Gigtastic

So what has been happening in my world.....

Well I thought it was time for an update on what has been going on with me, rather than all this doom and gloom stuff! Well it has been a hectic couple of weeks. What with this new job taking every second of my life at the moment. Extra seconds are having to be found from nowhere (there goes sleeping!) to work on a couple of films, gigging and odd bits and pieces of random work.

Had a gig on Saturday which was absloutely great, there are a couple of pictures here and a couple of short video clips here (coming soon) looking forward to the next one already.

In terms of films, I am currntly sound designing another film for Kothai Kanthan entitled Aisha and Nadeem. Another great film following on from her film 'Listen in Silence' which will be shown at the The Salento International Film Festival, and will be in competition too for the International Short Film Competition in Italy in September...something to look forward too.....cool stuff.

The other big news, which I haven't really talked about (as I didn't want to jinx it) is that I have been in the process of applying for a PhD as part of an amazing new project entitled 'The Positive Soundscape Project' at Salford. I don't think I could have posibly found another project more suitable to me intrests. So I have been through the application process and I have made it through the first round and I am down to the last four. So I am off up to Manchester next Monday to give a presentation and have an interview...so exciting times ahead...fingers crossed. All going well, I will be moving back up North to start at the beginning of October.

And if that doesn't work out, then I am going to be continuing my study at the OU, and probably go travelling for a few months and come back with a fresh head....as my head is far from fresh at the moment....in particular I will be looking at new areas of employment, as I am keen to get invovled in whatever way I can with NGO's or volunetuary positions which either help the environment or people. No more working in Corporo(TM) world for me!

In particular I would love to use my audio skills to help with sound design/recording for documentaries and for the preservation of natural soundscapes. I think the documentary has the power to change. I know for example that 1 Giant Leap has had a ground breaking (one might say life changing effect) on those who have seen it (it did for me) and I would love to be involved in a similar project. In fact it is a goal of mine and has been for the last 7 or 8 years. Similarly, docs like 'The Corporation' have had a tremendous impact on people I know who have watched them. I guess the aim is to use the medium which feeds us crap to feed us knoweldge....after all knowledge is king!

Peace

Neil

What is happening to the world

More worrying things a foot...this is stuff that worries the hell out of my, but for the first time I really feel insensed to write about it.

ID cards.
This follows on from my previous post about CCTV cameras and the land of the free. Now I am not opposed to having a card which is my passport/drivers license all in one on a little plastic card....go for it. Would even be happy to pay for it (well perhaps actually towards it....the cost of £90 is a little on the high side don't you think!!)....but don't send me to prison because I don't have one...hey maybe I don't want to fly or drive....do I need a card? Obviously I do as if I don't I will be fined and sent to prison!

Hmmm that sounds fair.

Also, you can have my picture, date of birth, where I live, phone number...hell even my blood group. But my DNA? and another 44 pieces of information about me....hell I don't know thatcmuch stuff about myself....and I live with me 24/7.

Now you may have read my previous post and thought I was a little mad....a tough over the top, but this article has got to be the best article writen on why we should not have ID cards....

In particular this paragraph is what really hits home with me.....

What bothers me is when someone puts my image, my name, the place and time together. That is information of a personal nature, and is an invasion of my privacy.

Nuclear power

So we are back here again. My views on this have changed a fair bit as I have learnt more. Why are we going down this route again? why? (wondering if £'sssss has anything to do with it....seems like you can buy anything in this country these days....fancy a peerage?).

Yes we are running out of enegry, yes we need a new form of energy. You can't deny that. We are so intrenched in a lifestyle that requires millions of megawatts to support it that we can't do much about it. But is this really the answer? Yes it is the quick fix solution but surely it is better to invest in new forms of sustainable energy.

I have to say that the environmentalists can't have everything on this one, wind farms are great and yes don't look too nice....but lets find a compromise, If the government said tomorrow lets build 100 windfarms, then sadly yes some will have to be in places which will make the landscape look a big rough. But that is 10000000 times better than sticking spent uraniam in the ground.

Peace

Neil

Not on the Label

Wow, yet another great book! I have just finished reading Blink, which blew my mind, and I am now reading 'Not on the Label'....Which is also blowing my mind. I have been really fortunate with books lately. Normally I manage to read a few good ones in a row and then go through a dry period, but at the moment...I am on a roll!

Blink...I can't recommend this book enough..it is all about how we as humans make split decision's about situations, people etc etc in a fraction of a second, most of the time we are unaware. This is something I do a lot. I have a strong tendency to act on gut instinct all the time.....sometimes driving those around me mad...so it was good to read that this is normal and I am not alone! The style is also great too, it isn't a heavy read, I read it in just over 3 days (few hours a day whilst traveling) and couldn't put it down!

Not on the label. Hmmmm now this book is pretty disturbing. It is about what is in our food....Yeah we all know about the 'bad' food....but I was shocked to hear what they do to the 'good food'...salad, veggies,bread, organic food etc. Totally shocked. The book is very anti-supermarket, which I suppose is a good thing, but I always try to play the devil's advocate when it comes to books/people/media etc etc which are very pro/anti anything. But even so, there is no denying the damage we are doing to the planet and, in someways more importantly, ourselves. We trust food companies to provide us with good food, but most of what we buy is nutritionally pointless and full of 'special chemicals'....it is a big money business.

The author has done her homework, the facts are there and so are the references and counter references. I give her full credit for that. Whilst the anti-supermarket focus pops up a bit, if you read beyond this you can see the terrible impact that our quest for 'cheap' food is having. I can't remember many of the facts (a second read is in order), but things that really stick in my mind are
-The treatment of chickens, how they live, why they live, the drugs pumped into them (eg growth hormones) and therefore us when we eat them
-The fact that chicken nuggets are nothing but pulp made from skin and general chicken crap
-The fact there is an illegal trade in condemned meat, which has a tendency to make its way into the food chain.
-That there have been numerous instances of meat meant for dog food being 'relabelled' and made into human food
-The amount of pesticides etc that are placed on salads items, the extended growing seasons. The treatment of workers who pick Veggies.
-The fact that 'nicely' packed vegetable selections are flown from Kenya to the UK for inspection, and then back to Kenya to be 'topped and tailed' and then flown back to the UK.
-The power supermarkets have and the demands they make on farmers, whilst making sure there is no comeback on them.
-The way vast farms are extracting everything from a fragile soil, destroying the land and then moving on to the next place.
-The fact that 'organic' food....Doesn't really mean anything at all.
-The fact that the average journey for most of our food is over 2500 miles

I am guilty...I shop at a supermarket. But this book has really got me thinking....I mean really got me thinking. I don't think I will be able to look at a chicken breast from a supermarket the same again. The same for the veg.....prepacked salad....never again...what with it being washed in bleach. Perhaps it is time to start growing my own.....I am not joking, perhaps it is time to realise that meat is more of a luxury. Perhaps it is time to really find out what I am eating!

I don't think I will be come vegetarian...I am not a hypocrite, but I think it is time to find the local farm, pay more for the meat, but know where it has come from....and yes the cost will mean that I eat it less. I have no quarms about eating meat...I am not sure about the moral argument. I can't find a solution to that one.....I am pretty much convinced on a philosophical level that it is 'morally' wrong to eat meat....but I can't convince myself to stop. I have killed animals with my hands, plucked them, gutted them and eaten them. So I guess I have a better understanding in someways to what goes on, rather than thinking that a chicken is just there....as it is in a supermarket.

I am worried about the way the planet is headed. Humans are behaving just like parasites, using up all the resource and moving on (leaving a trail of destruction and rubbish). It is time for a change, but unless a change means money for the corporations.....it ain't never gonna happen....pessimistic I know....but having worked for large corporations...I know how they think......$$$$$$$'s and $$$$$$$'s buy people...and governments....we all know that!

Peace

Neil

Albums

Carrying on from my post a few days ago on listening to albums, I have been thinking what albums in my life are the ones

a)I always listen all the way through and
b)that I have listened to the most.

It is funny how I don't need no iTunes counter thingy to tell me which it is, I love these albums so much that each listen is a special memory. So in noparticular order here are my most listened to (and loved albums). I have probably listened to these at least 85% more times than all the other albums in my collection

The Wall - Pink Floyd

So much more than 'Another brick in the wall', whilst this didn't have the chart staying power or record book status
of Dark Side of the moon, it is my favourite and one I have listened to with alarming regularity. To be honest I do
have a bit of trouble continuing after 'Comfortably numb', as this is my all time favourite song (see video of me
playing it here!) and it is my all time favourite guitar solo, I still get chills everytime I hear it. It is without
one of the most passionatly, evokative solos out there. David gilmour totally nails it with this one, it has
everything a guitar solo needs.

Back to the album, my other highlights include Mother (another damn fine solo), one of my turns and Hey You. But
they way that each song perfectly fits its place in the story is amazing. I could listen to this for ever, the Roger
Waters lyrics conjure up the most amazing visual images. I think that its message is even more relevant today as it
was when he wrote it. You only have to look at Celebrity culture today and see how many of the celebs have their own
walls!

...and Justice for all - Metallica

I first heard this at my firend Panu's house, it was late 1988. I was already a huge Metallica fan, but he had been
out of the country (Cyprus) and had been able to get a copy (Cyprus could be slow at getting new albums). We sat
there and cranked the volume and my life changed forever. This album brought me out of my Iron Maiden only phase
(see below), it was the album of 1989, and everytime I hear it, it takes me back to those great days, hanging out
with my best friend listening to music and just having a laugh....it didn't get better than that

I also think that this is the last great Metallica album. They hadn't made it to superstar status yet, they were still guys like us. James still wrote lyrics about things that made us angry or think about the world. Those guys were like your friends, you could relate to them....and how that all changed....but that is for another post!

Harvester of Sorrow, Shortest Straw, One, Dyers eve.....all of them, how could I pick a favourite, they just all work together so well each one building to the next. If I had to choose one, then it would be the title track ...and justice for all, still one of my favourite riffs to play.


Live after Death - Iron Maiden

The ultimate live album, forget your Made in Japan (Deep Purple..although Martin Birch was the engineer on both.),
Live at Leeds (the Who) etc....This is it..Iron Maiden at their all time best. There was a period of my teenage
life, where I was obsessed by Maiden....and not in a health way....I mean obseesed....there was a period of about 2
years (1987-1989) when I wouldn't listen to anything else (At this point they only had 7 albums + the Soundhouse
tapes and b-sides...which ofcourse I had everyone...on tape and LP!...and the limited editions etc etc). I knew
these songs inside out, I knew every inch of the awesome album covers (when that was a real art form....sadly
gone!). Every inch (my mum will confirm) of my walls was covered with IM posters and picture...after school instead
of watching TV I would watch my Iron Maiden videos. In particular the Live after Death video, which I had to get
another copy of as I wore the first one out. (I am over that phase now btw!)

Anyhow, there is just something about that concert, the power, Bruce Dickinson being on awesome form....screaming
the immortal words "Scream for me Long Beach.....Scream for me Long beach". Steve Harris' thundering bass, Nicko
McBrain's fantastic drumming (in particular one of my favourite drum fills is the one in the break in 'Run to the
hills', just after the bridge) and the awesome twin guitar work of Dave Murray and Adrian Smith. All of them were
undoubtled on there best over the 4 nights of the recording (3 in LA, one in London), perhaps even of their careers.

From the opening introduction of Churchill's "We will fight them on the beaches...." speech, you just know you are
in for an amazing listening experience (The stage show is also pretty amazing,but the novelty of mummies and
monsters has worn off a bit now....but was totally awe inspring for a young teenage me!.....if you want good stage
shows these days I suggest Rammstein....what these boys can do with fire is amazing!)

Anyhow, this album is paced perfectly, with the only dip being the 13 minute Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which
although a great song, does drag a little. I have to say though that my favourite track on the album is on side 4
(yep kiddies....a double album....don't get many of those these days!) and is Children of the Dammed. I have
listened to this album so many times I sadly know every neuance of it, every drum hit, guitar note, vocal
inflection.....but I still love it!

Passion and Warfare - Steve Vai

Is this the ultimate guitar album ever? In my opinon yes (wars have been started for less I know!). Why? Is it better than albums by Satriani, Hendrix, Beck etc etc. I think so, why? Just for its shear attention to detail, the unbelievable compositions, the incredible instrumentations...and all this before I even mention the guitar playing. The album just works, it transports you to another place, it takes you on a sonic journey with Vai's guitar as your guide.

Most people can't get over the 'widdle widdle' factor associated with Vai, but in my experience most people have heard someone say 'That steve vai just widdles all the time' and never actually heard any of his stuff. Of course there widdling sections, but to focus on that is to miss the point. The guitar is his voice, reading his excellent Martin Love Secret Lessons, taught me so much about playing the guitar and also about life. What other musicians give you that?

Highlights? For me it has to be Erotic Nightmares, Answers, The Riddle and Blue powder (awesome bass solo in this). Of course I spent many a year daydreaming that it was me in 'The audience in listening'....."That's Neil Bruce...what a nice little boy"


Joe Satriani - Joe Satriani
Not the most popular of his albums, I guess Surfin with the Alien is the most well known (Almost made it into here,
but I haven't listened to it for a while....an album that changed my life...that is for another post!). So why this
one? Well the musicians and production, Joe got some of the finest session musicians in the world and one of the
greatest engineers/producers involved on this one and it sounds amazing. Manu Katche's drumming is world class on
this album, I can't get over his use of splash cymbals and tight snare drum sound. The guitars a laid back to the point of not being there, gritty but not distorted (nice valve amp sound...try match that with a Line 6!).


Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos
Don't know what to say about this....apart from perfection. I was/am heavily Tori, I love her voice...her piano playing, her querkyness....everything. Her lyrics are the most descriptive of anything I have ever heard. Pure perfection.....listen to China, Winter, Cucify....bliss.


Times Up - Living Color

This was my university album, i listened to it non stop through my second year. I had a copy of this on tape, but
lost it when I moved to England. I picked up a copy at Vynl exchance in Manchester and that was it, I was set, I
just started to listen to t non stop, especially sitting doing assignments in the Telford building, or late nights
in the 24 hour computer lab in the Maxwell building.

Images and Words - Dream Theater

The First DT album with James La Brie on vocals and perhaps still the best (although I am huge fan of Awake). But
there is just something about this one that calls for repeated listens. Pull me under is one of the best concert
singalongs ever and Take the time...well what can I say it is just awesome, particularly the intrumental section. It
maybe contravesial to say (but I will given what a huge DT fan I am) that I am not sure if they ever bettered this
album. A Change of seasons is awesome, but it isn't an album. The last couple (6 degrees of inner turbulence, Train
of thought and Octavian) are really good, but basically there are few good songs and the rest is pretty samey, not
as ground breaking as IAW. Listening to this takes me back to my first year at Salford and driving around in Sanj's
little Nissan micra....great days.

The Blues Brothers - Blues Brothers Soundtrack
I defy anyone to not like this album. The highlight for me has to be Think and Shake your Tailfeather. Both Aretha voice and Ray Charles have this out of world quality. There are just some great inflections and realism that let you know that these guys REALLY sing....and I mean REALLY sing. I don't think I have ever heard voices like theirs....well apart from Stevie!

Close but no cigar

All these deserve a mention as they were/are very close in the listening stakes to the ones above, but not quite there...yet!

Appetite for Destruction - Guns and Roses
State of Euphoria - Anthrax
Somewhere in time - Iron Maiden
Seventh son of a seventh Song - Iron Maiden
Van Halen - Van Halen
Themes - Vangelis
Superunknown - Soundgarden
Blade Runner Soundtrack - Vangelis
Pornographity - Extreme

Peace

Neil

Ironing!

Really what is the point. Yes I used to iron, but try to get away if i can (email me for my handy clothes drying technique which leaves the clothes flat without the need for ironing). In fact I used to iron a fair bit...towels, sheets etc....and then it struck me what I complete waste of time and therefore life it is. Nowadays I have to iron shirts for work...wow what a complete waste of my life that is!!! As if going to the office and doing the job isn't wasting my short time on planet earth enough. But that got me thinking...really do we need to do as much ironing as we do? How many man/woman/person hours a lost each year to having a firm collar.

Don't get me wrong, having an unironed shirt does look very scruffy, but hey man I don't want to conform to the who corporate uniform thing. If I have an important occassion to go to, family dinner, wedding etc, then yes the use of time to iron a shirt is a good use to time. But to go to work...hmmm.....I guess I am just reaching my rebellion phase a little late in life....or perhaps I have always been a rebel, not wanting to conform to the 'squares'.

So what would I wear to work then? Well ofcourse I would want to look smart, who wouldn't, but I think I can achieve that without the CorporoUniform of shirt and tie...and without the shirt...there would be no ironing require (see my tip!!) and I would get to save time to enjoy each of the precious moments I am given on this world.

Ironing huh what is it good for?....absolutly nothing....say it again now.

Peace

Neil