I always feel like I put weight on at festivals such as the Fringe. Not because of the beer and burgers but for the sheer amount of flyers I am given.
Although it may be too late, if anyone is heading up to Edinburgh right now I highly recommend these guys. They are called LOVEHARD and the performance is called ‘Murdered by Murder’.
I saw them perform in a pub called The Newsroom, although this may have changed since. There was a stage with two actors and a coffee table, the room darkened with a third person playing piano along to the scenes. Set in the 1930’s, a group of friends play a murder mystery game on Christmas Eve at a stately home when an actual murder takes place. The performance takes you through the night and all of the accusations, twists and turns with plenty of wit and improv along the way.
What was unique about this performance was that the multiple characters were played by the two young actors you can see above. The stage must have only been ten feet wide in the basement of this pub, enough room to switch character with a ‘whoosh’ sound. The character changes must have been every ten seconds or so, and it worked both perfectly and hilariously.
It was completely unique and I don’t often throw recommendations out there, however this deserves one. Not in Edinburgh? If the great ratings keep coming I am sure they will be seen elsewhere. What I love about the Fringe Festival is that most of these shows are free and promoted via word of mouth. I paid a fiver towards it, into a bucket whilst leaving as they asked for donations.
Sometimes the best things in life are free, and sometimes these things deserve a little money.
Is it just me, or is having a company name like ‘UNT’ on the wall a disaster waiting to happen?
No wonder they placed it out of reach.
Graffiti artists are like sand though. They get everywhere and anywhere. The example below from Reddit made my palms sweat.
The featured image was taken in Dallas, and after a quick Google found that it stands for University of North Texas. I don’t know much about this college (I used to live very close to the Texas Tech campus in Lubbock however) and remember driving through Austin and being blown away by the stadium for the Longhorns. I couldn’t believe college football was so popular.
That is one difference between living in the UK and the USA. We have the Premier League, one of the biggest leagues in the world and as England is so compact in comparison, you are never too far from a top flight team. My nearest is a ten minute drive however as they were only promoted last season and have lost the first two games of this current season, how long they will stay in this league is anyone’s guess. The USA is huge, Texas alone could swallow the whole of the UK up. With that in mind cities with large populations are vast distances from the NFL, NHL and the like. Universities give these cities a fantastic sporting identity.
Watching Texas Tech in Lbk, TX. Raider Power!
I am not sure if this is the case with all large nations (Brazil, Canada, Russia, India, I am calling you out!), and I will find if that is the case in Australia in a couple of weeks time.
A wind bent tree is shackled by its roots. It cannot evade, only endure. This picture was taken on a very windy day on the Isle of Wight, I was sitting inside a car which explains the reflection. It also reflects my current thoughts.
So many factors contribute to how we currently feel. Our jobs, relationships, health, wealth, social status, location, the weather…The list goes on for as long as we want it to.
Some of these cannot be controlled, some can. Although it is important that we make the most of what we are able to control, it is vital to react positively to what we cannot. I have found that throughout life I have often reacted badly to what I cannot control and for that, have dramatically reduced my productivity with what I can change.
As with any time period, we have to accept that society will mould us to a certain degree. That we are victims of circumstance that may deprive us of education and freedom, creativity and opportunity. With that being said, some of the most successful and inspirational people among us have had that same burden. We can reduce the degree in which it affects us.
The ability that we possess that a tree does not is that we can resist. We can move and rebel, relocating away from that heavy pressure of society and into a place in which those strong winds launch us forward instead of hold us back. It’s simply about looking in the right places and being willing to change direction.
A seemingly impossible climb can become the easiest walk with a simple 180.
Earl Grey has had a hard time at the top of this monument. During World War Two he was struck by lightning and his head fell off and onto a tram. A witness at the time flew across the carriage and his uniform was set on fire.
We tweet about the coffee we are drinking, this poor guy was attacked with a giant flaming head and had no social media to tell the world of it. I’m sure it will be remembered much more than any skinny latte.
It sounds like a far fetched movie scene, but this really happened! The below photo of his new head being carved is from this article from The Chronicle.
Today, he is a regular toilet stop for birds. Can you see the white substance covering the top of his head? Yeah, go figure.
Nature doesn’t care about incredible human achievements. It doesn’t care if you have a tea named after you. It treats us all equally, and there is a beauty in that. At least he takes the hit so we don’t have to, providing a service as he did when he was around, the reason he has a monument in the first place.
I’ve been thinking about this so much that I had actually forgotten to blog about it. I thought I did, in fact what I did blog about was that I had to wait for a certain date to hit and after that I would provide an update. So this is the update, the one that I thought I put out that was purely in my head all along.
I’m not there yet, hence why nothing is upside down.I got a ticket to see Muse in Sydney! And I learned a lesson in the process.
Sometimes it is better to just relax and not create a false sense of urgency. It can be a distraction and make things play on your mind when they really don’t need to. I managed to miss the Muse presale and the presale by the ticket provider that was on offer a little longer. For that reason I stayed up til 3am (noon in Sydney) to make sure I got a ticket. I thought they would disappear fast with such huge demand and with Sydney and Melbourne being the only gigs announced in this continent since 2013.
Then, a problem occurred.
A friend that I haven’t seen for a few months stopped by, meaning we had a few drinks. A few turned into a few more. I got that drunk that by 3am I had to not just concentrate on putting in the correct payment details but to find the strength to push the keys. I haven’t been that drunk for a while.
I didn’t get a ticket that night. I needed an Australian phone number. I tried again the following evening in my hotel room whilst I was in Edinburgh (sober this time) and it still didn’t take my mobile number, despite stating I could add it by typing ‘+44’ before it.
‘+44′ had non numerical symbols.
’44’ was not recognised.
Leaving the above out was not recognised as an international number.
It was then that I realised something that I didn’t when I was blind drunk. The ‘Don’t have a mobile phone?‘ link in small text beneath. It stated that a landline number could be placed in the box and be applicable. I tried and it allowed me to the next page.
So here I am, much poorer but much happier!
I was surprised there were tickets, I think I was scarred by my first attempt at a Glastonbury Festival ticket, sold out within 20 minutes of going on sale. 100,000+ tickets sold by 9.20am. Incredible.
Australia is HUGE and I guess this is a contributing factor. I can attend any gig in the UK and the flight won’t be more than an hour. Over in Oz that might be the driving distance to someone’s local store.
Qudos Arena, Sydney in December. I’ll be blogging. Probably more than usual as I won’t have a voice to speak with.
A man in thought next to the River Tyne, Newcastle. The seven bridges can be seen in the background.
This photo reminds me that the mind is an incredibly powerful place. I don’t know what he is thinking here, one thing I know is that I will never know, nor will I ever claim to know. Too many people claim to know the minds of others and how to think, a huge mistake when it comes to understanding and empathy.
More images from my recent trip to Edinburgh, this time away from the craziness of the festival.
It was pretty fascinating to see the The Royal Yacht Britannia as it was whilst the Queen sailed on her between 1954 to 1997, from the dining rooms to the public toilets. I also particularly enjoyed seeing how the workers on the lower decks lived on board, they had their own bar in the style of a British pub. I would much prefer to be there than the surgery room I had a glance at.
Oh and brownie points if you can spot the corgi on your way…
Sometimes it is worth looking at trends to determine if a great opportunity lies ahead, wherever that may be at that time. I have such an opportunity at noon on the 10th of August which I do not want to miss.
I have been reading fan comments whilst Muse have been on tour through throughout Europe and the States. I was able to see them in 2016 on their Drones Tour in Manchester, UK, Drones being their most recent album. It was incredible as I knew it would be from the three previous Muse gigs I have attended since 2006, the first being in my home city of Newcastle.
Newcastle, Nov 16, 2006
My first gig. Ever. Matt the singer/guitarist played part of the song Assassin whilst laid on his back. I also thought that Dom on drums was wearing the Spiderman costume he tends to wear every now and then, looking back at the incredibly pixelated videos taken in 2006 it doesn’t seem so, although it is hard to tell when the video consists of about 50 pixels. Memories can be deceiving.
Leeds Festival, Origin of Symmetry 10th anniversary, 2011
A truly unique experience as it was the tenth anniversary of Origin of Symmetry, and the first time ever that the whole album was played in its entirety. The stage was set up as if the band were playing inside the album cover, with images from the albums artwork animated onto the giant screen behind. Flamethrowers were used and had to be scrapped later in the gig as the flames were so tall it melted/set fire to parts of the stage. Classic Muse. I took this screenshot from their 360 app, which allows you to control the cameras 360 degrees of the whole set with multiple angles to choose from. This, was a very cool idea.
Manchester (Etihad Stadium), Unsustainable Tour, 2013
Despite the unique stage set in Leeds, this was by far the most impressive stage I have seen from these guys, or anyone for that matter.
It was the biggest stage I have ever seen. I found this picture over at MuseWiki that helps to give a little perspective of this particular stadium tour.
Charles the Robot can be seen in the last image, a 16 foot tall robot that sang the lyrics to Unsustainable whilst smoke fired from his ears. Matt wanted the robot to be taller, but was (again) blocked by health and safety. When asked by a fan on Twitter if he was finally able to get a robot to perform on stage, he tweeted:
Better smaller than never, I say!
Manchester (arena), Drones Tour, 2016
I loved this gig because the Drones album (largely relating to the controversial use of drones in war) had a darker vibe, and with this a heavier setlist bringing back some of the rock songs of earlier albums. They also had drones flying about the arena, as well as a huge drone of what appeared to be a black spacecraft or army plane flying around the stage that was in the centre of the arena. After a few beers, I just remember looking up and thinking ‘what the heck is that?!’ as it flew right by. A great memory.
Gigs that were never to be.
Madison Square Garden, Resistance Tour, 2010.
I was in NYC, and my hotel was honestly right across the road from MSG. I could see the main doors to the venue from my window. Not just that, Muse were performing that night. I went over to see if I could get a ticket, very optimistically and remember one of their songs was playing in the lobby. There were no tickets. On the bright side, I did get to do a stadium tour that day, which granted me access to the venue to watch their stage being set up. This was another unique experience that I am chuffed I managed to have. Apologies for the grainy image, this is all I have. I don’t know why I had such a terrible camera back then.
As we were lead into the Knicks changing rooms, I couldn’t help to notice Muse kit boxes along the corridors. I remember feeling a sense of excitement as I could walk around one corner and bump into them at any moment. Sadly, I didn’t.
There was one room. A room with two people standing outside of it, as if something was taking place inside. To this day I am convinced the band were being interviewed inside, however I may never know…
What are they doing in there? I have a right to know…It was a weird feeling knowing that they could have been right there and all I could do is walk on by.
Watching the gig back on YouTube, the light show was incredible.
Sydney, 2017?
At noon AEST, I have the opportunity to buy tickets for one of two Australian gigs they have recently announced. Sydney and Melbourne are the first Aussie dates since 2013, I knew it was inevitable from the amount of Australian fans desperately wanting a chance to see them, begging for some tour dates all over their social media. Sadly, I missed it on the pre sale so I will just have to wait for the general sale, but what great timing it will be with me moving to Sydney in September.
Roll on noon on the 10/08/17… I’ve bookedmarked the local timezone for maximum preparation.
I hope my Aussie friends don’t mind as I try to steal a ticket from their beautifully tanned, Muse deprived hands… I’ll make up for it somehow, I promise.
One Chance to See the World 