Author: Ian

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Only Going To Get Worse

Recently I’ve been trying to exercise more and failing. My excuse the other night, when I had a clear two hours to get out, was that it was raining. It is a fair excuse but I could have jumper on the rower at home and done some exercise on that but I was sidetracked by computers and driving games. I recently ran five or so miles and my standard route takes me along a section of road that gets wet easily. It’s easy to avoid the puddles by running on the raised ground at the edge of the field. Sometimes, when it has rained a lot a large pond is formed and stays for a long time.

A Lot Of Rain
A Lot Of Rain

As you can see the temporary pond to the left and the road to the right. I was run-walking along the raised pathway but it’s quite disconcerting because of how slippy it is and the thought of falling into the pond.

I’ve written about this before and I am sorry for not doing enough but these weather events and wet winters are only going to get worse. All caused by anthropogenic global climate change. Sorry younger people, I am convinced life is going to be particularly hard for you.

This brings me to another, slightly related, thing. Humans have an amazing ability to ignore the evidence and only concentrate on the things that they as individuals think will make them better. I’m thinking at the moment of people wearing face masks to avoid getting the current coronavirus which causes Covid-19. Face masks won’t protect you numbskulls. They don’t do what you think they are doing. Stop buying them and leave the stock for people who genuinely need them. I spoke with someone at the weekend who mixes and makes chemotherapy for different individuals. They said that they have to re-use disposable face masks while mixing the drugs because they have run out of stock and stupid people are buying up all the facemasks in society.

Another organisation I am aware of is ignoring all the evidence and making people work through particular practices even though there is no chance that any of it will work. We see this all the time with governments and humans. There is an attitude of doing something [even if it doesn’t work] is better than doing nothing because we can then say that we did something [even if it wasn’t going to work]. What an utter waste of human time and resources.

Want to avoid getting the latest fad-virus? Wash your hands properly. If you do get the virus, don’t sneeze over anyone and follow the government advice on using tissues.

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Reise, Reise – Rammstein

Looking through all the “R” albums I can see some amazing things in there. Reise, Reise is one of those good ones. It must be because it’s by Rammstein and they haven’t written a thing I don’t like. They are proper music gods. There’s a gorgeous sound with Rammstein that works so well. It’s an excellent mix of ragingly heavy guitars with rolling bass lines and keyboard work that just fits. Go and buy anything by them.

  • Reise, Reise – sends shivers down my spine and is beautifully written.
  • Mein Teil – A good one to shout out.
  • Dalai Lama – A nice slow heavy riff with a bouncy beat. It might be about that dude, it might not. I’m not really into ly
  • Keine Lust – Oh gosh. Go and see the video for this one. It’s fantastic. There’s a brilliance associated with Rammstein songs that blow me away. This is a great song.
  • Los – A nice and gentle song with a rolling bass riff and gorgeous high pitched melody thing.
  • Amerika – A cash cow.
  • Moskau – I think this has some Russian people on it. Maybe from Pussy Riot. I don’t know what it’s about but I don’t think you can sing about Moscow and be praising of the regime. Maybe it’s positive about the population there. It’s an OK song.
  • Morgenstern – Choral opening. A great start-stop riff to beat you up. Once the beat and riff goes continuous it’s glorious.
  • Stein Um Stein – starts quietly but will blat you in the face.
  • Ohne Dich – get those lighters in the air. It’s a lovely song.
  • Amour – Deep voiced love story??

I love Rammstein and all their music is beautiful. Everyone should get these albums.

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No Thanks

I was recently away at a place and I noticed that they had a clock on the wall. Nothing wrong with that you might think but let’s look at it.

True But Not True
True But Not True

Now, the time was set correctly so it’s not like I was being a classic mathematician about the clock itself. I was more bothered by the insidious message written on the clock face.

Families Are Forever

And other bullshit sayings

On first inspection this phrase doesn’t really seem that bad. It’s one of those classic bullshit sayings that you’ll hear used by people when trying to justify their pathetic view of the world. This saying reinforces the idea that you have to love your family and protect them. This saying reinforces the idea that you make sacrifices for your family. This saying, while true genetically, assuming plenty of creation of more genetic material, is utter bullshit. There’s no truth in thinking that your family is the most important thing to you. You can, actually, choose.

This sort of phrase is like many others we have in society that will reinforce bad ideas that will force people to make choices that are detrimental to their lives. People will listen to this phrase and then spend time and emotional energy trying to engage and keep onside with people who are bad for them. It’s time people recognised that actually there are plenty of assholes out there and some people need to be away from them.

Imagine there’s that person who has that racist uncle. You know the type. That uncle who, when he comes for dinner, you hope the topic doesn’t get around to anything that could be mentioned along with people with a different shade of skin or people who don’t speak your native tongue. That uncle: fuck him. He’s not forever. He’s a piece of shit.

Maybe you’ve got a mum who is a terrible mum. Those people exist. Mums who look after themselves and don’t give a shit about their kids. Mums who will drop everything to do with family and rush off to ensure that their own interests come first. Those mums are assholes and fuck them. Leave them. Be the best person you can.

This isn’t a money thing. This isn’t a class thing. This is a “some people are cunts” thing. We don’t need those people in our lives. If your live would be better and easier and more productive to be away from those people then it is best for you to be apart from those people. It’s OK to leave. You might be genetically linked to your family forever but you don’t have to have anything to do with them.

To those people who think I’m being overly politically correct or would rail against my arguments that you have to look after yourself first I would say that being politically correct is just about being nice. It’s about treating people with respect and being nice to them no matter who they are. If you can’t do any of that then don’t do anything at all. If your family are assholes, then do your best to walk away.

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It’s Just Like Exercise

I wrote recently about a damn good gig that I went to, Aesthetic Perfection, at the Lounge 666 or whatever it’s called. Because technology is so wonderful and lovely I can now show you a graph of my heart rate throughout that day.

Gig Heart Rate
Gig Heart Rate

There are three main aspects to this graph to chat about. The first is that low bit at the beginning. It’s me asleep. I’d have to compare it to my REM patterns to know what the little blips are in that section. Then, there’s me waking up at the little alarm clock symbol. The running man symbol is where I went for a run and the break in the graph is where I took my watch off for a shower. The low level preceding the first grey man is me driving my car into London for the show. The peak at the first grey man is me walking from where I parked the car to the venue. The next big dip is me eating food and so sitting down. Then, the bouncy bit is me bouncing at the concert.

The second grey man is me walking back to the car from the concert and then my watch thought I had fallen asleep because there’s a “Zzz” symbol. In reality that we me driving home from London and my heartrate stabilised because I wasn’t doing much. You can see that this resting heart rate is still higher than my normal sleeping rate. Finally the small peak just before the end is me walking from where I had to park the car in my village to my house.

This level of detail is pretty cool but I do wonder if it’s worth knowing? All that extra data I have about everything I do but does it change my life? I don’t know.

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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.

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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.

Jadu - Archway
Jadu – Archway

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.

Joe Letz banging the fuck out of a drum
Joe Letz banging the fuck out of a drum

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.

Daniel Graves and Elliot Berlin
Daniel Graves and Elliot Berlin

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.

Aesthetic Perfection
Aesthetic Perfection

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.

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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.

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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
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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.

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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!

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