I'm back

Well, it's been a while, that's for sure. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to keep doing this, but the outcry from all five of my readers convinced me to give it another go.

In broad terms, since my last post I've turned 32, celebrated Christmas, and perhaps my quietest new year ever, taken a few weeks off of work, bought an awesome new guitar (pictured below), and eaten roughly 200 Subway cookies (I can't recommend these highly enough, especially the double choc ones, and the white choc and macadamias).


I've been trying to branch out a bit lately with music (ie not listening to the same Damien Rice cd over and over) and so have been downloading a bunch of stuff then listening to it in my car. Some of it's old music I missed the first time round like Dinosaur Jr, and there's some new stuff like The Gaslight Anthem. I'm loving their new one, The 59 Sound. It sort of sounds like a cross between punk and classic American rock like Sprinsteen and Tom Petty. Actually, a lot like Bruce Springsteeen. Here's an example . . .



I've also been on a bit of a GNR kick, reading Stephen Davis' excellent biography "Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N Roses". Despite the fact that pretty much none of the band members (other than the possible exception of Izzy) come across as being even remotely likable, I really enjoyed the book. It was kind of surprising to read that the best stuff from the Use Your Illusion albums, like Don't Cry, November Rain, and You Could Be Mine, actually dated back to the Appetite for Destruction days. Which means that the band had pretty much ran out of good ideas by about 1988. Having said that, I did buy Chinese Democracy the week it came out, and really like it. Definitely the best thing to come out from the band since the first album.

I've caught a few movies in the last week - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Slumdog Millionaire. While they aren't my favourite type of film (I prefer movies where characters say cool, witty things then shoot people), I liked both of them. Slumdog Millionaire was the better of the two, and I'd recommend that to just about anyone. I'm never going to India though.

Of course Christas was just a week or so ago, and the best gift I got this year was "Call of Duty: World at War" for my PS3. Here's the trailer . . .



I'm loving it so far, the graphics are amazing, the action is always intense, and it feels like you're in a movie. I've tried playing online a bit but I suck really bad at that. Mike/Corey/Ash - you guys need to get this game so we can play online together. Hopefully you're all as bad as I am.

Speaking of generally sucking, my fantasy basketball team should be ashamed of itself this year. I can't blame any one of them in particular, but outside of KG, J Terry and Ben Gordon they've all been a huge disappointment to me. Not much I can do but sit back and hopefully they develop some pride in the next few months.

That's about all I've got for now, hopefully it won't be another two months till my next update.