Come on then stars, you showy little fuckers, perforate the dark I dare you.

So last night I saw Sharks Took The Rest for, I don't know, the millionth time and I'll tell you what, it really only gets better because one, you know all the lyrics to the album tracks even when you don't realise it and two, when they play new songs it's awesome because then you know there is something new to learn over time (and hope for in a new release). Live music is the best. Currently in the band they have some of Matt Stalker and the Fables helping out and damn is Matt good on the high harmony notes! I keep forgetting this as a thing because I only saw them once (at a STTR single release gig) but he's very good. Funny moment of the night was when the microphone cable fell out of the mic and he had no sound.

Anyway point is good gig was good and I love live music.

Catch up time:

I was in a show. I had a role in a show. I didn't mess up any of my lib (all three lines every night!) and even the singing was fine (even a little bit of quintet goodness worked out in the end). Ultimately I totally rocked it and feel rather confident now. You know that whole "wait... you mean I could actually do it if I tried hard enough/was given the opportunity/didn't really suck at auditions?" yeah that. In fact I'm still feeling rather cocky about it after so many compliments :D I totally want to try at more... even though I do most years... oh little diva stage buzz! Anyway it was awesome because it was The Grand Duke and that's a fabulous show and I was totally knackered every night after it.

I was in another show. The next week. I'll tell you what, the only bit that makes two shows in two weeks crap is that the omgweneedtorehearse stage of the second show overlaps the performance of the first and makes things stressful and difficult. However after a lot of indecision Princess Ida definitely grew on me by performance time (mostly because I got to be angry for 2/3rds of the show and that was a nice change to dense bimbo that seems to be most of the female choruses in G&S).

I didn't get a job. Got the interview though and totally did well at that so I feel ok about the whole thing because confidence is my main issue in life.

I went on an adventure with Tarq. I had been rather ill and one day I asked (in whispers because that's all my voice would allow) if we could go on an adventure.

"what, today?"

"nope, I have work. Tomorrow?"

"ok"

 And that was that. I didn't mind too much where we went, I just wanted to go somewhere slightly different. Really anywhere would suffice. He is excellent at confusing me though and kept pretending to turn off and in fact took the junction back onto the road we'd just come off. It was ridiculous but very fun. Anyway we ended up in Whitby. I don't remember ever going to Whitby before and so it was really nice as a surprise (I totally expected somewhere closer to home than that!) and the weather was really nice. There was lots of fun but especially an awesome red top hat that if it is still there when I go back at some point and I have money I shall buy it because it was amazing! And also lots of interesting shops and views and there was the sea! I love the sea :D I love adventure times. I love Tarq.

Not much else has happened. I've eaten a lot of chocolate today which is both awesome and a terrible idea. Actually I love confectionery a lot. Too much really but it gives me lots of buzzy energy and tastes really good. So really that's ok then :)

There are many things that I'm considering in life. Confectionery, ludomusicology, G&S, recorders... I have always had an issue that I consider too many things at once. I tend towards Jack of all trades rather than particularly good at one thing. I see things on stalls and think "I could make that" or hear a thing and think "I could make something sound like that, or do a similar thing" but aside from being rather useful in making me not spend my money I'm actually not very good at following through. I couldn't even tell you if I was any good at the actual thing or not because I don't get far enough. It's highly bothersome.

I also don't know where I'm going in life. I want to do something awesome but I don't know what. It's that showy little part of me, the diva inside, that knows that I'm not really good enough but could be at least ok maybe, if I tried or even let myself be.

I think once I've finished all the scores that I need to do then I'll find I have a lot more time and a lot fewer things to do and I won't know what to do with myself because then I have to actually be an adult and not the wannabe student that I am. Everything is procrastination and once I run out of procrastinationing I don't know what I'll do!

I also would really like to get back into ludomusicology (game music). There's even a conference in April (which is actually a bit doable because it's in Easter holidays for me!) but then I think it's just me being silly and that I should grow up and you know the real world isn't about doing things like that and all that malarky. I don't know who tells people these things but I guess I'm a bit jaded. I love dreaming but know that it's just a dream and nothing else. But I would like to do more with it because I enjoy analysis, I probably can't do it very well anymore and I don't know any of the right terms, but I do enjoy doing it and video game music analysis is just more interesting to me. You can take the entire soundtrack and find things that link from one to the next or find reasons why this bit of music happens here. Not just "oh the forte here is dramatic for dramaticsake or just to add tension or whatever" but "the forte here links with the image happening on the screen and that makes everything EPIC". I like the links rather than just music by itself. The whole art form rather than just one bit. But whenever I think about it I don't feel smart enough. I don't feel like I could ever be good enough to do any of that and that if anyone read it they'd laugh at me and then kick my whilst I'm down or something.

I waste so much time worrying than actually doing that it's ridiculous. 

Anyone fancy giving me some direction?

Please?

Waiting hopefully,

Buttercup xxxxxxxxx

You don't really know why but you want justify rippin' someone's head off

Some days all I need to do is rant so please excuse me whilst I do such things.

I actually started planning this in my head whilst watching Explosions In The Sky at The Sage a few nights ago (they were fab just my mind tends to wander especially when there are no lyrics to follow - shoegazing instrumental music). There are three things that people do (on a regular basis around me) that really, really bothers me.

1. Litterbugs. It's pretty much my number 1 hate. Ok, remember when I said it was based on things that people do around me? Yeah, that's important to note! Because really genocide and animal cruelty would be higher but I'm not in contact with things like that, not on a regular basis.

I see so many people around here drop litter and cigarette butts. It's just unnecessary. We have bins on most street corners (and in the more urban areas we have them in the middle of streets and part way down and everything). There is absolutely no need to litter at all. Yet they do. I see people litter beside bins. Like they're walking past them and drop litter just past it or before it. Why?! The world is already being destroyed by us. There is tarmac and pollution and general disease that is caused by us and yet, fair enough you can't fix that part easily just being one person, you don't need to add to it by being a troll! It makes me so ragey!

2. Acts of senseless and random violence and destruction.

One night someone walked around the streets where I live and slashed at least one tire on each car they passed. Someone once threw a brick through mama's car window for no reason, I say no reason because nothing was stolen. I've seen cars and motorbikes set on fire during my earlier years. Broken glass in bus shelters, phone boxes and shop windows. The rioting last year. I just don't understand the point.

What is the reasoning behind just breaking things? I get wanting to rip up a bad picture that I've drawn or smashing up a cake that's gone wrong but why break other people's things? It just seems unfair. And especially breaking council property like bus shelters because then they'll complain that there's no money anywhere, well yeah, you are costing them a fortune in repairs.

3. Talking in concerts.

This is mostly why I started thinking about this at a gig. It was a sitting down gig at The Sage. To me, sitting down gigs or concerts mean a certain level of respect, if only because the people around you can't move somewhere else if you are being too noisy. We had this issue at the Evanescence concert. Two men, sitting behind Blue and me talking non-stop. I say talking, this term is loosely applied since I could hear them more than the band. If you want to sit and talk over music, buy the cd (most artists have a live one out if you need to have the atmosphere) and shout in your own home. It'll save you money and my rage.

I'm ok with occasional comments, the "ooh that was a nice bit", "look at him what the hell is he doing?" "this is so awesome" etc. but incessant shouting? STFU.

Tonight I'm feeling annoyed because I want some software to do some music work that isn't the usual Sibelius. I love sib and we get on very well but I'm wanting a DAW (digital audio workstation). I was looking into ProTools because I've used that at uni. Not only is it crazy ass expensive but also requires hardware to run it. I looked into Audacity and Ardour because they are free but Audacity looks like what MSPaint is to Adobe Photoshop and Ardour isn't available for Windows. Mac and Linux yes but Windows no. I'm going to try the FL Studio (formally Fruity Loops) demo but my main issue is that if I do discover that it's awesome I'm going to have to pay about $300 for it and owies that's a lot of money. I'll let you know how I do with the demo though.

On the plus side I've mostly got my midi keyboard working. It is a great little keyboard but I haven't worked out how to use it correctly with Sibelius. Mostly just a volume sensitivity issue which I need to work out how to resolve.

I wonder how people who create electronic based music start out because all this software is expensive and then all the hardware like mics and instruments and mixing desks and stuff is expensive. Then you normally need a Mac of some description because they are better for music (or at least have more software and hardware). So how do you start out? Or do they start out by using the software that is available at school/college/uni and build from there. I wish I had used the studios at uni a lot more than I did. Problem was my best time for working and desire to experiment with things like that is 9pm onwards and that was highly impractical for getting the bus home.

I just want to make nice musics and feeling like I'm hitting a brick wall at every turn.

The worst part is is that for once I had ideas of things I wanted to do. I was feeling generally creative and now it's 11:30 and I need to go to bed soon because I have a G&S rehearsal tomorrow. Great though it is being in G&S it doesn't half suck up my creative time when it's almost showtime. But yes I was feeling creative with two compositional ideas getting really juicy and one other idea that is just popping by but I can't do anything with them because I don't have the soft/hardware. 

I just want to be awesome, but it's so much hard work T_T

Nanight lemonies, Buttercup xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I will still remember when you've long forgotten me

So what's been happening?

Quite a bit actually. I've turned 23 and really aside from how ill I am (and still am and will be throughout all events that happen in this post, obviously, unless I refer to times where I am not 23 in which case I'm probably not ill) things are going pretty well. I start my job tomorrow and whilst it really isn't a big thing really it's pretty awesome for me. I'm a little worried that I'll mess up or they'll tell me I have to go home because I'm ill but hopefully it'll go well and they'll like me and all that. I'm expecting them all to be older than me because I don't remember a single young dinner lady but I'm cool with that :) I just hope they like me and don't think I'm silly.

My birthday weekend was pretty awesome. I got a wonderful stash of things from lovely people and I also just generally had a wonderful time. I danced my way into my birthday at Legends and that was pretty fun, even if we were all really tired by that point. I'd say it was pretty ultra cool which is a nice combo of things really :D

The following week passed mostly with event, well I can't remember doing anything except for writing for nano that I should really catch up with because I'm well behind on that, until Thursday night/Friday morning. At 1.15 am Blue and I caught a bus to London to start our 1.5 days of adventure. I will tell you now, if you can afford to and if it works with time scales of what you need to do in London, avoid using the nightbus on the way down! I think between us we got about four hours sleep and that really isn't useful when you have a whole day of doing things. But we got there and at 7.30am we staggered into a Pret to get tea (for Blue) and eatings (mostly for me) for try and feel less like hell.

Here is another warning for anyone considering this type of thing: nothing in London seems to open until after about 10am. Genuinely the only things open were cafes, tescos, newsagents and that's about it. It was quite difficult killing time until things opened but they did eventually and things were a lot easier energywise because we were doing things and it was a good distraction from sleep deprivation. Also by this point my voice was already squeaky when I got at all emotional about anything which was quite hilarious (re: probably annoying for anyone not me).

We started in Liberty (a rather expensive department store but with a very wonderful Christmas shop and purple bags and loyalty cards :D) which was nice although we didn't look at everything there because it's mostly out of our price ranges. We could afford candy and christmas decorations of which we purchased a couple of the latter. We then wandered around and I bought a Tokidoki Unicorno in Stellina (see below, it's 2.5" tall) from a cute shop with lots of similar items (most of which looked Japanese).

There were brand shops that normally you would only find in shops that sold multi brands. Like a converse shop. We looked around (I was on a hunt for silver cons but there were none in there) and it was quite awesome. We headed up to Hamleys because really if you are in that area you just do. So many cuddly toys :D it was tempting to take home a new panda but none were as awesome as the one I already have. There was a full sized Darth Vader lego man which was really awesome and some fake powder snow that is rather magical even if the woman showing it off was inane. We were in a toy shop, I forgave her :P

We then went and checked into our hostel. I will point out now that the rooms were £9.99 each per night and I believe that it was actually a very good deal. We were given a sheet and a pillow case and a keycard. We traipsed up and found our room (104) and one of the beds was already occupied by a small lump of a sleeping person (that we later found out was not some tween like you expect but a 40 year old very beardy man who looked kinda pervy and kinda homeless in his vegetative beard state). another bed was occupied by a French couple who stopped their just gone noon activities when we entered which was nice at least (they had made a curtain and everything so that was nice). The other 18 beds were empty of people although a few had bedding and items around. It was very hostel and very cheap but that's fine because all we wanted was a bed. I actually reckon that we'd stay there again when we next go down.

After bedding and sorting out what to take with us, what to leave and what to put into a safety deposit box we ventured to Camden because that was our secondary aim of the trip. We spent all the afternoon there just wandering and living in Cyberdog. I only bought a wristband and some shoelaces but the atmosphere is wonderful down there. I feel like I need to spend a couple of days just in that area to see everything.

After getting back to the hostel with the intent of having a little lie down we discover that the doors have already opened to the gig (open at 6pm? Seriously? That's really early comparatively to any others I've been to) we hop back onto the Tube (that we've been on and off all day :D) and down to the Hammersmithteeshs (£25 each but it was London and it was a pretty big group) and drinks (pint of fresh orange juice £2.10 which I thought was quite cheap surprisingly) we went to see what the craic was. We missed the first support act (ME) so I can't comment on that but we did enter at the start of The Pretty Reckless set. They were ok but having not known their music I wasn't too fussed by them.

Evanescence was maximum awesome to the point that I need to see them again. That doesn't often happen. Normally it's a case of "well I've seen you once but I don't need to see you again unless the tickets were free or really cheap". I would pay full price to see Ev again. We were in the seated area and whilst that isn't my first choice for a rock gig it was really good for after a day all round London with no proper rest since Wednesday night. The other good side of seats is that when they finished the encore you were part of the standing ovation the upper half of the hall gave.

I couldn't sing (although I did in My Immortal, the last song, because everyone was singing and it was required), couldn't cheer but damn I had the time of my life mouthing the words to most of the songs. I had goosebumps. I almost had tears. I had silent squees. I rocked out in my seat. I threw horns of varying sizes and hand hearts.

The bus back was at 9.30 the next day and it wasn't half as bad as the trip down so really we had a fantastic time and it was awesome. All of that is mostly for me to remember all this :D

I can't wait for my next adventure. I've started writing a list of daisies in my mind of things to do :D

Lemons, Buttercup xxxxxxx

I think the ocean stole my watery soul

So to distract me from life when I can't be arsed to do anything I have taken to spending too much time on two websites:

• Fuck Yeah Beds
• We <3 It 

FYB has some of the nicest bedrooms you will ever see, some lived in, some not digitally rendered, some hotel and some catalogue. I love it a lot but there is one problem, it makes me wish I had a nicer room. I live in a tightly packed box. I would love to have more storage or less stuff, or somewhere else to put all my stuff but whilst I live with my parents that is not an option. Also by my horderish nature I can't reduce the amount of stuff. I can try but it will never be at a low enough amount that I have space.

It does remind me on how much I love fairy lights though and I must remember to:

1. Buy some more at Christmas, including light rope if I can afford it
2. Stop putting all my fairy lights in the loft with the Christmas decorations because I can't use them up there

I like having a lot of light in my room. For those who don't know my room I have a cabin bed. Great for extra space, not so good for lighting. It's nearly always really dark at my desk unless I have my desk light on and then it's dark everywhere else if the main light isn't on. I'm used to a lot of light in my room as well because I have a west facing window so I get all the fabulous sunsets filling my room with golden hues. It's a lot more useful for me than the east facing window my brother has because mornings will never be my thing.

I also want more glow in the dark stars. Not the stickers but the plastic ones you can stick on your ceiling with blu-tac. I suppose I could use paint but I like the thought of changing my ceiling every so often to match the stars outside and paint is kinda messy and a faff to get right instead of just putting them up and dealing with any mistakes as you find them. I can currently only find eleven and whilst that is the very best number in the world I would like more thanks. It's actually not that easy to get them cheaply either. I don't really want to spend £5 on 20 stars. I feel like that should be maybe half that cost but I haven't bought glowy stars in ages. Currently I have a rough constellation of Draco on my ceiling (it's in the sky at the moment with the Draconid shower, not because of the Harry Potter character) but I'm missing two stars from the complete constellation because I simply don't have enough. It would also be nice to be able to have more than one constellation on my ceiling but I would have to make them smaller then. It's actually lovely looking up at the stars before going to sleep. Granted the bed is a lot closer to the stars than is necessary (I can touch them if I reach out ) so it's quite bright but it's actually rather soothing. I'd like to have them coming down onto my walls but again that would require many many more glowy stars than I currently have. Many.

I also don't want to have just packs of one size. I like being able to differentiate the size of the stars in the constellations with different sized glowies. I have three different sizes at the moment but some packs don't give you different sizes. Or they give you like moons and meteors and planets. I don't really care for those, in fact I think I binned all the meteors from my last set. They weren't particularly insulting I just didn't really want them. I don't know how I feel about different coloured glowies either. I have a slightly orange star and a very blue star. I find the blue doesn't really show up at all unless you don't look at it. Other colours are kind of ok but really green is where it is at. They glow the best and it just looks good!

We <3 It is a place where people put images that they like and have found on the internet for other people to look at and enjoy. It is updated constantly, depending on how fast people are uploading. There is normally at least one new image every second or thereabouts. I use it to search for new hair dying ideas or to find new pictures to draw from or just to pass the time. You can often see if someone is posting a lot of similar images so sometimes you get a vein of a theme going on. My favourite is when people start linking cakes. Pretty cakes are so win. I would like to make lots of pretty cakes actually. I don't really like cooking but I enjoy baking quite a bit. I just don't because my brother is better at it than I am and getting the motivation when you know that you aren't as good as someone else in the house is hard work. Hopefully I'll start making some tasty deserts though. I know that practise makes perfect but practise is hard work and time consuming.

Urgh he isn't online. I'll ask later ¬¬. Oooh I'm having some excellent cake ideas for my birthday party/Halloween time :D I will have to try it out first though to make sure it works fine.Om a nom a nom a cake a gone.

Actually on the topic of Halloween I reckon it's my favourite day of the year. It's right in the middle of my favourite season (autumn), the day after my birthday and you get to dress up and have fun :D although I will confess to you that I have never been trick or treating. Well... ok one year, at my party (that was on Halloween) all my friends get really antsy because they wanted to go trick or treating so mama agreed that we could go to two houses (next door and a family down the street that I knew). Then they were all "we're going to keep going" and I was like "well fine then but I'm going home because mama doesn't like trick or treating and I said I would be back straight away". They did come back about a minute after me but that was almost going to have me really sad. The only other time I was going to go trick or treating I had my dance lesson that day and so by the time I got home the people I was going to go with had already gone out and so I didn't get to go. Although mama did say she would go with me, which was nice of her seeing as she hates the whole concept. I declined and continued with my les mising. I'm kind of ok not having been trick or treating ever. I think this year I'm going to put more black and orange ribbons in my hair, it'll clash wonderfully with the pink dye :D I might even see if there are any cute spidery ones or ghosty ones. And I'll be all stripes and fabric and it shall be bon. Actually since Halloween is on a Monday this year I might do all of that on the Saturday for going outness. Or maybe I'll do it on both days. Nothing wrong with lots of Halloween.

Anyway the point is that I love Halloween. I'm not sure why really. It's just awesome. Oh and it's really close to bonfire night and I really love bonfire night too. I love fireworks. I love the sparklies and the whizz bang and the smell of the bonfires and the burnt powder. Actually some years I prefer bonfire night to Halloween. They're both pretty awesome. It's the wrapping up warm to stand outside for a couple of hours whilst daddy and brother set up the fireworks and light them. It's the standing with mama choosing what will be next and having gloved hands put over my ears when it gets too loud. It's the tiny crackle of sparklers and the slight fear that it might hurt even though it never has before. The burnt after image of a firework. The Catherine wheel that never seems to turn right until daddy goes and hits it. Trying to work out where best to light everything in the garden depending on the wind and the plants or trees around. The whipcrack of your neck as a rocket wheees off into the sky at an angle. The different names that make them sound interesting. the occasional disappointment that suddenly bursts into brilliance at the last moment. Writing your name with the sparkler and then just making circles because you forgot how long they last.Sitting up all night with the curtains open, watching the best that the city has to offer from the fabulous view over a school field. Walking down the street yelling "bang" every time a firework goes off, hunting for it before it fades to nothing but smoke.

The week after my birthday is the best week of the entire year.

I've really cheered myself up with all of that. Actually this year that week is going to be a billion times better because on the fourth I'm seeing Evanescence in London with Blue. It's going to be so fucking fantastic. We're going cyber shopping and phototaking and sightseeing and hostel staying and it's all just going to be fab.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah :D

Lemons of love to you all

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

I'm writing again. These letters to you, aren't much I know.

So it's been almost a week. Busy busy busy, that is what I seem to be all the time. Most of my time seems to be filled with preparation for G&S (sewing lots and lots and lots and lots). The show starts tomorrow and I still feel like there are more things I could do to prepare but I only have so much time, like the rest of you =).

I've started working on the score for the summer show as well. I'm copying up the music into Sibelius so our Musical Director to be can arrange it into the ensemble we have. That is going to take a lot of time to do but I'm already most of the way through the opening chorus number. It's something I'm pretty good at. I can copy music into Sib so fast now. Something that is really awesome is is that I am playing flute and piccolo in the summer show and not just acting. I enjoy being in the chorus and being on the stage but ultimately I don't like acting at all. I can stand and sing a song for you, that's fine, but ask me to act and I feel ill. I just don't enjoy it. So being involved almost purely in the musical aspect of the show in summer will be bliss. We're doing a reduced company version of HMS Pinafore. Or at least that's what it was, we may have too many people in it now to classify it as that =p. Aaaaand when I am on stage I get to be a sailor! Win =D.

So aside from G&S stuff, of which that has been the majority of my week, I haven't really done that much. EXCEPT! I did go out to the My Chemical Romance gig last night =D. It was awesome.

First off, we apparently missed the opening support act, which I didn't mind missing really because I have no clue who they were and standing at gigs is really tiring. The second support was Blackout, some Welsh band. That's about all I know about them. Their music was ok. Nothing that really held my interest very much. UNTIL! They decided half way through their set that they would ask everyone in the room (at least all the people standing anyway) to kneel. On the ground. For MCR. Now I was in a miniskirt but even without that I sure as hell wasn't going to get on the floor at the Arena. The floor is covered in muck! So Danzel and I stood whilst all these scene/emo/indie kids got down on the floor. I'm not even kidding, they actually did what they were asked to do. It was genuinely hilarious. The best part was that they could see the two of us laughing at the whole situation. Danzel was wearing a red version of the Black Parade jacket (kinda, it's not an official one but it does look pretty good) and they spotted that.

One of the guys in Blackout: Hey you, you there in the jacket! Yeah you. You're a fan of MCR!

*Danzel shakes head whilst still laughing loads*

Same guy: Kneel for them!

Or something like that. It was pretty hilarious. It was pretty much "Nah mate, we ain't kneeling for anyone!". Although our respect for them increased again when to someone else they shouted:

"Get on your knees or get the fuck out!"

It was so funny, but you probably had to be there. I think they almost became a good band for that. Their music didn't get any better but we certainly we still impressed by the end of the gig with that and the fact that there were a lot of scene kids doing stupid stuff just coz they were told to. Like I said, you probably had to be there =p.

The actual gig was... a little slow to start off to be honest. I mean they opened with Nanananananananana which was really good but then it tailed off for a while. It picked up again pretty soon which was good. They played one track from Bullets, a couple from Three Cheers and the rest was from Black Parade or Danger Days. Here are the tracks I remember:

• Helena, I'm Not Ok, The Ghost Of You
• Welcome To The Black Parade, Cancer, Mama, Teenagers
• Nananananananananananana, Bulletproof Heart, SING, Planetary (GO!), The Only Hope For Me Is You, Summertime, Destroya, The Kids From Yesterday, Vampire Money

I have a feeling I am missing a couple there but that's still a lot of tracks. I was certainly impressed with how long they played for. The only other even that happened was that someone in one of the front rows fainted and it took about 10 people to deal with it. She must have been well out of it. They had to climb in and carry her out through the crowd. The band looked really concerned and Gerard even had to stop everything and say that they had to just wait a minute and afterwards asked everyone to applaud the security and medical people. It was quite sweet how concerned he looked whilst it was happening. He's so sweet.

MCR: SING played live at the BBC

Onto Wednesday things:

A standing ovation.

Ok it doesn't need to be that much but it would be nice. I just want the show to go well. So many people have put so much effort into it that I would really like it to go well. I would like people to applaud and to laugh at the right parts and to enjoy it. It would just be nice is all =)

I want to be that person.

I would like to get some proper sleep at some point. I had only just caught up with my sleeping patterns and then I went to see MCR and now I'm all out again. I'm going to be wrecked for a while. Really I just want to curl up and have a nap right now but I have a feeling that if I did that then I would not wake up in time for the dress rehearsal.

MONEY!

Or more precisely I would like a job. It's not just for the money it's also so my days are broken up better. But some more money would be really good... really really good. Money and a more structured week. Just some little things really.

Aaaaaaand finally!

 Finch: What It Is To Burn

This album is ooooooooold! Or at least it is to me. I'll find out what year it was released... 2002?! Man that's 9 years ago. I don't know if it feels like this album is really old or if I'm feeling old. I got that at the MCR gig. I felt so old comparatively to a lot of the audience. But that was then and this is now. This album is the better of their two albums (the other being Say Hello To Sunshine). It's very... rock bandy with loud vocals. Good loud music. There are some quieter tracks and some more interesting tracks (like the 13:30minute Ender with some interesting effects) but ultimately it's quite similar in style all the way through. =) It has some really good tunes that you can belt, some lovely harmonies (What it is to burn (track) right at the end = nom). They're a bit whiny but it's nothing too much that can't be handled.

Best tracks:

• Letters To You (blog title) But I'm not sleeping, you're not here // The thought stops my heart
• Post Script The worst is over for now // Take a breath, now let it out
• Perfection Through Silence Fold the corners, break the silence // Fold the corners, just for tonight.
• Three Simple Words With my hands around your neck // Who will stop me now?
• Ender And here we are to sing you a song // And there you are asleep again
• What It Is To Burn She's the only one who knows, what it is to burn

 36/100

I think that's all for now

I'll let you know how the show goes later =)

Love Buttercup xxx

I just projected over your beautiful scream

So Sick Puppies was actually amazing. The lead singer is bonkers and I mean that in the nicest possible way. I have never seen someone enjoy their gig so much, and with good reason! Their gig was rocking. They are well worth watching if you enjoy rocky metally sounds. Their bassist, Emma Anzai, is amazing (and female) and pretty good looking.

They didn't play White Balloons but it would have been weird with the set they did play if they had. It would have made things disjointed and mellower than the mini moshout and energetic gig that we received. Shimon Moore's (lead singer and guitarist) energy was infectious and he really made you feel like you wanted to be there.
I now have their last two albums (even though Tri-Polar isn't released here yet, they were selling it in their merch =D) and both are signed. This makes me very happy =) we got to talk to them a little bit, let them know that we enjoyed it so much. Just wonderful.

Live music is the best!

Sick Puppies: Dressed Up As Life

I was worried that this album might not be as good as Tri-Polar. You know when you have listened to an album (in preparation for a gig or just in general) and it isn't their first album? I always find that breaking out their previous stuff can be a little risky. Will it be as enjoyable? Will it be more so than the tracks you have come to love more than you thought you might?
This album is definitely their Australian sound but it is by no means something to worry about. It is certainly a good solid album and I shall enjoy listening to it like I did their most recent one. If you like a good little rock out you can't go far wrong with these guys, I'm now biased towards them of course but really, give them a shot.
They also do a good "Say My Name" (Destiny's Child) cover that is, if nothing else, pretty amusing. Get a live version on the youtubes though and listen to his wonderful spiel that he gives before songs. He's a little rude, a little crass but with his cheeky feel you don't mind too much.

.5
(It'll be a 5starer once I listen to it a bit more =D)
20/100 (If I keep going like this I will have finished my challenge by the end of April =p)

I've been thinking of dying the front section of my hair pink... or red but I reckon it's most likely going to be pink because I can rock that colour. I just miss being... more colourful. Part of me recognises the fact that I still need to grow up now but you know what? Enjoy life a little as well! So after I finish the Gilbert And Sullivan production I am in by the end of February (sadly it is after the MCR gig and I would have loved to have my hair done before then =p) because I dyed my hair before one of their shows before and it was a little difficult to hide the aqua greeny blue that was in my hair. Especially when it's meant to be about aristocracy and from a different time period to now, whoops =p
So I'm being nice this time... although I wish I could just do it now!

Oh well =D

Bless your face
Love Buttercup xxxxx

This love will be your downfall but I'll take what I want from your heart and I'll keep it

Ok so the remaining 3 albums came in the post that I was waiting for. AFI: Decemberunderground (the one with the bonus tracks =D), MCR: Danger Days etc. and Ellie Goulding: Bright Lights. This makes me rather happy because I wanted some new music and also I needed the MCR one as I am seeing them in February and I am actually very excited for it. I don't care if it will be full of little scene and emo kids, it's still gonna be awesome!
I love seeing bands live. Even if I don't particularly know their stuff (like Sick Puppies) it's gonna be good because listening to music live is one of the best things in life as far as I'm concerned. It's the atmosphere. The feel of the beat through your feet, the audience totally at the control of the band, belting the songs back at them until your throat is raw. Dancing with the current of the crowd moving you knowing that your neck is going to hurt for the next 5 years. The lights, the sound, the electric air. It's just the best!

But now the beef of today and it's pretty tough beef. The re-release of albums with extra tracks within a year of the original release. WHY? Why do they do this to us? I had this issue with Stone Sour's Come What(ever) May. I bought the original album almost as soon as it came out because I found the tracks were really awesome and I loved that album. Then about a month or two later they released a new version with a bonus dvd and extra tracks and I was rather narked. Now I'm not blaming the artists themselves, it's the record companies. They want more money out of us.
I'm pretty lucky that I didn't buy the first release of Ellie Goulding's Lights and have just got the re-released one because there are about 7 extra tracks! What do you do if you really want the re-released one? Do you just have two versions of almost the same album or do you get rid of the first or just be bitter about it?
I'll tell you what I am ok with though. Placebo re-released their self titled album for a 10th anniversary release. That's fine! Anniversary editions are normally remastered version and have some of the B-Sides from singles and that's rather nice. It's been several years since the release and ok so the record companies still just want your money but it's better in my opinion. I also am completely fine with releasing limited/special editions alongside and at the same time as the normal CD because then you have an option. It's there in front of you. You can buy which ever release you want and that's cool.

Beefing over.
Review times!

Ellie Goulding: Bright Lights

Actually it's pretty weird that there was a smaller version of this album. This one is just shy of the 1hr mark and if you take off the re-released tracks Lights was about 40minutes which is small for a full album. It's poppy and dancey for a lot of the album. Nothing new but what she does, she does very well. If her music came on in a club I would want to dance to it. I really like The Writer, it's a nice track. Actually I would quite like to hear some acoustic versions of these tracks. Like her version of Your Song. It shows off her voice so well and yes ok so I first heard her music when that was played on the John Lewis Christmas advert and was sold instantly. It's acoustic and beautiful but that does not mean that I am disappointed that the rest of the album doesn't follow suit, I would just be interested to hear more in that style =)

7/100

There will probably be another review later today of the new MCR album because I want to listen through all of it, rate it all and give my 50c on the matter.

All the loves, Buttercup xxx