“I always loved you the best Sid…”

Woooow!! A while ago I mentioned how Skins had failed to impress me in the early stages of the 2nd series. I also mentioned how the track ‘Time To Pretend’ by MGMT was the best I’ve heard in ages. Well tonight the two came together and made the world feel just fucking wonderful. Great end to the series for Skins and also the end for the current cast, which, while a massive shame, is also a fucking interesting move from the writers. Glad to see Effy seems to be sticking around though, I think she’s a wicked character. I just hope the new cast are as good as this one, it’s gonna seem dead strange getting used to it all again, I hope there’s someone as cool as Chris…or as fit as Michelle or Cassie. Shameless is over tomorrow too, bit of a void in my TV viewing now…good thing Have I Got News For You and Peep Show are on the way back, I do love David Mitchell.

Jagermeister

It’s an evil evil temptress…oh it does strange things to me. Fragile state this morning. Great party though, nice one Adam. Messy but great.

The Cribs

One of those fucking awful black days
When nothing is pleasing and everything that happens
is an excuse for anger
An outlet for emotions stockpiled, an arsenal, an armour
These are the days when I hate the world
Hate the rich, hate the happy, hate the complacent, the TV watchers,
beer drinkers, the satisfied ones
Because I know I can be all of those little hateful things
And then I hate myself for realising that
There’s no preventative, directive or safe approach for living.
We each know our own fate
We know from our youth how to be treated,
how we’ll be received, how we shall end
These things don’t change
You can change your clothes,
change your hairstyle, your friends, cities, continents
But sooner or later your own self will always catch up.
Always it waits in the wings
Ideas swirl but don’t stick.
They appear but then run off like rain on the windshield
One of those rainy day car rides my head implodes,
the atmosphere in this car a mirror of my skull
Wet, damp, windows dripping and misted with cold
Walls of grey
Nothing good on the radio
Not a thought in my head

Lets take life and slow it down incredibly slow
Frame by frame
With two minutes that take ten years to live ou
Yeah, lets do that.

Telephone poles like praying mantis against the sky
Metal arms outstretched
So much land travelled so little sense made of it
It doesn’t mean a thing all this land laid out behind us
I’d like to take off into these woods and get good and lost for a while
I’m disgusted with petty concerns; parking tickets, breakfast specials
Does someone just have to carry this weight?
Abstract typography, methane inconvenience, linear gospel,
Nashville sales lady, and torturous lice, mad Elizabeth
Kaemotherapy bullshit

The light within you shines like a diamond mine
Like an unarmed walrus
Like a dead man face down on the highway
Like a snake eating its own tail, steam turbine, frog farm,
two full closets burst open in disarray
Soap bubbles in the sun, hospital death bed, red convertible,
shopping list, blowjob, deaths head, devils dancing,
bleached white buildings, memories, movements
The movie unfeeling, unreeling, about to begin

I’ve seen your hallway, you’re a darn call away
I’ve hear your stairs creak
I can fix my mind on your yes, and on your no
I’ll film your face today in the sparkling canals
All red, yellow, blue, green brilliance and silver Dutch reflection
Racing thoughts, racing thoughts
All too real, you’re moving so fast now I cant hold your image
This image I have of your face by the window,
me standing beside you arm on your shoulder
A catalogue of images, flashing glimpses then gone again

Every clear afternoon now I’ll think of you up in the air twisting your heel,
Your knees up around me, my face in your hair
You scream so well, your smile so loud it still rings in my ear

Imitation
Distant, tired of longing
Clean white teeth
Stay the course.
Hold the wheel
Steer on to freedom
Open all the boxes
Open all the boxes
Open all the boxes
Open all the boxes

Times Square midday
Newspaper buildings, news headlines going around
You watch as they go, and hope that some good comes
Those tree shadows in the park they’re all whistling chasing leaves
Around six pm, shadows across cobblestones
Girl in front of a bathroom mirror
she slowly and carefully and paints her face green and mask like
A portrait
A green stripe
Long shot through apartment window, a monologue on top but no girl in shot
The light within me shines like a diamond mine
like an unarmed walrus
like a dead man face down on the highway
Like a snake eating its own tail
A steam turbine, frog farm, two full closets burst open in disarray,
soap bubbles in the sun, hospital death bed, red convertible, shopping list,
blowjob, deaths head, devils dancing,
bleached white buildings, memories, movements
The movie unreeling, about to begin

One of my finest hours

Having started reading more again after my post the other day I’ve also started writing again. Nothing worthwhile yet as of yet but it did get me looking back at some of my old work, and almost certainly my greatest educational achievement, which occured during first year coursework at New College, Telford. Not just an A+ but the only bit of work in the history of their English department to be marked as absolutely faultless. Rightly, I feel arrogant about this, although I do feel it’s a pretty shocking bit of writing in hindsight. But still, I’ll take it.

——-

Dear Sir or madam

I am writing to you today on behalf of ‘Badgers for Britain’ (BB) in the hope that you will support our campaign for a new Badger led hierarchy in the UK, and indeed in Badger inhabited nations worldwide. “An insane notion!” I would hear you cry if I happened to be standing next to you when you first read this letter. However nothing could be further from the truth.

The common Badger has existed in Britain since the Ice Age, where, against the snowy background, they were often mistaken for mobile zebra crossings by passing mammoths, conveniently ignoring the fact that neither zebras nor indeed roads existed at this time. Any Badger foolish enough to take an outdoor nap would be trampled to death by these elephantine bullies; the first known case of Badger prejudice in the UK.

Badgers themselves are perhaps amongst the least prejudiced creatures on the planet, making them an ideal species for complete control of our crumbling nation. Their commitment to racial equality is staggering, as along with skunks, magpies, penguins, pandas and to a lesser extend chameleons, they embrace both black and white in equal measure, and all the aforementioned animals should be commended for their stance. Except those penguins with orange tufts of hair, who are just rebellious, attention-seeking show offs trying to buck the trend.

Badgers also despise violence in all it’s forms, despite being in my opinion one of the ‘hardest’ species of animal you could encounter. Popular belief would have it that Badger baiting was outlawed due to the barbaric acts of cruelty suffered by the Badgers at the hands of demonic packs of dogs and their toffee nosed warlords. The truth is however that the ban came about to protect the pathetic puppies from our woodland dwelling friends, who could easily savage a pack of canines even while relieving themselves behind a tree. However they choose not to, as they are peaceful creatures with a love for all of God’s creations.

So why is it that so many people see Badgers as a pest? Why do they vilify these innocent creatures and spread rumours in the press that the celebrity Badgers are sleeping with Otters, in an attempt to corrupt and ruin the harmonious Badger community? Quite simply, because they are scared of the truth. Badgers are superior to humans in every way. It is very easy to brand Badgers as a pest knowing that they lack the verbal ability to reply, but when was the last time you saw a Badger staggering out of a nightclub in the early hours of the morning and kicking an old mans head in? When was the last time an over-indulged Badger wrapped its Vauxhall Nova around a lamppost on the way back to their sett after the office Christmas party? Ever seen a down-on-his-luck un-employed Badger hang itself from a tree after its partner ditches him for ‘that Badger from the Marketing Department’ on the other side of the forest? Didn’t think so.

The wheels of this possible Badger revolution are already in motion. That furrowed brow that Tony Blair adopts at times of stress has nothing to do with the weight of the Iraq war or his Home Secretary’s liaisons with overseas social workers. Oh no, he has simply spotted the Armani clad Badger at the back of the room, casually smoking a moss filled joint while taking notes for his leader in preparation for his speech at the House of (Wimbledon) Commons, as he attempts to gain the trust and support of that most crucial social group of the UK society, the wombles.

So my message to you is this, valued reader. No longer need you be corrupted by the America worshipping blabbering of Tony Blair. Nor the dreary monotonous hollow promises of Michael Howard. Even the alcohol fuelled nonsensical ramblings of Charles Kennedy can be but a distant memory. A vote for Badgers, is a vote for a better Britain.

Wishing you a prosperous Badger led future,

Peter Jones, Badgers for Britain chief campaigner

Songs from films

Me and my mate were discussing earlier what we consider to be the best scores from films ever. You forget just how many stone cold classics there truly are. Trainspotting? Yes please. Snatch? Mmmhmm. Donnie Darko? You knows it. But it’s the epics we really love. Star Wars has loads of them, from the main titles, to the imperial march, to the jedi theme…I think it’s probably the best all round soundtrack ever, with Sunshine in a close second. But I urge you to seek through the archives for some others. The scores from Independence Day and Jurassic Park in particular are worth a listen. Then there is the obvious Ghostbusters classic, the Austin Powers theme and the Rage Against the Machine finale for The Matrix. What else what else…The Magnificent Seven, I will never understand why every football team in the world doesn’t walk out to The Magnificent Seven. And that cool version of ‘When Johnny Comes Marching Home’ in Die Hard 3. I love films and I love music.

Siegfried Sassoon

It has occured to me that since starting uni I have started reading far less and that makes me a bit sad. It was something I hugely enjoyed when I was at college doing English and I don’t think it’s a good thing that I seem to have fazed it out. I have Siegfried Sassoon to thank for sending me into this trail of thought as I stumbled back across his work earlier and it reminded me what a truly stunning piece of work ‘Suicide in the Trenches’ is, and I have subsequently pinned a copy on my bedroom wall. I spent ages trying to emulate his brilliance at school and college and it proved a tremendous inspiration to me in achieving some really good English grades, and I think that is an inspiration I have been really lacking since leaving college. I used to have my copy of ‘Under Milk Wood’ with me wherever I went and I used to be able to quote large parts of To Kill A Mockingbird and High Fidelity word for word. I might give Fever Pitch a re-read later. And I really want to start writing again.

Siegfried Sassoon – Suicide In The Trenches

I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you’ll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.

We will not go quietly into the night…

Independence Day, what a film. Why do I always forget how good it is?! Will Smith is a legend. I watched the first Die Hard earlier too, John McClane may be the hardest man ever to have walked the planet. Alan Rickman never stood a chance. I need to start going to the cinema more actually, there hasn’t been many good films out lately but I should still make more an effort, I’ve only seen Cloverfield and Juno, which admittedly may have been the best film of the new millenium so far. I’m well looking forward to the new Indiana Jones, that should be fucking brilliant, the trailers look great. I’m not sure what else is out this year but I hear there is talk of a sequel to Point Break, one of the most under-rated action films I’ve ever seen, so that’s very exciting. People can say what they like about Keanu Reeves, the guys a true legend in my eyes. Be excellent to each other dudes.

It’s just really funny!

What kind of a day has it been?

it is getting near 6am…i wish i could say its because i have adopted a new look on life and risen nice and early for a good purpose but no, i just havent gone to bed yet. and beneath this ridiculous mop of hair on my head i think my brain is more than a little mashed to buggery. too much drink, too many drugs, not enough sleep.

Lonely bees…

I meant to write this entry ages ago but I forgot. Who caaares. In a beehive, there are loads of bees, loads and loads. They are constantly flying out and about to gather their various honey creating resources. Many never make it back to the hive. But do these lost bees matter? Do the other bees mourn them or do they not even notice their absence? Does the queen honour their loss in a public address? It bugs me. I don’t really understand how a Queen Bee is elected either, if an election does indeed occur, but that’s neither here nor there.