Hollywood Doll rehearsal

Met up with the guys at Nightfly Studios in Southend for a Hollywood Doll rehearsal. It went pretty well (muscially at least). As usual it was a blast playing through our tunes but unfortunately the singer, Chris, didn't seem to be able to nail the songs that we had asked him to learn. We even took some time to swap instruments which was a real scream! After the rehearsal Matt, Charlie and I had a discussion about Chris and unfortunately we came to the decision that we didn't think he was really ready for what we wanted to do and agreed that we let him go and look for a new singer so it's back to square one again!

The return of swine flu...............

Back to the gym

Sam and I made a welcome return to the gym tonight (after a bit of nagging from Toni, which is fine cos I asked her to).
Had a long session and it was good to get back into it. Sam and I have decided we will definitely get back to going 2 or 3 times a week.

Swine flu!

Shelton's neighbour is a GP who has spent all day at an emergency meeting about swine flu. Seems it is so serious that they spent all day telling jokes!

Doctor, doctor, I think I have swine flu as I have come out in rashers!

Doctor, doctor, I have caught swine flu from the petrol station. Don't worry its Mexican swine flu not Texico swine flue.

Doctor, doctor I've tried to call the NHS helpline about this swine flu but all I get is crackling!


Support my friends Vikki and Lord Zion and get this fabulous swine flu warning t-shirt from: smellyourmum.com

Gigs galore coming up

Really looking forward to the weekend as it's a total gigfest for Sam and I. Unfortunately Toni has Gemima so she will be unable to join us.

We kick off on Friday night with a trip to Leicester to see SPiT LiKE THiS and are travelling back with them on their bus so that is going to be great fun. Saturday is punk legends NOFX with proceedings topped off with King Lizard in Sunday!

Just as well Monday is a bank holiday so we can have some time to recover!

Wrestling and horror

Sam and I had a great chill out tonight catching up with some wrestling, including WWE Backlash. I suspect a lot of you think it's sad but it's a great way to relax and unwind without resorting to trash TV like soaps LMFAO.

Following the wrestling we then watched House Of 1000 Corpses, the film that was a precursor to The Devil's Rejects (which we watched the other week). I do like our little horror fests!

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Home again.......

.....and no sooner had we just got settled in and enjoying ourselves it was time to come home again. We popped back to The Shambles to grab a cup of tea (and do some last minute shopping) before heading back to SWF. Journey was quicker this time and we made it back in 7 hours 45 minutes (which included a 45 minute stop off). It rained a lot of the way but it was a pretty clear run.

Nice double rainbow en route:

Whitby Abbey

Toni and I got up early this morning, had breakfast, loaded up the car after checking out of the B&B and then headed back off to Whitby Abbey to do the tour properly. The walk was good and helped to shift out breakfast especially when we realised we had just scaled 199 steps again:


Whitby Abbey is totally beautiful and I am so glad that we made a conscious decision to go and see it properly rather than peering over the wall at it like we did on Thursday. Have to admit that I did get a bit snap happy while walking around it.









See all the pics here: 270409WhitbyAbbey#

Nostalgia @ Raw night club

Well, tonight was our final night at Whitby and so we popped along to Raw night club for the special WGW Nostalgia night. Just traditional goth music, no EBM, no metal, no cheese, just GOTH!



It was just like the Trad Goth floor at Slimelight and was great fun although we didn't stay all night as we were both knackered.

Food and rest

Following the excitement of our football match we headed back to the B&B to get warmer clothing and then went in search of food as we were starving. We returned to The Staircase Cafe (where we went yesterday) and had yummy jacket potatoes with bacon and brie..........delicious!

After food we went back to the B&B to have some rest before heading out clubbing. Toni checked her Facebook and a friend had suggested that the pains that she was experiencing could be TMJ syndrome (or Thermonuclear Jaw Syndrome as I called it as trying to pronounce Temporomandibular Joint Disorder seemed like too much hard work). Having looked at the symptoms she is going to explore this further with her doctor as it does seem to match what she was feeling rather than being merely tooth or back related as she first suspected.

We then watched a bit of TV before getting our heads down for a few hours prior to going out for the last time.

Real Gothic 1 Athletico Gazette 2

Following her rest Toni and I set off for Whitby Town FC to watch Real Gothic take on Athletico Gazette. Someone once said that there is nothing like a good football match. In the immortal style of Waldorf & Statler, "and that was nothing like a good football match".

Actually it wasn't a bad game (what with me being an expert and all LMFAO), it was totally hilarious and as I hate football it was nice to see a game and come away feeling that I had enjoyed myself. Expectations were low with Athletico Gazette currently holding a 9 - 2 win record against Real Gothic and so it was much to our delight when it was still 0 - 0 after 30 minutes.

To put all this in perspective, Athletico Gazette are a team fielded by the local rag, The Whitby Gazette, and Real Gothic are a team of goths (usually the ones who are still sober enough to pull on a kit and be available to play. We were allowed to drink in the stands (which I am reliably informed is very unusual) but the local council have apparently passed the edict that although drinking is not allowed in the stands at a football match, this game bears no resemblance to a proper football match so it is allowed.

The in game commentary was fantastic and most amusing with both teams being heckled by the announcer. We were actively encouraged to heckle Athletico Gazette.

Fans in the stands:



Things were looking up for Real Gothic as they went 1 - 0 up through a penalty kick:


GOAL!:


The first half ended 1 - 0 to Real Gothic but unfortunately fortune decided to turn against them in the second with Athletico Gazette coming out with a slightly better team to turn things around and win 1 - 2 (BOOOO!)

Man of the match was Real Gothic goalkeeper Streaky:


REAL GOTHIC:


See all the pics here: 260409WhitbyRealGothicVAthleticoGazette#

Bad night.........

...........not so good :o(

When we got back to the hotel room I found that my phone had completely frozen and Toni had a message from Sam asking me to call him urgently. I started panicking as my phone just wouldn't recover despite many reboots. Called Sam from Toni's phone but he was asleep so called Sophie as Sam was with her. It turned out that Sophie and Shane had split up (for good it looked like) and everybody had got a bit upset and emotional about the whole thing. Thankfully every was OK by the time I had called.

To make matters worse Toni was up most of the night in severe pain (we think due to her back problems) and ibuprofen wasn't touching it and she was out of co-dydramol. It was really frustrating as there was nothing that I could do but watch as she was doubled up in pain. Not fun! She did settle down eventually and get some sleep before we got to have breakfast. After that we came back to the room and I sorted out photos and blogging so that she could have a sleep.

Turned out my phone was completely knackered too so I had to do a hard reset on it so it is now without any of my data or contact information until I can get home and sync it with the PC again. It is working now though so I am at least contactable. Put in a quick call to Sophie and Sam and they are both fine now so I can get back to enjoy the rest of WGW.

WGW - day 2: the bands

Once we had tightened our corsets and the Monster and vodka had kicked in, we headed off once again to the Spa Pavilion for some musical entertainment. We started off by popping upstairs to have a professional photo taken and printed as we have never had anything like that done before. I will scan the picture properly when we get back but in the meantime here's a version from my camera:


Deciding to play it safe (following the Monster vodka) we stuck with vodka and diet coke rather than risking moving on to our usual rum/JD and diet coke. I haven't drunk vodka for a long time but I have to admit it is very nice.


RAZOR BLADE KISSES
First up tonight were Razor Blade Kisses, a band that I really love although Toni wasn't quite as enthusiastic as I was due to our last experience of them at Gotham 9. It started off a bit ropey with Layla struggling to find her vocals properly but this soon settled down and they performed a good set. One thing though, Layla does have a tendency to waffle between numbers and sometimes she should just quit the banter and let the music speak for itself. Toni commented that she was being a "bit blonde" which was made even funnier when the other singer, Azzy, then accused Layla of being blonde tonight LMFAO. Razor Blade kisses are like watching a couple of psycho dollys playing and it's all great fun and the music is superb, especially Teddy (which I maintain should have been called Toys In The Attic).




See all the pics here: 250409RazorBladeKissesWGWSpaPavilion#


HOUSE OF USHER
Old school guitar based goth, you gotta love it! Formed back in the 90s, these guys were really good sounding like a cross between The Cult and The Sisters with lots of other moody goth elements thrown in for good measure. Although time might have taken it's toll on some of the band members visually they still deliver a good strong gothic set.




See all the pics here: 250409HouseOfUsherWGWSpaPavilion#

After House Of Usher we went for a stroll around the Spa and went to the Razor Blade Kisses stall so that I could get their CD. As the band were hanging around I decided to get it autographed. Some of the band members had disappeared so Layla kindly offered to go backstage and get the rest of them to sign the CD. She was gone for ages and Toni and I joked that maybe she had "gone blonde" again, got distracted and forgotten about us. Some time later, guitarist Jacqui appeared, with drummer Steve, carrying my CD (Layla was nowhere to be seen). Jacqui was superb, she apologised profusely and then proceeded to ensure that I got the rest of the bands signatures. It was really nice seeing a band member looking out for one of their fans and being so hospitable. Big thumbs up to Razor Blade Kisses and especially Jacqui.


DIARY OF DREAMS
What we saw of Diary Of Dreams was pretty good. They were more electronic than I had expected to see at WGW and would certainly be classed as dark wave but they did have a goth feel to their music. It's a shame the Monster had worn off as I would have liked to have seen all their set but we were both tired and so the band and photos were sacrificed in favour of some much needed sleep.

WGW - day 2

Once again we started the day with a lovely full English breakfast and then we slowly got ourselves ready before heading off into town to do things.



We started walking to The Shambles (a goth friendly pub) where we decided to have lunch and then camp out for the WGW Forum meet up. After a bit of changing (due to most of the things we wanted being sold out) we opted for nachos and a chicken & bacon salad with some curly fries on the side.

Lots of groups of people started congregating and looking around The Shambles so it looked like the WGW Forum meet was on but nothing seemed to happen. Loki arrived so I headed off to the bar to find out what the deal was but it turned out that the person who was supposed to be organising the meet wasn't even there LOL. As a result it all turned into a bit of a low key unofficial meet up but I did at least get to meet, Mr and Mrs Nobodie, Loki, Dave-il-man, korpse, Gothic Doll and starwarrior.

Following the forum meet we went for a stroll and decided to indulge in a bit of tourist fun so we went and visited the The Dracula Experience. It was silly, fun, a bit like a fun fair haunted house walk through but it was entertaining and well worth the £2.50 entrance fee. Here's a sneaky pic that I took:


After our Dracula fun we popped back to the B&B for a quick rest before going out for something to eat and getting ready for the bands at the Spa Pavilion. While we were looking for somewhere new (and cheap) to eat we stumbled across this wonderful shop:


We found a little cafe tucked away up a flight of stairs that did really nice food. Toni opted for monkfish and I had a fillet steak.



After a lovely meal we were flagging a bit so I suggested we go and get some Relentless (a Red Bull style energy drink to perk us up a bit). There were lots on offer but having browsed the shelves there was only one drink that would have been appropriate and so we bought that (and a bottle of vodka).

Monster Monster:

WGW - day 1: the bands

Following our pub jaunt and posing we arrived at the Spa Pavilion ready for some musical entertainment. There was a great DJ and then three really good bands.

ZEITGEIST ZERO
Zeitgeist Zero had been drafted in as emergency cover for Elusive who were unable to make the event. The singer was a regular attendee of WGW and was obviously highly delighted and also seemed slightly in awe of playing in front of the Whitby faithful. That said, they a were pretty good blending a good mix of electronic rock and Devilish Presley style death rock (n roll) even if the bass player did look totally bored and miserable. They had some great animations playing on a screen in the backgroud.




See all the pics here: 240409ZeitgeistZeroWGWSpaPavilion


THE LAST DANCE
The Last Dance are WGW veterans having played here on numerous occasions. They had some good tunes and some good anecdotes. They were joined on stage at one point by Nathan of Abney Park who added some violin to the proceedings.




See all the pics here: 240409TheLastDanceWGWSpaPavilion


ABNEY PARK
Abney Park are purveyors of steam punk (apparently, whatever that means). They are, however, a bloody good live band. They had an amazing image (which perfectly fitted how I would see steam punk folk and artefacts). The tunes were great and, despite the technical problems every now and then, they put on a fantastic show. Not really sure how to describe the music but it was really good and I will definitely be getting some of their CDs.





See all the pics here: 240409AbneyParkSpaPavilion#

Whitby Goth Weekend - day 1

So here we go, the first "real" day of Whitby Goth Weekend. We kicked things off by getting up early and heading downstairs for a lovely full english breakfast in the B&B before taking a stroll out to the Spa Pavilion to exchange our tickets for wristbands. While we were waiting to get our wristbands Toni picked up a gorgeous bustle skirt from a stall that was already open. We then had a chill out with a nice coffee.

Following coffee we had another browse, and I bought Toni a gorgeous necklace that was an absolute bargain:

We entered a lucky dip raffle and I was oh so "lucky", with this being my wonderful prize:

At 11:00 we met up with Loki (along with a few others) for the WGW Virgins (that's Newbies) talk where he ran through a lot of things that were going on and some of the "do and don'ts" of the weekend. Next we went downstairs to browse the many, many, stall in the Spa Pavillion and parted with a few more shekels!

Some hours later, as we were feeing a bit peckish we decided to go for another stroll around Whitby and find somewhere to grab a bite to eat. We found a lovely little fish restaurant where Toni had Salmon and salad and I had a traditional fish and chips all topped off with a refreshing pot of Yorkshire tea.

Some old lush:

Me contemplating a ship on the wall:

Late lunch was followed by more walking and window shopping in an effort to reduce any bloatiness before getting dressed up to go and see tonight's band line up. We had hoped to go for a ride on the lifeboat but it was slightly later than we'd thought and the ride's had stopped running.


I have a strange feeling that this picture will be doctored soon:

After our walk, we were dressed and ready for tonight's events in fairly quick time, so we decided, just for the novelty factor, to pop to the pub for a quick drink before heading over to the Spa Pavilion. It was lovely to have the freedom to be able to just do that.

Posing en route to the Spa:

Moody, arty pic of Toni:

See all the pics here: 240409WhitbyGothWeekendDay1

Whitby Goth Weekend - the arrival

The morning started with dropping Gemima at school and then going to have a hearty breakfast at the Royal Standard (Blackheath) before hitting the road for the LONG drive to Whitby.

The journey was fairly uneventful and with only one minor navigational hiccup, we arrived in Whitby 8 hours later (including a 30 minute coffee and loo break).

We checked into our lovely B&B (Sandpiper House), reported our arrival to various interested parties and then chilled out for a while. Four poster bed YAY!


It was just possible to see the ruins of Whitby Abbey from the bedroom window:


Following our chill out session we then decided to wander around the gorgeous town and get our bearings ready for the events over the next few days. We ended up at the sea by the pier.



It was amazing how quiet the place was but I guess that may well change by tomorrow and the weekend although we did notice an abnormally high number of goths wandering around the place LMFAO.

Next stop was a quick walk up far too many steep steps (it was like Tower 42 all over again) to see the ruins of Whitby Abbey. We plan to visit when it is open in the daytime but here's a few taster pics:

Careful, the wind will change!






After our little jaunt up the hill and back again we were totally starving so went in search of food. Not being ones to shy away from local delicacies we decided to be adventurous and found a nice Indian restaurant as that was one of the few that was actually open! Suitably stuffed we then took a leisurely stroll back to the B&B to freshen up and hit the sack ready for a our first real day as Whitby Goth Weekend virgins!

See all the photos here: 230409WhitbyGothWeekendTheArrival

One more sleep to go........

........... then we're off to Whitby!

Made my way over to North Greenwich tonight and met Toni and we went back to her mums. Had a lovely roast pork dinner (even if the veg was "slightly" over done LMFAO). Popped out to fill car up with petrol and check tyre pressure and make sure they were at optimum level for our long drive tomorrow.

I can't wait, it's going to be a great time!

Deathstars @ O2 Academy

In a warm up for a weekend of being out and about Toni and I went to the O2 Academy. We stopped off and had a lovely Japanese meal at Misos before heading off to the venue.



THE DEFILED
I love these guys. saw them at Hellfire and they blew me away and they certainly didnt disappoint tonight. They were delighted to be playing a 'homecoming show' and it really showed with a strong set and great performance. If it hadn't been for talking to The Defiled after their set at Hellfire I wouldn't even have been here tonight as I originally only wanted to go to see The Defiled again although I have since rediscovered my passion for the Deathstars as a result.




See all the pics here: 210409TheDefiledO2Academy#

Had some entertainment after The Defiled with two guys standing behind us who just seemed to moan about EVERYTHING! They were like Waldorf & Statler from The Muppet Show. They complained about midweek gigs, working the next day, the choice of music between bands, The Defiled, really made us wonder why they were there at all!


MARIONETTE
Sadly this wasn't the return of the 80s glam legends fronted by Ray Zell but they were pretty good nonetheless. The singer pulled some amazing faces and although they were a bit shouty they were still very entertaining.




See all the pics here: 210409MarionetteO2Academy#


More interval fun with the "student metal lads" chatting to "cutesy rock chicks" in front of us. One of the lads was 16 and was totally GUTTED when he found out the girls he was chatting to/up were only 13 and 14, that was SO funny. It was a bit disturbing though that both of these young girls were wanting to get to the front to flash themselves at Deathstars, something just didn't sit quite right with that! These girls also provided me with a first, I have NEVER heard girls scream and squeal at a metal band before (I have only ever experienced that once and that was at a McFly concert). Deathstars came out and they were like teeny boppers..... it was amusing.... but sad.


DEATHSTARS
Deathstars were great. The sound was crystal clear and they really know how to put on a show. They had the audience eating out of their palms for the whole set. All the guys moved around the stage and made use of what little space there was and seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Highlight of the night was the introduction to "Blood Stains Blondes" as Whiplasher Bernadotte started slagging off people with blonde hair (which was funny as one of the Waldorf & Statler guys was blond LMFAO!).






See all the pics here: 210409DeathstarsO2Academy#

Lie back and enjoy the covers...................

................here are two great videos by the amazing Slovenian band Laibach



and, apologies to Toni:

Aaarrggghhhh I am trapped in shite music hell!

I now officially hate Guitar Hero: World Tour
We have it in the office on the Wii. The game itself is fine BUT I am sick to death of hearing the following:

The Wind Cries Mary - Jimi Hendrix
Hotel California - The Eagles
Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor

The first two in particular are tracks that I loathed with a vengeance before I started hearing them ad infinitum in the office and hearing them every day does not make them grow on me. Contrary to what someone in the office said, no not everybody likes The Eagles!

I suppose I should be glad there is no Led Zeppelin on the game or I would be suicidal now!

Oh well, at least I have Deathstars to look forward to tonight!

Packing almost done

Ooooh I am SO excited! Toni and I are off to Whitby Goth Weekend (WGW) on Thursday and coming back on Monday. 4 days of dark, dressy uppy, goth tinged esacpism!

Packing is nearly all done, just a few things to do now (thank heavens for companies that do next day delivery!)

Am really really really looking forward to this WGW as we had to cancel the last one we planned to go to.

Happy Birthday Jeanette

Happy Birthday Jeanette

Hope you have a great day

Love Keith and Sam
x

Fitting in

Someone at work just sent me this! I love it. If I was in charge of the Empire I would have pink stormtroopers!



Taken from here: http://www.chortleberry.com/photo_97400/Fitting_In

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Mary Arden's House

Got up and gave mum her present and cards and then had breakfast before we all headed out to Mary Arden's House. The weather was gorgeous and it was lovely looking around the grounds. We also got to watch a falconry display with Angus the owl.

It was really funny walking through the house with Sam as he is so tall now:



Toni and Sam got involved with the falconry:



Milking the "plastic" cow:


Beware of spiders and beasties in the Dovecote:


See all the pics here: 190409MaryArdenSHouse

Happy Birthday mum

Happy Birthday mum,

Hope you enjoy your day

Love from Keith, Sam and Toni

Lamb's for dinner!

YUMMY, had a fantastic meal at Lamb's tonight with mum, Toni and Sam. The food was absolutely gorgeous and we were all absolutely stuffed afterwards.

Toni and I:


Mum and Sam:


Before we left Toni and I noticed a picture that was on the wall. I won't go into what we thought about it but we did laugh and I'll let you draw your own conclusions!


As we were all rather full we went for a nice stroll around Stratford by the canal. Well it was nice until we came across swarms of midgees at which point we decided to head back along the canal. We stopped at one point for mum to have a brief rest and Sam decided to relax on a lock gate:


Once we had returned home we indulged in more card games before bed.

Shopping and lunch and games

After breakfast, Toni, Sam and I wandered along the canal into Stratford upon Avon to do some shopping. We started out in the relocated Much Ado About Toys store, looking at Warhammer stuff before moving on to Marks & Spencer to pick up some essential hosiery for next weekend (with the added bonus of a £5 discount thanks to a voucher that mum gave us).

Next stop was Lambs restaurant where we checked out the menu and then booked a table for the evening as mum wanted to go out to eat.

We then popped along to Top Dog Tees (where Sophie used to work) and found that it was about to close. Today was the last day of their closing down sale so we managed to pick up a few bargains. Following that we went on a search for a birthday present for mum before heading back for lunch.

Mum made a gorgeous kedgeree for lunch (a dish consisting of flaked fish, boiled rice, eggs and butter. Sam opted for chicken and rice as he isn't a fan of fish.

After lunch we played Yahtzee before getting ready to go out for dinner (and Toni lost badly every time and got progressively worse LMFAO)

Off to Stratford upon Avon to see mum

Toni and Sam picked me up from work and we headed off to Stratford upon Avon to spend the weekend with mum. Due to tight timescales we didn't have sandwiches with us for the journey so we popped into a McDonalds at a petrol station in Shenfield. Having had a disaster with my cup holder in the car in the past I decided to put it to new use and it adapted itself well:


As Toni had chips, due to the gluten content of the rest of the McDonalds menu, we stopped off at Cambridge services so she could have something proper to eat so salad and coffee was the order of the moment. After that it was a clear run to mum's.

When we arrived we had a light buffet meal and then played cards until bedtime.

Happy Birthday Charlie

Happy Birthday Mr Webster!

Hope you have a great day dude

Love and Lipstick

K.T.

Thursday night is horror night!

Sam and I decided to indulge in a little horror tonight.
First up was Rob Zombie's "The Devil's Rejects" followed by Steven Spielberg's classic "Poltergeist". Just as well Toni wasn't here as she is NOT a horror film fan LOL

Both are great films and it was nice to indulge in a little mindless "fangoria"!

Happy Birthday Lyssa Badger

Happy Birthday Lyssa,

Hope you have a great day and get lets of lovely presents

Love Keith & Sam

Happy Birthday Lucy Bennett

Happy Birthday Lucy

Hope you have a great day

Love Keith, Sam and Sophie

Oh false alarm!

Oh false alarm! I had severe alarm trauma this morning.
Woke up at 07:50 to find I had blissfully slept through three of the things!
Fortunately it wasn't so late that I missed the "get in by the skin of my teeth" train so no real damage done :o)

Resident Evil 5 - GAME OVER!

Wow, another 2 hours and 10 minutes gone and Sam and I completed Resident Evil 5 (albeit on the easy setting). It really is a fabulous game, with intuitive controls and some fabulous co-operative play (and ooooh, those cut scenes!)

Needless to say we are both very happy to have managed to battle our way through to the end. We are going to start it all over again soon, this time on normal.

NINJA!!!

No, I haven't just taken up martial arts or deserted my beloved Pirates in the eternal struggle of Pirates v Ninjas.

Toni has just ordered us tickets to see Nine Inch Nails at the O2 on 15th July and they are being supported by Jane's Addiction.

NINJA = Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction

I love Jane's Addiction and have seen them before but I would really like to see Nine Inch Nails live so this little tour was too good to pass up!

Full details here:
www.ninja2009.com

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Gym, Chinese and Warhammer 40K

Sam and I went to the gym today as we hadn't been for the last couple of weeks. We had a really long session and it felt good to workout again.

Following the gym I went with Toni, Aaron and Gemima to have a Chinese at Dragon City (Sam stayed home and treated himself to an Indian as he doesn't like Chinese). It was a really nice meal (if a little pricey) but was nice to get out and eat.

On our return Sam was keen to play Warhammer 40K so we set up the table and had a small scale battle. It was no surprise that Sam was once again the victor but the battle did seem a little more even than things have been in the past. Biggest shock was him letting Toni use his Chaos army, something that I never thought I would see. NOTE ADDED FOLLOWING TONI'S COMMENT: the miracle here was that Sam let ANYBODY use his Chaos army rather than Toni in particular.

Sam's NECRON army:


Toni's CHAOS army:


Gemima's TYRANID army:


Aaron's ORK army:


My ELDAR army:



Following 40K I had my roots returned to my favourite red colour before heading off to bed!

Resident Evil 5, time flies when you are addicted

I don't think Sam and I were the most popular people in the house this weekend! We picked him up from Sophie's and then he and I set about a "quick" blast at Resident Evil 5. We stopped pretty late at night when I was just too tired to concentrate properly. By this point everyone else had actually gone to bed! I went upstairs to find Toni almost asleep. When I asked her why she had gone to bed she said that she was bored from watching Sam and I play Resident Evil 5 for the last SEVEN HOURS non-stop! OOOPS!

It's been a very long time since I enjoyed a video game so much that I was sucked into playing it so much.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to one and all!

Had lots of lovely chocolate today and Toni bought me a great egg:

Visiting Sophie and sci-fi TV

We all went over to Sophie and Shane's this afternoon to drop off her cards and presents. Was very nice to spend a little time there and also to have cuddles with Scarlett!

Scarlett and I enjoy a tickle fest:



Sam stayed over and Toni, Aaron, Gemima and I headed back for a relaxing evening, food and sci-fi TV.

First up was the Doctor Who easter special followed by a Top Gear re-run and then onto Doctor Who Confidential before heading into a Red Dwarf extravaganza on Dave. We missed the first part of Back To Earth last night but part two was quite good and it will be interesting to see how they finish it all off tomorrow. Following the new series we then indulged in the Smeg Ups and other Red Dwarf re-runs (which were as good as they always were).

Happy Birthday Sophie

Happy Birthday Sophie.

Nineteen years, where has it all gone?

Hope you have a great day!

Love Dad and Sam

Cleaning, games and crashing out

Got up pretty early this morning and got cracking with a load of much needed housework, even did the hoovering! Got all the washing done too!

Toni, Aaron and Gemima arrived and we popped to Asda to get some bits.

Spent more time playing Resident Evil 5 with Sam before we had lunch.

Sam went to Livvy's party for the afternoon. The plan was for him to return later and babysit so that Toni and I could go out for a drink with Hazel. I was tired so went to have a quick kip but ended up crashing out completely. Toni woke me up 4 hours later and said that she had brought Sam back to get his sleeping stuff as he had decided to stay over at Livvy's as we were no longer going out (on account of me being sparko)

Sophie, food and video games

Sam and I went to Chelmsford today to meet Sophie, Shane and Scarlett. We started off in Game and picked up a couple of new PS3 games before going to Argos to get Sophie's birthday present. We then met up with Sophie, Shane and Scarlett and Sophie popped into Mothercare and Sam and I went into Games Workshop for a quick browse.

Following this we went to go and get something to eat, which was a real mission. It was Sophie's birthday treat from me. We started with Wetherspoons which was completely packed. Next stop Yates bar but they didn't have any tables free either. Sophie didn't want pizza, and Shane is a bit fussy, so we decided to try Que Pasa (which we have been to before).

We got in and say down only to have a waitress approach us and tell us that we would have to leave as they don't allow tracksuit bottoms. We begrudgingly accepted this and started to leave. As we were going I spotted a guy sitting eating with his family who was wearing tracksuit bottoms. I then stormed up to the waitress and demanded an explanation to which the only thing she could say was that she hadn't noticed when he came in. I then spent a few minutes reading her the riot act on double standards and no point having a policy if that are unable to follow it properly. I left once I was sure that she was totally embarrassed and humiliated. Following this we headed back to Wetherspoons and thankfully they had a table available so we had a really nice meal there.

After the meal we parted ways and Sam headed home to binge out on video games. We spent hours playing Resident Evil 5 which is a totally awesome game.

SPiT LiKE THiS @ The Gaff

Sam and I hit the big smoke once again to see SPiT LiKE THiS on a warm up date for their upcoming tour with Nemhain. The gig was originally scheduled to take place tomorrow night in Streatham (along with Nemhain) but this was changed last week due to some question marks over the promoter and so Nemhain did a gig at The Underworld and SPiT LiKE THiS re-scheduled to The Gaff.

En route we popped into Waitrose to buy some rubber gloves (all will be revealed later).

With a surprising four bands on tonight I gather it was all a bit of a logistical nightmare with the soundchecks running way past doors opening. It did give Sam and I a chance to have a chat with Vikki, Cyndi and Giles from SPiT LiKE THiS. The bands did finally all get sorted and so it was onto the performances themselves.

FALLEN ANGEL
Despite the image these guys played a solid melodic rock set that had lot of passing nods to Bon Jovi (and no that is NOT a bad thing, stop sniggering Toni!). Good toe topping tunes were on offer although a lot of it was hidden behind an overly loud bass (which is something coming from me a bass player, see we don't always want to be playing on 11).




Check out Fallen Angel here: http://www.fallenangelrock.co.uk/


GUNNER SGT.
Gunner Sgt. were very good. Not often you see three piece bands these days. They delivered a set of great riffs, screaming vocals and great rhythms and it was actually quite hard to label them. Well worth checking out.





Check out Gunner Sgt here: http://www.myspace.com/gunnersgtband


FERAL
These guys were pretty good were and boosted by their rent-a-mob crowd that they brought with them. I have to say though that they aren't particularly original and I said to Sam at one point that this was the sort of metal/thrash that I stopped playing back in 1987. It's not bad though, it has its place and was certainly a nice reminder for me of days gone by (although I am sure they'll find that pretty insulting LOL). If you like METAL you will like Feral.





Check our Feral here: http://www.myspace.com/musicferal

And last but certainly not least..............


SPiT LiKE THiS
I love this band, they are what rock n roll is all about, F-U-N!!!!! Due to the change of date and venue the turnout was very disappointing but I was determined to enjoy it as though there were thousands of people there. Thankfully the Feral rent a mob did seem to enjoy the antics of Lord Zion and co. The set was shorter than normal which was a shame but it totally rocked as usual. Towards the end I tossed a rubber glove at Cyndi and shouted, "tell us about the airport" at which point Lord Zion proceeded to tell the crowd about Cyndi being searched at the airport recently (altough it wasn't a full body job but I though the glove would be funny).






The glove:



SPiT LiKE THiS:


See all the photos here: 080409SPiTLiKETHiSTheGaff

Check out SPiT LiKE THiS here: http://www.myspace.com/spitlikethisuniverse
http://spitlikethis.com/


On the way home there was a massive fan blowing air onto the tube platform so Sam and I decided to have some fun:

Wrestlemania 25 (and curry)

Having had to do the Hollywood Doll rehearsal and audition last night there had been no opportunity to watch the wrestling spectacular that is Wrestlemania. Toni picked me up from work and we went to Asda to get bits to make curry. Toni made a gorgeous curry and she, Sam and I all settled down to watch the 25th Wrestlemania extravaganza. Yes I know it's sad but it is such a great way to detach from reality.
Curry was lovely, matches were spectacular with some real surprise results. Great night in (and Toni fell asleep in my arms on the sofa)!

Hollywood Doll now have a singer to work with

No rest for the wicked! Had about 30 minutes when I got home to grab something to eat and get ready to head to Southend to have a Hollywood Doll rehearsal and audition a singer.

Sam and Toni came along too as they wanted to (with Sam beginning his roadie training). We were a bit late but Charlie was even later and we hadn't finished setting up when Chris, the singer, turned up half an hour early so instead of practicing in advance we went straight into auditioning him.

He did pretty well, I think nerves (and excitement) got the better of him at times but we all agreed that there was enough raw talent there for us to agree for him to come and rehearse with us again and see how things go from there.

So it is now official, Hollywood Doll have a singer to work with!

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

EIHL Play Offs day 2

After checking out of the hotel and loading up the car we all headed off to the cafe for another lovely big fried breakfast to kick start our day. Got to the rink and met up with Scott Neil for a catch up on all the politics and plans for the future (and NO I am not sharing them on here!) and settled down to watch the games.

England U19s 4 Scotland U19s 2
This was an entertaining game and lovely to see the stars of the future in action. Unlike previous years the Scotland U19s have improved greatly and it was nice to see them keep the game very close.




See all the pics here:
050409EnglandVScotlandU19s#


Nottingham Under 10s Exhibition Game
There is something incredibly endearing about watching a bunch of kids between 6 and 9 playing hockey in a pad that dwarfs them and with gear that makes them look comical (especially the netminders). It was fun to watch these kids just out there having fun playing hockey.




See all the pics here: 050409NottinghamUnder10sExhibitionGame


Sheffield Steelers 2 Nottingham Panthers 0
Well this game was not as expected! Sheffield Steelers played a hard attacking and close defensive game just as they had yesterday but for some reason Nottingham Panthers completely changed their tactics and played a dump and chase game that left them on the back foot most of the time. To be fair, Jody Lehman (Steelers netminder) was on fire but there were times that no matter how hard they tried Nottingham just couldn't buy a goal! Although it was a disappointing result the best team won and the Steelers claimed their second title this season and became League and Play Off Champions.








See all the pics here: 050409SheffieldSteelersVNottinghamPanthersEIHLPlayOffFinal#


Following the game we scooted off to Wetherspoons to have a meal before driving back to SWF. Fun and games reigned with confusion over the order and then refunds and stuff but we ended up having a nice curry and then headed back for a good night of sleep! It was a fantastic weekend, very nice to get away and spend time together and also took Toni's mind off of her divorce court case on Monday.

EIHL Play Offs day 1

Toni, Sam and I scooted off into Nottingham and found a nice cafe to have a full fried breakfast to set us up for the day. I tried calling Scott a few times but failed to get hold of him. Called Ian Coyle who said that Scott was alseep and they he would try and wake him. Popped into Ice Nine, an old haunt for jewellery and incense sticks and Toni bought a couple of rings (and the I bought her another one to replace one that had cracked).

We then headed down the hill to the NIC for the Elite Ice Hockey League play offs. Toni picked up her press pass and tickets but Sam and I were still lacking any abilit to enter. Scott was still incommunicado and it was now only one hour until face off and still no tickets. I put in another desperate call to Ian Coyle and he told me to call Scott's wife, Gill, who informed that I had 2 tickets reserved in the name of Willie as he couldn't make it. Typical Scott, everything gets sorted at the last minute but I was VERY happy to have tickets in hand:


Toni and I:


Sam and Toni (I have no idea why Sam is looking like that):


We then headed into the main rink and met up with Shaggy.

What a great banner:


Shaggy and Sam:


Of course the most important thing today was the hockey.

Sheffield Steelers 5 Cardiff Devils 2
Unfortunately this wasn't a great game to watch. The Sheffield Steelers were very clinical and kept driving forwards but the Devils just seemed to lack any spark and even though they did get the game to 2 - 2 at one point they never really seemed dangerous enough to pull off the upset. Fair play to Sheffield, they carved through the Cardiff defence well, they keep tight in their own defensive end and were dangerous going forward. Although I am no fan of the Steelers and would rather have seen the Devils go through I can do nothing but admit that the Steelers thoroughly deserved to win.

Face off:


Fisticuffs on Frederick Street!



Caps fans with protest banners:


Vipers protest:


See all the pictures here: 040409Steelers5Devils2EIHLPlayOffSemiFinal#

So the Steelers are through to the final tomorrow. Who will they face?........read on

Coventry Blaze 2 Nottingham Panthers 6
Despite the scoreline this game was far more fun to watch than the Steelers v Devils one as both teams started out pretty evenly matched. Even when the scoreline was 1 - 3 to the Panthers there was a good chance that Coventry could pull back and close the gap. As it turned out this didn't happen and the Panthers did a very good job of taking the Blaze apart. Panthers power play was very good and thanks to Blaze penalties they were able to capitalise.






During the game the Newcastle Vipers fans started a 5 minute chant of "SIX TEAM LEAGUE, YOU'RE HAVING A LAUGH" which was great to hear. It did continue again later on with Manchester Phoenix and Belfast Giants fans joining in too. At this point there seemed to be more music and it was played louder, I wonder why LMFAO

See all the photos here: 040409Blaze2Panthers6EIHLPlayOffSemiFinal#

So the final tomorrow should be a real corker with arch rivals Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers battling for the honour of being the 08/09 Play Off Champions.

Following the games and a brief chat with Doug Christiansen, Edinburgh Capitals Director Of Hockey, Toni, Sam, Shaggy and I went to The Corner House to enjoy a lovely TGI Friday meal of Jack Daniels ribs.

Toni and I:


Shaggy:

Sam:

Morning campers!

We woke up at around 07:45 today and had a nice cup of tea (and Sam ate his cold pizza). I sent my first text to Scott Neil in an attempt to try and establish contact with him in the hope that he can get us tickets today. If he can't he is in BIG trouble!

As we opened the window we saw an amazing sight, there was a guy standing on the ground level cleaning a fourth floor window with an amazingly water fed brush thing:



Right, off to get ready now and then to have breakfast and chase up these tickets! More to follow!

Play off fever!

Toni and Sam picked me up from work today and we started a 3.5 hour drive to Nottingham to go to the EIHL ice hockey Play Off weekend at the National Ice Centre. Strangely Sam opted out at stopping at Cotgrave to go and see his biological necessity (I wonder why LMFAO).

As we whizzed round the windy roads between melting Melton Mowbrey (food capital of the UK apparently)and Nottingham we saw lots of "THINK BIKE" signs. I started chanting "Bike, bike, bike, bike, bike....etc" and then suddenly one appeared. How about that for magic. At the next sign Sam and I started the chant up again and my "bike bike bike" was starting to sound more like a chicken "puck puck puck" and then a car appeared at which point I went "puck puck puck puck CAR" moving completely into chicken mode at which point Toni and Sam were in hysterics.

We checked in at The Jurys Inn and then went for a wander around town. It brought back quite a few memories for Sam and I (yes some of them were good).

As we were hungry we drifted off to what is usually old faithful, Pizza Hut, having decided against a Chinese. BIG mistake!

Service was dire! We had to wait at the door for about 5 minutes while they decided which table to clear before we could be seated. The fact that half the restaurant was empty was, apparently, irrelevant. Then it took a good 15 minutes before any waiter appeared to take our order. We were all hungry after our journey and none of us were impressed. Sam was talking about getting up and going to the Chinese.

We ordered food, including side salads. Toni was delighted - they have changed the menu to include loads more things she can eat - including Greek salad. Sam, of course, was disgusted as his favourites appeared to have been struck off.

Food took an hour to arrive in the end and to cap it off it was only half the order and some of it not properly cooked, so back to the kitchen it was sent with much grumbling and growling. Eventually though, the manager appeared and they replaced the entire order, including the pizza which Sam had already eaten. Nice gesture but as Sam was stuffed already he ended up putting a slice in his trouser pocket to make it look like he'd made an effort to eat it before asking for a box to take the rest away in. The food wasn't that great and the only plus side was that they knocked £10 off the bill so the three of us had almost 2 meals for £15.

Had a quick browse around town after eating (and I wish it hadn't been so open as the whole place was teeming with fashion faux pas but there was no way I could have taken any pics without being spotted).

Back to the hotel and I logged on to read what was happening in the run up to the games tomorrow. I am wondering if Sam and I will actually get into the arena tomorrow as Scott Neil, Edinburgh Capitals GM, had promised to sort us out tickets but he has been incommunicado since 16:30 when he decided to release a statement that was basically a pot shot across the bows of the league directors revealing they are all a bunch of lies and cheats! Fingers crossed!

Happy Birthday Hazel!

Happy Birthday Hazel

Hope you have a great day although I am pretty sure that is a given with sun and surf!