Breaking the Cardinal Rule - The Wombats Review (Plus A night at New Slang)

10/10

Soooooooooo two reviews in and I'm going to break the only rule I made before I started making reviews.

Of course that is, to NOT give anything a 10/10. But I can't help it. I just can't.

Surely the ONLY thing that CAN ONLY BE a 10/10 is something that forces itself on you. That explodes in your face and says "THIS IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS". And it was.

I left with the Anthony and Carolina relatively late for the gig at 10pm. The gig would roughly be starting around 10:30 - 11. Traffic was fast and we even had a pint in a nearby place beforehand. What followed was a journey only the dedicated music fan can appreciate:

Firstly, after getting in, we proceeded to grab a drink, at which point me and Ant headed to the dance floor. We started at the back, and The Wombats began with such safe songs as "Laura" et al. Brilliant tunes, but leaving an aura of anticipation as to where they would go from there.Very soon into the gig things got inevitably rough, but the songs were too good to resist. In the average gig the casual music fan keeps close to the back and lets the morons shoving do their thing. THIS though, was no ordinary gig. The first few songs turned out to be first album glory tunes and soon I was swept in. I passed the threshold point and launched into Chav-city. I was on the attack.

At the centre of the crowd things were bumpy to say the least. I was one of the bunch. But with every shove I took 3 steps forward and one back and within one song I had managed to get from the back to 2-3 rows from the front. Victory!

Some new songs were laid down, all were damn good. I had reservations about some I heard online but at this gig they turned out to be audio gold. What was important was the guy in front of me didn't mind I was using him for support and jumping like crazy. At the front the shoving was surprisingly less bad then the middle, but being more left-ish it was easy to prepare for shoving in two directions then four.

But this gig was 10/10 and as such certain things which usually matter when watching the bog-standard gig have no place here. Stepping on shoes and the fact that within an hour I was dripping from head to foot in sweat that wasn't mine. A swarm of pushers every 40 seconds or so are zoned out by the fact that the view and the sounds are so good that others are rebuffed and forgotten. In fact, the only annoyance during the hour (if it was that long, time flew) were the chavs behind drunkenly calling for the Wombats to get on with it. Clearly the simpletons had no manners or taste considering the men a few feet ahead of them on stage were geniuses who would DAMN WELL GET ON WITH IT WHEN THEY WERE GOOD AND READY! Dicks.

The night has come onto youtube in several stages, this is the finale clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=SMMRvNksqgk - Awesome stuff

So all that remains to be said is the new songs were crackers, and they ended predictably, but not in an unwelcome fashion with the best songs in the Wombats repertoire: Moving to New York and Joy Division, which were played flawlessly and had everyone jumping like loonies. A gig to remember!

I missed getting a set list at the end because I was helping a stranger find her shoe but nonetheless I managed to have fun after with the lovely Ant and Caroline. Just enough alcohol was consumed and fun was had and, strangely, great pictures were taken even in our wasted states.

None of those pictures are in the order I want them to be in but blogger needs to improve its picture moving abilities. I suppose I should explain the Pinata. I should but I can't, because what the hell was happening there I have no idea. Having said that it was a fun idea by New Slang. Got the crowd jumping for it, never did see if it was filled with anything sadly.

The photo of the girl reaching for it I love for being overly dramatic. Remember that clip in Constantine when Keanu Reeves jumps for the hospital band when he's in hell and all those demons are trying to claw him down as hes jumping for it? If you can't don't worry. The movie wasn't the best. Still, the pic reminds me of that. Photos of those here plus many more can be found on my facebook under the boringly titled "The Wombats at New Slang 29/10/10". I had brilliant plans for an awe inspiring album name but the titles "The Greatest Gig Ever" and "The Night of Awesome Photos" seem to lose their appeal the more sober you get.

Anyway, we staggered to the bus stop, taking two "Queue here signs" as we went. (I chose the non-ticket holders queue whilst ant took the ticket holders one) Mine is currently on my door looking fine.

All in all it was the perfect night, in so far as the gig was brilliant, we had exactly the right amount to drink to get drunk but not too drunk (although I hear the others were worse for wear!) and I spent very little. The bus home was quick and I was in bed by 3. Can't complain!

So there you go. The perfect gig is unlike any other. It is not a 'good night out' but a quest, a campaign. Even then, the quest can go sour, you can be shot down or merely run into some bumps that slow you down.

EVERY ONE OF MY AMERICAN FRIENDS HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE HALLOWEEN.

Party your socks off and enjoy yourselves. You deserve it for being so awesome it hurts.

A fond farewell for now!

One of those 'sigh' Sundays

Dear Blog Readers,

Hope you're well. I figure my highly opinionated and egotistical reviews don't count as proper blogging so I feel compelled to continue.

What do you guys think of highly attentive restaurant managers? I ask because at a birthday dinner in a South Wimbledon restaurant I attended on Friday, the manager came over repeatedly and joked, grinning widely with the birthday lady and the other close friends and even, I heard, offered one of her disabled friends a free meal. Now at the risk of sounding pompous and downbeat, I dislike the approach. I find it akin to overly-aggressive advertising.

One day a few months ago I went out for a birthday meal with my dad and nan. Close to leaving, my dad enquired as to if the manager knew one of his friends, a man who recently died, who had attended the restaurant a few times. Judging by the responses, which were very generalised and picked off of my dads descriptions, I got the feeling the manager only said yes in order to gain familiarity and thus, more possible business. This, I thought, was nasty.

So I don't know. I don't want to go on much about it, as I'd imagine she could very well have entered the restaurant business with the aim to make customers happy and to laugh and joke with them. I guess I just find business transactions more opaque then others. After all, working at Debenhams showed me how dedicated but often soulless managers tried to squeeze all they could out of employees. Customers were there to be drained.

Anyway, on to proper fun, went to Thorpe Park yesterday. For those of you not familiar with Thorpe Park, I would say that it is amongst the top 3 best theme parks in the UK, I'd say #1 but I haven't been to many outside London. It was Fright Night season, so there was a spooky theme prevalent. Me and me mates Danny and Adam drove up earlier and got in the queue for the new Saw ride, only for it to break down once and then pause for thunder a short time after. All in all we waited around 2 an a quarter hours for it but it was pretty worth it, a vertical rise then a 100 degree angle drop started what was a pretty amazing ride, twists and turns galore. And the queues are always so much easier to handle when you have mates to joke around with.

We met up with more friends later and went on such infamous rides such as Nemesis, Stealth, Vortex, Detonator and No way out. Stealth as usual was the scariest, 0 - 80 MPH in about 1.7 seconds, a MASSIVE rise of what I read is 204 feet and then the slow-then-fast plummet and return. All in all lasts about 10 seconds but its just the most incredible rush that the wait is so worth it. Fastest roller coaster in Europe and I'd damn well put money on it being the most intense too. Detanator is my least favourite. Basically involves being taken up a vertical post and dropped about 100 feet or so. Nerve racking and I always clench so hard I end up hearding my unmentionables. I fear I may have said too much..

Next week holds a comedy show on Tuesday and the Wombats on Thurs. Also I have just realised I turn 24 in 2 Fridays time. More scary then all the rides at Thorpe Park put together. Haven't really talked about this sigh Sunday, but it was, well, Sigh. Gym in the morning and little else, language revision needs to be stepped up if I'm to be a masterful international 'Gregory House-esk' traveller, solving crimes in Spanish and French worldwide. I'll keep you posted.

A question that's been bugging me today; does the postal service have an all weekend service that sorts out post even on Sundays or do even the backstage workers get the day off?

Cya soon.

TV Review: Film 2010

I was nonplussed about a change in commentators for Film 2010, Jonathan Ross was classy, but not irreplaceable I thought. However not only has his replacement made me realise Jonathan Ross was probably more talented then I gave him credit for, but it has also brought with it what I should have realised would be inevitable; the arrival of the ever-so-bollocks 'makeover'.

I'm in the middle of watching the second episode and I'm probably not alone in saying the following; I just about give two craps about what Claudia Winkleman thinks. But not by much. Jonathan's witty banter was both informative and funny but you were also wrapped in the comforting safety net that was the fact that Mr Ross was a talented and smart reviewer whose word should be heeded. Don't get me wrong, I think his 6 million a year salary was a scandal and I was mostly against him when it came to antics which quite rightly made him appear to be quite the tit, but his research seemed to revolve around a lot of hard work and a general passion to give the right balance of opinion and unbiased facts.

Claudia Winkleman and the bloke she bounces off of make what appear to be solid judgements, especially at the start of their reviews. But when the words "I think" creep into the mix I find my concentration waining. I see two chat show hosts having a natter about one film or another rather then the technical in-depth discussion about the pros and cons of a film which will effect whether or not I will pay to view it.

The crappy "upgrades" (and I can't stress those quotation marks strongly enough) include the 'Top 5' part of the show. Somewhere along the line someone at the BBC decided it would be good to bring complete randoms onto the show to express their love of the top 5 'somethings' from any movie in their repertoire. I need this addition about as much as a drowning nun needs a hamburger. To make matters worse, the first episode drew on the knowledge of some plucky young pre-pubescent pillock who proceeded to give his top 5 inclusions of the moon in films. And then not mention E.T. I mean really. I'm not a big E.T fan myself, but to start the already-wobbly new series of a film review show with a top 5 list of moons and not include the lovable extra-terrestrial is just plain awful. Whether Winkleman mentions it at the end or not. Tweets from viewers were also used and (no offense to you at home) once more I did not care. At all.

I shall be generous and say one thing; it does look like the team have pounced on the majority of the 'iffy' parts of the first Film 2010 with ole Winkleman and have adapted the following episode to meet those challenges rather successfully. The presenters seem more focused on providing quality reviews at the expense of the other cack parts of the show thus far. Conversation is streamlined, focusing more on movie content and describing their views with a 'step-back', more in-depth approach. Aka, The Jonathan Ross effect. The Top 5 section was pointless once more, but not cringingly awful and the dreaded crappy tweets were not even mentioned apart from at the start. Pointless jokes were at a minimum and the banter was much improved as a result; bouncing views between one another actually produced some intelligent insight.

So thar she goes. It's not great, but its already improving after one show which is pretty impressive. Of course this could all be reversed. Maybe I misconstrued their actions and no progress has been made, I could have just seen the best the series is going to get. Maybe time issues meant tweets had to be cut from only this episode and next weeks show will include 'Maud' with her Top 5 uses of cheese in black and while cinema. I sincerely hope not.

I shall have to put my faith in the team and hope I can continue to get solid criticism on what I may potentially be seeing. Either way, RIP Jonathan Ross' film reviewing career, you shall be missed.

Hello Hello Blog.

Hello again, I should probably blog before I forget some of the stuff that might be of interest. If I forget anything I'll put them in a series of edits at the end.

Not much has occurred but I shall list the following:

Had a job interview with London Empire Academy. From the name and the well kept website I envisioned a rather large glass building with a few classrooms, perhaps a library, small quad, you know, school stuff. What I found, (after rushing like a sweaty lunatic between streets trying to find the location) was a very small 2-3 level building with little in the way of windows or general beauty, sat squat in the middle of a car park just off the entrance to the M4 motorway. Alarm bells were already ringing as I circled the building hoping beyond hope that the rusty entrance door at the front was a poorly situated back door, hiding the fact that a lush glass automatic door complete with flowers and polished signs to boot were waiting for me round the back. They weren't.

That said the staff were fairly lovely. The secretary guy was nice and the billboard at the entrance showed some lovely class road trips and some generally smiling staff members. The interviewer lady who I believe was the deputy was pretty nice too, although it was hard to keep focused when the cars on the M4 were whooshing passed right behind her head. The position was for an Admin job, 9 - 6 for £7 an hour. Not bad, and there's a lot of responsibility that comes with the job including regularly ringing the Home Office to check for updates. The place wasn't pretty but it was certainly legit and pretty friendly. It's been a week since I went and I've had no response. My opinion of them will be significantly lowered if I get rejected without so much as a 'too bad' email but I'm still holding out for some luck.

Also, do you guys choose to ask questions in an interview? I have here-to-for been told by smart people that to do so is bad as it shows you haven't done enough research and you lack basic knowledge. However I got the impression here that a question or two would have provided some much needed banter. My "I've read all I need to know on the website" remark got a smile but I doubt I stood out in any way. We'll have to see won't we.

Also there has been a charity 5 a side football tournament which happened yesterday, all the proceeds going towards helping those hit by the Pakistan floods. As I expected being the outsider in the group of us that went, I got lumped with the older team that needed an extra player. Being that it was all for a good cause I went with the flow and had a lot of fun with the guys, they were pretty cool. By far the highlight was match 2 of 4 in which I scraped us a win. We were 2 - 0 down against the best team in our group who had brushed aside my mates team. Somehow I pulled a goal back from a loose ball up front. 2 - 1. A few minutes after I was tapped a ball from the left which I hoofed into the left side from a few metres away, 2 - 2, we were well pleased. Finally, in the dying seconds we were locked in a tense mid-pitch battle. I was slid the ball. At this point I was knackered from running laps of the pitch and the sweat was stinging my eyes but I tried to keep my focus. I saw a gap and shot from half way and managed to slip it in the left side hard. I went NUTS! As did the team. But I found myself shouting "COME ON!" a good 4 - 5 times in the rush. Looking back I must have appeared quite the loony. But you're only young once, and that was a game to remember. We ended up just missing out on qualifying but it was a superb tourny none the less.

Not much else to say currently except it was lovely ALIA GANT'S birthday this week. Broke and unable to secure a present to top my family guy series I sent her last year, I have opted to send her a card and promises that future birthdays and celebrations will be met with superior present giving as soon as I get some dosh. I will tell you about my card after she receives it. Sufficed to say I love it so. She deserves it, she keeps me sane sometimes and the fact that she puts up with me at all is praiseworthy indeed. Happy Birthday Alia.

Spanish and French are going well, I have my lovely Spanish teacher from last year back in the driving seat which is nice, and french is surviving which is a bonus. Getting fairly hard to separate the two now. Now that I'm getting job hunting under control I should be able to focus a lot more on them.

My wombats ticket and poster have arrived; can't wait til the 28th to see them. I also possibly am going to Thorpe Park on Saturday which will be awesome. Rides galore. Also a comedian act next Tuesday and then the little case of my Birthday in early November. I'm not joking, by little I mean little. I asked for an early birthday present to be my family paying for french/Spanish as I am broke. How life changes, not a decade ago I was working towards the dreaded GCSE's and wishing for Xmas break to get presents. Now I PAY for 2 GCSE courses with my Xmas credits and look FORWARD to getting more work for dosh. Crazy switcharoony.

Anyways not much to go on as I say. But in the next 2 - 3 weeks there shall inevitably be fun tales to tell you of. I already have my wombats promotional poster on the wall winking at me. Things are looking promising.

Till next time,

Toodles.

Review: Made in Dagenham

7.2/10

Decided to spice things up a bit by doing movie reviews. Went to see Made in Dagenham at the HMV Curzon in Wimbledon, which turns out to be a pretty alright cinema. More expensive in the evenings then the odeon but you get to take in booze and other hot drinks which are actually at normal prices as opposed to complete rip off odeon prices. The seats are pretty comfy too, small screens but definitely a comfortable watch in more ways then one.

The movie pretty much plays out like every other BBC funded movie ever made which makes it fairly predictable. Life is as it is; iffy. Bring in a group of zainy but well meaning good guys and some bad guys with power and the status quo on their side, struggle struggle struggle, will they hold together to the end? Will good triumph over bad? Will their be a cheesy group hug and cry? Yes yes and yes.

Those of you fearing I've given away the ending - its a movie about how women working in a factory in Dagenham managed to get equal pay throughout England; its hardly going to end in doom and gloom.

However my 7.2 score should indicate how this movie is a pretty good watch in a few ways. First off the acting is pretty top notch. The characters are passionate, downtrodden and determined, all of which comes through in good measure. It also does fairly good work of coming across as a historical documentary as well as, above all, a feel good drama. The long struggle is shortened pretty impressively into a two hour movie, both encapsulating the major aspects as well as not making the time drag.

So with memorable characters, historical relevance and an enjoyable, feel good plot which doesn't seem to groan, I'd say the film provides a pretty cool watch. You could complain about the BBC's predictability when it comes to its movies, but hey, its not an original story, its a real life tale of the strength of some women from Dagenham which made England a fairer place to live in for half its inhabitants. And to that end I say Made in Dagenham has been made with some care and attention to detail. Not outstanding, but a lovely entertaining feel good quest.

End note: HMV Curzon does a bloody good hot chocolate for £2.50, which I'm sure is about 10 quid cheaper then the evil Odeon corporation would do hot chocolates if they did, which they don't to my knowledge. Fancy a fairly tipsy, comfortable, lounge-esk watch; Curzon is the way forward, even if it is £2 more expensive. I'd probably say £2 well spent. Or I will when I have income.

Nothing much happened today, had a gym sesh in the morning where I managed to get a free desk and a picture off my mate austin. The pic is a classic beach vista shot, must be 3 foot wide and wont fit anywhere. I'll make some space, love vista shots. Spanish was CANCELLED after I walked for 50 mins to get there and 50 mins back which was unfortuante BUT I was informed of a footy game later in the evening which I attended and which we won which is rather spendid I think you'll agree.

Anyways I am in the process of going back on my word on getting more sleep so, until next time,

Au Revior!

Bloggius Updatius

Lo all,

Hope all is well with you. Update you I will, informed you will be, speak like Yoda anymore I will not.

Spanish on Monday was alright, the teacher was away with some surgery so we had what looked like her friend teaching us. The people are all nice, a few from the old gang are back which is cool. The class was packed, hopefully they will split us into two classes.

French on Tuesday was also good, however only 8 people are signed up and what I shall term "Bastard government cuts" mean 11 are now needed for a class to continue. Fortunately the teacher seems to be a stalwart character and I get the impression that if anyone can keep the class on, its her. Unfortunately the uncertainty of it all has meant I haven't revised that much, I'll get onto it soon, promise, after this weeks upcoming lessons.

Besides that it has mainly been much ado about the internship this week, getting contacts for the database from the US, Canada and Australia. Makes me happy to know I'm having a fairly important impact on possibly the largest human rights org dealing specifically with Sri Lanka.

Oooo also the Ed Miliband is in the driving seat of the Labour Party. Initially I was sceptical but the more I read about him, the more I like him. He's very left wing, promises a new start for us and seems to have a vision. He's all about keeping the rich-poor gap low and is environmentally conscious. And he can complete a Rubik cube puzzle in 90 seconds. What a stud.

Today's fact is that he taught Economics at Harvard for 18 months (!). I'm increasingly impressed.

Currently watching 'Stephen Hawking's Universe', another Stephen Hawking programme telling us where we came from, where we're going, and how we're probably all buggered if we don't colonise mars and other galaxies soonish. Turns out we have to worry about asteroids, radiation and weird collapsing stars that fire laser beams. Joy.

The cost of constructing an interstellar spaceship is huge and offers no payback so it must be funded by a massive charity fund or by rich ass travellers. Even then it will take 73 years to get to the nearest cool planet. So basically money will screw us all. More Joy.

Finally I've been feeling guilty about stuff in my recent past. This, combined with the fact I so often hear about charitable doings of friends, has made me think I need to give back to society. I've also given up thinking that its ridiculous to feel guilty about doing charitable work to make myself feel better; I've got to jump into this with making people better in mind. I've considered doing something along the lines of the Samaritans, my friend Caroline does something similar at Essex uni which sounds pretty rewarding, trouble is I'm not a phone lover by any means. I've been thinking about maybe a soup kitchen somewhere, sounds very bog standard but, again, rewarding. I'll do more research into it when I get a job and can afford to think on my own time.

Going to start working on this fast track civil service thingamajig which I will almost certainly not get. But you've gotta try hey.

Hope you're having a sweet weekend, til next post,

Done.