Elliott, man, you played a fine guitar

“The songs you wrote got me through a lot, just want to tell you that but it’s too late”
 – Ben Folds, Late

It was ten years ago tomorrow that Elliott Smith died.

I’m not one to generally get upset about the deaths of celebrities. I think it’s probably because I don’t tend to buy into the cult of celebrity. However, with the few that I really feel a connection to, their deaths hit me hard. None has hit me harder than when Elliott died.

I first got into his music from a recommendation from someone on an internet message board. At the time, he was pretty much unknown in Britain and I had to ask Our Price to specifically order the Either/Or CD in for me. Two weeks later, it turned up and I went to collect it. I was hooked from the moment I put it into my CD player.

The music is stunning, the vocal style is unique and enticing, and there is no sense of self-importance. I think that is why I felt more of a connection than most other musicians.

I was lucky enough to see him live twice. The first time he walked up to the front of the stage and waved to the crowd and then went to the back of the stage all shy. You can tell from watching interviews with him that he is just a regular guy who accidentally got famous from doing something that he loves doing and felt awkward with some of the situations he found himself in.

Elliott got perform at the Oscars due to Miss Misery being on the Good Will Hunting soundtrack. I think the fact that he thought he needed to dress up in a suit is brilliant. It just shows how real he was. He had no sense of image and thought that if you are going to a big important ceremony that you have to dress up for it.

When seeing him live, I was shocked by much he rocked. While his records are largely acoustic, he would often use an electric guitar in live shows which could give the songs a much different feel. Compare the live version of Needle In The Hay at the start of this video to the album version for an example.

There are some brilliantly cute lyrics (Say Yes) and some amazingly vindictive (Roman Candle) yet all sung in the same tones and with the same amount of emotion. One of the things that randomly really got to me was the way that he could make swearing beautiful. There are numerous swears in his songs but all in a whispered beautiful tone.

I was very jealous of his guitar playing. I was playing in a band when I got into his music and I struggled to get anywhere close to being able to play what he played. He is technically great (even though he doesn’t always seem to know what chords are called) and in my opinion vastly underrated as a guitarist.

I remember I was in bed when I found out that Elliott had died. This is in the days before laptops and internet on phones so I am assuming that I found out through a text from my friend Richard who I shared similar music tastes to.

I remember feeling gutted and lost but to be honest I can’t remember much else. My memories of that era are starting to fade.

Thinking back now and watching videos I am feeling a deep sense of loss. It might be partly as a result of my hangover but I’m in a very emotional state and I just wish I could have gone to give him a big hug.

“I’m never gonna know you know but I’m gonna love you anyhow.” – Waltz #2 (XO)


The more I think about it, the more the ending to Dexter sucks

SPOILER ALERT: This is about the final episode of the TV show Dexter. If you don’t want to know what happened, don’t read. Although if you don’t know and read, to be honest, you’ll probably be only be as disappointed as if you’d watched it anyway.

Here is a picture of Dexter before I actually start ranting, just to give people time to read that spoiler alert.

There. Now that’s out of the way, on with the rant.
I have been into Dexter for a while. I think it was around season 3 was on TV when someone lent me a DVD of the first season and told me that I’d like it. I did and I caught up quite quickly.
It was brilliant. The idea was amazing – a forensic analyst who is a compulsive serial killer, therefore able to cover his tracks perfectly and who only kills the bad guys.
The show had a couple of brilliant season. The first one and the one with John Lithgow as the Trinity killer stand out. It also had some amazing bits in the others. 
Since it was announced that they were going to end the show a couple of years ago, I have watched the last three seasons with Bass and Natalie as companions. Since that point the writers had always known how it was going to end, according to interviews.
Since that point, we had been debating how it was going to end. In my mind, there was one of two ways it could finish:
1. Dexter is dead.
2. Dexter is imprisoned.
Any other way, then there is not a resolution. If Dexter is alive and at large, we still assume that he has the killer instinct – the dark passenger which he hasn’t actually spoken about for a few years – and therefore it is not an ending. There could still be more. Why it would end any other way, I don’t know.
The last couple of seasons leading up to this, have actually been a bit lackluster. Deb finding out about Dexter’s true nature should have been the beginning of the end. As it was, it was dragged out, she thought she was in love with him, she got a different job, she tried to confess. Some of these things were good. Some of them were dull.
Deb finding out about Dexter should have been cataclysmic. It should have sent the show on a spiral towards one of the two endings that I have suggested. 
Instead, they faffed around in season 8 by bringing in a bunch of new characters. 
Dr Vogel who was insanely annoying was supposed to have been the one that came up with Dexter’s code (that he only kills the baddies). She was weak. Buying into her being his inspiration all along was nigh on impossible.
Her son was better and ultimately a bit more like some previous villains, but he was no Trinity or Ice Truck Killer and to have him be the one that finally brought Dexter down was a rubbish way of doing it. Much better would have been to have Deb be the one responsible for his demise in one way or the other.
Zach was the best character they introduced. He was like a mini Dexter and one way of ending the show could have been to have Dexter train him and have Zach take over his legacy. But they killed him off after a few episodes.
Masouka’s daughter…. well what the hell was that point in her? She added absolutely nothing to the story. Dead weight.
Still, even with all of this faffing and the weak storyline, I could have bought the ending if it hadn’t been for the last 30 seconds. 
The ending prior to this was at least sort of consistent with the rest of the season. Dexter has become a bit more emotional, felt guilty about what he’d done to those around him, especially Deb and then he becomes the cause of the reason she will be a vegetable for the rest of her life and so decides to do what he knows and killer her and bury her at sea. He then gets caught up in a storm and you see his shipwreck. Scene.
At least that is reasonably consistent and gives us an resolution. But no. We’re not allowed one. Fade in and we see Dexter is a lumberjack. 
What?
What the Bon Jovi am I supposed to think about that? 
He is still alive. Surely he’s still a killer? Surely there’s still more I need to know about him?
THAT IS NOT AN ENDING, SHOWTIME. THAT IS A NEW BEGINNING.
In the few weeks that have passed since I watched the final episode, the anger has been festering and I have felt the need to get it out. 
It might have been made worse by the fact that I watched the final episode the day before I watched the final Breaking Bad which ended perfectly and true to the entire 5 seasons.
I should have been prepared based on the fact that the last few seasons have been a bit sub-par but I was at least hopeful for closure. Apparently I’m not allowed it. Well, screw you, Showtime! I’m not watching any more of your shows!

Bucket List Item 28: Win a fortune in Vegas

I’ve not done any bloggenings in a while. This is partly because most of my waking time was spent catching up on Breaking Bad and partly because I have recently been on holiday for two weeks.

We went to America which, until a little while ago, I had no real desire to visit. When I go on holiday, I have generally chosen to go places that are significantly culturally different to England. However, when I traveled the Trans-Mongolian railway three years, I discovered a fondness for the journey as well as the destination. This is probably partly why I did a road trip round England earlier this year, and is also why I have added driving across America to my bucket list.

So when Natalie suggested a trip to Vegas and then Florida, I was much more amenable to the idea than I would have been before. Then adding in all the potential fun stuff we could get up to with a group of some of my favourite people, it seemed like a great holiday. And it was. I’m not going to bore you with all the details of all the amazing things we did. I’m not sure you could handle the jealousy.

What I wanted to talk about was the item on my bucket list – “Win a fortune in Vegas.”

My plan was simple:

1. Go to Vegas.
2. Make a fortune.
3. Marry a stripper.
4. Live happily ever after.

What could possibly go wrong? Other than the fact that apparently I couldn’t legally get married in Vegas due to needing to fill out application forms or something first. The documentary “What Happens in Vegas” that I watched on the plane didn’t point out this problem. I think they must have edited it out for dramatic effect.

And other than the fact that all casino games are stacked in the house’s favour. I’ve done mathematical calculations to try to work out a foolproof way of winning money, but obviously there aren’t any. Casinos much surely employ mathematicians to ensure that there are no loopholes and fix them before they lose too much money.

I thought I had an awesome way of winning at craps but it turns out I’d miscalculated. Sometimes I’m ashamed of my accountant skills or lack thereof.

Needless to say, I didn’t get further than step one of my amazing plan.

I did have a great time though. We played mainly video poker or blackjack, but it’s where you are playing with other players at tables which I find a lot more exciting. Me and Adam started to play a bit of craps which is one of the most sociable games and is pretty good fun. Admittedly most of the time we spent trying to work out what was going on but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

My conclusion from my visit to Vegas is that if you want to win money at gambling, you need to do it against other players, so poker is probably the way forward. You’re not playing the house but some human opponents and as such, if you can gain the psychological advantage over your opponent then you will win more times than you will lose.

I was going to enter a poker tournament but didn’t in the end. I definitely could have spent longer there. My friends were thinking of going to a club where women got in free but men had to pay for entry which I objected to on moral grounds (possibly more on that in another blog sometime) and when they were going to, I was going to find a reasonably priced poker tournament to join, however they didn’t end up going.

We did lots of fun things when we were in Vegas. If you are going to go, I would recommend taking a helicopter over the Grand Canyon, catching Penn and Teller at the Rio and spending some time in Freemont Street which I preferred to the Strip as it is quainter and quirkier, as well as taking a trip to the Neon Boneyard and the Mob Museum, as well as a shooting range.

Bucket list Item complete: 25 – Fire a Shotgun

Me firing a shotgun


I have wanted to shoot a shotgun for a while. Mainly to prepare myself for the zombie apocalypse.

Shotguns, as I have learnt from video games, are extremely powerful weapons that make big holes in bad guys and produce a lot of awesome gory effects.

The hole I made in the zombie

We went to a shooting range called The Gun Store and we’d found vouchers in some of the free information booklets that you can find in various places. They had a selection of pre-made packages but me and Adam both wanted to feel like James Bond and shoot some zombies, so we opted to create our own package of a handgun – I think it was a 1911 – and a shotgun. This option I think cost $70 (around £44).

The instructors were really helpful and encouraging and we all had a great time. The position you need to get into to shoot a gun isn’t something I’d ever considered before. You have to stand legs apart and lean slightly forward for a handgun and put the shotgun against your shoulder and put your face up to the side. If you don’t do this, you can injure yourself from the recoil.

In movies they definitely don’t do this. The hold it in the coolest way possible. Which is definitely impractical for actual usage. At least as far as I can tell from shooting five shells.

I’m clearly no expert and there’s probably some special kind of shotgun which allows you to fire it any which way you choose. I don’t care. I fired a freaking shotgun.