February 2020 – Fooyah

February 26 2020February 26 2020

Reign In Blood – Slayer

So, I bought this album quite a while after getting Decade Of Aggression which is possibly the only Slayer album you need. I can imagine how, back in the eighties, this album would’ve scared the shit out of adults. It’s heavy, gross, disgusting and amazing.

Angel Of Death – a song about Mengele and the shit he did during the second world war. Look, the whole point of metal is to shock and make you think. This song is gross but amazing at the same time. It doesn’t celebrate gore it brings that knowledge to a wider world. This song creates pacifists.
Altar Of Sacrifice – Amazing and heavy.
Jesus Saves – that opening riff is heavy as hell.
Criminally Insane – more heavy stuff and a great opening.
Postmortem – amazing. Such a heavy riff and masterfully blends into the next song.
Raining Blood – awesome. Can you see what they did with the title of the album and the name of this song? Clever eh?

If you want to seriously damage all your body then get this album playing at full volume and let it assault you.

February 23 2020February 23 2020

Aesthetic Perfection – The Lounge, Archway

Took my lovely niece and Smith to see Aesthetic Perfection last night at The Lounge 666 or whatever it’s called near Archway tube in London. Before the show we were just about to go to get food when I checked where the venue was and spotted Daniel Graves on his way out of the venue. I, very politely, asked if he would meet my niece because she loves him. I think I even used the phrase “I don’t mean to impose but would you mind . . . .”, jesus, what a british twat I can be. Anyway, he came over and met my niece and they had a photo taken. She was very happy.

The first band we saw, but second on the bill, was Jadu. Biomechanimal were on first but we missed them. That’s not a bad thing, we’ve seen them before a few times. Jadu are a German band who I quite enjoyed. There were four of them, a female singer and a drummer, guitarist and keyboard person. It was quite slow stuff but perfectly good. I quite enjoyed it. I did note that the sound of the kick drum was pretty good and didn’t over power the rest of the sound. I’m probably going to get a Jadu album, it was good enough for that.

Shortly after that Aesthetic Perfection came on stage and this is now the about 9th time I have seen Joe Letz. This makes him the artist I have seen most. I don’t mind. His on stage persona is brilliant and I enjoy his antics.

Aesthetic Perfection put on an amazing show. It was probably the best I have seen them and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The crowd was nice and pleasant. Even the six foot six female pair allowed those of us shorted than them in front. I spent the whole gig about three rows back from the front, which didn’t even have a barrier.

The band played for a decent length of time and I have to say I enjoyed it all. There was a moment when Joe Letz tapped Daniel in the penis and it was pretty funny. There’s a good camaraderie between them all. It’s nice to see a theremin being used at a concert, they’ve probably used them before I just didn’t notice it.

This was a bloody good gig. Probably the best I have seen them and I really enjoyed it. My niece managed to sweet talk one of the roadies and got a Joe Letz drum stick at the end of the gig. This will now go with her stick from a Combichrist gig a few years back. I am a little jealous.

Joe Letz's Knackered Drumstick — Joe Letz’s Knackered Drumstick

Well done AP and I look forward to seeing you again sometime soon.

February 22 2020February 22 2020

It’s Still A Win

Here’s a win. Me racing my Porsche around Brands Hatch. Started in 5th and ended in first. I was pretty happy. This also means I don’t have the child rapist cabal that is the catholic church as my last communication.

February 22 2020February 27 2020

Ready For This – Tim Minchin

This is a live album by the Australian musician Tim Minchin. I remember first seeing him on Channel 4 when I thought I was about to watch a stand up show and it turned out to be some guy not wearing shoes and playing music. It was funny and skeptical, I loved it. Tim Minchin is one of those people on the right side of stuff. He’s a science based comedian who speaks the truth about boobs. You definitely need to listen to any of his stuff.

I would recommend this album as it’s a good introduction to his music. The album does contain the song “White Wine In The Sun” which is guaranteed to make me cry. I have bought it as a single but I haven’t played. Minchin releases this song every christmas and the money raised goes to charity. Not only is he a brilliant song writer he is also an actor.

STORM

You need to listen to Minchin’s song called Storm. It might be nine minutes long but it is also brilliant. A discussion of evidence based science, relationships, and dinner etiquette. There’s a YouTube version that I show all my leaving classes in their last lesson. I’m trying to change the world a small bit at a time. Getting people to realise that humans are subject to so many biases. We need to work to overcome those biases and science is the best way to do that.

Cardinal Pell

Tim Minchin has also written a song called Come Home (Cardinal Pell). It’s not on this album but deserves a mention anyway. It concerns the terrible story of child rape in the catholic church and their systematic attempts to cover it up and protect those who are guilty of child sexual abuse. Cardinal Pell had claimed that he was too unwell to fly home to Australia to face criminal charges concerning child abuse. He has since faced trial and he is now in jail after being found guilty.

The systematic covering up and protection of child rapists by the catholic church is a heinous crime for which they deserve to crash into nothingness. I don’t care overly that they are wrong about god. But the whole system has been protecting child rapists for the last very many years and they need to fall. No, I’m not exaggerating. If you want to know why all the churches are closing and there are money worries in the church it’s because of the fucking money they are paying out [quite rightly] to all the victims of paedophiles that they are sheltering.

Just one US state, Pennsylvania, held a grand jury investigation of child abuse by the catholic church. IN THAT ONE STATE they found that 301 priests were sexually abusing 1000 children and were shuffled around in that area to save them being caught. It’s likely still going on and isn’t history. Fuck that organisation.

It’s not just the catholic church. Every organisation that runs has issues with sexual abuse. Every organisation that works with children has issues with child abuse. Those other organisations have done what they can to prevent it. It’s probably impossible to eliminate it but you don’t want to protect those fuckers. You have to have security procedures in place to minimise the risk. The catholic church has ACTIVELY covered up all the abuse. That church needs to die. Don’t ever give them any money.

Addendum

Last night I remembered a thing about this album that I love. It’s hidden within the lyrics to Prejudice, a song about prejudice. It’ll make you laugh, go and listen to it. Do you ever remember that saying your mum used: “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me”? It’s a funny saying isn’t it. It’s pretty much telling you it’s OK for anyone to call you names because they don’t hurt. But here’s the rub: words hurt like hell. Tim Minchin updated the saying to a more realistic version:

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can break hearts.
Minchin, T

February 21 2020February 21 2020

Randy Rhoads Tribute (Live) – Ozzy Osbourne

Here’s the thing. There are some bands and singers who are like classic movies or books. Everyone should listen to them / read them / watch them. Yes, some are shit. Yes, it is society telling you watch to appreciate and sometimes you can strongly disagree with society, but maybe you secretly understand why. Why is it that this film / book makes it into the list of greats or must-reads? Also, to be honest, I do think you should accept what you like and what you enjoy without the need to be shamed by society into thinking you are wrong. You are as you are.

Having said that, Ozzy is a national hero and it’s quite a surprise that the guy lasted as long as he has. Given the drugs, bats and alcohol it is unusual for someone to be as old as him. But, you see, we are now trying to understand survivorship bias. Just because Ozzy made it this far there are plenty of drug addicts that didn’t. They are dead. Just because Ozzy did those things doesn’t mean anyone can. Just because Ozzy with his horrific voice made millions and thrilled the fans doesn’t mean anyone can. We remember the hits but not those thousands of misses.

I don’t think this album will make you cry but you will appreciate that these rock stars are just humans and the note inside the album from Randy Rhoads’ wife is really touching. Zakk Wylde joined Ozzy after Randy died and if there’s one thing we now know it’s that you have to spell your name badly to be a rock guitarist. Start with that and then worry about the guitar thing afterwards.

This is like a greatest hits for Ozzy and it’s a great album. Worth playing many times.

February 21 2020February 21 2020

Long Gearing

I recently finished all of the Gran Turismo Sport races that exist in Campaign mode. It’s taken quite a while but I am done. It was a little sad to finish but now it means that to get my fix I’ll need to start using the online racing mode a bit more. I’ve not enjoyed this in the past as some drivers out there are dicks. However, my recent experiences show that if you pick the longer / harder races you tend to get people who are quite good at racing and it seems to work quite well. I won my second race ever recently and it was a good feeling but I forgot to save the replay and I was gutted about that.

I did however recently complete a race and made a decent run of it to gain about seven places. Only a couple of these were overtakes, the rest was gaining places when other driver ran wide! I was racing in my Porsche which I like but for this race the gearing is set quite low so I only use about four gears and many of the corners are done in low revs, which is good for reducing over steer and makes getting the torque on a little easier.

Yes, that’s my gloriously bright and shiny green Porsche. It probably has an advert for this website on it!

Current Gran Turismo Sport profile

February 21 2020February 21 2020

Sonic The Hedgehog

Yesterday I took a half term trip out to see Sonic The Hedgehog. I know Sony spent a ton of money [or someone did] to change the look of the creature and I was curious to see what the film ended up like. Sonic The Hedgehog forms a massive part of my history, I played it a lot in 1991/2. I was in my first year at university and Big Jim had just moved into halls. He owned a Megadrive AND a television which seemed impressive, none of the rest of us had such stuff. Jase had a TV and I remember watching Rumpole with him on a tiny screen but everyone else relied on the communal television.

Big Jim never locked his door and he was happy enough for us to play his Megadrive when he wasn’t around. There were quite a few nights when I would get a bottle of wine, a few CDs, and head down across to Jim’s room to finish Sonic The Hedgehog. This was in the days before save-games on consoles and so every game was a fresh start. I can’t remember which level of Sonic it was now, but there was one where you would gain four or five lives every time you did it [100 rings]. This meant that the aim was to die before the end of the level and go back and get more lives. It was the only way to ensure you had enough lives to finish the whole game.

It would normally take about three hours, a few CDs and a bottle of wine to get the game done. It was good fun. It was also the start of my downfall I guess? I bought a Megadrive in my second year of university and that probably had the effect of ruining at least two of the educations being paid for by the state. It’s OK though. I realised my mistakes and have been paying it back to society for the last thirty twenty five years or so. It was worth it and without the Megadrive this site wouldn’t exist in this state.

The weather wasn’t great on the drive to the cinema but I did remember to look at the river to gauge the state of the tide. It was pretty low as all the mud bank was visible. Upon leaving the cinema the tide was lower as a boat that was floating earlier was then resting on the bottom of the river. So I left the cinema pretty much at lowest tide [not checked online].

After seeing the film I rated it on IMDB using a system I developed many years ago. This rating will probably cause some consternation amongst readers of this site, but I don’t care. I then tweet the result and here is that tweet:

I rated Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) 6/10 #IMDb https://t.co/Ibvb63PzVq
— Ian Parish (@iparish) February 20, 2020

You know what? I quite enjoyed this film. Yes, it was a kids’ movie, no, there wasn’t really enough adult humour, but overall it was quite good fun. You could watch any kind of kids/alien/monster film and it would be the same as this. Pretty sure I saw Monster Trucks a while back and it’s exactly the same. Alien thing befriends humans and then solves some puzzle or problem while being chased by the evil government. I think there was the possibility of more “Sonic” specific ideas that could have been placed within the film but I still enjoyed it.

I need to talk for a short while about Dr Robotnik. I wasn’t really aware of who was in the film before I went to see it and after a short while I recognised the facial contractions of Jim Carey being Jim Carey and I thought it was him but at the same time I didn’t recognise him. While watching the credits I had to wait quite some time before Jim Carey’s name came up and I was starting to worry that maybe it wasn’t him. It was. This film has Jim Carey being Jim Carey and it was glorious.

February 20 2020February 20 2020

Rammstein – Rammstein

I do love Rammstein. I know I didn’t really rave about Mutter but this particular album is great. They really are master craftsmen of new German metal. I have no idea what they are singing and to me that doesn’t really matter. The music does enough for me.

DEUTSCHLAND – great opener. Lovely song. [probably about killing or something – I don’t do lyrics at the best of times].
Radio – these chaps are the best at writing brilliant melodies along with a special beat that makes you move.
ZEIG DICH – I’m not sure how this band do it. They make an up-tempo song that you think is going to roll along and then the bridge hits you in the face.
Auslander – This is one of those songs where I start thinking it should be a club track. I can imagine dirty nightclubs with all their dance beats playing and then someone puts this shit on and all of a sudden the whole club becomes metal fans. I think it’s also about immigration – but in a good way.
SEX – not sure if this is about the joys or the horrors of sex but it’s a bouncy song with superb riffs. Plus, everyone gets to shout out SEX which is fun.
PUPPE – Gosh this song starts out all lovely and gentle and you believe it’s going to be sweet and then BOSH it hits you straight in the face. Brilliant.
WAS ICH LIEBE – it’s perfectly good.
DIAMANT – Lovely and smooth. Could be about death and murder, I wouldn’t know.
WEIT WEG – It’s that little melody at the beginning isn’t it? I know a band are good song writers when they do something I wasn’t expecting but it fits the song and makes you think – wow, I’d never have thought to do that. Maybe my imagination is rubbish but there are only a few bands that surprise me.
TATTOO – The melody in the chorus is lovely.
HALLOMANN – This song rounds off a lovely album. I don’t think that any Rammstein album has disappointed me.

To tell you how good this album is can be summed up with the fact that their key changes don’t annoy me. I thoroughly enjoy this band. Their music is delightful. The live shows are stunning, full of theatre and sound perfect. I probably couldn’t rave enough about them.

February 18 2020February 18 2020

Time Lapse Plans

I’ve been thinking recently about creating a time lapse film of the view outside the back of my house. I think it would be nice. It’s a big open space and the weather and seasons changing would make it interesting. I quite like the challenge of figuring out the tech to do it. I’m going to investigate a small 1080p camera and then see if I can write some script [or steal it] to capture a still from it every hour or so. That would make a six minute video for a year’s worth of photos. Once it’s created I’ll write a communication on here and let you know.

February 18 2020February 18 2020

Quadrophenia – The Who

This is one of those albums that everyone goes on about. They also go on about the film. The problem is that I never really got the mods and rockers thing. It was slightly before my time and it all seemed rather silly to me. I can take or leave The Who. I’m just not fussed by them.

There are a couple of good songs on here. But other than that most concept albums always leave me a little cold.

February 17 2020February 16 2020

Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine

This might be a shocking admission but I’m not really bothered by this album. Something about it doesn’t quite work for me. I bought it after being amazed with the song “Killing In The Name Of”, which I first heard in its entirety on Radio 1 if you can believe that! There’s a couple of good songs on this one but largely I’m left feeling rather “meh”.

February 16 2020February 16 2020

Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

Another Sunday another storm. This time one that rained on Kent but without the winds. Last weekend was windy too. I got out the house by going to see Underwater last Sunday which ended with me feeling I had intimate knowledge of Kristen Stewart’s stomach. Today, there wasn’t a lot on that I wanted to see so I took a trip to Rochester cinema to see Birds Of Prey.

The tide was ebbing just above half tide I reckon on my way in. There’s a natural fascination humans have with the water, the way the boats rock and nestle on the water, I like it. I am always amazed at the complication we humans have made on this world and the machines were are able to create. Such ingenuity.

After watching the film I rated it on IMDB. This scale has been discussed within this communication and it would be wise for you to read it. This film troubled me while I watched it and I considered leaving many times. I posted my rating to Twitter.

I rated Birds of Prey (2020) 2/10 #IMDb https://t.co/s3OR7wNLuk
— Ian Parish (@iparish) February 16, 2020

I hated pretty much every moment of this movie. It was shit.

While waiting for the adverts and trailers to be over I have been reading a book on the Kindle app on my phone. It saves me having to see the same trailers over and over if I go to the cinema often. Most adverts are also quite terrible. It’s a shame we no longer have cartoons before the main feature in the theatre. I’m currently reading a book about the development of the F-16XL.

This aeroplane was developed to increase the capabilities of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. I’m only two chapters into the book at the moment and it has covered the approval process along with the design process. I’m still waiting for the first flight. I’m reading a book published by NASA. It’s very interesting and allows me to learn stuff during the dead time at the cinema.

In the past I’ve read books covering the development programme of the X-15 and how the pressure suit was developed. These were both quite fascinating and I’m looking forward to finishing this book as there are still others I want to read. You should have a look at the books published by NASA. They are free and damned interesting.

Just there is a sliver of lovely blue sky showing promise for future days. This was the view as I returned to the village.

February 10 2020February 10 2020

Underwater

Rather than sit hunkered down in my house away from Storm Ciara I thought it would be better to spend the time in the cinema. So I went to the Cineworld at Rochester to see Underwater. I hadn’t even heard of the film before I booked the ticket but I watched about ten seconds of the trailer and it looked like an underwater adventure/action movie so I could cope with that. There wasn’t anything else on at the cinema I wanted to see.

The roads were covered in detritus of the storm and the river was rather unsettled in the wind, there were waves and everything! The tidal state was quite low, it would have been more fun with water spray had the tide been higher as some might have even made it to the road. I’m reminded of a time I went to Hastings and the sea was raging. The waves were crashing over the sea wall in spectacular fashion. I think this was the time that my dad had a job interview and we drove there. I was in charge of navigation and the M25 wasn’t fully open, the date should be easy to figure out from that!

I ought to get on to what I thought of the film. But “The Prologue” never gets started [classic Up Pompeii reference there for you]. I rated this film a little while after watching it. I normally do this while walking back to the car but I wasn’t sure. After a little while of thinking about it I gave this film a 4. There is a whole communication that underpins the numerology of the scoring system and you can read that here. Can you believe that on the day of the Oscar ceremony I went to see this film!

I rated Underwater (2020) 4/10 #IMDb https://t.co/cNhckXFF3Y
— Ian Parish (@iparish) February 9, 2020

The trailers were the first warning. There was lots of trailers for horror movies. I don’t care for horror movies. They just aren’t any good. Once you accept that the supernatural doesn’t exist then horror movies are just shit. Movies with dolls in them are the worst. What a load of shit. I guess people like being scared in a safe way. Like rollercoasters. Anyway, I digress:

It wasn’t a good film. I’m not even sure it was enjoyable. I didn’t care for any of the characters. It’s most important that we ignore any of the physics involved now, I’d already decided I wouldn’t get annoyed by poor science. I didn’t at any point want to walk out so I guess there’s that.

February 9 2020February 9 2020

Glory

I just like the picture I took.

February 4 2020February 4 2020

Pyromania – Def Leppard

Def Leppard was one of my gateway bands into metal. If you read my Descent communication I expect they’ll be mentioned there. Def Leppard along with Bon Jovi and Guns ‘n’ Roses got me into guitar based music and this album was one of the special ones. The band had just hit it big with the Hysteria album and so I was seeking out whatever else they had done. The sounds of this album, its production, the guitar riffs, the drumming, all these things can make me feel a teenager again, fortunately without the emotional bullshit that goes with that period of time.

This is a great album. It is what it is. Very commercial rock. It turned this band into a massive hit across the pond. I don’t think it’s quite dinner party background music but it’s close. Non offensive rock. This band got lumbered with the NWOBHM label but they aren’t. The vocals are more haunting and the riffage doesn’t follow that BHM style. Def Leppard just happened to emerge at the same time.

Rock Rock (Till You Drop) – great upbeat song.
Photograph – remember those lonely times when all you had was a picture to look at and the knowledge that you’d speak in a couple of days at 6pm once the phone calls got cheap.
Stagefright – meant to start live, think it’s studio. Good rolling riff.
Too Late For Love – a ballad, still it is pretty good.
Die Hard The Hunter – not the best on this album.
Foolin’ – starts gentle. Gets better. Great cow bell use, that instrument always makes me laugh.
Rock Of Ages – starts with something backwards?? Proper radio rock. Has a good rolling bass with melodic vocals creating a great rhythm. Worth listening to.
Comin’ Under Fire – not the greatest on here either. Vocals well aligned but a little boring for me.
Action Not Words – formulaic rock. A good song but not top ranking.
Billy’s Got A Gun – good triples on the bass, song could do with being a little faster for my liking. Love the outro, when I first heard it I wondered about the effort that goes into creating a new melody or sound and how bands use that for just a couple of bars.

The singing in this album is great. The riffage is great. It’s a bloody good representation of that era of music. It also sold masses in the USA and made this band huge. I probably still prefer their first album though!

February 3 2020February 3 2020

Au Revoir

Just had a really good weekend down at lovely old Saint Martin’s Plain training camp, part of the Cinque Ports Training Area. I was involved with training the cadets certain skills and I was very busy all Friday evening, all Saturday and then most of Sunday. To give you an idea I was teaching from 08:30 Sat morning until 21:30 that evening. It was hard work but thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding.

The above was my teaching space. It was quite suitable and we made it our own space. I had a good group of cadets.

While I was at SMP, on the Friday evening at 23:00 the UK left the EU. Kinda. It was a sad moment especially as I could see France from one edge of the camp. Kinda. There was a subdued sense of failure around the staff room at that moment. We then got back to annoying each other because it’s a good distraction from the utter shit this country has to face over the next year.

France is hidden in the mist. But it’s there.

We currently have to abide by the EU rules but have ZERO say in any of those rules. We used to have a veto. Not now. This was what the Brexiteers pushed for and got.

For the next year we are going to try and negotiate a trade deal with a bloc that currently is 60% of our global trade. We are going to negotiate with them using a team which has no experience at negotiating. All our negotiations for 40 years have been completed by the EU team, but they now sit on the other side of the table. We also have to negotiate all the existing trade deals the EU has with other countries too as we won’t have our own deal with them.

The chaos is only just starting and it’ll reach its peak when we leave the transition period on end of 31 December 2020.

2021 is likely to be fucking terrible.