Five vices meme
This entry was posted on February 29, 2008
It has been a while since I have done a meme, so here goes. I was tagged by Han.
What you have to do in this is the following:
- List five vices you have, with a description if you want to.
- Tag five bloggers for this meme.
- Link back to the blogger who tagged you, and this post if you want to be nice!
Ashley Tisdale
I have her album on my iPod, and it’s really not the sort of music that I normally listen to. Not by a long way. I listen to the type of music that people usually associate with skinnyfit jeans, black hair, loads of eyeliner, hoodies, and general menace. I wouldn’t put Ashley in that group, but oh how I love her so! I wish I had a poster of her for my wall.
Ham and Cheese Panninis
I love panninis! Whenever I have an opportunity to have one, I grab it (literally) with both hands. I don’t like any other fillings, and I don’t like them from Starbucks. Starbucks suck at ham and cheese panninis. Costa make them much nicer, as does the coffee shop in my town. And apparently, we’re having a Pannini Bar open in my town! I’m so excited! I hope they make good panninis
Notebooks
Yes, I’m obsessed with notebooks. I can’t help it!
Twisted Horror Movies
The more twisted the better, to be honest. I especially liked Saw, Are you scared?, and The Hamiltons. I’m always open to suggestions if anyone wants to recommend something really twisted. Bad acting doesn’t bother me, but I do like films to be just a little bit more than death and destruction. A plot helps.
Pixel Dolls
I admit, I love pixel dolls. I could waste my whole life on dollmakers. I love Candybar dolls especially, as well as some of the smaller dolls too. I don’t like anything too tiny though. I love the Elouai generators (even if they don’t always work) and I’ve had an account at the Doll Palace for over a year.
So there you have it. My five vices / guilty pleasures. According to the rules, I have to tag five people. Let’s go with Aisling, Vera, and Ben, just because they’re the ones who complain to me when they can’t think of anything to blog about. I also tag the first person to read this, and I tag you.
14 lovely people have commented
English drivers
This entry was posted on February 27, 2008
I was originally planning to write about how I use my ipod for web development, but after the journey I had this morning, I have more pressing matter to discuss.
English drivers suck.
Well, not all of them. We have some great English drivers! I myself (as does everyone) consider myself to be “above average”. I know I’m not the best driver in the world, but I’m a lot better than some of the idiots out there. Yes, idiots.
Idiotic things that I’ve encountered on the roads in the past week
- Being cut up at a roundabout
- Lorry pulling out in front of me at a junction
- Random pedestrians jumping out in the street
- Teenage boys on bicycles
- People not using their indicators
- People going the wrong way down a one-way street
The craziest thing, however, happened this morning. The picture over on the left demonstrates a junction in my town. I wanted to turn right into this junction. Let’s say for the sake of argument that I’m currently driving along the road (which I was). In order to turn right, I need to be in the right lane (it’s a single carriageway). I check my mirrors, indicate, and start to pull out. Then all of a sudden the car behind me decides he wants to overtake me. He’s driving some pimped-up Astra, with a custom exhaust pipe and all the other paraphernalia that suggests he’s compensating for having small tackle.
Why he couldn’t wait the few seconds it’d take for me to change lanes so he could speed up in his current lane, I have no idea. He was clearly in a rush. I hope wherever he was heading was important, given he could have easily destroyed his car and mine in the process. Had I not been looking in my mirror and checking my blind spot (a habit I picked up whilst getting my motorcycle license), I would have had an Astra buried in the side of my car. Not the best way to start the morning.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve experienced on a road recently?
26 lovely people have commented
The downside to Simple Plan
This entry was posted on February 25, 2008
I love Simple Plan. That’s no secret. I recently met them when they did their tour of Camden, and I’m going to see them again as part of their European tour in April. To say I’m excited would be an understatement. My nearest and dearest are fed up with me constantly talking about them. I can’t help it though!
However, much as I do love Simple Plan, they do have a slight flaw. And that flaw comes in the shape of their new third studio album. It’s their third album, it’s simply called “Simple Plan” and it was released over here in the UK on the 18th of February (why do we always get things last?).
This third album is a change from the sound of their previous two albums, and it has been almost two years in the making. I had high hopes for this album. What I love about Simple Plan’s music is that it’s relatable, and it’s as catchy as hell. As one reviewer put it, Simple Plan are “catchier than a case of the clap”.
Simple Plan may not be the most musically talented group in the world, but they are damn good at what they do. They sell millions of records and have millions of fans (and “haters”). They don’t always go down well with the critics, though, and with this third album I can kind of see why.
The songs are catchy, enthusiastic, fun, musical, inoffensive, radio-friendly, relatable, and… nice. And that’s where the problem lies. It’s almost as if they are trying too hard to make a good record. The songs are good and everything, but there’s just no evidence of the enthusiasm that you get when you go to a live Simple Plan show.
The whole album is far too technical. It’s good that there’s a slight hiphop influx to the record, but in some places it’s overpowering, and you get synthesized beats instead of a guitar solo. When certain songs from the album are played live, Chuck (the drummer) has to have his laptop with him. That’s not music.
I miss the live shows that Simple Plan put on. They play with so much enthusiasm and passion that even if you hate their music, you can still appreciate that they’re having a good time and so are their crowd. That passion doesn’t seem to translate to the album though. It sounds as though they’ve recorded everything a million times and pieced together the best-sounding parts in the hopes it’ll be the best-sounding record. But sometimes… sometimes perfection comes from imperfection.
This is a very technically correct album, but it lacks the oomph that you get with the live shows. For that reason, I fear it may sit lonely on my ipod for the times I need a dose of Simple Plan. Until then, though, I’m going to have to stick to my “Hard Rock Live” album, and my ripped copies of “AOL sessions”. And of course, the live shows!
