Mer

The talk of a '90's Anthems' MoS night at Thorpe in the summer has got me excited about some of the old music my clubbing days were made from.
I'm a bit past clubbing these days, but from my few experiences of recent times things have changed for the worse in club land. Everyone seems to take themselves too seriously, the music is either angry or made by numbers lightweight commercial rubbish, and the mixing is soulless; relying on computers to keep it too slick and taking all the energy out of it. Clubs used to be dirty, sweaty and carefree places, it didn't matter what you looked like as long as you were having a good time. Now it's all posturing and posing. If I jumped round the dancefloor like I used to I think I'd get sectioned.
Maybe it's the manifestation of the change of most people being on acid or ecstasy back then to nearly everyone being on coke or truly excessively drunk now. Maybe it is because clubbing has become the standard after pub choice for drinkers, rather than the original destination for music as it was back then, not an after pub bolt on to the evening to grab some bonus drinking time. People didn't go to clubs to get smashed, you were there for the music and that's all you needed really.
There are some tunes you haven't lived until you've heard them ear-splittingly loud in a room full of buzzing people who are loving it just as much as you are. Here are a few that spring to mind and I hope to hear at Thorpe in June...



http://youtu.be/Z4NpnPBfI44












I could go on forever.
Oh dear, seems like I've turned into my Dad where everything was 'better in my day'. Well it was.

Hello all you TPM Explorers as we take you down into the magical Chessington where many stories and memories were formed for Part 1 of 5 of the official trip report. It was a fantastic day and it was so lovely to see all the new faces and I have to say probably one of the nicest crowds we have had so far this year.
Thank you for your patience whilst I've been slaving away at the office, so without further ado, it's what a few of you have all been waiting for - The Official Chessington Trip Report 2013. What will happen on the TPM Explorers 5th adventure of this year?
What a way to start the morning, meeting all these new faces who all happen to wear glasses...

Before you TPM Explorers start your adventure can you please read this safety sign first please

Whilst It's dark, so he thinks no one will notice - Matt Creek gets pleasure from pressing a lot of buttons!

Han30 on the other hand gets pleasure from releasing an epic fart, and then blames it on the farting chair to hide her crime

It may be a bumpy ride, but Jaymiee looks a tad bored whilst Mr.Fish is on the lookout for the ladies

With the Runaway Train off limits - Phill Pritchard tries his best to get a sneaky look in

However Matt Creek uses his brain to go up some stairs and around the fence to see the full picture

Can I please re-introduce to you all the wonderful Jackstevens217, this time sporting some smexy glasses

This is a Sealion you know, not a seal!

Before some Tomb Blasting action, everyone gathers around to get ready to compete in this trips game Empire

So believe it or not, but we are already at the end of Part 1 of 5 of the Official Trip Report. But what will happen tomorrow. Will someone else join the explorers? Do the TPM explorers really know what the new attraction Zufari is after chatting about it on forums for the last few months? What animals will come out to play? Plus some bromance starts to form Everyone go awww....
All these answers and more revealing fun will be out just after midnight tomorrow (That's just under 24 hours you know )
See you then!
Part 2
So hello everybody - all of you TPM explorers. Part 2 of 5 is later than I said in part 1, but as many people know the plans in the evening change when your out and about and I have to say, I did get this done last night but fell asleep at me laptop whilst writing the conclusion
So yesterday we left you with a nice photo outside the tomb blaster after people have found out about the rules of the game empire but what will we find today in the early time of the morning .
With Jackstevens217 and JamesC now reunited. It was the beginning of the hourly bro hugs

EC! feels left out, so thought he'd find love with his biscuit

It was now time to try out the new attraction Zufari and as you can see everyone is getting immersed into the experience when they see a giraffe

On Zufari we came across some Zebras

What you doing on Safari you fools, In this trip report I said we are currently at Zufari You cannot get the members these days I tell you.

That's better! Get yourself off Safari Skyway and see the rest of us back at Zufari

Now we are back all together, Did I say we came across some white rhinos

After having our first Zufari experience, Mr. Fish would like to show how happy he found the experience (and yes ladies he has chest hair - can you see it? )

From a few animals to a reptile, this photo makes it appear we have taken over the Kobra - where everyone is anticipating the force of the back rests

To finish Part 2 off, I would like to introduce to you MarkC who has come to join us for the second half of the day

Tomorrow, what will we find in part 3 now the TPM explorer gang is complete? Has Mr. Monkey from Thorpe Park been eyeing out the competition? And how do the explorers gather their energy to defeat the competition in Empire? Well you can find out tomorrow when the you will find out the answers to these thought defying questions
Part 3
Hello you scrumptious TPM explorers for Part 3 of 5 of the Official TPM Chessie Trip report. We last left you with the crew getting confused between a Safari & a Zufari, whilst meeting the last member to join the gang. So what will we find today I wonder...
On the way to Black Buccaneer, TopsyTurvy15 practices his rock climbing skills by jumping the pool of death

TopsyTurvy15 looks relieved to of made it to the boat, whilst Jaymiee still looks unimpressed (even though we have taken up half the boat!)

However MarkC is way too short to ride and is refused entry before this lovely ride attendant announced the '4th rule' of our ride

Meanwhile the banana boat, being really small in comparison to Black Buccaneer, tries to act BIG by chilaxing with a spiff overlooking the ride...

ScaryCoasterBoy really wants to win the game empire so decides to recharge his batteries ready for the battle ahead

ThrillSeekerAlex on the other hand does not need solar power to re-energise for the oncoming battle

TopsyTurvy15 eyes out the competition, and works out how he can defeat ScaryCoasterBoy

ScaryCoasterBoy however finds an opportunity to finish off TopsyTurvy15, EC!, Jonny392 & TP1214 before TopsyTurvy15 defeats him....

And pushes them all to their death down a gigantic slope, to the deadliest bath time in existence!

To celebrate some people getting defeated out of the game, everyone went for a calming spin on the monkey swinger

And there we have it - just over half way through our trip report and there is unbelievably still 2 more parts to go . But who will win the Empire game? Why did Peaj get so down? And who out of the explorers worships the vampire? I have no idea how you will find out unless you come back tomorrow to find out. You do not want to miss it
Part 4
So you cheeky TPM Explorers, we have reached the 4th part of 5 at this early hour which means we are at the penultimate episode. Previously we have seen how our explorers get their energy in preparation for battle and a banana overseeing the events - so what will we find today...
Phill Pritchard, Jaymiee & ScaryCoasterBoy are the last 3 muskerteers standing in battle (With EC! Trying to get in on the shot )

To be honest, it's amazing how Jaymiee has got so far - just look at him

Mer, JamesC & ....EC! Again... get ready to help knock out the last contenders with some tuk tuks

TopsyTurvy15 back from the grave and ThrillSeekerAlex are getting geared up and ready to crash into everyone

After the final battle on the dodgems, the leader of the empire came through.....It was...Jaymiee , who donated his prize to the very chuffed ScaryCoasterBoy

Peaj is completely devastated that Jaymiee won - he designed the game to be to hard for Jamiee to win....

Meanwhile whilst this fiasco was going on. MarkC gets really excited like a kid in a candy store and holds up the entire queue for 5 years

This is one groovy talented Vampire with his organ - It's just so lucky he has no followers or he'll take over the world

Oh No! I didn't know Han30 worshipped the evil vampire EC! Catches her praying/ meditating to the vampire and screams as he cannot escape!

To finish off part 4 after all the drama that has happened today - I thought It would be nice to show a lovely photo from the fury queue line EC! AGAIN!!!!

And there we have it Part 4 of 5 is complete and we have found out a member who likes to hog the limelight , But will he hog any more photo's on this adventure? What happened to some of the explorers after they left Chessington? And who ends up needing to be claimed? I don't know how you'll find out these answers but what I do know is that if you come back at trip'o'clock tomorrow you will find the conclusion to the adventure and the Official Group Photo will be available for all to see I can just hear the screams of excitement...
Part 5 (The Final Part)
So....All you TPM Explorers, it is the time you have all been waiting for. The conclusion - Part 5 of 5 of the Official TPM Chessington Trip Report. We have founf out who won Empire and yes the Lost Coaster Of Superstition Mountain DOES exist (good one ThrillSeekerAlex) and yes the end is nigh but what will we find on the last leg of our journey? Just remember we last left the adventure with that calm photo in the Dragon's Fury Queue line.
EC! The photo hogger and Peaj get spun around in shock as the dragon unleashes it's anger on them

ThrillSeekerAlex, JamesC & JackStevens217 appear relaxed and pleased that they have slayed the dragon

Everyone loves it when the dragon gets furious - Thumbs up everyone

After our spin we found out Zufari was still open. We sprinted as fast as we could to get there for a last ride, Only to find...the gates were still thankfully open

After our sprint to Zufari, we were hungry, so then ran full pelt until we got to the Monkey Puzzle Beefeater

With all this running around, it was too much for Han30, who collapsed out of breathe

The super fit Phill Pritchard was disappointed with Han30's Stamina - but was even more disappointed with 3 other Individuals

Mr.Fish, Peaj & ThrillSeekerAlex to be precise - Who were all eating a lovely big Chocolate Brownie Sundae

Before we leave this adventure, we are sorry to report that a kid has been sent to Lost & Found - Does anyone know anyone who can claim him

And now the photo everyone has been waiting for - The Official Chessington 2013 Group Photo

Can I just say how much of a great day this had been. Everything just seemed to work - The sun was out, there was an extremely good crowd that attended and the day just seemed to flow naturally with ease. One of my favourites of the year for me come to think of it. So this adventure has come to a close, but for those who came to this meet also know that another adventure is looming before we go clubbing at Thorpe Park. But where? Only one way to find out and that is to wake up on Thursday Morning to find an Official TPM Announcement
Peace People x x x

Some alright songs were released in 2012. I've made a list of ten of them, including some that I think are a little bit better than I give them credit for.
AWOLNATION - 'Kill Your Heroes' (from: 'Megalithic Symphony')

AWOLNATION are an odd band. One minute they're happy enough screaming out erratic, borderline psychologically-damaged odes to pyromania and suffering as on 'Burn It Down' and 'Soul Wars' and the next they're plodding along to pop-lite melodies like 'Jump On My Shoulders', complete with la-la-la-ing post-choruses. 'Kill Your Heroes' is a brief reprieve with the extremities of their apparent dissociative identity, happily straddling the fence between throat-shredding wailing and infectious melodic catchiness. The lyrics may come across as too eager to scan as modern-age poetry ("Never let your fear decide your fate/I say you kill your heroes and fly") but the aloof references to carving your own path in life and breaking free from the shadows of idols doesn't stop 'Kill Your Heroes' becoming an easy entry point into the rest of their music. Whilst it's not out and out their best track, it's in this list because it whets the appetite to try out some of their other, better tracks.
Other songs worth listening to: 'Wake Up', 'Soul Wars', 'Sail'.
7/10
The Sound of Arrows - 'Conquest' (from: 'Voyage')

It's never easy to write about this duo, but in short, they're Swedish; they do pop music, and they're ****ing brilliant at it. Ambition and wide-eyed wonder illuminate the red velvet layers of synth-brass on ‘Conquest’, a song focusing on the age-old theme of achieving the impossible and rising against the odds. There's a timeless feel to Storm's lyrics and his featherweight voice; something ardent for accomplishment and celebration that suitably fills every available space it can reach. The song's production is flawless, packed with ideas and subliminal layers but never once feeling over-bearing. Though poppier and nowhere near a 'smooth'-sounding as the majority of the rest of the stunning album 'Voyage' , 'Conquest's tones and textures are rendered beautifully and almost feel alive, billowing gently as the pastel-coloured, metallic melodies translate as softly appealing and commanding at the same time.
Other songs worth listening to: 'Nova', 'Wonders', 'There Is Still Hope'.
10/10
Imagine Dragons - 'It's Time' (from: 'Night Visions')

'It's Time' is the flagship song for Las Vegas-born Imagine Dragons, effortlessly encapsulating everything their music is. Despite being active since 2008 and releasing an EP every year since 2009 (with full LP 'Night Visions' released earlier this year), they've only very recently had some recognition in the UK with 'Radioactive' and 'Hear Me', two songs which barely hit the Top 40 and exist in two different genres that themselves are wildly different from the chiming, stomping, sonic celebration of 'It's Time'. But don’t think that means they’re the type of band who require an Apple product or a low-budget film about coming of age to provide the soundtrack for in order to surface to popular consciousness. Much of 'It's Time's success as a song can be attributed to the band’s ear for a killer hook and lead singer Dan Reynolds’ grounded poetic lyricism, the result being that even though they sing into unpredictable, shifting abysses, the opulence of their music still burns with the expanse and intimacy of a candlelit dinner in the Nevada desert.
Other songs worth listening to: 'Tiptoe', 'Working Man', 'Hear Me'.
10/10
St. Lucia - 'All Eyes On You' (from: 'St. Lucia')

This one's an interesting one. It sounds like something whipped off a B-side released by an off-the-radar artist in the 80's. It's also been used in Hollister & Co. advertising and probably soundtracks the wet dreams of the type of people who eat lentil soup and Instagram packets of fig rolls. St. Lucia aren't ever going to take off and the hipsters will like that, as will I because a lot of everything else that St. Lucia have put their name to could pass as lullabies for the indie market. However, as a momentary blip of redemption, the reserved tone and almost blase delivery to the lyrics on 'All Eyes On You' turn what could otherwise pail as a slow-dancing borefest into a certifiably palatable mix of indie dweebness and knitwear-clad passion.
Other songs worth listening to: 'September', 'We Got It Wrong'.
6/10
The Killers - 'The Way It Was' (from: 'Battle Born')

Let's be brutally honest: this isn't really a Killers song. It's the closest you'll get to a Killers song on new album 'Battle Born' though (unless you consider 'Day & Age' as the pinnacle of The Killers' trademark indie-quirk fanfare, in which case 'Flesh and Bone' has a good chance of buoying the rest of a poor album for you). But whilst the lukewarm 'Runaways' and sleeper-hit 'Miss Atomic Bomb's only distinctions as Killers songs is Brandon's voice, 'Deadlines and Commitments' carries on the theme of family issues and personal identity crises as heard on 'Sam's Town' as vividly as ever.
The song's gentle guitar canter and minor key gloominess serve to establish hackneyed lyrics as an empathetic plea for mutual understanding, supported by a side-helping of wishful thinking, which brings a genuine warmth to the song. The gentle motif at the end of every line marries perfectly with some of the best lyrics on the album.
Other songs worth listening to (from 'Battle Born'): 'Deadlines and Commitments', 'Flesh & Bone', 'Miss Atomic Bomb'.
9/10
King Charles - 'Lady Percy' (from: 'LoveBlood')

Round about 2010, popular chart music shifted into two very different gravitational fields. One has, sadly, prevailed till this day and involved barely-talented label puppets diving headlong into the latest musical technologies and the other, which has dwindled of late, involved returning to rootsier, acoustic sounds. Among the acts to have been picked up on this wave were Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling, Damien Rice, and Noah And The Whale. Birth-child of Prince and Adam Ant, King Charles, was nowhere to be seen though, but that's probably a good thing because after the promising 'Lady Percy' and 'The Brightest Lights', the rest of début album 'LoveBlood' ran like a hipster's paradise, even including comparisons of a loved one to the wax in his mustache.
'Lady Percy' runs dangerously close to making such declarations of devotion to make Ed Sheeran blush, but the pacing, the bluegrass influences and the rustic overtones from the breezy instrumentation of guitars, banjos, steel drums and gospel choirs are combined in a rare stroke of breezy and summery genius for the bequiffed hipster.
Other songs worth listening to: 'The Brightest Lights' (featuring Mumford & Sons), 'Mississippi Isabel'.
9/10
Aiden Grimshaw - 'This Island' (from: 'Misty Eye')

Imagine Moby and Gary Jules had a musical offspring and you'll land right on the money with the sound of 'This Island'. A lot of sulky X Factor runner-up Aiden Grimshaw's music revolves around the same effortless groove and smouldering intensity. After X Factor, Grimshaw disappeared and came back a year and a half later with 'Misty Eye', which serves as just about the gloomiest, lest conventional post-X Factor release ever. 'This Island' is a swirling, hi-fi journey through suicidal thoughts and psychotic murmurs backed by the monochromatic of a Jarrad Rodgers production. Throughout the thematically lead-heavy track about being isolated and cut off from everyone, Grimshaw demands attention and empathy to the point listening to a whole album of such tracks can become one hell of a challenge. But here, Aiden provides a relatable understanding and a fearful reverence of the maddening loneliness that we all strive to evade.
Other songs worth listening to: 'Hold On', 'Is This Love?'.
7/10
Ed Sheeran - 'Give Me Love' (from: '+')

Another soppy one, and from someone who fervently speaks about his hatred for Ed Sheeran's acoustic guitar-wielding bellendery, 'Give Me Love' does something completely unprecedented. Whilst the usual Sheeran simpering is still as prevalent as ever, he's stripped back the awkward metaphors and overly acute observations about love's little trivialities; the cups of tea, the strawberries and the tweeting birds aren't mentioned here; things may get a bit grisly when in the chorus he rolls out the lyrics "We'll play hide and seek to turn this around", but it's worth learning to love it as the song's climax displays the maturer prowess that seems all too rare in Sheeran since the release of '+'. The song slowly transforms from just another Ed Sheeran ballad with improved lyrics into a borderline euphoric flood of passion; the intensity cranked up and Sheeran's vocals impressively pulling off desperation without feeling as cringe-worthy as the thought of him screaming "Love me" might first seem.
Other songs worth listening to: 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You' (version from the 'Small Change EP').
8/10
M83 - 'Wait' (from: 'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming')

If you've not heard M83's 'Midnight City' by now then you've been living in a cave. Most only know it by it's effervescent synths and that hook, but it's use on advertising campaigns and throughout the 2012 Olympic Games coverage should be enough for you to have had it ingrained by now. Follow-up singles 'Reunion' and 'Wait' haven't enjoyed the low-key success of 'Midnight City', but it's not big surprise. 'Wait' is an ambient track, slowly moving through it's duration and occasionally interrupted by Anthony Gonzalez's vocals, at first softly accompanying the delicate strumming until the chorus approaches and he cries with tangible emotion over the spaciousness of the precision-formed production. This song's final two minutes are like musical gold dust.
Other songs worth listening to: 'We Own The Sky', 'Midnight City', ''Lower Your Eyelids To Die With The Sun'.
10/10
There's plenty of other contenders to be fair, and these are by no means the best 2012 had to offer, so don't be boring and complain about chart music be uninteresting. Go find your own music and put Capital FM out of a job.

Welcome to the first semi-serious blog post from me. As the title suggests, I've subsided the music talk for a brief moment to consider a more emotive reflection about why I have the religious beliefs I do. I consider myself atheist, though on paper I am a Roman Catholic and was raised a devout Christian, at least until my father was ex-communicated for a reason none of the members of our family are completely clued-in about. I believe it had something to do with the Parish priest wanting to bless my parents' marriage, despite them having married in a church and in the eyes of God fourteen years previously, so upon denying to sanctify their marriage he ex-communicated them in front of the assembly of Sunday Mass. Pleasant fellow. I went to a Catholic Primary school in which our R.E. classes taught us only what Catholics believed; attended a secondary school with no religious denomination; a 6th Form which was staunchly Protestant and had close ties with the town Abbey; and I'm now attending a University with one of the strongest Anglican support systems in the UK in the Ancient Capital of England, the City of Winchester. So I've met many different angles of belief when it comes to Christianity and yet, since that five-year period with no religious interference during secondary school, I've not been able to reignite any longing for the fear of God to rekindle itself with me.
But unlike most cynics, those who've never had a religious upbringing and Richard Dawkins, I didn't jump to the conclusion of atheism first and then accumulate the knowledge to bring me right back to where I started. I believed in God, Jesus and Satan (sort of) from the start. And also unlike the far more fervent Dawkins, I'm not here to persuade you to believe what I believe, but since you've been so kind as to click in to my Blog I'd have hoped the unwritten comprehension that you're about to read my opinions is clearly understood, but please be sure to utilise the wonderfully-presented comment box at the bottom of the post if you have issues with my spelling. You see, where Dawkins is different not only in his methodology of belief but also his justification, is that he actively enforces an ideology of his own that stands beyond simply disposing of the belief of God, and it's fair to say he's slightly more relentless than I in trying to prove it.
I continued exploring my religion. I experienced many ups and downs in that journey, and as the whispering playfulness of childhood innocence left me during secondary school and I became... an arguably less model Christian (parts of which I still struggle with today)... I came to the point where I found that it might be impossible to truly believe when so much terror was going on in the world. The London bombings brought the frailty of humanity to everyone's mind as many innocents were killed; the Kashmir 7.6 Earthquake in Pakistan killed many more; Hurricane Katrina had just destroyed the American Gulf coast in one of the most devastating natural disasters in history, and Pope John Paul II had passed away. Looking back, it was by the end of this year - my first in secondary education and the first time Mass was no longer ingrained as a necessary Sunday activity - that I really began to question my beliefs. I plateaued somewhat for a while, and then coming across a passage in the Bible which really bothered me, I sat back at thought about whether or not it was really that logical to read the Bible anymore:

"Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:37 I couldn't conceive any God (especially since this God seemed to me more like an ‘idea’ at the time) was more worthy of my love that my family was. It just didn't make sense. It's asking to give abstract emotional attention to an abstract form. Again, no sense was made. And then, as the real turning point for me, I watched a repeat showing of Derren Brown's 2004 TV Special Séance, which, if I recall correctly, has since become one of the most complained-about programme in TV history. In it, I watched in complete disbelief as a smug and self-important Brown caused a number of paranormal events, much to the sheer horror and fright of both those in the room and those watching. Impaired vision through hidden cameras and dim candle-light made it hard to see the workings of what was soon revealed to be a massive hoax (by Brown himself; the show was aimed to disprove the legitimacy of 17th-18th century seances).
This got me me thinking about how much I could 'see' with regard to my dwindling belief in God. I no longer read the Bible, having discovered the heinous chapters under Leviticus' name. But I still sort of wanted to believe there was something out there, but like the 12 bewildered volunteers in Séance, it was fairly impossible to test for legitimacy when your own vision disallowed you from ever finding out the truth.
I remember mocking those who believed in the paranormal shortly after, thinking myself numinously enlightened by Brown and his all-encompassing powers of discovering and exploiting fraudulence. It took me less than a year to realise that in fact, I was part of the same belief system as they were. I believed in God; they believed in spirits. Spot the difference. There isn't one, and there isn't one because there's just as much historical documentation about the existence of ghosts, demons, witches and the undead as there is for God, angels, apostles, Jesus and The Holy Ghost. Who was I to say spiritualists were wrong? Who was I to say that there beliefs were foolish and mine weren't? Just because my belief system was arguably more mainstream than their's didn't make mine a more factual historical entity. And sure, it's a comforting thought to be able to feed off the 'sense' of your cohort in order to validate our own beliefs, but since when did the popularity of a belief constitute it's accuracy?
And right now, I'm not really belonging to any religious system. I believe you can have faith - you can have faith in anything. A god, a person, or a chair in hoping it won't fall when you lean back in it. But faith should be individual. Faith is not something that should be enforced onto others or used as a tool in validating arguments with tenuous existential links, otherwise we're stuck back in religious territory and we end up with idiots like the Scientologists.
End note: Writing this blog is the first time I've really consolidated my thoughts on this matter. I suppose I thought it'd help in some way... Hmmm...

This Halloween! Spixworth Fields Theme Park has been celebrating "Spixworth Horror Fields" running from 13th-31st October, hosting an event of horror attractions, fun family games and fantastic theming!
Here is Spixworth Fields Mania review of 2012 SHF:
The Park
The park themed top to bottom with Halloween objects, right at the end of Farm Lane is the mighty haunted windmill, below it is objects of the previous visitors of SHF...




When reaching the end of Field lane, you reach the first Horror Maze Attraction
The Pavilion

The Pavilion is set in 1943, in a unused pavilion previously used for all the guest seeing the beautiful gardens & house but after a freak unknown accident its been left to rot until recently the theme park open and they re-discovered the pavilion, now its your choice to become detectives and find out what really happened!
The Pavilion maze is stupidly placed but as this was the only major available land, I guess they had no choice... The Pavilion is right at the start of the park, the entrance is directly across from Farm Lane so the queues get very big

The queue line is set in the plaza to the pavilion the maze is set on you start your journey in a cobwebbed room before travelling deeper and deeper into the Pavilions past, beware as you get deeper as you may uncover something horrible!
The Pavilion 6/10
Forbidden Factory
Forbidden Factory is the second horror maze attraction this year, and by far the best...
Set in abandoned factory, the disaster that closed this factory happened in the boiler room yet the rest tools inside the factory have gone, the boiler room remains the same!

There is no blank bits in this horror maze, each room has a story to tell and scares alike, the maze also runs alot faster than The Pavilion and lets shorter queues as it is furthest away in the park! This is one of the highlights of the events

Forbidden Factory 8/10
Finally the 2013 construction site!


Here is an video of the event and a picture of the overview of the park took by the Spixworth Mania Helicopter!


And more photos at:
http://s1270.beta.photobucket.com/user/Liam_New_Tolson/library/RCT3/Spixworth%20Horror%20Fields

Thank you for viewing this blog! See you in 2013!

Girls Aloud have a new single out. It's called 'Something New' and it's a whizz-bang poppers o'clock femme-fest about mastering the holy grail of all feminist endeavours - control. (Natalia Kills has sealed herself away in her bondage basement, weeping into her handcuffs.) 'Something New' is/was/has been produced by Xenomania, so on the pop spectrum of lamazing to balls-out fandango fantasticality, it's bound to end up somewhere near the top of the list, isn't it?
First off, 'Something New' isn't something new, at least in the grand scheme of pop music. Let's keep that in mind, please - we are talking about pop music, not music as a whole. And in the world of pop music, it's not a sound we've not heard before and the lyrics aren't all that new and innovative either, but whether this hinders your ability to enjoy this song boils down to whether or not you hold innovation and originality in staunchly high regard when considering what makes a certifiably 'good' pop song. And if you find yourself scoffing at the thought of a pop artist not being new and innovative then a great way of solving this is to type out all that you hold dear about innovative pop music, every little detail (with examples of these mystically precious songs), email it to yourself, print it out, fold it in four and write "My pleasure" on it, and then pop it up your bottom.
So yes, 'Something New' is ground re-trodden. So what? What catapults the song into the lofty height it proudly sits at, sneering down at the asthmatic anemia of synth-stabbing lightweights like Calvin Harris and LMFAO and their brand of euro(trash)pop is a number of precautionary measures one can reliably expect to hear in a Xenomania poptastic fanfare, such as how there's no breakdown. Western pop has taken on the recent belief that all club songs need a breakdown, but we have Adele and Ed Sheeran for those times when we feel the need for a good sit-down and a cry, so this logic is bollocks. Hearing every remotely energetic song diluted by a sudden drop-out of sound, followed by a build-up and then, if you're Calvin Harris, a big gun-shot before everything 'goes off' again, just kills momentum and it's sort of like getting ready to cum and then your lover turning into a boiled egg. More than one breakdown in a song is an even more heinous crime and you might as well not be bothering, because who's going to listen to a song where half the time there's nothing happening and to dance like you would at the 'big' parts makes you look like a complete goon?
Songs like 'Gangnam Style' and 'Bad Romance' evade this sort of gentle disappointment, the former because of how adorably stupid and slightly perverse the whole thing is and the latter because if you don't dance to music in Lady GaGaland you could find yourself impaled on a spike of human hair while getting bummed flat by gay Nazis. So when you see Calvin Harris nodding along to a song like 'We'll Be Coming Back' or 'You Used To Hold Me' with a stern moodface put on, taking it all relatively seriously and having as much fun as listening to paint dry, you begin to wonder why he bothers to fatten out his two-bar, four-note refrains with expensive but cheap-sounding whooshes of air. Quite cleverly, Xenomania have done away with that, and they've added an audible bass injection to the main refrain, meaning that the melody isn't so slight it becomes impossible to define or elaborate on for fear of it being lost amidst any form of singing above featherweight. In fact, that chorus refrain is like watching a sledgehammer being swung at your face in slow-motion, before it shatters you like a mirror.
As well as the above, the song's verses actually fit, and give the impression - unlike so many other Best Of... releases - that the song was actually formed with care, rather than squashing in a few verses after finding a good chorus hook. Just look at the way those verses spring up on you before you even know it. One minute there's a big skyflying chorus and then the next it's dirty and intimate with five femme fatales. The girls could be doing twenty seconds of farting in that time and it'd still be more interesting than pretty robots, The Saturdays. While everyone's obsessed with trying to find reason to invest praise in groups like Little Mix and StooShe for their harmonic seamlessness, it's actually pretty easy to see how on 'Something New' the collective forces of Cheryl, Nadine, Sarah, Nicola and t'other one with the round face actually combine together and work not in unison, but in collaboration, feeding off each other's energy to the point where the lacklustre chorus lyrics can feel reinvigorated. You may have noticed recent efforts from The Saturdays (e.g. - 30 Days (To Love)') where you've got five singers and one voice being heard; 'Something New' doesn't do that - it feels like a group with better harmony than any of the recent girls groups to come crawling out of the bargain bin. The verses naturally, are the best part, wobbling along to a pulsating bassline and staying true to what Girls Aloud are about instead of chasing expiry-dated trends like adding a bit of unnecessary gloom-wobble dub into the little (big) mix (see what I did there?). It's easy to be swamped by influences, but really, 'Something New' is influenced only by Girls Aloud. It doesn't try to look back into the past at a time when handbag house thought itself rather good and try to market it as the latest in chart trends. Nor does it pilfer an underground genre/influence and blusteringly pretend they're the ones who brought it to the mainstream (hey Britney!). What it is, is damn good pop music as pop music.
However - the lyrics do need changing. The reference to "boys" in the song should be changed to "girls". A winking kick up the arse to the **** crop of girl groups we have fostering spots on the radio airwaves. Imagine how much more sense it would make as their first single in over three years and they come out with "Girls you better watch your back/'Cause we're the leaders of the pack/Tell me can you handle that?". Just an observation.
So is it any good? I don't know really. I like some parts and I hate others. Sarah's bit is the best bit and that's not negotiable. Nadine's "Go girls g-g-go go go" is annoying. I've pointed out approximately five things about a song by a group of artists I don't usually like, so if you're one of those people who decides a song's quality on the singer's likability then maybe you don't deserve to listen to music. And more importantly, if need me to tell you which songs you should listen to and why then maybe you should just tear your ears off too. Fool.

Check out my review of The Passing on my shiny new WordPress, CoasterGeek, providing reviews of rides, events and attractions in the UK!
"Disturbing, Haunting, Unique. Those are the three words I would use to describe The Passing, Thorpe Park’s latest & most extreme Fright Nights maze yet…
After hearing many reviews of The Passing, I had low expectations, I was expected it to be crap, to my surprise though it turned out to be my favourite maze of the year. After getting the usual safety briefing (With the addition of warning you about the bags, the look on peoples faces were priceless) we entered the maze, we were lined up against a wall and told of our sentence and that after its all over, we would never be remembered..."
Read my full review here - http://coastergeek.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/the-passing-review/

Though few will have heard of their music, or even their stage name, Stefan Storm and Oskar Gullstrand (yes, this makes them Swedish) are very good at making a very special, very rare denomination of dream-pop; the very kind of music which is capable of conjuring up long-forgotten memories and of giving you the building blocks for new ones as you soar through your own imagination into a distant galaxy. It's the kind of music that turns timid souls into brave ones that dare to tread the unknown and engage in fantastical adventures to recreate to wide-eyed wonder of simply being a child again. You may remember me saying at some point or other that the best pop music is that which doesn't look like it's trying to hard. This music is the embodiment of that. The crux of it being that there's traces everywhere throughout the duo's 2011 début album 'Voyage' that immense care sand attention is paid to every verse, every chorus, every line and every musical interlude that can be found on the album. It was a stunning accomplishment for today's music industry, despite passing under the radar completely, even in Sweden.
Only few acts can really be placed into the same sort niche as them. I suppose the closest high-profile reference I can give you is that if you like Underworld's 'Caliban's Dream' and M83's 'Midnight City', then you should be listening to The Sound of Arrows. This following clip is the trailer for 'Voyage', and introduces their world with far more accuracy and celebratory warmth than my words ever could. It's not easy to carry the immense gravity of such beautifully complex music, but their whole world is perfectly encapsulated here.

Songs featured: 'Lost City' and 'There Is Still Hope', my personal favourite.
Taking their name from a single line in a little-known Swedish poem by a little-known Swedish poet, the dream-pop duo's small-time attributes end there. They may be modest in their approach to publicity and commercial attention, but their approach to music suggests a determination to create and explore enormous, gorgeous landscapes with vibrant colours, textures and emotions with the wild fervour and creative carelessness of a fearless childhood. On top of that, the stunning Utopian visuals they give their videos transcends their lowly-funded membership as part of the music industry, mocking big-budget videos and soaring into a near palpable new reality. In a time where music videos achieve their 'avant-garde' qualities by diving headlong into monochromatic moodiness, obscure hi-culture symbolism and cheap sex, bleached of colour and traceable emotion, it's a warming thing to see something so simple like this:

Still trying to fathom VEVO logic. Not even I can make an explicit link between The Sound of Arrows and One Direction.
Having listened to 'Magic', you'd only be seconds into the song before comparisons to Pet Shop Boys are made. Perhaps now I should dispute the common links made between the few who have heard of the Arrows and the frequent comparisons they often get to Pet Shop Boys. Whilst it's no comparison to sniff at, Pet Shop Boys prided themselves (before they strayed into the MOR wilderness) for their sneering satire of Thatcherism and society in general ('Opportunities', 'West End Girls', 'Love, etc.') and Neil Tennant typically spoke-sang with an un-emotive tone, mimicking the objectivity of their social critiques; their music was a commentary on the flaws of human nature and then-modern culture. The Sound of Arrows are far more optimistic than this - perhaps even naive. Would Pet Shop Boys use a children's choir? Would Tennant sing the lyrics "Seize the chance, follow your dreams/Be yourself, don't plan and scheme"? The Arrows' musical inventory may be the same but viewed through a noughties lens, but the result of their toil produces music that sings of hope, promise, love, and alluringly manifests itself within the relentless energy of youth.
'Magic' is merely the tip of a very deep iceberg. Swapping poppy melodies for billowing silk layers and sedate, reflective vulnerability on songs like 'Ruins of Rome' and 'Longest Ever Dream', it's hard to imagine such polished productions and carefully augmented sounds can be produced on such a small budget. The overtones of triumphing-over-adversary you get from the the red velvet synths of 'Conquest' or the mighty ode to love, loss and longing, 'Wonders', vibrate with a sparkling richness rarely ever seen or heard from such a small-scale duo. Their single 'Nova' combines chart pop know-how and a glorious fervour for the love of someone else, even if it involved treading blindly into the vast unknown - "Though I fear what is to come, I'm a soldier running; try to see/At the end of the world, someone holds out for me". It's a full-scale event held at the distant reaches of the farthest galaxy, and everyone's invited.

Masterfully crafting layer upon layer into full-bodied walls of sound and imagination, in many ways it's quite hard to picture listening the Arrows' without seeing at least one of their accompanying cinematic triumphs - it's part of the promise of The Sound of Arrows and magnifies their ability to invigorate the unconscious with metallic, pastel-coloured melodies like on 'Into The Clouds'; the video for which is a spectroscopic world of pure optimism, hope, and the carefree frivolity of simply being a child again. Second album track, 'Wonders', is one of their best. Instead of stringently connecting itself to collective memories of bygones and childhood abandon, 'Wonders' forms new memories that promise us we can still revive such days whilst indulging in our present, with it’s pulse-raising, spacious longing and heavily-breathing journey into the introspective.

There are darker sides to the Arrows' work, and when the tangible highs run low we see them mourn the injustices of this reality. Their shortest song, 'Hurting All The Way', doesn't suffer it's length. In the brief two-and-a-half-minute song, the removal of the adventurous wonder that illuminates the rest of the album sees a moving tale with a gentle crescendo that speaks of the emotional and social confines of homosexuality. It's not a massive departure of sound, but the themes and tones are far darker and Storm's vocals take on a lamenting vulnerability. Following hot on the heals of 'Hurting All The Way' though, is the tempestuous 'Conquest'. It doesn't take much thought to propose that it was strategically placed after 'Hurting All The Way' on Voyage's tracklisting due to it's message of determination to discover and achieve the impossible, a perfect partner to the tender pathos of the previous track.

Warning: Video contains horses, boobies and floating pyramids.
Cynics may snigger at the dreamy naivety of The Sound of Arrows. Some may critique them for compromising their chart appeal by not being 'pop' enough to bother the Top 40 and never leaning too far into the left of field to drum up alternative interest. Some may even retort at their attempts to hide themselves away from the trials and tribulations of this reality in order to thrive in their own, but for me they take listeners on a journey you don't want to come back from. Grimace if you will, but in the words of Stefan Storm himself:
"I may be dreaming but I think I believe/I might be seeing things that aren't quite real/But right now, I don't care if I do".

First off, I don't really get this bloging thing. In case I haven't mentioned it, I'm old. Well, older than most here and so I haven't grown up with computers and internet and forums and now blogs, so some times it takes me a while to 'get' it. I had to grow up the hard way when if I wanted to see one of my friends I had to get on my bike, cycle to their house and ask their Mum if they could come out and play, not send them a text or Skype them or comment on their latest blog about Thundercats and Jubbly lollies. Sometimes it was raining and I actually got wet. And then there was all that awkward social interaction to bumble my way through. Oh the hardships.
I don't understand why, when there's a lovely little forum a couple of tabs along, there's now another place for people to write down their ramblings? I'll guess it is because people have something to say which they don't want disappearing on to a previous page a couple of days later never to be seen again, because what they have to say is so important and insightful it should not be damned to an eternity of obscurity on page 5 of 6 and instead needs a topic of it's own in the form of a blog entry for all to admire. Well I have nothing of such importance or insight to say that it deserves it's own little corner of the internet all to itself, but I'll say it anyway as it doesn't seem to have stopped anyone else.
Just have to think of something to write first. I'm going to guess people don't want to read about Thundercats and Jubbly lollies, so what will be my 'thing'? I am passionate about my work so I'm sure I'll touch on policing, crime and the current disturbing destruction of the police by our government that everyone should be worried about, but that won't be much fun. I enjoy TV, radio, film and skiing but am nothing of an expert in any of them. My real love is music, so there I shall start.
It is a god awful song and an annoying and overused phrase, but rather apt here, that life is like a rollercoaster. Most of it may turn out to be dull flat bits but everyone goes through their ups and downs, which is nice and exciting until you realise your riding an intermin, your restraint has failed and it is so bloody terrifying you don't know if you can hang on. I've had a fair few of these periods in my life, which will be much worse than anything that has ever happened to other people because it happened to me instead. But now, my theme tune.


Since I was tiny right up until today one thing has been there for me and really has got me through some of those tough times. Music has helped me so much when I've been in some bad places, the right song at the right time can do so much. Music really has been the answer to my problems and has shaped who I am and how I think. It is strange that a melody or lyric created by someone I don't know, not for me or about my life, can resonate so strongly and fit my situation so perfectly it's as if I am the only person it was ever intended for. For some of these songs the moment will pass and the meaning will fade, but others I'm sure will stay with me forever. Here are a few of the latter, any of which can make me weep quite unexpectedly if my head is in the right (or wrong) place.
They are probably no revelation, they are fairly mainstream and you'll probably know most or all of them. Of course it is entirely personal to me and a lot of it will be down to what was going on in my life at the time rather than the track itself, so they are likely to do nothing for you on any emotional level, but maybe try and detach them from the film, tv show or advert they've whored themselves out to and listen to the original feeling. I won't go in to why these in particular came to mean so much now, maybe another time, but each one has helped shape who I am today, I would be a different person had I never had them. They are me.




(about four Badly Drawn Boy tracks could be here. He is special)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OezUkQZx9rw


(and on the whole I really dislike Sting. But this? )




Laters.

Hello! And welcome to Spixworth Fields Mania, I will be updating this weekly with updates from my RCT3 park "Spixworth Fields", I hope you enjoy and feel free to comment!
What is "Spixworth Fields Theme Park"
Spixworth Fields is a theme park down the road from Spixworth Village, taken from their Facebook page:
Opened in 1953 to visit the beautiful hall and gardens many visitors alike untill it had to close in 1982 due to visitor decline and Spixworth Hall's roof falling through
20 years later, combined with the Uk's biggest attraction owners & alot of will, Spixworth re-opened its grounds but this time full of rides and attractions
Now boasting an B&M flyer, Intamin mine train & more, its quickly become one of the Uk's best theme parks
In todays update we will be looking at
Spixworth 2013 ride plans
Spixworth Horror Fields announcement
Spixworth 2013 construction update

1.
Spixworth have applied planning permission for their new ride for 2013
Spixworth plan to add a new flat ride in Adventure Mountain for next year while it also looks like they will be adding animals with viewing areas & an shop for 2013 as well
Here is some of the images from the plans:



So it looks like for 2013, an fantastic disk-o flat ride will join the lineup!
2.
Last week Spixworth Fields revealed "Spixworth Horror Fields" the new halloween event that is set to be the best in the Uk!
Quote from there facebook
And construction has already started on theming and the mazes

3.
And finally the contruction update for this week over at Adventure Mountain
On mountain mine trains queue:

On Adventure Mountains bridge:

So its all coming along nicely! Join us next sunday for more Spixworth news, reviews and pictures!

For someone who puts so much effort into her 'art' (sounding familiar already, this bit, isn't it?), Natalia Kills gets quite a lot of stick from quite a lot of the microscopic portion of the public that know of her. Why is this though? It's not like it's the ruinous result of overexposure e.g. Rihanna, and on that topic - what exactly is it that's prevented the record-buying public warming up to Miss. Natalia Keery-Fisher? Once known as Verbalicious in 2005, she quickly dropped the more urban look and sound in favour of a fence-sitting combination of promiscuous femme fatale meets seductive lady-droid once she'd decided she was going to give pop music a good bash. Now, "pop" is an easy word to spell and an even easier word to say, but it's not an easy thing to master, let alone infiltrate the elusive "pop culture". Just how do you go about convincing people to warm to you and your music when you deliberately set yourself away from them, opting to be an object of admiration and fantasy, rather than something capable of actual emotion?
For those not in the know, here is Natalia Kills talking about Natalia 'Kills' and Perez Hilton "the journalist". She is from Bradford, West Yorkshire in the UK. This is important to remember when listening to Natalia Kills speak. Skip to 1:17 for the best part.


Exciting stuff, but beyond the gold smiley-face glasses, the ridiculous hair and the casually uninterested-in-you-but-please-listen-to-me body language, why again had she failed to take off?
She first appeared in on the music industry radar as Natalia Kills in 2010, and drew immediate comparisons to Lady GaGa who was an unstoppable force at the time. Many people believed that Madonna copied GaGa and all manner of forum-related bitchiness broke out about the fallacy of Natalia Kills and her endeavours to invest deep artistic value into things she'd nicked from GaGa. You can imagine the virtual bloodshed. All the while Lady GaGa was setting fire to her Russian pimps and name-checking herself in her own songs, Natalia Kills upped the hypocrisy to an 11, kindly asking fans and onlookers not to draw comparisons between her and the biggest popstar in the world - or anyone else, for that matter - all the while producing music like 'Mirrors'. The first single from her début album 'Perfectionist', she describes it as a song that "explores this obsessive, adulterant vanity, this desire for control, and how much fun you can have with it". If you're thinking now that this is why radio and TV neglected her music, click below. It's not that bad. In fact, on a scale from 1 to bondage basement BDSM, 'Mirrors' is more like a used but empty condom left on the floor of a messy student apartment, under a pile of dirty clothes and study material for a horticulture course.


At first you might think - but this is exactly the kind of music that was selling in 2010? Produced by Akon, raved about by Perez Hilton, signed to will.I.am's own recording label, why was 'Mirrors' not a hit given the grotesquely high-profile promotion? Why indeed. Pretentious video and overbearing auto-tune aside, there's not a bad hook there in 'Mirrors', hiding away under months of computer-assisted twiddling and impenetrable middle-distance darkness gazing. But don't expect to find much to salvage from 'Zombie', 'Kill My Boyfriend' or 'Love is a Suicide'. 'Free' is a would-be solid pop nugget. It comes so very close to mediocrity only to fall flat on it's face that I now think it's the epitome of Natalia. It's got everything a pop song should have, except for one thing it shouldn't have - will.I.am. Without him, we might have had a glimpse of a by-numbers pop hit (which is what everyone wants, right?). With him, it sounds just like every other (and there are many) cameo he's shat out all over the industry in the last five years.
Her music is often described as "aggressive", and a "dark electro-goth" re-imagining of 80's inspired sounds, but there's also nods to her more urban past in some of it. However, said music also leaves little to the imagination, making the perfect recipe for someone who offers very little and bluntly refuses any alternative to those not entirely satisfied with an album full of haughtily self-affirming and barely-abstract metaphors alluring to some godly inertia of unquestioning self-confidence. In this self-imposed arrogance of her own "perfection", she alienated her audience before she even hit the radio.
That isn't to say she's not popular in her own little crowd - people who command attention and respect from mindless drones like Natalia does rarely aren't. She does have some fans dedicated to her fatuous portrayal of sexual demi-god status and tormented, cold aloofness, but re-evaluating these, her only trademark features, it's hard to understand why. It seems that, given the success of Lady GaGa, Interscope wanted to make the most of the new fandango pop weirdo niche and plucked the most willing of participants from a production line of back-burner artists, flogged her to will.I.am, and agreed to fund the distribution of her music if she could shroud basic melodies in enough affectation posing as "fierceness" and "aggression" to pass it off as something remotely original. So, similar to what GaGa does only, Natalia fails to produce the same winking inauthenticity GaGa had at the time (the latter has, of course, dissolved her fanbase to only the most staunchly loyal fans in recent months).
My main issue with Natalia Kills is she's the textbook case of style over substance. Like many things in life - theme park rides, books, Avatar... There's a lot of energy dissipated on the context and the foundations and a neglect for the real thing we came for: in this case the music. It's uninspired, unoriginal and obvious. She reminds me of a perverse Pixie Lott. When said ingénue of bubblegum pop music turned to electropop for her second album, she was rendered a bland, shapeless silhouette against a backdrop and blinding pop personalities. The same happens to Natalia only, she puts herself in the pitch-black and doesn't appear to even understand her own stuff. It sounds like someone speaking for her while she sits behind some silly glasses and tries to remember what to say and when.
With Natalia it's all about fantasy - the same as many an artist (GaGa, Del Rey) - but there's an awful lot of darkness in her "twisted" (read: bubbling up to nearly-controversial) fantasy, which makes it a far easier option to simply turn on the lights and tell her as she looks at you, blinking, from inside a blood-smeared, smashed glass box to go home and stop trying so hard. There's no point of creating a pop fantasy no-one wants to be part of.

I think they should bring back Flaming Hot Wotsits. It would be amazeballs.
Ah, Wotsits, t'are the food of my legendary Punjabi forefathers. One day I can only hope that I, Maximillian Wellingtonboots, will be able to, like my legendary Punjabi forefathers, become a Wotsit myself. I make it my divine purpose to satisfy one person's need for a slightly depressing, cheese-flavoured puff of wheat and MSG.
I'm coming for you, moistened tongue muscles. Release my flavour!