Hurrah!  Got a mention and some snapshots published on the Collings and Herrin Blog at :-

http://collingsandherrin.blogspot.com/2010/01/made-in-wales.html

If you haven’t tried them yet, Andrew Collins’ and Richard Herring’s brand of Humour is not for the sensitive, or easily offended, but I love it.  It brightens up many a boring car journey via the gift of the ipod.  You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or via the British Comedy Guide at :-

http://www.comedy.co.uk/podcasts/collingsherrin/.

UPDATE! : Booked to see Richard Herring live at the Glee Club in Cardiff, in March – Can’t wait!

This particular song is the title track off their second album, “Town Beyond the Trees”, and is a quiet number written from the point of view of a prisoner on death row with very little time left, and is written as a message to his young son.  I can put this on and just close my eyes and listen, and it just takes me on a journey.  Not many songs have ever done that.  If you get the chance to see the Storys live, try and make it – you wont regret it…

Without Further Ado…

To check out more of their stuff, go to http://www.thestorys.co.uk.  

Got a nice glass of mint tea on the house at the end too. Dunno what it is about this place, but I try and come here when I’m in town…

I love coffee. I love good Italian-style coffee.

Of a weekend morning, one of my favorite things to do is to sit in a cafe, watching the world go by. Having lived in continental Europe for a bit, I’m always jealous of the way this all seems second nature to them. The cafe culture in the UK is gradually coming more up to scratch, but I think it’ll be a long time before it becomes such an intrinsic part of life like it is in the rest of Europe.

However, Caffè Nero comes reasonably close enough for me to forgive the differences for now, and they make a damn good cappuccino and fudge cake (hardly European breakfast fare, more New York than Milan, but hey!).

Just cos I can, i’m going to upload a nice piccy from my phone – a shameless ‘ooh, let’s test the new technology moment’ here!

And on that note, back to the action (or blissful lack of it at 9am on a sunny Saturday morning )

Cheers!

I’ve been playing for bloody ages now (12-13 years?), but long ago reached a plateau with my abilities. That plateau has been drawing out for way too long now, and I feel like I want to start moving my playing to the next level(s). I’ve booked a lesson with a local tutor after a chat, and hopefully it’s going to inject some spontaneity (back) into my playing. I’ve never had a lesson in my life, so haven’t done badly considering. I really want to start ironing out all the bad habits, and actually learning what I’m doing wrong, as well as what I’m doing right.

I’ll keep a not of how it goes on here, and if it ends up being as valuable to me as I want it to, then fingers crossed I’ll be churning out stuff with a bit more regularity within the year…!

Last night, I saw a film that I’ve been hangining on for 20 years for. Transformers is the big-screen live-action movie of the toy/cartoon franchise of the same name, directed by wizard of big bangs, Michael Bay.

In a nutshell? I loved it

Flawless CGI, funny, epic and lots of other adjectives that have been repeated in a fair few reviews come to mind. It was all I could ever expect a Transformers movie to be. I mean, we’re not talking the height of philisophical storytelling, but anyone who thinks we should be is missing the point. The idea is to bring back the memories for the legions of ex (and not-so-ex) Transformers nuts, whilst setting up a whole new generation to enjoy themselves. It’s not dated at all, and is sprinkled liberally enough with references to the lore of old to keep any fanboy happy.

The designs were initially dismissed as too different to the originals, but on-screen, when they’re moving, it’s a whole different ball-game.

Apart from a few joke mis-fires (very much in the minority, much to my suprise!), the whole thing holds together very well. Shia LeBoeuf (the main bloke) is great, making his up-coming appearance as Indiana Jones’ son in ‘Indiana Jones and The City of the Gods’ all the more interesting.

Anyway – Whether you’re an old-school fan, or have never heard of it, go and see it. I can Garauntee that if my Wife liked it, then it’s sure to please the majority of the rest of the world with no probelms

Cheers!