me to! :P It's been a good listener, but maybe it's time to give up, and leave this record of what's been a sometimes funny, sometimes distressing, and sometimes fucked up 30 months behind me...

PS: Been checking some severely fucked up albums over on allmusic.com, here's some of my fave's...

Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy (OVER 14 HOURS LONG???)
Nothing Scary (You've got to read the album review to really fully understand the uniqueness of what's going on here...)
XX (Could you ever see Britney create an album like this?)
Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die (In bad taste maybe? Never-the-less, there must be some people out there who could enjoy an album of 24 more or less exact same songs by a schizophrenic.)
Adult Themes for Voice (Mike Patton is a god to me, and this album is one of those reasons. Hotel rooms + Patton's Voice = ???)