jamie lostprophets

YOOOOOOOOO!

2012-01-22T14:41:00.001-08:00

168 followers on here. Pop on over to my new blog, this one is going to become inactive. Go GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!!!!!!

www.blog.richardjoliver.com

Hello Beautiful Followers

2012-01-16T03:33:00.001-08:00

I've moved my blog to my new address. www.blog.richardjoliver.com

I will be using this blog only to share my ideas and my art.

Please, please, please pop over there and follow and/or subscribe. Me and my team will be updating the blog way more regularly.

I hope you all enjoy.

New Website and Blog pending!!!!!

2011-11-06T18:07:00.000-08:00

Just in the process of creating a website that will link all my social media together. This blog may or may not survive in its current form, I may get a new one but would love to take you all over with me. The new blog will be constantly updated by me and my people and and way more constant. I do apologize for leaving it for so long. When the new site is up, my blog will be my day to day communication with the world, and I am excited to share my thoughts, idea's and visuals with you.
Stay posted, I mean to have this up and running in the next month.
Cheers for your patience.
Be back soon.
Jamie

Is it wrong that I stole...

2011-04-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

a picture of myself from someone else on the internet to use as my header?

I mean who owns the copy-write to a picture of my own head?

anyway, this is just a test to get warmed up. more to follow later. Stay frosty.

A Day In the Life of.....(me of course). A photographic memoir of Reading/Leeds Festival 2009

2009-11-09T03:52:00.001-08:00

Yuck..hate waking up. kick start the heart with hotel instant coffee, not ideal but will do

shower.

footwear, best place to start at the foundation, build it up from there. Dr Martens originals in red, can't go wrong.

...but where to go next? empty bag, panic, lobby call approaching aarrgh!

Ok, grey Fred perry, nice. do hair. looking good.

grab a few hobnobs for breakfast, always worth having a bedside pack of hobnobs for those midnight emergencies. ha

Hobnobs immediately made me feel fat, had a freak out threw my clothes on the floor in a tantrum and sit and sulk for a bit before starting again. what a big girls blouse eh?

Struggle with my cases and Mikes cases cos last night he jumped in a cab to the airport because his wife went into labor and he unfortunately will miss the shows. gutted but happy for them. how the hell am I gonna carry all this shit downstairs?

Finally, sweating and in the elevator. nobody answered their phone to help me carry the bags...shitty friends!

Bus parked outside hotel. i'm early so i get to choose a decent bunk.

Keith our tour manager and Doof our front of house sound engineer, up early and ready as always.

Upstairs on the Bus, bunkalicious!

Crew guy spread out all over the back lounge, p45 in the post mate

Waiting for Ian. the story of our lives.

Decide to go and pester some of the other guys who were up early and got brekkie. tour manager tells us ian hasn't started to pack yet so i have time for some food....maybe the only food i'll get today so I take advantage of it, also being a Veggie can get tricky sometimes, not always easy to get a meal on tour.

orange juice. Sean my mate grabbed the camera for a bit.

Keith having a yawn and showing early signs of anxiety due to leadsinger syndrome.

full veggie breakfast! mmmmm!

Ian arrives. at last.

Looking sharp, at least the time he put in he came up with the goods. ha

jocko's gone straight to his bunk and asleep, until i blast a flash in his face...what are friends for eh?

do they?

shot of doof hard at work front of house. good perspective.

bit of the new family guy on the laptop. can't beat it. bus is on route to festival.

pick my bunk looks clean enough, no suspicious stains on the walls or ceilings.

climb in for a nap. very comfy for a small guy like me.

Jocko gets up and we have a fight.

stop at the services, to have a wash and a poo. not me of course, I'm like the queen, I don't poo or fart.

Jocko practices hygiene, also washing your hands is way to avoid getting a cold when cramped on a bus with ill people. Doesn't always work though. (irrelevant fact #1)

Take over the services. I guess we don't look like the friendliest bunch of dudes in a big gang like this, but we're all nice enough underneath the tough exterior.

Ian.

Back on the bus, ians getting ready to do a dj-ing set. Someone gets roped into doing some mc-ing, this is all a little over my head so i stay out of it. "Got my brass knuckles hanging from my neck and my chain"

Planning something, wish he was as enthusiastic about time keeping as he was Dj-ing. haha.

Kitted up for IBIZA.

Sculls-R-us

Whistle posse!

Arrivez, There's the tent from the perspective of a dozing dog

"excuse me, where's the NME/Radio 1 stage?"

duh

Go and see what the inside looks like. Nice, start to get amped to play.

Start the tedious game of waiting to perform, super excited, but got a while before we go on so try and keep busy by practicing my blue steel to calm the nerves.

Catering put on a wicked spread, loads of veggie food too.

Opt for tons of pasta so i can get the energy to go mental tonight.

Boooosch, destroyed it!!!

Dessert!!!! i may be little but i can eat like a champ!

me and stu keep our minds occupied by having a nice quite round of golf, and let the food go down, uuueerrrgh feel sick.

Weather holds, sky look awesome. Bring on the night.

Cuppa tea?

"These Boys are bananas!"- coconut ape

Go and watch the Gallows perform to get amped up, and it definitely works.

Frank

Jocko, flash in the face again. sorry bruv

Lee working out bits to fill in for mike not being able to attend. Sure gonna miss having there, but super excited to meet his little girl when I get home.

Moon is out, time to go.

over to the dressing room to warm up and focus

our logo look a different color to everyone elses...that's cool! feeling special!

more food that probably won't get eaten.

festival toilets, this one better than most, but not the sweetest smelling abode.

Man down, Stu representing his boy! respect.

Tonight's set. Let's fricking do this!

No photo's of the show obvs..i was busy.

After the show, pumped, amped was killer! probably got boozed up cos i don't remember the rest. Thanks READING/LEEDS. thanks for having us, thanks to all the people who watched us, thanks for the support and for making it a show to remember. fond memories x out

I really want to write more...

2009-06-21T23:23:00.000-07:00

but I am totally immersed in my work at the moment. I very much appreciate the encouragement and kindness that you guys have written, and your requests for more blogs, and i promise when i have a moment i can explain why it has been difficult for me to write. For now, I hope I don't force you guys to lose interest, i will be back in full very shortly. Sorry. lame I know.

Sitting in the Mix Studio...

2009-04-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

compiling some of my thoughts.
Feeling a dull balance of anxious and pensive emotions.
There's a lot of things causing this, one main reason is an abstract thing called the future. every time I feel I have acquired a little space between myself and it's overwhelming grip, I slip unnoticeable back into worrying about things I have no real control over. I understand that this is part of our human condition and that if my Ego is not kept in check it will get stuck in a feedback loop of defending and protecting itself much to my emotional dismay. I get it, I understand it, but I still have to let it happen. It's like knowing I am a male and a biological animal with desires, (and mostly finding that part comical) but knowing it does not prevent it from being the case, understanding it doesn't simply control it.
After so many years walking around in a certain way, it is not easy to walk to another rhythm even when you know it's a healthier beat to walk to. My past darkness (ignorance/naivety/social conditioning) has an inertia which means I have to be very conscious (or work harder to let go of my minds grip) to remain in the light. Mildly frustrating, annoyingly constant.
Check out this for a irony - I hope one day it will be easier for me to live effortlessly in the current moment. Har Har -my usual contradiction.
I have recently been jolted by a booked called the long emergency, which is definitely an eye opener, and I feel myself trying to protect my sanity by claiming "it can't be true, and It's just paranoia" and then I realise of course I would say that. This I know is my conscious defensive survival instinct. But aside from 'how I don't want to believe what I am reading or my taking the easier path of denial', the Shadow remains over the uncertain future.
A hollow kind of gut shadow.
I wonder how much I should allow this information to dictate my choices and decisions. Also, why should I apply cautionary predictions when what my eyes currently see around me isn't really echoing the warnings.
I think you'd have to read the book in question to really understand what I mean, I am not even going to attempt to summarise the substance of the book because I would do such a bad job.

I'm sure I know what I am going to do.
What I am always guilty of doing.
I will pretend to be letting the information sink in, where in fact I will let the information drain out of me and I will slip silently back into ignorance and complacency.
As usual. Sad.

Maybe I can paint some images now while I am feeling overwhelmed, as a testament that I was here. I really don't know why it should matter though, It's not like I have ever looked back at my previous work and felt like I did when I painted it.
I feel like I am impotent to a positive future outlook. I know that I am a humanist and get very affected by suffering and feel the pulse of humanity beat strong when we are in conflict with each other and our environment, but this time it weakens me. Drains me. When I cannot see much point in the future, my now is very affected. Like I am a dog that realises the futility of chasing it's tail, but as much as I tire, laying down and quitting is equally as pathetic.
Stuck in the middle.
self obsessed pity.

Here's another thing....
I ask myself how could I choose responsibly to bring a child into a world that holds a very limited future for them which has been created by our own selfishness and short term glory.
Turn a blind eye to it and rely on instinct? wouldn't that be ignorance?
I mean, maybe one can justify it by taking what one can get right now and f*ck the future, but isn't that exactly why we find ourselves faced by such bleakness.
It seems unbelievable that most people find it so unbelievable,but then of course I realise most people are just scared and are not likely to pay any attention to anything that jeopardizes their luxuries.
It baffles me that since people would do anything to protect the lives of their children, (I constantly hear people say they would give their lives for the lives of their offspring) but yet when the sirens are blatantly screaming as they are now, people ignore the warning...and carry on like nothing is wrong. I mean if you would do anything for the safely of your child..Heed the warnings! put some effort into getting yourself, your children and family and friends informed. It makes no sense to avoid leaning on the side of caution.
Picture this : A responsible parent with a child passes a dog who's hackles are up and you hear faint murmuring of a growl and could be dangerous, would avoid the dog, walk around him to protect their child, correct?
Let's just say that there are respectable people in the scientific and ecological communities telling us that there are problems and things we are doing are hurting their future chances of survival, even if they were just Murmurs with no real evidence of it actually happening, for the sake of their Children a responsible Parent would take measures to protect their children's future, right???
Yet, how come we see ignorance all around us when the signs are more than murmurs!
If there is a chance that there is danger for your child in a particular situation, even if it is a small chance, you would surely bank on the side of caution and avoid it right? So what is the different with regards to the economical and environmental dangers? (which would effect you child even more acutely than yourself due to its nature)

I know I have had it really good in my lifetime, I have very rarely been left wanting, I have always been afforded care, food and shelter, with endless luxuries. I realise I/we have lived in the most prosperous time of humanity, and I am no longer deluded to the fact that it cannot be sustained. The idea of progress without end is just nonsense, accelerated entropy = complete exhaustion.
We have all been irresponsible Kings and we have ignored the damage we have done to our Kingdom. All the golden crowns in the world will not stop a desperate hungry man with a gun.

"When things seem like they are too good to be true, it usually means they are."
(quote Michael Richard Lewis-27th April 2009)

Wipes the dust and cobwebs off this old thing

2009-04-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

Its kinda sad. I feel kinda sad that blog has been relegated in the face of a new quicker shallower rival Twitter. I have started to talk to people the same way I do when I twit, cramming too many verbs into a sentence and stopping after only 15 words or so...I am sure I am annoying my friends with it.
It is also very liberating having the freedom to write what you mean with out deleting parts like I am doing here, I mean I could just ramble on and on like bla bla bla bla bla if i wanted to like I am doing now...hardy har bla bla bla, and no one can censor me. nice
The other day I thought of a real poignant thing to blog about and couldn't wait to get a chance to jot it all down and share it with y'all but for the life of me I can't remember now what it was.....
bugger!
no...wait, that was it. It was to do with the universe...ok so, how do I put this...

I had a realisation, what one might call a brief stumble into nirvana. I know I am not the first to write about this and certainly not the most clear and comprehensible person to be trying but I really meant to write it down in a blog before I forgot it. I felt (not thought), I actually felt that time as we understand it here in the West lost all it's meaning, as though I were able to erase every concept i knew about past, present and future and i imagined that I existed in the moment which was just a bunch of energy and objects quivering about their business, I soon felt this to be true and very real and it was a very strange sensation to realise that every single thing that could ever exist was quivering there at that very moment at the same time as me. From the biggest and furthest Planets in the universe right down to the smallest particle that we know of, only existed there and then, or should I say here and now, and that they could not exist anywhere else. As though the entirety of existence was on a stage of sorts at the same time and performing all at the same time, as though we were in a play and the curious thing about it was that there was no where else any of it could ever exist.
This is what I felt, and not theorised. And I felt like I wasn't alone.
I felt as though I was sharing the experience of life with everything around me, All the people dying at that moment, all the hearts beating at that moment, all the life being born at that moment, and every moment is always like that.
Every single human, animal, living organism was experiencing (life) at the same time. This awareness made me feel way more in touch with everything around me, and also more responsible towards the people I could see because i knew that we are all part of this huge performance/experience that we call life.
I know it's not a new thing and probably has some sort of root in Indian Eastern Buddhism or something but, since it wasn't something I was thinking but something I felt, I wanted to share it with you.
don't know why. I guess i felt quite emotional about it, as though for the first time in my life I felt a part of something bigger than an idea. And I also felt a bond with everything and everyone around me. Very Hippy.
I don't anymore, it was only for a short while. Haha Bollocks to you all, (all those that drive too fast and don't realise that the rules of the road are there to prevent others from getting hurt and not there just to get in your way, and those that let their dogs shit in the street, all of those people who have no consideration for anything or anyone but themselves, screw you!)

I came up with another cool realisation as well, but this one was a little more in my head and less something that I felt.
Everything in life is just energy and is burning down to its eventual exhaustion at different rates. Here's how I got there...
I was watching a log burn and how much energy it gives off in the way of heat and how relatively quickly it exhausts it's energy so that it changes it composition into charcoal. Then it made me think that humans are exactly the same, but give off our energy more conservatively and slower until we eventually exhaust and die and turn to soot. And we give off heat but not as ferociously as a burning log, than I thought, actually everything in the Universe is moving and expending it's energy at different rates. Flys fly fast and move real quick and relatively exhaust their life energy fast compared to us, even rocks are changing their composition very, very slowly, and will eventually be something else, so much so we can't feel their inner energy translated into heat because the exhaustion of their movement is imperceptible to us.
Therefore, the whole universe is not made up of solid fixed stuff, but of energy plus a little matter in motion quivering at different paces dying/changing at different speeds.
That is of course only a thought which milled around in my head for a little while, none of it is based in, on or of anything, but just my conceived perceptions.
I don't know.

Excuse the randomness and incoherence of this blog, I've been writing it at different intervals while running to and fro the studio to comment on mixes etc.
I'll chuck this up now and add some photo's when I am home.
Cheers bye.
p.s. The boy on the beach in the mask is me...i have no idea what relevance it has to the blog but somehow, it kinda fitted in my crazy head!!!
Ta ta

*REVISED ADDITION : I just realised that if this were true, it completely undermines the content of the masterpiece song by Take That 'Everything changes but you..."
Bummer!

I opted for bright....

2009-03-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Snowboarding for a few days. It was pretty cool, no powder but plenty of room and the weather was great. Since I cut off my blonde Mullet I was concerned that I would look too normal and wouldn't get ridiculed so I made up for it by wearing the brightest outfit I could muster, and surely enough, I got ridiculed plenty. haha.

Sorry there's no content in this blog, I have my head in the clouds trying to think about this album and stuff so I'll keep it brief.

Just thought I'd share out the comedy photo's so you too can chuckle along with me.

...and yes I wear a helmet, because I value my brain, and yes I wear wrist protection because I value my job too.

Bye for now....

this interweb is making me feel old!!!

2009-03-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

...So someone mentioned in a comment that I should get a twitter. so I did. I don't know what I am supposed to do with it though. I am wondering if it was a direct result of me posting a few words regarding the Welsh rugby. Correct me if I am wrong but the purpose of having a twitter is the same as a blog? only way shorter? so i can update it like every five minutes or something? So like, "just woke up" and "is brushing teeth" "is having a poop" type of thing?
The internet is making me tired. I can't seem to find enough time to play on the xbox because there's so many things to become obsessive compulsive online with. haha, only kidding.
so whatever this twitter is, I have one and I hope it doesn't hurt me or anything, I shall try and keep it updated, would love any advise from all you budding little inter-blog wizards out there as to how I should use it.
I wrote an actual letter the other day with a pen and paper! can you believe it? I can still write joined up writing! I dread to think how poor my spelling was, ne' mind, it was thought that counted.

Jamie is planning never to grow up!

bugger, I almost forgot Twitter: jayLostprophets

Also, could someone please contact the lostprophets myspace and ask them to re-link my blog to the site. I have forgotten which one of us is running it at present, last time I went on it i read some seedy messages by accident that were not meant for my eyes, so I vouched never to open Pandora's box again...plus I think the boys banned me from using it because I am way too opinionated. I wonder if that's why my blog has been disconnected?????
...It's time to call in Columbo me thinks...

All records sound the same these days......

2009-03-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

for anyone who cares...here's a really good article about it.

and here's a cool non profit site that supports artists who want a bit more dynamic in their art

Welsh + rugby = Heartache

2009-03-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

nuf said.

What a downer...

2009-03-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

Me and Mike just popped down to visit Rhys form the Blackout in hospital in Torrence, Los Angeles. The story goes that he had food poisoning from a burger he ate from swingers. Made him sick a bunch of times the day they were all due to fly back to the UK after shooting their video. on the bus transiting from the terminal to the aeroplane Rhys passed out and fell out of the door of the bus onto his head. he was taken to hospital and into Intensive Care with a suspected brain hemorrhage. As it turns out me and mike get into the hospital with a copy of rock sound and some malteasers to cheer him up and ask at the counter for Rhys....he's been discharged! we were like "huh? yesterday he was in Intensive care now he's been discharged? there's gotta be a mistake". So, not believing the woman we proceeded to swindle our way through security and all the way into the IC unit armed only with a plastic bag, only to be stopped outside his room and get confirmation that he's been let go. Of course, stupid me asked "so is he ok then?" and the (not very polite) nurse says "well we wouldn't have discharged him is he wasn't would we?" so I reply "well I don't know do I? you Americans have some wacky rules and clearly by my accent I'm not from around here so It's likely that I don't know the exact procedure that warrants a discharge, after all he may have been discharged to a different unit or something, how should I know?" (what I actually said was "like....yeah...welll. seee...." and shrugged alot) She clearly realized her brash comment was undeserved so she quickly apologised before telling us to f#ck off.
After that, Anneka Rice (born Anne Rice, 4 October 1958 in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan) joined us with another clue as to Rhys' whereabouts so mike and me headed over to the Marriott where he was with his family, looking a bit groggy and weak, but doing much better. After a bunch of scans they said he's all good and ready to fly back home in a few days.......all is well that ends well.
Was really gutted and anxious to hear about his accident but very relieved that he's gonna be better soon. Poor kid, first time in LA and all. And i feel bad because I told them all to go to Swingers for a Black and White milkshake. yikes! I said if he'd had been a vegetarian this would never had happened ha! kidding.
So the moral of the story is....You can never predict or prepare where the next unfortunate event is gonna come your way. Of course, if you skate and surf and snowboard and do dangerous sports alot then the chances of injury are higher than if you don't, but there's no guarantee that the simplest unseen thing can proper put you on your arse. So with that said, don't go through life being a pussy and not doing things because you may get hurt....Live your life to the max and make the most of everyday even if it means risking hurting yourself, because at the end of it all something is gonna kill you either way, that is a guarantee! and you can't take anything with you, not even regret so don't let fear of dying prevent you from living!

..and in typical Oliver fashion, to complete the postmodern manifesto with a splash of paradox :- Don't be Irresponsible!!!!!

that is my disclaimer

whoops...my tele broke.

2009-03-17T13:31:00.001-07:00

which means I have more time to blog, yey!
I found out this week how addicted to the television I was, which was shocking. I mean without netflix, a dvd, my xbox nor crap regular TV I went into a panic. It's ok, I'm over the worst of it now, but my initial response was sheer fright and I was almost shaking trying to fix it..haha. Amazing really, because I didn't think I used it that much. My impression of myself was of a meditative outdoors kinda guy who reads and paints and does all the valuable things in life and isn't shackled to mind numbing technology.....Wrong!
In fairness, I am quite enjoying the peace and quiet today and actually got to bed at a reasonable time last night and read some books, so I think after the initial period of cold turkey-ing I will survive.
Went out with the boys from The Blackout night before last. they were in town shooting a video and we had sushi in a posh restaurant. Then we went back to their hotel to have a listen to their new album and low and behold, in classic comical irony, the hotel had a blackout. Now of course, i was thinking it was a very expensive stunt that the band had pulled to impress me, but unfortunately they had nothing to do with it, it was actually a problem with the posh hotel, so we sat for half hour in the dark and then decided to go down to the reception where at least there were some back up lights, finally the power came on and we went back upstairs and respectfully but awkwardly sat and listened to the whole thing (I don't mean that in a bad way, but now I know how it feels for the people I force to listen to our new stuff while I watch every expression on their faces to see if they like it or not, sorry to everyone i have done that to).... the album was great btw. Good job lads!

went for a surf for the first time in months yesterday morning with mike and a buddy who's a pro photographer. When i say we went for a surf, I meant we paddled about for 40 minutes until we couldn't feel our arms and then we limped in having caught nada surf. there were waves, but we have been out of the water for so long our stamina was a major issue. We had a few photo's taken for that manzine blog publication I was talking about before, and got a parking ticket for being 3 mins late! Nazis!
It's shocking how quick you can lose sport specific fitness, now that the record is nearly done I guess I can try and do a bit more of the outdoor sportsy stuff. All this running I have been doing didn't help one bit in the sea, in fact, my running is giving my knee more jip so that my marathon campaign may be coming to an unceremonious end, though I hope not. Exactly the same problem that made me miss that last marathon. too much rugby and skate boarding when i was younger me thinks.
I was reading a book last night about neuroscience. It was suggested by some that a human newborns dependency on it's parent and it clear helplessness could be due to the fact that we are a bipedal species therefore the upright posture limits the pelvic size and women can only squeeze out babies with relatively small heads, that is, babies whose brains are partially developed. We are obviously not unique with this handicap, for instance kittens don't even open their eyes for several days after birth, but it does beg the question....should I get my hair cut or not?
haha, just kidding. I realised how boringly boring I was becoming with that hypothesis.(...screeech handbrake!)
Think I might go to Mammoth mountains for a few days snowboarding in a week or so. Go up and watch the Roxy chicken jam. could be a laugh.
Anyway i better get going, there's a bee in my apartment urrhem...I mean Manor house, and i need to rescue it. I hear bee's are on the decline these days and something about them dramatically effecting the ecology if they were to go kerplunk. so here's to you Bee's and your tragic flaw in your blueprint when it comes to your suicidal defense mechanism!
so sad!. talk about a backfire!!

"Stay on target, stay on target!"

2009-03-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

Update: worked hard all week, especially Ian, and got all the vocals nailed. The songs are about 95% there. It's so exciting, and It's amazing how a vocal here or there can elevate a song to a whole different level and place. It's been hard, obviously because there's been so many versions of the songs and Ians been doing lyrics and vocals for almost 2 years, so I am sure he feels a sense of relief and achievement with the awesome songs he wrote. Well done buddy. Stu and our buddy Justin, have been absolutely amazing steering the ship, and when this record is finished and out, I am sure that people are gonna be blown away with the quality of their production. I hope that people can relate to our vision. It's almost as though this album is going to be the first Lostprophets record since the first one we made ourselves, and if people don't like it, well, I guess they don't like us. Because this is the most honest representation of our band, completely done by us without any outside interference. lostprophets music done entirely by lostprophets, how novel haha! Hopefully it will change the way we make records in the future. I'm sure it will. Saying all that of course, is not to take anything at all away from our previous records. I still think they are amazing, but of course doing a record with a producer is a collaboration and both parties personality will come through. this time it's pure. and it's us.... which of course is interesting, because if people don't like it then it begs the question did they ever really like us? But to be honest, without sounding presumptuous, I think the album is sounding wicked and really one the most proud things I have had the chance to be involved with. And I have no doubt there will be others out there that share our likes and dislikes and will be able to enjoy what we have producing here.
So, I get another stab at keyboards next week now that I have vocals there to work in and around. Looking into the mix now and the logistics of that. fingers crossed, it's all plain sailing from here on in until the release. It's hard not to be too vocally proud of what we've worked so hard to do, especially in the light of getting to the finish line once already and taking the BIIIGG Ballsy move of redoing the whole thing. With 20/20 hindsight, most definitely the best decision we have ever made.
Keep you posted.

Hey i found a new pluggy widgety thingy called....

2009-03-11T03:02:00.000-07:00

a follower counter, looooooooooook >
>
>
>
>
>

that apparently makes it real easy for people to follow my blog. And in it's description it claims to be a good way of easily encouraging more people to easily follow my blog, which apparently makes people like me feel all nice and confident about myself that people like me and care about me and stuff and I have a purpose for being on this earth and I am somebody....hmmmm.
So, tell your friends, guys and lets get a big following..yeah alright woohoo! yes me! go me! I'm popular, go popular, me popular (that's my popular song, not like nada surfs one, but a bit like it).
soooo
yeah
ok
um....
FOLLOW ME OR DIE!!!!!
or not, of course
because it's unlikely i'll ever find you and even if I do, I am way to pussy to do or say anything about it so..
yeah.

if you want.
bye

2:02 am for ever

2009-03-11T02:02:00.000-07:00

Yes it's late at night for me. I got back from the studio after another 13 hour day, I am wondering how it is possible to be so thorough writing music, I mean how could we be recording 115 tracks which will evantually be reduced to a single stereo track? It's kinda an amazing process to be involved in, but it also gives an indication as to how much work goes into a song,
e.g. a single song is about approx 4 minutes long which is made up of approx 100 separate track which means each song contains just over 6 and a half hours worth of audio. Bear in mind, not all that audio was first take, well for most of the other guys in the band it was but for me I know for sure there were a few additional takes to get it right. so times that 6 hours by about 3. Now multiply that by how long it took to not only invent that particular track but also the elimination process of over turning every rock to make sure the part you have decided upon is the very best part for the song. Now multiply that answer by the number of songs recorded for the record...... now multiply that by 2 since this is our second stab at recording this record and you have........A F*CKING LONG TIME! (actually just did the maths....It comes out at 75 solid days back to back including the nights)

so, yeah 13 hours later, I feel like Homer Simpson doing his numerous jobs, I am reluctant to getting into bed because this morning I rolled out of bed and went straight to the studio, so here I am....writing a blog and a few beers into my evening. haha. Funny huh?

I have been looking at a few other blogs recently, and have noticed that most blogs consist of a photo or a video with a couple of lines of text commenting on or judging the image. I think maybe I've got my blog all arse over tit and misunderstood what the purpose of it all is. mine are very clearly, a bunch of nonsense fence sitting commentary on my life and the things that surround it, and very rarely do I pass judgement on anything of worth. A pretty accurate representation of my personality I guess. I did enjoy a few bits and bobs recently though. this and
http://www.juxtapoz.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1&limit=5&limitstart=45

which is cool. and are showing here obviously under my real name Richard Oliver. And yes, I know they are not sold and thats because I don't want to sell them yet because i like them.

I...forgot what I was gonna say, oh that's right, there's a new magazine I saw recently for guys that is the antithesis of usual guys magazines, which doesn't try and tell you what you should be or what you should buy in order to be what you should be and it also doesn't simple focus on lads stuff like tits and cars, in fact it's very refreshing to see a mag that doesn't really attempt to past judgement on everything and everyone. So I added it to my following thing, and it's called manzine.
Here's something rather disconcerting right now... the tv is on a channel in the background playing dead bodies and death. National geographic program entitled Science of Death featuring 'The latest in caskets and cremation: the science behind new techniques of body preservation and body cremation'

YIKES! I hadn't realised until I heard some woman calmly talking about maggots and eyes...uuurrrgh. spooky, change channel.

that's better, NASA channel.....a still picture of a shuttle in the dark on a launch pad, when I say still i mean it's live footage I think, but the shuttle is still, and I was watching it earlier too.......

NOTHING HAPPENS!!!>>>>>>EVER!
< (this is a nice picture..not the picture on my TV right now...trust me, the picture on my TV right now is waaaaay crapper than this). I mean, WTF is this channel about anyway (apart from the obvious) I've tried to get my head around it, it's like train spotting for space nerds right???? there's always nothing going on in some weird fricking pixelated picture, Like anyone gives a shite! I certainly don't. I'm hypnotized though waiting for something to happen, like something at all, maybe hoping secretly deep down that an alien or something shitty happened where the shuttle falls over or at least a fricking duck flies into the camera or anything! god dammit! nothing. just a big cock shaped rocket sitting around rusting. Here's the thing though....why didn't they show in quick time the massive rocket being erected (excuse the provocative use of words) I mean it's a big ol' phallic petrol can they stick the shuttle to so how the f*ck did they get that up in the first place. *idea* sped up video of rocket being hoisted up-sell footage to Viagra for advertisement campaign...genius! well I need a pee and my bed beckons me. I tried running a half marathon last night and got my mileage a bit wrong, ended up running only 12 miles instead of the 13.5. Pretty gutted because I thought my time was good, after a bit of math it looks like I would have been 4 minutes over my goal if I had done the extra mile. boooo. I also pushed myself a bit hard and I think it was the first time in my life i have recorded a heart rate of 191. yes i nearly spewed and yes i wont be doing it again in a hurry. I'm 5 foot 8 and a quarter, I am 154.4 pounds on a good day, I am going a little grey in the front, I have never had a filling in any of my adult teeth and I occasionally laugh so hard i pee my pants... so what? here's to you surprises, i hope you never fail to startle me until my dying day (which will hopefully be our last act!) Goodnight
P.s. F*cking NASA hahaha, I wonder if they escape the economic collapse? all that fuel in that big orange penis!! we could all be driving around in Hummers man! just like Laird Hamilton..you know...that big wave surfer dude....the buff guy...surfer...who's all in touch with nature...and a representative of the spiritual side of the sea...and nature....and the environment..you know...Laird. Lairdy boy! The dude that let me share his wave and my first wave up at point Dume...nature loving guy who gave me a nod of both pity and respect as I flailed around on a 10 foot red soft top 3 years ago...you know Laird Hamilton....
And his big ass tricked out Hummer!! (so mike tells me)
Very....very Disappointed Laird, Very very.

o

2009-03-04T12:59:00.000-08:00

fake turkey and branston pickle sandwich on the fly for lunch, I opted for call of duty rather than meditation, a big mistake. two cups of coffee, dirty jeans, dirty white tshirt. hair needs a wash crumbs everywhere...surely indigestion. straight up the studio...wait phones ringing..it's my Dad, missed the call typing this out..it's cool I'll call him back. What was i saying? oh yeah, studio..doing gang vocals today, so close to finishing, Ian's been on form of late, good lad. maybe 7 days away from finishing tracking completely, then the mix then the master then the set up and the interviews then the tours...aahh good times I hope. wonder if anyone will ever hear what we didn't put out? wonder if anyone would care. What's gonna become of the 35 songs we didn't put on the album? Got a couple of paintings into a Gallery in Hollywood, private view tomorrow opening show on Friday..La Luz de Jesus, probably won't be able to attend because of recording. Priorities I know. here's a quote;
"Zen has no goal; it is a travelling without point, with nowhere to go. To travel is to be alive, but to get somewhere is to be dead, for as our own proverb says, "To travel well is better than to arrive".
A world which increasingly consists of destinations without journeys between them, a world which values only"getting somewhere" as fast as possible, becomes a world without substance. One can get anywhere and everywhere, and yet the more this is possible, the less is anywhere and everywhere worth getting to. For points of arrival are too abstract, too Euclidean to be enjoyed, and it is very much like eating the precise ends of a banana without getting what lies in between. The point, therefore, of these arts is the doing of them rather than the accomplishments. But, more than this, the real joy of them lies in what turns up unintentionally in the course of practice, just as the joy of travel is not nearly so much in getting where one wants to go as in the unsought surprises which occur on the journey."

just found these one liners online...

2009-02-18T19:07:00.000-08:00

If at first you don't succeed, redefine success.

Always try to be modest. And be damn proud of it!

If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.

Consciousness: That annoying time between sleeping.

made me chuckle...

Had better days, so needed a bit of a laugh. I've quite literally seen how experience is made up of swings and roundabouts the past few days. Highs and lows with nowt much in between, still, can't complain....when things are just meh I usually moan that I'm bored. I think out of the petty things in life worth talking about being let down by someone or something is one of the more annoying. Because it kinda forces you to go into things with reservation and suspicion the next time around. It's like catch 22, where you don't let yourself get excited because fear of getting let down, and you kinda don't ever get the chance to fully enjoy things because of precaution. bummer. Alternatively you throw yourself into things and when they go shitty you feel shitty. at least you tried eh? nah...I got no answers.
A bit like the dilemma of drinking a lot of booze to wallow. Seems like a good way to forget crappy things while your doing it but I reckon in the long run it makes things a bit worse - speaking from experience of course. I've never found any answers at the bottom of a brandy bottle, and believe you me, I've seen right through a few bottles in my time.
I remember going on under 16's rugby tour with Cilfynydd rugby team to somewhere in North or Mid Wales (my lack of clarity on the specific location will soon become apparent). My dad bought me a crate...not a box..a crate of beer for the journey up there, which was only about 4 hours max. At 15 I would consider myself a veteran of the larger and beer variety, which is not a boast, simply a fact. Anyway, drank so much beer on the way up my bladder nearly exploded. Persisted in drinking all night. Come rugby day, the referee cancelled the game about 50 minutes in because our team players couldn't get up off the ground after tackles and the amount of spew on the field had become a health hazard....good times.
This experience set me up nicely to win an NME award for a drinking contest which I single handed-ly triumphed over some reputable boozy performers back in 2003 or 2004 or 2005. The irony of it all was I was the smallest and I was the only one in our band who was able to enter since the rest of the band were straight edge. After about 5 hours and many, many, many pints later it came down to me and some big dude from Raging Speedhorn and I done him....obviously we were both pissed, but he weren't too happy and contested the outcome with a verbal and a weak physical assault which came to nowt...tough shit...I won. later lads.
So, don't drink. It's not good for you! nobody like a drunk, and it solves nothing.
do as I say and not as I do. ha
By the way, the snow in Big Bear was nothing but epic yesterday and we got 3rd place on the lifts at 8am to get at least 5 runs in on complete fresh virgin powder.....wowzers wow wee lovely job. best feeling in the.....(alternative sports) world
byeeeee

Alrighty then....

2009-02-13T10:01:00.001-08:00

Friday morning. cold..well as cold as it can get in Los Angeles. Looks like rain is over due, translated as snow in the mountains, which I'm destined to miss. The sun is struggling but losing, which is reflected in my own forecast for the foreseeable future. A constant balance of priority over and under importance and urgency. Poles apart but constantly pulling and stressing on each other. The things I have to do versus the things I should be doing. Sounds the same but it's not. Yet one lays the path for the other and one wrong step one way tilts the balance of the whole thing. I know this is the way of everything, and everyone. Strangely though, I am starting to see it as neither a problem nor a gift, it just is. and as with many other aspect of my life, letting my mind rest upon the way things are without trying to change them nor even trying to not to try to change them, clears away all of the fog that once secretly yet permanently sat around my experience of life.
Now, if I could only believe all that crap and live it then maybe I would feel a morsel of wisdom in my bones instead of spitting out other peoples ideas like a parrot. hahah, just kidding. Only I'm not sure which part I am kidding about.
Today my feelings are mostly Postmodern with a splash of pretentiousness.
Thanks
See you later.

You Bugger!

2009-02-09T13:42:00.000-08:00

So I live in California right now and am still madly into rugby where Wales are concerned. Unfortunately, because of the time difference I can't always watch the games live, for instance Wales/ Scotland game was 7am in the pub my time and I couldn't make it because I need to get to the studio bla bla. Sooooo Mike taped the game for me and I was gonna watch it today......until someone just commented with the bloody results!!!! why people why? At least say "Spoiler alert!" or "do you want to know the result? I've tried my damnedest to avoid any Internet sites that would reveal the scores....Please please please please please don't go spoiling it for me. especially in a comment because of course I am bound to read them.
Nice one.
you owe me a beer for that!

"nvrgrwoldnvrdie said...well ive got news for you! thats if you like rugby, but Wales won 26-13 over Scotland at Murray Field yesterday(sunday) "

good one! (tut, roll of the eyes, shake of the head)
I'm not really mad.

unprepared ramblings

2009-02-07T15:59:00.000-08:00

Trying to exhaust my mind so that it will shut the hell up!
got and idea. Perfect day verses actual day...nah, that's not very Zen. um....
What it is yeah, since I said I'd write down some stuff in me last blog I am a little at a loss as to what should be said. My days have recently been the same process of :wake up, car or bike to studio an hour away. Grab some lunch on the way. plug in, switch on and tidy, edit, create until I'm hungry. Then have a beer, maybe discuss a few things, then Ian turns up and we argue, play and sometimes agree on melodies and lyrics, and rack all our brains to find the right bits for the right places and times, then I get back in the car/bike come home go to bed and repeat. Stu's life have been this x 3 for 6 weeks almost every day...proper trooper that boy! So today I am tired, and i don't really have much else to talk about that isn't constant replays in my head of choruses or parts...which i might add, has a tremendous ability not to tire itself out, much to my emotional stress. A good smack in the face or a bloody big wave crashing on my head might bring me back into reality.
soooooo...mm, yeah
I think I'll respond to some of the things some of you's were wondering about stuff.

Annie- "do you have a cat? and if so, could you show me a picture?"
I do have a cat, she's in the UK dossing at my parents house since I abandoned her and the rest of my family to move to the sunshine. I don't have a picture right now but the painting i recently had posted up her was of her..she was in the middle, a tabby cat. She's got the hump today so my dad tells me, she went out in the cold last night for a few hours and today shes in a bad mood. Maybe she's planning her revenge on me or something for making her move. The Black one in the painting was a cat we had years ago who got run over...and lived just long enough for me to sit helplessly watching her die and the rabbit exploded....yeah, literally exploded. not even the vet believed me until she exploded all over him. messy business.

andreajane- "Oh and please tell Ian to please get his hair cut"
Nah. that's just mean, who am i to judge or criticise what someone else is doing or wants to look like. even if I'm just the messager. Each to their own i say. That's like going up to someone and saying "hey fatty go do some exercise"...have some restraint people! tether your judgements for a second and think how it would feel the other way round. now go do your homework!

Thanks for all the Christmas wishes and new years greetings, always blows my mind that so many people All around the world have been touched by our band and technology allows me to thank them for that. Thanks. Makes me feel really humbled.
Snowboarding was a bit meh, because it was so busy, also I wasn't really letting go because there was a big group of us and beginners who I wanted to guide. So no big airs or anything this time around, although frustratingly my nearest mountain has had 10 inches of snow in the past two days and I am in the studio and unable to get some powder....booo, ah well, one enables the other... I must remember that.

It's raining here in Los Angeles today. it's quite warm and the sun is out but it's raining. Very reminiscent of Hawaiian tropical rain. Very rarely rains so when it does I really appreciate it. gotta go run 9 miles tonight which I'm not really super amped about. Marathon was postponed in LA so I'm having to change my prep training. Probably will not even be around when it happens but its always good to have a direction and something to motivate. In contrast to my puny marathon attempt, a friend of mine is climbing Africa's tallest mountain for red nose day charity in the UK. pretty awesome feat if you ask me. Always an inspiration and one of the nicest most genuine people I have ever met, if you fancy giving her a little support or wanna sponsor her, you can at this site.
I was thinking of trying to raise some money if it looks likely that I can do this marathon, was hoping to raise money for the Golden Hearts animal sanctuary or something like it. I have adored golden retrievers ever since I read Dean Koontz book the Watchers, and one day hope to open a sanctuary to rescue animals.
Soooooo hippy eh? thats ok, I don't mind being all hippy dippy.

Guess I should be writing more about trendy dark comic books and tattoos or getting wasted on sunset blvd, sex, drugs and rock and roll!! haha, sorry..you got Ian for all the partying and crazy shit....me, well I just love to play music and be happy and content. Way to go Mr. O, way to shatter the illusions.
You know what, I think it's more of a simplification rather than anything else. I'm just not that into rushing around chasing things that I thought I needed, and I just stop and look around more often at whats already here. I don't know if that's part of growing up or anything but I suppose the bubbling spring stream has to slow down when it meets the river and the flater ground. maybe it comes with the knowledge that there's only one place for that river can go, so why rush the be exhausted and wish today away in the race to grasp at tomorrow (which in reality doesn't even exist)...I am just letting go of the all the things that are really not that important and in doing that I can see through the mess at what is.
See....hippy dippy.
I'm gonna try and get the rest of the band into flares on the new record...haha, joke.
Mind you Felicity Kendal was supa hot in the Good Life...(one for all you oldies from the UK)

Anywhoo, I'm off, I better get dressed, been sitting around in my PJ's and slippers with my tea like a proper old fart playing xbox when i should be working...so back to the grind.
Speak to you later...

Aloha kãkou

wow.

2009-02-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

Yeah, i know. I'm so shit at bloggin regular. Yikes, I even piss myself of with how slack i am.

Never mind.

We (surprisingly enough) are back or should I say still in the studio. On week 6 for us on the actual recording. For everyone else in the world I guess its week 103 or 117 or something. Baaa, what can you do eh?
Everyday is a new day. there's no going back to change stuff so why let it bother you eh?
Eh, I sound Canadian eh?
Basically, since we started a new, we have been hammering into the songs, the tracking and shit is sounding massive. For us, we are steaming along, it's probably the most efficiently we have worked ever. I know, I know, it doesn't seem like it but it's true. Not quite as quick (or rushed) as the very first record but certainly more thorough and focused.
So, just to clear up a few things. I read in an interview recently that supposedly our singer claims we blew like half a million pounds or something on a record that we ditched.
Fact...that just ain't true. Very likely a mis-quote or misinterpretation, but it came across to me as though it was a boast, which I am pretty sure it wasn't meant to be.
Well let me tell you. We ain't pleased with ourselves or anything, in fact we are pretty gutted that what we spent and what seemed like a waste of money. And though it was alot of money we gambled with, we just were not prepared to cut any corners for our record, unfortunately hindsight is 20/20, smarter decisions could have been made.
Now to put aside the bollocks, it was much less than was quoted yet still stings like a bitch. And is no indication at all that we are big time millionaires that can afford to waste money. We didn't throw it away irresponsibly, we just made some costly errors and put our trust in the wrong places. and only we have to have it bite us in the arse.

cool?

cool.

Ian's just giving me shit right now for doing the blog when I should be in the other room focusing on vocal idea's. Which in fairness he has a point. So let's just end with me giving an empty promise that I will update very soon.
Sorry guys.
out

Hello everyone

2008-12-24T00:09:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to everyone out there from all over the place. I had something really important to write about but I forgot what it was so... yeah have a nice one. I'll be off trying not to break bones snowboarding for a few days over new year so incase I don't write, here's to you! (imagine me toasting with a drink and a nod of the head...you know what I mean)
updates coming soon....

Hey check this out....

2008-12-08T14:40:00.000-08:00

Travel back in time 20 years to a period where legends of skate were etched into the minds and hearts of old fools like myself. I had the unexpected privilege of seeing with my own eyes the mastery of 80's vert skating by the people who invented and dominated the sport, riding original boards and dressed in neon. Mike called me and asked if I was gonna dress up for it, I replied "dude, I don't need to, my dress sense is permanently stuck in the 80's thrasher skate RAD era". I guess I just can't let go of a time where skating was all I lived for, and skate rags and vision street wear t's were all I owned. Even if I skate like a complete doosch nowadays I still have a nostalgic place in my heart for the bright colours and RAD mag inspired "I don't give a f*ck" rowdy mentality of 80's skateboarding. Even though, hammering down the side of a Welsh valleys village vertical street, in a bright pink Hot tuna hoodie on a hand-me-down de-laminated, Santa Cruz Corey O'Brien board with a viciously worn away tail, sliding all over the road on borrowed and flatted OJ2's......in the RAIN, was a million miles away from the Californian blue sky's and vert ramps that I saw in photographs in RAD. I am fairly sure that 90% of all my bodily scars are from eating curbs,steps and banks in my brief time trying to be a good skater 20 years ago.
I never thought I would ever get the chance to see Tony Hawk and Steve Caballero skate a vert ramp in California on original boards doing strictly 80's style tricks when I sat in my bedroom in 1987 each night fantasising about owning and skating the new Santa Cruz board which was always way out of my 2 quid a week pocket money budget (which in later years proved to be quite adequate for a flagon of Stonehouse in which to fall, pissed out of my face, out of trees on).
I remember with fond memories the spots where I left bits of my skin, blood,sweat and my fear... such as the banks and steps up th' uni, curbs down by the Albion, Coedylan brick ramp walls, the quarter pipe we built down the factories which got burned, B&Q and Halfords, clarkeys suicide attempt at Leckwith, Mikeys chin plant at Port Talbot Halfpipe and the legendry marble and benches down the Precinct (RIP).

My respect goes out to my boys from back then who I slammed and bled with and who I shared my dreams: Skids, Peg, Mike Lewis, Clarkey, Jennings, Swalesy, and other legends like Griff, Rosey and that one time with Pritchard on the banks in Cardiff.
Good times boys, Good times!

apologies to all those who haven't a frikin clue what the hell I'm on about. Let me have this one, it's all about memories today.

"football crazy nuts are we"

2008-12-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

Me and mike won the the champions league last night. nice.

Apologies go out to whomever may have been offended by my previous blog, it was unintentional.

who'd have thought you'd be looking around in this part of the cyber woods, ha.

.....just like to reiterate that this blog is solely my opinion and doesn't represent the opinions of anyone else in lostprophets in anyway, never has and never will.

Hey you Guys!

2008-12-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

Hi there.
Blog schmog.
sorry to all you's that I said I'd play xbox with and haven't. Basically I haven't been on it cos I've been busy finally finishing the record up. Yup, that's right, we are actually working again. I can't wait till it is all done dusted and out because then finally I can talk all about the process and how it all unfolded. Believe you me, No one is more disconcerted with how long it has taken than I, but you have to trust me when I say we are in a really good place both musically and as a unit.
Lot's of things have happened beyond our control that has hindered our progress which is the most frustrating bit, and people have really let us down, but as usual strength is born from wisdom and experience. And I believe that one can only and always go forwards and never back, so where we have arrived right now is the result of what has happened and not wasted time.
Maybe a dog has to chase it's tail for so long in order to realise the futility and let go.
As though we got out of our minds, and by getting completely out of our minds we could finally come to our senses....literally.
So, I sit in the studio, lee's in the other room tracking guitars, we've done drums which sound fricking tasty

*........(deleted)........*

...and although playing music (touring and recording) in a band is important it only constitutes a small portion of the time. Being able to interact and respect the other members in your band, and live harmoniously with them is the most important element. That is the foundation of our band. We grew up together, we have a deep understanding of each other and a mutual respect because we walked very similar paths and have the same blood running through our veins. And when times are tough we support each other and stand by each other. 'Family' is not a term used lightly with us, and considering I've spent more time in my life life to date living very closely with these guys than with some of my own family. Respect and understanding is the key in our survival and not simply talent or musical ability (though these are important they are secondary I believe)
*..........(I deleted and edited this part here cos someone told me that someone was pissed at me for writing about that someone on a public blog).............*
If ability was a key factor in this band then I certainly wouldn't be here. ha. sad but very true. I had maybe had 2 weeks experience of playing with turntables and samples before I was onstage for my first gig, talk about deep end. Although, for what its worth, when I joined, the band took off...hahaha, lucky charm I guess. There are a bizzilion people out there that can out perform me and play way better than I can, but since I'm still here, maybe my role is much more than just pushing keys and shouting loud. who knows. By the way, I'm not feeling sorry for myself, I'm being objective. Maybe I'm less 'bricks' and more 'mortar' when it comes to lostprophets.

Bri-"How did you get through your degree and out the other side without banging your head against a brick wall ? I swear, this week im losing my mind. There's just so much assorted junk to organise and integrate. Was there a moment that it all clicked for you ?"
I banged my head for 2 years, then I let go and started painting whatever I wanted to paint. Not much faith in education establishments I am afraid.

Frankie-"Hey Jamie, if you could have anything (realistically) for Christmas, what would it be? =) And what things would you give to your friends and family?"
I want some snow. I wanna go snowboarding for new year and right now the slopes by me are dry as a bone...booo. I would like to get my mom an xbox box game so I can play online with her. It's a good way of kinda hanging out with my family even though we are millions of miles apart, but I'm not sure she'd be into it. Can't tell you what I've gotten for the rest of my family because they might read this.

MsAnnieAnnie- "dont have an xbox and i'm extremely happy with that fact. don't you feel like you wasted one week of your life by playing that game 24/7?"
I do beat myself up now and again for wasting time playing games but in reality, you can't collect or save time, the only time there actually is, is now and allowing guilt to dominate my now and worrying about what I have or haven't or should have done is definitely not useful. so in response - I do and I don't, if that does or doesn't make sense. haha.

Sketch said...-"stay blond! you pwn"
too late.

Suze-
Fricking Awesome! Suburb Drawing. Stu says it reminds him of a kinda drawing of me by me, only its not and its by you.

Love answering questions!
My marathon training is on hold, studio time is taking up training time plus running is hard and hurts. haha
And xbox is all about PES2009 right now.
see you soon. byeeee

Hey check this out...

2008-11-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

From one Blog to another...
thegluttony.com
Good Blog if I do say so myself.

Hey guys

2008-10-30T00:43:00.000-07:00

I'm still alive. No excuse for not posting sorry. Just been absorbing the comments on the last blog. Thought I'd have a bit of time to figure out what to use this blog for. I was hoping some of the other guys in the band would take up writing and contributing to this so I could place myself in line with what they are saying but unfortunately not. So I guess I'll still keep just being me.
Wish I had some really cool things to write about but nowt has been happening. I feel as though my life is in stasis until we can finish up this record. Unfortunately we are on other peoples schedules and it is all out of our control. hopefully the next couple of weeks will be action stations, but until then I'll just return to Albion and live my alternative life as LionHeart in Fable2. Which by the way is all i have done 24/7 for the past week and a bit. For a guy as grounded as I thought I was, how easily I got swept into a fantasy world as a Hero????
Here's a weird one...One of my favorite bands in the world doesn't sound anything like the band I am in. I've always stood by the fact that Nada surf are my most favorite band even though at times I thought it was just stubborn pride. But in hind site, I hadn't given the albums enough time. I tried an experiment recently to see if having all this access too music has diminished my love for bands and albums and strangely it proved to be the case. Here's the details:
My Ipod holds 80gb of songs and albums and most I have listened to only once. back when I was growing up, I would have five tapes or so with an album on each side and I would listen to them continuously. I would love (and I mean LOVE) these bands and albums so much so I could remember the length of time between songs and the exact tempo of the next song.
So I decided to get a shuffle and only put Nada surf 5 albums on it. Now bear in mind I am training to run a marathon so I've listened to Nada surf at least for an hour everyday if not for 3+hours on longer runs for the past month or so.
....and as if by magic, I love every song and album. And have faith in music again. I relate to the lyrics and I hear new things every time I listen that I didn't hear before, it's like a kind of meditation. Up until now I felt that all music was shit and that everything new was bland, but the problem was me!! I wasn't allowing the music to grow because of my greedy desire to own everything.
So throw away your ipods and get tape player Sony Walkman! it's all the rage! bum bags are in too.
Just thought I'd share that with you.
you should try it.
See you online in FABLE2 if you want. Comment me your gamercard. by the way I suck shit when it comes to COD4 I'm not playing that unless your crap too.
tata

The news so far....

2008-08-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, where do I start? I guess I apologise for not doing a day to day blog firstly. Its been a little difficult to get online, and when I have, I've opted to go and see the place I am at instead (selfish I know).

Well, the 17 hour flight from LA to Jakarta was a breeze. Singapore Airlines were amazing, economy was like first class, so much leg room, puts all other airlines to shame! I slept loads and played FF7 Crisis core all the rest of the flight with mikey. They even had metal knives and forks! luxury. We had a short connection flight when we arrived and then onto the hotel.

The first thing I noticed on the drive from the airport was how poor some of the country was. It seemed like a massive divide between the very wealthy and the very poor. There were iron and cardboard shacks all along the waters edge for miles, plastic bottles and rubbish littered the rivers. There was a constant smell of decay and sewage in the air. Then suddenly as though we crossed an invisible line into the city the high rise buildings and posh hotels replaced the slums. It was very humid. We asked to be taken to see some sights, and the host drove us to a mall with western stores, we were like "nah mate, can we go see the real Jakarta?" so they drove us to this street and we got out. We walked down this ally, and the security guy with us said to be very careful because it was dangerous. I've never seen anything like it. I was shitting myself. I suddenly felt very embarrassed, I was hoping to take pictures but felt as though I was taking advantage of the people for my own gain. Most people were friendly but you could sense that some couldn't believe that we were there, walking around. I couldn't work out who was looking at/watching who. We kept moving and stuck tightly together for safety, I'm sure if we were in a smaller group we would have found trouble. Thank god for the security dude with us. For the most part I took photographs off the hip so to keep my camera out of sight and also not to offend anyone. I was nearly brought to tears by some of the children walking and laying around. We were not harassed by people begging because I think people we more surprised to see us in the area, but it was a very, very humbling experience. Even amongst such poverty I could see people smiling and laughing, and the colours were amazing. After we returned to the hotel, I had a hard time readjusting and justifying sleeping in 5 star luxury having just witnessed what I did. I was awash with emotions and guilt and a very strong sense of iniquity. The contrasts I saw and photographed were extreme. I am still confused between pity, sympathy, gratitude, guilt and helplessness and feel I have been changed. I have felt quite mildly depressed since.

The show was amazing, but somehow my mind was not 100% focused and continually returned to the young child without shoes following us around that day. Such tragic beauty.

We left for Singapore, everything since has been a blur. I've been poorly with stomach cramps and find it difficult to get my energy back. Singapore could not have been more opposite to Jakarta. It was very clean and very rich. The hotel was like nothing I had ever seen. I thought they had made a mistake when I entered my room because there was no bed, but I had no idea that it had its own bedroom and 2nd bathroom. The suite was bigger than my home. As amazing as Singapore was, my first impression left feeling cold and dead. I went for an explore to the rain forest at Bukit timah and found some peace and harmony at the top of the hill, and decided to take a random bus to where ever and walk around the city. I walked for 5 or 6 hours not in a hurry to arrive anywhere. It was very welcome solitude where I was able to tidy up the mess in my head from the past few days. My stomach still hurts and is making my dizzy and disorientated because I can't eat much without spewing.

I would like to add, I have some amazing friends around me and have met some great people. I really do appreciate how lucky I am to do this journey and to share this with very like minded friends. I know your thinking, "what about the shows?" but to be honest, the experience is so much more than simply performing. The Singapore show was fraught with technical problems but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I wouldn't want to disrespect those people who came to see us by allowing technical issues to dominate my memory of being and performing there. It is a privilege to be here and do this so I must take the mistakes, learn from them and apply.

As you can probably see, I'm all a little up and down. I am pretty overwhelmed and I am trying to be positive even though some of my experiences have changed me. Today's show in Hong Kong looks like it will be awesome. I am going to rest up so I can play my best. I don't think I have enough time to fully experience Hong Kong on this journey, maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to come back.

I'll be posting my photos up on my flickr when I have enough time, gotta go sound check now.

....and justice for all

I'm off to Asia now,

2008-07-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

Bye bye!
Stay tuned for tour blog, if I can get onto a computer. fun fun fun.

New car ads......

2008-07-14T23:39:00.000-07:00

I just made some rad images. I am pissed off that I can't import my less than a 998cc classic mini into the US because of emission regulations!! haha, you do realise that that's smaller than most motorcycles on the road.
I should use these images as environmental propaganda.

The Slogan:

"What use are they to you now? nevermind..at least you still have your small weener"

or

"..comes with rain tracker rain sensing windshield wipers!"

feel free to come up with some of your own.

Squeaky shoes for those old time blues!

2008-07-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or has anyone else seen the irony (in a Cockney rhyming slang way) of a Portable Toilet (Porta-loo) company in California being called and run by a guy called ANDY GUMP!
"oi oi, govner! I'm off up thee ol' apple and pears to 'ave me an ANDY GUMP!!"
I was talking to mike last night about art and music. The conversation was "how long would it take to put together a collection of work?". I responded with "As with a song, it's not the physical time needed to record or paint a painting that is important. Technically one could record a record in maybe 2 weeks, because its only approx. 45 minutes worth of sounds. And in the same way the physical time to paint 20 paintings isn't very much, It all comes down to the quality of the art."
I could probably paint 20 paintings in 2 months, but there's a high chance that 20 of those would be crap. Maybe, one or two would have a nice naive spontaneous feel, but the majority would be shallow and really not contain much substance (I'm talking about my work). In the same way as a song like Shinobi only took a few minutes to write, that's not the case with all the songs we write, some songs take months to develop, some change for the better, others for the worse (you have to go there to come back). In contrast to Shinobi, Rooftops took almost a year for us to settle on the final mix. So, although it seems like forever for us to write only 12 songs, Its 12 great songs we are looking for, and having written close to 40 songs, in millions of different forms, Its actually quite tricky to make 12 of them great. Especially since (in hindsight) some of the songs don't show their potential until the very last minute.
People can't believe that it takes so long. One person even said "they've made 4 records in the time we have been working on ours". Does that mean that they are good? I feel gone are the days that a band can have the luxury of releasing a record once or twice a year, like a snapshot of where the band was creatively at that point and all the chapters make up a career. People's expectations are so high. The band are stifled, have no room to explore creatively, every chance is the last chance. People, demand quality, there can be no fat. The risks have to be minimised, and as a result is the music becomes obvious and bland. There's a fine line between being predictable (sounding the same, stagnant yet recognisable) and bandwagon jumpers (change, creative development). The first one bores people, the second one confuses them. When a band starts, the have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The hardest thing to do is remain the same when everything else including yourself is changing. The second hardest thing is to realise what you are and be able to gauge how much change you are allowed to make whilst still retaining your own distinguishable sound and identity.
By hard, I don't mean like working in a mine or a hospital. This is not meant as a rant or a moan. Nothing annoys me more than reading about some successful actor or musician moaning about how hard they have it. This is simply a subjective perspective and discourse on the pitfalls of creativity.

The surf has been pretty small. My scooter ain't finished yet. Skated yesterday in a few pools. Fair dues, I am pretty shit. There's 7 year olds pulling 5 foot airs from the deep end, and there's me looking like a zombie on skates (an old slow moving zombie, not like one of those new zombies that bomb around, cause they'd probably rip, an I sure don't). But It'll come back eventually, maybe, if i don't cripple myself first. All those kids need to get jobs and then we'll see how good they are...f*#ckers!
Went to watch the 'Galaxy' football team play the other night. Got ridiculed by some Jock (Manhattan Beach Bro, with the flat peak baseball cap covering the eyebrows....just think OZ fest and raised pickup trucks and you'll get the picture) for looking like Beckham, grabbed me and had photo's with me saying "look everyone Beckham's cousin!!" I responded with "F*#K ME! Its Fred Durst! look people it's William Fredrick Durst!" don't really think anyone remembered who fred durst was, so the joke eventually was on me. Although, I can think of worse people to be compared to...In fact, Beckham is a bit of a heart throb right? you know, the one all the girls like and the dudes hate because all the girls like.

cool. thanks bro!

What else is new. Finally succumbed to an xbox360. booo, there goes my life! good fun. me and mike and ian shooting up the place online instead of writing songs, what could be better?
Fell asleep on the balcony on my rocking bench the other night and for the first time in 4 years, got drained dry by some bug or spider or something. It went to work on my legs and woke up...no legs!! give me hell of a fright! gone! completely eaten all up. Well, not really but close, 16 big ass bites, all of which turned like purple and all messed up. I looked like someone had poured a bag of golf balls down me tights.....picture that!
Right I'm off to got and take the Jet plane for a little ride, turn her over and stuff, then probably go buy a few more houses this afternoon, maybe a hotel or something and then take my nightly bath in pure liquid gold... ta ta for now.

p.s. new photo's up on my flickr...just search richard j oliver in people...thats me, see!

Hi

2008-06-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

I'm back. Sorry It's been so long. Been touring and lots of other cool stuff. The shows went very well thank you. All my fears were all for nowt. I had a brilliant time. I've been doing some pictures this week to make some art prints. I was encouraged by some of the comments on here and Ian has been a big time supporter of my art for a long time, and he has pushed me to do it. He said he"ll showcase them on his "made in hell" site. I'm dead excited because the paintings came out Rad. I'm so excited and had so much fun working in a new style and format. If they ever do come out I hope you'll enjoy them too.
Christy: "Loving the fact you're painting again but when I asked you in a Kerrang mag Q&A thingy last year you said you hadn't painted for 6 years, you are committed to the band and if you had time to paint there must be a problem. Stu then said if you picked up a paintbrush you would be thrown outta the band. I assume you are still a Losprophet, not heard otherwise. So why are you still in the band? Is there a problem?"
Good point! Still in the band. Here's to having things I once said come back and bite me in the ass...haha.
It's a weird one, I guess its and age thing, and its more a response to working on new songs for over a year, like a need to express in a different way, so I can re approach music from a different perspective. Stu was kidding I hope. The other guys have also felt the urge to work on other things too, but not as an escape from our own creative song writing but more as a means to bring something new to it. Recently, I have felt that creativity breeds creativity, and by diving deep into it, it inspires and charges all the avenues of my creative output. Focusing too long on just one thing like writing songs can grow stale and tiresome, but I feel that drawing and painting has rekindled my creative flame and that impacts my expressive drive across the board. I get the impression that this is also the case with stu and mike in their producing, they always come back to writing pumped and charged up from working with other bands. So, on the contrary, there's no problem, and my commitment to the band is not wavering, by painting I feel is enhancing what I can offer to the music.

Alex "i recently got an angel tattoo to remember someone close to me who died, and i love it so am thinking of getting more angels, i know your tattoos feature angels...
i did a bit of research and found out you were an atheist...
so are the angels there to represent good versus evil, as opposed to any belief in god?"
The angels are indeed more symbolic than literal. My tattoo of the Pieta, (Mary holding a dead Jesus) is probably the best example of what it all means to me. I've never questioned whether a guy once walked this earth with an amazing ability to communicate some very positive ideas about life and love. I believe Jesus was an outstanding man who was incredibly influential but a man nevertheless. The tattoo is a homage to humanity and respect to how one man can make a difference. It gives me hope that someone could come along and clear up all the mess that we've made of what was he may have said. My problem is less to do with spirituality and more to do with the definitions within religion and the manipulation of power within organised religion. Therefore my Angel tattoos represent, as you said, my issues and ongoing studies of human ethics and morality. Saying this though, I do have a fascination with angels. Mainly because I understand and accept my instinctive desire to believe in something more than me, and immortality. It's a simple and obvious natural desire however its clarity is very much overlooked in most walks of life. So, though I feel the pang to believe in something bigger than all this, I understand from a learned psychological perspective why that desire is in me (us) and how it came about. (see "The god part of the brain" Matthew Alper...a basic read but a good example) Anyhoooo, hope that touches upon an answer....time, gotta go check out a new fly fishing rod now...hehe
laters

Was thinking I might just...

2008-05-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

...do some limited edition prints of some of my work. Just a thought. Also just sitting here thinking about when I should start thinking about packing some stuff to go on tour. Then thought better of it and poured myself a Coke.
It's been a while since I've had my dusty suitcase out and packed for touring. Last time I was in the UK I got stranded there. US gov wouldn't let me back in to the states. had three weeks with myself sitting in Wales twiddling my thumbs (shivers). I am looking forward to playing some shows again. To be honest I'm more psyched about doing the warm up shows and the European festivals than the higher profile gigs. My arse is going a bit for Download. Kinda can't wait to be on the other side of that show. I'm sure it will be rad, it's just (as always) I don't enjoy being all profession and serious, yet a show of that caliber requires a bit of focus and sensibility. I like the shows where I can have a few bevy's and go piss about and have fun. Who gives a shit if I cock a part up or sing a bum note...but the big shows are recorded and nothing worse than that flat harmony getting repeated on BBC3 every Sunday night for weeks.......gives me nightmares.
Talking of nightmares, my usual pre-performance bad dreams kicked in last night. It was a dream where Mike Chiplin was still in the band, kinda sad cos I haven't seen or heard from him in like years, but we were on stage and I didn't recognise any of the songs the band were playing...not entirely sure if I was fully clothed either. Woke up screaming ..."uuur arrgh... WAKE UP WAKE UP!" (boooooooo hissss not funny).

..I don't know how to follow that now...I've kinda upset myself by that god awful pun, I promise it wasn't pre concieved, it just fell out of my brain onto the keypad. sorta taken the wind out of anything else I was going to say.
um...
so...
yeah.....
Finished another painting today. On the fence right now as to whether I'm stoked on it. I was trying out some new ideas and techniques. bit different for me. It's not shit by any means, I'm just not as blown away as I thought I might be when I was 3/4's of the way through. Ah well.
I think maybe its a grower.
Talking of growers, Bought the new Portishead Album, pretty tasty if I do say so. A little off the wall, right up my street. Reminded me of some of the wacky break beat stuff I used to do. I found a track me and Stu make for a skate movie back in 2003. It was crazy awesome crazy! I wish there was a way I could post it up here. I surprised myself with what I did on the scritchy scratchy decks back in the day. (bighead). Most of the break beat stuff I do now is so left field that I have to be intoxicated to even listen to it. I dug out about 30 odd tracks which I had made over the years. There's no way I could ever release anything like that for 2 very important reasons. Three...three important reasons. 1, most of it is samples from other records...2, some are like 40 second loops, others go on and on for tens of minutes, and 3, they aren't really all that good. Like, when I was doing them I didn't really think about making songs (starts, middles, ends etc.) with them so for the most part they are like a handful of loops that go nowhere. A bit like my blogs I guess. Maybe one day, I'll rework some of them with all this new technology and put it up on the web for free, I'll still probably get sued.
LETS GET THIS RECORD DONE FIRST THOUGH EH?????
damn it!
Oh, here's a subject. xbecx asked "how do you think the internet has positively impacted on the music industry???"

As for any question of this caliber there are always positives and negatives. This is my opinion and not representative of the band in any way before we start.
It is obvious these days what the downsides are to sharing music on the Internet. In order to get some perspective I shall name only a few. Smaller signed bands used to survive not on record sales but on selling merch and touring. In the past these things were out of the reach of the record labels greedy fingers, but since music was being shared and record companies were taking losses, they decided to dip their hands into the touring and merchandise rights of the new bands they were signing, hence making it even more difficult for upcoming bands to survive. Ironically, most people think that sharing/stealing music only hurts the "man" but as you can see, these companies bandage their wounds with the very cloth that used to keep smaller bands afloat. This circle gets worse, as the number of record sales reduce the more bands need to tour, the harder it is to tour when the pie is being cut into smaller and smaller pieces. Also, with this heightened frenzy for bands to tour in order to survive, the touring circuited gets flooded with show after show, the venues are booking band after band, however the scene eventually gets diluted, and with so much available, the apathy grows in the people who usually attend shows and venues get emptier and emptier. I've had experience and heard first hand how much more difficult it has become to tear people from their xbox's and reality shows to step out and dip in pockets to attend shows.
As for a positive angle. The ease of access and presentation of music, levels the playing field so that quality can rise to the surface. Gone are the days where a label has the power to force feed their weak bands down the throats of the buying public. Gone are the days where money dictates the artistic fashions, where once quality was thrown aside and kept in the dark in order that the next dumbest most sugary obvious band can come and clean up only because he/she had the tallest most expensive pedestal to stand on.
Now, music and art can speak for its self, it doesn't require a sugar daddy to push it into the spotlight. It goes straight to the source. The most important source, the listener. And he/she dictates whether something is good or bad. The power has moved from the press and the money lenders who try in vain to tell you who you should like and who you should hate, because they can no longer censor music. It makes no difference whether you have been around for decades or weeks, you can still present your art and if it has quality, it will be recognised and heard. So, even though, the survival of artist is becoming more and more difficult, It seems that the balance is being readdressed and the priority is has moved back to where it should be. Only Quality will survive the test. Music is being seen and heard for what it is. If your music has quality, and this quality can be recognised and appreciated you have a chance of survival. If you're crap, tough shit..no amount of money will make you any less crap (unless you still live in a place where there is no freedom to individually source your information e.g. the Internet, where you can make up your own minds about things, and shit still gets rammed down your throat....believe me, these places still exist) And don't moan about it. It's not the reviews or the record labels or the press (who get your cd's&mp3's for free anyway) that will let you know how good or bad you are. It's the real people would want to or don't want to listen to your art. If you are an honest artist, and you do what you believe in, and this is of your highest standard, people may see the truth, quality and value in your art. This is how it should always be (my opinion). Believe in what you do, cross your fingers and hope that you aren't so different from everyone else and prepare to weather the storm.

disclaimer: I only feel like this today, tomorrow I reserve the right to feel completely different. Please don't bother to comment in opposition to what I have written. It has been my opinion, not a forum and it isn't up for discussion. I will simple block my ears, close my eyes and sing "bla, bla, bla can't hear you, bla" if you do. thanks

Hey guys and gals!

2008-05-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

been busy in t'studio innit.
t'is all going hunky dory!
Don't worry yurselves about pictures of my new blondness, I'm sure when kerrang comes out y'all have plenty to rip into me about, that I am sure of. It was my decision to enter into the world of public property so feel free to tell me how shit it looks as I have no real feelings of my own. (ooooh meeow, check me out! claw trimming time me thinks)kidding.
msannieannie:"is that where you come from? why is this one big building in the middle the center of interest in the painting? what is that? because besides this and the street next to it, all the other buildings create a chaos.."
That's my primary school. I think it started on Aug 15th 1887 (the school of course not my painting of it). It was literally across the road from where I grew up. The reason I painted it the way I did was because as a child the building seemed huge and ominous. The exterior was very dark (maybe due to coal dust) and the windows always reflected the grey clouds above. I tried to give the buildings and streets that I painted personality and character. Ive never really separated my approach to painting portraits and landscapes, and for the most part I have always considered the environment as an equal to the people, as I believe they are one in the same.

ritchie:"PLEASE ANSWER!i know your over turntables but will we ever hear you scratching again????? (on future albums)"
Its not cos I'm over turntables. I was never really into scratching so much, I always wanted to find new more creative ways to use vinyl. I went forward more with sampling off of records and using sounds to compliment the music, and it turned out to be more effective and flexible to play the sounds through a cdj and an akai sampler. Ive basically moved from hardware to software but essentially I do the same thing in the band. I'm not a keyboard player as some imagine. my keyboard is a midi controller that plays the samples which I have made. I had to move up from a 16 pad akai to a 66 key midi because I was participating way more in the songs and I am playing way more than I used to, also that's why I'm pretty much anchored to the ground because unlike before I'm always adding to the sound scape in most songs. I still use vinyl loads when recording but more as samples and less as scritchy scratch. make sense? If it were my band I'd scratch over everything and have no vocalist! ha ha.
Hikari yamino:"And i have been meaning to ask,are all the Lost Prophets album cover designed by you and Ian?" yes..pretty much.
anonymous German:"But honestly, why do Lostprophets booklets, designs and all suck that much? Your pictures and paintings have class, so why not the visual side of your band. Anyway. Just some well-meant criticism."
aaaaah...mmmm. this is awkward....yeah well kinda answered that already....I guess that when I try and do stuff for the band it sucks. Maybe because I'm not used to having to run my images through the filtering machine and have everyone else rip it to shreds. Maybe its because I like to take my time over my art and produce quality, however in the world of design things have to be now!now!now! and for that reason people change their minds every few seconds and its impossible to commit to a painting that could take weeks when people I work with have Attention Deficit Disorder! Maybe. or Maybe what I do in my art doesn't suit the personality of the band. Maybe your wrong. Or as Shania Twain once said "Maybe, just maybe, he'll want to be my baby". Maybe not.
Beth said...:"your blonde hair actually looks ok, I heard about it and was a bit unsure"
Jamie said.... thanks a bunch. I have heard about your hair too but I haven't seen it. I'm sure it actually looks ****, but what does my opinion matter anyway! lol!
x.jay:"Whats the latest TV show you cried at?Random question brought on by me bawling my eyes out at Doctor Who tonight." golden compass...crying because it was sooo shit.
Supertwigg:" am impatiently awaiting your next blog, come on even Ian is doing better than you haha" Ian's doing 3 word blogs. Ian isn't funny. Ian said he'd do them everyday and then went back on his word. I doubt very much that He's doing better than me. Ian gets more comments because he's a hunky dory front man. that's all he has on me!!! everything else is mine! MINE I TELL YOU!
ha.
As you can see I have replied to comments this time. It's not because I haven't anything of my own to be writing. It's because I'm nice.
now piss off!
x

I have way too much time on my hands....

2008-05-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

to photoshop me as Dolph Lundgren in Masters of the Universe. I wish! Msannieannie, ITS NOT REAL!!! Chill your boots! I'm still the old pudgy me.
yeah, though the blonde hair is real. I was thinking more along the lines of Patrick Swayze-Point Break.
Its so cool that this blog reaches people all across the globe, makes the world a small place doesn't it? Lee's hair is its natural colour, suits him. I'm afraid we don't have any plans to to visit Sweden this summer. Thanks to Angie for your kind comments on my mural I did up at the Rhondda Heritage park. It was an interesting period of my life. I was pretty broke and had long, long hours on a scaffolding in the freezing cold painting that Mural. It was also hard because the viewer has to be so close to the painting so it had to cater for that. I'm not overly pleased with how it turned out, and neither was the Park I don't think. Basically, I think they were hoping for some bright uplifting image like the rest of my work, but I was so moved by the mining disaster it portrayed, that I was forced to express the pain and loss that it caused. The irony is that, my own village suffered one of the worst mining disasters in Britain on the 23 June 1894 which killed 281 men and boys. The Albion Colliery disaster in Cilfynydd. A young man named Timothy Jones who was 26 when he died in the accident lived at the very house I was born in. My village was a little pissed that I painted a mural about another disaster at Tynewydd where 5 men died, but I stand by it because of the heroism of the rescue involved needed to be recognised. Had I been asked to paint about the Albion I would have.
History lesson over...back to hair........not.
I hope we will come to Australia on this next touring cycle. I'm determined to surf in Brisbane, some of the sharkiest water in the world. The first time I ever surfed was in Australia, little known and pointless fact. Me, Mike and Stu if my memory serves me.
Thomas, yes I have been to Cork many times. I am an avid fly fisherman (catch and release whenever possible) and have fished the South West of Ireland on a number of occasions. For your information the air speed velocity of a swallow, a European swallow (since I am Welsh) I have determined to be in the region of roughly 16 meters per second (15 beats per second * 1.1 meters per beat). The cruising speed, that is. Come over to England cos I don't know when we are going to be back in Ireland as a band and normal toast.
If it were down to me to book lostprophets shows, I'd for sure want to tour Argentina and Mexico. In fact, there's very few places I wouldn't want to visit and play. I hear the weather is good in Afghanistan and Somalia this time of year. And our cd's are flying of the shelves in the western region of Darfur (Sudan). Scary!
Juditta, I haven't forgot Italy. I love Italy. Probably my favourite place on earth that I have visited is Venice. Of course, My love for Venetian art draws me back there time and time again.
Thank you Jessica, Its awesome that you lean on our art to help you through Grad school. It always makes me smile to hear that our music can influence people in a positive way.
I am making an effort to reply to comments now and again, since you guys thought it was cool that I did it in the last blog. I'm sorry in advance if I don't reply to all of your comments. My excuse is that if I did, there wouldn't be enough room for me to talk my usual non cohesive nonsense talk, which is why I started doing this in the first place.
(IDEA!) what I may do is different types of blogs...ones that respond to comments and others that are just me talking balls....Nah, that's way too organised. Lets just keep it fun.
Note to self.."Today is a good day".
Tracks are shaping up nicely here in the studio. Very nicely indeed. today so far has been a day of unkempt excitement and enthusiasm. and a flurry of inspiration and creativity. A brilliant ray of sunshine in and overcast few months. (no storms or rain, just a bit dull). Hopefully more sunshine and warm weather on its way......
That was by far one of the shittiest metaphors I have come up with. And that's saying something from a guy renowned for shit ass metaphors. For those that know me, I'm the king of crap metaphors...Yeah..I know....stick to the day job!
out.

Here's the photo's that should have been in the last blog..

2008-05-05T00:29:00.000-07:00

Long over due and no real point putting them up now since it was last weeks news but hey, a promise is a promise. I should take this opportunity to address some of the question some of you guys have posted as comments. In order of comments, top to bottom... "thanks, drunk is good..I agree. I thought Ironman was awesome but have yet to decide if it is better than Batman begins. As for exams..I'm afraid I've already done my fair share of exams so no real sympathy, in fact I am on permanent hiatus with my Masters degree so I've still got exams to look forward too. Ciao. I truly doubt your beans on toast could top mine, I've made it at every given opportunity for the past 25 years, at times more than once a day. I tried to change Donington to Derbyshire on myspace, but the powers that be over ruled, not seeing the fun in it. ah well. Your welcome to Ilan where ever whenever. It is a real machine gun. Ilan discovery of radiohead is a recent thing and in his usual obsessive compulsive way, he bought and listened to the whole back catalogue religiously. so gay. Thanks for the tips on adjusting the border..I'm over it already though. but cheers nevertheless. My camera is a Canon rebel xti, and a variety of lenses depending." Thank you all for commenting, a big shout out to my new friends in Chile, Argentina, Derbyshire, Scotland, Japan. I love reading your comments, and I will promise to respond accordingly.
Thanks Guys.

New day, same me.

2008-05-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

In the studio right now battling with technological issues. Lots of waiting around. Not the start I had hoped. 1 single cable brings the whole ship to a grinding halt. What was going to be a day to remember is swiftly working its way into one to forget. Ilan has played every radio head song to death for the past 8 hours....my brain is fried, and the conversation is into its 3 phase of repeat. Our biggest mission right now is finding tickets to Ironman.....that's as good as it gets.
well here's a couple of pictures of what a today looks like. Add to this, the smell of dust, constant tinkering of 30 second clips of every song by Ilan, and Ian talking in his sleep....wowzers!
roll on school bell and straight to the pub me thinks. zzzzzzzzzzzzz!

(4 hours later)
typical.....the photo's i sent to myself from my phone, as described about, never arrived...balls. I'll put them up when they do.

this qualifies as the worlds most boring and pointless blog.

shit aSS!

p.s. does it piss anyone else off as it does me...the photo of me with a big machine gun doesn't fit within the thin grey lined border. obsessive compulsive...maybe..but its just fricking annoying. grumpy having a knobend of a day. arse off!

I'm such a tool...

2008-04-29T18:52:00.001-07:00

I edited the last blog so that I could link to the Grenade website, but didn't for some reason, bother to publish it. "waa waa waa!"
So as you can see its back up now.
I was reading some amazing stuff last night about Entropy (It is a measure of the randomness of molecules in a system and is central to the second law of thermodynamics), and the arrow of time and that in theory an egg can not only splatter but given the exact right circumstances it can Un-splatter! How cool is that? the chances are so low that its not even worth considering but by the laws of Physics it is theoretically possible. For the most part, I struggle to get my head around such grand concepts..and when I do manage a moment of amazing insight...I am so blown away by what I learn, that I immediately forget it. Or try and tell someone and fuck it up completely and look like a dithering stuttering knob. So, these days I resign myself to just enjoying those moments of amazement and leave the explaining to the pro's. People generally take me for some try hard wannabe spoff who regurgitates nonsense that I read...and that's ok. I just want to share my amazement with them and fail more often than not. But one day maybe I'll pick the right words and the way to share my newly acquired (or adopted) perspectives, and bring a little light to someone else for a brief moment, before we both crash back to the grind of everyday social reality and its bullshit pointless jostling, though I doubt it.
I had hoped that I would be able to inspire Ian. but he just thinks I'm a hippy ponce. I have also tried writing lyrics about this kinda stuff, but I think I sound like a hippy ponce too, so best leave it to the experts ha ha. Well, enough of this drivel, I'm boring myself. off to try and draw out some T-shirt designs for Download. If I leave it all up to Ian to do we'd all be looking like Kings of Leon. THAT of course is not a bad thing! Just kidding bro..you've got a rad sense of design that I fall short on every time. That's why we are a team!..I'll draw the crazy space egg shit and you make it look good by sprinkling your design magic..sweet.
Actually..you guys got any ideas what sort of T-Designs I/we should do for Download and the next few months? don't need art or nothing just rad ideas and inspiration. post links to stuff and I'll check it out. And of course I won't publish the posts for the whole world to see where I ripped of the ideas from, so if there's anything you want to comment on...chuck it into a separate post.
Tidy, see you later!

Holy crap! its hot today!

2008-04-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

Scorcher! shorts weather.
I can't remember if I mentioned anything about the Grenade games that I went to last weekend. Well I did, and it was amazing. Getting wasted on the slopes with half pipe contests, free beer and bands. The sun was out, the snow was cold, and we had a blast riding big park benches all the way down the mountain. Good times.Its the 4th year they've done it. Hell of an experience, only wish I had worn appropriate clothing..I looked like a doosh on the snow in a pair of dunks and jeans. Ah well, live and learn eh?. In case your wondering, Grenadegloves is a snowboard company by Danny Kass, and The Dingo is involved too...youtube 'em. Dingo's awesome..complete nutter of course but a sound aussie fella. I went up with a few friends and Tal who's one of the faces of DCMA clothing company, which has finally got up and running. Used to hang out with Tal loads when we were writing Start Something, now he's become a celeb in his own right. Tal did a little vid
We are back in the studio jamming on some new stuff and re-arranging. It's cool to be all back together in one place. There's something that feels right about spending our days laughing and making music, its like as though its what we are suppose to do. duh!
I have finally gotten ridden of that silly car of mine in the UK. You can see it featured in the Burn Burn video at the end. A white Japanese rocket that is totally impractical. Well, someone taken it away to sell it for me. I did put alot of love into that car back in the day when I was crazy, but its been sitting doing nothing for years now and a shame to let something like that go to waste. If anyone in the UK is looking for a super crazy sports car, lemme know, and I let the dude know. I'm happy with my scoot and my old mini. less strain on the environment and all that.
I need to get back in shape too. was feeling quite fit when I was training with me wife for the LA marathon which she completed. I got a dodgy knee from boarding so I held off on running and did a Cycle marathon instead. But my routine is all out because of all the times I've gone away to the mountains, so I'm all pudgy again. And I haven't been in the sea surfing for like 3 weeks..! how bad am i?
I got a bit tired of all the Dave Grohl comments I was getting recently so I opted for a little change, shaved off me moustache and popped a little dye in my hair. well alot of bleach I should say. ALOT of bleach!, burned the shit out of my scalp...all in the name of vanity. What an arse I am. Ian says I look like Andy Warhol, can't tell if that was a compliment or not, but I was ok with it.
Gotta ride my pushbike to and from the studio this week, from the beach up into Hollywood. Probably take me and hour each way, at least I'll get a workout. Best go now get some beauty sleep and rest my napalmed skull. I'll try and keep you posted on the studio stuff.
Pester the rest of the guys to write some blogs. Just hammer into them on the myspace page. Its always fun to see Ian lose his shit over something unimportant and cause a shit storm with the fans. haha.
later

Two blogs in one week eh? there must be something wrong!

2008-04-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

Hey, hi, hoo.
I just been having a meeting with the lads in the band. It's nice to see them, haven't in a while. I couldn't go home to Wales with them last time because of troubles I have had with immigration here in the States. It seems that the US frowns upon murder these days...what can you do eh? Nah, just kidding. Simple things I have to iron out that took way longer than it needed to but its getting sorted now. Back to the Guys....Yeah, nice to see them. We had a very productive chat and spirits are high. Everything is on track, and we are all gonna be jamming and writing and recording next week. Ians hair is long. My hair is cleaner than his.
Went to Canada last week. It was really cool. My friends from Wales were going there for a Snowboarding holiday, and the previous week I was up at Mammoth with mikey for the week, so I was not planning on going to Banff. But as it turned out, I couldn't bear the thought of my Welsh freinds being kinda close and on the slopes, so the night before I decided to go. It was only supposed to take 3 hours but I connected in Seattle and by the time I had got to Calgary the airline had decided not to bother putting my board on the plane. Nice! In fact I had a sleeping bag and all my clothes in the same case, and since I didn't know where I was gonna be sleeping I was pretty much screwed. 8 hours later, my bag waltz's in all nonchalant and stuff, and following some rental car nonsense I was on my way. The Canadian Rockies were beautiful, the runs were awesome and on Monday we had a bunch of snow and fresh powder. It was great until my friend Phil took a pretty hard tumble trying a jump at about 30mph down a black in 10ft visability...yikes! He caught a front edge, sprung off his face, did a full flikflak and landed again on his face. Oh, how I laughed until he didn't get up. I went down to find most of his face bleeding and smashed up. At first I thought he'd bust his nose but his goggles had skinned it, and the medics had to glue his lip back on. Fair dues though, he wouldn't ride down on a stretcher and was back out the next day, haha Trooper! He's very sensitive and cares alot about his looks and conditioning so if you've a heart, wish Phil Clarke all the best.

I have been thinking alot about painting and drawing recently. Went to a superb exhibition about toys at "1988" on Melrose in Hollywood today. I'm quite please that a gallery called La Luz De Jesus selected one of my new paintings for a group exhibition last month "everything but the kitchen sync", and have asked to hold on to the painting for a permanent showing in the office space. It's one of my first shows here in LA. I need to get some more pieces painted. Finding time to paint and write songs and plan for tour and all these bloody action sports is tricky, haha.
I'm trying to find the energy to go up to Mammoth again on Sunday for the Grenade Games 4. A bunch of mates are going up and I'm trying to drag Mikey up with me. I pooped though. Mike and I are gonna go to watch Galaxy play Football tomorrow, "Beckham! Beckham! Beckham!"...actually, I don't much like football, or soccer (pronounced saaaa-ckrrrrrrr) as they call it here, but the missus loves Becks cos he's from up her end of the woods in Essex. Urrm..what else...I built a front light rack quadrophenia style for me scooter. 8 lights, 6 mirrors and an AA badge...I'm such a doosh! but I can't help it. My 1963 Lambretta has just been painted all original colours and is being souped up to a 190cc, so it deserves a few new accessories. I'm such a big kid with my bloody cars and bike and toys!!! when will I grow up? ha.
I'm getting younger and younger in my head as the days go on. I suppose the more I learn and read, the more I realise I know so little, which reintroduces a sense of wonder in the world. And in turn, I rediscover the child in me... I suppose.
"excuse me, mr. freud...." I'm off for some dinner....mmm some nice fake chicken curry me thinks!! see you later...all the best Phil! hope your face heals nice and doesn't scar too bad.
(if you wanna send him best wishes do it here)
p.p.s check out the half naked picture on his photos page......I mean? who does that these days? cummon! what a ponce! bring on Thunder from down Under!!

Sorry. sorry, sorry... I forgot.

2008-04-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot about doing this blog. Actually, I haven't done anything that justifies writing home about, that's the reason I haven't written in a long while. Every time I came here to write something I thought to myself..."what a load of bollocks, nobody is gonna care about that". And so it went. But I'm here now and still have not alot to say.
Ok, so what is new?
I bought a corn pipe and smoked it while out camping a few weeks ago..that was interesting. Found out quickly that there's and art to smoking a pipe, and just as quickly I gave up. I got a whole new respect for Popeye...(the animated one not the shitty Robin Williams remake. William.....thats a very Norman form of an Old French personal name composed of the Germanic elements wil will, desire + helm helmet, protection,hmmmm I did just write 'desire helmet protection' in a sentance didn't I?).
Bought and watched Point Break with all the special features. Which I must add are amazing and moving at the same time. It's been over 20 years since it was made and wipes the floor with so many new movies. The actors have all aged and and it made me sad to see Patrick Swayze looking amazing in the movie and now being so ill. Very sad.
What else is new? Been snowboarding all winter in my own time. Just came back from my first time in Mammoth. I seem to have a thing for boardsports all over again. Either that or I'm having a midlife crisis a few years early. Its loads of fun. Even if everyone and their mums are doing it now. I guess Skiing is the new cool again. I'm not doing it to be trendy, I just haven't ever had the opportunity before, and since the slopes are only 2 hours away from me, I thought....why not.
Oh, yeah...been working on the record too. on and off. There's been some breaks in between while we redefine who we are and what we want to say. Swings and roundabouts as they say. Time can become an enemy when working on one thing for so long...something that you thought was amazing and fresh can for no reason turn stale and bland over time. So we have continuously kept writing more and more songs to compensate for this. It's difficult to keep track at times because songs have changed and then changed again and new songs have come and gone. The last time I counted we have easily 40 songs in the pipeline. That's not to say all of them were good...haha. We have such high expectations of ourselves and such a high standard for this record that it has really pushed us to the edge to get the greatest songs we can write. No cutting corners and no filler, which is why we are still working on it. It'll be out as soon as it is up and over our raised bar.
It's pretty lame of me and the other guys not to find a few minutes to write down what we are doing and what going on in our heads. But it's not through laziness or arrogance that we don't blog more often. I guess we just feel like we should or could be talking about this or that party we were at and what famous people that we've been hanging out with. Maybe, its just feels odd that anyone would or could give a shit about what I've been up to.
Nah, fuck it, we are just lazy bastards, too busy getting wasted and throwing tv's at old people and shagging sheep to write blogs!!
excuses excuses! tut.
Well, I'll keep it short, so that I have something to write in 2009 or whenever.
Ta ta.
oops, shit I forgot to mention that I got married recently. yikes! t'wifes gonna kill me. yeah that too. And I been painting again, in what little spare time I've had. cool there's some posted up on my flickr site...link at bottom of this page.
byeeee

yey! airports

2007-07-04T17:12:00.000-07:00

Just been talking to Ilan about how shitty it is that people 'have a go' (attack for all those not welsh), at airports. I mean I can see how effective it is, and how there's alot of valuable things and multi national people, and also a great deal of damage to be cause by both fear/terror and inconvenience....but its still SHIT. I'm sitting here in an airport, my 13 hour flight to Heathrow has been delayed, which has caused me to reschedule my connecting flight (which happens to be to Glasgow of all bloody places). Not to say that my arse is going anyway because its the 4th of July and a prime day for an attack. Thanks! THANKS a fucking bunch. All due to the fact that Heathrow had to be evacuated yesterday because of a scare, and of course becuse some dickhead fancied trying to fit their Range Rover through the main doors whilst balancing milk bottles full of flaming petrol. Nice huh? A small inconvenience some may say, yes....but a pain in the arse anyhow, (thankfully there wasn't any fatalities).
Just a bit scary to be honest. But at least its given me a little time to write a blog. Makes me wonder how things would be if we weren't so dependant upon religious belief and Oil.
Some movies I been watching and mean to watch..."An Inconvenient truth" also "A Crude Awakening". Worth checking out to those who give a shit about life beyond the next few years.
Shouldn't be on a rant but I find that my fear gets translated into anger. It's a habit that i have been working to understand and change in myself. Maybe I should also address 'giving out too much pointless info about myself' while I am at it. So I have another 2 hours of time to kill so I am off to people watch for some of it instead of wasting it here in cyberspace. Ta ta for now.

Its Ok! He's Alive...

2007-04-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

...talking about my mate who jumped off the speakers at the scala show the other night. I been told to give him a telling off...but ah. Boys will be boys eh? Soooooo...Hello! I have been away doing stuff, I wanted to write but I been a bit busy shitting my pants about doing these fricking arena shows. I hoped I would take it all in my stride, but nope. weird dreams started happening again days before I left for Europe. Its always the same, dreams of playing shows and not knowing any of the songs, or playing on a stage that is so big I can't see the rest of the boys...or going up to my gear to find it all smashed up. Now I apologise if I am taking the mystic away for some of you that I don't get a little nervous. But, these were our biggest headline shows to date and I, personally, can never be prepared enough. I do have to say, that everyone else in the band does take it in their stride, and have the confidence and prowess to rise to the occasion, it takes me a little longer.
But....the shows went really well and I was well stoked after Wembley that there were no...how can I say...real disasters.
Did a few shows after which were a little less stressful and more about just fun and playing and getting drunk...and flew back to LA yesterday. Good Times!
Was in the dressing room after the Wembley show and there was a really nice atmosphere and I had one of those moments where you stop and take it all in. It reminded me of something from an old metallica video, and something an old friend of mine once told me popped into my head "these are the good old days". I have never forgotten that. Its like taking a snap shot. I know not to try to hold onto these moments as they pass, but I shall not forget them. Everything comes to an end, I know, but I want to try to fill my cup with memories that help my walk my path, and not ones that poison me and drag me down, and lose direction.....
Pretence alert! ALERT! ALERT! ha. didn't know where I was going with that anyhow. so, yes.
Most people I meet accuse me of over thinking. It's not like I have a daily allowance of thoughts and "...opps, shit I've just gone over my limit...better stop thinking now". I, personally, would prefer to over think something than be ignorant to it. True, when you waste time thinking when you should be acting, or spend too much time thinking about unimportant things. I get it...I'm not dumb.
....and turn (completely off subject again), ironic that if my second paragraph were lyrics to a song they may be considered as.."oooh deep and ooooh moving" but in context of a blog...they just read as pretentious. Just an observation.
I do feel a little all thunked out right now, so I'll leave you with this...........

HOW GOOD WERE THE BATTLESTAR GALACTICA END OF SERIES 3 EPISODES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

SPOILER WARNING! SPOILER WARNING!

..and yes it did need to be shouted. For all those who are in the know....wow, Lee Adama, here's to you! for those that don't....plug in, download and start watching! MEGA LOLZ!!!!!!
out.

Thanks guys....

2007-04-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

...for taking the time to bother reading this, and for your comments. I guess Lee hasn't quite got round to setting his blog up. I am about trying to make time to do things rather than looking or trying to find time. I also think its cool when I see bands that I enjoy, put a little effort into communicating with the people that give them the chance to be in a band in the first place, and in all fairness, its no skin off my nose to type a few lines everynow and again right? I'd love to know what James Hetfield is up to these days and where his head is at, for instance. Not that I consider myself on a par with James Hetfield..Hell No...but the comments you guys wrote all pretty much say how cool you think it is that I'm writing, so Ima keep on writing.
And on that note, I've run outta things to say.....haha. No not really, for anyone who knows me, I can talk the ass off of a donkey. Talking of ass...I stuck to my words in my last blog...and did actually get my ass handed to me in the water today. Mikey shit out of surfing today (kidding bro!) so I went it alone. It was grey and a little cold, and to start I had a ball, but it got bigger and I got shitter and took a handful of hammering before sulking back to shore and to my bed. Man, for as much as I love doing it...I suck. guess its true about teaching old dogs new tricks. Mike on the other hand is c c c crazy. For what he lacks in ability, he makes up for with balls. The dudes a deathwish surfer...and regularly has runnings with other surfers in the water. The number of times I have seen mikey smash into some guy, or gal, or take out an entire family with his board... he's just plain mental. I love that about him. The rest of the guys in the band get pissy when mike and I pipe on about surfing. Labelling us as "surfer bum chums" and what not. Fuck 'em. Jealous they are. Haha.
We, pack up the studio in a few days, our work in San Diego is done my friends. We've done some great songs, and for the first time, had fun doing them. They'll probably change alot between now and putting them down on record, but if we made a record of what we have done at this point, I would be stoked. It feels and sounds way more like how we want to be seen and heard. Lets hope we manage to keep that attitude right through the process. Anyhooooo...I got shit to do, and people to see so loves ya and leaves ya. Be good to each other. Look after yourselves, its a dangerous world out there. (i don't quite know where I'm going with this...always found it hard to put the phone down and say bye.)...and....oh..fuck it.

*revised extention - No no no, dont get me wrong, its not that mike is better than me, we are both pretty shit (shit is a relative term), Its just he's crazier than I. Which at times works to his advantage and other times...boy oh boy...its painful to watch the trouble he puts himself into...haha. Plus when I said "what he lacks in ability..he was hurt that I was suggesting he didnt have any. He can surf. In fact for the length of time we been at it, we are RAD! I meant it as a compliment to the size of his balls. ha.
I can't believe I am actually writing this shit out..haha. Can you tell I've had a few beers!! Off out now, Mikes DJing down at the Beauty Bar in San Diego...come along if you can, we'll all be there tearing up the dance floor. OUT.

Hey everyone, or anyone who cares......

2007-04-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

I'm alive. I've been gone quite a while I know. But that's because I got all weird about writing blogs on the lostprophets web-site. I almost felt like I had to censor my opinions just incase they were taken as the opinion of the whole band. And such as I am not my brothers keeper, I don't wish them to be held responsible for my own ideas/opinions/insights/theories/artyfarty nonsense (which I must add, I am very capable of boring even the most polite and patient people with).
So, all in all, I am way more comfortable with this and hopefully, if I manage to pull my head from my own arse from time to time I will write something here. Not in the hope that anyone cares for what I think, nor because I have an agenda of any sort, simply because I can. And since everyone else is doing it, why the hell not. Its quite narcissistic in a sense, a way of putting yourself out there for someone in the secrecy and privacy of their room to see. Thats my take on it....a sort of "hey! check me out..I'm important aren't I!...aren't I?" Sad and ironic in a way, that nowadays people crave acceptance and attention from the solitude of a lonely room. They pull up a single chair and log on to see if anyone cares to want to know or hear them. Me...until now, I have tried to do all of that in the tangible world, but Tao can only lead me so far...and when the rest of the dudes (as I shall call them) are permanently logged in and logged on around me...well, I just follow suit.

.....and that is why I like this blog thingy as a link...haha. What a bunch of old pretentious bollocks...and thats ok though.... right? I mean I can write and say what the fuck I want. And It just falls back on me. That's pretty nifty.
SO, whats new in the life of me..the rapper from loztprofitz...um, well..I have been having some nice weekends away from the garage doing my own thing, mostly trying to get a bit of surf in, and riding my scooter up and down the coast. I went on my second rally yesterday with a bunch of scooterists from the Westside Scooter Club (that's the one I am in) and The Reflections society from up Hollywood way. We joined forces and did a run up along the Sunset strip all the way to the sea. It was a fairly big bunch of us and a few brave dudes, holding traffic so we could go along without stopping at lights etc. A fun day was had by all.
In the weekdays before going to the garage to write, Mike and I have been trying to get a few hours in the sea. The water is still a bit cold but getting warmer, and the San Diego waves are way better than up north...sorry, but its true. The days we have been out, we've had a ball and touch wood, so far no major injuries or runnings with local gangs..if that kinda shit still goes on...you can tell I've been geeking out on the whole Z-boys. I'm stoked (yeah..I said stoked..so what?) cos my short (slightly shorter) boarding is progressing slowly (very slowly). I did a few carves (by carves I mean turns..and by few I mean one) the other morning for the first time, and somewhere in my head a penny dropped and I thing I figures something out. All I have to do now is figure out what that thing is and how to use it.. voila!
Shit...I'm going on and on again. Have to get up in a few hours to have my ass handed to me by the ocean so best I get some rest. Hopefully, I'll try and write again tomorrow or the next, but.....what is it they say...don't hold your breath..whoever YOU happen to be.
Oh, yeah, if you are gonna comment, be nice, I'm new to this, cut me some slack, also don't take this or me too seriously..as its just a bit of fun. I don't wanna get into any pointless runnings with people, and get all hot headed and start ranting (like some people I know), basically if you don't like what I have to say or don't really agree... save that thought, log it, come say hi to me next time you see me in the street and we'll have it out...in the appropriate manner. until then see if you can suck it up and be all positive and polite like how your parents would like you to be. good. Ta ra x

Crazy.........only a quicky

2007-03-29T14:57:00.000-07:00

Thats me! really though, I wanted to address the comments regarding the new GarageDays photos that we put up. For those who are questioning, the photos of Lee are now up...they were just in the second batch, and The reason why I'm not in any of the photos is because I am taking the blimming shot y'all!
Gotta run