A contentious subject where people have very strong opinions is the subject of cover songs. Some people insist that no cover can ever hold a candle to the original; I am not one of those people. Having said that I do prefer cover songs that interpret the music in a way that is unique to the artist doing the cover as opposed to just a straight karaoke like cover. A good example of this is Heather Nova’s version of the Journey classic Don’t Stop Believing which is to this day the best cover of the song that I have ever heard (and there have been a few)

“Don’t do what I did, Hadrian. You’re still a young man. Take my advice: live your life to the fullest. Breathe the air, taste the wine, kiss the girls, and always remember that the tales of another are never as wondrous as your own. I’ll admit I was, well, concerned about this trip. No, I’ll say it truthfully—I was scared. What does a man my age have to be afraid of, you wonder?

It was a great show, and the portrayal of the sisters as young women in their 20s still holds up today as being really quite progressive and extremely nuanced. They were sexual, career driven and empowered; yet they were also flawed, vulnerable and self doubting as all women (humans really) can be. They came across as real women and not just vehicles for a shallow female empowerment message. TV writers today could learn a lot about the portrayal of strong yet deeply human women.

Console launches are always marred by ragebait and toxicity and criticism. It happened with the original Switch, it happened with several Xbox and Playstation consoles. It’s just pointless noise in the ether, but people who just love great video games will always see past the narrative of the noisy minority and see the joy that comes with a new console generation. Don’t let anything spoil your excitement for video games and the hardware that lets you enjoy them.

If I weigh 99kg and eat 1kg of bananas, does that make me 1% banana?

I have started reading Riyria Revelations after finishing all the Rebus books. It is nice being back in the world of Elan with Royce and Hadrian. Fun fact: I only stopped reading the Elan books when I finished Riyria Chronicles before Drumindor released last year; then I started Rebus, read 10 of the books before coming back to the newly released Drumindor after which I went back to Rebus. Now I’m back in Elan and remembering how good Michael J Sullivan is.

Europe! Seriously, when I mentioned the name of the band I bet the farm that your first thought was “The Final Countdown” but they are oh so very much more than that. Listen to anything they have released after their 2003 reunion and you will see that this is a legit blues based hard rock band with flecks of prog scattered throughout. For me, the whole Last Look At Eden album surpasses The Final Countdown by a long distance and I urge anyone who thinks this band is a one hit wonder to reconsider.

I started reading Ian Rankin’s Rebus books in September 2024, reading in publication order; and I have just this minute finished reading the last one (Midnight and Blue). Recommended.

In the current year of our Lord 2025 we have to content with social media algorithms driven purely profit, misinformation, conspiracy theories in the mainstream and so called “AI” making it all worse. I don’t blame anyone for wanting to cut themselves off from all that for their own mental wellbeing but there still remains a paradoxical truth……blessed are the ignorant.

WIllie Nelson, aged 92; and Steve Perry, aged 76 singing the Journey classic (I am a massive Journey fan FYI) Faithfully, a song all about how tough it is being a musician on the road to maintain the relationships in your life .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

Such an underrated band from that 90s alternative rock period. Throwing Copper is one of the top albums of that whole decade and Lightning Crashes (a song about a young mother giving birth and an older mother passing away, the circle of life essentially) in particular is such a great song that doesn’t get its due. Lyrically, vocally and musically one of the greats.

Scrubs - My Screw Up I still think about this episode and its portrayal of grief to this day. For those not familiar, it is the episode where the characters are dealing with the loss of Dr Cox’s best friend Ben portrayed by Brendan Fraser. From the start of the episode you feel the weight of the friendship between the two men. The episode plays out in homage to The Sixth Sense where Dr Cox believes his friend is still alive and they are acting as friends do, then towards the end when Dr Cox thinks he is going to his son’s birthday but it turns out to be Ben’s funeral, the truth of what happened hits like a gut punch, laid out by JD’s line “where do you think we are?

I’ve been on a 90s kick lately with my music and this is a hill I am willing to die on, Live were a great band. Throwing Copper is one of the all time great albums and Secret Samadhi is criminally underrated!

I was 15 when the song released in 1998, I am now 42 and the song hits very different now. I never cease to be amazed at how differently a song can hit you at different points of one’s life. This is just one example but I could list so many more if I had a mind to do so. I think this is ultimately why music means so much to me.

I’ve been rewatching The X Files this year and hoo boy it does hit differently in 2025 when conspiracy theories and misinformation has gone mainstream. Some episodes are uncomfortable to watch now.

Watching some ACDC live videos and I am always struck by what a human mentronome Cliff Williams is. He isn’t flashy or fancy but he is consistent and combined with Phil Rudd and Malcolm Young you have one of the finest rhythm sections ever to grace rock and roll

This morning I woke before 6am (2 cats will do that) and before I looked at my phone or checked the news I spent an hour reading my book. It was a nice way to start the day, I recommend.

I know streaming has basically killed off the art of the music album but there is nothing quite like it for the music listening experience. The song selection, the song order; as a listening experience it is still unparalleled. Also, death to the words “single edit” :)

It’s the decade in which we turned 16. I turned 16 in the 90s so for me that was the best decade for music. Disclaimer: I’ve been on a bit of a 90s kick recently

Before you hold your hands in prayer, hold them out to those around you; this is what it truly means to be a Christian.

Once more I heard the hot take that “young adult should only be for young adults”, and every time I hear this I roll my eyes to the heavens. Such a horrible take and should just go away. I am someone who believes people should just read what they are interested in and that discouraging reading in all its forms does more harm than good. “I am almost inclined to set it up as a canon that a children’s story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children’s story.

If someone asked me could I give up video games for £1 million, I honestly think I could do it. I would still have books after all If someone asked if I could give up books or music for £1 million, I don’t think I could do that. Stands to reason I guess since books and music are the only two things I care about having offline DRM free copies of.

“from arrogance came apathy, from apathy came ignorance, from ignorance came hatred, and from hatred, well…nothing good ever came from hatred” Excerpt From: Michael J. Sullivan. “Age of War.”

I’ve been reading the Rebus books over the past 10 months or so (highly recommended if you are into crime/detective novels), I feel vindicated in my hobbies/life choices when I read about John Rebus sitting in his chair sipping a dram and listening to his records. There is something to be said about the simplicity of spending an evening in that way.

So I like video games, I have always liked video games; they bring so much joy to my life. A part of liking video games is keeping up with video games news to see what is coming up but in recent years doing so involves exposing yourself to a never ending stream of negativity and toxicity that is very very hard to avoid if you want to keep up to date.