No Wig, No Entry!!!

I LOVE this picture!


'I believe in a thing called love . . .'


Awww!







We've had a really fantastic weekend! The Wig Party was such a good idea, (thank you Louise!) I'd also like to thank Simon for providing so many of the things which contributed to making it such a great evening, including all of these very professional pictures *wink, wink*. Thanks also must go to Paul, Aline and Mark for helping with the preparation ;)

It's Here!!!

Louise's new iMac 20' has just arrived, hooray! More later . . .

Cars, Part 1

I can feel the 240z calling out to me! Lets face it I'm never going to be able to afford a new gorgeous 350z, and I wouldn't really want any of the other Z cars, so the only option is to hunt down a reasonably priced 240z. I wonder if there are any on ebay? :)

Alexandre Pires

Okay so I don't have a clue what he's singing about, but hey I like his voice--he sings slowly which helps when you're trying to learn a new language. Also I like the over-the-top production, he reminds me a bit of Jonathan Butler, a South African singer/guitarist who had some success in the early 90's. Muito Fresco!

Next time I go to Sao Paulo . . .

I'm going to have to buy one of these paintings. I love the colours and the simple, cartoon like, representation of the Brazilian countryside. Don't you just love the steam trail and the white sun set off nicely against that orange sky? It's almost 'fruity'! :)

'He did not create it simply for nothing'

The Earth! Our home, created with such love and care, it's simply breathtaking!

Somewhere over the rainbow . . .

There's something to be said for phone photos. This evening I was looking at some very high resolution pictures of family and friends and to be completely honest there was just too much detail, is was distracting! Good ol' 640x480 ;)

My favourite female singer

Tori Amos's music is all about expression. There is real feeling behind that voice--a story behind every syllable, an experience behind every unmissable note.

My 2nd favourite female singer

'If I Ain't Got You' is just such a great song--Alicia's voice is just superb, and she still has that wonderful New York accent, how cool is that?

WOW, WOW and WOW!

Until about 3 days ago I had no idea that a film adaptation of the musical 'The Phantom of The Opera' was planned never-mind about to be released. Well tonight we had the opportunity to witnesses this cinematic spectacle. Few films manage to captivate me for more than about 50% of the total film running time, I'm always thinking things like 'I wonder why they used that camera angle?' or 'If only they had cut 20 minutes from this slow 2nd reel', but 'Phantom' had me for about 90%. Anyone who has had the wisdom to see the musical will be enthralled, and for everyone else, well . . . if you have a heart beating inside you, and even the slightest interest in music you will be hugely entertained!

I, of course, came home and immediately tried to purchase the film sound track on the UK iTunes Music Store only to find that it's only available on the American store, Grrrrr! This kind of disparity is very irksome, isn’t it Mark?

Sorry Paul, I 'edited' the the last post instead of creating a new one!

GarageBand Loveliness

GarageBand, you either love or you really really love it! On Saturday I had my first opportunity to record some electric guitar tracks into GarageBand. I'd seen others do this, most notedly John Mayer at the Mac show, but It wasn't until I actually took the time to mess around with all the amp and effect settings that I began to realise just how astonishing GarageBand really is. Plug the guitar and some decent headphones into the Mac, fire up GarageBand and you're well away!

It's pretty much the stuff that dreams are made of, well my dreams anyway. GarageBand is so much fun that its hard to remain disciplined enough to actually finished one single song. This was true when I was just making instrumental tracks, but now I've put some lyrics and guitar into the mix its almost impossible! Oh if only all software were this good.

Why I ough'da!

I love this picture. Tiago's face is so real! whenever I run through the 'edited' Brazil slide show this picture always worries people. This is one instance when video just wouldn't have worked, it had it be captured in that split second of time. Just look at that grip that Paulo has on Tiago's throat!

There is freedom within, there is freedom without...

I'm not really one for 'best of' compilations but 'Recurring Dreams' is the exception. So many classics, so many moments in time perfectly defined, so many confounding and dumbfounding lyrics, so many shimmering guitars, so many inspired vocals, so many . . . well you get the idea, right? =)

THE BEST ENDING EVER!

The last minute of ‘Run’ from the CD ‘Final Straw’ is just complete musical bliss! I often wonder what it must feel like to have created something that good. I wonder if they just sat there and thought "wow, now that IS good", I wonder . . .