As you might expect....

The internet has, unsurprisingly, been aflame over the past few days with discussions, musings and out-and-out lust for the iphone.
Hmmmm. I'm still not sure. don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't love nice new toys: I do! But I've been through a PDA phone phase....and came right out the other side. I just liked my mobile to be, well, like a mobile phone. To feel like a phone, to look like one, to work like one. It's that last one that's the killer, for me: does it WORK like a mobile? In other words, can you be mobile with it? And that's mobile as in "away from your desk/office/home/country for SEVERAL DAYS"
So, for the past year or so, I've reverted to using one of these, and I absolutely love it (I'm not alone either, check those reviews!) It's simply the only phone that does what it says on the tin. PLUS, the battery is still amazing, here's a radical concept for a future phone: one that you can take on holiday for a week, without a charger, and when you get back it's still working.
:)
So, there you go, that's me; but what about you? What phone do you use, and why?

Hurrah! for Gimpo!

He's doing the Pylon walk again this Saturday :)
FYI: more info on Gimpo. the man's a legend.

Today's obligatory youtube clip

is this: The Long Ryders "I Had A Dream"

What a tune! Nick and JD, that's for you. Why hasn't it been released on CD? *grumbles*
You can also check them out on myspace.....
And today's piece of tech-related musing: this week seems to be the week that Facebook has reached some sort of tipping point here in the UK. I know I'm as guilty as the next man, but it seems like EVERYONE has suddenly joined this week: it's like we've been gripped by some sort of subliminal compulsion....
And of course, the net result of this is that I'm now in that honeymoon period where your heart beats a little faster when the notification mails plop into your inbox: "Rah! more friends! more pokes! more applications to add! More people drawing comedy penises on the graffiti wall!" (Seriously, how much of the graffiti app is taken up with the art of the dobber? what's up with that, huh?)

Phew!

It's one of those days today, where things keep getting more and more complicated...
The launch date for "the project" is now Monday, due to the fact we need to tidy up the Java Script and enable everything to run REALLY FAST.
Stick with me on this one, please? Cheers :)

Right, i'm on Facebook now as well...

Isn't everyone? That's me. I'll update the blog profile as well (soon-ish).
Also been checking out Mediamaster again (which you know I love) and it seems they've added a button which will let you import itunes in one go! Seeing as there's about 11,000 songs on mine, i'm not sure if it'll all upload, but it's worth a try, isn't it? I'll keep you posted on progress.
Video of the day, without question, is this. He likes Turtles.

Hahahahahahahahahaha

Just found this whilst trawling the net this afternoon.........Here's my profile from a Jesus Jones interview in Smash Hits magazine:

Iain
Full name: Iain Richard Foxwell Baker. "The Foxwell bit's been traced back two or three hundred years." Very enthusiastic, talks fast and loud and emphasises every other word. Born 29/9/65 in Carshalton in Surrey. "I'm a complete Libra. A full on Libra. "One Sister, Joanne, a nurse. Parents called Richard ("a top geezer"), who's writing a book about ancient crooner Bobby Darin, and Margaret, who's recovering from an operation at the moment ("Get well soon, mum!"). Once bunked off school and got caught by the military police hiding in the nearby military academy. "I was frog-marched back into school. It was brilliant!" Thinks Kylie Minogue is "ace, a top pop star". Likes waking up in the morning and "just lying there for an hour, just wriggling about". Favourite food: fish fingers and bread sauce. Worst vice: "Too much beer". Used to be a choirboy and hates The Pope.
Introduce yourself.
"I'm Iain, the keyboard player. Erm, everybody calls me Barry D, basically because I hated it so much when I first heard it. Everybody thought, 'well, we're in a band so we'd better have some stupid names. And you can have the most stupid name!' Yeah, I'm the keyboard player that can't stand keyboards. I really hate them. Well, they're so stupid - you look like such a nonce if you're stood behind them. You can't throw any rock shapes from behind a keyboard. So when we play live I don't spend a lot of time at the keyboard. I run around, I wave my arms in the air and leap up and down and scream my head off."
What's your room like?
"It's like a bomb site at the moment. There's just stuff all over the floor. It's L-shaped and there's a double bed in one bit of the L. And along the wall is just piles and piles and piles of records, a Julian Cope poster from "World Shut You Mouth", a Madonna poster for "True Blue", a couple of other things which I can't even remember...What else? It's up in the roof of a dormer bungalow so it isn't straight up. The walls slope in, so that's really nice and it's got a great big window that looks out onto a garden and I can see the pond. So that's ace."
What's your favourite word?
"My favourite word? Um, I can't think! There are loads of words! It'd have to be something like, um, cloudy. It sounds nice."
Are you in love?
(Immediately and very definately) "Yes, I can't tell you who with! Ahahaha! (Goes all bashful) No I can't, but she knows who she is, and she knows that I always will. You've got to put that down - that's quite important that."
Do you like yourself?
"Not really, actually. Sometimes not at all, because I always think I could be a bit of a better person if I tried. What don't I like about myself? Erm, my feet. Because I've got collapsed arches which makes walking really painful sometimes. So I'd like to swop those if I could. And my arms are too skinny. I'm a bit selfish, which I wouldn't mind changing, and erm, I'm hopelessly romantic, which is nice but it gets a bit wearing after a while."
Who do you get on with best in the band?
"I think all of them really. We're dead close. Jerry's quite good fun to be with, because I end up taking the mick out of him all time. Alan's the most ridiculous person to go out partying with, because if you ever go out partying with him he has to be the last person to go to bed. He just won't stop until everybody else has dropped around him."
Tell us a secret about one of the others.
(Pause) "Ermmm, let me think. Jerry's got a hairy nose! Ahahaha!"

Time for some TPOH....

I know i've blogged about them before, but i'm in one of those moods when only The Pursuit Of Happiness can save me. TPOH are one of my favourite bands of all time, but, more than that, I think Moe Berg is one of the only musicians i've ever really worshipped. He is, without question, the most gifted lyricist i've ever heard. Many, many years ago, Jesus Jones played a show in Toronto (TPOH's hometown) and through some vague record company connections, someone got word to Moe that I was a huge fan and he turned up to the gig; I was lucky enough to spend most of the ensuing aftershow party chatting to my idol....
Moe was friendly, humble, charming and funny; but what sticks in my mind is a drunken guy coming up to him and saying "Hey Moe! I LOVE that "Cigarette Dangles" tune man, what's it about, man?"
(FYI, "Cigarette Dangles" is possibly the world's least subtle song: it deals with seeing your lover lasciviously smoke a cigarette, getting an erection, then having gymnastic sex all over the place as a result)
Moe, to his credit, just raised his eyebrows imperceptibly, smiled and told the drunk guy the whole story of the song. God bless you Moe :)
And for those of you who doubt my description of the less-than-subtle meanings behind the lyrics of "Cigarette Dangles", here's the video:

"Now sit up straight, hook your legs through the rocking chair, I wanna find a new way to show you how I care"
Just perfect.
Mind you, their entire career is full of songs every inch as good........
Here's another: "She's So Young from the first CD "Lovejunk"


And another: "Pressing Lips"

Hahahaha

Here's the latest from the "I'm in UR..." meme, which ended up in the hyper-meme explosion of Lolcats/Lolbots/Lol-logos/whatever....a snazzy T-shirt which gives you the chance to update ur phrazez as the meme mutates. Enjoy!!!111ELEVEN!
And i'm guessing you'll be wanting an update on "the project" won't you? Well, beta is *this* close. If you're in my address book, expect some news very soon.
In other news, I appear to be coming down with a bit of a cold, which is very frustrating. This week is one which will need me to be as sharp as I can possibly be.
*sighs*
How about some silliness, to take away the impending chaos of launch?
Fair enough.
how about the US Supreme court cracking down on free speech?
And it's been a while since we checked out Xfm, hasn't it? Well, the latest wheeze they've come up with is "Live From Leicester Square" Well, as far as I can see, all that means is yet more networked content. Essentially, they will network the 6-7pm hour of Camfield's afternoon show on a Friday....and what will the regional audiences feel, when they're coerced into the jollities down south?

"Screw him and screw his memory"

Marvellous piece by Marcus Brigstocke on the passing of Bernard Manning:
"He did have great timing - everyone will say that over the next few days, and I would join them - except that it is no compliment. Manning had great timing ... yeah, and that mentally ill lad who murdered all those kids at Virginia Tech was a bloody good shot, but that's hardly the point, is it?"
Just brilliant stuff. (via)

This is hugely exciting......

As I type this, I'm looking at a finished version of "the project". It looks as though we're about a day or so from launch, barring the unforeseen snags and bugs that tend to appear at this somewhat critical juncture-take it from me: I've got EVERYTHING crossed.
More news the very second I get it.
Right, time for a diversion........
I know I shouldn't really laugh at this next clip, as it's SO childish, but it's been a valuable source of humour, at a time when the whole "project" thing has been so very fraught.........

This has been making me smile (and wince)

So then.......

...who saved themselves some cash on that mute boxset? Wonder if someone at itunes checked out my blog ?(i'll let you know once google analytics kicks in) because it's now gone back up to 45 quid :((((

And today's top money-saving tip is.......

Get yourself a copy of the "Mute Documents" box set. 10 CD's of truly wonderful electronica, from Depeche Mode and The Silicon Teens, to the wack-ed out genius of Fad Gadget, Boyd Rice and LOADS more........
Here it is on Amazon, for 42 quid.
But, I hear you say, "That's not that much of a bargain"
Indeed.
So, how about getting it from itunes? I think someone over there has suffered from a bit of a brainfart: they've got it on sale for £7.99 (EDIT: link disabled, they've realised their mistake)
:))))))))))
I'd hurry if I were you, it's not going to stay at that price forever..........

The subject of Editors came up in the office today....

(that's the band, BTW) and I couldn't resist posting this.

Everyone always seems to label Editors as Joy Division wannabes, but IMHO, they always seemed to be biting the Chameleons style, big time.
How was your weekend? Mine was odd, TBH, very strange not to be involved in Wireless, as it's been such a big part of my summer for the last couple of years....
However, it meant I could spend an entire weekend snoozing, so I'm not complaining.
And here's my favourite link of the day.....
Many years ago, before the dawn of embedded content and hyperlinks that fire up when you put a CD in your computer.........actually, before Cd's altogether. And pretty much before computers. Well, before computers that actually worked anyway.......
Look, I'm getting ahead of myself. What you need to know is:
1) Shakin' Stevens released a computer game.
2) you can now play it in your browser.
3) If you die, Shaky will attempt to make you feel better by saying "OH DEAR, a Bat bit you"

Any more questions? Thought not.
:)

Think I was joking about Download?

And how much fun it was? Think again. This is right in the middle of my set.

Jeebus.........

What's with those "Ask Xfm" interludes? They appear to have been made by Smashey (or Nicey, i'm not quite sure) Whatever, they are painful to listen to.
*sighs*
*again*
I'm quite sure this video is veh old, but it's great stuff, nonetheless.(not quite sure why I didn't embed this one, sorry)

And while we're on the subject of great videos, this is equally wonderful, and is particularly notable for the use of "reciprocity"

VideoJug: Web 2.0

Back from Download....

...And it's safe to say I was impressed. Best festival i've been to in ages. I Dj-ed in the Duracell tent (my thanks to Zak at Caught in the Crossfire for sorting it) which was the best fun EVAH. Tunes?
"Voodoo People" (Pendulum Remix) Prodigy -this was tune of the night!!!
"I'm Broken" - Pantera (rather fitting, with naming of one of the stages in the memory of Dimebag)
"Refuse/Resist" - Sepultura (remind me to tell you the story about the Sepultura/JJ punch-up)

If i'm going to be geeky about it, it was like a Festival 2.0......a real feeeling of a sense of community, of organisation, of shared purpose..
Made Reading look like Netscape.

I love this photo....

I just found it whilst looking to put a bunch of stuff onto a new USB drive ( see post below: I thought it best to get a new drive, just in case) It's from a Japanese tour that Jesus Jones did in 2004, we're crossing the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo, on our way to a gig ......
what I love about this photo is that it lays bare all the various facets of life on the road; they're all there, if you look carefully. There's three members of the band in this photo: from left-Tony (drums) Alan (bass) and Jez (guitar).
First up, look how everyone is all over the place. When a bus turns up, as it always does at festivals like these, to take you to the gig, the first instinct is to separate. Get a bit of space. Throw your bag of stage clothes on to one seat (look to the left) and then sit on another seat. Then, look where the fun is: it's always towards the back of the bus. From Jez's strange grin to Tony's carefree look as he roots through his bag. Look also, how empty this bus is: it's always a factor of life on the road that you are forever leaving the sanctity of these empty spaces and then immersing yourself into a morass of bizarre adulation. Rock and Roll is not about fame, it's about the gulf between that fame and the utter normality of the life you lead between situations like being in this bus and being on the stage. This photo seems to catch some of that anticipation.

Hurrah!

I can has Loltwitter? Yay! LULZ!!!!!11111! ELEVEN1111!

And our second pic of the day...

Is this. My USB drive. I've had it ages (it was a freebie Tiscali thing from last year's Reading Festival) and it always been useful. Just HOW useful has been revealed to me this morning. This is my USB drive shortly AFTER its visit to the Launderette.
It endured 30 minutes on a hot wash, a 1400rpm spin for about 5 minutes, then went into the dryer for 45 minutes at maximum heat.
And as I type this, it's plugged into my laptop, and i'm playing the mp3 files that were stored on it. Amazing!

Spitfire Elvis......

Is the Graphic on the top of my deck......he's great isn't he?

Hurrah!

LOLcats are now a "Hyper-meme explosion", check out the wonderful mash-ups of LOLBBC News....and it works particularly well on Metafilter and Twitter (obv.)
this week has been notable so far for me getting back in touch with my great friend Charly Alberti. It's been a while, we'd drifted out of contact , but he's back with not only a new band MOLE, but also with other things in the pipeline as well.
FYI: Charly was the drummer in Soda Stereo, probably the biggest band in Latin America throughout the 80's and 90's. Here they are at their farewell gig in their hometown of Buenos Aires:check that crowd!