Haircuts and Football

Today's Rating 7/10

I've decided I'm going to write these more on a weekly basis than a daily one, simply because I'm a lazy guy and my average day never really contains all that much to write about. Anyway this week has been good. On tuesday I got a much needed haircut so that my hair no-longer resembles a mop and I also found a pretty sweet leather jacket, so for once in my life I'm looking kind of smart. Quite a few people noticed the change at school and were fairly relieved I didn't carry out my original plan of getting a mohawk. On Wednesday I went to a football (soccer for yanks) game up in Toronto, against Montreal, the atmosphere was great although nothing compared to English football games, Toronto F.C. won 2-0 sending the French back home. During the game there were some quite amusing chants directed at the French audiance, the chants included jibes about French Catholicism, the Block, the FLQ and Celine Dion. I enjoyed myself hugely, however the game did give me pangs of nostalgia for my club back in England, Gillingham F.C.

Apart from the football and some more relationship confusion the rest of my week has been farely uneventful. I've finished The Catcher in the Rye and am now reading The Football Factory by John King, the book is about English football hooliganism and the culture of white, working-class, Englishmen. The constant use of slang terms makes the book hard to understand at times (even for me, a Brit), it's also a very dark read containing large amounts of racism and violence. As always I've been listening to a lot of music, some punk, some Pink FLoyd, you know the usual stuff. Last night I watched the Matrix which, although good, isn't as fantasticly brilliant as everyone makes it out to be, although I'm not really a sci-fi person.

Today's Song

Today's song is Mannequin by the band Wire on the album Pink Flag. Wire were a British 70's/80's avant-garde punk (or art punk) band. I've been listening to a lot of punk lately and this band really caught my attention, they deliver a highly stylised yet raw sound typical of the Art Punk genre. The music is highly intelligent and yet still stays true to its punk roots. Very interesting and well worth a listen!

Lazy Saturday

Today's Rating 6/10

Due to laziness I haven't really written anything since Monday, also this week hasn't been hugely exciting. School's just been typical boring school except for someone's locker getting set alight to and a fight between two grade tens (over a girl apparently). Haven't really been doing too much after school either except for tuesday when I was hanging out with a mate down the road, and Friday when a bunch of us hung out for the night and watched The Hills Have Eyes. I've just been taking it easy really, I'm now reading The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger I'd heard so much about the book that I just felt I had to read it and also I was sort of getting bored of Philip Roth, who's books I've been reading a lot recently. Anyway I'm pretty much hooked on it, the main character is so easy to identify with and the themes of angst and rebellion are very relatable.

I managed to sleep my way through three of my English classes this week, an achievement I'm pretty proud of, anything other than listening to my pompous English teacher delivering yet another self-righteous anecdote reminding us of just how awesome he is. First teacher I've hated since coming to Canada, not that I get in trouble with him or anything, he's just unbearably stupid and so full of himself, its ridiculous. Anyway... rant over. Schools going okay-ish I'm playing out my usual routine of early morning coffee's and doing just enough work to get by, I have a feeling I'm going to fail French this semester though. I've also decided I need to do more extra-curricular activities, aside from hanging out with friends I do almost nothing outside school and I really need more on my very empty C.V. which has of yet failed to get me hired anywhere.

Been talking and just sorting things out since last Sunday and I'm now pretty certain things are going to brighten up a bit. Friends and music have also helped of course and right now Canada isn't seeming quite so dire again. Might be getting a lip piercing (despite the bewilderment of my family) sometime over the next month, it's going to go nicely with the haircut I'm getting on tuesday, going a bit Punk's going to be fun I think.

Today's Song

Today's song is The Ballad of Billy the Kid by Billy Joel on the album Piano Man. I've never been a huge fan of Billy Joel (apart from the song Piano Man of course) but this ballad is really something else. It's about, of course, the notorious cowboy gangster Billy the Kid and it contains a wonderful instrumental that really brings the western theme alive.

Eugh it's Monday

Today's Rating 4/10

There's nothing worse than the monday after a depressing weekend. School of course went by the way school does, slowly. Took two coffees to get me through the day, one of which was paid for by a mate who realized I hadn't had the best Sunday. After the same old schedule of; Drama, French, Lunch, Math and English, I got home and listened to three hours of music straight. The songs on shuffle, merging into one collaborative sound as they slipped by. I also started looking at different punk hairstyles on the internet, something that would be easy to do and still have some kind of shock factor, I'm really bored of having that average dirty blond, long hair that no one takes a second glance at. After dinner I went to hang out around a friend's house for a bit, hoping that his parents would be out so we could light up in his hot tub, however they weren't so we settled for risk.

After getting swiftly defeated in risk I decided to cycle back home. Enjoying the cloudless night and wanting to clear my head I took a little detour where subsequently I was barked at and chased by a stray dog which didn't really help my mood. I apologize that this post isn't fantastically long or elaborate but it's eleven thirty and I'm exhausted after having watched the entirety of the Shawshank Redemption (Movies help alleviate the mind of other stuff).

Today's Song

The song for today is Fog on Tyne by the band Lindisfarne. Lindisfarne were a small English folk rock band of the 1960's, who although produced lots of good material, never hit the big time. Fog on the Tyne is a catchy folk tune with non-sensical but cheerful lyrics. I picked it as today's song just because it was in my head all morning, much to the despair of my Drama group who resorted to violence in a vain attempt to stop me from singing.

First Post

I basically started this blog because I was inspired by a friend who recently began posting his own, I also figured this would be a good way to improve my writing and also express myself, anyway if anyone does take the time to read this (which I highly doubt) I'l do my best to give entertaining accounts of my somewhat boring life. Each post I write will also come with a song that either reflects my current mood or has just left an impact on me that day. I'm one of those people who defines life through what they listen to.

Today's Rating 1/10

Well today was really rough (which is maybe why I felt the need to write this blog). I strangely enough woke up in a good mood, the good mood continued as I threw on some Ska Punk (courtesy of Jake Humber), sang along and got dressed. I then walked the thirty five minutes into town to meet my girlfriend of three months for a coffee. the coffee shop where we were meeting was closed (an oman maybe) so I waited outside on the bench for a few minutes listening to The Who on my ipod. It was here my day (and maybe my life) took an awful turn for the worse, from the moment my girlfriend arrived I could sort of tell something wasn't quite right. To cut a long story short (whilst skipping a very personal conversation) fifty minutes later I was walking along the beaches back to my home, music blaring in my ears, trying to establish quite why she had broken up with me.

I got home and went through all those usual mood swings associated with a break up, you know sadness, anger, resentment ect....... Eventually after hitting an all time emotional low, I decided life goes on, kind of a cliche epiphany I know but hey its true. Got to be another girl out there who has the same crazy interests and fashion tastes as me! This emotional lucidity will hopefully continue throughout this week or my next few blogs could be quite depressing I fear...

Today's Song

The song for today is Octopus by Syd Barrett (the crazy guy from early Pink Floyd) from the album The Madcap Laughs. For those who don't know of Syd Barrett, he was driven insane by the excessive use of LSD and other drugs and this insanity is very much reflected in his music. The song is acoustic with trippy schizophrenic lyrics drifting over the chords. Heard it for the first time today and it blew me away, doesn't really tie in with todays events but oh well, made me feel better!