The Little Things

In the latter half of November, a melancholic cloud started to creep up on me but I - just and no more - managed to thwart its relentless attacks until December arrived (better known in a game of tig as "den"). Finally I can speak of November 2010 in the past tense.
Bliss.

Rather than pick out the minor aspects of life and let it gnaw on my already stressed mind, I can take a step back and pick out the unobtrusive things that gives me a quick rush of felicity and tranquility. I'm not talking about the soppy stuff like a ladybug getting itself comfortable at a tea party or a rose blowing in a somewhat meaningful direction, no, I'm not yet sure what it will be I come across that makes me smile as if I had heard a Muse mixtape being played in a shop. Inadvertently finding the needle in the haystack; something like that.

I'll wake up tomorrow knowing that it's December; that's a good thing. Though saying that, I don't have an advent calendar (so far) this year but I suppose a slab of chocolate for breakfast isn't the best start to the day; again probably a good thing. See, optimism flowing through my bloodstream already! On that note, my internet dongle has stopped flashing blue and started to give out lime green pulses (first time since I bought this over two months ago, must be feeling the Christmas spirit). Oh my, high hopes for December one is thinking!

To conclude, I will capture the overall tone of this post by giving you a personal smiley face.

:) There we go.

Looking on the Bright Side

As much as it annoys me, you and everyone else you know, the immense amount of snow over the past few days (the last week for Dundonians) has sufficiently minimised all of our social lives. It's not so bad when you're living in the city centre as everything is conveniently placed and rather than making the effort to go and see people, they make the effort to traverse through the slush and ice into the centre. But I don't live in - or near - the Dundee city centre and only have one night before embarking on a voyage to Glasgow in a bid to be ready for work by 6pm. Still, life could be worse:

1. One of your favourite bands could release a mediocre - or worse - album after years of anticipation.
2. Purchasing food in Greggs, only for your steak bake to be cold, crispy and generally unappetising.
3. You find a £1 coin on the floor, only to realise on closer inspection that it has the value of 1p, thus ruining your day.
4. Journey - Don't Stop Believing could be played at any given moment.
5. Worse than number 4, Glee - Don't Stop Believing could be played at any given moment.
6. Jeff Stelling breaking the news that a 4:46pm coupon-buster of a goal has been scored, preventing £100+ being pocketed for a Saturday night out.
7. You could break your leg.
8. That awkward moment where you tell a joke that severely offends someone in the group.
9. Trying to get to sleep and hearing cringeworthy sex noises coming from next door.
10. More snow could fall and make life that bit more inconvenient.

Appreciate life as it is just now, make the effort to travel through these dire conditions so that when you reach your destination, you feel a sense of accomplishment. On the other hand, you could crank up the heating, put your feet up, designate a place in your fridge for numerous beverages, invite people over and indulge in a Star Wars marathon; which reminds me:

   11. You could be stuck watching a Star Wars marathon with the host deciding to start from Episode I, with you not having the power to tell the host he/she is too dimwitted to realise that Episode IV - A New Hope is the first film of any Star Wars marathon.

What to listen to on a cold November night...

Ian Curtis: 1956-1980

Take one of the greatest songs ever written, drag it to the barbers and give it a two back-and-sides haircut. The result is an edgier, polished version of something that could've been deemed near-perfect before this rendition. Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart has more than cemented its place in the group of 'immortal' songs, but this song was recorded on the late John Peel's BBC Sessions radio broadcast and the result is nothing less than awe-inspiring.
Having only recently found the CD with this track on it (CD2 on 'The Best of Joy Division'), this rendition of the classic hit has left every other song in my iTunes eating its dust as far as the recorded amount of plays goes. Saying that clicking on the provided link below is "highly recommended" fails to do this track justice.

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart (BBC Sessions)

The XX - The XX

Also, buy this album. This is the first 'new' release I have purchased since being majorly disappointed with Franz Ferdinand's attempt to avoid the jinx of the 'third album demise'. The album's intricacy intertwines majestically throughout and this album goes to show that powerful vocals and unnecessary guitar solos are far from essential in the indie music industry.

That Time of Year Again

George Square: bettering Dundee's Christmas lights since ever.

On my way to the weekly journalism lecture to hear more of journalist-turned-lecturer Eamonn O'Neill's effusive stories, I couldn't help but notice the George Square ice rink being put together; the first real sign of the presence of Christmas. The immediate reaction is one of overwhelming happiness and relief that University work is temporarily put on hold, but a flurry of new questions spring to the mind that always piles on needless stress: What present(s) do I get for my family? Do I have enough money to fund Christmas shopping? What song is the X Factor winner going to murder this year?

It's always the same every year (for me at least), I have in my head what I want to buy as presents but when I decide to begin the shopping voyage - usually about five or six days before the deadline -  most places are crammed to the door with fellow panic-buyers and everything is bumped up in price. Then there's the mundane task of finding the accessories: cards; wrapping paper; gift tags, etc. Oh how much I would give to rewind about 15 years and only worry about the pending arrival of Santa Claus and whether or not he remembered to bring my Transformers-themed Power Rangers.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Christmas season, however I will continue to nag about smaller, perhaps insignificant, details about this time of year. First of all there's the amount of football games that are called off 'due to a frozen pitch'. Not only does this limit the amount of football on the TV, it also makes decrypting the league tables a difficult task, calculating how many games in hand one team has over the other and seeing teams with poorer playing surfaces inactive for as long as six weeks at a time.

Much better than the though of Wagner getting #1

Then there's the Christmas songs. I can say that I haven't heard the likes of Slade or Wizard as of yet this year, maybe due to me distancing myself from any shop that's displaying tinsel or any Christmas decoration of any sort. There's also the X Factor fiasco and of course the newly invented Facebook petitions vying for the Christmas number one, something that used to have relevance. Personally I'd like to see a new truly awful Christmas song by someone like Justin Bieber or JLS getting the number one so that Simon Cowell's army of wannabe superstars will retreat at this time of year and also filtering out Wham so that it's only played every hour rather that every half-hour.

Apart from that though, I think it's a wonderful time of year! As I didn't have a job last year, my Xbox was made as a sacrifice so that I could buy presents, but as long as everyone's as happy as a six-year-old finding out that the milk and carrots are missing on Christmas morning, it's all worth it!