Being Wavey Davey

Critics Choice Albums of the Year 2011

2011-12-31T20:50:00.002Z

Every year I pour through end of year lists in magazines, newspapers and more latterly the web to see what music I may have missed. I "find" good acts this way (like John Grant in the 2010 list). Last year I made a Spotify list out of the results and this year I've done the same and thought I'd share it with you.

This year I used a total of 28 lists mainly made up of mainstream Music Mags, Websites & Newspapers but I also used a couple of more specialist publications like Mixmag (Dance), Kerrang (Metal/Rock), No Depression (Americana/Roots) and All Hip-Hop (oh come on). Using these doesn't really change much in the top 100 but it does give a boost to some 'crossover' acts. The full list of sources is listed below.

Most of the lists were top 50 where I awarded 1 point for 50 and 50 for 1 (obviously). Those that didn't I did my best (for some 5 points each) for others 50 downwards. Trust me.

Anyway here are the Spotify Play Lists with all the albums that were available for the top 100 starting with the Number 1 critically acclaimed album by P.J. Harvey. The full list is also below. Where albums weren't available at time of publication it is noted (with alternative links where possible)

Critics Choice Albums of 2011 Nos 1 -50
Critics Choice Albums of 2001 Nos 51 - 100
(for those who are interested 2010s 1-50 here and 51-100 here)

Some observations

There were 522 different albums in the total list (more variety than usual)
This year there were mixtapes (like A$AP and Big KRIT) making the top 50s of publications for the first time
Also for the first time, some lists had self released albums (the music industry has definitely changed).
Earnest Singer Songwriter and Rocky stuff seems to be in this year
The music now called R'n'B seems to be on the way out (Beyonce had a very low show of the 522 and Rhianna didn't make it).
Dubstep has influenced mainstream listening with acts like SBTRKT, James Blake and Zomby making the top 100
No place for Reggae with Great albums like Little Roy's - Battle For Seattle not making the list.
The album Watch The Throne by Kanye West and Jay Z made the top 50 this year and also last year
Britney Spears only got 1 Point (P.J. Harvey got 708)

Hope you find some new music to have a listen to. What albums do you think should have made the top 100 what do you want to here on the list?

The list

PJ Harvey - Let EnglandShake
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Metronomy - The EnglishRiviera
Kurt Vile - Smoke ringfor my Hal
Tom Waits -Bad As Me (not yet on Spotify)
Fleet Foxes -Helplessness Blue
The Horrors - Skying
Tune-Yards - Whokill
Wilco - The Whole Love
St Vincent - StrangeMercy
Radiohead - The King ofLimbs
War on Drugs - SlaveAmbient
Wild Beasts - Smother
Gillian Welch - TheHarrow and the Harvest (not yet on Spotify)
Lykke Li - WoundedRhymes
James Blake - JamesBlake
Josh T Pearson - Lastof the Country Gentleman
White Denim - D
Real Estate - Days
SBTRKT - SBTRKT
Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
The Weekend - House ofBalloons (not on Spotify get it free here)
Beruit - Riptide
My Morning Jacket -Circuital
Girls - Father, Son,Holy Ghost
Adele - 21(not on Spotify)
Laura Marling - ACreature I Don't Know
EMA - Past LifeMartyred Saints
Destroyer - Kaputt
Ryan Adams - Ashes andFire
The Decemberists - TheKing is Dead
Wild Flag - Wild Flag
Jon Hopkins & KingCreosote - Diamond Mine
Shabazz Palaces - BlackUp (not on Spotify)
Jonathon Wilson -Gentle Spirit
Feist - Metals
Kanye West & Jay-Z- Watch the Throne
Yuck - Yuck
The Antlers - BurstApart
M83 - Hurry Up, We'reDreaming
Katy B - On A Mission
Florence & TheMachine - Ceremonials
Bjork - Biophilla
Drive By Truckers - GoGo Boots
Gang Gang Dance - EyeContact
Paul Simon - SoBeautiful or So What
Zomby - Dedication
Dawes - Nothing isWrong
Beastie Boys - HotSauce Committee Part Two
Black Keys - El Camino (not on Spotify)
Drake - Take Care
Nicholas Jaar - Spaceis Only Noise
Tim Heckler -Ravendeath 1972
Battles - Gloss Drop
Peaking Lights - 936
Oneohtrix Point Never -Replica
Washed Out - Within andWithout
Civil Wars - BartonHollow
John Maus - We MustBecome the Pitless Censors of Ourselves
Rustie - Glass Swords
Bill Callahan -Apocalypse (not on Spotify)
Cats Eyes - Cats Eyes (not on Spotify)
Jason Isbell and the400 unit - Here we Rest
Arctic Monkeys - Suckit and See
Little Dragon - RitualUnion
Kate Bush - 50 Wordsfor Snow
TV on the Radio - NineTypes of Light
Bombay Bicycle Club - ADifferent Kind of Fix
Panda Bear - Tom Boy
Fucked Up - David ComesTo Life
I Break Horses - Hearts
Elbow - Build A RocketBoys
The Field - LoopingState of Mind (not on Spotify)
Veronica Falls -Veronica Falls
A$AP Rocky -LIVELOVEA$AP (not on Spotify - Get here while you can)
Lady Ga Ga - Born ThisWay
Wu Lyf - Go Tell It ToThe Mountain
Frank Ocean -Nostalgia, Ultra (not on Spotify but may still be free)
Aiden Moffat and BillWells - Everything's Getting Older
Hayes Carll - Kmag Yoyo(& other American stories)
Gil Scott-Heron &Jamie XX - We're New Here
Foo Fighters - WastingLight
Modeselector -Monkeytown (not on Spotify)
The Vaccines - What DoYou Expect From The Vaccines
When Saints Go Machine- Konkylie
Black Lips - ArabiaMountain
Gruff Rhys - HotelShampoo
WALLS - Coracle (stream it here)
The Low Anthem - SmartFlesh
Friendly Fires - Pala
Koralleven - An Albumby Koralleven
The Roots - Undun
Araabmusik - ElectronicDream
Stephen Malkumus &the Jicks - Mirror Traffic
Barwick, Julianna - TheMagic Place
Caretaker, The An EmptyBliss Beyond This World (stream and buy it here)
Mastodon - The Hunter
Bradley, Charles - NoTime For Dreaming
Ghostpoet - PeanutButter Blues and the Melancholy Jam
Deer Tick - Divine Providence (not on Spotify)

The Lists used (and links where available)

For The Benefit of Mr Jobs

2010-11-16T22:49:00.002Z

Don’t get me wrong, I like the Beatles. I really do. And I recently purchased the Mono Box set on CD (yes CD). I got it for less than £100 (still bloody expensive) but I bet it is better quality than anything Apple will sell me (cheaper too).

I don’t buy MP3s or AAC or digital music in general. I’m old fashioned and I like (and trust) the physical medium with Graphics and sleeve notes. I can rip it into today’s format, back it up easily, and not worry if I change technology (and I’ve had ATRAC, MP3 and AAC so it isn’t just DRM that can annoy me).

It is good that Artists get paid something for their work and especially new artists. I don’t think Sir Paul will need the royalties Divorce or not so I prefer to get my classics somewhat cheaper.

Is this a day we’ll never forget like Jobs said? I Doubt it, but it is a great advert for Apple who in the paid online music business remain to be beaten despite Spotify etc.

As I write the Beatles Red Album is doing quite well on iTunes at £17.99. Here are some real solid deals you might want to consider instead

The Fall the Complete Peel Sessions £16.79 – 6 CDs of a band like Marmite (luv em or hate them)

Joy Division – Heart and Soul 4cd collection £9.87 or New Order Retro 4cd £16.99 – A massive end to end history

Lee Scratch Perry – Arkology £16.43. 52 tracks of a Reggae/Dub producer genius at his absolute prime

Miles Davis – Complete Columbia Recordings £12.99 – Legendary Jazz albums from Jazz Masters Miles Davis and Gil Evans with outtakes £12.99. Includes Sketches from Spain and Porgy and Bess

Johnny Cash Legend 4CD £12.99 – Because he is, well.. a legend

Elvis Presley – From Nashville to Memphis (5 CDs) £12.99 – 60s brilliance from the King

The Message. Story of Sugarhill Records (4 CDS) £14,99 – Early rap/funk/soul brilliance

All the above will be well packaged, yours, rippable and come with great photos and text.

Anyone found any better ????

P.S. The other great news from this announcement is the price of Beatles CDs which seem to remain constant are dropping. Cheers Mr Jobs.

Jack Burnacle Speaks

2010-10-28T20:11:00.000+01:00

Whilst at the Weston Beach Races I bumped into (alright ran after) Jack Burnacle and asked him if he was aware of the Twitter Drinking Game that grew up around his commentary around the Indianapolis MotoGP.

Those who aren't aware these are some of the rules as tweeted by @twitgp

After a hilarious practice and qualifying we got ready for the race.

...and these are just some of the results.

Anyway Jack vaguely remembered so I asked if he would like to record a message. Quick as a flash he came up with this.

Jack was an absolute Gent and a bloody good sport.

Those who like MotoGP, WSBK, BSB etc might like to follow or review this twitter list I created.
Anyone who just wants to chew the fat and talk nonsense may enjoy following me @waveydavey001. Then again.....

GET YOUR MOTOGP, WSBK, BSB & F1 DATES IN ONE CALENDAR HERE

Weston Beach Race 2010 Start (via iPhone and Pen)

2010-10-20T20:47:00.021+01:00

Had a great time at Weston Beach Races again this year. If you haven't been make a date for next year. It is raw and dirty and you get close enough to feel it (still hoping the sand hasn't damaged the camera) and taste it. To be fair you could possibly taste it from about a mile away.

Whilst most spectators, me included, spend most of the 3 hours watching the riders cornering, getting stuck and tackling the dunes the start is a sight to behold.

This year about 500 bikes lined up and I can only describe the look and roar as the heat haze and sand cloud come out of the distance as being like something out of Mad Max.

Video never does it justice but I try. I shot the start in 2008 on a Nokia N95 and that can be found on my Youtube channel along with some other snippets. This year I tried some HD filming on both my iPhone 4 (by hand) and Olympus Pen (attached to the railing via a Gorrilapod). Each clip is reproduced below. Let me know which you think took the better shot.

The photo above was taken on my iPhone. More are available on my Flickr Set along side some Olympus Pen shots (damn why didn't I take the zoom lens). Eventually more video will be put up on youtube.

iPhone Version

Olympus Pen Version

Find me on Twitter at @waveydavey001

Get MOTOGP, WSBK, BSB & F1 2011 Dates in iCal and XML calendar formats here

MotoGP, World Superbike, British Superbike and F1 Calendars

2010-10-18T21:07:00.009+01:00

Update 6 January 2012 - Planning your 2012 trips etc now. I'm adding dates and updating all the time. So far we have the MotoGP provisional Calendar, Worldsuperbike and BSB calendar, the F1 2012 calendar, Le Mans 2012 and the Isle of Man TT and classics plus the AMA Supercross (starting tomorrow). Irish Road Races to come. These should all work for existing subscribers. Non subscribers will need to re download. Those that subscribe will know that I update so that which is down as a single entry across three days will as a minimum into Practice, Quali and Race and at maximum will have the full race schedule and times of races.

As ever I am pleased that some find it very usefull and greatful that people let me know that they are using it via the comments, twitter etc. Please feel free to let people know of the service.

Original Text - With the World Superbike and British Superbike seasons over and the Moto GP and Formula 1 seasons drawing to a close, some peoples thought will turn to other things, perhaps Christmas.

Mine turn to next years events.

I have created a calendar covering MotoGP, World and British Superbikes and for those of you who like a little 4 wheel and politics with your biking the Formula 1 is included too.

Included in the calendar entries are links to the tracks, ticket sales and more. I intend to add to this and update with schedules etc as and where possible.

There are a number of ways of utilising this info including importing it into your calendar of choice. However as these dates are at the time of writing provisional, subscribing to this calendar, rather than importing/exporting, will allow you to get updates and additions as they happen.

iCal Settings

XML settings
HTML settings

Google's explanations of the usage of the different calendar feeds (including subscription types) can be found here

All other sync options including with mobiles can be found here

If you like and are planning to use this calendar, let me know here or on Twitter. That way I'll know how important it is to keep updated and in order.

If you are keen on MotoGP, WSBK, BSB etc here is my twitter list of riders, teams, bloggers, etc I've created. There is also a Formula 1 list as well
Follow me at @waveydavey001.

UPDATE 12 December 2010 - I've carried on updating and added Red Bull Rookies, Superstock, Supersport etc as well as the Isle of Man TT Races. Hope to update with schedules etc in the future so I would go for a subscription rather than an Import if at all possible to keep up. Thanks for the tweets etc.

Update 21 November 2011 - Start planning your 2012 trips etc now. I'm adding dates as I get them. So far we have the MotoGP provisional Calendar, Worldsuperbike and BSB calendars plus the F1 2012 calendar, Le Mans 2012 and the Isle of Man TT and classics. These should all work for existing subscribers. Non subscribers will need to re download. Keep spreading the word :)

Playing with Google Wave and Embedded Blogs

2009-10-23T18:21:00.013+01:00

Well One Year and 3 Months Ago on this Jaiku post (gotta love Jaiku) I wrote

"What I've always thought would be good was to be able to use a microblog embedded into popular blogs as comments. This wouldn't work if you set up your own microblog but a feature such as Jaikus channels that you could have member posting and guest posting (using a Capatcha or something) would be ace. Maybe some open source guru could build that into Laconica/Identi.ca"

There was more to it than just that, but read the post if you are bored and you'll see. Anyway I was alerted to Disqus which was sort of getting there and has improved since.

Anyway, Jaiku had its issues, but seems to be coming back into its own and I moved to Twitter (the shame). I still however like the idea of threaded conversations embedded into blogs, but built around a community.

Could Google Wave be the answer?

Hopefully below is an embedded wave on which you could comment. I'm not sure if those not on wave can see it. Either way add your thoughts and comments to Wave or Disqus below.

What Is On Wavey's iPhone

2009-07-19T22:10:00.007+01:00

I've spent a good couple of hours adding, deleting and re-ordering applications on my iPhone today. Nearly all 'home screen' bookmarks gave been removed and I've tried some reorganising loosely into themes.

In honour of Gerrymoths Nokiaaddict regular posts on what he installs on his various phones (see E71 example here)I thought a quick post of what is on my iPhone now would be of use.

Of course I'm a lazy a**e so there are no links, no real descriptions or anything. However Gerry, even poor imitation, is a form of flattery.

There are many so Apps, (this is just a snapshot of mine), and many ways to organise them, here are some screenshots of my layout.

Firstly the Front page, (not so important now the iPhone has Spotlight).

Next up Social Networking - I'm trying out lots of Twitter Stuff at the moment.

Office Applications - I don't wear a tie that often ;)

News and Music (including Music Based games.

Photo and Video Stuff - All good, but the one thing that makes me miss the Nokia

Games I Play - Peggle is SO ADDICTIVE

More Games lined up to try

Sport - Wimbledon was on here a week ago.

Finally Travel and Location based stuff.

So there you have it, this is how I've organised my iPhone and what I've installed. How do you manage yours? Leave a comment and let me know.

Lomo Fisheye #2 photos

2009-05-04T12:02:00.006+01:00

While in Hong Kong we bought a couple of Cameras from the Lomography Store. One was the Supersampler which I've yet to run a roll of film through, and the other was the Fisheye #2.

This was the first time I've used a Film Camera in over 10 years, (the last time I remember was firing a couple of shots off on Mrs Waveys APS camera on our Honeymoon).

The results were mixed and because of the extreme range of the lens a couple came out with fingers and thumbs in the shot.

I tried a few experimental night shots with double exposures, flash (built in, ring flash and external) but they were all dreadful.

Hopefully I've learnt something, but have a lot more to learn

Click here to see this set on Flickr

Běijīng a short stop over

2009-02-28T16:31:00.013Z

It was Mrs Waveys special Birthday in November, (shh don't tell her I told you that), and I decided to take here on a surprise holiday. I'd heard about Harbin and the Ice Festival (more about that later) and thought I'd couple that with Chinese New Year in luxury in Hong Kong.

This is how I packaged it up for the birthday present (photos of the Ice and Snow festival were inside the Ice Sculpture which had melted by Birthday Morning).

Anyway. I couldn't get a direct flight to Harbin so it meant that we had to have a stopover in Beijing. This was a bit frustrating, because we knew we wouldn't be able to do the place justice at all, but we did get a little look around to get the flavour of the place.

You read about the Traffic in Beijing, but it really is amazing. The rules of the road seem to be that you can do anything as long as you beep your horn a lot. If you are a pedestrian or cyclist your job is to ignore the horn. It wasn't uncommon to look out of a taxi window and see a bike driving towards you. It was a good job that the average speed in Beijing was only 15KMH. Talking of Taxis, none of the drivers had done the knowledge. Many times we drove around in circles looking for our hotel. Even with a Taxi Card it wasn't that easy to find.

Whilst walking through the city we saw a number of people were going through a particular door, and being curious, we followed. We found ourselves in the Olympic Souvenir shop and experienced our first taste of Chinese shopping. We selected our item from one Girl who wrote us a multi copy receipt. We were then walked by another person to the payment counter. Having paid the receipts were stamped and then we were give 2 back and were walked back to finally get our present from the original person. There is something to be said for full employment!

Anyway, we didn't see any Olympic Venues, we didn't go to the Great Wall, (but saw it from the plane), and we didn't do a hundred other things, but we did go to Tiananmen Square and walked into the city seeing some good night markets. I only wish we could have stayed a little longer. What came next, however, was well worth leaving Beijing for

To see more photos go to my Beijing Flickr Set

Help - The problems of relying on a service

2009-02-22T18:37:00.007Z

Those of you that know me probably know that I tend to spend my time in the on-line world on Jaiku. Jaiku appeared around the same time as the much more well known Twitter but whilst Twitter opened up to the general public quickly, Jaiku stayed an invite only service, and therefore Twitter grew quickly and Jaiku, despite the best intentions of users and services like Jaiku Invites became the forgotten service.

However in some ways this was good for Jaiku. Whilst spammers and people who just liked their own voices hit Twitter, Jaiku formed real communities and real conversations formed. This was partly down to jaikus threaded conversations. There were stupid threads, games, heated debates, first dates, marriages and divorces documented on the "ku" alongside hurricanes, product announcements and the perhaps more obvious help with phones, operating systems and the like. These were all easy to follow, no searching was required, no third party trend following applications needed, it just worked.

Then something happened. Google bought Jaiku. Oh how we cheered. There were all sorts of rumours about how Jaiku would change. With the mighty power of Google behind it there was no stopping the service. Not only would it open up and eclipse Twitter, but it was to be an integral part of Android, or become part of Gmail. I began to get nervous that soon Jaiku would just be full of people spamming. Also that the Jaiku Mobile App for Nokia may never get out of beta with Android taking its place. Meanwhile Twitter was going down regularly, the fail whale a regular appearance, lots of Jaiku gloating going on.

Then in August last year Jaiku went down. Most people very patient but nerves started to appear. There was little info on what was going on and for the first time people began to wonder if Google had bought the service or the talent behind it. Having invested most of my time in Jaiku I was just a bit stuck for somewhere to go. I looked at Twitter (still suffering), Identi.ca (the new black) and Rejaw a new application. For me Identi.ca was all concept no substance, and being open source was a haven for those with a far more technical bent than me. Rejaw was the closest thing to Jaiku I could find with threaded conversations and a small but growing community.

I had a problem though, I like many of my Jaiku friends had a Nokia smartphone. One of the great ideas behind micro blogs (which admittedly Rejaw wasn't claiming as its main role) is that it is suited to the mobile phone, by text, application or mini browser. Rejaw had no mobile app (an iPhone app in the making) and didn't work in the Nokia browser. My Jaiku friends were scattering to the 4 winds.

Then Jaiku came back. Still no idea of what was going on but it worked. Calm was restored and although it wasn't quite the same it was good. I stayed with Rejaw as well because I like it, and it was a little easier for me having an iPhone. Many people had second services and had drifted off a bit.

Then come January 2009 it was announced that Jaiku was going open source. Some people thought this the beginning, some the end. I was just disappointed that Google didn't follow the potential of this service.

Then Jaiku failed again. The Robin has been showing up more and more and the service has got very frustrating. Many long standing Jaiku users are jumping ship (to the four winds). At the time of writing Jaiku is back up but it has left me with a horrible feeling.

Where am I going with this disorganised ranting? I don't know. It is more of a where I am going.

I have relied on Jaiku as a central hub for too long. I don't blame the developers who provided me with a FREE service. I don't deny them the opportunity to move on to bigger and better things and get paid to do so by a huge influential company that wants to use there talent. I'm pleased they are still spending time on it.

Whilst I love Jaiku I don't blame those who have got frustrated and gone elsewhere, especially those that use it for more than 'fun' social networking. It's just that I feel a little homeless and I am currently doing the thing I dislike most, spraying my digital scent around the internet territory with no real means of patrolling that territory well. Where do I go, where do I belong?

Rejaw is great, but under used and no good for Nokia users and possibly others outside the Web/iPhone world.

Twitter - Good for watching Celebrities, if that is your bag, and everyone seems to be on it. Lots of mobile apps to. On the downside it seems full of spammers and nigh on impossible to follow a conversation with any ease. Lots of shouts, little conversation.
Identi.ca - Actually coming on really well (the power of open source). Just a little technical for me, and if more people get using it then it will be as hard to follow a conversation as Twitter. I do believe it could grow and grow though.

So I'm lost. Trying out various things and applications on my phone and PC to try and make sense of the microblog community. I'm trying Tweetdeck, La Twit, Twitterfon and Friendfeed at the moment. I can't rely on Jaiku alone and I'm too lazy to keep up with everything unless it is easy.

Can anyone help me?

Mr and Mrs Waveys Pig

2008-08-25T10:46:00.003+01:00

wavey3444, originally uploaded by psychlura.

This is our own pig lovingly photoshopped by Psychlura (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26307767@N08/) one of the Artists who has been heavily involved in the King Bladuds Pig Project and the creator of Piguana and Anubis.

This now has pride of place on the Mantelpiece in the Wavey Household (its only about 20cm long)

The Origins of Weblebrity?

2008-08-07T20:12:00.002+01:00

The Best Thing I've Ever Seen - Number 1

2008-07-24T20:56:00.004+01:00

Number 1 in a random series of... um well when I can be bothered really (I'm Pretty Lazy/Busy as you can probably see).

Ok I used to think Blogger Play was really great. This shows random photos/graphics as they are uploaded to Blogger which can be played at various speeds. Some of the photos are obviously personal, some swiped from elsewhere and some graphics. If anything takes your fancy you can click on it and it takes you directly to the blog in question. I believe it was developed as an internal toy for blogger staff to play with.

Go on try it its cool.

However between them Mario Klingemann and Oleg Marakov have created something so awesome that I've officially titled it "The Best Thing I've Ever Seen (until I find the next thing)".

Take Flickr photos that are random, but not completely, as each additional photo shares a tag with the previous one. Do clever flash things so that they fade and warp into each other, as well as other effects such as zooming and scanning. Add a random Ambient soundtrack made up of a series of clever samples that work together to create a never ending song.

What you are left with is an 'Art House' style continuous film which is quite hypnotic in style.

Its called "Islands of Conciousness" and it can be enjoyed by clicking here

Nokia N95 one year on - An assessment (Part 1)

2008-04-03T21:31:00.006+01:00

Whilst rifling through my things yesterday, trying desperately to find some misplaced tickets, I stumbled upon my N95 documentation. Much to my surprise I discovered that today, "3rd April", is a year to the day since I first purchased the N95. I remember reading a preview of it in the Gadget Porn magazine Stuff, (it could have been T3), at the tail end of the previous year. Immediately I lusted after it as a replacement for my Sony K750i.

Without signing up to some ridiculous contract, I knew that I wanted one as soon as possible after it came out. I didn't expect it to take quite as long for it to emerge. I knew it would be a special phone, but I didn't quite realise it would change the way I use technology, and how much. The marketing term "Its what computers have become" was more than just marketing.

So looking at its features and how I've used them

Phoning

The obvious one, but it wasn't actually explained how to make a phone call until Page 93 of the manual (something at the time I described in a forum as the N95s hidden feature). I honestly probably make phone calls the least. I don't use VoIP (but don't have many foreign contacts or anything that might make me want to do this). I've never used Video calls and I'm not sure that I can try Push to Talk, nor have I ever heard of anyone doing so. I've made my own ring tones, assigned personal ring tones and played with the 3D settings etc.

Features 10/10 (not sure what else I would want)
Usage 4/10 (Indispensable but not used as much as other things)

Texting

Used a lot. Pretty good but no smileys (surprisingly). Easy to send texts to groups of people as well. A download from Nokia (Conversation) allows texts to be followed as conversations (a bit like a threaded forum). Multimedia Texts are easy as well and photos will be re-sized as needed. I also tried out an animated message application called Yoyap. Fun but most of my mates phones come from another era.

Features 8/10 (wot no smileys)
Usage 6/10 (could do more with Multimedia but I'm too lazy)

Email

Initially I set up my email accounts on the Phone and set it to auto poll. It was kind of great getting alerts to messages every 15 to 30 minutes when friends and colleagues only managed to log on once a day (got lots of free Cinema tickets this way). Two things though that annoy, battery life and not getting all of the email only the headings.

I also tried push email (I used emoze but there are others). Brilliant, but battery again is the problem.

I've settled on using more web based email services now, and the Gmail app is excellent, Yahoo Go is OK, and I also tried a Windows Live app. I tend to avoid windows. (so the Windows Live app may be good but only lasted a week).

Funnily enough you can also "just" log on to your web based email sites using the browser, but hey that would be too simple wouldn't it?

Features 7/10 (Headers/Battery)
usage 7/10 (Would beat blackberry to a pulp if the battery lasted)

Part 2 etc coming soon Happy Birthday My Little N95

Jogku (or Run Fat Boy Run)

2008-02-21T20:30:00.014Z

Phones can get you into trouble.

You know, you fancy a really expensive model for no particular reason, you buy it, and then you feel compelled to find a reason to have it.

That's how I found all these blogs

...and that's how you find all these forums

...and that's how you find and try all these amazing free applications

...and thats how I found myself weighing myself and going for a run for the first time in 20+ years.

Firstly over at Nokia Geek Matt was trying an application called Nokia Sports Tracker and came up with the idea that he should undertake Geek Fitness in order to get fit. Willpower being the equivalent of the Nokia N95s battery (short lived) it didn't last very long.

Then over at Symbian Guru Ricky, in view of his impending nuptials, announced Geek Vs Guru thinking that the two of them would spur each other on. It was working, but due to other circumstances Matt is currently unable to partake. Therefore Ricky has opened up the offer to others.

I also have Nokia Sports Tracker (out of curiosity) but thought it was brilliant. Just needed something to use it for. I also have a brilliant little application on the phone, and use via the PC, called Jaiku. This is a brilliant microblogging application (a bit like Twitter) where MunkiMatt and Ricky just happen to hang out. Several guys were talking about also joining Ricky and Matt and thats how Jogku happened.

So I'm in, have taken my first, albeit short, run and it half killed me. Still there should be more to come, if others take up the challenge (come on you know who you are). They should get better and this fattish, nearly 40 year old will either prosper, die or more likely give up.

The Weigh In
This is the bit I hated most

The First Jogku

Click here to see the Route on Sports Tracker

Visions of the future?

This is what I really am

This is what I aspire to

There is a real buzz about this latest Symbian Application

2008-02-02T10:50:00.000Z

*Warning adult themes*

Well when I said my phone can do 95 things, I never expected this...

..... Hello Kitty indeed.

Oh dear god what will they come up with next.

Poll of Polls - Top Albums 2007 Nos 80 - 61

2008-01-06T20:52:00.000Z

Part 2 of the top 100 albums of the year Poll of Polls compiled from 19 different sources

80	Kassin + 2	Futurismo
79	Foo Fighters	Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
78	Dillinger Escape Plan	Ire Works
77	John Fogerty	Revival
76	Jens Lekman	Night Falls Over Kortedala
75	Commix	A Call To Mind
74	Clipse	Hell Has No Fury
73	Health	Health
72	Ricardo Villabos	Fabric 36
71	Nick Lowe	At My Age
70	The Maccabees	Colour it in
69	The Cribs	Mens Needs, Womans Needs, Whatever
68	Richard Hawley	Lady's Bridge
67	Miranda Lambert	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
66	Iron and Wine	The Shepherds Dog
65	Black Lips	Good Bad Not Evil
64	Nine Inch Nails	Year Zero
63	Lil Wayne	The Carter Sessions
62	The Coral	Roots and Echoes
61	Pram	Moving Frontier

Part 3 coming soon

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On the Twelfth day of Christmas.......

2008-01-06T13:06:00.001Z

A graffiti artist gave to me, some Christmas accessorised stencilled graffiti.

Poll of Polls - Top Albums 2007 Nos 100 to 81

2008-01-06T01:11:00.000Z

Recently to satisfy my idle curiosity I conducted a poll of polls for the top Albums of 2007. I looked across 19 different publications both UK and US, including Music Magazines, websites and newspapers. They are listed in the technorati tags below.

I looked only at the top 30 albums from each site, if there were more they were ignored, if less I started them at a higher number of points to give a closer weighting to critics top choices from each publication.

There were 201 different albums in total. I've only got time to give justice to the top hundered. The lowest scored 16 points out of a possible 570. The highest scored 354. Therefore at the lower end of the 100 you find some strange choices, but they may have come from a particular specialist publication such as Mixmag or Kerrang, but remember they would have come in the top 15 of that publication and might be worth a quick listen.

For those that are interested, scraping in at 101 (with votes from more than one publication), was Britney Spears

Without further ado I present the countdown from 100.

No#	Artist	Album
100	Clap Your Hands Say Yeah	Some Loud Thunder
99	Laub	Deinetwegan
98	Interpol	Our Love to Admire
97	Field Music	Tones of Town
96	Every Time I Die	The Big Dirty
95	Common	Finding Forever
94	Calle 13	Residente O Visitante
93	Andrew Bird	Armchair Apocrypha
92	Aesop Rock	None Shall Pass
91	Strategy	Future Rock
90	Plan B	Paint It Blacker
89	Gogol Bordello	Super Taranta
88	The Hives	The Black and White Album
87	Oner Ozer	Kashmir
86	Maps	We Can Create
85	Machine Head	The Blackening
84	Kaiser Chiefs	Yours Truly, Angry Mob
83	The Dream	LoveHate
82	Prince	Planet Earth
81	Paul McCartney	Memory Almost Full

Brussels Experiment No 1 - Grand Place using autostitch

2007-10-09T18:03:00.001+01:00

Took a whole set of very quick pictures around the Grand Place in Brussels using my Nokias Camera Function. I just made sure they overlapped. Then I just used Autostitch and voila a panorama is produced.

Clearly with a bit more effort (for example taking more pictures of the sky,putting the church in the middle of the panorama rather than at the end and standing in the centre of the square) the results might be brilliant. But as a 5 minute first effort I think Autostitch is well worth further effort.

Big Ideas (Don't Get Any) - Radiohead Revolutionise The Record Industry?

2007-10-02T18:26:00.000+01:00

So following on from Princes revolutionary idea to give his latest album away with the Daily Mail (who would have probably pretty much hated a Black, semi androgynous, sex mad Jehovahs Witness***) another act is set to change the way we 'buy' music in the future.

Radiohead have announced they have finished their next album titled "In Rainbows" and that it will be available for Download 10 days after the announcement. It is going initially to be available in two formats:
(a) A super duper box set featuring the album on CD, an additional CD with further tracks, the album, the album spread across 2 heavyweight vinyl records, (perfect for all audiophiles, and lts of art work, lyrics books etc. (Released December)
(b) Download only with just the main album. (October 10th)

The box set comes in at a not insignificant £40 but the extraordinary thing is that the Download is operating on a pay what you think it's worth basis. This means that, subject to a transaction fee of 45 pence, you can get the album for nothing.

Many sites such as Money Saving Expert and Hotdeals are advertising this fact, and some people are encouraging people to pay nothing for the album. I think that if people genuinely think that the album is worth nothing, then why the feck do they go there in the first place?

The problem with the honesty box process is that on the web people are generally dishonest and out to steal what they can. The difference between this and Prince is that Prince was paid by the Daily Mail to be a huge advert for them, helping to sell more of their newspaper. Similarly for Prince it was a huge advert for his concerts, made him as much money as his previous album did and helped shift his vast back catalogue (A Greatest Hits compilation entered the charts, and all of the stores like HMV who moaned had a great opportunity to do deals on the back catalogue.

Radiohead, however, have worked on a 'No Logo' basis before, even resorting to a tent tour to avoid advertising. They will not make profit that way, so if we all resort to getting something for nothing, where will they get the money from?

Box Set Sales? - Maybe but I cannot believe that they will sell that many, even to a willing fan base.
Touring - Hope so, because its been a bugger to get a ticket recently. However not only do we have tour guilt for environmental reasons, but anyone who has seen 'Meeting People is Easy' will understand why Radiohead have avoided large scale tours and only tend to play small gigs when they feel like it.

Don't get me wrong, I've downloaded the new songs from tour boots, and I'm not adverse to a freebie (currently downloading all the GHP bootlegs from here). However the Band struggled for about 10 years with one of these songs before releasing it, (Nude), that was originally titled "Big Ideas (Don't Get Any)". Do you think a 45P transaction fee is justified?

I now have a dilema, as I understand a commercial CD release may follow. Do I get the box set, or donate a minimal amount and buy the standard CD when it comes out. I think I'll buy the box set, and hope it might offer the chance to pre-register for concert tickets or something as good as that.

So you can order the album here.

Go on, give a little. Your honesty and generosity may dictate how artists decide to release their music in the future.

***P.S. This is not the way I see Prince. I see him as a musical genius who is carrying on the band leading brilliance of other greats like James Brown ...who might have a slight teeny fixation with sex ;-)

Coming Soon

2007-09-23T00:44:00.000+01:00

Its been a long wait.....

2007-09-01T14:04:00.000+01:00

but at last our Banana has flowered. I don't know if it will show fruit but apparently to fruit properly it needs a male and a female flower to cross pollinate and they tend to flower at different times of the year (not very clever is it, could be the fruit equivalent of a panda).

The variety of banana is the Musa Basjoo which is not edible, but one of the hardiest varieties, therefore good for trying in UK gardens.

Its now about 15 feet tall and frost will destroy the plant down to the ground (but roots survive) if not wrapped. Its been in the ground for about 5 years now and last year I had to wrap it with the aid of a very wobbly step ladder.

More photos can be found on my Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/waveydavey001/

I'm using ShoZu now on my N95 so by the time I'd got in from the Garden my photos taken on the Nokia were already on Flickr. Brilliant.

Ho Ho H0 Green Giant

2007-08-28T17:49:00.001+01:00

Ho Ho H0 Green Giant, originally uploaded by WaveyDavey001.

11:52 28 August 2007 28082007028 Taken in Salisbury on a sunny afternoon

Experiment with PocketCaster

2007-08-08T19:30:00.000+01:00

Just starting an experiment with PocketCaster an application that allows a user to stream live video from their Mobile App (my N95) direct to the web

Only shows something here when I'm live.

Me as a Simpsons Charecter

2007-07-22T10:58:00.000+01:00

You can do this with a photo at http://www.simpsonizeme.com/index.php.

I found it worked better through Internet Explorer than Firefox.

OPML Manager & N95 views

2007-07-18T00:00:00.000+01:00

I've been playing around on a website called OPML manager which, as you may guess, creates and manages OPML files (outline Files) that are often used for Podasting Feeds, but also pretty good for transportable Favourites lists for Mobile Phones.

Firstly I was just mucking about and looking to create a favourites file that i could access on the PC, Laptop, at Work and also on the mobile phone. I soon realised that the website itself offered different views of the same OPML file that gives differing uses.

Firstly, I created my own feed, but then tried a more generic feed looking at Nokia N95 RSS and Podcasting stuff.

This link http://www.opmlmanager.com/opml/N95RSS.opml when pasted into the Nokia Podcasting Application provides a folder with subscribible feeds including MP3 podcasts and RSS links opened via the web. Very handy and easy to personalise.

I then decided to go one further and look at creating a whole set of Mobile Web site links. Lets face it the N95 browser is ace for looking at web sites, but for general everyday browsing on the phone its better to look at mobile optimised web sites (still find it very annoying when it defaults that way such as the BBC).

So the output of this experiment was this http://www.opmlmanager.com/opml/mobilewebsites.opml a starter for ten. If you know of any really great mobile web sites (I have a UK slant) that I should add, please let me know.

I then saw a link for optimising the look for mobile phones, which looks like this http://www.opmlmanager.com/mob/mobilewebsites Looks pretty good don't it?

However, one of the features of OPML Manager is being able to look at OPML files in outline format. I think that this is an even better format for display on a Mobile Phone as it is expandable/collapsible. See this http://www.opmlmanager.com/outliner/mobilewebsites. A much better format in my view.

There are lots of other things that can be done, such as exporting the OPML, creating a bitty etc, but i am quite happy hosting on the site and have also created myself another OPML file loosely based around the Nokia N95 which can also be displayed in all formats, but detailed in outliner format below

http://www.opmlmanager.com/outliner/NokiaN95

See what you think

Mystrands Social Player for Symbian. Great app but...

2007-07-16T21:48:00.000+01:00

A recent post on the 3G forums about experience of Mystrands Social Player for Symbian led me to re-evaluate my Mystrands experience.

I’m a pretty voracious consumer of Music (a glutton in fact) so it is quite interesting to see who is playing what, what else they are playing and perhaps discover something else I might like. It’s also pretty handy to keep track of what I’m playing myself. I’ve got music on my laptop, my PC, my two creaky old (but still Brilliant) Creative Nomad 3s and my Zen Vision (not M).

I never would have put music on my old K750i phone (shite headphone connection and I’m a headphone snob) but the proper headphone jack on the Nokia N95 and its “book” slider/media player plus its support for Napster to Go convinced me that I could now wander around with less hardware (and less chargers) on my person.

I’ve installed Mystrands on the PC and Laptop (for WMP) and the beta version (2.7.3) for the Nokia N95 and given it quite a test run. There are a couple of reasons why I haven’t used it recently (including rebuilding the phone), but I still think that it’s an excellent idea on its way to becoming an excellent app. Here was my feedback on the phone app

Wi-Fi works better than 3G currently. Less failure with Recommendations, Synchronisation, Other Users etc but eats the battery soooo very quickly. Best keep plugged in for this.
If you decide to use the “always ask” option for connectivity (rather than stay online with 3G or Wi-Fi you get prompted every few seconds.
You have to re-build the library if you want to add new tracks, but at the same time this means you have to re-sync the library (on-line again). These need to be separated.
An improvement that must be implemented is to log tracks you have played whilst offline so that you can sync this info with the server next time you connect. This would be a huge battery saver.
Currently doesn’t recognise the DRM tracks from Napster To Go. As I use a lot of music from this it’s a bit of a pain working out whether I can listen through Mystrands of the Nokia Media Player.

Generally for all Mystrands applications the recognition of tracks could be better. Firstly it doesn’t recognise a lot of the tracks I play which are new (and I listen to a lot of brand new releases). Secondly it does not necessarily recognise the full tag. As I write this the Fall tracks in my chart are all from the Peel Sessions Box set, but Mystrands is relating them to other Fall Albums. This really needs to be improved if a real picture of listening habits is to be drawn up.

Having said this, I still think it’s a fab app. Being able to post your charts in flash and html to blogs, myspace etc is good and there are a lot of interesting developments at Mystrands Labs to get excited about. I have fed back my comments which are being taken on board (the offline playing of tracks and syncing later is already written in a future release). I would urge you all to try out the Social Player for Symbian, consider trying the beta, feed back your comments and help turn it into the killer app it could be.

Prince - First Impressions of Planet Earth

2007-07-15T10:13:00.001+01:00

Just having my very first listen to Princes Planet Earth which came Free with the Sunday Mail today, already on the first track it sounds like a fairly commercially aimed album.

Apparently Prince has caused such a storm by giving this away with HMV and others decrying the fact that they aren't getting a cut of the profits. What they should realise is that if its a good album, (and I think it is), they will all get money from sales of the back catalogue.

Its not a real giveaway, because if Prince wanted to do this he could just post it on the web. I think it is clever marketing. Cause a little controversy, get some publicity and reach some people that wouldn't normally think of buying a Prince CD. Also with the proliferation of R 'n' B around these days, remind everybody Who's the Daddy and one of the biggest influences on today's sound.

Here are my initial thoughts

1. Planet Earth - Oooh Lovely Piano intro. Better dip the lights and light the candles. Oh wait its only 10am. An anthemic song but suddenly it sounds like Take That (or Barry Manilow if you are older) doing Could It Be Magic. 5 minutes in and the first bit of fret w~~king (Guitar Soloing).
2. Guitar - Most would already have heard this. An out and out pop song with lots of noodling guitar (of course) with Prince pretending to be the Edge (but less delicate) through this track.
3. Somewhere here on Earth - Ballad alert. Personally I think all Prince Ballads are great because he just has the voice for it (lots of soaring falsetto). Good muted Trumpet sounds and twinkly piano. Prince the lover man has returned (but not Prince the Sex Freak)
4. The One U Wanna C - Prince tells us he's got a lot of money (that'll be why he gave the CD away then). Sounds pretty classic Prince "Rock" sort of Sign of the Times era. More spanking of the old frettage at the end.
5. Future Baby Mama - Another Ballad with lots of multi tracked Vocals. More of a R 'n' B thing going on this time with one of those Spoken Word bits in the middle.
6. Mr. Goodnight - Hey a bit of Rap. Not Prince, The Artist Formally Known As, Tora Tora, Slave or Squiggle. Now you can call him Mr Goodnight.
7. All The Midnights In The World - Jolly Piano song Obviously someone nicked his Guitar
8. Chelsea Rodgers - Disco Bass, Disco Guitars. Funky Horns. Goes all Ska on you. This will be ace live. Dunno who the female lead vocals are on this but they're cool. So far my favourite and probably still will be after a few listens.
9. Lion of Judah - Princes voice sounds a little strained on this, not usual but obviously deliberate. Definitely found the Guitar again.
10. Resolution - A finish that once again reminds me a little of Sign of the Times

Its no Sign of the Times, (IMHO the Best Prince Album), nor as Musically funky as Musicology. However it isn't being given away because it is a poor album, it is clearly a very commercial one might even say Chart Orientated album (if it had been sold). Full of Cliches, but not in a bad way, this could fit in anywhere on the Prince timeline from Purple Rain onwards.

An extremely good use of £1.40

Welcome to Shrewsbury!

2007-06-20T16:15:00.000+01:00

These were spotted at the Bellvue when we went to that hot bed of trouble Shrewsbury to see a charity gig/Glastonbury warm up of The Wombats/Pippettes/Holloways/CSS. Good gig all around

As Gareth said "No Trainers, No Baseball Hats, No Woolen Hats No atmosphere"

This is my favourite bit. The way I read this you can chain smoke, swear and disrespect the furniture after 6 o-clock as long as you have your Mum and Dad with you.

Better Safe Than Sorry

2007-06-14T15:57:00.000+01:00

Spotted at the BBC Gardeners World, Good Homes, Good Food show at Birmingham NEC :-)

Playing with Mystrands and my Phone

2007-06-12T19:26:00.000+01:00

I started this blog really for myself and to explore the capabilities of my Phone a Nokia N95. I was paticularly keen to get a phone that had a good web package as ebay, etc is banned at work and I wanted access to email on the go. As soon as I saw the blurb for the N95 I coveted it and eventually got it on a t-mobile web and walk package.

It had a decentish Camera (I've never owned a Digital Camera myself, I leave it to Mrs Wavey), great MP3 capabilities and was alright for Video, podcasts, etc, etc.

Next stop w.as trying to stretch it including blogging from the phone and trying out bleeding edge applications, including Mystrands.

Mystrands allows you to play your music, and as doing so, can catalogue what you are listening too, let you know who else has listend to it, get recommendations of other tracks you would like and put you in touch with a community of like minded people.

See the Mystrands promo youtube thingymajig below.

I couldn't get it to work at first, but a quick email and I was allowed the beta version for the phone and was up and running. I also installed Mystrands on my home PCs. Thne results are quite impressive, and although I have a few questions, gripes and ideas for improvement I am enjoying using it. The 'charts' on this blog come from code generated in mystrands and lets me know what I have been listening to on my Phone and PC. There are other groovey little applications in the Mystrands Labs, such as maps of recommendation to play with as well.

I may add more, once I have fed back my coments to Mystrands and made sure I understand the capability better, but if you have a decent web plan, and diverse music tastes it is well worth a play.

http://www.mystrands.com/Download look for Mystrands Social Player for Symbian.

Royal Festival Hall re-opening at Southbank

2007-06-09T01:26:00.000+01:00

Saturday 9th June - This weekend to celebrate the re-opening of London's Royal Festival Hall which apparently had been shut for restoration for a couple of years. There was lots on over the Weekend and we had a couple of Hours to spare before catching our Train home on Saturday so popped down for a look.

The first thing that grabbed us as we got close was the London Eye which we saw from a different angle coming from Waterloo. I just cannot believe that originally it was planned only to keep it for a year or two. Were they mad, it's a great feature?

As we got nearer we started to spot the Anthony Gormley Figures on top of the buildings. They looked fantastic and I wish we had had time to actually go and see the exhibition, but we didn't.

The place was teaming and we arrived to hear the last notes of the Bollywood Brass Band. Walking through the throngs past old cars and routemaster buses, through an allotment (!) we go up to the fountain 'Appearing Rooms' by Dannish Artist Jeppe Hain. It is basically a square fountain subdivided into four further square rooms. Different areas of the fountains turn on and off randomly allowing people to walk from one room to another without getting wet.

In reality on a busy hot Saturday during the opening celebrations of the Royal Festival Hall it is a perfect excuse to get wet and cool down.

All immense fun.

Someone I was pleased to see was modern day folkie, Londoner and all round good bloke Billy Bragg sound checking for a free Busker Set (one of several performances he gave that weekend). Below you can see him improvising around Goodnight Irene (I didn't know he was a Gashead) whilst his sound man tries to both listen in the optimal audience position and adjust soundlevels on the soundboard behind the stage. Shortly after this Billy did a mainly covers set of Busker standards that he used to do at the tube stations, etc in his youth.

Hammer House of Horror and James Bond

2007-06-07T23:05:00.000+01:00

Hammer House of Horror and James Bond
Originally uploaded by WaveyDavey001

07 June 2007 - With the announcement recently that the Hammer House brand and archive had been bought by a consortium that planned to raise it from the dead, it was off to Highgate Cemetery and a tour of the older, more overgrown Western Cemetery (the cemetery is split into an eastern and western section). Besides the weather was nice and Mrs Wavey and I had talked about going to Highgate Cemetery for some time.

I had fun here trying the Nokia N95s camera settings, in paticular using the Sepia setting to try and capture that Hammer House of Horror look. I was therefore quite surprised to come across a far more modern grave, that of Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko who was buried right on the main path of the tourist trail possibly a move to ensure he and his allegations stay in the public eye.

Lots of interesing stories and tales on the tour, including visiting graves of several famous people including the writer of the first Lesbian Novel whos catacomb is always adorned with fresh flowers still.

More photos at my Flickr page

Bling Art?

2007-06-06T22:08:00.000+01:00

Today we went to see the new Damien Hirst exhibition Beyond Belief which is split across the White Cube Galleries in Masons Yard and Hoxton Square.

The White Cube - Masons Yard

Damien Hirst is often called things like "Shock Artist" or "Enfant Terrible of the Art World" but as that doesn't really bother me (hey I thought the K-Foundation burning a Million was Art) I was interested in seeing whether I would actually like anything.

First up was our timed tickets to see the centre piece of the exhibition 'For the Love of God', or as everyone else would know it the skull with the diamonds in it. After queuing to confirm our tickets, and having our bags searched we were led upstairs in a group of ten monitored by security cameras. After depositing our bags we were ushered into a pitch black room to get our 3 minutes of wonder with the Skull. Only the skull was lit and it showed off the 8,000 plus diamonds to perfection.

I have to say it was beautiful to look at and I'd recommend anyone in the area to go and have a look. I wouldn't want the responsibility of owning it though.

We also had a good look at the rest of the exhibition across both galleries which consisted mainly of 3 things. First were the almost photographic paintings surrounding the birth of his son (his wife must be very understanding). These were well executed but didn't do much for me. However they could shut up the pub bores who claim that Modern artists can't paint.

Next up were the series of large paintings of cancerous cells, that looked really lovely and decorative from afar, but on closer inspection were very textured with paint and additives that included broken glass, scalpels and hair. There is something quite unsettling about thinking that the painting would make a good basis for a nice wallpaper before thinking about what it actually depicts.

Finally there are the animals or bits of animal suspended in formaldehyde that everyone knows about. This included Sheep in Prayer, Fish a dissected Shark and two Cow front ends arranged so that you can walk through the Doctor Doolittle Layout. These were actually a bit better than I thought they would be with my favourite being the heart with a Dagger through it with Doves wings that looked just like a 3D real-life depiction of a familiar tattoo.

I'm sure it has been written about in a much more flowery way, but basically the exhibition is all about Life, Death and God pretty much the basis for most art and music.

I'm glad I went.

wholefoods market opening day

2007-06-06T17:20:00.000+01:00

Today was the opening of American chain Wholefoods Markets 'flagship' and only UK store in Kensington High Street so we decided to join the beautiful set, (some people clearly dressed up to be seen here, and go see what all the fuss was about.

Wholefoods Market has been much talked about with one report on the BBC suggesting that it will change the face of Supermarkets in the UK. It may be no coincidence that Sainsbo's has been advertising its British Produce quite a lot recently, or that there were people on Stilts outside M&S in Kensington handing out competition entries to entice you in the store where posters emphasised how much fresh organic produce they did (I won a Fruit Salad which isn't exactly like winning the lottery).

Anyway, the store itself was like a giant New York Deli crossed with a department store food hall (and London has plenty of them). There were Bakeries, A Cheese monger, Fresh Fruit and more kinds of Olive Oil than you could shake a bread stick at. Amongst the eggs I spotted one so huge I'm guessing it was an Ostrich Egg.

Also downstairs were the Deli style counters allowing you to box up a variety of hot and cold foods all paid for by weight. Not everything was labelled and although I cant remember the price per 100g (or whatever) I'm guessing that the food would be bloody expensive, but i doubt that most shoppers would give a flying fig (you could buy them too).

There were no ready meals as such, but you could make up your own from the vast array of pre-cooked foods and no-doubt throw a wonderful dinner party if you could use a microwave.

Upstairs there were a huge number of seats to take your boxed up deli stuff, or you could order Champagne and Oysters, Mezze, Dim Sum, etc or pick up a pint of organic ale or cider from its in-house 'Pub' (actually just another Counter. Off course you will enjoy your food and drink whilst listening to the DJ spinning his decks in the corner (how frigging trendy eh).

Although there were lots of Organic Foods and stuff from local producers (check out the cheese) there was masses of stuff that would have covered a huge number of food miles (unless Papayas, Kiwis, etc are all strangely in season now). There were only about half a dozen English wines on sale.

To my mind there was probably far too much choice available, with less emphasis on being Green and Organic than you being seen and ending brassic.

Later in the day I had a look at a branch of Fresh and Wild (part of the same company) and with less choice and less poseurs I thought it far better a shop.

Toilet Humour

2007-05-18T20:11:00.000+01:00

Spotted by Les in the Cardiff Coal Exchange.

Great Advertising, wonder how many blokes phone the number

NME Topman Show at Cardiff Coal Exchange.

2007-05-17T14:49:00.000+01:00

This evening I'm attending a new Venue, for me, (Cardiff Coal Exchange) to see four new bands, for me. Generally, I prefer smaller more intimate venues and bands on the up. This is because, (a) You can get a bit closer to the action and enjoy the intimacy, (b) the Bands are generally a bit more up for it, even if they do sound a bit more rough and ready and (c) its a bit cheaper.

Anyway here is what I thought

The Venue - Cardiff Coal Exchange

An austere and interesting old place wood clad and looking like it could be an old court as much as some old trading exchange. It was a little bigger than I thought it was going to be, and a little empty (God what do you expect for a tenner down here). Still the sound was OK and the drinks easy to get.

I noticed that the place is due to close because of re-development. I don't know whether this means gone for good or whether it will re-open again, but I hope it stays as a venue as it looks quite nice.

Blood Red Shoes

It seems that everyone wants to compare this band to the White Stripes. Is that because they are a boy and girl combo playing drums and guitar? Where as the White /stripes are all Bluesy and Zeppelin Blood Red Shoes were much more urgent, and English. Garage Band Punk style and fun.

They seemed quite engaging and I thought very enjoyable. If you get the chance to see them in a small venue then I'd recommend it.

My Space http://www.myspace.com/bloodredshoes

The Little Ones

Now here is another band that has been compared to another (the Magic Numbers). Well the Magic numbers sound like a West Coast American band and the Little Ones are a West Coast (Los Angeles) American Band.

These guys were determined to enjoy themselves from the start and this was infectious rubbing off on the crowd, some of whom were trying to breakdance in order to entice the singer to join in (as he promised but failed to deliver). Summer Shirts, Beach Boys, and by then Bristol Rovers were winning there play off semi final, so every thing was great.

Its seems much easier to write miserable songs compared to joyous ones (without sounding like Rod, Jane and Freddie), but Little Ones do it well. For me, without a doubt, the best band of the night.

If you have Napster (or want to try it) click these links

Lovers Who Uncover
Oh, MJ! (Stereo Quadrata Mix)

If not enjoy this Rod Jane and Freddie song

My Space www.myspace.com/wearethelittleones

Pull Tiger Tail

Nu-Rave already seems quite old to me. What is it that indie rock bands can play a bit faster, bring the keyboards to the front and suddenly everyone is wearing day-glo and imagining that this is like the late 80s.

Still, Pull Tiger Tail were respectable and fairly enjoyable, but I preferred listening to the Myspace tracks than watching them on the night. This is possibly because they followed the Little Ones and I was engaged in conversation with a Nottingham Forest fan about play offs, so don't hold it against me. Pull Tiger Tail were good at promotion handing out Tiger Masts to everyone.

My Space www.myspace.com/pulltigertail

The Rumble Strips

Well promotion of the night goes to the Rumblestrips who had a rig of bluetooth dongles offering an MP3 ringtone of Motorcycle to anyone who had their phone activated. Not the greatest ringtone, but I bet most people have listened to it a bit.

Rightfully compared to Dexys, this band are tight and entertaining. They have been around for a while, so who knows if they will make it big or not, but they are something a bit different in today's times. Good set.

My Space www.myspace.com/rumblestripsuk

Adventures in the Midlands

2007-05-16T22:49:00.000+01:00

Well after a quick trip up the M4 and a dodgy Hot Dog Mike was lucky to bump into an old mate he used to sit with who got up into the members only Pub where nostalgia hit over a couple of pints and I remembered many Bristol derbies. Thanks Steve for getting us in.

I love night football as the sounds, sights and smells seem to intensify under the floodlights. Its almost as realistic as watching it on Sky HD ;-)

The match itself was pretty scrappy, but end to end with all the tension of a local Derby. A great cross set up Phillips for a 65th minute header but the baggies nearly threw the lead away straight after with an own goal. Luckily Sam Sodje saved his own error off the line and I could breathe again.

As a neutral I found myself a home fan but I have to say the Wolves fans put on a good show. I'm glad that West Brom won, as I imagine the police were, but if they do go up it deprives the fans of the agony and ecstacy of the local derbies.

Part of this blog was written on the way back on the Nokia N95 with all pictures taken in auto on e-mail setting (0.8 mp)

5 Hours to go

2007-05-16T14:50:00.000+01:00

I have no idea why really, but tonight I'm off to the Black Country Derby (2nd leg) between West Brom and Wolves. Should be tense