The perfect thrill seekers holiday would be a trip into the unexplored, extraordinary and extreme nature - somewhere where your adrenaline lever will rise up significantly more than any other visit or action (except probably meeting your boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s parents). So a thrill seeker should always look for that dream location where there are only the nature and his pure adrenaline running throught his veins. For some people this recharges their lives, for others it gives them extreme happiness, and for the rest - it is a way of living.

Well, there is something every thrill seeker would love -the extreme climbing. It is not probably the most dangerous thing to do but, believe me, it gives you the feeling of endless freedom and … quite fast heartbeat. And the best location for that is the Canadian triangle Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise where many of the climbers all over the world gather throughout the whole year to climb the Canadian Rockies.

The sandstone rocks, mainly situated near Banff, will give you a fascinating experience and a lot of fun. A bit slippery and steep enough, you will feel like almost climbing an icy rock when moving up that sandstone - a person can almost feel the heartbeat of the one climbing nex to him because of the thrill - you are never in control while fighting that hostile rock.

And if a tourist needs something harsh and hard to climb, with more difficult tracks, then the limestone and quartzite rocks, that are found all over the three resorts, are perfect for that. For the more advanced climbers, there are several extremely steep routes. And the opportunity the explore the wildlife and the fascinating of the area is quite a thrill as well - so do not hesitate and pick up the best vacation for you to Canada, for the best thrill experience you can get.

But luckily, we weren’t disappointed (a good thing too since we had to spend the night in a mates second hand campervans). We both agreed afterwards that Rudd gave one of the most electrifying performances we had ever seen. His style is absolutely unique. Although he had two band members playing with him, he seemed to play almost every instrument at some point during the gig. He sat on a stool with what almost looked like an enormous drum kit arranged in front of him, but in fact the array contained at least one didgeridoo, as well as a large assortment of other percussion and wind instruments from different cultures, the combination of which produced an extraordinary range of sounds.

And we were also able to see, even more than was already apparent in the lyrics of many of his songs, who he is influenced by and what makes him so individual. He said a few words about the oppression of the Aborigines in Australia, as well as talking about the apartheid in South Africa. Much of his musical sound originates from the ancient Aboriginal and African tribes. This also explains why we don’t see him in the Northern Hemisphere very often, as his tours in Australia and South Africa carry a cause and a motive – Rudd aims to spread a political and social message through his brilliant music.

Her song Me and Bobby McGee is one of the most well known songs ever. People still to this day sing it on a daily basis. It is sung in karaoke bars, on the radio, by the famous, and for auditions. It is a song about traveling with the love of her life. Janis sung about life experiences. She tells stories when she sings. You are taken on a journey when ever you listen to her. You can feel her passion in her music.

There are not many artists that sing with passion and desire. Now people rap and cuss constantly in music. Janis did not have to do any of that to get your attention. She stepped on stage with her unique look and amazing voice and you were in a trance. There was no looking away when she performed. To this day if you see a video of her performing you will not be able to turn away. She was such a great artist and will forever be truly missed. She made such a huge impact on the music scene. She empowered so many women to feel like they could do anything. She was an icon for many women and made women believe in themselves. Women can still use her for inspiration. Her message of peace and love still translates well to this day. Love is universal and transcends time. Her voice is a voice that helps that message to send through generations of different people.

In the late 1990’s Britney Spears established herself as the Pop Princess. She had many different singles that became hits. Britney began singing when she was just a young girl. She would sing to her doll babies in the bathroom. She was in the Mickey Mouse Club at the age of eleven. She performed on the show until she was thirteen years old. In 1997, Britney decided to try her hand at singing. Innosense was an all female group that she joined. She eventually left the group and started a solo career. Britney’s hit single that she debuted was “Baby One More Time”. In 1998 it was released and earned nine million in sales. It was at one point number one on the Billboards Hot 100. At 17 Britney was accused of having some of the best breast implants done which she adamantly denied. In 2004 Britney ran to Vegas and eloped with her friend Jason Alexander. They had been friends since they were children and remained married for only 55 hours. After they annulled the wedding they went their separate ways. In 2005 Britney married one of her back up dancers. In 2006, Kevin Federline and Britney filed for divorce. While married they had two little boys. Their names are Jayden James Federline and Sean Preston Federline.

Britney has now come back on the scene better than ever. She is trying to turn her life around and start making music again. She is an amazing artist that has had to go through her ups and downs in the public eye. She has a new campaign with Candies clothing line. She looks amazing and will definitely help up their sales. There are few people that can pick themselves up and brush off everything that she has had to brush off. She will very quickly soar up the charts again. Other artists should be on the lookout for Britney Spears.

There have been a lot of different concerts over the years that I would just love to have seen. Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park would have been nice and I would have really enjoyed a Cat Stevens show from around the time of ‘Tea for the Tillerman’. Another biggie would have been David Bowie at the Ziggy Stardust farewell concert and I really wish I’d seen The Sisters of Mercy in The Royal Albert Hall.

However, most of these took place long before I was even old enough to be aware of music, so I have a pretty viable excuse (except for The Sisters. DOH!) But the one concert that I could have gone to that hurts most of all is the Dead Can Dance reunion in London. And why didn’t I go? Simple; I didn’t have any friends who liked their music.

Why oh why did I not go and see them on my tod? Well, because I am not the most confident of people, the thought of getting a train down to London and finding my way to the venue by myself filled me with abject horror. Not to mention I couldn’t bring myself to face the boss for time off (it was when I was working those permanent vet jobs). But when I look back on it I am truly ashamed of myself! The thing is, I’ll probably never, ever get the chance to go and see them again. Unless they decide to do a re-re-union tour… What an absolute bummer!!

Well, once bitten and all that. If some other uber-special band ever get back together for a one-off show then you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be there. But, knowing my luck, the only reunion shows to come about over the next few years will be stuff like Bros, The Village People, Wham! or 5-Star. And I’m sure that the ambience would not be quite the same somehow…

I was a bit too old to miss the whole record-player-in-your-bedroom craze. If I’d have been born five years earlier then I would have been exposed to a sea of music that I probably missed. But I don’t mind that too much: I arrived just in time for the age of the tape and CD. Two things which made music more accessible than ever. Cheap as well as easily transportable. Not only that: the covers looked cool too; and you could even design your own.

Tapes were truly amazing things; they changed the world in no small way and had a character all their own. I remember a car journey back from Cornwall when I was very small; my parents, my brother and sister. My brother was the youngest and had a fixation with ‘Postman Pat’. We were forced to listen to that tape for the entire journey. Anyone who has done the trip from Cornwall to East Anglia and heard that tape will be aware of how repetitive it actually was–(and I wouldn’t have minded so much, only we’d been forced to listen to it on the way down there, too–)

Then came the days of the CD. Nowadays people forget just how ground-breaking the CD was: not only because of its perfect quality, but its amazingly compact size. Not only that but CDs were super-reliable too. You didn’t have any of the problems that you got with tapes; there was no re-winding the tape back in. CDs never got jammed. The only thing you had to worry about was scratches, but even that happened only now and again. CDs were amazing, but now sadly disappearing as digital-music takes over the world. I don’t care how many songs I have on my computer or Mp3 player, I’ll always play CDs. There’s just something about them.

Before I go, I am attempting to sort something for my sister for her Birthday. When I was talking with her the other night she said that she would like a new pair of saucony running shoes for this marathon she is running in the spring, anyone know of a place to get them, and what exactly it is I should be looking for when I buy them?

It is very hard to believe that a talented band such as Shabby Rogue that is a part of modern music’s fastest growing genres (art-folk) has not been signed by a major record label. What makes this even more surprising is the fact that this band is so popular and has been viewed as one of the best around.

Anyone who has attended any of their live shows will surely remember the experience with excitement and wonder. For this reason and others their album ‘By Hook and By Crook’ is one where you will surely get the same experience. This album is so much beyond excellent.

The band wanted to create an album to celebrate a feeling of release. But for me they have ended up producing is an album that is filled with feeling, and that is full of dark passion.

There is a wide variety of musical style to be found in this album. So from the catchy tune of ‘Northern Lights’ which is of the psych/folk style and is filled with a haunting violin, and hard drums, to the more smooth underground type sound of ‘My Future With You’, to ‘ Old Man’ which is more of a brooding style. There is also a modern punk georgie style to be found in the song ‘My Life As A Secret Agent’.

You will sure feel the jazzy style of the song ‘Hidden In The Yard’ that is accompanied by droning vocals making it one of the better songs on the album.

‘By Hook and By Crook’ shows how well the band has the ability to express themselves and doing so in a variety of musical forms. Each track on the album shows how talented this band is and it we all wait on what the future has in store for them.

Right, I need all your help please: I have just put down my mobile with my mate and I asked what she was wanting for a birthday gift. She asked for a new beach wear for her next beach vacation, I just need to deduce where to pick it up now, and being a man, I have no idea at all…

Hip Hop, historically, has been a draw to impressionable youth because of its anarchical and anti-establishment nature. It was a way for teenagers from all economic and social classes to rebel against authority, whether that be racial and religious intolerance within the lower classes, to rebellion towards ones parents or teachers within the middle or upper classes. Hip Hop has managed to unite all youth under one flag.

However, in this new decade, Hip Hop is losing out to other genres of music. This is not because the American youth is no longer interested in rebellion and anarchy, but because modern Hip Hop has lost its original meaning and purpose.

The foundations of Hip Hop can arguably be granted to N.W.A, Wu-Tang, and Run DMC, all of which rose to fame in the 1980’s. This type of Hip Hop was created as retaliation against the governing powers who, as these Hip Hop artists believe, ostracize and oppress the lower class minorities of the United States. Their original followers were those youths who shared in similar experiences as these artists, hence they found something to identify themselves to. With time, the sphere of influence of Hip Hop artists grew to include impressionable youths from middle class suburban America.

However, today’s Hip Hop within the United States tends to ignore the roots of the Hip Hop movement. For example, instead of lyrics challenging social norms, or attacking the government system which stimulates youth to challenge the government powers, lyrics of modern Hip Hop tend to glorify violence and misogyny, while flashing images of the stars rolling around on Luxury designer bedding with a couple of scantly clad ladies. Lyrics of modern Hip Hop artists ignore the reasons why Hip Hop gained popularity. They tend to focus on the glorification of violence and the benefits of such. They seem to have forgotten the true purpose of Hip Hop: to empower the American youth to challenge authority without the glorification of violence.

Sadly, I was born a few years too late to see The Pixies play live the first time around; while Kim Deal, Joey Santiago, Charles Thompson and David Lovering were out there blowing minds with their progressive, mind-bendingly strange rock songs, I thought Chesney Hawkes was actually pretty damn cool. It wasn’t until The Pixies and Nirvana had been replaced by Radiohead and Muse—not really an equal replacement by any means, it has to be said—that I owned all their albums. I can remember listening to ‘Bone Machine’ for the first time and being completely confused as to what was coming out of the speakers; then the pieces fell into position and something snapped inside my head. From that moment on I listened to The Pixies at every opportunity; every album, even ‘Trompe Le Monde’—the least popular of all their works.

Much has been made of The Pixies going downhill towards the end of the career, but focusing on that seems unfair, I think—the band were only around for a short time and produced more quality songs than most groups do in twenty year careers. Not only that, they were the reason many bands of today even exist. Had The Pixies not came to be, I doubt we’d be where we are today. Music just wouldn’t have been the same without them.

The Pixies would, of course, not have been the same without Kim Deal. Widely thought of as one of the best female vocalists to have ever recorded, Kim could hold it down all on her own or step back and let Charles Thompson scream his head off; best known for his ability to mix disturbing lyrics into songs that fracture, fall apart and then explode like breaking glass, Thompson was an unlikely front-man if ever there was one, and as a result a breathe of fresh air during an era of silly named rock groups which came and went with barely any impact.

Really exciting news about the new band, I just talked to this great company who agreed to give us a sweet deal on the CD packaging, look at thier site and see what you think!

Let’s face it; Maxi Jazz is a pretty cool guy to begin with. He’s handsome, extremely photogenic and has a great voice for singing or for speaking. But how many people could still have managed to look so cool in this music video? Sitting on a sofa with a red snuggle-blanket round you is not a traditional way of bumping up your street cred. However, Maxi carries it off brilliantly. If you watch this enough then you will learn the ancient art of how to look super-cool when your heating is on the fritz.

Anyone with a taste for clever music videos really should take time to check out ‘We come 1’ by Faithless. It’s all such a fantastic concept for a music video; a rave that becomes a full scale riot (complete with mounted police) all within the comfort of your own front room!

There are plenty of powerful images in this (including a young lady being very naughty and kissing a WPC…) and slow motion is used to a great effect. Keep your peelers open for the riot van being tipped over right in front of Maxi’s sofa. It all goes towards another of those ‘how the hell did they do that?’ music videos.

Strobe lights are used in it, but not as much as I originally thought; after watching it a couple more times, I realised that the actual photography comes across as being strobe lighting. Very, very clever indeed.

The whole thing is full of contrasts; the rioters/the police, the joy in the dancing/the hate in the fighting, the neatness of the room/the litter of broken bottles, the frenzy of the mob/ the impassive face of Maxi Jazz. Chaos and calm.

It is unsettling, thought provoking, intriguing and highly energetic.

Mind boggling stuff and absolute genius.

Before I go I need a bit of advice, I have been allocated to set up the stand for the company at the marketing convention next week. Any tips on where I can get some good exhibition stands at short notice?