Sheer ineptness

Right, I have ignored this blog for an age.

This is due to a number of factors. First I am inept. This has been established elsewhere on this blog. Secondly, I have been busy at Edinburgh festival and working. These two take up time.

I shall keep this one simple. I have put the A-Z thing on hold. I got annoyed with Rudyard Kipling. This was enough to make me pause and read some stuff I wanted to. These include, the Great Gatsby, some more Conan Doyle (aided by the brilliant Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss series).

I am also learning the clarinet (this shall be a mid-week blog topic).

I submitted a story to the Oxfam story writing competition, not heard anything yet. Apparently a judge is on holiday.

Not sure what else to say. Like I said, inept.

Where's the WAR at?

This blog is short because it's an apology. Basically I'm apologising for the lack of a WAR blog, this being Wednesday my typical WAR day.

I haven't done one because basically I haven't listened to an album this week. I have been rather busy, mostly writing. I did have one planned. It was going to be a Bowie album, either "Hunky Dory" or "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars". In the end I went for Ziggy. Hunky just seemed too easy.

Also I'm not sure if I am enjoying the whole process of WAR. It feels more a somewhat pointless exercise de to my somewhat mediocre reviewing skills. I feel like I can't really contribute anything with the reviewing skills.

Maybe the WAR should end and instead I could do something different. Maybe change the focus of the blog? Axe WAR and stick just to writing and MFWE with the occasional OMPADC over the course of the ten years? Posting short stories written solely for you lovely visitors?

I don't really know if I'm being truly honest.

WAR 1: New Boots And Panties: Ian Dury

The first album to receive the WAR treatment is the first album released by Ian Dury & the Blockheads, 'New Boots & Panties'. Now, selecting an album with this title may seem like some cynical effort to get more Google hits and in part you would be right. Well, in part youwould be right but also in another part, kinda wrong. I chose the album after a lot of deliberation and long consideration.

So, the review. I was originally going to do a track by track type thing but I struggled with that. Part of the reason I started this whole thing was to improve my reviewing technique. My previous technique was to say a general "yeah, it's all-right" possibly with an additional shrug of the shoulders and some kind of general statement about tracks and stuff.

This though is about to change, inspired in part by the reviews found here. I realised that what a review is tells you whether or not something is good and more importantly what it makes you FEEL. Now this blog isn't about to get all touchy feely on you all, I can see some of you heading towards the door of the blog at the mention of those words. Let me assure you I am neither touchy or feely, I'm just not that kind of chap.

RIGHT. Enough dithering on with the review!

New Boots features the trademark humour and realism that makes Dury famous. Songs such as Billericay Dickie and Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll all of which contain the fun inventive way with words that he has. Yes, at times he is coarse and earthy, opening one track with a string of obscenities and having songs about, seemingly one of his favourite topics, sex. Whilst largely swearing and it's ilk are largely the opposite of what I normally look for in music, the way Dury uses them is far less gratuitous and more importantly, humorous than in most rap songs. The album as a whole is a good mixture of styles ranging for some rather funky songs to more classical rock 'n' roll with 'Sweet Gene Vincent', Dury's homage to early rock star, Gene Vincent. It's this and songs about family, life and love that make the album so appealing. That Dury is able to mix them and deliver what is essentially poetry with music behind it is the real skill.

Recommended listening: Billericay Dickie or Sex & Drugs...

Well, that's the first review. Sorry it isn't longer, I'm new to this reviewing lark. Any pointers etc, please leave them below.

I Must Be Musical. I Own Over a Hundred CD's

OMPADC enters its final week. So here is the most recent stuff!

Now as the rather bad Green Wing paraphrasing for the title of this blog suggests this blog is all about music. Well.... I say it's ABOUT music. It's more a kind of precursor to later blogs about music.

I love music, hence why I want to learn an instrument to a competent degree. I also own as the blog title suggests, rather a lot of CD's. These have appeared in my OMPADC and I thought now was their chance to appear in the Blog.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce W.A.R! Not the shooty, killy, mass death horribleness. Rather the Weekly Album Review. Much nicer. Wouldn't you say?

Basically, I will listen to a different album, no other distractions and just sit there, listening to it and write a track by track review. Now this is the exciting part! What? I didn't say there was going to be an exciting part? Oh dear, I am sorry. Well, now you are on the edge of your seats. You lucky people get to chose an album for me to review! Yes that's right! I will open the floor up to you all to suggest an album for me to try for every third album that is to be reviewed.

So get the thinking caps on! Expect a review later this week ( Wednesday or Friday).

Easy as A,E,D,G,C and other letters

A week has passed since the official launch of TYSIC. As frequent readers (or those who have simply scrolled back through the history) will know, I set myself the aim last week of becoming slightly better at the guitar. This task in theory should have been incredibly easy.

Previous attempts with a guitar have seen me learning one chord (A) and within the space of a few hours forgetting it. This all changed this week as I learnt not one chord but EIGHT. This, as most mathematicians will prove using a simple sum is an EIGHTFOLD increase. The chords I have now learnt are A,D,E,G,C and the minor chords for A,D and E. This has meant that I have now taken them from being mere letters of the alphabet (impressive as they are). They now MEAN something outside of their linguistic context.

Now I don't like picking favourites as it would be wrong to, plus it would hurt the other chords feelings. However, my personal favourite of these chords is G, I don't know why, there is just something about it. Eminor comes a close second.

Another thing that I have developed is switching between these chords, my switching is still rather clunky but there is definitely an improvement from how I was a few days ago.

The next step will be to actually learn how to play a song. I think something relatively simple would be best, no running before walking and other poolside rules.

Next time: A guitar update and also, some writing news.