Like quite a few people, my first exposure to the music of DragonForce occurred when I completed Guitar Hero III, and the credit rolled, allowing me to play “Through The Fire And Flames”, which is the opening track to Inhuman Rampage. For the first minute or two, in between the frantic button mashing, I was inwardly wincing at what I was hearing, but that soon changed to intrigue then interest, and by the time I’d got to the end I was looking them up on Last.fm to hear more. One thing I will say about DF – they’re an acquired taste. We’re talking about speed metal, with cliched metal vocals, the most wildly over-the-top guitar solos possible, and general musical wanking off in every quarter. But it all somehow manages at the same time as being completely po-faced, to somehow convery a sense of fun. Perhaps it’s the ever-present Nintendo-style guitar themes that Herman Li injects into most of the tracks that save this from just being yet another soldiers-of-metal band, marching off into the distance, drowning in a torrent of notes. I’m not sure. But I know I do like me some DragonForce, and for me this is the best album they’ve made yet.
Standout tracks: Through The Fire And Flames, Operation Ground And Pound, Body Breakdown. You’ll like this if you like: Um…. not sure really. Speed/power metal with awesome guitar work!
I’m selling my old car, since I inherited my Dad’s car when he gave up driving due to his age. It’s a 1996 Honda Civic, and it’s in Auto Trader. Here is some text about it that won’t fit in the advert.
This car has been great for me, runs really well, and I have a perfectly genuine reason for selling – my Dad’s 83, and has decided to give up driving, so I have inherited his Mondeo.
That said, it has had a couple of minor issues, and the guy who sold it to me obviously knew about one of them but kept quiet. In the spirit of transparency, I’m telling you everything.
When I bought it, before I’d even got it home from West London, it overheated. It did this a few times over the next few months, and this was eventually tracked down to a bad radiator. The neck at the top was eroded, and the cap wasn’t making a seal. The radiator and cap have now been replaced, and the car hasn’t overheated since. Both the mechanic who did the work, and the RAC man who towed me home after the last time this happened have said it’s definitely not the head gasket.
Also, the airbag light on the dashboard is on. This is because one time when it had overheated, the hazard lights were on so long that the battery ran down and the car needed a jump start. This has caused the airbag (SRS) light to come on. I don’t know how easy or otherwise that is to fix.
Aside from that, the car’s fine. It has a couple of cosmetic scuffs on the bumpers, but nothing more than you’d expect on a 13 year old car.
The parcel shelf is missing.
Both wing mirrors have obviously been bumped at some stage and have tape around them, but they’re secure – they’re not loose or dangling off or smashed or anything.
However,
The exhaust has recently had brand new back and middle boxes.
Everything else works fine.
So there you go, that’s everything, I’ve not hidden anything away about it, I’ll be sad to see it go – I was getting used to driving an automatic!
And that’s that. It’s going on Auto Trader for £500ono, but if you’re interested feel free to get in touch any way you like.
I know a few of you read this – I need to ask you a question: have you ever bought anything online from www.clickadeal.com? And if so, did it go smoothly?
I made a purchase to the value of £151.56 on Sunday night (2nd Feb), delivery estimate given to be 4-6 working days. The money left my account via Google Checkout that day, and I received a mail saying that the item had been shipped same day, which seemed excellent, as it was a Sunday.
However it has yet to turn up, and 2 messages sent to the seller via Google Checkout have yielded no reply, and both the phone numbers I have found for these people give “unobtainable”, which makes me somewhat nervous.
I own a Hell t-shirt (“Britney is a whore” – I bought it when that was mildly subversive and not just her job description) and have bought them for friends, and this is a shame. Still, some of the best shirts are back for a limited run before closing time.
I think my particular favourite on there right now is “Gay Jesus offends Christians”.
Oh, btw in case of hate, no I’m not a Christian but I know a few and happen to believe that none of them would actually be offended by this t-shirt. Because, you know, IT’S A FUCKING T-SHIRT and my friends aren’t complete morons.
Podcasts! They’re great, I reckon. No, really. My commuting listening habits have switched from constant hard rock to lots of funny things. It’s smart!
