Thursday, June 30, 2011

Sultans of Ping F.C - Casual Sex in the Cineplex


what about those sultans!! or sultans of ping...... or sultans of ping fc!! whatever your take on the name or your opinion of the band this is a classic album , if you like your music to be fun and a little bit on the giddy side then this will do you just fine...


"Back in the Tracksuit"
"Indeed You Are"
"Veronica"
"2 Pints of Rasa"
"Stupid Kid"
"You Talk Too Much"
"Give Him a Ball (And a Yard of Grass)"
"Karaoke Queen"
"Let's Go Shopping"
"Kick Me with Your Leatherboots"
"Clitus Clarke"
"Where's Me Jumper?"



soon to be playing gigs with Carter USM who are undoubtedly fantastic you should check out both bands actually...

Friday, June 24, 2011

Wonky Alice - Atomic Raindance


If you went to see any band in Manchester around the mid 90's it was pretty much odds on you would see Wonky Alice as support act... that's not a bad thing mind!!

This was released as part of their second coming after quite a few years away, they've lost none of the spark that made them quite a prospect back in time.... for older fans id check out "sirrus" as a refernce of where they were at, space rock, indie and angular sums them up.... all good 



Monday, June 20, 2011

Million Dead - Discography


Million Dead were the brainchild of Winchester local Frank Turner, signed to Xtra Mile records they were purveyors of screamo rock and along with the likes of Reuben were at the forefront of British rock music

You are far more likely to see Frank doing his folk rock thing now, either alone with just a guitar or with a full backing band his live shows are like some kind of spiritual gathering.... there's a lot of love in the room!! 

if you've not got his records id get off this blog and flash i tunes up asap.... whilst you are doing that though check out the million dead discography below kindly upped by those good folk at Xtra Mile



Sunday, June 19, 2011

Dub War - Pain


I saw Dub War supporting Blaggers ITA at Southampton Joiners,  i think it was around October 1994 and for those who had the pleasure will know what i mean when i say i was scared....very scared when the band walked on stage.... Benji the lead singer and now front man of the excellent Skindred tore the place apart, dreadlocks flailing with what you would call ragga punk played at maximum volume by a band as tight as something very tight!

They opened with a tune that required an air raid siren , well im not actually sure the tune required it but it was getting it.... 150 punters welded to the back wall as the band launched into an assault that that was thrilling and utterly unmissable.... they were on little known label "words of warning" who released some excellent stuff around the time and later signed to "earache" home of noise pollution..... one of those bands that could have and should have been massive.....   oh and the blaggers were pretty special too.... 

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Father...unknown? What does THAT mean?

When I was in elementary school, I had to bring a copy of my birth certificate to school, so the teacher had me leave it on her desk.   I can't recall the grade, but it was at Creswell, so it was 4th grade or earlier.   My birth certificate is sitting on her desk when a little girl reads it.   And says loudly,"Father..unknown? What does THAT mean?".   I remember saying (loudly)." My father is Ronnie Wallace, I know who my father is!!!"   And then the teacher taking me outside the room because I was crying. 

My original birth certificate does read under the "father" section: "unknown".   I hated that.  Because my Mom always told me who my father was.   She told me he saw me until I was about two.. when he got married.   I knew he had another little girl a couple years after me.   And later heard another child.   I recall Mom's friends mentioning how I had eyes like Ronnie's etc,...   So WHY "unknown"?   Well, this was before the days of DNA.  You couldn't just put someone's name on the birth certificate.  but more importantly, she did not want his name there.   She didn't want him to have a claim.   I love her and know she was protecting her newborn girl.   New reprints of my birth certificate are just blank under the father section.

Growing up, Mom always sent my school picture to a sweet lady named Ms Dew.   I remember seeing Ms Dew... having cookies at her house.    Ms Dew was Ronnie Wallace's best friend's mom.   And when he came to town to visit, she would secretly show him my pictures.  And my mom would see pictures of Ronnie's other kids.   This wasn't weird to me.  It was how it was.

So, I grew up with a name... Ronnie Wallace.   And a location... Kentucky.   I resisted looking for him many years.   With the advancements of the Internet and search engines... the thought was there.  I just couldn't decide if I would or should or could find him.   My husband actually encouraged me to look.  It took me years to finally decide to look.

September 2010, I begin the online search.  Joined a couple of people search sites.  Called a few Ronnie Wallaces... emailed some.. did searches on Classmates, obituaries, etc,..

I finally asked Mom to help.  In the past, she had discouraged me looking.   But, she began giving me information.  But couldn't remember his middle name... thought his birthday was in October... I was asking a woman with three strokes to recall 41 years before...lol.   But she tried.  

 In early October 2010, I was alone one night, and digging through the Internet looking for my father.   And it hit me... one thing a lot of obituaries listed is where someone was born.  So I entered,"Ronnie Wallace born in Shreveport"   And it came up.  A picture of a man just as my mom always described.   I knew it was him before I even read a word of the obituary.  I was alone, my husband in Baton Rouge.   And as I read... his mother lives in Bossier City... and is alive?   He'd passed the month before on September 5th.   Damn.

http://www.parispi.net/articles/2010/09/07/obituaries/doc4c8666c45f1f3221485426.txt

Why bring it up now?  I had a blog in September... I'm an "open book", right?   Well... I had to wrap my mind around this.   And it occurred to me... with Father's Day coming up... that it was a bit different for me this year.   I found and lost him within moments.   Mom passed just 3 months later.   And I discovered I had family that accepted me , including another brother and a sister, an aunt that sends me packages of love (cookies, brownies) and a grandma still spry at the age of 98 (at the time.. she's had a birthday since)!

I've had time to think about the "timing" of everything happening.  I think God was "hooking me up" with more family.  He knew he was calling Mom home soon.

God is great.  And my father is not unknown.

Monday, June 13, 2011

I love him for loving her

My husband was good to my Mom.    Really good to my Mom.   If I didn't pick her up, he'd insist I take her a bowl of spaghetti or gumbo... whatever great thing he'd made for supper.   There were never leftovers, just Mom's serving.   And she was grateful.

Mom's first year in the nursing home she won a the Ms Riverview Pageant.  I kid you not.... the nursing home has a pageant.     She looked beautiful.   But what it did for her self esteem... well...you'd have thought she won Ms America.

Well... the winner goes to regionals.  Let me type that once more.... the WINNER of the nursing home pageant goes to regionals!    Again... You'd have thought this was nationals.   But she had just one request,"Do you think Ron will escort me?"    Huh?   "They said I can have an escort walk me for the pageant."    I went home and asked my husband.   He kinda laughed and said "yeah... the things I do"    I tell ya the truth.. she DID have the most handsome escort there.   My husband pulled out his best suit and walked the lady down the ailse for the pageant.   And her beaming face told it all. (eyes closed in almost every picture..lol) ( and I just want to say she came in 3rd place... She was robbed!!!... But I thought it'd be classless to protest.  Besides, that lady that won was on oxygen... that should be an automatic forfeit... I mean seriously going after the sympathy vote!  Have she no shame!?!)

His poo pretty much didn't stink after that...ha.   She'd have swore it smelled like rose water.     Mom had been at the home a couple of years and had been eyeballing one of them fancy walkers with the seat in it.  Oh yeah... all the cool nursing home residents had it.   (ha)   Anyway... One day out of the blue, I get a call at work and Mom is crying, "Your husband is the best man in the whole world".  I said,"Well I know Mom... but why do YOU think so?"   He'd gotten her that walker in a pretty dark red , assembled it and took it to her at the home.     Now that I think about it, that's how she got a new TV out of him too one day..lol.   

She and I were soul mates.   She was worried about me handling her being "gone".     I assured her I wouldn't be alone, that I have Ron.  She said, "Yes, you have Ron".    I'm not sure who she was reminding, me or herself.     And none of this has been easy.  But I've had Ron.  And he loved my Mom.  And I loved that he loved my Mom. 

Ron made spaghetti tonight.  I'm a silly girl sometimes...   I get weepy over the little things.. like left over spaghetti.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Super Furry Animals - The Man Don't Give a Fuck


"The Man Don't Give a Fuck" is a song by the Super Furry Animals, twice released as a single by the group.
It is based round a sample from the Steely Dan song "Show Biz Kids" - "You know they don't give a fuck about anybody else". The sample is repeated more than 50 times and so the single is claimed to feature the word "fuck" more than any other song, but Insane Clown Posse's "Fuck the World" in fact beats it with 93 instances. However, the live re-issue of "The Man Don't Give A Fuck" broke that record.
The song was originally intended as a B-side for previous single "If You Don't Want Me to Destroy You" but the group had not been able to clear the sample in time. However, they persevered and when they were able to clear the sample, released the song as a single in its own right. This arguably sealed the song's cult status among SFA fans, and it became the group's standard set-closer when playing live: the outro would often extend to ten or twenty minutes, with keyboard player Cian Ciaran in particular taking the opportunity to improvise wildly around the basic sample. A live version was released in 2004 and the cover features legendary Cardiff city player Robin Friday.



Pulp - Hits


A homage to one of the greatest bands of the britpop era, actually any era... The popular voice asked were you Blur or Oasis... the clever amongst us were actually Pulp. Re formed and on at the Isle of Wight Festival this weekend It's easy to forget just how brilliant Pulp were sometimes. With some nay-sayers questioning the the band, it is a satisfying experience indeed to bask in the shimmering beauty of "Last Day of the Miners' Strike", a slow burner of a quality, maturity and beauty that would make even the harshest critic usher the band into the nearest recording studio as soon as possible. With a dignity that most of his contemporaries--even the Manics--could never muster, Jarvis sings lines such as "Some joker with a headband is getting chicks for free" and name-checks kids spitting on the town hall and frightening old ladies. "The future's ours for the taking now, if we just stick together." Let's hope for the future of interesting, diverse guitar pop that they do


Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Weinergate

(I just like saying that... no story...ha)

Gallon Drunk - You, The Night, The Music


In the words of the late, great John Peel
"The only time i went to see them the buggers were too pissed to play"

I actually saw them supporting Lush at one of the first Portsmouth Venue Campaign gigs held at the pyramid center in 1991, a swimming pool basically.... mint as !! 

1. Rev Up -- TPA
2. Some Fool's Mess
3. Just One More
4. Two Wings Mambo
5. You, the Night...and the Music
6. Gallon Drunk
7. Night Tide
8. Eye of the Storm
9. The Tornado