Thursday, July 26, 2007.
Begin. I am officially old, I must be because I've taken to myspace the way my parents have taken to email. Nasty. So, this is a test/first entry, will have to see how my motivation works out! Currently in LA, was meant to be out and about but the night got cancelled, and seeing as there's no TV, I've listened to all the music I rammed into my suitcase, and I've had one too many Coronas to read, I decided to blog, yay, lucky you...

My main achievement today was finally getting the name of the bloke who was chatting to me in the queue for immigration, I knew I recognised him. Eddie Marsan, beardy actor fella, nice chap, gave up his seat for a kiddie on the plane (or to move away from said kiddie, as it then decided to yell for 12 hours straight). Clever actor fella.
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Saturday, July 28, 2007.
I can see this is going to become a little bit addictive... heavy night down near Redondo Beach last night, with about 4 hours sleep before work today. Felt surprisingly good all day considering. Made it to the cinema tonight (well, I am in Hollywood!).

Today was the first day there's been humid heat and the difference was apparent. So far, dry heat and a coastal breeze has made it great to be out and about, but just walking out to get lunch today felt like a bit of effort (but that could alo be linked with the sleep thing...).
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Monday, July 30, 2007.
Hmmmm, long day at work after a cool weekend. Was in a bar on Saturday and I was told that 90's pop fools Hanson were there, of course, I didn't see them – we had a reserved VIP table and they didn't. Ho hum. Pretty sure I saw David from Roseanne too.

Biggest and cheesiest of all, made the trip to the Hollywood sign, well, if you've travelled a few thousand miles and you're this close... either way, it was fucking great!
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007.
Go Dodgers! First ever Baseball game – Dodgers vs. Giants, and big ol' Barry Bonds didn't hit a record equalling home run, but the Dogers still lost. Ok, I'm not totally up on the rules, but I'm now an avid fan. Go Dodgers!
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Friday, August 03, 2007.
Just finished my last day in the LA office, and everyone has been great. Tonight will be my last night in town before heading out on the 8.50pm flight to Heathrow.

I've got a lot of people to thank for making my time here as good as it has been, not least Scott for letting me take over his apartment and Michelle for playing the tour guide role. I've definitely seen a different side of LA to the tourist guide, and it's been a much better experience for it.
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Sunday, August 05, 2007.
Ah, the joy of jetlag.

I love the view as you fly back over Britain, the familiar green patchwork quilt that makes up "our green and pleasant land..."
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Monday, August 27, 2007.
Finally gave up on my old myspace account seeing as I'd been frozen out and customer services don't seem to want to answer any queries... very handy!

So, I've copied over previous entries and got myself up to date. What's happened in the interim? Well, played a show down at the Essex Arms last Wednesday, definitely went down as one of our best recent gigs. We (me, Brent, Russ) played three tracks (A River Named Desire, Rice, A New Culture) and then both Brent and Russ played some solo work. A good night.
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Tuesday, August 28, 2007.
Seem to have apoted a cat that's been nicknamed Fubar. Well, he may have done the adopting, either way, there's a dishevelled white furry lump that expects feeding!
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Saturday, September 8, 2007.
It's been a few years now since I last recorded. From that session at Big Noise Studios we (Bad Side Effect – me in my guise of Bov, with Matt/Mott, Russ and Brent) managed to record a 5 track demo that I guess gave some justice to what were trying to do. Naturally, with the time and money we spent on the recording, we didn't achieve the kind of result that set the world alight, but it still provided a solid piece of evidence to show that all that rehearsing, gigging and squeezing our equipment into a white Fiesta and purple Ka was worth it. It also received good feedback from Guitarist magazine when Russ had the foresight to enter 'A New Culture' into an unsigned competition.

Fast forward to present day, and three of us are about to embark on an altogether different recording experience. It's funny how life works, but Russ recently joined me and Brent in our acoustic dablings, and so far we've put together a decent set of tracks. All of us have worked on various projects over the six years (how is it that long?) since we last put our collective ideas to 'tape', but there's a great feeling when a track just comes together, and a great camaraderie when you begin to record those tracks.

I'd love to get the result that I'm sure we can all hear in our heads, but ideally an honest recording is what we're looking for. Iain, our 'George Martin' in this, is happily devoting time and equipment to the process, so, if we can capture the sounds we know we can create, all four of us should finish up with a CD we can be proud of.
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Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Live music, there's nothing like it.

Tonight we played a decent three track impromptu set and bashed out our aggro-acoustic sound to a good reception. The performances are steadily improving, so every time we play we better the previous outing – which in turn builds confidence for the next gig.
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Friday, September 21, 2007.
It took one night, and Summer became Autumn.

Spending the weekend along the South coast – Poole and Bournemouth to be exact – was a breath of fresh sea air. A great picturesque coastline, good company, food and drink, and just the simplicity of being away is a great way to spend a long weekend.

But when Monday turned to Tuesday, that familair crispness of Autumn was all that filled the air. It's my personal favourite time of year, but it did signal the end of the Summer that never happened.
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Saturday, December 08, 2007.
It's been a while...

Recording: So far we've got two tracks in progress, one - 'Rice' - is nearly complete but needed a slight vocal re-take, and the second – 'A River Named Desire' – was put to 'tape' last week. Feeling pretty happy with the results so far, and looking forward to documenting our efforts. Got another couple of tracks ready to go, and then will see if we want to put together a CD.

Johnny Herbert wears Militant Clothing: Well, he might! Militant were the official suppliers to his Annual Charity Kart Event, which was a cool thing for us to be able to do for him. The tshirt looked great, and was exclusively designed for the event, so it's a now a Limited Edition! Will hopefully launch fully in 2008 http://www.militantclothing.co.uk
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Sunday, December 23, 2007.
Finally feeling the festive spirit. Every year, it gets a little bit later in the month, a little bit closer to the 25th before I actually tap into the Christmas vibe. As a kid I probably got it somewhere in September, and would be so excited on Christmas Eve that sleeping was practically impossible. Still, it's a good time of year, and now (the somewhat minimal) decorations are up, presents wrapped and under the tree, work is finished for 11 days and the fridge is full of food,so there's nothing to do but enjoy it! Merry Christmas.
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Friday, January 18, 2008.
The red digits burn into the night, leaving a temporary scar on the inside of my eyes. The mattress morphs into a bed of nails and I know there won't be the comfort of sleep for hours. With every sigh, turn and re-adjustment of the pillows, the ability to drift off fades with the frustration at not doing exactly that. Sleep, a precious reward to the tired. Every moment extends into an hour, the red digits stare, accusingly, constant reminders of a gradually fading window, a window that will determine how the next day will pan out.
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Sunday, January 20, 2008.
Seem to have apoted a cat that's been nicknamed Fubar. Well, he may have done the adopting, either way, there's a dishevelled white furry lump that expects feeding!
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Sunday, January 20, 2008.
We are LIVE! Militant Clothing (finally) has a decent set of pictures up and running on the 'site! Just a few minor tweaks with the shopping cart, and Militant Clothing will be fully functioning...
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Sunday, March 23, 2008.
So, we arrived in Budapest, and it's a beautiful sunny day. The hotel is great and it's a Hungarian National Holiday – Anniversary of the 1848/9 Revolution. After the usual check-in process, we head out to have a first look at the city...

We stroll into the main square next to the hotel where there's some kind of rally, and first impressions are somewhat awkward – we're surrounded by about 400 riot Police and the rally seems to be a neo-Nazi hijack of the national anniversary. Checking out the surroundings, and we see a stage with a noticeably angry rant being held in German whilst an effigy (of somebody these guys really don't like...) is being hung. We're surrounded by a few hundred jack-booted Nazis who are working their way through a good amount of local lager, as a military style procession marches down the main road that leads to the square.

The vibe is angry, the looks we're getting aren't fun, and we can hear violent call-and-response chants from one end of the street that's separated from the us and the neo-Nazi's by solid walls of Hungarian riot Police and all under the watchful eye of Police and TV cameras. Heading back to the hotel seemed the most sensible idea as something was really about to kick off... which is exactly what we heard through the night as something started soon after. This is the news report from Forbes.com:

BUDAPEST (Thomson Financial) - Hungarian police Saturday used tear gas to disperse several hundred violent protesters as the country marked the anniversary of the war of independence. Twenty-one people were detained in connection with the violence and three police officers were lightly injured, police spokeswoman Eva Tafferner said. Streets were mostly calm by 10.30 pm. Around 2,000 people are estimated to have taken part in the antigovernment demonstrations that turned violent, while other demonstrations, which saw 20,000 people turn out in the capital city of 2 million, were peaceful.
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Sunday, April 06, 2008.
Ok, who'd want a 1.1 Fiesta that's 15 years old? Well, someone does as they've just nicked mine! Fuckers.
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Monday, December 08, 2008.
Looong-time-no-see. So, the myspace blog has died, and the entries have become a diary of sorts. But, April to December is a big gap that needs to be filled somehow... tales of Lisbon, turning 30, the growth of Militant, it's all been 'lost' to the confines of my memory. Will endeavour to keep better track from now on.
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Tuesday, December 15, 2008.
As I opened Dave's cage tonight I knew something was wrong. The poor little guy was motionless and hadn't eaten yesterday's food. I brought him indoors and laid him on a towel, called the vets and tried to calm him by stroking him and gently talking to him, but it was too late. Dave died on the living room floor with just me there to see him off. It sounds crazy, but Dave was more than a rabbit. He always seemed to have more behind his eyes than other pets, and he seemed capable of emotion and moods... yes, I'm still talking about a rabbit. I've never known a rabbit to sulk or to let you know he wanted attention by rattling his cage bars or his toy bell. I've never known a rabbit who would watch TV, or take a particular liking to cricket. Maybe it was the quiet grace of the game he liked, or maybe it was just the flashing TV screen showing fields of green grass that drew his attention. Maybe it wasn't any of those things, but it doesn't matter because Dave was still more than just a rabbit. He was my friend, he was my longest serving housemate and I already miss him, his goofy ways and his way of showing affection by licking my hand as I tickled him.

Dave, 18/10/03 (9 weeks old) - 15/12/08.
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Saturday, December 20, 2008.
It's been a bit of a weird one. Losing Dave on Tuesday was generally rough, but we had a small ceremony on Wednesday and let the little dude go. There was even a makeshift wake of sorts as I met up with Brent and Russ in the Watermill and chatted over the idea of forming an A&R/promotion business, centering around Russ' solo acoustic skills.

Thursday was another out of the ordinary day, as my whiplash claim finally made it's way to court and the outcome was an award of £1824.00 in my favour. Follow that up with a visit from Scott who's on a whistelstop UK trip and dinner at the Watermill with Lisa, the week seems to be ending far better than it begun.

I'm still void of festive spirit, but the bulk of the presents have been bought and next week is a three-day working week so I'm sure I'll see the benefit come Wednesday evening. Maybe a burst of 'Fairytale Of New York' will bring me in line with the time of year...
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Sunday, December 28, 2008.
I've hardly managed to speak a word in about four days. Whilst I don't really mind not talking, it's getting frustrating at times and what's left of my voice drifts in and out depending on how much I've attempted to use it.

Christmas day went quite well, hosting for the first time didn't really seem too different – I guess it bccame like any other Sunday/birthday with Mum and Dad over. It was a fairly chilled day and even my lack of voice didn't seem to matter too much.
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Tuesday, December 30, 2008.
Last night I fully (and finally) expressed my desire to create something of life, and my burgeoning frustration of the way things are. I think I upset Lisa which wasn't my intention, but she knows as well as I do that things haven't been right and I think it's down to the way of life. I'm not sure if an internal UK move or change of job would really do the trick as my cynicism seems to be based around the way of life here and now. A foreign challenge is appealing, and this is what the conversation centered around. I'm naturally drawn to LA because of my previous experience and the friends, family and work opportunities I have there. It's also a central hub of modern life with as much to do as the imagination can perceive – or maybe the grass is just greener...
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Tuesday, January 6, 2009.
Two thousand and nine... sounds like a futuristic movie? Just been to see Dad off, he travels to Iran for contract work tomorrow and will be back in a month. Sounds like a good adventure – for want of a better word. The wanderluster in me is envious of him seeing somewhere on our planet that's not on the summer holiday top 10 destination list, but I'm also just hoping he'll be ok.

I can't seem to shake thoughts of foreign opportunities and LA in particular. Maybe the fact that me and Lisa haven't been connecting lately is propelling me along other paths of thought, but I've always wanted to see and experience as much as possible. Life is for living and I have the feeling I'm currently just existing. It's hard not to sound to negative when you know that you want more, but I'm not trying to criticise my (our) life, I just feel a desire for challenges – professionally, personally and geograhically.
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Saturday, February 7, 2009.
How quickly time flies... since I last wrote, Mum has joined Dad in Iran, they've completed their trip and are somewhere on the M25 on the way home as I write. Of course, I should've been heading in the opposite direction towards Swindon to see Southend's away game, but the weather easily put tthe dampeners on that! The snow has been settling on and off since early hours on Monday and the work commute has taken a fair chunk of time, so far I've navigated the icy roads and awkward conditions without drama, but I guess a two hour journey into the heart of the winter weather isn't wise. Either way, Swindon Town FC called the game off after a huge fan effort to clear the pitch and entrances and saved what could've been a tricky jouney.

It's also been a time for a minor lifestyle change... I now wear glasses. Odd, I've never had any stigma attached to wearing glasses, but they do take some getting used to. Not least the fact I now have another package to remember when leaving the house; keys, wallet, phone, iPod, glasses. Still, I like how they look on me and I've been quite surprised at the results – and quite concerned at how shoddy my distance vision might have been for some time. I've been working in front of a monitor for the best part of a decade and there must have been a gradual decline, but I can certainly feel the effects of the last two years. Long hours, a heavy (oppressive?) office twinned with increasing amounts of work at home and general time spent in front of my iMac.
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