cherry waves

My Personal Top 10s :: Unpopular Opinions a.k.a Things I probably shouldn’t admit.*

• I like Lana Del Rey, I like her look, I like (some) of her music. No matter what you may think of her, I think it is safe to say that most of us would rather hear her on the radio than LMFAO, Will.I.Am, Katy Perry, etc.
• Madonna hasn’t released a good record since the 1980s.
• The Walking Dead had a fantastic pilot followed by a whole heap of averageness.
• A lot of people post things on Tumblr/Facebook just to appear cool or amass followers.
• You should pay for the music you listen to. It’s ok to download something to check it out, perhaps even listen to until your pre-order comes, but if you have no intention of ever paying for it then you’re not really a fan. Oh yeah, almost forgot, going to one gig doesn’t give you the right to download a bands whole back catalogue.
• People complain about the state of the charts - “there is so much rubbish in the charts these days, why can’t it be like the old days?” - but seem oblivious to the fact this is because the majority of people don’t buy their music these days and those that do tend to be pop fans. 
• Jack Black is lame. Two good films - High Fidelity & School Of Rock - do not a good actor make.
• People are sheep, need proof? Look at all the “Facebook bought Instagram, I’m going to stop using Instagram now” comments all over Twitter and Tumblr in the last few hours, all rather pathetic. 
• There is far too much porn on Tumblr. Seriously. How many tits, dicks and pussies do you need to see?
• Things weren’t better in the old days, they were just different. Stop pining for a past you, in most cases, were never a part of.

I’ve spent pretty much the whole day watching the This is England series - the original movie and it’s accompanying follow ons. 

Any one who knows me knows that I love everything about this franchise, but the one thing that I love more than everything else is the friendships between the characters, and I think that the relationships between the characters is what has made the show franchise such a success. It’s well known that the cast are all friends - something that shines through in their performances - and that they were encouraged to ad-lib as and when they felt appropriate. 

All of this leaves you feeling that you actually know these characters, love them, feel their pain. It is so real that at times it’s painful to watch. 

I could go on about the scenes that get the critics worked up - Lol’s rape, the assault on Milky, Lol’s breakdown, etc - but they’ve all been talked about, and written about, many times over. What has always drawn me to This is England is the little details, the shared glances, the jokes they share, it’s a moment like Woody sneaking a look at the rest of the old gang as they share a night out down the pub - only to see his joy turn to pain as he sees Milky is back in town. 

We can relate because we’ve all been there, we’ve all lost friends, we’ve all been betrayed by those we never thought would dare hurt us. It’s a pain no one else could ever have caused, the pain that only those you truly love could cause you. 

Most of all I love the fact it reminds me how good true friendship is - I always end up thinking of friends from my past after watching it - and how easily we forget that until it’s too late, sometimes. 

I’ll end by saying this … 

To all my friends past, present and future, 

You are, and always will be, loved. 

Thank you for the good times … and the bad times, they helped shape me after all.

Your friend, 

Lee 

My Personal Top 5s :: Ridley Scott Movies

1. Alien
2. Matchstick Men
3. Blade Runner
4. American Gangster
5. Body Of Lies

It’s safe to say that this post has come about purely because I, like so many others, have watched the Prometheus trailer repeatedly this weekend just gone. Which led to the inevitable … rewatching Alien on BluRay. Anyway, as we all know, I love my lists so I couldn’t resist going back over Ridley’s filmography and compiling this top 5. Most of you will notice that Gladiator and Kingdom Of Heaven are both missing from the list - which isn’t to say they’re not good films - and the truth of it is that, while I do admire them in regards to the ambition shown in making such big movies, I have never really been a fan of movies like Gladiator, Kingdom Of Heaven, Troy, Braveheart, etc.

As always, feel free to reply with your own Top 5s.

Truthful Tuesdays/GPOY, I’m an arrogant lil’ shit when drunk edition.

My Personal Top 10s :: Musical Dislikes

• Deadly Duets: See 2pac up top there? He’s sadly no longer with us, and as much as I wish that wasn’t the case, it doesn’t mean I want to hear the half baked songs that he never thought good enough to release. All his estate are doing when they sign off on all the duets & remixes/reproductions with artists he never even met is weakening his legacy. The same goes for Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, Eazy E, The Notorious B.I.G, and many many more. Sadly for us music fans we live in a world where people think it’s a good idea to put Korn & B.I.G together on a track. It really isn’t, it’s even worse than 2pac & Elton John together or the same B.I.G. verse being used 5 times! So in short, JUST SAY NO!
• Louder is better: No it isn’t. The best music sounds good no matter what the volume, you shouldn’t have to have it blasting out. If you disagree with this you probably listen to shitty music. 
• Post-Success Haters: Yeah, we get it. You listened to _____________ before everyone else and they were so much better when you were wishing more people liked music like ________________. Yet as soon as that happens you’re all “Sell out, this sucks, etc, etc” Just can’t please some people.
• All music sounds better live: Nope, not true. Not in any way. I’ve been lucky to have seen all of my favourite artists live - Not a single one has disappointed yet - but I’ve had to sit through many a shitty support band, lazy headliners, and a few “Ah, so it’s all down to the studio magic then” types too. As much as I love it, I’d have to admit that Hip-Hop is one of the worst offenders, I’ve only seen 2 Hip-Hop artists - Common & Schooly D - live that didn’t make me regret buying my ticket. Basically, go check out YouTube videos, online reviews, ask friends who’ve seen them before, whatever it takes to be sure that your night out won’t be a complete waste.
• “Oirish” music: I’m sorry, I’ve nothing against bands that come from Ireland. It’s the faux Irish bands I hate. Nothing turns me off quicker than “Oirish” music. I can’t even write about it. 
• Chopped & Screwed: Why would you take a perfectly good album and “Chop and screw” it? Especially when most of these Chopped & Screwed remix albums seem to be just really really slow versions of the original albums, with no other changes, is there even a point to them? You seriously can’t handle Hip-Hop & R&B at it’s normal speed? Too many BPMs for you, right? Drugs be fuckin’ up yo mind? If you wan’t something good for your high then why not just put on some Portishead, Massive Attack, Tricky, Four Tet, perhaps even Nirvana Unplugged in New York. They’re not even good from a remixers point of view.
• Auto-Tune: T-Pain. T-Mother-Fucking-Pain. That’s all the argument I need for this one. You know I’m right! 
• Ironic Covers: I blame Radio 1 & Jo Whiley. I don’t need to discuss this one, do I? Just go and download anyone of the Radio 1 Live Lounge albums and you’ll have plenty of evidence of why this is another musical trend that needs to be put to bed. 
• Bonus Tracks: I buy the album physically and I get 10 tracks, you buy the album digitally and you get 13 tracks and a video, is that fair? I don’t think so. The way I see it, all versions of an album should be the same. I understand why they aren’t, I just don’t agree with it. I’ve seen some albums that have 4 or 5 different track lists. It’s like we got the record store version, the iTunes special, the Amazon special, The Best Buy deluxe, and the international edition. How much you think I earn, I ain’t no footballer, can’t you cut me some slack? And the dumb thing is … this is a major reason so many people download torrents. Jack me and I’m gonna jack you back. 
• MTV Music Awards: No self respecting music fan takes MTV seriously these days. Me personally? I’d rather watch the Grammys … just. If the choice of nominees and actual winners wasn’t bad enough, we now have to suffer some of the most pathetically weak performances ever seen, a presenter that just has to make 10+ costume changes, a “controversial but not really” moment, several random award announcers, a few attempts at being hip, and anything else that can distract from the fact that the music being glorified has gotten worse and worse as the years go by. 

A few things for 2012. 

1. Get another job. I’ve been desperate for a new job for as long as I can remember. 
2. Pay off as much of my credit card as I possibly can. Sadly events in my life have left me in a very tight situation financially, I’ve never been in debt before, it’s time to sort that out.
3. Accept the past and move on. I separated from the love of my life several years ago, something I’m still not over, she was the best thing that ever happened to me. We didn’t last, I need to accept that, it’s time to stop wallowing in self pity and just be grateful for the times we did have.
4. Improve the quality of this blog. There will be more writing in 2012. Lists, thoughts on my personal favourites, the odd rant, possibly some soul baring, etc, etc 
5. Get happy. In all honesty, this one is tied in with numbers 1-3, if I can’t achieve those 3 then I probably won’t be happy. Do I think I can achieve those 3 targets? Yes, I do. 100% … so keep watching this space, it’s going to be a good year.