Guitars and Life

Finally catching up on some TV watching after a busy week.  Blackout was a fantastic 3 part BBC drama with Christopher Eccelston playing a city politician (Daniel Demoys) who is an alcoholic.  Basically a story about corruption and deceit it also deals fantastically well with alcoholism throughout.  Demoys wakes from another hellish day of drink to find that someone who he was involved in underhand dealings with has been killed.  He has marks on his fists showing he was in a fight the night before but it was a Blackout.  Now alcoholics reading this will be familiar with that feeling of "What the hell happened yesterday?"  This is that problem as Daniel has flashes of what happened but is not sure exactly.   Then in a moment of bravery he is shot protecting someone else.  He determines not to drink.  A nurse at the hospital helps him - telling him he has had a "moment of clarity" and then to call her when the moment he wants to drink agai...

This morning I am typing this post on my new Sony Android phone.  Yes folks I am joining the mobile revolution! So I am so far struggling with the keyboard but it does seem to be learning how useless I am and providing suggestions to help me. I hope to be able to use this to stay in touch more on blogs etc.

I've read a few blog entries from other bloggers in recovery talking about where they are in recovery/life/etc. at the moment and that plus other things have prompted me to come up with this post. It is good every now and then to have a moment of reflection a look back.  The last few months have been a little bit turbulent for me.  The job I'm now in has been an interesting journey - I'm just over 9 months into it and now through my "probationary" period, which is in itself interesting since when I joined the department was in the middle of the third phase of a major departmental restructuring, my hiring was into a new position created as part of this restructure itself as part of the management team.  However it took longer than originally anticipated for the next phases to complete to I've continued to be in limbo longer than was originally hoped.  This was good from some points of view, I've had plenty of time to get to know various people and gain so...

Yes folks I'm very happy to announce that a download version of The Man Inside is available from the Rock-Til-You-Drop Record Shop .  Also you can buy the CD from there as well and finally a free download is there of a few tracks off my first album Within.

So part two following the splurge on CDs this week. Asia - XXX Firstly a tip - when you hear that one of your favourite prog super groups from the 80s is planning a 30th anniversary album entitled XXX (see 30 in Roman numerals - these UK prog types are so funny!) think carefully about what you bung into the old google search box, especially when the group in question is Asia.  Something like "Asia band 30th anniversary album release date" - would be good just typing "Asia XXX" was a bad idea!  It was like several chapters of 50 Shades of Grey had been blatted all over the screen. Anyway enough of my search issues - what is the album like?  Very good.  Asia hit the scene in 1982 with their stunning eponymous debut album.  I remember buying that totally on spec and bunging on the old music centre and from the first power chord and then the first line of John Wetton's vocals on Heat of The Moment I was thinking "This is great, but different from what I...

I've gone CD crazy lately - not only is my second CD The Man Inside available now - (see link for price and ordering details) (see how clever that bit of marketing was eh?) but I've bought a bunch recent.  Here is first of a two part review of these purchases. Newton Faulkner - Write it on you Skin Mr Faulkner's third effort and a very good one.  He of the huge grin, long dreadlocks and acoustic singer/songwriter skills.  He has got his own sound/sound down pat now, more than once I thought as an intro hit me for the first time "I would know that is Newton anywhere".  This maybe isn't as strong as his debut album but more of a whole than his second.  Definitely will please his existing fanbase and may gain him a few more. Squackett - A Life Within A Day How prog is this!  Steve Hackett (ex. Genesis) and Chris Squire (Yes) collaborate on a full album together.  From the opening synth motif you know that you are dealing with top quality UK prog...

Another in the genre of modern day Templar novels, i.e. the Templar are still out there in someway.  This one seems to pitch them as bad guys - headed by a crazed lady who is trying to get her son to be president of the USA.  I will be honest I only bought this as there was a multibuy deal and this was the best I could see in that with whatever else I bought. Firstly - this is in a sequence and I've not read the others so that possibly didn't help my opinion of it but I wasn't impressed and won't look to go either forward or backwards in the series.  Too many people double crossing here and there, the plot is complicated possibly overly so but also there is little or no exposure or analysis of the characters, you're left with very 1 dimensional visualisations of them, the baddy is bad - very bad - the good guys can do no wrong and have endless tenacity etc.  There's a bit where one of the good guys says "This is where people go to the cops and there is no...