The Mezzanine Floor

Well, RN06 was incredible. And utterly astounding. And… just… wow. Each day, I got up at 6.30am and fell asleep at 12.30am… in between, helping to park cars, welcoming people, meeting people, singing, screaming, listening, laughing, moshing, talking, getting myself exhausted… and I still absolutely loved it!

And did I mention that it was utterly life-changing?

And, above all, it made God famous.

I can’t really point to one thing that made it excellent. Maybe it was Mal Fletcher’s brilliant Pythonesque impressions and parodies. For example, on death metal:

 I love how our songs are getting more aggressive. I bet you that by 2020, this will be a Christian song: [very quickly & guttural] “God God God God God God God!” And the second verse will be: “Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus!“

Or on fashion:

And Paul came into Antioch wearing a very nice pair of jeans and an extremely fashionable T-Shirt; well done, Paul!

Or how about this?

[in a very high-pitched British accent with elongated vowels] You see, Eve, when God says, “Don’t eat the fruit”, He doesn’t actually mean, “Don’t eat the fruit”. You see, you must take the context in which God says it! Do you understand me, Eve? Nod your head if you do. He means don’t eat too much, Eve; don’t make a pig of yourself, woman! That’s what He means!

And that’s not all! What about Matthew Barnett’s brilliant parodical music videos for the “Frontstreet Boys”, or “Weezing”? Elmo playing guitar in a spoof music video for “Beverly Hills“… just pure genius… (that song’s been stuck in my head for the past few weeks, by the way ).

 And what about the bands? Tree63 weren’t bad at all (although I had to leave about six songs into the concert), and Onehundredhours impressed me far more than I thought they would, especially with “I Believe In Love” and “Come Take Me Home”. thebandwithnoname were as aggressive as ever, although I wish that they’d put their lyrics up so that we can rap along.

Electralyte were excellent, although, again, I heard their gig from a distance. I was expecting Titus to be my favourite of the guest bands, and they didn’t disappoint. I don’t think one of their songs dropped below 160bpm. Then again, what can you expect from a Geordie Chinese Christian punk rock band?

But the real stars of the show - conference, even - were RPM, even if I do say so myself. I mean, watching Alex jump off a ten-foot half-pipe skate ramp and accidentally kick a guest dancer in the head (no injury incurred) was fantastic!   Then there was the new RN06 theme song/opener,  ”Remember You”, which was pumping. “Fire In Me” was an especially powerful rock epic…

…but the whole choir coming down onto the stage and jumping around with the band members in the final song of the conference - ”Live God Loud” - was just incredible.

And then there were the skate competitions, basketball competitions, obstacle courses, caged football competitions, and the Battle Of The Bands…

…but I’ve gone on for quite long enough already, so let me leave you with a few videos… visit here, enter “colourorcountry” as the password, and click on “RockNations 06″ to view some videos of RPM and Titus performing, plus a brilliantly funny “Please Turn Off All Mobile Phones” advert (spoofing Orange in several ways).

Next post expected, ooh, sometime later today. Maybe.

It’s been a month or so since my last post. In-between has been (amongst other things) RN06 and weird bugs in the site databases; however, the ever-helpful Chromakode has helped to restore my site from the depths of the murky cybervoid (thank you so much, Chroma!). So… I’m back. I hope you didn’t miss me too much.

 In other news, Homestar Runner is now ten years old! The Brothers Chaps have created a Flash version of the original book. I strongly suggest that you check it out. Also of note is the other recent big toon, “Weclome Back“. They’re hilarious.

 Next post expected in a couple of hours. 

No apologies to John Lennon, but nothing to kill or die for sounds rather boring.

I mean, at the heart of any story is conflict, whether internal or external. I’m not advocating war or bloodshed, I’m just quoting Lennon’s own postmodernist view, as spoken by George S. Patton:

“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”

Would Lennon defend his cause strongly enough to die for it knowingly?

Does George S. Patton want everyone to think the same as he does?

Is there no end to postmodernists’ self-contradiction?

I think I feel a parody coming on…

Next post expected, ooh, let’s say tomorrow.

(Apologies for the belated post.)

Yesterday, I bought the, erm, “new” Switchfoot album, Nothing Is Sound. (More on that later.) Some of you may remember the debacle over Sony Music Group’s installation of a controversial Extended Copy Protection system on various CDs, one of which was said Switchfoot album. Eventually, Sony had to recall such CDs, as XCP was (to a certain extent) a rootkit. Part of the problem, though, was that in order to be safe against illegal copying, it disabled actions which were legal.

Some of you may know about the pervasiveness of (possibly unnecessary) CCTV cameras in the British Isles: the average UK citizen is caught on camera over 300 times per day. Which, of course, could (feasibly) be turned into a Big Brother-ish regime in the name of security.

So, some questions…

#1. How far is too far when it comes to security measures? When does it start to infringe on “rights”?
#2. Does CCTV actually work… is having so many cameras worth it?
#3. Does CCTV also make you look heavier than you really are?

Please let me know what you think… and not just on the last question, either.

…it’s not adieu, just a farewell until roughly Saturday. Please comment on my previous posts and surprise me for when I’m back…

Next post expected on Saturday.

Speaking of Switchfoot, they seem to be caught up in the fad of more cowbell…

Next post expected in a few seconds.

I thought that this was pretty related to the last two posts, but I’m going to keep it simple…

“A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of what a straight line is.” - C. S. Lewis, paraphrased.

There cannot be a concept of evil without a concept of good.

There cannot be a concept of wrong without a concept of right.

There cannot be a shadow when there is no sunshine.

Switchfoot, are, once again, right on the mark.

And, once again, this reinforces the idea that postmodernists should be slapped really hard…

Next post expected in a few seconds.

My friend Carole said of the subject of my last post: “7/7 is, like, Doomsday!”

It is a very odd coincidence that in the Doomsday Algorithm, devised by Mr John H. Conway, the Doomsday of a year falls on 4/4, 6/6, 8/8, 10/10, and 12/12, though not, unfortunately, 7/7.

Next post predicted tomorrow: “Dry Eyes in the Pouring Rain”.

One year ago today was 7/7.

I was in America at the time… I woke up to the news.

I still remember it as one of the most complex days of my life; I was dispirited in the late evening (not just because of the bombings), yet an extremely happy event happened at the very end of the day, and I went to bed smiling, despite almost breaking down half an hour before…

…and when I look back upon that day, I remember the positive more than I do the negative.

…and stemming from that, RockNations has risen up to counter the waves of apathy in the youth culture, reaching out into the schools and colleges of Bradford. This year, the annual conference is set to be the biggest festival ever to come to Bradford… and it’s the best week an empty, scared/scarred teenager could spend to get their life back. (Now, why does that description remind me of Mandy?)

I have arrived in WordPress! All I can say is… wow. This is an incredible ‘blogging system. Extreme thanks to Chromakode for helping me to set this up!

And now, for no good reason, here’s a random list.

Tetherball.
Olympic race.
Tim Duncan.
Wisconsin.
Next week.
A lot of money.

(N.B. I suggest not trying to make any sense out of that; it’s a Homestar reference, and, as in another reference, it might end up that your head a splode.)