Our final day!

It seems like forever since I first walked into Drayton, 5 years ago. Yet now we're only a week away from our GCSEs - the most important exams we've ever taken - and stepping out of the uniform forever.

To be honest, I don't quite understand what all the fuss is about. There are a few people leaving who I'll miss (Anya and Marianne especially), but something like 80% are coming back next year anyway! I guess the only reason I'm so cynical is because I never know what to write in those books other than "see you next week".

In other news, my shingles have returned - last I had them was just before the mocks. It's a form of chickenpox brought on by stress and tiredness, but thankfully not contagious to those who've had chickenpox before.

Ps. I'd heartily recommend checking out this gallery of photos taken over the last few days at school. Talk to Adam if you want to add your own photos to it.

"Emo is bullshit"

"Emo is bullshit! If people want to take it for the literal sense of the word, yes we're an emotional band, we put a lot of thought into what we do. People always try to stereotype us, but we don't fit the emo stereotype."

- Brendon Urie, lead singer of Panic At The Disco.

Wow. Next they'll be telling us they're male.

(Quote and image from this NME article)

Review: Album omnibus

Three weeks ago I bought four albums at an excellently-priced CD store (and borrowed Klaxons off Rupert). Having listened to them pretty solidly over the last few weeks, I thought I might as well review them all at the same time.

Let's start at the top. Klaxons are amazing. I only wish Rupert had played me more than the intro to Atlantis to Interzone, then I would've discovered them months before they hit the mainstream. Most of you will have heard the album by now, and if you haven't - why not? Klaxons have a sound that somehow incorporates pop, indie rock and "new rave", which appeals to just about everyone. My only complaint is the secret track is just plain noise, but hey, it's secret for a reason.

Kaiser Chiefs' first album was pretty patchy. Sure, the singles were good, but there was nothing else to write home about. This follow-up, Yours Truly, Angry Mob, is far superior: the songs no longer sound as though they were composed in a pub, but still retain the catchiness and energy of the original. A particular standout is "Love's Not A Competition (But I'm Winning)", although the humorous nature of all of Kaiser Chiefs' lyrics slightly spoils the tone. If you liked the first album, or any of the songs off it, you'll like this one.

Amnesiac is weird, even for Radiohead. Although perhaps not quite as weird as Kid A (I've yet to listen to it) it makes Klaxons sound like Spice Girls. Its strange mix of computer-generated sounds, distorted vocals and genre-fusing jazz and electronic tracks. And I love it. It certainly wouldn't appeal to the masses - my brother walked in on "Like Spinning Plates" and accused the song of not actually being music - but if you're looking for something new and interesting I'd highly recommend it.

I only heard of the Vines a couple of months ago, although Highly Evolved was released nearly five years ago. I have no idea how I missed it, but thankfully the album hasn't aged one bit, consisting of simple and catchy garage rock. Some tracks (such as "Factory") can be a little too simple, but they all give the feeling that the band just love to play guitar and shout into microphones, even if it doesn't end up making much sense. Overall, the raw energy of the album proves that Australia can produce better than Kylie Minogue.

Finally, we come to Nirvana by Nirvana. I have to admit that I'm not the biggest Nirvana fan in the world - I mean, sure, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Heart-shaped Box" are great songs, but I still don't quite understand the hype. This best-of just confirmed my impression of them: fantastically-written songs, powerful yet simple riffs which are perfect for beginners and a thoroughly depressing and repetitive tone. I can understand why people like Nirvana, but they're just not for me.

Reading: a guest post by Joe

Hi Guys. So there’s 137 days to go until Reading 2007, and there’s like 30 Drayton Year 11’s going. Excellent. I’m proper looking forward to it. I’m just glad I was able to secure my regular weekend ticket on the night they came on sale, and didn’t have to bother with all the coach ticket shit, nor did I have to shell out £200 on eBay, like some.

I know people have been complaining about the line-up a lot, but just consider that only 28 out of around 100 acts have been confirmed. In the grand scheme of things, The Line-Up Is SICK, although admittedly it could be a lot better.

Remember, there’s still like 75 acts to be confirmed, and there’s hundreds and hundreds of wicked bands who are likely to play, so it will be a lot better by August. Personally I’ve got my fingers crossed for The Horrors, The Hives, Hadouken! Bedouin Soundclash, The Holloways, The Maccabees, The Ordinary Boys, all of which are perfectly possible, but theres so many more acts I want there that could quite easily happen. Although If I REALLY had my way, the line-up would look like this so far:

Unfortunately, you can’t always get what you want.

Plus, I’d make a lot more changes than that, but time is money guys.

If there’s an act not on the confirmed 28 that you would like to see at Reading, it’s not too difficult to work out the likelihood of them appearing. Just consider these factors:

• Their popularity (obviously)
• Recent Releases (new albums etc)
• Their place on the bill last year (Headliners don’t tend to return the next year)
• Their current tour dates (if it says “25^th August – Reading Festival”, that’s quite a good sign)
• The band’s thoughts on the festival (if a big band say they want to play Reading, they will probably be asked to play)

Yeah, so that’s the lowdown on Reading 2007. Whatever the line-up ends up looking like, it’s an incredible experience for everybody, so if you got a ticket, make sure you’re looking forward to it. Only 137 Days and counting!

SEE YOU THERE YOU WANKERS!

The WoW starts now

I got so excited leading up to the impending launch of World of Warcraft. Adam had been telling me about everything you could do in the game, and how we'd play online with Nick and Nick and Sam and people. So I downloaded the beta, and I hated it. There was nothing to indicate what to do next, the combat was uninvolving and the price (£9 per month) was far too high - so I gave up after the 2 week-trial.

For those of you who don't know, World of Warcraft is the most successful massively-multiplayer online game (MMOG) ever. Something about its familiar, Tolkien-esque setting and accessible nature has convinced over 6 million people around the world to explore the land of Azeroth - battling monsters, crafting armour and, crucially, interacting with other players from around the world. It's this social aspect that makes the game so appealling, since tasks can be carried out in groups of players, all aiding each other.

So the other day, the Times came with another free trial of the game. Why not give it another go, I thought? After all, 6 million players can't be wrong. For some, levelling up their virtual orc is more important than their children.

And though I'm not quite as addicted to the game, I get it this time. No objective? Sure there is! There's plenty to do, it's just not spoon-fed. The combat is still slow and tedious, but I can chat with nearby players while I watch my dwarf hack away at enemies. As for the price, my younger brother has also got into the game - being a fan of several other MMOGs, his newfound love of WoW comes as no surprise - and hopefully we'll be able to split the cost of an account between us.

Anyways, this entry's gone on for far too long. I'm off to hunt some wild boar near Kharanos.

Review: the school production

The school production is rather unorthodox this year. Rather than one big play, it's two abridged Shakespeares - The Tempest and As You Like It.

The Tempest was Shakespeare's final play, a weird blend of romance, comedy and horror about an overthrown king with magic powers who takes revenge those who overthrew him. As You Like It is relatively straightforward - a romantic comedy based around unrequited love. I think. Someone got rejected several times and four couples got married at the end.

Despite the confusion of the audience (or at least me), they were still hugely enjoyable because of the great casts. I may complain about "Miss Farrow's favourites" a lot, but she does know how to cast people. Everyone suited their roles excellently, and it was refreshing to see some new faces amongst the regulars.

Although both were pretty well-polished, it was obvious from the interesting transitions and clever human forest that far more thought, if not time, was spent on As You Like It. (Which makes sense, since it was originally put together for the Shakespeare festival) That said, The Tempest is more entertaining purely because it involves magic, monsters and a shocking amount of alcohol.

Worth seeing? Probably. But as with all Shakespeares, it's worth reading the synopsis beforehand so that you understand what the hell is going on.

Coursework and deadlines

It's Friday tomorrow. A normal day for many, but for all of year 11, it's the day when the Maths coursework is due in. Which means that half the year will take the morning off "ill", while the other half will boast about how late they stayed up last night, trying to finish it off. I should know - I was part of both last year.

Oh, sure, there's other subjects too, but we're all united in our fear of the maths department's strict deadline. In fact, we're so united that we seem to think it's alright to ask people we haven't spoken to in years for their entire coursework over Msn. At least 5 came asking for help before I added (and he's not sending coursework to ANYONE) to my screen name.

I'm perfectly happy giving friends help, but when I haven't even spoken to you for months that's just taking advantage. (remind you of anyone?) I pity Adam - he's too nice to turn people down like I do. Despite the fact that he finished his coursework a week ago, he'll still be up all night doing other people's.

We also have the year 11 photo shoot tomorrow morning. Teachers seem to think it'll work as a deterrent to stop people from bunking, but I expect the photo will just be half-empty instead. Which is a shame. I guess there's always the sixth form photo.

It's official: Sony hates Europe

Actually, that's not entirely true. Sony hates the entire world, apart from North America and Japan.

I'm sure you may well have heard of its upcoming console, the PlayStation3. It's the follow-up to the PS2, which is arguably the most successful console ever. But, guess what? As well as having to pay more than Americans for the console, we're now getting a stripped-down version that will only be able to play a "limited" amount of PS2 games, rather than all of them.

This is because Sony are taking out a processor chip that was used for playing these old games in order to cut costs. But since the PS3 is costing Sony $200 per unit (that's right, they're making a loss), none of this cost-cutting will make it any cheaper for us. So, to summarise:

• we're getting the PS3 5 months later
• for £100 more
• and able to play less PS2 games than the US version
  

Anyone still planning on getting one?

Story from Kotaku.