Few against Many…

After an early night last night (well, early for me anyway) I woke up at 6am today, so seeing as my sister is drying her hair and her hairdryer could wake the dead I’ve decided on having a little blog.

*yawn*

So yeah, Hell Is For Heroes last Thursday. The day started off with Gemma coming round slightly later than planned, as she got out of her car she looked in pain, I was worried she’d had an accident or something at first, then I noticed a dressing on her back, maybe she had donated a kidney?

When she got inside she revealed it was actually a new tattoo, she’d had flowers like on the other side of her back so it was almost symmetrical, it looked pretty cool, pretty painful but cool.

*yawn*

We headed into Birmingham, had a quick Burger King and then went to the Academy. As we walked in, the support band Jacobs Stories were playing, neither of us were really listening to them but I’m sure they were very good.

We headed to the merchandise stall where Gemma bought a copy of the new album Transmit Disrupt and got it signed by Justin. After buying some drinks the second support band started, they were called America Is Waiting and the singer looked a bit like Carl at first, they were a bit screamy but I’m a bit unsure about them, I’d have to have a second listen I think.

America Is Waiting

Hell Is For Heroes took about and hour to set up due to an amp blowing during sound check, they didn’t start with a poem like they did last time but just went straight into One Of Us, there were a lot of younger fans there this time so a lot more moshing and pushing about, which wasn’t a good idea seeing as we were at the front and Gemma’s tattoo was still a bit painful.

They did all the favourites, such as I Can Climb Mountains, You Drove Me To It, Kamichi and Models For The Programme and some tracks off the new album and then finished on Slow Song and Sick/Happy, it was a truly brilliant gig.

Afterwards we got the autographs of all the members of the band, except for Justin who I think was a bit unwell, but I had his autograph from the last time we saw them. The merchandise board fell on the drummers head which looked painful but he was ok, after getting signatures we bought some t shirts off the bloke outside.

It was a really good night and I got some photos which needed some Photoshopping, I was in a lot of pain but it was worth it.

Friday Saturday and Sunday were all spent doing coursework, although I did have college on friday and went into Solihull with Gemma for a bit on Saturday but I was so tired and headachey for doing all this work, I really cant wait until the end of June when my course is all over.

*yawn*

Last night we all went to Weatherspoons in Solihull, there were a few weirdos in there, including a man in a grubby yellow bin man jacket who was shouting at the bar, there is always a weirdo in there when I’m there, which makes 2.

Righty-ho I’m going for a shower and then going to college, I really need to wake up, all the caffeine in the world isn’t helping.

*yawn*

I’ll post the photos later when I’m back from college.

Currently listening to: Foo Fighters - Best Of You

On the Buses…

So this week has been slightly more exciting so far, I stayed in all of Saturday but Gemma came round on Sunday and we went for a McDonalds, we drove past this woman who stands outside Dillon’s and goes “gotta fag?”, Gemma dared me to walk past her and tell her that smoking is bad for her health and that she should quit but when we turned round she had walked off.

Monday I got up and decided to watch an episode off my sister’s Little Britain DVD, after 4 episodes Gemma came round and we went for a quick McDonalds. In the evening I went to the plough with Adam, Gaz and Carl, it was ok. Adam has started a one month ban from playing on the X-Box, it’ll be interesting to see if he can last the whole month.

The next day I had college in the morning, I went into Solihull first to get some film, it came to £15 in total even with staff discount which pissed me off a bit because I was thinking it would be about £8. When I got to college I was told that I cant now use my 120 film to redo my Waitrose photos and that it had to be on 5x4 which I hate as it takes all day to do, it took me 3 hours to take 4 photos plus I had no lunch and hardly any sleep so I decided to head off home.

When I got to the bus stop I could see there was some sort of commotion going on, some kid had driven his scooter thingy into the front of a bus and got his front wheel stuck. This kid was going mad and was trying to hit the bus driver, eventually the wheel became free and he drove off as the police were coming.

My bus then came and as we turned round the corner some stupid school kid threw a stone at the bus, the bus stopped and the driver started yelling at this kid because he did the same thing the day before. The kid ignored him and carried on walking, so this big black bloke on the bus got up and said “I’m going to floor him!”, he walked up to this kid and got in his face then bought him back to the bus where the driver called the police and we had to all wait there until they arrived.

When the bus started moving again another kid threw a stone at the bus, thankfully the driver ignored it.

When I finally got home I fell straight to sleep in the chair. In the evening I went to Ralph’s new house with Adam, Gaz and Carl, it was a really nice modern maisonette in Minworth, overlooking the canal. Adam was still on his X-Box ban so he was sat there reading a book on Discworld while we played on Halo 2.


Gaz at Ralph's house

Wednesday I had college again, I slept through 2 alarms and woke up at 9, I had to be at college at 9:30. When I got to college I helped Claire with her 5x4 and then scanned in some negatives, I missed lunch again and was really hungry.

Gemma had the day off work so she met me from college and we went into Birmingham. When we got there Gemma bought ‘Ass Cobra’ by Turbonegro, a skirt and a Motorhead t-shirt, then we headed off to the actress and bishop. On the way there Gemma dared me to go into the Kerrang building and ask for free stuff, I walked in and expecting to get pepper sprayed managed to get 8 car window stickers and 5 badges.

Tonight we’re going to see Hell Is For Heroes at the Academy, it should be really good, I’m hoping to take lots of photos and get my ticket signed again. Yay!

Currently listening to: Biffy Clyro - Eradicate The Doubt

Week In, Week Out…

Another week another blog, last weekend was spent most doing my contextual studies essay in time for going back to college on Monday, I didn’t get it all finished but I’m nearly there.

Last Saturday I went to the flapper with Gemma and Adam, it was ok, there was a punk bloke with a pink Mohawk throwing up in the toilets which was entertaining.

Monday I was back at college, had a tutorial which went ok, then went to the Maypole to take photos of its scuzziness, I really do hate it round here.

In the evening I went to Carl’s house with Gaz and Adam. Carl’s new housemates were cooking us a meal, it was lasagne and was rather yummy, we had cheesecake for dessert and I bought a bottle of champagne along just in case we got thirsty.

After the meal we all sat round and watched American History X, it was really good, one of the best films I’ve ever seen, although the one scene will have you holding your mouth in pain.

Tuesday I had college. After all sitting around chatting for an hour we went into Solihull, I collected my photos and got some chips, then we all headed back to college for more sitting around and chatting. Such a busy day.

Wednesday I decided to actually do something. I got to college and after sitting round having a short chat we went into Solihull, I went to WH Smiths and bought 2 ring binders, 100 plastic sleeves, some dividers for the ring binders, and a pot to keep my pens and stuff in. We got some food and headed back to college. I then got all my coursework, put in in plastic sleeves and then put it all in the ring binders, it took up nearly all 100 of them too. When it came to putting the dividers in though I realized they were too small, what’s the point of making dividers if they are too small?

In the evening Gemma and Jo got to mine and then we went to the bluebell to meet Adam, Gaz and Carl who were already there, we were a bit late and they all looked pissed off with us. I didn’t like the bluebell much, I cant figure out why though, it may have been because it was so bloody hard to find and I was tired.

When I got home I went straight to bed and went into a coma. When I woke up the next day I fell back to sleep and woke up about 11:30, I spent the rest of the day half asleep trying to get stuff done. In the evening I watched Spellbound, it’s a documentary about an American spelling bee, it was slightly bizarre but generally a good film.

Today I had college again. Being Friday it was web design, and it’s unbelievably boring. I could feel a headache coming on and it was getting worse and worse, when I got home I had some lunch and watched a film on the Community Channel called Lunar Girl, it was slightly amateurish but quite interesting.

I tried sleeping my headache off, it worked for all of 5 minutes until I got up again, so I had a coffee and hoped it would do the trick. I arranged to meet Gemma and Jo and go to Yates’ I was hoping that I’d be feeling a bit better by then but I was feeling worse so I had to stay home and watch the Two Ronnies instead.

I’ve been trying long exposures out for a project, by leaving the shutter on my camera open for a long amount of time in almost complete darkness should have the effect of the room being lit up, not too sure if it will work though so I’m not keeping my hopes up.

I’m off to bed, my head hurts.

Currently listening to: The Flaming Lips - Spongebob And Patrick Confront The Psychic Wall Of Energy

Magical Mystery Tour…

As I sit here waiting for stuff to print out I thought I may as well give you a quick update.

As usual not a lot has happened, went out last Friday with Gemma and Jo, we went to the old royal oak first, as soon as we walked in though we noticed that we were the youngest people there, it was an over 30’s disco so we decided to get back in the car and try somewhere else.

We went to this pub called the boot, it seemed like a very nice pub at first, we got our drinks and then looked round for seats, that’s when we noticed something, not only could we not find any seats but this pub was full of couples, although judging by their body language they weren’t with their spouses, I’m just glad I didn’t see anybody I know in there.

We quickly finished our drinks and headed off to the plough, someone in there decided to put mayonnaise in a glass of wine, it looked just like baileys and probably tasted the same. We then went to Big John’s and then back to Jo’s house where we watched Dawn Of The Dead.

The next day was really warm and sunny, I met up with Adam for a quick drink in the Masons, Gemma joined us before having to go home so I went back to Adam’s house and played Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for a while, I wasn’t very good at it so I decided it would be more fun to smash up lorries with golf clubs instead and beat policemen to death with bunches of flowers.

In the evening I went to the plough with Adam and Gemma, not much happened, I remember I was very hungry as I hadn’t eaten all day.

Sunday was pub quiz day but due to our losing streak at the red lion we decided to give the fieldhouse a try, when we got there me, Gemma, Adam and Alex met up with Carl and Ralph and their friend (who’s name I didn’t catch). As we started the quiz all of a sudden loads more people joined us, we had a team of 13 people and came 4th I think which wasn’t bad.

When I got in I watched Requiem For A Dream on Film Four, it was a really good film and I recommend it, especially if you enjoyed Trainspotting.

Monday we went to Carl’s house.

Tuesday we went to Carl’s house again.

While we were there we met Carl’s new housemates, their names are Kate and Claire, they seems like nice girls, they officially move in today so it’s going to be interesting to see if they get Carl doing the cooking and cleaning and bringing out his feminine side, or indeed the other way round.

Wednesday I sat on my ass all day.

Thursday I decided to be a good student and go to the library (yes, really the library this time), I got 3 big books on war for my contextual studies project on war photography and then had to walk all the way back uphill with these books.

As I was on my way to the library I saw a Chav starting a fight on a disabled guy, luckily the Chav walked off, as I was coming back from the library there was the same arsehole smoking a joint as the bus stop bragging about what he did, I hate it around here.

In the evening Gemma picked me up, we were going to go to Birmingham but after taking a wrong turning we realized we were heading towards Wolverhampton, so we gave Jo a ring.

We met Jo at her student place, the security was pretty tight, we were lucky we didn’t have to have our eyes scanned and our fingerprints taken, it was quite a nice place, they had a notice board with just a TV licence on it which made me laugh.

We drove into the town centre, we got caught in the one way system where we kept having to turn left, after going round in circles about 5 times we turned round and found somewhere to park.

We went to the Royal London, it reminded me a bit of Yates’ in Solihull, when we found some seats this bloke with dreadlocks asked us if we liked ’hard house’ …what does he take us for?

Congratulations to Ralph and Kirsty who got engaged on Monday.

Currently listening to: Weezer - Beverly Hills