It's A New Dawn, It's A New Day, It's A New Year. 0 comments

The 2009-recollection-blog had to come at some point...so here it is.

So here we are. Does anyone else actually believe it's the end of 2009 already? Has this year zoomed past (not necessarily a bad thing) for everyone else as well? Personally, for me, it feels like it has now, but, to be perfectly honest I think we all say that. Things always feel like they go really fast when you look back at them - but at the time they feel like they've been trudging along - perhaps the majority of 2009 was like this. Again, this isn't a bad thing, I'm not meaning it's went past slowly at snail pace because it's been so shite, it's been an amazing year - I dunno what I'm getting at here, I hope you all understand me...

To be honest, it only actually hit me that I left school around about (don't quote me on this) six months ago? I'm not sure if that's right, it might've been seven. But (and I don't think I was the only one who felt this) it was such an anti-climax! There really wasn't much to end or mark the six years we all spent there, that was really significant. Well, there was prom, I guess, but even then...but anyway, blasting of LHS aside, it kinda struck me that, since those months, I think I've changed just a wee bit. I'm not very good at the whole 'self-discovery/trying to change' thing, but I think, and this is probably because of the onset of university, I feel like I've become a little more self-assured. I hear the sniggers, I don't care, it kinda feels like it. Of course, that might be the only thing that's changed, I'm still that immature chubby wee boy who ran about with his schoolbag on his front whilst eating a cheese sandwich at heart (I bet all of you who didn't know me then wish you did now!).

Starting University was absolutely awesome as well - in doing so I came out've my shell just that wee bit more, and I met loads've new folk and made a load of new friends - it's where I met my absolutely braw girlfriend Kim as well (shout out much? hehe), so it's clear that Stirling Uni was a good move. That was definitely a highlight of this year, getting that big uni acceptance letter. Love it.

Of course, and there had to be some music tie in eventually, my music tastes have expanded way more this year. All these new people and all my old friends and my own curiosity are probably to blame for that, and I thank them all, I love my music now. And I'm actually making myself a promise ('cause this has happened too much in the past now) that I'm not letting anyone dictate that. If you don't like a band I like, tough - I won't change it. I won't rub it in your face either, but don't really expect me to change it.

There's been some crap times as well, obviously, but I feel like they've been helpful somewhat. I'm a big believer of 'everything happens for a reason', and so, whatever's happened this year, good or bad, it has led me to where I am now, which is in a very happy place. That doesn't change the fact that those times were bad, I'm not saying that, but we all learn from our mistakes and, inevitably, we stop doing them and end up in happy places. Like now!

Also, and I feel as if he deserves this, big shoutout to my dad and all his family as well - this Christmas was awesome, I had tons of fun with them, from papa's newspaper all the way to Roddy's master chef expertise. And to my dad, cheers for putting up with me staying with you, I am very very very grateful.

And to all my friends, new and old - I like where we are now. I'll admit, I don't speak to a lot of you as much as I should, which is rubbish, and it's probably my fault anyway and it'd be nice to change that - but I think this is a good starting point. So, thanks for all the braw times this year as well - the NB times, Firkins times, failed band starting times, watching Catchphrase times, sitting on benches at ridiculously early morning times, Group Tam times - everything. Lets see more of that in '10, eh? All of you, you're all braw, and I owe where I am now to a fair few of you - so danke, cheers, grazie, merci - I love you all.

Sure, this years had a massive share of ups and downs (who's hasn't?) and it's by no means been perfect, but I like to think it's been good for me - 2009 seems, on recollection, (and pardon the cheesy metaphor here) a runway. It's like, everything before's all been building up to this one point and after this, in 2010 everything takes off - it literally is a new year. From tomorrow - it's the future! I dunno if this is making any sense, I just have a feeling that next year is the start of something braw, the 'start of the rest of my life' to put a cheesy spin on it.

So, and this has dragged on a little - I applaud you if you've reached here - I leave you now, wishing you a very happy new year and many returns (what does that even mean?). Hope you have all enjoyed this rather stretched out insight to my year.

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: Dirty Vegas - Days Go By (Acoustic)
via FoxyTunes

Someday The Dream Will End 0 comments

Hello all, it's been a couple of days since my (some would say unsuccessful, I would say titanic) post that was the 12 Days of Christmas...

Anyway, it's just a quick post to point out the fact that I've added a YouTube link up above on the navbar, where, the videos of my drunken family reside - and sometime soon (I'm hoping!) some nice, new, tasty vlogs for you all to ponder over. Yes, Mark is going digital! (what?)

Also, I thought I'd share this strange dream I had with you last night...I had to repeat primary school. It was extremely odd, considering I was the same age as I am now, and the teacher was treating me like a five year old - however! In the playground I forged friendships, played tig, ran about like a lunatic and saw my good chum Calum at the 'big playground' (this was where, in my primary school, the P4-7s would be at breaktime). It was both odd yet, extremely poignant (just wanted to use that word...). And the reason I had to repeat primary school was to 'find skills I had not yet learned', which came straight from the mouth of the headteacher. It was an odd dream, to say the least...

Another wee point, my writing mojo's back again (how many times have I said this I wonder?) so Black Sky chapters are expecting to be shot out, hopefully. Also since Christmas, I joined FarmVille. That is all I wish to say on that matter, for fear of being rocked.

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: Craig Armstrong - Glasgow Love Theme
via FoxyTunes

An Extremely Late 12 Days Of Christmas 0 comments

Actually, now that I say that, it's not really late considering this is the beginning of the 12 Days Of Christmas, but y'know, seeing as I said to you all I'd unveil it all on Xmas day...here's the last verse.

On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Twelve droids a-beeping,
Eleven Santas singing,
Ten pairs of shoes,
Nine Dylans bobbing,
Eight inches of snow,
Morgan Freeman's voicebox,
Cloud's Buster Sword,
Jack Bauer's Dammit!
Four moogles pompoms,
Three Metal Gear Rexs,
Two penguins rapping,
And Chewbacca singing Hey Jude!

It's been a journey, hope everyone had a brilliant Xmas/Boxing Day, and Santa was good to you all!

Mark, out.
xxx

On The 2nd Day Of Christmas 0 comments

Happy Christmas Eve everyone! Again, posting totally slipped my mind last night, so here goes nothing.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Two penguins rapping.


Heh, can you imagine them? All up at the North Pole chillin' with their homies? Poppin' a cap in an unsuspecting seal? Bustin' out the rhymes? Movin' glaciers with their ghetto blastas? Completely stereotypical view of rappers aside, I think that'd be cool. Moving on.

Anyway, merry Christmas to you when it comes...the finished version will be available tomorrow for all you Snowflakes and Semiquaver fanatics :)

Mark, out.
xxx

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas 0 comments

I FOUND MY PS1 MEMORY CARD! YAY!

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: Snow Patrol - The Lightning Stirke
via FoxyTunes

The 4th and 3rd Days 0 comments

Whooooooops, I somehow managed to completely forget posting anything yesterday, I deserve a holiday though! (from the excruciating hard work that is blogging, yes.)

Anyway, what I had planned for the fourth day was this!

On the 4th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Four moogle's pompoms.

And if you don't know what a moogle is...well you can see him to the left. He's nothing compared to Maxy though. How cool are moogles? How unbelievable would it be to have a pet one? A wee cute bear with a pompom on its head that would could conjure giant books and tents on call, answered to a flute and delivered your mail? Manual labour aside, I think he would be a fine companion. Kup-ooooo!



Anyway, back to the song, it's actually getting increasingly difficult to write down the reflected opinions of everyone else in these lyrics (mainly because it's things that I like that are included in them now) and mainly because of the little input I've given other people...so here goes nothing. Asking a random friend...

Well, I'm guessing if you got three of these for your Christmas, you'd be questioning your true love's intentions, or fleeing the country. And I have a picture to show you why.


On the third day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me,
Three Metal Gear Rexes.

Yep. The picture says it all. I'm liking the absolutely huge contrast between this one and the moogle up top. Which would you prefer, I wonder?

In addition, cheers goes to Smyles, for thinking up the most terrifying present known to man.

Mark, out.
xxx



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Now playing: Foreign Slippers - Two People In You
via FoxyTunes

On the 5th Day Of Christmas... 0 comments

The line on the new 5th day of Christmas needs to be epic - it needs to match the ultimate scream of 'FIIIIVE GOLDEN RINGGGSSS!' in the line to line playback...so what could be as epic as that? What could your true love give to you for Christmas that would beat five golden rings?

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
JACK BAUER'S DAMN IT!

'Nuff said. You knew there was gonna be a 24 related line eventually, right?

Also, thought I'd share my mental news with you, I was pishpishpished last night (I am now suffering the effects :|) yet, I managed to walk home from the Martell back to my house in the freezing cold and frozen snow and ice - without feeling cold at all, or falling/slipping. And the whole walk felt really short, but that's probably 'cause I needed to pee that badly. I think that's quite an accomplishment after 13 bottles of beer, two vodka and cokes, one vodka and red bull, three jack daniels and coke and three shots of tequila. What's even more surprising here is that, as hungover now and drunk as I was last night, I can remember all those things I had to drink. Wowza.

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: Queens of the Stone Age - Auto Pilot
via FoxyTunes

On the 6th Day Of Christmas... 0 comments

There's heavy snow falling in Larbet today! It's amazing! So, in light of this, a thought came to mind...what if I was snowed in? What would be the only way out? A snow plough? No, I think not. I'm thinking something more violent. Something more harsh. Something Final Fantasy related...

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Cloud's Buster Sword.

Aye, you just try to fucking snow me in now.
Mark, out.
xxx

Thank You For The Music! (03) 0 comments

LIKEOMG50THPOST!

It's been a while since I've done a TYFTM post, mainly because there have been so many good albums and songs I've heard over the past few months. So, seeing as it's coming up for the new year and all, I figured it'd be a good idea to make a compilation of sorts. So, rather than focusing on the one album, I'm gonna mention a number of songs and bands, that have had quite an effect on me this year. So, what I'm gonna do is make a list of SOME of my favourite musical discoveries/albums/songs/bands of this year - everyone else is doing it, so why can't I? I'll throw in some links as well for you to hear 'em too. (Song titles/Band names that are bold throughout this post'll have links on them, give them a click!)

First, the bands -

1. The Shins - Probably could now be regarded as one of my favourite bands. Although they've been about on my iTunes/iPod for a few years, I'd never listened to them once (I got a big bunch of music from my uncle a couple of years back that kinda lay dormant on my laptop for quite a while) - but then, as I happily shuffled through my songs, The Past and Pending came on out've nowhere - and I, as cheesy as I can be, was transported. This song is absolutely amazing. Stripped down to an acoustic guitar w/ vocals, and another few instruments, the song's got quite a calm feel to it, and it's perfect for reflecting/thinking/walking/writing/drawing/getting a train/sleeping/anything. And the lyrics are pretty awesome as well ("In matters of love loss, we've no recourse at all"/"lose yourself in lines dissecting love."). In short, this song is one of my favourite songs of all time, and the rest of them are pretty fantastic as well - New Slang, Pink Bullets and Caring Is Creepy. I've never gotten tired of this band, ever, and they're pretty well suited for any mood or time of day.
2. Citizen Cope - I wouldn't count myself a massive fan as I'm not too much into them, but the two songs that I really really like are pretty smashing - they were also both in One Tree Hill, incidentally. Sideways is my favourite of the two, it's moody, mopey and pretty damn awesome - also, Santana have done a cover, but the wailing guitars take away from the rest of the music a bit. "These diamonds they fade/Flowers they bloom" - bloody brilliant. Son's Gonna Rise is another, more up-tempo song of there's which is also pretty good. I'll need to find out some other songs of theirs...
3. Bob Dylan - Ha, yeah, believe it or not, quite recently I've started listening to this dude a hell of a lot more than I used to or would've before. There's not a lot I can say that other people haven't already, but Don't Think Twice, It's Alright and Hurricane are definite favourites.
4. Alex Day - Click here for his YouTube link - you might've seen him as nerimon on there as well. His music is absolutely amazing! Holding On and No More are the two favourites off of his album (I bought it 'cause he's THAT good) - the lyrics are cute, funny, amazing, great, brilliant - "Sat under this tree with you, the rain is on our faces and I can't think of a single place where I would rather be." - a freakishly odd coincidental lyric that happened to explain my exact feelings on the 1st of November. Nice one. Buy his music, you won't regret it.

They're probably my best discoveries as of late - album wise, for my favourites this year it'd have to be -

1. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
2. Elliot Smith - New Moon (Not necessarily this year, as I first heard Angel In The Snow [YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THAT SONG - it's amazing] in '08, but I started listening to the actual album more this year, and it's pretty phenomenal.)
3. Damien Rice - O (Again, not a new one, but it's been on more this year than it's ever been.)
4. Kasabian - The West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum
5. Placebo - Battle For the Sun
6. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I
7. Ryan Adams - Demolition
8. Jack's Mannequin - Everything In Transit
9. Foals - Antidotes
10. The Beatles - Help!
11. Nobuo Uematsu - FFVII/VIII/IX/X/FFVIIAC OSTs and Piano Collections (lets face it, they're gonna be there every year)
12. The Cribs - Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever
13. Aqualung - Aqualung
14. Harvey Danger - Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone?
15. Michael Buble - Crazy Love

Saying that, that's only a small taster of my favourite albums/bands this year. It's probably pretty damn impossible to track 'em all down, and I've more than likely forgotten some of them.

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: Jack's Mannequin - Kill the Messenger
via FoxyTunes

On the 7th Day Of Christmas... 0 comments

So here we are, a week before the big day (it's actually quite unbelievable how fast December's went by), and it's time for another line of the chart-topping extraordinaire that will be named, rather un-originally (and if anyone can think of a better title then tell me, my creative well to do with things festive is slowly running empty...) 'Mark's 12 Days of Christmas'.

Seven swans a-swimming you say?

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Morgan Freeman's voicebox.

Although that looks somewhat gory and like the beginnings of an excellent news story (Man steals Morgan Freeman's Voicebox - Panic Ensues!), can you imagine it? You wake up on Christmas morning to see Morgan Freeman (seeing his voicebox would be kinda disgusting), rocking back and forward on the rocking chair in front of the fire, a festive looking jumper on, singing the words to your favourite Christmas carols? Lets face it, the man's voice is epic. Or, you do get his voicebox as a present and you replace yours with his - imagine the new paths open to you then! Voiceovers! M&S adverts!

Mark, out.
xxx


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Now playing: City & Colour - The Girl
via FoxyTunes

On the 8th Day Of Christmas... 2 comments

Here's something we all want eight of for Christmas, never mind eight maids a-milking -

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Eight inches of snow.

You may think that's one too many syllables but if you say 'Eight inches' really quickly and make it form the one word it almost, almost fits. And lets face it, it's getting around the time where it should really bloody snow. And if it can snow in Dundee today it can bloody well snow in Larbert.

Mark, out.
xxx

A Big Festive Cheers! 0 comments

I knew we could do it! Yep, although hardly a huge number, my blog views have nicely shot up past the 1K mark! So thank you all who have been following/reading/recently commenting, albeit forced from me sometimes (is that how you use the word 'albeit'? always wondered).

Anyway, realised I hadn't done much in the way of proper posts recently, but I'll sort that by Saturday with the unbelievably cliched 'Top Lists' that everyone seems to be doing - might as well get my favourite songs out there as well!

Also, totally forgot to mention to you all that Placebo was awesome! Here's the set list - it was alright, kinda gutting they didn't play Nancy Boy or Because I Want You, but the stuff they played off of Battle For The Sun was pretty fantastic. They played The Bitter End as well, which, being my favourite song of theirs, was really quite fun. The crowd was absolutely dire though, there was a small concentration group of people in the middle of the hall who were jumping, the other couple 'o hundred people there must never had heard any of Placebo's songs before because they just stood quite wide-eyed and bored looking. And there was also this guy with really long hair and shite eye makeup who didn't know the words at all but continued to mouth along. I was contemplating stopping Placebo just to go 'he's a phoney!'

Another point, you want to know what happened on the train to me the other day? Some guy told me turn my iPod down! Seriously! It was The Shins! Who wants to turn The Shins down?!

Mark, out.
xxx

(I also got my hair cut for the first time since prom today!)

On the 9th Day Of Christmas... 1 comments

Wee bit of a musical tie in this one, it came to me the other night and I'm rather proud.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Nine Dylans Bobbing.

I like it!

Mark, out.
xxx

On the 10th Day Of Christmas... 1 comments

As is Kim's want, I have the next line of my (soon to be great) Xmas Number One.

On the 10th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Ten pairs of shoes.

I'm beginning to think I've got the wrong Christmas present here.

Mark, out.
xxx

On the 11th Day Of Christmas... 0 comments

Cheers Darren!

On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Eleven santas singing.

Keep commenting me guys!

Mark, out.
xxx


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Now playing: 30 Seconds To Mars - Hurricane (Featuring Kanye West)
via FoxyTunes

A Winter Wonderland 0 comments

Oh-My-Actual-God. I actually think it might be the coldest it's ever been ever tonight. I walked outside and the juices that are in there with your brain froze over, along with my blood, my saliva and my ears. In effect, I have actually become a huge and gargantuan iceberg whilst going to and from Stirling tonight. (It's actually only really really cold, and I haven't frozen over or anything. It did grab your attention though.)

Anyways, while I was walking back from the train station tonight, I realised, Larbert is a pretty minging place in Winter. I mean, I was strolling through the precinct all cheery with my Xmas music on when suddenly, the asthmatic-dog-exhaust-piped-cars suddenly barged into the car park as quick as the hooded people chanting 'Sephiroth' got to the Northern Cave in FFVII. And my headphones are pretty loud and I still heard them. Then, after that, I walked past Chillies to find a few 'neebers' throwing donner meat at each other exclaiming 'wur havin a fuckin mental food fight n aw that pish wi this shitey food aye?', which was both entertaining and somewhat disturbing. And then, as if that just wasn't enough, there was a pram with a baby in it. On its own. Outside a pub. You heard me right. I'm assuming the mum or dad had just took a stroll inside to get a drink, a fag, watch the X Factor, play some darts, deal some drugs, start a bar brawl or sing a horrendous rendition of Neil Diamond, and decided that the baby shouldn't be involved. For one, it's like, minus one hundred and forty degrees and there's this poor baby outside the pub cooing happily/shivering. I hope that parent is ready to embrace a nice chunk of ice when he/she eventually leaves/gets flung out said pub. Can you say that? Yeah, why not.

Also, you know what really pisses me off? When people in buses play music on their phones. WHAT IS THE POINT? Usually, you see a cheeky wee set of earphones over their football top as well. And it's always the same people! Not meaning to stereotype here (well, I am), but it's always that guy (usually on his own) with the black canvas jacket, the golden hoop, the fag balancing on the ear, and the painfully white shoes, which are tapping happily along next to a half empty bottle of buckfast, or god help us all, lambrini. Or, it's the group of, lets say thirteen? year old girls with the exact same physical traits as our previously described friends, except these girls all sound like grown men and shout everything the say. Probably because their music is so goddamn loud. And it's crap music too, it's not even decent dance. No one wants to hear it. I will applaud when someone plays their music on a bus and 'Don't Stop Believing' or 'Stairway to Heaven' comes on.

Mark, out.
xxx

On the 12th Day Of Christmas... 1 comments

Yeah, so I know today isn't the actual 12th Day of Christmas (I don't think that's actually till January at some point) but this is my version of this song in a vain bid to create a masterpiece that will knock RATM, SuBo and whoever wins the X Factor off the charts (I wish).

So the 12th day is now, going all the way down to the 1st day on Christmas day, if you get my drift.

So, rather than my true love sending me twelve drummers drumming, which I probably would appreciate, I think I'd prefer something like this...

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me,
Twelve droids a-beeping.

'cause lets face it, who wouldn't want a droid helping them out with the Christmas shopping blitz right now? Yes, I can see it now, a little C3PO going crazy in Glasgow -

"I'm programmed for etiquette, not shopping!"

If anyone has any ideas for the next 11 days, give me a comment on this blog post. Seriously. Just do it. It'd be nice!

Mark, out.
xxx

Jingle All The Way 0 comments

MARK'S OFFICIAL XMAS COUNTDOWN! - 16 DAYS!

So here's an idea -

There's all this craziness going on in the music industry right now about the 'XMAS NUMBER ONE' (sorry, had to bold that out 'cause it made it look frightening and epic), and have you noticed how weird the odds/predictions are? (taken from the William Hill website...don't know why I'm on this.)

Firstly, without the X Factor, the Xmas Number One's are at -

• Rage Against the Machine (?!) - at 1/3
• Lady Gaga - at 5/1
• Susan Boyle - at 6/1

Also, bets including the X Factor winner are at -

• X Factor Winner - at 1/5
• Rage Against the Machine (?!) - at 10/3
• Susan Boyle - at 25/1

Now, I'm of course not slating the almighty RATM (*bows down*), but, just a random thought here - whatever happened to Christmas music?

Obviously, I'd welcome Rage to become Xmas number one - imagine that, poor crazy Stacey Solomon bumbling all her way to become the winner and then, with the unbelievable outpour of random, jumbled up letters that is the way she speaks, she suddenly exclaims in shock that 'Killing In The Name' has just taken the position of Number One. It'd be terrific.

But, my point here, whatever happened to actual Christmas music? Sure, there's the odd chance that SuBo may do an Xmas song, but I don't see Lady Gaga doing one, and Rage's song for number one is already 'Killing In The Name'. So why doesn't anyone do Christmas music anymore? What happened to it? Why is it that every year, rather than creating a new, beautiful masterpiece of an Xmas jingle, all we get is Paul Potts or the legend that is Daniel O'Donnell covering every damn Christmas song that's been released? Where's the originality here? How on earth did all the ideas for a Christmas song suddenly disappear?

Needless to say, it's probably not the case and there have been Xmas songs released in the past couple of years that have been alright and I've just missed them - but still, the point I'm getting to here is the fact that no one releases decent Christmas songs anymore. Imagine if a new (and actually decent) Christmas song hit number one, instead of the God-awfulness that is Lady Gaga, or, Heaven forbid, Stacey/Olly/Joe. Blasphemy aside, I think it'd be good, if there was someone out there...someone reading this blog thinking, 'wait, I know what he's talking about!'...someone with an idea that would change Christmas forever...someone, with the best sounding Christmas jingle rattling in their skulls, waiting to be released...my friend, if you are out there, then do it. Make Christmas history. And see the look of horror on Simon Cowells face.

It's probably never gonna happen though, so support Rage Against the Machine for Xmas number one all the way!

Anyway, some quick updates, Uni is now officially over (if I haven't mentioned that already) until the 15th of February - so hopefully a lot more blog posts and things. The imagination well for previously coined up personal writing project has ran dry (no idea how considering it was based on my life) and, as it would seem, Black Sky is back in the mix. Same with the game based on Black Sky that is tottering slowly along.

Another point relevant to this blog, from the 13th all the way to the 25th, I'm going to re-write the '12 Days of Christmas' (I know these days aren't the 12 Days Of Christmas, but I don't care), so anyone with any ideas on what you would want for Christmas rather than a partridge in a pear tree, facebook/blog comment/myspace/bebo me with suggestions. I won't bite.

Mark, out, thinking he needs to get his grammar sorted, and wonders if this new sign out line is better than the last.
xxx


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Now playing: Five - Everybody Get Up
via FoxyTunes

Yo Mista Claus, We Is Gonna Pimp Yo Ride! 1 comments

Just humour me here, for a while.

Imagine, you and your burberry-clad homies decide to go for a riotous, mental, bass-pounding night out at the almighty FALKIRK CRUISE. Now, I have absolutely no idea what this strange night out entails, and I don't know what happens on said 'cruise' - all I do know is after 8pm on a Saturday/Friday night, the Retail Park's car park becomes flooded with, and I quote my sister on this, 'like total modded cars n aw that aye?'

Take note here, when I say 'modded', I don't mean 'modded' in the sense of a James Bond car, with ejector seats and machine guns, nor do I mean 'modded' in regards to the shenanigans of West Coast Customs and XZibit (no idea how that's meant to be written down) in the almighty Pimp My Ride. What I mean by 'modded' is a faded neon pink Corsa with an awkwardly placed spoiler, a set of ugly neon lights that don't match the cars colour flickering horribly underneath it, a sound system that only seems to take the 'Bass' option into consideration and, as such has horrifically maxed-out bass sounds spewing from the windows - and finally, who could forget the shite exhaust pipe that sounds like an asthmatic dog. Running.

But yeah, back into context here, here you are with your friends, or 'neebers', and suddenly, out've nowhere pops Santa. Yes, there you are 'pumping up the beats' and, out of the blue comes Santa Claus in his sleigh. But this is no ordinary sleigh. This sleigh has been 'pimped' out beyond belief yo! Made by Q and X-Zibit (that looks a bit more gangsta than the last spelling), this titanium reinforced sleigh is equipped with the latest in gadgetry and armaments. On either side are six rocket-propelled missile launchers, which can lock onto to any target. Bulletproof windshields with razor window-wipers that can fly off and attack foes like boomerangs. A sound system with 145 amplifiers shaped like Christmas gifts, and, the most important accessory of all, furry dice dangling from the rear-view mirror. Let us not forget the reindeer. The genetically modified beasts (presumably modded by X to the Z - he seems the type) have forty nitrous oxide canisters attached to their legs, enabling them to reach top speeds of one thousand and forty six miles per hour. Not only this, but they have small robotic elves riding them, armed with machine guns and laser cannons. And, finally, in the carriage itself, Santa, who sits next to a precariously placed ejector seat. There's also some room in the back for a pool containing sharks with laser beams attached to their heads. Take that, Falkirk Cruise.

Anyway, nonsense aside, I've suddenly had an amazing idea to make every blog post up to the glorious day of the 25th of December - Christmas - 'festive related'. So expect some more insane, seasonal blog posts from the kaleidoscopic sensation that is my brain.

On another note, a video of me eating jalapenos will available at some point because all you buggers who didn't vote for Danyl made it so. Don't know when yet, it may not be made till I'm seventy four, but I promised you a video of me eating jalapenos if Danyl did not win the X Factor.

D'you reckon if I post it he'll visit me and get me a Christmas card? *dreams*

Mark, out, with a ho ho ho and a nagging thought questioning what the hell that blog post was about.
xxx

Seasons Greetings 0 comments

Hello everyone! It's only been what, coming up to two weeks? Sorry about this, I've had one valid excuse - I did have three essays, which, to be fair, only got done a couple of days back. Education, English, and Linguistics - and guess what?! I done 'em all, not even the night before, all in good time and ready to be printed. As Barrett would say, 'I AM THE MAN!' Or something like that, we're all too confused as to why he's leaving a voicemail on Cloud's mobile phone all about oil. And to be honest, when you were playing Final Fantasy VII, do you remember seeing any oil fields? Yeah, another excuse for my non-blog posting is just general laziness, I've been without a creative spark for a while and really, I had somewhat better things to do...but hey, lookie here, Mark's back! ...with a vengeance.

Anyway, I'm sure you all noticed the very cheery flashy picture, just a shoutout from everyone here at S&S (well, just me, really) to have an excellent holiday time! Although, saying that, everyone still at High School/Primary School are still there, whereas moi! is now on holiday till the 15th of February. Very, very good times! Well, this was just a wee quickie, there'll be more in the next few days (promise!), probably of me eating a jar of jalapenos, if you all remember that shite promise I made to you all about Danyl getting booted off of the X Factor. Fan-bloody-tastic.

This is Mark, saying he's stealing Smyles's sign-off line to say have a happy holiday season!
xxx

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Now playing: Iron & Wine - Cinders And Smoke
via FoxyTunes

A Life Before Facebook 0 comments

Just before I start, I had a look at my hit counter today and it said 666 - how terrifying is that?! The end of the world is approaching. Time to stock up on Pot Noodles.

Anyway, I've had a lack of any kind of inspiration for a few days (mainly due to the essays I have to do being started and a total cloud of procrastination smothering them [I like that image!]) and then I got this whilst washing my hands. A bizarre spark yes, but a spark nonetheless.

Can you actually imagine a life without any form of social networking? It'd be very hypocritical of me to blast any Facebook/Myspace/Bebo users, purely based on the fact that I'm a member on all 3 of those sites (not so much Myspace anymore - links are on navbar up top!).

Firstly, what I think's quite cool is the 'evolution' of these sites. What I mean by this is that everyone has a 'Social Network Timeline' of sorts, some of these sites die out while some stay dominant due to loads of reasons. I'll compile mine and I'll explain them -

1. Think.com - Does anyone remember these? How at primary school you got signed up to the fun that was Think.com? Leaving 'stickies' (how wrong does that sound?!) on people's profiles? Using some horrifyingly bad HTML to swamp your page with crap MIDIs and floating bubbles and flashing text? Think.com was brilliant at the time! You just come out of P6 and then you get to make your own website (of sorts)! My memories a bit hazy, but you got a crazy wee dog as the moderator, and if you tried to use any form of swearing you'd be flagged and given a wee punishment exercise by your teacher! Think.com was braw, it'd be pure nostalgia to be able to reactivate my account and have a wee nosy. Unfortunately, something tells me it would never ever be used again, and the fact that they disabled it (for whatever reason) after P7 means that Mark McKeich's Think.com profile is long gone. But those were the days.
2. Myspace - I think I was co-erced into getting one of these, actually (wasn't everyone?). After a wee dabble in Freewebs and the blight on the internet that is Habbo Hotel (bobba! BOBBA! BOOOBBBBAAAA!), I had Myspace. And it brought so much fun. At this point, I don't think Bebo was as popular, and, in my grand opinion was way to chavvy for me. Only the cool kids used Myspace. The heaps of pictures. The 'Top 8 Friends'. The crazy profile layouts. The snappy about me's. The ever-changing profile songs. The bulliten wars/quizzes/shoutouts/nags/moans. Myspace was well cool.
3. Bebo - I eventually caved after being really bored in Majorca and made a Bebo, which at first, I signed into once every century. It didn't really appeal to me much. But then, in the past few years, something odd happened. Myspace suddenly became boring. It just happened (for me anyway). And then Bebo became the main site, although there were still the Myspace loyalists. Anyway, the only cool thing about Bebo is being able to have an 'Other Half'. And even that's pretty boring now.
4. Facebook - And then, two months ago, I got Facebook. 'Nuff said, really.

But yeah, I'm now stuck in limbo between Bebo and Facebook. It's a sad state of affairs. Back to the point though, can you actually imagine life without these sites? Let's be completely honest here, they are the exact same as a mobile phone (which are already rendered completely useless with MSN Messenger). And saying that, you can share pictures on MSN now anyway...so what's the point? How do we all have such an interest in other people's lives so much that we can put off doing anything by staring blankly at a slow-updating live news feed? It's just mental. D'you think if none of these sites existed people would actually do work on time? Get eight hours of sleep a night? Not use the terms 'Facebook rape', 'Bebo stalk', or any other crazy abbreviations that they've created? Did 'lol' actually exist before MSN?

It's be pretty cool to go back in time and see what life was like without Facebook, or, to a more extreme POV, without the internet. Do you not remember how innocent your youth was before hearing that dreaded dial up modem and being subjected to all these social networks?

I say bring back Think.com. Actually, combine them all. Make 'www.myfacethinkbebo.com'. Create another, when broken down to it's actual point, completely useless site.

Anyway, I'm off. Time to check my Facebook.

Mark, out.
xxx

Got No Friends, Got No Lover 0 comments

Just as a reassurance, that blog title is not the truth, it's a song lyric from Placebo's song 'For What It's Worth'. Just clearing that up.

So yeah, for some strange and nice reason my blog hits magically popped up another 100 this week - again, not exactly a massive number considering the millions of people using the internet but it's nice to see it. How about 1000 views by Christmas people? I think it could be done! And if by chance you do happen to read something that 'tickles your fancy' (thought I'd give saying that a shot, don't think I'm ever going to again) leave a comment, s'always nice to hear from anyone.

I've also realised that I've not done any 'Mark VS...' or 'Thank You For The Music' in quite a while, I'm kinda enjoyig just blogging for now, there may be a few in the next month or two, who knows, I don't really plan anything.

Updates! Mark is going on an adventure to Warrington on the 4th of January! Yes, he treated himself to a first class train ticket - OH MY GOD, it's amazing! You get reclining seats, free wifi, a bar, meals and your own table! Anyway, I was thinking, if I somehow manage to get hold of a video camera that I was gonna try and start posting vlogs on my YouTube channel just for fun and link them back here - not that I'm promising they'll be any good, I've never done a video blog before. But I think it'd be better to do that rather than usual blog posts (I'll mix normal ones in anyway), cause then I can show you my journey in 'unfamiliar lands'. That makes it sound really epic!

Do you know that Bank Quay Train Station in Warrington has a 'no kissing' rule? How mental is that! I Wikied it last night, and it's apparantly to 'minimise queuing times'. Needless to say, this confuses me greatly.

Anyways, midnight showing of New Moon tonight, which I'm assuming will break the strange 'Mark takes Kim to a hilariously bad but good film' thing that's been happening!

I'm trying to think of any other updates for now but I think that's about it...

Mark, out!
xxx

The End Of The World As We Know It 0 comments

Good morning all, it's been a few days since any posts so I thought I'd hit you with one on this quite gray and damp looking morning!

For starters, I have realised, and I want to be extremely blunt here, I do not, at all, give a fuck about the X Factor anymore - aside from Danyl, and that's only because my mouth's going to fall off if he doesn't win. Why, you ask? Is it because of Jedward? Is it because of the shows apparent 'fix'? No. It's much more to do with the fact that it's absolutely dire. Take this three-lettered blight on the Earth as an example - JLS. The fact that they shared a stage with Bon Jovi is beyond me. I actually just don't care anymore, it's gotten to the stage where I don't even watch it online. Personally, I think the twins are hilarious, that afro man was crap from the beginning and Danyl's the only one there that can actually sing. You all do realise that when this finishes, we're going to have to be subject to an absolutely shitty album that'll be overplayed on every radio station and music channel and shopping center? Even if Danyl did win it, he'd probably end up having to write some terrible pop album. Yeah. Rant over.

Has anyone wondered how the end of the world will come about? I was reading up on a good list of these predictions last night, and there were a few that were actually a frightening possibility. Take the idea of a worldwide nuclear war, for example. Have any of you ever played Fallout 3? Imagine surviving the initial blast by living underground for a short while, then emerging (possibly to hunt down your father who's went mental and ran away from this bunker - and is also voiced by the fantastic Liam Neeson) and having to actually live in an irradiated world. I don't think it's possible to live for that long anyway (I might be wrong on that) but it'd be bloody boring, and there might be a host of scary nuclear-modified beasties running about. I didn't like the idea of that.

Another one was simply that the universe could just be 'switched off'. This doesn't really bother me because it seems a little bizarre but it went along the theory that, because the universe was suddenly 'switched on' (with the Big Bang and all that jazz), it could possibly be just as easily 'switched off'. This idea was also accompanied with another few space-related disasters - comets hitting the earth, antimatter destroying the planet, universes colliding - all of which sound very, very cool, but have like, a one in sixty two million five thousand and sixty chance of happening.

The only one that I could take really seriously was the idea that robots will soon take over the world. The premise here being that man keeps building them to be stronger, giving them better AIs and movement functions until, eventually, they become smarter than any human. Think about it, imagine if they created a robot that could literally *do anything* and they all assumed control? Imagine in years to come, your iPod's AI was so intelligent that it could move the headphone wire and choke you! Imagine that your mobile phone re-programmed its vibrate function and caused massive earthquakes? Of course these ideas are absurd and mental, but the thought of robots going insane and taking over the world is quite scary, and there's always a possibility it could happen.

The other, very cliched and expected item on that list was a biological disaster - which of course could be immediately linked to zombies taking over the world. Two scenarios here -

1. It's the cliched, Resi-Evil style zombies that move at -1mph and have no common sense at all. You'd have no problem escaping these dudes, unless you found yourself surrounded and had no weapon and were a complete idiot. These guys would be pretty easy to outrun - I think you'd be fine. Best place to go - oil rig.

2. It's the 28 Days Later insane, bloodthirsty rage people. Good luck.

Of course, the other idea of the world ending in the fiery eruptions of Hell that is 'Armageddon' or 'Apocalypse' or 'the return of God to choose who ends up in Heaven and Hell and for some bizarre reason wishes to destroy the Earth' is also a possibility...but the Agnostic inside me screams 'No Mark, no!' So I won't comment.

I think I've went on about the end of the world for long enough, a quick update - had the best weekend ever, think I was lying in my bed for more than 24 hours (not all at the same time, there were breaks for pizza!) and I also saw Paranormal Activity - this film is not scary! Kim and I spent the whole time over deliberating when their bedroom door was going to slam and when it did, it was terrible! Anyway, we're off to see New Moon next week which'll hopefully end the 'rubbish film each week' thing I've had going! (Although saying that, Jens Body and PA were both alright films, but they were only that good cause they were that bad.)

One more thing, do you not think that it is both heartbreaking and soul destroying when you lose a memory card for the PS2? I've lost my PS1 memory card which has all my perfect FF7, FF8 and FF9 saves on it. It's horrifying.

Mark, out.
xxx

(incidently, here's the link to that list of end of world predictions - http://www.aquiziam.com/end_of_the_world_predictions.html)

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Now playing: The Shins - Phantom Limb
via FoxyTunes

Shoot The Runner 0 comments

WOW. I'm just back from Glasgow after seeing Kasabian at the SECC - this gig was absolutely amazing!

I was kinda sceptical about it at first, mainly because I didn't know anyone else that was going and I had to go myself - and the fact that it was at the SECC (I dunno if it's just me or not but the SECC sound system doesn't sound all that braw). Anyway, after deciding to walk down from the train station and being guided by Kim over the phone (which is quite funny actually, considering she isn't from Scotland - Google Maps, we salute you!) I finally made it.

Reverend & The Makers were supporting, and they didn't come on till like an hour and a bit after the doors opened. I thought they were alright, I've never heard any of their stuff before tonight and lead singer's odd and somewhat eratic arm movements aside they were good.

Anyway, a wee bit after that Kasabian came on and opened with a song I'd never heard, it was a B-Side from West Rider, I think. It was still pretty good anyways, but when they started Underdog afterwards it was absolutely amazing! Being myself wasn't too bad when I got into it, I jumped around and clapped my hands and sang and befriended an odd bald man.

Anyway, setlist as I remember (with the help of setlist.fm) was -

1. Julie & The Mothman
2. Underdog
3. Where Did All The Love Go?
4. Swarfiga
5. Shoot The Runner
6. Cutt Off
7. West Ryder Silver Bullet
8. Thick As Thieves
9. Empire
10. Take Aim
11. Processed Beats
12. Ladies And Gentlemen (Roll The Dice)
13. I.D.
14. Fire
15. Fast Fuse
16. The Doberman
17. Club Foot
18. Encore:
18. Vlad The Impaler
19. Stuntman
20. L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)

- that's pretty close to it, anyway, if not the actual one.

I'd say which songs were the best but they were all pretty much awesome, Fast Fuse/Processed Beats/L.S.F./Club Foot/Fire/Underdog were some of my favourites though.

So yeah, if you ever get the chance to, I'd recomend you see Kasbian live - they were actually bloody awesome.

Anyone else reading this at that gig? Send us a comment...

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: Kasabian - West Rider Silver Bullet
via FoxyTunes

Pirates Ahoy! 0 comments

Hello everyone - this post'll more than likely contain some general musings and ponders, mainly to do with CDs and music.

So, today I bought three new CDs - I got Battle For the Sun (Placebo), Help! (The Beatles) and Attack & Release (The Black Keys). Also, my Black Mages CDs that I ordered last week (Black Mages I, II & III) came through the other day as well. And this has been the start of quite a recent thing that's been happening to me - CDs seem to be emerging back into my life again. Before I go any further, the point of this post isn't to blast anyone who downloads music/films, I still do it, so it'd be a little hypocritical.

You know what I think is pretty amazing? How a band can take a year, or years, or months to make a brand new album, for it to be condensed into something so small. It's pretty mental when you think about it that way. A song that's taken a band months to figure out or get right is now nothing more than a few megabytes on a hard drive, the sheer thought of it is absolutely crazy. Maybe it's just me, but it seems insane that you could, if you wanted, store a massive amount of music on a laptop - but, and this is me getting to my point now, d'you not think that takes away from the experience a little?

Do you not remember getting your pocket money and buying a new CD with it, taking it home and listening to it non stop for days? Finding all your favourite tracks, repeating them, blasting them, actually appreciating the songs and CD more - I think what question I'm basically putting out here is, do you not think that actually buying a CD and listening to it all through is much more fulfilling than downloading it and leaving it on your hard drive?

Again, I'm not going all anti-pirate bay on you here, I still download things, but I just suddenly think it's more fun getting the actual CD and listening to it all. Cause if it's me, I'll download the album for my favourite song and leave it all dusty in my hard drive and never listen to it - but you get a CD and you listen to it all the way through and enjoy it more. Yeah, CDs are often ridiculously priced which is why I often turn to downloading anyway, but just a thought to pose to you all - why not buy the CD? Support the bands you love and give them the money they really deserve. On the flip side, you can download all you like, I probably will end up at some point in the next 24 hours anyway, but just think about it. This probably makes no sense but I know what I'm talking about.

On a completely different note, thank you all for the views, it passed 500 the other day (hardly a massive number but it's pretty impressive), there must be some people out there reading these posts. If so, leave a comment! It's always nice to hear your views/opinions/etc.

Also, thought you'd all like to know it's 45 days until Christmas. Yep, you heard me right. Ya dancer!!

And one final thing...I totally passed my linguistics essay! Now I have another 3 to do for the 7th of December! And I'm not leaving them till last minute again for fear of my life/sanity.

Mark, out.
xxx

Look How They Shine For You 0 comments

Good evening everyone - just realised it's been a wee bit (ish) since any recent post so I thought I'd take out some time and go for it!

Well tonight was absolutely brilliant for one - there was not a cloud in the sky, every single star was out, the moon was absolutely massive and it (according to Google) was -1 degrees. Add sitting next to a loch with Kim, a creepy taxi driver, fears of fingers freezing off and snapping and a Meateor Pizza from Dominos and you've got a pretty good, if not scary night.

A creepy taxi driver I hear you all ask? Yeah, well I'm not one for the 'taxi banter' anyway - I don't like the conversations and you can never hear what the guy says and it's awkward and boring and annoying. Well this one taxi driver decided to comment on every passing young (and when I say young I mean like, pretty young) girl on the way back into Stirling. Comment? Oh yes -

'Hmmm, nice legs on that one.'
'I'd give her a ride in my cab if you catch my drift'.
'The foreign ones are always more difficult to pick up.'

Granted, the second one did make me laugh sheerly out of it's randomness/stupidness, but after the driver started 'oooh you know you want some' I figured it was time to go and got out the taxi a little earlier, fiver short and cold. Grrr.

Last night me and Kim went out for tea and then the cinema to see what's dubbed as 'a masterpiece by the makers of Juno' and is called 'Jennifer's Body'. This film is up there with Mega Shark VS Giant Octopus & Zombies Zombies Zombies - one of the worst films I've seen in my entire life, but that was what made it so good. It's basically a horror/comedy take on a typical teen movie, but with Megan Fox. Megan Fox, by the way, what's the deal here? I don't see it. She looks like she has a permanent cold sore. Sorry guys, I just don't get it.

A good good weekend though, re-discovered how good Air Traffic were and also discovered the Spill Canvas. If anyones reading this right now I'd advise you to wrap up and go outside, it's absolutely perfect tonight.

Another discovery, anyone else ever noticed that when you type in 'kiss' on predictive on a mobile phone it sometimes comes up with 'lips'? Fun times indeed.

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: Air Traffic - Shooting Star
via FoxyTunes

Nice Wee Chilly Clouds 0 comments

"I want to cut off your hands and keep them..."

Rather than explaining that somewhat alarming opening, I'm just gonna leave you all to figure it out yourselves.

Hello all! Today was lots of cheeryness, it's been one of the first days so far when all day, that cold air vapour stuff comes out your mouth when you breathe!! I love it when that happens, Winter is here, hooraaaay! I've been way too giddy, but I don't care! On top of that I got to wear my jacket, hat and scarf (which incidently all ended up waterlogged) and it was all wintery (if not soaking wet) and I had a nice wee walk from Stirling Uni to Stirling and back again with Kim, so was a fun day!

ANNND on top of all of that amazingness, I bought 24 Season 7 on DVD! So lots of Jack Bauer shooting people/Tony Almeida being a goodie/baddie/goodie/baddie twists on the way. I also had some carrot cake. Hurray for carrot cake.

ANND in case anyone was wondering, I've moved in with my dad - so that's where I am as of late, I'm gonna try and look at Uni Acomodation too at some point too.

Don't you all just love winter?! It's amazing. And i'm far too wet/tired to make this post any more exciting :) ....FIREWORKS TOMORROW WOOOOOOOOOOOH.

Bye :)
xxx

New Dawn, New Day, New Life 0 comments

Good morning world! It's been quite a while (a few days I think - this is something of a major breakthrough for me not to have posted a blog in this space) and lotsa lotsa lotsa things have happened.

For one, happy belated Halloween everyone! What did everyone dress up as? I actually went through two transformations, I was a vampire on the Friday night but it was barely obvious (someone asked me what I was and if I had cut myself shaving) so on the actual day of Halloween I changed it to zombie - possibly the funnest costume to make ever. I had a crazy spell of ripping up a suit jacket and throwing fake blood all over it - I looked like a crazy person. Anyway, the zombie costume worked out well as you can see -

- and Halloween was good fun, went through to Stirling and had a wee party in the corner of the Union and sat on a bench for around 4 hours afterwards with Kim, and encountered friendly security guards, armies of squirrels and a drunken Theo giving us the recipe for the ultimate burrito. Strange you say? You haven't heard the half of it!

Anyways, after that I didn't sleep at all and so when I got home you would think - "Mark must be shattered and seeing how he is a completely responsible student will also have finished both his essays" - I will tell you now that that is NOT the case - and instead was up till about 4am finishing two 2000 word essays (saying that I did finish one of them an hour before the deadline yesterday). So after realising in the past week I've probably had absolutely bugger all sleep (I started hallucinating!) I got the best long lie on Monday - good times!

Ah wells, I have an English lecture to go to in an hour - and then I need to head back at some point this evening cause Mark boys moving in with daddy-o! Happy November everyone!

Mark, out :)
xxx

(also, you know what's scary? When you dream...)

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Now playing: Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag
via FoxyTunes

Best Thing I've Heard All Day 0 comments

All right, so this is copied from an MSN conversation i've just had...

Kim __ friends in highly low places says:
*i'm refusing to grow up.
mark; see you at the bitter end. says:
*same! lets make a stand on growing up (Y) :S haha
Kim __ friends in highly low places says:
*haha, we actually have this lame thing back in wire
*and it's when you turn twenty, you actually don't.
*instead you turn twenteen!!! :D:D:D

is that not actually the best expression you've ever heard?! I can't wait for my twenteenth!!!

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused
via FoxyTunes

Sunshine On A Rainy Day 0 comments

Good evening all - had possibly the least productive day ever. Today I had a few mission objectives - obtain a new copy of Final Fantasy 10, start essays, find a halloween costume and get a Big Tasty with Bacon from McDonalds.

Unfortunately, Final Fantasy 10 seems to have disappeared from all existence and so I couldn't find it anywhere - not even in Cash Converters! I'll probably eBay it, I do miss playing that game and I've still to beat Penance. Obviously, I did no such thing as start my essays, something tells me this won't get done for another day or so yet. Sunday is going to be a rough day indeed. As for Halloween, I couldn't find any outfit I liked at all, so I'm just going for vampire - mainly because I get to wear a suit and make my hair look cool. But I picked up vampire fangs and black hair dye, without realising it was permanent. No thank you. One highlight of today was the Big Tasty with Bacon, it was possibly the best thing I ate today...

...although saying that, Costa are doing their Christmas menu now, and I'd recommend the creme brulee latte to anyone - it was the best thing I had to drink today, ever.

And I quite enjoyed the rain today, I'm kinda weird like that - I like rainy days when it gets dark around 5. It's nice, I'm not entirely sure how to explain it. Also, a shout out to Kim (whether she'll read this or not is beyond me) for our 12 hour marathon of an MSN conversation yesterday - it was pretty epic. Haha.

Anyway, I also bought a Shins CD, Abbey Road and 'Mega Shark VS Giant Octopus'. And I'm gonna get Cribs tickets later too. Fun times :)

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: The Shins - A Comet Appears
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Crushing Melancholy 0 comments

Hello all, I am now officially hangover free! It's been an unbelievably lazy day, I'm still lying in my bed in my boxers - and I'm not entirely sure what I've done since I woke up.

I had a long lie this morning! It's always exciting when that happens, specially cause I seem to have developed a condition where I can't sleep in after 9am anymore. But I woke up in all of 12:35PMs glory and had some jamaica cake. Which, incidently, I think was the culprit of my room smelling a bit bad, it had been sitting there since my birthday. Although it might also be the lingering beer smell. I found another three beer bottles in a jacket pocket yesterday, God knows how they got there. And there's a dribble of vodka left in the bottle that's just on top of my CD shelf staring at me, taunting me, laughing at me. I don't actually mind straight vodka, everyone else seems to think it's horrible. But nah, I was nice and cheery with my vodka in one hand and beer in the other.

Anyway, I just went for a shower (finally got out've bed!) and I think i'll spend the rest of the day copying CDs/planning essays. I don't think the sonnet is ever gonna happen now, so I'm most likely doing an essay on poetry - i'll at least try to finish em by Friday.

Hey, did I also mention that that weird ass red thing on my eye is still there?! And I also still need a Halloween costume?! If anyoen has any ideas give me a shout.

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: Fightstar - Follow Me Into The Darkness
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I'm Not Sick But I'm Not Well 0 comments

Woooow, it's like the 'wee small hours of the morning' and I am still very hungover from my birthday. Just a quick shoutout to everyone that was there, thank you all, it was a brilliant night! With soem classic quotes from me like -

"I CAN'T FEEL!"
"This tastes like fire."
"You seen my jacket/camera?"
"Yes, i'm just gonna wank and cry from now on."

Yeah, it was brillianto night - although everything got a little hazy after I had that blue stuff and started drinking vodka and beer simaltaneously. Anyway, today it felt as if i've been on an aeroplane all day. I feel ill and ill and ill.

Gid night though ;) I'd post more but it's late and if anyone wants to see pictures they're all on my facebook/bebo. And woohoo! I'm 18 now.

Also, that red thing is still on my eye.

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: Foo Fighters - New Way Home
via FoxyTunes

Happy Birthday To Meeeee 0 comments

Hello all, it's the 26th of October which means it's my birthday!!! Hooraaaay!! Yes, I am now 18, just been to ASDA to buy alcohol for the first time in my life (officially), it was exciting, there was banter. Yess, so I'm actually quite bored, no one's getting here for another few hours yet and I'm in the house myself, and I have very little to do, believe it or not. I did get a record player today and I've played some INXS, Cult and Van Halen - fun times!

But yeah, I've tidied up pretty much everywhere cause all my friends are coming round later on and we is gonna partaaaay.

But I thought i'd have something to do...I've been at school every other year it's been my birthday and I'm off Uni this week so I actually don't have anything to do. I could get really drunk with the gallons of alcohol that's through in the fridge, but I think it could wait till everyone gets here.

Anyway, I'll send the link to my Photobucket album next post with all the fun pictures of tonight. I think I'm going to play the drums for a bit.

But woohoo! Happy 18th to me!! :D

Mark, out.
xxx

Balloons 0 comments

Hello, I'm slightly worried that I've managed to jinx Danyl tonight after saying I'd eat an entire jar of jalapenos. Maybe there's some sick mofo out there thinking 'my my I would like to see Mark McKeich suffer' and told the British public not to vote for Danyl. What was that about by the way? He was like the best person there last night! See I'm not in with the John & Edward haters but they annoyed me by knocking Danyl to the bottom two. Anyway, it doesn't matter, he's through, he'll win it. And I'll be sitting back after Christmas, smoking a cigar and drinking brandy softly speaking, 'I told you so.'

Aside from that, it's currently the 'huge deep breath before the plunge'. I'm sure Gandalf used that to describe the mood before Minas Tirith got attacked. Anyway, yeah, it's the night before my birthday - I HATE THE 25TH OF OCTOBER!! Seriously, it's been the slowest day ever! And then I bet you tomorrow'll go at superspeed! Ah well, for those of you just joining me, it's my 18th birthday tomorrow! Yaaay. I'll post a blog with a picture of me buying alcohol, cause I can do that after tomorrow.

And that red thing on my eye is still there. Beginning to worry.

Also, I hadn't realised till now but this week has been an awesome week music-wise! I've discovered how brilliant Placebo were again! I'll probably post a 'Thank You For The Music' later this week on that album (unless I find another good one), but 'Battle For The Sun' is an absolutely mega good album! It totally got me into Placebo again! Also, I've had another Shins euphoria today, seriously, I think The Shins should be prescribed on every iPod on the planet.

Speak to you tomorrow...I'll be a year older!

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: The Shins - Those To Come
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There's Birds Flying High 0 comments

Hello all, it's the first night of the *drum roll* 'BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN' !! Yeah, in just two days I shall be an 18 year old - I know it'll get old almost instantly but being 17 has just gotten so boring. So, tonight.

Oh my God, I have never craved a Dominos pizza so much in my entire life. A 'Meateor' one, specifically. You know, it has the meatballs, the BBQ sauce, the pepperoni...it's almost like every God from every religion pointed at a piece of dough and screamed 'YE SHALL BECOME THE GREATEST PIZZA!' And, seriously, it worked - there is nothing better than one of those. And no one - I've voiced this opinion on Facebook tonight - no one will ever understand the pain of not getting that pizza which you so desire. It's a horrific experience that no man should endure.

And, blog title clearly stating my allegiences, did anyone see Danyl on the X-Factor? I don't want to bog down the post with loads've X Factor spam but my God he was amazing! I'm making this promise now, if Danyl does not win the X Factor, i'm going to eat an entire jar of jalapenos. You think i'm lying? I'll post a video. I'm that confident!

Also, another strange occurence of tonight, a strange red spot appeared on the white of my eye - worrying much?! I googled it and found very little on the subject other than that it'll go away in the next few days - but I don't want to look like one of the infected from 28 Days Later for my birthday (that might be stretching it a bit)! Anyway, good news is I can still see and i'm not crying blood yet so I probably just burst something. Which sounds quite horrible.

Another important point i'd like to make tonight - I managed to write down the noise a sand person makes. Here it is in all its glory.

'huhuhhhhrgh!!!'

Beautiful, beautiful.

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: Elliott Smith - Easy Way Out
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Let It Snow 0 comments

D'you reckon anyone's ever 'won an iPod' after dragging the mouse through a maze on a random popup? Just a random thought, I disabled my pop up blocker (cause i'm such a crazy mofo) and went onto a really really old and un-trusted torrent website and I was totally attacked by them all. I love all those adverts, you get some classic ones on the television - you know, text 'BABY' to 81666 and you'll receive your new-born babies name (which, incidently is recurring - how many babies does this thing expect you to have?!) Anyway, just a random thought today.

Today was quite good, an hour long English tutorial class and then home - it's also my last class/lecture until Monday the 2nd Of November, by which time i'll be 18! Good times. Only catch is I have that sonnet to write and an education essay, urgh. Incidently, I decided on another sonnet - gonna do the 'Shall I compare thee to a summers day?' but much less cheesier and far more depressing. I think I could pull it off. Aside from that, Education ain't too bad and I don't think they'll take me too long - I'm planning on starting them on the Wednesday, as i'm out Monday/Tuesday/Friday/Saturday next week. Hopefully i'll get them done...

I also started watching Black Books tonight, it's funny as hell, i'd recommend it to anyone who are fans of Bill Bailley or other random comedy shows. I also went on a walk! Fun times. It's getting nice now that winter's starting, hopefully more days like this! -


Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: The Black Keys - Things Ain't Like They Used To Be
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Sorry, I Tripped Over My Guilt. 0 comments

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

So, here I am, sitting on my bed, MS Word open and the little line icon flashing relentlessly over a plain white background. See what I did there? I made the fact that my sonnet is going absolutely nowhere into something beautiful and poetic! So why on earth can I not look at something already poetic and turn that into something poetic?! I've found a brill sonnet to base mines on -

No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Then you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it; for I love you so
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O, if, I say, you look upon this verse
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse.
But let your love even with my life decay,
Lest the wise world should look into your moan
And mock you with me after I am gone.

Shakespeare - Sonnet 71

A nice depressing sonnet on death. How difficult could it be?! I have to write a sonnet that is a respone to that one - it can either be against the argument he's created or for it, or something completely new, based on that sonnet. It has to stick mildly to the structural 'rules' of a sonnet - that is to say 14 lines, iambic pentamtre...although it's allowed to sway slightly from it. Ohho, did I also mention I have till November the 2nd to do it?! And I also need a 1500 word commentary alongside it?! It's gonna be a long week.

Also, it's my birthday on Monday! Hooray!

Mark, out.
xxx

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Now playing: The Animals - The House Of The Rising Sun
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Snowflakes & Semiquavers 0 comments

Big, big, biiig revamp of the blog today - a new URL, new template - new ideas.

I'll give you the reasons for this -

1. New URL - Having the fact that 'unrecognisedgreatness' had many religious links kindly pointed out to me, I decided it was time for something new. Besides, 'snowflakes and semiquavers' is much cooler, it has two things I like, alliteration and a reference to music. It's all good in the hood.
2. New template - I'm using this template from some random website I found today - I was originally going to make my own up but this would involve far too much time - I might do it at some point. Anyway, this one has all the links to my Facebook and Bebo (i'd put Myspace in but i'm rarely on that anymore), a nice wee interface, and is slightly more user-friendly, in my opinion.
3. New ideas - The main aspect that was pushing all these new features has really came from tons of ideas i've had concerning this blog. The past 20 posts or so have been a bit jumbled up, with rants, music reviews, all of that - so rather than trying to stick to the horrendously cliched 'rants' format, as i've mentioned before, this blog is going to become more 'blog like'.

So, all in all, i'll be keeping up with the rants and music stuff, but this is pretty much now like an online diary - far more fun, I think. Hope you all like the new changes :)

Mark, out.
xxx

"Stay where you belong...in my memories." 0 comments

Hello, apologies to all in regards to the short and sweet blog post that was sent last night - I was in a rather angry mood on account of walking out my house (more on that later!) and getting coined by some drunken chav. And also having a really minging pizza, add that on to that list.

Anyway, today was alright, I handed in the 1,586 worded blight on the earth that was my linguistics essay - clearly you can see it was hardly my best work. Also, I decided (and don't ask me how, it must have came to me in a moment of pure madness :|), rather than doing the traditional essay that we can do for English, i'd try my hand at writing a sonnet. Yes, you heard me correctly. A sonnet. A 14 lined, iambic pentametred response to any poem in the 'Norton Anthology Of Poetry'. Wish me luck.

Also today, I met another person in Stirling who likes Final Fantasy! S'always a good thing when that happens, there aren't nearly enough people on the planet who like that franchise enough. This was what probably prompted me to watch FFVII: Advent Children Complete (again) tonight, I have to say, it might actually get even better the more I watch it.

One thing I would say is, there was no need to throw in the flashback just before Aeris died. It upsets me :( On that note of Aeris, did anyone ever think of this - WHY THE HELL DID SHE HAVE TO DIE?! Bloody Cait Sith died and then came back to life again, why couldn't it happen to Aeris? If only Cait Sith was the one who had to summon Holy. No one likes Cait Sith anyway.

Yeah, back to paragraph one, some general guidelines on walking out your house and what doesn't create any kind of dramatic effect -
- Waiting until you've finished your tea. (Which, incidently was that minging pizza.)
- Saying 'bye!' (In a cheery voice.)
- Actually coming back the same night. (Speaks for itself.)
Aside from that, the whole experience was rather fun, even only lasting for a few hours.

A fun filled few nights, then.

Mark, out.

xxx

See You At The Bitter End 2 comments

Hi folks!
I had an awfully fun night, I wandered the streets of Falkirk and got coined by some random chavs!

S'all i've got i'm afraid :)

(FINISHED MY LINGUISTICS ESSAY! again!)

Mark, out.
xxx