Holiday Movie Review

As we are only 6 hours or so from the new year, I would like to pass judgment on a couple of the 'movies' that I have seen over this 'most festive time of the year'.

First of - 2012. This film had the makings of a great film, but sadly was more or less a carbon copy of the film 'The Day After Tomorrow'. I felt that the film 'Jumped The Shark' very early on with the CGI fuelled disaster driving scene, and did not really fully recover. 4 out of 11.

I also had the misfortune to see 'Avatar'. Quite simply what a load of tosh! No story to speak of with computer graphics gone mad. I lost interest after the 5th hour (it seemed like it lasted that long!). One to miss.....

To conclude, I can't really complain as I saw both on the Boyd family big screen. That said, neither reached the heady heights of the film making excellence of 'Sherlock Bones Undercover Dog'.

The Lee Aaron Band - The Fox Bisley

Saturday nights gig was with The Lee Aaron band at the Fox public House in Bisley.

As you would imagine, we all wanted this gig to go well! Even young Lee who sometimes literally 'doesn't care' wanted this gig to go well!

I arrived at the Fox in plenty of time, and was happy to be greeted by Bal, Ral and Lal who were in the process of assembling the tools of rock, such as cables and diet cola's!

Tonight was the grand un-veiling of two important Lee Aaron Band firsts! Firstly, it was the grand un-veiling of my super modified Bian May guitar. Having been in Charlie Chandlers workshop for some time, it finally emerged with new Schaller locking machine heads! These were fitted with very fancy pearloid buttons, and the who thing was topped off with a super hard stainless steel zero fret! And if that was not enough excitement for one gig report, I am pleased to announce the 'falling off volume knob' had also been repaired to a required standard! So, armed with this mighty tool of rock, complete with my birthday Boss GE-7, I was ready to go!

Bal, on the other hand had spent all day in Andertons and 'came out' with a marvellous harmoniser pedal. This gadget allows a literal chorus of Big Man's at the press of a button! A dream come true for many people, so I understand.

So as the hour of rock came, we launched into our first set to minimal acclaim. Sadly due to some sport or TV or something, the pub was empty which was a real shame as I felt we played very well, especially with our new toys!

As we entered into Lee Aaron Band part 2, the numbers remained the same, so I decided to subject the assembled to a warbling reading of 'Won't Get Fooled Again'. Having had moderate luck with the 'Meet the new boss' line for the last few gigs, I felt the time was right to attempt the whole song. Lets put it this way.... I am no Hog!

As the evening ended with the last songs, I was soon packing up my troubles and heading home to my bed, where a hot cocoa and warm pyjamas were waiting for me.

WOPR 7i is alive!

The Lee Aaron Band - The Three Mariners Bagshot

Friday nights gig was with young drummer and hot 'chick' avoider Lee Aaron, and his band known locally as the Lee Aaron Band' at the Three Mariners public house in Bagshot.

With my regulation Friday nap completed, I was soon packing up Weavel and heading towards the land of bags that are quite literally 'shot'.

As many of your readers already know, Bagshot is the home to men urinating in public, so it was with great anticipation that I arrived in Bagshot, and I am pleased to say that my GPS unit bought me right to the door of the pub. The Big Man, Lee and Ral were unpacking one of the Browning fleet vehicles, and I was able to quite literally 'slip in' into a Weavel sized space. Within a few short minutes I was assembling my tools of rock - a Music Man guitar and Line 6 amp, plus projectile guitar picks which are very important!

The Thee Mariners is a very unlikely venue indeed. It has a very low ceiling, and you don't even have to be a Conan O'Brien style giant to brush your head on it! Luckily I was able to find a 'spot' where I was able to rock and have adequate head clearance, which allowed the evening to flourish.

As you would imagine, Lee just wanted the gig to go well, and I am pleased to report that is just the case! From the first few notes of out first song, we had the audience very jolly indeed, with some 'jigging about' and even a small few ourbreaks of stagger dancing!

As we moved into Lee Aaron Band Part two, it still continued to go well I am pleased to report.

Sadly, our manager, business partner and primary benefactor Luke was not in attendance. I believe he was touring Ireland with the Dubliner's on their 'Shamrock to Shamrock' tour of corporate events. One day we will be able to reach the heady heights of this kind of recognition - when we are ready, of course!

As the evening came to crash bang brassy tart of an ending, we soon said our goodbyes, and in my policy of being on 'Dion duty' I packed up before the last song had even finished and soon disappeared into the night. This gave the rest of the band an opportunity to talk about me, if they needed to.

Rage is at Number 1! This is very splendid news indeed!

fREAKJAM - The Rising Sun

Thursday nights gig was at the Legendary fREAK-1-jAMMING at The Rising Sun in Slough, which we all know is the epicentre of all things rock, jam and beverage related.

As you would all imagine, and lets face it - demand, I started my evening leaving from my exclusive West London 'pad' with Weavel stocked 'to the brim' and headed in some kind of A30, M25, M4 type direction. I am pleased to announce that the random 'mix' of songs on ones record machine was satisfying and certainly to a standard which you would expect.

Tonight the Mighty Mammal, my very own favourite F-ing C was busy with his charity work (which he does not like to talk about), we we had the drumming talents of Ed, who hails from Dutchland. With all the other cast members in place, we started doing what we are best known for - about 6 of the same songs every week until the jammers get up.

And what a night! A cavalcade of talent, drawing from the rich fabric of the local music community! Duel Projekt were in the house, and so were the BSR boys performing the Christmas Number 1! Lee Aaron was in attendance, and he just wanted it to go well. Frontman from Graeme was in the house in some kind of Turbo Babysham capacity, and so was a number of other people who's names escape me, thanks to the fact there are no pictures!

Shroomy Sue was not in attendance, and she was terribly missed by everyone. Pretend Pop Star Mark Chudley was in attendance, and was very chuffed with his Amazing Jonathan book!

After the traditional Adrian 'Purple Rain' ending, I had a very satisfying yet chilly 'Chudley chat' before heading home to my bed and school in the morning.

Mythbusters!

Rage Against The Machine For Christmas Number 1!

Now everyone!

If you have not already, please purchase a copy of Rage Against The Machines 'Killing In The Name Of' to ensure this track makes the Christmas Number 1.

Everyone has had enough of the horrible manufactured pop in the charts, and nobody wants another Pop Idol contestant to be number 1 for the 100th time, especially at this festive time of year!

So dear readers, please buy a copy today!

The campaign is even making the news! BBC News

UPDATE! Check the new video below!

JB Allstars - Stirrups

Wednesday nights gig was with the JB Allstars at Stirrups in Windsor or somewhere like that. Or it could be Bracknell. The joys of being directionally challenged!

A Wednesday night gig is a rarity these days (unless you are Gary Reece!) so I cherish the prospect of rocking (and a rolling) in this mid-week 'slot'.

After a busy old day, I packed up Weavel and headed down the highways and byways to arrive at Stirrups. Stirrups is a restaurant cum bar and the occasion was a corporate event that Luke really does not think that the Lee Aaron Band is ready for. Luckily, The JB Allstars have recruited Barry O'Connell for bookings and the scene was set for dancing and 'the like'.

This weeks sandwiches were a selection of turkey and cranberry sauce, cheese, and thick and juicy salmon on both chunky white and brown bread.

JB Allstars gigs are a 'mish mash' of the finest musicians who are available at the time and it seems to work every time! This partic-ular shebang was no different, and I am please to announce that it 'went well'!

With a set of classics, and also slightly older songs, we soon had everyone dancing on the intimate (read small) dance floor. Sadly the conga incident of previous Allstars gigs was not repeated, but I am pleased to report that I completed the 'When was that then Flavia' line in our reading of 'Mustang Sally'.

After a lengthy first set, we finished with a short JB Allstars part 2 to wrap up before saying our goodbyes.

At this juncture, there was respective back slapping in the car park and I soon disappeared into the night.

WOPR 7i coming soon!

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas from all of us here at World of Caesar!

Enjoy the sneezing monkey!

The Lee Aaron Band - The Rose & Crown

Saturdays nights gig was with young(ish) drumming sensation Lee Aaron at the Rose & Crown in Sandhurst.

As many of you know, the Rose & Crown is the spiritual home of the Lee Aaron band, and its always a pleasure to play there. We are always made to feel welcome by Barry and his team.

I started out my Saturday as I always do by watching an episode of 'Knight Rider' (season 4 sadly) and with turbo boosts on the brain I packed up Weavel and headed out down the M3 for fun and frolics.

On arrival at the Rose & Crown, I was delighted to see that Luke, our manager was in attendance. Luke, for those of you who don't know manages the Lee Aaron band between his duties as a chauffeur and booking agent. Luke currently also handles the Irish Pink Floyd tribute act 'Pink Shamrock' and many of us have been concerned that as a result of his other duties he has not been getting any corporate work. Lets see what 2010 brings...

All of us really wanted to the gig to go well, and indeed Lee was very concerned about it all going well. Dicky wanted everything to go well, Bal wanted the gig to go well and indeed even I wanted the gig to go well! Various members of the audience commented that they wanted it to go well, and you guessed it, Luke our manager (and business partner) wanted it to go well.

The gig, as we hoped, went well. However the 'note' in our reading of Parisenne Walkways sadly did not go well, which caused distress and minimal loathing.

After the gig, I adopted my Hog style taxi driver jacket and helped the Big Man as he had enjoyed some alcoholic beverages earlier on in the evening. With 'Bal 1' fully loaded, I enjoyed playing 'late night band logistics' driving Bal home, moving the Bal Smart Car, and then receiving a lift back to the R&C with Luke in the Ford flagship where dicky was waiting in Weavel! What a polava!

With my ears feeling fresh, I headed home listening to 'Miserable Men'. The drive went well.

Who would have thought it, George Takei this week! Oh My!

fREAKJAM - The Rising sun

Oh Yay! Oh Yay! Or so the town crier goes, but alas I am not any kind of rudimentary public address system, but a simple man who is happy to announce the start of this weeks fREAKJam report!

Now this was a very special evening as it heralded the return to the jamming 'fold' after 3 weeks off! For those of you who don't know, I had been 'Out West' in the United States of America, and enjoyed all the fruits that this land has to offer! And then it was Thanksgiving, and that brings us up this week!

Well, as ever, I left my West London 'Pad', Weavel packed 'to the hilt' and I headed down the highways of this once great nation to the epicentre of everything jam-ular, Slough. After setting about setting up, I was all set to start the set and set the tone of the jam band set.

Firstly, I must thank Shroomy Sue for the delicious 'welcome home' gift of a Cadbury's Creme Egg, which I savoured and enjoyed in my packed lunch the very next day - it was delicious!

Now, with the band set completed, it was time for the main event - jamming!

Lots of familiar faces down who chose to spend their Thursday night with us. A big 'shout out' to Johnny D and the Black Shot Rose Boys for an excellent set! I was pleased to observe that Adam was using his famous 'tin opener' ESP signature model. THWMIR and TNWMIR Gary Reece was in full attendance, and I had the pleasure of running through a couple of choice cuts with him. He chose to bring his new Gordon Smith Telecaster which is a fine axe I can tell you! And as you all know, I have always been a Telecaster man!

Graeme from Frontman was in attendance and treated us to a rare delight - a spot on the drums! Watch out Ringo, your days are numbered! Later on during the 'course' of the evening normal service was resumed and he performed in a sing-ular capacity with BSR as his merry band of pipers behind him!

We also welcomed Patrick, the excellent bass player from 'Sound of The Suburbs'. Tanya joined us for some passionate frontperson skills, and her son also joined us for some iPhone fuelled antics!

The evening ended with the traditional Adrian reading of Purple Rain, and as a result all is now right with the world.

As I packed up my troubles, I made a swift trip home as Pretend Pop Star Mark Chudley was not in attendance as he was eating a delicious lottery pizza.

V is not back until March 2010!

Thoughts from Caesar HQ

Good evening and welcome to the weekly update - 'Thoughts from Caesar HQ'.

In this weeks instalment, I would like to pass comment on the subject of touch screen mobile phones which are the current 'fad'.

It all started with the iPhone and now everyone is getting in on the game! In fact, despite vowing never to get one, I have recently acquired my own 'Bookfacer' - a Nokia 5800 complete with touch screen type thing. Now the honeymoon period is over I would like to say that it quite irritating to use, and I can't wait to go back to a mobile which has proper buttons!

Maybe I will dust off the zenith of all mobiles, the One2One M200, and enjoy everything that 8 hours of standby time has to offer!

If I am being honest, its all a case of 'Sour Grapes' as they have just released a fancy new Blackberry, the Bold 9700, and I am stuck in some 'poxy' contract that I believe is only broken by the surrendering of bodily organs or hard labour in North Korea, or something like that.

By way of contradiction, my Nokia has a big old screen which is perfect for viewing my 'specialist' material.

And now for no good reason, I present a video of me running in front of the Las Vegas sign.

I thank you.

Rough Justice - The Lido Margate

Saturday nights gig was with Rough Justice at the Lido in Margate as part of out ongoing farewell tour.

This gig was originally going to be a Rough Justice weekend away, but due to family commitments and our respective charity work (which we do not like to talk about) it ended up being a 'there and back affair'.

The evening started at Chez Hog, where The Mighty Mammal and I met with Hog and loaded the zenith Vauxhall flagship The Omega. As ever, we literally gasp when we see this fine General Motors excellence in motoring technology! With equipment loaded and set lists forgotten, we were soon on our way to 'Mar-git'. As they say, you can keep the Costa Brava, I'm telling ya mate I'd rather have a day down Margate with all me family.

The drive to Mar-git was not very pleasant indeed, and Hog observed that his least favourite kind of driving was heavy rain in the dark. On arrival at The Lido, it was like some kind of literal tropical storm, and my jeans and socks were slightly damp.

The occasion was a bikers gig , and we have had the pleasure for performing for the biking community for many years. As usual, we are always incredibly well looked after and the level of organisation is beyond compare.

After watching our support act, we setup in record time, no sound check and prepared for a 'power set' of our favourite Rough Justice classics. Magic Mike, The Great Stonodo was attending a reading from the Great Suprendo so we were in the 'power trio' format.

It was actually a good gig, and despite the level of condensation on my equipment I rocking took place effectively.

I tried to wear my superman hat for the gig, but thanks to a 'hothouse' stage I had to doff my cap and my hair be topless.

As the gig ended, it was time to pack up our troubles and find a delicious late night snack. Normally I don't indulge in such pleasures, but the lure of beef, cheese, bun and green stuff was too much to bear!

The drive home was so enjoyable that The Mighty Mammal fell asleep shortly after Hog & I recreated our weekly Borough Lunch for almost 2 hours.

I rolled into my home at some 'ungodly' hour, but happy that I was able to rock the premier 'seaside' resort in Kent.

Caesar's Rants

Ladies and Gentlemen, very shortly the caesarsrants.com domain name will cease to work, bringing to an end the final part of the legendary ranting website.

Of course, www.worldofcaesar.com, this very website, will continue to operate, and as we all know goes from strength to strength!

So for all of your fine people who have not done so, please update your bookmarks to www.worldofcaesar.com for continued service!

Of course, if someone wants to give me £25 I will renew caesarsrants.com!

Kind regards,

The World of Caesar Team.

Guilty Party - Chessington Zoo

Friday nights gig was with The Souths Premier showband, the Guilty Party at the Holiday Inn next to Chessington Zoo.

This was the first gig of the winter season, and indeed the first gig I had done since returning from my travels in 'SoCal' and Las Vegas. As a result, I was rip roaring and ready to go! With a packed Weavel I headed out of my exclusive West London apartment onto the British road network aided and abetted by the American military's finest GPS positional satellites.

After a short jaunt around the M25, and a dodgy bit of driving in the exit, I was soon at the Zoo ready for the night ahead! As it happened, I was terribly hungry, so I was relieved that I had stashed away delicious packed lunch! I was literally 'chomping at the bit' to consume the classic combination of bread, filling and lettuce! I felt like a real rebel by washing it all down with a delicious cox's pippin!

The affair was a company 'do' and with unloading completed it was a very short time before we were engaging in lengthy and extensive sound-check. I thought it was never going to end!

Lucky for us, the venue stroke company had supplied some pre-gig green room 'snacks' and many of the band 'tucked in' to French Fries, Sandwiches and a medley of fruit! You will be pleased to know, dear reader, that I feasted on watermelon and enjoyed all the vitamin goodness that the finest of melons bring.

The actual gig was a single set which lasted over 2 hours! I understand that this was at the request of Luke, who is now managing Guilty Party after his great success with The Lee Aaron Band. Whilst Luke has been spending much of his time over the summer with Brendan Shine, I am pleased to say that he is now back 'on the ball' closer to home. Whether he can get us corporate work still remains to be seen....

Highlights of the set were my 'When was that then Uncle Ian' line in the reading of 'Mustang Sally' and Big Man's continued use of leather trousers complete with pointing action.

As the set closed with the traditional fast one / slow one / both setup, we really had a ball watching people dance!

As the gig ended, it was time to pack up and I carried as much light stuff as I could to the chosen vehicle of the Browning Enterprises fleet. As I made my 'many' journeys, I was able to observe the beautiful bearded dragons in the hotel lobby and a large plastic lion.

As I said my goodbyes, I hopped into Weavel and disappeared into the night happy with the arrangements.

Sweetcorn!