Whole Lotta DVD

Well, today we went shopping for Debbie's birthday present, a new wedding ring. It was worth every penny to see the look of delight when she found one she liked and could finally replace the Argos special she had originally. Also, as I was in a rockin' mood from the other day's post I found a Led Zeppelin DVD with 5 hours of live footage. This was 39.99 in Virgin, but I found it in HMV for 19.99 ?!?!?!?, no brainer, snapped it up along with an Albert King CD. So there went my birthday vouchers for last week. Both Debbie and I are happy chickens. I also spent a large portion of the day planning my luggage, as I'll be taking a guitar (Blade Delta) to Bournemouth. I need to play every day to keep my chops up so I thought I'd use the time to work on some of the hard (technical) stuff that I keep putting off. Ryanair is notorious for overcharging on excess baggage, so I've got to fit guitar in Hiscox case, Korg AX1500g modelling unit, clothes, toiletries, book, etc.into 15kg. In the USA, the FAA supplied a standard letter for musicians which requested all airlines to allow guitars etc of a reasonable size on board the cabin. Monday afternoon I'll have to leave my number 1 with some dodgy looking dispatcher in a yellow vest at the foot of the steps on the tarmac at Prestwick praying that it makes it. I just hope that Hiscox cases live up to their rep!

I'll try an post somethig a little deeper and more thought provoking (ie.interesting) before I go to Bournemouth

Again....but this time with feeling (rant)

This is something that has been bugging me recently, it seems to be an epidemic in the music world, both Christian and "secular". What is it......whiny vocals!!! I despise Coldplay, Keane, Embrace, Dido, etc etc. Well as a Christian better follow biblical principles so , "Love the musician, hate the music". What has happened to having some cajones in a vocal performance, I might sound like an old git, but it seems there isn't any middle ground between Norah Jones and Slipknot. Bands and artist are stuck in their genre, no dynamics or variety allowed. Could you imagine a band like Led Zeppelin getting a deal these days?

Instrumentally I like some of the stuff Coldplay has done, nice piano and guitar parts, but why does Chris Martin have to sing like he's asleep. There are also lots of bands copying Green Day. Now I use a couple of Green Day songs in my teaching as they are good (ie. easy) for beginners, but everytime I see a video I want to slap them. They seem like a bunch of middle class thirty somethings trying really hard to be punk but just coming off like a parody (don't get me started on Good Charlotte, Sum41 etc). I was never really into punk, the closest I've ever got was The Jam and a few listens to Never Mind the B*ll****s. However I know enough that if green day had tried to play in London in 1976 on the original punk scene they would have been spat at and bottled off the stage.



Last night before I headed up to bed I was flicking through the music channels as I often do,. The videos consisted of :

1. Britney Spears in short top, heavy makeup, looking like a car crash
2. Snoop Dog showing us how much money he has, lack of discernable talent and his love of the slow motion effect
3. Another hip hop video, with girls in bikinis, lots of words blanked out and lots of slow motion shots.

By this time I was losing the will to live, until I hit VH1 Classic, they were playing a live version of "Feel like making Love" by Bad Company from 1970 something. Ok it's cheesy classic rock, and my tastes are old fashioned, but it seemed like an oasis of music, feeling and talent in a world full of soft porn jingles and whiny lead singers.

So, lets try that again, but this time, with feeling!

'bout time I got into this.

Ok, so I'm hardly a prolific Blogger, but it's only been six months.Anywhoo, this January has felt like a brand new start in lots of ways. I'm teaching guitar for a living, which has not only become an enjoyable way to spend my evenings, it also means that I have really had to get it together with my own playing. As a self taught Blues / Rock player (isn't everyone?) I could blag my way around the fretboard and do some good Clapton and Santana impressions, but if you'd asked me what a triad was I would have gone for the Hong Kong gangster answer. So as well as teaching I'm learning too. The good thing is it means that day is flexible again!

This weekend we had some of the guys up from Bristol Vineyard for a worship seminar. I had felt for a while that this would be a significant weekend for the church (Almond Vineyard), our worship team and for me. As I try to wake up on this Monday morning I feel a huge sense of peace and grace.....not my usual Monday feeling.

I also discovered that there was such a thing called ice cream cake (I was still having trouble with the concept of cheesecake), and I've never seen someone's eyes light up so much as when Matt T from Bristol saw it on the table.

Next week is Bournemouth, the leader's conference. It's earlier this year, so the timing feels a little strange but I'm really looking forward to it, I'm expecting big at the moment, so who knows what will happen.