Ian – Page 16 – Fooyah

August 20 2022August 19 2022

It’s All Just Guessing

So, imagine asking a psychic for help with a missing persons case. In many ways this is understandable as when people are at their lowest there’s some comfort that things like that might work even if you know it’s mostly rubbish. People will grasp at straws. Consider those who use alternative medicine for anything, but worst of all, those who have cancer and give up medical treatment because their alternative medical practitioner says it won’t work. I saw the text of a psychic’s prediction of where a missing person would be or was. I’m not really sure. It is pretty terrible. Let’s look at it.

Psychic Messages - 1 — Psychic Messages – 1

Psychic Messages - 2 — Psychic Messages – 2

So, here are the guesses within these messages:

street.
abandoned house.
older guys.
18 or 19.
motorcycle.
mound of dirt.
grey jogging bottoms.
dirt bikes.
warehouse.
house.
kid.
pile of dirt.
construction site.
mound of dirt.

When we look at the types of building mentioned we have about four different things, this covers all bases. It doesn’t matter what reality was, this psychic will score a hit. Given that there was an image sent to her of the person outside a building in a street this isn’t very psychic. Then we can look at the description of a person hanging around with other people. Well, I don’t see that very often do I. That’s an amazing prediction or seeing or whatever the fuck. If teenagers are out somewhere then there’s a high chance some of them might have a dirt bike or a motorbike. All of this is just stuff that happens and none of it is specific to this particular situation.

I think my favourite part of the whole prediction is the dirt aspect. Can you tell me somewhere that isn’t close to dirt or a pile of dirt? Oh, and the joggers? The psychic had an image of the person who went missing. Also, grey joggers are probably very common. All of the psychic predictions in these messages are just listing very common things.

What these people rely on is confirmation bias and motivated reasoning. Humans find it really hard to think against things that they really want to be true. Everyone would like the idea of existing after we die and so we create stories to make it as true as possible. It’s a shame we live in a world where people can defraud or give false hope to others in their time of need.

August 19 2022

White Blood Cells – White Stripes

This album was actually bought for me. I remember travelling to Wales and there was a clip of this band on BBC Radio 4. Yes, that Radio 4! I was quite surprised and the music seemed decent. So, my passenger bought this for me. I like what the band did, I like the music, but when they come on in a shuffle I tend to skip it. It’s never really something I need at the time.

August 17 2022October 9 2022

Combichrist – Islington Assembly Room

So, I went to see Combichrist. Originally the tickets were for 2020 but we all know the heap of shit that this world turned into in late 2019. It has taken two years and finally I got the chance to see this amazing band (again). Luckily for me I did see them at M’era Luna two weekends ago as they replaced a band who had pulled out. This was my first time at a venue called the Islington Assembly Room – it was easy to get to and seemed very nice inside. The floor was wood and bouncy – I suspect it has been used as a ballroom in the past. The floor got slippery as soon as there was some beer on it.

First band up was a French (?) female rapper called Mimi Barks. I really enjoy her show. I liked the music and her anger. She seemed fierce. Not only that but she was in the pit for Combichrist and also sang a song with Priest and the Combichrist finale.

Mimi Barks - Islington Assembly Hall — Mimi Barks – Islington Assembly Hall

Next up were Priest who, as soon as they appeared on stage, I was convinced I had seen before. Smith couldn’t remember seeing them so I searched this website and found them! I had seem them with my niece one time when we watched Aesthetic Perfection. I will say that this time I thought the singing was better but overall I wasn’t that bothered by their show or music. Just not up to my incredibly high level of tastes!

Priest - Islington Assembly Hall — Priest – Islington Assembly Hall

Then we get Combichrist. I did not recognise any of their first three songs, but then Throat Full Of Glass came on and I was happy. I was on the edge of the pit, I wasn’t quite feeling it as much as at M’era Luna. I think I would say that the pit was more violent and a harsher environment than in Germany and so I wasn’t comfortable getting in. Also, a big part of me just wanted to watch the show. There was a fat twat in the pit who was out of control – I had to move away from the edge of the pit because I was likely to sharply elbow him if he bounced into me. He was a grade A twat.

Combichrist - Islington Assembly Hall — Combichrist – Islington Assembly Hall

Part of me finds it quite fascinating to watch bands up close because you start to see just how much of a job it is. You can see the musicians “acting” on stage, creating a show. I think I had always thought that they got excited for the music they were creating and lost control but that is the job for the audience. The band is there to create that atmosphere. Occasionally I see this in performers, there’s an almost dead look in their eyes, there’s only so much you can do night after night. At this gig I only really noticed this in one of the band members, I guess there’s only so much adoration you can cope with?

Anyway, Elliot Berlin was in the band and I’m a fan. He did two things I thought were amazing. During the very last song he crowd surfed while playing a big fat tom-tom. Earlier in the gig he had jumped off the stage and got into the circle-pit and played guitar while people moshed around him and that for me is the highlight of the show!

Elliot Berlin - Combichrist - Islington Assembly Hall — Elliot Berlin – Combichrist – Islington Assembly Hall

I preferred Combichrist before they were metal.

August 17 2022August 16 2022

M’era Luna 2022

THREE YEARS. That’s how long it had been since I’d been anywhere other than the south east of the UK, Lincolnshire or Cornwall [which was twice this month]. Three years since Smith and I had travelled to Germany to see a collection of bands, dress in weird shit and have a great time. The wait was worth it. 2022 was a great year for M’era Luna and I had an amazing time. There was news to make this year’s event even more interesting: a band had to pull out and they were replaced by Combichrist!

The journey out to Germany went well. The Eurotunnel was on time and Smith and I made it to our standard hotel in Bochum with time to explore the centre of the city and get some food. Most of the centre looked like Harlow – a new town in the UK. But we did find a street with some life and many restaurants. It was a hot evening with temperatures hitting 30C. After food and a couple of drinks we headed back to cheap hotel and planned Friday.

We arrived at Hildesheim early and queued for entry into the camp site. Once in we chose a spot far enough away from the noise and close enough to the car. Then we went for a walk to see how the grounds had changed in the three years since we had been there. Friday night is normally disco night but we didn’t go to that. Instead we found a bunch of Germans who we knew and spent some time with them, drinking their beer. It was good fun. The real music started at 1100 on Saturday though.

As with previous years this is where I just copy my notes from my phone. I can’t remember every band or song. I can’t remember what I thought about them. So I make notes as I go and then regurgitate them here. What follows is pretty much, word for word, my notes. Occasionally I will add detail for particular bands as I have remembered more from those appearances.

SATURDAY

Enemy Inside – main stage -I enjoyed this. They had a female lead singer and it was rock/metal.

Enemy Inside - M'era Luna 2022 — Enemy Inside – M’era Luna 2022

Rave The Requiem – main stage – I also enjoyed this, christian sounding metal. There were references to religious passages and I couldn’t tell if they were critical or supportive after that.

Ambassador 21 – club stage – industrial punk and was great. I really loved this show.

Ambassador 21 - M'era Luna 2022 — Ambassador 21 – M’era Luna 2022

Schattenmann – main stage – actually really enjoyable. Heavy songs. Singer had a chainsaw. Flames from front of stage.

OST+Front – main stage – Enjoyable, very similar to when we last saw them. German new metal. Female dressed in various outfits.

Lacrimas Profundere – main stage – Waiting for Faderhead tbh. Opening bars were really good. But everything else was not. Went to sit in the shade at Club stage.

Solitary Experiments – club stage – perfectly fine but his voice isn’t strong enough. A bit boring really.

Faderhead – club stage – AMAZING. Totally loved this. This was the best attraction on Saturday.

Faderhead - M'era Luna 2022 — Faderhead – M’era Luna 2022

Blut Engel – main stage – halfway through when we arrive. Everything Is Black playing. Next song had 4 girls on stage. 4 songs then left to:

In Strict Confidence – club stage – 3 good songs.

Nitzer Ebb – main stage – probably great if you are off your head. Nice beat stuff. But boring live.

SUNDAY

Hell Boulevard – main stage – they sang hit me baby one more time.

Aeverium – main stage – elements of thrash, not really. But I enjoyed it.

Unzucht – main stage – Fuchs yeah. I do love a bit of Unzucht and they were really enjoyable. Great fun.

Feuerschwanz – main stage – medieval rock shit

Combichrist – main stage – Andy and I started the pit and it was good. Thank god. This made the weekend worth it. Totally loved the show.

Combichrist - M'era Luna 2022 — Combichrist – M’era Luna 2022

Rotersand – club stage – amazing. Really enjoyable. People came and thanked us for starting the pit during the Combichrist show.

Rotersand - M'era Luna 2022 — Rotersand – M’era Luna 2022

Nachtmahr – club stage – good show. Two dancers.

Eisbrecher – main stage – amazing show, really good fun.

And there we have it. A great weekend. Such a shame there were massive delays getting back into the UK but that’s the sort of shit we have to put up with now I guess a bunch of arseholes lied to us. One of the best bits of the weekend for me was Smith’s realisation that paying to have a shit in the posh loos was worth it and made things soooo much better.

The Last Moments - M'era Luna 2022 — The Last Moments – M’era Luna 2022

July 10 2022July 10 2022

CCF Camp HLW

I’ve just returned from the first summer camp we’ve had for three years. In pre-pandemic times we would head off for a week each summer and spend that time at a RAF Station and have great fun doing activities. This year we booked accommodation at RAF Henlow and organised our own camp. Normally HQ would allocate us to a camp somewhere in the country but all the systems aren’t working very well yet, they’ll get there. So we drove ourselves to RAF Henlow and settled into the cadet block there, Barrack Block 56.

Our first day at camp was getting unpacked, checking the block and sending the cadets on a FAMEX. We also booked into the cinema in Royston to see Top Gun Maverick. It was much better on second watching and I didn’t expect that to happen! Sunday was a trip to Wyboston Lakes and an assault course in the morning followed by time on the inflatables in the lake. It was great, even with the A&E visit that was required.

LJ and I had a bit of a prank war going on and the picture above was the point at which we decided just to make it a verbal roasting war rather than anything physical. We could both see it was going to get out of hand! Monday was a multi-activity day with some cadets going flying with 5AEF at RAF Wittering, some cadets went to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford and others went for a trip around a nuclear bunker and some high ropes. Great fun was had by all. In the evening a pilot mate of mine came and gave the cadets a talk about the flying industry.

Tuesday we visited RAF Honington to see what the RAF Regiment and Force Protection get up to. We might have had some instruction on small burst weapons during the day and then had a visit to the heritage centre detailing all the exploits of the Regiment.

Wednesday was a visit to the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine at RAF Henlow followed by weapon training. In the evening I ran a DCCT range over the other side of the airfield at the Force Protection flight.

Thursday was a trip to the Shuttleworth Collection for a private tour and trip on a bus that was over a hundred years old. There were a few planes flying and that was nice to see. RAF Henlow not being a flying base.

Thursday evening was another session in the DCCT range and virtually all cadets gained their L98A2 trained shot badge with the excellent guidance of the staff. It’s a pretty good achievement. Friday was the reverse of Monday with 12 more cadets getting airborne at RAF Wittering and the others heading to the bunker and high ropes.

Friday evening was paper plate awards and chill time. TR and I went to visit the Officers’ Mess and checked out the bar. Saturday we tidied up, somehow loaded our transport of all the kit and headed home after lunch. It was a great week and another memorable camp. Such excellent fun and hopefully an amazing experience for our cadets. RTU was around 1500 hours and then the buses were tidied and parked up. We arrived back at the same time as the Army section which caused some issues in the car park but it all worked out in the end. I’m looking forward to next year.

July 10 2022

Wheels Of Steel – Saxon

I do like a bit of Saxon. I am rather partial to their sound. Can I tell you what’s on this album? No. I’ve got a “best of” and that’ll do for me. Not sure when I got this particular album.

June 27 2022June 26 2022

Weapons – Lostprophets

Fuck. I don’t know what to say. I haven’t listened to this band since it became known the singer was a paedophile. I just can’t physically listen to it.

I remember that musically this was great. I saw the band once and it was amazing. In a very small way I feel I enabled that man. I know I didn’t. The best thing is that as soon as people knew he was a cunt they just stopped playing this stuff. The political right would have called this “cancel culture”, but really it’s just “we don’t support your views so fuck off”. I feel sorry for the rest of the band. But fuck the singer.

June 26 2022June 26 2022

We Want Moore! (Live) – Gary Moore

I’ve had this album since I was a teenager. Listening now I’m surprised that I’ve never heard the first song before but I think my taped version never had that on it. I have always been surprised that Gary Moore wasn’t a bigger star. Everything thing has written is fantastic. He had a great voice, played well, good song writer. I wonder if it’s a thing that his music resonated with me more than with other people and I’m placing my values on the world? Just because I like something doesn’t mean everyone should, and I’m aware that’s clearly a thing, but the metal crowd should love this stuff. It’s amazing.

Every song on this album is great. I think everyone should own this album.

I have to add to this communication. I’ve been playing this album while doing home admin and generally “surfing the internet” [which I don’t think people say anymore]. This album is beautiful. Empty Rooms, Back On The Streets, Shapes Of Things, Victims Of The Future, Cold Hearted. All these songs hit me right where it matters. It’s an album I can listen to when I’m really happy. It makes me happier. If I was sad it would make me sadder. It hits the emotions. Today it makes me absolutely really fucking happy, it’s a Legend of an album.