My Challenge [to be documented further]

I have a new addition to the piercing family. I now have a 2nd nose piercing, this makes 17 now! So no more until my birthday. However I have found a loop hole, I have always counted the scaffolding bar in my ear as 2 piercings but im not so sure if other people would class it as 2 so I'm going to get other peoples opinions and I may be able to get another piercing before my birthday! yay!

Body In A Box By City And Colour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8HPk26gdW0

There's a funeral procession on the highway
traffic screeches to a hault
theres people searching for a better way
to live there lives, woah.

Johnny lived a good life youl hear them say
as tears of sadness soak the ground
the reaper crept in, took his breath away
in the middle of the night, oh.

We celebrate the lives of the dead
its like a mans best party only happens when he dies
we gather round to pay our respects while there souls are still searching for the light
searching for the light.

So please dont come to me on my dying day
just let me go in peace
with all the things that i forgot to say
racing through my mind, oh.

And dont you bury me six feet under ground
just burn my body in a box
and let my ashes blow with the wind
out into the night sky.

We celebrate the lives of the dead
its like a mans best party only happens when he dies
we gather round to pay our respects while there souls are still searching for the light
searching for the light.

Searching for the light oh oh
Searching for the light.




City and Colour is one man band, this man goes by the name Dallas Green - Hence the name City and Colour. Green was born on the 29 September 1980 in Ontario, Canada. He started work on material for his first album Sometimes at the age of 14 and contuinued to write and record songs to this day. Dallas has been a member of many bands in his lifetime but he is by far at his best on his own with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica. Dallas Green literally has the voice of an angel. The thing I love most about Greens songs is that he manages to get across many different emotions he will either have a sad sounding melody with happy lyrics or vice versa. In short Body In A Box is an amazing song and everyone should listen to it.

My Challenge [To Be Documented Further]

I have 2 new additions to my piercing family. It is ever expanding and now that i have 16 and have 5 motnhs until my deadline I can only get one more :(

My new piercings are my left nipple and a labret.

My next piercing will hopefully be my tongue web but I will have to think that through thoroughly as it will be my last one for months.

Pork Sausage Sweeney Todd Style

Co-op they do food, they do electrical, they do funerals. They are pretty widespread.

So why is it that their sausages only contain 48% pork?

It is understandable that with a product such as a sausage you would need something to hold it together but surely thats not 52% of the sausage? So why not more pork? Is it because they own and operate the biggest funeral service in the uk? Perhaps they have other sources of meat that are cheaper and more accessible than pigs?

My Challenge [to be documented further]

I have set myself a mission, to make my life a little bit more interesting.

I currently have 14 piercings my plan is to get a further 3 before my birthday. The plan is then to get my 18th piercing on my 18th birthday which is on the 27th of September.

I currenyly have a 10mm lobe, an 8mm lobe, 3 ear piercings, a scaffold, a 3 hole orbital, top ear piercing, nose piercing, vertical labret and a navel piercing.

The options for further piercings are tongue web, reverse navel, both left and right nipples, further ear piercings, a 2nd nose piercing, possible further lip piercings - although with work face piercings are difficult - and certain piercings that apparently should not be spoken of. I will keep you posted on developments. Now all I need to do is find some cash.

This War Is Ours.

My album of the month (well to be truly honest it's been my album for the last 3 months) is This War is Ours By Escape The Fate.

Escape have been through alot in the past year, guitarist Omar Espinosa quit and singer Ronnie Radke was dropped from the band after pleading guilty to battery with substantial body harm, he was sentenced to four years in jail with a possibility of parole by 2010 and the future remained unclear for the band.

But now Escape are back with their new singer Craig Mabbit - formerly of Blessthefall - and they are stronger than ever. Their album This War is Ours was released in October 2008 followed by a tour of the US and in January of this year a tour of the United Kingdom.

This War Is Ours is in all an amazing record, theres not one song on it that I don't like.

• The album opens with We Won't Back Down and with lyrics such as "We're gonna burn your city, We're gonna bring your system down, I'm gonna drown my pity, Turn this to a ghost town" It really sets the tone for the whole us-against-the-world theme of the album. The song finishes with a chant of "we won't back down" sounds to me like an anthem for many young alternative people to not let what people say about them bother them, I like that.
  

• The second track on the album is pretty much a self pitying song named On To the Next One. This track is about someone who has been dumped for someone else. With lyrics like "This time I’ve got to live without you. That’s just the way it has to be" and a catchy tune it is a very good song although it does get quite repetetive.

• The amazing Ashley makes no quarms about being a love song and I can imagine it being the soundtrack for many teenage relationships. With lyrics like "Like the brightest star you shine through. Ashley, baby, you make me feel so alive. I've got purpose once again." Ashley sounds to me like a big thank you, but who is Ashley?

• I completely love the beggining of Something I just can't help singing at the top of my voice. After the second verse there is a breathtaking bridge that leads you into the chorus. Singing "Can you help me understand" at the top of your lungs does really take it out of you. This songs speaks of a boy who makes promises and the girl knows that he is just throwing her lines so she leaves. He says "I know you see through my lies."

• The Flood is the first single off of this album. With it's catchy, sing-along chorus it was the perfect way to not only introuduce the bands new album but also their new sound and their new singer. With screams of "You brought the flood" it is a brilliant song for singing alone in your bedroom. That's what every teenage girl likes to do right?

• Let It Go also has a catchy, sing-along chorus. This song is alot slower and not as heavy as some fo the others this brings a welcome relief inbetween alot of heavier songs, it gives your rhead a chance to chill out a bit before moving on to the next song which is a bit of a mind fuck.

• You Are So Beautiful doesn't do much to disguise its love song qualities either although with lyrics like "it doesnt matter what i say, you know you're just another one of my mistakes" and "you are so beautiful, you are the kind of girl that has the chemicals that makes me fall in love" this song seems to have multiple persoanlities.

• This song starts with what sounds like Monks chanting before moving into a heavy giutar riff and quite alot of screamo which is unusual for Escape. This War Is Ours is most definatly one of my favourites on the album and with it having alot of screamo in it it is quite different from the other songs. My favourite lyrics in this song are "Yes, I will see you through the smoke and flames, On the frontlines of war, And I will stand my ground until the end, till we conquer them all."

• 10 Miles Wide is my favourite song on this album. This song has a guest appearance from Josh Todd of Buckcherry along with another song on the album called Harder Than You Know. I love the agression in this song, I love the way it is sung, its just so in your face. I mean with lyrics such as "living on the coast cocktails and telling lies, gotta fucking crush coming to life. you left me here for all these days and ripped apart my pride" you can't really go wrong.

• Harder Than You Know was the first song I heard off of this album and as a huge Ronnie fan i thought I was going to hate it but I fell in love with it from the start. It was one of those songs that speaks to you. This song is a ballad of sorts and is by far the biggest, most soppy love song not only on this album but also that I've heard for a long time. The song speaks of unselfishly asking your ex lover not to speak to you because you are trying to get over them. It is an amazing song and is definatly my 2nd favourite song on this album although quite often (depending what mood i'm in) 10 Miles Wide and Harder Than You Know switch places in my top 2.

• The last song on the album is It's Just Me which has a totally different sound from the rest of the album altogether. With lyrics such as "Just a little more, come on and satisfy me. Just a little more, come on and terrify me. Just a little more and I'll be done with it. Take my life and then I'll feel okay" this song speaks to a part of you that you wouldn't really want to admit. At 4:58 it's the longest song on the album and thats the best part about it. Almost 5 minutes of an amazing song, brilliant!
  

The finish all I'd like to say is that I do love this album and after going to see Escape The Fate in January I'm more into them than I ever was. They are a really great band and their live show was amazing too.

Scottish or Irish?

Same old class, same old thing, still I have nothing to write about. One thing that is going on in my life at the moment is every night, without fail, I practice my singing. Not just any singing, but singing with my accent. Theres nothing better than the comforting sounds of an accent you recognise and relate to. I enjoy nothing more than sitting back and relaxing listening to Sam McTrusty from Twin Atlantic doing nothing but being himself. I'm aware of the cliche but Twin Atlantic are just a bunch of normal boys from Glasgow and they sound like it. They don't claim to be anything they're not and it shows. Sam has inspired me to practice singing in my own voice and not someone elses. I'm Scottish, not American. On this note someone whose number one fan I am not is Amy Macdonald, her voice is faked, she doesn't sound Scottish, she sounds Irish. Hailing from Glasgow surely she should have a glaswegian accent, she speaks with it so why, when she sings, does she suddenly switch nationality? I do not dispute that she is a brilliant song writer and to most a brilliant singer, But I just don't get it. So I have been practising my singing, nightly. i started out singing Twin Atlantic songs to get a feel for it, I then moved onto songs by other Scottish artists such as Ainslie Henderson and then last night, I moved on to other artists of other countries, It's a small mission I have set myself I just want to develop my voice so I don't sound like I've just rolled up from California. On Another note, I have a thing or two to say about Duffy, I don't see the appeal at all, I feel awful for saying it but I genuinely think she is an awful singer! I think her voice has a distinct resembalance to a goat. And then came the diet coke ad... The worst advert I have ever seen! The point of it is Duffy is inspiring people in the street to sing but these ordinary people are all better singers than her which just destroys the whole idea for the ad. If anything her presence in the advert has put me off of diet coke. I just don't see her appeal at all, she's not even pretty, my friend once said "she has a face like a melted welly boot" and who am I to disagree? She looks like a past-it hairdresser who style icon is her 16 year old daughter.

Is Love Real?

The subject of this blog (and my previous blog) is somewhat giving away what has been on my mind for the past few days and I'm wondering whether I should let my blogs do that. I'm giving everything away.

Anyway, I digress. Is love really real? I sense a recurring pattern, you meet someone, you date, you "fall in love" but as soon as things go bad you start to wonder if it was love you felt or if you just thought it was. What if it's true, we just thought we are in love? What does that mean? If we are all living in a world where the things we think we know for sure turn out to be fake then what is left? What can you believe if you can't believe your own feelings? I find it difficult to think about. I mean love is important, "love will concur all", nothing matters if there is love, but what if we didn't have that and the love we thought we had was nothing but a fabrication of our own minds?

Is Valentines Day Overrated?

I heard a friend say Valentines Day was overrated. It's a celebration of love, yes? But surely people should show love for each other every day of the year? Agreed, people should. The thing is... People do. I don't think valentines day is the only day a spouse will buy the other a present or propose or send a card. Love is celebrated always. But I for one as a hopeless romantic am overjoyed that something such as love is being celebrated and so it should! Love is beautiful and although it is floating around all the time surely it should have a day to get the chance to let its hair down and party? So what really bothers me about valentines day? Well although i appreciate the celebration of love I DO NOT appreciate the farce that is infact valentines day. We have turned it into something tacky, a generic money making machine the same as every other holiday. We shower it with cards and teddy bears that say "happy valentines day" - that quite frankly look stupid in your house for every single other day of the year- and cheap plastic roses. So why do we feel the need to cheapen the celebration of love? Every holiday card shops revel in selling over priced tack to not only children but also adults that are foolish enough to buy it, me included. So why is valentines day not about "real" presents? Why do companies feel the need to cash in on such holidays?

Is Glenrothes The Most Dismall Town In Scotland?

Glenrothes is said to be the most depressing town in Scotland but what do the people of Glenrothes really think? I mean if I'm perfectly honest I like it here, overall I do. I mean isn't home where the heart is? There are alot nicer, more fun, less boring places in the world but your home is your home, right? Glenrothes has a distinct lack of amenities but does that really make it the most depressing town in Scotland? I’m sure there are alot worse places. For me it is not Glenrothes itself that is the problem, I mean it is truly beautiful, it is not the concrete jungle that are the big cities, it has plants and trees and flowers. Nature, the truly beautiful parts of nature, it is the people of Glenrothes that are the true problem, humans.

If we are using the real definition of depressing that would be that someone is feeling emotionally depressed. Surely if people in Glenrothes are depressed it is not because they live in Glenrothes but because they live in the world today? Perhaps because they have lost faith in the world, in human kind. Is this what they mean? I think not, what the criticts really mean is that Glenrothes is no fun, yes? Well I know it is a little far but why not travel to Edinburgh or Dundee to have a good time? That way we do not compromise the small beautiful town we have by turning it into a miniature city.