NEW BLOG: RAVEN CASSIDEY

http://ravencassidey.blogspot.ie/

Inspired by the gruelling Halloween Countdown blog entries. What will become of this blog now? Stay tuned.

For those who, for some reason, enjoyed my blog entries last month, head on down to:

http://ravencassidey.blogspot.ie/

Halloween Countdown (Day 30: Trailer Trash)

Okay okay, this is yet another half assed entry to the Halloween Countdown. Bear in mind, I am still trying to finish off the final review at time of writing, and I was going to write up on Rob Zombie's "Halloween 2" for this blog post. But due to a long bank holiday weekend spent watching countless movies, along with the fact that I've been pretty run down this whole month, I don't have enough energy to squeeze in another one.

Not only that, after watching "Halloween 2", I didn't think I could pull off a half decent review of my thoughts on the film. And since my plan to feature a few Rob Zombie films this month hasn't panned out, what I'm going to do instead is write an article every week in November, on each film he has done, in the lead up to his gig in Amsterdam, which I plan to go as part of my birthday celebration/mini holiday.

Not only would I be able to have a look at his movies again, but it will give me something to write about for the next couple of weeks. Of course, I think one blog entry a week is more manageable than a blog entry a day. It was a good idea at the start of the month, but overall I find it a valuable learning experience, not to mention good practice at writing articles. If only I could find the same inspiration in the creative field. But one day at a time I suppose.

As much as I loved writing about what I saw this month, it would be nice to watch a film without having to fit in a review afterwards. Anyways, here are some of the upcoming attractions I will most likely write up on in the next couple of weeks. As for the last two trailers, they are both part of separate series of blog entries that I may have in mind next year.

House Of 1000 Corpses

The Devil's Rejects

Halloween

Halloween 2

The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto

Santa's Slay

Punisher: War Zone

And on a final note.....

Our main feature for this evening is....."The Nightmare Before Christmas" with the soundtrack dubbed with Tool's "Aenima" album.....yes it's a weird one alright. I love Tool, and while I do like "TNBC", I'm still a bit confused as to why someone would put these two together.

Halloween Countdown (Day 29: Horrorthon Day Five)

This is going to be a very, very short blog entry. I did not go to see the short film showcase, Nightmare Factory, The Burning Moon and Sleep Tight. I really needed the sleep, and I have to regain some energy for work on Tuesday. Not to mention get back to any creative writing assignments that have been put on the back burner this weekend. Plus, I reached my quota of 14 films this weekend, so if Halloween 3 was film number 15, then film number 16 is.....

Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers

It was fun to watch, and it's along the same lines as the first one. While it does have its stupid moments, and like most horror movies, hasn't aged well, it was still a decent enough slasher. Although I was very surprised by how it ended, and it makes me want to check out the fifth one now. Even though I've yet to see the second one.

And with that, I skipped Nightbreed: The Cabal Cut, in order to go home, get something to eat, and rest before what I know will be a long, busy day at work. So why the hell am I going to watch Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 and attempt to write about it afterwards? Because I'm an idiot, that's why. And I thought I would stick with the theme of watching another film which stars Malcolm McDowell and Danielle Harris.

And on a final note.....

I picked the above picture because Kiss are featured on her top.....and I know this song from the album, because The Melvins covered it.....why do I get the feeling you don't believe me?

Halloween Countdown (Day 27: Horrorthon Day Three)

I watched three films on the Saturday, due to a lack of energy in the morning, and my "brilliant" idea to skip the last movie and get absolutely hammered in the process. Now I can barely get out of bed. But if there's one thing I am proud of, is that I managed to bring this home with me, and not lose it or break it in the process.

Signed by Danielle Harris, Jennifer Blanc and Alyssa Lobit

Yes it is a bit nerdy, but hey, I haven't gotten anything signed by a "celebrity" since Casey Chaos signed my ticket after Amen's support slot with The Wildhearts. I saw the film at last year's Horrorthon, and I thought it was an enjoyable enough flick, so I thought it would be cool to get signatures from three people who starred in it. And of course, Danielle Harris.....need I say more?

Eurocrime!

By the time this was on, I was only just getting out of bed. I'm sure it's an interesting documentary, but I don't think I would have been in the humour to watching it. I could find the trailer and post it here, but I think I'll just go with a picture of Danielle Harris.

V/H/S

I actually saw a trailer for this before "Room 237". And while I'm one of the few people who can appreciate the "shaky cam" genre of horror movies, I still believe these types of films should not be viewed on a cinema screen. It takes away the "realism" and there's always people in the cinema who give out about the film. I'm sure I'll watch it if it ever comes out on DVD, since the trailer did catch my interest.....but I'm gonna post a picture of Danielle Harris and Jennifer Blanc instead.

Dracula: Prince Of Darkness

To the best of my knowledge, I don't think I've seen a full Hammer Horror film ("Let Me In" doesn't count). I probably saw bits of them over the years, but that's about it. So while I did find the movie more corny than scary, at least I finally got to see a Christopher Lee Hammer Horror, so it was fun regardless.

American Mary

The film is a stylish thriller with David Lynch style weirdness mixed with body mutilation horror. The character of Mary is an interesting anti-hero, not to mention easy on the eye, especially with her choice of clothing throughout the film. Although the film does tend to lose direction at times, and because of the despicable nature of the characters, it's hard to feel any sympathy for them when their motivations are unclear at times.

Among Friends

Directed by festival guest of honour, the petite Danielle Harris, it's an interesting claustrophobic slasher movie with elements of dark humour to it. Some parts may have needed trimming, but for a debut feature from the actress, along with the fact that it took ten days to film the entire movie, it's an impressive result.

I felt the same towards "The Victim" which also took less than a fortnight to film. There was a Q&A with the three people who signed my Blu-Ray afterwards and one other person who I think was one of the producers. I briefly talked to them at the signing table, who seem down to earth, and Jennifer Blanc the most upbeat and chatty, which is admirable. Admittedly I was a bit tongue tied when I approached them, especially Danielle Harris, which is why I never really bother looking for autographs. But I'm glad I did in the end.

Young Frankenstein

My excuse for skipping this was that I had the DVD at home, and I felt like going into town and having a few drinks. I do feel bad about passing on this, but since I was on my own, I felt it would be better to watch this with friends.

And on a final note.....

The trailer for "The Victim". Hmm, maybe I should have gotten Michael Biehn's autograph last year, even at the risk of coming off as awkward in the process.

Halloween Countdown (Day 22: Film Reviewer For A Day)

In a way, deviating from the horror movie review formula for this month's blog posts does give me ideas to try out a few things, even if it is just trying to keep up with the daily quota. Okay, maybe it is cheating when I use a film review I wrote six years ago, as part of a college assignment where I had to contribute to a group effort in producing a magazine. But then again, it gives me an idea for a blog entry. Not to mention the rare chance of writing an article before I watch the movie in question, which I also haven't seen in six years.

I will get the chance to watch the sequel to "Silent Hill" at this year's Horrorthon (entitled "Silent Hill: Revelation", taking a cue from the "Resident Evil" school of sequel naming). I believe the film is also in 3D, but given the cinema where it's screened, I'm guessing it will be a 2D fare. But hey, at least I'll get a chance to watch it before its release date.

As I stated in the opening paragraph, the review below was part of an ongoing assignment in college, where I "studied" journalism. There was this guy in our class who actually worked for a local newspaper where he's from, so he actually had the necessary contacts to get potential work, such as reviewing films before their release date. There were two opportunities in the class for one of the students to review movies, one of which was some Antonio Banderas film that sounded rubbish (and apparently it was) but I can't remember the title, nor the other one.

To this day, I don't know why I didn't volunteer for these jobs, as I always wanted to be a film reviewer. I did have aspirations to be a music reviewer, but years of disillusionment with the state of the music industry knocked that on the head. But I always had a love for film, as you can tell with these blog entries this month. If I was to hazard a guess, I guess it was a combination of reluctance, lack of self confidence, and, as stupid as it sounds, the films themselves were uninteresting.

Apparently I wasn't the only one that thought that. During one class, our lecturer was notified that the students who agreed to review those two movies never showed up to the screening. So the class had one last chance to take up an offer to attend a press only screening, and if nobody turned up to that, no more will be given. While I was hard on myself for not volunteering in the first place, I thought it was stupid for the others to no-show these screenings. So I was willing to put my hand up to volunteer, no matter what movie was up for grabs. To my surprise, that film turned out to be "Silent Hill". I immediately volunteered for the job.

The screening took place on a Tuesday morning, where I was to wait outside the Savoy Cinema, along with a handful of journalists at around 10 o'clock. I mentioned my name to the guy with the guest list, and I took a seat in the main screening room, of which I've never seen so empty, in comparison to the many times I've sat there as a paying customer. It was a weird feeling to be around members of the press, as I look at them with their notebooks and pens with lighters attached. The surreal nature of this did make me feel out of place, but at the same time, I got a kick out of it. Especially as I was about to watch a movie that not only was yet to be released, but it was the type of movie that I would have paid to see anyway.

Granted, I didn't think it was a particularly good movie, but I didn't care. I got to see it before anyone else. And it was the only time that I ever felt like a proper journalist. I never did pursue a career in that field, for a variety of reasons, and what with the downturn in print media, and the rise of the internet, it would have been difficult to make a living doing that. Again it could be to do with confidence, but I don't feel my opinions have that much weight, in comparison to the hundreds of people writing their views in blogs such as this one.

I may never get the chance to do something as cool as that again, although I do get the chance to see films before their release date, through film festivals and such. But looking back at the article below, it reminded me of the joy I used to have in writing about films, no matter how good or bad they were. I guess that passion could be seen in the amount of articles I've dedicated myself to this month. So at least I know it's still there.

Above is a link to the full "Silent Hill" (which may or may not be taken off YouTube by the time you read this).

Below is the review I wrote around March 2006, which I found on an external hard drive, along with other articles and notes I saved from my college days. No alterations were made to the text below. I would post a screenshot of the article itself, but I don't know where I would have kept the magazine it was used for. Not to mention I'm too lazy to go and look for it. 

SILENT HILL (16)

Director: Christophe Gans

Starring: Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean

Release Date: 21^st April 2006

Movies based on popular computer games are hit and miss affairs. While some have turned out to be rubbish (Doom and Resident Evil: Apocalypse for example), there are others who do manage to capture the essence of the video game.

The movie starts off with Rose (Radha Mitchell) bringing her daughter to a place called Silent Hill, a place that she mentions every time she sleepwalks. After a near collision with someone on the road, Rose is knocked out when her car swerves out of the way. When she wakes up, she sees that her daughter has disappeared.

When she begins to look for her, Rose finds a fog drenched town that is completely deserted and raining ash, and she is chasing after a figure that resembles her daughter. Once the town goes into complete darkness, the scenery changes and she comes face to face with its ghoulish inhabitants. Not only does she set out to find her daughter, she also learns more about what is going on around her.

The film captures the atmosphere and the tension of the computer game. What makes the film work is that it tries to disturb you as opposed to give you sudden shocks. This is accomplished with the mixture of the monsters and the special effects used to create the hellish surroundings when the light goes out.

The main problem with the film, as with most films based on games, is with some of the characters and the dialogue, which uses cryptic messages and bible passages which sound wooden and hammy when delivered.

The movie goes downhill once police officer Cybil, (Laurie Holden) comes into play. Her performance is deplorable and as a result, you begin to care less about the main character. After a battle with a demon wielding a huge knife, when Rose says: “Hey, it’s going to be alright”, you can’t help but burst out laughing!

The subplot involving worried husband Chris (Sean Bean), where he finds out more about the mystery of Silent Hill, works well along with the main story. Unfortunately, for someone who is the more recognisable of the cast, he is underused in this film.

After a promising start and interesting story, it is a shame that the movie finishes with a vague ending that can only serve as a means for a sequel. I’m sure this movie will please its fans, but for those who are not in the know to begin with, may feel that it could have been better.

                                                                                                                        Alan Stacey

And on a final note.....

As with the "Resident Evil" series, my knowledge of the "Silent Hill" games are limited, and the only one I ever completed was "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories" for the PSP. This was apparently a remake of the first game, so at least I can move onto the second and third games if I ever get the chance. Anyways, I found this short video funny, especially towards the end.

Halloween Countdown (Day 18: Falling Behind)

Ahem, so much for having blog posts done in advance, to help with the scheduling. I didn't take into account the combination of insomnia, gigs, birthdays and meeting old friends, not to mention working up my hours in work, in order to have next Friday off for the Horrorthon, which I'll most likely be writing about.....well, if I get the chance. I can see the blog posts waning down during this period, but I'll do my best regardless.

Taking into account that I'm falling behind in these blog entries, I will be taking a shortcut yet again. I got to thinking what scared the crap out of me when I was at a young age, movie wise. I was struggling with that, so I expanded on not only scares, but what I found disturbing also, not to mention finding other sources such as video games and television.

Oh yes, there will be spoilers.

1. Werewolf transformations in "Thriller" and "An American Werewolf In London"

I already talked about this in the "Day 1" blog post, but at the time I had planned to write about the film in a future blog post. I also planned to cover the films of Rob Zombie, but it was only through writing the actual blog posts that it does take a lot of the spare time that I rarely have these days. So if I don't get a chance to watch the movie, I may as well add it here. Like I said in the aforementioned blog entry, these scenes scared the crap out of me as a kid, and I still don't know how I ended up watching "An American Werewolf.....". I guess it was because of the "Thriller" connection that I was introduced to this by my parents.

And now.....

I am still impressed with the effort that was put into the effects for the transformation scenes, especially when you compare it to the shoddy CGI effects that are commonplace in Hollywood films today. Hell, just compare the change sequences of this movie to its sequel, "An American Werewolf In Paris".

2. Giant Animal in "The Muppet Movie"

I have been a fan of the Muppets ever since I was a child, but even back then I was a little disturbed by the character Animal. So that was the main reason why I found the scene where he drinks the growth serum in Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's lab scary to watch, even if he was scaring the bad guys away. It was only through watching "The Muppet Babies" cartoon where I started to warm up to Animal, as he wasn't so extreme in his characteristics, so when I did see the "grown up" Animal, I understood him better.

And now.....

Animal is one of my favourite Muppets, and is involved in one of my favourite scenes from "A Muppet Christmas Carol", where he had to play the drums slowly. The facial expression alone cracks me up, even to this day.

3. The ending of "Time Bandits"

I haven't seen this film in years, so I don't remember what it's about. All I know is that the ending was not only weird, but very disturbing. I think it was one of the first times where I saw an ending where nothing was resolved, and nobody lived "happily ever after". I'm only typing from memory, as I remember the feelings and the visuals, but I can't remember the how or why.

And now.....

I have the free DVD from The Daily Mail somewhere in the house. I've been meaning to dig it out and watch it, just to see if brings back any memories.

4. The killer rabbits of "Watership Down"

Again this was another film I watched as a kid, but don't remember much of it, other than the song "Bright Eyes", which I thought was a very sad sounding tune, and the violent, bloodthirsty rabbits. Now that I think about it, it's rare these days to find a "children's" film that's so dark and violent.

And now.....

Still have no memory what the film was about, and is on my "to-watch" list, if it ever comes on television.....but then again, I don't watch TV these days.

5. Freddy Krueger

I think I mentioned in one of the SAW blog posts that I never watched the "Elm St." series when I was young. I have heard of Freddie Krueger from the likes of my cousins and other kids at school, so I was intrigued by the character, even a little reluctant to watch the movies if I ever got the chance. The only time I ever seen the character onscreen was when Sky One showed the "Freddy's Nightmares" series, where if I remember correctly, he introduced the stories, much like "Tales From The Crypt". Freaky as he was, he wasn't exactly scary.

And now.....

I finally did watch the "Elm St." movies during my teens. I particularly enjoyed the first and third movies, as for the others, well, they vary in quality.

6. The ending of "Candyman"

Unlike the "Elm St." movies, this was one where I did watch it at a young age, and around the time the film came out. I remember watching this late at night, so it made the viewing experience that much eerie. As for the ending, it stayed in my memory for a long time as one of the creepiest finales of any movie I watched.

And now.....

This was another movie I was thinking of reviewing, because of the impact it had on me in the past. But in case I don't write about it this month: I find the ending, while a decent one, a little bit corny. And it didn't help that after all these years, the film hasn't aged well, and found it a bit rubbish, to be honest. Although I did like the actor who played Candyman, especially his voice, and some of the effects were pretty good for its time.

7. Gargoyle story from "Tales From The Darkside: The Movie"

I didn't know the actual title of this movie until today, but the final story with the gargoyles had a big impact with me when I watched it, and I always remembered how it ended.

And now.....

Because it's been many years since I've seen it, not to mention that I've only found out the title today, I would like to watch it again, to see if it was a decent gothic tale, or just a naff short story.

8. "Spider robots" from "Zero Tolerance" on the Sega Mega Drive

It's funny that nowadays I'm not a huge fan of first person shooters, and find a hard time to be immersed in them. Yet I played one of the earliest ones from the 16 bit era, and got into it so much, that when I turned around only to come face to face with a robotic spider-type enemy, I had a panic attack. Even my brother, who was in the room at the same time, had to comfort me.

And now.....

The dog in the first Resident Evil game not only surpassed the scare factor in a computer game, but still remains one of the scariest things I've ever experienced.

9. The "dead bodies" in "Ulysses 31"

This cartoon from my childhood has always left me wondering why the main characters were on a spaceship where the rest of the crew members float lifelessly above them, only to come back to life every so often. It was even more confusing by the fact that it was rarely explained whenever I watched it.

And now.....

You gotta love the invention of the internet.

10. The custard pies from "Bugsy Malone"

This one confused me as a child, as stupid as it may seem. And yes, I did figure out that the pies were meant to be like bullets, in the way that they killed people. But there was a period where I didn't understand how a custard pie could actually kill people. And it confused me even more when after the final battle scene, everyone starts singing while covered in custard cream. In a way, this could be viewed as the first zombie film I've ever seen.

And now.....

It's one of those funny icebreakers I have when talking to people.

And on a final note.....

I saw this posted on a friend's page on Facebook. It's from James Rolfe, the guy behind the Angry Video Game Nerd, and is from the Cinemassacre site, which does have a few interesting videos based on horror films. Not only did I find this funny, but it made me think about why I never questioned the origins of some of the vampire myths mentioned here.

Halloween Countdown (Day 3: Self Torture)

Okay, I'll have to rethink about the concept of posting a blog entry on time this month. I was planning to watch Saw 2 and write up my thoughts on it, but I had to visit the folks and spend quality time, coupled with writing another short story for my writing class tomorrow. I have done two, and while neither of them are particularly good, I haven't found the time to go through second or third drafts. If I did, then I wouldn't find the time to talk to my parents, nor sit down and watch a movie with my mother. Going with the horror theme, the film I chose isn't a horror movie per se, but it does include stock characters from the genre.

So the next film I have chosen to watch and write about it is: Van Helsing. Oh yes, there will be spoilers.

Okay, WHY did you pick this movie?

This film has always been a byword of what I think of my parents' taste in films. This is not an attack on them, as there are times where we all agree on the quality of a movie, whether it's good ("Warrior" being the most recent one) or bad (the day we sat down to watch "A.I." is forever etched in our minds as a taxing experience). 

I use this movie as an example as to how bad I think their taste in films can be, while at the same time, they still blame me for introducing them to "The Blair Witch Project", which they hated (as most people do, except me). When we mention these two movies to each other, it's more to do with lighthearted slagging than it is a critical attack on our preferences in cinema.

On the way to my parents house, I was trying to remember how long it was since I last saw "Van Helsing", as I'm pretty sure I never gave it a second viewing after I exchanged money for a cinema ticket to actually sit down and watch this pile of rubbish. But I decided to give it another go, and actually suggested to my mother that we watch it again. I had two reasons for doing so:

1. It will give me something to write about for this blog. And I felt my mum's choice of "The Da Vinci Code" would not only fit my planned writing exploits, but was too long to boot.

2. I thought the movie was around 90 minutes long, so I thought watching it would be relatively short and sweet.

Dammit, wrong Van Helsing.....

And now.....

Yep, the movie is still crap. Is it as bad as I remember it? Well.....yeah, pretty much. While my hatred for this film is not as strong as it was when I first watched it, it's still a very poor, really boring, and annoyingly stupid movie.

I guess I never bought into the whole atmosphere of the movie, and while it may seem redundant, considering that the movie features many classic characters from the fictional world of horror stories, the movie is not very original. It just seems to borrow elements from other movie franchises (such as James Bond, Batman, Indiana Jones).

The story, while competent enough for a blockbuster movie, is cliched to the point where they even rehash the worst things about brainless Hollywood action movies (only one person in a group of people that possesses silver bullets when hunting a werewolf, the strong female character who somehow gets easily captured towards the end, the convenient appearances of supporting characters during action sequences, and an underdeveloped McGuffin saving our heroes from an encounter with many vampires).

There were times throughout the movie where my mind wandered off, only to snap myself from whatever daydream I was having, and go back to concentrating on whatever rubbish that was onscreen. Towards the end, I was finding it hard to concentrate, and even my mum was falling asleep, but that was more to do with the fact that it was almost midnight, and we both didn't expect the movie to go for that long.

This scene caught my attention because of.....erm, the dialogue. Yyyeeeaaahhh let's go with that.....

Speaking of the ending, the action sequences during this part of the movie dragged on for far too long. I guess they were going for something epic, which would work if it was in a movie on a par with the Lord Of The Rings trilogy (that only came to mind because the guy who played Faramir was in it). But this film couldn't be interpreted as anything other than a no-brainer action flick, hoping to get a toy franchise out of it. I'm all for epic action sequences, but they were very boring, and riddled with the aforementioned cliches and all too convenient assists.

As for the characters, I like Hugh Jackman and he did a fairly good job in the title role, but it wasn't enough to make me actually care about the character. Nothing about him made me feel invested in him at any time, whether it be fighting vampires, opens his mouth, or questions about his "mysterious" past. He was just there. That's more of a criticism of the material he had to work with than his actual performance, even though his accent did switch between American, English and Australian. And he still looks like Vampire Hunter D.

Speaking of acting skills, watching this movie reminded me why I hate Kate Beckinsale as an actress. While I had seen her previously in Underworld and Shooting Fish (not sure if I saw Serendipity before then, and I didn't see Pearl Harbour until years later), it was her "performance" in Van Helsing which cemented my belief that this person can't act for shit, which still holds true to this day, especially in that godawful Total Recall rehash. She is very pretty to look at, which was probably why I tolerated her in Underworld, and her cold emotionless style of acting may work while playing the undead. But in Van Helsing, the other undead CGI characters had more emotion and range onscreen than her.

As for the rest of the supporting cast, there's not much to say about them. Faramir the monk (sorry, friar, according to the unfunny running joke) was a very annoying sidekick, and Dracula was a camp, but uninteresting villain. Frankenstein's monster was, well, meh, and the Wolfman was underdeveloped and easily forgettable. The only character that I found somewhat interesting to watch was.....this excuse for posting another picture.

Aleera (played by Elena Anaya)

And on a final note.....

While trying to find a suitable YouTube clip to post at the end of this article, I typed in Elena Anaya out of curiosity, just to see what results I get. And so this came up and.....ahem, yeah. Probably should give a NSFW warning.....and not come across as a pervert in future.

Six Songs of Moi

It's funny that, in the beginning I said I would try not to write anything about my personal life on here, yet for every entry I make, I give a brief story explaining my long absence from the last time I posted something. Well, there's not much I can say that is of any interest, other than that I have got a new laptop (hey, if I'm not going to leave the country this year, I may as well buy something with the money I have been saving). I will also be starting a 10 week writing class, in an attempt to acquire a hobby. All the more reason to buy a laptop with a built in wifi receiver (or whatever it's called), so I can type from the comfort of my own bed.

Today's blog entry will be music related (as opposed to film related or something original and worthy of an article). On the Guardian website, there are people picking six songs, one of each that links to a particular topic, and made by people who I've never heard of (for example, this article), hence why I don't really bother with their choices. But I liked the idea, so I thought I'd do my own list of songs that no-one else would care about. At least some of the songs are better than the ones I used to "sing" when I was in a band.

Back when I was a lead "singer" in 2007

My list of songs are here, and my reasons, thoughts, and opinions are written below. While picking my songs, I found the preset list to be very limited, and I'll explain why also.

What was the first song you ever bought?

"Do The Bartman" by The Simpsons

To be honest, I can't remember what was the first "single" I bought. When I was younger I normally got music cassettes and CDs from my parents, so I was picking one of the first CD singles I had. I was going to pick "Slam Jam" by WWF Superstars, which included The Undertaker, Bret Hart, Macho Man (RIP) and British Bulldog (RIP). But the six songs database didn't have that song, so I chose this instead.

What song always gets you dancing?

"Get Your Body Beat" by Combichrist

I can't dance. Full stop. And whenever I do, it is either at the request of a family member, trying to impress a member of the opposite sex, or I am absolutely plastered. But for whatever reason, whenever I hear this song being played, it always makes me want to move and dance, and most of the time, it succeeds.

What song takes you back to your childhood?

"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen

My mum used to play this to me and my brother when we were little, and the song had been ingrained in my psyche for so long, I thought this song was from the 101 Dalmatians. That was because we used to have Disney storybooks with cassettes that said the words aloud when we read them, and at the end of the cassettes, they played the songs from the film. I may be wrong, but I could swear my mum put this song at the end of the 101 Dalmatians cassette. Still, nice to know my mum was bringing me up on good music.

What is your perfect love song?

"Flames" by Vast

This song is my favourite song of all time. It is very simple yet evokes feelings of sadness, longing, and in this case, love. It's not well known, and people look at me funny when I tell them that this is my favourite song. If I ever go back to playing guitar, this would be one of the first songs I would learn the chords to.

What song would you want at your funeral?

"Mr Blobby Song" by Mr Blobby and The Smurfs

Again the six songs database is limited, and the closest I could get was the original "Mr Blobby" song. But this version is the one I want played at my funeral, just to annoy everyone, and remind people of my weird sense of humour, even after death. I'd also have a bouncy castle afterwards, and my epitaph would read "pecked to death by ducks". Hell, I'd even make my gravestone a urinal, so people can have the chance to piss on my grave.

Time for the encore. One last song that makes you, you?

"Everyday Is Exactly The Same" by Nine Inch Nails

I admit this is a depressing song to pick as the one that defines me. I could have lied and picked something funny and/or positive, but I am brutally honest. The lyrics are pretty much how I feel about life, and how I feel about myself. And the sad thing is, no matter how much I try to change my situation, or keep wishing for a light at the end of the tunnel, it will never be.

And on a final note.....

Just to lighten the move after that last paragraph, I am posting this, which a mate of mine showed me last night. I am definitely busting these dance moves next time Combichrist comes on in public.

Midlife, Quarter-Life; crisis of definition

I felt this was going to happen.  I start off a blog with the intention of updating it every now and then, and now it has prematurely come to a halt. Well, since I'm stuck at home on a Saturday night, and I've completed "X-Men: Destiny" twice in the space of three days, I may as well write about something that I was meaning to write about. Despite the fact that I was meant to read up more on this topic, and I'm in danger of speaking from a personal standpoint, but I may as well type in a half "stream of consciousness" style, half posting referential links.

Around the time I hit 30, I had, for want of a better term, a midlife crisis. When I say "for want of a better term", after I told family, friends, people I cut out of my life (using the "midlife crisis" angle to reinforce my reasons for doing so), I had looked up the term "Midlife Crisis". Apparently I'm "too young" to be having one, and reading some articles on dealing with it always came up with the usual stereotypes, such as buying the fancy car, dressing differently, trying to recapture youth, and so forth. And these articles are directed at those with the family, kids, mortgage, career etc.

But I don't fall into that category at all. I feel old, now that I'm no longer in my twenties. I've been told by everyone (by which I mean family, friends, work colleagues) that I'm not old, that I'm making a big deal of being 30 ("it's only a number", "you're still young"). Do I feel old because I'm dissatisfied with my life? I guess so. But I'm sure those people who are in the 40s and 50s feel the same way, hence why they are permitted to suffer a "midlife crisis".

Image taken from "The Sun" website.
If they can "copy & paste" then so can I.

And before you ask "why don't you do something about it", in reference to my dissatisfaction with my life? Long story short: I made a plan around the time I hit 30, I hoped to make great strides by the end of this year, but I hit a few snags (relating to personal and health issues, along with some unfortunate circumstances), and now I've gone down not to square "1", but square "-100". So I'm just gonna leave it at that.

It was during this shitstorm that life, for whatever reason, loves to throw at me, that I read an article in the Metro Herald that people my age are now experiencing midlife crisis. So that gave me some sort of validation in my self prognosis in what I was currently experiencing. I began to find the article on the internet, but when I saw the article replicated on Fox News and The Irish Sun, I began to become skeptical. Especially with the last article, when the Sun just replaced "Australian" with "Irish" in the text.

It was during this time that I was introduced to the concept of Quarter-Life Crisis. I had never heard of the term before, but it seemed to be around for quite a while. So now I am comparing and contrasting these two depressing stages one may suffer in their lifetime, and I'm thinking to myself; do these even exist after all? Now, I'm not one of these people who would lambast a type of mental illness or disorder such as depression or seasonal affective disorder, saying that they don't exist. It's easy for people to criticise something that they have not experienced, or have no knowledge of. While I have never suffered from Coulrophobia, I would never give out about people who say they do.

And if I was to make fun of the subject, I would put it down to the titles themselves. If what I am going through is a midlife crisis, would that mean I'll die when I'm 60? But if it's a quarter-life crisis, does that mean I''ll die when I'm 120? Yes I'm being pedantic, but hey, I'm trying to inject a little bit of my sense of humour at this point, even if may be a little sarcastic. Maybe I should leave the jokes to this guy.

Apologies to those who suffer from Coulrophobia.

My reason for questioning the existence of these life crises, is that both of them are pretty similar, yet both are divided by age groups. I feel like I'm going through a midlife crisis, but if this is actually a quarter-life crisis, then I fucking dread to think what would happen when the actual midlife crisis happens. Call me skeptical, but the term "quarter-life crisis" sounds like it was invented by a hypochondriac who is making an excuse as to how their life has turned out. But the same can be said for those who are in the "proper" age group for the midlife crisis. 

Sure we all suffer setbacks, hardships and regrets in our lifetimes, to which the most critical of people would the cliched phrase, "that's life". But these can also result in a crisis of faith in ones self. Life is hard enough as it is, so much that it can be hard to put into words. Which is why I was comfortable with the term "midlife crisis", which gave me an understanding as to what I'm going through, which could develop the mindset that if I am unhappy with the first half of my life, then maybe I should do something about the second. But if I am actually going through a quarter-life crisis, then in my mind, I've a long way to go before the real pain in life begins.

So whatever it is that I'm going through, call it midlife crisis, call it quarter-life crisis; but I have a more fitting title for it.....a pain in the ass.

And on a final note.....

In an another attempt to inject some humour into this piece, even at this late stage, I'm gonna post my favourite Faith No More song. The title of this track is fitting after all.

Brief Exodus From Facebook

For this blog entry, I shall be using the Blogger App for my phone, as part of my experiment for this site. This could be handy for situations where I may not have access to an actual PC (where I predict I may need to do further editing, such as spell checks and inserting YouTube videos). Or in this case, at times where I can't be bothered leaving my bed.

Not posted via mobile technology (see last paragraph)

I found this article on Google+ where the author talks about her reasons for deleting her Facebook account. There were a few interesting points, not all of them negative (considering the fact that I found this piece on an (unfortunately) unpopular alternative to Facebook.

It states how social network sites can enhance current relationships with friends, acquaintances and family members, but at the same time, gives other people a passive view into your own world through what you post. It also makes references to annoying functions of the site such as the timeline and the ever changing privacy settings. Even some of the comments at the end make interesting points about the reluctance of some people to add or delete people they don't really have much in common with

This article was of some interest to me, because sometime towards the end of May, I deleted all my friends off Facebook and deactivated my account.  My original plan was to periodically delete two groups of people from my friends list before I went away, and I will give the rest of my friends fair warning that I would deactivate my account. I planned to spend a year in a new country, giving me a fresh start in life, so I didn't want to waste time looking to what was going on in the country I was leaving. I am sick of home, so I don't to make myself homesick also.

Unfortunately my first choice of country hit a snag, coupled with a few stressful events which include personal, work and health issues, along with a disasterous trip to London, in which I finally snapped, and let loose some drunken tirade on Facebook.

Now I have done this quite a few times throughout the years on every social networking site I've ever been on. As for the nature of what I wrote, I genuinely can't remember, as I deleted the posts right away, without even looking at who commented on those status updates.

One of my closest friends said it wasn't really that bad, it's just something incoherent while drunk. But I was very embarrassed, because not only can friends and casual acquaintances read it, but so can family members and work colleagues. So as soon as I got to an internet kiosk in London Gatwick, I deleted everybody.
Ever since I got rid of my Facebook account, it made me notice a few things, especially what FB can mean to others.

Less than half an hour of cutting the online chord, I get a text message from one of my closest friends who was angry about my choice to delete her, wondering what exactly she did that made me come to that decision. I was very shocked, and had to text her, along with another friend who informed her of other things in my life that she may not have heard about, just so she knew what the whole story was. I admit I never gave full warning to everybody, especially my close friends. But in that state of mind, it was hard to think straight, and I was actually in tears as I didn't want to hurt one of my closest, dearest friends. Thankfully, while she may not have agreed with my actions, she understood why.

I was taken aback by this exchange in a way, because I always felt that friendship was more than an online profile. I had friends telling me about some video they saw on YouTube, or about some photos of a festival they were at. They were telling me to check them out, but then they followed this up with "oh wait, I forgot, you're not on Facebook anymore". Last night, someone sent me a text asked me when I was coming back to Facebook, because his birthday was coming up, and he couldn't invite me to an event page he created for it. Sincd he was texting me at the time, why didn't it occur to him to just TEXT me the details for his birthday?

Some people can really get offended once they find out someone hit the "unfriend" button on their profile. Which I can relate to, because I too once felt that way. I remember the feeling of rejection and sudden dismissal, the questions you ask yourself as to what you actually did to them, if anything, which made it harder to speak to these people if you ran into them in public.

Over the years, I try not to take it to heart, if it's some casual acquaintance you rarely talk to in the first place. But it is also hard when you thought you were on good terms with the person to begin with. And when it was someone who you thought you were good friends with, you do feel bitter. Like one person who I was friends with for years, but who I find out was making fun of me behind my back, complaining about a certain personality trait of mine that he also had (pot kettle black), maybe its best that I'm not connected to that two faced dumb fat fuck, and not waste my time writing an angry message to him.

But it was when I started deleting people that I got the full brunt from those who I deleted. I mentioned earlier that I planned to periodically deleted two groups of people before I went away. I got through one group at the turn of the new year. While there were some people who I never wanted to speak to again, there were others who were, bitterness aside, nice enough people, especially two who I still had regular contact with through Facebook.

In an effort to keep my private life away from this blog, I won't divulge any details as to who those individuals are. I'm sure most them noticed that I deleted them, whether they were offended or if they even gave a crap, I don't know. But I will assume that they won't talk to me ever again, which I can understand. Infact, I'd be confused if they did.

But I did get some personal messages asking why I deleted them, and I did try to explain to one of the two people I felt guilty for deleting (unfortunately it was after a gig and I was inebriated at the time). So I sent those people an email explaining my reasons as to why I deleted them, which I admitted were a bit brash, but I'd prefer to be honest and straight with them, and I genuinely wished them well in the future. And I apologised that, at this stage in my life, I didn't know I could have these people in my life at this time.

It's funny that over a month since I deleted my account, I don't really miss Facebook. It is annoying that I am not informed of any upcoming events (birthdays, gigs, etc), know what else is going on in other people's lives, and I feel bad for cutting off those who I rarely see nowadays, from old college colleagues to people I met while abroad. Hopefully there will be a time that I will be able to patch things up, but I will also have to accept rejection if that is not the case (y'know, the whole "made your bed" analogy).

I also noticed that I don't waste enough time on the internet, whether on PC or mobile, going through Facebook. Maybe this has become a blessing in disguise, which has lead me to concentrate on other things, whether it be work, exercise, film, or even this blog. If I do return to the evils of that particular social networking site, I hope I will not fall back into those old habits. In the meantime, if I get the urge to share something pointless over the net, I'll use Google+. Nobody else will read it, but if I was to imagine a comparision, it would be an alcoholic drinking a non-alcoholic beer.

Speaking of alcohol, no matter how many times I did it in the past, especially during that hellish London trip, I'm still surprised that, no matter how shitfaced I get, to the point that I can barely walk, let alone speak, I can still manage to log into Facebook, and all the others before that. How the fuck is that even possible? I will never know. Well thanks to my time away from Facebook, no drunken bollocks will be posted anytime soon. Even though I'm taking a break from it for a while, for a variety of reasons. One of which for health reasons, to see if I am able to lose weight. I'm actually seeing some improvement, so who knows, I might actually get rid of this beer belly after all.

But I'm starting to go off topic, so I better wrap this up. After I deleted my Facebook account, I did get some texts from people who noticed I was gone and wondered how I was. I appreciated those texts, along with the support from my close friends. So when I'm ready to go back to Facebook, I'll be sure to add them as a friend, if they'll have me. And hopefully I won't be in a position to go through this whole mess again.

For this last paragraph, I got out of bed, and logged onto my computer to see how writing on the app worked out.

On a final note, the Blogger App is okay, but you are not given any freedom to post images anywhere you want, the paragraphs are not even spaced out, and there is no function to post YouTube videos. Speaking of which, the selection from YouTube via the "insert a video" function is limited, compared to the actual YouTube site. Hence why I'm posting a live version of the song below, as opposed to the studio version. Lame.

First Post.....I guess.....

It's Friday, Friday, like that song about Friday.....and already this blog is off to a bad start.

Ahem. Well I'm just messing around with this "Blogger" site. I did try to start a blog over a year ago, but it was more of a personal, albeit "private" nature. But when I got an Android phone, somehow whatever I posted, including pictures, were instantly downloaded to my phone. I guess it was something to do with my Google account being linked to the particular blog. And with the introduction of Google+, I deleted the entire blog, and moved some of its posts to a different blogging site.....of which I can't remember where.

As for this blog, well, I guess you can call it one part something to mess around with (due to boredom and a lack of interesting hobbies), and another part an experiment. Years ago, in the days of MySpace versus Bebo, I was in college studying Journalism. I guess I chose it because I actually liked to write, mainly features, opinions, and short stories, which I also did a bit of when I was in school. I even wrote a few entries in the blog features of the aforementioned social networking sites, which I was complemented on by people at the time, for whatever reason.

But due to an unfortunate chain of events in my life towards the end of my college course (which I won't go into), I developed what I could call a severe case of "writers block". Hence I've never had the drive nor the motivation to write about anything, no matter what inspiration I may find. I've been meaning to take up a creative writing class to see if I can jumpstart my passion for writing again. But right now, it has been put on the backburner for a variety of reasons; most of them just out of self inflicted laziness, but right now I'm concentrating on learning how to drive, and one or two things in my life that I'm trying to sort out. One of which includes efforts to leave the country for a year, which fell apart a few weeks ago, and I haven't had the chance to formulate a "Plan B" (again, a combination of bullshit and genuine reasons).

So if I never get around to going for that creative writing class, or reading that book I bought in Easons last year, I may as well do something. Hence the creation of this blog. And I remember reading somewhere that when you create a blog, you are meant to think of what type of blog it is, what content to use, structure, layout, tone, and all that crap. But honestly, I'm clueless as to what I will be writing about in future. Hell, I don't even know what I'm writing about right now (and this is the fourth paragraph, go figure).

While I do wish to stray away from the whole "dear diary" type of writing, as even my own life bores me to tears, I guess this first entry will give you some sort of an idea as to the type of person the author is. And if this is not enough for you to form an opinion, well.....there's always the next blog entry.

But I do have one idea for my blog entries. At the end of whatever crap I write, I will just post a random video from YouTube, whether it has any relevance to the preceding text, or just an insight into what I find funny, interesting, or more than likely, show off my questionable taste in music.....which I assure you does not include Rebecca Black.