This is a little bit funny

And a little bit sad, all at the same time: Thank You For Saying Yes.
Been listening to the Sun Kil Moon CD again this morning, i'm still routinely gobsmacked by the sheer depth of songwriting it contains; despite the sonic palette being somewhat limited, despite their always being a conceptual continuity running though all of its ideas, despite the unifying sonority of Mark Kozolek's voice...it still manages to be an absolute widescreen epic. I can virtually pinpoint the second that "Duk Koo Kim" stops merely being a song and knifes you in the heart, never letting you go until the fifteen minutes are up.
*sighs*
The Project is nearing it's release, we're just going over the last few bugs and snags; it looks like it'll have to launch without absolutely everything i'd hoped it would have, but that's ok, there's always phase 2 :)

XU started today.........

Waddya reckon? Me? It gets a big "Meh" from me, I'm afraid. Fragmented, feels like it's more sweeper and less tune. Oh well, give it time (Maybe)
How was your bank holiday then? I had a cold for the last half of it, which was a pain, but given the rapid movement of temperature from hot to cold, it was always on the cards.
Spent most of the train journey up to London this morning listening to this:

Always makes me think of the first time we toured Europe, it was glued to my walkman for most of the time, like a theme tune:
"Roam if you want to, roam around the world...."
Mike, Gen and Gimpo up front, then me on the seat next to the door, then Gaynor and Paul (merch and guitar tech) and Jez (asleep) Phil (crew) and Alan on the back seat. 1 Transit van, several european countries, countless miles, at least 3 mountain ranges (one of them in Blizzard conditions) and a rucksack full of gently rotting clothes. Rock'n'Roll, I gave you the best years of my life...

Get on this quickly......

Techcrunch has got 10 thousand invites to Joost's beta launch.....FYI, it's web TV, 2.0 style, and it's great....lots of ads at the moment, and slightly fragmented content, but it's still one of those apps (download required) that'll impress your mates......

And it's just hit me....

That if Xfm goes "DJ free" in the daytime, then it's goodbye to the X-list :(
The X-List was such a big part of my life for the years that I was doing it, I'd like to think I made it into something worthwhile, and it's such a shame to see it just....vanish.
What will happen to the yearly X-list countdown? The bank holiday playbacks? The X-list was such a useful way of getting classic stuff across; and I'm always proud of expanding its horizons a bit..
It was me who badgered them to include "Where's Me Jumper?" "Take The Skinheads Bowling" "Blister In the Sun".....and loads more. The last time I looked, the new management had actually cut the size of the X-list (tunes available for request) by about two-thirds, down to about 400 songs. This was ludicrous enough, but they removed all the "Dance" stuff: Deee-Lite, Aphex, De La Soul, Guy Called Gerald....
Daft Bastards.
*sighs*
My favourite headline of the day has to be this one.

This was my Saturday.....

..And most enjoyable too (if a tad nerve-wracking)

Spent the train Journey back up to town listening to some Dirty Vegas mix CD action, and trying to finish off "Mother London" By Michael Moorcock. It's a wonderful book, essential for anyone in love with the city, anyone who sees life in London as inexorably linked to the lives and dreams of its past inhabitants. The whole tome of the prose seems to be almost psychedelic, lots of free association and scatter gun shards of random thoughts....at certain points, it spirals into what feels like a literary acid trip; as ideas pile on top of each other, smothering some, giving birth to others. The only downside to all this restless creativity is that it's hard to grasp the story as it squirms out from under your grasp....

I'd almost forgotten it was the same Moorcock who'd worked with Hawkwind (getting a snide reference from Alternative TV along the way-mp3 in the middle of the text) suddenly it's all making a lot of sense.....

For those who know, this is essential....

And for those who don't, it's twice as essential you check this out: Documentary on Northern soul and Wigan Casino:

Looks like I got out at the right time!

Xfm ditches daytime presenters
Oh dear, what a foolish thing to do. And the idea that the listener will suddenly be able to access a huge range of music is just absurd. They'll get access to the daytime playlist. The end result will be exactly the same songs you hear now, just in a different order.
*sighs*
I was listening to Xfm whilst I was in the bath this morning, it just made me very sad to think how far it's fallen. It was such a big part of my life and i'll always have an affection for it, but it really does feel as though they are trying to squeeze the life out of the station.....
Been rocking this recently, another one of those useful tech start-ups: Tubes

Pop quiz at the pub last night......

...which I WON! Rah! My quiz team alter-ego "Crouching Woman, Hidden Cucumber" walked it, frankly. Lot's of questions on 80's pop, which were a doddle for me, but not to the rest of the pub, who had never seemd to have heard of Wax, or China Crisis (stop sniggering at the back)
Also, there was a round of questions on The Muppets, which led me to dig this out again. Enjoy.

mmmmm, soothing.......

There's nothing like some non-linear game action to help a wet Tuesday along:
Feed the head
A strange night of dreams last night (I'm sure I've blogged about my dreams in the past) Well, as vivid as ever, really; I dreamt i was at a Ruts gig, and they were playing "Staring At The Rude Boys" REALLY LOUD.
I get on the tube this morning to come to work, what's the second or third song to pop up on the pod? you got it. Spooky.
I'm getting hungry as well, might have to go for Mexican food again, there's a great place on Berwick Street that does pork Tacos, with the meat having been cooked in coca-cola to make it extra juicy........
Oh hell, I appear to be salivating.

This is the silliest thing i've heard in ages.....

...but you can definitely see some people using it.....Thriving Office.

Nice little mention...

From Mojophenia :)
Cheers!

The start of another week....

Hopefully a momentous one for The Project (beta? let's hope so).
Great post from Suw about the decline and fall of Xfm, obviously I might be just a little bit close to this for a truly objective point of view, but here's my two pence worth....
What the new management appears to be trying to do is monetize the Xfm brand, in much the same way that Kiss was developed into a brand in the mid-90's. They want to break Xfm out into a bigger arena, but it will be impossible to do it with a "niche" mentality. Unfortunately, that "niche" mentality is the basis of Xfm's strong position as holding itself up as a bastion of cool, if it develops into a bigger brand, this core value of caring about the ethos behind the station will undoubtedly have to be sacrificed.
Ultimately, I could no longer stand by and not have the ability to support and represent the music I loved, I had to search for a new outlet to do just that, that's "the project".
Levity for Monday, comes in the shape of Black Bush

I'm so tired today.....

I can hardly stand upright.
Anyway.....
I'd like to see this film.
And I can now report that I'm utterly obsessed with the Radio De Outuno track *points down*, must have played it at least a dozen times this morning......
Today has been full of musing about profiles and tabs, RSS and Flickr...and it's been punctuated by a nice big bowl of Chilli Chicken Ramen (nommity nom)
Somehow I suspect that I'll be plugged into this on the train to Brighton very soon....

This is interesting.....

A Social networking address book: Fidg't

A little bit of a spell-checker....

*Points Down* They're actually called Radio De Outuno, sorry.
But the song is still incredible, if anything, i've become even more obsessed with it, check my last.fm page over the next few days, i'm sure it'll be making lots of appearances.
Been a while since we had any stupidity....so......
How hungry are you today?
In other news:
Looks like the fun is over :(((((((((
Today is full of musings on the viability and possibilty of blogs and forums.....
The project continues apace more details very very soon.........

And i'm back!

Was great, lots of pasta, bianco pizza with gorgonzola, fabulous wine at just over £1 a bottle.....
And this tune bouncing around my head. Waddya reckon?

They are Radio de Autuno ("Autumn Radio").. the tune's called "Alem De Razao" Check them out on Myspace.

First Holiday for AGES....

And i think I deserve a few days off, don't you? I'm off to Italy (very) early tomorrow morning, won't be back blogging (unless I do the Internet cafe thing) until Tuesday. I'll try and fire off all important updates (what the food is like, what colour wine I'm drinking, that sort of thing) via Twitter. Prego, prego, ciao!

possibly the most NSFW lyrics to a song this year....

This is "Homecoming" by The Teenagers...

...and it's just incredible. Make sure your mum isn't anywhere near the computer while it's playing, OK?

Before it vanishes from the Xfm site.....

Here's the questionnaire i did for Xfm Online, shortly before resigning. It's a nice little snapshot of my personal taste, but you can also read between the lines and see where my head was at....I wasn't a happy bunny, that's for sure!

Questions, Questions, Questions...
1. Your chief characteristic
My knowledge of music in all its forms.......and a desire to transmit that to others.
2. Your idea of happiness
Knowing you're doing the right thing.
3. Your favourite virtue
Letting people know how much I love them.....
4. Your biggest flaw
Righteous indignation.
5. What was your worst ever job?
Hmmm, it's not about the worst job, it's always about the worst boss.
6. What would your favourite occupation be?
Easy. As long as I’m somewhere that provides an environment which cares about giving people the best new music in the world and the technology to love and interact with that music, then I’m happy.
7. Where would you most like to live?
Buenos Aires or Nishiazabu.
8. Which characters in musical history do you most dislike?
Jim Morrison, Robbie Williams.
9. Which characters in musical history would you like to be?
Moe Berg, Dennis Leigh, Wild Bill Davison, Charlie Parker, Henry Rollins, Lee Perry.
10. Your favourite album ever (yes, I know it’s impossible, but try dammit)
It's one of these, ‘Ha!-ha!-ha!" by Ultravox! , ‘23’ by Sukpatch, ‘Give Blood’ by Brakes, ‘Love Junk’ by The Pursuit Of Happiness or ‘Just Backwards Of Square’ by Lowgold.
11. Who’s your favourite DJ?
Jon Jules, Jared, John Kennedy, Lee Newman and Michael Wells, Colin Dale, Eddy Temple Morris, Jane Gazzo.
12. What was the first single you bought? (and be honest about it)
‘In The City’ The Jam
13. …and you first gig? (ditto)
It's either The Damned or Duran Duran (well, it was a long time ago....)
14. Your favourite qualities in a band/musician
Honesty, passion, belief, the ability to make a guitar feedback perfectly.
15. Your favourite author
Neal Stephenson, James Gleick.
16. Your favourite film director
I hate films.
17. Your favourite hero or heroine in real life.
It used to be Joe Strummer. Now he's gone, I think it's still Joe Strummer.
18. Your favourite hero or heroine in fiction
Mr Deity
19. Your favourite food and drink
Food: Deep Fried Crispy Pig's Intestines, Thai noodle soup, really strong cheese, fresh sourdough bread, sausages and mash. Drink: A nice bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, an ice cold bottle of Singha beer, a pint of cooking lager with a top.
20. Your favourite restaurant
Patio in Goldhawk Road, Kambi's in Brighton, Mon Plaisir in Monmouth Street and Quo Vadis on Wardour Street.
21. Your pet aversion
People trying to be funny and failing miserably.
22. What three songs would you have played at your birthday?
‘Complete Control’ The Clash, ‘Give Me Power’ The Stingers, ‘Trip II The Moon’ Acen.
23. What is your present state of mind?
“I'd rather leave this world forever, baby... Than let life go the way it's going"
24….and your motto is?
Never, ever stop listening to your heart. Always leave when things fall apart. Hold your head up high.

And seeing as it's been lots of geekery over the past few days...

Here's a talking cat (sort of) to redress the balance.
If you fancy even MORE animal-related silliness, you could do a lot worse than checking out the biggest online resource for lolcats :)

Nice overview of the Digg revolt...

Is available here . Looks like Digg will be OK (though with the possibility of litigation somewhere in the future) which is a relief.
Twitter continues to fascinate me, got added by lots of random people yesterday, all of whom cease to become random once they're under the twitter umbrella *struggles with lumpen analogy*
It's led me to peoples blogs, to ideas, to a community of users. Job done, then.

One of the wonderful things about the new job...

Is its location: I absolutely LOVE being in Soho. Popped out for lunch today, past The Blue Posts, the market traders furtively playing poker outside Yauatcha, the brothel madams on the pavements of Berwick Street, having a crafty cigarette in the sun, dripping in cheap gold and sporting battered slingbacks and velour tracky bottoms: there are children playing in the school yards, people practising Tai-Chi in the grounds of St.Anns church....
I'm loving London, and loving life.

Yesterday...

Was the most amazing day on the Internet EVER.....full details here, also here,and here.
It might seem geeky, but the implications are bigger than you might think. I suspect that those implications will start to show themselves once the dust settles. It's not even about whether we even USE the key, it's about the power that communities have, and also how they choose to exercise that power, for better or for worse.

Natas is THE MAN

This is what i'd like to be doing today.

At my Desk.......

Just put this CD into itunes, despite the fact that it's got a HUGE crack all the way through the actual CD. Amazing, was expecting it not to work, but despite a couple of audible clicks at the start of the first track, it's fine.
I'm also loving Twitter at the moment, particularly the fact I can post updates from my phone (expect one from the pub a little later on)
If there's anyone out there who wants to join me, my Twitter page is right here.