Q&A with Johnny Mercyside: Part 9

Hey there, welcome to the 9th edition of my Q&A. I do these every month and as always, these questions are all taken off my Formspring account, which you can find here. These were answered a while ago, and I've changed the answers if the situation has changed since then. Enjoy!

Q: If you could be the president or leader of your country for one day, what would you do?
A: I hate politics, I really do. But one thing I strongly believe in is that it's possible, if every country and leader in the world strive to let it happen, that we can get rid of currency and have official world fair trading. That would be my ultimate aim if I had the power to make it happen.

Q: Would you rather hang out with a small group of friends or a large group?
A: Probably a small group, but it depends on the company and the atmosphere.

Q: Have you been able to keep your New Years resolutions or have you broken them?
A: I didn't make any this year. I rarely make them.

Q: What's your favorite TV show from the 1990s?
A: Probably SMTV Live, although that started in '98. Other contenders would be Robot Wars, Goosebumps and Gladiators.

Q: What rule do you find yourself always breaking?
A: Probably my calorie intake... not that I count them... that's probably the problem!

Q: Who is your best friend and how did you meet him/her?
A: My best friend is my wife to be, Claire/Mimi. I met her online on a forum. If doesn't count as my best friend then it's a difficult one to pinpoint in different ways I have four best friends, and they are Bob, Mer, Tom and John.

Q: What tech gadget do you want to buy next?
A: Now that I've got my HDTV, I'm not really that bothered. If I had all the money in the world I'd naturally upgrade this computer, but it runs absolutely fine and I'm not bothered about changing it.

Q: If you could only drink one thing for a year and it couldn't be water, what would you drink?
A: Pepsi, easy. I love Pepsi.

Q: What was your favorite thing to do during recess at school?
A: I'm not at school anymore, but I used to enjoy playing football with some good friends of mine. Good times.

Q: Who's your favorite Disney character?
A: Very difficult... lets go old school and say Baloo from The Jungle Book.

Q: What would your dream vacation be?
A: Well I wanted to have my honeymoon in the east of France, somewhere like Nancy or Lyon, or in Switzerland. But I couldn't afford a honeymoon so, maybe I can have a vacation around there in the future.

Q: What's the furthest place you've ever traveled to?
A: Argentina, when I took part on BBC1's Winter Wipeout, you can read about my amazing experience here.

Q: What's your favorite sport to play?
A: Football! Although I'm fat and unfit, and no one around me plays anymore. But I love a good game of footie. Always have.

Q: What's the story behind your username?
A: It's my writing alias. I've been using the Johnny Mercyside alias for a good 5 years now. How did I come up with it? You can thank MySpace for that!

When I had a MySpace account there was a little game where you would find your soap opera name. To get this you had your first name being the same, but you would replace your surname with your birthplace. So I got John Merseyside, so I tweaked it around, called myself Johnny and used "Mercy" to make it sound more 'cool' and voila! It's stuck since.

Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of?
A: A hard question, three things come to mind, moving down to Portsmouth from North Wales as an eighteen year old, my website which is getting more and more popular that I'm putting a lot of effort into. The last thing is my amazing daughter, and the great upbringing she is having, which is a credit to me and her fantastic mum.

Q: Who's the best teacher you ever had? What made them your favorite?
A: I've had a good set of teachers, Mrs Brown in English 6th form is usually the one I remember best.

Q: What historical time period would you most like to visit?
A: The Celtic or Roman times. I love the idea of those times although there's many bad aspects of them as well. Naturally with my recent escapades on TV and being compared to Henry VIII, I suppose the Tudors would be a time I'd be interested in too.

Q: Would you rather have toast or cereal for breakfast?
A: Cereal, although my favourite breakfast is a bacon and egg sammitch.

Q: Do you have OCD?
A: I have a minor case, very minor. I'd never put myself or anyone else in harm for anything silly though.

Q: How many people in your family wear glasses? Are you one of them?
A: All my siblings wear glasses but I don't. My eye sight is exceptionally well, despite being in front of TV and computer screens for most of my awake hours. It's very strange.

And that's my latest Formspring update. Once again if you want to follow me on Formspring you can do so here. I'll be back on Saturday for my newest music album review. Have a good night.

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

Q&A with Johnny Mercyside: Part 8

Hey there, welcome to my newest Q&A session. Before I get to that I want to plug once again the fact that I was on TV last week, you can see my appearance in the top right of this page if you haven't already. Also at the top right of this page is a link to my epic 31,000 word article on my amazing journey to appearing on TV to do Winter Wipeout. If you didn't know that already and are interested, definitely check it out. My article has been well received universally, although people have said it was too long and they're not wrong!

In other news, I've hit a new site record this month, it's possible I could hit 6000 pageviews by the end of the month tomorrow, which will be a first. Thank you all so much for all the support you give me, I love doing this and the more support I get the more likely it is I could actually do this as a job one day. We can all dream.

Back to the actual topic at hand, Q&A Part 8. I do these every month and as always, these questions are all taken off my Formspring account, which you can find here. These were answered a while ago, and I've changed the answers if the situation has changed since then. Enjoy!

Q: What is your favorite cartoon character?

A: Difficult, I'd probably go with Captain Caveman, or Dick Dastardly. Both very old school, retro cartoon characters.

Q: How much TV do you usually watch in a day?

A: Not that much anymore, if video games count then maybe three or four hours. If we're talking watching television then it's extremely rare now. I spend more time on the computer than watching TV.

Q: Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not?

A: I don't believe in ghosts, it's difficult to explain why, I just think very scientifically, and don't think it has a place in science. I know that people say "science can't explain everything" but I disagree, I just think we don't understand certain things yet.

Q: If you could live in any house you wanted to, what would it look like?

A: Difficult question, the possibilities are endless! I've always wanted a big gaming room, and a pool. I've wanted to collect fantasy swords too so probably a room for that. There's probably more but I can't think of them at the moment.

Q: What's more important - who you know or what you know?

A: It depends, if it's work related, who you know. Anything else I'd say what you know.

Q: If you had a day to volunteer, where would you volunteer?

A: I'd volunteer as creative writer for WWE, and hope that my day volunteering got me a permanent job there with my "amazing" ideas.

Q: What things do you do to stay healthy?

A: I don't try that hard, it's not as important to me as it is to other people. I try to eat fruit every day.

Q: Best wrestling match whose story wasn't told inside the ring?

A: The CM Punk/John Cena storyline, otherwise known as "The Summer of Punk" was a great one recently. I'm also really enjoying Daniel Bryan's slow heel turn, which is a better story out of the ring than in it.

Q: When you're lost, are you more likely to ask for directions or find your way without help?

A: It depends on the scenario, I usually try to find a place on my own but if I'm really stuck, I'm not afraid to ask.

Q: Olof Mellberg is what would result if Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Chuck Norris had a love child. Agree?

A: Odd question but definitely. Although the image of Olof Mellberg even though he hasn't been in the Premier League for a few years now still scares me.

Q: Would you rather watch a movie in the theatre or at home?

A: At home as I can get comfortable easily, but watching a movie in the cinema is a great experience as well.

Q: What are you most excited about today?

A: I'm about to put on the Royal Rumble, my favourite PPV of the year. Excited!

Q: What's your favorite kind of snack to eat?

A: Chocolate.

Q: What do you think the world will be like in 50 years?

A: I think the world won't change much in terms of advancements in technology in 50 years time, as time moves on less impact is happening. Same applies to science. England probably still not winning the World Cup is still a high possibility.

Q: What movie are you most looking forward to seeing?

A: The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, although I might not be able to afford to see it.

Q: What's your favorite clothing brand?

A: Primark? I really, REALLY don't care for brands of clothing.

Q: What's the biggest risk you've ever taken? Are you glad you took it or do you regret it?

A: Meeting my wife. I travelled as a sixteen year old over 300 miles down the country on the train, on a nine hour ride. And fuck yes it was worth it.

Q: What qualities do you look for when you're dating someone?

A: Honesty and to be able to tolerate me and my extremely set ways. I will do the same in return.

Q: What's the first thing you check when you turn on your computer?

A: Like most people, Facebook

Q: What would you do if you won the lottery?

A: So many things. Most importantly, make every person I love unconditionally financially secure and have something that they love.

And that's my latest Formspring update. Once again if you want to follow me on Formspring you can do so here. I'll be back on Wednesday for my 1993 in Music review. Have a good night.

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

Q&A with Johnny Mercyside: Part 7

Hey there, welcome to my newest Q&A session. Before I get to that though I just want to say this is also the last post of 2011. It's been a good year. For this site, it's actually been a great year, I'm closing in on 50,000 page views, and over 42,000 of those came in this actual year. That really makes me proud.

On this site in the past year I've reviewed more games and music than I ever have in my life. I've started covering football matches on here, and still do bits on wrestling here and there. My Noughtie series is the largest project I've ever done and while I have mixed feeling on how it all turned out I'm still proud of it. My Yearly Music Review is a much better piece of work and that's great. More things? Erm, I love my Transformations of William Birkin article, that was great to write about and it's been really well received.  And my beefy Rise and Fall of Guitar Hero article was good too. It's been a fantastic year for this site and I hope 2012 will be better. I have a lot planned already.


On a personal level 2011 was also pretty decent. It was certainly better than 2010. I got married, I went to Argentina, I went to Ireland twice, and had an absolutely brilliant time. I went to Bunn Leisure Selsey again. My daughter Vivi has grown up to be an awesome little girl and my wife and I are expecting another child. It's been very good. But I also think 2012 will be better on a personal level. We're moving back to North Wales, where I grew up, where my family and friends are. Portsmouth has been good to me but 2012 brings me back to Wales, which has been even better.

So Happy New Year tomorrow, I hope it's as good to you as you want it to be.


Back to the actual topic at hand, Q&A Part 7. These questions are all taken off my Formspring account, which you can find here. These were answered a while ago, and I've changed the answers if the situation has changed since then. 

Q: If you could move to any foreign country, where would you move to?

A: I've always wanted to go to Japan, Switzerland and a little island in the middle of nowhere called Tahiti, so one of those three. I also loved Argentina when I went there so that's somewhere I wouldn't say no to either.

Q: Do you believe in luck?
A: If you mean luck as in it affects every day life all the time then no. The world works its way to make things happen. But sometimes something can happen that goes in your favour, so that in itself is "lucky".

Q: What's the furthest you've ever traveled?
A: Well I went to Argentina at the end of October. We stopped at Spain, so in one journey, the difference between Madrid and Buenos Aires.

Q: What's the first thing that you usually notice about someone you meet?
A: Depends what way round I see them and their gender. For girls, from the front, their eyes. From behind, their (hopefully) fine behind. For guys, erm, probably their clothes. That's both sides.

Q: If you could eat at any restaurant in the world tonight, which one would you choose?
A: As pathetic as it sounds, I really would like to go for a burger from next store at the kebab shop. I'm not someone that needs a fancy restaurant to have food I'm satisfied with.

Q: Who is the most important person in the world to you?
A: My daughter. I have a lot of people who are important to me but nothing comes close to Vivi. She is the most important person in my life, there is no replacement for my love for her.

Q: What language would you like to learn how to speak?
A: Japanese, one, because I want to go there one day. And two, because I could finally know what the fuck all the Japanese people in Britain are actually saying.

Q: If the Internet and TV didn't exist, what would you spend most of your time doing?
A: Play music on a CD... or play on a DS or PSP! Aha!

Q: What's your daily morning routine?
A: Set an alarm 15 minutes before I have to leave for work, get up, get dressed, leave for the train to work. If it's a weekend, get as much sleep as possible and then go downstairs. My life can be very simple.

Q: What fear would you most like to conquer?
A: I'm not really particularly scared of anything, so I can't say. I mean, I'm not fearless, but I'm not consistently bothered about anything.

Q: What's your favorite Sci-Fi movie?
A: I can't say, I really am not into Sci-Fi movies much.

Q: Who deserves to have a sandwich named after them?
A: Richard Cheese? I don't want a Richard Cheese sandwich though.

Q: Have you cried during a movie?
A: Erm... I can't remember... I probably have but I can't remember what one specifically.

Q: If you could own any kind of pet, what would it be?
A: I love cats and rats. I've had four or five cats and seven rats in my lifetime. In an ideal situation I'd to be able to afford a cat and a few rats, and hope that the cat has no interest in nomming the rats. We can all dream.

Q: Are you better at using your brain or your brawn?
A: My brain but I can use my brawn quite well too.

Q: What country's cuisine is your favorite?
A: I'd probably say Italian food, you can't go wrong with pizza and pasta really.

Q: Should WWE Ice Cream bars make a comeback?
Absolutely! I can't remember seeing any but I live in the UK. I'd buy them!

Q: Do you tend to be shy or an attention seeker?
A: I'm neither really but if this is the line of shy <---> attention seeker, I'd probably be closer to shy as I can be insecure at times.

Q: What's your favorite pasta dish?
A: Bacon carbonara. Mmmm.

Q: Would you rather take a picture or have your picture taken?
A: I'd rather take a picture, I'm not very photogenic. Or attractive.

And that's my latest Formspring update. Once again if you want to follow me on Formspring you can do so here. Happy New Year everyone! I'll be back on Monday for my 1994 in Music review. Enjoy your festivities!

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Please excuse the shoddy editing work on that picture above. It's atrocious I know, I did it on Microsoft Paint. I'm not going to be doing any site work now until Thursday, when I do my next Q&A post. On Friday, I'll be doing both Round 3 of the WWE World Champion Knockout Game, so no Live Thoughts from me that day. Then on Sunday I'll put up the 1994 in Music Review.

Enjoy your festive season! All the best!

Johnny Mercyside.

Q&A with Johnny Mercyside: Part 6

Hey there, welcome to my newest Q&A session. These questions are all taken off my Formspring account, which you can find here. These were answered a while ago, and I've changed the answers if the situation has changed since then. 

Before I start, I have some bad news. I'm not going to be covering the hopefully great match between Liverpool and Manchester City on Sunday. I'm away for the weekend. The plan is to post this, and then on Monday I'll be hopefully reviewing the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album. Anyway, enjoy Q&A Part 6.

Q: Who was the best boss you've ever had?

A: My boss before she retired in April, by some distance as well. I mean no boss is perfect but I did like her. It's difficult answering this, I have her on my Facebook, I'm not a kissass, it's my honest opinion.

Q: What music are you listening to today?

A: Music from 1994. I'm preparing the Mixtape for the "1994 in Music Review" which you will see posted here probably January 1st or 2nd 2012.

Q: Would you rather be a zombie or a mummy?

A: Zombie, at least I can move about easier, there is a chance I might spend a long time lying down if I were a mummy.

Q: What's the furthest you've ever traveled?

A: Argentina to take part in something that should hopefully be quite clear on this site in late January. Stay tuned.

Q: How many languages do you speak?

A: I speak fluent English and Welsh, although I am extremely rusty with my Welsh now. I haven't been in a first language Welsh school for eight years, and I haven't been in a second language Welsh school for four

Q: Would you rather have the ability to fly, or the ability to breathe underwater?

A: Ability to fly, easy, what views you can see from there...

Q: What was your favorite book as a child?

A: I was huge on Roald Dahl as a kid. What an author.

Q: Do you consider yourself a good dancer?

A: Not really, I don't "have the moves", I can move but I can't do much with it. I also get embarrassed doing it too.

Q: What would be the best thing about being a vampire?

A: I suppose it would be the fact that it's harder to die as a vampire, as long as you avoid the common threats (ie wood, light etc).

Q: If you could go on vacation for the next month with an unlimited budget, where would you go?

A: Hmmm... probably Switzerland but I'm more interested in this unlimited budget than the 

location...

Q: Who and when was your first kiss?

A: Jeez I can't remember, I think it was with a girl called Nia, when I was around 6 years old.

Q: What's the most delicious meal you've ever had?

A: I'm not really sure, I've had some pretty good ones, I don't remember meals often, more the food and if I like them I want them more often.

Q: If you had to perform at the circus, what trick would you do?

A: Definitely the Wall of Death, that's so kickass, it should be more popular than it is.

Q: What message would you want to put in a fortune cookie?

A: Be patient, too many people expect everything straight away. Good comes to those that wait.

Q: What is your favourite thing in the whole world, not a person.

A: Thing? Erm, food probably, I love food a lot. Then games.

Q: If you could have been the author of any book, what would it have been?

A: Probably Nineteen Eighty-Four, it's a fantastic book, and is very relevant for what the world is like today.

Q: What was the last book you read?

A: Dr. Dale's Zombie Dictionary The A-Z Guide To Staying Alive, which is a great book about, naturally, how to survive a zombie apocalypse. It's a must read for the inevitable.

Q: What's your favorite video game?

A: If I had to choose one, it's probably Final Fantasy IX, it's had the most impact on my life and as a gamer it's almost perfect in every way.

Q: What's your favorite school subject, and why's it your favorite?

A: My favourite subject through most of school was Maths, I was very good at it, I started to lose interest and struggled a bit more with it maybe GCSE onwards though. Then on, I started showing more interest in Art and English.

Q: Are you a member of any other social networking websites?

A: I have Facebook and Twitter accounts.

And that's my latest Formspring update. Once again if you want to follow me on Formspring you can do so here. As I said I'm away this weekend so this is my last post until Monday. Have a good one and take care.

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

Q&A with Johnny Mercyside: Part 5

Hey there, I've got no time to cover the football today unfortunately, and I'm away next week, so there's no Live Thoughts for two weeks. But I do have enough time today to quickly post the new Q&A, part 5, for your reading enjoyment if you want to get to know me a little more. These come from my Formspring account, which you can find here. These were answered a while ago, and I've changed the answers if the situation has changed since then. Enjoy.

Q: Exactly how ginger are you?

A: I am ginger by beard only, no where else. It's annoying that people call me ginger, because it is the only place I have ginger hair.

Q: Would you rather be a famous musician or a famous actor?

A: A famous musician, it was always something I wanted to do but never had any talent with.

Q: What do you wear in bed?

A: I usually wear some boxers and a pair of socks. I don't like having cold feet.

Q: Milk, white or dark chocolate?

A: I like all three, however milk is the best by some distance.

Q: Who's your favorite musician?

A: Trent Reznor, the guy is ridiculously talented. A second would probably Josh Homme, he also, is ridiculously talented.

Q: If you could instantly become fluent in another language, which language would you pick?

A: Spanish, it would be very useful to learn Spanish. It's quite a nice sounding language as well.

Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A: You see, I never really knew what to be when I grew up, I always said an astronaut but I never really cared to be one really.

Q: Sneakers or sandals?

A: Trainers, or sneakers as the question says.

Q: Who's the most underrated musician?

A: Saul Williams, a great hip hop industrial political musician. Very serious, but very good.

Q: What household chore do you hate to do the most?

A: I hate them all, but probably the basic picking up crap off the floor, cleaning sides stuff.

Q: What one thing are you exceptionally bad at?

A: Getting out of bed.

Q: What's the best place near you to get a pizza?

A: I'm not as high on local pizzas as Pizza Hut or Dominos, and I'm a Pizza Hut guy, so I'd go with that.

Q: What's one food you'll never eat again?

A: Parsnips, ergh, they make me gag.

Q: If you could be invited to one person's birthday party, whose would it be?

A: Dave Grohl, I bet he has good birthday parties.

Q: If you could instantly become an expert at one style of dance, what style would you pick?

A: Breakdancing, I'm not huge on rap but I have respect for breakdancers.

Q: If you could attend any concert, what would it be?

A: Well number 1 on my list at the moment is The Queens of the Stone Age, who are great live from what I've seen and heard.

Q: Have you ever dreamt something that's stuck with you?

A: Good question, I've once mentioned about the dream I had as a boy that I woke up in, went to school and did normal things. It's a nothing dream really, but when I woke up as a little boy it was weird, I thought I was still dreaming. And to this day I contemplate if my life is a dream, and if I will wake up anytime being that little boy again. Very weird and possibly stupid, but that dream will stick with me until I, wake up.

Q: If you could change one thing about the world today what would it be and why?

A: Change, I'd probably go with the media, they influence so much, and make the world be percieved in such an incorrect way it's unbelievable. They also get involved in so much that doesn't concern them, or the public.

Q: Name one thing you couldn't live without.

A: It's difficult because I see things realistically, so I can't really say. I'd say my daughter, but losing her would make my life incredibally miserable, but I could still live.

Q: If you could date any celebrity, who would it be?

A: Zooey Deschanel, she seems like such a lovely lady, and she is so cute as well.

And that's it from me again today. I'll hopefully be back on Monday or Tuesday and either talk about the pending wrestling of Monday or to review "Alpocalypse" by Weird Al Yankovic. Just in case you missed it earlier you can follow me and ask me questions on my Formspring here. Have a good day.

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

Q&A with Johnny Mercyside: Part 4

Hey everyone, I'm back from my holiday. Yes it was good, thanks for asking. It went too quick though. Hey ho. Well time to get back to normality. Because I only just got back I'm doing a lazy post today. It's not filler; I usually do this post every month, it's just that I'm doing it slightly early this month. I'll be covering the Liverpool vs Tottenham match tomorrow, where naturally I'm hoping we can get the three points. It'll be an intriguing test against Spurs, it'll be good to see how far we should have come from last season. Anyway, here's this months Q&A post, just in case you all want to know a little more about me as a person rather than my writing. These come from my Formspring account, which you can find here. These were answered a while ago, and I've changed the answers if the situation has changed since then. Enjoy.

Q: Do you believe in luck?

A: Not really, I mean some times it does feel it's on your side or against you but on the whole, no. I think how everyone behaves and circumstance combined makes the world tick in the modern world.

Q: If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?

A: Chocolate. It has to be. Consistently in my lifetime, chocolate has made me feel good food wise.

Q: What celebrity would play you in a movie about your life?

A: Well the celebrity that looks like me the most is probably Wayne Rooney, frustratingly, but I doubt he can act. In the acting world, probably Zach Galifianakis or Seth Rogen, I reckon they look slightly like me, and can probably do my personality well enough.

Q: If you could have the starring role in one movie what would it be?

A: The Crow, that would be kickass.

Q: What was your favorite movie as a child?

A: Ace Ventura, which is still one of my favourite films.

Q: Who was your first crush?

Well I had a crush on a girl when I was around five, I think... her name was... Sophie... although I'm not certain. In terms of people on my Facebook,it's pretty common knowledge I had a relatively long term crush on a certain lady named Heledd... though times have changed a lot since then for both of us now!

Q: How many countries have you traveled to?

A: Officially, two, UK and Ireland. But if you didn't know I've got to the shortlist stage to appear on Total Wipeout, so I'm looking to add Argentina to that list very soon!

Q: Who's the most talented person you know?

A: Not sure, I know a lot of people with a lot of talents. I can't say one is better than the other.

Q: What's your dream car?

A: I'm not a big car lover, and I don't drive. If I all the money in the world to buy one, I'd just use my eyesight to choose one that looks the nicest without looking at the labelsor specs. I'd probably try to have a car that also was good to the environment - that's important.

Q: Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

A: I'm more of an extrovert, but I show signs in both. More in the extrovert side though.

Q: Who inspires you the most?

A: My mum probably, she went through a lot of problems and sacrifices to get to where she is today, not that it's my place to say what she has went through. But she has an eternal respect from me, she'll be happy to hear. I still think she's too soft though!

Q: Cats or Dogs?

A: Cats, easily. Never been a fan of dogs, and I adore cats with a passion.

Q: If you could go on a road trip with any person, dead or alive, who would it be and where would you go?

A: I've always said that Jack Black, Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and a good few more people in that group of musician/comedy bunch always seem to be the coolest people to hang around with. I'd love to pick their brains and be a part of their banter.

Q: If you could eliminate one thing you do each day in the bathroom so you never had to do it again, what would it be?

A: Brushing my teeth, not that I do it each day, in fact I'm atrocious for doing them regularly. It is the one thing I can't stand doing, I don't even know why.

Q: What is your ultimate goal in life?

A: I don't really know, I don't have a formal goal. I'd like to be seen as a nice guy who has been a minor influence in some peoples lives. I'd like to be successful at what I do, whatever that will be.

Q: If your house was on fire and you could only grab three things, what would they be?

A: If it's anything, then naturally I'd grab Vivi and drag Mimi, and erm, probably my XBox, but only if Left 4 Dead was in the disk tray.If it's not including people, then my XBox, my TV, and my games cabinet.

Q: Do you believe in angels?

A: The short and sweet answer is no.

Q: If you could live any moment in time over again, just once, which moment would it be?

A: May/June 2003, when I was in a women's refuge after we left my dad. I was at peace then, no stress at all. I've had fantastic and proud moments since then, but at that time, there was just zero stress, and it was just peaceful and lovely.

Q: What are your views on god?

A: I don't think there is one, I have a scientific view on the way the world works, and if there is a super being out there, it's not a god for Earth but a god for the universe.

Q: What is the best thing about being a father?

A: Difficult, I'd probably say when Vivi gives me hugs without asking. I love that.

And there you go. A little insight to what type of person I am and my views on things. Just in case you missed it earlier you can follow me and ask me questions on my Formspring here. I'll be back tomorrow when I cover Liverpool vs Tottenham. Until then, take care.

Q&A with Johnny Mercyside: Part 3

Hey everyone, usually once in a month I'll do these lazy posts where I'll talk about myself rather than about music or games or whatever. These questions are from my Formspring account, which you can find here if you want to follow me. Here are twenty questions and answers for you that I answered some time ago (although if the answer is different from when I was asked at the time, I'll amend it here).

Q: What's the secret to happiness?

A: Looking at the bigger picture. When shit hits the fan, you need to take a step back and look at what it really is. Bad things are always the worst things in the world when they happen, but then when you look at it, life isn't that bad.This of course doesn't apply to everything, but definitely life's petty events. Stress is a big killer.

Q: What's the oldest piece of clothing you still own and wear?
A: I still have T-shirts I've had for probably upto 5 years ago.

Q: Would you rather vacation at the beach or in the mountains?
A: Not sure, I'd like to do both, in different holidays. If I had to choose? Mountains, I'd love to go to the south west of France or Switzerland.

Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I'm myself, I don't really fit into a category. Growing up I was always considered weird by most people, and it's a tag I've found hard to shake off. The older I've become the less it's bothered me.

Q: What kind of music can you just not stand to listen to?
A: Emo music. Bands who are barely older than me think they know the ins and out of life and love and whine about who life is so unfair. Then the fans who are barely younger than me "relate" to them, who also think they're life is so unfair and important to the rest of us. It's pathetic, it's like listening to a conversation between two Eeyore's.

Q: What was your favorite TV show as a child?
A: It's hard to pinpoint one, but I'll go with SMtv live. I watched it every weekend and it was comedy gold. It really was funny.


Q: Would you rather swim in a pool or the ocean?
A: In a pool, I'd definitely be more comfortable in one. Besides I hate the taste of sea water.

Q: If you could become any fictional character, who would you be?
A: Probably Vincent Valentine, he's pretty damn cool. Personality wise I see myself similar to Zidane Tribal though, so that would be more accurate.

Q: What's your favorite city?
A: Liverpool, it's just perfect for me, and yes I'm biased having connections from there. It's not too big, not too small, it has everything you'd want. Most importantly there are scousers everywhere!

Q: What was your favorite toy to play with as a child?
A: I can't really remember being attached to one particular toy, so it's hard to say.

Q: Do you believe in God?
A: No, just because some dudes in history wrote a few books doesn't make it real. I believe in the scientific explanation more than a spiritual one.

Q: Chocolate or Vanilla?
A: Ice cream? If so, chocolate, although I prefer mint chocolate.

Q: What was your worst travel experience?
A: Around two years ago Mimi, Vivi and I had the coach trip from hell when we went from Portsmouth to Birmingham on the National Express. Vivi wouldn't stop crying, we were cramped, we couldn't undo our seatbelts (or Vivi's), we were delayed about an hour and a half, it was hot. It was just awful, and we couldn't console Vivi very well in that enviroment.

Q: What was your first paying job?
A: I got paid £1.75 an hour working in a coffee shop. Absolute rip off in todays money, but I was 14 and didn't know how bad it was at the time.

Q: If you had the opportunity to live one year of your life over again, which year would you choose?
A: 2003, it was an amazing year with how awful it was until we left my dad, then the great escape, the trip to Ireland, going to a womens refuge, starting school at Friars, dying my hair curly black and wearing Manson hoodies. Good times.

Q: What was your favourite birthday gift?
A: Last year, I enjoyed the surprise XBox replacement a lot of people chipped in to get me. That was great. Going to Alton Towers was also fun. Last year was the best birthday I've ever had.


Q: What website do you spend the most time on?
A: Facebook really, followed by my website. I also go on Rajah a lot and Yahoo!.

Q: Who's the most famous person you've met?
A: Erm not very famous unfortunately, but I shook the hand of Guy McKnight of the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, outside a venue in Brighton, which was an honour as I love the band. I was going to interview the band but then I needed ID to get in the venue, which I didn't have.

Q: If you could be on one TV show which one would it be?
A: Total Wipeout, and I have an audition to go on the show next month, wish me luck!

Q: Who would win in a fight: pirates or ninjas?
A: Depends if we're at sea or not, if we were, pirates.

And there you go. A little insight to what type of person I am and my views on things. Just in case you missed it earlier you can follow me and ask me questions on my Formspring here. Until next time, take care.

Bitesize: #5

Hey there,

This is the first Bitesize post in two weeks. I'll do them once in a while just to get a few things off my chest in one go rather than do full articles about everything. It's just not possible to do that.


First let's start with the wrasslin'. I wrote about The Hardy Boyz this week before Raw was on so that's why I haven't talked about current storylines as of yet. Before I do, give that article a look, if you haven't already, it's about the problems both of the Hardy's are having and how their lifestyles and and attitudes piss me off. In terms of quantities of people, it's the most praise I've had for a piece of work I've done.


Onto Raw, it was a very good show all around, the promos were very good, the matches were very good. What they're doing with Nash and Punk is intriguing, although it does seem to be leading to a long term Punk/Triple H feud which is fine by me. Keep going. As for Cena going against Del Rio, that's also fine. I hope Cena puts Del Rio over, and they can have a good match as well. I doubt it will be a classic like the two Cena/Punk matches were, but it should be still hopefully go into the **** star range. As for Smackdown, I haven't read the spoilers but last week we saw Mark Henry crowned as the no. 1 contender. While he isn't the most technically gifted wrestler on the show he has been a very entertaining character on TV recently and Randy Orton having a fresh opponent is fine by me. Christian/Orton was great and they booked the right time to end the feud. It'll easily be considered the feud of the year, unless this Punk/HHH feud is igniting into a huge thing that will go all the way to Wrestlemania, which isn't out of the realms of possibility.


In football, Liverpool beat Exeter 1-3 away. While they're not the best of opponents they were still a decent test despite us fielding a strong side. We still put in a very mature performance, we defended well and scored when we had the opportunity. Just because they're not a Premier League side doesn't mean we can dominate for ninety minutes, you'll always have shakes it's just being able to stay strong and composed when you're pressed a bit. And it was a mature performance, and the goals were good as well. Good performance. I'm quietly confident about this season, not that I predict we'll even come close to the title, but a Top 4 finish is something realistic I'm hoping.


As for site news, I'm introducing a few new things to the site recently, some you've already seen. On a monthly basis I'll be covering a year in music, this month I covered 1999, and at the start of September I'll cover 1998, and keep on going backwards. Another thing is I'm starting to do live football thoughts while a match is on; you can view my biased rambles on what happens during a Liverpool match here once in a while when I can. I did my first one here, when we beat Arsenal last weekend. I will be covering Liverpool against Bolton tomorrow in the same way. Once in a while I'll start introducing the Mercyside Licks, which is 10 songs (with Youtube videos if I can find them) that I really like, and will recommend. The only rule? No music singles. They have to not have been released as a single, so in theory, if you're not a big fan of the band you probably haven't heard the track. I'll try and follow a form of music theme as well, like heavy tracks or soft indie stuff, but that might not always be possible. There are other things too, like I'm trying to do a Q&A post once a month if I can too. So yeah, I'm adding some structure to my site.


So there you go, keep supporting me! I have a Facebook page you can 'like' me below. Have a good day.

Q&A with Johnny Mercyside: Part 2

Hey everyone, once in a while I'll do these lazy posts where I'll talk about myself rather than about music or games or whatever. These questions are from my Formspring account, which you can find here if you want to follow me. Here are twenty questions and answers for you that I answered some time ago (although if the answer is different from when I was asked at the time, I'll amend it here).

Q: If you had to cook dinner for someone tonight, what would you make?

A: Probably a pasta bake, I'm not a good cook but I can make that meal.

Q: What's the most unselfish thing you've ever done?

A: I don't really know, I don't go incredibly out of my way to help someone, that's not to say I'm selfish, but nothing stands out as really unselfish. I do small things to many people to help them.

Q: Do you have any scars on your body? If so, how'd you get them?

A: I have a few small scars but the one big scar I have is on my wrist, when my good friend Matt and I were playing wrestling next to a window in high school. He pretended to throw me into the window but I actually went wrist first into the window and have a weird insect shaped slit down my wrist, thats about 3 inches long.

Q: What was the worst movie you've ever seen? From start to finish?

A: Probably Cabin Fever. It was just dire, in my opinion. No shocks, crap gore, crap storyline, awful ending, stereotypical characters, lazy film making. Yet it was a minor success.

Q: Would you rather work at a large company or a small one?

A: There are pros and cons to both, and as stupid as it is, I don't really care as long as they pay well. I hate saying it but it's too important to get good money over job satisfaction in this financial climate.

Q: What's the longest you've ever gone without a bath or shower?

A: Probably a week or something. I think I went a week when we had no hot water, not sure.

Q: If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be?

A: Tough one, I'm going with Chris Jericho, Trent Reznor and Jamie Carragher.

Q: Where's your favorite place to buy clothes?

A: Primark, because it's the cheapest.

Q: Do you believe in life after death?

A: It's quite difficult to talk about it, but most of the time I think not.

Q: What do you think was the greatest invention in your lifetime?

A: The evolution of video games.

Q: If you could look like anybody, who would it be?

A: I'm not really sure, I dont really aspire to look like anyone in particular. Of course I'd like to look different, but not like someone in particular.

Q: What was the best concert you went to?

A: I have a joint favourite, seeing Nine Inch Nails the first time, and seeing Muse in Dublin. I cant possibly choose between them, but they were both epic.

Q: What's the origin of your name?

A: My first name? Well my father and my grandfather are both called John, so you could argue I'm John III.

My surname is more complex. This is actually my third surname. My birth name was John Geary, and my father decided to look into the roots of the Geary family crest and found out that the Geary's were actually the O'Gara's, and the O'Gara family crest roots back to a surname called O'Gadhra. I and the rest of my family left my dad seven years ago, and I'm currently using my mothers maiden name, which is Harper. I hope not to change my surname again.

Q: What did you eat for breakfast today?

A: I only really have breakfast on the weekend, I usually get up and go straight to work on a weekday. On a weekend I usually have bacon and egg butties. They're the best.

Q: Do you believe there's intelligent life on other planets?

A: Maybe very very far away there is intelligent life on it, but it's probably too far away for us to track down in some time. There are almost infinite different type of chemical and atomic reactions that there's bound to be something with the right things in the right place elsewhere in the universe. It can't just be here, in such a vast amount of space.

Q: Where would you like to spend your retirement?

A: I don't really know, it's at least 40 years away, I don't know what type of person I'll be then. Would I still like playing video games?

Q: Do you believe in fate?

A: It depends what mood I'm in. When I'm being realistic I don't, but if something very weird happens then I have a more open minded view to the idea.

Q: What's your earliest memory?

A: I remember being in bed with my mum and dad when I was very very young. Properly however, I remember my dad breaking his vinyls and shouting at me when I kept playing with them.

Q: If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

A: I can change my name to whatever I want to. If I wanted to, I would, I've done it enough times.  

Q: If you could rid the world of one thing, what would it be?

A: Money. Money is the worst thing around at the moment, it ruins everything. We should go back to old fashion trading, a lot of different parts of the world resource efficiently in many important materials. We can trade fairly without money.

And there you go. A little insight to what type of person I am and my views on things. Just in case you missed it earlier you can follow me and ask me questions on my Formspring here.

I'll be back on Tuesday to start a new monthly series. You saw me cover the Naughties in music for the past six months. I found the whole thing to be a great experience yet it took way too long. So I've decided to start going backwards even further, into the nineties. So I'm starting with 1999, and it'll just be a one day one article quick review of my thoughts on the year 1999, unbiased and biased. I hope you'll enjoy this dramatically shorter version of what we just went through for six months. I'm hoping as I said to do one year every month, so naturally the start of September I'll do the same format but for the year 1998. Have a good night.

Q&A with Johnny Mercyside: Part 1

Hey there,

A lazy post today as I'm really ill and can't be bothered writing anything new. This is a new thing I'll be posting, where I talk about me, as a person rather than as a freelance journalist. All these questions were asked from Formspring, and you can view my Formspring profile, with all answered questions on the left side of the site. Here are 20 questions, forming the first part of Q&amp;A time with me. I hope you enjoy.

*Note, some of the answers may have changed, I started the account 7 months ago so where the answer is different, it's because it's outdated.

Q: What was the happiest moment in your life?

A : Probably back in 2003 when my family just left my Dad, it was a great feeling.

Q: When was the last time you received flowers?

A: I don't receive flowers, I give them sometimes to my partner however.

Q: If you could go back in time 10 years and tell your younger self something, what would it be?

A: Things will get better, my life wasn't the best 10 years ago

Q: What's one thing you own that you should probably throw away, but never will?

A: I have a box for nostalgia and I probably will keep most of the stuff in there forever I hope.

Q: If you could ask George W. Bush one question what would it be?

A: I don't really know, does he think Barack is doing a better job than him?

Q: What's the kindest thing someone has ever done for you?

A: Oh jeez that's tough, everyone chipping in to get my XBox replacement for my birthday was fantastic.

Q: Would you rather get up early or sleep late?

A: Sleep late, definitely I hate getting up early.

Q: If you could only watch one TV show what would it be?

A: Erm, tough one, probably my weekly wrestling shows.

Q: Who's the coolest person you know?

A: I don't really have a top "cool" friend, there are cool aspects of a lot of people I love.

Q: What do you think is your most attractive feature?

A: I've always thought my personality, I like to be sarcastic, try to be cheerful. If you mean appearance, probably my eyes or my bum.

Q: Are you a morning or night person?

A: I'm a night person, definitely.

Q: If you had to cook dinner for someone tonight, what would you make?

A: I'm not a cook, so I'd probably make pasta bake, I can stick things in the oven, not that it's a great talent.

Q: Star Trek or Star Wars?

A: Neither, I'm not really into sci-fi.

Q: Do you believe in God?

A: No. I believe in evolution, and take a scientific approach to how things have come around. I find it a difficult subject to talk about, due to how many people believe in religion.

Q: What's your favourite genre of music?

A: Good one, I love my industrial metal most consistently, but in terms of how many bands in a genre I like, probably the hard rock bands like the Foo Fighters, Muse and QOTSA. But as a genre, industrial metal.

Q: Do you consider yourself a good dancer?

A: No, I'm pretty awful.

Q: How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

A: Sarcastic, friendly, weird.

Q: If you had to throw away either your TV or your computer, which would you choose?

A: Probably my computer, at least I can play video games on the TV.

Q: What was the last book you read?

A: I just finished this compilation of random Top 10 listings, I got it for my birthday. In terms of proper books before that I finished reading a biography of the life of John Peel.

Q: If you won a million dollars what would you do with it?

A: Difficult, I'd like to do many things, and I'd plan it properly. So not sure where to start with that one.

If you want to ask me questions, you can ask them in the comments section, or on Formspring, which as I said before is on the left side of the website. I'll be posting these rarely though, I'd rather write about games and music than myself. Have a good night.