Of all the things on my to do list today, I think changing this light bulb will not be one that gets checked off:
I’ve been listening to the new Noah and the Whale album, “The First Days of Spring” since before Christmas and the more I listen to it, the more I love it.
The first single I heard off this album (thanks to Absolute Radio of all things) was “Instrumental/ Love of an Orchestra” and let me tell you, its amazing:
The video is slightly hokey but the song is great and the album is beautiful.
Though I’d love to recommend this album to everyone, here’s a list of some bands that if you like, you might also be inclined to want to listen to Noah and the Whale. Fleet Foxes, Belle and Sebastian, Newton Falkner, The Flaming Lips, Beta Band. Uh.
If you haven’t heard of Noah and the Whale until you read this, or THINK you haven’t, think again. Their most famous single is “Five Years Time,” another great tune from their 2008 album “Peaceful the World Lays Me Down.” But you are probably more familiar with this version:
While I’m here, check out my Spotify playlist (sorry Spotify is UK only but its really, really cool) of songs which you can play in the background if you have a migraine or a hangover, and honestly anytime cause its THAT SUPER AWESOME.
Do tell what you think, and feel free to add and give suggestions, all my playlists are works in progress.
So today (well tomorrow) is my birthday, its already switched over to 27 January here in the UK but I was born in America, where it will not be my birthday for a few more hours.
Anyhow…. Imagine my surprise and excitement to receive a text about a present my work colleague had left for me here in the office (as I’m working overnights this week – happy birthday to me!)
Cyber Candy, heck yeah!!!!!
Cyber Candy is a store in COvent Garden where you can get loads of international treats, the even sell Pop Tarts….
Hmmm, what could this be?
CANDY!!!- Two of my favorite candies!
Happy Birthday!
Thanks, Elena, this was an awesome surprise!!!!
A quiet note that this post is mainly for my friends and family, but it also applies to other people who have friends and family and might want to contact them, especially if they live far away.
I know many of you probably already know about this, but I am posting this to help out those of you who don’t!
If you have a computer with the internet available (and lets assume if you’re reading this that you do) then you can contact me or be contacted with a programme called Skype. Skype is a totally free programme that allows you to make phone calls or webcam calls to anyone else in the world who is also using Skype. I know that some of you might not know how to use it, so I’m going to try my best to help clear up any questions now because I want to talk to you all because I miss you very much, so here goes!
1. What do I need for Skype?
For regular Skypeing, which is like a phone call, you need the following:
* can be a newer model
a lot of computers have mics already installed, you can check your manual for more information.
Microphones seem to be the main sticking point for people I have spoken to. Trust me, they are nothing to panic over! If you have a Mac you have a mic. If you have a PC you need to check if a mic is already installed (please see the bottom for a quick test). If you don’t have one, most PC’s will run any USB mic, check with your local computer store to find out more (but don’t let them sell you something you don’t need!)
You will also need some of these if you don’t want the other person to hear their own voice:
any old ear buds will do
You will also need to download Skype.
2. What if I want to also see you and have you see me?
In that case you will need some additional equipment:
or
often these days there will be a webcam already built in to a laptop
3. Ok, I got all that. What now?
You should open Skype and create an account. Once you do you should have something resembling this:
but you won't have any "buddies" in your list til you add them
Now you can do all kinds of fun things like put a status message up, upload a picture of yourself. The only thing you REALLY need to do is add some buddies. You can search for people or you can ask people to add you using your username (if you know someone already on Skype).
4. Wow, that was easy! But how do I hook up my webcam?
Most webcams are plug and play now, meaning you can literally just plug it into the USB and it will work when you open a programme like Skype or iChat. If not you will have to install drivers, these either came with your webcam on a CD ROM or you can download them, a quick Google search of the model of your webcam plus drivers will usually yield results.
5. Super. Now how do I speak to you and see you on my computer?
You can call any buddies who are online, so if I’m on the list just click on me and click the green call button. Once I answer there should be an icon which looks like a camera. If you click this your webcam will kick in and I will be able to see you. In order to see me I will have to do the same thing from my end.
6. Brilliant! What else can I do with Skype?
You can chat, send files and even make calls to landlines or mobile phones. If you want to call real phones you will need to use the SkypeOut function which requires you to pay for calls, but they are very cheap, especially landlines.
7. Awesome! What’s next?
If you are one of my nearest and dearest you should e-mail or facebook me and set up a time to chat. If you’ve stumbled upon this blog from somewhere else, you should Skype people you actually know.
Happy Chatting!
APPENDIX: Checking for a Mic
Go into your computer’s control panels and into the sound tab, there should be a tab in here for “audio” or input. If you can voice record, you have a mic.
you can see here that this person has a Logitech Pro 4000 installed.
If you buy an external mic, you should also be able to see that it has been installed in the same panel, and it needs to be installed in order to work with Skype. If you do not see it installed, don’t panic! You probably need to install the drivers (same deal as the webcam). Also check that the cord is plugged all the way as this often happens to me.
I don’t know if this happens to you, but when I dream, in addition to recurring dreams, I get recurring places.
There are two which spring to mind, what makes these different to the other settings which recur is that these places don’t exist in real life. I’m always in my real high school in high school dreams, a real city, a real house. Or a place I don’t recognize and is a one-time-use dream set. My mind creates a new park or a new cinema each time.
But two places recur. The first is a Victorian house which is similar to the house I grew up in, in that it is Victorian and the same shade of yellow my house used to be. Nothing else is really the same, this one has bit from movies and stories and my imagination mixed in – it has secret passageways and a wraparound porch. It is also massive, sort of like the house in Clue. I can’t remember much else about it, I haven’t been there in a while, but whenever I am “home” in my dreams, its here. We have the same dining room table I had when I was really little and lived at 486. Also my whole family lives there. Apparently.
The second location is a bakery, this bakery is fresh in my mind as I was having tea there with Bob Saget a few nights ago (now I don’t recall seeing anything with Bob Saget recently, so your guess is as good as mine why I would have dream tea with him).
The bakery is very narrow and painted sea-foam green. From the front door you see the counter on one side and a black metal staircase on the other, almost like a fire escape but indoors and with rubber mats to keep you from slipping. At the front the room opens out and there are a few tables and comfy chairs and sofas, and a bookshelf stacked with tattered board games and well-loved books. I think the upstairs is more hard backed chairs and tables and a front window facing counter, but I never sit up there on account of the stairs have spaces and are a bit scary like the ones in the Troy Public Library.
Anyway. As you approach the counter you see a row of glass cases, filled with lovely bakery bits – muffins, cookies, doughnuts, pastries. They have a whole section devoted to cupcakes. Behind the counter it looks more like a bar, with fridges set up under shelves, but the upper shelves hold bread, croissants, crackers, bagels and other savory foods, and the lower ones hold white crockery. The fridges are stocked mainly with drinks – coke, milk, juice and beer, but there is one full of sandwich fixings. There is a staff fridge which holds big jugs of milk and other things they use like butter packs.
On the counter behind the glass cases is an ancient coffee machine, happily steaming away and one of those wall mounted boilers which has hot water on demand. There’s a toaster, a sandwich maker, a set of knives and a cutting board.
All the staff are friendly but look like they work in a coffee house in Shoreditch – the guys all have jeans on, one wears a white t-shirt and the other two have variations on a check pattern. The girl is wearing a skirt and leggings, her hair in messy but cute pigtails. She has a shirt with a collar on and a skinny tie.
When I went with Bob I had a Corona and a cupcake, he had Brooklyn lager and a slice of pumpkin pie.
Don’t ask me why I remember this stuff in such detail, but I do.
Do you have recurring dream places?
I’m not always a huge fan of mashups, but admittedly the “genre” has grown on me after a while. The trouble is, just like anything else which is cheap, easily accessible and only takes a few minor brain functions to be able to have the basic skill set, there is way too much crap out there and way too few worth watching, which I suppose is just the plight of youtube in general. Or flickr.
But recently I’ve come across two which I really like, the first one is either amazing or the most annoying thing that ever happened.
Granted the video editing isn’t even trying, but the soundtrack is still funny.
And the second is just plain amazing:
You might need to at least have seen the Mighty Boosh and heard of if not sen No Country for Old Men, but still.
Which brings me seemlessly to the second portion of my entry, not “mashups” per-se but fake trailers. Since they’re made by film students as projects, and not 14-year olds with a pirated copy of iMovie, they’re pretty decent quality. The two best ones are still the two early ones:
Other than some improper kerning, its top of the youtube quality charts!
And lets not forget:
I particularly like the gratuitous use of Peter Gabriel.
I’m not usually one to blog on a political basis, for two reasons, 1. you probably know more about it than I do and 2. I can’t be arsed. The latter is the main reason. But my homeland’s recent arguments over a hypothetical national health bill are just too much for me. They have got me thinking about the main differences between “democrats” and “republicans,” and while I always leaned a bit more democratically, I (much like Fox News) have been tempted recently to lean the other way. (I would have added a link back there but Comedy Central still have their internet minions out there, pulling every Daily Show and other Comedy Central clip off youtube before you can share the link).
So without further ado – here are my top 5 reasons to ask yourself, is you a Republican or a Republican’t?
1. You never need to worry about contradicting yourself. You never have to worry about it because no one cares. Think Glenn Beck. Think John Kerry. Think anyone you want, say one thing, say another the next day and don’t even worry if its completely contradictory, ’cause it just doesn’t matter to anyone! As long as you are talking the loudest and over the most people, you are winning.
2. Your party is no longer run solely by fat old white guys. Thank you Sarah Palin, you have brought us a new generation of scary hockey mom’s with pregnant teenage daughters with stupid names. You are truly one in a million and the Republican party is forever in your debt. Maybe they should rally to have YOUR birthday as a national holiday?
3. Blueblood is the best blood – and with noted exception of the Kennedy’s, there are no dynasty’s of rich, powerful democratic families. Most of them come from a shitty background and claw their way to the top. But Republicans, on the other hand, are mainly raised in all-American, political or military families. They are sheltered their whole lives and never really have to deal with the poor and haggard their country stands on, er, for. Now I may be wrong, but if not having to hang out with the riff-raff or even WORRY about things like healthcare, childcare, maternity leave, sick pay and other benefits is wrong, then I don’t want to be right!
4. Ignorance is not only bliss – its preferable and should be worn as a badge of awesome. If you don’t know something, feel free to admit you are no expert. But please, please do not let this stop you from making a point about said topic, after all, freedom of speech is protected under our constitution, I think – I mean I’m not a constitution expert or nothing. But they should really make an amendment so as to include freedom of ignorance.
5. Facts just don’t matter. Get names, birthplaces, spelling, even whole words wrong! Make it up off the cuff if you have to! Like #1, if you are talking the loudest, you are winning. After all, these colors don’t run, moran! I mean we wouldn’t even be in this mess (I mean the mess whereby we argue about the issues of seeting up a national healthcare system because in countries like the UK Stephen Hawkings would never have survived because the NHS’s death panels would have deemed him too hard to take care of) if it weren’t for our half-breed muslin President!! I mean who elected this guy?
So there you have it, my Top 5 reasons to go Republican.
When I got to work today there was some washing up leftover from the night before:
ok, there was A LOT of washing up
Wowzers! AFter an EPIC washing up session, I had this to show for my efforts:
Seriously, and all with 3 brain cells left from last night. What a great day!
Have you even been sitting at work in front of the computer thinking, ‘I wish there was a way to fill the whole screen with pixelated sand, as if I were dropping it from the top, and creating a picture from a variety of colors?’
Well, then you’re in luck! This Is Sand provides this exact service, but beware, it is a major time waster and you are likely to become addicted to it, trying to fill the whole screen faster than your workmates or making an actual picture to go on the site’s blog.
Similar in nature is the Powder Game, choose your favorite!
Reminds me of fourth grade art class where we had to make drawings of ‘mountains’ using pastels and brown paper, but I never saw any mountains that looked like that.
So I’ve been wondering lately why my migraines have been kicking off recently. I had a few theories – they seem to always kick off a bit this time of year, but not so much to this extent, I’ve not really had to take many sick days before. So what’s different, is it stress? Possibly, I will be unemployed in about a week and a half, I have a to-do list that would cover several king size duvets (but who doesn’t) and its too hot most of the time.
Right, so I’m stressed out, but not more than normal, right? Or at least not more than I’ve been in the past, so while I’m sure this doesn’t help, I’m not sure this is the cause of my increased cranial activity.
Triggers then: everyone who suffers from migraines has ‘em. Some people are even “lucky” enough to get warning signs, which helps to sometimes stave off worse attacks. Mine tend to be certain smells (mainly bathroom associated like soaps and perfumes), the dull buzz of idle electricity and the WORST THING EVER – that green glow that professors teach in when they can’t be arsed to turn off the projector but the projector itself realizes it is no longer in full use and has decided to “rest”. This is inevitable, I WILL get a MASSIVE migraine from this scenario.
But I’m not in school anymore, I don’t see many green projector glows these days. I do hear a lot of idle electricity buzz, all machines and computers seem to hum at the same frequency and I work in a tv post house. In fact, I never realise how much stress my own laptop and television are causing me until I shut them down. Sounds I didn’t even know were there are harassing me. But I’ve worked here for nearly a year now, and only recently have I been having migraines this frequent.
I read an article recently saying energy saving bulbs may contribute to migraines, which makes perfect sense when you think about it, as fluorescent lights are a trigger for many people. And we have a few of these fellows in our house, including our new fantastic pod lamp (which is basically amazing, migraines or not).
I think its probably a combination of all these things, culminating in the worst migraine season yet. Which is nicer than my other theory: that they just get worse and worse every year. Yee-freakin’-haw.
