Live Long And Prosper

hey, i hope whoever reads this had a good christmas. i'm not gonna go on about mine, i've had a really good few days but need to get a lot of work done for my January exams and just in general. :S.
Just watched Star Trek for the 4th time! the 3rd time i saw it was at the IMAX in Manchester Printworks. so watching it at home was nowt in comparison really. haha. it's probably one of my favourite films ever. :)
Anyway, like i've noticed a few blogs i'm following have done, i might move over to tumblr. :/ not that i want to jump on the bandwagon, it's just that no one genuinely wants to read my text-laden ramblings so summat more photo based could be easier. still not sure though. so yeah, hope you all have had a good christmas holiday so far.
Happy New Year!

Lies

this is actually like all my christmas presents come at once.
Jon McClure's written a series of short films. This is the first one.
Think the main lad is one who were in the video for No Soap In A Dirty War.
There's also appearances from Laura Manuel/McClure & Andy Nicholson. Chris McClure helped direct and produce it too. dunno how much this means to everyone else, but for me it's very exciting!

here you go...

http://tinyurl.com/yhc88df

Merry Christmas.

around your crooked conscience she will wind

thought i'd post while i'm waiting to get some feeling back in my face after being out in the cold for like 5 hours. a lot of people seem to be doing their Top 10 Albums of 09 lists but instead i'm just going to tell you what my favourite records from this year are and not care about numbers. :)

Skanky Skanky - Toddla T. first and foremost. the most important album from 2009 for me. it really did change my perspective on music and got me into loads of new genres, djs and producers. it made me think 'how am i ever going to like guitar music again?' i loved it so much. it's got a thoroughly Sheffield vibe even though it brings in Jamaican dancehall amongst many other genres. Toddla blends it all so well it really is impossible to hate this album. another contributing factor to how good it all sounds is co-producer Ross Orton. He's incredible. End of. as well as being musically brilliant Skanky Skanky is also hilarious. the interludes and just generally Mr V and Serocee make it worth a listen. He collaborates with the likes of Tinchy Stryder, Matt Helders, Shake Aletti and Roots Manuva. i can't fully explain just how much i love this album. best thing i've heard all year. :)

A French Kiss In The Chaos - Reverend And The Makers. at one point i liked this more than i liked WPSIATWIN. which is a big thing for me. very big. it shows just how amazing this record is. a complete step up from The State Of Things the makers take it to a new psychadelic level. lyrically it's so much more interesting too. each and every song is just wonderful. the first song i heard from this album was Professor Pickles and admittedly, i wasn't keen on the first few listens but i soon came around and it slots in great on the album. my favourite tracks are Mermaids, The End and Hidden Persuaders.

Humbug - Arctic Monkeys. on first listen i wasn't too fussed. and i will admit that it took about 30 listens to fully appreciate and love every song. i can't possibly write down why it's amazing or why i love it but i do. i might go as far as saying i like it more than WPSIATWIN but i've been hasty with that before so i won't go there again. i would quite happily go to a gig where they just played this album (and b-sides of course). favourite tracks are Pretty Visitors, The Jewellers Hands, Dangerous Animals, Potion Approaching and Dance Little Liar.

other albums of note from 09; Better Than Heavy - Mongrel. Kings and Queens - Jamie T. Hands- Little Boots.

Yes, yes we're magicians

Back in July i saw The Crookes at the Forum in Sheffield. they were utterly wonderful with handclaps and banjos and a photo of the Queen. i don't know why they had it but one of them told me and my friend that it wasn't 'a political statement'. all that aside, they're being very festive and have created this little thing called 12 days of Crookesmas. i urge you to get involved cos y'know, it's good. :) oh and go and see them live if you have the chance cos it blows their recorded stuff out of the water.

Merry Christmas!
ps. Jon McClure & Matt Helders were both at that gig too. ;)

Broken hearts and silly tarts

Nothing of note to blog about. not that i usually write owt interesting. haha. just want this week to be over. ahh christmas. here's some photos. bye. xxx

NMTB

after being in an awful mood for the past week due to general illness/weather/etc... i really wanted summat to cheer me up.
Never Mind The Buzzcocks cheered me right up!
Frankie Boyle presenting, Jon McClure just generally being there and having the best voice ever and just the hilarity of it all.
Plus, when introducing the Rev and playing a clip from No Soap (In A Dirty War) there was some quality screen time of Tom Rowley.
all this equates to me being very happy! haha. such simple things...

It's better that than get a reputation as a miserable little tyke

hi ♥ i really should be working my way through a mound of homework but as per usual in these situations, i'm sitting on blogger, tryna think of something interesting to write.

the other night i thought of something half decent, but my brain is like a seive half the time so i've just got these weird snippets that really don't make sense.
on friday night i went to Bridlington. which is an awful, depressing, north-eastern seaside town. it's got this venue called 'The Spa' where Oasis played their last UK gig and Kasabian played there recently. i'm not going to go into why i was in Brid and what happened there because quite frankly it's a boring and irritating story to tell. what i will say is that i re-kindled my love for Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. earlier in the evening i'd proclaimed that Humbug was my favourite monkeys record and i'm pleased to say that i'm mistaken.
one thing i noticed whilst i was listening was that the temperature dropped 3 degrees and there was a definite When The Sun Goes down vibe in Brid that night.

mm, i'm rambling. one thing that i really love is driving at night and seeing lights. that's my favourite part of going to my Gran's near Leeds in winter because the drive home is always quite pretty. i usually have Old Yellow Bricks on repeat during that journey for some reason. so now i associate the two and it makes me rather content. the drive home from Bridlington reminded me of a holiday, last year during October half term i think. we were staying just outside Glasgow and from the hotel restaurant we had this brilliant view over the city and the lights at night, it was just wonderful. i don't know why i like things like that so much.

this post is boring and text-laden as usual. sorry for that. i just kinda wanted to say some of these things. haha.
i mentioned this a few posts ago, but i bloody love Kid Acne. here's some of my favourite bits of his work. all photos are taken from his blog. :)

He gets it all from his Father's blood

Wahey, 20th post!
Went shopping this afternoon and for the first time in ages, wasn't reluctant to spend money. I got a skirt and a dress from Topshop and saw a few other bits that i'm gonna add to my 'christmas list.'

Here's what i bought;

"Steven Seagal Got My Boyfriend A Volvo, How Am I Supposed To Compete With That?!"

You might, but probably not remember my last post about New Moon. Basically, there's these spoofs on youtube and they consumed my life for a little while... but it made watching the film that bit more... interesting!
i went to see it on the day of release then went to see it again yesterday. i have no shame in saying that i love it, haha. Anyway, this post is pretty boring but if you're bored, watch those videos. it will give you hours and hours of entertainment. plus, the title of this post will make a lot more sense! ;)
hope everyone had a good weekend?!
can't believe it's been a week since Arctic Monkeys (links to two separate posts for anyone who's interested.)

XXX

i'm worried i'll forget your face

2 photos to sum up this past weekend. one taken on a macro setting on my fujifilm mini-slr. the other on my phone camera. guess which one's which ;)

Tell Me Where, I'll Meet You There

'under the weather' today so haven't gone into 6th form.

started on a bulk-load of sociology questions that i've got to complete for tomorow but i'm getting very distracted by Kid Acne's blog.

Good Evening Manchester, Are You Mad For It?

last night aka best night of my life!!

after four long years of being a dedicated fan i finally got to see my favourite band in an non-festival crowd!
i was standing at the MEN arena, Manchester. which i was proper nervous about cos i'm really tiny and arenas are huge and everyone is taller than me, stronger than me, and much more pissed than me. haha. i got bashed about a bit, but after the support band (Eagles Of Death Metal. anyone who was there will know how awesome they were!) we found a decent spot then when they came on, went fully for it!
i was dubious about them opening with Dance Little Liar but in hindsight i have no idea why! it was bloody incredible. they went straight into the faster crowd pleasing songs such as Brianstorm then just before Dancefloor, Alex said to the crowd "who's seen Arctic Monkeys before? this one's for those who havent" arrrrgh! the crowd went mental!!
i can't physically pick a favourite song from the night because i'm so overwhelmed by it all i cannot decide. The Jewellers Hands worked perfectly in the middle of the set. and i'm proud to say i was one of the few who dint shit themselves when the confetti cannon went off in Secret Door. (because i knew it was going to happen ;) haha)
the encore consisted of 505 and FA/Mardy Bum mash up. the set was quite short, and incorporated no b-sides or anything. but it was still awesome. they had the audience in the palm of their hands.

i ♥ John Ashton

Boom DJ From The Steel City

basically, since like March dj/producer Toddla T has been my idol. His album Skanky Skanky is my favourite from 2009, better than Humbug. Haven't listened to the album in a few weeks, then he posted a link to his 'guide to Sheffield' on Twitter today. after watching and loving it, naturally, it got me proper inspired to listen to his record again. He's got an In New DJs We Trust show on Radio 1 and it's on right nowwww. Once again, locked in to it for the first time in a couple of months. It never fails to be amazing. I hate La Roux but Toddla's just played Jack Beats remix of I'm Not Your Toy and it's just wowwww. and a Ross Orton remix. ahhhh ♥ it's all just so wonderful.
so imagine my extreme happiness when this happened!!

"Yeah i was watching you sleep..."

tomorow = New Moon
tickets are pre-booked and i'm definitely ready! although i won't be able to take it seriously after being obsessed with these for a while...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXIk696BlVg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBQpYiRmn2c&feature=channel

♥

Nice Try, You Cannot Turn Away But Nice Try

Went to get the vinyl from Oxfam at lunchtime. Only to find out that they didn't have it. And neither did HMV. So i spent £2.20 on bus fares to get into town and back from 6th form for nothing! Certainly put me in a bad mood, especially as i'd restrained from listening to leaks of the b-sides. I don't regret not listening, just exercising my patience y'know :P So i've ended up ordering the 7" from HMV and it should come in the next few days. I couldn't wait much longer for the b-sides so i've downloaded them from iTunes. They're okay, but i don't think that they're worth the hype around them. Fright Lined Dining Room is much better than Catapult. They're kinda strange cos they're neither FWN era or Humbug. i cannot really place them. People are saying that they should have been on Humbug but i see them as very b-side material. Brilliant lyrically and drumming wise but i feel like they're lacking something. Nevermind, at least they're not awful. Only a few days to go now! :)

Is It The Truth Or A Misinterpretation

new dress. not wearing it very well in the picture, but it does look nice. haha. i think! anyway, i might wear it next saturday, undecided at the moment. ♥

13.11.09

"yeah she's been walking down my street, saluting magpies, avoiding cracks at her feet, oh be careful, they can break your back you know. but that superstition don't count for much, it's all in your head and not in your touch, if it's working, i'll reconsider."

on a loose, friday the 13th theme... the lyrics above are from Storm In A Teacup by Milburn. i just thought i'd post them as they seem a bit relevant today. oh, and everybody watch Friday Night With Jonathan Ross tonight. that is all :) have a great weekend. xxx

Like A Butler Pushing On A Bookshelf I'm Unveiling The Unexpected

i who was earlier reluctant, was suddenly embarassed and corrected

hiya :)

since my last post, my arctic monkeys tickets have arrived in the post. so excitement has been kicked up yet another level. wasn't at 6th form yesterday cos i wasn't too well, so ended up playing Humbug on repeat. it was also the soundtrack to my wait for a bus that was 40 minutes late tonight. it's such a brilliant record, and even The Jewellers Hands has grown on me. my favourite track at the moment is Dance Little Liar.

In case you've noticed, which you probably haven't ;) i've added a links section on the right hand side of my blog. under the title 'dangerous animals' i will think of something better at some point! anyway, i'll give you a run down of what i've linked.

www.arcticmonkeysuk.com/forums better than the offish anyday ;)
http://www.betterneverthanlate.blogspot.com/ biggest inspiration to start a blog.
http://www.alltheprettyvisitors.blogspot.com/ wonderful :)
http://www.drinkteabecontent.blogspot.com/ good stuff :)

if you haven't already, check out those sites. will add more at a later date. have a good week everyone! xxx

My Brain's Repeating, If You've Got An Impulse Let It Out

That picture has absolutely no relevance to this post, but i urge any of you that haven't seen Garth Marenghi's Darkplace to do so. Because it is one of the funniest things you will ever watch.

Back to the point! Hello, and thanks for following. I remember a time not that long ago when I had 0 followers, so to have 6 is quite an achievement for me. I appriciate everyone who reads this. :)

I had a really productive weekend work-wise. The most productive i've had in months and months. I got hours and hours of sociology done. and 4/5 pieces of Film Studies work. I'm currently working on my Western genre essay due for tomorow but have broken off to write this blog on one of my too frequent 'internet breaks'.

After 6th form today, me and a friend went and joined a gym. We had a really good time and we're gonna make sure that we go a few times a week to try and lift our spirits during the cold winter months. :)

Once again, i've written a text heavy blog. Even though i've got some new batteries in my Mini-SLR i still haven't got round to taking any decent photos to blog about.

Oh and why on earth have Death Cab For Cutie sold out and done the New Moon soundtrack?! Meet Me On The Equinox isn't even that good on its own, let alone it being tarnished with the Twilight brush. :( The title of this post is from 'Sound Of Settling', a truly wonderful song by them. Just a reminder that they once were utterly fantastic. Hopefully they'll regain that. And i feel like such a hypocrite cos i'm off to see New Moon on the day of release. :/ oh well!

Sticking to my guns and not even listening to let alone downloading the leak of Catapult. :)

Fright Lined Dining Room

it's safe to say that i'm pretty bloody excited for the Cornerstone vinyl. even though it's not one of my favourites from Humbug, i'm just anticipating the b-sides. i'm also sticking to my guns from when Crying Lightning was released and not downloading any leaks of the b-sides. :)

10 days til Cornerstone.
16 days til AM @ MEN Arena.

Seventeen

hiyaaaa.

this half term's been great, however now i'm left with a lot of work and no time.

for the first time probably ever i've been busy every day of the holiday, so it wasn't procrastination stopping me from working. although today i've been pretty bad considering i got up at 9.30 to do work and at nearly 7.30 i haven't even written a page. oops!!

oh well, i will get it done before first period tomorow...

On Thursday night i went out for a meal at Pizza Express with my friends to celebrate my birthday which was lovely. had a really funny night and got some brilliant presents :')

Me, Olly and Loz ended up back at Olly's watching Scrubs and before i knew it it was almost midnight. so we stuck around and cranked out the vodka and orange. it was the most memorable start to a birthday i think i've ever had! :)

for my 17th i got a Nixon watch, might post a picture later it's so beautiful. and a Parka. :) got loads of topshop vouchers and some money too. wasn't keen on driving lessons and besides i still haven't sent off for my provisional. went out for a meal with the family on Friday night.

yesterday was Halloween and as opposed to going to this big party which the majority of the people i know were going to, me and a friend decided to go on a ghost walk which ended up being this crazy ghost vigil thing. :S so we ditched it and had a wander round town. we ended up in Pizza Hut. haha. so we had some food then went down to the river for ages. i might not have been as eventful as the party but it was a pretty enjoyable night anyway. haha "i'm a fucking wolf!"

ready to go back to 6th form now, i need to find a work ethic from somewhere.

on a brighter note; 15 days until the Cornerstone vinyl

and 20 days until Arctic Monkeys at the MEN arena.

♥

Manchester

Hello!

i went to visit my brother in Manchester yesterday/today and just got back.
i'd been so excited about it for weeks and weeks and it didn't really dissapoint.
i got there early Monday afternoon, we went back to his flat then out to do his food shopping for the week. i wouldn't say that Asda near Mosside is my favourite place in the world but nevermind... haha. then we just hung around watching Family Guy before we went out for dinner. We went to this great pub called The Footage which did 2 meals for £6. proper nice food and great atmosphere. That night we planned to go and see Star Trek in the Printworks where there's an IMAX screen at the Odeon. we'd both already seen the film, i'd seen it twice and he's meant to be the trekkie... anyway, we got Premier seats for a pound extra and the whole experience was incredible. no joke, the screen is 8 storeys high, however wide and the sound goes right through you. excellent! after the film finished we trekked back over to oxford road and went to his friend's flat for a while. i got about 4 hours sleep and woke up this morning with a trecherous cold. but we went shopping in town, went to the Arndale centre but i had no luck with clothes which was a severe dissapointment at first. but managed to get a great pair of boots and Le Donk & Scor-Zay-Zee on dvd. so i came away happy :D

back in york now which is kind of a bore, i've so much work to do :

now i fully can't wait for Arctic Monkeys. ♥

Monday = ♥

due to my mundane life, i've not got a lot to write about. basically, facebook is really shit now and i'm tweeting a ridiculous amount which isn't helping the five essays i have to write this half term.

all that aside, tomorow should be good because!

Annie Mac Presents mix CD is out

Le Donk and Scor-zay-zee on DVD

aaaaaaand Manchester!

oh and it's my 17th on Friday.

Pieces move and make the picture fall apart

This time last year i was so excited that this time this year, i would be able to apply for my provisional driving licence. in fact, one of the first things i said in 2009 was to do with my excitement for driving. so why is it now, just over a week away from my 17th that i'm suddenly not interested? well, it's not suddenly, in fact, it's been a few months really that my interest has been severely lacking. i got my provisional driving licence form and filled it out ages and ages ago but i just haven't sent it off. for one, it's going to cost £50 and secondly, driving lessons etc are going to cost over £1000 in total. and i just cannot afford it. plus, i'd much rather put it off and be able to spend my money on things i want, a luxury that will never lose its novelty, as opposed to thinking i need to save that for lessons and insurance etc.

i bought a railcard last week, that cost £26 and i've been wanting one for a long time, but it's going to be worth it because especially in the near future i'm going to be travelling by train. a lot. spending that amount of money on something like that really didn't bother me like it does with my driving licence. i just find it quite a strange turn of events.

my excitement for half term is at a ridiculous height right now, however i'm not looking forward to two essays at least that have been set so far... A Levels suck.

6 days until Manchester take one. then 3 weeks after that it's Manchester take two. :)

Fiendish wonder in the carnival's wake

Good Evening 3 followers...
today's been quite average really, until a tweet from Andy George made that average turn into quite extrordinary. For your viewing 'pleasure'...

oh and THEN i got Re-Tweeted by Jaymo. I don't know how to convey the happiness that i feel right now. i would probably find it easier if i wasn't half asleep though.

Other 'exciting' things of note include; my student card and its horrific picture, Cornerstone artwork and my insane jealousy that my cousin's seeing Joe Carnall and The Book Club tonight and i'm not.

Walking the line is wearing out my shoes

this morning it was an absolutely perfect temperature, the October kind where the wind isn't annoying and the sun's not quite out. bought the Times because i thought it might have coverage of the Film Festival but that might have been last weekend's. the weeks just seem to blur into one these days. never mind though, attempting to sort my folders out which i should have done 5 weeks ago when 6th form started. oops. i know the chances of people reading this are 0 but oh well, i've got twitter @r_bentley.


excitement is building up for half term and november now. arctic monkeys what...

until i find something interesting to blog about and until i learn to use some more exciting language here's a picture to sum up October 2008...

makes my head pirouette

I can't think of any other way to open this other than Hello. So yes, as uncreative as it is, Hey. I've been toying with the idea of creating a blog for a long time now but quashed any ideas of doing so because, well, i dunno actually. All that is completely redundant now...

Sinking Ships is the name of one of my favourite Milburn songs. admittedly, i jumped on the milburn bandwagon several years too late but nevermind. it's a beautiful song purely for this;

"no one came to save our souls, no one came to fix the holes, but we made it back to land. and if you've backed the underdog, you may collect your winnings." oh and Joe Carnall's voice is possibly my favourite ever.

the blog url is from Sketchead. one of the wittiest Humbug-era songs Alex Turner's ever written. about 40 days to go, fingers crossed they play it live!