So today I have done my first ever app review. To be honest, I find people complaining about changes to Facebook really dull and I just tend to roll with the punches. Until now.
I enjoy Facebook in a desktop scenario, generally speaking. I even liked it on my iPhone and would often grin at Android users who complained about it on their respective phones. Recently though, things have started to change and I’m beginning to fall out of love with Facebook. In fact, this morning I harboured a massive desire to take my phone and ram it unceremoniously down Mark Zuckerberg’s cock.
Gone are the days where I look forward to updates as I dread time and again the ways that the app will become clunkier and more frustrating.
My home screen is weeks out of date with old profile pictures.
My feed randomly decides its own format. So with all the naïveté of the non-techie fool that I am, I tried logging off and on again. This in itself is a lengthy process but things took a surprising turn when the in the act of logging out, Facebook not only crashed but forced my phone to restart itself.
I wrote a review giving the app one star, which at present is more than I feel it deserves. I’d really like to know where Facebook decides how best to update. Is it derived from focus group feedback? What sort of consumer research actually goes on? At present I am next to a lamp that has a better social networking interface than the current incarnation of Facebook for iPhone.
In short, Zuckerberg, sort this sack of shit out, or it won’t just be your cock I tear to shreds.
Have you ever been in that situation where you’re trying to find the right colour to match up to something, or to use as a background, filler, or a font colour etc.
And the measly colour swatch just hasn’t been able to deliver…. (see fig a.)
fig a.
A familiar sight to behold…
Nope me neither, but if ever such an occasion should arise try this website, it has a palette bigger than i’ve ever seen and well, it’s liable to give you an epileptic fit… whats not to like?
It’s time for yet another music pick: Today, this comes from 14 year old British artist Jasmine Van den Bogaerde, also known as Birdy. Skinny Love is a cover of the Bon Iver track of the same name, and reached number 21 in the Official UK Top 40 on Sunday.
As a self-professed music nerd, I tend to give anything a go once, the only notable exception being the vast majority of country music. I do make a concession for Johnny Cash because he is Johnny Cash.
Music is a hugely personal thing so to attempt articulate my feeling for it is a real task. For the purpose of this blog, though, it is a journey. I don’t care about the destination, but where music takes me determines how I feel. That is it for me. Music has to make me feel. It either does or makes me ambivalent. The example I tend to use is Snow Patrol as they make music which is beige, nondescript, and soulless even.
The point of this blog is to try to make some sort of sense of why I love music, with big examples from music library. I don’t expect you to like a lot of what I post or even appreciate it, but it is the largest part of what makes me.
Don’t expect mass amounts of music-specific jargon as my knowledge in that field is rather limited and that isn’t the point.
It’s just about the journey. This is mine, just as you have yours.
1) TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
“We are very sad to announce the death of our beloved friend and bandmate, Gerard Smith, following a courageous fight against lung cancer. Gerard passed away the morning of April 20th, 2011. We will miss him terribly.”
This came from a story on the BBC website last week and that is where my knowledge TVotR starts. I tend to follow various artists on Twitter and saw a rare tweet from Nine Inch Nails mastermind and Oscar-winning composer Trent Reznor. Reznor paid tribute to the deceased bassist and that was what set me off. With such an endorsement, I thought it must be something worth giving a go, especially after he steered me so very right with Crystal Castles.
The album is perhaps not immediately the most rewarding thing you will hear, but as with much of my music collection, successive listens gradually prove to yield more. Part of this could be because TVotR are quite hard to pigeonhole, not pulling from any genre in particular.
That is possibly the beauty of this album. The band seems happy to play what they enjoy and what a treat it is. We have jazz, classic rock, psychadelia, trip-hop all coming together with ease. It’s possible to accuse the band of trying to be all things for all people, but when did it become wrong for bands to have no set boundaries?
Tying the eclectic elements together is the voice of Tunde Adebimpe, who lends the album an optimistic tone, yet never lapses into predictability. It almost seems that some of the tracks are derived straight from jam sessions, such is the element of spontaneity throughout.
It’s very rare that I embrace something so wholeheartedly so immediately, as even upon the first play through, I was captivated. It’s music to listen to on sunny days while doing little else but sitting around.
And so the key to this particular part of my journey through music is to cast aside expectations, preconceptions and go with it. Sometimes impulse and curiosity give great rewards indeed.
Just FYI
• Guitarist David Sitek has co-produced albums for a number of big names, including Yeah Yeah Yeah’s and Scarlett Johansson, to name but a few.
• Vocalist Tunde Adebimpe sometimes layers his vocals more than forty times.
Highlights
Keep Your Heart, Killer Crane, New Cannonball Blues
One of my guilty pleasures used to be what myself and my friends would call a “meat feast.” This would generally involve us consuming of stupid amounts of meat, cider, vodka, and occasionally, more disturbingly, shots of blood.
Meanwhile, in Canada, they’ve taken it to the next level with the invention of Epic Meal Time. I can’t quite think of a way of explaining this, so have a look at the video below and check out the Epic Meal Time website for all the meaty monstrosities your heart can (or can’t) handle.
For me, this just reinforces the fact that I love Canada.
For those of you who aren’t entirely sure who Robert Plant is, he’s the Lead Singer come sex symbol behind the timeless and groundbreaking band that were Led Zeppelin. For those of you who aren’t sure who Led Zeppelin are, stop reading, Go culture yourselves.
Moving on I’m aware this is somewhat a time limited post. Something you’ll see as you continue reading…
I’m recommending to anybody who has an interest in music, be it Rock or not, to watch this documentary. It details Robert plant from Education, through his early band years (with people you’ve most likely never heard of), to his time with Led Zeppelin, Recruitment to Atlantic records by the legendary Ahmet Ertegün, The untimely death of drummer John Bonham, The several one off reunions after the bands split, particularly the 2007 concert at the O2 arena (to this day talked about as one of the most sought after gig tickets in history), and the projects he has taken up more recently that are rumoured to have prevented a full Led Zeppelin reunion.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, and i hope you do also.
You can either search iPlayer for Robert Plant – By Myself
I absolutely love this video and wanted to get it put up here before next weeks charts are released (tomorrow) and i forget entirely about it.
It was a fantastic concept for a video and even included some big names including Bob Sinclar (the Villain), and Novak Djokovic (the Unlikely Saviour) the World Tennis Number 2.
So I’m a fairly geeky person if you will, and lately i’ve been stunned by some peoples (ametuers if you will) use of the programs in the title above.
It’s a tool you use for adding post filming production-esqe effects to video, and you can be as creative as you’d like. The video’s below do tend to focus on FPS style games more than anything, one of my favourites is this one ‘Light Warfare’ as it also add’s Light Painting a which is done by taking photograph’s at a long exposure.
There are loads of different videos ranging from COD Spoofs, Time Crisis Spoofs, Portal, and some others, feel free to check out their channel where you can also see some of the behind the scenes videos.
This video is a compilation comprising all of the action scenes from their video’s in 2011 (obviously sped up slightly)
Today, my musical choice comes courtesy of Chase & Status. Time featuring Delilah is the fourth single from their No More Idols album, and is released on 2nd May.
After much sighing, hand wringing, head hanging and cursing from the Irish supporters, the men in green finally delivered a pride worthy performance, just a pity it was in the final game of the series.
After a fairly disappointing start to the 6 Nations Ireland finally pulled out all the stops to prevent their bitterest rivals from clinching their first Grand Slam title since 2003. England’s youthful squad and lack of experience was the downfall of a team who had been playing with a disciplinethat had not been seen since Johnson’s glory days. Perhaps it was because the game was being played on Ireland’s home ground. But it boiled down to one simple fact. Ireland played better. Their defence was relentless, Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan were the pillars of strength that pushed Ireland to their most convincing win of the tournament.
My favourite moment of the game came when Chris Ashton decided to give Jonathan Sexton a little bit of “advice” and Ronan O’Gara gave him a taste of his own medicine. It made my year to see someone who had filled themselves so full of hot air being brought back to earth by one of the greatest kickers and locks in the game. In the end England had their Grand Slam dreams crushed, they still won the overall tournament but instead of a grand ceremonial lifting of the Trophy, it was collected by the few England players who weren’t drowning their sorrows in the hotel bar. Despite England coming out as winners, the media focus was on the derailment of their Grandslam hopes by a team that had been fairly unpredictable throughout the Six Nations. Adrew Trimble; winger for Ireland and Ulster perfectly summed up the attitude that Ireland has when playing against their bitterest rivals. “Everybody’s massively motivated against England. We never get sick of beating them and that’s why we enjoyed the win so much.” And so with the world cup to look forward to, the curtain has fallen on the Six Nations for another year. As if defeating England was not enough for the Irish supporters, a video produced by Nike leaked on Youtube depicting England as Grandslam Champions, cleverly tweaked, has surely put the icing on the cake of a memorable seventh defeat in eight games against England. The scalp of the enemy is still as much sought after as it has ever been.
