Riadsala’s Blog

Recently I have been…

• Jamming with Roger and the Modern Blues. Now that the gig with Benny is done and dusted (went pretty well, let down by the venue/sound. But we did the best we could given the venue wasn’t really a live music venue) I have more free time for fun musical things. Like playing (slightly indulgent) blues rock. It’s great fun. And while i miss Nick Trepka (a great guy and a great guitarist!) having a drummer makes up for it. And Aki’s a bit of a guitar wiz. So great fun was had last night Hopefully we’ll maybe get a gig in at Henry’s before the year is out.
• Working at home a lot. For reasons I won’t go into right here, but, anyway, I like working from home. I reckon I’m possibly more productive… when I get fed up/stuck I can go play guitar for a half an hour, then get stuck back into whatever I’m trying to do (circular statistics at the moment) refreshed and more enthusiastic than before!
• Listening to a lot of Porcupine Tree. I guess the chances were I was also going to end up liking them what with both Robert Fripp and Adrien Belew making guest appearences. But I had figured I probably wouldn’t like them, in the same way that I don’t quite get Tool. But, turns out I was wrong, they’re just the right mix of heavy rock, melodic stuff, experimental bits, proggy bits, etc. I’m tempted to go see them play in Glasgow next month, but worried I might feel a bit out of place… hohummmm.
• Getting better at my Warr Guitar! Big happy face. Making progress on figuring out stuff to play with my right hand (the one that does the guitar-y stuff) while the left hand does some solid basslines.
• Watching Heroes. The second series is as good as the first. One of the best series I’ve watched in a while. Way better than Lost, that’s for sure… it actually has a plot!
• Getting annoyed at Virgin Media. Turns out they suck. Sigh. At least they’re not as bad as BT, but still, … I have recently discovered that it’s nigh on impossible to play online games (Team Fortress 2, check it out, if only for the animation - it’s quite similar to Pixar’s stuff).
• Planning the AlKandAlC album. We’ve decided to make another effort to try and record a selection of our songs. Doubt it will be ready in time for Christmas.