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London Town

So this week has been quite relaxed in a lot of senses. Instead of fretting about things, I’ve decided to just go with the flow a tad more. I spent nigh on a whole week at E’s and it was great. No pressure, no issues, come at me life.

However, like most functioning adults, my better half, E has a job and so we didn’t get to spend any real time together until the weekend, which we made the most of. on Friday we had a relaxed evening and watched Kingsman, which I thought was brilliant. Colin Firth was absolutely fantastic - seeing more of him in kickass roles would be superb. 

On Saturday we decided to take on the sculpture walk put together by The Line. It was gorgeous outside and therefore the perfect day for a short/horrendously lengthy stroll.

We started at Stratford with the plan to snake our way back into the centre of London. This plan almost worked, and we almost saw all of the statues, but it wasn’t to be! Sadly the map was pretty vague and the areas that you were meant to leave the river’s edge to seek out statues were not present at all, so we missed a few of the locations. Bummer.

However, by the time we came to the edge of the Docklands, E had it in her mind that she was going to take on the Emirates cable car. I’ve already had the displeasure of going up on one of these bad boys and it was not something I’d vowed to do again. But as I mentioned before, it was a lovely day, with next to no wind aside from the slight breeze that was just enough to cool you off when you began to feel yourself sticking to your shirt. What could go wrong?

Well, I certainly could list the things that could go wrong, but we didn’t get on in the end, (with a mental sigh of relief from me), because of the massive queue that was snaking it’s way along the water’s edge. Double bummer.

Just before we realised there was no chance of getting on the cable cars, we sat down and had a quick snack. For me it was fish and chips, which were pretty good albeit a little batter heavy. Cutting through a half inch of batter with a plastic knife isn’t something I’m going to attempt again any time soon.

So with our stomachs sort of full, we strolled back to the DLR, (my fav way to travel in London), and began the next leg of the walk.

Before we continued we dove into an exhibition focusing on the works of Christina Broom. E was previously aware of this intriguing woman but I was not, and if you aren’t I really do suggest having a read up, a look at her work, or to make your way to this exhibitions yourself as it is on until the 1st of November. Although, if you’re of a soft nature it has its harrowing aspects, reading about the young men who sacrificed their lives in the First World Ward was sobering to how fortunate we remain subsequently to the conflict and the many conflicts that followed during the twentieth century.

Upon exiting the exhibition, we once again made the wrong step onto a DLR platform and decided we were too weak in our lower regions respectively to continue. No, that wasn’t a euphemism, my better half E and I have the bodies of septuagenarians who’s skipped their cod liver oil for the last week.

Sunday was a day reserved for shopping for some bits that E needed for the gym, so we made our way to Oxford Street and scored in TK Maxx. I do love me some bargains when it comes to clothes, in fact I’m loathed to pay full price for clothes at all.

Once we got what we needed, we wandered to what I know as being the single best restaurant in London for a couple of reasons:

11.  I’m a burger fiend. It’s always my standby at a restaurant and I say that with zero guilt, and that is what this particular establishment serves, aptly named - .

22.  The service is always amazing, the guys and girls that work in this place have their heads screwed on when it comes to jovial service.

33.  It does the single best chilli-cheese fries I’ve ever tasted.

The third reason is the most important. It’s the reason I go back there and it was magical as it was the first time.

(Picture, courtesy of tripadvisor.co.uk) 

If you fancy trying the bad boys out yourself then head over to the restaurant!

On our stroll home we also happened to wander down Savile Row perchance and we walked past the ‘Kingsman’ store. This topped off seeing the film as I thought it completely fabricated.

When we got home we stuck on another film, Babe. I hadn’t seen Babe in well over ten years, maybe fifteen, so this was a great throwback.

But, the evening took a darker turn…

At approximately 1:15am I was awoken rather rudely by the sound of screaming which was preceded by a bumper bash outside out window. I went to the window and saw what I thought was two men, brandishing guns at each other. It’s safe to say I was worried, so I told E to ‘Get on the other side of the room, low’. I got on to the phone to the police double quick and let them know what was occurring.

Roll on 3:00am when I’m finally getting into bed and attempting to fall asleep.

Although it wasn’t too bad for me, because I’m still looking for a job, E was on an early and so it was a rather rude awakening for her.

The Police were fantastic though, the whole process was well handled, armed police showed up as quick as I imagine a unit of such importance and at such a distance could. Moreover the Police kept me in the loop and even followed up to let me know that no one had been prosecuted on this particular occasion and that no firearms had been found. Phew. 

Either way, yet another productive weekend, which seems to be the theme of mine and E’s time in London, which I’m also very grateful of. Maybe I'll even be moving there soon...

Oopsie doodles!

So I've not had a chance to sit down and have a write this week... Okay, that's a huge lie, I've had a ton of time but I haven't and quite a lot has happened.

So last Friday I went to some free outdoors theatre by Tower Bridge, courtesy of The Scoop. I have to admit, I didn't stay for the whole thing, because the acting wasn't astounding, but it was an enjoyable evening. The play that I watched was 'The Women of Troy', which to my surprise was the tale that was eventually turned into the movie Troy, which I thought was pretty guff. I'll give it another go though, just to see if my taste has changed.

Either way, hanging with two of my fav ladies and having an alcohol fuelled picnic was pretty awesome, as well as the leisurely stroll through that part of London after dark.

ALSO, yes the big also, the rest of this even continues on for September from the 2nd until 24th and it contains free cinema which is pretty groovy if you dig films such as Ghostbusters, Big and Frozen. The only lame part is that I'm away for Moulin Rouge. I love that film more than any man probably should, but whatever, I love me a sing along to sweet jams.

On Saturday one of my fav ladies was working and I had an all day type party to go to at my second home. It was pretty sweet, just getting to see and hang with my best mates for a few hours is always nice because we don't often all get to see each other in person. Since my PC broke and I've not had Leagueof Legends, which is our main contact hub, plus I haven't been on Skype to talk to them as much recently which is just silly. Why does life have to get away from us all so quickly?!

Either way, it was pretty awesome and I drank my fair share of alcoholic beverages, which always make me behave better if anything. Actually, infinitely - infinitely better.

The next day we awoke, had some more beverages and I went home. On the way home, my joint best friend Siobhan happened to text and see if I was free. 'Of course I am', I thought, 'I'm a jobless 23 year old with no spare money, my freedom is about all I have'. So, on that note, I popped down to the lovely town of Romford to see her.

Even more beverages were consumed, far too many in a sense, (which may or may not have left some of us sicker than others), and I once again returned to the homestead.

I awoke on Monday feeling pretty great, seriously, I felt fine which for someone who's barely slept and drank two days in a row – which is a rarity for me, I felt pretty swell. A whole weekend of seeing my favourite people and drinking was pretty good because it's so rare for me.

But, tired and in need of finishing some job applications, I had a pretty dull Monday. However, I found myself equipped with a copy of 'Rare Replay' from the week before, so the boredom didn't last long, (or the job applications).

If you're a kid that grew up in the 90's, this game is a must. For £20 it really can't be beat, aside from perhaps £20 during the Steam summer/winter sales. That amount of money could literally buy you 50 games. Seriously, 50.

This disc is a winner for someone like me, someone who knew of and played some of these games, but never had an N64 so couldn't own some of them. Not only we I reliving certain games, but also playing them without the rose tinted glasses of having the required console(s) which was awesome, because nostalgia can betray us in the worst ways as we get older. But, I'm kind of gutted I didn't play some of the games as a kid.

Dark Before Dawn - Breaking Benjamin

Considering myself one of the biggest Breaking Benjamin fans out there, I was a little dazed by the release of a new album by the band after a 4 year hiatus, but at the same time stoked beyond belief. The crushing knowledge that I'll probably never see them live, due to Ben's phobia of flying, weighs quite heavily on me as musically and lyrically I feel like they are one of, if not, the best band out there with a style that although isn't unique, is still at the top of all the hard-rock bands for me and many others.

I recently found myself singing along to tracks on the bands latest release Dark before Dawn after a two day period of not being sure of where I stood with the album. It was strange, at first I felt a little disappointed by the album after the initial listen as I felt like it was almost a re-hashing of Dear Agony, which is probably my most listened to album, (bar Ascendancy by Trivium), ever. Although the single 'Failure' came out of nowhere and was instantly a winner, I felt like the rest of the album could have been a part two to Dear Agony due to similar song structures, a use of very distinct rhythm sections which the band recycle a great deal, and even lyrical content. For instance, I Will Not Bow is one of my favourite songs ever - but listen to the intro of that and Angel's Fall and tell me that it's not the same riff. I was, to say the least, a bit disheartened. But, and it's a big but, like I said I found myself singing along to songs a few days after my initial listen, that's how catchy the songs are.

Although most people who listen to “alternative” genres generally don't want the songs to be be catchy in the same mindless way pop is, Breaking Benjamin are probably the only band that I know that toe the line of rock and pop due to their fan base being so broad they actually inherit a great deal of listeners from such musically appreciatory backgrounds. Before anyone thinks that's a bad thing let me tell you, it's most certainly a good thing. Without a blend of heavier music into the world of the mainstream we'll be stuck with repetitive bullshit for the rest of time and that's why this album is such a winner: it doesn't try to be heavier than heavy, (I'm looking at you Black Tongue), and it doesn't try to be so mainstream that the original style the band had is so diluted you may as well throw them in a glass and swallow them down, (Maroon 5 anyone?) Having an album that tops the mainstream charts as a rock band is hardly the easiest thing to achieve so even if you don't appreciate the music, you have to respect it.

My main hesitation on judging the album was quelled by a YouTube comment, (of all things), which highlighted the fact that this album was almost intentionally written to sound like Dear Agony as well as their previous works, to encapsulate the styles of the preceding albums as if the songs were individual reflections of previous tracks. This to me could be a continuation of Ben's personal journey, to note his older work and make sure that he doesn't lose touch with it despite the lengthy hiatus and also various changes he has gone through personally. Although I haven't heard this said by Ben himself, and the fact a random comment on another website spawned me to think this, I think it's a pretty fair assumption to make due to the severity of the situation that Ben has had to encounter, but more about that shortly...

The one thing I wasn't sure of initially was if Chad Szeliga was still with the band providing the percussion that we'd grown used to on the band's previous releases Phobia and Dear Agony. To me his distinct style of drumming helped put Breaking Benjamin up with the bands who are noted for their technical ability. This has been mimicked well, but after a re-listen to the album paying attention to the drumming you can easily tell that the technical aspects of his drumming aren't present which is a shame as I always found him to be a fantastic drummer.

Lyrically the album is quite similar to the previous albums but with a great deal more religious context added. Syntax wise we still have Ben doing his thing which is nice to see as any force to alter his style would have seemed a bit lacklustre and frankly would have removed from their sound entirely (we really don't need to see speed-vocals making their way into their music any time soon). Strangely enough Ben's voice actually sounded better than it ever has on Dark Before Dawn, which is astonishing, mainly because I considered his voice to be perfection. I can't comprehend how it sounds better, but the cleans sound cleaner, the grittier sections still retain their abrasive qualities and the more metal styled vocals remain present which is welcomed by myself and I'm sure a great deal of non-believers in hard rock being truly heavy.

The most shocking thing to me about this album was reading about how harsh the medical issues are that Ben suffers with. Any fan of the band is well aware of his phobic ways, but his other issues, which have an unknown cure, sound heinous and leaves me humbled that he's come back to music at all let alone with such a strong album which retains the bands style that we were all familiar with. Also the complete overhaul of members has made this more of an achievement.

Although I could write essays about how this album is so brilliant and break down each track and discuss possible influence and all that jazz, I think I'll cut myself short. I'd like to leave on the note that this album will soon become a favourite for many and that the production quality is fantastic. It's big, juicy and I'm so glad that they didn't return to the production style of their older work. It's like they picked up right where they left off and a great deal of the album seems to have been influenced by the awareness that Ben has of his own situation and how it's relative to the bands progression and future. Long live Breaking Benjamin.