Freaky Time

Over the last month I have mainly been doing...

[With myself, Harry, Josh, Nadine, Ross, Paul, Luke, Julia, my Mum]

NOT WANTED: 2 Housemates in Brighton

I know you are all avid readers of my blog, so you probably saw this advert that I posted in June

...your services are no longer required

I don't normally divulge information about my personal life to the world wide web, but I thought it only polite to let you know that we've whittled down the 'applicants' [which wasn't difficult], and are now moving in with 2 excellent girls into an excellent house

We've yet to encounter either the house or the two people we're living with, but are gonna ride it out on pure faith

I would say "Let me know if you're going to Brighton this September too !", but I really don't care. The only people that reply to that kind of thing are vermin

I'm aware my blog has kind of sucked lately, and it will continue to suck while I try and dig myself out of the hole that is staying in Essex for summer for the sake of not being homeless, getting a job that pays more than just my travel rate, making sure none of this house business falls through, a mediocre social life... oh, and turning 20 on Saturday

Send presents etc to my home address. No flowers please, they will only die

Awkward Family Photos

My favourite website right now.

This first picture could be mine and Harry's destiny if we really let ourselves go:

Fan Mail

Enough with the emails ! I'm not nice about everything, I get it
Sending me anonymous shit or stuff without a name is what gets me. You want to offend somebody; tell them something they don't already know and make yourself known
Whether or not a person takes the intended offense depends on the competition

I'll give credit where credit is due. Not to some fashion-wannabe cult bitches and their fucking cat with a sandwich or whatever it is I should be writing about

Nobody is making any of you come here so suck it up or go to hell

The Work Of: Julia Randall

I really like these images from Julia Randall - strong and soft are the 2 conflicting adjectives that I feel are most appropriate here; that they were created entirely in coloured pencil makes them all the more worthy of applause. Could you do that ?

As nice as they are to look at, they also have a really grotesque quality which I can't put my finger on, but which makes them all the more appealing

Part of a series entitled 'Lick Line'

Julia Randall is an artist originally from NY, and you can see more of her work here

The Work Of: Jackie Tileston

People are quick to dismiss work that isn't centered around an obvious subject, assuming that anything other than a portrait, or a photograph is just merely 'chucking paint around'
While at times the cynics may be right, in this case they couldn't be further from the truth

Personally, I think these images by Jackie Tileston are amazing

 Not only are they engaging, but more importantly, they just look fucking cool. And that's enough

You can see more of these by clicking here

Spot The Cunt Rocker

Following a conversation with my friend Julia, I thought I'd spit out my views on some of my least favourite stereotypes. I've covered this subject before, but its still pretty relevant

-- HOW TO SPOT A 'PUNK ROCKER' --

1

They were into blink-182 and Greenday and [inappropriately] Nirvana when they were like, 12. Then the emo stuff, along with the 'scene' image kicked in, and they went all hardcore and death metal and BMTH-clones on us. Then they disowned BMTH cuz they got too 'cool' or 'popular' or whatever the fucking reason was and started listening to bands with stupid names like 'Fire Carcass Bitch Satan' or similar.
When that inevitably petered out, they kept on listening to a carefully picked selection of these bands, as a token of their former selves I guess, and got right back into bands like blink-182 again, hating on everything they were before.
Right now they claim they are one of the 'true' pop-punk fans cuz they've like, listened to that shit for longer than anyone else. The five years or so that it wasn't cool enough excluded obviously, but we keep that under wraps DAWG

2

They always hate on people that haven't liked bands as long as they have, indifferent as to whether or not those people are about five years younger than they are. Cuz like, they were listening to this shit in the womb ! And everyone else shoulda been doing the same !

3

All of the girls have that not-sure-if-I'm-cutesy-or-hardcore vibe about them, which is teamed with brightly coloured hair and some contrived 'kooky' factor.

4

All of the guys have stretched ears, no hair or too much hair, checked shirts and about as much individuality as the girls. Which is loadz !!1
And again, like the girls, they either wear their drinking habits as a badge of honour [because alcohol at 'shows' wit my 'ink'
is what life is about man] OR they're all teetotal and meat free. They descend upon semi-famous 'festivals' [?] like Facedown in their masses, as a swarm of Dallas Green wannabes.
You can bitch about the similarities of Morrissey and his animal rights preaching until the cows come home [ha], but at least he's articulate. Not whining because his girlfriend won't speak to him on Skype or whatever.
I don't know where I'm going with this one anymore. Moving on...

5

Both male and female 'punk rockers' have tattoos, all of which look basically the same, and are equally as shit. In their mind they're really 'different' and 'inspired' and 'personal' though, because obviously getting lyrics from some song you like scratched permanently into your back at 18 is going to be relevant to you forever. Fuck off.

6

Every 'punk rock' fan is pretty elitist. They all think that 'punk rock' is what its all about, and that any other music doesn't compare in either meaning, passion or credibility. Ironically, these people who are so fucking strict on the 'rules' they seem to impose upon music fail to see that pop-punk songs about skateboarding and girls and the US rebellion against politics that they don't understand are not 'punk rock' at all.
-------

"The rest of the guys in my band have piercings on their faces, they're stretching out their ear lobes, and they have tattoos across their arms. Basically a futile attempt to say 'Look at me, look at me I need the attention ! Oh, I'm punk rock, I got some tattoos, I got some piercings. Oh if I'm gonna get pierced, I want everybody to see it'. You know, I don't really back that program. What I'm - I'm more of a, you know, 'This is something for me'. And you know, maybe that somebody special, and that's it. But like, I'm not gonna go out and advertise my 'punk-ness'"
-------
It is not in the 'punk rock' ethic to get high and mighty about things that are bullshit anyway. And it is definitely not punk rock to spend £60 on a t-shirt because it has an emblem that defines you as the type of person you want people to view you as

The true spirit of punk rock, as defined by the 70's movement is, I feel, lost in the 21st century. People are way too materialistic and egotistical to represent the things they think they stand for. None of these people are fighting for a cause, or trying to make a difference. They are way more concerned with getting their image right

The worst part is that these people genuinely believe they are a part of something great, that by epitomizing all of the above they are a revolutionary. I don't know whether to laugh or cringe...

...Shovel and face

Capitalism: A Love Story

"The best things in life aren't things"

If you get a chance to watch Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story' then I strongly advise that you do. It's rare that a documentary can get me this fucking riled - believe it or not - as well as keeping me entertained for two hours. No tea break or anything

Some of the shit in this documentary is horrific - the greed of people, and incapacity to empathize with anyone. Basically a rundown of people who embody everything I hate in a person - a person that thinks they are what they have

No second thought to the people they've put out of work and home... eurgh, just watch it. It's a documentary of the highest caliber. If you don't appreciate then I assume you are a closet capitalist and so should blow your brains out over the bathroom wall

NB: Don't watch it if you're one of those bedroom junkie renegades I mentioned, or you like to get stoned and bitch about shit like capitalism without fully understanding anything to do with it, I don't wanna be the one to encourage you

Moneygami

I don't know whose behind these, but they're pretty fucking hot on it

 If you know who is responsible for this tender triumph [hur hur] then let me know. Unless the truth is just some hick in his trailer park making stuff outta money cuz there's not much else to do when you're watching the desert from a deck chair. That would totally kill the fantasy of some nimble fingered sweat shop kid who came up with a semi-news worthy talent to get his family out of the slums

Am I a visionary or WHAT
[Think Raising Arizona meets Slumdog Millionaire]

 So anyway, I'm guessing this is nothing amazing, and that a whole load of people can do it, but whatever... as someone with the dexterity of a chimp, this kind of thing amazes me