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If Frank had a wedding band, it would be one of the greatest wedding bands on the island!



Belting out songs - I´ll Take You Home Again Kathleen, The Ballad (Testament),  Chains(Priest) , Strange Wings (Savatage)  November Rain(GnR), The Curragh of Kildare (Fureys version), Pretty much every 1798 rebel tune to keep up the momentum, Nights in White Satin (Moody Blues)  Make me an Island (Joe) , Dearg Doom(Horslips) , Wild One (Thin lizzy) Love me Forever (Motorhead) and  Sabbaths Sabbra Cadabra

Looking for the Green Fairy - third track from the upcoming Temple of Solomon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uSSijR_KXY

Heavy Load- Full Speed at High Level

Heavy Load - Metal Conquest

I'll add Ragne Wahlquist of Heavy Load too!   

Jon Oliva

I have one more worth telling!

This account doesn’t reach the frightening depths of THE FEAR and its nowhere near the caliber of Stout’s accounts but I’ll do my best.

Afew of us from Dublin and Belfast headed to the Rise Above anniversary event in London back in 2008. The gig passed swiftly, I was merry and some of us were more than merry. After the show most of us ended back in a pub a stone’s throw from the ULU, that same pub a few of us were at before the Pagan Altar/ Warning show in 2007, but it’s still in a labyrinth to find in my memory. I was just taking in the moments, jovial and all, looking around and a familiar face pops out from the crowd. It’s that fella from the telly in East Enders, who lives ina pub with the mother and the brother, lo and behold its Phil Mitchell chatting by the bar. “Wow that’s Phil Mitchell. Look!” “That’s not Phil Mitchell” “Its yer man who lives ina pub” Ferglor shouting “THAT’S NOT PHIL MITCHELL” “ YES IT IS” the entire pub is hearing this. Finally, it was agreed after much talk, that this was indeed Phil Mitchell.
He looked right over at the group, I even get eye contact, a very cross look too, just as he is on the show. And I’m considering it wise to shuffle away but everyone is parked permanently in this spot.

A little while later “Here, would you ask for a photo with Bill and Phil ,can you manage that?” “what? ”says I “yeah, you´'ll never know if you don’t try” something like that. “Ah I dunno”  “No, this will be amazing” “hmm”  “It would be the Doomiest photo ever, imagine Bill Steer and Phil Mitchell in one kodak shot, it will be legendary, ah go on”  After much hemming and hawing and time running short, I agreed, but my gut was uneasy . A pal said she’d walk behind me for moral support so that was something to hold onto.

Bill was at the other end of the bar behind us, and right off the bat he agreed, very sound ,he nods, not a worry, grandso ,that’s sorted!  Right, now I have to carry this proposal to the other side of the bar. “Are ye? Are you gonna do it, yeah? yeah, yeaaah?”  “Ok- LETS DO THIS!”  But I need a sip….…and I needed another sip. 

I walked gently on a tightrope towards Phil and his two companions, stuck in the deepest conversation and I get the feeling this will not bode well. Phil totally knows I’m walking towards him, he has been listening to us since he heard he was spotted by us, and I’m to blame. It was a daunting walk, I stand before them, I politely nod a gesture of excuse me, and “Hallo Phil, sorry, eh w-would you mind…”  (I knew Phil wasn’t his real name but I kept calling him Phil)  I am not confident with this situation at all . He barely gives a glance back to me “Yeah I'm  talking, could YOU go away please?” ”O…right…so, I'll  juushtt…. ”  Mortified, absolutely mortified, I gingerly tip toe backwards, turning, wishing I never knew of this shambolic idea which seemed great afew minutes back but barely made it to shore.

I think I offended him, he seems like the sensitive type “What did you say?”, “I said hallo and…” Next I get a hand on my shoulder, “You just got rejected by Phil Mitchell” “FECK”   It would have been worth it if it was the other brother, his head far more interesting to look at, archaic head on shoulders. 
I just stood dumbfounded staring into the void, I turn around and Bill is chatting to a tall fair Elf beauty. One of the Dublin boys goes to embrace one of the Belfast lads sitting down, but the sheer force of the hug flips back the lightweight arm chair in slow motion ,right back down to the floor,  piled on top of eachother, pints pour over. A moment of relief to brighten up and smile, it’s the little things like that.

Before some of us walk back to the hostel I’m told Phil had a change of heart (ah bless him) but he only agrees to pose with the Slomatic lads and Bill, and to this day it is probably hanging in a frame on someone’s wall.
So lesson in all this, follow your gut signals, first impressions do count and that’s the best I got.

Also a  fresh second hand account here , have to share it for the extremes of it.

A blinder of a birthday party was hosted for a Ukranian businessman last Sunday, located at a big farm about 30 mins up the road. I know 10 people who were commissoned to setup and host a Viking campsite experience for this birthday bash. The organiser made it into a mishmash of Game of Thrones & Vikings camp set in the valley.

Intitally the mood started off mild enough, the organiser stated this would be a small celebration with 40 guests who flew in from Ukraine and that very little alcohol would be involved since they would be allowed to handle medieval weaponry. A horse show, some songs performed, Völva fortune telling, the vikings steal the birthday lad away and turn him into a viking etc, followed with archery and axe throwing which went according to plan. They settled down to the feast and this is when it gets atad excessive.

Guests were served with a bottle of the red and white wine each along with a bottle of champagne, aswell 1 litre of vodka and 1 litre of whiskey, EACH! The booze itself cost up to 33,000 euros for these 40 people.  The food costs was a little under 20,000 euros. A banquet of extremes with platters of food pilled on top of eachother for each person.

And after the digest and the quenching of thirst , the organisers tells the viking company that they want to try their hands at archery and axe throwing again. The vikings stated it wouldn't be a wise idea, the organiser insisted ,the vikings said no again. Well, she threw caution to the wind and was highly motivated and she managed to get hold of the axes on the sly and distributed it to the steaming heads. 
Drunkards throwing axes and drunk onlookers almost becoming targets followed next, these were blunt weapons but still this is an insane recipe . Miraculously noone got battered and the celeb Ukranian DJ flown in especiaily for the few hours arrives which shifts the drunk focus.

One pal was asked to supply 60 bales of hay. The organiser decided to stack 10 bales and planned to set these bales ablaze for the big ring dance but they were left in the sippin rain for hours before this gig started. So when the time came to light it for the circle dance the VIKEE VAKEE dance , they ended up having to drench it in petrol only to give off thickets of mishts , insufferable gusts of dense smokey clouds and finally within seconds it flamed up into a fairly wild bon fire.
The plan was to bring the guests into a cricle and do the traditional ring dance with one of the musicians playing but the DJ wasn´t given any shape of know how this would to be done , so next thing he launched straight into "WEE DO DA VIK-EE VAK-KEE DANS" backed with some concoction of DJ Scooter plus bagpipes and thumping bass beats blasting throughout the valley and they all do the VIK-KEE VAK-KEE. So 40 plastered people and afew bewildered non drunk workers all holding hands ina circle doing the manic VikI Vaki around the blazing burning hay stacks that start to collapse into a heap close to their feet, folks almost circling into Dante's Inferno. After that head melter the DJ announces its "ACEY DESAY"- AC DC acid techno remix    and the merry go round of Viki Vaki continues.

Did the FEAR reach them in the following hours, well, one can only guess it did.

And the birthday lad was only celebrating his 44th!

I  haven't had a drop of the pure stuff  in 6 years due to THE FEAR, never to return to it.  I just stick to the Kombucha now!

Afew may remember this poem, sums up THE FEAR well enough!

"One mans struggle with the demon drink. portrait of a hangover, Ger Hough"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VN4B-_quG8

Beautiful stuff right there!




This is not my usual hing but ,this is done well

The MonaLisa Twins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QAKz_cxTlQ

Time Bandits



Far from the Madding crowd  (1967)

Audrey Horn – Blackout


Deep Purple's  - The House of Blue Light ,was a brave move. The result is tinny though but it overrides that tinny sound stunningly in parts too. Now I love synthesizers, moogs mini moogs but whatever newer model back then they used was dead inside. But who am I to criticise.  I had Sade stuck in my head for three whole days.

I had the absolute misfortune of seeing an utter shambolic film he starred in, I´'ll never get those precious life minutes back. I'm not going to even name the film.

That sounds shit enough. This "lucky to have a job" attitude that certain employer seem to adopt is grating. It's not the 1980s. First few years of my working life, I left people walk all over me.

I had someone pull that shit about 15 years ago. Wanted me to work overtime, fair enough - but clock out and do it "as a favour to him", not fair enough. He'd didn't even own the company! I refused and he said "Well, if you don't want to do it, there's plenty of others who will - up to you." I asked if that was my notice. And packed up my toolkit.  Fuck that - there's always another job.

Exactly !

There will always be another opportunity that passes your way without selling yourself short. That window of freedom to evaluate what needs be is back in the hands of the individual now.  Unfortunately there's alot of self serving chancers in these top company positions.

Someone close to me lost their job two days ago. The gist of it, the company didn't want to have pay for the worker's extra overtime pay. No advance warnings , just please collect your things on the day, and say goodbye. It was legal but done in a very calculating way.

In stark contrast the same company took 6 months to sack a worker who slept on the job, literally slept in the corner on the couch after lunch hours. Did just the bare minimum of work and they were even offered paid sick leave  to resolve the issue and finally after no improvement said,right you need to go.

And then another account from a hard worker I know saved this same company up to 60,000 eur and he got a bottle of whiskey as a thankyou.

Tip of the iceberg example of this life draining entropic system we´ ve  been expected to grin and bear it ,sure its only a matter of time before it will collapse in on itself.

Testament- The Ritual

Deep Purple - The Battle Rages On

Deep Purple -The House of Blue Light

Touch and go with the aged  electric drums/ brave keyboard bits otherwise  stunning album in its own right.

YLJA- Dætur

Aye, but no one uses their indicators over here so you keep getting stuck between third and fourth gear so Jethro Tull fits that pace.