I was paid before Christmas, so I had that and New year to go through, which seems like a hell of a long time ago now.  We have also been up to Worcester for a weekend to see some friends.  I am sure that we have done more but I can’t remember it.

I know that I have spent a lot of time reading, which is why I have read 5 books this month, including two of the George RR Martin Song Of Ice and Fire series.  That is 1600 pages right there. (Still have 3 more to go)  If I carry on at this rate I should clear my book shelves by June.

Tonight though I am going to my first gig of the year, Reel Big Fish at the Pyramids Centre in Portsmouth, which is probably the worst venue in the country.  Because it is next to a heated swimming pool it smells of Chlorine and is about 50 degrees. The gig should be good though, and I am going with Adrian who has come back from South Korea for a two week holiday before he starts teaching there again.

I’s no wonder January has Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year.  It’s because like me, most people want the month to end.

Anyway, digressing a bit there.  The outcome is that the next book is Game of Thrones by George RR Martin (chosen by @onedrunkbrit), a book that I have been meaning to read for a while.  Its 800 pages long, so it will probably take a while to get through.  What I have read of it so far has been excellent, but I may be basing that on the fact that I loved the TV series and I can visualise the characters.  It will be good to see how close an adaptation this was.

I also have a hashtag now #choosemyreading2012

Here is what happens, I take a photo of the 6 books that I can’t decide between, this way I can at least make sure that I read series in the correct order) and then put it on Twitter.  The first reply that I get telling me what to read, is what I read.  Simple.

It’s working out so far.  The 1st book that was chosen was Adventures on the High Teas by Stuart Maconie, and the 2nd is a book about odd science experiments called Elephants On Acid.

I’ll keep you informed about how this turns out. 

If you want to join in @andyspex

Afterwards Michael Caught said that loads of kids would want to be him. That isn’t strictly true, I want to be him as well and he is 6 years younger than me.

By the Time Christmas arrives, I will have read 33 books this year.  This is probably a normal year for me, as I read a lot, but then again 16 of those books came from 4 authors.  This definately won’t be happening next year though.

I have now read all 7 of Stephen Kings Dark Tower series since September and as much as I liked them I am not really a fan of Stephen Kings books having read a few others in the past.

3 of them Came from Bernard Cornwells Winter King series, 3 John Carter books by Edgar Rice Burroughs and 3 Flashmans by George Mcdonald Fraser.

Next year I will attempt to finish the John Carter series (only another 5 to go) and a few more of the Flashman series, but I suspect I will read a few more of them.

Next year is the George RR Martin Year.  The Song of Ice and Fire (or Game of Thrones if you like).  These are all primed on my new bookcase and ready to go but I need a break from epic series after finishing The Dark Tower.  I definately have a few more on my list.  for starters Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovich which comes highly recommended to me, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley has been begging me to pick it up for a while now, as well as Keep the Aspidistra flying (my George Orwell phase continues as I am currently reading Burmese Days).

However, this book isn’t really about cycling.  This is really a behind the scenes look at what happens to make the tour what it is and to be broadcast around the world.  It gives you a bit of a look into the world that we never see, of the hundreds of people working behind the scenes, not just the thin men in Lycra, and that world seems like hard work but a lot of fun.
The fact that I read it over a long weekend will tell you how much I liked the book, but it helps that the narrator is a fan of the race, just like I am.

The true story is full of great characters and humourous moments despite the poverty, but you never really get the feeling that Orwell is truely in poverty, rather that he is living on the edges of it.

I am a massive fan of Orwells 1984 and Animal Farm, and this is a good way of seeing what formed the 25 year olds ideas in later life.  I would give it a read if I were you.

Sorry its short, but my head is full of cold and if I wrote anymore it would be rubbish.

I first heard about them this summer with rumours of a film trilogy and TV series and I thought the idea sounded good.  Luckily I managed to pick up the complete set of 7 books at a car boot sale for £3.50.

The story takes place in a world that has “moved on”, where once powerful civilisations have crumbled and the Gunslingers, peacekeepers and warriors have all but died out.  The first in the series introduces the rader to Roland of Gilead, the last gunslinger on his search for the mythical Dark Tower and following in the world of the Dark Stranger.  Along the way he meets Jake, and 11 year old from Our world who had died here but arrived there. On their journey through some dark tunnels, Roland has to make a choice and sacrifices the life of Jake to carry on with his search for the Dark Tower.

Stephen King himself says that The Gunslinger isn’t the best introduction to the world he has created and I agree with him, I really didn’t get into the story, but I did with the second book, “The Drawing of the Three”.

This starts with Roland maimed and distraut on a beach after the death of Jake and a tangle with some giant Lobster type creatures.  The Gunslinger travels along the beach and comes across 3 doors, which lead him to New York and into the mind of a people to become his companions the Junkie Eddie, and the schizophrenic Detta/Odetta, as well as meeting the man who killed Jake in our world and pushed Odetta infront of a train removing her legs and leaving her in a wheelchair.  Roland uses the man for what he wants and then brings him back to the beach where he is killed by the Lobstrosities.

So we move on to book 3, “The Wastelands” where the group or Ka-tet as they are known in mid-world where Jake is reintroduced to the story, promptly kidnapped and then won back by Roland.  Meanwhile, Eddie and Odetta/Detta (now called Susannah) set off in search of the train called Blaine, who turns out to be a psychopath who runs on Riddles.  At the start of Wizard and Glass he challenges the Ka-tet to a riddle contest, which is won by Eddie with a series of bad jokes, but this sets the group on a path towards a glass Palace. 

Along the way Roland tells his back story, through his beginnings as a Gunslinger and first love which firstly sets him on the path towards the tower. When his story is done, the group end up in the sourcerer Martins glass palace, a more macarbe version of the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz.

This is a bit of a brief run through of the 2500 pages that I have read so far.  I’ve had to take a bit of a break from reading The Dark Tower though as Its all I seemed to be doing.  I will start again after a couple of books, but I think it needs to settle in my brain first and everything seems to have blurred into one. 

I am looking forward to reading the final 3 books, because I really want to find out what is actually happening.

One criticism of Stephen Kings writing is that he uses the word “Apt” far too much.  In his stories, people are always “apt to do things”.  But still, if you sell as many books as him I guess you are able to do whatever you want.

But top of the heap (in my opinion) was Mark Cavendish’s win in the mens Road Race.  Cav deserves a lot of the credit for his sprint, managing to find a way through a crowd at the only possible point he coud (200m from the line, rather than the 150m that he would have liked) and he will make a brilliant World Champion (taking over from another deserving winner Thor Hushovd).  The sprint doesn’t tell the whole story though as this was just the tail end of 266km of racing that was dominated by a successful Great Britain Squad.

The team nullified breakaway after breakaway,  with Vuelta hero Chris Froom and Steve Cummings taking massive turns in front, keeping the pace high limiting time for the riders up the road from the peloton.  Not satisfied with his Silver in the Time Trial, Bradley Wiggins then dragged the entire Peloton around half of the last lap in his wake.  The confusion on the last corner could have meant the end of the opportunity, but Ian Stannard managed to get Cave a hole to dart through and the rest as they say is history.

This week should make British cycling fans proud and as far as sporting achievements go, this should be right up there with the best of them (only once before has a British Cyclist won a World championship medal, Tom Simpson in 1965), so why was this not reported in the sports section on Sky News this moring, when lots of time was taken up by Robin Van Persie saying he was too busy to sign a new contract at Arsenal.  Changing topic slightly, I find Sky’s coverage of cycling to be pitiful, especially as they sponsor not only Team Sky, but also the Great Britain track cycling and Road Teams.  Cycling is no longer a minority sport, so it should get more coverage.  I know a lot of people will say that until a British rider wins the Tour de France, nobody will care, but the way things are going, nobody will know they have won it because it won’t be on any news.

Rant over.  Back on topic, the main reason I think that Cav will make a great world champion is because whenever he wins, he  doesn’t count it as his win, he counts it as a team win and is the first to thank the team that he knows he couldn’t win without.  Like him or loathe him he is a legend and now Champion of the World.

Starting the day at Little Johnny Russels, we saw Gloryhole (rubbish name but good tunes), The Luke Ferre Band (brilliant version of Karma Chameleon) and The Planes (Umm, can’t really remember them, so guess they were ok, but can’t be sure).  We followed this by going to the One Eyed Dog for Aeroplane Attack (Mogwai/Explosions in The Sky sonic bombast, which I really liked) and then to a complete change of pace at the Globe for Fiona Bevan for some acoustic music, before heading to the Kings Theatre.

The Kings is an amazing venue which gets this run out once a year for a festival.   Kyla La Grange and Kill It Kid managed to held my interest, but didn’t really do the venue justice. Still, by that time, it was nice to have a sit down in a comfortable seat.

We then caught the end of the Joker and The Thief set, but I wish I had caught more, they sounded great, and I liked the gravelly voice.

Next up, the highlight of my da, Gideon Conn, a slightly bizarre, but charming character who plays a sort of twee acoustic hip-hop.  The last video that I posted was of a full band recording, but personally I prefer him on his own.  With songs about people who drive fish vans and electricity not being everybodys cup of tea, the venue wasn”t full, but it should have been for what was a fun performance.

After that we moved on to have some food and then to see Clock Opera at the Wedgewood Rooms.  I had really wanted to see them, but due to the bar being rammed, and someone spilling a pint over my arm, I didn’t actually get to see that much, and this also put me in a foul mood. 

This was lifted by going to see Sound of Rum, who I have seen a couple of times now and they have got better with each performance.  Kate Tempest appears to be growing in confidence as front woman, with her lyrics being as powerful as ever, and freestyling against the hecklers was brilliant.  Despite the technical difficulties, it was a great show.

Hopefully Southseafest 2012 will be as good next year.