Glastonbury 2008

Glastonbury 2008 is now closed!
Twas a brilliant fest filled with great performers and performances!
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend (bitterness emerges)...but I was on top of the coverage!
I was able to see the full sets of Kings of Leon, MGMT, We Are Scientists, Massive Attack, Jay-Z, Hot Chip, The Fratellis, The Futureheads, Reverend & The Makers, Cribs and Foals, and I was able to see some clips of Franz Ferdinand and Editors.
Not bad, eh?!

The best performances I saw were Cribs, KoL, Hot Chip, WAS and the bloke in MGMT seemingly having a seizure during "Kids"!

All I do know is that I must get to Glasto somehow before I die.
Oh yes.
x

Do You Wanna?

I am feeling rather lonely tonight.
No one's been round for ages...it seems.
I notice how I spend 300% more time alone now. It's not a good thing.
I love being around the people I love.
Sure, sometimes it's nice, but nothing is good in excess.
Anyway, I've been doing everything alone.
Going to the store, buying clothes, eating, seeing films, going to entertainment stores in general...yes, you do these things alone, but when it's all the time, it wears on me.
I'm still also trying to find further employment (to no avail) and trying to still apply myself to my existing part time job.
It's well depressing.

Since I don't want to dwell on negative things right at this moment in time, I shall move on.

Whilst I am spending my days alone, I play loads of music.
Which is a plus, as before it was near impossible to hear things besides in headphones at night...which would end abruptly when I would fall asleep... :P
I've been spending a lot of time on imeem lately.
I've been a member there for ages, but until just recently it was sub-par.
Now it is a fantastic website!
It is so very refreshing to wish to listen to something in particular that one does not own and hear more than thirty seconds of it!
I have also been using my iTMS on shuffle when I am doing loads of boring shite on the computer, but as I said about the tunes I don't own but would like to listen to, imeem works just brilliantly.
I also feel dead important when I create playlists...

So tonight, I created a playlist which I shall share here (oh, the horror!).
I think it's aaaace. A bit short right now, but nonetheless ace. And Oasis heavy as well!
But tis also a work in progress, as I am sure I will remember songs to add later.
EDIT: Instead of typing the songs out, I figured I should embed the playlist.
Doh!
But there is a catch with the embedding...you can only listen to thirty seconds of each song. So I recomend following the link at the bottom of the playlist to get to my dazzling playlist page so you can enjoy them full force!




It also annoys me that I can't include a tag for each artist. Grrrr.
But, I hope you enjoy!
x

I won't be on my way...

I really got in the mood for a bit of a Hot Chip sesh, so I figured I might have a mini review!

Hot Chip are a superb electro/dance outfit from London with three studio albums. Their previous albums include 2004's Coming On Strong and 2005's The Warning. On this, thier February 2008 release of Made In The Dark, they continue to create their signature layered, heavy dance tunes intertwined with a minimalist vocal approach.







Tracklisting:
1. Out At The Pictures
2. Shake A Fist
3. Ready For The Floor
4. Bendable Poseable
5. we're Looking For A Lot Of Love
6. Touch Too Much
7. Made In The Dark
8. One Pure Thought
9. Hold On
10. Wrestlers
11. Don't Dance
12. Whistle For Will
13. In The Privacy Of Our Love

The incredibly catchy dance tunes on this album include such tracks as Out At The Pictures, Shake A Fist, Ready For The Floor, Touch Too Much, One Pure Thought, Hold On and the impossible to follow title of Don't Dance.
The more mellow tracks on this record include We're Looking For A Lot Of Love, Made In The Dark, Wrestlers and In The Privacy Of Our Love.
Regardless of what you're looking for, this album surely won't disappoint!

Hot Chip's myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hotchip

Check out these new music videos!

Ready For The Floor






One Pure Thought




Enjoy!
x

Mind that child!

I am feeling a bit bored and random tonight.
A tad frustrated as well, as it seems like I am just sat here and waiting for something to happen.
Many things are going through my mind at mo...
One is that no one fucking reads my blog.
I reckon it's because what I type about is rather uninteresting.
Either that, or there's still some hope for me, as it's still a new blog.

Another thing going through my mind is how much I love the Alexandre Dumas novel The Count of Monte Cristo.
It's so brilliant!
I never tire of the story and recommend it to everyone and anyone who is up for immersing themselves into a great and mind-blowing literary work!

What else you may ask?

I like shiny red vinyl.

My pants glow in the dark.

My lip gloss tingles.

For some reason, my iTMS keeps playing the Futureheads even when I have it on randomiser.

I like making digital art, but I don't think anyone else but me would like it.

I hate it when people don't get back to me.

I never understand why women think it's attractive to take photographs whilst having their tounges hanging out of their mouths. Frankly, it's revolting.

I want to write a book.

My mobile is stupid and no one rings me.

I am sitting in a very uncomfortable position.

My laptop has been getting very hot recently, and I don't like it.

Extremely matured children are not cute.

The Wombats' cover of "Bleeding Love" is 100x better than that of Leona Lewis.

There is a high number of albums I need to purchase at mo, but I am too skint.

Money is stupid.

My fucking neighbour is a complete twat who has the most noisy vehicle and finds it necessary to come and go at all hours of the day and night.

Meh, I realise that I sound self-obsessed and rather pedantic.


Anyway, here is the latest art-type thing I created.
If you like it and decide to use it, just remember to link back to me if you like.
:)





Oh well...I've run out of quasi-interesting things to say I suppose!
x

Black Kids

I am currently loving the Black Kids (as per mentioned in the playlist entry before this one)!
They are a foursome from Florida, formed only a couple of years ago.





Their single "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You" is from their upcoming release Partie Traumatic, which is to be released on the 7 July, 2008.

If you haven't already, have a listen to this quality band!
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/blackkidsrock

A Ravishing Playlist

A regular update of the tunes I am currently listening to.
Though there are some that I always listen to and have listed in the previous playlist post..
Anyway, in no order:

1. Hippy's Son - Dirty Pretty Things
2. Pacemaker - Jamie T
3. My Drive Thru - Santogold, Julian Casablancas & Parrell
4. Shoot the Runner - Kasabian
5. Sale of the Century - The Futureheads
6. Declaration of War - Hadouken!
7. Canape of Love - We Smoke Fags
8. Let's Lightning - Pull Tiger Tail
9. This Is An Emergency - Pigeon Detectives
10. Get Your Gun Boy - Exile Parade
11. Weekend Tongue - Donora
12. Slide Away - Oasis
13. Cheap and Cheerful - The Kills
14. Two Doors Down - Mystery Jets
15. Bom Bom - Living Things
16. 156 - Mew
17. Our Bovine Public - Cribs
18. Got Me Sussed - The Twang
19. Heavyweight Champion of the World - Reverend and the Makers
20. Flux - Bloc Party
21. Ain't No Rest For The Wicked - Cage the Elephant
22. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough - The Manic Street Preachers
23. Borders - The Sunshine Underground
24. Shadowplay - Killers
25. Plan A - The Dandy Warhols
26. I Predict A Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
27. Disco 2000 - Pulp
28. Orginal of the Species - U2
29. Cassius - Foals
30. The Big Bang Jump - Office
31. What Ever Happened? - The Strokes
32. I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Black Kids

Looks rather ace from here, yes?!
x

Acolyte Convention 2008

Hello again my minions...if you are indeed out there...
Not much is new in life.
I did however, attend the seventh acolyte and youth convention for my eparchy last week.
The theme this year was "God is with us!"
It was originally created by my Tato, and my bros and I took the reins and made it work.
It couldn't be more successful! There were about 150 people total, from acolytes, youth ranging from ages 6-50, clerics and the bishop of New Westminster Canada.
A total of seven parishes were represented, and I was touched as they remembered my Tato many times, and as they presented Mama and my bros with an icon in honour of him and his ministry.

There were some things that didn't go as planned.
For instance, the t-shirts that we have traditionally printed as a souvenier turned out to be a disaster.
The printers mistakenly gave us youth sizes, which meant that the shirts would fit pygmies.
But the quote featured on the back of the shirt was misprinted and it is almost comical!
It says "I say unto you, turn and live like children and you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" instead of "I say unto you, UNLESS you turn and live like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
What a mistake!

But all in all, we put it together in only six weeks, and as long as only one person in attendance took something from the convention, it was all worth it.
:)

Sunday of All-Saints of Rus'-Ukraine

Today, 8 June is the commemoration of all saints from Rus'-Ukraine.
Unlike Latin-rite saints, our Eastern saints are not as widely known.
There are thousands of Eastern saints, and many, many martyrs.
In the year 2001, Pope John Paul the Great named new Ukrainian martyrs.
An article on the topic is as follows:

"Pope beatifies martyrs in Ukraine
Jun 27, 2001 11:44 PM

Pope John Paul put 27 people killed by Nazis and Communists on the road to sainthood before more than a million pilgrims on Wednesday and honoured "anonymous heroes" who died for their faith in the 20th century.


The beatified martyrs included a nun shot at the door of her convent, a priest crucified on a prison wall, another boiled to death in a prison cauldron and a bishop poisoned in hospital.


The crowd of more than a million, the largest yet of the Pope's five-day visit, packed into a muddy racetrack outside Lviv in western Ukraine, heartland of the country's Catholics.


Chanting "We love the Pope!" and waving blue and yellow national flags and Vatican banners, they gave the 81-year-old Pontiff a rapturous welcome on the last day of his tour.


But, urged by a clergyman to also greet President Leonid Kuchma, who flew in from the capital Kiev, many responded with jeers and whistling before falling silent for the Pope.


The president has been bruised by political crisis. Thousands joined street protests this year to demand he resign over the scandal of a murdered reporter.


As the ceremony drew to a close, Kuchma shook hands with and kissed the Pope. After the president descended from the podium, a middle-aged woman ran up to Kuchma, thrusting a document at him. Kuchma's bodyguards seized the woman and ushered her back to her place, where she began to pray.


A presidential spokesman later said the letter contained a request to help find housing and Kuchma had accepted it.


By beatifying the martyrs, and a nun who died in 1918 and was honoured for her charitable works, the Pontiff said he wanted people in the third millennium to forgive each other for the immense tragedies of the 20th century and move forward.


The 27, who died in concentration camps, Siberian gulags or later from the effects of torture and imprisonment, were declared blesseds of the Roman Catholic church.


"They were tested in many ways by the followers of the infamous Nazi and Communist ideologies," the Pope said in his homily to the vast crowd under a clear sky.


"These brothers and sisters of ours are the representatives that are known out of a multitude of anonymous heroes who in the course of the 20th century, the century of martyrdom, underwent persecution, violence and death rather than renounce their faith," he said.



Ukraine's catholics survive oppression


The martyrs were members of the eastern-rite Ukrainian Catholic Church, also known as Greek Catholics. Soviet dictator Josef Stalin tried to annihilate the faith because he saw it as an uncontrollable agent of Ukrainian nationalism.


Recalling memories of Nazi occupation and Communist rule in his native Poland, the Pope said the past must be honoured.


"Their memory must not be lost, for it is a blessing. We admire them and we are grateful to them...they have shown that love is stronger than death," he said.


But he said it was time to move on and shed the mutual resentment and intolerance of the last centuries.


The children of one martyr, Father Mykola Tsehelsky who died in a Siberian prison camp, said on Tuesday the ceremony vindicated their father's tolerance in the face of persecution. Greek Catholic priests are allowed to marry.


The ceremony was the highlight of the papal tour for many of Ukraine's six million Catholics, most of them Greek Catholics.


"Today is a big victory for the Greek Catholics because I remember we had to hide in the forests to worship. I never thought we would be allowed to see the Pope and pray publicly," said Anna Kysina, a grandmother from Striy, north of Lviv.


The ceremony allowed the Pope to end his visit to largely Orthodox Ukraine without the spectre of inter-church conflict which haunted his three days in Kiev.


The Pope's message of reconciliation and unity to allow Ukraine's two main Catholic and three Orthodox confessions to live in peace went ignored by Ukraine's largest Orthodox Church, which denounced the visit.


Two smaller Orthodox Churches welcomed the Pope, though turnout at masses in Kiev was low."


Though I could not find the icon on the Internet of the new Ukrianian Catholic martyrs, I have included the list:

THE NEW UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS

1. Bishop Basil Velychkovskyi (1903-1973), died after years in labour camps.
2. Bishop Gregory Khomyshyn (1867-1947), beaten to death.
3. Bishop Nicholas Charnetskyi (1884-1959), paitiently endured torture.
4. Bishop Josaphat Kotsylovskyi (1876-1947), died in a concentration camp.
5. Bishop Ivan Sleziuk (1896-1973), interrogated mercilessly.
6. Msgr Peter Verhun (1890-1957), died in a Siberian labour camp.
7. Bishop Nykyta Budka (1877-1949), eaten by wild animals.
8. Abbot Clement Sheptytsky (1869-1951), founder of the Studite Order.
9. Bishop Gregory Lakota (1883-1950), "an angel in human form."
10. Bishop Simeon Lukach (1893-1964), stobborn underground leader.
11. Fr Andrew Ishchak (1887-1941), shot by retreating Bolsheviks.
12. Fr Vitalis Bairak (1907-1946), died from a prison beating.
13. Fr Oleksii Zarytskyi (1912-1963), died ministering in harsh Kazakhstan.
14. Fr Roman Lysko (1914-1949), sealed alive into a wall.
15. Fr Severian Baranyk (1889-1941), died, tortured and mutilated.
16. Fr Nicholas Konrad (1876-1941), murdered going to hear a confession.
17. Fr Nicholas Tsehelskyi (1896-1951), harrassed, beaten, exiled.
18. Fr Ivan Ziatyk (1899-1952), beaten and left to die on Good Friday.
19. Fr Emilian Kovch (1880-1941), exectuted by Nazis for saving Jews.
20. Fr Joachim Senkivskyi (1896-1941), boiled to death in a cauldron.
21. Sr Lavrentia Harasymiv (1911-1952), died in Siberian exile.
22. Sr Olympia Bida (1903-1952), underground catechist.
23. Sr Tarsykiia Matskiv (1919-1944), shot "because she was a nun."
24. Volodymyr Pryima (1906-1941), stabbed with a bayonet.
25. Fr Zynovii Kovalyk (1903-1941), crucified on a prison wall.


We stand on the shoulders of these blessed martyrs, and so must we one day be called as servants of Christ in His glory.

Glory be to Jesus Christ!
Glory forever!