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An Explosion of Music
2012 was a bit of a dull year for me for music, not much came out that I really took a liking to. I discovered lots of older music nothing new that had come out that year. 2013 swings around the corner and says hey look what I have for you.
This first quarter of 2013 has be a march of music into the ears from the likes of Stereophonics and even David Bowie and I’ve listened to each one in turn to decide whether I like them enough to fork out the cash. The result surprised me a little I have to say.
Very simply put:
Foals: Yes
Stereophonics: Yes
Bastille: Yes
Bowie: Meh
Bon Jovi: No
I’m a huge rock and indie fan but also have a soft spot for power ballads. That line up should be 5 stars all round but sadly, for me, it isn’t. The Yes’s were just really enjoyable album that got me feeling something and singing along or wanting to listen again from the first play through. I was expecting the same from Bowie and Bon Jovi’s new albums but I just didn’t get it.
Bowie is a musical God, plain and simple, no arguments it’s just the truth. This album, bar one or two tracks was just “meh” and that was a disappointment. It just lacks the magic it used to, it’s not that it’s matured or changed it’s just lost what it had for me, sad thought. But not a bad as what Bon Jovi have released. It wouldn’t surprise me if Justin Babybell, when he’s remembered how to breathe again, joins them as a guest appearence on this album. It is so unbelievably pop and defiantly not rock, all the way through. Some say it’s the producer they’ve been using well that may be the case but Jon must have known what he was creating here. I just don’t understand.
Paramore is due to release a new album soon and I’m curious as to how they’re going to sound with the new band members. We’ll have to wait and see.
Manners Matter
I was brought up to always say please and thank you and to hold doors open, not that I always did, and I thought it was a waste of time to be perfectly honest. Much better to get to the point, if you want something ask for it, if you want to get somewhere just go. Now I’m older my opinion has changed.
Nowadays I find that doing those little courtesies really make a difference both to myself and others around me. In a world where everything is self centered and at such a fast pace it makes a difference to peoples mood to show a little kindness as cliche and Utopian as that sounds.
I wouldn’t just stop at people, be nice to machine as well because when they break because they’ve been shut too hard or mistreated your wallet will regret it!
Parents
Right I’m going to keep this one fairly brief.
We were all brought up by parents (well most anyway) so we understand how defensive, annoying, short tempered and loving they can be. That’s what we experienced for almost 20 years growing up.
Now however, work in primary schools and am going out with a student teacher so I come across a lot of parents on my travels and my god are they intolerable to be around. One morning last week I go in to a site same time as I always do and as usual the office staff aren’t in yet. What I usually do is sign in, go into the spare office set up my laptop and start about my work.
Not this morning though, no, because a parent was in the entrance with a group of children and wouldn’t let anyone in without demanding who they were. I politely explained my role and that this is my usually time, she hesitantly let me in. Whilst she was buy with me a delivery guy was coming down the corridor with a trolley just about to leave the school. The kids were blocking his way and so he stood there for a minute to see if they would notice without saying anything. They didn’t so he said perfectly calmly and politely “excuse me” an the kids still didn’t move.
The parent then wheeled around and asked why he was talking to the children, he said I just need to get past and they didn’t move so I just said excuse me. The parent then starting having a go at the guy saying please don’t shout at my child, he returned with I didn’t shout I have 11 grand children I don’t shout t children. The parent then said that she would report him to the Headteacher and he asked for the parents name so he could put it on the job she as reference and then walked out with the parent shouting after him.
First thing in the morning and what is the point, really?
SimCity – A Reboot
The Sim City series was a major part of my childhood. It was such a subtle yet expansive game that I spent hours and hours playing it. After Sim City 4 the modding community really took off to an extent where if you had the right mods you couldn’t even tell it was Sim City underneath. It was complex yet simple and amazing fun. So when I got told by a teacher 2 months ago that they were bringing out the next installment a decade after Sim City 4, I was excited from the off.
However, the base game is £45 and the deluxe edition £65. That’s a lot of money for a game so I held off from pre-ordering right up until 2 days before it was released in the UK. Of course, I forked out the full £65 because if I want something I want all of it. I was reading all the reviews and comment before launch and I was so excited, the only draw back to this was that you had to be connected to the Sim City servers all the time (well at least once every 3 minutes) which does have it’s issues.
On launch day though, the biggest issue is that EA somehow missed how many pre-orders they had and the servers just couldn’t cope with the traffic, even after more than doubling the server capacity the following day traffic was still exceptionally high. What makes this game different, other than the brilliant engine behind it all the combined seriousness and humor and the difficulty curve, is the multi-player. You work together to create a region that works, shops, educates, trades and collaborates on project much like the real world. This was a huge change and one which I was eager to experience.
Almost 2 complete days of playing later and I still failed to create a successful city, it was both a satisfying challenge and immensely frustrating but I think that’s a good thing. I’d rather have it that way than being spoon fed things, or having it easy then hitting a huge wall of a difficulty curve. On the third day however, I started to get thing right, really right and boy was it satisfying. I had two cities, one of which was really struggling for water, that were both making money and now real major social issues. The universities were busy unlocking things for me and the Great Works site build was under way.
Sure it’s taken a long time and I want to experience more of the multi-player but so far, 10/10 amazing, if you like The Sims, simulation or strategy game or of course the Sim City series you will love this. Buy it, go on, do it now, get out your bank card and pay for this thing.