Sleepypete's Pillow

The religion ones made me chuckle too

LoL. Love the cockroach.

[laughs]

Lol :

More here :
http://www.hotsynch.com/funny/fb.html?re&ref=nf

Yes, this is one of those FB things I had to steal.

Research … Research & even more Research.

All good, just as long as all that research doesn’t turn into procrastination 🙂 I’m good at that too.

I’m researching a couple of areas at the moment. Going back into Warcraft has hit my current games PC hard enough to have me seriously considering some new hardware. I’m also looking at upgrading my amp and speakers to something that’ll handle the soundtracks on Blu-Ray discs better. The problem there is surround sound, my current speaker set doesn’t understand DTS codes and gives me stereo instead of surround.

There’s a few times when I’ve bought kit and had problems with it. I’ve then looked it up online to find a heap of “Why’d you go for that pile of xxx ? It’s rubbish !” comments. So I do my research now. I have a few sources for that, including places like www.overclockers.com (can go to Supreme Geek level). I’ll also look in magazines. This month saw the arrival of a Custom PC mag and PC Gamer to replace the now dead PC Zone.

You can find yourself behind the times very quickly in computers, as the pace of progress is lightning. I make it a rule to not check bits sellers for a few months after I jump into an upgrade as you buy one week, next week something better is out. It’s also half the price. Can get depressing so you ignore the price lists for a while.

How do you catch up with what’s current ? Know what to read and what to research …

That means, figuring out who the idiots are (Computer Shopper) and who are more interested in pumping up ratings for their advertisers. The telltale signs are people who continually pump up ratings on some products (What Sony magazine aka What Hifi ? reputations like that don’t come without being earned) while ignoring others. Like you know there’s an awesome component out there that you want to read an independent test for but the magazine on the shelf covers 5 products from another company instead. So the magazine stays on the shelf. The best tests back up their opinions with hard numbers.

I think I’ve learned something from Custom PC and PC Gamer this month, which will definitely go into the bits I’ll buy. I’m on leave this week, which would have been the perfect chance to build (and thoroughly test!) a new box. It’ll wait a while, because a couple of bits of technology (SSD drive and touchscreen) aren’t ready yet. For “ready”, read “cheap”. My current box just about handles what I throw at it, so I can afford to wait a bit.

The hifi world is another story though. I really don’t know where to look for advice on what to get here.

A new hifi is a considerable investment and there’s quite a bit of individual taste that goes into appreciating it. Or so say the magazines … That’s not my main beef with the magazines though, it’s the snobbery they put into what they write. They’ll put “Budget amplifier supertest” on the cover and then ignore all the £150-£200 amps. The price bracket they look at is stupidly high. Yes, I can actually afford £600 for an amp or £800 on a speaker set but that’s not because I tend to go for that kind of frivolous spend.

So the hunt for new hifi stuff (the one I have is over 10 years old …) isn’t being informed as much as the hunt for pooter gear. We’ll see what turns up. I reckon it’ll be a piece of Denon kit, as they’re a well trusted make that rarely gives anything other than Excellence. And when they don’t know how to make Excellence, they buy it in from people who do. Like rebranding Tannoy or Mission speakers with the Denon name. Good for both companies.

Trouble with Denon though is they’re being slow to get their stuff in the shops and people like Onkyo (who dat ?) and Pioneer are beating them to it. So it’s tempting to spend the money now instead of waiting for Better.

Will I pay attention to the research when I eventually jump ? Maybe ! But by researching, I’ll know more about what I’m getting even if I do compromise.

Oh – I’m on holiday this week, where I intend to do not very much at all 🙂 Until I get cabin fever (hopefully that’ll hit on a sunny day) and then I’ll try and resist spending cash on expensive electronic stuff.

It’s a Thursday Thirteen day again, I’m doing this Top 40 thing so I get an excuse to zero my iTunes playcounts … what can I do !

Top 40 – I left it at 21 last time so now it’s numbers 20 to 11 with a bonus three to finish.

1 – At 20 with 58 plays is one of the best tracks ever to come out of All About Eve, it’s Wild Hearted Woman (with a bonus for the first 3 minutes). I know a couple of these, they’re great fun to be around but you have to watch for getting burned …

2 – At 19 with 59 plays is Crowded House with Four Seasons In One Day. I’m fully intending to camp the telly for Friday pm and the weekend to watch Ryder Cup Golf. And I’m betting Four Seasons in One Day is something I’ll be watching.

3 – More weather related stuff (an omen ?) as Crowded House tell of the Weather With You in the 18 spot.

4 – 17 is All About Eve again with What Kind Of Fool (typically bad BBC sound engineering there). There’s a line here “leaves all their treasure to rust in the rain”. That’d be my chav neighbour (not CK) who’s left a box of tools outside his front door, separated from the pavement by a small sapling. They’ve been there for months without mysteriously disappearing …

5 – 16th sees Kate Bush with the signature track of the Lionheart album : Oh England, My Lionheart. It’s in the middle of this album and when it starts up you just stop and go Wow. For the second time because the track Wow comes up earlier.

6 – 15th is more Kate Bush singing about what we all know : Mother Stands For Comfort. This one is from the Hounds Of Love album, need to listen to these again – soon ! Remember folks, whatever the trackname says, our mom’s need our support too. Look after them 🙂

7 – 14th is back to All About Eve with the final track off the Touched By Jesus album. Are You Lonely ? Yeah, I get pretty lonely these days. But I have some great friends that take the edge off that. Oh, that’s not whale music that starts it, that’s David Gilmour of Pink Floyd playing with his guitar.

8 – 13th. A change ! Tori Amos with Space Dog. This one is typical Tori Amos, quirky and fun. Have a listen, it’ll make you grin.

9 – 12th is a favourite of advertisers. You’ll definitely recognise Aquarium when you hear it, originally from Carnival Of The Animals. Beautiful piece and it’s the most listened to piece of classical or soundtrack music in my library.

10 – 11th in the library and last for today and it’s Kate Bush again with one of the most sensual tracks ever written. It’s what I hope I am : The Man With The Child In His Eyes.

11 – and the first of today’s random tracks … There’s a couple more albums on the way to me, the first is the one that got away from Sleeper. The new album is Smart but here’s one from their first album. You know when things fall to bits and you wonder : What Do I Now ? Classic Sleeper, hoping for more like this from Smart.

12 – the other album on the way is KT Tunstall’s new Tiger Suit. Linky here is to Suddenly I See, as an answer to the last track 🙂 Great video.

13th – Has to be a tribute to one of the Great Hollywood actors who died today. Always a star, Tony Curtis.

First mention is an aside. Summer 2010 will be known as the Summer of the Great Cake Famine. That was broken in style today with our Snow Queen bringing in a banquet of home made nomnoms. I join the rest of the project in restarting my diet tomorrow.

Quote “That strawberry cake was da bomb! Lush :)” A very happy birthday my dear Snow Queen 🙂

I tend to go in cycles with my gaming. I’ll go for one game and play it to death. This time, I’m back in the slippery slope of World of Warcraft …

It’s a recurring theme from the first phase of my blog, although the circumstances have changed considerably since then. When I started up this blog, I’d just had a relationship break up and reacted by throwing myself completely and utterly into the game.The stuff in game replaced relationships outside. Before, I’d been doing things with my partner, now I was filling the gap by doing stuff online with the guild and with Guildlink.

The in game stuff had completely taken over from the real life stuff. I learned later that this was rather unhealthy. I’d been keeping a guild together and negotiating our participation with the Guildlink alliance of guilds. Gamers tend to be quite headstrong and being disconnected from the face to face by being on the internet really doesn’t help there. A lot of silliness is created in the text only medium that doesn’t happen face to face.

I also ended up expecting a little too much from a few people involved in the game, which led to the unhealthy stuff I mentioned earlier. Blog Part 1 is a rollercoaster tale of ups and downs, where I ended up bouncing in and out of the game as it got too much.

I’m hoping for a bit different this time around, having been in for about a month now. The situation is very different. I’m away from some real aggro that built up on my previous server, having jumped to a different one to join some rather fantastic people called Violence Reborn. I knew one or two of them from the old server but hadn’t really been involved in what they get up to. I’ve had that privilege now a few times and I’m really enjoying coming back in.

But … and there’s always a but …

Moderation is always the key. Too much of a good thing will sour the experience. I can only take so much of the more intense gameplay style in WoW before my shoulder/collarbone muscles try to strangle me. I’m also enjoying having no responsibility this time around. There’s plenty of respect coming my way (I think some expectations I’m having trouble living up to as well) but no responsibility. Except perhaps to be worthy of that respect. Being a guild leader was a rush for a while but I’m quite happy to avoid anything like that in the future.

It’s kind of a “Do Once” thing. Happy being just a player now, it’s easier to arrange your life around that.

There’s one difference between the WoW experience and the Eve experience : respect. I’ve never felt I’ve had that much respect from the Eve crew, outside of the few I know from face to face. Respect for each other is the key to good relations. It’s earned too, which is probably why I don’t have it from the Eve people. I’ve simply not been in game enough.

So there we have it. Summer’s come to an end and with it the cricket season. Gaming is filling the gap and it’s pretty good at the moment. The cycle has me using Mass Effect for an unthinking blast, Settlers IV for brainless R+R and Warcraft for enjoying chatting and playing with other people. And the shoulder keeps it in healthy moderation.

You can lose yourself in these games, be that through emotional stuff or going to bed at 3.30am to get up at 7.30am. Too much of no sleep and you’ll get fired. Not good. The emotional stuff gets heavy too but I’ll hopefully avoid that as long as I avoid responsibility.

I think I ended up doing Wall Of Text again. Reckon I’ll be saving Numbers 20 to 11 for a later date but … if anyone else has been seeing iTunes 10.0.1.22 problems with Airplay network speakers after the last patch : uninstall iTunes and reinstall. That should sort the network connectivity issues caused by some shoddy patching.

Really enjoying the gaming. WoW’s been dumbed down a little more but I think what they’ve done is tidied it up a bit. Achievements add more purpose to the game. My third Iceangel just earned her first title : it’s now Brewmaster Iceangel. Not a Merc any more but I’ll not be changing my url 🙂

… roll it into a little ball, throw it away somewhere and lose it.

That’s what I hope to do sometime soon, before I do actually lose it. We’re at a very busy time at the moment on the project, which is being accompanied by Great Things happening too. Lots of success at the moment, crossing fingers for some more of the same soon. It’s come through a lot of hard work from everyone* involved, me included.

I’m bushed now though – I throw everything into what I do and have a tendency to burn myself out while getting on with it.

*Did I say everyone ? Well … part of the strain I’m feeling at the moment is the expectation I seem to have as a “Go To Guy”. It’s a fine reputation to have, except it tends people to ask you to do stuff for them. Stuff they should really be doing themselves. (Definitely when it’s their own jobs they don’t seem capable of doing)

Maybe they think I’m really calm when inside, I’m being the whirling dervish going nuts trying to figure out how to do something. It’s only some people (the lazy ones) who wind me up when they push their work on to me. With other people like The Angel, our Snow Queen and Ms Sunshine, it’s a case of “why didn’t you ask sooner ?”

If a pretty lady asks me to do something, I’ll usually jump at the chance. And you know with the 3 ladies above, they’ve already tried their hardest to figure it out on their own. All I ask in return is the thank you and the smile which comes naturally. A smile from a pretty lady brightens the day like nothing else. It’s worth more than gold, platinum or the first teacake in the morning.

There you go – cooperation is gained more willingly with a smile than a “do this because I don’t want to”

It’s a bit of a shame, because it takes the gloss off the successes we’re having. Sometimes you believe that success happens despite some people rather than because of them. Maybe that’s because we have a lot of special people to make up for the lightweights.

That’s enough of that for now 🙂 Had to get it out and say it because I find it easier to deal with struggle by expressing it than if it’s bottled up to fester. (I also have a strong management chain to help fend off the more unreasonable demands)

More Top 40 time 🙂

At 30, bit of classical with Fossiles from Carnival of the Animals. This one is one of the more famous from that piece.
29 sees a bit more Kate Bush with Army Dreamers. Wonder if anyone thought when Army Dreamers was written 30 years ago that the world would see the Falklands War shortly after or that it would be in the state it’s in now. This one’s from the Never Forever album and is just about as poignant now as when it was written.
28 is another Kate Bush track with Wow. This one is from the Lionheart album and sums up Kate perfectly : Wow. I suspect listening to Kate Bush from an early age is one thing that fed my fascination with ladies with long dark hair.

27th is a track from Edie Brickell’s Ultimate Collection. It’s a track called Vodka, done with Carter Albricht. Listened to this 57 times in iTunes, it never gets old. Can’t link it though, you’ll need to get that cd 🙂
26 is one of the more beautiful songs in my collection which closes out the Scarlet and Other Stories album from All About Eve. It’s a story of The Pearl Fishermen. Very beautiful, very tragic and something else feeding that fascination from No 28.

25th and played 57 times is Alisha’s Attic describing my normal state of being : Late Again. This one is another of my extensive Alisha’s Attic B-side collection.
At 24 is another Alisha’s Attic track, one of the signature tracks from their first album. I Am, I Feel, which kinda sums up the feelings I was pouring out up top 🙂 (TOTP’s disaster of a sound department strikes again!) No miming here 🙂

23 is the only entry in the Top 40 from Sleeper, with Click … Off … Gone. Proving that it’s not just good vocals needed for great songs, the music around this one makes it stand out.
22 is Something from The Beatles. If there’s anything that describes Love, it’s this song.
Finally for today’s part of the Top 40, it’s Scarlet by All About Eve which has had 58 listens so far.

Time to round off a Wall Of Text with something I know somebody’s going to be looking for … There’s a band I’ve been introduced to recently that isn’t in this Top 40 cos of the head starts the All About Eve’s, Kate Bush’s and Alisha’s Attic had. They’re on the Patrol with one of my favourites from these guys : Chasing Cars.

Eternal Flame. One of my favorite song. It makes me go to sleep easily. My anti-insomnia. Love it!

Before I dive into the main post, wanting to say something about a colleague. She was involved in a car accident yesterday and is in hospital at the moment … Fingers crossed she comes through ok. She’s a lovely lady, hopefully we’ll see her again very soon.

Top 40 ! Since iTunes arrived, I pick out my music by looking at what’s the longest since played and least amount played. With a library of over 4000 tracks, this gets me cycling through the collection fairly well. But … because I’ve added music over several years, the tunes which have been in there since the start have an unfair advantage in the Most Played list. Also, cos they’ve been played a lot they don’t tend to get added in again as random picks.

So I’m thinking of doing a reset so I listen to some of the older amazing tracks more. Bit more time to come before I do that though, as I have a new Cardigans album to play through. What have I listened to most pre reset ?

Top 40 Part 1 : 40 to 31. (Reverse order is kinda traditional !)
(and all the links are to Youtube or a lyrics site)

40 : Rainy Days and Mondays by The Carpenters. Hopefully today won’t be a rainy day as I’m using some well earned flexi time credit to watch the cricket.

39 : Another classic : Yesterday by the Beatles. By the amount of stuff to do at work, sometimes we wish for Yesterday so we have the time to do it all.

38 : Brainstorm by Alisha’s Attic. No Youtube link cos this is a b-side 🙂 I have pretty much everything Alisha’s Attic ever released and there’s some cracking tracks out there which never reached albums. “You’re captured by me not her” – definitely when listening to the Poole sisters 🙂

37 : Night of the Swallow by Kate Bush. This one is a track off The Dreaming that really shows off Kate’s voice.

36 : Milk by Garbage. This one closes out their first album. My impression of an album tends to be dominated by how it finishes and this one is an excellent “take me home” track.

35 : St Swithin’s Day by Dubstar. It’s a shame that the only thing in my Top 40 for Dubstar is a cover version but they really break the cover version pattern by doing an excellent job of it. I’ll put another Dubstar track or two in a Not Top 40 bit 🙂

34 : Edie Brickell +1 with Like I Do Now. This one comes off the Edie Brickell Ultimate Collection (more later!) which isn’t just a re-release of the best tracks off the albums, it brings a few rare tracks in too. This is one of the better.

33 : Eternal Flame by the Bangles. Am I only dreaming ? Feel like it listening to these girls 🙂

32 : Hide Child by All About Eve. This is another in the close out of album category, this time it’s All About Eve’s Touched By Jesus. Beautiful, beautiful (and haunting) song. “Hide Child, who can I be looking for …” (lyrics link)

Finally for today,
31 : Little Shotgun by Alisha’s Attic. Another B-side, chilled out sounding until you listen to the words …

I’ve listened to these tracks over and over in past years, never get tired of them. But … there’s a few more out there which I haven’t had as long, here’s a few that won’t appear in the Top 40 simply because I’ve not had them long enough :

03.45 am No Sleep by the Cardigans. Listened to this one again and it stopped me in my Warcraft grinding tracks. Tracks this good force you to pay attention.

What’s a Girl To Do by Bat For Lashes. Babe, Bunnies, Bikes, need I say more ? (This track got my sister and me hooked)

Finally, here’s hoping for a Future Love Paradise.

More in a week or so 🙂