Happy New Year

Yeah right. If anyone texts me wishing me a happy new year I will never talk to them again. Seriously, wanna know who my first New Year text was from? o2, yesterday, wishing me a happy new year and, more importantly, wishing me to send my messages early so as not to cram their phonelines! Thanks for getting personal guys, it meant a lot to me.
They didn't even put kisses :|

So anyway, I've been thinking about New Year and resolutions and stuff. I never make resolutions, for the simple reason that resolutions are monitor settings and I'm not into that nerdy stuff. But I do try and think about the year ahead and what I want to achieve. Here's a Top-5 list:

-Try to think more
-Try to speak less
-Relax, get the groove on, pull

Actually, I think that covers everything.

...and MySpace's Reply?

Dead silence... followed by tumbleweed.

I think I went too far

Kisses of 2006

Posted this on MySpace, but I think you guys owe it to me as well...
Kisses of 2006
x
Everyone knows what this means, right?
It's a redeemable kiss.

You know, lots of people write me nice messages and put little kisses on the end. I figure, given that it's 2007 just on the horizon and all, I'm owed a fair few kisses from 2006 and I'd like to redeem them all asap. I think I'm actually owed over a thousand all told, that's including guys and girls of all ages but no under 16s, please, thank you.

Anyway, kisses can be exchanged in the location of your choice, just track me down. If you want to know how many kisses I'm owed, I do actually have a database and will be able to tell you the exact amount. Just message me or something. But don't rush all at once...

I await *your* kisses with anticipation. Happy New Year, one and all
x

One More Time...

"Saddam's execution marks the end of a dark period of Iraq's history."
Does anyone seriously believe that? The *end*?

Uh... yeah right.

If you try to build a state on a foundation of execution, a "dark period" is about all you're gonna get.

Do You Believe In Rainbows?

How do rainbows tie in with anything in our modern world? I know they're a totally logical of consequence of light and water but seriously... when you see them, they just look like something CGI'd into a landscape. If I'd never seen or heard of a rainbow before I'd think I was hallucinating. Our world has many fascinating colours, but the landscape is mostly blues and greens and greys. Seeing reds and yellows bursting into the skies is quite off-putting in a way...

second!

ok i like posting these little moments. they cheer me up and they should cheer you up too, damnit.

joey: [playing grand turismo] i can't believe i'm second, this is sick!
perran: you know there's only two of us playing?

So What About Saddam?

I always look at these things from a "suspicious" perspective. Part of me doesn't think they'll kill him - he'll either be "rescued" last minute, or there will be some intervention, or a fake death... but actually, that's stupid. They will kill him. They were "liberated" by the trigger-happy Americans, for crying out loud.
So they kill Saddam. There will still be riots, car bombs, massacres. The people he had murdered will still be dead. Their relatives will still be sad. And the world will still be messed up. Why bother? Saddam's no more harm to anyone locked up in jail than he is dead. To be honest, he's no more harm to anyone in peaceful exile on some pacific island than he is locked up. Show me one world leader who isn't guilty of some human rights abuse - no matter how big or how small - and... well, let's let them cast the first stone.

But no, they'll kill Saddam. Do I feel sympathy because he and I share a birthday? Because his sons and family members were slaughtered by Americans? Because inside, I'm no better than him? I guess. And because he's a human being. Why is that so hard to understand?
Well, goodbye Mr Hussein. You've provided tragedy, some humour (that picture where we put Patrick's face over yours... that was classic), violence, a whole lot of controversy, and drama. God loves you, huh?

special

rob: ...we're visiting on wed-nes-day, naturally...
ben: fri nd sat are t days to b there really. Shame on u!
ben: fri nd sat are t days to b there really. Shame on u!
rob: Thanks for sending that twice Benjamin, you're a very special boy

The Slightly Nearer Future

Well, I did a lot of thinking. Turns out I'm gonna become a rent boy hobo Buddhist male stripper. Damnit! Turns out I'm probably gonna go straight to uni (not literally right this very instant now, I mean in September 2007), and study "English Literature with Creative Writing" (if get an offer). No messing. It was my own decision, after a hellofa lot of thought. Thing is, music is part of my lifestyle, but studying it at uni wouldn't help me much. Plus I really don't think I'd learn as much or enjoy it as much as other courses. More than that, being in an intellectually stimulating environment can only be a positive thing, right? Well, I feel comfortable about it and that's what counts I guess. And in three years time, when I look back and realise I should have done Sociology and Child Development, I can say "At least I tried."

(More) Poker

Probably best viewed full-screen (save it to your PC or something).
Had the idea yesterday, managed to get an ok shot (I think the hands are Joey's), and used GIMP for the manipulation. GIMP is a program, silly...

Oh. My. Goodness

List of songs deemed inappropriate after 9/11

I began reading through that and I was shocked. Okay, actually I was shocked that they deemed any songs inappropriate. Personally if I were a radio presenter I would refrain from playing songs with content such as "Haha, your relative was killed when the twin towers collapsed" etcetera, but even then that would be my decision, not some enforced ban. You know, if someone isn't smart enough to determine what is an "appropriate" song then they probably aren't gonna be a great DJ.
So that bugs me a bit. But then what about some of these songs? Anti-government songs ("anything by Rage Against The Machine") were on the list. Anti-war songs ("Sunday Bloody Sunday") were "inappropriate"! I mean seriously, the guys who compiled this list were a little bit weird... even happy songs "What A Wonderful World" were included in that list. Is that because it references the world, rather than the United States of America? Or is that because people who lost relatives shouldn't hear happy music in case, God forbid, they cry? Or is that because people who *didn't* lose anyone shouldn't hear happy music in case they be happy on this evil day?

Americans... who'd have 'em?



Clearly not the Arabs... woah, that crossed the line. My bad.

Me, Myself and The (Increasingly) Near Future

Wow.

I don't know how much you know about my life thus far and how my future is panning out - I've told so many people so many different things I don't really know what's what. So I'll give you a brief overview:
I've been recieving secret government training and I'm going to become a ninja.

Okay, that's not entirely true. I take A-level exams in History, Philosophy and Music Technology at the end of this academic year (May/June 2007). After that I'll be on my own - an eighteen-year-old musician/writer with a range of A-level results (I think I'll get A, B, C), no direction and little motivation. So what happens next? University, stupid. That's what middle-class kids do when they finish school.
My dilemma with university is thus: I don't want to spend thousands of pounds getting a degree I won't enjoy and will never use. Truth told, the chances of me getting a job that requires a degree are slim, so I've been looking at subjects I enjoy (read: music and writing). But those subjects are generally pretty weak, and taught at poor universities. So, why not just do an interesting course and enjoy the experience? Well, it's a pretty expensive three year party. I guess I'll only know what I want to do, what I *should* have done, when I graduate. Same as everyone else. So maybe I'll choose something I can learn from, and probably achieve in.

So now I'm looking at courses in English Literature/Creative Writing, Politics, and various historical studies. And the pressure is on because I have eighteen days to apply until the deadline for this year is gone, and I'm out of the school system.

"Well Rob," I hear myself ask, "it doesn't sound like you really want to go to university. So why bother?" "You're right," I reply. "I won't." Unfortunately though, Option B is employment. One thing I fear above all other fears including women, squirrels and the devil himself, is retail work. I think that if I spent one day behind a till at Sainsburys I would actually choke myself on my own hands by reaching down my throat and trying to pluck out my heart. No disrespect intended towards Sainsburys workers, I'm sure you guys have a killer time. Anyway, my point is: even if I don't really want a job that requires a degree, and I don't really want a degree either, who is gonna employ a qualificationless, brain-dead eighteen-year-old? So if I don't get a job I'll just doss around or end up working for the church - either way I'd sooner run up a massive debt and party my way through exams with ten thousand other hot twenty-somethings. So I guess I will go to uni at some point. Which leads us to here, now.

What subject(s) will I study? Where will I go? Should I take a gap year? Or two? How about three? Is it worth it? Is Elvis really dead?

You can imagine the immense stress I am under. Sympathy cheques appreciated, keep your good advice for your kids.

Poker

Esther generously gave her four brothers a poker set for Christmas. It's since been road-tested twice (Hold'em, of course) and today I took some photos of our game. It's sorta against regulations but, hey, I lost (first time, thank you).

Self Defence

Some of you will no doubt remember the laugh-out-loud brilliance that is Derrick Comedy...
here's a fairly new video of theirs

Cleanup

I've been doing a lot of cleaning recently. Started with my heart, of course, and progressed to my bedroom. I've now gone through just about everything, which leads us to this weblog. Often I feel obliged to post at least X times a day - I've set myself high standards, I have a reputation to uphold etcetera. This sometimes leads to me posting entries that convey how I feel, but are also both incredibly boring and rather pointless. I had a little rant about "pointless comments" earlier this year and, even though it is my webspace to do with as I will (within the Blogger terms of service, of course), I think it is only fair that I don't post pointless blog entries. In fact, sod fairness - they're boring and I won't stand for it. So, hopefully those little "meh" posts will go, and my post-count will drop by half. "Thank you, sweet saviour," I hear you cry. Not so lucky: I will merely compresss the content into longer posts. Victory is mine, as per usual, and long live The King!

Speaking of pointless comments, why'd everyone go so quiet? I want opinions, damnit, and good ones too!

Mass Consumerism

This morning Joey and I, our guest Mr Joshua Kingston, Old Man Dave, Esther-Belle and Rami Ghali all headed out to the Next post-Christmas sale. AT 0500AM.

I don't know why this has become something of a tradition. I don't know why I agreed to go. Perhaps it was the festive fun of mass consumerism, perhaps it was to appease my friends and family, perhaps it was because I needed new jeans. Needless to say, I got a lot of fairly decent clothes for fairly low prices - I also feel worse than a dead tramp. Was it worth it? I'll let you be the judge of that next time you see me in my sexy, navy blue, Next "Boot fit" parallel-leg denims.

Genius

People have been giving a lot of positive feedback about the newsletter. Like, "Hey, you should write more. How do you do it so well?" My response is generally "Well, I agree that I'm highly amusing, observant and intelligent. I think I may even be a genius. I'm certainly a child prodigy. Needless to say, in a few years time you'll be thanking sweet heaven you ever met me because..." but by this point they have walked away.
Seriously though, I do write. All the time. HERE. Gosh: get broadband, come join the party.

"Over," And Other Things

I think that talking about "Over" is quite a relevant way to start this post. After all, "Over" is what Christmas is. On that note I haven't posted for nearly forty-eight hours so we have a lot of catching up to do. Anyway, "Over" (from "Proceed Alone") has been put on my MySpace page so that people can listen to it. I would be much obliged if you would do just that, unless you have better things to do which I know you don't, otherwise you wouldn't be here, would you?

So, "Over." Christmas is over. I got many wonderful gifts, which I'm not going to tell you about as it would only make you jealous. However, I will let on that from Mr Electrofix (via my dad) I was given a flashing Gibson Les Paul. It's about five centimetres long and is also, conveniently enough, magnetic. I like to think of it as my own little seizure instrument: the lights are very bright and very flashy. Unfortunately, it's not *actually* a guitar, just a piece of plastic fashioned to look like one. Needless to say, I was disappointed when I tried to play it. But then, I'd have to have tiny hands to achieve that effectively: maybe it's for the best.
Christmas held church (at which I played drums, for some reason), a massive lunch (I didn't eat nearly as much as I usually do, I must be getting old), a ten-minute walk down to the park, "Clueless" (which, I confess, I thoroughly enjoyed - it had four Radiohead songs in the soundtrack too!), and Baileys by the fire until the early hours. Lovely.
Well, Christmas is over, "Over" is online, and if you were in Australia like Finn you might chance to see people bowling "overs" in a game of cricket! See how I tied that in? I have talent...

YouTube

Those of you who were appropriately captivated by the "My Life, The .MOV" series will be disappointed to hear that I wiped the entire collection (even the "Jack Barrie special") from the face of the virtual world. I decided to get rid of all the rubbish, boring, embarassing and demeaning videos from my YouTube account. I now only have one left, which is a study on different types of grass*.

Anyway, if you were to utilise the helpful Archive feature in the sidebar and stumble across posts entitled "My Life, The .MOV" you would find them somewhat lacking. Oh well...



*No, not marijuana you silly boy

Christmas Eve

I like Christmas Eve. There are no expectations for the actual day, but there is a sort of empty peacefulness. Of course, it can be frustrating. But simple things - the notable lack of parked cars, less sirens etc. - make the day a little bit special. And sad, too, for some reason. Maybe that's just me.

My afternoon will be spent hanging out with housemates doing Christmas prep, and playing guitar. I'm gonna go to midnight service at Woodies, which is always something special. Then I'll go to bed.
In preparation, therefore, and because it would be sad if you resorted to reading my blog on Christmas day, I'd like to wish you all a happy christmas. You know, if everyone in the world could have a happy christmas, despite tacky decorations, second-rate music, irritatingly pretentious festive cheer and so on, that would make me happy. So do try. I hope you find what you're looking for this Christmas.
If you are a blogger, special love to you. Take care and I'll see you on the flipside.

My Skillz

Now, as Napoleon Dynamite reveals to us, everyone out there has skillz - be it Computer Hacking Skillz, Ninja Skillz, Llama Feeding Skillz... whatever. I thought I'd list some of mine:

- Guitar playing skillz (obviously - I'd go so far as to say "best guitarist ever" skillz)
- I'd like to think I have blogging skillz too
- Cushion-spreading skillz. My current house chore is to clean one of our lounges every week, and people have commented on how nice the cushions look
- Driving skillz, as of October. That leads nicely onto
- Gangster skillz. A combination of driving skillz, producing and beat-laying skillz, and shooting skillz. I like to think I'm the deadliest G in the hood. With skillz

There are, unfortunately, many skillz that I lack. Skillz I've discovered a need for today include:

- Egg-cracking skillz (I spent about ten minutes trying to open a boiled egg)
- Sleeping skillz - I always wake up uber-early
- Computer hacking skillz. That would be cool

So anyway, I'd like to encourage you all to discover and develop your skillz, because after all: without skillz, how are you gonna get chicks?

A Christmas Message

This is my Christmas message to all my MySpace friends:

Title: I'm Gay

Subject: Sorry, I just wrote that to get your attention. I figure "Happy Christmas" has been overplayed somewhat.

But seriously, all my "MySpace friends," - from people I know really well to random bands from Sweden - and most of all those people that actual read bulletins, I hope you do find something that really makes you smile inside this Christmas. Have a good time. Be nice to people. Treat yourself. Remember the bigger picture.

Also, if you see fit to help a poor, starving artist survive the winter, address your cheques to "Robin Mitchell" and send 'em my way.

Don't do anything totally stupid
much love to you all

Betrayal

I've just been betrayed.

My brother Joey, who has a love-hate relationship with my music - or at least, so he claims (I ony see the "hate" side) - swaggered in to where I was chilling to inform me that he had sent a friend "(Another) Beautiful Day." Good, good. Under the name "Robin Myles." What?!

Joey thinks that I will lose credibility if people find out I'm his brother, or they will think he's just plugging me out of siblingship. Maybe. And he acted with good intentions. But seriously, that really cut deep. I guess one of my worst fears is losing recognition of my music. I don't care if people like it or hate it, the fact that I wrote it means a lot to me. It's very personal. And I am Robin Mitchell, no-one else. I don't care if people don't listen to my music because I'm just someone's brother, or because I'm only seventeen, or because it's rubbish, to be honest. I just care that I like it and that I made it. I'd love other people to like it, in the full knowledge that it is by Robin Mitchell, the Whatever.

mist

outside right now it is misty, dark, cold

and dead quiet

seems like everyone is locked up indoors. i saw two or three people *ever*, and they didn't say a word or make a single noise

there's something romantic and exciting about this time of year. it makes me realise how big the world is - everywhere i can see it's misty and dark, yet somewhere, right now, it's sunny and warm.

probably in australia. fl'pp'n' aussies

Proceed Alone

Owing to.. er.. "interesting" printer circumstances, several copies of "Proceed Alone" will be available in Special Edition Purple.

Otherwise, the cover will look thus (minus that stupid blue guideline, don't worry):







I've been listening over the tracks a lot, and I've really noticed how every now and then I sing a note slightly flat. Never too sharp, just a couple of demi-semitones flat. Thing is, I can feel when I'm doing it - I think it's a bluesy note-bend thing. But it sounds pretty dumb. Getting better though...

Strings

I wrote a post a while back, when I recorded "Just Can't Let You Go," about how annoying filler strings are.
Well, get this: today I just arranged THE most beautiful string parts *ever* - I am so ecstatically happy, I could just listen to them all day.
Which reminds me: recording est completio! "Divide," which has come from something of a "nothing" song to being one of my favourite personal arrangements ever, is now sitting comfortably with the rest of "Proceed Alone" which Joey would call "my new EP."
Oh, it feels so good. I can't wait for you to hear this song.

You Can Tell It's Christmas...

When you find you've posted more than your physical mass in blog entries
When your readership is ten percent of what it was last week
When you wake up and have nothing to do

Yeah, I just needed to get that off my mind
You can talk amongst yourselves

gay

(read from the bottom)

Rob: so... does that mean you're not interested? at all?
Mayjjhong: Best of Luck.
Rob: the problem is, i always wanted a gay teaboy for my losers society.
Rob: damn
Mayjjhong: No, is there a problem with that?
Rob: are you gay?
Mayjjhong: Shoot
Rob: mind if i ask you a personal question?

Wake Up

I've just been reading this story. I feel sorry for the father, definitely, but
"He said: "The government must introduce capital punishment. You need to set an example that when you kill, you will be killed.
"If there was a death penalty, they would throw away their guns.""

I'm sorry, have you not been watching America recently?

...And Because We're On The Subject

Don't know how many of you remember Red VS Blue or RoosterTeeth, but I stumbled across this video again today. Aah, the lulz...

The Slip

Because, yes, I am amazing.

Proceed Alone

The Christmas EP will be called "Proceed Alone," and will include the following songs:

Over
When The Lights Go Out
Nobody Dies Without Leaving A Mark
Just Can't Let You Go
Sunday Morning Blues
Divide

I have to say that "Over" stands out both as a piece of songwriting and as a production. The other songs are all pretty good, but none of them are particularly well produced. I say this in comparison to "Good Enough?" which I would call ideal quality given my financial status etc. - compared To "Free Dreams," the overall production quality is good.
I have one song left to record, "Divide," and I think that it is definitely as good as over in terms of songwriting. As I have now decided not to record the drum part, I hope I'll be able to make a similar level quality of recording.

Bedroom

Why does my bedroom smell like the UCR Climbing Centre?
Oh yeah. Stale sweat and dust. Lovely.

It's funny because my bedroom got the spring-clean of a lifetime two days ago.

Check It Out

Preliminary new website, on blogger.

I rock so hard it hurts sometimes

Obsessive Compulsive

Colse's post about OCD... yeah, I get that. Part of me wants to label every single post just to achieve neatness. I want everything co-ordinated. I'm gutted that new blogger won't let me put in the "_target" attribute in links. It's so messy!

And yep, I'm redesigning (and relocating!) my website.

New Templates, Sex, Etcetera

I had a beta for account for a while and did play about with template stuff, but it's still gonna take me a while to get used to. Hence things may change a little (you may notice I removed all the sexy photos and egocentric titles). Also, I won't label any old posts but I did label a few of yesterdays, because I thought it would be funny if my main post content was sex. Because seriously, I never talk about sex.
Anyway, that's the lay of the land, and here's to many more years of blogging writing

They Heard My Cry

What a coincidence, that the day after I post about how bad blogger is they up their service and move me across. I must be their highest poster and therefore best customer: I inspire them to bigger things.

Anyway, apart from the move I've been... recording! Today I bashed through a rather brutal (the original was delicate) but nevertheless quite good version "When The Lights Go Out." I'm happy with it. Three songs to go...

Back In The Game

Yesterday I acquired (long-term loan sort of thing) church's old old mixer - a beautiful twelve-channel Diamond mixer with lots of twiddly knobs and a big heavy case.
My drum sound has been rescued from the brink! I'm now getting lovely, crisp and LOUD snare and cymbals. Unfortunately though, the drum kit is rubbish and I still don't have all the right mics so my bass drum and toms sound really, really bad.
Ah well. Win some, lose some.

[update] New mixer = results! I re-rerecorded "Just Can't Let You Go," the rocky way this time... much, much better. Definitely home recording, but much better. I feel good! I knew that I would.

Now, That's Just Rubbing It In

Sex

Nah, I'm just kidding.

I hate this Blogger Beta business. At first I was all excited, like "wooh! Tags!" and all, but now it just seems like everything is going wrong. I can't post comments on Beta blogs. Apparently Beta users can't comment me. Lots of Beta stuff seems to be going a bit mental, whereas us old-school users are stuck in the past. And they keep leaving me messages everywhere saying "CLICK HERE, JOIN BETA" and then I click and it's like "Actually, not today. Sorry."

Why?!

Unecessary Sex

Just watched "Arthur." It had its moments - I certainly appreciated the historical elements, the cinematography and the sound - but it wasn't the strongest of films. But it did get me thinking about sex. That's right kids, sex. It's a sure sign of our over-sexed western society when a 12 rated film about knights and horses features ten minutes close up of Kiera Knightley and Clive Owen going at it. Under blue lights, for some eerie reason.
Anyway, sometimes the sexual relationship between characters in a film is fundemental to the plot, sometimes there can be a "need" for sex (after all, without it none of us would be here). In fact, I'm not adverse to a bit of sex myself from time to time (I crossed that out but left it in because it was funny - see?). But putting a sex-scene in a film about King Arthur certainly doesn't enhance the plot, even if it is Kiera Knightley (or Clive Owen, whichever team you swing for), and to be honest it just twists the point of the film and the experience of the film for a totally unecessary reason. It's like pop-song writers who put in key changes just for the hell of it. If there's a purpose that's one thing, but when it becomes routine (and, judging by the last twenty recent films I've seen, it has) it detracts from the film rather than helping it. Okay, it wasn't a great film anyway, but that really didn't help.
And now I'm gonna have loads of people that search "Sex" on google turn up at my blog... oh joy.

Web 2.0

The deciding factor in Time Person Of The Year 2006

It's actually kinda sweet

Finished

School is totally out.
I was gonna be pretty excited about my "holiday," but unfortunately my last lesson was a total anticlimax. Philosophy, normally so much fun, full of laughs and mindgames and stuff, but... no teacher. Four of us waited around for half an hour, just in case she showed up... and all we got was our ethics teacher who set us some reading! My last ever lesson of 2006! What a disappointment.

Genocide and Colonialism

There's something quite uniquely refreshing about cleaning your room properly - not just a surface clean, but a deep, nook-and-cranny sort of clean. Sort of spiritual.

Anyway. Harking back to our recent game of RISK (which I won), I've decided that it must be an evil game. Or at least incredibly popular among nationalists and racists. I mean, half of the missions request that you eliminate an entire race. The other half just ask you to conquer two or more continents. Seriously - colonialism was on the way out until RISK became family game of the year.
In our game, Perran and I wiped out three races between us. It's worse than Nazism!

Good fun though

girls

esther: you should be coming to Cheltenham [uni] too
robin: i'll be on gap year, i'll bus' up and visit you... chill out... meet all your hot student friends...
esther: but they'll all be girls!

Carols

I could listen to Johnathon James' arrangements all night, I really could. However, some carols out there really bug me (eg. "The First Noel" and "Good King Wenceslas") - the lyrics are appalling. Really, really bad. Trying to rhyme "frankinsence" (that spelling looks wrong...) with "presence," for example.

But I'm not here to bitch about carols, I'll do that in person when we next meet. I'd just like to mention how many great people there are out there. And yet how easy it is to totally miss them all. In a building with 600+ amazing people I still felt mildly depressed that I didn't really have a single significant conversation with anyone.

Proof Of Rob

Damnit. I was gonna write a post bragging about how amazing I am (yeah, I just won at RISK again) but then I figured that theme has been overplayed.

Hmm.

You know, I played some really bad guitar this morning? Also, on my way home I dropped some litter on the ground instead of putting it in the bin. I'm a bad person.

Mental

Is it just me or does everyone go a little bit crazier over Christmas? They do, don't they. Why?!

Vinyl! w00t!

I've just found this effect on Cubase called "Grungelizer," which effectively makes the part sound like it's on 80-year-old vinyl. I just put it to use on this little blues song called "Nobody Dies Without Leaving A Mark," it's perfect... sounds like you're in a power station or something.

----

On that note, I've spent today changing a couple of things and boosting my "mediocre" songs to "good" songs. I think. Certainly "Nobody Dies..." is far better - nearly exactly how I'd want it, given circumstances - and "Just Can't Let You Go" has lost a lot of the string parts and become a simple - but effective - acoustic song. I think the next step is forward!

Merry Christmas

devotion's "X-mas Factor" last night included a storming rendition of "Tribute" by the Mitchell brothers (featuring Matt Bennett), and the devotion band performing "Fairytale of New York," complete with a keyboard, guitars, banjos, all sorts of rattles and bells and hats etc. We launched into a merry rendition "Joy To The World" complete with oddball twinkly guitar playing etc. It was great fun!
Anyway, on the upthrust of that I decide to make a "Christmas Video" of Robin Mitchell performing that well-known Christmas classic, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas."

One week and two days left, get those advent calendars rolling!

Early Start

A strange thing happened to me this morning. I woke up, got out of bed, went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, had a shave, was about to get in the shower when I looked at my watch and saw that it was 1am.
The killer of routine. It took me a while to get back to sleep and it was the weirdest sleep ever too, kinda disturbed. The moral of the story? Always check the time before getting out of bed...

Compromise

I've recorded an "Acoustic" version of "Just Can't Let You Go" - it keeps the song's structure almost exactly, but there are many changes: It is slowed down by 10bmp; instead of softly purring/loud raging electric guitars there are gentle acoustic guitars; simple string parts fill out the song where more exciting guitar and drum work would be - incidentally, there are no drums; the song loses quite a lot of its creative element but keeps the riffs and the lyrics which were some of the best bits.
I fear that it's a little samey if played back to back with "Over" and "Sunday Morning Blues," but unless I went for a harsher, worse-recorded sound - or found a cellist - it was about the only choice. Background MIDI is a good sound filler, but one has to be careful not to use the same old stuff over and over, as I tend towards...

Tree

Today, Thursday 13th December 2006, marks the earliest ever date that a Christmas tree was purchased by Ashley Down House. And we've got it up and running and everything. Lovely.

In other news, the final version of the Mitchell Family Christmas Letter has been completed (as scribed by yours truly) - if you'd like a proper copy complete with sexy photosh then don't hesitate to ask but otherwise, here's the basics:

Mitchell Family Christmas Letter 2006

As you get older you realise how much can change in a year. You also realise just how short a year really is. Now, I am by no means old – Old Man Dave, on the other hand, is very old – but I am older than I was last year, what with aging, maturing (aha) and all that, so I know this fact far better now than I did last year.
I’m writing about the Mitchell family from the perspective of One, and no doubt I’ll miss out many important things and include many useless ones but really, it’s Christmas… who cares? Here goes:
Esther’s going to New Zealand! Actually, this does grieve us all somewhat (we will miss her, honestly) but it is also a genuinely exciting thing. I mean, New Zealand. New Zealand. New Zealand. Land of The Kiwi, Mountains, Maoris and Peter Jackson. Exciting! Since September, travel costs - and the price of the Discipleship Training School she’ll be attending - have kept her busy earning in SS Peter and Paul Primary School, Monsoon and other glamorous occupations. She is still with the gallant and handsome Ed, after nearly a year and a half, who is also off to travel the world in January before starting a Physics course at Liverpool University in September 2007. This is the same time that Esther will be starting her teaching degree at the University of Gloucester.
Robin has been working hard on his creative writing and particularly his music – his band ProtegePlan recently played their first and second gigs at local venues and had to cancel a third just this month, his weblog now has around forty regular readers, and he plans to record another EP over Christmas. His school-work does not receive nearly as much attention, but he does put in more than effort his dear old parents give him credit for, bless them. Robin has postponed making important life decisions so that he can spend more time eating – however, it is looking increasingly likely that he will take a gap-year next year, and perhaps the one after too for good measure. Robin’s love life is decidedly dormant, perhaps because he hasn’t left the house for three months, or perhaps because he lacks basic social skills such as personality, comic timing and a decent sense of humour.
Joey, on the other hand, has a rapidly-growing circle of friends of all ages, races, sexes, creeds, genders, ethnic groups, political stances etc. and is also putting hours of time and effort into his work. His most recent GCSE Drama performance saw him gain full marks, and he has been scoring brilliantly in subjects such as English and History. Joey’s drama interests and his generally comic persona have been thriving, but due to ongoing leg difficulties (he doesn’t have any) his sport has suffered somewhat. Joey is into a lot of music, ranging from soul and funk through rock to rap and hip-hop. He has requested it be added that he is a “bigtime pimp” and that he is currently “looking for love.”
Perran has taken up the guitar. I highlight this fact because that makes three out of seven, perhaps even four if you count Ben and Esther’s combined efforts, plus Tina and Joey’s past experience. Well, well: a family of strummers. Perran’s commitment to the guitar is remarkable, and he has improved rapidly and at a steady rate. Perran also has a thriving circle of friends, several of whom he brings to the Youth Church. Perran’s personal life is always a subject of some debate, as he manages to be both outgoing and secretive. Or perhaps just forgetful. He does have the dreamy tendencies of his old man, including the ability to wander for hours without any distinguishable purpose or goal.
Ben’s latest interest lies in golf. He is still the all-around sportsman of the family, playing regular rugby, football and occasionally running cross-country, but this relatively new-found passion has kept Ben well occupied since summer. He recently had a lesson with a professional golfer, arranged and funded by Grandad George, and is known to thrash (with the golf clubs!) his brothers and various housemates at every given opportunity. Ben hasn’t always found school life easy, but he has persevered impressively considering his status as everyone’s younger sibling. He is clearly intelligent and hardworking, although unfortunately he lacks Joey and Perran’s ability to blame a look-alike sibling for his misbehaviour.
As for the parents, well… Mother Mitchell still manages to maintain both her youthful looks and her hip dress-sense. Father Dave increasingly resembles Santa Clause in terms of grey hairs and girth, but he too has been known to look incredibly cool, sporting tight t-shirts and preaching to the Third-Sunday churchgoers under red and green spotlights. Unfortunately for them both, they continue to be seen roaming the area in Arthur, their beloved but decrepit campervan, which significantly lowers their “street” rating.
David has been working incredibly hard for the last few months, with various healing conferences and other church events taking an incredible amount of commitment and energy. This has been rewarding – there have been many personal and spiritual encouragements (notably Dennis, a homeless man who was invited to a healing conference and filled with the Holy Spirit. He has become ADH’s 24th man, visiting regularly for support and Sunday lunches) – but also understandably draining. David hopes to be able to recover a bit over the Christmas/New Year period: fat chance. If church doesn’t keep him busy, we’ll make sure we do. Oh yeah… he still likes hats.
Tina has also been working hard in her behind-the-scenes sort of way. Devotion Youth Church has continued to grow, and now has an average attendance of around seventy young people despite the loss of a group of ten or more sixth-formers who have moved on to University and other walks of life. Tina also continues to visit Ashfield Young Offenders Institute on a weekly basis, helping Dave Jeal run the “Sorted” course (a sort of alpha course). She always has amusing and moving stories to tell of the 15-17 year-old inmates there, some of whom are genuinely searching for God and others that are looking for an alternative to Maths lessons and don’t really have a clue what they’ve signed up for…
So, la famille Mitchell, Christmas 2006. Five teenagers (for one year only), four drivers, at least three guitarists, two dedicated parents, one Joey (there is, after all, only one Joey Mitchell)… plus of course the sixteen bizarre and yet somehow wonderful people that share our house and our lives with us. Are you feeling sympathy for them? You shouldn’t… we rock.
Love to you all, from us all

Subtle Change

On my MySpace page. Person who notices first gets a prize (this is to seperate the true Robin Mitchell fans from people who just read his blog)

Why?

The Holocaust Denial thing is really starting to bug me. I mean, sure, it's good to make sure that evidence is correct etc. etc., but with the amount of research that's been done I think we can be sure. As someone who has been to an ex-concentration camp, and seen several mass graves on visits around Europe, I can guarantee that they are there. And why would anyone fake all that stuff? It would cost way too much for no apparent cause apart from building the state of Israel, which some would argue is more trouble than it's worth. Anyway, if you start doubting like that then eventually you'll never trust anyone or anything...
So, if this is all so clearly true so why oh why would you bother denying it or debating it unless you hated Jews/Israelis? And even then, what do you achieve? Nothing.
Some people...

Long Cats

Thanks to Barrie for the page... this, my friends, is what you call...
hotlinking!


cats

update: The cats are gone. They were funny. Some people don't have enough bandwidth...

Almost Finished

Turns out that lessons Monday and Tuesday are mostly cancelled, with the exception of Philosophy at 2pm Monday. So tomorrow is my last proper day - all three classes, one hour of history, one hour of philosophy, and two hours of music technology to round the damn thing off.

Almost finished with my recording too, and not in a good way - I'm so disappointed with "Just Can't Let You Go," which is such a great song, that I'm gonna delete it and probably not bother with it until I get some better equipment or go to a better studio. When you spend that long on something and achieve literally nothing it can be very dsheartening. To be honest, the quality is better than the original Good Enough? EP but that was a long time ago and I'm definitely not happy with going back to it. Well, I may continue to record stuff with less drums and electric guitars... I do have one good song and two average ones, so that's a start. The esteemed Mr Barrie Bear came up with a great title for the CD: it's a themed thing
influenced by sufjan, but i'm taking it a step further, you know, basically describing what the song is about in the name and it has a short "actual" name too
It's something I said to him on MSN about the song.

So... almost finished. Y-E-S

Restroom Etiquette

Saw this way back but remembered it today... definitely worth watching, and oh-so-true.

Me, Now

I've posted a fair bit today, you may have noticed... my reasons?
I've finished my coursework. Handed it in. Complete!
Furthermore, my lessons will begin to take a more relaxed feel as of tomorrow in preparation for the Christmas season.
So, life is up?
Sort of.

I've been doing recording today, which was kinda killed by the power cuts and also killed by the fact that my use of various bad bits of equipment and technique have produced quite a shockingly bad recording.
It's quite depressing, as I've spent over six hours on the damn thing and it's one of the best songs I've ever written. I've kinda lost heart about the recording project - out of three/four recorded songs, only one of them is recorded okay *and* a good song.
On top of all that I'm feeling sorta low. I guess Christmas is just the breath before the plunge. But if you look at it that way you'll never enjoy it, so I'm gonna see it as the end of 2006, the start of a new year in which anything could happen. And hey, Christmas is always happy. Right?

Careers

I've been thinking up a few of these, because I'm sad very funny:

-I'm not an assasin, but if I was I'd make a killing
-If I was an astronaught I'd probably get fired
-If my girlfriend worked at a landfill I'd dump her
-I can't fly, but if I could my career would really take off
-I can't eat properly, so I will die soon from starvation

Hmm, something about that last one didn't really click

Got any more?

rush

joey: oh man! i really need a crap and i have an exam in ten minutes
yusuf: how long does it usually take, on average?
joey: i'll fire it out, i promise. just wait around here
yusuf: i'll wait in the hall

Gosh Darn Spellings

So I'm a bit of a pedant...
Mispellings that really annoy me:

Alot - It's A LOT.
Aswell - Ok I actually quite like how that sounds. But still, WRONG
Your instead of You're - Your what? Your house? Your gay monkey?
Definately - Dunno, it just looks so wrong
It's instead of its eg. it's claws - It is claws? No it isn't, it's a tiger

Just to clarify, a TYPO is not the same as a CONSISTENT MISPELLING. Everyone makes mistakes when typing. It's just that when people geniunely have the wrong letters, it grates against the perfectionist in me.
Obviously if ppl r wrtng short-hand thn i dnt rly care lol whtvr but when they're writing semi-seriously, or *especially* in something that's meant to look professional, it bugs me. It does.

Guess how long I spent checking this post for incorrect spellings?

Following On From That...

I'm generally a little anti-Israel (prejudice, you understand) but in this instance it's good to see Blair's reaction [about Iran]: "The prime minister of the United Kingdom, denounced the conference as "shocking beyond belief". Blair also said that it was "a symbol of sectarianism and hatred toward people of another religion. I mean, to go and invite the former head of the Ku Klux Klan to a conference in Tehran which disputes the millions of people who died in the Holocaust … what further evidence do you need that this regime is extreme?"

Hang On A Second...

Did I miss something?

I've just been reading up on the "International Conference To Review The Global Vision Of The Holocaust" - a conference being hosted in Iran which intends "neither to prove nor disprove" the holcaust despite the fact that it is being attended by many arabs (who traditionally hate Jews) and also many famous holocaust deniers.

Here's a quote from an article I read: David Duke gave a speech in which he said: "In Europe you can freely question, ridicule and deny Jesus Christ." "The same is true for the prophet Muhammad, and nothing will happen to you. But offer a single question of the smallest part of the Holocaust and you face prison."

Was anyone else there when hundreds of thousands of radical muslims around the world effectively declared war on Denmark for publishing cartoons about The Prophet? Yeah? "Nothing will happen to you..." Seriously? Really? Fo' sho'?

Some people...

OK Obviously this "anti-holocaust" alliance is a big deal too, but I get more annoyed about the small things.

Robin Mitchell: Bridging The Gap

You know how I always go on about how amazing I am? I've found another reason:
Young people (Generation X/the internet generation etc) have really cool blogs, they know about good designs, they're down with the hottest issues... but their writing sucks! They're boring, repetitive and they can't/won't spell properly!
In contrast, old people write really well but their blogs are badly designed, messy and rubbish - plus they are occasionally out of touch.

That, my friends, is why I'm here: YOUNG, HIP, INTERESTING, STYLISH and ELOQUENT

pretty much the perfect blogger

damnit I *hate* that word so much it makes me cringe

seizures

jack: they deserved seizures
robin: awright
and they damn well did
that's what i like best about you barrie
you know when a good seizure is due

9

My copy of "9" (Damien Rice's new album) arrived today. I absolutely adored "O" so I was, of course, over-eager to get this and have listened to it twice already. Here's the review I wrote for Amazon:

"9" takes "O" to the next level. Going beyond the catchy melodies, soulful arrangements and lovestruck lyrics of his debut, Rice has developed both his sound and his songwriting. "9" includes more advanced chord progressions and rhythms ("Elephant," and "Rootless Tree" are good examples), a wider range of instrumentation (Rice himself is credited with playing everything from the rhodes to the clarinet) and of course lyrics with far deeper and darker content. This could be expected, from the "Parental Advisory" sticker on the cover and the content of some of Rice's newer songs, but the full range of emotion within this album should not be underestimated: it is certainly not a happy follow-up, and Rice is probably well aware of his talent for tragedy and melancholy. The songs are about messy relationships, sex, pain and dirt. The introduction of rockier arrangements - featuring prominent electric guitar on several tracks - reflects this, oozing with bittersweet power and tension.
This album features the brilliant performance and arrangement of quality songs; what is more, the Rice/Hannigan vocal arrangements and harmonies are as wonderful as ever. If you are prepared to delve into the deeper and darker side of Damien, you will enjoy this album.

[edit: I gave it 5 stars by the way]

Warzone

I think I know what it's like to live in a warzone.
Apart from the death etc.

The shower next door to our room has some sort of problem to do with air in the pipes or something, which means that it rattles. And I don't mean little desert snake, I mean big machine-gun rattle. I wake up every morning with a heart attack, it's that loud. Thing is, the pipes run right by my head, so if I didn't know better I could be quite convinced that someone was trying to assasinate me in a messy and unsubtle kind of way.

That shower has been my archnemesis pretty much since I've lived here.

Nosh Up

I did actually find this very funny. Some of you may recognise one (or indeed both) of the stars...

The Pressure Is On

I have a bunch of courseworks due for Friday, I have a lot of Christmas shopping to do, plus there's all the little tasks that need to be done... I'm really feeling it at the moment.
One way you can tell this is that I haven't blogged much today ;)
It's great having a supporting family when things get a little stressful; my mother bought me pie for lunch today.

PIE!

!

On a totally different subject, isn't it funny that I don't get particularly bothered by the fact that thousands of people die every year from poverty and hunger, but that I get incredibly angry about the death penalty that kills relatively few people?

Be Afraid

OK, I'm not the world's scariest guy. But I've been thinking up some threats desired to stir fear in the hearts of the unGodly, and anyone who touches my guitar stuff without asking:

"I will cut off your fingers and then stitch them on backwards so that you can't open doors properly, and people laugh at you in the street."
"I will shove your arse down your throat."
"I'll nail both your eyes to your knees so that you can never look up. Or see. Ahaha!"

So that's only three. But I still think they're pretty terror-inspiring. I just need an opportunity to use them...

Wuh

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Sunday Afternoon Blues

I love music. To bits. However, especially after a bad night's sleep, there is such thing as "too much of a good thing." I did some more recording this afternoon (another acousticy song) and am feeling quite bitter about the whole thing. Plus I have a major headache. And now I'm off to play guitar at Woodies : )

I'm sure I'll enjoy it. I just need to be in less of a rush to record, but then I have to make the most of my free time...

Sunday Morning Blues

Conveniently enough...
I'm finishing this song this morning!
Today being Friday Sunday!
It still sounds like Snow Patrol but I think it's also a tad bit more bluesy, maybe...
It was never meant to be fully bluesy. But it does use a twelve bar blues chord progression in the verses.

I like the lyrics:

got a little quiter
this side of the river
when the rain clouds lifted over
you could see the shadows move
and all the little side-streets
come moving down towards me
people don't walk that way
they don't come here any more

this town is still asleep
dreaming simple dreams
and you and i are happy
we have found our family
and the "something" that is missing
sits playing in the backyard
as the world keeps on spinning
and time keeps rolling by

you never understood
you never cared to know
and you're still sleeping safe
there's your cryptic answers
right before your face
open up your eyes,
it's morning

we have cool language

charlie says: innnet
robin says: yerr
*pause* : )
*pause* we have cool language

Gah

In honour of today/morro (the 10th, not sure if it's technically midnight yet) and thence my exact two-years-to-this-date - back then (at 1500 hours) I was posting my first post etc etc - I have partially removed my brash and unpopular template and instead have corrupted my blog somewhat because now everything is messy and doesn't work properly. Success! It could be my life story.
So, in honour of all things orange and white and stupid, stupid blogger etc. etc. etc. I'll ammend it all later.

More

OK so I write about recording a lot. Who doesn't?
I did some after all - a quiet track with no drums called "Sunday Morning Blues." It's meant to be - well, bluesy to be honest, but it sounds more like Snow Patrol. Which is a shame, but also understandable as it is coated with reverb and echoey guitar bits. It's nice enough, though I really want to record something raw and bluesy. Maybe that's more of a studio thing.

Anyway, to prove that I do more with my time I'm gonna tell you some more about my day. This morning, I played golf.
I am awful at golf.
I takes a lot of humility to say, because I'm a natural sportsman and I pick up most sports quickly and get good at them quickly too, but I really am bad at golf. Sure, to someone who's never played golf I'm good, but to everyone else I am Bad. I just haven't mastered the technique. Every so often (say, every five holes) my body would *remember* the right thing to do and I'd hit this brilliant shot... and then just go horribly wrong again for the next few holes. But you know, I enjoyed it and it was great to see my brother Ben, who took me, get a hole-in-two.

So after that I basically spent the afternoon moping about not having the right gear to record my amazing songs. Damnit! I can stay off that topic for more than five seconds!
Um...

OK slightly (very slightly) different note here, OMD has a guitar that has been leant to him by "a friend" who is trying to sell it. It is a beauty, can't remember for the life of me what make it is but they're not mainstream, and the guy got it for £500 on ebay but values it at about £2000 and wants to make a profit. Seriously, this is a beautiful guitar. One of my favourite things to do on acoustic guitars is to make pretty music based around the chords Em and C, all over the neck, while playing a drone on the E string. This guitar has such a brilliant balance of tone, the bass strings sound absolutely lovely. But Dave will only buy it if he sells his Louden, and I don't want him to do that. Ho-no.

Alright, I confess I have guitars and recordings on the mind at the moment but it's only because I don't have any friends, any love interests and because I've been at school for too long.

Why I Won't Be Able To Finish My Album By Christmas, And Other Stories

Suddenly turns out that there's a lot of stuff I need.
Some microphone stands have gone missing since summer, two XLR leads have died, and my hunger for better quality means that I'm really trying to soundproof a room that was never made to be soundproofed. And that I'm going to need more stuff.

Kit list:
1x shure sm57 dynamic microphone
2x universal/adaptable microphone stands
2x XLR cables
1x mixer

I saw a package of a boom stand, an XLR and an SM57 for £84. That's quite cheap.
Considering that still leaves us with a mixer (and, ideally, another stand and cable) we're looking at at least another £60. Now, those of you aware of the cost of Christmas should know that my bank balance is at an all time low. I cannot afford these things (plus, as has been noted by several close friends of mine, I actually made a £120 loss on my other album). And I don't want to compromise recording quality or arrangement quality (i.e. I want drums but I don't want messy ones). It's gonna be a painful few weeks for me...

The album is set to look something like this (in no particular order):

Over
Just Can't Let You Go
Sunday Morning Blues
Step Outside
When The Lights Go Out
Break
Divide (formerly "The Crunch")

Break might be replaced with something a little more laid-back... or they might both work their way on. I don't know. Anyway, I have plans but no means, so watch this space.

Goals for Christmas

(Besides increase my post-count to a billion, that is. Jeez, some people... ADHD? Too much time? Too much energy? Too little? There's no excuse.)

- Get on Beta
- Finish my album

Ok, it's a little ambitious as I have no idea when I'll get on Beta and as I originally planned to *start* recording after Christmas, but I think that a little healthy ambition is a good thing. I have two weeks, I already have two tracks, I figure another five or six ought to make a nice listenable LP. Then I can spend Christmas day locked in my room indulging in my own beautiful musical creations.

Seriously though, I'd love to have it done by Christmas so I have something to share and to listen to by the fire and to strum quietly... without imposing on the peace and goodwill to all men of others, of course.

In My Defence...

It's been a long day

Plug Me!

My blog *is* a brilliant read, and stats show that my readership has increased even in the last month by over 100 unique hits per month. Also, my posts have on average become 2.5% more intelligent and 1.8% more funny and believe me, I was intelligent and funny before.

OK so I'm not really here to talk about that except to say plug me, because I am amazing and we all know it. Even you.
Anyway, what I love about me is that I start off talking about one thing and move on to something totally different. Like, do you think the word "bitches" is still derogatory? I like to think that it's the cheeky/victorious equivalent of saying "guys" or "people" or whatever. Like, when you defeat one person (singular) you say "Ahaha, fool." But when you defeat multiple people you say "Ahaha, bitches." I don't think it has much negative value any more, and I doubt if it's offensive to many people - especially as the verb "to bitch" is an accepted part of our language now. However, I don't want to use it if it will upset people, so: discuss.

An Incentive To Be Good

I think that if I behave really well in this life then Jesus will let me go to hell and torment all the unbelievers in the next one. In fact, I will be the attraction of hell: "Where's your unGod now huh? Mwahah. Want to hear a story?"

Label: Recording

Meh

I finished two very important things today: firstly, my composition for my Music Tech course. It is a remake of "(Another) Beautiful Day," which is a great song, but the composition version is rubbish. Doesn't matter, it ticks all the right boxes, finished. Secondly, I finished the "proper" recording of "Over," the acoustic song I put on this blog a while back. It is nice, possibly the best recording I've ever made at home, and all in-tune and stuff, and well arranged, except for this string part at the end which is quite over-dramatic. I'm not sure about it. I've made two mixes, one where it fades into the string part and one where it just keeps going. I'll put the former online soon, and the latter will probably feature on an EP/Album/CD of sorts if I make one over Christmas.

Hmm

I tried to move my blogs across to Beta today (at last) but it wouldn't let me. Know why? TOO BIG!
: (
Also I have too many, apparently. I'm trying to rectify the situation because, damnit, I want Beta. I can't wait 'til I can be like "label: recording" or "label: God" and then people will be like "oooooh."
Because it WILL be that simple.

Also, I've decided to take something of a stand with regards to comments. I get a lot of comments, which is great - I love comments - but half of them just seem to be comments for the sake of commenting. Which I think is a silly sake. So, I'm gonna take off comments for a while.

wet

there's a poem i wrote and i especially like it
it's called "wet"

here's your liquid disaster
one drop at a time,
into the puddle on the streets below
reflecting, still reflecting
everything without
and within

and you dry your eyes and walk out into the rain
is it a futile gesture?

Honoury Member

I've decided I'd like to make Finn Dignan an honoury member of this blog. For every post I write he has a sharp and witty response. I know he is obsessed, because he comments within seconds of me posting. Also, his pretence of hate is clearly disguising a love of my work. However, though his comments are bitter and aggressive, I can never think up a decent response because they are so funny. Here are some Finn classics:

(In response to my latest "Theistic Rant")
"Well Robin, You have just disproved God with that rant. If there was a God then he would have stopped you writing that.
Otherwise he is just really sadistic."

(In response to my line "Robin Mitchell: The Man, The Legend")
Robin Mitchell, The Man, The Ego

:)

(RE: Global Warming)
Well, I don't believe in global warming so I don't care. It's all a big conspiracy to control people. You heard it here first.

(In response to my story)
I have a funny little story for you Robin.... It goes a little something like this..


One day in a land far away there was a man, let's call him The Dudemeister (Master of Dudes).

One of The DM's main hobbies was doing absolutly nothing and spending lots of time doing absolutly nothing. He valued his nothing time above everything else and believed it to be the only that kept him going in life. Anyone who would happen to ruin or waste his nothing time would be, in the eyes of The DM, ripe for vengence. The DM had gone through his life with his nothing time being untouched and he was very happy with this. Then one mild day in November something changed all this...
Someone had dared to encroach on the one thing that The DM held dear. For once in his life The DM knew he had to act to gain revenge on this new found enemy who had dared to breach the sanctity of his nothing time. This meant wasting more of his time, The DM knew this but he deemed it neccesary to prevent this atrocity ever happening again.
He was galvanised into action, something very new to The DM.
He started to think.....minutes went by...............he then realised that the answer was simple, he must hit back by wasting some of there time by doing exactly what they did. He decieded to write an annoying story.
The End.

The moral of this story is....don't make me write stupid stories. They are not good for anyone.

BTW. Good story. I don't know what it was about, but I'm sure it had a deeper meaning.

What can we conclude from this? Finn's a clear candidate for "Honoury Member," but the truth is he'll probably be put off from posting comments ever again. Either way, I win...

I'm Dreaming Of A Racist Christmas

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know."
Harking back to the old days before our culture was polluted by ethnics eh? I get it. The subtle underlying racism of this song disgusts me, and I think we should get it banned. Every year this song is blasted from sound systems across the country and no-one seems to care.
BAN RACIST CHRISTMAS MUSIC! APPEAL!
Also, if you think racist songs should not be allowed then don't buy the record or play it, and if you hear it being played ask for it to be switched OFF.

They're Taking The Hobbits To Kuala Lumpur!

Okay, this is another video I always found very funny. For ages I couldn't remember what it was called (I tried GIs, Spies etc) but it turns out it's called "Scampi." I could only find it on the original site - Weebl - so I couldn't embed it. Nevertheless, I recommend you take twenty seconds of your time to watch it.

New Songs

You may be aware that I've been writing a lot of songs recently. Sitting on my desktop at the moment are drafts of eight songs that I've been working through - some for ProtegePlan and some for the Robin Mitchell solo project. I'm not sure quite which to use for which yet... the song I introduced to The Plan they didn't like much (it's brilliant though, don't listen to them).
The songs are currently called by these titles:

Break
Know Too Much
Lead Me Down
Lonely Room
The Crunch
Step Outside
When The Lights Go Out
Just Can't Let You Go

I've just realised that only three of these songs spend more than a few bars in a major key. As you could probably guess by the titles. Don't be put off though, I've been pursuing a more creative and emotive direction and I'm really pleased with them at the moment. I hope to record four of them over Christmas.

As well as these songs, there is Christmas Rain which can be found on my MySpace profile (link: http://myspace.com/rmitchellmusic) and which you should definitely check out.
If you are interested in my music at all then feel free to ask questions, get CDs etc. Also check the House of Dreams for more lyrics and poems (though I recognise that lyrics are generally easier to appreciate once you hear the song).

I Used To Be A Nice Guy

I've been reading back over my blog entries for the last couple of years (you know, I've been on MySpace almost a year now! Isn't that nuts?) and there have been ups and downs but I used to be a lot nicer. Gentler. More immature, sure; slightly less intelligent, yep. But nicer, too. I'm more hardened and more cynical. Thing is, I almost think I deserve to be. I haven't had a hellish life, I've never been abused or starved, but life hasn't been a bed of roses either.
But then you think, no-one's life has been perfect. And it's good to be clever, to be deep, to be witty, but if you make life seem miserable it will become miserable and that will really suck.

I think that this Christmas is gonna be a time of "returning" for me. Or just one big partay. Either way, should be a lot of fun...

Redefining Cool

Yeah, I just used the word "ain't" about three times in a post about God

[update - back online]

Blogger Down!

It appears that blogger.com is down at the moment... either that or I'm having browser problems...

either way, I've resorted to using Windows Live Writer Beta, which reminds me again of how little I trust the WL movement, and how much of their freeware I've acquired.
Anyway, that ain't why I'm here - I'd like to talk to you about the God-Sandwich Conundrum, as inspired by debates in our Philosophy class.

People often accuse Christians of falling back to the "God moves in mysterious ways" line in philisophical argument. Personally, as one who believes that God's existence is impossible to prove or disprove, I don't really see the point. But I guess I am sorta guilty of it... because it's true. I wouldn't simplify it that much though: take the "Can God make a sandwich so big that God can't eat it?" question. Many people would say "Don't be silly" in response to that question, but I'd say that the question tries to put God in a box that ain't God-shaped or God-sized. God would make and unmake the sandwhich, and not eat it, and eat it, and be the sandwhich... all the while remaining God. God isn't so simple that he can just make a big sandwhich: do you see what I mean? I don't think this is backing out, it's just that part of God's nature is that he's... well, God.

Anyway, if you follow this train of thought then things like the problem of evil or suffering in the world aren't such a big deal any more. Hence why I can believe it. It's just pretty hard to explain to other people in the space of about ten seconds.

Woah Rob, didn't expect a theistic rant there, we was hoping for some nonsense about how you hate the word blog...

We Could Be Heroes

A Music Tech. assignment was to deconstruct "Heroes" by David Bowie. Here's my conclusion:

The song was recorded before the influx of digital technology and new recording equipment and technique. As a result it sounds dated and a little amateur. Furthermore, the basic songwriting approach fails to impress or captivate effectively. However, a range of instruments and effects are used, and the song’s repetitiveness makes it catchy and easy to remember. Also, while the song is at times tedious it is also easy to listen to. The positive lyrics and message of this song, combined with its bouncy feel, will probably be absorbed greedily by a blindly optimistic consumerist society searching for the next little dose of happiness. Sellouts.

Gutted To Miss This One...

Calexico and Sufjan Stevens in one night. Probably the best folk show ever.

Another country, a month ago... I'd still go if I could

Scrooges

You know, it really bugs me when people hate Christmas just because other people like it. I mean, I do that with stuff all the time - I love playing devil's advocate and being controversial just to wind people up a bit - but Christmas is different. Why can't there just be *one* perfect ideal for everyone? One day when everyone tries a little harder to be "nice," whatever the hell that means.
So why hate Christmas? I can think of a thousand and one reasons, starting with the festive cheer and ending with being broke. But there are a thousand and one - nay, two - reasons to love Christmas. Or to at least try. Christmas dinners, presents, these things are good. But what I like about Christmas most of all is that you can walk down the street and say "Happy Christmas" to someone and they will almost definitely say it back to you. I mean, I know about 10% of the people that live *on my road*, let alone in the city, and that's because our culture says "Do not talk to the strange person in the street or s/he may eat you alive." Christmas is the one time when people can talk to a random guy on the street for no reason at all, when people feel slightly happier for no reason at all. So why not focus on the positive aspects instead of the negative ones, and try to make Christmas better for people who find it hard rather than worse for people who enjoy it? Huh? You killjoy piece of subhuman scum...

More Than Words?

I found a copy of some words I wrote to "Fairytale" that differ to the original. I actually like them better, apart from the chorus which is a bit "hey-ho". Those of you that have FYH (or managed to sneak a copy of "Free Dreams" before it was destroyed forever) will know what I mean and you *won't* recognise most of this:

more than words
talking without speaking
no sound but our breathing
what does it mean to you
when you look at me that way?

irises ablaze
so hard to meet your gaze
but the walls all melt away
when you talk that way

what words can't say
we can't explain
nothing else matters
nothing else will ever be the same
that which stays
is that which will never change
it's that which doesn't matter
we will always remain

nothing but the fire
burning from inside
gentle warmth of night
still fierce as the day

somehow i'm not afraid
my heartbeat still holds sway
and you know what my eyes say
when i look at you that way

in my mind's eye
it's you every time
and when i move
i still know you're nearby
i don't know why
i see what what i see
but i know i still see you
looking at me

I especially like this last verse. In the album version I just sing the last bit (from "I don't know why")

A Life Less Ordinary

As I pulled up in my parents' green Fiat Punto and strolled towards my 45-room hippie-commune/mansion - having dropped my horse-riding amigo Ben Coles home after a discussion about the Bath Road and God - I thought, "That's pretty much me: a life less ordinary."

Robin Mitchell, The Man, The Legend

Why MySpace *Is* Good

44 plays and 3 downloads in twelve hours... that is pretty good going.

Keep spreading those words...

Christmas Feeling

I have a "Christmas Feeling" playlist. Today I made it into a CD - cut down to 17 tracks and gleaming like a waxed chest.
These aren't Christmas songs (mostly) - they're songs which have a Christmas warmth or Christmas connotations for me. Or both. But if you listen to them in a Christmassy atmosphere, you'll know what I mean. The final CD is a little bit one-track... similar artists, similar sounds... but that's kinda what I needed. Here goes:

1 - Fairytale of New York by The Pogues
2 - Van Diemen's Land by The Edge
3 - Turn by Feeder
4 - Run by Snow Patrol
5 - Angels by Robbie Williams
6 - Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead
7 - Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd
8 - Blackout by Muse
9 - Read My Mind by The Killers
10 - Forget About Tomorrow by Feeder
11 - Sparks by Coldplay
12 - Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own by U2
13 - Yellow by Coldplay
14 - Now We Are Free by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard (from "Gladiator")
15 - The Bends by Radiohead
16 - Everything's Not Lost by Coldplay
17 - Christmas Rain by Robin Mitchell

Okay, so there's three songs from "Parachutes" by Coldplay on there. Reason being, "Parachutes" is one of the best pop albums ever recorded, and it was released around Christmas time 2000 (or whenever), and I listened to it a lot around Christmas when I got it, and also it has the mixture of melancholy (for those calm, warm winter evenings) and merry (for that sparkly Christmas joy).

Best Joke Ever

We were reading the "best book of knock-knock jokes ever," or something similar, which was truly appalling: I don't just mean bad, I mean non-sensical. Like, "knock knock - who's there? - iguana - iguana who? - iguana rule the world." Seriously.
Anyway, that inspired a bad-joke-telling spree in which Simon told an interesting rendition of an old classic:
"Man walks into a shrink's office with transparent trousers on. The shrink looks up and says 'I can clearly see your balls!'"
That really did have us in hysterics.

And he will never live it down.

Christmas Rain

Good Old Dave purchased us a couple of Samson C02 Pencil condenser mics - the same mics we use in Music Tech, coincidentally - out of the kindness of his heart, and today I took it upon myself to try them out in preparation for some recording over the Christmas break. This morning I wrote an actual Christmas Song (those of you that know me well may be aware that, with a few exceptions, I find Christmas pop-songs unbearable). Anyway, the song was an experiment, mainly influenced by Dylan and his themed ballads, and it is a little bit autobiographical although it's sort of telling my story from someone else's eyes... I dunno. It's open to interpretation, of course. So: I have this Christmas song, and I recorded it using the mics. They are awesome - even for vocals (they're mainly acoustic instrument mics) - and the first mix actually sounds really nice. It's an acoustic song, two guitars and two vocals, but I think that it has a Christmassy warmth about it that I don't mind sharing. Also, I thought it was about time people started writing more thoughtful Christmas songs : )

You can find the song on my MySpace, currently available for download.

The Aftermath

It's funny because I was Exactly Spot-On Correct about band. We were all pretty tired, but we didn't actually argue... however, there were a few disagreements about themes, direction etc. Plus Chris and Aidan both noted how "almost everyone preferred the funky stuff." I don't want this to appear slighting towards them and their musical taste, I'm more trying to offer a perspective into band dynamics, and the challenge of trying to be a little more creative. Or at least pushy. The new song I introduced today didn't go well - my idea for it was that it went speedy and flat, pacing along through verse and chorus, to the third section which basically blows everything away. It's damn good. Anyway, Chris and Aidan didn't like the "dead" bit of the song. I based it a little on "The Bitter End," by Placebo - dry, pacing guitar - but the third section just explodes into brilliance. But you see, it needs the first and second sections to give it that edge. Also, the first two sections aren't all bad... just a little stabby and dry. Well, I like it. The song, by the way, is "Lonely Room" and maybe will be recorded over Christmas...

I still have "They're Taking The Hobbits To Isengard!" in my head. Isn't that pure quality?

They're Taking The Hobbits To Isengard!

The Big Fight

Today will be our first band practice since the gig, and it will be interesting to see different perspectives on where we should "go." The funny thing is, I know exactly what views everyone will have: Aidan will recognise that people all enjoyed the dirty funk stuff, jumping around etc. and will push for more of that style. Chris enjoys the heavier "metal" influenced songs and probably got a fair bit of praise for his drumming on those songs. As for me, I know that those styles will please people, in the short term, but it feels like a one-night-stand approach. I wanna push for the more sensitive/creative side - with a bit of a kick, of course - that won't please straight away but that will gradually drag people in and never let them go. "Good Enough?" is the poppy side of that - upbeat, melancholy and catchy, but with an emotional edge. I want to push for a more creative *that way*... plus, everyone loves "Good Enough?". Of course they do.

Anyway, we will probably be at each other's throats in a very diplomatic and cautious way. So I look forward to seeing what happens. Before the gig I'd already written two songs in the same vein as "Good Enough?"/creative stuff. After it I've written one more in that style, plus something a little heavier, plus something not dissimilar to "The Bends"-era Radiohead. And Aidan's written three funk songs.

May the best man win.

Adagio

Every now and then I write this post, that goes like this: "Every now and then you realise that life is worth nothing, and it's not in a bad 'meaningless, meaningless' way but in a 'Oh, it's not such a big deal after all, relax,' kind of way." What I mean is not that we shouldn't take life seriously, but that we shouldn't take life *too* seriously. And people matter, relationships matter, but you know... they're not the most important thing ever. People will die. Man will rise and fall.

Some advice to y'all: take seven minutes and ten seconds out of your day to sit back, close your eyes, and listen to Barber's Adagio for Strings. There's something about that simple but stirring, soaring melody that is both soothing and refreshing. Go on, try it. It might work wonders.

Respect

I don't really know what a "sensitive guy" is, but I care about what people think about me (as, I assume, pretty much everyone does) so maybe I am one.
One thing I worry about is losing the respect of people I respect. As one involved in church-stuff, living in community etc. there's a fair few twenties and thirty-somethings that I've befriended. I guess it's this group of people - people that are young enough to almost be seen as peers but old enough to be seen as mentors/influences - that I particularly fret about. There's many wise, funny, talented people that I know and when I first meet them we seem to have a mutual respect thing. I guess I worry that as I get to know people more they realise how much of a flawed human being I am and don't respect me as much. Like, sometimes I fret about stuff I write on here, or elsewhere, because I'm worried it portrays me in the wrong light and makes me seem naive, or shallow, or foolish. And I guess some of it does.

I suppose something that's been bugging me of late is that there are many, many people out there that I respect but that I'm also scared of because they're older and smarter and more talented than me. And I hate to think that people's opinions of me have dropped since they met me, because I am aware of that happening. People see me as a fairly smart, thoughtful guy and then change their minds because of my immaturity or whatever. Hmm, I write this to just get it off my mind slightly, and also to get out in the open the fact that I hate being misunderstood or misinterpreted and that even though I write a lot of stuff without thinking I also try very carefully to make sure that everything I say will be interpreted properly, and when I don't I get really worried. I think this paragraph is a fairly good example of that.
Anyway, after this little whtvr I'm gonna get some food and calm down a bit...

PidgeOWNED Indeed

A pidgeon, more likely than not the same, was seen being DEVOURED by a HAWK yesterday afternoon.
No lie. Several ADH residents were witness to a hawk sitting on the lawn, happily munching the carcass of a pidgeon. Clearly the one in our function room didn't have a great survival instinct.

Either that or, as one conspiracy theorist suggests, the pidgeon's mad dash into the room was a last-resort escape from the hawk. The other smashed window was the hawk's attempt to get in before it was defeated by the mighty glass. Matt unwittingly threw the pidgeon out of the house... to its death.