Greet The Sacred Cow

Evening All

Welcome to another edition of my ever expanding Blog, me and a few friends have some visions for this blog and personally, I think I could make this blog a team effort, blogging about anything and everything, after these years, we can stake a step forward into getting more readers, it's no longer The Tank Blog, but we need your help coming up with a good general title for the Blog, were a bit stumped at the moment...

Anyway, its a muggy June evening, it's been a beautiful day, a few hours at work, a pint at the pub with Scott, a few hours Nuking the people of Venezuela, and now more than ever I'm not feeling myself, after gigging with the wonderful folks over in camp Crashpoint, courtesy of Zaneus Productions and Birminghams MonoBar, i've felt an energy i've not felt with a band, well, since I last played with Crashpoint, which as harsh as it sounds, is the Gods honest truth and if i'm honest, we sounded pretty bad I reckon if we'dve gone up again later on to play, we'dve sounded miles better, so is the way I suppose, I'd just like to thank everyone in Crashpoint for making me feel at home, It was an honor playing with you again, who knows where our paths lead us!

These blogs aren't written in about Five minutes, I had a reader contact me, asking for advice on how to to sit down and blog, and the answer is you just can't, each of these things take up almost an hour, it's about getting the right words across, thinking about where to take the blog subject next, I can be sitting here for a long time, just listening to music and something will come to me, my only advice is, sit down, put your mind at ease, grab a cuppa and throw on a decent album, and you'll think of something to Blog, this blog started out as a two paragraph job two years ago, just find something you enjoy Writing/Talking about and start from there, suggested albums, music, books, films, anything, you will always have an audience, good luck!

Over the last month or so, i've done more than I have in the last couple of years, expanded my horizons, looked in different places and found some of the most amazing people to talk to, in pubs, clubs, bars, shops, you name it!
It's been nice to speak to some new people, like last week at the Mono Bar, speaking to a few people there, who all thought I looked nearly 30, it was just nice not to be judged for what I look like, or the way in which I speak, or look kind of stoned, we were all musicians, we all had probems, but we all got on really well and as I said earlier, great atmosphere to be part of.

As i've mentioned before, music is one form of communication that everyone can have a passion for, weather you end up walking in the rain to the sound of Simon & Garfunkel or whether you wake up in the morning to the sound of Johnny Cash, its a language that we can all agree on!

Only a short blog tonight, but i'd like to end on somewhat of a low message, were all under alot of stress, with work, finances, school, exams, whatevers going on, I may not be able to help you all directly, but as a word of advice, if you have a friend thats in need, talk to them, help them with their problems, if you yourself are feeling low, make sure there is someone around who you can talk to, things happen for a reason, the world could be a better place for all of us, if we make sure we help each other out in times of need, as a favour to an old friend, treasure your friends, I know i'd drop anything to help my friends.

Goodnight!

For all that is Dark, there is light, maybe for a time, you can be the light that pierces the darkness, revealing its true identity, nothing but a cover up for the light of the world, be the shelter from the storm...

take care now

Still In A Dream...Snake Eater

Good Evening All

Its Coming up to midnight here, I intended to go to bed over an hour ago and by golly I did, but I'm just not tired, so I've fired all the gear up again, I'm writing with a clouded warped vision of life at the moment, with everything imploding around me, I can't help but think "Why Bother?"

But there's more to life than wondering why one bothers, correct?

Ok, I may only have £10 to my name right now, and yeah, with all the turmoil going on, the world can be rough, but as Mr.Cash said at San Quentin all those years back "If A Mans gonna make it, he's gotta be tough" analyzing that statement doesn't necessarily mean you have to be tough physically, it means you've got to be able to withstand whatever life can throw at you, so far, it's thrown a lot at me, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up here, I've seen friends, enemies, workmates and family members come and go, after 18 years, this is just the beginning, and this much has happened, the road is long, but with the right people around you and the right attitude applied in the right places, it isn't all that bad!

I Might say this here, and hell the people I don't want to read this, will read this, but I'll be the first to admit, I don't follow this chain of thought at work, and I'll say why, no matter how i've tried, over the last year or so, I've put my all into what i've done, and especially over the last two or three months, it isn't good enough anymore, all I can do is my best, and if thats not good enough, well, what's the world coming to? I earn my living the same as everyone else at that shop and I've been able to maintain a balance between work & home life, just recently, I'm starting to feel as if my job is threatened, with people lining up to jump in my grave, I know if the best isn't good enough, they have every right to kick me out, and replace me with average Joe whose just been made redundant, just seems as if it's "Dog Eat Dog, Rat eat Rat, kroc style, Boom, Like that"

In these times, can you blame me for thinking like it?

In lighter subjects, I've had a reshuffle of my room today, took a while, whole lot of cleaning, dusting, lifting and the like, but I for the first time used the Effects loop on my AC30, and it just adds a bit more depth and clarity to the tone i get from my setup, less noisy too, it just made me realize why I spent £630 on the thing those years ago, because it's everything I'd ever want from a guitar amp, the perfect tone, the perfect look and for me, the kind of stuff dreams are made of, I stood up today, learning some Beatles tracks, then I learned (Properly, this time around) Have A Cigar by Pink Floyd, what an escape from the world, being able to just stand and play in a care free environment, the Amp cranked to the same volume as a very loud Backing track, switching from Driver, to Distortion, to Fuzz, it was a nice creative escape from life.

Busy week on this week, Wednesday 9pm - 11pm Band practice with Crashpoint ready for a gig I'm standing in for them on Thursday at the Mono Bar in Birmingham, on top of anything else that goes on this week, the gig is one of the bands biggest, so i'll need to be at my peak for it, I'm looking forward to it!

That'll do for now, Maybe I can sleep now :P

Take Care Everyone, You know where I am if you need me!

 

Just A Soul Whose Intentions Are Good...

Evening All...

It's a warm evening here in the technological haven that is my room, its approximately 11:09pm, and I'm awfully excited about what's going on at the moment, so much is unfolding around me, here in my own little world, where I type ominously to you lot week in week out, I feel i'm not keeping a diary, I'm giving a changeable sit-rep, a reader got intouch with me the other day, they know who they are, they said...

"Hi Luke, I've been an avid reader of your blog since day one over on myspace, i'd just like to thank you, i've looked into every album and film you've ever recommended, in turn, each opened up a different world, I've since strayed from the fads everyone else likes, to a nostalgic world of happy go lucky music and innovative films, this all feels a bit weird to be typing, but thanks, thanks so much for keeping this thing going"

It was nice to open my inbox to that, avid reader, thank you for getting in touch, again re-assuring words from readers who've stuck around, just to check up on me!

Next week, brings forth some more nostalgia for me on a personal level, my previous band Crashpoint have asked me to cover bass for them at, without a doubt one of the biggest gigs i've played, the Mono Bar in Birmingham, I'm a Jack of all trades, Master of none, and as you may or may not know, I'm a dab hand at Bass, and I haven't forgotten any of the material, as Bass goes, it's never been at the forefront of music for me, But looking at who has inspired me to play bass, people like Les Claypool, Adam Clayton & Lemmy Kilmister come to mind, and i try to mix and match Slap bass and standard fingerpicking styles to some success,gee, it'll be nice to work with them again, albeit for one evening.

in other news, this week is E3 week, The Gamers Equivalent to the Chelsea Flower Show, all the big guns come out to show their wares, and Below is a list of what Sony had to announce with provided release dates...

Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves - Late 2009/2010

God of War III - 2010

Final Fantasy 13 & 14 (14 Being Exclusive) - 2010

MAG (Huge FPS 128 a team shooter) - This Autumn

Metal Gear Solid : Peace Walker (True Sequel) - 2010

Metal Gear Solid : Rising (Spin Off) - 2010

Resident Evil: Portable - 2010

ModNation Racers (LittleBig Planet Meets Mario Kart) - 2010

The Last Guardian (Team ICO's Big one) - No Date Given

Final Fantasy 7 (PSone On the PS Store) - Due Shortly

I'm truly stoked for each and every one of these titles, mainly the Metal Gear Solid titles, Kojima Never Disappoints, I can't wait to see what 2010 is going to do for the gaming industry, being only 18, I've seen the evolution of gaming, from 4 people huddled round an N64 playing 007 Goldeneye, to what will be 256 people all connected across the globe via the internet, with real life looking graphics, what does the future hold for gaming? VR Training?

for the full heads up of E3, head over to Gamespot - www.gamespot.com 

they have live blogs which stay active on each conference, it's really a great place to get all your gaming needs...

That'll do for now, Speak To Y'all Soon!