Michael profile picture

Michael

I am here for Friends

About Me

Old punk rocker from Edinburgh, Scotland. Plays bass guitar with Sad Society . Believes trains are the transport of the future. Finds TXT SPK intolerable. Believes wealth should be distributed according to need, not greed. Absolutely hates football. Vegetarian.

F.A.Q.
Q) Where and when were you born?
A) St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland, on 6th September, 1963.
Q) How tall are you? A) 6'1"/1.83m.
Q) What's your hairstyle?
A) A dog's dinner.
Q) What colour is your hair?
A) Peroxide-blonde with stupid pink bits.
Q) Do you have any piercings?
A) Just the one.
Q) Do you plan on getting any more body-mods?
A) Nah, I'm not in the mood just now.
Q) Why do call yourself 'goth'?
A) I don't, really. The 'goth' part of my screen-name is because I've always worn black, but I don't wear black because I'm a goth. Besides, the goth scene today has nothing to do with Bauhaus, The Birthday Party or Siouxsie.
Q) Why do you dress in black, then?
A) Beautiful ladies in fishnet stockings and big boots made me do it!
Q) How much do you weigh?
A) Too much, but I'm applying myself to my latest lard-busting regime with the utmost determination.
Q) What is your favourite food?
A) Crisps, tragically.
Q) When did you stop eating dead things?
A) February 1983.
Q) And you still grew up to be a big strong laddie?
A) It would appear so.
Q) What is your favourite drink?
A) Guinness; Highland Park whisky; Crabbie's ginger wine.
Q) Do you smoke?
A) No. But smoke frequently comes out of my ears. Probably.
Q) What are your favourite colours?
A) Depends on my mood... Sometimes black and purple, sometimes dayglo pink and green.
Q) What is your sexual orientation?
A) If this really matters to you, fuck off!
Q) You loved school, didn't you?
A) Fuck, aye! What more could a laddie ask for than year after year of excruciating boredom, the belt, and being forced to play rugby in the freezing wind and snow when he has asthma?
Q) Did you ever do any work at school?
A) No.
Q) Wasn't there anything you missed about being at school?
A) Aye: seeing my female class-mates' legs in those sexy black tights!
Q) Did you get any qualifications?
A) 8 'O' Levels and 3 Highers.
Q) Did you go to university?
A) No. The thought of yet more years of lectures, swotting and exams, and the company of dreadful, rich 'yah' students filled me with dread.
Q) What job do you do?
A) I'm a scrounging layabout the bassist in a soon-to-be-famous punk rock group!
Q) What car do you drive?
A) I don't. I hate cars, and haven't the slightest desire to own one. Cars are the most ruinous-to-the-environment, dangerous-to-life contraptions ever invented by man. You only have to look at a 1950s photo of Edinburgh (or any city) to see the appalling damage that dual carriageways, one-way systems, roundabouts, traffic lights, car-parks, and the hideous clutter of road markings and signs have caused to the cityscape since then; never mind the noise, fumes and public danger caused by the traffic itself. I long for the day when cars and lorries are banned from our towns and cities and motorways are ripped up and returned to nature, just as 50% of our railways were in the 1950s and 1960s.


Ruined Edinburgh streetscape, 2004.

Q) Which styles of music do you like?
A) Seventies glam-rock and metal, trad-punk, gothic metal and instrumental metal, mostly; but I love music in general and like to think my tastes are fairly wide-ranging. It's got to be stuff that forces you to listen, though; I can't stand bland, repetitive, manufactured shite.


Q) Which styles of music do you dislike?
A) Bland, repetitive, manufactured shite! I hate rap, hip-hop and so-called rave 'music'. I can't stand Coldplay, Keane, Toploader, Starsailor or Embrace, and I firmly believe they should all be killed. And why can't Dildo Dido get run over by a steamroller? Your average chimpanzee has more musical talent and originality!
Q) What are your favourite films?
A) I love Irma Vep, featuring the incomparably gorgeous Maggie Cheung in her skin-tight shiny pvc cat-suit. Wow!! And The Filth And The Fury (Sex Pistols documentary) always cheers me up!


Maggie Cheung in Irma Vep.

Q) What are your favourite TV programmmes?
A) I don't watch the telly. I've unplugged mine and shoved it in a cupboard, because I should always have something better to do than sit on my arse and be fed pro-capitalist, pro-war propaganda and twaddle about celebrities and the Royal Family.
Q) What is your favourite book?
A) The VIZ Bumper Book Of Shite.
Q) What religion do you believe in?
A) I was brought up to believe that religion is a load of absolute codswallop, and that's not a sentiment I would disagree with now.

Viz cartoon, 2005.

Q) Who are your heroes?
A) The creators of brilliant music.
Q) What is your political orientation?
A) Socialist/anarchist. I hate racism, inequality and greed, and I detest the capitalist system. The Green Party got my most recent vote.
Q) How would you sum up your attitude to 'The System'?
A) This quote from the cover of the Manic Street Preachers' album, The Holy Bible, expresses my feelings perfectly: "You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation. It is that permanent contradiction between your ideas and desires and all the dead formalities and vain pretenses of your civilisation which makes you sad, troubled and unbalanced. In that intolerable conflict you lose all joy of life and all feeling of personality, because at every moment they suppress and restrain and check the free play of your powers. That's the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilised world." (The Torture Garden - Octave Mirbeau)

I am also on LiveJournal . Feel free to read and add me there. Sad Society are on MySpace and PunkRockers.com . Listen to our songs and add us there!

My Interests

Anarchy, anti-Nazi, anti-nuclear, anti-war, atheism, bass guitar, Edinburgh, Fife, fishnet stockings, gothic architecture, gothic babes, gothic style, green issues, guitar solos, heavy metal, Kirkcaldy, Maggie Cheung, metal, mohicans, old buildings, peace, politics, punk, punk rock, punk style, railways, Scotland, Scottish history, sharing, socialism, stockings, trains, trams, travel, wacky hairdos.

I'd like to meet:

Anyone who gets where I'm coming from.

Music:

AC/DC, Cardiacs, Crass, David T. Chastain, Deep Purple, Dream Theater, Dreamgrinder, Enya, Flowing Tears, Generation X, Graham Coxon, Jason Becker, Killing Joke, Lacuna Coil, Loudness, Manic Street Preachers, Marty Friedman, Megadeth, Michael Angelo Batio, Michael Schenker, Muse, My Dying Bride, New Model Army, Nightwish, Nirvana, Pantera, Paradise Lost, Penetration, Rammstein, Rush, Sad Society, Sex Pistols, Skyclad, Smashing Pumpkins, Status Quo, Symphony X, The Damned, The Skids, The Stranglers, The Subhumans, The Sweet, Tony MacAlpine, Type O Negative, X-Ray Spex.

Movies:

Irma Vep, The Filth And The Fury

Television:

It's all a load of bollocks.

Books:

Railway timetables and books about railway carriages.

Heroes:

Richey Edwards, Marty Friedman, Johnny Rotten, Michael Schenker, Tim Smith.

My Blog

My nuts are gonnie fall off!

Attempting to keep warm by candle-power... It's not working, BTW. I've been absolutely freezing all afternoon. And, needless to say, despite earlier assurances, there's been no hint of my gas supply ...
Posted by Michael on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:04:00 PST

Thats my babe!

 Surely the most beautiful woman alive today. She's the same age as me, too, and I'm no spring chicken! Bah! She was in Edinburgh and I didnae ken! ...
Posted by Michael on Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:56:00 PST

Pauline Murray: now thats what I call a babe!

Around 1979, The wondrous Pauline was the ultimate object of my desires. Seeing this video thirty years later, I can understand why because I love her style; she had that androgynous ...
Posted by Michael on Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:52:00 PST

For those who like metal!

It's my other favourite band, Chastain. This seems to be the only video of them to be found on YouTube. It's a bit cheesey, but it features a great singer, a great guitarist and one of my all-time fav...
Posted by Michael on Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:42:00 PST

Today has turned into a bit of a disaster!

Early this afternoon, there was a knock at my door. I was in the middle of having a shave and hair-wash, so I didn't answer it. (Well, that was my excuse; of course, I never do answer the door to unex...
Posted by Michael on Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:38:00 PST

Why the Cardiacs really are my favourite band ever...

I've just discovered this video which has been posted in my cardiacs_fans LiveJournal community by DJ Caveynik. It's a very old song and in my opinion not one of their best ever; nonetheless I think i...
Posted by Michael on Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:31:00 PST

April: the new December, apparently!

Isn't the spring weather just delightful? I've had my fire on all day and I'm practically shivering here, with the wind roaring in the lum and a chilly draught blowing around the room. Last night was ...
Posted by Michael on Fri, 18 Apr 2008 08:02:00 PST

My new golden rule

Stop fucking about, forfucksake! Always DO THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FIRST, not the thing that requires the least brain-power or physical effort!
Posted by Michael on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:36:00 PST

Highlights of Johns party last night

Arriving at the Black Bull to meet Linda and Robbo, to find it heaving with skinheads. My favourite people! (Not.) Then realising I was wearing my anti-Nazi badge and that I've still got pink bits i...
Posted by Michael on Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:47:00 PST

Why shop-work might not be the jobbie for me

Seeing as it's Friday night, I eventually managed to persuade myself to nip out to Vickie Wines in order to purchase some beverages of a type liable to cause inebriation. Having selected&nbs...
Posted by Michael on Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:21:00 PST