A Christmas cheer...

With countless amounts of leftover turkey inspired meals slowly coming to an end, we can all look forward to the New Year celebrations.

As clique as this may indeed sound to most, I would have to say that this Christmas period has turned out to be my favourite. Hitherto as the festive season would approach - and with more and more years adding against me - I have found myself increasingly in desperate need - come Christmas Eve - to obtain the slightest inclination of magical feeling.

However this year was very much different. Magical feeling came much earlier than usual and with a sense of serenity and ease. I think in a way in can be being immersed in Santa's Grottos or Hyde Park Winter Wonderlands that can help one fall into the festive mood. But it is more important with who you spend this time with. Friends, family, girlfriends, boyfriends... I believe this is what makes it special.

I am very sorry to anyone reading this who this year did not quite attain their much desired festive spirit in time for Christmas dinner.

Believe me, I very much can give condolence as I have found myself in this position on not too few occasions.

Happy Christmas (as I hope for everyone it was one)

Yours Joe
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You know it is Christmas when...

...You wake up to the freshly sprinkled whiteness of the first winter snow, Santa's grottos with his green pointy-shoed little helpers guiding the sometimes more than reluctant small children into a dimly lit dwelling where they are to tell of the many things they desire to find under their trees in later days to come, all the while warming the rounded red jolly man's knee. On the slight fringe of a disturbing annual tradition one might say. The smell of cinnamon, sparkling incandescent lights draped across our high streets, many a steaming Christmas puddings. But foremost, seeing the iconic Coca Cola truck tops it all this festive year for me!

Yours Joe
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Gingerbread, mulled wine and cider with a Y...

Sometimes Christmas can be made exceptionally special by the people which we share these magical times with and this is the way it should be as aposed to the gifts we recieve being the main event. Even though I am a little under halfway through the door-opening process of my advent calendar, I already somehow know that this year's festivities will be a very lovely resolution to the year. It has in fact been already a rather wonderful time thus far.

After a recent time passing of six months with my girlfriend, we thought that mulled wine and mulled cyder (yes, with a "Y") were in need of being brewed up to warm us up from the blistering cold that blows and blusters outside these walls in which I sit writing this. Also as it is indeed Christmas, what better time is there to make some gingerbread men.

Ensuing two or three hours of bubbling, stirring, messing up and slight charring, we had successfully mulled our wine and cyder as well as a number of gingerbread biscuits.

I think that the Jamie Olivers and Gordon Ramseys of this world would find themselves profoundly jealous of our efforts and able ability here!

Yours Joe

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Bang the drums...

My movie-making addiction seems to have somewhat overwhelmed me, leading to me creating more recording vlogs, giving people an insight into my band's progress with their album recordings...

Video two of four so far; tracking drums.

Yours Joe

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Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Time to embrace all those many Christmas songs that have been itching at our radio stations and shopping stereo systems. December 1st 2011 has come to pass and now our ears have but no choice to hear "sleigh-bells ring" knowing that "Santa Claus is coming to town." Indeed, I am sure he is busying himself along with his many little helpers to once again get all our most joyous desires wrapped up and safely put under our trees come the twelve strikes of midnight. But one must not forget that if you have not been on your very best behavior then you may well find your sooty hands clutched around a piece of coal come Christmas morn.

All towns have now been sprinkled with their festive fairy lights truly injecting the Christmas spirit into even those few humbugs that inhabit these lands. When I see such sites as this, a flutter of compassion and a tickle my belly lets me know that Father Christmas and his reindeers are soon to be on there way!

Yours Joe
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Cinematography...

Film to me has always been considered a medium through which one can truly express emotion as a moving art form. However their have been countless amounts of disheartening pieces of cinema that have left a ghastly stain in the industry. Thankfully there have been a number of stand-alone classics that are so great they manage to keep film-making exciting, inspiring and fresh.

Recently I have slightly indulged in my love of film by making a few pieces of my own. In an earlier blog post I mentioned my involvement in my band Lecarla. Only last week we began recording a number of songs going towards our debut album. I have devised a number of short clips that help to portray our progress. Below is the first video...

Yours Joe
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Fallen leaves...

The festive season is fast approaching. The nights grow longer, the winter coats are being slipped over our shoulders and the Christmas Coca Cola advert (though I am yet to see it) has already weaved it's way onto our screens.

The leaves have all left the comfort of their branches and soon December will once again be upon us. I am rather excited about this factor as I have an extremely unusual Where's Wally advent calendar which I am looking forward to breaking into despite my twenty years. I will have to restrain from a premature  advent door-opening for another couple of days however.

Christmas is beginning to swarm into all our lives whether we want it there or indeed the contrary. So all prepare your gifts, decorative trees, tinsel and festive lights because there is not a moment to spare!

Yours Joe
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Somewhere, beyond the sea...

When the eyes look upon the sea as it meets the sky one may wonder what lies beyond this line. A magical land far from here where you can relinquish your torment and heartaches and sail out aboard a small vessel toward an uncharted territory perhaps?

I like the idea that as I peer out, that somewhere, beyond the sea there is another being reminiscing, deep in thought gazing back toward the shore I lay my feet.

Maybe one day we could meet, shake hands and have a cup of tea.

All around our coastlines, we can sit looking out. Maybe ponder a thought for who might turn their eyes our way...

Yours Joe

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Sky lights...

Once or twice a twelvemonth most of us will venture out into the blistering cold to stand witness to the booming lights in the night sky.

Colours; blues, greens, reds and gold come together in harmony presenting a rather spectulative show. Without fail gloves, mittens and wooly hats alike will come out to join the assemblage, as the autumn cold tests us for the approaching winter months.

All together we gaze up to watch the sky aglow. Eyes casting the lustrous patterns. Some may say it is man's way of momentarily painting the sky.

Yours Joe
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A grasp on our senses...

Music can trigger many different emotions. One artist can place a person in the greatest of moods, while to another person can be brought to tears. Songs can very much - to an individual - be associated with a certain feeling, memorable environment, loved one or enemy. These sounds can bring forth to our minds the most brilliant memories of joy. The song will change and you can find yourself in the depths of sorrow, loss, yearning.

Recently I was witness to two live performances; Noah and the Whale and Charlie Simpson. Both were very entertaining however the latter was breathtaking. Tears definitely glazed over. The company to these did however make the experiences that much more delightful.

Feelings linked to music and melody have truly been known to instantly affect my mood. Sometimes the sounds will lift me up, but other times they will send me to the opposing end. Music has always had this mystical and prodigious power over my sensibility. Charlie Simpson's performance was a perfect example of it's hold over me.

I hope that I am not alone with music's grasp.

Yours Joe
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The burn...

One should know that when sweat appears through their tshirt in the shape of a bear, you have thoroughly succeeded in completing a satisfying workout!

Yours Joe
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Artful Dinner...

Food is an imperative part of life, is it not? As living beings we must all eat to continue on our wondrous lives, however what we humans consume can sometimes not always be the best for us. I myself if placed in front of a jury would indeed be discovered to be guilty for these wrong doings. But there is a rather judicious way of disguising these possibly less healthy options of subsistence.

A light alluring decoration can act as an ingenious cloak over what nutrients lie beneath. So don't be fooled by those crafty cooks who entice us with their "food art" because who knows what terrible tastes may be lurking inside!

Yours Joe
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Nike Air Max 90 Burger, by Olle Hemmendorff

The unexpected...

Surprises can be quite marvelous things when executed correctly. This day of a past half a dozen plus one, I successfully gave someone very close to me a surprise which proved to be a great success. These moments in life can be made very special. I find that possibly seeing the result of the surprise given can in many ways be much more rewarding than indeed receiving the unexpected yourself.

However surprises are not unceasingly ones of elation. Sometimes these instances can be terribly heartbreaking due to the event being unforeseen.

We have all encountered these such moments, or if not yet will be very much likely to; be that positive or the contrary. So when exposed to those surprises that cause those butterflies to gather inside your belly and that familiar warmth to glaze over you, be sure to not let these moments be forgotten.

Yours Joe
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Garden reading...

I find that when I turn the pages of certain books I am instantly immersed in their wonders. This feeling can be hard to come by especially with the large amount of drivel that is of late being shunted into the mainstream. Be that as it may I am to be slightly contradicting myself for I'm reading Andy McNab's "Immediate Action." For a feeling of wonder and enchantment, I would not recommend. But I foolishly started this as it had been collecting far too much dust on my shelf while I awaited to get my hands the book I had been bought. So I am battling through, with less than sixty laborious pages to go and then I can get back to Dickens' "Great Expectations."

I've really got into the classics recently. They have lifted a blanket off over my deprived eyes and awakened me to the tragic yet passionate F. Scott Fritzgerald novels, the politically aggressive styles of George Orwell and my favourite to date - Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea." A tale of an old fisherman and his struggles with honour and defeat as he strives to catch this magnificent marlin that battles with him for five whole days.

I would recommend "The Old Man and the Sea" to anyone who loves to read. So simple yet beautifully tragic. A must!

My favourite places to read are on windowsills and with company in the castle gardens, hence the pictures below...

Yours Joe
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Joining the trend...

So I seem to have given in to the fast-spreading blogging craze. I've even got myself an awesome photo editing app on my phone to get all my pictures looking sleek. So in advance I apologise for any clique shots.

I guess now to keep up the predictability I must talk about life's wonders. Well I can tell you that I have a calling by the name of Giuseppe, yet I am known as Joe to most people. I also take part in a band called Lecarla. Hitherto I have slightly changed my outlook on music from the current songs that I write for the band. I do not quite know if this a bad thing. I hope that this is not the case.

I attend University at Westminster (Harrow Campus) reading Commercial Music Performance, embarking on my third year of study. Sadly the area is not quite as glamourous as the Westminster name might suggest. It is a rather worn, monotonous place with far too many fast-food chicken restaurants polluting the streets! However I must admit I may well have bought my fair share of "chicken" burgers from here.

But now I write this blog entry from Norwich which is indeed quite the contrary to the dejecting lands of Harrow. If only Westminster University had a campus here, all would be well.

Yours Joe
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