MY FESTIVAL VIRGINITY

I have never been to a music festival before. Back in the day all of my friends used to regularly go to Reading Festival but I would always balk at the cost of a ticket. These days all of my friends go to Download Festival every year. I have always wanted to go, but again, tend to balk at the idea of paying so much for a ticket. My argument was always that I would rather pay money to go to individual shows of bands that I really want to see, rather than paying a shed load of cash to see some bands that I want to see and a bunch that I don't care for. Still, I would really love to have that festival experience. At least once.

Back in April, on my birthday, I got wicked drunk with my best friend and she managed to convince Drunk Martin that he should by a ticket for Download. To be fair, it really didn't take much convincing. The conversation kinda went like this... Her: "You should come to Download with us!" Me: "Um, okay. Fuck yeah! Let's do it!" and I bought a ticket then and there. Drunk Martin is easily swayed.

I woke up the next day with a killer hangover, a hazy memory of said ticket purchase and £200 less in my bank account. Oh Drunk Martin, what do you do to me?!?

So next week my festival virginity is going to be ripped away from me in brutal fashion. 4 nights at one of the biggest, if not THE biggest metal festival in Europe. Before buying the ticket I didn't even check to see if there was any bands playing that I even wanted to see. It turns out that the line up is pretty freakin' sweet!

I am not the biggest metal fan in the world so a lot of the bands that are playing I have heard of but never actually listened to.

Saturday night is going to be epic! Alice In Chains followed by Motorhead followed by Queens of the Stone Age followed by IRON FUCKING MAIDEN... What a night! (Although I am bummed because Jimmy Eat World are playing at the same time as Queens of the Stone Age and as much as I would love to see Jimmy Eat World I will probably be too lazy to move having just seen Alice In Chains and Motorhead on the same stage, because I'd then have to get BACK there after Jimmy for Maiden and that sounds like a shit ton of effort and I'll probably be too wasted to know where the fuck I am anyways. Ho hum.)

On Sunday (If I am still alive) I am looking forward to The Gaslight Anthem and then motherfucking Rammstein. To be honest, I'm kinda gutted that Rammstein's set overlaps with Limp Bizkit's. I'd love to see Bizkit purely for ironic nostalgia value. KEEP ROLLIN' ROLLIN' ROLLIN' ROLLIN', WHUT? For equal nostalgia value I am also looking forward to seeing Papa Roach whom I have not heard fuck all from since Infest came out in 2000 (2000!). Althoughhhh Papa Roach are playing at the same time as Dragonforce. What ya gonna do?!?

Man, trying to plan what bands to see and when is a freakin' nightmare! No wonder I have avoided festivals for so long, this is giving me a headache.

The band I am most looking forward to seeing? The Gaslight Anthem? Nah. Motorhead? Nope. Maiden? No. Rammstein? Hell no... Gogol Bordello! HELLS YES! Crazy gypsy punk FTW!

I am also looking forward to seeing my buddy Jay's band, Subservience. They're playing a set on Thursday night. He is shitting himself nervous as this will be the biggest gig his band have ever played. I am really happy for him that he has got an opportunity on such a big stage and I know that he is going to fucking kill it!

Fuck, I am so excited!

WORDS TO LIVE BY [#39]

source: some random tumblr

EVERYTHING HAPPENS HERE AND ALL AT ONCE

© PJT Photo Services

I was in Birmingham this past weekend. The above photo is a water feature that is situated in the centre of the city. It is a granite wall with a poem inscribed on it. You can't really tell from the photo, but it has a constant stream of water running down the face of it. It's pretty awesome. The poem is by Polarbear and Simon Turner. I had never heard of Simon Turner before but I am a big fan of Polarbear (If you've never heard him check this out. Amazing). The line 'Everything Happens Here And All At Once' really caught my attention and my immediate thought upon reading it was "I'm definitely writing a blog post with that as the title". And here we are.

It was my first time in Birmingham and my first impression was God damn they love their statues! Every street corner has some kind of statue/sculpture/water feature. Half of them had no explanation of it what is was for or who made it or why. Seemingly just "An empty space! Throw up another one!" Apparently no one cares why.

My second impression upon walking around the vast city centre was that I could have been in any city in the country. The big corporate brands have really got their claws in up there. Alarmingly I could probably count the number of independent shops/bars on both hands. It wasn't all bad as I did notice was that there is a lot of theatres dotted around the city, which is pretty cool. They also have one of the oldest independent cinemas in the country, so the big corporate brands have not taken over entirely. Not yet. I guess I take living in Brighton for granted. Thankfully, here, the ratio of corporate to independent is a pretty even split.

The reason for my trip to Birmingham was to visit some uni friends. We try to meet up several times a year, usually around someone's birthday, usually in a different part of the country each time. This time it was for Nathan's birthday. Not all of our friends could make the trip so there was some faces missing, which is a shame, but such is life. I don't actually remember the last time we all managed to converge in the same place at the same time. In fact, I don't think we ever have since finishing uni. It has been two years since we crossed that finish line. On one hand it feels like a lifetime ago, and on the other hand it feels like very little time has passed at all.

The past two years since moving to Brighton have been eventful, to say the least. I have lived in four different places, with five different people. I have worked three different jobs. I have met many awesome people and made some great friends. I have also had to say goodbye to others. I have made two short films and published the first issue of my zine. I haven't done nearly as much writing as I should have and I have had more hangovers than I could possibly count.

I can feel another move on the horizon. I can feel something calling me. I don't know what it is, or where exactly the call is coming from but it is constant and almost deafening. In January I almost left Brighton for the wrong reasons. It is different now. I am not trying to run away from anything. This time it feels more like I am running towards something. I just wish I knew what that something was. Visiting other cities in the UK only stands to reaffirm the fact that I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in this country but Brighton (I love this town!), so maybe that call is not coming from this fair land. Maybe I need to hop on a plane and see where I end up.

EXPLORING THE INFINITE ABYSS

This post was originally going to be about Zach Braff's movie Garden State. I watched it recently for the first time in a couple of years and it blew my mind. Blew. My. Mind. Firstly, because I realised that it came out nine years ago. NINE YEARS AGO! I was seventeen when I first saw that movie. Holy flying time, Batman! Secondly, the characters in the film are all twenty six, the age that I am now. That really fucked with my mind. I fell in love with these characters when I was seventeen and now I am the same age as them. The next time I watch the movie I will probably be older than them. Such a weird feeling.

So, yeah, that's what this post was originally going to be about. However, I have decided instead to weigh in with my opinion on the hoo-ha surrounding Zach Braff turning to Kickstarter in order to help fund his next movie, Wish I Was Here. I may be a little late to the party as the internet has been bitterly debating the subject for several weeks now, but fuck you internet, this is my blog and I'll do what I want.

For those unaware, a brief recap of events: Zach Braff (of Scrubs fame) directed a little movie called Garden State nine years ago (NINE YEARS AGO!), everybody loved the shit out of it but he hasn't made another movie since. He has attributed his lack of filmmaking to being unable to attain funding without signing away his creative control. Inspired by the overwhelming success of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign, Braff decided to go the Kickstarter route himself in order to help raise (some of) the money needed in order to make the film he wants to make without signing away his creative control to the "money guys".

First of all, I must point out that I am a huge fan of Kickstarter. I have kick started the shit out of a number of projects. Some of which have come to fruition, some are yet to and some may never see the light of day at all. Such is the gamble you take when backing projects on Kickstarter.

The Wish I Was Here Kickstarter campaign has caused a great deal of controversy and has split opinion right down the middle. On one side there are those that disagree with "celebrities" using Kickstarter. Their argument being that Kickstarter was designed for the "little guy", the "working man", the independent artists and inventors that would otherwise have no other means to raise funds for their art project/invention/whatever. Zach Braff is part of the establishment: Lead actor of a hugely successful sitcom and a celebrated indie filmmaker. He already has plenty of connections within the film industry and has openly stated that he could get funding for his film should he be willing to sign away the final cut. In essence, the main gripe seems to be that Zach Braff is a celebrity, therefore he must be a multimillionare, therefore should fund his own freakin' film and by "panhandling" on Kickstarter he is exploiting his fans and taking away backers from smaller projects that will struggle to compete with such high profile competition. (sources: TV comedy writer Ken Levine and Guardian columnist Lisa Marks)

My view, along with that of 37,180 others (the current amount of WIWH backers at the time of writing), is that we don't care if Zach Braff is a celebrity, we don't care if he is a multimillionaire, we don't care if Scrubs ran for about four seasons too many and just wasn't that funny any more, we loved Garden State and we're fucking psyched to be a part of Zach's next movie. We're part of it. We're in. We're along for the ride. Which will make watching the film when it comes out that much fucking sweeter. Maybe I have been drinking the Zach Braff coolaid, maybe I have been brainwashed by his effervescent personality. Maybe, maybe not.

I could have sat back, not bothered with backing the project and just torrented that shit from Pirate Bay when it is inevitably leaked online. But no, I backed the project, and providing it leaves me with the warm and fuzzies after seeing it, I will then pay good money to own a copy of the DVD. (I will then watch it again in nine years and have my mind blown that I am the same age as the characters. Oh, life. You evil genius.)

In regards to the view that WIWH will take money away from other projects, that is complete and utter bullshit. Kickstarter themselves have recently reported that the Zach Braff and Veronica Mars projects have brought "tens of thousands" of new people to the website. 63% of their backers had never backed a project before, and many have gone on to back other projects. Kickstarter estimates that those two projects alone have brought $400,000 to other projects. If those figures are correct then it goes to show that these high profile projects not only don't detract from the "little guys" but help raise awareness for them. (source: Film School Rejects)

The only thing I will suggest in regards to Kickstarter is to avoid it all costs when you are drinking. The money doesn't go out straight away and is only taken once the project has finished AND has reached it's full target. Too many times now I have received e-mails along the lines of "Such and so project has been successfully funded and X amount will now be debited from your account" and I'm like... "Say whaaaaaaaat?!?"

Drunk Kickstarting, like drunk eBaying except you only find out like a month later. Fuck.

NB: I was 100% sober when I backed Wish I Was Here and I regret nothing.    

I WANT TO BELIEVE

I have recently begun watching The X-Files. A show I have been meaning to watch for a long time now. I always put it off due to the fact that nine seasons and two movies is somewhat of a lengthy commitment, and an endeavour one has to be fully dedicated to in order to appreciate. My fellow blogger, pen pal and all round lovely person Hanna over at Excelsior Lady is a huge fan of the show and her love for it is largely what spurred me on to make the commitment.

I never followed the show when it was on television. Not least because it started twenty years ago and I was only six years old. And of all the shows that started in 1993, to a six year old Power Rangers > X-Files (Hell, even some days as a twenty six year old Power Rangers > X-Files. Amiright?). My father had several of the early seasons on VHS and I remember picking out video tapes at random and watching sporadic episodes. Clearly I wasn't as OCD about chronology as a child as I am now. I have very vague memories of episodes that I watched during that time and I am looking forward to being able to place them when I come across those episodes now.

So far I am two episodes shy of finishing season one. To be perfectly honest, I have been slightly disappointed so far. Maybe disappointed is the wrong word, more surprised perhaps. Season one hasn't really had much of a story arc. The episodes that deal with UFOs and extraterrestrials have been excellent but there is a lot of 'baddie of the week' filler. Don't get me wrong, I love shows that have a baddie of the week structure (Hello Power Rangers!) but I was expecting the episodes to connect with each other a little more than they have done thus far. Although I fully expect this to happen as the seasons progress.

Also, Cigarette Smoking Man has only appeared in like two episodes so far! And his cigarette to dialogue ratio, frankly, is cancer inducing.

Also, God damn it I want Mulder and Scully to get together already!

Along with the commitment of nine seasons and two movies, the other thing that had been putting me off watching The X-Files was David Duchovny. As you're probably aware I am a HUGE fan of Californication. Favourite. Show. Ever. Hank Moody is my hero. Seeing Duchovny play anyone other than Moody was always going to be weird for me. After 22 episodes I think I have managed to distance Fox Mulder from David Duchovny from Hank Moody. However there is still a little part of my that waits for Mulder to pull out a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of whiskey and seriously, Hank would have nailed Scully in episode one! Motherfuckerrrrrrrrr!

Interesting Californication/X-Files Fact: Callum Keith Rennie (Who played Lou Ashby is Californication), Jason Beghe (Who plays Richard Bates in Californication) and Maggie Wheeler (Who played Ophelia in Californication [Although is more well known as Janice from Friends]) all guest star in episodes of The X-Files Season One.

EDIT: Hanna wrote me an X-Files guide which literally just arrived in the post. It is amazing and has made me want to watch every episode RIGHT NOW! And Hanna, yes! That is why I love it, too.

WORDS TO LIVE BY [#38]

soucre: Decadent Lifestyle

DARLING, SWEET LOVER, WON'T YOU HELP ME TO RECOVER

Photograph by Existation

Frank Turner's new album, Tape Deck Heart, came out today. I pre-ordered that shit, so much to my delight, my copy landed on my doormat on Friday. I played it pretty much non-stop over the weekend and the songs have been swimming around my head all day at work.

It is an amazing album. A classic heartbreak record. Not just romantic heartbreak, but heartbreak in all forms. It's about lost love, lost friends, growing up and letting go. It's a record about change. All things that I relate to heavily, as letting go of the past is something I have always sucked at. Growing up is something that I am definitely sucking at right now. And as for romantic heartbreak, it likes to continually sucker punch me just as I think that my cold dead heart is beginning to show signs of life.

It's an album that has made me think about that one person that I probably should have stopped thinking about by now. It has made me reflect on things that I thought I was done reflecting on. Scabs will eventually heal, even if you do keep picking at them, but the scars will be there forever.

Tape Deck Heart has sucker punched me, but in the best possible way. That is the sign of a good song writer, right? One who can drag you through the mire with them, pull you out of the other side, and leave you with a sense of hope. Because we all need a little hope.