Being alone comes in many forms I find. Being alone when you're in a group of friends is by the far the worst I feel. Not because your friends are excluding you in anyway but because your mind just cannot cope. It's easy to get lost in a crowed and I think this is the loneliest place to be. Surrounded by friends but still down in the dumps wishing you could be somewhere else. My friends make me happy, very happy, but still that familiar sense of depression creeps in and I need to be alone to get my head around it. But being alone is so lonely I find myself wishing myself to be around friends even though I know as soon as I am I will go back to the first state. It's a very complex situation. I'm usually a very optimistic person which is why I think being sad hits me so hard. But this time things are different. "Goodbye" means being alone but being together again is something to strive to, something that gives me passion and direction. It's hard to believe my first academic year is over but I long for it to go to quicker so I can be in the arms of the girl I love. But when I look back in years to come I will regret wishing it to go faster. These are years of my life and everyday is a step closer to the next big adventure.
Sorry for the fragmented entry. It's been a while and I wanted to write something but words and thoughts don't always come in nifty little sentences. This entry is pure thought on paper.
peace, love and respect.
-- Tom RDD
Tuesday 28 April 2009
Friday 17 April 2009
You'll Never Take Us Alive...
First things first, the Good To Go tour was AWESOME! Really good show and some very interesting people and it was the first time I met a gay punk so it was a learning experience to say the least.
Firstly must say that the first band I saw (after missing the opening act. oops!) Failsafe were pretty damn good. I think I've seen them support some one before but for the life of me I can't remember who. They had a really good energy and got the crowed going which is rare these days to get a crowed to do anything before the main acts take to the stage. So good show from them. Now I had never seen MC Lars before. I had heard a few of his tracks on the old myspace and seen a few videos but hadn't really paid that much attention. To put it simply he was fucking cool! No other way I can describe it. Spoke to him on the merch stand and he seemed to be a real genuine kinda guy who was a little surprised at how many people were at the show (about 500 I believe). Songs were really catchy and pretty funny (below is a video of one his songs check it out). I enjoyed his set so much one of the first things I did this morning was to download some of his songs off his website and have since been bopping along to them at home! And what makes it all the better is that he did his entire set in an Aquabats suit! That's entertainment!
And finally to the headline band, The Aquabats. Nothing makes me happier in the whole world of live music than seeing the most super rad lycra wearing crime fighting band on the planet take to the stage. I've now seen them three times and each time I've seen them they make the shows so fun and generally entertaining. God I love it. Being a drama student I really like a band who can make their shows ridiculous and funny. It's just something that makes me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy. Awesome set by the superheroes in blue. Bopped along and rocked out and they even did a rap battle with MC Lars (Watching an MC Lars Vs. MC Bat Commander rap battle is one of the greatest moments in live music history) and it was the first time I've been told the story of Midget Pirates at a show before (Aquabats fans will understand!)
So the rock kids can go watch AC/DC. The ravers can go see their Prodigy but hell I would choose The Aquabats over any band on the planet to go and see for the sheer brilliance of their shows and the hilarity that ensues. Top show. Only thing that could have made it better would be one or two old school Aquabeats but you can't have everything. Oh and I almost got stranded in London but managed not to. But that's another story...
Peace, love and respect. as always.
-- Tom RDD
Firstly must say that the first band I saw (after missing the opening act. oops!) Failsafe were pretty damn good. I think I've seen them support some one before but for the life of me I can't remember who. They had a really good energy and got the crowed going which is rare these days to get a crowed to do anything before the main acts take to the stage. So good show from them. Now I had never seen MC Lars before. I had heard a few of his tracks on the old myspace and seen a few videos but hadn't really paid that much attention. To put it simply he was fucking cool! No other way I can describe it. Spoke to him on the merch stand and he seemed to be a real genuine kinda guy who was a little surprised at how many people were at the show (about 500 I believe). Songs were really catchy and pretty funny (below is a video of one his songs check it out). I enjoyed his set so much one of the first things I did this morning was to download some of his songs off his website and have since been bopping along to them at home! And what makes it all the better is that he did his entire set in an Aquabats suit! That's entertainment!
And finally to the headline band, The Aquabats. Nothing makes me happier in the whole world of live music than seeing the most super rad lycra wearing crime fighting band on the planet take to the stage. I've now seen them three times and each time I've seen them they make the shows so fun and generally entertaining. God I love it. Being a drama student I really like a band who can make their shows ridiculous and funny. It's just something that makes me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy. Awesome set by the superheroes in blue. Bopped along and rocked out and they even did a rap battle with MC Lars (Watching an MC Lars Vs. MC Bat Commander rap battle is one of the greatest moments in live music history) and it was the first time I've been told the story of Midget Pirates at a show before (Aquabats fans will understand!)
So the rock kids can go watch AC/DC. The ravers can go see their Prodigy but hell I would choose The Aquabats over any band on the planet to go and see for the sheer brilliance of their shows and the hilarity that ensues. Top show. Only thing that could have made it better would be one or two old school Aquabeats but you can't have everything. Oh and I almost got stranded in London but managed not to. But that's another story...
Peace, love and respect. as always.
-- Tom RDD
Tuesday 14 April 2009
Good 2 Go!
This week has been a pretty dull week for me so far, I have literally done nothing but surf youtube and watched countless amounts of videos and I'm generally not doing anything productive. Even though I have a fair amount of work I could be getting on with I still choose youtube every single time. However, all this will change on Thursday when I go and see one of the most Super Rad bands on the planet! That's right I'm going to see The Aquabats! "who?" I hear you ask. This is who:
(WARNING: this may be too super awesome for some people to handle)
(WARNING: this may be too super awesome for some people to handle)
Friday 10 April 2009
the truth about the youth
Yesterday (Thursday the 9th of April) me and the missed ventured into, what I think, is the greatest city in the UK, Brighton. I’ve been to Brighton more times than I can count and went through a phase of going there everyday in the summer when I was 15/16. I’ve always thought of Brighton as a individual town where the people, like the shops, are different to anywhere in the world. Until recently anyway.
Now first I must say when I was younger I did my fair share of conforming like we all did. I did things and wore clothing to be “cool”. I took part in the skater phase people went through and I wore baggy jeans and skate shoes, which in all honesty I still do. So you get the picture, I was young once and tried my best to fit in with my friends and tried to be “cool” just like them. However, when I was about 14 I found my own way. My friends were all into their metal and rock but around this age I discovered or rather got more interested in punk rock and ska. I had of course heard The Specials and Madness in my day and I had heard the usual suspects likes Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger and The Suicide Machines thanks to Tony Hawks legendary skating game, but it was this age I found a genre of music and a life style which I loved and still do. Of course I was not the only kid into that scene at my school. The more popular kids had already branded themselves as “ska kids” and looked down on me for being a bit too eager to get more involved. But still I didn’t look for their approval because I had my own friends and my own thing going on so impressing them wasn’t really on my agenda. Anyway, you get the point I was a teenager who conformed then found his way into something else and started changing the way I dressed, the way I acted and the way I viewed the world.
It was about this time of all these changes I started venturing into Brighton. Back then it seemed a weird and wonderful place, sort of an Alice in Wonderland kinda thing, everyone was different. There were hardly any “chavs” (remember this was about 2003/2004) and there was a lot more colour and everything seemed bigger and better. Back then it seemed everyone looked and dressed differently. People were different, the fashion was different (as I guess you can say ska was the “in” thing back then), and the music was different. So key thing here.
Old Brighton = Different and exciting
Present day Brighton = EVERYONE IS A CLONE!!!
As I’ve said I’ve done my share of conforming and going with the crowd but MY GOD has it gotten worse! All the kids look the same! Every one of them is a walking Top Shop advert! It’s ridiculous! For instance on the train going to Brighton three kids (all in the same group), no older than 12, were all wearing the same damn thing! All had skinny blue jeans, plimsoll type shoes, a cardigan and a stupid fringe to match the typical “I’m so fucking indie” But it’s not just the clothes it’s the whole damn attitude. This whole “We’re so individual and special and no one dresses like we do” thing that they have going on annoys the hell out of me. All the guys clothes are either from Top Man or H&M and the girls are exactly the same, just Top Shop fashion victims, where is the individualism in that? I wouldn’t mind so much if there was some variation but there just isn’t! This is truly the age of the teenage clone.
Peace, love and respect.
-- Tom RDD
Now first I must say when I was younger I did my fair share of conforming like we all did. I did things and wore clothing to be “cool”. I took part in the skater phase people went through and I wore baggy jeans and skate shoes, which in all honesty I still do. So you get the picture, I was young once and tried my best to fit in with my friends and tried to be “cool” just like them. However, when I was about 14 I found my own way. My friends were all into their metal and rock but around this age I discovered or rather got more interested in punk rock and ska. I had of course heard The Specials and Madness in my day and I had heard the usual suspects likes Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger and The Suicide Machines thanks to Tony Hawks legendary skating game, but it was this age I found a genre of music and a life style which I loved and still do. Of course I was not the only kid into that scene at my school. The more popular kids had already branded themselves as “ska kids” and looked down on me for being a bit too eager to get more involved. But still I didn’t look for their approval because I had my own friends and my own thing going on so impressing them wasn’t really on my agenda. Anyway, you get the point I was a teenager who conformed then found his way into something else and started changing the way I dressed, the way I acted and the way I viewed the world.
It was about this time of all these changes I started venturing into Brighton. Back then it seemed a weird and wonderful place, sort of an Alice in Wonderland kinda thing, everyone was different. There were hardly any “chavs” (remember this was about 2003/2004) and there was a lot more colour and everything seemed bigger and better. Back then it seemed everyone looked and dressed differently. People were different, the fashion was different (as I guess you can say ska was the “in” thing back then), and the music was different. So key thing here.
Old Brighton = Different and exciting
Present day Brighton = EVERYONE IS A CLONE!!!
As I’ve said I’ve done my share of conforming and going with the crowd but MY GOD has it gotten worse! All the kids look the same! Every one of them is a walking Top Shop advert! It’s ridiculous! For instance on the train going to Brighton three kids (all in the same group), no older than 12, were all wearing the same damn thing! All had skinny blue jeans, plimsoll type shoes, a cardigan and a stupid fringe to match the typical “I’m so fucking indie” But it’s not just the clothes it’s the whole damn attitude. This whole “We’re so individual and special and no one dresses like we do” thing that they have going on annoys the hell out of me. All the guys clothes are either from Top Man or H&M and the girls are exactly the same, just Top Shop fashion victims, where is the individualism in that? I wouldn’t mind so much if there was some variation but there just isn’t! This is truly the age of the teenage clone.
Peace, love and respect.
-- Tom RDD
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