More News From Nowhere

medbsbooksmartblog

2009-09-14T06:09:00.001-07:00

One of the best people on Earth has a new blog, her name is Medb.

Picture of the week

2009-09-04T08:27:00.001-07:00

Starting college next week. I hope I win.

Mysterious new Bjork song.....

2009-09-03T07:56:00.001-07:00

I wasn't aware that Bjork was recording new stuff. Sports Review, interesting title. Haven't heard it yet but I'd imagine it's quite a departure.

Super Radiohead.

2009-08-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

Cool 8-bit version of 15 Step by Radiohead.

Football

2009-08-01T04:31:00.000-07:00

I'm in no way qualified to speak on the matter of Sir Bobby Robson passing away.

Reading the tributes to him have only confirmed my suspisions that he was a true gentleman, the likes of which football is never likely to see again.

Interestingly, on the Guardian football site, there are features on Sir Bobby and then, lurking underneath a story with the headline "Bent fined for inappropriate tweeting"

What a perfect way to illustrate how football has changed.

It (re) Started With A Mix

2009-07-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

It Started With A Mix by jivemonster

Oh dear. it's been a while.

Don't be cared by the start of this mix tape.

Here's the tracklisting for this Mix.

1. Viva la Vida - Coldplay
2. High 5 (Rock The Catskills) - Beck
3. California Soul - Marlena Shaw
4. Mexican Policemen - DJ Yoda
5. Snake Mistakes - Dan Deacon
6. Busy Doing Nothing - Love is All
7. There's a Moon Out Tonight - The Capris
8. Titanic Vandalism - The Go! Team
9. Don't Let Go - Weezer
10. Just Dropped In To See What Condition My condition Was In - Kenny Rodgers & The 1st Edition
11. The Devil In Me - 22-20's
12. I Don't Believe You - Kool Keith
13. Garbage Man - The Cramps
14. Gouge Away - Pixies (Jaques Lu Cont Mix)
15. Mr. Pharmacist - The Fall
16. You'll Never Walk Alone - Kop Choir
17. Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
18. We'll Meet Again - Vera Lynn

Peace!

Thom Yorke Keeps It Real

2009-01-24T12:11:00.001-08:00

Some January Tunes.

2009-01-15T12:12:00.000-08:00

January is usually crap. Because I enjoyed making my last mix so much i thought I'd make another one. So these particular songs are just to keep everyones head up during January.

Appetite for Distraction

2009-01-09T12:18:00.000-08:00

Spent a little time yesterday making a mix loosely based around unemployment. This is for Deano and Brendan, and you of course.

2009

2009-01-02T06:38:00.000-08:00

Finally recovered from various ailments from Christmas time (money worries, man flus, hangovers) to wake up and finally feel the magic the beginning of a new year brings. So I turned on RTE Radio 1 and was pleasently greeted by a fantastic lecture series curated by our president about the Ireland of tomorrow. Well worth a listen.

The Sunday Tribune Files.

2008-10-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

The Sunday Tribune, are letting me do some images for them, here they are......

Sometimes I Photoshoppe

2008-09-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Music in 2008 & Fight Like Apes rant.

2008-09-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody,

For the first 9 or so months I've been listening to music in 2008, I've found that most of it has been shite. Then I heard the new TV on the Radio album, and now my friends are going to have to listen to me going on about it until I put it on the stereo. Much like the way I've been going on about the Fight Like Apes album over the past month or so, it's excellent. Before I heard it wondered how they were going to make an album that would live up all of those great ep's and what not. I just didn't think they were capable of an album, I mean a proper album, not just singles and a few fillers. My oh my how they pulled it off, fantastic stuff.
Also, while I'm at it, I've been looking at a few peoples blogs going on about how they're beginning to be annoyed by FLapes, how "something global" is a real contrived single, and how they preferred the old versions of "Jake Summers" and "Lend me your face" how sad it is that as soon as an Irish band release something genuinely exciting that all the people "who preferred" the ep's go on about the glory days of FLapes circa 2006. Maybe we should just be proud of them because they're from our city and are sound and are absolutley fantastic.
Oh yeah, this year I've also been listening to Neon Neon and British Sea Power and then I listened to the new Cold War Kids album and then I didn't like it much.

Blog Friend

2008-09-15T06:53:00.001-07:00

I was out on Friday night, and for the first time ever, someone said, "are you the guy from the blog?" This took me back a bit seeing as how they're are about two people who read this thing, me and my bro. Anyway, his (Thom) blog is excellent, so go check it out (John).

Small Talk

2008-09-15T06:22:00.001-07:00

"How's things?" "Grand thanks, how are things with you?" "Oh grand thanks, what are you up to these days?" "Ah y'know, same old same old" "What have you been up to?" "Ah y'know, got back from Canada, having cans" "How was Canada?" "Ah it was grand" "Good stuff".

New look for me aul blog.

2008-09-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

I love making my blog look nice, well I don't love it, but it's grand. The blog has seen some changes over the past year or so now, this one I think is the best, although Dre will always have a special place in my heart.
I dislike the way on Bebo people "say" stupid things, like "I'm bored" or "Can't wait til the weekend".

Painful.

2008-08-22T09:18:00.001-07:00

He just can't do anything right it seems.

Prison Diaries.

2008-08-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had to go to Store Street garda station to drop in a wallet I found on the street. My friend Brendan is in South America and went to a prison in Bolivia for a bit of a nose around. Read it, here, it's amazing.

Football rant.

2008-08-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

Jimmy Bullard has a better pass completion rate then Stephen Gerrard or Cesc Fabregas, 83% pass completion rate to be exact. The manager of West Ham, Alan Curbishley, is pondering a move for 32 year old Ben Thatcher, however Thatcher was booed by Hammers fans during Saturdays 1-1 draw with Villareal.
The Premiership is coming, the above is just some of the completly useless facts that a starved football fan might come across in a vein attempt to garner as much football knowledge as possible before the "big kick off" on Saturday when Arsenal face West Brom in approximately 4 days, 12 hours, 3 minutes and 36 seconds. Yes I have my Premier League kick off widget set up, thank you.
But what is going to happen in the 08/09 season that is going to be so different to the other seasons? Nothing, probably. The three promoted teams (Hull, Stoke, West Brom) will of course just be looking to survive in order to build into the next season. Then there's a bunch of teams, Fulham, Middlesborough, Sunderland, Blackburn, who'll be looking to build on last seasons "success" which basically means if they have a nice quiet season and finish 12th they'll be happy. Then there are the teams just below the top, who think they can break into, the erm, top four, which basically translates into. Hoping that Arsenal or Liverpool have a shite season and we can squeeze into fourth. Then there is the almighty top four. Who's gonna win the Premier League?? ~~Arsenal?~~ Manchester United? ~~Liverpool?~~ Chelsea?
So that's all there is to know about the premiership really, isn't it? No not really, there will be awful tackles, silly decisions, mad fans, great goals, David James' haircuts, Newcastle hoping for next season, the Janurary transfer window and Arsene Wenger complaining about no Winter break, while everyone else sits back on Stephens Day with a Turkey Sambo having a great time.
So fair play to football, it's sound.

Been on Mars? Here's what happened when you were away:

Mark Hughes went to Manchester City, then City almost signed Ronaldinho and then and then and then, they didn't. Ronaldo spent the Summer acting like a twat, no surprise there really. Spurs went mad and spent loads of money, again no surprise. Chelsea brought in Phil Scolari and some bloke from Coolock called Deco. Arsenal bought "the new Zidane". West Ham...... got beaten by the MLS all-stars. Blackburn got a new manager, Paul Ince (he's black y'know). And Preston did a tidy bit of business and signed Ross Wallace on loan from Sunderland. Andre 3000, sorry, Emmanuel Adebayor reckoned he could play for Milan, Milan reckoned they'd love to buy him, Adebayor then said "I'd love to play for Milan. Then Arsenal said to Emmanuel "you're not allowed" then Emmanuel said "I have three years left on my contract and I'm putting two or three years more, so I'm very happy being part of this family." The FA started going on about referees getting no respect, so they told players to wear t-shirts before the community shield, with RESPECT written on them, then the token Scottish pundit on Setenta Sports branded the whole initiative a load of old cods wallop. Good for him.

Pizza

2008-08-01T06:19:00.001-07:00

Realisation

2008-08-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

My blog is deadly!

New KOL song available today!

2008-07-28T02:16:00.000-07:00

A brand new Kings of Leon song will be available to download today from the NME, only available to download between 3pm-5pm so you better be quick!

Help is at hand!

2008-07-08T17:55:00.001-07:00

Net Neutrality Open Source Documentary

2008-07-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

Save the Internet | Rock the Vote

foureyedmonsters.com

Computer trouble

2008-07-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

My home doesn't let me look up google sites. This is really annoying.
I'm home in Dublin now, it's raining on a Saturday night, in July that shouldn't happen.

New Oasis Songs!

2008-05-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of Oasis, especially when I'm drinking beer. I think it's what being a man is about.

I'm just listening to "I Wanna Live A Dream (In My Record Machine)" for the first time, I like it!

Hey YOU! Are you in Ireland and in Dublin?

2008-05-15T23:50:00.000-07:00

Tick the boxes? Well if you do, and you like laughing, look at this, then go.

Oh and watch this too.

All I need.

2008-05-05T22:50:00.000-07:00

Radiohead eh?

Bye Bye Toronto. Hello Vancouver.

2008-05-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

Well well well, what a mad mad few days myself and Clare had. We finally said goodbye to Toronto. It took a while for me to like Toronto, probably because of all the stress that was at the start (the stress may have only been in my head though) i.e. looking for some where to live, jobs and having to buy everything in the house (it came unfurnished). But after all the dust had settled, turns out Toronto is an absolutely incredible city, really it is. I know everyone who doesn't live there won't have heard a whole lot about the place, but trust me, it is, as north americans say, "Awesome". It's full of different cultures going about there day to day lifes' in perfect harmony (maybe not all the time, but definitely most of the time). So if you ever get a chance to go there, or even better, work there, I would highly recommend it. Plus we met lovely people, Brendan and Elaine, would be my favorites, friends for life, and that doesn't happen to often.
Now, I'm in Vancouver, and you couldn't get more far removed from TO if you tried, massive mountains and an all round more laid back atmosphere, seems like the perfect place to spend a Summer if you ask me. I saw two bears yesterday, and tomorrow I'm going to see Elbow play a gig in a church. Yes North America, it will be "Awesome".

.... now to find a job and a place to live.

Ahhh Football

2008-04-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

DIZ IZ WIT IZ N MY ipod

2008-04-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

HY EVRY1 IN D WOLRD DIZ IZ WOT IM LIZENTION 2 ON ME MP3 BOX IN TRONTO

Dearest friend, these are the songs I'm listening to at the moment on my apple ipod.

B-L-O-G alert.

2008-03-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

Many moons ago my friend Deano and I traveled to America to stay on the Hawaiin Islands (Oahu to be precise). While we were there we decided that on our way home to Ireland we would stop and spend some time in a city in America called New York (city). Oh the fun we had. While we were there we bumped into two lovely ladies who bought us a pint and burger, then they said "Hey, do you want to go to our apartment in Brooklyn?". We said "yes". We had a great time that night (nothing untoward happened in case you were wondering) and laughed and joked and one of the girls knitted Deano a very small scarf, which he keeps in his house in Glasnevin Ireland.
Now, Deano and I live in Toronto with my lovely girlfriend Clare McQuaid, and one of the aforementioned ladies lives in Oregon and has created a blog called "Brass Tracks" it's tip top, so go! Go! Go, now and take a look at it.

Mr.M.W.M.Orford

Hark!

2008-03-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

HOLLA BITCHZ.

It iz me Mark aight! Izzit?

Eh?

Sarah and Tadhg are here. They brought us over. 12 packets of Tayto, 2 bottles of Buckfast, 3 cans of Dutch Gold, Toblerones, a bottle of vodka, and loads of sweets and stuff.

What do you think of that post world?

The most boring thing on the internet

2008-03-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

Web 2.0 is in full swing, with new innovative ideas popping up all over the web. Social networking sites are taking over, blog sites are becoming more and more popular by the second. It's really is quite an exciting time to be an internetorian, we're standing on cusp of real change.
Yet, with all this excitement in a time when nothing seems impossible, there is still this.

Trouble is on the way for Toronto....

2008-03-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

Sarah and Tadhg are coming over to Toronto for a week. They arrive at 17:30. At about 20:30 sober Mark will check out for the week. Expect a lot of posts that make vague sense.

Deano's back!

2008-03-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

Deano has a fantastic post on his blog about football, quite an interesting question is posed by young Deano. Check it out!

INTRNT HSTRY

2008-03-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

I'm very tired right now, when you're tired you get ideas that seem good at the time, then, you wake up and realize it wasn't a good idea at all. This may turn out to be one of them. A screen cap from the Radiohead website the day they said In Rainbows was coming out. Slightly nerdish isn't it. Yup future Mark this was probably too much of a silly idea.

Diamond hoo ha men

2008-03-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

Ladies & Gentlemen of the world, i present to you the eternally cool. SUPERGRASS

spermfortickets.com (brilliant)

2008-03-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

Apparently Irelands sperm banks are running a bit low, in order to counteract this the people in charge of Irelands sperm have set up spermfortickets.com . All you have to do is donate sperm and then you get a free ticket to ANY festival in Europe!
Also if you don't have the time to donate at your local sperm bank they'll post you out a special container, and then use a fast courier network to ensure that your donation reaches the bank in time.

"Oxegen isn't even worth a wank" - Dean-Ross Murray.

Neon Neon - I lust u

2008-03-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

I've been banging on about Neon Neon for about a year now. The album is out on March 17th but you can listen to the whole lot of it on myspace. Speaking of Neon Neon I went to see Delorentos last night in Toronto, they gave me a copy of there album too which is sound of them. Speaking of Delorentos, here's the new Neon Neon video for "I lust u".

Lend me your face.

2008-03-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

We just received a massive kick in the balls from a Winter season that refuses to let friendly Spring have it's turn at spreading sunshine upon this great country. It snowed this weekend, alot, for 36 long hours in fact, so the place is covered in about 3-4 feet of snow, mental. But the snow didn't deter us from having an excellent weekend, we went out to see a bunch of Irish bands play. The highlight of which were Fight Like Apes (best name for a band EVER) you should check them out on the internet, the internet is what your using right now. So then, we got hammered, with the band, who are really really sound and bought us a rake of pints with there tokens, it was very good indeed. Then today everyone was very hungover indeed, apart from me for some reason, maybe cos old man Mark got too drunk and fell asleep in the pub for a bit. So with everyone hungover today I made Shepherds Pie for all! I must say that Shepherds Pie is a wonderful dish. Now everyone is wrecked and heading to bed, good for them.
In general Canada is great, we went to Montreal last weekend and got hammered (that sums up that weekend)

Now be sensible and click on this, then afterwards praise the lord that sometimes humans on Earth get things incredibly right. www.myspace.com/fightlikeapesmusic

Thank you internet, this is Mark Orford wishing you well for the week ahead and remember that being alive is the greatest gift of all. xxx

The Last Shadow Puppets

2008-03-06T19:42:00.000-08:00

www.theageoftheunderstatement.com

Should be a Bond song.

An ode to the Roti

2008-03-05T10:42:00.001-08:00

Toronto is full of great things. The greatest of these things however is definitely the Roti, Rotis for those who don't know, are basically chicken (other meats are available) potatoes and curry sauce all wrapped up in massive naan bread. I go to a place on King and Dufferin (other intersections are available) called Island Foods.
Every time I've been there I've thoroughly enjoyed my boneless chicken Roti, at the beginning of my Island Foods career I could hardly finish a Roti, now I've graduated to ordering side dishes with it.
I also think that for the rest of my life I'll mention Island Foods Rotis to anyone who'll listen, and if they don't listen I'll think about them.

Here's a lady who knows how to make them:

One of my favourite Peep Show clips

2008-02-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

More News From Nowhere

2008-02-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

I've changed the name of my blog.
"More News From Nowhere" is the last song on the new Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album.
I've been having "those days" recently, not bad days by any stretch, just days that pass by without any difference from the last. I heard this song, and it blew me away, I love when a song finds you when you least expect it and sums up exactly how you feel, as if somehow by magic.

That's all.

Hmm.. I just took off my earphones in work, and the song from Peep Show is on the radio.
Stange eh!?

Worlds First (p) Review!!! Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

2008-02-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I will be listening to the new Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album. Expect a really really undescriptive half arsed review some time in the next 4 months.
Why am I so harsh on myslef? And why do I keep talking to myself on this blog, and putting myself down? Why have I repeated (with some variation i must admit) the fact that I put myself down twice (or is three times now). I must be trying to tell myself something, now I'm talking to myself through my blog again..... this conversation with myself could go on for a while.

I think I should be more positive in order to cheer the inner Mark up.

Tomorrow I will be listening to the new Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album. Expect an insightful review, so revealing and hopeful you'll think it's been lifted from a passage of the bible that has yet to be discovered.

That's much better.

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Now playing: Ennio Morricone - Svolta Definitiva
via FoxyTunes

My 0.0000000014567895647 second of fame?

2008-02-27T19:45:00.000-08:00

My 0.0000000014567895647 second of fame?

No

TOTTENHAM

2008-02-27T19:30:00.000-08:00

"we could be heroes, just for Juande"

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Now playing: Animal Collective - Cuckoo Cuckoo
via FoxyTunes

The last days of jivemonster

2008-02-27T19:20:00.000-08:00

Over the past little while I've been having trouble with the name of my blog... is it jivemonster? Or is it Really? Why? Honestly. Or could it be simply, Mark Orford dot blogspot dot com? I'm growing tired of using jivemonster, I've used jivemonster since my very first yahoo account many moons ago. I like the name jivemonster but I liked it more when I was 16/17 now I'm 25, I think it might be time for "jivemonster" to gracefully be laid to rest.

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Now playing: The Beta Band - B + A
via FoxyTunes

Dear Blog

2008-02-21T17:08:00.000-08:00

Mark: Why have I been neglecting you for so long?

Blog: Because you've been off with you "friends" Deano, Clare, Medb, Elaine and Brendan gettingdrunk. I haven't liked it at all, there are random internet users waiting to hear your half
thought through musings on stuff that probably happened two weeks ago.

Mark: Like The Eels 1 second advert that they tried to get on the broadcast on the superbowl?

Blog: Exactly!

Mark: Or the Super Furry Animals gig I went to last night, or, going to Niagra falls?

Blog: You got it buddy!!

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Now playing: The Dandy Warhols - Nietzche
via FoxyTunes

Pre Valentines Post

2008-02-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

SFAOK

2008-01-25T06:28:00.001-08:00

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds B O N A N Z A

2008-01-24T19:14:00.000-08:00

Dig, Lazarus, Dig!! Will be out on March 3rd. Expect them to play Ireland in the Summer time.

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Now playing: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Hiding All Away
via FoxyTunes

and the 21 songs that have made me feel 25% happier this month are...

2008-01-24T15:05:00.000-08:00

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Now playing: Rage Against The Machine - Wake Up
via FoxyTunes

Tottenham 5 - 1 Arsenal

2008-01-23T20:02:00.000-08:00

Due to various commitments (living in Toronto, going to see Editors last night) I didn't get around to watching the Spurs match until tonight. But... it was worth the wait, 5-1 to Spurs. And yes I know it's only the League Cup and Arsenal were fielding a young team. I am aware of all the connotations of it, but seeing Spurs play like that against Arsenal gave me goose bumps. I've waited 8 and a half years for this, and it my friends is, sweet.

Here's a little something Chas'N'Dave cooked up back in '81.

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Now playing: money mark - push the button
via FoxyTunes

Enertainment Tonight can fuck right off.

2008-01-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

I'm just watching Entertainment Tonight, they're talking about Heath Ledgers death, a serious subject if ever there was one. Obviously they're well within there rights to report (i use that word very loosely) on the tragic events that occurred yesterday. But! What really pisses me off is the way they refer to the paperazzi in the third person, when they are the ones with "exclusive" pictures of his ex-wife and there young child on there way home from somewhere in Europe after hearing the news.SCUM. Anyway, it's an ad break now, what's on after the ads? "Should Britney be put on suicide watch?"

Ugh.

On a brighter note:

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Now playing: Underworld - Shudder/King Of Shake
via FoxyTunes

A good blog.

2008-01-23T16:23:00.000-08:00

Dear internet,

I have found a great new blog called thrill pier. The only problem is that the person who writes it seems to support Arsenal, but we wont hold that against this excellent blog we will internet?

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Now playing: Super Furry Animals - Gwreiddiau Dwfn / Mawrth Oer Ar Y Blaned Neifion
via FoxyTunes

Random Football Player No. 2

2008-01-19T21:50:00.001-08:00

Curtis "right" Fleming

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Now playing: Os Mutantes - A Minha Menina (My Girl)
via FoxyTunes

Scotch Mist

2008-01-13T18:58:00.000-08:00

Instead of doing this, gmail/bebo/bbc/bebo/gmail/facebook/bebo/nme/guardian/gmail/bebo/facebook/gmail.. pressing refresh on gmail to see if you've gotten any new comments on bebo. You should take 52 minutes and 31 seconds to watch this Radiohead web cast.

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Now playing: Dr Dre & Snoop Doggy Dog - The Next Episode
via FoxyTunes

Random Football Player No. 1

2008-01-13T13:27:00.000-08:00

Ramon "Defensive Rock" Vega

The truth about The Premiership

2008-01-13T12:55:00.000-08:00

Since 1992 people have been talking an awful lot of poop about the Premier League. This post is going to explain how things pan out for each team every season no matter how much crap is talked before the season starts.

Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool will finish 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th, in varying order. Most of the time Liverpool will think that "this is going to be our year" it never will be.
Tottenham, Everton, Newcastle Manchester City and Aston Villa, will talk rubbish about trying to break into the top four. It won't happen, unless someone with too much money throws ridiculous amounts of cash around.

Middlesborough, Blackburn, West Ham, Portsmouth, Bolton, reckon that if they build on the "solid" seasons they had last year they might have a chance of getting into Europe, which they may well do but it's ultimately all in vein because the UEFA cup is a very poor competition.
Derby, Sunderland, Reading Birmingham, Fulham, Wigan are all going to think that IF, they can avoid relegation that they can build on that success, and next season finish mid-table, and become a permanent fixture in the premiership.

The teams change every season at the lower ends of that list, but it's ultimately futile really, because one day the world will blow up and we'll all die. And maybe in the nano second before it happens people will think, what a waste of time football really was.

C'mon you Spurs!

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Now playing: Paul McCartney - Temporary Secretary
via FoxyTunes

It'a my birthday

2008-01-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

That's meant to read "it's my birthday" but, "it'a my birthday" sounds Eyetalian wha! Anyway, Happy Birthday to me, and thanks to everyone who sent me nice messages today, really appreciated. Cheers to you all!

Best of 2007

2008-01-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

My brother has a great piece on his blog about his favorite things in 2007 so I decided to rob that idea for my one. It's only him that reads this blog so I doubt he'll mind.

Fave Film:

American Gangster. I'm not much of a film buff but I think American Gangster by Ridely Scott was a great movie, I'm sure everyone knows the film, so I won't bother trying to remember. Watch the trailor. Or, read this interview with the real Frank Lucas, it was carried out a few years ago but it's still really good.

Fave Photo:I like this photo this photo because, obviously I'm with Gruff Rhys, and also because we got a phone call before the gig from our landlady saying that we had got the apartment we now live in. So for the memories and for just the sheer greatness of it, this is my favorite photo of 2007.

Fave albums:

I already kind of covered this a few weeks ago but no harm in doing it again... or is there?? No, probably not. 2007 was the best year for music this decade I reckon. I liked all the "BIG" albums, because I'm like that. So, Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, SFA, Radiohead, The National, Modest Mouse, Arctic Monkeys and The Hold Steady. All of them albums are fantastic. I also listened to Revolver by The Beatles, of course!

Fave Purchase:

My superb Mac Book! I reckon I'd die if didn't have it.

Fave Place:

On a open top bus in Barcelona, heading down Las Ramblas, or watching the sunset over Onario Lake this September. (not gay)

Fave bit of work:

Getting some photoshop images on the cover of the Sunday Tribune Business section.

So, that's it. I also moved to Toronto this year from Dublin, that was a bit mad. But I'm here now and it's working out very well indeed. I hope everyone had as good a 2007 as I did, here's to another great year.

Happy War (Christmas is over)

Mark.

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Now playing: Radiohead - Last Flowers
via FoxyTunes

New kids on the blog

2008-01-05T23:01:00.000-08:00

THE DIET OF WORMS HAVE A NEW BLOG.

blog.

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Now playing: Act 1 - Tom The Peeper
via FoxyTunes

Mark Orford's Christmas Story... wait, and new years.

2008-01-05T22:59:00.001-08:00

Canada is great. That's a fact of life.
Christmas was brilliant, on the Friday I left work I headed out with a few people from work for "beers" it ended up with me and a guy called shay drinking scotch. I can't remember any of the night then. When I got back into work on Wednesday I found out that he continued to drink and ended up at home and he put his own face through a mirror and passing out on the floor, his neighbors heard the crash, ran downstairs to find him covered in blood on the floor. He woke up in the hospital getting stitches in his face and also spent three days there over Christmas. Upon hearing this I retorted with my own tale of madness "I was locked out of my gaff for about 20 minutes, until my girlfriend came and let me in, it was fine though I had a bottle of beer with me".

WOW

The rest of Christmas was spent drinking and eating, lovely.
My friend Conor got a new white jacket (i saw photos on bebo) it looks like a pile of crap, it looks like the kind of jacket that someone would wear on space station..... but that'd be pretty cool, so maybe the jacket is actually great.
Our New Year's wasn't very drunken at all, because the day before was spent in the pub and we all woke up DYING. I puked, the worst puking experience I've had in long time. We headed downtown, around the town hall, where the the Plain white Gee's ushered in the new year, they were shite, but it was snowing and there was fireworks so all in all it was great.
So now, there you go.
Just back from seeing that musical film, Sweeney Todd, it was entertaining. I said to Brendan and Deano that of all the times I'd hate the most to live in, it'd be during the nasty plague time in "LDN" to which Deano replied "Yeah, it'd be crap to have to sing every sentence too"

YERRRRRRRRRRRRRRHOOOOOO.

Mark.

----------------
Now playing: Acid Casuals - Bowl me over
via FoxyTunes

Friday the 13th : Explained.

2007-12-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

What better day to unravel the mystery of Friday the 13th then Thursday the 13th? So here it goes, 13 is considered unlucky because 12 is considered such a complete number ie- 12 months of the year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 13 was considered to "transgress this completeness" so that's why 13 is considered unlucky. Friday is considered unlucky because it's commonly believed by them Christians that, that was the day that Jesus was crucified.
There's another piece of information for you to tell your friends. Faces will look like this:

Albums of 2007 - By Mark Orford

2007-12-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

2007 has been a great year for myself personally, as well as thousands of ears worldwide. My ears and my brain have combined to produce my top 5 albums of the year. In order? Yeah. Now what you should do is use your eyes and brain to understand the following.

5. Hey Venus! - Super Furry Animals

4. Favorite Worst Nightmare - Arctic Monkeys

3. In Rainbows - Radiohead

2. Because Of The Times - Kings Of Leon

1. Boxer - The National

My 50th Post : A weekend

2007-12-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

It's now Sunday. I'm in bed and I'm strangely unhungover given the amount of alchohol consumed last night. Everyone had fun, the lads (me, Deano and Brenden) went to a metal bar (shaaaawing) to honor Dimebag, while the lovely girls (Clare and Elaine) stayed in with wine. I was secretly thinking of this all the time, so I was laughing.

Things figured out 3. Yawning: contagious?

2007-12-02T19:17:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago, I was on the dart on the way into work. As sometimes happens a man brought a dog on the dart. That's fine I thought, the Dog then yawned, then I yawned. How odd I thought, I'm not tired and yet I've yawned because the dog yawned. So it begs the question, is yawning really contagious? I asked my friend wikipedia, here's what she said:

The yawn reflex is often described as contagious: if one person yawns, this will cause another person to "sympathetically" yawn. Observing another person's yawning face (especially his/her eyes), or even reading about or thinking about yawning, can cause a person to yawn. You could possibly be yawning from reading this section or looking at these pictures. However, only about 55% of people in a given audience will respond to such a stimulus; fewer if only the mouth is shown in a visual stimulus.The proximate cause for contagious yawning may lie with mirror neurons, i.e. neurons in the frontal cortex of certain vertebrates, which upon being exposed to a stimulus from conspecific (same species) and occasionally interspecific organisms, activates the same regions in the brain.^[13] Mirror neurons have been proposed as a driving force for imitation which lies at the root of much human learning, e.g. language acquisition. Yawning may be an offshoot of the same imitative impulse. A 2007 study found that children with autism spectrum disorders, unlike typical children, did not yawn after seeing videos of other people yawning; this supports the claim that contagious yawning is based on the capacity for empathy.^[14]

To look at the issue in terms of evolutionary advantage, if there is one at all, yawning might be a herd instinct.^[15] Other theories suggest that the yawn serves to synchronize mood behavior among gregarious animals, similar to the howling of the wolf pack. It signals tiredness to other members of the group in order to synchronize sleeping patterns and periods of activity. This phenomenon has been observed among various primates. The threat gesture is a way of maintaining order in the primates' social structure. Specific studies were conducted on chimpanzees^[16] and stumptail macaques^[17]. A group of these animals was shown a video of other conspecifics yawning, and both chimpanzees and stumptail macaques yawned also. This helps to partly confirm a yawn's "contagiousness".

Gordon Gallup, who hypothesizes that yawning may be a means of keeping the brain cool, also hypothesizes that "contagious" yawning may be a survival instinct inherited from our evolutionary past. "During human evolutionary history when we were subject to predation and attacks by other groups, if everybody yawns in response to seeing someone yawn, the whole group becomes much more vigilant, and much better at being able to detect danger.

Wow!

Captain Planet! Saves Belfast!!

2007-12-02T19:03:00.000-08:00

Photos of two canadian months

2007-12-02T18:11:00.000-08:00

I especially like me and Gruff Rhys and Brendan locked on the road.

The best new blogs in town

2007-12-02T17:43:00.000-08:00

It's been ages since i updated the world on the goings on of Mark Orford esq. So here we go. I now have a job, it's not much fun but then jobs aren't meant to be fun are they? Well, they are supposed to give you some sort of satisfaction, this one doesn't. But I'm hungover now, and everything seems a bit duller when hungover. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.
Toronto is going really well though, we've met new buddies called Brendan and Elaine, a lovely pair of sound people, we're planning a big long road trip to Vancouver in the Summer. If it works out it could end up being the best couple of weeks of all time ever. Overall it's been a good couple of months so far, it's strange to think we've been here for two months now, it seems like ages but it seems like no time at all really., does that make sense? "Yes Mark it definitely does" Thanks.
Also my good buddy Deano has created a blog which can be found at serial-hero.blogspot.com it's great, oh yes, myself and deano have created another blog called oasis and rap, and is about all the strange people that are on bebo it's very very good so check it out if you have the time. I think I'll post up some snaps of the past two months.

My feelings:

Tired.

Hungover.

Happy.

Sad.

Tired again.

They're good feelings.

YEA!

2007-10-28T14:47:00.000-07:00

----------------
Now playing: Jarvis Cocker - Black Magic
via FoxyTunes

The Ideal Stash

2007-10-23T15:19:00.001-07:00

Here we are, barely crawling into our infancy at the start of this very shiny new century, things my friends, are good. The “digital era” is beginning to take off in ways that no one could of predicted. And yet, we’ve left something behind, the art of the album. People preferring instead to buy one or two songs from a band off iTunes and leave it at that. Yet, there are a small group out there in analogue land (it’s a place) who long for the days of trawling through dodgy record stores, furrowing our brows for one single album that might just change our lives.
So, if you, like me, long for those days of having a physical record, yet don’t have the time for an afternoon of trawling and trawling through said record store waiting for a memory of someone somewhere telling you when you were out about a band who “has this song, and it goes like this and the singer has this thing that happened to him when he was young…” The albums I have chosen are something of forgotten classics, lost for whatever reason to a world of trendy haircuts and iPods.

These records are: Guerrilla by the ever eccentric Super Furry Animals, The Three E.P.’s by The Beta Band and The Ideal Crash by Deus.

I first bought Guerrilla on a tip off from an old work colleague of mine. And , if it wasn’t so illegal and so strange. I would take my copy of Guerrilla by the Super Furry Animals to Las Vegas and marry it. It’s not a strange fetish or anything like that. I just think it would be a nice thing to do.

It is a sublime record, filled with songs about drinking, smoking and crying. From the moment you hear the first song “check it out” build bounce and crash into “do or die” you will suddenly have an insight into Gods mind, the insight being; that he invented ears in the hope that everyone would hear this album. The album is full of 21st century psychedelia mixed with the imagination of five welsh men that clearly have more talent in their baby toe than the whole of The Klaxons put together.

The next album to help you through the sometimes overwhelming selection you’re bound to face while staring thousands of unknown records directly in the face is the Beta Bands slow burning genius The Three Ep’s.

“This is the definition of my life, lying in bed in the sunrise”. -Dry the rain.

The first words you hear on this c.d. sums up the whole album. When you listen to this album it’s just like going on a holiday that you never ever want to end. The Beta Band made people like Noel Gallagher realize that Oasis were never going anywhere but to the bottom shelf of everyone’s c.d. collection. Don’t worry though this album sounds nothing like Oasis or anyone else for that matter. It sounds like nothing you will ever have heard before. But at the same time it sounds like the album you have always wanted to hear.

The stand out point is 3 minutes and 5 seconds into B+A where suddenly the drums get louder and more definite rather than maybe, and in essence blows your mind. Also, it’s a little known fact that if you listen to B+A while walking down the road you will suddenly notice that your walk will get a 29% more confident and your 72% more likely to attract members of the opposite sex.

The album is safe haven of versatility and imagination, where you can feel free to revel in the knowledge that this album given the chance could solve any of the worlds problems.

Belgium?

What has Belgium done for us? Oh yeah, that’s right they knocked us out of the play-offs for World Cup ’98. Well don’t get too angry, because a bunch of Belgian musicians have made an album so beautiful in melancholy that you will easily forgive them for making the Summer of ’98 a Summer of “what if’s”.

When I bought the Deus album The Ideal Crash for a friend of mine, I got stopped in the middle of Grafton Street by a complete stranger, he just started telling me how much he loved The Ideal Crash. Such is the power of this album.
The Ideal Crash is comprised of 10 tracks that will make you over pour with emotions that you never thought you could feel. It has lyrics in it that will make you want to ring the Belgian embassy and thank them for producing the genius that is Deus.

The opener ‘Put The Freaks up Front’ burns with sincerity and makes you almost live inside the music. It even issues you with instructions for listening to the album “put your panic on hold, amplify your very soul and keep breathing”.

Every time this album ends I take a deep breath and wonder how a group of people could of produced an album of such stark honesty and unbelievable truth. It twists your heart and makes you forget about everything else other than somebody you’ve loved and lost. An old cliché maybe, but this record will make you remember feelings and moments you have some how forgot for whatever reason.

So there you are, three albums that have somehow been criminally left on the hard shoulder somewhere at the start of the Information Super Highway. And yet, isn’t there something marvelous about the forgotten? So don’t go straight onto some dodgy mp3 site and download a song off each record. Take an old fashioned journey into town, find a lovely independent record store, have a root around for these masterpieces. Then go home sit back, and have a listen. Who knows, they could change your life.

THE NEW THING THAT I LOVE

2007-10-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

It would be very easy to dismiss Football in America and Canada. BUT! Yesterday i had the pleasure of watching my very first Toronto F.C. game. It was a fantastic match, and I knew I enjoyed it because during the game, I started referring to Toronto F.C. as "us".
The match ended 2-2 with Daniel Dichio scoring a fantastic looping equalizer in the 91st minute. Unfortunately the season is over now, but Mo Johnston is hoping to work his usual close season magic by drafting in some new players onto the roster. He's also eying up a sneeky move for Savo Milosovic, that wouldn't our designated player though, good old Mo is going to wait until everything in his team is perfect until he puts the cherry on top.
Our aim next season will be to get into the play offs.
TFCTFCTFCTFCTFCTFCTFCTFCTFCTFC

Other things I love in Toronto are:

The Subway.

Our Dishchair.

18" pizzas for $15.

The Green Room.

The Crooked Star.

Our bedside tables.

NEW RADIOHEAD ALBUM

2007-10-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

In Rainbows will be available to download on the 10th of October. You can pay whatever you want for it.

DO IT

TRNTO

2007-09-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

I'm going to continue to write this entry in ten minutes, McQuackers rang and said that number 77 is throwing out a purple rug..... we could do with one of them!
BEAUTIFUL.

Now to update my long forgotten blog....

We (Clare, Deano and myself) arrived in Toronto on the 20th of September two thousand and seven. We flew with BA(satards) they forgot to put our luggage on the plane , so they gave each of us $70 and said that our bags would be dropped out to John's house the next day. And they did!! Bad start, good ending ey!!!
Since the bag incident, we have found an apartment, a telly, a set of AWESOME speakers 5.1 surround sound (wha!) wireless internet, mobile telephones and one futon.
I never realised how hard it is to furnish a whole apartment. We have even measured up for curtains and assembled the futon :

We've been to gigs, Gruff Rhys. I met him, Deano took a photo, but now his camera is dead so i can't post it right now. Broken Social Scene was excellent too. Best bit: when there was a stage invasion and some arsehole thought it'd be a good idea to jump off the stage, obviously when he did, the crowd parted and he fell on his face, excellent. Oh yes, BSS also bought everyone in the room a shot of Tequila which all 600 of us drank in sync. SWEET.

That's all.

ARE YOU FEELING 'APPY?

2007-08-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

Hullo!

As it's been raining alot over the past few months I have felt no need to compile a Summer mix. $$ACHTUNG$$ Major sunshine alert: BAM! Summer mixing begins. Here's what I layed down onto this motha fuckah! YERUP!

Foo Fighters - The Pretender.

Awesome Awesome Awesome, first single off the Foo's new album. Loud and fast, exactly what one has come to expect from the Foo Fighters. Plus a great song to strut to in the Summah Sun. Sahweet!

Interpol - Heinrich Maneuver.

It's nice to start mix with some straight forward awesome guitar innit? That's why I put this Interpol "ch-ch-choon" next. Plus, the lyrics "how are things on the west coast" is very summery altogether.

Threshold Apprehension - Frank Black-AKA-Black Francis-AKA-Charles Thompson-AKA-That fat bloke that Kurt Cobain thought was sound.

Oh good God. If you haven't heard this song, your Summer has been lacking it's most vital ingredient. There is know superlative worthy. It's like the missing link between U-Mass and Planet of Sound by the Pixies. Un(fucking)real. Plus the way the Heinrich Maneuver goes into it might get you slightly aroused.

Example - So Many Roads.

H'away with the guitar, let's mash things up a bit. i haven't heard much from Example but if this is anything to go by, the lad'll go far. Sampling "We've only just begun" by The Carpenters is a stroke of genius. Hippity Hop and it's cunning best.

Common feat. Lily Allen - Drivin' Me wild.

Gorgeous song, steel drums, good beats, excellent Lilly Allen chorus, Common doing what he does best. Perfection all round.

The Bees - Listening Man.

The Summer theme continuing with The Bees adding the missing bit of the mix, Reggae. Such a great song. Great video too. Go to www.youtube.com type in T H E B E E S L I S T E N I N G M A Nand then you get the chance watch it!

Super Furry Animals - The Gift That Keeps Giving.

The gift that keeps giving isn't my favourite song from the new album, BUT! That doesn't matter, because they're all absolute pop gems. This song just fat (the past tense of fit, fitted always sounds a bit odd) the mix perfectly. The Gift That Keeps Giving is on SFA's 134th album "HEY VENUS!" which seeing as how you asked, is pure brilliance.

The Aloof – One Night Stand.

Nice, poignant choon. Sounds incredibly like “In your honour” by the Foo Fighters, not sure which came first. It doesn’t really matter though cause both songs are great! YAW!

Beck - Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime.

The Summer time isn't all fun and games you know. And just because the Sun is shining doesn't take away the fact that we're all humans with emotions. Perfect for listening to when the sun is going down and you're having a right good think about things.

The Go! Team - Huddle Formation.

Enough of this thinking about things malarky. Let's party like we're crazy again. Solution? The Go! Team. I wanted to put "Doing it Right" from there new album on the mix but couldn't find on any of the highly illegal P2P things. Goes to prove that crime rarely pays.

The Wombats - Backfire At the Disco.

What will become of all these mental NME bands? For the purposes of this song, I won’t think about it too much, just nod my head slightly and just listen to it.

Cajun Dance Party – Amylase

More rock, from an NMesque band.

Laura Marling – New Romantic.

Folk pop. Anti Folk. Nu-Folk. Folk Grime. Or just one voice and one guitar singing about a relationship? I think I’ll go for the latter please. Lovely voice lovely words.

Richard Hawley – Coles Corner

And why shouldn’t there be a Richard Hawley song at the tale end of an awesome mix? I can’t think of a decent reason. Take it away Richard!

The Beatles – Strawberry Fields Forever (demo)

John Lennon playing SFF for one of the first times ever. You even get to hear him mess it up. One of my highlights from the Anthology series.

The National – Abel

The end is nigh! The National closing the summer mix ’07. Summing it all up perfectly.
“My minds not rich”

Photo of the day:

2007-08-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

Tribune scoop!

2007-08-04T04:08:00.000-07:00

Oh me Oh my.

2007-08-03T05:40:00.000-07:00

Just press play.

Mental.

1 sound bloke + 1 arsehole = 1 super arsehole

2007-08-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

+

=

(the bloke from Humanzi)

Journo catchphrase.

2007-07-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

Over the past year I have noticed that journalists, when on the phone to someone will almost always say, "i'm just ringing in relation to...." or "yes, but in relation to" or "i understand, but in relation to".

Shortest gig of all time

2007-07-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

brilliant.

broken social scene presents....

2007-07-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

That lad who invented Broken Social Scene Kevin Drew is releasing an album called Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew, Spirit If. Plus it's going to feature a bunch of BSS people. Doesn't that mean that this is a new BSS album? Apparently not. But who cares!? It practically is. Plus the people on the internet are saying that this is going to be part one of a whole series of these mini albums. yerhooo! It's out on the 18th of September '07.
When i first read it, I thought BSS we're giving us a present. Thought about it for a while, and realized I was wrong. Still though it'd be nice to get a present off BSS. What would they give you as a present? Probably a copy of You Forgot it in People, tight prrrrrrixxxx!!
Listen up!! Right here

lastfm sells out! (in a good way)

2007-07-11T03:50:00.001-07:00

Lastfm , which is absolutely brilliant! Has struck a deal with the Sony BMG record label which will enable users to listen to all the music featured in there back catalogue . Sahweet!! The people who set up lastfm recently sold it to CBS for a whopping $280 million! WOW. If you haven't already investigated "the social music revolution" you really should. __here__

Things I've figured out.

2007-07-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Over the past twenty four years. Mark Orford has figured out some interesting things. All by himself! Some of these things have been extraordinary, some have been less interesting. Here's just a few of his discoveries.

* Color coding your cd collection is generally a bad idea. Sure it looks nice, but if your cd collection is quite extensive you might end up with your favourite cd on the lowest shelf. Meaning that it's harder to get to. Tip: put all your favourite cds on the most accessible shelf. This also means that if an emergency occurs i.e. a fire, your favourite cds can be easily rescued!

* If you're watching Coronation Street on UTV it's quite easy to skip the ad breaks! How? Easy, TV3 also show Coronation Street, but start the broadcast afew minutes earlier, possibly to attract more viewers. So if you flick over to TV3 when the ads start on UTV you've already cut the ad break in half.

* Never dry another dish again! O.H.M.I.G.O.D.M.A.R.K.H.O.W? Easy peasy good reader! Simply wash the dishes in very hot water, put them on the draining board and they'll dry themselves in only a couple of minutes! Wow!

* You're on the way home from work, you get on the train, you're tired but there is hardly any seats. Surely there is no way to get a seat!? **WRONG** In a city there are a good few stations situated within the CBD (Central Business District) So, depending on which station you get on at, look out for the person who is most likely to get off. Tip: Tourists will usually get off in the CBD so stand near them while they're sitting down, once they get up... GO! Sitting down will have never felt sweeter.

* If you're walking down the road and have a blind corner in front of you, you may well be in store for an awkward bump with complete stranger. Egg on face! No! Watch out for approaching shadows, this will give you an indication if there is someone about bang into you. This will work even better if there is a cyclist on the way!

update

2007-07-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

Eating : Bread

Drinking : Water

Location : Prison

Reading : A book

(p)Oxegen '07

2007-07-10T11:12:00.001-07:00

Atmosphere - Shit, bordering on dangerous, if mcd keep on ignoring this situation something genuinely awful might happen, something like this.

Music - Absolutely incredible. I went to see The Delorentos , Biffy Clyro , Kings of Leon , Editors, QOTSA , Charlotte Hatherley, Mr. Hudson & The Library , Bloc Party , Coldwar Kids , Arcade Fire , The Hours (worst of the bunch) and then to round it all off I went to see The National in the the new bands tent.

Overall - Good music. Shit weather and too many scum bags for my liking. Would I go to another Oxegen? Nope. Bring on The Picnic.
**HERE IZ SUM SNAPZ***

Stay down champion let them all have your neck

2007-07-06T08:27:00.001-07:00

I finished work, walked into HMV, looked around, all i saw was tired cd's on sale and various unappealing dvd's. It was then I felt something very unnerving inside me, a sense that the world of records as we know it might well be on the way out.
I walked down Grafton Street and thought about how the record store is slowly vanishing.I turned left onto Wicklow Street and saw Tower Records with it's lovely window display calling out to me.
The first cd i ever bought was Different Class by Pulp, I bought it in the massive Virgin on the Quays. I popped on the headhones and listened to the first line of every song, it was here where my record collection started. In Tower Records yesterday I done the exact same thing, only this time with Boxer by The National. I'm now listening to it for the first time. And it's reminding me of how i felt all those years ago when you stumble upon a record that you instantly know that is going to stay in your life forever. It's a special feeling, one that shouldn't be forgotten in a world of quick fix downloading, where you can dismiss a band within 30 seconds.
If in a few years time, the likes of Tower and HMV may become relics of the past it'll be an absolute travesty if they do, because for all the convenience of shopping online there's one thing that the internet will never be able to generate : atmosphere.
Boxer by The National has, in forty three minutes and five seconds rekindled my absolute belief in music.

Inroducing- The biggest cunt in Ireland... Eddie Hobbs!

2007-07-06T08:16:00.001-07:00

Take a while and actually look at Eddie there.

Done?

What an absolute prick.

I laughed.

2007-07-06T08:13:00.000-07:00

So the Diet of Worms played in the Village last night. Man-o-man-o-man they are some funny people. Roll on Edinburger, bring on the pool.

Things figured out. Week 2. Teletext/Aertel

2007-06-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, in an age before the internet, the bbc invented a thing called teletext. It was a revelation. Until now most people would say that magic invented Teletext. Most people should read the following.....

Teletext is broadcast in the "Vertical Blanking Interval" (VBI) lines of the television signal. This is an area unused by the actual television - it has been left to give the television's electron beam time to return to the top of the screen, these days it is more historical than anything else.
This picture shows you what I mean...
The electron beam scans your television screen from left to right, then flies back to scan the next line. It actually scans every other line, doing this some 300 times for each 'field'. Then the beam needs to return to the top left to begin scanning the missing lines, or the next frame (this is known as 'interlacing'; there are 625 lines on a PAL/SECAM television (of which around 576 are 'visible'), and 525 lines on an NTSC television; there are 25 complete frames (30 for NTSC) every second, and each complete frame is built up from two fields, every odd line and every even line).
This return-to-top takes slightly more time than a simple fly-back, and this is why the VBI exists. The VBI is larger then you might expect, as it also includes unmistakable synchronisation data so each and every television knows exactly where in the broadcast signal each frame begins, and can lock on to that, knowing also when each line begins.
So, then, we have this 'blank' bit of the television signal, right? Wrong - just because the television doesn't display this part of the signal doesn't mean it is mostly junk. You can hide all sorts of stuff in there (don't get paranoid, it's mostly just boring 'test' information). One thing tucked away in the VBI is teletext. If you were to 'play' with the Vertical Hold on your television, until the picture started to roll slowly, you would see a few lines of blinking and flashing dots of all sorts of colours, towards the bottom of the VBI and above the normal picture.
Phew!!!! Who on earth would of known that such a brilliant system worked so easily! It wasn't magic afterall just sheer genius.
Teletext was the english version, after a while RTE introduced Aertel to Ireland and went "on-line" 22nd of June 1987.
My personal favourite memory of Teletext was staying up all night waiting for Teletext to tell me the Fabrizio Ravenelli had signed for Tottenham..... my wait was in vain as eventually he signed for Middlesborough (what a cunt). Feel free to leave your favourite memories of Teletext/Aertel Below.

The week in weather

2007-06-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

Today will be mainly a mix of heavy showers and sunshine. Tomorrow will be pretty much the same as today.

In the early part of next week, there will be blustery winds which will keep the temperatures in the mid to low teens. If you had to describe it in a funnier way you would say the weather will be like Gary Glitter.

There will be no point in dressing like the man above as it's gonna be pretty much like last
week. Which is a shame.

What the 80's were really about.

2007-06-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

"I've got love for you if you were born in the 80's" so said Calvin Harris.
That song is shit, and he is more than likely a prick. For a taste of the real 80's check out the video below.

Finished? CHEK DIZ SHIT OT MOTHA FUCKAH. Buy it on picture disc.

The Nazis are back!!

2007-06-20T11:35:00.001-07:00

No they aren't really Nazis but at one stage everyone thought they were.
Regardless of this minor blip, Kula Shaker are back!! And will release there first album since 1999's "peasants, pigs and astronauts" on August 27th.
Oh yes, it will be called "strangefolk"

Posh

2007-06-19T07:17:00.001-07:00

What an arsehole

Things figured out. Week one : What was the last Beatles album?

2007-06-19T06:20:00.000-07:00

Was it Abbey Road or Let it be?
Let it be was recorded in 1969 and was supposed to be a documentry about the band recording an album and was meant to culminate with the bands return to live performance, however it actually turned out to be a documentary about the band fighting and generally annoying eachother. Upon viewing this material the band the decided the album and "the documentary" were a load of shit, so they scrapped it. After this they went into the studio again, this time with George Martin, and recoreded Abbey Road. Which they released later that year, 1969. This turned out to be the last Beatles album that they recorded. However! in 1970 (the band had split by this stage) they all realised that they spent way too much money on the Let it be project to simply let it gather dust. So they gave the tapes to Phil Spector, and he somehow ruined it even more. So! Abbey Road was the last one they recorded, but Let it be was the last one they released. get it? got it.

Technology -loves- Mark

2007-06-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

I have now become a fully fledged 21st century human. I have bought a laptop, and it's brilliant. As i sit here typing these words my laptop is downloading all sorts of illegal things (no, not porn) . Infact my laptop is so posh it's not even called a laptop it's called a macbook.

Modest Mouse- We were dead before the ship even sank TAKE II

2007-06-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

Yes! We were dead before the ship even sank was released in March. Yes! It did go straight into the American billboard charts at number 1 after selling 130,000 copies in it's first week. So why oh why should i give it a 'review' now? Simple: I didn't reckon it was any use when i first got it, and now i think it's great. If you thought the same i'd recommend you turn up your speakers and have another listen.