Twentieth

So...looking back at my old blogs I see that my younger daughter got me to watch the My Chemical Romance video for I'm Not Okay (I Promise) on September 20th 2012, with my obsession for the band starting the very next day.
Gerard Way tweeted on 20th December:-

"was hoping FearlessVampireKillers was going to sound like StiffsINC. 

They don't but still sound great and could have toured with them"

Followed by a second tweet of the same date:-

"Wow..@fvkillers...greatEP. Anyone remember The Gories? Sounds a little like them"

That was where one chapter of my life bled into another.  I went and looked up Fearless Vampire Killers, thought they were awesome and got hooked!
Fearless Vampire Killers are a British band which makes a pleasant change for me; they're from a place called Beccles but are based in London.  Abbreviated to FVK they're a "theatrical alternative rock" band - their self-released 1st album is a rock opera / concept album.  Fabulous stuff.
Fearless Vampire Killers are five lads - Kier (vocals & rhythm guitar), Laurence (vocals & rhythm guitar; author of the concept stories), Shane / Barrone (lead guitar; does the artwork and merchandise design), Drew (bass guitar; co-wrote all the 1st album songs with Laurence) and Luke (drums; he's also the band's happy-pill) - aged currently 23-25...but they've been at this for YEARS!  FVK formed in 2008 but the other members (not including Luke who joined in 2011 following a string of other drummers) had been in various configurations of other bands for years previously.  For a bunch of young guys these are lads who are really working hard for this.  They are entirely self-funded working full time jobs (until this week) and sharing a 2 bedroom flat to channel everything into the band.

L-R: Shane AKA Barrone, Laurence, Kier, Luke, Drew

So from late December I started getting into FVK...a much slower development than with MCR but all the same, by the time tickets for the Diamonds and Disgrace tour went on sale on February 20th I'd bought the album as well as pre-ordered the next EP and an FVK pin badge.  On 20th February I bought tickets to see them in Oxford on April 14th.
Are you seeing the connection regarding my blog title?

• September 20th - discovered MCR...then three months until...
• December 20th - discovered FVK, thanks to Gerard Way...then two months until...
• February 20th - bought tickets to FVK; the whole MCR thing having eased up and developing a crush on Laurence...then one month until...
• March 20th - Laurence started following me on Tumblr after seeing and reblogging THIS:

This being a "portrait" I painted of FVK inspired by their appearances in 

Kerrang! magazine's Pandora Strip

My birthday is March 22nd...Kier tweeted a photo I'd posted on Tumblr (which Laurence had also liked on Tumblr, commented "fucking awesome!" and reblogged.  Here it is:

I also got a tweet from Drew and two from Laurence...all, I might add, without any kind of "Please Tweet me, it's my birthday!!!" crap.  I love that I'm into a band that are still small enough to really interact with fans.  It was a pretty cool day.
But for many March 22nd 2013 is going down as a bloody awful day.  It's the day My Chemical Romance broke up.  In the UK it was some time in the wee small hours of the 23rd...I heard via Tumblr.  Gerard and Frank had both tweeted but in such vague terms you had to be clued in to get the connection.  All there was by way of an official announcement was the following post on their official website:

Being in this band for the past 12 years has been a true blessing. 

We've gotten to go places we never knew we would. 

We've been able to see and experience things we never imagined possible. 

We've shared the stage with people we admire, people we look up to, and best of all, our friends. And now, like all great things, it has come time for it to end. 

Thanks for all of your support, and for being part of the adventure.

My Chemical Romance

Well!  I didn't feel it as keenly as other fans, some of whom had been following the band for over eleven years, or others who as emotionally charged teenagers took it very hard indeed.  But it was a shock and to be honest, I was disgusted!  One crappy paragraph? No explanation, no apology, no we still love our fans dearly???  And then there was silence.  The fan base reeled, the music world reeled.  Brian Schecter, MCRs former manager who they had sacked some years earlier was comforting fans via Twitter.  Kerrang! magazine was trying to find answers. The editor, James McMahon tweeted:

Kerrang! did ask MCR's PR (who's one of my favourite people in the music industry) 

what was going on and they said "nothing to add, sorry"

I got the decided impression they were bloody appalled with the lack of MCR attempting to handle the situation; it was as if once having decided to quit they just walked out without working out their notice and leaving everyone else to clear up their mess.  I thought MCR had integrity and I felt bitterly disappointed in them and it was days before Gerard posted a blog via Twitlonger with any kind of explanation.
I get it.  I really do.  I did from the outset - people change, grow, move on.  if your heart isn't in it you shouldn't be doing it.  They'd started out as quite a dark group and when they released Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys - a happy, colourful album - their die hard fans didn't like it.  But the band were now in their 30s, and things had changed; all four were married, two had kids - just before the split Mikey's marriage broke down so some fans have blamed his new girlfriend for being splitting them up, like she's a Yoko Ono figure.  But that's all nonsense.  If  a band is strong, no single person is going to split it up; the cracks already have to be there.  True of MCR, true of The Beatles.  Something was wrong, and probably had been for quite some time.
No matter how well I, or anyone else, understands their motivations it doesn't excuse their actions.  You spend over a decade building a devoted fan-base and then just abandon them with a short, cold, impersonal paragraph?  Sorry, but in my book that's wrong.  It's akin to dumping a lover after more than a decade, with no warning, by text and refusing to take their calls.  It'll be a while before I can properly *forgive* that.  Perhaps you shouldn't judge people... but it's hard not to when they've hurt a lot of people.
Hopefully other bands have taken note and will do better in due course.

Prince Harry

Seriously felt this deserved a comment.  WTF is all this hoo-haa about Prince Harry shooting Taliban enemies on active duty in Afghanistan???  I seriously don't get it.

1) He's a soldier on active duty...what exactly are you expecting him to do out there?  Bake them cupcakes?!  If he was out in Afghanistan NOT shooting at the enemy there'd be an outcry that he was a fake soldier, not defending liberty, justice and whatnot.

2) To the anti-war mob: if you think the Taliban should not be shot at - I pity you.  If you are still naive enough to believe that all situations can be solved with compromise and diplomacy you are either in for a nasty shock or exceptionally stupid.  I am no fan of warfare but it has existed since the dawn of time and won't be eradicated until the end of it!  Some people can never be reasoned with and never allowed free reign - accept it.

3 (a) I read somewhere that Piers Morgan had criticised Prince Harry for talking about his operational duties...really???  A JOURNALIST arguing against total transparency?!  Sorry, I can't believe THAT.

3 (b) Aside from journalists always demanding total transparency what about all the republican types who are always bitching that the Royal Family cost too much and don't do anything?!  Here is clear evidence that they DO do something - quite a lot actually if you look into it - and he's doing just what princes (and kings) traditionally did, going into battle and acquitting himself with honour.

4) Yet another comment I heard was that Prince Harry had likened the experience to playing computer war games...  Again, what do you expect?!  Computer war games are supposed to be realistic and they exist for a reason.  Do you expect him to be all agonised about doing his job?  If he wasn't able to deal with it, distance himself emotionally he'd be a damn poor soldier and better off making cupcakes a la point 1.  Maybe it sounds a little blasé but it's part of the job, surely?

I feel a bit better for getting that out of my system.  Honestly the older I get the more I feel the need to rant.

Update 1/13

Just a quick update...
Both beasties had good birthdays, number two is very taken with her guitar and is just putting in her GCSE options: Computing, French, History and Design Technology: Resistant Materials (woodwork for the rest of y'all).
After an all time (I hope!) worst OU score of 45% I hit a high with 88% on the next assignment. Am consequently feeling happier at the moment.
Still MCR obsessed but I am now studying Green Day and getting into those nommable boys of Fearless Vampire Killers...

New Year's Resolution the First: Fuck Up Hair (A Lot)

Well, that was Atlantic Blue and I'm now on Apple Green...but my elder beastie took photos on the wrong camera.

New Year's Resolution the Second: Make Art My Weapon

This is "My Little Killjoys" - My Chemical Romance reimagined as My Little Ponies. There's a Care Bears variant in the works too. Sharpie and acrylic on canvas, if you're interested.

New Year's Resolution the Third: Go Veggie
Still got a lot of dead animal in the freezer and larder so it'll be a while yet. However, I have been making and freezing my own veggie burgers this week in two flavours: curried chickpea and spinach and 4C (challot*, chestnut, carrot and cumin)

Summing Up 2012

Well folks, 2012 was always going to be a doozy of a year but it exceeded expectations in all sorts of highly unexpected ways.  Obviously this post is going to include a fair bit of repetition of previous blogs but tough shit - what would you expect from a year summary?!
Let's see...

JANUARY
The big deal in January is always my kids' birthdays.  This year was a landmark year as Kathleen finally hit her teens and Erin turned 16.  Naturally having midwinter birthdays it was obvious to have a Hawaiian themed Sweet Sixteen although technically that happened in February.  I did however bust my knee attempting Limbo.

FEBRUARY
After months of anticipation I finally started my first ever university course with The Open University.  Naturally I promptly contracted a chest infection that left me feeling like I was about to die.  Fabulous timing!

MARCH
Turned 34. Least said about that the better.

APRIL
Maybe nothing happened...I can't remember!!!

MAY
Went along to see the Olympic flame on it's way through Taunton and got to see Will.I.Am too!

JUNE
Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in February was marked in June by a long weekend and a number of televised events that we watched...and munched on any number of themed treats!

Erin's prom...didn't she look gorgeous?! Scary how grown up she is...

JULY - AUGUST
Having decided to go the London 2012 Olympics on the day it was announced - in fact, the first my mum heard of it was when I phoned her about 5 minutes later asking if we could come camp on her floor...in seven years time! - it was a long time coming and a tremendous relief to get there.
We saw Water Polo, Dressage and Synchronised Swimming.  It was a pity we never got into the stadium but you can't have everything.

SEPTEMBER
Erin having got her GCSE results in August - 1 x A, 4 x B, 4 x C, 2 x D - Erin started at 6th form college in September eventually settling on A/S levels in Mathematics, Classical Civilisations, Sociology and History.
My 1st OU course came to an end - I would eventually get awarded a distinction - and started my 2nd.
Kathleen had me watch the video for My Chemical Romance's "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" in late September.  This was not the first time I became aware of the band but for some reason it kicked off an MCR obsession that knocked me for six!  Having been a Blockhead for 22 and a bit years I thought that was the extent of my fan-girl issues...how wrong I was! 

I Cinderella at a castle and I'd love this Knight to come rescue me...

OCTOBER
Working in a castle is pretty cool.  Having a prince visit "your" castle is also pretty cool.  Being invited to the Royal Opening when you're the cleaning lady is surreal beyond words.

October was also about endings.  I finally ended a long standing friendship that had become very negative; which has ended up being a high point of the year.  Taking control of your own happiness and distancing yourself from people who, in whatever way, bring you down is liberating and empowering.  The other end was dropping out of my second OU course.  Despite having always wanted to learn Latin it became abundantly clear that I may be able to scrape through the TMAs but I was never going to pass the end of course exam, so I reluctantly admitted defeat.

NOVEMBER
Started what is now going to be my actual 2nd OU course - Archaeology.  As I was only taking the course to make up the points around the now dropped-out-of Latin it's proving to be a bit of a challenge.  The textbook is dry and I'm not getting into it at all.  Hopefully I can scrape a pass or my entire academic year is kaput and I'd be in danger of not completing my degree on schedule!  It's all a bit worrying.

DECEMBER
The world did not end on December 21st with the end of the Mayan long count calendar so I guess I will have to get my backside in gear to write an essay about them for my Archaeology course. *sigh*

Apocalypse Day

So the world was supposed to end today cos the Mayan Long Count Calendar came to an end.  Just nip down to the shops and buy a new one, guys!  Rather bizarrely I'm doing Mesoamerica on my Archaeology course this week...including the Mayans and their assorted calendars!  Kinda creepy coincidence.

So glad the world didn't end cos I'm not at all sure if they have MCR in the afterlife!  Yup, my obsession is still going strong - three months today.  It's calmed down a little thank goodness; the music in my head is playing at a slightly lower volume and I can (mostly) hear myself think again.
That said, Conventional Weapons Part 3 came out on Tuesday..."The Light Behind Your Eyes" might possibly be the most beautiful thing I have heard in my life.  Right now I can't function if I don't play it at least once every couple of hours!  The other song, "The World Is Ugly," almost didn't get a look in being unfortunately eclipsed by its sister track but it's truly awesome.

In the last couple of weeks I have also stumbled belatedly and zombie-like across the awesomeness of the films "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz"; it seems appropriate to mention this here for two reasons - firstly, thanks to Shaun I now have a zombie apocalypse survival plan.  So if the Mayan doodah turned out to be zombies I was sorted!  Secondly, these two films are part of 'the Cornetto trilogy' - the principal photography of the final instalment wrapped today...it is most appropriately titled "The World's End"!!!  Another good reason for the world not to end cos I really want to see that!  Roll on next August (^_~)

Just a few days to go until Christmas.  Can't say I'm too fussed.  Between a nasty cold, work, study (I keep falling asleep on my textbook) and zombies I can't really be bothered.  Plus there's no ostrich steaks at Lidl for my Xmas Day BBQ.
Mind you, one of my New Year's Resolutions is a long overdue return to vegetarianism.  I like meat but I was deeply disturbed by a recent story that Halal meat is being served 'secretly' to the general public.  I have no objection to Halal meat per se but the exemption is on religious grounds - for it to be served to non-Muslims in this way is flouting laws put in place to prevent animal cruelty.  Highly unethical and really ought to be illegal.
My other New Year's Resolution is "to fuck up my hair, a lot."  I'm currently enjoying a green phase and I have a pot of blue dye.  In 2013 I pretty much plan to work through the entire range, trying out blends and colour combinations along the way.  Should be fun!

The Same But Different

I am very much enjoying my My Chemical Romance obsession and I'm still getting nowhere fast with my Latin so in some respects not a lot has changed in the past four weeks since my last post.
In other respects it feels like an awful lot has changed.  I've had possibly hopefully one of the most bizarre events of my life - in the form of being invited to the opening of the Museum of Somerset by HRH The Earl Of Wessex (Prince Edward) on October 15th...I'd already volunteered to help out with the preparation so they didn't have to invite me!  Have to admit I was a nervous wreck but fortunately I didn't meet him or I'd have managed to embarrass myself somehow.  I'm weird, I know but whilst being a cleaner frequently sucketh verily I really like it at the museum - such nice people, shiny new interiors that are easy (ish) to stay on top of.  Going in as a volunteer is cool too cos the pressure is off: I got to do 2 1/2 hours of stuff that needed doing rather than the usual routine.  Also, being off duty I could blast MCR on my MP3 to my heart's content!

Prince Edward seems like a really nice bloke - very personable, I think the word is, good sense of humour and WAY better looking in person.
The other major event was last week when I embraced my inner uberbitch and ended a long-standing friendship.  Most of the time friends come and go but what do you do when they don't GO?  I probably handled it really badly but I got to the end of my rope.  Naturally I shan't go into details but suffice it to say that I felt I had no choice.  I feel like sometimes you can be a worse person for being nice; I needed to distance myself from someone who made me feel like I was a really bad person - I felt such a fake friend as I secretly seethed about the things she'd say.
Whilst I'm still 'feeling off' from that it's mostly a huge relief.  Strangely it's even helped me feel better about myself.  I have been a single mum for 14 years, working for over 2 1/2 years now, I'm studying...where I'm at kind of sucks but it's not like I'm sitting on my backside, doing nothing for myself and expecting the universe to sort it all out for me!  I feel empowered by freeing myself from someone who made me feel inadequate.

My Acronym Romance

I've been a BH (Blockhead), i.e. a NKOTB (New Kids On The Block) fan, since 1990.  Naturally I've listened to a lot of other music over the years and liked a lot of other bands, NKOTB aren't even representative of what I like.  I have an eclectic a bizarre taste in music...I think nothing of loading up my MP3 with everything from Matt Monro to Metallica, Hula to Classical.

But I have never experienced anything like the last fortnight.

I've liked songs and played them over and over.  I've had songs stuck in my head for days at a time.  But I've never had THIS.  For the last fortnight I've woken up with an MCR (My Chemical Romance) song stuck in my head - a different track every day and sometimes it'll change to another song after a few hours - blasting full volume!

Admittedly I love it but even "Helena" will drive you BSC (Bat-Shit Crazy) when it's on loop in your head for 5+ hours.  This last week I'm supposed to have been studying A297 (Reading Classical Latin) for my OU (Open University) studies.  I tell you, I've spent way more time studying MCR instead...

I bought the 2007 single "Teenagers", I'd seen several other videos but I somehow never got into MCR back then.  My daughters came across them quite recently and, on September 20th my youngest got me to watch the video for "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" on YouTube...and it was that simple.  Addicted.  My name is Heggie and I have an MCR addiction.

MCR get described as an Emo band a lot, which they dislike cos (a) who wants to be labelled as anything and (b) Emo has some nasty-ass negative connotations but this has been a crazy emotional fortnight for me.  I've been reading up on 11 years of the band's history, their highs and lows and it's been pretty intense.  For example, I found a story from 2008 where a British coroner blamed a 13 year old girl's suicide on her "obsession" with MCR, calling it a suicide cult band.  For a seriously screwy story from four years ago I am flippin' furious!

1. No one commits suicide because of music...unless they're really, really dumb.
2. The CDs all come with parental advisory stickers; it may not be easy to control what your kids listen to but if I were worried I'd confiscate it all!
3. Did the coroner know anything about MCR?  If he only looked at the lyrics he'd get a pretty warped idea of what it was about (e.g. "Dead!" has the lines: Wouldn't it be great to take a pistol by the hand / and wouldn't it be great if we were dead.  The song itself however is IRONIC, it's UPBEAT and it is FUNNY.  I want it played at my funeral!)

I think it's especially nasty as lead singer Gerard Way has had some pretty bad problems with depression and addiction, he credits MCR with saving his life and he wants to help kids...and it would be daft to encourage  your fans to kill themselves - not a good way to sell records or concert tickets!!!

Then there's all the Danger Days crap.  Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (2010) is MCR's 4th studio album and, until Conventional Weapons comes out any day now, their most recent.  Unfortunately a lot of fans have a problem with it for sounding too different and too 'poppy' which I think is just nuts!  I mean NKOTB have been around since 1984* and if you're still making the same songs nearly 30 years later what's the point?  What have you achieved, how have you developed?  People don't (generally) stay the same all their lives; they grow and change and mature.  Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004) is where they were then as twenty-somethings; Danger Days is where they are as thirty-somethings, all married and two have kids.  You'd think the fans would grow up and change too.

* - Final line-up 1985; 1st single and album 1986

But mostly it's a lot of fun.  I am so glad I recently got unlimited Broadband or this would be costing me a fortune...not that it isn't, buying an established band's entire back catalogue takes a while when you're on a tight budget even if HMV (His Master's Voice...but no one's called it that in a gazillion years) had anything in stock (grrrrr!).