Dave Mustaine, you idiot

I've gotta say right off the bat, I'm a pretty big Megadeth fan: I have the majority of their back catalogue on disk, an assortment of merchandise cluttering my room (Including an original signed LP of 'So far...So Good...So What!'), hell, I'm even seeing them at the Academy next month! But I've got to say, there should be so law that prohibits Dave Mustaine from talking. Ever.

I managed to stumble upon a video that once again shoots his credibility in the foot. Again. Yeah, just when you thought his hypocrisy and general lack of common sense could reach an all time low, here the retard is coming up with his own words like 'ROCKSTARIATOUS' to describe politicians. That's right, the Oxford English Dictionary is going to have a field day on this shit! I couldn't go two minutes without cringing at the way he spews his unfounded opinions 'Besides the bass isn't a difficult instrument to play, it's just one step up from the Kazoo' Looks like James Lomenzo is out of a job, then!

I just love how in most of the the footage Mustaine is hunched up, with his strands of ginger hair littering the recesses of his face like some overweight B.B. King; and this is the man that people considered the ideal President of the United States. Fantastic. A man that left home at 15, and begun selling pot to make ends meat. Get a fucking shave, you look pathetic.

Batman really has let himself go

I had some time off, so I decided to shop for some albums; I'm not exactly an advocate of Itunes, so I made a trip HMV instead. I'm overwealmed by the amount of decent albums they had in stock too, with bands like: Halford, Annihilator and Judas Priest I was surprised. Still, I stuck to a few all time favourates and thought I'd give a very informal review of these classics:

Yngwie Malmsteen - Fire & Ice: Poor Yngwie's first and last outing with Elektra records, due to the harsh timing of the Alternative rock take over. What really gets me upset is that over the course of a decade, this is probably some of his best work I've seen since 'Rising Force' and yet it still got overturned because it wasn't commercially viable. The production values are just top notch, and while I still favour Jeff Scott Soto's vintage vocals over Goran Edman- he still performs admirably.

Testament - Practice What You Preach: Talk about bad timing, Testament's best album spawns from the end of an era of Thrash takeover. One of their few albums that actually charted, perhaps a Testament to their underrated stature (Did u see wht I did thar?). 'Sins of Omission' holds up as a personal favourate, the first song Eric Peterson playing shines from Alex Skolnicks while adding adding Chuck Billy's vocals to the mix is a recipie for disastor.

Anthrax - Moshers... 1986-1991: To be honest, I regret buying this complilation album; I was torn between this and among the living. It had Madhouse and Indians, so I felt compelled to really give it a try. I suppose the repore of 'Mosher's was a tribute to Joey Belladonna's time in the band, which gave them such artistic integrity. Shame.

You see, this is why I'm not a journalist.

Just a smaaaall town girrrrrrl, livin' in a loooooonely world

For god's sake, why did Journey have to write lyrics that are so catchy? Anyway, hello people, my apologies for lack of updates. Between the band I'm in actually making some astounding progress, and my former job leaving me little time for masturbation- I've had no time to breathe. I left my old job because they expected me to work 48 hours a week, for what they described as 'Trainee Wage' (i.e. £50). Fortunately, they didn't get the last laugh, I should run a good chance of landing a job in Liverpool or Newcastle sometime soon.

Anyway, I've had the opportunity to give Assassin's Creed a seeing to- and while I had no anticipation or expectations towards the game, I can say it's been a blast so far. While the mechanics are repetitive and diluted, the free-running and story more than made up for it's shortcomings. The only thing I genuinely detested was the travel between locations, it just seems so god damn annoying when a bunch of crusaders chase after you for galloping for a short time- "BUT MY WIFE IS PREGNANT!", "Haha, nice excuse you infidel fuck. Gentlemen, kill this guy because he looks like a Pedro-breed-pedophile"

Sure, it's rinse and repeat, but beyond the annoyance of traveling to your destination it actually isn't that bad. Nice job guys, but if a sequel is in the wings I'd damn well love some form of currency, disguises and maybe a hunt mechanic along with the ability to sell said items at a market stall. Oh, and I just pre-booked tickets to see Megadeth in February. Yes, I believe my penis has increased 3 inches.

Boiling Point

So, considering my connection has been giving me all sorts of trouble, one rainy day I decided to go through some of my classics. Darting through the 'Has Been' titles, varying from Tomb Raider to Vampire Bloodlines I stumbled upon a torn copy of Boiling Point- at which point I chronically showered for hours because I felt dirty. You know, I enjoyed Boiling Point when I finally got my hands on it, a lot. But it was just impossible to smoothly run, considering the about of bugs plaguing the experience (Old Ladies selling flowers, feeling threatened, and arming themselves to the teeth with pineapples and grenades). That is, until I realised that a patch was made available more recently.

If you acknowledge the generation gap, and still are willing to give the game a shot, you'll find you won't go wrong with the rich experience available. You'll find that this time around, they actually nailed the open-ended diverse landscape explorable. It makes me think back to the dawning, piss poor, shabby attempt at these RPG elements made available with S.T.A.L.K.E.R- Lord knows these guys nailed it this time around. That being said, some factors seem ridiculous with Boiling Point. Stumbling around the jungle at night feels like a rhetorical game of Russian Roulette, preying by some god given divine miracle you won't run into an enemy faction.

Despite this, all in all, you really can't go wrong here. And when you'd suddenly expect Deep Shadows to be the envy of resentment, with their first title being a victim of public reception- no. They still have another crack at the industry, after finding trailers for White Gold and Precursors it well and truly seems like they've learned from the formalities of their previous efforts. According to recent previews, this time they're not rushing either title- both are using heavy factors of bug testing to attempt to nail the failures of Boiling Point. All in all, it genuinely looks like it'll be a success- and those who were not advocates of the original, cannot go wrong here. Look for both titles in early '08.

Microsoft

3 weeks into the wait, I finally got my repaired x360 back. Although as opposed to merely repairing the bastard, they went all out and shipped a new model. I suppose it was worth the money, although I still need to attain the HDD. Looking forward to piling through the backcatalogue, who knows? Maybe the Orange Box won't be delayed and I'll have a chance to play it.

Didn't get the job, although I would have run a damn good chance if the interviewer didn't go on leave. He was supposed to give me a glowing resume, suppose that's out of the question. Then again, better get back on the horse and find another job- plenty more fish in the sea.

I am not Iron Man, I'm Rock Man

So, results day. Didn't really feel worried about it, although I'll admit my expectations weren't high. After being handed my envelope, I made a dash over to my mum's hospital before I could open it. Yeah, I'm pleased with the results, and plus there's a good chance I might have a job in September which I'll get to later. For the moment anyway, I'm focused on bands and guitar work- although this clearly isn't a bright idea now that I have to find a trade, but still I suppose it'll give me something to strive to achieve.

The job, yeah, this is absolutely perfect. I'd be working as an administrator's assistant, performing tasks like inputting date, posting letters and other spreadsheet based work. It's Monday - Friday and I'd get £6 an hour for working only 4 hours a day (4.o0pm-8.00pm). I looked over the application form, although my contract would expire on March, my annual yearly salary is something close to £10,000(!!!).

Technical Difficulties

Apologies for my less than frequent posts, but many things have occurred since which I don't feel obliged to talk about. Bought a new guitar, went to Morocco, then to Ireland (Quite eventful, don't you agree?).

My new guitar, nothing special, but it plays like god's fiddle: The Ibanez RG350 DX, it's serving me well. Although the Floyd Rose is way too flat, I suppose it'd be worth replacing and getting some new pickups (SH-6s?). I still intend to complete my current project, it’s going to consist of a single pickup (Cross between a SH-5 or SH-6, yes I love Seymour Duncans) and a good licensed Floyd Rose. Should be fun, who knows?

I've come to the decision to re-locate to London, on the basis it has a gigantic Power Metal scene moving in at the moment. It really should be great, I intend to work on my CV some more and look for a job in the area to afford some form of accommodation, let's hope it works out.