Cloud

25.

Smacked in my first 180 in aaaaaaaaaaages last night, oh yes!

My problem is that I can't fit the hours in for practise these days, so can't perfect my technique and get consistent.

Keep trying.

My balls have been well and truly broken here - nowhere in this country do they appear to play proper darts with proper boards - lots of electronic boards, but fuck all in the way of a proper cork board

I'm going to get a proper board here, but it's useless in terms of playing matches. Tried one game with the weird plastic darts and felt like screaming...

I had a van once. I sold my van. That is all.

No money for you then

Seeing as this thread has been bumped - anyone got a van and willing to give me a quote to shift a load of stuff down to London?

I've got some absolutely crazy quotes so far...

Do you or have you ever played an instrument Cloud?

Yup. I can play piano, though I don't play much these days because of badly injuring my wrist a few years ago that's left me with permanent damage, so I can't play much these days. About 20-30 minutes is my limit, any more and I'm just left with a really badly cramped wrist.

Personally, I wish I was able to play for a decent length of time - if I could, I would've started a band years ago. Alas, it's not to be.

I've been keeping my eye on that one. It just needs someone to cross the line and cause an uproar. THEN it will be nearing perfection

Come on Sharon, remeber the old days...you can do it

http://www.aberdeen-music.com/forums/feedback-forum/20775-leave-egon-track-online.html

This was good fun, solely because of how utterly bad the track was.

No you didnt. You just dont know how to spell it. Cos you're Polish.

And its new owners, with a different license, so the rave music is no longer.

Get with the times.

Come on, the times left me long ago

Rave music is no more? That's the worst bit of news I've had all year...used to brighten my day up no end to walk past and hear random rave music at odd hours of the day.

What are they doing with the place, do you know?

I liked playing Hyper Sports on it, but lost patience/my temper because I couldn't figure out the buttons on the vault event.

I managed to get to the point where I was able to play through the events twice, only failing on their third attempt at the vault.

The Moorings saw a lot of money from me on that bloody game

I'd still fancy my chances against anyone at Mortal Kombat though..

I'm slightly worried that you remebered a thread about shaving one's balls

Worst thing about that scene thread is that the people arguing are all decent people...

Biz was there the night Volvo Death Spell tore up the stage in Drummonds...and what's more, he got it

Wish I had the option to ignore your posts...

Swap positions for a day?

Can we just have Cloud put down? I would put him on my ignore list, but every time he posts, someone will quote him.

Is it really that difficult to simply ignore someone's posts if you don't like what they say?

Cloud' date=' you're so off the mark it's not funny, and you also seem to have a severe case of celebrity obsession. The media has infused you with this false belief that the only life worth living is that of greatness, stardom, spotlight and that anyone remotely connected with these concepts, no matter how far down the line, is actually trying to realise them.[b'] I for one would like simply to make some decent music, maybe compile it into an album, and hopefully entertain or inspire a few people. It's very difficult to make good music that ten people want to listen to, let alone 40 million or whatever astronomically stupid number it is you have in mind.

So in other words, you're aspiring to popularity. Will you be truly happy with a few people, once you create your masterpiece, or will you aspire to more? I don't believe you, or in fact the vast majority of people when they say that they'd be truly happy playing to a few people - I think everyone, deep down, would love to see their ego massaged by bringing their own work to the masses.

I think this particularly applies to anyone that enjoys and creates art that isn't mainstream.

That doesn't sound like a constructive reply to me, boasting about your supposed intelligence? I don't really see the point in replying to you 'constructively' anymore, as you just come out with terrible lines such as 'You want fame and fortune (let's face it, all musicians do...' - if shit like that is amongst your thinking, there's no point in even beginning to be reasonable.

So, pray, tell me...how many musicians don't want it? How many kids are taking up playing an instrument for the love of the art, I wonder?

Arguably, every release, every gig, every forum post made in the name of a band is all in aid of attaining popularity. Hence, back to my point that every musician is ultimately after fame and fortune - if the opportunity presented itself.

Who, deep down, wouldn't want to play in front of an adoring crowd? The exact nature of the crowd is up for debate and everyone has their individual choice - but I think very few people would actively enjoy staying at the low level if the opportunity presented itself to do bigger and better things.

*throws up all over self and bangs head against wall*

Looks like someone has conceded defeat in the face of vastly superior intellectual opposition.

Seriously, why bother replying if you don't have anything constructive to say? Don't bother wasting bandwidth..just...don't bother.

Isn't it spelt Schooner?

Yeah, it is...I must've picked up the spelling mistake from looking at the poster.

(when did it reopen?)

Guestlist spot for a pound?

I'm clearly missing something here...

This music is clearly inappropriate for the Scooner as well...unless it's going to be played to a background of rave music

I used to play Asheron's Call religiously back in the day, but it's now sadly a shadow of its former self.

Haven't found anything quite like it since, sadly

No Cloud, music is not about popularity, it is about artistic expression. Fuck sake.

Really?

How many venues, promoters and artists can go on without any form of popularity?

You can sit there and pretend that you're "all about the art" - but who would want a band to play if they were unpopular enough to have people leaving the venue or not turning up out of sheer dislike for them?

Likewise, what venue is going to welcome back a band if they're massively unpopular and do nothing for bar sales? It's just not going to happen - even if you think you're all about artistic expression, you'll still change and adapt for popularity reasons.

Yes Cloud you're absolutely right' date=' we should all just sit on our fucking arse and enter as many competitions as possible, and not bother to actually do things off our own back, y'know, like play shows and stuff? It's totally boring when bands release things and go on tour isn't it? It's even more boring when said releases are promoting said tours! I fucking hate bands who release things and tour! It's all about the competitions? Y'know, like why work at a job when you can WIN THE LOTTERY!!!!! IT COULD BE YOU!!!![/quote']

Congratulations. You managed to spectacularly and completely miss the point Quite impressive actually, seeing as you spent quite a few lines managing to be so wide of the mark as to not even be funny.

What's wrong with seeing competitions like this as being part of a promotional package? You want fame and fortune (let's face it, all musicians do...how many would turn down a life changing amount of money and fame for the sake of artistic expression? Hardly any.), then you exploit every single opening available to you.

And actually, if you knew anything about marketing whatsoever, you'd probably understand that competitions like this encourage people that like the band to get others to vote for the band, creating the oh-so-desired viral effect that's a trademark of modern society.

But don't let a bit of common sense get in the way!

If you think that is a 'tired' way of doing things' date=' fair enough, you are entiltled to think that.

The truth of the matter is, not that many bands press records (especially up here, I can only think of 4 or 5 who have done a seven inch in recent times, and off the top of my head only one that did a split, possibly two if Filthpact did). The notion that putting out your own record and touring is 'tired' baffles me. A contest on television would have far less impact on real world success to Aberdeen's 'scene', i would put forward that Aberdeen would be regarded in higher thoughts by A+R, record lables, agents etc...if there were alot more bands willing to release their own records/a small Aberdeen label releasing plenty of records and bands working hard on touring, making an actual name for the city.

I'm also not going to poo-poo the idea of entering such a contest regardless of my feelings on them, its a personal choice after all. And im sure most people would hope an Aberdeen band did well out of it if they did reach the televised stage of the contest.

Also for the record, there are a few bands at the moment from up here attracting good label interest, they have all put out their own stuff or had small labels do it for them and work hard at touring, none have entered any contest to make this happen so you can believe me when i say that people do know this city exists, its just alot easier to sign a similar band from London or Glasgow[/quote']

Cheers for the rational response, it's much more interesting to hear.

I think it's a tired way of doing things, because it seems to be the same old same old - Aberdeen based bands follow the same path, usually to nowhere, though as you say, it does generate some interest. It does seem a particularly Aberdonian trait to really charge fowards, do some tours that get people talking, then start to fade into obscurity - and I think someone, anyone needs to break that mould.

You are completely right though, if more bands actually made an effort to do things up here (rather than riding the equally tired wave of popularity from their mates), then good things would definitely follow. Any success on the back of television is likely to be short lived and not sustainable - but I feel, at least at the minute, Aberdeen based bands should be doing as much as possible to get exposure, regardless of where it's coming from.

To be fair though, my 'tired' rant is more towards bands throughout the UK that do the same thing, and it even happens here - a friend of a friend's band is massively popular in Poznań, they attract a decent crowd wherever they go here, yet they are very much a Poznań band and don't play in Warsaw or Berlin.

I just think, that for success, you have to be open minded about all avenues available. Contests like these, well...if something happens out of it, great, but it's no great loss if it doesn't.

You know...it's a shame there's no local record label that's really releasing stuff at a prolific rate - Fat Hippy is still going on, but..it would be great if something with a real imagination and desire decided to really take things forward. It only takes one person, after all.

As Scott Says, professionalism aside...:

If you AGREE a fee and someone doesn't pay anywhere near the amount or doesn't pay it at all it is annoying. If it happens repeatedly in a very short space of gigs then it becomes ridiculous.

I don't understand how someone could give a guarantee and not meet it - what kind of principles must these people have, if they're happy to bail out on people who might very well need the money to get home?

Bullshit, do you actually think that anyone who works at a half-decent record label, management company, etc, is going to get the next train up to Aberdeen because some band from Aberdeen entered a glorified battle of the bands? I'd argue that it probably does hurt to enter, being that reputation is quite a high factor in getting far in the music industry it seems, you wouldn't want to be known as 'that band from that tv show who didn't even win.'

Being 'good' doesn't even come into it - it's just about finding a marketable band that they can hopefully make a quick buck off the back of the TV show.

Aren't 'good' and 'marketable' quite interchangable terms in general? Generally speaking, they'd be complete morons to market a bad band if good bands were available on the show.

Who is saying that the band wouldn't win? It's quite possible that with some savvy management on behalf of other bands, an Aberdeen band that won the competition could propel other bands into the limelight as a result.

You're dreadfully focused on the point that "An Aberdeen band won't win" - which is a bit of a depressing, cynical attitude to have, isn't it?

Maybe, just maybe, if Aberdeen bands entered these things with the intention to win - then maybe things would start happening beyond the same old tired "WE'VE RELEASED A 7" SPLIT SINGLE LIMITED TO 500 COPIES ON SOME RANDOM RECORD LABEL IN SUPPORT OF OUR TOUR WITH X NAME BAND" that seems to happen constantly.

Positivity!

NB : Before someone uses the old tired "it's not a talent contest, it's a popularity contest" - isn't all music, effectively, about popularity?

With Camphill, the thing that I've said all along is simple - they are potentially sitting on a goldmine if the bypass runs far enough from their estates to be unheard, yet close enough to make access onto it a doddle. It's probably a certainity that any route in that area will be soundproofed to a large degree - again, driving up the value of any land located nearby but not next to.

I actually wonder how many miles of extra road will be built as a result of the Save Camphill campaign - looking at the route map now, it seems that there might have been no need for the Stonehaven 'fastlink' if the original Murtle route had been chosen.

It'd be exposure for whoever is on (good or bad), I don't see how it would be beneficial to 'music in Aberdeen.'

Knock on effect. If one band is exposed on it as being good, it might lead people to discover other Aberdeen bands, and so on. Every little helps - even if it's a shit contest with a shit prize, it surely doesn't hurt to enter?

Even if they don't win, the perception will be that you must be good in the first place to get on such a show.

Also, Couture vs Lesnar? Not sure he deserves that shot yet.

I think it's a great plan actually - if Lesnar wins, he's going to be promoted as a monster (and he looks the part, no doubt about that). If Couture wins, then his legendary status is assured. Either way, UFC wins - and having someone like Lesnar as their Heavyweight champion can only increase their prestige.

The only question is who will win - Lesnar's going to be coming in close or on the 265lb limit, whereas Couture will be what, 220-230? Those extra pounds might make all the difference, especially considering Randy's an old man these days.

Bring back the trams I say.

Fucking right.

There's a tram service here, and you won't believe how incredibly useful they are - the network is pretty dense and goes everywhere of importance, they run frequently (a tram from my flat to the city runs every 3 minutes) and they're generally great.

I get the feeling the bypass is something we should all be opposing. I'm not even aware of severe traffic congestion and debilitating gridlock in Aberdeen, so why build a new road that tears through more greenery and will only encourage more people to use their cars more often?

Ultimately, the bypass is desperately needed. There's not much in the way of alternatives - if the bypass isn't built, what's going to replace it?

Public transport? Any improvements now are going to cause traffic to snarl up even more badly than it already is, unless you want to throw a ridiculous amount of money (and disruption) at providing bus-only routes into the centre. I'm not even sure where these routes could go - unless you want to build tunnels. The Deeside Line might be one interesting option - but you can guarantee that there would be massive opposition to any attempt to restore a train service from Aberdeen station to Culter or thereabouts, despite it making excellent sense.

The main, and overriding issue here is that there's no logical, quick way from north to south - Anderson Drive cuts right through residential areas and the inner ring road can't really be improved much more. Altens to Dyce is a nightmare of a journey regardless of which route you take - the bypass will end the pain in that respect very effectively. Likewise, Bridge of Don to Dyce is also a complete pain - ever driven the back road from Asda BoD to the Airport? Absolutely dangerous ratrun, and yet another reason for the building of the route.

As for the final route - I actually think it's a great route. The fastlink from Stonehaven will allow traffic to bypass the city without coming close to the city. The Murtle route would've made more sense as it is a bit far out - but it's a small compromise to get it built.

The only issue is that I suspect the junctions are going to be built on the cheap - there's word that the A90 junction at Altens will become a roundabout, which is an absolutely dreadful idea.

A small recommendation for you, if you can get hold of the stuff.

Warka Strong from (where else?) Poland. It's 7%, but tastes like something far weaker that's been watered down with lemonade. I'm a weakling, yet I had to stop myself from throwing it back - it's great for that purpose. Absolutely lethal - but didn't give anything in the way of a hangover.

It's quite common though here, so might not be worth investigating.

(as an aside, this country is ridiculous...it's actually impossible to find a normal beer below 5.2%)