In the words of depress superstars of yesterday, Staind - "it's been a while"...
A hell of a lot has happened since my last post. Needless to say I didn't quit drinking, but I'm happy to report that I've not had any incidents of the previously blogged "cloud of shame" either.
I suppose the biggest news since my last post is that I've graduated! Not only that, but I've managed to earn myself a 1st class degree. A massive part of my degree success was my final project, - an ethical ticket trading website I decided to develop after having a very negative experience on a competitor website. If you're looking to sell tickets to other fans, give it a try. Hopefully it'll kick off and tick over, earning me a little pocket money (there's a couple of people trying to shift Leeds festival tickets on there now). As a consequence of the aforementioned cessation of student life, I'm now on the hunt for full time employment. There's some crazy statistic about there being about 69 graduates to every graduate job, which is pretty terrifying! I think I should be OK with my qualification and CV though - I have a very exciting potential opportunity in the pipeline as you read this (more on that later).
In order to get any interviews, it's essential to have a good CV. Not one for being concise, I had a 2 page CV with a couple of paragraphs introducing myself and my career goals, hoping my passion for the internet (and music, depending on the job) came across. Well, after applying to numerous jobs without any response, my good friend (and fellow New Media graduate), offered to have a gander. He gutted it, spent a full day coming up with a much better layout and concise document that would no doubt have led to many more callbacks had I been using it all summer. So after a bit of word changes and slight tinkers, my new CV is ready to be unleashed on the world of digital recruitment (if the previously alluded to opportunity doesn't come to fruition). Take a look for yourself here and let me know what you think.
This summer's been a particularly busy one for gallivanting around. First there was the Rage Against the Machine victory celebration gig at Finsbury Park, which I'm sure most people will have heard was a truly excellent moment to behold. It was made all the more special for me with their choice of support acts, Gallows and Gogol Bordello. Next up was my first ever experience of VIP access at a festival when myself and fellow member Chris Pendlebury were granted press access to this year's Download Festival. Throughout the weekend there were moments when I felt we were imposters, just waiting for someone to question our legitimacy, but it was an unbelievable experience and I'm quite proud of the programme we made. See it for yourself at or below (presented and edited by me).
As a final "hurrah" and celebration of our university lives, my university crowd and I decided to rent a villa in Bulgaria in July. It was my first step out of the country in about 5 years and I had a blast. Lager was ridiculously cheap, which made for many a drunken dip in our pool. I'll not bore you with intricate stories of every meal I ate and what we did there, instead, I'll leave you with the picture on the left (I'm 6th along).
Having bought a Sonisphere Festival ticket back in December in order to secure myself a free Poland ticket (which I didn't end up using...), I ended up going to the festival on my own. Staying in Potters Bar (thanks Iain!) and travelling everyday to Knebworth, I couldn't pass the opportunity to watch so many great bands in one weekend. As predicted, I still managed to have a great time and even managed not to spend all my time on my own with the aid of Twitter! Being the massive Anthrax fan I am, they were a particular highlight, Rammstein were incredible and a perfect headliner, and my friend Tom Dare (AKA ) introduced me to the band that impressed me the most over the weekend, Kylesa. I unfortunately had to leave during Iron Maiden's set to ensure I made it home. Truth be told, I wasn't that gutted. It irritated me that they treated the festival gig like it was their own and played a pretty selfish set list... at least that was my take on it anyway.
So, the mysterious opportunity I may have. I don't want to say too much about it in case it doesn't happen, but I may be heading to London very shortly to commence a 3 month digital internship (unfortunately unpaid, but it's an incredible opportunity). I'm hoping I manage to impress the people at this organisation and it becomes my step into a career and industry I've been fantasising about working in for years. Wish me luck folks!
I think this is my lot. I'm sure there's more that I've forgotten. Ah well. Oh yeah, I went to the "Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup" polo tournament just before Sonisphere... that was interesting! My posh housemate is a goal judge there and wanted us to experience it and see where he lived. It was a very pleasant weekend, can't say Polo is that exciting though.
This website is still unfinished, I need to finish some layout designs and I need to add content to my portfolio. Once I find some time, I'll try and get it done. In the meantime, I'm in the middle of writing a blog on HTML5 and I have managed to upload my "Will Through The Ages" gallery. Head here to check it out.
So yeah, I shall hopefully be seeing some of you in London very soon!
Last night was the and I may have overdone it just a little bit.
Drinking Rosé wine instead of my usual tipple of cider or lager (prices were ridiculous) I got drunk very quickly, which resulted in my friend finding me in the welfare tent with suspicious pulp on my face. Following hearing my night relayed to me in bits of second hand information - it's safe to say I had a bit of a nightmare and may have made a massive bosom of myself.
By most accounts, I'm a pretty harmless drunk. Extremely affectionate and very silly. I enjoy it. The problem I'm always faced with is the worry the morning after when I've forgotten everything and then the inappropriate things I've said to whoever I've spoken to. Couple that with my tendency to just disappear when I think my night's over and the shyness of sober Will returning when I'm talking to these people the following day - it leaves me with a horrible cloud of shame.
I've had great nights when I'm drunk, the majority in fact - I enjoy it a lot and people usually enjoy my company. It's just the odd western (Western Super Mare - Nightmare) that makes me feel extremely self conscious about it all.
I had a sober month leading up to the end of my degree and it was refreshing to not have a write off day at least once a week. Shameful days like today always make me reconsider whether it's worth it - it'd certainly save me a lot of money.
I know I won't quit drinking though, drunk Will isn't a big fan of sober people and sober Will really doesn't like drunks - it just wouldn't work. That, and I've got the Download Festival and the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards next week - the opportunity really isn't around!
Just 10 minutes ago, my body filled with an irritated rage at the the sounds of Metallica's Fade to Black emerging from my housemate's bedroom. Not because I dislike Metallica, but because HE was listening to them. How pathetic?
Now hear me out, I'm not an unreasonable fella. Nor am I about to crucify eclecticism... but the manure I've had to suffer spewing from this particular gentleman's vocal chords regarding the tunelessness of my beloved heavy metal is the reason I'm currently blasting Slayer at top volume and writing this blog.
It's a problem that isn't isolated to said Jack Wills donning trend follower, Richard West. It is something I've encountered with many a heavy metal nay-sayer. There's something about the popular metal bands that makes them exempt from the umbrella of "your music" (when referring to the noise that pollutes the air of my bedroom) that I cannot fathom - and this angers me. These bands are MY bands. I listen to them. A lot. I listen to them more than playing guitar hero. I pay my hard earned money to buy their records, t-shirts and gig tickets. And more importantly, I stick up for them.
To me, there's very little difference in listening to Metallica's Fade to Black and listening to Anthrax's Armed and Dangerous or Megadeth's In My Darkest Hour. However, because Metallica went on to record the most popular metal album ever 6 years later, their entire back catalogue is exempt from the tarred brush that other metal suffers from the mainstream parasites. Metallica inspired the majority of bands I listen to that released a record after 1983. Metallica still operate in these circles, taking bands such as Machine Head, The Sword and Gojira on tour with them - all of which means they very much belong to the umbrella of metal.
What is it then, that makes Metallica so acceptable? What is it that makes them so different to other popular metal bands such as Megadeth, Pantera and (to a lesser extent) Black Sabbath? Why shouldn't I get angry when I have to defend the talent of my favourite musicians and those of us that favour the angrier music in life - when I hear someone on the other side of the argument claiming one of MY bands as their own?
My blog here probably doesn't make much sense. And that's due to the fact that I can't make any sense of my anger either. I probably look like a bit of a cretin after this, why should it anger me that one of my favourite bands has another fan? It certainly wouldn't anger me if it was anyone but this particular person listening to it. That's why I should probably just forget it and attend anger management. Maybe I'll come out and listen to high school musical songs, and he'll write a similar blog as to how I've ridiculed him for so long... and now I'm listening to HIS music.
I've entered myself into the domain of public scrutiny in an attempt to become the next presenter of the .
In order to win £1000, a video camera and VIP access at the festival, I need my faithful friends and readers (all 2 of you) to head to and like the video for "Will, 21 from Lancashire" (posted on 30th April 2010 at about 10am).
I'm quite happy with my video. Don't quite know what happened with the layout of my 5 Download Festival photos (it's supposed to be balanced/symmetrical) and my head seems to be stuck leaning towards my shoulder - but otherwise I hope I come across as knowledgeable and enthusiastic.
So yeah, a final drill home:
Head here:
Click like on "Will, 21 from Lancashire".
1. Porcupine Tree
I'm currently Spotifying the bejesus out of Porcupine Tree's "The Incident" and endeavour to purchase this masterpiece when my bank account becomes a little greener (or slightly less red...). I've been aware of Porcupine Tree for some time, reading nothing but positive things about their live performances, but I never seemed to "get" their music. Looking for some decent music to work to, I decided to try them out again - and this time something just clicked. The reason I feel I have gotten into this band too late is that I've seen their tour dates pass me by on more than one occasion and I now regret it. Luckily they're still an active band so there's plenty of opportunity to rectify my mistake.
2. Pantera
I was relatively early with Pantera (when put into context). I bought "Cowboys From Hell" when I was about 13 or 14 - which sat awkwardly amongst my Nu Metal CDs. Unfortunately this was still after the band had ceased to be. If I'd been just a year earlier, I still wouldn't have been able to see them live (which of course would be the ideal scenario), but I'd have had a ticket to see them live - which would at least give me a little more "fan" points. Looking back at older Kerrang magazines that I subscribed to for my weekly fix of Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Linkin Park news, I discovered a small advertisement [] for an event named "Tattoo The Planet" featuring Slayer and Pantera. This was the famed Pantera tour that was cancelled due to the horrific events on the 11th September 2001 in New York which signalled the end of the band. A slightly less pathetic justification of my disappointment that I didn't properly discover Pantera earlier was the fact that the album I bought after "Cowboys" was "The Great Southern Trendkill" - which at the time was far too heavy for my tender little ears. This stunted my Pantera growth until I saw Damageplan at Download 2004 and I was helpfully pointed back in the right direction.
3. Crowbar
Crowbar are one of the bands that after hearing, quickly became one of my favourite bands. After I bought the "Equilibrium/Odd Fellows Rest" double album, I had to go out and buy the rest of the catalogue. It's looking increasingly like they'll be returning to our little island soon (they're supporting Sepultura in other European countries) - but I could have already seen them! In 2005, Crowbar supported Hatebreed on their UK tour and they toured on their own around this time too - even worse is one of my friends was dragged to one of the Crowbar gigs by her boyfriend at the time. Had I just been 2 years earlier, I'd have seen Crowbar touring their "Lifesblood For The Downtrodden" album, a personal favourite of mine. Ah well, at least they're active again!
4. Weedeater
I was actually invited to see Weedeater and declined. It was closely after a heavy weekend (possibly a Damnation Festival) and a couple of my friends were going and thought I'd enjoy it, but I was all gigged out. A few months later I checked them out and couldn't stop playing the "God Luck and Good Speed" record and instantly regretted my feeble laziness.
5. Corrosion of Conformity
A friend of mine introduced me to Corrosion of Conformity a long time ago. I paid little attention and I've lived to regret it. A decent sized group of my friends went to see C.O.C. around the same time that Crowbar toured and I blissfully ignored the occurrence. I can't remember what caused me to check them out again, but it wasn't long after the gig and they're now my 11th most played band (according to Last.fm) and my 4th most played band this year.
6. Gallows
I've missed so many opportunities to see Gallows it's ridiculous. I've been at more than one festival that they've played and I've been aware of them playing in either Leeds or Manchester on more than one occasion. Their recent Sheffield gig came at the wrong time for me (the night before a deadline) so I have yet to see them live. "Grey Britain" was introduced to me via my weekly intake of the Metal Hammer podcast, and it really is as good as host, Terry Bezer keeps saying. I'd been asked a few times before if I liked Gallows, but by people I thought had dreadful tastes in music - which always put me off checking them out. I'd heard "Belly of a Shark" and thought it was OK, but nothing that would compel me to buy an album. However after Spotifying "Grey Britain" my opinion changed drastically. I bought the record and it's now a walking/driving iPod staple.
7. Witchcraft
I've seen Witchcraft. They were excellent. The problem was that I didn't know any songs. A friend of mine encouraged me to accompany them to the gig (he needed somewhere to crash in Leeds...), so I went along and was thoroughly impressed. Cut to 2 years later - they're my 14th most listened to band and "Firewood" is one of my favourite bodies of work I own. Had I listened to recommendations earlier I'd have been so much more into the gig and it would have meant so much more! Here's hoping they return to our shores soon.
8. Gorerotted
I never used to get along with extreme metal. It was fine. We lived our separate lives, I was fine without it and it was fine without me. Whilst my friends were attending gigs by the likes of Cannibal Corpse and Gorerotted I sat at home listening to my thrash and classic rock records. It wasn't until I heard my mate Sam's band, that I got bitten by the extreme metal bug. I'm not "Mr Death Metal" by any stretch of the imagination, but if I'm ever looking for some aggressive music, nothing soothes my itch like sticking Gorerotted's "Only Tools and Corpses" on. Unfortunately, I was too late to the party to see them live. On the other hand I'm rather a fan of Gorerotted's spin off, The Rotted and have seen them on more than one occasion - so all is not lost.
9. Megadeth
They're my favourite band and I got into them 17 years into their career. If I'd been into Megadeth just a little earlier, I might have seen the Dave Mustaine, Al Pitrelli, Jimmy DeGrasso and David Ellefson lineup and performances of songs like "Return to Hangar" and "Burning Bridges". I'm not too gutted at this one though, as I've more than made up for any moments I may have missed by seeing the band 10 times thus far, meeting them 3 times and even going to the studio to hear tracks from "United Abominations" 5 months before you. Did I mention I'm a bit of a fan?
10. Type O Negative
Similar to Witchcraft, I've seen Type O Negative live. I loved them at the time, and I even paid a greedy ticket tout £50 for the privilege to get inside the Manchester Academy 2 to witness their performance. I discovered Type O when their cheap Roadrunner produced best of was released. I'd always heard good things, but not from anyone that would force me to check them out. This was one of my prouder impulse buys. So why was I too late? I saw Type O on the "Dead Again" tour when, at the time, I only owned the "Best of Type O Negative". Since attending the gig, I've purchased the entire back catalogue and "Dead Again" is my favourite. The disappointment comes when I think back, I can recall faint memories of some of the riffs from "Dead Again" being played live, but I couldn't appreciate them fully. Had I been more prepared, the gig would have been even better.
I've had a couple of spurts of creativity this weekend, both of which are ideas I've had for a while, but haven't bothered to produce.
Well, even with some very important deadlines looming, I found myself clahning around on Photoshop.
The first came from my (mentally and physically) unhealthy love of Mr Colonel Sander's finest fast food establishments (particularly when consuming the Wicked Zinger Tower meal, with gravy and a large diet coke...). It could be neater, but it's only for a bit of fun. Would probably have been better to do this as a vector image, but I'm a lot less experienced with vectors than Photoshop. So without further ado, I give you Colonel Beardmore:
The second image is inspired by my favourite podcast, the highly recommended with Messrs Gill and Bezer. This one's more of an in joke, and needs no explaining to those who listen. To those that don't get it, you clahns need to listen to the podcast.
It's been months since I've felt I had anything worth sharing in the blogosphere, but I think I've finally got something. Also, I keep meaning to write a 2009 summary post with top 5's and all that jazz, so keep your eyes peeled for that one, as I'm well aware the relevance threshold for such a post is quickly disappearing.
The big issue here is that I've bought a Mac. Furthermore, I love it. Even furthermore, it's not just a Mac, it's £1600 worth of Macbook Pro with a lovely 17" glisten. Why's this such an issue?
I've become the enemy.
For years I've criticised my friends for selling out and moving to Mac without knowing why they're doing so. For some reason, it hit a nerve with me that people would buy a machine with similar specifications to a Windows equivalent for a few hundred pounds more & I felt that they had to justify their purchase. So, in my first year of university when the January student loan came in, I bought a brand new Windows Vista desktop PC.
Fast forward 2 years later and the PC's starting to slow down, programs like Firefox take 5 minutes to load and I can't even dream of practicing the After Effects techniques I'm learning on this machine. So, I decided a new computer was in order.
It was a mistake buying a desktop. I'm back and forth between Leeds and Bury like a yo-yo, so the number 1 requirement of the new computer was that it had to be a laptop. Second requirement of the computer was that it needed to be an investment, something that will last for at least a couple of years - until I'm making real money at least. This lead me to deciding that the new computer needed to be the best laptop I can buy - cue the Macbook pro 17". Now I'm not going to claim to be the best researcher in the business, but I think calling this laptop "the best laptop I can buy" is quite justified. With the battery life, hard drive size, RAM, video card and processor all being pretty darn good, it seemed like a safe bet. I'm sure people will dispute it, and I'm not going to make much effort to argue with them, you have to realise; I'm still living in a little bit of shame.
It was a big moment sliding my card into the store's chip and PIN device and entering the 3654 number (OK, artistic license may have been used on that PIN). It was a genuine adrenaline pumping experience. I could taste the humble pie as I unwrapped my new toy - and I'm not going to lie, it' a 5 star dish.
Convincing myself that I've not completely sold out, one of my first orders of business was to install Parallels and Windows 7, but I don't think I'm fooling anyone. I still refuse to be a high and mighty "get a Mac", up your own arse Apple Wanker whenever I see a friend using a Windows laptop, but I don't know if I'll ever buy a PC again.
So, to all of my friends that have heard my tirade against Mac, I hope this blog brings a massive smile to your faces.
Welcome to one of the far far far corners of the internet, a corner occupied by me, Will. The majority of those reading this initial blog will be well aware of who I am, as I've probably directed you here, but for those who have somehow landed here, please allow me to introduce myself.
I'm Will Beardmore (original domain, no?), and I'm currently entering my 3rd year of study at Leeds University for their . In addition to being a poor student, I've been learning web design and development for almost a decade, starting out at the tail end of primary school, clowning around on Geocities and Homestead, I soon developed a large interest in the field, going on to learn HTML, PHP, MySQL, CSS, jQuery, etc, etc, etc.
My main interest and passion outside of the internet is Heavy Metal music. Over the years, I've poured just about everything I've earned into attending concerts and festivals, buying CDs and merchandise and just about anything I can get my hands on to do with metal. This blog will be my forum to discuss all things metal, because the internet needs another opinion...
Megadeth are my all time favourite band, my most seen band (10 times) and my most met band (3 times, once in the studio!). About 5 years ago, I started a Megadeth fansite, RattleheadHQ.com (now deceased), which became pretty popular, managing to attract almost 20,000 visits in its most successful month. When I started my degree, I lost the time it took to keep the Megafans informed, and so decided to stop updating it. It was fun whilst it lasted though.
Other bands I have an unhealthy interest in are Anthrax, Crowbar, Alice in Chains, Witchcraft, Alice Cooper, Metallica, Down and tons more. See what I'm currently listening to at my .
Enjoy reading what I have to say, and feel free to contact me or comment below.
Also, I'm one of those Twitterers, so to follow me.
