August 2007 – Page 9 – The Designer Monologues

August 6, 2007

Plans for The Minion

The Minion’s 18th birthday is coming up in the first week of September. and I know what she really needs, and so we’re putting out this call to anyone who wants to join us:

Simply put, She needs a laptop. She’s currently using my 11-year old Macintosh iBook, but the problem is that it’s so old, that she can’t get a lot of programs to work on it, and worse yet, a lot of websites won’t even display properly. She’ll need a laptop at college next year, but she’s also really going to need to go online for various application processes (including scholarships) during this upcoming semester at school. So, that’s what we’ve decided to get her.

We had thought that her Mom had promised her one, but it turns out that isn’t happening. (Don’t even get me started)

Our plan is to pool as much as we can get together, and get her the best we can for the money we’ve got, as a single big “this is from everybody who thinks you’re keen– now go out there and kick ass” kinda thing. So far we’ve got the two of us, and various grandparents participating.

If you’d like to participate, let me know.

August 6, 2007

Finished “Dealthy Hallows”…..

Overall, I liked it.

However, I found such heavy amounts of politcal commentary in it, I wonder why Rowling didn’t just call it Harry Potter and the NeoCon Menace. Stop hitting me in the head with that hammer, J.K……

August 3, 2007April 19, 2010

Friday Music

Still busy with the kids’ visit, but I’d planned ahead and gathered some tracks for Friday Music:

She Wants Revenge have just completed recording their follow-up album, and naturally, a track has already leaked to the internet (most likely by the band itself, or their marketing team). Good stuff — sounds like we’re in for another album of Bauhaus/New Order/80s-alternative Redux — She Wants Revenge – “Written in Blood.”

Venturing more into traditional “rock” than the earlier albums, here’s another track from UNKLE’s new album, War Stories, which was just released: UNKLE – “Chemistry.”

David Bowie’s Life on Mars is one of my favorite songs. It’s so good, it’s almost impossible to do a bad cover of it. It even sounds great accoustic, and in Portugese: Seu Jorge – “Life On Mars.”

A little bit of heart-pumping music to get you moving and launch you into the weekend: Juno Reactor – “High Energy Protons.”

Another track from M.I.A.’s new album, Kala, due out in August. Experimental grime, non-western rhythms — the more I hear, the more I want. M.I.A. – “Bird Flu.”

Sometimes, you just need a little bit of Johnny Rotten and Afrika Bambatta. A song which, sadly, is just as appropriate today as it was when it was released, 20 years ago: Time Zone – “World Destruction.”

A new band I’ve discovered during the past week — from Northeast London, mixing electronic sounds of retro analog synths with driving guitar. Love this. Quite a bit: The Ghost Frequency – “Money on the Fire.”