January 2008 Archives
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build your own widgets
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Best myspace layout ever
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Love the look of this blog
Thanks to Hg for alerting me to the new Action Stream plugin for Movable Type, enabling you to aggregate your virtual presence around the web. In the left hand side you'll find list of recent updates. Unfortunately, the styling looks a bit pants on MSIE. If you don't see icons and the text looks a bit large, do a shift-reload to refresh the stylesheet.
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Had somehow missed that there's a Torchwood ARG. If only I could view the pages without needing a pesky proxy
No, I'm not a fan of 30 Seconds to Mars, but what else do you do when you arrive in Dublin on the late flight and don't fancy an early night in your grotty hotel?
For the first time in their career the band played two shows on the same night, to accomodate the demand for tickets while dealing with a tight schedule. All of emo-Ireland gathered at The Ambassador, a worn out venue that used to be a cinema and will soon be a library, if I'm not mistaken.
The horde of teenagers was clad in black, pretty features enhanced with thick mascara. Emo kids, comparable to 80s Goths, but somehow sexier. Self assured, more money in the pocket, designer accessories in the bag. I have never seen so many digital cameras at a show. It's fun to watch them have so much fun.
Jared and his band rushed through the first concert on the night. They were late and half their gear was stuck in traffic somewhere. The younger fans had to make do with a 40-minute show, but the grave yard shift sort of got their money's worth. It takes 60 minutes for the band to play their second album Beautiful Lie in its entirety, in sequence, from 'Attack' to the hidden track and Bjork-cover 'Hunter'.
Sparks flew. The band are well rehearsed, professional but not coasting. They seemed to be enjoying themselves too, and though you never know with these L.A. boys, genuinely surprised by the Irish crowd's vocal fervour.
Leto - a good frontman, not a bad actor, I don't really believe his flimsy lyrics - wrapped himself in an Irish flag and donned a hat. For a moment his strutting reminded me of the young Bono, though the music pummelled, never really soared the way the Irish band's would. Playing without their own light show or P.A. has brought the band closer the audience, Leto said: 'Thank you so fucking much.'
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New album by seminal Dutch band, first one in 11 years. They sound a little Nick Cave/Lee Hazlewood-lite on this one.
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I went without Word/Excel for a couple of weeks when I got the new PC, but then I wanted to read some old files and Google docs couldn't read 'em, so I reluctantly installed it.
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Forgot to blog this earlier. Free music, yay.
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That looks like something out of Torchwood
Anyone watch Pop on Trial, the 90's with Stuart Maconie, Caitlin Moran, Goldie and Paolo Hewitt on BBC 4? Oh. My. God. The. Smug. Goldie's the only one I didn't want to throttle. He seemed a lot more interesting than previously suspected. Hewitt, Moran and Maconie represent everything I hated in the British music press in the 90s. The insular, anti-European, suspicious of anything attempting to be more than entertainment vibe. No mention of U2, of course - the band that arguably dominated the early 90s world wide. Paolo 'I'm so far up the Gallagher's arse my face looks like I'm permanently smelling poo' Hewitt especially I wanted to gag. I don't know who said it and I'm paraphrasing but, yeah, the 90s... all about Thatcher's children run amok. Fuck Oasis and Loaded and lads and ladettes.
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"Blueprint is a CSS framework, which aims to cut down on your CSS development time. It gives you a solid CSS foundation to build your project on top of, with an easy-to-use grid, sensible typography, and even a stylesheet for printing."
'Mostly dry'. That doesn't sound too bad then. I'm hopping over to the Emerald Isle for a day's worth of photo recce (for a shoot next month), perhaps some shopping, and a late night 30 Seconds to Mars show. Not that I'm a big fan or anything, but I'm sure both band and audience will be a sight to see.
Talking about a sight to see... (Yeah, grasping at straws here) Torchwood S2e02... now that's more like it! This director gave Barrowman much less time and space, which cut down on his showiness. Now all they need to do is clean out his ears... that's the only reason I can think of why he is always SO MUCH LOUDER than the other actors. Or is it just the Tom Cruise school of acting?
Loved the Monster of the Week. The woman playing Beth did so awesomely and the steely eyed sleeper dad was just the right amount of creepy and silly.
Talking about a sight to see... (Yeah, grasping at straws here) Torchwood S2e02... now that's more like it! This director gave Barrowman much less time and space, which cut down on his showiness. Now all they need to do is clean out his ears... that's the only reason I can think of why he is always SO MUCH LOUDER than the other actors. Or is it just the Tom Cruise school of acting?
Loved the Monster of the Week. The woman playing Beth did so awesomely and the steely eyed sleeper dad was just the right amount of creepy and silly.
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Had totally forgot this was in production. Can't wait.
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Star Trek film teaser site
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Pro printing services online
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Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other application.
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50d rumours page
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'Sex and drugs and on the dole'
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Bit retro.
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New band from UK, but sound like 80s Irish scene. Produced by Lillywhite.
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"You're invited to help describe photographs in the Library of Congress' collection on Flickr, by adding tags or leaving comments."
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New company by Erwin Blom, Idse de Pree and Wessel de Valk, all former players in Dutch public broadcasting
This is my most favourited picture on Flickr. Sixty-one people, mostly from Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, have clicked the little star since I uploaded it in 2005. It has only around 1300 pageviews.
It is my most favourited picture not because of my photographic skills, or my wonderful eye, but because it features Chanel decoration. It appeals to young, rich brand... well, let's use the word fiends rather than invoking the w-word. I much prefer the picture next to it.
I'm *this* close to deleting this snapshot from my stream.
Most of my other favourited shots are of 'pretty' girls, like Shirley Manson, Summer Glau and, um, Brandon Flowers. Or cute animals. Ouch.
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Torchwood starts tonight
Yay, it's started. Oh look, a fish in a car.
God almighty, the scene with the granny is edited. So. Slow. Ly.
Jack's not here. It's like the Scoobies without Buffy.
That Blowfish is straight out of the RSC. Is that a gun which I see before me?
Ah, Jack's back. Ianto's jealous of the Doctor, poor thing.
Oh. The Marsters. Not a fan. Not of the cheeks. Not of the acting. Sorry.
Hee, just when you're thinking that's so 'help me Obi Wan Kenobi'... there it is.
Yeah, yeah, kiss already. Why not fall through the floor as well?
... campy banter, blah blah.
Intimate scene between Gwen and Jack. For a second there I thought he was going all Roy Batty on us. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate...
You know I'm really starting to doubt Barrowman's ability to act a lead (drama) part. Perhaps if they did a musical episode?
Aw, Rhys proposed. He's sweet.
See? Once a rapist, always... oh sorry, wrong 'verse. Heh.
Talking about rapists... this verse has got its own. Oh hi, Owen. When's he hooking up with Tosh then?
Run, Ianto, run.
Has Marsters had some work done? The eyes look weird.
Oh noes, he's killed Jack. Good old... immortal Jack.
How fast did the Scoobies drive to get back to Jack so quickly?
Ooooh, there's the stopwatch. Get it?
Huh, what, rift? W'happen?
Hey, he can't go out in the sunlight, he'll go woosh!
I have no idea what's happening.
What did he say? He found who?
Hmm.
God almighty, the scene with the granny is edited. So. Slow. Ly.
Jack's not here. It's like the Scoobies without Buffy.
That Blowfish is straight out of the RSC. Is that a gun which I see before me?
Ah, Jack's back. Ianto's jealous of the Doctor, poor thing.
Oh. The Marsters. Not a fan. Not of the cheeks. Not of the acting. Sorry.
Hee, just when you're thinking that's so 'help me Obi Wan Kenobi'... there it is.
Yeah, yeah, kiss already. Why not fall through the floor as well?
... campy banter, blah blah.
Intimate scene between Gwen and Jack. For a second there I thought he was going all Roy Batty on us. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate...
You know I'm really starting to doubt Barrowman's ability to act a lead (drama) part. Perhaps if they did a musical episode?
Aw, Rhys proposed. He's sweet.
See? Once a rapist, always... oh sorry, wrong 'verse. Heh.
Talking about rapists... this verse has got its own. Oh hi, Owen. When's he hooking up with Tosh then?
Run, Ianto, run.
Has Marsters had some work done? The eyes look weird.
Oh noes, he's killed Jack. Good old... immortal Jack.
How fast did the Scoobies drive to get back to Jack so quickly?
Ooooh, there's the stopwatch. Get it?
Huh, what, rift? W'happen?
Hey, he can't go out in the sunlight, he'll go woosh!
I have no idea what's happening.
What did he say? He found who?
Hmm.
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Bizarre audio illusion. You have to play the video a few times to get it.
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Wikipedia says Sinead Lohan's new album (started in 2004!) is ready for release. Hope the songs she did with GF are on it.
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B.P. Fallon's new baby band, Semi Precious Weapons. Interesting business plan.
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English singer/songwriter. Voice compared to Cathal Coughlan.
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"Morbid and morose and made in Britain". Wonderful melodies. D'ya know this guy, Hg?
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MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WILL DIE!!!
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All the Top Gear you could ever want and more
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I was charged for a full year this morning. Sent an e-mail asking why. No answer. Have to find out from Metafilter they fucked up. Never did like their jokey unprofessional mailshots.
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Investigating Lulz
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Reenactment of Garfield comic strips. Set to music. Eh?
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Amazing pictures of big wave surfers
There's too much rock in my life. Too much white boy angst. My own Last.fm radio station depresses me, so I tend to tune into Mike's since our musical compatibility rating is 'High', but he's got a lot more Kylie, Sugababes and Britney Spears in his playlist.
So help me out. Post your pop recommendations for 2007/8, singles rather than albums, in the comments and fill my life with earworms.
So help me out. Post your pop recommendations for 2007/8, singles rather than albums, in the comments and fill my life with earworms.
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An elegant way to copyright your photographs. Very nice.
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Some fantastic work by Irish photographer James Horan
Rufus, I love ya and Release the Stars was quite wonderful, but you're not Judy Garland. I don't think your nasal, lethargic voice is suited to these songs at all and listening to you murder these classics is making me lose the will to live. I think it's a little self-indulgent.And that's my damning mini-review of this album, 'Rufus does Judy at Carnegie Hall'.
Even the sleeve photo looks like you're not really into it yourself.
Your sis does a mean Stormy Weather, though.
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This Bright.tv review (Dutch) of the Asus Eee pc makes me very, very keen.
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Might go to this photography fair in Antwerp on the 20th
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I must try and remember this for when I ever manage to scrounge enough cash together to get a macbook
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Hanks urges studios to start honest negotiations.
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First five minutes of Torchwood S2 premiere. Oh yeah.
Entertainment Weekly has compiled a list of the 100 Greatest Websites. Our very own Whedonesque.com is on it, in the 'POP-POURRI: EVERYTHING ELSE THAT DIDN'T FIT BUT IS STILL AWESOME' section, alongside YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, The Onion, and NPR and MySpace. Check it out.
They'd listed us among the 25 essential fansites not too long ago.
Thank you, I can retire now.
They'd listed us among the 25 essential fansites not too long ago.
Thank you, I can retire now.
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Could no resist. Chose this one over the 960 (12px) which is has more pixels but more noise as well. Will have to find good home for my Fujifilm F30.
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All xs4all subscribers now get unlimited access to KPN's Hotspots. Awesome.
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"I failed every spelling test on a Monday morning my entire school life and that is why I am a shit speller. To this day I cannot spell and Doctor Who is at fault.
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Documentaireserie van de VPRO. De schrijver Adriaan van Dis bezoekt Zuid-Afrika.
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De Amerikaanse televisieserie House is ook in Nederland populair.
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Viral ad for Berlitz translations
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Vanavond op TV
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"It wouldn't be at all difficult for me to kiss a woman - I'll kiss a frog if you like. It's difficult to ride bareback backwards while unicycling, but to kiss someone isn't difficult."
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Cool auction.
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Don't know why I hadn't searched for this before
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Spotted on Mike's playlist
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awesome proxy
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"while watching him deliver the near three-hour film's climactic monologue it's possible to speculate whether any other acting was done anywhere else in the world that day, because Dan looks like he's doing it ALL. "
Oh dear, I've been tagged for a meme by Meg, who got it from Neil, who got it from James. It's been a while. It's 3AM as I notice this. I must brood on it over the weekend.
Alright, I'm done brooding.
What I read
I haven't read a book in ages. I still buy them, though not as often as before, but they sit on my shelves unread. I canceled my subscription to NRC Next because I no longer have a commute, at least not one long enough to read anything, my tram ride lasts about five minutes. The only magazine I currently subscribe to is The Word, formerly known as Word. I never read them when they arrive, but I keep them for when I travel or when I finally get tired of the internet. Is it me, or is Word slowly becoming more like Q magazine? It doesn't seem as decidedly different from the mainstream music mags as it used to do. Over the Christmas holiday I did spend some time reading an issue on the couch and promptly fell asleep. At work, I try to start the day reading our own newspaper, DAG, but there's usually some other pressing matter concerning our tv guide to attend to.
What I watched
I watch so many tv shows I hardly ever get round to films. But as my favourite shows are either on strike or suspended over the Christmas break, I caught up on some films. I checked the Times Online's 100 best films of 2007 and picked The Last King of Scotland, Atonement, For Your Consideration, Bridge to Terabithia and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. All of which I enjoyed to varying degrees, but none of them blew me away as much as my favourite film of the year, Babel, which I would have liked to see again. It's on my iPod, lacking essential subtitles. I watch quite a bit of video on my iPod in bed, over the last couple of weeks I have been falling asleep watching entire seasons of Battlestar Galactica. (Gaeta is so the fifth remaining Cylon.)
I wish I'd seen all of The History Boys on the BBC, I had planned on watching it, but forgot and only caught the second half. I liked it, but half expected the boys to break into song, it had that kind of stagey rhythm to it. Talking about singing... When Joseph met Maria was a lot less engaging than Lord Webber's actual competition was and it just reminded me that the blandest candidates won. Bland... yeah, I've never liked Tom Hanks much and he didn't do anything to impress me in the awful The Terminal, which I also managed to see half of.
I also caught Catherine Tate's Christmas show - and was a little taken aback by her 'Northern Irish Christmas' sketch, but George Michael made up for it with his scarily effective Shane McGowan impresssion. I also saw the Extras Christmas special, which I thought was just a rehash of one of the regular episodes. I caught bits and pieces of Dara Ó Briain's stand up gig on the Beeb. I can's stand him when he's on panel shows like Have I Got News For You, but didn't mind him that much on his own.
I almost forgot the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Maybe that's because I didn't find it too memorable. Kylie and Tennant worked well off each other, but the story was a little is that all there is. I hope the much hyped start of Torchwood's second season (January 16) will be more exciting.
What I listened to
I don't listen to the radio, haven't really since college. Since I got the iPod a few weeks back, I have set up an elaborate playlist which ensures I won't hear a track twice. I'm doing this because there are way too many songs in my collection that I've never listened to, because I tended to put favourites on repeat before. I've exported my playlist from Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve for your perusal: listened.txt
Other than that, I spent many hours transferring some of my own old DAT and MD bootlegs to hard disk, splicing them up in tracks and uploading the full shows to a private tracker. I made a handful of people very happy and I enjoyed reliving the memories that go with the concerts and the friends I went with. Precious moments.
As for albums, that dying breed of a format, the new Einstuerzende Neubauten 'Alles Wieder Offen' is really, really good. If you're the kind of person who dismisses them for being German, or ancient, or just... 'weird', now's the time to actually listen to their new work. It may surprise you. Or, you know, confirm your suspicions. If the single Weil, weil, weil puts you off, give Nagorny Karabach a go.
What I surfed
My usual haunts. Television Without Pity for my daily portion of undiluted snark. Our own Whedonesque, of course - things got rather heated over Christmas. I still visit Metafilter though not as often as I used to. I checked out Derek Powazek's new magazine blog Magazineer.com. I also spent time on various tapers related forums like taperssection.com, looking for information on the hardware I use to record, or to find out the best ways to reduce hiss and remove pops and clicks. Most of the time, though, I was probably reading what folks were up to on Twitter.
What I played
Meg added this one to the list of questions. I'd really love to have more opportunities to play board games, like we used to in college. On New Year's Eve I played one round of Trivial Pursuit which I enjoyed a lot. It's probably the only game I have some chance of winning as I'm useless at all tactical games like Risk.
Who I tag
Please feel free to join in, or not: Derek Powazek, Hydragenic, maybe I can wake Reluctant Nomad from his slumber and I know it's not going to happen, but I'd love to read what Stephen Fry'd make of this meme. Last but not least I'm going to try to infect the Dutch blogosphere (oh god no, I'm using the b word) and that's why I tag Erwin Blom, who doesn't visit here I'm sure, but if you all click on the link a few times he might get the idea.
Alright, I'm done brooding.
What I read
I haven't read a book in ages. I still buy them, though not as often as before, but they sit on my shelves unread. I canceled my subscription to NRC Next because I no longer have a commute, at least not one long enough to read anything, my tram ride lasts about five minutes. The only magazine I currently subscribe to is The Word, formerly known as Word. I never read them when they arrive, but I keep them for when I travel or when I finally get tired of the internet. Is it me, or is Word slowly becoming more like Q magazine? It doesn't seem as decidedly different from the mainstream music mags as it used to do. Over the Christmas holiday I did spend some time reading an issue on the couch and promptly fell asleep. At work, I try to start the day reading our own newspaper, DAG, but there's usually some other pressing matter concerning our tv guide to attend to.
What I watched
I watch so many tv shows I hardly ever get round to films. But as my favourite shows are either on strike or suspended over the Christmas break, I caught up on some films. I checked the Times Online's 100 best films of 2007 and picked The Last King of Scotland, Atonement, For Your Consideration, Bridge to Terabithia and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. All of which I enjoyed to varying degrees, but none of them blew me away as much as my favourite film of the year, Babel, which I would have liked to see again. It's on my iPod, lacking essential subtitles. I watch quite a bit of video on my iPod in bed, over the last couple of weeks I have been falling asleep watching entire seasons of Battlestar Galactica. (Gaeta is so the fifth remaining Cylon.)
I wish I'd seen all of The History Boys on the BBC, I had planned on watching it, but forgot and only caught the second half. I liked it, but half expected the boys to break into song, it had that kind of stagey rhythm to it. Talking about singing... When Joseph met Maria was a lot less engaging than Lord Webber's actual competition was and it just reminded me that the blandest candidates won. Bland... yeah, I've never liked Tom Hanks much and he didn't do anything to impress me in the awful The Terminal, which I also managed to see half of.
I also caught Catherine Tate's Christmas show - and was a little taken aback by her 'Northern Irish Christmas' sketch, but George Michael made up for it with his scarily effective Shane McGowan impresssion. I also saw the Extras Christmas special, which I thought was just a rehash of one of the regular episodes. I caught bits and pieces of Dara Ó Briain's stand up gig on the Beeb. I can's stand him when he's on panel shows like Have I Got News For You, but didn't mind him that much on his own.
I almost forgot the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Maybe that's because I didn't find it too memorable. Kylie and Tennant worked well off each other, but the story was a little is that all there is. I hope the much hyped start of Torchwood's second season (January 16) will be more exciting.
What I listened to
I don't listen to the radio, haven't really since college. Since I got the iPod a few weeks back, I have set up an elaborate playlist which ensures I won't hear a track twice. I'm doing this because there are way too many songs in my collection that I've never listened to, because I tended to put favourites on repeat before. I've exported my playlist from Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve for your perusal: listened.txt
Other than that, I spent many hours transferring some of my own old DAT and MD bootlegs to hard disk, splicing them up in tracks and uploading the full shows to a private tracker. I made a handful of people very happy and I enjoyed reliving the memories that go with the concerts and the friends I went with. Precious moments.
As for albums, that dying breed of a format, the new Einstuerzende Neubauten 'Alles Wieder Offen' is really, really good. If you're the kind of person who dismisses them for being German, or ancient, or just... 'weird', now's the time to actually listen to their new work. It may surprise you. Or, you know, confirm your suspicions. If the single Weil, weil, weil puts you off, give Nagorny Karabach a go.
What I surfed
My usual haunts. Television Without Pity for my daily portion of undiluted snark. Our own Whedonesque, of course - things got rather heated over Christmas. I still visit Metafilter though not as often as I used to. I checked out Derek Powazek's new magazine blog Magazineer.com. I also spent time on various tapers related forums like taperssection.com, looking for information on the hardware I use to record, or to find out the best ways to reduce hiss and remove pops and clicks. Most of the time, though, I was probably reading what folks were up to on Twitter.
What I played
Meg added this one to the list of questions. I'd really love to have more opportunities to play board games, like we used to in college. On New Year's Eve I played one round of Trivial Pursuit which I enjoyed a lot. It's probably the only game I have some chance of winning as I'm useless at all tactical games like Risk.
Who I tag
Please feel free to join in, or not: Derek Powazek, Hydragenic, maybe I can wake Reluctant Nomad from his slumber and I know it's not going to happen, but I'd love to read what Stephen Fry'd make of this meme. Last but not least I'm going to try to infect the Dutch blogosphere (oh god no, I'm using the b word) and that's why I tag Erwin Blom, who doesn't visit here I'm sure, but if you all click on the link a few times he might get the idea.
99 euro to be able to play my vinyl collection again and transfer them easily to my computer, not bad. I picked up this Lenco USB turntable at MediaMarkt this morning and am currently playing my old singles.It's working fine most of the time, but sometimes there's some crazy interference that won't stop until I quit recording and start over.
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Dik's old band on MySpace
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Wow. All the aul 80s/90's Dublin bands are around on MySpace. Down the memory lane...
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Course, the Horde are there
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"45 REVOLUTIONS is the definitive book on PUNK, MOD, POWERPOP, NEW WAVE, NWOBHM and INDIE SINGLES issued in the UK and in Ireland between late 1976 and the end of 1979."
Marco Derksen was making German and Italian playlists on iMeem today, using input from Twitterati. That set me on a quest to try and make an Irish one. Only I didn't want to pick too obvious songs, but rather unearth some of the late 80s/early 90s bands that nobody really knew or cared about outside of Ireland. Before the internet as we know it. Before bargain flights. Before the Celtic bloody Tiger. Back when every Irish musician was washing up dishes in crappy restaurants and looking for a Green Card. And every Irish drummer played on Larry Mullen's second hand kits.
I couldn't find a whole lot of them on iMeem so I had to make do with what I could find, alternate tracks, etc. My own collection is mostly on vinyl. I really must get a USB record player.
As I searched online I found out a lot of the bands are making 'come backs' on MySpace (An Emotional Fish, Something Happens, The Golden Horde, Into Paradise, Zerra One, The Dixons, Screech Owls, In Tua Nua, Aslan) and I also found this rather marvellous website hosting the Irish punk & new wave discography.
Is it me or is making playlists on iMeem a lot of work? Search a song, click through to a song, click 'playlist', choose profile or group, make playlist... find next song, start over...
You'll just have to imagine that this playlist also contains: I want too much (A House), You ain't lovin' me lately (Aslan), Parachute (Something Happens), Friends in Time (The Golden Horde), The Bridge (Cactus World News), Dog with no tails (The Pale) and my entire obscure Mother Records collection... perhaps I will pick up that USB record player tomorrow.
So, consider this a botched attempt at creating a playlist of the 'best' (read 'available') Irish bands.
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"the entertainment industry should learn how to embrace technology and compete with piracy, instead of fighting its customers."
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With info on preamps
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The 'bitch is back
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"Introverts crave meaning, so party chitchat feels like sandpaper to our psyche."
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