Clash of Ego's sans preconceptions!

On my blogging colleagues, Carl Anderson’s own blog, Diary of an Englishman in Hell-A, it has been mentioned about the incident at Ozzfest between Sharon and Bruce. It may also appear I was defending Mrs Osbourne. I would like to set that straight. If you read my comment it merely was attempting to alleviate Carls own coloured opinions as a Maiden fan on the matter. Any good report needs to be balanced so this is how I see it from what I hope is exempt from personal emotions on the matter. However I will make comments that can be construed personally;

Bruce Dickinson has been long known for being egotistical and up front about his opinions. He is very committed to Maiden at the moment however has attempted a less than successful solo career. Maiden have also proved that without Bruce they don’t work. Without his voice, colourful background and ego he couldn’t be a frontman! Having read some of the comments they could have easily been read as barbed comments directly at the Osbournes and Ozzfest in general. Quite rude considering the honour Maiden were being given and the fact that Sharon is recognised as being more influential in rock than Satan and that’s going some. If rudeness is the epitome of British wit then we are further gone than I thought. So I disagree with any attempt at saying Sharon over reacted at the level of insult she heard an insult she reacted that’s it. Also even though everyone else had agreed to drop parts of their set to allow another band to play Bruce actually said he wouldn’t do it even though it would mean that Black Sabbath would have to cut their following set to conform to a curfew law. Read the rest before you lynch me Maiden fans.

Some may not be aware that Steve Harris apologised to Sharon about Bruce BEFORE they went on so he must also have been embarrassed by Bruce. Remember that folks it becomes important at summing up.

Sharon is a classic driven women. This is a person who embodies the raging against the dieing of the light. We in Britain could even affectionately call her a “Battleaxe”. She has fought to keep Ozzie alive and I think we can agree that somehow she has even if some of us aren’t particularly happy with the current wrapper! She supports a lot of up and comers and ploughs a lot back into Rock. Now these are facts not feelings. She can be hard to put up with true but so can any driven women. As far as selling her face on British TV at the moment goes, if someone offered you a wad of cash for a thirty second stint you might be tempted so don’t blame her blame the marketing geek who thinks she is the perfect family face! She is not scared to stake her claim and shout her will. That has to be admired to a degree.

However she freely admits she engineered the power fade outs, the egging and everything else plaguing Maidens set that night. Now if her beef was with Bruce she should have kept it with Bruce. Steve Harris apologised before all this but she still had to get revenge. She admits she took the comments as a personal attack on her family and that if anyone messes with her family she will mess back! Obviously a protective Mother to be sure but definitely questionable.

Because of this Sharon in my opinion is guilty of gross unprofessional behaviour. Her behaviour ultimately hurt her own organised event due to a diminished crowd for Sabbath, The Maiden Fans of which I have been a stolid fan for many a year, the whole genre of rock of which she is a figurehead like it or not and everyone who paid a ticket to see the show. An apology had been made which she chose to ignore. Now she has gone on record to say that her behaviour has made the show more memorable. Having been at Donington Monsters of Rock 1988 I can see her point. Two people died at that one during Guns and Roses and I myself was pulled unconscious from the crowd and even with that tragedy it was voted by Kerrang readers the 6th best ever concert EVER, with that fact in mind though it should never have happened. But I do end up agreeing that despite the egos of the two participants Sharon grossly mishandled the situation period there are other ways she could have handled it. There is a lot to respect about Sharon but nothing to be proud about here. Sharon should apologise and deal with it in an adult way and not like a she-tiger whose cubs have been threatened. Her lack of regret is questionable and frankly disrespectful. On the other foot Bruce maybe sometimes should save his voice for the stage! Much respect to Bruce for the defiance in the face of the odds to try and salvage the show for the fans.

Point made time out! Let the flames begin.

Saw this on another blog and thought how true;

A black man walked into a cafe early one morning and thn realises that he is the only black man in there as he sat down a white man behind him said,
"coloured people arnt allowed in here!"

the black man then turned around and replied,
"when i was born i was black"
"when i grew up i was black"
"when i was sick i was black"
"when i go in the sun i am still black"
"when im cold i am black"
"when i die i am black"

the white man paused n just looked
and the black man then said,
"when u were born u were pink"
"when u grew up u were still pink"
"when u r sick ur green"
"when ur in the sun u go red"
"when u r cold u go blue"
"when ur dead u go purple"
but still you have the nerve to call me coloured!!!!!

Makes you think doesn't it? Stop racism we are all human!

An Informative Quicky

Just got hold of the Word Blogger publisher. Great piece of kit making it so much easier to publish. Just realised today that I have less than 3 months till the arrival of my second child. That’s kind of scary.

Those who are observant will have noticed a new link. The Unspeakable Page is my MSN space page. I didn’t bother doing the blog on it though two blogs are quite enough.

Anyway visit and enjoy I hope. There is also a new short story on Dark Pharaohs so feel free to go and read.

I do intend putting quite a bit on it in time but like all things I will take a bit of time.
Well really just time for a quickie so talk to you soon!

Second Chances

Over the last couple of months I have been disappointed to note how some associates of mine are unwilling to give people an even break. Now I can be damn stubborn and difficult to get on with but I also believe in at least giving someone a chance to prove you wrong. Sometimes in the past it has meant that I have had my hand bitten but at least they have proven beyond doubt that they were not to be trusted or relied on. If I cut everyone out of my life who had at some point done something I disapproved of I wouldn't have many friends left. It comes down to whether you can look past the fault. Some things are beyond the pale like harming a member of my family, stealing something from me or taking me for granted continously. Holding a different opinion to me doesn't count. That just makes life more interesting. Thing is I don't particularly hold grudges anymore. I don't seek revenge anymore. I let it be and trust that if they are as bad as I think they will bring harm only to themselves. I can still be opinionated but if I wasn't I wouldn't be alive. I live in continual hope that people can prove themselves better than they are held in others eyes or even my own. In the case of the above three cases I am more likely to severe communication with the offender but I try not to slag them off and hope that at some point in the future they may see their error and meaningfully make amends. In the case of harm to my family it will take a lot to do that. Sometimes I fail and let out the anger and hurt but I do try and let it pass me by. I am only human and am prone to failures like everyone. I just hope I am big enough to look beyond.

In the case I am talking of someone I know has had a fairly major change of life and wishes to alter a few mistakes they have admitted to making. Pretty much every one I know says they will never do it. I however have been defending them by pointing out that though leopards can't change their spots people can change their ways. Saying they will never change merely means that the person trying to change will wonder why they bothered! I have bantered about it with the person in question but I fully support their attempt to change.

Wars are caused by Intolerance and holding grudges. Thats the top end but if people can turn to Colonel Gadaffi and accept his good intentions which are now allowing a grand engineering project of an underground river to help Libya prosper, then letting someone change small errors of their past which are in no way as major as backing global terrorist activity is but a tear in rain!

In Northern Ireland the IRA have finally sworn of violence to put forward their point. Northern Ireland has been a hotbed of sectarian violence for a long while. We people of the United Kingdoms have now got to swallow any hatred for past crimes and let them prove to us that their intentions are good. We have killed and imprisoned many of them sometimes wrongly sometimes with good reason. They have used terrorist activities to kill many of our citizens and armed forces. Peace has now broke out and can only be threatened by extremist views and die hards who will not let it be. Not allowing them to prove their intentions will only make it worse.

One day someone will forget about second chances and press that infamous button. I really hope that its not in my lifetime but with the current holders I am hoping really hard that they prove me wrong about them as well. In the case of the White House Chimpanzee the effort is even making me sweat with exertion!

Keep well. Learn to forget wrongs done and hope for remittances made and we will all live in a better world!

Hi I haven't fallen off planet!

Just been very busy. People may have noticed the Lethbridge stuff has stopped temporarily. This is mostly due to doing more Call of Cthulhu than World of Darkness! I will add more to Lethbridge eventually just not now. My Call of Cthulhu site is the Dark Pharaohs Temple linked on this page. I am currently Larping one game as Keeper and Table topping another. One set in 1931 Sheffield the other in Lovecraft Country ie Massachusetts 1926. On top of this I have a long running Cyberpunk! Normal blog will be resumed but I am also down a bit at the moment. So bear with me and I will be back soon!