Christ, it's been a long time since I posted here...

Notes on what's going on:

• Me and Dee are in a lesbian rock band. Bantertastic, no?
• I was in Edinburgh (my soon to be new home) this week. Fallen in love with the place? Quite. Missing my Sazi? Muchly!
• New EP plans, and if this one doesn't go ahead, you all have my permission to eat me!
• I'm vegan nowadays. Weird, huh?
• Halls seems rather terrible this year round. Not enough banter for my liking. I think my plan to do a lot more jaunting around the country this year will come to fruition. Already done Edinburgh, and will do again. Aberdeen, St Andrews and the ilk? Defo! London? Watch this space...

Meet tobisaur

For those of you who don't already know, there has been a strike scheduled for Friday, March 21st, 2008, during which we hope to have many members of LiveJournal provide LJ with absolutely no content for twenty-four hours. This means no posting and no commenting. If you post elsewhere and have it set up to be posted through a feed on LiveJournal, don't do it. Stay away from LiveJournal for twenty-four hours. That can't be too hard, can it? I know some of you are probably quite active on LiveJournal and will find it hard to stay away for an entire day, just as I will, but this is something that needs to be done, to show the people running LiveJournal that we're watching the changes they are making, that we're paying attention, that we're discontent, and that we want to be heard and taken in to consideration. We are not simply users who can be tossed to the side and ignored. We are the people who make up LiveJournal. Without us, without the content we create, without our words, our voices, our creativity, our participation, there would be no LiveJournal. This is a fact, and it needs to be realized and understood and then taken in to consideration when making decisions regarding the way that LiveJournal is run. The strike is only a few days away, so there isn't all too much time to prepare. While this is unfortunate, it isn't enough to keep this strike from taking place. It will take place, the second it is meant to, and it would be best to have as many people take part as possible. Please, spread the word. Spread it fast. There are only a few days to organize this. If you find that you care about LiveJournal or care about the people you interact with on LiveJournal or simply want it to remain a place where you can entertain yourself without constant censorship and money-hungry practices being thrown in without the consideration of those who use the service, act now. If you don't wish to spread the word, that is fine, but please: refrain from using LiveJournal on Friday, March 21st. Do something else for a change. It's for a good cause. (:

For background on this strike and why it is being held, please read the following posts:
http://beckyzoole.livejournal.com/394838.html
http://beckyzoole.livejournal.com/395310.html

To find out exactly when the strike begins and ends, depending on where you are located, please see this:
http://beckyzoole.livejournal.com/395125.html

What's this about?

* It's about free and ad-free LiveJournal accounts being abolished for new members, ignoring the advice from the newly-formed Advisory Board.
* It's about LJ staff trying to sneak this decision in under the radar, and when people found out, telling the users it was done 'to make the signup process less confusing'.
* It's about LJ staff failing to apologize for trying to hide the facts from view and for lying about the actual reasons for their actions.
* And finally, it's about the latest decision to hide certain user interests from the list of Most Popular Interests, some of them being fanfiction, bisexuality, sex and depression. This decision was not announced or explained in any way. Users found out for themselves.

-Taken from the journal of </a></b></a>m03m



AND ICONS TO SUPPORT THIS:
Made by </a></b></a>untasted.

EDIT: Please feel free to repost this information anywhere you'd like. The box below contains the post html, minus my inane rambling. Just copy and paste if you feel so inclined. :)

My problem is this: I have been a first study guitarist since I was 8 years old. It was the first instrument I ever took seriously. Several years later, I discovered I could sing a bit, but the guitar has always been my instrument (even considering I was barely seen during my school career without a bass in hand).

But recently, I've discovered the piano.

Listening to the likes of The Dresden Dolls got me into piano music. From there, I discovered Regina Spektor and Ben Folds. I've always been impressed with good pianists, sometimes more than I've been impressed with good guitarists. Now, I have this sudden urge to go and teach myself how to play.

Is it just my musical tastes developing, or am I falling out of love with the guitar? Finally bearing witness to the flexibility of the piano, am I being put off the very much "lead or rhythm" nature of the guitar? In short: What's wrong with me?

Current Location: Glasgow
Current Mood: confused

Firstly, I've been inspired by this:



I'm gonna put something together, but NOT, and I repeat, NOT enter... why? Because that would make it work, and mean I have a deadline, and that's not fun right now. So instead, I'm going to write and record my own arrangement of "The Pretender" for a laugh!

Love and Peace,
Jimmy

Well, Halloween has been and gone, children, which means we must hang up our costumes (pirates and murderers for guys, schoolgirls, bunnies and nurses for girls, crazy arab ninjas for me (allegedly)) and get back to other things, like writing EPs, gigging, and, of course, Uni.

Having said that, this Halloween was absolute killer!

Back in Glasgow for the weekend, as my mother generally celebrates Halloween a few days too late. The McKee Family Halloween Bash starts in two and a half hours, so I'm taking some time to isolate myself from the rest of the madding crowd until then. Playing a gig tomorrow night at Ivory Blacks, which makes the trip worth it, I suppose.

Speaking of the band, we've decided to change our name. Suggestions on a postcard, please!

Love and Peace,
Jimmy xxx

Current Location: The Weeg

Some say your childhood is the best time of your life

That is pish

Student life is the best. End of!

• Retrieve my mic from the studio

• Decide what clothes I need to take

• Purchase socks and underwear (they're important, apparently)

• Refill wash kit

• Clean room

• Get rid of stuff I don't need from boxes

• Decide if I need to get anything else before I leave

• Buy a new book or two (or three...)

• See everyone and say goodbye

• Have kick ass night out

• Write somewhat emotional but tongue-in-cheek song about leaving home

• Make sure I have all my enrollment stuff

• Find and fill wallet

• Organise test for Anthony Nolan Trust

• Have a last night out with Weeza Bird.

• Haircut

• See The Biatches and Okay On The Day at the Catty

• Play The Vale

• Say goodbye to club folk

• Fill blue folder with CDs

• See Frank fucking Turner!

• Go busking

• Give Blood

• Take down socialist things from wall

• Pack shoe box

• Clear out boxes

• Write PRS press pack

• Design travel case for keyboard gear

• Play Penguin at 40k

7 days to go kids, here's how the list works now.

• Retrieve my mic from the studio

• Decide what clothes I need to take

• Purchase socks and underwear (they're important, apparently)

• Refill wash kit

• Clean room

• Get rid of stuff I don't need from boxes

• Decide if I need to get anything else before I leave

• Buy a new book or two (or three...)

• See everyone and say goodbye

• Have kick ass night out

• Write somewhat emotional but tongue-in-cheek song about leaving home

• Visit Katie and Dougie at the school

• Make sure I have all my enrollment stuff

• Find and fill wallet

• Organise test for Anthony Nolan Trust

• Have a last night out with Weeza Bird.

• Haircut? Do I need one?

• See The Biatches and Okay On The Day at the Catty

• Play The Vale

• Tender my resignation to the youths

• Say goodbye to club folk

• Fill blue folder with CDs

• See Frank fucking Turner!

• Go busking

• Give Blood

• Take down socialist things from wall

• Pack shoe box

• Clear out boxes

• Write PRS press pack

• Design travel case for keyboard gear

• Play Penguin at 40k

Going away with the rents for the weekend to somewhere outside Ayr. Back Sunday night. Don't miss me too much kids!

Current Location: My room in Barmulloch
Current Music: Say It Aint So - Weezer

Written in slightly over 12 hours.

Not bad, eh?

I've ripped apart half my set for the gig at The Vale next week, and added whole new songs. It's great being a solo artist!

10 days to go, and here's my revised list

• Retrieve my mic from the studio

• Decide what clothes I need to take

• Purchase socks and underwear (they're important, apparently)

• Refill wash kit

• Clean room

• Get rid of stuff I don't need from boxes

• Decide if I need to get anything else before I leave

• Buy a new book or two (or three...)

• See everyone and say goodbye

• Have kick ass night out

• Write somewhat emotional but tongue-in-cheek song about leaving home

• Visit Katie and Dougie at the school

• Write up my list of people I'm ditching

• Make sure I have all my enrollment stuff

• Find and fill wallet

• Organise test for Anthony Nolan Trust

• Have a last night out with Weeza Bird.

• Haircut? Do I need one?

• See The Biatches and Okay On The Day at the Catty

• Play The Vale

• Finish KH2

• Tender my resignation to the youths

• Say goodbye to club folk

• Build my goddamn pedalboard!

• Fill blue folder with CDs

• See Frank fucking Turner!

• Go busking

• Give Blood

• Photo booth pictures

• Take down socialist things from wall

• Pack shoe box

• Clear out boxes

• Write PRS press pack

• Design travel case for keyboard gear

So far so good...

Current Music: Another Round - Foo Fighters

16 days before the big move, chaps. Here is my checklist for things to do before I leave:

• Retrieve my mic from the studio
• Decide what clothes I need to take
• Purchase socks and underwear (they're important, apparently)
• Refill wash kit
• Clean room
• Get rid of stuff I don't need from boxes
• Decide if I need to get anything else before I leave
• Buy a new book or two (or three...)
• See everyone and say goodbye
• Have kick ass night out
• Write somewhat emotional but tongue-in-cheek song about leaving home
• Visit Katie and Dougie at the school
• Write up my list of people I'm ditching
• Make sure I have all my enrollment stuff
• Find and fill wallet
• Organise test for Anthony Nolan Trust
• Have a last night out with Weeza Bird.
• Haircut? Do I need one?
• See The Biatches and Okay On The Day at the Catty
• Play The Vale
• Finish KH2
• Tender my resignation to the youths
• Say goodbye to club folk
• Build my goddamn pedalboard!
• Fill blue folder with CDs
• Replace Alien Ant Farm CD (if I can find it cheap)
• See Frank fucking Turner!
• Learn how to cook something new
• New drumsticks, guitar and bass strings... just in case
• Go busking
• Give Blood

Current Location: My room in Glasgow
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: All My Life - Foo Fighters

DIRECTIONS: Leave me a comment saying anything random, like your favorite lyric to your current favorite song. Or your favorite kind of sandwich. Something random. Whatever you like. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions. Include this explanation. When others comment asking to be asked, you will ask them five questions.

1) What made you want to get into Marxism?
Hmm, a couple of things actually. I discovered my English teacher was in the SSP, so I got exposed to a bit of their literature through him whenever I ran into him. I got interested in the Left in Scotland and it's history, then I got handed a leaflet by my now good friend Paul at an Anti Flag gig about the SSY. I went to a couple of meetings, and joined the party in September. And that's how it happened really!

2) Do you believe in aliens?
I believe there damn well better be aliens out there, cause if we're the only intelligent life in the universe then we're all fucked.

3) Who inspired you to become a musician?
Hmm... Freddy Mercury! I was brought up on old Queen records, and I was just amazed at his stage presence and suchlike. I saw a video of him from Live at Wembley and was hooked. Brian May as well, in a way, cause he's such a great guitarist. Other than them, folk like Joe Strummer and the like Just loads of different folk.

4) How many times did you visit the Asterix pub in Spain? (& btw where is it?)
I've only been in once or twice actually. It's a bit pricey.
It's got a great location though. Right on the beach between Santiago De La Ribera and Lo Pagan in Murcia, on the east coast of Spain.

5) Cappacino or normal Coffee?
Tricky, very tricky. I love most coffees, I suppose it really depends on my mood or where I am. It's annoying trying to make cappucino at home, so I generally stick to the regular coffee. But I do indulge whenever I go out and have something a bit fancier. So the jury's still out on that one!

As an aside... listening to Radio 1 just now. I wonder if Edith Bowman really does like The Blossom...

Love and Peace,
Jimmy

It's Tuesday morning, and I'm here updating LJ. I rock, really!

On Wednesday, I'll be performing in an Open Mic Night at The Halt Bar. I'm not entirely sure if I'm nervous yet. It'll be a small crowd, partly filled with my mates, but it will also be the first night of performing my original material. My solo songs, which, up until now, have been unheard outside my bedroom. I'm pretty sure that people will enjoy them - they are good songs, after all - but the question is: do I think they're ready for an audience?

Having said that... afterwards, I intend to get my demo on the go and get myself some proper gigs, so it won't really matter as much!

It's day 3 of my Kingdom Hearts II Marathon (if you don't include Friday night, that is). So close to finishing it it's unbearable. ninjageishagirl thinks I need help. She's probably right!

I wrote a new song today. I'm quite proud of it actually. It's a wee folk ditty about little birds, and is dedicated to my little bird, lastserenade_xo, who I love dearly. This one's for you, Weeza Bird!

- List ten songs you are into right now, no matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now.
- Post these instructions in your LiveJournal along with your seven songs.
- Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to

Ok, can I do this in half an hour? I can sure as hell try!

1. The Postal Service - Clark Gable
   What can I say? The Postal Service is probably the first electronica project I've ever been able to listen to non stop, and Clark Gable is just a great song!
2. David Bowie - Life on Mars
   Bowie is a lyrical and musical genius. Not much else can be said about him. Life on Mars is my favourite song from Hunky Dory, which I only just got a few weeks ago, along with Scary Monsters and Ziggy Stardust.
3. Team Sleep - Ever (Foreign Flag)
   I managed to get the Team Sleep album for £3 in Fopp (RIP Fopp). I liked Deftones, but couldn't get into them as much. Team Sleep is pretty chilled, so it's easy to listen to on the move or if I'm just relaxing.
4. Frank Turner - The Ballad of Me and My Friends
   I saw Frank the last time he was in Glasgow with katiefucksoff. He played an amazing set and managed to down a whole glass of Buckfast. Proper punk rock. A great song about basically enjoying life. "We're definitely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell!"
5. Patrick Wolf - The Pigeon Song
   I'm a relative newcomer to Paddy Wolf, but it was suggested that I play this song as part of my Project Red Star set. Great song, really.
6. Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
   Mellow as fuck, more or less.
7. Foo Fighters - Friend of a Friend
   Another song that's worked it's way into my live set. just really chilled acoustic stuff from the In Your Honour album, which has to be the best Foos album yet (and yes, I have listened to them all).
8. John Lennon - Imagine
   Is there any better reason for being an atheist than loving this song? Well, yes, there is, but this song was a major factor in my turning into a proper heretic. "Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too".
9. Ian Durie and The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
   Everyone needs an embarassingly cheesy song now and then, right?
10. The Dresden Dolls - Dance Me To The End Of Love
    I've never heard the Cohen original, but I've heard the Dolls do it, and Madeline Peyroux, and I really prefer the Dolls arrangement. Because of the lack of instruments, the timbre is really basic, more minimalist, and so it's a lot clearer to listen to.

Ok, who to tag...

katiefucksoff
sazi_medea
wolfsolent
ninjageishagirl
lastserenade_xo

I give up... that's me!

I've found my old Stacked Actors songbook. It's got all the band's old songs. First page has Let Me Go, then Memories (which has been hijacked by me for solo shows), Letters, Pills, and several unheard BBE songs, including Song 7. I think I'm gonna use it again, for some of my solo stuff (more on that in a minute).

I've found hundreds of picks in the room today. Times past I was scrounging around to get a couple of picks to play a rehearsal or gig, now I've got loads to choose from, and all of them my favourite pink ones! Yaldi!

On the solo music front, I am no longer playing music under the name Jimmy McKee/Richards. I have decided to open myself up to collaborations and change my name to Project: Red Star. First collaborator is photographer and poet Sophi Lee. Going for a new sound and a new style. Watch this space!

Love and Peace,
Jimmy

Reposted from a bulletin by the Richard Dawkins Foundation

The Out Campaign

by Richard Dawkins

July 31st, 2007

Reposted from:
http://richarddawkins.net/article,1471,The-Out-Campaign,Richard-Dawkins



In the dark days of 1940, the pre-Vichy French government was warned by its generals "In three weeks England will have her neck wrung like a chicken." After the Battle of Britain, Winston Churchill growled his response: "Some chicken; some neck!" Today, the bestselling books of 'The New Atheism' are disparaged, by those who desperately wish to downplay their impact, as "Only preaching to the choir."

Some choir! Only?!

As far as subjective impressions allow and in the admitted absence of rigorous data, I am persuaded that the religiosity of America is greatly exaggerated. Our choir is a lot larger than many people realise. Religious people still outnumber atheists, but not by the margin they hoped and we feared. I base this not only on conversations during my book tour and the book tours of my colleagues Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens, but on widespread informal surveys of the World Wide Web. Not our own site, whose contributors are obviously biased, but, for example, Amazon, and YouTube whose denizens are reassuringly young. Moreover, even if the religious have the numbers, we have the arguments, we have history on our side, and we are walking with a new spring in our step – you can hear the gentle patter of our feet on every side.


Our choir is large, but much of it remains in the closet. Our repertoire may include the best tunes, but too many of us are mouthing the words sotto voce with head bowed and eyes lowered. It follows that a major part of our consciousness-raising effort should be aimed, not at converting the religious but at encouraging the non-religious to admit it – to themselves, to their families, and to the world. This is the purpose of the OUT campaign.

Before I go any further, I must forestall one major risk of misunderstanding. The obvious comparison with the gay community is vulnerable to going too far: to 'outing' as a transitive verb whose object might be an unfortunate individual not yet – or not ever – ready to confide in the world. Our OUT campaign will have nothing, repeat nothing to do with outing in that active sense. If a closet atheist wants to come out, that is her decision to make, and nobody else's. What we can do is provide support and encouragement to those who willingly decide to out themselves. This may seem trivial to people in parts of Europe, or in regions of the United States dominated by urban intellectuals where support and encouragement is unnecessary. It is anything but trivial to people in other areas of the United States, and even more so in parts of the Islamic world where apostasy is, by Koranic authority, punishable by death.

The OUT campaign has potentially as many sides to it as you can think of words to precede "out". "Come OUT" has pride of place and is the one I have so far dealt with. Related to it is "Reach OUT" in friendship and solidarity towards those who have come out, or who are contemplating that step which, depending on their family or home town prejudices, may require courage. Join, or found local support groups and on-line forums. Speak OUT, to show waverers they are not alone. Organize conferences or campus events. Attend rallies and marches. Write letters to the local newspaper. Lobby politicians, at local and national level. The more people come out and are known to have done so, the easier will it be for others to follow.

Stand OUT and organize activities and events in your local area. Join an existing local neighbourhood atheist organization, or start one. Put a bumper sticker on your car. Wear a T-shirt. Wear Josh's red A if you like it as much as I do, otherwise design your own or find one on a website such as http://www.cafepress.com/buy/atheist; or wear no shirt at all, but please don't carp at the very idea of standing up to be counted with other atheists. I admit, I sympathize with those sceptics on this site who fear that we are engendering a quasi-religious conformity of our own. Whether we like it or not, I'm afraid we have to swallow this small amount of pride if we are to have an influence on the real world, otherwise we'll never overcome the 'herding cats' problem. If in doubt, read PZ Myers's exuberant hortation at http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/come_out.php.

"Keep" OUT worried me at first, because it sounds unfriendly and exclusive, like the Barcelona Travel Agent whose travel poster, in well-meant English, read "Go Away!" "Keep OUT" here means, of course, keep religion out of science classes, and similar expressions of the US constitutional separation between church and state (Britain has no such separation, unfortunately). As yet another delightful T-shirt put it, "Don't pray in our school, and I won't think in your church." Lobby your local school board. Quote Christopher Hitchens: "Mr Jefferson, build up that wall."

Chill OUT (exhort others to do so). Atheists are not devils with horns and a tail, they are ordinary nice people. Demonstrate this by example. The nice woman next door may be an atheist. So may the doctor, librarian, computer operator, taxi driver, hairdresser, talk show host, singer, conductor, comedian. Atheists are just people with a different interpretation of cosmic origins, nothing to be alarmed about.

What other OUTs might we imagine? Well, suggest your own. Vote OUT representatives who discriminate against the non-religious, the way George Bush Senior is alleged to have done when he described atheists as non-citizens of a nation "under God". Politicians follow where the votes are. They can only count atheists who are OUT. Some atheists are defeatist in thinking we'll never be effective simply because we're not a majority. But it doesn't matter that we're not a majority. To be effective, all we have to be is recognizable to legislators as a big enough minority. Atheists are more numerous than religious Jews, yet they wield a tiny fraction of the political power, apparently because they have never got their act together in the way the Jewish lobby so brilliantly has: the famous 'herding cats' problem again. And the argument applies not just to politicians but to advertisers, the media, merchants across the board. Anyone who wants to sell us anything caters to demographics. We need to stand up and be counted, so that the demographically savvy culture will come to reflect our tastes and our views. That in turn makes it easier for the next generation of atheists. Fill OUT 'Atheist' on any form that asks for your personal details, especially the next census form.

Break OUT! Some might like to throw 'coming OUT' parties where they joyously celebrate the courage of those who have decided to put behind them the habits of a lifetime, or the habits of their ancestors, embrace a realistic and superstition-free life and Break OUT into the real world. Break OUT of religious conformity and, in celebration of your new found freedom, Break OUT the champagne.

http://outcampaign.org

Well, I've been home for three days now, and it's been pretty good going so far. Went out on friday with katiefucksoff and saw the new Harry Potter flick. Slightly less shit than the last one, which was good. Got the new book as a matter of cultural importance too. It better be good, it's the only thing holding me back from reading Stephen Hawking.

As of tomorrow, I will have either a job or a volunteer placement. I will be working as a Studio Engineer for CIN Studios, a community recording studio run by the lovely folks at Beat Route - Balornock Music Group. The next 2 months will basically be my refresher on how to work Pro Tools, as a) I'm too used to Cubase and b) I'll be using Pro Tools at Uni, anyways. Hopefully I'll get a chance to have the band back in to do some work at this point, but whether or not that will happen is yet to be seen.

Speaking of the band, the following dates are confirmed (-ish) as gigging days:

• 5th August: Glasgow Barfly
• 24th August: Spirit Bar, Glasgow
• 19th October: The Venue, Dumfries

Current Location: In yer computer, ticklin' yer modem!
Current Mood: content

Well, I come home next week to the rain, wind and a lack of gigs. Can´t wait!

Starting to take my solo music a bit more seriously. Gonna start putting out demos and a press pack pretty soon and get some gigs.

Oh, and I´m off to the Irish Pub for the third friday in a row... damn you mother and your obsession with karaoke!

Love and Peace,

Jimmy

Catching up on some Doctor Who as we speak. 2 weeks worth. Wow!

Now, on with the meme...

THE RULES! Each player lists 8 facts or habits about themselves; the rules of the game are to be posted first; at the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people.

1. I have anger issues. No one really notices though. I'm a good actor.

2. Bit of a geek, really, but not as geeky as I'd like to be. Sadly, geekiness is expensive...

3. Thou shalt not speak ill of Douglas Adams, The Grohl or Doctor Who, lest ye incur my wrath!

4. I actually, despite popular belief, like the rain.

5  Marx: a nice guy, but does read a bit like a 19th century German economic philosopher, if you catch my drift...

6. I'm a failed night owl... I try to be nocturnal, but I get tired after a while.

7. Tea and a biccy with good mates > Getting pissed in Bar M

8. I'm a reformed punk. I don't exactly know what that means, but that's what I am.

I tag:

ninjageishagirl
stargirl_washu
katiefucksoff
theantiromantic
lastserenade_xo
sazi_medea

I've run out of folk, do I really need 8? *frowns*

Love and Peace,
Jimmy