Friday 30 March 2012

#1 In Boogieland!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to another of my not-so-fantastic-but-still-reasonably-popular blogs!

Fair bit of good news this time around!

After a bit of a wobble last Sunday after an extreme lack of sleep, I went to the hospital yesterday, and my various specialists seem to think I've finally settled into a medication routine that actually works, which I completely agree with, the last full-on fit I had was back in November, now were edging into April.

With the Citalopram and my various other meds doing what they do, I can 100% say that I haven't felt this good in a great number of years, I'm seeing the world from a different angle, I'm finding myself less bitter, enjoying the little things alot more, I've lost weight, I'm finding more effort within myself to keep myself occupied, my guitar playing is better than ever, I'm certainly making progress and anything past this point, to me, is a bonus.

The risks are still here for me to just have a fit out of the blue, or to just snap at people for being loud or annoying, but on the whole I'm noticing little tweaks that are helping me not only see the world from a newer, fresher perspective, but to actually consider more options in the way I live, I'm actually appreciating all of my feelings, because I feel attached to the world now, it's all there, and I have so much drive and positivity behind me to say, "You know, let's have a proper go", I'm mega excited with where the band is going, I've got some of the best friends in the world, the only thing left for me to face is my own confidence issues.

I tend to have always put on a front to cover up everything that's bugging me, at gigs, rehearsals, everyday at work, but now I feel as if it's time I can face up to it and start to not have to worry, I feel as if I can begin to deal with everything I've been hiding for the last few years, which is what I've been wanting for a long time.

So, what else is going on? Well, I've been giving the new Gears of War 3 map pack a going over, it's pretty good, I've been shuffling some new playlists, just generally taking it easy, no other news so to speak, aside from Joe's truly terrible gig promotion, dubbing fans as "Lukaholics", wait no..."Lukaholix" is how he spelt it.

If that's a new faction he's creating amongst our following, we're all doomed!

For now, that's all, my friends

Look after yourselves
I'll see you right here next time!

Monday 19 March 2012

Discovery & Other Assorted Love Songs...

Hey everyone!

Welcome to another edition of my blog, I've got a new playlist on the go, I've donned the Beats and I'm feeling in the mood to write.

It's been just over a week since I started taking my Citalopram, the groovy new anti-depressants that I'm on, and I'll be honest with you, I'm feeling so good right now!

I've not felt this connected for a long time, I feel so alive, so many feelings are coming back to me, I have so much more energy, it's truly amazing and I'm loving it. I'll keep you posted of course, if it gets any better, I'll see it as a bonus, feeling so good!

Legit.

So, I'm feeling great, thinking straight, staying positive, I had a great feeling about going into rehearsal with Framed yesterday and that good feeling paid off. We walked out with 2 new songs pretty much finished, they just need the finishing touches added and they're completed, they sound great, new material has been a long time coming, so it's nice to have 2 songs drop in at one rehearsal, great energy going on, and I'm playing better than I ever have.

As aforementioned, I feel so much more connected and that alone has helped me just put more effort into what I write, and how quickly I can improvise a solo or a lead break, it certainly feels more natural now.

I dunno if I'm getting it across that I feel damn awesome!

Now recently, I've been doing some casual gaming, after spending a long time letting my various consoles gather a vast amount of dust! My main games of choice this last few weeks have been, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection and Forza 4! If you haven't already, I suggest you check 'em out, they're pretty good!

Onto recent additions to my music collection! Stacy at work asked me to burn her a few albums, so I did, and I'm finding myself enjoying them! A few tracks have even slipped onto my new playlist! I had no idea she had such a great taste in music, hows about that then!


Tl;dr

It's all good!

Thanks for stopping by
Take it easy

LC

Monday 12 March 2012

Luke's Word: Early March

Hey everyone!

We start on a sad note...

When my powersupply failed at The O2 Academy 3, the pedalboard lost a member...

Onwards and upwards!

My new powersupply arrived and its awesome, my new stretchy Levy's strap from Canada arrived, that too, is awesome, I'm feeling good on my Citalopram, things are shaping up nicely for the time being!

However, I'm saddened to see the situation that has escalated with UK game retailer...erm...GAME. It seems the wheels have fallen off for them, which is a shame, because as offputting as the staff may have been when hassling me to pre-order Modern Shovelware 3, (which I didn't, naturally), it was a nice shop, always had some nice offers, great range of games, and last year, the phenominal GAMEFest that went on at the NEC in Birmingham!

Gamestation is going down too, remember.

What does that leave? Not much!

Gamestop won't take off anytime soon, unless they buyout GAME in the next week or so. HMV will be gone by this time next year... And Supermarkets lack range, decent prices and everything that make going into game shops, great for gamers!

We saw Zavvi, Woolies and many more go under, personally I think we could be in the era where high street physical media dies off...which is a damn shame, why?


I'm gonna tell you a story!

When I was younger, we never had much money, and I always appreciated what little I got so much, which is why I love to spend what I earn now, but I remember the day my Dad bought home a special edition Pokémon Nintendo 64, with Mario Kart 64, WWF Wrestlemania 2000 and Pokémon Snap.


Take into consideration that for all the years I'd done any gaming up to that point, were done just on a Sega Megadrive, then when he walked through the door with this box, I looked at all of these 3D graphics on the box, and I was amazed, I've never set anything up as quick as I did this console.

As I was saying, I had friends bugging me, that the PlayStation was better, that it was a baby's toy, but what they didn't realize was how much it meant to me, because of how little we had in our house.

Now every so often, I'd get £5 or £10 to spend on a game, and that meant going to a gameshop of somesorts, this was at the time where I hadn't ever used, nor needed the internet, so I only knew about the games via what friends said, however when faced with...


I'd only ever be able to buy one, I'd pick one, and going to the gameshop, browsing around, picking out a game, clutching it all the way home, reading the instruction manual until I got home, rushed upstairs, clacked that cartridge straight in and powered up.

Going to the gameshop was something I always looked forward to, to have somewhere dedicated to one form of physical media, like Virgin had the music, Blockbuster had the movies and now there places popping up that solely sold games for each and every console you could think of.

Now I understand in this day and age, kids with their Nintendo DS's, Xbox 360's. Playstation 3's seem to be getting what they want, when they want via the internet, thanks to gullible parents, however, instead of it being £5 or £10, it's £40 and upwards in some cases, but I'm sure somewhere, that there are kids who are like I was.

Looking forward to the Saturday morning when I'd be able to go and look at games with the possibility of buying one, sitting in the car or on the bus on the way home, itching to get back home to play it. And to think that experience would be gone is kind of sad, that there will be no more places to go other than Tesco or Asda where they'll have FIFA '09 still priced up at £39.99.

I'd love to see Gamestop buy GAME out, just something to keep the physical media industry going, for saddos like me!

Quite a sad rambling really
Thanks so much for reading one of my many memories!

Your Pal
LC

Saturday 10 March 2012

Double Vision!

Hello!

Welcome to another edition of my blog, may I add that this is my 90th post?
I expect a HA BISKY from one of you!

But yes, it's Saturday night and I felt in the mood to do a bit of writing.

Are you all well? I do hope so, if not, I hope things look up for you real soon, have a manly hug from me, I insist.


Alas, this week has been rather eventful. As I mentioned in my last rambling, I was told I'm depressed, and Monday I was given my first set of anti-depressants to try and help me out, I'm on 10mg a day of Citalopram, I started taking them just yesterday, I know they won't kick in for a little while, but day one, I was so hyper! I was literally running about everywhere, not had that much go in me for years, today I'm feeling mellow, taking it steady.

I just want to be able to feel like I did all those years ago, I'm just glad there are people out there who can help, very reassuring, to say the least, if I can wake up one day and not feel detached, if I can wake up and be able to truly focus without veering off into a state of idling, I'll feel as if I'm moving in the right direction!

Framed: Live @ The O2 Academy 3

So, last week, myself and the best band in the world, Framed, played The O2 Academy 3 in Birmingham, it was an eventful day, laughs were had all round, sound check went flawlessly, we sounded at our finest, I was all geared up, raring to go...

When we took the stage to kick off the set, the powersupply that powers my array of swanky pedals died, this was a definite setback, as my lush dotted delays, reverb and phaser, play a vital part in some of our songs, and with this gone, I had to do alot more, by simplifying what I play.

Besides the setback, we still played a superb set, and looking back on it, I can feel great because I did my best, and we sounded bloody good!

I'm still so grateful for being a part of the band, I'm glad they put up with me...

If you wish to watch the whole gig, click this to go straight to the YouTube playlist and enjoy!

With my new T-Rex Fuel Tank, and my Levy's No.1 Stretchy Guitar Strap arriving yesterday, I'm all ready for rehearsal tomorrow, for the next gig...

  




In conclusion, with things looking up, I'm really looking forward to what 2012 will bring me.

Thanks for reading,
You're the best

LC