24 hours without the Internet

Try and do a full day without the internet? Completely cut off from news updates, live football scores and social media? Let’s just in at the deep end.

Before getting into bed, I block the internet from my laptop and switch off both Wi-Fi and mobile data from my phone. This’ll be interesting.

10.00 – Waking up
                Naturally, I enjoy catching up on the news while I eat my breakfast – as I’m sure others do. And it is here where I hit my first hurdle. I’m greeted by a lifeless, white screen with; ‘’BBC News cannot access any online content as no internet connection has been detected. Please check your connection and try again’’ etched across.
A quick sprint to the corner shop is in order as the kettle boils.

12.07 – Struggling to find Hot Rat Records
                Word has reached my ear that there’s a great little record shop near the bus station that I apparently, just have to check out. After wandering around for 10 minutes, I’m struggling to make any noticeable progress.
I’m embarrassed to admit how long I waited for my navigation app to load, but alas I had to ask for directions.

15.10 – It’s Football Day!
                Macclesfield Town away to Lincoln; hardly a game to capture the hearts of the nation but I was interested in the outcome nonetheless.
My usual university routine would be to tune into an online radio station and keep up to date with our performance via twitter. As this wasn’t possible today (why couldn’t I have tried this on a Sunday?) I spent a few minutes fiddling with my clock radio before admitting defeat, ringing my dad and relying on half time and full time reports. The tension and mystery of not knowing was unbearable

21.40 – Night Out Preparations
As the moon rises
high about my home,
It’s getting quite late
with no texts sent to my phone.

By this time, I’m usually three or four drinks into my evening and almost ready to call for a taxi. But as the night ticks on, my silent phone is deafening and it doesn’t look like much is happening tonight. I eventually ring a friend and the conversation goes as follows:
‘’Hey! We going out tonight?’’
‘’Yeh man. We’re all at Flat 29. Didn’t you see?’’
‘’See what?’’
‘’There’s a post about pre-drinks on the wall. Get yourself down here! We’re leaving soon.’’

Phone goes down. Shower turns on. And I manage to get ready and get out in less than 15 minutes. I can’t wait for normality to be resumed tomorrow.

Originally, I didn’t think cutting out the internet for a day would affect me too much. It isn’t too long since I got my first phone (a handsome Nokia 3310 which would not break no matter how many times I dropped it,) and the internet was only available through dial-up on the family computer.

But this experiment has shown how much I truly do rely on the connectivity and access to things outside my circle. Not only has using Twitter to check the football scores and certain apps to catch up with world news become part of my daily routine, but I have become completely reliant on them.

It’s now got to a point where I see buying a newspaper as unnatural, asking for directions as embarrassing and I’ve learnt I’m unable to tune into a certain station through a radio to listen to football commentary – all acts that a person just 10 years my elder would have no problem completing. Even arranging hanging out with friends is now so centred around social media that if you don’t check up on it, chances are you’ll be left behind instead of being sent a courtesy text.

It’s fortunate the internet is here to stay because not only has it made our lives easier, but completely radicalised how we perform certain tasks to a point that we would be lost without it.

Jose Mourinho on Didier Drogba

No flashy introduction or tempting, rhetorical question required to grab your attention; here’s Jose Mourinho’s foreward to Didier Drogba’s autobiography.
It cover’s how and when he signed him (mentioning he was his Number.1 target when he took over at Chelsea,) how he saw him as a player and the impression the great striker left on him.

 ”I’m a person who likes to treasure memories, and with them I can tell the world many things. I’m not a writer, even less a poet, but my life has been rich with stories, stories full of extraordinary moments. Looking back at them, I can find only a few special people who I will keep in my soul and in my heart forever.

”Didier Drogba came into my life in the fifth minute of a Champions League game in Marseille’s mythical Vélodrome. I’d hardly sat down when that giant with the number 11 on his shirt scored. I remember he celebrated that goal like it was his last and he turned an already hostile atmosphere into a fireball of flares, chants and emotion. The crowd went mad, the noise was deafening.

”At half-time I found him in the tunnel and told him: ‘I don’t have the money to buy you, but do you have any cousins that can play like you in the Ivory Coast?’ In the middle of this tense qualification game he laughed, hugged me and said: ‘One day you’ll be in a club which can buy me.’

Best of friends

”Six months later I signed for Chelsea. I had found a super powerful club which everybody wanted to negotiate with, everybody wanted to be linked to – and everybody wanted to play for.
I had a number of options, but I arrived and said: ‘I want Didier Drogba.’
Doubts and questions were raised by a few people:
‘Why this one?’
‘Why not that one?’
‘Are you sure he will adapt?’
‘Is he really that good?’
‘I want Didier Drogba,’ I said.

”A few days passed and I met with Didier in a private airport in London. Again he hugged me, but this time in an unforgettable way: an embrace that showed this man’s gratitude, and the affection he feels towards people who mean a lot to him. Indescribable. Then he told me: ‘Thank you. I will fight for you. You won’t regret it. I will stay loyal to you forever.’ And that’s just what he’s done. His loyalty came out in his leadership and in the way he always faced up to the difficult moments. Moments when nothing else matters than to be there for your leader and your colleagues. This was a person I knew I could count on whenever and wherever I needed. When the team was under pressure he would go back and help the defenders; when he felt pain he would stretch himself to the limit and never give up. Then of course came what he did best: he scored and scored. Those goals brought him titles, amazing awards, but what stays with me are the countless stories we have together.

Discussing tactics

”The FA Cup final at the new Wembley Stadium, 2007. Manchester United: the last game of the season. A lot of people thought this would be my last game in charge of Chelsea. It was a great battle, and then Didier scored in extra-time. The final whistle blew and everybody went mad – apart from two calm individuals.
”I ran into the dressing room to call my wife. One player avoided the immediate celebrations and followed me down the tunnel. It was Didier, chasing me for a hug. The game was over but in his mind as he left the pitch was only one thing: to hug me as soon as possible. Was he remembering our first encounter? Our second? Or was he thinking that this embrace could be the last…? He found me, we hugged and we cried.

”Didier is a special person. And I repeat if I may: person. I could say player of course – and he’s an unbelievable one – but above all, his impact on the world at the moment is as a person: as an African, as an emperor of the Ivory Coast, as a father, and as a son and as a friend. And some of us have the privilege to have him in our lives. 

”Months after the Cup final I was out of Chelsea. As on the first day, there came that same embrace. I couldn’t speak and Didier could only say: ‘This is not possible, this is not possible, this is not happening.’
I could only find the strength to turn and walk away.

(Drogba was reportedly in tears when Mourinho told him he was leaving the club, and said “Mourinho’s departure destroys a certain familiarity we had at the club. Many of us used to play first and foremost for the manager. Now we need to forget those feelings and find another source of motivation”)

Drogba now plays for Galatasaray

”Perhaps this preface should focus on Didier the player. But the player everybody knows – the leader, the title collector, the benefactor as well. All these things he has achieved with skill, effort and humility. Didier is in my life as one of the best players I have managed in my career. But much more importantly, he’s in my life as one of the best and most unforgettable friends. Together, the two of us side by side, fighting for the same thing? Far away? In different clubs? In different countries? Or old, with Didier in retirement and me coaching in a wheelchair? It doesn’t matter.
Didier. Always near to my heart.”
José Mourinho

Reading and Leeds 2013

You may have been enjoying the unexpected warm weather, Pimms and lemonade on hand while the bloke on the radio starts rattling off a bunch of bands that are playing in the middle of a field this summer.

But after Brand New’s untimely and soul-destroying cancellation of their European tour dates, including their appearance at Reading and Leeds this year, just who is worth dusting off the mud-coated wellys for?

Headliners
Biffy Clyro

Their sixth studio album Opposites split the critics after reaching great heights as ‘The biggest rock band in the world right now,’ to crashing back down with a host of lukewarm reviews (with The Independent even going as far as stating if there was a God, he would have pushed them off a cliff by now).

Whatever your opinion, they’ll at least bring a touch of Scottish chaos to the Main Stage.

Eminem

Better suited to Glastonbury or V Festival; Eminem surprised a few by popping up on top of the line-up this year.
Working with Doctor Dre on his eighth studio album, which remains untitled, it’s release date is expected for late 2013.

Love him or loathe him – he’s here now

Green Day

Fresh outta rehab, Billie Joe Armstrong will lead his North Californian trio out on to the Main Stage to remind the masses why they’re still knocking about.

 

Propping up the Main Stage

System of a Down 

How SOAD don’t top the bill this year is beyond me. A wonderful cocktail mix of thrash metal, alternative rock and the unbelievably talented Serj Tankian behind the microphone forms their unique sound.

Not to be missed.

Chase and Status 

Playing understudy to Eminem – the two piece set-up of Saul Mitton and Will Kennard will have a point to prove.

There was once a time when you couldn’t have a night out without hearing a few C+S tracks – their set will remind you why.

Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor’s gift to the world has earned the group worldwide recognisability.

Another one to ponder why they haven’t been granted top-spot, make sure you catch their rare UK appearance.

Frank Turner

The nation’s favourite acoustic guitar player returns to the festival he has played numerous times. Helped along the way by his backing band, The Sleepless Souls, expect the one-time punk artist to draw his usual large following.

Over on the Radio 1/NME Stage…

Haim

This all girl three piece has whipped the music industry into a storm after droning comparisons to Fleetwood Mac.

Catch their set to see if they’re worth the hype.

 

 

Wavves

A personal favourite of mine and an amateur musician’s inspiration.

Nathan Williams started out with a typically hectic schedule – two albums crammed into just a month. Yet due to his equipment rig consisting of a Tascam Cassette Recorder and cheap ‘Garage Band’ computer software, his entire catalogue consisted of songs recorded with every input rammed up to 10.

Yet instead of scramming the fuzzy, mangled material – he embraced the overdriven sound and became ‘Wavves.’ A class act not to be missed.

Jake Bugg

 

‘HE’S THE NEXT BOB DYLAN.’ The cheeky 19 year old draws a lot of praise after the unbelievable success of his debut album. Just how good can this teenager from Nottingham be? Pretty good to be honest.

 

 

 

Peace, Palma Violets and Partquet courts – This tri are backed by NME as the ‘Future of British Music’ and you won’t find a review here arguing against this.

Peace exploded onto the scene, gaining huge attention after releasing their first album ‘In Love’ last year. Since then they have been nominated for the BBC’s ‘Sound of 2013’ poll (along with Palma Violets,) had a top 100 single and performed on the NME Awards Tour 2013.

Similar hype surrounds Palma Violets after NME awarded ‘Song of the Year’ to debut single ‘Best of Friends’ and also handed them their ‘Best new Band’ award last year. Reported to have formed around a campfire at Reading Festival, what better reason to see them where it all began?Parquet Courts

Their debut album ‘Light up Gold’ has been described as ‘one of the best debut album’s you’ll hear all year.’ Check out their master class in the attitude of ‘It’s not about the songs, it’s the delivery.’ 

 

Lock up/Rock Stage

Enter Shikari Sound System 

The nation’s favourite music genre abusers are back to blow out your eardrums, but with a DJ set twist. Making their world debut as ESSS, they headline the Lock up stage.

It’ll be their sixth time at the festival in the last eight years, albeit this summer with a spicy new twist; ‘’Expect re-worked Enter Shikari tracks along with class remixes and new surprises.’’ Sounds tasty.

 

The Virginmarys
I wouldn’t close their feature without special mention for the band that started from my hometown. The Virginmarys have risen from slumming it out at pokey little pub gigs in Macclesfield to nationwide festivals at an alarming pace. Since playing Download Festival in 2010 they haven’t looked back. Embarking on numerous support tours for Eagles of Death Metal, Feeder, Ash and even Slash – with a headline tour slotted in the between. Debut album King of Conflict hit the shelves February this year.

Reading and Leeds Festival runs from 23-25 August and tickets are still on sale