Does anyone actually use LJ anymore?

Haha. Quiet.

Perfect. PERFECT. Moar review to come, when I have come all the way down, and decided where the hell to even start. :)

Every Muse gig I've been to has been special for a different reason. I've seen them 10 times, because when you're there you really get a feeling that each show is a REAL moment in history. This is the only show on Earth! They are fantastic live. I don't go on about them all the time for no reason. But, if you haven't already skipped past this post with a mumble of, 'Oh God, Gemsy's babbling about that ridiculous Queen band again', then you've probably heard about the setlist beef...

Bands get bigger stage shows as their catalogue of work and fanbase gets bigger. Well, duh! More money, more scope for mad ideas, crazier outfits, more drugs and less rock 'n' roll. Of course, it gets harder to please everybody. There's new fans, and there's the old ones who talk of 'glory days'. All bands get it, and they carry on rolling in dosh, either giving a toss about what the fans think or not. A lot of Muse's fans aren't happy. I don't think the band have stopped giving a toss, but it sounds like they've got complacent. The setlist is short. I joked the other day that they're playing all the songs I normally skip! Even though I love all their songs, and watching Muse is always going to be the best way to spend an evening (even if it's £60 for 1 song) they just seem a bit lazy these days. Teignmouth felt quite lazy. We were excited to hear the new songs for the first time, but they didn't sound that exciting (Unnatural Selection excluded!) My mates and I were a bit disappointed after the gig, truth be told (the awful crowd probably had a lot to do with that!) We actually booed when the Feeling Good megaphone came out. I have to admit, hearing the singles and crowd-pleasers every time... it gets a bit dull. But we discussed it thus, "Yeah but it's a homecoming gig, they're gonna play hits rather than album tracks and fan favourites." And the curfew was early. And the sound levels had to be low. But, even though they played Cave (!) there was something else lacking. It's hard to explain, but it's a vibe, maaan. In Teignmouth I had the depressing thought that maybe I just didn't like them anymore, but my love for The Resistance certainly put the kybosh on that idea. Yeah, there's definitely just a weird vibe with the live show. I didn't think that vibe would continue on the tour, but by all accounts, it is.

Tonight's Liverpool gig was over at 10pm. Crazy. I remember running for trains after Muse gigs, because their last jam would go on until 11:06, 11:10... then they'd come back and say thanks again, throw champagne around, dive into the drumkit and smash everything up. Maybe they feel like they don't need to work hard anymore? It's like they can't be arsed. Maybe they've realised that they could stroll in and play Feeling Good three times and just the verse of Starlight and then go home, and they'd still get a 'best live band' award. It definitely feels like they've lost it a bit. It's a bit like when the Manics alienated a lot of old fans by only playing songs from Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth... They came back with a bang, so hopefully Muse will too. Just seems weird that this 'slow' vibe is appearing at the height of their career. Matt admitted that they've had no time to rehearse, which I found a bit shocking. No rehearsals for a world tour, touring a number 1 album? Really? And the stories are getting worse, 18 songs, then 17, then 16... rumours of pre-recorded vocals... tonight people were even discussing the possibility that the band could be ill!

So, the argument keeps going in circles. Most people are still thrilled and excited to be seeing them, myself included, which is brilliant. Some people are whinging, myself included, which is disappointing. Haha. Most people are coming back from the gigs full of yay, but some people are shaking their heads and wondering why they bothered. Of course there's no way they can please everyone and there's nothing we can do about it - no amount of moaning and harrassing the band on Twitter is going to change anything. We didn't get Escape added to the setlist, and we didn't get our Bobbleheads (boo!) Really, I think the show is still amazing (it's the lads on a stage playing some instruments ffs, how can they really be bad?!) and this is really just a case of old fans being the worst critics. They always are, the miserable bastards. Of course I want Dead Star and Glorious and Space Dementia and Ruled by Secrecy and The Small Print and Hyper Music (the last one isn't that much of a far-out request! It was a single!) As I keep saying, 'short' doesn't necessarily mean 'shit'. I think this time next week I'll be just as pumped as I normally am when I've been to a Muse gig. Plus, by the sounds of it we'll still be able to catch last orders! :)

SATURDAY 14TH NOVEMBER IS LYNZI DAY!

NB: I wrote all this, then was reminded that today is actually Showbiz's 10th birthday. How WEIRD.

Moar NBs: TOM KIRK. I didn't forget him, honest!

I threatened to do this the other day, and my Saturday sucked, so here it is! I was hoovering today, and listening to their new album for the 68th time, and it dawned on me that I've been into Muse for ten years. TEN. They're the only band who've managed to keep my attention for so long. I go on and off actually listening to tons of their music but I still keep up with their shenanigans and buy all their stuff without thinking about it. As I'm going through such a fangirly stage again at the moment (since Teignmouth and the release of The Resistance) I realised that I really should take some time to tell you why I love this ridiculous rock band so much. This damn band, who have given me TEN YEARS of good times, jolly adventures, and made me so many great friends. There are lots of links and I've tried to use lovely old Microcuts.tv for videos where I can, but most of it's from YouTube. I hope it doesn't get Warnered. So, here goes; 35 reasons why I think Muse are the only best greatest modern rock band ever in history since the Fifties.

( GO! )

Sahrry :D

( "Muse spoilers" sounds too... simple. Shit blew my mind! DO NOT READ if you're waiting, please, I mean it. I don't wanna get in trouble. But y'know Australia are hearing it tonight, and Zane Lowe keeps teasing, and it's leaked, and you're all talking about it so most o' y'all's heard it anyway. )

Music is the best thing in the world.

No idea how to say how much the gig rocked. How about some CAPS?

AMAZING.
GARY NUMAN.
HERESY.
I'M AFRAID OF AMERICANS.
DOWN IN IT.
UNF.
NANDO'S.
MUSERS.
NEEDS MOAR NIN.
LOLZ.
AMAZING.

That should do it.

I tend to tell Twitter and Facebook everything before I tell this journal these days. That's kinda sad I think? It certainly doesn't say much for my attention sp

Didz - Best crossbreed (5th)!
Floyd - Won a rosette for completing the scurry in 9 seconds!
Daisy - 1st in flyball!
Gus - FAIL. But he's only 9 months, so could only enter the puppy class. And there were LOADS of babies there.
Roxy - FAIL. I took her home before it had even started for being an absolute cowbag and trying to fight with every dog she walked past.


Floyd and Didz, my prizewinning boys.


Crazy Daisy (Didz's mum!)


Gus the jelly dog wangermaranger.

A lovely day, sunny intervals, very breezy, very relaxed. Afterwards we sat in the pub garden at the Winston for hours, had a nice traditional Sunday meal of sausages and cheesy chips, then Dave and I nipped to the flicks to see Brüno. This weekend has been sehr productive. Yesterday I was in town all day helping Tam pick her outfit for the wedding. Purple dress, purple shoes! We had lunch out yesterday too actually, when we bumped into Dan and his nephew in the local Wetherspoons. Nicely done. I completed two more songs as well.

( Ramblings r us. )

Anyway last night I had an awesome dream, that me and Jeannie and Ellie and Steve were going from Ringwood to Southampton in heavy snow, in Steve's old Fiesta, with seven dogs. Hilarious. Jeannie got in the front with Ellie (who was still a baby in my dream) and I got in the back with the dogs. We were listening to Iggy Pop, really loudly, and the car kept sliding around on the ice and we crashed loads, but it didn't matter? It was like a bumper car. Ronnie was there, and Zac, Riley, and Max and Maggie I think. Funny as fuck. Aw, I miss all those people.

I'm looking for a new car (which is probably why I dreamt about one!) Keep a look out for some bargains for me? I'm thinking Japanese, estate, petrol, cheap...

I managed to get myself a ticket for the 13th this morning. Hoping for a ticket for the 12th tomorrow, with a bit of luck... but I don't really mind if I get it or not. Priority is getting 3 for Tam, Dan and Alex on the 13th. So I'll be back in the race at 9am tomorrow! But for now...

I haven't cried too much up until now; too numb I guess. I dived straight into trying to organise a memorial for her around the time of the gigs, I jumped into the Gigs and Tours forum and helped people out with their ticket problems, I got on with my days, but my mind kept drifting back to her and her family. I suppose it still hadn't really hit me, and it has now. It's so, so weird. Someone I've never touched, spoken to or even seen in person, even at a distance. Yet I miss her so much. Anna and I would sit in here and I'd be on the Board and I'd start laughing, and Anna would say, "Lynzi? What has she said this time?" The news reached Anna in her office, and she e-mailed me straight away.

"No more silly Lynzi?"

Heehee. She was silly; she'd make you laugh intentionally, and she'd make you laugh when she didn't mean to. She always made me think. She had the potential to start political flamewars by saying something as cute as, "I think everyone should get the same wage so people don't get jealous." And you'd think she would know all about fair deals. You know when your parents always said, "You should THINK YOURSELF LUCKY!" when you see a disabled person? She would say she was lucky. I remember when her condition was diagnosed as a proper syndrome (DiGeorge), and you could tell she was relieved and felt lucky to know what it actually was, finally. Lucky that she might even have the option of a transplant, even though the thought of that really scared her. I remember when she had a bout of invasive procedures to have stents put in. She sometimes got angry about all the hospital visits. She'd be angry when her day went wrong, about the arguments she sometimes had with her dad and her annoyance at always being restricted to the house, but at the end of one of her posts she'd always say something like, "Oh well at least I have this/that/something to look forward to."

The small things mattered so much to her, whether it was a Thornton's hot chocolate, a trip to Asda with her mum to buy a DVD box set she wanted, a picspam in her Loveboat, a new batch of (stolen!) mp3s, a new LJ layout, a nice MSN conversation with her latest boycrush, making videos of her puppy... Her LJ was full of tales of her days, the small details nobody else even considered, and I couldn't read them without smiling. I used to tell her that her days sounded a lot like mine. We all do those things, except we try and hype ours up by adding a shovel-load of emo and bollocks. She did normal things. I didn't feel sorry for her, I felt happy that she always made the best of everything and enjoyed herself. She'd sometimes say she didn't have much of a life, that she wished she could just be normal and hang out with her friends like everyone else, but she was and she did, whether in person or on the internet. Every message on screen from her was full of life.

Whenever I felt shit about myself, whinging that I was no good because of my 'afflictions'... it was all nothing when you knew what she had to deal with on a daily basis. I'd be all, "Ugh, everyone hates me 'cause they didn't invite me to the pub." Then I'd open my friends page and see her talking about how fit Caleb off of Kings of Leon is, and (as a sidenote) how embarrassing it was sometimes, being disabled. I'd always joke with her about it, and say something like, "Oh I'd probably wouldn't mind having a wheelchair, in fact I'd love it when I'm feeling lazy." She'd always see the humour in everything. Her sister today said she always used to chuckle and blush, reading the Board. That's exactly how I imagined her. LOLing! She always wanted to have fun, you could tell. The Banter was strong with this one.

More about Lynzi (with a few brilliant pictures)!

It took me an hour to write this 'cause I'm struggling to see my screen through tears. Miss her face.

I am actually dying of laughter reading this.

"If the parents of the pupil are no longer in a relationship the school must ask the parent with care if a court case is in progress or has there been a court case. If the parent with care informs the school that there is an ongoing court case, but is still refusing to comply with the school by providing the non resident parent’s details then the school must contact the court with the pupil’s and parent with care’s details to obtain from the court the non resident parents details and whether there are restrictions on the non resident parent and the school will also apply to the court if the case as finished and then it'll be awesome 'cause we can talk about them and go lol they're not normal because they're not married and be supreme and white and shit and lol we rock and don't know what punctuation is maybe we should get a new secretary make sure it's a woman because typing is a woman's job and it better not be a black one."

My God, I love AFP.
(My comment/opinion at the bottom).

Best song title ever methinks? Cannot wait.

I once read somewhere that you have to have a certain type of brain wiring to be a Sparks fan. I agree. If you don't love them to death after hearing, say, three songs, you just won't get it at all. Well, I get it. I get it like a... Idunno. I love them. I love the hell right out of them. I was gutted I couldn't go to some of the dates last year (when they performed all 21 albums over 21 nights in a row) because I was so broke, so when they announced these gigs I got tickets for both nights.

So on Friday I went to London (a journey that took me four hours and made me cry, damn that M3 and its roadworks) to stand on the damn barrier in front of those magical Ronald pianos with the beautiful bossmew and say 'yay' and watch Ron and Russell and their fantastic band of hairy metallers play new album Exotic Creatures of the Deep and ooold album Kimono My House (Equator was the best bit, oh my GOD), as well as three extra songs Dick Around (eee!), When Do I Get to Sing My Way? (sounded omgfuckingamazing) and Suburban Homeboy (with the final verse sung by Ron!) I skipped back to my car and all the way home and just counted the hours till I could see it all again...

So on Saturday I went to London again (it took me less than an hour this time - lovely empty motorways), and was able to meet bossmew in the queue outside this time, where lolz and gossip and MySpace photography and Ron-dancing ensued, to the great amusement of the guys behind us. We pogo'd our way through Exotic Creatures again, and then No. 1 In Heaven, which was just SOOO AMAZING FLAIL OMG FANGIRLY FLAIL. It was so epic. Wall of heavenly sound in the face. Of course it helped that we were right next to the speakers. Wow. Then we got Propaganda, At Home At Work At Play, BC (!!! *death by YAY*) and a stomping version of This Town. Then it was all over, far too quickly. Boo!

Best gigs I have ever seen, trufax. Ron, Ron, Ron! Ron is hilarious. He was just >this far< away from us. It was great to be able to see the stage completely and properly, 'cause it's been years since I've been able to do that. The visuals make you feel like you're in Ron's crazy dreams. Or indeed nightmares, haha, which must be terrifying if the dancers in (She Got Me) Pregnant are anything to go by. And Russell is just the cutest. His voice is amazing, absolutely note-perfect, and he is so bouncy and full of energy! Adorable. I want one. I reckon he actually turns into a puppy when he gets home and races around the house, falls over a lot and chews Ron's awesome trainers (Ron has the coolest trainers!)

I think out of the two, the second night was better; there seemed to be a more relaxed atmosphere and everyone was going for it, even though there were fewer people there than at the Kimono night. Some guys complimented us on our dancing skillz for we are so leet, haha. I'd better go. I could spazz about it all day and I have cleaning and gardening to do! I'll probably remember other amazing bits later on and go on about it for weeks. An amazing, amazing band. I would watch them every single night. If that's what's going on in heaven, kill me now. (BTW RIP Jade Goody, poor thing.)

Being pregnant in your dream is usually a positive thing, and indicates that you're growing in your life or in a relationship. It can also be a symbol for how you're blossoming creatively or spiritually. If your overall feeling in the dream was of happiness and anticipation, then I'd try and think about what exciting or life-changing events are happening right now or what you've been hoping will happen.

Amazing. Thanks for the interpretation, Internet. Or maybe it was just because I was talking about babies with Nav the other night? Haha. It'd be great if my creativity could do a bit of blossoming.

Lately, through listening to so much music, I've realised why I find it so difficult to write it. When I think, when I dream, and when I close my eyes and just imagine an original piece of music, it sounds abstract. It sounds fragmented and epic. It's rock, but it's orchestral, big, brave and pompous. Like (so you can try to imagine): Tool (chuggy riffs with mental time signatures) crossed with Devin Townsend (metal wall of sound), but less... together? It doesn't follow a pattern or a particular beat. It's like the sounds are making a picture, rather than a specific tune/song. The best thing I can use to sum up what I'm getting at when I say 'sounds that make a picture' is Dig Me, by King Crimson. It's a piece that uses guitars and drums to make noises that remind one of the sounds one would hear on some sort of an industrial scrapyard. Machines and mechanics. I don't know really. It's kind of eerie. I imagine a car crusher going about its business in a scrapyard, but it's still in a vaguely tuneful way, with a repeated little 'chorus' throughout. The spoken-word lyrics that describe an old car being left to rot add to the picture of course.

That's nothing like the music in my head, but the stuff I do have in there is awesome. I'd love to get it recorded, but it's obviously going to sound ridiculously pretentious and amateur. I've always stuck to trying to make 3-minute pop songs because that's what people want to hear and it's really what somebody with my limited technical ability 'should' be doing. I have trouble writing them, so that's where I'm going wrong. Dave says he has tons of songs in his mind and he has to write them down and make them happen or he'll explode. It's like a requirement, and he has the ability to grab a bit of paper and scribble ideas down and record them in five minutes and make a hit single out of nowhere. I sort of feel like it's a requirement for me to make music, but have no way of getting it out. I'm rubbish at playing instruments (apart from a bit of self-taught piano). I am certainly no wordsmith. I can't do poetic, I can't do messages, I can't do a catchy verse-bridge-chorus and when I try to it sounds contrived and horrible. I like to sing, and I hate singing other people's lyrics, so I used to write my own for Symbiosis. I did a couple of good lyrics, but I ditched words for oohs and aahs where possible and I'd talk about 'sections' instead of verses and choruses and I'd encourage the production of progressive rock beasts of songs. My songs begin somewhere and end up somewhere else completely. I have five or six songs at the moment but I can't tie things together. I gave up one particularly ambitious one for Body By Design, and even that one (which was written when I wasn't feeling particularly epic or ambitious) Dave had to rein in and make more rounded and catchy. Ugh. I'm an art-rock musician in a pop musician's body.

Golliwogg's Cakewalk by Claude Debussy. Tune. It's so nuts. I've been wanting to know the name of it for flippin' years, and now I know! Who'd have thunk it, Skins giving me a lesson on early 20th century music!

I've been asking people for those 5-things-to-talk-about memes, and I have ten things that I haven't got around to getting around to. However, hellmutt's list included Amoebahood, and last night I spent a good hour filling in this survey for somebody's research so I thought I'd post it here in answer to that one.

( It's a long 'un! )

Flick through your iTunes/iPod/Media Player, write down 10 songs (without skipping any) and... say stuff about them. My Media Player collection is quite limited as I still store most of my music on those old fashioned round silver disc things!

1. Frame by Frame (King Crimson): I just love it. The melody is awesome to sing along to, and it always makes me laugh at Tool for so flagrantly stealing all of KC's crazy guitar riffs. And Adrian Belew and his womanly voice = hilarious which makes me love it even more. I need to see them live, damnit.

2. Kill the King (Masters of Reality): Dave introduced me to this band back in... God knows, I was living at home anyway. I went on a mission one day in my old office job to find some more of their stuff and came across this song. It's just AMAZING. I love listening to MOR when I'm doing mundane things 'cause they really let your mind wander. Also another band I need to see - we actually had tickets to see them last year but they cancelled! Fucken boo!

3. In Your World (Muse): That piano intro is the only good bit incredible. I always preferred double A-side Dead Star. The verses and riffs are brilliant, but the chorus lets it down. I find this with a lot of Muse songs. I will always love Muse though. Haha. Lol Muse lol lol lmao.

4. Everybody's Stupid (Sparks): I love Sparks omg I really do I do I do! I must admit their first few albums aren't my favourite (not that I could tell you a definitive favourite, haha) but they have such a 'proper rock 'n' roll' quality to them. This one has lovely glamtastic riffage. I cannot wait until my Maelistic March, ffs.

5. Perception Twin (Butterfly Effect): These dudes were introduced to me by a lovely Aussie friend of mine from The Internet, and OMG I've just noticed on my MySpace that they're playing a goddamn gig at Hamptons in May! I'm there!

6. Shine On (Murder in Monochrome): BEAUTIFUL. Can't stop listening to this damn song. Gorgeous! I have to go and see them too.

7. Auf Achse (Franz Ferdinand): I love Franz, they are too cute. This song is really nice. THE END.

8. Under the Table with Her (Sparks): Cutest song in the entire history of ever. Awww. And equally completely nuts and full of strings and pretty words.

9. See Emily Play (Pink Floyd): I love the early psychedelic pop version of Floyd... that's it really. Songs for winners.

10. Power Takeoff (GU Medicine): Bad ass heavy stoner rock just the way I liiike it. Saw these guys supporting MLG a few years ago and this is the song I was looking forward to hearing because it ROCKS and I lurve them quite muchly THE END.