I'm mildly amused that Amazon felt the need to flag this up.

iBlog

I've just spent the last hour arranging the app icons on my iPod Touch into alphabetical order. I'm not sure which is worse, the fact that I did that, or that I'm writing about it now.

Blame Ringo

Admit it. You'd do it too if you were there. Yes you would. You know you would.

Grrr

I am getting really fucking tired of being Rickrolled. Seriously, stop it.

The Most Brilliant Invention In The World Ever*

This arrived today. I'm an 80's teen, and as such I have quite a stack of VHS tapes gathering dust in various corners of the abode. I also have a strong aversion to chucking stuff out. If only there was some way of transferring all those old VHS tapes onto the computer or DVD. But wait. Here it is. The only downside is that it transfers videos in real time. So, if the show you're transferring lasts 30 minutes, it takes 30 minutes to convert. On the plus side, I rediscovered a recording of Sophie's Choice that I didn't know I had.

*After the iPod.

Welcome to Rip-off Britain (Episode 4392)

British rail fares are the highest in Europe. Anyone surprised by that? Show of hands? No-one? Thought not.

Hospital

Was in Edinburgh today for a hospital appointment - really just a check-up to make sure everything's OK with my ankle, which it is. They reckon I'll probably need a hip replacement at some point, but that's hardly news to me. In fact, shortly after my accident I was told I'd probably need it done within 1 to 2 years - and that was almost 5 years ago. I've had plenty of time to get used to the idea. At the moment though, it's not causing me any significant pain or discomfort, so I'm happy to leave well alone for the time being.

This also means that I won't be attending the hospital for check-ups any more, which is good news. I wasn't entirely thrilled at having to take an entire (unpaid) day off work for a 10-minute appointment (plus a 3.5 hour round-trip and a 1.5 hour wait in the hospital). I don't mind taking the time off work; it's the 'unpaid' part that bothers me. Frickin' company policies. But that's another story...

Oh No!

I've been enjoying a little bit of retro-gaming lately, mostly through the wonders of Steam, but over the last couple of days I've been reliving my childhood* thanks to this online version of the wonderful Lemmings.

*OK, early-twenties-hood, if you're going to nitpick.

DNA Test

There might be something in it. Maybe.



You are an Analyst

Your attention to detail, confidence, sense of order, and focus on functionality combine to make you an ANALYST.

You are very curious about how things work, delving into the mechanics behind things.

Along those lines, how well something works is usually more important to you than what it looks like.

You find beauty and wonder mainly in concrete, functional, earthly things.

You are very aware of your own abilities, and you believe that you will find the best way of doing things.

Accordingly, problems do not intimidate you, as you believe in yourself.

You trust yourself to find solutions within the boundaries of your knowledge.

You don't spend a lot of time imagining how things could be different—you're well-grounded in the here-and-now.

It is important for you to follow a routine, and you prefer the familiar to the unknown.

Your independent streak allows you to make decisions efficiently and to trust your instincts

You prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute.

You are Reserved

You are RESERVED – you aren't someone who always needs to have others around, and you find you can handle most situations on your own.

You can be very happy spending time alone, and enjoy your own thoughts and ideas.

You find it difficult to understand why some people get so emotional and tell everyone else their problems.

You believe that if you want to get something done, it is best to do it yourself.

In your experience, other people are not always completely dependable, so you generally rely on yourself and only a few close others.

Despite your independence, you are not a closed-minded person who makes hasty judgments about others. You know that it isn't always easy to walk in other people's shoes.

At times other people's feelings are puzzling to you, and you wish that people were more rational.

Your vision of the world is complex – your values are not set in stone. Instead, you are able to change your beliefs as you learn new information.

It's Snowing Out There

It's February. It's Scotland. It's snowing. Well, duh.

Wankshop, Part 2

I was right. It was totally wanky, and pretty much a waste of time. As compensation, I am working from home tomorrow. Woohoo!

Wankshop

So tomorrow I have to attend something that glories under the name of A Culture Workshop. A combination of words that sets my hackles rising. I think it's the word Workshop that gets on my nerves the most. It just sounds like... well... a big old pile of wank. I'll report back on this, but my prediction is this: It will be a big old pile of time-wasting wank.

Tree Fiddy!

It's my 350th post, apparently.

So... uh... do you think Brooce had enough backing singers, or what?

A Look Back

2008 was a pretty good year for music. Here's some of the stuff I've enjoyed over the year.

Tony Christie - Made In Sheffield

He could have taken the easy route and made more cheesy Amarillo-style pop. Instead, with the help of the likes of Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley, he made a beautifully crafted, dignified album and surprised the heck out of all of us. My personal choice would be Born To Cry, but Danger Is A Woman In Love would make a great Bond theme.





Henry Priestman - The Chronicles of Modern Life
The guy from The Christians made a classic Grumpy-Old-Man album. Have a listen to Don't You Love Me No More? and Grey's The New Blonde.









Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Seventeen frickin' years we waited for this. Was it worth the wait? Well, yeah. Almost. It dragged on a bit towards the end, but parts of it were flat-out brilliant. Catcher In The Rye, even without Brian May's guitar parts, stood out for me.








Glasvegas - Glasvegas
I really wanted to hate this. They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover - equally you shouldn't judge a band by their awful name. OK, the name still annoys me (and most of Glasgow, I'd imagine), but this is a debut album more exciting than anything since Oasis.

Wall-of-sound production, songs about absentee fathers and social workers, loads of swearing and Scottish accents that make the Proclaimers sound like Prince Charles. Nice.



Duffy - Rockferry
A good old-fashioned slice of classic-sounding soul, and apparently the UK's top-selling album of the year. Try Warwick Avenue and Mercy.









Elvis Costello and the Imposters - Momofuku
Declan's best for years (named after the inventor of instant noodles, apparently). Sadly there's not much to be found in the way of evidence on YouTube, but here's a live performance of American Gangster Time.

Happy New Year

Ummmm.... OK... I'm a little late with this, but all the same, I hope 2009 is a good year for you.

You Don't Really Care For Music, Do Ya?

Hey ho. We all knew which song was going to be #1 this Christmas. The question was, which version of Hallelujah would take the top spot. Tragically, it was X-Factor winner Alexandra slitting the throat of Leonard Cohen's classic to line the pockets of that c*** Simon Cowell.

Erm, anyways, I did my bit. I bought Jeff Buckley's version (which ended up at #2) and Leonard's version (#36), but sadly to no avail. Ah well. I guess it's a good enough song to withstand any amount of butchering.

* There's something about the Leonard Cohen video that reminds me of the Muppet Show. Just me?

Cool Stuff

1. Steam. I downloaded this last week, since when I've been wallowing in the nostalgic bliss of playing all those games that once made Friday afternoons at work so spectacularly unproductive. Doom, Doom II, Quake, Quake II, Heretic, Hexen, Hexen II. After 10 years, I finally have a computer that can do justice to the graphics of Quake II. And it looks... uh... yummy.
2. Remote. A little app for the iPod touch or iPhone, that lets you use the iPod/Phone as a remote control for iTunes. Perfect for those staying-in-bed days. Which - for me - is most days. Did I mention that I'm off work until January 12th?
3. I just noticed this - VLC Media Player's system tray icon has been given a little Santa hat. How very festive. Here's the magnified version.

This Time It's Personal

Hey, you remember that Attic Lights song "Wendy", dontcha? Y'know, that song you couldn't get out of your head for a fortnight. Imagine how much more infectious that would have been if your name actually was Wendy.

Well, quit imagining, because they've helpfully recorded 60 alternate versions of the song with 60 different names, so (almost) everyone can get a piece of the action. Anyone whose name is Adam, Alex, Amy, Andy, Becky, Ben, Billy, Boogie (?), Bowie, Charlotte, Cheryl, Chris, Claire, Danny, Davey, Emily, Emma, Gary, Gemma, Hannah, Helen, Ian, James, Jay, Jessica, Joey, John, Julie, Karen, Katie, Kevin, Laura, Lauren, Lee, Lisa, Louise, Lucy, Mark, Marky, Martin, Matthew, Michelle, Mikey, Natalie, Neil, Nicola, Paul, Peter, Plu-ey (?), Rachel, Ritchie, Robert, Romeo, Sammy, Sarah, Simon, Sophie, Stevie, Teddy or Tommy, that is.

Would it have killed them to record a Big Al version? Tsk.

Huh?

Last night was the BBC's annual fundraiser for Children in Need. Remarkably, on the night they topped last years £19 million by a further £2 million. Quite spectacular, considering that apparently no-one in the whole world has two beans to rub together.

Anyways, this year continued the tradition of giving a teaser of the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special. Which this year turns out to be quite baffling.

Ambiance

Here's a handy little app for the iPod Touch/iPhone. It's perfect for sleepyheads like me who like to get a bit of shut-eye on the train to work. It's not easy getting to sleep on the train - too damn noisy for one thing. I'd like to meet the genius who thought it was a good idea to make mobile phones that can play music through a speaker, thereby giving people yet another new way to be annoying.

The obvious solution is to plug the earphones in and stick a bit of music on. While his usually succeeds in drowning out the outside noise, it aint easy dropping off to sleep when AC/DC are beating your eardrums to a pulp.

What you need is something that plays nice soothing sounds, something to shut out the noise around you, but not so distracting as to keep you awake. That's where Ambiance comes in. I've been using it for a while now, and have found the Stream and Waterfall settings to be particularly effective. In fact, the first time I tried Stream, i slept almost all the way to Glasgow.

Just one thing. I wouldn't recommend using it on a full bladder.