Welcome!

Hi all and welcome to the first ever post here at Norris Approved; my latest attempt at a blog. My name is Mike Norris and I live in Durham in the North East of England. It's a pretty awesome place and when I'm not working or generally busy I tend to write. What about? Well anything really... I'm currently attempting to write my first novel which has been in the pipeline for a year or so now. I'm sure I'll find the time to discuss that soon. But when I'm not deep in a world that I created I have a lot to say about certain passions in my life. If you have even a passing interest in any of the following things then maybe you'll get something out of my blog... MUSIC Music (like many of us out there) is my first passion. While I wish to high heaven I could play an instrument I have to make do with simply listening and loving music wherever I can get it. While most people in my neck of the woods splurge all their money on getting pissed every Saturday night, I would be much happier at a live show watching one of my favourite bands. Pretty much anyone who knows me knows that I'm a pretty major Queen fan. Seriously I tend to think I'd do pretty respectable on Mastermind with Queen as my specialty subject. Outside of Queen I sit very much in the hard rock/metal camp. Some of the bands I love and have been lucky enough to see at festivals and gigs include legends like Metallica, AC/DC, Kiss along with future headliners such as Black Stone Cherry, Steel Panther and Airbourne. So what qualifies me to have a blog about music? Well not a fat lot. I had a blog back in 2010 called 'Definitive Hysteria' but I didn't really keep it up as I was training to be a counsellor at the time. Four years later, I'm qualified and that creative part of my brain is flowing again. It helps that 2014 is seeing a huge resurgence in the music I love. Needless to say if you are a fan of rock/metal then this blog is for you. I will sometimes deviate from that but rock will always be my first love. WRESTLING Yes I'm a 28 year old man and I watch wrestling. Yes I'm aware that it's all planned out in advance. That's the joy of it! Do you like 'House of Cards' or 'The Big Bang Theory'? Guess what? They're 'planned out' too. Wrestling when done right is the most exciting thing you can watch live or on TV. Even in the knowledge that WWE is 'fake' (I HATE that word! More on this another time) they can still have me on the edge of my seat with the stories they tell in and out of the ring. Having said that when it's bad it can be excruciating! I have no problem calling WWE/TNA on their cheesy moments too! Some of you may have stumbled upon this and remember that I used to write for Divas of Destruction a few years back; a website dedicated to women's wrestling in WWE, TNA and beyond. Among various bits and bobs I used to review TNA Impact Wrestling (back when the Knockouts rocked) and NXT Season 3 (AJ Lee and Kaitlyn started out here) so it'd be fun to share my thoughts on wrestling once again. MOVIES/TV I graduated from uni in 2007 with a degree in TV and Radio Production. I haven't really done anything with this qualification since then but that doesn't mean I won't touch on film/TV a bit now and then. If I'd had this blog set up a couple of weeks ago I would have had a lot to say about the 'How I Met Your Mother' finale for example. So yeah I'll no doubt touch on this too. So thst's what to expect from Norris Approved Album Reviews. I may even post a video or two. The dream would be a podcast but we'll start here. Needless to say please spread the word and more importantly let me know what you want to see here. If there's anything you want me to talk about; email me. If there's something you want my views on; tweet me @norrisapproved. If there's a gig you want to hear about buy me tickets... I'm only half joking about that gig thing. So whether this lasts 5 posts or 5000 let's ride this out and rock on! Mike