Update!

Good news! I've made my first tangible bit of progress towards something on my list. That something is learning the intro to 'To Build a Home' by The Cinematic Orchestra, which falls under item #40: learn to play piano. I intend to actually learn the rest fairly soon. But it's a start!

Here's a video of Patrick Watson singing and playing it better than I can. Hit it Pat:



Definitely not TCO's best song - for a start it doesn't have any input from Luke Flowers' amazing drumming. For that, you could do worse than check out All Things To All Men, which has the added kudos of featuring Roots Manuva. Or, indeed, any of the songs from the albums 'Motion' and 'Every Day'.

In other news, my friend Mary Beth has started a blog like mine! Except she's had her list for ages, so she's been able to make it and already tick things off. The cheek. She refers to my posts here as 'musings', which is a very apt description...and probably one I've already used about myself. Here's a picture of me musing:



Can you tell I've decided to make my blog more interesting by putting more multimedia on it? It'll get less forced, I promise. Or possibly more forced. I quite like the random pictures, like the killer iPods below. Google images is indeed a weird and wonderful treasure-trove.

Britishness.

Last Friday a fairly minor incident occurred on the tube that got me thinking. There was a guy sitting down as I got on who was asking everyone around him what they were doing with their evenings. When he asked me, I first assumed he was talking to someone else, his mate next to him or something... and so I ignored him. Then once I realised, we had a short conversation about what we were both doing. Then he moved onto the girl standing next to me. Her reaction was interesting because it was exactly the one I was expecting, and don't blame her for - it was the 'look-away-and-pretend-you-don't-hear-as-this-guy's-probably-drunk' response. The guy tried twice and then gave up, and then got off at the next stop, stopping to say something to a guy the other side of the carriage who he'd obviously had a conversation with earlier.

What's the point of this story? Well, firstly, I have no idea whether or not the guy was in fact drunk, but he wasn't slurring his words or staggering or anything like that. In fact, the only sign that he may have been drunk was that he was trying to engage strangers in conversation. And yet, both me and the other girl both instinctively jumped to that conclusion. Why does this kind of attitude increasingly seem to be the case?

This situation would usually be worse, as if I hadn't been walking back to the station with another person, I'd usually be listening to my iPod, and would have been completely unaware that this guy had even tried to talk to me. The reality is that I hate the tube - I feel immediately hated if I have a conversation on it, let alone talk on the phone. But I'm usually contributing to this general atmosphere myself.

I don't believe this attitude stops at the tube, either. There's a general idea in our culture that you can't talk to strangers unless you a) want something, or b) are too drunk to realise what you're doing. Perhaps this is why clubs are pretty much the only place people go out to nowadays, because it's commonly accepted that most people there will fall into both of the above. But it's sad when genuine friendliness is immediately assumed to fall under those categories, just because they are the norm.

There's also the whole fear thing. And this is real - for example, in Bristol, we had a resident 'Bristol Groper' who was targetting girls in an area close to the uni campus late at night - meaning no girl could really walk home on her own. But, while I'm not condoning recklessness, I don't think we should forgo friendliness or avoid strangers due to a few obviously extreme individuals. The majority of people are nice - you probably think all your friends are, and yet, they are all strangers to someone else!

There are some parts of modern culture that do combat this mentality a bit, but at the same time they are still infected by it. For example, flash-mobbing - a brilliant experimental social idea showing the power of the internet come to real life - whilst involving lots of strangers coming together for a common purpose, doesn't actually involve any meaningful social interaction between the participants. that's partially the point - in Bristol we did a flashmob freeze in the main shopping centre (Cabot Circus), where on a cue everyone froze, until 5 minutes afterwards, when everyone moved on again and faded into the crowd. But this kind of exercise does nothing to form any links with others.

Like I said at the start, I'm part of the problem on the tube, and probably in general as well. And this list is about doing things I wouldn't usually, to change and better myself, and generally live. So I want to put something that will challenge ME to do something that gets me out and meeting strangers. And if possible, encourage others to do the same. So although this isn't specifically an item yet, I'm open to suggestions, as this is a work in progress.


I realise I never explained the title. I think this attitude, whilst it may not be unique to Britain, is certainly a symptom of Britishness. And actually, I think it's probably one of our worst qualities - I think we have plenty as Brits to be thankful for, and proud about, but this isn't one of them!


[End of Rant!]

Don't blame it on the sunshine, don't blame it on the moonlight

#10: Watch the sun set and rise again in one night



I think this'll be a cool one. It is possibly something I've done before as well, but never with the sole purpose of watching the world change as it gets dark, and then slowly gets light again.

Twilight is interesting because its one of surprisingly few times when your eyes play tricks on you in normal life. Generally, our eyes are really good at adjusting to lighting conditions - be it sunlight compared to artificial light (the spectra of light emitted from tungsten lightbulbs is composed of greater amounts of long wavelength light, meaning things should appear redder), objects in shadow versus those in shade, and of course, day versus night.

I personally really like nighttime. Everything takes on a silent, slightly eerie quality, in total contrast to how the same area might be during the day. Particularly when it's starting to get light again, but the world hasn't caught up yet and is still sleeping.

I would really like to do this somewhere with a great view, to get the most of the changes in light. Maybe I can also see the moon illusion as well. So I'm thinking Brandon Hill in Bristol might be a good one...

Image nicked from Charlie at flickr. Cheers Charlie, nice work!

[Please excuse the MJ reference - making tributes seems the cool thing to do right now, and once I'd thought of it I couldn't resist. RIP Jacko!]

Keep on Rockin' in the Free World

I thought it might be nice to clarify some of my targets in more detail, both for my own personal focus and also as some might seem a bit odd without any explanation. Similarly for the stuff I have done, it'll be nice to recount some of the stories. So here we go:


Things I have done: #13: Played a gig at Thekla

This was a big deal for me, as it was my new band's first ever gig (This is my Normal State in case you were wondering), and also my first time playing in a proper, professional venue, supporting proper, professional bands. The main support, Blue Roses, were a lovely folk act who had just got back from playing Glastonbury. The main event, St Vincent, is currently on a world tour of sorts, and is generally all kinds of amazing. Check her and her band out.

What was so amazing about this gig is how receptive the crowd was. Dragged-along-friends aside, there seemed to be plenty of strangers who really dug our sound, evidenced by the fact that our free CDs disappeared within minutes of our set. Even a guy behind the bar asked for one! And the dragged-along-friends? Well, as one remarked to me: 'to be honest Dave, I really wasn't expecting much from you - but that was actually really good'! I think I'll take that as a compliment... You can also find a proper review of the gig here.

So it was generally an amazing night, far better than I'd hoped for. At one point it was looking pretty grim as people were coming through the doors and we'd only just begun setting up and soundchecking (at practices it usually takes us 30+ mins to set up), but I think this meant that I never got a chance to get nervous. And the set itself didn't go perfectly, but these things rarely do. It went past in a second, which I'm sure is a good sign.

I think one other significant thing for me was the breaking down of the fame barrier. As a result of the crowd reception, and the other bands' reception of us, I realized that it is possible to be a 'proper band' that people can enjoy alongside any perfectly produced, professional band, even if you are a bunch of students. And furthermore, both bands were really friendly to us. I had a conversation with the violinist of Blue Roses, Sadie, about how she was looking forward to hearing us play at the next venue on the tour. And she was surprised when I told her that we were just the local support - we weren't, alas, playing the ICA in London. We blended in - nobody could tell we weren't a touring band, much less a band with (at that time) no gigs at all under our belts, unless we told them.

My conversation with Sadie (and a shorter one with St Vincent's bassist) showed me that these guys who turn up on stage, apparently fearless, in front of hundreds, or thousands of people, are actually normal people themselves. Possibly an obvious thing to say, but perhaps not something that I had actually registered deep down. And I would venture to guess that the 'rockstar' persona is a very rare thing, and not the kind of personality I would particularly aspire to anyway. Anyone who has had talked to me about Oasis knows my opinion of the Gallagher brothers... something I'm not going to repeat here; let's keep this clean...

This leads me to:


On the To Do List: #3: Play at a festival & #19: Play a gig in London

These two targets seem far less daunting after the revelations above. In regards to #3, Blue Roses have, according to Sadie the violinist, been together about a year - and they've played Glastonbury. Glastonbury! If they can do that, then I can at least manage a poor indie festival.

More importantly though, I want to experience the festival spirit from the other side. The kind of thing that makes Damon Albarn of Blur break down on stage. There's something about festivals that are wonderfully uplifting - society coming together for a common interest, and yet also seemingly far from society, like you've entered another world for the weekend.

#19 should also be one that isn't too difficult, but is still very significant for me. Although I might not get to play the ICA, plenty of bands get to play support slots in London many venues, and it caters for pretty much every music genre imaginable, certainly ours. But London is the place where I grew up going to see the bands I admired, who held that otherworldly, not-quite-normal status. There's definitely something compelling about playing the capital, which has seen countless huge bands and so much musical talent come to its venues. I also want to see how it feels - in the same way as the Thekla gig, I'm sure it will be both amazing and humbling at the same time.

The Have Done List

Here are some things I'm proud to say I have done:

1. Gone dune buggying/sandboarding
2. Gone wine tasting
3. Gone round the antique shops of Buenos Aires
4. Jammed with people I don't know
5. Made my own film
6. Cooked a whole roast chicken
7. Caught, gutted & cooked a mackerel
8. Attended a gig on my own
9. Been an orbital rep
10. Gone to the Banksy vs the Bristol Museum exhibition
11. Walked the Inca Trail/Seen Machu Picchu
12. Climbed Kilimanjaro
13. Played a gig at Thekla
14. Worked for a corporate giant and survived
15. Gone to university
16. Gone to Glastonbury Festival
17. Survived in Brazil on my own for 2 months
18. Climbed in the alps
19. Finished writing a book
20. Been involved in construction/renovation work
21. Passed my driving test
22. Biked down the world's most dangerous road
23. Skied off the side of a mountain, down untracked powder
24. Worked a paper round
25. Gone Paragliding
26. Seen Iguascu Falls
27. Scaled an ice wall with ice axes
28. Fallen down a crevasse and survived
29. Seen Rush on their 30th anniversary tour
30. Hosted my own radio show
31. Read The Lord of the Rings trilogy
32. Swam a mile
33. Learned to lasso things on a ranch in Salta, Argentina
34. Taken a TEFL course
35. Peed off the Clifton Suspension Bridge
36. Looked out over New York from the top of the Empire State Building
37. Seen Niagra Falls
38. Been at least partially responsible for a 'wall of death' scenario at the Tithe Barn, CSP
39. Experienced proper nighttime darkness
40. Experienced, after much trial, a night at Motion
41. Lived the funk, going to see the Haggis Horns and the Apples, both on impulse
42. Taken part in a '24-hour cycle'
43. Solved a rubix cube
44. Learned to salsa*
45. Ridden on a moto-taxi
46. Sat on top of a rock in the middle of nowhere in Tanzania, and taken in the view
47. Played volleyball with the disabled workers from Neema Crafts
48. Eaten Ugali with the workers at Neema
49. Bartered in a marketplace
50. Solved a real business problem

More to come...



* Requests for demonstrations will be met with scowling

The To Do List

1. be in a (live) TV audience
2. be an extra in a film
3. play at a festival
4. complete my own EP
5. get something published
6. sneak in somewhere past security
7. be in, or shoot my own a music video
8. see all of the new 7 wonders
9. go to every continent
10. watch the sun set and rise again in one night
11. work a bar shift
12. go to a foreign festival
13. go heli-skiing
14. live abroad
15. work in a hostel
16. learn a language (properly)
17. take part in a long-distance (cross continent?) rally
18. take part in a marathon
19. play a gig in London
20. write a short story that's decent
21. fast for a month (Ramadan?)
22. get in the Guiness book of world records
23. go on a roadtrip (or tour) in my own Transit
24. do a RAG-style 'prison break'
25. take a hitch-hiker/traveller in (couch-surfer style)
26. hitch-hike across America (or any decent sized country for that matter)
27. organise a beach party
28. throw the houseparty of the year
29. learn to DJ and play a set
30. perform on the street
31. get to know a homeless person well enough to deem them a good friend
32. become a full-time freegan for a week
33. be completely carbon-neutral for a month
34. meet the Buried Life guys
35. go to Mule Day and get a Mule Day t-shirt
36. go to a proper free rave
37. take part in a Batizado and get my corda
38. spend a day making a sandcastle of epic proportions
39. design my own home
40. learn to play the piano/guitar
41. play at an open mic night/impromptu jam session
42. read the whole Bible in order
43. invent something
44. make someone's day
45. grow a crop
46. perform a 'doughnut'/take part in a car chase
47. take part in an underground race of some kind
48. do a ski season
49. watch the Wizard of Oz with the Dark Side of the Moon
50. properly entertain some guests (dinner party, like)
51. moonwalk with effect out of a crowded room (MJ tribute item)
52. land a trick in a snowpark
53. happen across/gatecrash a completely unknown party
54. initiate a flashmob in the form of a duel between the London Light and the London Paper (this one will need a bit of explaining...)
55. make a truly radical life-change
56. climb a sea stack
57. destroy/knock down a building with a sledgehammer
58. make friends with a shop/bar worker (and potentially be able to order 'the usual')
59. make the perfect cup of coffee from scratch
60. start my own club/society/organisation (no university affiliation)
61. see how many people I can get to 'follow me' in 24 hours
62. start a phenomenon in a public place
63. go fire walking
64. complete a painting I'm proud of to hang on my wall
65. learn a convincing magic trick
66. learn to play bridge, and win a tournament
67. brew some beer
68. rebuild/restore a car
69. build a raft and use it to cross a significant body of water
70. have/instigate a beach bonfire. with acoustic singalongs.

100 Things to do before I die

Right, so I was bored for the past couple of days and couldn't find anything to do. I don't know if anyone else is similar to me in this respect, but I hate this feeling. I really need to be doing something with my life at all times, even if it's nothing particularly inspiring - relaxing is important - but I hate being forced to do something just because I can't think of anything else to do.

So I decided to start something I've considered a couple of times - a '100 things to do before I die' list, or bucket list. That way, next time I've got a down period, I should always be able to work towards one of these goals.

A few people have already said to me 'you're to young to start a bucket list, don't restrict yourself like that' etc. Which is quite true. However, I'm not viewing the list in that way - this isn't the be-all-and-end-all. I still intend to experience what life throws at me and do things on impulse. And this isn't about compiling a checklist of things I want to do in life. This is about trying to think of 100 things I want to do that I wouldn't have done if I hadn't made the list. I also hope to complete this list considerably before I'm about to die... if I do, maybe I can start another list. That way I'll have completed 200 things by the time most people have done their 100!

Another thing that occurred to me is making a list of 100 things I'm glad I've already done. I generally think I've had a pretty great life so far, one that I'm really thankful for. I always have a tendency to look forward, without always looking back to appreciate where I've been. So this second list will be good for that.

Right, that's enough of my waffle. To the lists!