Classical Music

As someone who is a huge fan of music of varying kinds I has puzzled me why I really don't get classical music. Of course there's the ones you hear on adverts or used countless times on TV but the whole Classical genre is not something I can connect with at all.

However! I recently decided to trade in my XBox One and become a member of the PS4 brigade (I might blog about my reasons why) and in doing that I picked up a game called Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. It's an indie title which I think would have only cost £15 if I hadn't managed to get it as part of my bundle. I'd seen a few YouTube videos on it and just from those I really wanted to play it - there aren't many games which have had that effect on me! The game itself is visually stunning and although not a lot happens - it's kind of like 'follow me Archers' for me there is one element of the game which really makes it something special - the music. There's something about the soundtrack / score which I absolutely love and it will come as no surprise that the music is all classical. Combined with the images and scenery it all works and I've found myself listening to some of the music via Apple Music tonight, I'm pretty sure if Katie had walked in I would have been given a 'What on earth are you listening to that for' kind of look.

Anyway - if you're even the slightest bit interested in having a listen to it here's the Apple Music link https://itun.es/gb/2hpb9

A General Election

Today is one of those days often known in the UK as a General Election. The day every four years (normally) when the UK population comes out to vote for who they would like as their local MP and subsequently as the Prime Minister.

I am someone who on the whole finds politics to be something so riddled with corruption, lies and 'jobs for the boys' that it annoys me more than interests me. I'm a big believer however that I am in a very privileged position of being able to vote in what appears a pretty democratic system and so will cast my vote at every election possible. I also think that everyone else should use that right too - we took our children along to the Polling Container today so I could explain to our eldest (who is 5) what voting is all about and why it's important. I think she understood but we'll see next time it happens.

What really pleased me tonight was that for the first time ever we had to queue to get into the polling station - meaning that lots of other people were making the effort to vote. I spoke to my Mum earlier and she said it was the same at her polling stations so maybe the voting population are actually starting to care!

Right now voting is still open for another 15 mins and the overall results won't be fully known until tomorrow morning, my money is on a hung parliament which I'm hoping and crossing everything does not involve the Conservative party! Who knows - but that's the joy of democracy!

Inspiration

Compared to some people I don’t spend too much time on my daily commute but I must spend about 3 hours each week just sat trundling along in traffic. Of course when this happens it’s hard to stop boredom kicking in and then of course my mind wandering. About a month ago on one of those occasions I started to think if there was anyone in my lifetime who I could say has inspired me – with the exception of the obvious ones like my parents, wife, family and close friends – I struggled, like really, really struggled.

I must have then pondered this for ages, there must be someone out there. I had some great teachers at school who really helped me become who I am today – my art teacher Mr Shevells, Mr Shakespere and one or two others but although they helped me develop I cannot remember anything specifically inspirational.

Since I had this realisation I suppose I began searching for inspiration, while doing my usual trawl and meander through Twitter and YouTube I came across a bloke from New York called Casey Neistat. I found myself watching one of his videos, then another, and another and it’s now got to the point where I look forward to each of his daily vlogs. There’s something about his outlook on life, the way he thinks and things he does I find intriguing and I’m starting to think – inspirational. If you watch his videos the little clips of time-lapse which link the clips to camera are fantastic. I’ve found myself having a go with my iPhone at shooting a few of the out of the window – with admittedly average success but it’s a start. I would never have the confidence to voice over or talk to a camera but if I can practice enough and learn bits of techniques I hope to pull together a video of my own – which of course no one will see but at least I’ll have done it.

I would definitely recommend checking out Casey’s videos just to see what you think for yourself. I may have found someone I find inspirational but I’m going to keep looking for more.

Motivation

It could be said that me and motivation aren’t exactly great friends. I see people around me on YouTube or at work who all seem to have this amazing amount of reason for doing things or the drive and verve for getting somewhere or achieving something – why don’t I have this?

Yes, I’m a very laid back person and often content in my own little world. I’m very happy with my family life – I have an amazing wife and two unbelievably fantastic children but when it comes to motivation – I’m empty!

I often have ideas of things I would love to try or do – mainly when sat in the car in traffic – but when I get home I never do them. I recently wanted to have a go an putting together a short video or presentation thing to upload to YouTube. Not with me in it or voicing over it, just something interesting to watch. I ended up filming my drive to and from work in Timelapse mode on my phone but when it came to editing and putting it together I lost interest quickly and it went nowhere.

I don’t know if motivation is something which comes naturally comes to people, I find that I really need to force myself to do it which sounds to me like I’m trying to motivate myself to motivate myself.

The number of times I’ve tried to start a blog and then lost interest is unbelievable – I again seem to have an idea about what to write about but then very quickly I either forget the idea or dismiss it as absolute arse.

The normal ending of my idea is me spending time sat in front of my Xbox or PC playing something like Advanced Warfare or GTA V – as a 39 year old should I really be doing that?

Music

Yesterday I did something which I haven't done for ages, and by ages I'm talking years! I went into an actual shop to look at buying music! I had some time to myself in Newcastle and found myself wandering without any particular destination past HMV. Like most people now when I want to peruse or buy music I trawl through iTunes, Amazon MP3 and Google Play without giving a thought to HMV or other real life shops! There's a couple of albums I've been thinking about getting and online they are all £8 and above - compared to years ago that would have been perceived as cheap but as normally one of the online stores has albums for £5 I seem to perceive £8 for someone's hard work as being expensive. 

So yesterday I wandered through the rows of CD's, DVD and Blue Ray when I suddenly remembered about the albums I was looking for - to both my surprise and joy I found both albums in a 2 for £10 deal! They are now beginning their new life together at my house! 

I definitely wouldn't describe the record store business as thriving however it's good to see that it's still surviving and actually an option which I should actually consider in my normal scan when looking for something new. I really liked being able to pick up the cd and play it as soon as I got in the car. Of course I'll be uploading it into iTunes to transfer onto my phone and turning it digital!

Relaxing

Not sure if this is something a lot of people find but I suspect it is - I cannot relax! 

I cannot remember over the last few years a time when I felt truly relaxed. I know I now have more responsibilities with the two amazing children who call me Daddy but even in the down times when they're in bed or with grandparents there are still loads of things which need doing and cannot be ignored. 

I used to visit Vienna quite a bit but haven't been for a while, just being in that place really helped me relax and for me there was something special about it! I'm not convinced my children would feel the same about it though! 

I'm sure there are things I could do to help myself but I'm just not sure what they are!