Crossing the Dessert

Yes it is a gratuitous Simpson's quote, and frankly my readers i don't give a damn, if things work out stay tuned for the following also, The Unblinking eye and The Paddling of the Swollen ass...with Paddles!

I will cover recent event in a more day by day basis. As in i will talk about Monday and Tuesday. I also have a few Choice rant's to stick in there as well as certain things happened etc etc





Sociology of health and illness:

Curse my active imagination. I'm meant to be studying this Shizzle but i just keep making jumps of liberal centrist socialist logic that just piss me off sometimes. Like i'm all for good politics for society's and active imagination but when i'm supposed to be studying i'm just doing myself no favours. Well firstly i was just reading the preface and secondly i didn't have the seen questions with me so i had no clear aim as to what i should be reading. Big mistake.


So there i am trying to fit in at least some study in the library. Not good since the so called nursing area is actually dominated by certain branch's of the english department. Or some such subject. It also has the odd random and unimportant user's like medicine students... But this mean's a hell of a lot of very studious people all working away and various things and taking up a lot of space and socialising or traipsing up and down coming in and out of the glorious sunlight that seemed to distract everyone as if it was unheard of... How is a Nurse supposed to study in those conditions, hell i have qualms with make nurse's study academia anyway but when i'm someone with no routine and so disastrous over the past 2 years at studying it's just hellish to sit there and to have not prepared myself for what i should be doing.

Okay granted i started with a to do list for the day. This mainly featured things that were not to do with study that i had to get done, well 1 thing i had to get done. Now sociology seen questions were top of the list. The next day they were still the top of the list. I've "had" them for weeks now, i could have researched all 5 choice's backwards at this stage but placement and laziness and the other things i had to do including one i didn't submit means i'm behind. That and i have several other subjects to get my head around at some stage as well over the next 4 weeks. Wonderbar.....


Stonecutter meeting:

To put myself forward in the whole hush hush election process i had to have a talk with Percy the head of the society. Slightly daunting even he is a nice person. So i prepared a list of what i did during the year and sort of psyched myself up for selling myself, that didn't happen. What happened was he appeared to grow an extra foot or so towering over me and he took me for "coffee" in the basement restaurant on campus. He then in a casual way dragged out the whole "i'll be majorly busy with placement for half of next year" thing. Kind made my interest almost mute or at least it made it more difficult to sell my point. I did what i could considering and i can't comment to deeply on it but tonight i'll find out how i am nominated for what position or something along those lines. Anyway i'll call this instant the Crossing the Dessert moment, although some desert would be nice.



Music appreciation rant:


Ah this was an upset of my monday afternoon. I'm not even sure how it started but it really got to me. And i felt i couldn't articulate myself well enough at the time. But then again i was being faced with an argument that wasn't moving and argument that plague's a lot of criticism of certain medium's. That is the idea that through talent, structure and other supposedly quantitative parts one piece of music is better than another just because of those parts. Or in other words, They just suck, they're bad, they're awful and there is no other justification necessary to bring this argument across. Well i've probably over thought this because it's stubbornness overwhelmed me so much but i just don't except that. I'm going to go ultra-liberal and say that NO one experience of music is the same as the next. Each person see's a song differently as their own unique experience. A spiritual experience if you will.

Let me elaborate more.... Music after all started as a means of expressing Faith in the gods, expressing love and the odd bit of philosophy. And of course when music grew really complicated and talented it was all about the emotion's it could invoke and so on. Of course modern music isn't exactly like that. For one thing it's standardised into a shorter format so to speak and usually requires verse, chorus, verse, chorus, break, chorus or go crazy and stick in a pre-chorus. Or at least that's Pop, Rock and R'n'B, Jazz, blues, classical and gospel don't exactly follow these rule's. Music is very personal taste aswell. Sure not everyone has Eclectic taste but that's within their rights. Some people seek only a certain sound because that is what they like and what they enjoy. To say any particular artist or genre is inferior or is superior is verging on arrogance. Everything has it's merits as even if it's shit it's speaks to you on some level, whether that be revulsion or guilty pleasure.

To drive home my point even further i will list the top bands and artist's i listen to according to the Last FM service and explain why i like them in brackets:


Fall Out Boy: (well written, well produced, addictive pop punk, it makes me smile and laugh and only fall out boy can sing about tragedy in happy infectious songs)

Green Day: (punk, rock, pop-punk and stadium rock, throughout all their era's they are still amazing. They never "sold out" fan's just didn't see the same experience in their music. They are a force to be reckoned with. Can't wait for their new album)

Mest (my first favourite band. In retrospect they suck. But nostalgia and great simplistic pop-punk melody and raw emotion of their latter music really spoke to me and i love them inspite of their short comings)

Paramore:(catchy, melodic, pop-punk. Great vocal's from a hot female lead and just a fun band to sing along to, their b-side's being the best)

A Day Away :(A virtually unknown pop-punk band from springfield missouri. Their music is happy and catchy on level's that cannot be ignored. Simple pop-punk structures that just catch your attention and inspire you to want to sing along even if you can't)

Emily (This one being the Emily that are a now defunct Irish pop-punk band from dublin. Their slightly heavier riffs and infectious catchiness is just amazing. I love them to bits and am saddened that they are gone. Also their last song was partially named by me so they will always have a place in my playlist)

Stereophonic's: (possibly one of the most underrated popular band's out there. I love all of their hits and love all of their early stuff with a few choice gems’ in-between. They can't be ignored and they are just entertaining on multiple levels)

The Academy Is... (i'm surprised that they are in my top 10 but it doesn't surprise me that i've played them as frequently or with as much admiration as any of the other artists. They are catchy and fun and of the same school of artist's as Fall Out Boy and Paramore.)

Blink 182/Boxcar Racer/Angel's and Airwave's/+44 (Not all in 10th place but that entire lineage of artist's and their side projects and new bands are just amazing. I love all their stuff, less so for boxcar racer but the rest i love)

Panic at the Disco: I don't listen to their second album that often, but the proof is that their first is so catchy and brilliant that they squeeze into 10th place as an amazing catchy force that i just love on my playlist.

The All-American Rejects: An enigma, awful first album, possibly a seminal genius second and a rather mediocre 3rd album. Every song on their second album is melodic brilliance. Few albums can top it for sheer enjoyment and participation factor.

Fightstar: melodic post-hardcore, whatever that means. I think they are amazing they're so much different in some ways to most of what i listen to and yet they do the exact same thing which is make catchy songs that i love.

The Like: Oh the like. 3 beautiful women with a Smokey voiced singer with big...eye's leading them. They're just amazing, Z Berg may be hard to understand but somehow i get her lyrics and love them immensely. It also helps that she locked eyes with me at a gig and wouldn't stop staring, those eye's are like black hole's or something!

My Chemical Romance: I really really really don't like their earlier "emo" stuff but Black Parade is an amazing album. I played it to death, pardon the pun, i dont listen to it AS often anymore but i don't skip many of the songs when they come around either.

Avril Lavigne: People write good songs for her and she has an amazing voice, it's just a pity her poppier stuff is so shit.

Cute is what we aim for: Ignoring most of their second album i focus mainly on the catchy and quick witted fast lyrics of their first album. It's just fun to try and follow their tongue twisting lyrics and amazing melody.

Farewell: Just wow. Really ultra happy electro-pop-punk that is just so fun. It's just bubbling with optimism and great keyboard and synth hooks, simply amazing.

The Veronica's: Quickly rising into the top 20 are this amazing non-identical twins from Australia. Their catchy electro-pop is just amazing. It's quiet possibly the campest music i listen to but i don't care, i love it immensely they're just so fun, and hot to!

Plain White T's: SO much more than that one hit wonder. This is a band that is simple happy pop-punk. Formulaic and simple. They are just great on many levels. And their Cameo's on Greek are always a plus.

Chicks: Quiet possibly my largest guilty pleasure. They're a very odd indie band from Ireland that released their posthumous album from 2001 last year. And it was the album of last summer for me. Most of their songs are kind of god awful but it's songs like Fuck music, Structure's and Hey Kid's that i just love.



And a shout out to the band in 40th place The Cab. Oh the Cab. Yet another member of the fall out boy school of bands. They are Pop-band perfection. Well produced, really happy melodic songs and just plain brilliant. I intend to listen to them more often but with so much else on my playlist i can't seem to fit them in sometimes...

My argument kind of dragged on to pointlessness didn't it? Ah who cares.


I did have a few more points but i think i will leave them till my next blog. Until then folks, toodles.




Now that's just my top 20 bands and artist's in relation to how often i've played them.