JANUARY
January 17th: Get informed by my old web host Lycos/tripod that they are shutting down all existing websites on 15th February so I gotta copy and rehouse all the 1977 calender and about one third of the site by then. Busy busy busy!!!
January 19th: New Year, and already 3 blokes i knew have died sympathy and condolences go out to their familys. Pubs are shutting jobs are being lost but luckily for me im still working and for once in my life think im one of the lucky ones. I wont push my luck though as things have a nasty habit of changing. A toast to Les 'Crooked' Cullis who went to the big bar in the sky!
January 22nd: Go and see the Buzzcocks tonight however my cameras battery's let me down and i couldn't take any pics. Despite not being the most exciting band to watch they played the first two albums back to back and you could not fault them for pure punk nostalgia.
FEBRUARY
February 15th: Seems like the Tripod/Lycos deadline has now been extended indefinitely just after I saved all the pages to disc oh well at least theyre there.
February 25th: Quiet birthday not much to celebrate when yr 47 lol or to celebrate it in, but had a few pints so I was happy.
MARCH
March 28th: Finally get to hear the final mixes for the 2nd Stench album of old remixes. Still deciding on a final track listing but hopefully not long now!
APRIL
April 11th: Stench have the remaining tracks from our back catalogue remixed and ready for your aural pleasure. And its really pretty good even if I say so myself. A disc is on its way to Alex at Pure Punk Records as we speak. If everyone is happy we will post the details and artwork for 'Obssesed With Evil' as soon as possible. For anyone who knows the band, there's a mixture of unreleased old classics and unheard of diatribes of retribution and darkness...in other words the same old crap.
April 13th: Get some bad news regarding Geocities who host this website. They will be closing it down at the end of the year leaving me with just over six months to find a new squat grrr!
MAY
May 3rd: Think I've found a new FREE host and after ten long years seem to have actually cracked FTP too yippppeee. So I'm enthusiastically starting work on the massive transfer program for this site. It a new era for me and calls for a new name I reckon, especially after ten years as NIHILISM ON THE PROWL!
May 14th: Designed a new logo in my favoured blackmail style and decided to call the new site PUNK ROCKER not very original, but self explanatory. For the full concept go read the page.
May 25th: Finally finish the Stench album sleeve and it gets approved by the band and record label. Next is the inner sleeve
and lyric sheet. Hopefully a release date will be later this year.
JUNE
June 12th: Go for a scan on my abdomen at New Cross hospital been having discomfort for the last 12 months
In my right side. Fearing the worst!
JULY
July 3rd: Get results from my abdomen scan everything is ok apart from my Liver. Seems 30 years of drinking
has taken its toll and i now have what they call a 'fatty liver' which my Doctor informs me is the stage before
Cihrrossis sets in. Too much fat in my Liver cells. Its a relief in one way as I do have a second chance to
repair it (some don't) but that will mean a significant decrease in my alcohol intake. But thats something I've
come to terms with. I would rather live without getting drunk than being dead in 3 years or drinking pop for the
rest of me life. Im allowed 6 pints on a weekend and 2 or 3 on a daily basis for now. Have 3 months of sobriety
ahead of me till I get my next examination.
July 4th: Go to the Birmingham Punks Alive 30 band extravaganza at the Swingin Sporran this weekend its a
good test for my 6 pint limit. Manage to see a few bands while im there First Class Twat were funny chaotic
madness, Riot Squad were a lot better than expected can't remember who the others i seen were coz new
bands were added or dropped from the lineup. Was a good crack though on two levels of the pub and you
could go outside and drink on the pavement with no hassle. Spotted Two Drongos, 3 Im a Mess's, one
Rotten Agenda. Most of whom were playing later. Sadly had to leave early with a clutch of zines in me
skyrocket as my 6 point quota was hit looked to be a great friendly punk gathering with a great selection
of bands.
AUGUST
August 21: Get the new Rancid CD which is a definite grower. I passed on the extras CD set with bonus
accoustics as that dont excite me at all.
August 29th: Finish installing a decades worth of fanzine reviews which are now housed all in one place on my second freebie alternative site via 110MB. Its good to have a back up site in case one decides to finish.
Go and see Chocking Susan in Brum after a Dead Wretched no show but was more than impressed see review here.
SEPTEMBER
September 5th: Birmingham Punks Picnic out in the wilds of Moseley this year so cheers to Kaz for driving me and Borstal over. Highlights were Running Riot from Belfast and of course Dead Wretched who played .No Hope For The Wretched' not once, twice but 3 times.
OCTOBER
October 22nd: Strike action at work I see it as a night off others seem more perturbed. 12 to my knowledge from our Mail centre cross the picket line and everyone knows who they are WHY?
October 26th: Launch the brand new site PUNK ROCKER not so much a bells 'n' whistles launch, more of a sneaky sly back
door debut which is for the best as its still being built. But like NIHILISM ON THE PROWL hope to build up into a new
massive website that will inform educate and even entertain over the next decade. Such a relief to have no intrusive banner
ads clogging up valuable space too.
NOVEMBER
November 1st: Get myself a Carrera mountain bike (only £2.50 a week on a cycle to work scheme) to travel to work on as the fucking buses are a disgrace they either dont turn up or are ten minutes early or ten minutes late which is a bummer. At least on a bike in the cold im travelling and believe me you soon warm up.
November 6th: Another strike due this Friday but the Unions and Royal Mail agree to talks a day before lol.
November 14th: My new laptop I bought in August and still paying for is on its way out grrrrr! It slid off the side of my bed a few weeks ago before I could catch it. I turned it on fearing the worst and worked as well as usual. Today however dark blotches and lines are creeping down the screen luckily on the edges but after consulting computer techs at work it seems its a terminal case and only a matter of time arrrrggh!
DECEMBER
December 9th: Get some good news regarding my liver function. Seems my 6 month alcohol intake reduction is working toxicity levels are normal but am warned not to go back to my 14 pint sessions...as if lol.
December 13th: First gig in ages tonight for me. Go over to Brum with Kim Misery to check out the Subhumans who are doing a small UK tour. Last time I seen them was back in the late 90's in a swelteringly packed Foundry. Tonight its in the way more intimate Wagon And Horses in the bowels of Digbeth on a cold and unforgiving night but good to see Dick and the boys giving the small but enthisiastic crowd a hot performance, gig review up soon!
December 18th: Riding home from work on the coldest, frostiest night of the year I come off my bike luckily on the pavement near the main Cannock road junction. No damage done to the bike but my ribs where I landed took a major battering and are killing me arrgghhh! Thank fuck its my weekend off. Got my first i-pod today first time ive listened to punk on a walkman since the 80's sound quality is perfect what a great little tool. At the moment i got the Pistols, Damned, Ramones, Clash and Stench on obviouusly more to follow when i suss it out.
December 23rd: Break up from work yippppeeeee and its xmas eve tomorrow yesssssssss! On a downer some cunt on a bike snatched my daughters handbag in the street in broad daylight containing all her familys xmas money. She was unhurt but it brings home to ya how some weezels in hoodys operate round here.
December 28th: Good to get stuck into some site work, however there are problems with the site...http://punkrocker.50webs.com/index.html has been down for over a week before xmas so im moving the main portal to
http://punkrocker1.110mb.com/index.html who seem to be a lot more reliable with less downtime. Hope it doesnt confuse anyone too much but I will get it sorted during my time off work.
December 28th: Lonely Planet lists Wolverhampton as the 5th worst city in the world tee hee. Now thats what I call a great achievement we were pipped at the post by Detroit, Accra, Seoul and Los Angeles. We were so bad they never even bothered visiting don'tcha just love your roots!!!!
2009
