The Black Ice CD finally arrived! Yep, the CD. In the day and age of downloadable and streamable media, I prefer to buy the CD for a few select artists; if for nothing else but to convert it to a better format with some control of the output quality 🙂
AC/DC has seen ups and downs, but they’re still here; in fact, I’d go so far as saying they’re back with a big bang! The release of their new Black Ice album is their first album in eight years, and it’s a welcome “gift” to us less worthy 🙂
“Recent” albums have varied in quality and sound. I personally think the Razor’s Edge from 1990 is one of their best studio albums since Back in Black. Ballbreaker was a bit of a disappointment, while Stiff Upper Lip was a beginning to the return of what has now appeared as Black Ice. Of course, AC/DC’s LIVE album from 1992 is right up there as far as live albums are concerned. 100% pure rock.
I would describe Black Ice as part Razor’s Edge and Stiff Upper Lip, part Back in Black, and part Flick of the Switch. It has sounds from all of these “eras” or “albums”. As with many promotional things with AC/DC, the album booklet is minimalistic; it lists the band and the songs, and it shows a few pictures of the band members. For the rest, you’ll just have to “Press Play” 🙂
As with anything related to music, my opinions are my own. I’m sure some AC/DC fans will hate Black Ice. I’m sure many will love it.
You want some good, solid rock? You want Black Ice!
My wife recently got a new cellphone. After having spent hours reading specifications to her, she finally decided on a W980 from 
Considering this was to be my first and only 40th birthday, I had no expectations; and I really didn’t plan for it to turn out this good 🙂 But I guess a good indication may have been the wonderful trip to Belfast in Northern Ireland earlier this year where I, amongst other things, made the acquaintance of Tom Kerr – a wonderful person, and much talented writer/painter.
The two weeks in question began with a visit to the 
The following two days I was off from work (thank goodness for that), and on the Thursday, Mark arrived from Belfast. Knowing that I like good Irish whiskey, he brought me a bottle of Jameson Distillery Reserve, as well as a bottle of Bushmill’s Distillery Reserve (not to mention the GPS)! After having gotten Mark settled at the hotel, we rounded off the evening at Akkurat for some whiskey (and whisky) sampling. 
On Friday, I played tourist guide as Mark and I walked around most of Stockholm. We had a nice lunch at Blå Porten (“the Blue Gate”) on Djurgården, followed by some more walking through the Old Town and the Royal Castle. Being a tourist guide in your home city is quite fun, and you get to see things you had since long forgotten about. We settled for a quiet evening and some more whiskey, this time at home 🙂
On Wednesday, we left for Rhodes! A bit of a snag on the outbound journey gave us a delay of five hours. But apart from wanting to strangle my children after six hours at the airport, everything went well. We had a wonderful time with great weather, excellent food and drinks.