has absence made the heart grow fonder?

i would like to apologise.

if you read the last blog post that went up on the 2nd of november, then you are probably aware of why i had taken leave for so long.


it was not that i wanted to, but once i was caught up in my NaNoWriMo novel, it became difficult to escape it.

i have a passion for writing, clearly for writing about just about anything from the past form of this very blog, i have had a passion for writing about the music i love, whether it is being published or not, and i wanted to take up this challenge and write a novel.

50,000 words in 30 days.

mine weighed in at 50,778 when i verified the word count last night.


it was enjoyable, and it was stressful, and it was so rewarding to have crossed the finish line, and to have crossed it with time to spare.


it was not looking quite so hopeful earlier this month, i had been writing daily, writing under my own steam, and figured i was not too far off the cumulative word count expected when trying to attain 1,666 words written each day, some days i had missed and i hoped others had made up for it.

on day 17 i took a break from the writing to log back into my NaNoWriMo account and log my word count, only discovering at that time that it would be input onto a dandy little graph and would spout statistics at me.

this was wonderful.

what was not quite so wonderful was the fact that even writing just short of twenty thousand words by that point, i was still over 8,000 off par.

the stats told me my average daily word count to date, how many words i would need to write daily to finish on time, and if i kept going at the rate i was, i would finish on the 13th of december.


much like drivers always aim to beat the little estimated time of arrival that their sat-nav displays as they set off on a journey, i too aimed to whittle down the days and reign in the challenge.  i would be proud of myself regardless of when it was complete.  but i wanted to do this.


and that is my excuse really.

i'm sorry i couldn't share any words with you over the course of my writing, almost everything that fell from my mind was channelled straight into the novel, i allowed myself the timely distractions of tweeting, but to have given any kind of worthy update on here, or to share anything on here at all, would have felt like a squandering of words that were much needed to plump up my novel.


so now, on this last day of november i sit here.

relieved it is over.

proud that i made it.

contemplating my return to blogging.


and with a rather attractive handlebar moustache to boot.

(please donate what you can afford, thank you)

what month is it?

there are a number of answers to this question.

a couple of which i shall look at in some vague sort of detail.


the most obvious answer would be November.

this is correct (1 point to you)


but over the last few years or so, men have been cultivating cookie dusters to raise money and awareness for men's health charities.

this well-meaning trend has seen the month formerly known as November now dubbed as Movember.

and since i thoroughly enjoyed showing off a bit of top-lip fuzz when i went to a screening of Anchorman, and quite impressed to people's reactions that had seen photos of my moustache, but not actually met it, i decided it was only right for it to make a return, for charideee.


the plan is simple, you start November 1st clean shaven, then let nature take it's course until you have enough facial hair to groom into something fascinating

i would be grateful if anyone feels the need to donate via my profile

(i expect contributions to be low whilst i go through the primary stubble phases)

and i shall update y'all with imaginative self-portraits over the course of the month

it is also NaNoWriMo

which looks like some kind of maths equation or a distant relative many times removed from the periodic table, but it is in fact a campaign to engage people in writing for the whole of November (or Movember, or NaNoWriMo)

and as someone that has spent years thinking that i would make a brilliant novelist, if only i would just get my head down and get on with it, this movement is pretty much geared towards people like me

alas, when i struggle to keep my blogs updated and barely find time to do any of the things that i genuinely intend to do, i can't promise how i am gonna fare over the course of the month, the aim (set forth by the campaign) is to complete a 50,000 word novel, broken down, this is over 1,600 words a day, and i didn't exactly get off to a flying start, or any start at all, yesterday.

shit.

less yapping nonchalently.

more natural facial hair growth and unnatural feverishly paced novel writing.

wish me best of luck at both (please)

star of wiki

strange how some things all of a sudden get turned around

from writing for my local paper as a music columnist to wondering whether they'll ever print anything else from me ever again

from having good relations with my editor at glasswerk, to having a blooming amazing understanding with her successor  only for him to leave and all and any glasswerk activity to have dried up completely


but my last editor, in the brief time he was there, sent me some awesome stuff to review

when asked for musical preference i did wonder if i was giving him a tough time with my nit-picking and obtuse reply, but he just 'got' me


and for a lot of what he did for me, and for a lot of the music he sent me, i am grateful


and it is through my uber-wunderful ex-editor that i have attained one of my own personal goals

yup, if you look hard enough, you shall find me on wikipedia

ok, so it is nothing quite as spectacular as having an entire entry dedicated to me, listing my swimming awards (yellow and green), my achievements (good at Creep and This Charming Man on Singstar) and my allegiances (Monster Munch Fan Club and Dennis The Menace Fan Club) but it is still pretty amazing to think that somehow i have made a contribution to the world that was considered worthy of record on the ever-growing, ever-expanding and ever-omnipotent wikipedia

what it is in fact is my opinion on a contribution to the world that was considered worthy of record on the ever-growing, ever-blah blah blah wikipedia

heck, this is an awfully long winded way of saying that if you read the wiki-entry for Crystal Fighters 'Star Of Love' album and keep on reading into the sub-category dedicated to opinions on the Deluxe version of the album, you will find my name, and a quote from my glasswerk review, that sounding out of context sounds rather negative

it sounds rather negative because it is preceded by this introduction...

'Various other reviewers have, however, commented on the re-release in a somewhat more negative light.'




argh


ok, let me clarify


i bloody love the album


it is amazing


i bloody love Crystal Fighters


they are amazing




what i am less fond of tho are pointless money-suckling re-releases that slap a bit of extra fodder onto an album


but you know what, the extra tracks are still bloomin' amazin'


and i got sent the album for free, so i didn't have to pay for it!


honestly, i'm full of positivity, i reject negativity


my real issue is the 'tacking on' of extra tracks, no matter how great they are, that are simply added on a whim in order to add extra time to an album's natural lifespan, and piss off those that bothered to shell out for it the first time round




all this is kind of by the by


and a little outdated


and a little rambling








................................






hey, my name's on wikipedia!!

something's missing

it was with certain pride that i took up my mantle as 'music columnist ' in The Enfield Advertiser

ok, so it was hardly the Observer or NME

but it was stilla column that i had been reading for years, a column that i had applied to write for a number of years previously, and through the local music scene that (for a little while at least) thrived i had got to know the guy that pipped me to the post when they were last looking for new blood


but now it was my time to shine

heck, it wasn't always easy going

there were a fair number of articles that were published long after i had submitted them, and also a considerable few  that were never published at all

i toiled on tho

and i think i done Enfield a great service, introducing Flamboyant Bella and Die Antwoord to a wider audience, musing on the influence and insight of Mike Skinner, popping along to gigs by Deadmau5 and Frank Turner and plenty more besides

most importantly, i gave a lion's share of my columns over to covering and discovering the exploits of Enfield based bands and grass-roots events that gave them a chance to shine


and even despite a blip when the future was uncertain, my columns returned and it looked as if the centre section of the paper known as 'The Weekender' that dedicated itself to culture and entertainment, may have been given a reprieve from the extinction it had been threatened with

those that follow my blog already may already be familiar with what happened next tho, as strike action was taken in the face of a once-great paper being run by an over-stretched skeleton staff as journalists were leaving and not being replaced.

these were the death knolls of the quality paper that people had come to expect

and things were only going to go from bad to worse when The Weekender editor and stern campaigner for improvement at the paper, Jonathon Lovett, left the Advertiser in September.

he contacted each of the journalists that contributed to his section, informing us that despite his departure, no decisions had yet been made on the future of The Weekender, we were breifed to 'keep calm and carry on' as it were and given a new contact for submissions


it is just such a shame that my submissions since seem to have been ruthlessly ignored.


it is yet another devastating blow to Enfield's music scene that suffers continuous setbacks, it is a shame that The Enfield Advertiser now offers less content than ever before, and it is a shame that i have had a platform that i used to shine a light on others, taken away from me.



music articles and opinions will still continue to appear on my music blog, Desperately Seeking Susan Boyle

Female Superheriocs in the DCnU and the quest for more boobs

i may not have had time to write about it yet, but i have been making time to catch up on the brand spanking new DC universe that has been ruffling feathers since September '11.

ok, so nothing is further than the second issue as we speak, and i've been working my way through a handfull of the #1s after reading Flashpoint and making the decision to completely bypass Blackest Night and Brightest Day since they haven't even happened now anyway, oh wait, hang on, or have they, bloody hell, all this confusion needs to be saved up for a DC confusion specific post

what i wanna focus on here briefly is the role of females in the new DCnU

forget stuffing them in fridges and depowering them, the females characters that i have read so far have all basically been sex on legs, prancing around in underwear for the titillation of presumably teenage boys and lonely geek men as if they were some kind of 2D stripper, oh, have you read Voodoo?! that one actually is a 2D stripper....

again, i think i'll touch on the bigger problems elsewhere, but lets take a closer look at Catwoman shall we

how close do you want to get....

ok, so that is just the first page.

and since this is the DCnU, this is your introduction to Catwoman.

no wonder people are up in arms about this, we're being flashed more boob than we're seeing face and it kind of sets the precedent for what follows, until things get even more full on...

one thing i don't usually believe in is spoilers, yet i'm unsure if this spoils anything since the issue is low on story and high on the boob count...

so, what happens next, well, she escapes from her apartment, yet still hasn't managed to dress herself properly,   she goes about her business tracking someone down, in disguise, but with her boobs hanging out, and by the end she is humping Batman... seriously, check out this blog for proof

and if you don't mind the prospect of having to burn your own eyes out, stick with me

c'mon, stay with me...

you ready...

aaaaaaarghhhhhhhhhh!!!

don't you just love simpsons fan-art inspired by overly sexualised comics.

i know that i don't.

sorry.

paint it black

oh yes, the black paint is out.

and i am back in the attic.

way back when we first moved in we were painting practically everything white, but after a visit to a mate's flat, we saw how well darker colours could look in certain situations and locations.

whilst the aim is to keep most of the house bright and breezy, the attic is a different prospect entirely, it will be my sanctuary, and possibly the boldest decorated room in the house since my girlfriend keeps nixing my proposed murals for other rooms.

yet it does feel slightly odd bringing darkness into what was a rather unbelievably spacious looking attic space, but it will be worth it once all the ideas are in place and come together properly.

my toy collection is growing steadily with occasional additions thanks to charity shops and car boot sales.

and now we are raising questions over what will be done with the fireplace in the front room, i suggested the exposed brickwork should be painted white.... my girlfriend suggested we paint it black.

and i think she may be right

Paint it Black (Paradigm Remix)

'God bless you'

i have lived most of my adult life as an agnostic theist

and it is alright with me

i don't need to attend church, or fast for religious festivals, or study scriptures or sacrifice my first born or anything like that

i'm quite content to live my life and believe that if i strive to be the best person that i can possibly be then these efforts will not go unnoticed by the universe and whatever higher powers there may or may not be

i certainly have my own personal values that gravitate around the principle of karma, and i do wonder if there isn't really something in afew of these religions that are knocking around, i'll certainly take into consideration anything anyone believes and my even borrow from these beliefs if it suits me, i also went to a Baptist church sunday school when i was younger, and i definitely think it gave me a good grounding in life.


all this is getting away from the point, but may be useful background.


my work has recently involved more and more unreasonable stress, unreasonable customers, a pathetically faltering computer that doesn't make getting anything done any easier, a boss that expects too much and expects it now and a whole host of myriad factors that have made these last few weeks rather depressing.  but i'll live with it, i'll keep going in the hope that things will improve, and most importantly, i need to pay bills.

today was no different at all, worse even, throw in a fax machine that is ever-jamming and in my own personal life, a credit card company that is almost certainly retarded, and it was hardly a thrilling time working 9 til 5.

except one customer kinda made things better towards the end of the day.

i'd helped her out, shown her around a few bits and pieces and told her any information she wanted to know and that i though may of been helpful to her.  she said that she would let her nephew, her daughter and her grandsons know.  i made sure she had our contact details and also handed over a few 10% off leaflets.

i was only doing my job, and i take pride in actually being able to help people when they need it.

she seemed overjoyed at the discount flyers, and thanked me, and said

'God bless you'



now, let me clarify, this wasn't a habitual kind of 'Bless you' that follows a sneeze or anything, i could tell that she was grateful for any effort that i had made for her, and the way that she spoke made it obvious that she had a real belief in God

and it felt good, it felt like being touched by something

i could almost feel a glowing inside of me, as if through some brief verbal communication i had truly been blessed by a deity that i can't even honestly say that i have solid convictions in

this isn't my turning point, this isn't my announcement that i have seen the light.

but it was a beautiful moment that i wanted to share.


credit where it is due:


accompanying artwork, Angel by ~UnKnOwns