So, everyone’s been doing these nostalgic blogs lately. Everyone’s been doing one to remember the good times that we, as a bunch of eejis had, during the last 7 (or longer) years of school. I believe over at Matt Jones’s blog, I replied saying “This blog will inspire countless imitators”. Well, just like Microsoft, it’s up to some of us to steal a very good idea and make it flawed. Just unlike Microsoft, I’m gonna take a good idea and make it work well. Haha. Shouldn’t slate. I read something on Neowin the other day that said Microsoft has left more vulnerabilities unsolved in Vista in the same period they did with XP. Enough tech talk, onto this “breaking with tradition blog” humanoids.
For research into this, I looked back onto a page I did for my Year 12 website for school. It’s kinda strange, because even in a year, there are many people from that which I have lost touch with and it’s incredibly sad. It’s probably my own fault for sitting on my fat arse and not doing anything about it. I hope to write a few nice lines about everybody here. If there is anyone I have forgotten, got a hold of me and I will add to the entry. Here we go…
MySpace Top Friends
This probably seems like a disparaging way to start things, but here goes…
Aaron H – ah yes, Big A. First met as a member of Impact Inc. I believe, and we grew very close in the short few years I have known him. Despite the fact he thinks my music taste sucks, his isn’t terrible. I haven’t got a problem with his even if he has a problem with mine. This is evident by whenever he has lifts off me (which is fairly frequently I add), I always try to play music he would listen to in the car. The only minus point really is his love of Liverpool FC, which as a Man United fan, I shouldn’t stand. But, our constant talks about football have made many a boring Computing lesson interesting. A good man indeed.
Alistair R – he being the lead singer of Gridlock/Der Stukas/Audio Hotfix/The Monarchs/The Statics…I hope that’s right. Haha. Crikey, lot of names for a band there dude! I muchos respect for this man. For a start, he’s proud of being Scottish. That takes a lot of balls. Being the member of a future Pyramid Stage headlining band also commands respect. His fascination with Paul Ince is also extremely amusing to me. But, what I remember the most is the frequent Thursday nights up the Dragon where he flexes his karaoke muscle and puts the rest of us in the shade. Hope Tuesday goes great!
Dan C – most of you are probably going…who? Well, Buddha is rarely called Dan, let’s be fair. Dan was always extremely amusing when we had our frequent multi-tap gaming sessions, and the famous occasions when we first played FIFA with him and his phrase “What’s the *kill* button?”. Then he managed to kick just about everyone’s arse on Colin McRae, so all will be forgiven. Dan has also come into a lot of fairly humorous criticism over his pursuit of girls, but I fear if I tread too far into this territory I might be sued for libel! Overall, a top bloke!
Dan H – ahahah, I’ve only got to know Hulmes over the past two years, and now the question I ask myself is, “Where was I for five years?” What an absolute legend of a boy. Again, his love for Liverpool FC is a minus, but he is always gracious in defeat. His football knowledge is simply outstanding as well, to his credit. But as a drunk, I know of very few who have put a smile on my face such as him. Always up for doing something and always getting tackled harshly by someone in football, bless him. A great kid.
Dylan – one of everybody’s favourite Australians. So laid back, it’s almost frightening. We’ve sort of drifted apart since the days of Angels Fallen East, but Dylan is a bit of a NES-nerd. Which is great. Because retro gaming is awesome. There is of course, that now famous occasion where he hugged my downstairs toilet for three hours. I know of very few people who are his musical equal however. His musical talents seem to have no end. I hope Tuesday goes spliffing for him.
Jack J - the man with a plan. Although there are times I’ve never quite seen eye-to-eye with Jack, he is a very funny bloke. A very intelligent guy, he has started to apply his knowledge to the gym now and has bulked up a fair bit lately. He is usually the catalyst for anything that appertains among us, and without him, I’m sure there are many ideas that wouldn’t get off the ground! The use of his house for two legendary occasions (last year’s party in the summer which seems to have slipped some people’s memories, and his pre-Fancy Dress bash), make him a legendary boy.
James W – man, I’ve known this kid a long time. I sorta fell out of touch with him during years 7-9, but back in 10-12, I remembered what a great friend he was. We work under the same roof now, but that means nawt as I hardly seem him anyway. His musical talents are also to be noted. To quote Aaron (I believe it was): “he can make a guitar talk”. His ownership of the les(bian) paul(no) has him envied by the geetarists among us, but few can make it sound as good as he. Will miss him when he starts his apprenticeship soon.
Joe D – another guy from the Tremains days. Joe is a very talented footballer. Although his “gutsyness” has pissed many people off at times, usually he’s right to possess the ball because you’ve got clumsy fuckers like me in the box who couldn’t score in a brothel. Joe, from what I have seen, possesses a great talent at drawing and is heading into architecture. A big football fan of two good teams: Man United and Swansea City, I will however envy him for being able to go to the Camp Nou and watch Barcelona play…and watch the New York Rangers play at Madison Square Garden. You have no idea how much I envy you!
Jonny B – “Stand up…for Jonny B!”. The self-proclaimed Italian Stallion, I know of NO-ONE who has worked harder for their exams and in-fact through out their academic career despite the troubles put in front of him than Jonny B. He is, I have stated many times before “in a different league”. However, his penchant for the ladies is also well-noted, as is his love for karaoke on Thursdays at the Dragon, and he is a good drinker. Don’t mention New Year’s 07 though, and him walking in at 3am to go, “When are we singing Auld Lang Syne?” “Jon, its 3am” “So I’ve missed it?” “Yeah”…”Oh”. And on the same night…”Six on the bed and the little one said”, and Jonny B springs up to shout “ROLL OVER! ROLL OVER!” then collapses back onto Dan’s bed. There isn’t much else to say about this fine specimen.
Lewis K – there isn’t much I can say here without Lewis then posting a reply to this blog and abusing me in some way, shape or form that everyone will find amusing. Young Enterprise last year as a good laugh, but his love for North American Sports…well, everything BUT the NHL is what I will remember him for. His love for “all things black” as someone put should also be noted. Haha. Can’t wait for Wembley in October.
Luke F – the world’s most famous (or only) Chesterfield fan. Man, this kid is a legend. His love of Mr. T and the A-Team should be noted, and his said himself, in the early days of Econ, we sent many essays back and fourth. Another musical genius, I would kill to play his material in a band with him. He has composed some awesome songs that I would love to be able to play on a stage with him. Oh yeah, he also gave me the pre-release pass for Maiden. Our love for all-things Maiden and especially Bruce (we need another solo album) perhaps unites our music taste as it all goes off on a tangent from there!
Martin B – or…Fat Boy Vito…or Spud. Constantly the butt of a joke, his drumming talents came in for much criticism in the early days, but now, mainly because his kit is growing, he silences his critics. He has recently “converted” (his words not mine) to the musical talents of Megadeth, which he probably won’t make public himself, but I just did. He’s also a gaming nerd, and his ownership of Crackdown should be noted. I spent many a Week B Friday afternoons over his house on that game and it was great entertainment. Hockey Stars for Hope was a great time, even if we spent ages chasing Darryl Bootland. Haha. Speedway the second time around will also top the first I think!
Matt D Jones – amazingly, I have spent most of the last two years together with this man, and there has never been a dull moment with him. We are the masters in the art of going “I can’t be arsed to go to Broderick’s lessons…” and we got away with it most of the time by hiding in the computer room whilst the other guys got caught! I’ve also never seen anyone lose their grip on a football pitch quite so much as he has, usually falling once every time we played. He also has a wicked sense of humour and has provided me with some brilliant moments. Only he could have pulled off Where’s Wally at the Fancy Dress.
Matt S Jones – in Young Enterprise, I always thought Jones was quite reserved, but to his credit, he is one hell of a bloke. He is an outstanding talent playing football, surely in the top bracket skills-wise among us. He was also a big fan of WWE and we had a few discussions on that topic (although we both agreed now it isn’t what it was back in the great days of the Attitude era). His love of the Mets just to annoy the Yankee loving Lewis is sheer brilliance, and I look forward to being in his company at Wembley in October.
Nathaniel – aka Dave Mustaine. I have known this kid the longest out of most of my top friends, and with him I probably share the most memories. Running the TWF and XCW was great fun back in the day. He always constantly made me drive to be better in what I did. We shared many MSN/YIM (christ, remember Yahoo!) convos back in the day where we would just talk and talk about things, but mainly sports (of all kinds), music (he got me into Savatage. That’s all I need to say about that. It’s not a coincidence on Last.fm we are #1 neighbours) and, of course, the women. I’d kill to be in a band with him one day, and amazingly, I think I’ve only ever been in one class with him, which was Economics in Year 12. I hope we spend more time together in the Computing labs in Swansea. And I hope we get to go to more gigs together in the future.
Simon F – Funfy, aka Hans, the Nazi, the Bavarian Aryan. Funf is famous for being German (obviously), his knowledge about Computing (which has the ability to bore many, I know) and his *ahem* possession of materials amounting to a large percentage of his hard drive. Funfy always means well, even if he can certainly get riled up about it by some people, but it is still quite humorous all the same. His music taste is pretty damn good, and he was a great guy at ProgPower, where he was so disappointed to meet Kamelot and find out they wouldn’t play Wings of Despair.
Non-Top Friends I Should Mention
Fred – I’ve known Fred since the Tremains days as well. There were times in 7-11 where I never saw eye-to-eye with Fred, but, on the whole, we remain good friends. During the early days of his membership of the motor club, we did many things, such as find that huge rock in his Sierra, then of course, roll the AX. His sense of humour is brilliant and I witnessed this when we went to Germany with the school, which was a great trip in retrospect. Even if he did abuse me a lot in German in 10-11, all I can remember was in the last two weeks the other boys getting it all back! Ah bless. Now his Micras are the stuff of legend and his constant battles with Jack are highly entertaining.
Darryn – the world famous ginger. A good kid, always looking out for his friends. An amazing sense of humour and his battles with Jack and a like are just brilliant to observe. How the feck he managed to keep passing his driving test a secret I will never know, and fair play, when I had a lift in the back of his famous Mini, I had more head room in the back than when I did in the back of my own car! To be fair, whenever I walk into Finnegan’s, he always says hey and I get served much quicker than all the other patrons of the shop, which gives me awful looks when I leave!
Chris B – speaking of Finnegan’s, here’s another chippy boy. I didn’t realise just how close together Bonney and I live and it’s rather odd! But, he has always given me a lift whenever I needed it (to be fair, everyone has. And I’m beginning to owe them back), but Bonney always seems to be the one giving me a lift back from the Dragon, bless him. His love for United is great, and I will look back with great affection the conversations we have had about Football Manager, in the pub or by the tree.
Ian – Ian has experienced first hand the cowboy nature of Westbury. We both live in the same style house and he knows what it feels like to be buggered by them! He must be in a good mood now his Derby have been promoted. He is also a member of the Finnegan’s crew, but I’m sure, like most, what I will remember about the Russian Power Supply (find Darryn’s Freewebs site if it’s still around to see what I mean about that) is his “snot” coloured Punto. That colour choice was just a mistake squire!
Tom H – we shared many conversations in form together, sitting at the front of the form class where no-one seemed to care about us. He’s an intelligent chap, and the blogs he wrote were excellent, always thought provoking and it made me write replies almost longer than the blogs themselves. He also set up the fantasy football league that kept most entertained until Christmas, so when I was top for a bit everyone said they weren’t that interested anymore. Sheesh.
Jay T – everyone’s favourite Indian. Always up for getting drunk…wherever that means he ends up. I haven’t hung around with Jay in a while, but I know he is a bit of a Nintendo nerd, and the many conversations where he would try and win the money on Deal or No Deal, but the likes of Lucy Stanley would take his money away from him. Curse them! Curse them all to hell!
People I’ve Lost Touch With
James A – AMNERD! I miss my nerd! Work Experience with him and Andrew Howe keeping a count of how many times I said “Fair point”…GCSE IT…Computing…being the iTwat and the constant arguing with Chris Shaw about PCs vs. Macs. I’ve been over his house many times; arguably the most memorable occasions were his fancy dress party (where I made a hell of a lot more effort than Jeffers!) and his brilliant GCSE Results Night party.
Adam M – there were times where I always thought bad things happened to me when I was around him, but Adam was a great friend who always tried to point me in the right direction. I helped him out on lights and sound on many occasions, and sometimes his “surfer attitude” got him into much trouble, but he took it in his stride. The Summer of 05 was great fun with him. The one BBQ which Luke Baird got organised but he got grounded for, we saved, to the delight of everyone. I’ll never forget Phoebe’s face when we walked down the steps with BBQs and food and she said “Adam…Rhys…you legends!” Hope you’re enjoying London you cockney bugger!
Rhys R – known to many as “the Fudge Packer”, we have never always seen eye-to-eye. There were times where we were at each other’s throats, but the times I remember best are the times were we stood firm. Like at the end of Year 9, where we stood up for ourselves for a change and broke away from our little clique. He was a big WWE fan back in the day too, but he was also a major fan of Sgorio, and many form periods were spent discussing the goals we saw on Sgorio. We drifted so far apart, but we were once really close. And of course, GGGGRRRHHHH, English! I hate that lesson! The constant paper basketball games we played where no matter from where we sat in the class, we’d always hit the target and Adam never could! Haha!
Mike A – I lived next door to this kid for almost 10 years, so I know him very well. We were very good friends back in the day, and we had much in common, a love for football, love for motor sport, love for wrestling. Eventually, we drove ourselves apart. The NCW really drove both of us nuts, but that’s what happens. However, he has a great talent for all things to do with the circus and has done so for many years. I wonder if you’ve still got that dartboard in your room Mike. If you have, you’re still gonna kick my ass on it!
Ben S – Shottle. This crazy kid is exactly that, crazy. There was many times where I wondered…what is going on?! His hair was changing colour on a constant basis, and when he started going all metrosexual, I think everyone went “oooh-er”. Shottle was once a huge Creed fan back in the day…dunno if he still is. Hope he’s doing well if he reads this. He was still great company back in the day.
Chris S – yeah, it’s the “other half” of the Twat duo! To Amner’s iTwat, Chris was the McTwat, thanks to his employment at the Golden Arches. He got me started reading the brilliant Ctrl-Alt-Del webcomic, and his running of a message board brought back memories for me and how I used to manage it all. I really regret falling out of touch with Chris, he’s a good kid.
Chris T – Toughie is a good kid too. I remember the good times we had in German in Year 12 and when he was around for Young Enterprise. To his credit, he actually promoted the last Rec Gig I can remember going to, which was a roaring success. He’s a very nice chap and I hold a lot of respect for him. He’s pretty good at football too. I also remember the arguments he got into where I had to back his opinions up in German. Those were good times, even if mein Deutsch war nicht so gut.
Gavin K – Gavin…Gavin…the person who I have deemed my “worst enemy” in football. Whatever I do, he manages to come along and make me look pathetic as usual. He too is a proud member of the Tesco Mafia now, but is now probably known for playing a mean game of Guitar Hero. I even heard he gets approached in the street now as that “Guitar Hero dude”. Reputation spreads far and wide mon ami!
Lloyd M – Lloyd is an odd-chap, and holds no boundaries when it comes to talking. Although some of his conversations have bored people, he does have some interesting things to say. His constant arguments with Irving in PE (Short Course) were hilarious to watch as he just stomped all over Irving all the time. I do see him around from time to time, but I hope he’s doing OK. Oh yeah, his parties have been the stuff of legend too, can’t forget that. See the footage of Nathaniel falling over a chair.
Alex J – time for everyone to hurt their necks to stare up at the giant redwood. Jeffers gets my respect because his Dad sat through Ocean’s Twelve to take us to Megadeth. Although there are times now where I wonder what Jeffers is doing, he’s a good kid on the whole. Even if working in Subway means he goes to Download and Reading…but can’t do much else besides pay for them!
Tom R – there are very few guitar players I know who can match Tom. I remember that time we jammed to Tears in a Vial by Megadeth and he nailed the solo absolutely perfectly. He’s a jammy swine with girls, but that’s because as Amner once said “he’s Tom Rich, the sexy bitch”. I miss being able to speak to him in the Tech Rooms about music. Oh yeah…the famous Amner naked on a pig picture. Hahaha, that got everywhere!
Louise P – ah yeah, Louise and I always had a great laugh in PE (SC). I miss those lessons big time! Just the randomness of it sometimes was crazy. Volleyball. That famous occasion at rounders where Louise picked me first and I hit my first pitch off about every light in the sports hall before scoring a rounder! We had some great times on MSN as well, talking about anything and everything. The IT revision was class as well, me and her bouncing off terms like no tomorrow. Great stuff.
Cristie – well, since I first met Cristie in Bowlers (wow…Bowlers. Remember that place?), we’ve spoken a lot and laughed a lot. She’s always been great company and been great to talk to. Now she’s in college, I don’t get to see her quite as much as I used to, but I just enjoy her company. Rec Gigs were always fun with her, particularly shooting at all the emos. Haha.
Sian D – finishing with the person on her I’ve known since I was great friends with for 6 years, didn’t speak to for another 9 years, and now I speak to again. Sian was great company back in the Sger days, where we were in her words: “two peas in a pod”. A lot has changed since then, but, our conversations are great, and never dull. I’d like to think I’ve been there for her lately, but I dunno if she will say that herself.
Amazingly, I believe that’s most of the people I wanted to cover. I guess it’s only fair that I’d just wanna say a few words on how I’d like to be remembered. Obviously, nobody is perfect. I’ve had more than my fair share of moments where I’ve been an absolute twat. I know it. I didn’t admit to it at the time, but now I’ve wizened up to it, I apologise. I’d like to be remembered as a guy who was always there, if you just wanted to speak to, I was there for, and I wasn’t rotten company most of the time. I wouldn’t like to be remembered simply as an average karaoke singer at the Dragon either! Haha.
Guys, the past seven years at Brynteg, nine years since I switched to Tremains, have been brilliant. It’s had it’s ups and downs, but seeing as I made a choice nine years ago to switch schools, it could have ended up so much differently. Let it be a testament to all of you that if I was to go back in time and be asked the same question again, I would still switch and go down the road I chose. It’s been a fantastic journey we’ve been through together, and now, we’re all gonna spread so far apart. I say we make this summer one we will all remember for the rest of our lives. One with no regrets.
To borrow a few lines from one of my favourite songs of all-time…
“I’ve been changing
Redefining
All the things I thought I knew
So long ago
When I was flying
Through the years
That seem so far away”
That’s from a song called “Somewhere in Time” by Savatage. Personally I think it sums everything up so neatly. But then again I would. This entry has been a real joy to write actually, and it’s brought some great memories back to me. I hope you enjoy reading it and making your own entries as much as I did mine.
Oh, and to make it easier for everybody else, I’ll link to everyone else’s version of these in chronological order so you can all see whether the testimonies above are true or not. I’ll add to it once more people post their versions too.
* Matt D Jones
* Aaron H
* Joe D
* Luke F
Until then humanoids, please enjoy. Comment this entry, of all of them, please.