The Wedding!

This week has been a busy one with the marriage of my two friends Zoey and Dan along with mine and E's first holiday. 

So after a long boring day at work on Monday all pistons were pumping to get down to London. Although the journey wasn't exactly straightforward - a train ride carrying all my weeks things - it went quite quickly. 

I was soon in South East London and killing a bit of time before we ventured to Jermyn Street to pick up the food for the wedding at Wilton's. 

Now parking a car covered, and I mean covered, in bird crap outside a pricey restaurant isn't always the best way to create a mouthwatering experience for the clientele it was definitely the way we picked up the food from Wilton's where Olivia, E's sister works. Once we had our supplies we were off for the three and a half hour drive to Taunton. 

Fast forward slightly to 3am and we're finally getting into bed after a long day for all of us. We slept like logs on Vicodin. 

Fast forward again ever so slightly and we're now moving ever Southward to the wedding venue which was beautiful. 

The Oak Barn had serious charm, serious space and seriously hard working guests. We began our day feeling a tad useless as Liv set her ovens to stun and began the catering frenzy whilst E and I helped as much as we could. 

The day itself was long and the food looked amazing, the cake especially looked brilliant, the fact that it was sprung on Liv at the end of the day is unnoticeable. Plus the fact I learned that a cake can in fact be naked without being a huge edible rack which is nice. 

The wedding itself was exactly the type of wedding becoming more common and I couldn't be more glad. The service was all of 15 minutes and very personal, none of the flashiness or gaudiness that people have come to expect from modern weddings was present. 

After was the Pimm's, pics and spectacular afternoon tea, (which I even helped make). 

The Naked Cake!

Sandwiches and sweets galore made the tea even better and visually pleasing to say the least. After this was the hog roast, which in my opinion is one of two ways a pig should be eaten. 

After sufficiently stuffing my face it was time to show the South how to get their groove on, accompanied by alcohol galore. However I'm please to say that two people told my other half that I was a good dancer. So take that world. Michael Reynolds can dance and is most certainly not afraid to use it. 

After hours of dancing and eating we retreated after a brief clean up in preparation for our long drive Northward the next day. 

At the early hour of 8:30 we roused and began to clean our hearts out. I may have possibly stuffed my face with sweets as I went, but I was working hard - I needed the sugar. 

Finished by 10 we got what food we could carry in the car along with all of our stuff and we made out way back to Taunton and then Northward...

The Chef and I

If you need any catering done for an event, consider the one and only Olivia Baggley - winner of the Craft Guild of Chefs award, details below. 

I'll be back tomorrow with a post all about our first holiday! 

A book a week

So earlier in the week I posted about how I intend on reading a book a week and I've stayed true. The post itself was a little behind my timeline however and I've consumed several books since actually beginning this idea 3 weeks ago.

The brilliant thing about my current choice of job is that I can pretty much sit reading all day, (even though I'm not supposed to).

So, here's what read last week and what I intend on finishing this week:

Firstly I read Fight Club. This was a strange experience as I mistakenly didn't do my research years ago and watched the film first. Although my viewing of the film was several years ago, it was still relatively fresh in my memory and this can make a read so much faster.

I ate through the book and found myself so inspired by its style, (plus a flawed character is always appreciated), that I sat down and wrote for the first time in months outside of articles. It was compelling.

Chuck Palahniuk is one of the most appreciated writers of recent years and this novel shows us why. Although I've never read any of his other works, like for others I feel like he could become one of my favourites.

Delve into the mind of Tyler Durden and experience the world through his perspective as he starts his journey in the most unlikely of ways: by punching his only real friend, after a session of heavy drinking, in the face.

Down and Out In Paris and London by the one and only George Orwell was my second read this week. After falling in love with 1984, I decided that I had to read more of my main man, (although I didn't finish Animal Farm... oops).

This novella takes the reader on a strange journey through Orwell's experiences living in, you guessed it, Paris and London but not as the successful man that we come to think of him as. As the title suggests, Orwell isn't in the best spot when the story begins, essentially living in a slum in Paris.

We follow my favourite author as he shows us how existence is when living on the bread line, the term itself taking an almost literal form once we learn of the endless 'tea and two slices' that he subsists of throughout his journey in London. It's not for the reader looking for a jolly story.

Although this was his first work, it illustrates an image of Orwell himself. Its non-fictional prose simply following his journey is however rather articulate in places, his awareness of his situation as an educated man interesting to say the least. It's honestly one of the most intriguing reads I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

Definitely give this a go if you appreciate the autobiographical elements of reading whilst retaining elements of the far-fetched and possibly fabricated.

Because I managed to read two books this week I've had a lazy third week and so I decided to treat myself to a re-read of The Purple Cloud by M.P. Shiel. This novel is weird fiction at its best.

This book came to my attention when writing my dissertation, thanks to my tutor, and has been one of my favourite books since.

Although 1984 replaced its top positioning on my favourite books list, The Purple Cloud is the ultimate book for suspension of reality, especially for myself, using religion and the apocalypse as the two driving forces for the story.

I won't write about this novel quite yet, as I still haven't finished it for the second time and it has been a long time since I last read it. Sadly I read this novel in sections and it seems I'm repeating the same process, but luckily it should be a little bit more fluid as I already know its storyline and still have a week to finish it. Go me.

If you read any of the above novels based on reading this, then let me know!

Happy reading.

A book a week.

A book a week. As a typical English student, I stopped reading after finishing my degree. What a moron.

Although there was no conscious effort to do so, I found myself in a bit of a rut. ‘But I read every day’, I would tell myself, and it was true. It is true. However, there’s a difference between reading articles, (or what the twenty-first century is passing off as articles), and sitting down and focussing on a novel.

So, I’ve set myself the task of reading at least one book a week from now on. So far, I’m hoping that I’ll remain on track as long as I avoid any monsters at the beginning of my challenge.

Although a book a week probably seems more pitiful to the avid readers out there, it’s a big deal for me as so much of my time is dedicated to other more instant forms of entertainment and escapism. For instance, sitting down and playing guitar are always a great way for me to pass time, write, and become frustrated at how inconsistent I am with that as well.

The wonders of being silly with hobbies.

But back to books.

I just finished The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. It was what inspired me to start reading more regularly again, that and E. But don’t get too excited, the book wasn’t the most mind-blowing experience of my literary life. It was a great read for some reasons and harrowing for many, but a little stale in places and a little offensive. When I say offensive I don’t mean the content, I mean the epilogue. It’s cleverly done, it’s almost pleasant to see what the writer can say about their own work, but I feel it’s the reason many colleges and sixth forms use it as a book of study. That, and the feminism simply drips off of the pages.

But, as of Sunday night I started reading Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. Although I’d always prefer to read the book before the film, I saw the film many years ago unaware that it was a book, so this gives it strange dimension, the awareness that I have of the plot allows me to read it with a different skew, which is surprisingly pleasant as it’s one of those book that you could finish and immediately pick up and start again purely because of the fantastic and famous plot twist.

So, the above is my plan. A book a week from now on. Let’s begin…

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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.