Rediscovery...

I don't know about you (that's right YOU) but I love rediscovering music that I haven't listened to in months or taken the time to listen to properly in years! The band that i have recently "rediscovered" is the Mad Caddies. When I was a young(er) lad I loved the frantic ska on their albums but I never really had any interest in the tracks that took more of an influence from jazz, blues and Dixie and usually skipped over them. So when they released their most recent album "Keep It Going", which was full of Jazz and Dixie influenced tracks but also had some incredible reggae tracks, I loved the reggae on the CD but pretty much regarded it as one of the weakest albums that the Mad Caddies had made so I never really took the time to listen to it. The good news, for me anyway, is that after taking the time to discover early Jazz from the 19210's and 20's and becoming more aware of the offshoots of jazz (swing, trad, Dixie and "new Orleans jazz")I listened to the album in it's entirety (for the first time since 07) and I have fallen in love with the album (it is now firmly in my top 10) and the Mad Caddies all over again and I appreciate their music so much more. It's not just the one album either, after going through all of their albums there are some stand out tracks from all of them where the influence of jazz, rockabilly and Dixie can really be felt and instead of skipping those tracks I find myself transfixed with them. A pretty pointless post I know, nothing as political or pessimistic as my last few but apparently I am still "an angry young man" but at least I'd be a good play wright if I decided to revive British "Kitchen Sink" Theatre! Whilst I'm doing that have a listen and check out these videos of the Caddies!

Nick Griffin On "Question Time"

This has been a controversial move by the BBC to put Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP, on question time. Many are against this move obviously worried that Griffin will use this platform to incite racial hatred and spread his vile propaganda. I myself am in two minds about this. On the one hand I, as I made clear in another post, do not agree with freedom of speech when it conflicts with the human right to be free of discrimination and if that freedom is used to incite hatred. However I also think it is incredibly hypocritical to be "anti-fascist" and expect him to be silenced. If he is denied this it will only fuel the BNP's paranoia and give them a reason to bash those opposed to their political beliefs, however flawed, racist and ridiculous they seem. If like me you believe there is a fine line where freedom of speech ends and the right to be free of racial abuse begins you will be in a bit of a pickle as to what to think, but here are my thoughts: Personally I think he SHOULD be allowed to go on Question Time and with any luck Griffin will discuss his political views and people will see him for what he is. A racist, paranoid, holocaust denying fool who would have the nation blame all of it's problems on those who are from different ethnic backgrounds and those who do not fit his white supremacist view of an "Indigenous Briton". Denying him this will only fuel the propaganda that the BNP will release and with the protests at the BBC in London, they can already claim that those of us opposed to the BNP's beliefs are also opposed to free speech and claim, like they already have, that we are all thugs. We should promote education, information and discussion not censorship other wise we are no better than the BNP.

So that is my "two cents" as they call it.

Peace, love and respect. as always.

-- Tom RDD

Everybody's too be afraid to be different

I am writing this post in a vain attempt to express my despair at the current mediocrity of society. To me it certainly seems that a majority of people are happy to live there lives as generic faces barely able to create any sort of individuality about themselves and simply relying on popular culture to put them into a neat little category so they can live their lives as part of a group. Going for a night out is a perfect example of how almost everyone is generic and shows the lack of individuality in our culture. Almost everyone looks the same. Guys wearing TopMan shirts, Girls wearing top shop dresses and legging combos. Even the people who TRY and be different, like the "indie" and "emo" kids, fail as they just fall into the stereotype of skinny jeans and fringe hair cuts. I am not going to lie and pretend I am some sort of pioneer and that I am incredibly individual, I'm even using someones work to express how I feel and lets be honest that's not individuality, but I try to be as different as possible. Not because I think it's cool or because I see myself as a better person but because I can't be satisfied with being something I'm not and being just like everyone else. I try to discover new things on a weekly basis and in the last several months have discovered various forms of music I had previously never been interested in or not given much thought to (Jazz, Blues, Swing, Folk, Country, 50's Rock n' Roll, Surf, Ragtime, Dixie and the list goes on). I know this seems like a bit of a rant and one that is very much in vain as I highly doubt people will leave the safety net of popular culture for fear of being different, but I implore any reader to try and do something different everyday. Something you may not have done before, listened to before or even try wearing some new clothes that aren't "fashionable" but wear them because you think they look good and screw what anyone else thinks. Other people (and society) shouldn't dictate who we are and what we wear and we shouldn't be afraid to be different. Anyway enough rambling I think so I leave you with this video...

Zombieland FTW

Just a quick one for this evening. Went to see "Zombieland" last night and it was pretty epic. I strongly suggest you go and see it. Here's a sneak-peak if you havn't seen the trailer already!

"Many Places I Wont Go, Many Faces That I'll Never Know"

The above quote is from a song by a band called Once Over, who come from good old Brighton town, and it ties in with the conversation I had today in my lecture. The discussion of what life is and what is the meaning of life has plagued man kind for thousands of years and will hardly be answered in a three hour lecture that is supposed to be about Drama but somehow got turned into a philosophical debate. One thing popped up though that I would like to address.

Throughout our daily lives we see hundreds of people we will never properly meet and most likely never see again. And in a way I find this slightly depressing. Of course when I walk past someone in the street I don't know that person, they could be a complete asshole or they could be a really awesome person, but the thought that I will never see that person ever again makes me slightly, and strangely, sad. I may be alone in this but I could sit in a cafe for hours just watching people and making up stories about their lives. I made this comment in my class and was branded a stalker because of it (along with a communist but that’s another story). But still it's totally depressing how many people there are in the world and how few of them I will actually get to meet and it's also depressing how many interesting and exciting places there are and how few I will actually get to visit.

In other news The Moon was bombed to find water. Odd huh?

Peace, Love and Respect. As Always.

-- Tom RDD

Recently I have been listening to a lot of Jazz, Swing, Blues and Ragtime from the 1920's, 30's, 40's and beyond and I have to say I would love to go back in time for a day just to experience a real jazz club. Here's some videos to check out:











and a more recent video that I think I've posted before, but my god do I want to learn to dance like this...

First update on my new iphone

As I am sure my friend Adam will tell you I have recently joined the club of iPhone users and because of this I have been branded a "phone Nazi". So thankyou for that people of the world! this is my first post via phone so if there are any spelling mistakes, my bad.

So... What to write about? I really don't know and this is really just an excuse to use my new lease of Internet life. I really don't have a point to make today so I'll leave you with a simple message: Be excellent to each other (thanks Bill and Ted!)


Peace, love and respect. As always.


-- Tom RDD