The true confessions of an internet nerd

I'm on the slippery slope. Broadband internet access is a curse. I'm spending far too much time messing about with this stuff. I've now worked out how to add album artwork to my required records page which makes it look better. I've also been pissing about on myspace and found a cool fridge magnet thing that people can play with. all fun.

been to the pub with a few of my mates this evening. most of them are married now. it's a bit scary. you get the 'left on the shelf' feeling. a bit like a kid surrounded by grown-ups. then you hear that one of these married 'grown-ups' has just had a fist fight with his wee brother for no reason at all and you feel a bit better.

anyway, here are some more pictures of records

http://www.hotfreelayouts.com/music.php

phunky

dr phunk on myspace!

giant drag at the barfly in glasgow

i've been listening to this album a lot over the past month. i picked it up because it recieved good reviews and it has made me become all evangelical. I've been playing it to my friends and they all like it too. when we found out that they were playing in the rather small barfly venue for only seven quid we made a mad dash for tickets. and it was worth it.

we didn't know what to expect. we knew that the band only has two members but the album is very layered. would they have extra band members or would they play to a tape? as it happened only two people were on stage (the female singer guitarist and the male drummer everything-elseist) and they made a valiant attempt at reproducing the album. the guitar was loud and the drummer played basic keyboard with one hand when needed. a good attempt.

the singer. the singer. the singer. she has a personality. a bit funny, a bit weird. she comes across like willow from buffy the vampire slayer. she complains about the weather and smoking in the rain. she does an impression of her last scottish audience (standing, blank and unimpressed) and she generally keeps everyone amused. she seemed to become more confident as the show went on. her guitar playing was good although she asked the lighting man to turn up the lights because she is 'a girl and she needs to see her hands to play guitar'. her singing was good as well but I did miss the dreamy multi-track vocals of the album.

they played for about an hour and we heard the album, some b-sides, some new songs and a kick ass version of wicked game. well worth 7 quid. buy the album. see them if they play again. you might become evangelical too.

phunk

Bonnie prince billy - live in Glasgow

Tonights excursion was to the ABC on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow to see Bonnie prince billy supported by highland folk band Harum Scarum. Before the gig I met my mate in King Tuts for some decent food served by attractive barmaids.

I was not really taken by the first set by Harum Scarum. I could not pretend to be a folk music fan. I have danced to traditional Scottish music in the past and enjoyed it. I have worn a kilt and felt comfortable but I wouldn't really listen to traditional folk music for pleasure. Harum Scarum passed me by.

Bonny prince billy is a zelig type character. Will Oldham (a.k.a billy) was an actor and has operated under many musical identities. He has worked with many different groups over the years to produce some very different sounding albums. His recent tortoise collaberation was an example of this. You never know what to expect from Oldham. Like Bob Dylan he seems to delight in reconstructing his songs on a regular basis. This approach is admirable but it can be annoying.

Initially we had solo Billy tonight. He played several songs including 'ease on down the road' accompanying himself on guitar. Harum Scarum joined him for the rest of the set. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't. Oldham looked like he was having fun and some good songs were played. I felt that the power of some songs such as 'I see a darkness' was diluted by the arrangement but it was still good. I was happy to see Bonnie Prince Billy playing his songs in the flesh.

Oldham is an interesting looking guy. He has gaunt features and one hell of a beard. He looks a bit scary. A bit like a potential axe murderer. A bit back-woods. Like his songs. Is this him in character? Is Bonnie Prince Billy pure theatre?

Sitting in the bar my friend and I talked about the 'typical' Will Oldham fan. What would they look like? Who is a 'typical' Will Oldham fan? It was an older, studenty crowd. Intellectual. Intresting hair cuts, facial hair and glasses. Clothing was anti-fashion in a studied manner. I wonder how these people first started to listen to his music. His music is powerful and affecting. I love it myself but I just don't know how he finds a market. I would like to know.

Anyway, the show was ok but it could have been better. My friend said that the last show he caught (5 years back) was better. I'll go and see him again if I get a chance but I hope he has a different backing band.

funky

night shifts

just finished seven 13 hour night shifts in a row. I've had no life for the past 7 days but I survived and more importantly everyone else did. some of my nights were very busy. last night I only got to sit down and have a sandwich after 9 hours (and that was only for 20 minutes). Luckily I don't have more nights for 4 months now.

I've just recently bought series 7 of south park on DVD from america and it's rather good. Somehow I hadn't seen any of it so it gave me something to watch in the 30 minutes of spare time I had before falling asleep every day. I haven't read anything, watched TV or spoken to any of my friends. The things we do for money....

Back to 9 to 5 normality on Monday. Going to see bonnie prince billy and giant drag next week which should be cool. Life goes on.

This weekend I'm gonna sleep, read and play guitar

Phunky

Something to read

Warren Ellis is kinda cool. He writes comic books. One of the best was called transmetropolitan and was published by vertigo comics. It's about a gonzo journalist modelled on Hunter S. Thompson. It is well written.

To try out an issue go to

http://community.livejournal.com/fullscans_daily/11529.html

This story comes from issue number 8 and can be bought in the collection Transmetropolitan: Lust for life. You could find it on www.amazon.co.uk if you want to read more.

Warren Ellis is aware that this is on the net. see http://warren_ellis.livejournal.com/ for more

funky

the smoking ban and the nanny state

I don't smoke. I really don't like it. My granny died of lung cancer when I was 10. I have my reasons. Generally, it fucking mings.

Over the weekend their has been a massive cultural shift in Scotland. It can be seen in the difference between the two gigs that I went to on friday and monday. On friday I went to see max romeo and I nearly choked to death on the second hand smoke from all the roll-up kings (who seemed to be trying to go to a bang). The next day my clothes smelled really bad. On monday I went to see the evens in a smoke free environment and it was pleasant. I didn't smell like a tramp when I got home.

I had a similar experience in the big blue on great western road tonight. Smoke free and pleasant. Going out is much better now.

I was walking around the city centre the other evening and all the smokers were standing outside the pubs in the rain. It was a sad sight. Cold, wet people slowly killing themselves in the rain. Not all pubs are following the letter of the law. People in the western could be seen smoking a fag tonight.

So, should the state be telling people what to do? Should smoking be illegal? Should people have the right to kill themselves with their lifestyle choices?

I don't know. I've had two pints and my ethical reasoning has gone out the window. I guess what I'm thinking about is the dichotomy between individual freedom and the nanny state. Both of which are good left-wing principles.

Fuck knows

drphunk

The Evens - live at the Riverside Club, Glasgow

It was raining the sort of Glasgow rain that I love as I walked up the hill to my flat this evening. Cool, heavy, large drops of rain that are somehow comforting and cleansing. It was a good rain because it helped to wash away the blood from the random acts of violence that I had just witnessed at Hillhead underground station. Two or three young guys with large head wounds, bleeding heavily. Ten to fifteen more blokes in their early twenties shouting abuse at each other. I kept my head down and walked past. The chaos brought me back to reality a bit after the fucking brilliant concert that I had just been to.

The evens are a two piece alternative rock band featuring ian mackaye of fugazi/minor threat and amy from the warmers. They play protest music and love songs, kinda like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Except different.

Ian Mackaye is a great front man. In fugazi (who I have seen live 3 times) he is hidden behind a wall of noise and he shares the spotlight with Guy (another great frontman). In the evens, Mackaye is naked, exposed without a wall of feedback. The audience at this show contained around 100-150 people and Mackaye made an effort to look everyone in the eye and make everyone interact. The crowd was taught parts of songs and encouraged to sing along. On the last song everyone in the room was forced to whistle. Whistle anything. Birdcalls, even. It was sublime.

The music of the evens is powerful; simple and dramatic. Dynamic with warm, fuzzy tones and reverb on the drums. The songs are pretty too - it's all downhill from here is the refrain of one song that Mackaye explains is about those times in life when you realise that you are in a perfect moment. This show was life-affirming. It reminded me that all the shit, the fucked up relationships and the grind of work is just a part of life. This show reminded me of the beauty of good music and good experiences.

I enjoyed it.

Getting to the gig was a bit of an experience. My mate and I walked down the Broomielaw and all of Clyde street looking for the venue. Our tour almost took us directly into a small group of junkie neds that we managed to avoid. We had a quick look at some of the grubier parts of the city centre that I normally try and avoid.

So tonight has been beautiful and ugly. Like life

Phunky

Max Romeo - live at the Renfrew Ferry, Glasgow

This was a great show. Max Romeo is an old Jamaican reggae singer who had a UK number one hit with wet dream in the late 60s. Wet dream was later banned when someone listened to the lyrics. He made several albums with Lee 'Scratch' Perry including war inna babylon which is in some circles considered to be the best record bearing Perrys' name. This album includes the classic chase the devil sampled by the Prodigy on their 'out of space' single.

Max Romeo is very good.

For anyone who does not know, the Renfrew Ferry is a boat permenantly moored on the river Clyde in Glasgow. At some point it has moved from the south bank of the Clyde to the north bank causing a little confusion. It's an interesting venue. I had only been once before, around 8 years ago, for a birthday party.

The warm-up tonight was a comedy 'white ragga' MC who shouted 'selector', 'smoke da ganj' and 'babylon' over some good reggae records. He did all this in a 'reggae voice' which briefly slipped during an equipment malfunction. I didn't catch the baseline accent but he was a white man with ginger hair. He was a bit of a cock, a real-life ali g.

The Max Romeo band was shit hot. Bass/guitar/drums/keyboard/sax/trumpet/female backing vocals. Very tight and well practiced. A fighting reggae rhythmn machine. The band were introduced individually - 'this is sista soulfunk on bass; this is brother jackson on drums' to great applause. Appart from the white, non-rasta trumpet player -'this is mark on trumpet' who didn't get much clapping and looked well pissed off in an unintentional comedy moment.

The band started playing at about 11 and I danced for most of the set. Most of war ina babylon was played which was good for me as it's the album I know best. Most of the songs were about babylon and kicking satans ass which I guess is a good thing. Wet dream wasn't played but it wasn't missed. A version of Redemption Song was a highlight, as was Chase the devil (I'm gonna put on an iron shirt kick satan in da dirt). Uptown babies don't cry was great, as was three blind mice and some snatches of Lennons Give peace a chance. As I said, a fucking great show. At the end the guitarist gave us a quick reggae version of Scotland the brave which was nice.

Here's the bit where I sound like an arse. The crowd was full of tossers, walking dead examples of why cannabis is bad for you. The lights were on for most of the show so you could see the haggard faces of the cannabis zombies staggering around the dance floor while they tried to roll their joints. Smoking cannabis is not good for your skin. The air was practically green with hash smoke. People can do what they want in their own time I guess but when it turns into a life-defining activity it is pretty sad.

It was as if most of the crowd got dressed in the dark in a 'who can look the most adolescent' contest. Hippies. Arrrrggghhh. A comedy moment occured when Romeo shook hands with some guy in the front row who was wearing a sixties style ska hat. A modern-era teen film style stoner tried to get in on the act and have a 'cool-points' handshake with Romeo. Romeo pulled his hand away at the speed of light provoking laughter from several other audience members.

OK, enough bitching. Great show. Crowd - 60% nobbers.

phunklstein

more ways to waste my time.

I've started to play about with myspace. It seems to be pretty good for stuff like music. You can access tracks from bands like Giant Drag, the Go! team and Gorillaz. These bands sometimes have exclusive material on the site.

Basically, you go about making internet 'friends'. I can now count Alan McGee (of creation) and Warren Ellis (cool as fuck comic writer) among my myspace 'friends'. I'm also using it to keep in touch with some of my real life friends who I have actually met, face-to-face. I've also managed to find a profile for a pal from uni who I'll hopefully get back in touch with. It also seems like a good way to meet people and get to know folk with similar interests. I guess that's a good thing when you spend most of your time at work.

I like blogger better cos it's a bit more creative. I have more time to express myself and mess about with stuff. It seems more permenant. myspace is more like a nice distraction. A way to waste time.

The address is http://www.myspace.com/dr_phunk

phunky

Geek joy

Playing about with the internet tonight I found two bits of news that made the geek in me smile.

First off a further 26 episodes of futurama are being made! Yay!!!

Secondly a Star Wars TV show is being made and should run for at least 100 episodes! Probable Yay!!!

Source - www.aintitcool.com

Phunky