Wednesday 25 February 2009

Someone please comment!



^^^^From bbc.co.uk archive.

May I draw your attention to a superbly written blog - http://theturkblog.wordpress.com which contains some wonderful poetry, all by the same guy, Nick Turk. Without reading his blog I would not have discovered the huge crime against literature - Cheryl Cole - talentless chav who beat up a toilet attendant - is to be paid £5m to write a fiction book.



:O



What is the world coming to?

Please, if this book gets released, do not buy it. Spare a thought for the real writers out there with real talent who struggle to earn a crust. Come on. Which book would you rather read? That written by someone who has studied the art of writing a story and can do it well, or the opposite, who pays a ghostwriter to do it for them, such as Jordan, Billie Piper et al...Basically, if you have a brain, you will know not to purchase this book.

Anyway...

Just to keep readers updated, I have started working for Oxjam, I have been speaking to people at work, getting the word out about it, and I have put up a poster and some leaflets at my place of work. If this sounds interesting, find out more here.

I have just 4 sessions left until I will have completed my PTLLS course! Yaaaay!

I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I have been on a diet and have been working my butt off at the gym since January and have lost 9 lbs. I would like to lose 26 more by my 23rd birthday on the 6th May.

Okay, lots of personal information there I know but maybe it will encourage someone to post a comment, maybe about their own struggle with their weight.

I want this blog to be as interactive as possible, so pleeeeeease comment. If you disagree with what I say, yes, I still want you to comment. I'm all for healthy, adult debate.

I will reply, I promise!

Sunday 22 February 2009

Some amazing, uplifting, talented people!



^^^Taken from www.myspace.com/thekingblues

On the London Underground you will find some amazing musicians.

One I saw recently is a man called Jean Claude Madhero. Listen to one of his beautiful pieces of music here.

I like him because he has a marvellously eccentric taste in clothes and his music is very uplifting.

As you may already know, I like poetry, but it's a dying art. There are very few poets today that manage to their work heard or read by a lot of people. One of the few is the incredibly talented Scroobius Pip. A genuinely gifted poet, he performs regularly on Radio 1 on the "Spoken Word Surgery". His work is often backed by Dan le Sac, who puts some beats and tunes to it.

Have a look at the video for his most famous piece, "Thou Shalt Always Kill". I find this an hilarious social commentary as well as an excellent collection of verses.

Also, have a listen to another poem by him which I feel is just as good called Letter From God

The fact I and lots of other people know about him is thanks to Radio One who are brilliant at showcasing new, original talent. Here's another gem

Sunday 15 February 2009

Couple of amazing songs




Headless Heroes' album Silence of Love is well worth listening to. Here is a track from the album called "The North Wind Blew South". It evokes thoughts of folk music of the 1960s and 1970s and is simply beautiful.

Here

I wonder if there is anyone out there who has not heard "Paper Planes" by a very talented young lady calling herself M.I.A. yet? It has most notably been featured on the soundtrack to recent box office smash "Slumdog Millionaire".


The song itself is so good on so many levels. It's actually an ironic look at immigration which I think is very clever but the sound is amazing. It was pointed out to me that it is a sample of The Clash's "Straight to Hell" which means it's not totally original but from what I've looked up, a lot of Strummer and Jones fans are actually pleased that their forgotten treasure is attracting listeners again.

Paper Planes

Seriously though, M.I.A. is one amazing woman. Check it out

Thursday 5 February 2009

Just a thought

If the music tastes of the children are today are significantly influenced by X-Factor, American Idol et al, where does that leave the world of tomorrow?

Sunday 1 February 2009

Indie


Oh I do love that website!

I've just been to my stepdad's allotment which was great fun! I did a lot of digging.

Did anyone in the UK watch "Your country needs you" last night?

I usually don't bother with Eurovision or X Factor or any other waste of time television programmes but my mother was watching it so didn't have a choice.

Did anyone think the wrong person won? Neither the twins or Jade had any talent in my honest opinion. It should have been Mark that won it. It was crystal clear to me. The public really shouldn't get have a say in who gets picked for Eurovision because they were dumb enough to put Alexandra Burke's brutal murder of Hallelujah at Christmas number one.

Yes, Eurovision and the music charts are all a farce, I am well aware but still, if the country is being represented at something it should be by someone who is actually talented.

As well as ranting on about the above, I want to use this post to start talking about Indie

Basically I feel that we as music lovers should be doing more to support independent record labels because they allow their artists much more freedom and don't act merely in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

What are your thoughts on this?

I shall talk more about it in future posts.