dream theater

Off I Go Again

I have been meaning to post a ‘review’ of my birthday, but I wasn’t sure what to say. Obviously, what I will say is a thank you to everyone that sent me birthday wishes (and to those that would have done had I given fair warning!). It wasn’t an epic day by any means, but still an enjoyable one. Twenty-two is a strange age. It’s the first one that doesn’t really mean anything, and isn’t a significant milestone. Therefore I was quite lucky to get the gifts I did, and not to get the proverbial socks and slippers.

From Dad, Karen and my stepbrothers – via a voucher – I got the CDs Train Of Thought by Dream Theater, and Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chili Peppers, plus Los Amantes del Círculo Polar (The Lovers of the Arctic Circle) on DVD. From Mum – via money – I got some new togs and some spending money for my holiday on which I shall be going to tomorrow (more on that later!); plus she had bought my the final Harry Potter book. My sister bought me a book of newspaper clippings from Newcastle United’s season last year. It was a thoughtful gift, though I’m not sure I can bring myself to read it! I also got money from my grandparents; my aunty and uncle; and my great aunts. Thanks to all!

So tomorrow, I’m off to Kent. My friends and I are off for our annual "jolly boys’ outing" to Center Parcs. Hopefully it will get me back into shape, for a good reason. Today I received a letter asking me to consider becoming a platelet donor. It’s not easy to explain, so if you want to find out exactly what it is and what it entails, visit the National Blood Service website. I hope this will prompt me into taking better care of myself, since I reckon such regular donations would be impossible with my current lifestyle. It’s diet changes that I need to concentrate on – making sure I have a proper breakfast and eat more red meat (not many people get to say that!).

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The Fens

I am back after a week in a place far away, where there is no Internet (yes, that’s right, my grandparents’ house). I came back to a miserly three pieces of post and about fifty emails. Once sifted (which didn’t leave much), I started to set about my usual business. So I was pretty bored for much of the day.

I did however manage to listen to all of Dream Theater‘s Systematic Chaos. It improves with every listen, so I’m pleased with it.

And in the meantime while I was away in that parallel universe – the extremely localised heat-wave-cum-sauna – that is my grandparents’ brand-spanking new bungalow, the SDC has been hotting up.

I’ve had a look at "the competition" ;) . And I don’t stand a chance! However, I’ve been pleased with the responses so far, and I’m thinking about working further on some of my themes. But we shall see! :)

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Session Guitarist

I just had the most amazing guitar session… on my own. My stepbrother’s band are about as active as half of England’s batsmen today… so I’m writing some music to my songs, and it’s going fairly well. I know my guitar as well as you do, and I have only guitar effect, namely "overdrive", so the results are spectacular if not completely useless. But I’m working on riffs and frameworks for "Sinner In Your Eyes" – and I’m going for a Dream Theater effect. And I’m getting to where I want to be, even though it will of course be nowhere near Dream Theater standard. Oh well…

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Him Off The Telly

These last few weeks I have been driving my friends nuts talking about my liking for the hair and the t-shirt adorned by the kid in the BT advert. I am please to inform all that read this that I have managed to acquire my own copy of that t-shirt: it happens to be on sale at Topman. It wasn’t my original intention to get it, rather I expected that I would be unable to get one so I would settle for anything similar. The fact that it was the same was a bonus. It cost £12.60 (with student discount) from the Eldon Square branch, Newcastle.

My other purchase yesterday was a new electric shaver. My old one was a Christmas present from when I was 14, so being seven years old and cutting like a feather duster it was time for a new one. Boots are having a bit of a sale, so I obliged. I forked out £24.99 for a Remington R320. Tasty.

I also still do not have Dream Theater’s Systematic Chaos CD+DVD, largely down to the ineptitude of a certain company that won’t be named here.

I’ll name it here instead. If you want to purchase any solid music, don’t visit CD WOW.

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Peruvian Skies

As I write this, I am watching Uruguay v Peru in the Copa America football tournament. It’s being held in Venezuela. At the moment, it’s nil-nil.

Peruvian Skies is a song by Dream Theater from the album Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence. And here is my perfect opportunity to tell you about CD WOW. I recently attempted to purchase Dream Theater’s most recent release, Systematic Chaos from CD WOW. I placed my order a few days after its release on 4th June. It is still recorded as a pre-release on their website, and after some correspondence, the situation is that I’m not likely to get the album any time soon, and they have my money. So I shall avoid them in future…

I used them because the special edition of the album with DVD was cheapest with them at £10.99. I have noticed that the same album is at HMV for the same price.

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Selling And Selling Out

The music industry is forever trying different avenues in order to make people buy their artists’ albums. In all honesty, I prefer having a solid product rather than one that exists almost entirely as a clump of zeros and ones that no one can see.

I like having sleeve notes, and what is almost like a keepsake in the form of the plastic casing. The album cover is an art-form – buying music off the Internet as a download pretty much renders it pointless.

What I don’t like – and I mean really don’t like – is where a record company releases different versions of the same album. It is an insult to my intelligence where a record company thinks I might buy more than one in order to have “the set”, if only so that I have every single colour. Furthermore, a record company might release “CD” and “CD and DVD” versions; the latter with a DVD containing a load of rubbish really. I have to say, that works. Each time I’ve been offered a choice between the “CD” and “CD and DVD” options, I have gone for the DVD option. Indeed, I have always been disappointed with the poor quality of the content. But I make the same mistake every time.

And I have done the same: buying Dream Theater’s new album Systematic Chaos. Can’t wait to get it, but I reckon I’ll be disappointed by the DVD add-on.

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Around The World

It’s amazing what bargains you can pick up by shopping around.

I wanted to get some Red Hot Chili Peppers albums. I’ve had their Greatest Hits album for a few years now, and I had always enjoyed their music. With any band I take a liking to, it is usually because I have bought their greatest hits albums or bought one of their albums on the cheap. I then like what I hear then proceed to buy all their albums. It happened with Queen, The Police, Dream Theater… and now RHCP.

I went into HMV today, looking at their newest album Stadium Arcadium. On finding it, I saw three different prices for the same album, those being £9.95, £13 and £15. I found the first price the most enticing, though not enough for me to complete the purchase. I did however notice that some of the other albums were on offer: two for £10. I selected By The Way and Californication – both albums I know fairly well but had not extended myself to buy. When it came to buying it, I also thought (cheekily) that I should try to use my student card. 10% off, £9 to pay, thank you very much!

I was also looking for some new earphones. Weiran had alerted me to a company called Sennheiser. They make the Sennheiser CX300, which fit inside the ear. Most places sell for just less than £40 for this pair of earphones. However, I noticed that Play.com sell them for £29.99 for the white pair, and £27.99 for the black pair. The silver ones are still around £40. Encouraged by my find, I continued to shop around. I strayed onto Amazon – which isn’t something I normally do – and spotted all three for under £18, so I got the silver one for £17.84 including delivery.

Shop around bargain hunters!

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Update

It has now been far too long since I made a post. This is not indicative of the constant source of entertainment that is my life!

Last week I stayed in Kent – Herne Bay to be more precise, at my good old friend Pete’s house. Although it was an enjoyable stay as always, my time there was a little too short (again, as always). So many places to go, so many places to see, so many other things going on, in the end it feels like I didn’t do much at all.

I arrived on the Monday (just – nearly every form of public transport I used that day was late). Pete, Donna and I ‘did’ the seafront. This consisted of walking up and down the prom with chips and ice cream, with a healthy exchange of north-south banter. I did not see any kangaroos down there, unfortunately.

On Tuesday, I went to a revision lecture. It would seem that Pete takes everyone to his lectures. I got an overview of probability theory, of which I had mostly forgotten. Perhaps it was worthwhile that I went, though I cannot recall anything of substance from that hour. After that we wandered down to Canterbury City Centre and wandered in and out of shops. I bought Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence by Dream Theater for £6. We went to Whittards and had the best cup of tea ever. That evening we went back to Canterbury to enjoy the pubs and bars. We went to Origins, a bar located within the Darwin halls of residence at the University of Kent. That was quite good, but no cheaper than an ordinary bar in Newcastle… After an hour or two (I forget which) we moved onto the city centre. Six of us in one Ford Fiesta led to the inevitable muggins in the boot. Louis ensured the route involved speed bumps. That was interesting…

On Wednesday, Pete, Donna and I managed to traverse most of the North Kent coastline. We got to Whitstable, somehow. We were also surprised to hear many explosions around. On Thursday, we were meant to be playing cricket in the morning, but the county cricket people let us down. Instead we wandered off to Bluewater. Surprisingly, the extent of my expenditure did not extend to anything beyond a buffet meal at Pizza Hut. Was nice. I then used my charm and desperation to ask James to take me to my grandparents’ house for a quick visit. It was nice to see them, but I suspect it annoyed everyone involved to some degree that afternoon.

On Saturday, having arrived back the previous day, I went and got my brand spanking new glasses. They required some getting used to, but now they seem to be doing the job. Yesterday I got my hair cut for the first time in over two years. I quite like it. And I am reassured in that I am not the only one who can’t get my hair to do what I want with it.

I think that just about brings us up to date!

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In The Queue

I got a phonecall today from GCHQ, informing me that I was unsuccessful in my application for the position of Mathematician. The reason being that I had simply applied too early: my course ends in June 2008, and they want me for this September. That’s fair enough, and it was nice of them to give me a personal response to inform me of their decision.

I pretty much knew this was going to happen – I only applied as they don’t so often advertise for Mathematicians, so I thought I ought to apply this time round. However, they did ask that I apply when they seek new recruits around October this year, as they they did like my application. (Quite frankly I am surprised they liked it, it was threadbare. Anyhow, it’s a nice little ego-booster for now!)

Today, I went to the MetroCentre with Mum, with little in mind to buy. To be honest, the prospect of a breakfast at Wetherspoon’s was an attractive one. However, shocking as it sounds, Wetherspoon’s had no eggs. Risking your gentle hearts, I also report that in place of a fried egg, I was given two hash browns in addition to the two given. Not a fair swap, I don’t think, but I didn’t really mind. It was nice.

I decided halfway through the trip I wanted a "smart casual" shirt. "Smart casual" is a concept lost on me: either it’s smart or it’s casual. In any case, I thought I should have something in my wardrobe in case such a "smart casual" event arose. So I paid £35 for a shirt – probably the most I have ever paid for a shirt (though there were plenty in excess of that sum), but it was my favourite of the ones I saw. It came from Kickers (and from the website you can see the shop I bought it from, curiously).

I also bought another Dream Theater CD – Awake – for £3.97 from Music Zone.

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Decadent Scenes

Well yesterday was an interesting day. Had my first revision lectures. I don’t care what other people say, they are worth it. Even material that I have covered in my revision so far would not have helped me – past papers are much better to revise from.

I had a bit of an unsettling experience between lectures though. At one point, I thought, “What am I doing here?” – which isn’t a question that was welcome in my mind a week before my first exam. I just felt that I would be of better use elsewhere. I have a calling, I just can’t hear where it’s bloody coming from!

Anyway, made some time for some shopping. Having spent over £500 for the plane tickets to Tokyo the night before, you’d think I’d be saving every remaining penny on my person. Not so. I bought some paper and a pen (for revision, of course!) and I bought Dream Theater’s Images And Words for the princely sum of £3.97. Amazing! I also bought The Big Issue. It has gone up 10p since I last bought it (yes, as bad as the railways!) to £1.50.

I foolishly made the mistake of forgetting to do my Statistics homework, which is due in today. My second deadly error was to wait even more and start it during the Liverpool v Arsenal match in the Carling Cup. What a match! It ended Liverpool 3-6 Arsenal. I am quite pleased about this.

To finish, I have written another song. I’m not sure about it. The choruses were an afterthought and became the central theme, so I went back and edited other bits. I’m not sure it flows now. Anyway, if you want to see, it’s at my The Songs Of Geoff Brady site, and it is called Just Three Sins.

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