It's a Mo, Jim, but not as we know it!

The handlebar is going fairly well, with a mere two weeks to go!  Unfortunately, I just can't get it bushy enough for my liking!

Wulfy Loves Gargoyle Tears.

And, oh they'll be a flowing tonight!

I write this shortly after my beloved Exeter City have beaten their fiercest rivals, Plymouth Arygle, 2-1 at their own ground.  Yeah, it's only the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.  It's a cup we're still in after Saturday's F.A. Cup first round match at Bury, but it comes way below League One survival in terms of importance.  But this is Argyle.  Or Gargoyle, as most of us call them.

The Pride of Devon: Officially EXETER CITY.

This is a rivalry just as fierce as a Manchester derby (like the one tomorrow!).  Just as fierce as the Scouse derby.  And ranks pretty darn close to the Old Firm derby (which does have the added religious spice to it).  There is almost always violence following the matches and reports indicate there's an amount of it tonight.

I remember my first, and as yet, only proper Devon derby.  Just about.  It was an awful long time ago and the result was not a good one (the actual result I've blocked from my mind) so the walk past the rows and rows of smiling Argyle fans shouting shit was unbearable!  Too much for my Mum, who threatened to take them all on.  All five hundred of them, against one of her!  Well, four of us...!  Just an intense atmosphere all round.

Grecian the Lion and Pilgrim Pete... not the best of friends!

It's been eight years since the last derby match.  Well, that actually counts.  And although it was kind of put to one side, although never forgotten, the fact that Argyle were relegated last season couple with City's last match save from relegation themselves meant they found in each in the same division at long last!  But when the JP Trophy draw through us together, it went up a notch... three derbies in one season.

Well... one of them down, and it's a 100% record for this season and City now edge in front W20-D19-L19 overall, according to a local historian.  11th December is the next match, again at Home Park.  When hopefully we'll do it again...!  Chin up, ya janners!!

And We're Off! The Mo is GO!

This year's MOvember has begun.  I will upload a picture when I have some meaningful growth, but tonight I shall share with you the options!  And this is where you can help (and I find out how many people actually read my ditherings!)...

On a post-it note I doodled some possible beards to grow ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous.  The latter will clearly be the more popular!  But instead of just uploading a mobile phone photographed crude yellow drawing, I turned them into superbly crafted digital master pieces!  I love Paint...

Before you choose from the awesome facial growth designs, you should see how my hair looks naturally.  I have to admit it is a pretty good likeness!  I have been growing my sideburns for a number of weeks now, and these will not be going during MOvember at all, thus the base face includes these!  My usual clean shaven self has been proven in the past the make me look younger than my thirty-odd years.  Beards and MOs will age me!

So on to the MOs!

First up is Le Francais.  This has been inspired by Poirot and almost every French waiter in the world.  As much as I hate to look like the proverbial garlic muncher, it would be an amusing MO to go for.  The challenge is in growing enough on the sides on the mouth to wax and turn upwards!  I shall then don Phee's beret and buy some onions to hang from my mountain bike!  It has a flat tyre, but the look will still work I'm sure.
I didn't even mention the phrase cheese eating surrender monkey in all that.  Oh.  Damnit...

Next is the Cornell.  Some of you may wonder what the hell I am going on about here, so let me enlighten you.  Chris Cornell is the lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave.  Phee told me the other day he was pretty hot.  So of course I've been sporting a beard like his ever since.  But to finish the look I need the MO to go with it.  The rockstar wannabe in me likes this look!

MOs and beards named after people.  One other famous one for you to consider is the Brent.  Not Spiner (Data from Star Trek), but David Brent from The Office - as played by Ricky Gervais.  I do work in an office, granted, but I would like to think I'm not such a tactless, awkward imbecile as he is!  This style was originally to be called the "Dad", as my old man used to sport one of these before he decided to go bare-lipped.  And thus, it had to be re-named.  Still, apt for an accountant.

The next two are the comedy beards.  I'm expecting one of them to win.  First up, we have the Porno.  Yes, you guessed it, it's a big bushy caterpillar on my top lip, with not much else.  In particular I'm thinking 70s porno-chic MOs, as made famous by John Holmes and the legend that is Ron Jeremy (be warned, those links are best not viewed at work).  Big Ron's MO is just quality... in fact the only non-porn actor who is up there with it is Tom Selleck.  But "Porno" sounds better than "Selleck"... haha!

The second funny one, is the Cowboy!  Yes, we're talking full-on handlebar MO goodness - as seen on Amazon!  Curving round my top lip and down the chin as far as it'll grow!  The downside to this is that I may get hit on by more forty year old blokes, but it's a good cause so I'll take one for the team.  Not literally, you understand.  I will, inevitably, have to buy a check shirt though and put on a deep southern US accent to get into character... and camp it up.  And start shooting like Yosemite Sam!

Aaaaaand finally... the Full On.  This ain't just a MO.  It's basically an unruly facial mess.  MO, beard, bit of cheek stubble.  An excuse not to shave at all for a month.  Although I do reserve the right to shave my neck!  It makes me look slightly fatter if I have a hairy neck!  Oh, and I might get the sack...
In fact, I'll probably go with this in the early stages to see how the MO is going!


After you have decided on which is best, please do comment below and let me know you thoughts.  It can be anonymous if you prefer.  But then, why would you want to be?!  The winning MO with the most votes will be the one I sport for the final week of MOvember.  A whole week!

Please use the blog to comment.  It make me look popular and it's easier to collate the answers in one place!  Yes, I know a a lot of you read the posts on Facebook or get it delievered to your email inbox, but make some effort and go to the blog itself.  I will reward you with MO-glory!!

Bring on the MO!

It's that time of year again, folks!  MOVEMBER!

And yes, yours truly is going to have another attempt to grow a decent amount of facial hair in aid of a good cause.  Currently I am sporting a vague goatee beard, nothing like Beppe di marco from Eastenders - contrary to what the girls at work think.

I have been asking people what sort of mo I should gro(w).  Current favourites are the pornstar, the cowboy and the full "Brent".  Illustrations of these will follow as soon as I've played around with Paint some more!

For now, please visit my MoSpace and donate.  or join my team, if you're raising too!

A Tough Few Months in My World of Music!

It started the moment I got back from my late spring holiday to Orlando, Florida in May.  I found out that Ronnie James Dio, Rainbow's real lead singer, died while I was on holiday.

Rainbow have always been right up there with my other favourite bands, Guns 'n' Roses, Tool and Dream Theater (more on them later).  I grew up listening to both Dio-era Rainbow and the later stuff with Graham Bonnet and liked both.  But Rising was always my favourite album and Stargazer has always been my favourite song ever.  With Dio involved, the lyrics were often set in Lord of the Rings-esque fantasy and had a progressive edge to it.  I was saddened by Cozy Powell's death, many years ago, but for me Dio WAS Rainbow (well, him and Blackmore!).

Since his passing, I have been listening to a lot more of Dio's solo stuff.  I had heard Holy Diver before, as I'd come across Killswitch Engage's awesome cover of it on some satellite music channel... probably Scuzz!  I got hold of Heaven and Hell's album and am hoping to get some of the Dio-era Black Sabbath stuff.

Rock music has lost one of the greatest singers of all time.  And the inventor of the iconic horns hand signal seen at every rock/metal gig in the world.  Ever!


In August, Guns 'n' Roses came to England.  Yay!

But noooo, Axl Rose has taken a right bashing.  Now then, I don't condone the way he clearly takes the piss getting his arse on stage.  But people are forgetting he's always been like that... there have been riots in the past because of it.  And it seems these detractors have one sole reason for directing it at him...
"New GNR" are not as good as the original line-up.

Personally, I can tell the difference between the older stuff and Chinese Democracy, as most can, but I like both!  Indeed, Phee had never heard much of the older stuff, bar the obvious songs, and became a proper fan off the back of their latest offering.  Obviously they'll never been the same without Slash, Duff and the guys, but Axl owns the name, the music does sound pretty GnR-ish so he can do what he wants.  And having seen them live before, they are all talented musicians in their own right.  Do people slag Slash off for playing GnR songs at Velvet Revolver or Slash's Snakepit gigs with Axl?  No.

And the insults aimed at him for the way he looks?  Fuck me, that's low.  The guy's almost hitting 50, of course he's gonna be a little rough around the edges!

He needs to be more professional in this day and age though.  He might have ruled the world in the 90's with the Use Your Illusion world tour, but now he has to prove himself all over again, without the old band mates.  Time will tell whether he manages it... but I will be gutted to wait another fifteen years for a GnR album!

All this said, I did see them live last week.  Phee and I went to the O2 Arena in London for their Wednesday night gig.  We sat around the Blueroom for a while, listening to their albums, before catching the end of the support act - I believe it was Sebastian Bach.  Judging by the timings of the support band and how long the turnovers can be at any gig, I was expecting Axl and the boys on stage at about 9:30pm.  They were a mere ten minutes later than that.  Impressive for him!

Once again, people still come out saying he was an hour late.  An hour?!  The door didn't open til half six.  With the support band, safety checks regarding the pyrotechnics and the sound set-up there was no way they were gonna be on stage at 8:30!  No way in hell.

The gig itself was good.  Took a few songs for Axl to warm up it seemed, but when he did I loved it.  We had to leave at midnight, missing all but the first song of the encore.  Bloody trains!

I loved it.  Phee loved it.  Critics can go to hell.

However, I would have preferred going the following night.  Not only were the Murderdolls supporting, but Duff McKagan joined in!  I'd seen Izzy Stadlin' play with them at Download in 2006 and was gutted I didn't get to see Duff up there with Axl.  I almost wet myself with excitement when I found out!  And Duff quite liked it too...


Finally, comes the news last month that Mike Portnoy has left Dream Theater.  This is devastating news, although not surprising when you read his statement.  He has long been one of the best drummers in the world of any genre, but particularly of progressive music.

It was time for him to take a break from the band and I wish he'd been able to work out a compromise with the rest of them.  Tool take years between albums, so most DT fans would have waited for the next album and tour til he'd recovered from the burn-out.  But no compromise was forthcoming.

And now he plays for Avenged Sevenfold.  I'm fine with that.  After the Rev died, they needed a decent drummer and they got the best, in my opinion.  They'll be better for it.  I like them too.  The criticism levelled at Portnoy and at A7X is ridiculous!

You have to follow your heart in this life.  If it's not in what you're doing, move on...

World Cup, Local Cups, Charity Match!

A month of football is well under way and some interesting goings on at the World Cup in South Africa!

The biggest shock of the tournament so far was yesterday's defeat of Spain by minnows Switzerland.  An error by Iker Casillas of Real Madrid, so often Spain's saviour, gave the Swiss a 1-0 win.  It makes their last group game against Chile more than a little interesting!  Even more baffling is keeping Cesc Fabregas on the bench... he's scored more goals this season than the entire starting midfield!  Does Vicente del Bosque not like him or something?

It was amusing seeing Mexico bring the French to the brink of elimination though.  Thoroughly deserving of their 2-0 win, despite a slightly offside second goal (possibly, maybe).  They cheated to get there anyway, so here's hoping one of my sweepstake teams, Uruguay, go through instead!!

My home nations, England and Nigeria, aren't really having the best of times.  England drew a fairly one sided, but flat, opening game against the Yanks (immortalised here in Legovision).  We should still go through though, as the other teams in the group look even worse!  I just hope we win the group... Germany look awfully good, so I'd rather not meet them in the second round.  Save them for the final!

Nigeria find themselves on the brink of going out.  A narrow defeat to Argentina in game one was today followed by another loss, this time to Greece - who'd never ever won a game at the Finals!  It was Sani Kaita's fault.  A shockingly reckless kick got him sent off and cost the Super Eagles the match... they were easily in control, and leading, up until that point.

Not that I entirely blame him.  The Greek he kicked probably would have got a push from me too, if he'd shoved the ball into my chest!  I too have been petulant in matches before... the odd retaliation tackle (notably, I fractured a kid's arm when at school) or flailing elbow (well, if Mr. Peters will insist on tugging my shirt...!).  It's not big, it's not clever, but it does feel good for a split second.  Until you see the red card (which, somehow, I've not seen).


Before the world's biggest competition started, there had been mixed fortunes for my local teams.  Both reached their first cup finals, both were unlucky to lose.  Chawton Athletic were robbed by shocking refereeing in the Runwick Cup Final and Rockbeare Rangers lost in extra time in the Geary Cup Final.

Even more sad, for me, is he news that the Rooks will not be continuing in their current form.  After the gaffer, Ian Keenan, quit due to work commitments, nobody came forward to manage and run the Club.  The brain-child of me, Gofer, Ed and MattD has ceased to exist.  And the swanky new Nike kit I single-handedly got the club is been sold... unworn by Rangers!  That's a tad gutting!

There is hope that the name may live on.  Plans are afoot to resurrect the club, but it won't be until at least the 2011/12 season.  News on that, for those of you that care, when it arises.


This summer's main match is the charity match I'm playing in.  The match forms part of a "family fun day" at Feniton FC, in aid of the Special Care Baby Unit at Derriford hospital.  The SCBU saved the lives of a mate's very premature twin boys and thus he raises money every year.  This year's highlight is a charity match between S.C.B. U-nited and the Exeter City Legends.  Being a massive City fan, I'm well excited!

Scooby United, as I call them, are having some friendlies, to ensure we don't get completely dicked!  Last weekend's friendly was my first, a 6-6 draw with a Taunton charity team that included former England cricketer, Andy Caddick.  I got a goal, had another heinously ruled off for a non-existent offside by the cheating linesman, and overall had a good game.

The fun day (link requires Facebook, I think) is on Sunday 1st August from 10 til 4.  Kick off is, I think, at 10:30...

Squeaky Bum Time in the Footy Season!

A little over a month to go until the end of the football season and it's getting tense for all my teams!


In the English Premiership, Arsenal are surprisingly mounting a title challenge.  They may be third at the moment, but the top three are separated by just three points.  Arch-rivals, Spurs, have the chance to decide the title as they have to play all three of the title challengers!  Arsenal are the first to play their dirty North London rivals with Chelsea and Manchester United to follow.

Cesc Fabregas' injury means he;ll miss the rest of the Gunners' season.  And he ain't the only one!  There's also long term injuries to a host of other first team players, meaning others like Niklas Bendtner, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott (left, no excuse needed to put a pic of his other half on here!) need to step up to the plate!

And then there's the disappointment of the stuffing Lionel Messi's Barcelona side gave them this week!  The side probably won't need to gee themselves up for the derby match, but they will need to up their game.  Messi was quality, but the Arsenal defence also gifted the Spaniards possession in dangerous positions... do that against Spurs and Defoe will be a happy man!

Exeter City have seen themselves fall into the League One relegation zone recently, but four points over Easter have seen them catapult up a very competitive table.  But any two of six or seven sides could join Wycombe and Stockport (who are all but down, it seems) in League Two next season.

City's hopes of survival took a big dent this week, with the sad news that East Devon Grecians' sponsored player, Adam Stansfield (right), is suffering from bowel cancer.  Stanno has the right fighting mentality to beat the illness though, so hopefully he'll be back to play the Argyle scum next season!  I wish him a speedy recovery...


My local sides have had mixed seasons too.  Rockbeare Rangers have made it to the semi-finals of the East Devon cup, their best ever run and one game away from their first final!  In the league they have loads of games in hand, and could still mount a promotion challenge.  This week's defeat to Bampton didn't help the cause, but if they players can knuckle down they can achieve good things!


Chawton Athletic have gone one better, albeit with less rounds, by reaching their first ever cup final.  In two weekends time, they will travel to their conquered semi-final opponents' ClubSoreLoser Hartley Wintney's ground to play Royal Oak in the Runwick Cup final.  The club hope to have a large supporting contingent for the game, which kicks off at 14:00 on the 25th April.

After five weeks without a game (I was inadvertently left on the bench last time out), I had a starting berth last Sunday.  Unfortunately, five weeks out took it's toll!  I was disappointed with my level of fitness, so have been for a few runs since then and some training on Wednesday.  I don't expect to keep my place, but am still hopeful I can convince Matt I to start me in the final - I have, after all, started each Runwick Cup match so far!  I gotta put some real work in first though...

Before the final, we have the last league game of the season, against our closest rivals in the league, Royal Exchange.  That game could decide whether Chawton finish bottom of the league for the second successive season, or make it one position better!

Decent Proposal After an Exam Letdown!

Last month's exam results were not what I hoped or particularly expected.  At the time of the ACCA exams in December 2009, I was 50/50 as to whether I'd passed either of them.  So obtaining 48 in Law and 47 in Financial Management (pass mark was 50) was disappointing and very annoying!  So close, yet so far...

With the holiday to Florida, my sister's wedding and my brother's first baby's birth all being in May (well, the latter's expected date!), I don't have time to revise for both again.  Thus, I shall only be re-taking Financial Management - and am determined to pass it at the second time of asking.  Third-time-lucky for the Law will have to wait til December, or even June 2011 if I run out of days off at work!

But on to happier news...

I am engaged.  Yes, he of "I'm never gonna get married as I don't want to get divorced" fame finally bit the bullet to make and honest woman of Phee.  I won't bother you with the sloppy details, but it was on her 21st birthday, in the Winter Gardens in Bournemouth with just a few squirrels as witnesses!  And I did get on one knee, albeit it after the actual proposal.  And I did get a ring, despite having very little money!  And Phee loves it, which is what counts...

As for the what's, when's, who's, hows and whys... there is so much to work out.  The provisional date, which had been set way before we got engaged, is the 29th December 2012... the next time my Nan's birthday falls on a Saturday, and is six days after the anniversary of when we first started dating.

Family are already expecting an Engagement Party... or two!  The likelihood is that we will have a gathering in Hull and in Devon for both sides of the family.  I shall no doubt arrange the Devon shindig, with maybe a small(ish) get together at the Three Tuns in Honiton, as I'm sure my Mum can get it cheap/free!  Of course, DJ RichieB will be spinning the (digital mp3-shaped) discs!

My best man, as if was ever in any doubt, is my best mate Gofer,  Phee's maid of honour is her best mate, Hannah.  I will probably stick with tradition and have some of my brothers as ushers and I know that Phee wants her sister, Tasha, and my niece, Alice, as her bridesmaids amongst others.  And no doubt my brother's unborn baby, code name Peanut, will be pageboy/flower girl!

We will not have a religious ceremony (unless it's satanic), nor will it be in a registry office (I want more atmosphere).  Current venues (which is likely to be in Surrey/Hampshire, where we live) are a decent hotel, a small castle type place or Nuthanger Farm!  Okay, given the latter is no doubt owned by people I don't actually know, it is highly unlikely... but I'd love to get married on/near Watership Down!

They are, I think, the only details that have vaguely been decided.  Any other questions can be forwarded to our official wedding planner, Julaloo!

A Photo Tells a Thousand Stories...

Since moving to Surrey, I have been getting more and more into the world of amateur photography.  I don't have any plans to go pro, as accountancy pays way better right now, but it is something I am looking at taking more seriously.

It started back in Devon, taking pictures of Rockbeare Rangers FC with my then-new toy, a Fujifilm Finepix S7000.  Although only 6 megapixel (only 1MP better than my mobile phone) it had a pretty good lens and a nice optical zoom on it.  The auto mode for Sports Photography did a reasonable job of capturing the action at matches, and my pictures have long graced the (now defunct) Rangers website (I do have plans to go to a game and get some of my work on the new Rooks' site!).

I also took the S7000 to my brother's wedding.  They had a professional photographer, at a cost, but upon seeing the two hundred half decent shots I got, they preferred a lot of mine to the official guy's work!  Again, I was using the automatic settings... barely photography at all, just a point and a click!

When I moved to the Surrey/Hampshire border, I was provided with a wealth of new scenery.  Ever since my Valentine's Day trip to Lydford Gorge with Phee in 2007, when I captured a curious robin, I have loved taking pictures of nature and natural landscapes.  I have always loved the great outdoors, which isn't surprising given I grew up in Devon!  But being able to capture it's beauty (and use it as a computer wallpaper!) has made me appreciate my surroundings even more.

I started taking photos when I went to the Kings Pond in Alton to feed the ducks after dropping Phee at work.  What had started as a quiet way to relax, during my most anxiety ridden times, turned into many a photo opportunity!  Indeed, I have quite the catalogue of the three (originally six) cygnets' life!

To show off my work, I have started an Artbreak account (see the right hand bar) and signed up to various other websites and forums, including the Digital Photography School site and forum (for tips and hints) and NetModel (in case I want to take portraits).  I've uploaded a few of my better photos to the Artbreak site, but new photos get added infrequently; I only want the very best of my photographs added!  Adding photos the DPS and having them critiqued helps too... a fantastic way to learn (who needs a photography degree, eh?!)

So, getting into it more, I sold my S7000 to my Mum and upgraded to a Fuji S200EXR.  This still isn't a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera, but it does take some good pictures!  It's a superzoom bridge camera with 12 megapixels, reducing the need to zoom in too much.  I've been learning about such things as aperture and noise, although it's all very difficult to get your head around when you're only a starting amateur!

I'm having a little trouble with the settings on this new piece of kit.  With no designated sports mode, I'm having to use the shutter speed setting to get the best shots, without being too dark or blurry!  My portrait pictures seem to be okay, but I've not been able to take very many so far.  Should get Phee modelling for me more!

Most of my portrait and people pictures will be the normal posed or candid shots, but I do intend to be good at the art-nude type shots made famous by Petter Hegre, husband of Luba, and friends (as seen in the free galleries at the very NSFW Coolios site).  They will only ever be of my better half, unless it's a well paid job(!), so will not make it to my Artbreak site - unlucky!  So for now, at the very least, you'll have to entertain yourselves with those I do upload there!

Results Day Approacheth!

Monday 22nd February sees the next lot of ACCA exam results come out.  In December last year, I re-took one exam, Corporate and Business Law (F4), and took another exam, Financial Management (F9), for the first time.

The Law exam I failed first time out, in June last year.  Certain parts of it, particularly that regarding contract and employment law, I found really interesting and thus did quite well I thought.  And this time round, I was disappointed to find there was less of it!  But I did work a lot harder for this sitting, so failure will be that bit more disappointing.

The other exam involves things like debt management and value of businesses.  This is the sort of thing the bosses and the senior staff at my firm do, so I was keen to do well in it!

Because it was my first attempt at F9, I was allowed to go on a "taught" course, down at BPP Southampton.  That, coupled with the short, but intense, studying I did pre-exam, I am hoping is enough to earn me a first time-pass!

When I came out of the exam hall in December, I honestly felt that both exams could go either way.  Thus there is a 25% chance I will pass both but, equally, the same odds of failing both!  I answered every part of every question in both exams, from what I recall... let's just hope I didn't write a pile of crap!

Currently, I am one exam ahead of my three colleagues who started the ACCA journey at the same time.  Whilst it isn't a race, I will admit to being a weensy-bit competitive.  Therefore, I really want to keep my nose in front!

My sister-in-law has recently had some mixed results from her AAT exams.  They seem to be done way differently to how I did them, years ago.  I don't miss those exams, although these ACCA exams are on a different level (despite what my colleagues think!)...

I am proud to have my AAT qualification, easy though I found it... let's see whether come Monday I am any closer to getting the next one!

Cheats! Football Cheating Takes Many Forms...

I find myself incandescent with rage at the way certain footballers conduct themselves.

The particular incident that most pisses me off right now is the current complaint being lodged in the Farnham and District Football League.  Chawton Athletic, the team I play for up here, had got a very hard earned victory in the semi-final of one of the many cups we play.  This is the first cup final for the Yellows.  And it came after a penalty shoot-out, that I could not participate in as I'd been subbed.

So what do CSL Hartley Wintney do after they trudge off the pitch?  Fucking complain!  They couldn't take losing to a lowly team like us, so they lodge a complaint with the league using the very dubious reason that the referee only played twenty minutes of extra time, instead of the regulation thirty.  This, after it had been agreed before the extra time began!

I really hope they laugh at their sore-losing faces at tomorrow night's meeting.

Notice they play in green and white!  Okay, I'll stop about that...

Another thing that annoys me... DIVING!  And Niklas Bendtner bloody did it for Arsenal tonight.  Stay on your feet if possible, but never throw yourself to the floor like a dirty cheat!  Eduardo looked to have done it last season, Emmanuel Eboue has a reputation for it.  I wish Arsenal would just play their slinky football with out resorting to falling over!

And the fake card giving.  Why?!  Why the hell do you need to tell the ref how to do his job?  Are you a qualified ref?  No.  So stop trying to be one and just get on with the game.  They should dish out yellows to ANYBODY who flashes the imaginary card.  That'll stop them... or make games an interesting 7 v 7 affair!

Salem's Loot.

After discovering our kitten is actually likely to be a boy, Phee and I decided to name him Salem.  I came up with the name from Stephen King's novel, Salem's Lot.  It seemed nicely eerie for an all black cat.  Phee liked it because it was also the name of the cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch!  The gender of Salem hasn't been confirmed yet, but if "he" does turn out to be "she", the name will likely change to Luba (a nude model - link NSFW).

We finally got to meet Salem just before the new year.  We stayed at my Mum's for one night of our two-night stay in Devon.  Being excited as I was, I bought him (and the three siblings) a set of three toy mice!  And Salem, in particular, loved them:




Salem is now the sole remaining kitten, as his siblings have all got new homes.  But he must wait for six months before moving in with us.  And six months is such a long time!  Hopefully he'll be fully litter trained by then, and weened.  And also, a house cat!  Even if we do have a house in a safe area, I would worry too much that he'd wander away.  Curiosity might kill the proverbial cat... I don't want it to kill ours!

So here am I snuggling Salem.  In the mean time, I shall watch more of Simon's Cat... like here, in the snow!

2009, Wulfy's Year in Music.

Music never dies... it's always everywhere.  It's always on the radio... when there aren't adverts or Chris Moyles talking away it is!  It's on our TVs... live music, music quizzes, X-Factor!  And everyone has an opinion on it!  But this is what music I've been listening to this year, either voluntarily or not!

X Factor

Now, I'm not the biggest fan of The X Factor.  2009's show has been more about making money for Simon Cowell than talent or music.  Point in case is "Jedward", who have no singing ability what-so-ever, remaining in the competition when the rather more talented, and infinitely hotter, Lucie Jones (looking mighty fine, to the right) was sent home.  The show turned into a farce, albeit a farce that raked in the viewers!

It was good to see a singer on there with a more "rock" sound, in Jamie "Afro" Archer.  But he was never destined to win the show.  And I didn't care for the final two either.  Olly Murs definitely is like Robbie Williams... not the best singer, but does like to put on a show.  Not my cup of tea.  And the winner, Joe McElderry, has quite a bland singing style.  He'd be pretty good in musical theatre, maybe, but as a pop artist he doesn't cut it.  So much so that Rage Against the Machine's infinitely better "Killing in the Name of" pipped him to the Christmas number 1.  Awesome.

My Musical Taste has Progressed
Lovely play on words, that.
This past year, I have been listening to some new bands and (obviously, perfectly legally) downloading a discography or too.  Mostly, this has been in the progressive metal genre.

As a fan of progressive metal kings Dream Theater, who's "Black Clouds and Silver Linings" triple CD set I got this year, I decided to try some other bands of the genre.  The first band I got into was Porcupine Tree.  They are a four-piece from the UK and have only recently been leaning towards progressive metal, having originally been more psychedelic.  The first album I got was "Deadwing", which is a masterpiece concept album, like DT's "Scenes from a Memory".  The album tells a ghost story, which has been planned as a film for ages!  The two stand out tracks, "Arriving Somewhere but Not Here" and "The Start of Something Beautiful", have been in my car ever since!

The next album, "Fear of a Blank Planet", is just as good.  It's heavier than the previous album and deals a lot with mental illness (which I've been dealing with myself, recently).  And the new album, out this year, is the two-CD "The Incident".  I've not really got into this as much yet, but I'm sure it won't take long.  Check out the band's videos at their website, including "Something Beautiful"'s Tool-esque stop-go animation video!

I have been listening to some other progressive bands.  Amongst these are The Mars Volta, Stream of Passion and the classic prog band from Canada, Rush.  I've known about Rush for many years, having heard "Spirit of Radio" in my Mum's car when I was young!  But I've obtained their back catalogue and I can hear the influence they had on Dream Theater!

The final band I have mostly been getting into this year is Anathema.  I had one of their songs on a magazine compilation, so I bought the album it came from: Judgement.  Much like Porcupine Tree, the album (or most of it) has been a permanent fixture of my car's CD multi-changer.  Click here from the haunting "Parisienne Moonlight" on YouTube.

It's a very atmospheric album with tracks that blend into each other.  Some say it's a tad depressing, but then again that's often what I listen to. It's not surprising from a band that started as doom metal!  The older music is okay, but not entirely up my street, but their more recent (more progressive, slightly gothic) albums are equally as good as this first CD I have of theirs.

I am looking forward to their next offering, currently titled "Horizons" and slated for a release this year.

Final mention for the music I've listened to this year is for one of my old favourites, Guns 'n' Roses.  Although it was technically released in 2008, I didn't get "Chinese Democracy" until last year.  It differs a lot from their previous stuff with Slash et al.  There's a greater range of sounds and some new twists, all of which I have to say I like.  Very catchy and right up there with my favourite albums of the last year (or so).

Dance the Night Away
I have also been listening to non-guitar orientated music this year.  As well as new music from The Prodigy and Pendulum, I have been listening to two DJs in particular.

The first has been around for some time and played some of the biggest clubs in the UK.  Deadmau5, who usually wears a huge mouse head when playing live, had hit singles featuring vocals from Kaskade and Pendulum's Rob Swire.  I haven't quite gotten around to buying his albums yet... really should do that!

The other DJ is an up and coming turntable master from Exeter.  Okay, he's my evil twin (Gofer) in DJ form.  RichieB has been playing his dirty funky electro-house since late 2008.  His debut gig (I think) was at our joint 30th birthday party last January (less said about that night, the better).  Since then he has played many of Exeter's biggest dance event of 2009, with Pams House/PHunky and Digital Passion with a residency at EX4 and regular slots on the Terrace at the Phoenix Club.  Hopefully, 2010 will be an equally big year for him!


And so on to my favourites list, a kind of Wulfy's Music Awards if you like:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR:  Black Clouds and Silver Linings - Dream Theater
NON-ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR:  Lungs - Florence and the Machine
SINGLE/EP OF THE YEAR:  Live, Consume, Drive - Sanguine
SONG OF THE YEAR:  Stargazer - Dream Theater
NON-ROCK SONG OF THE YEAR:  I Remember - Deadmau5

MOST LISTENED TO ALBUM:  Judgement - Anathema
MOST LISTENED TO TRACK:  Arriving Somewhere but Not Here - Porcupine Tree

CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR:  Permanent Waves - Rush

DJ OF THE YEAR:  RichieB and Deadmau5 (tied!)


2010
There are a few albums I'm looking forward to this year; I've already mentioned Anathema's new album.  Avenged Sevenfold were to have a new album out too, although it remains to be seen if it does get released soon due to the untimely death of The Rev.  I'm also interested in hearing (possible) new albums from My Chemical Romance, Stone Sour, Rage Against the Machine and Deftones.

Feel free to add comments regarding your own favourite music of 2009!