*Hands-free: Wired introduces a music player you can control with your eyes. I'll be honest: it looks a little bulky to me.

*Video: Kara Swisher of All Things D visits the offices of the Facebook-fueld social music company iLike.

*Body art: The guy with the Zune tattoo is sick of his Zune tattoo. And his Zune.

*Wax: Would you like to see a wax figurine of Amy Winehouse?

*Discovery: StumbleAudio is StumbleUpon for music.

*Lollapalooza: Barack Obama will introduce Kanye at the music festival. Should it be the other way around?

*Question: Did you get here because you were searching for: Devendra Banhart and pubic hair? I did.

Hello my name is...

NINA B the Bo$$tress.... REMEMBER ME?

*Retro tech: Cassette tapes still sell like mad. In prisons. There is a captive audience of 2.3 million incarcerated Americans.

*Online: Favtape lets music geeks create mixtapes from their recent Last.fm and Pandora favorites. Forgive me, father, for I have not audioscrobbled in more than a year. And I have not confessed to not audioscrobbling in almost a day. [mashable]

*Social media: iLike now has 30M+ users, and is expanding functionality to include concert promotion ads.

*Interviews: Do you want to hear whooping from some Billy Joel fans at Shea Stadium? I have the video for you. Also, you may want to carefully inspect your priorities. [coudal]

*Criticism: Pitchfork is telling me what the best overlooked albums for 2008 are. I give this list a 7.1. (No idea.)

*Experiments: Paul Westerberg is offering a one-file 43+ minute album (titled 49:00) that costs $.49. I have an Amazon gift certificate, so I just might buy this one! [universal music group]

*The listenerd: A recent comment about this blog read "Thanks to listenerd for the link, which I almost passed over because it looks too random to be valuable....wrong! :)"

*Too random to be valuable since 2007.

The world seems not the same,
though I know nothing has changed.
It's all my state of mind,
I can't leave it all behind.
I have stand up to be stronger.

Chorus:
I have to try to break free
from the thoughts in my mind.
Use the time that I have,
I can't say goodbye,
have to make it right.
Have to fight, cause I know
in the end it's worthwhile.
that the pain that I feel slowly fades away.
It will be alright.

I know, should realise
time is precious, it is worthwhile.
Despite how I feel inside,
have to trust it will de allright.
Have to stand up to be stronger.

Repeat chorus

Oh, this night is too long.
I have no strength to go on.
No more pain, I'm floating away.
Through the mist I see the face
of an angel, who calls my name.
I remember you're the reason I have to stay.

Repeat chorus

is it dark?? huh i dont think so!!!

You live in a world of excess
where more is more
and less is much less
A day without fame
is a waste
and a question of need
is a question of taste

You're so flamboyant
the way you look
It gets you so much attention
Your sole employment
is getting more
You want police intervention
You're so flamboyant
the way you live
You really care that they stare
And the press deployment
is always there
It's what you do for enjoyment

You live in a time of decay
when the worth of a man
is how much he can play
Every day
all the public must know
where you are, what you do
'cause your life is a show and

You're so flamboyant
the way you live
and it's not even demeaning
You're so flamboyant
It's like a drug
you use to give your life meaning
You're so flamboyant
The way you look
It gets you so much attention
Your sole employment
Is getting more
You want police intervention

Every actor needs
an audience
Every action is
a performance
It all takes courage
You know it
Just crossing the street
well, it's almost heroic
You're so flamboyant

There you are
at another preview
In a pose
the artist and you
To look so loud
may be considered tacky
Collectors wear black clothes
by Issey Miyake

You're so flamboyant
the way you look
It gets you so much attention
Your sole employment
is getting more
You want police intervention
You're so flamboyant
The way you live
You really care that they stare
And the press deployment
is always there
It's what you do for enjoyment

You're so flamboyant
You're so flamboyant

pet_shop_boys_flamboyant

i like the part where he sings about crossing the street being an almost heroic act! hahaha, tickles me silly. it's cool, takes a retrospective look at the gay scene. it would probably be what an outsider would say. i also like Miracles.

pet_shop_boys_miracles_12_version

it's so sweet. i would probably sing that to N. if i had the courage to, that is. speaking about N, he is definitely straight (i think). and i've been hanging out with him for so long, he's like a really really good friend or a brother. but recently, i realised that i get really really happy when i see him. and i mean REALLY GAY (haha). like an adrenalin rush. and if i'm meeting him, and i'm early, i find myself anticipating his arrival, looking out for him. and then when i'm with him, i'll be thinking about him. this is bad news!

cyndi_lauper_shine_babylon_mix_exclusive

gwen_stefani_rich_girl

Born out of my own frustration with the retardedly over-crowded "music discovery" space, this post aims to sift through the plethora of sites, many of which are variations of the same concept, and pinpoint the best ones.

Do you prefer to listen to short clips of top downloads on iTunes because it's easy? (Ya, iTunes is more of a place to buy a song/album that you know you want, but you can definitely discover new stuff by poking around, checking the free download of the week etc). Are you a fan of one of the numerous music social networking sites that let you discover people with similar musical taste, create/share playlists, or track down obscure indie bands? Or do you love Pandora's almost-no-work-involved recommendation system?

We're all different when it comes to our preferred methods of music discovery, but the end goal is the same, right? We want to consistently discover new music that resonates with us personally - bands we can go see live, music to download, artists we can relate to. There are so many places to do this now it makes my head spin, so I needed to simply.

With that, here are my top 5:

Pandora
I've been a fan of Pandora for a long time. The internet radio station, with its robust recommendation system based on the work of 50 analysts who break songs down into musical attributes, is surprisingly good at finding music that suits your tastes. And with the thumbs-up/thumbs-down rating system, the more you use it the smarter it gets. Their Facebook app is certainly convenient too.

iLike
If you can put up with 30 second clips, iLike is great for discovery. The fact that it can be plugged into Facebook, iTunes, MySpace, Bebo and others makes it a versatile social platform and is probably why they have so many registered users making profiles, sharing playlists and the like. And you can get lots of free music from new artists.

Fuzz
"Music Uprising...Connecting people who create and love music". Other than having pretty good music discovery tools, I like Fuzz because I like the Fuzz Manifesto. This is the kind of mentality that I think everyone in the music industry needs to adopt, and soon, in order to survive and thrive in the exciting new frontier that is developing. Open, participatory, fair etc...

Grooveshark
In addition to letting you listen to any song in its entirety, Grooveshark rewards you for sharing music with people by giving you credits for free music. It also serves as an online library so you can store your music and access it from anywhere. There is a tagging/ranking system to help you find what you want as well as playlist creation/sharing.

Last.fm
Easily one of the most dominant players in the social music discovery space, Last.fm has a powerful recommendation engine based on data from the user community (unlike Pandora's engine which matches similar musical attributes). Worth noting here is that Last.fm is now paying royalties to unsigned artists - and thus providing an alternative for artists who are not part of SoundExchange.

If this list is too short for you, check Mashable's Music News Toolbox: 50+ Links for Discovering New Music to read about sites like iJigg, MOG, Goombah, Music Nation, and many more. Or leave us a comment with your favorite ones.

And of course, soon you will be able to discover kick-ass new music at MixMatchMusic. Stay tuned.

40% deles utilizam para isso sites de relacionamento - como Facebook e ILike - e 41% confiam em amigos, familiares e em outros consumidores de lojas on-line para sedimentarem suas decisões.

Todavia, há um alento para a indústria fonográfica: 51% dos consumidores ainda preferem comprar CDS; apenas 25% optam por download.

Fussin' and fightin', we back at it again
I know that, it's my fault, but you don't understand (no)
I got memories, this is crazy
You ain't nothing like the girl I used to know
Good with ma, good with pa, cool with all my niggas
I should try, truth is I wanna let u in, but no
Damn these memories, and it's crazy
You ain't nothing like the girl I used to know

[Bridge]
Girl I really wanna work this out, cause I'm tired of fightin'
And I really hope you still want me the way I want you
I said I really wanna work this out, damn girl I'm tryin'
It's no excuse, no excuse
But I got this

[Chorus 2x]
I got this icebox where my heart used to be (but I got this)
I got this icebox where my heart used to be (said I got this)
I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold
I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold

Why can't I get it right, just can't let it go
I opened up, she let me down, I won't feel that no more
I got memories, this is crazy
She ain't nothing like the girl I used to know
I don't mean to take it out on you baby but I can't help it
'Cause my heart is in the same ol' condition that baby left it
And I, I apologize, for makin' you cry
Look me in my eye and promise you won't do me the same

[Bridge]
Girl I really wanna work this out, 'cause I'm tired of fightin'
And I really hope you still want me the way I want you
I said I really wanna work this out, damn girl I'm tryin'
It's no excuse, no excuse
But I got this

[Chorus 2x]
I got this icebox where my heart used to be (but I got this)
I got this icebox where my heart used to be (said I got this)
I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold
I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold

I don't wanna be stuck up in this cold cold world ('cause I don't wanna be) [2x]
Don't wanna mess this up better keep your eye on me girl [6x]

[Bridge]
Girl I really wanna work this out, cause I'm tired of fightin'
And I really hope you still want me the way I want you
I said I really wanna work this out, damn girl I'm tryin'
It's no excuse, no excuse
But I got this

[Chorus 2x]
I got this icebox where my heart used to be (but I got this)
I got this icebox where my heart used to be (said I got this)
I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold
I'm so cold, I'm so cold, I'm so cold

]]> http://petadoptionn.wordpress.com/2008/07/05/small-screen-hits-and-misses/ Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:13:12 +0000 Airell http://petadoptionn.wordpress.com/2008/07/05/small-screen-hits-and-misses/

This year's TV output has ranged from the excellent (Bleak House) to the diabolic (Rome), the witty (Weeds) and the downright mean (More 4's opening shot at David Blunkett's messy love life).

Thanks to my Sky Plus; I've watched every episode of Bleak House and it is as good as it could be. I hadn't read the book, but from the moment the opening credits rolled, I was hooked on the drama.

Charles Dance's Tulkinghorn embodies both evil and something even more frightening - the law itself. Gillian Anderson gives a brilliant performance as the damaged and desperate Lady Dedlock.

Even Esther, whose goodness one could easily learn to despise, walks the tightrope and stays with the angels. The lesser characters all work to perfection, captured in short, pithy scenes where every element pulls magically together to convey so much more than the individual parts.

CLICK HERE TO SEND YOUR VIEWS

I agree Bleak House was excellent - apart from the last episode which ruined it for me. With its "happy ever after" ending and hackneyed chocolate box images it was sickly sweet and seemed to be written and directed by someone from another planet to the team who made the brilliantly dark and intriguing preceding episodes. Charles Dance as Tulkinghorn was superb and Gillian Anderson as Lady Dedlock a revelation but once she was dead the whole thing seemed to unravel. Shame.
Jonathan Langley

Surely the best thing that the BBC put out in 2005 was the hugely popular and hugely acclaimed Doctor Who?
Richard Barnes, Wellington, New Zealand

To Andrew Walker: No, you're not the only one to think Little Britain isn't funny. I'm ashamed to belong to the same race as those who voted Little Britain as Best Comedy. It is juvenile, unoriginal, and repetitive. However, I'm also one who thinks Rome is great fun, a lot closer to Hollywood history than reality, but its great escapism.
Dennis Fisher, Scotland

I loved Tales from the Green Valley, the series about the 16th Century farm. It was a wonderful way to realise social history with such clear explanations and to see how it could have been to live then. It was superb entertainment as well as being informative.
Mavis Greenhalgh, Newbury

As an avid fan of anything involving swords and sandals, I was positively foaming at the mouth with anticipation when I heard about the imminent arrival of Rome to our screens. Unfortunately, it turned out to be utter drivel. I can contend with the blatant historical accuracies, the dodgy acting and the rubbish battle scenes but what really turned me off was how slow and boring it was.
Andrew Beadnell, London

I love both Rome and Bleak House. And even if Rosie didn't like it, the fact that most of the money was put up by HBO has nothing to do with it. HBO Showtime has produced some great drama in recent years. And no mention of Lost? Or the superb Doctor Who? Typical highbrow view from a Newsnight Review contributor I'm afraid.
Daniel Platt, Bracknell

I know everyone else seems to have gone mad for Bleak House, but as the weeks went by, I found it increasingly disappointing. It was both interminable and curiously empty and repetitive - the plot that drives the novel seemed to have been whittled away to nothing. With the decision taken to stuff it with well-known actors, it was inevitable that a number would be badly miscast. And, as always with Andrew Davies, there were the usual anachronisms and reductions to make you suck your teeth in dismay.
Ian Brown, Birmingham,

I am shocked that the new HBO/BBC series Rome can be labelled diabolic! It took a few episodes to get going but it is another fantastic collaboration of HBO and BBC (as was Band of Brothers). The actors, costumes and storylines are very entertaining. It is not in the same league as the Sopranos but is excellent drama none the less.
Steve Taylor, Thatcham

Watching it has reminded me of being glued to the box for Charles Sturridge's adaptation of Brideshead Revisited and, even further back, the Forsythe Saga in the 1960s. Every week this autumn I have looked forward to watching the next episode, something that, sadly, is a rare event.

Rome

I set my Sky Plus to catch the first episode of Rome and settled down to watch. The hype had been enormous, far bigger than for Bleak House and I expected to find the same brilliance again.

It was hard to believe that this rubbish had come from the same stable. The plot was chaotic, the sex ludicrous, the costumes hammy and the violence both crude and insistent.

Robert Harris, author of Pompeii, condemned the series as being as historically accurate as depicting Clemmie Churchill having sex with Ribbentrop and poisoning Chamberlain before the Second World War.

It seems to me that it is no excuse to blame some of Rome's excesses on the fact that it was a £60 million co-production with HBO, to which the BBC contributed a mere 9 million.

Something went horribly wrong and the fact that the BBC only contributed one sixth of the overall costs is no excuse for broadcasting such a disaster. I don't know what the overall budget was for Bleak House, but £9 million must have been a very decent chunk of it.

I hope someone is losing a little sleep about squandering the public dosh so badly.

Weeds

Weeds, screened on Sky One this autumn was a terrific follow on to the gap left in my viewing life by the end of the first series of Desperate Housewives.

Like Housewives, Weeds concerned a white middle class community with problems.

The heroine of Weeds has suddenly been widowed and her late husband's insurance policies don't cover the costs of running her home and her children. To make ends meet she starts dealing grass to her friends in the neighbourhood and there the fun starts.

The characters in Weeds make the inhabitants of Wisteria Lane look tame and some of the conversations made me gasp. (Mother to daughter: "Perhaps I should have had an abortion, you're such a pain). But it was slick and fast, with racy dialogue and genuinely risqué moments.

One of the best documentaries I saw this year was Storyville's Sir, No Sir. I had had no idea just how extensive and powerful the anti-Vietnam war movement had been among the GIs themselves.

Sir, No Sir took us on their journey of understanding as first tens, then thousands, saw that they were fighting an unjust war. It was brave of young Americans to refuse the draft, but even braver I think to go there and then rebel.

There was brilliant footage from the war and from Stateside protests as well as clips from Jane Fonda's concerts that she put on for pacifist troops.

All these references to Sky look like product placement particularly from someone who claims never to have read Bleak House. I enjoy Rome. It is very thrilling. It shows you what Bodies or The Thick of It would be like if people were less civilised, but there is a certain resonance in the way inconvenient people get despatched. I look forward to Rome every week. Congratulations to the people who produced it.
James Williams, Nottingham

I think Rome is doing OK overall as season two has already been commissioned. Shakespeare it is not, but Up Pompeii style antics it is. Great fun.
Neil Higgins, Birmingham

TV highlight of the year? The Rotters' Club. Yes, it occasionally allowed itself to wallow in a nostalgia-fest, but the young cast were a delight, the script was sharp and funny, and the depiction of 1970's Britain was terrific. Now for an adaptation of The Closed Circle.
Ken Kimber, Swindon

Bleak House has been great, although I've missed a couple on Fridays, because, like the excellent The West Wing, early Friday is bad for my memory. Rome has been what I expected it to be, a 21st Century Borgias entertaining & amusing at the same time.

Am I the only one to think that Little Britain series 3, isn't funny? Worst Week of My Life gets better & could run & run. My children enjoyed Shoe Box Zoo & watch Strictly Come Dancing. My 8-year-old daughter also loves Third Rock From The Sun on ITV 3, which shows the incredible John Lithgow at his best.

I have caught the odd Larry Saunders repeat which is still brilliant, Peep Show, darkly disturbing & have watched all the Brideshead repeats. Overall, the new programmes on terrestrial have been better than the last few years. However, I like the Freeview channels, because they seem to show the best old stuff - including The Sopranos.

Can Paul Abbott do another political thriller in 2006?
Andrew Walker, Altrincham

I agree with Roy from Portsmouth both programmes have been entertaining and to some degree enlightening. A real breath of fresh air on the box. By the way what's all this advertising SKY PLUS?
Barry Tebbs, Leeds

I am not surprised Rosie would not like Rome as it is most definitely a male orientated action series whereupon Bleak House (which I also like) is a female orientated series. They are both a breath of fresh air instead of the usual fodder or soaps et al.
Roy Cole, Portsmouth

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Newsnight Review is broadcast on BBC Two at 2300 GMT on Friday's - immediately after Newsnight.

The final programme of the year will be shown on Friday, 16 December, 2005.
]]> http://keenoboi.wordpress.com/?p=27 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:33:03 +0000 keenoboi http://keenoboi.wordpress.com/?p=27 The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions to tell the true-life tale of six genius students who used their brains to beat considerable odds. Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) may be shy, but his wallflower reputation betrays his inner brilliance. As smart as Ben may be, however, if he can't pay his tuition he'll be kicked out of M.I.T. Fortunately, the answer to all of Ben's problems is right there in the cards. Recruited to join a team of extremely gifted students who have used their mastery of numbers to beat the odds at blackjack, Ben procures a fake identity in order to join the casino scammers and their brilliant leader -- eccentric math professor and stats genius Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) -- in some highly profitable weekend excursions to Las Vegas. Counting cards isn't illegal, and by using a complex series of signals, this team has cracked the code. Of course, it doesn't take long for Ben to become seduced by the glamorous Las Vegas lifestyle, and the attention afforded to him by his sexy teammate Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth) finds him pushing his luck to the absolute limits. Laurence Fishburne stars as Cole Williams, the Sin City security chief who catches on to the group and makes it his mission to expose their lucrative blackjack scam.

en Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a shy, brilliant M.I.T. student who -- needing to pay school tuition -- finds the answers in the cards. He is recruited to join a group of the school's most gifted students that heads to Vegas every weekend armed with fake identities and the know-how to turn the odds at blackjack in their favor. With unorthodox math professor and stats genius Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) leading the way, they've cracked the code. By counting cards and employing an intricate system of signals, the team can beat the casinos big time. Seduced by the money, the Vegas lifestyle, and by his smart and sexy teammate, Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), Ben begins to push the limits. Though counting cards isn't illegal, the stakes are high, and the challenge becomes not only keeping the numbers straight, but staying one step ahead of the casinos' menacing enforcer: Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne).
Check out this site for more info:

The Washington Post's Marianne Meyer did a really nice write-up that came out today. We did an interview last week in which we chatted about Reverie, Moonlight Interior, my family and our upcoming show in Fairfax, VA this weekend, July 5th. Thanks Marianne! Here's the link to the article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/02/AR2008070201272.html

Next Wednesday I'm flying to London where I will be playing two shows, on the 10th and the 11th. Then off do do shows in the Midlands. I fly to Berlin on July 20th and play there on the 23rd, Hamburg in the 25th & 26th. Check out all the upcoming Euro Tour dates and please spread the word! Tell your friends to come out to the shows and say hi.

http://www.jannklose.com/tour.html

Hoffe wir sehen uns Ende Juli - freue mich drauf... take care and happy Fourth of July!

JK

P.S. Check out this song from Reverie called Watching You Go exclusively on iLike/Facebook:

http://apps.facebook.com/ilike/artist/Jann+Klose

Was cool to see Raiden back and all Super Awesome!!! in his exoskeleton, (sort of like Gray Fox's in the first MGS title for Playstation.) Can't see Snake lasting much longer though.. maybe that's why they've got the new guy Akiba, well i say new but he's not he was the guard who "couldn't control himself" in the first PS title. He is quality though in the end!

Anyway enough of me rambling!

check these out from http://www.threadless.com/ i'm gonna seriously buy all these!

Peppermints. Nicotine patches. Mini cigars. All were tried - to little success - in a quest to ditch what at its peak was an 80 a day habit. So what finally worked?

At my age, achievements become few and small. One enters the era of tiny triumphs.

The other morning, as I walked along slowly beside the Thames on my way to my favourite coffee bar - walking slowly because I was deliberately minimising my impact on the environment - I reflected, in the style of one of those old essayists who were always reflecting on narrow areas of experience that turned out to have a wide area of implication, I reflected, as I walked slowly upstream beside the south bank of the Thames and turned up the spanking new glass-lined avenue that calls itself More London, I reflected that the now virtually complete restrictions on smoking would have driven me to violence if I still smoked. But I don't, so they haven't.

I did it. I finally quit. Two and a half years ago I smoked my last tin of cigarillos, and although I still dream of taking them up again on my death bed - more of that later - I am now at one with the non-smoking world. I almost pity, instead of envy, those who are still caught up in it.

Outside the entrance halls to the tall glass buildings of More London - what a name, so exactly conveying that it has less of everything - there were groups of people smoking at each other. Occasionally they talked to each other as well, but you could tell they were talking about smoking. Some of them were arriving late for work and were having a quick one before they went inside. Some of them had arrived for work earlier and had come back outside for the first smoking break of the day, or perhaps the second.

Cigarette butts surrounded each group in a sort of fairy ring. Already these fairy rings seem to be moving further away from doorways, and one foresees the day when the fairy rings disappear altogether.

In California it was already happening 10 years ago when it was decreed that you not only couldn't smoke in the outside section of the restaurant, you couldn't smoke within 50 yards of the entrance. When the entrances were less than 50 yards apart, smokers in Bel Air had to walk to Hollywood Boulevard before they could light up.

Now it's happening in Britain. It's already happened in Scotland, where any space with three walls is designated a non-smoking zone. After that law came in, you could see otherwise sane-looking people counting walls and you knew that they were smokers.

Cough yourself inside out

I was just such a smoker from my early teens until my early 30s, quickly working up from a 20 a day habit to the dizzy 80 a day peak that some so-called experts declare impossible because you would have to wake up in the night.

But of course I woke up in the night. It was an expensive habit but I never subsequently thought of suing the manufacturers to get my money back. Revenge on the tobacco companies was always a branch of the compensation culture that I thought especially ungracious, like suing a host for having served you champagne before you fell into his swimming pool.

At the age of 11 it was already clear to me that inhaling cigarette smoke was likely to do to my lungs the same thing that it had done to my Uncle Harold's.

Coughing himself inside out, Uncle Harold would reach for the next cigarette. By the time I quit, I was doing the same. Impressed by the news that if I stopped cold before I was 35 it would probably undo any damage I had already caused, I didn't have another drag for 13 years. But I missed it every day, so how, you might be asking - and if you're trying to quit you'll certainly be asking - how did I manage it?

I used the off-set method, i.e. I spent the money on something else, something that I could see accumulate instead of burn away. The same amount of money I would have spent a week on cigarettes, I spent on recordings of classical music. They were all on vinyl in those days and eventually I built up a collection weighing a couple of tons, almost as much as the pyramid of the butts of all the cigarettes I had ever smoked would have weighed if they had been swept together in the one place, which would have had to be as big as Trafalgar Square.

As I sat there listening to, say, the Mozart String Quintet K 516, I could reflect that its limitless sublimities almost outranked the pleasure of sucking on the 50th filter tip of the day.

But there was the catch. I was still thinking of that pleasure, and eventually I took up smoking again, but this time with new hopes of smoking in moderation. I had been impressed by the way Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns chewed a cigarillo instead of saying anything.

Taciturnity had always been among those dreams for myself I knew to be hopeless, but I correctly assessed that he smoked far fewer cigarillos than he would have smoked cigarettes. Alas, the same was not true for me, and within a year I was chain-smoking the little cigars, often carrying a third tin of 10 for when the first two ran out.

Smoke on high

So it went on for a further 20 years on and off, and usually more on than off, while the final whistle was blowing for smokers in the Western world. The cigarettes which had been the only stable European currency in 1945 gradually but inexorably became branded as evidence of the lethal conspiracy of big business against populations helpless to choose their own fate, and the freedom to choose death was rolled back under the imperative to lead a healthier life.

Eventually even I was convinced, and I gave up again, partly because of my job. Flying all over the world to make films for television, I was sometimes faced with 13 hours in the air without a smoke. The 13 hours might as well have been 13 years. After most of the airlines turned on the non-smoking signs for keeps, a smoker who wanted to keep his fires burning had to plot a circuitous route across the globe, and often he would have to fly with an airline that allowed not only cigarettes in the cabin, but live chickens.

There was also the matter of a cough that became harder to conceal from my family. The smoking I could conceal, or thought I could, by going out into the garden for a quick dozen drags before always burying the butt in the soil of the same pot-plant and sticking a peppermint in my mouth. Why a man thinks the sweet stench of peppermints from his mouth will off-set the foul reek of smoke in his clothes is a question that has so far puzzled science. Anyway, it soon transpired that only I was fooled.

So I would give up for another year, off-setting the money this time with a plan to spend the same amount on health food in order to halve my weight. Having doubled it, I would hit the cigarillos yet again.

Lost love

Finally it was the Australia run that spelled the end of my smoking career. After 13 hours we arrived at Bangkok airport and I raced for the smoking room. Smoking room was a big name for a small Perspex cubicle that was opaque from the outside because of the grey pressure of the fumes within.

I opened the door, saw all the other smokers sitting there face to face in two tight rows, and I realised that I would have to smoke in the standing position. Then I realised I didn't have to light up. All I had to do was breathe in. It was the moment of truth.

But then, I had always known the truth. The truth is that I love smoking. Hence the failure of all my attempts to give it up, because every method I used was predicated on the assumption that a desire could be eliminated once it was seen to be absurd.

I tried nicotine patches and kept sticking them on until they joined up at the edges. I looked like the flesh-pink version of the jade warrior. There is a book out now which teaches that every cigarette you have from your second cigarette onwards does nothing for you except raise your nicotine level up to what it was. Possibly so, but in my case it also satisfied a deep longing, the memory of which lingers like lost love.

So how did I finally quit? I learned to smoke the memory. When the longing hits you, don't try to repress it. Savour it. The actual thing wouldn't be any better. In fact it wouldn't be as good, because it would last only as long as the cigarette or the cigarillo, whereas the memory lasts as long as you like.

Reflect on the frivolity of your desires all you wish, but you will never conquer them unless you first admit their urgency. And since I'm being positive in this series, let me record that I feel better. I still quite like the idea of taking a crate of cigarillos with me when I go into the nursing home, but that day will be further off now than it would have been if I hadn't stopped lighting a fire in the lower half of my face every few minutes. I would have been in the same condition as the pot plant. The pot plant died.

Below is a selection of your comments.

A non-smoker can never understand the addiction that is nicotine, surely if it wasn't for all the tax cigarettes generate they would be banned as Class A drugs. I tried giving up many many times, without success. Eventually the thing that made me give up was when a smoker kissed my new born son, and I when I picked up my child I could smell the cigarettes on him. It takes something that significant to change you. The fact that I was killing myself was not enough of an incentive, but the thought that I could harm my children was the catalyst I needed. When I see parents who smoke now, I truly wonder at their selfishnous.
A, London, UK

Thanks for a true appraisal of your victory to stop the nicotine sticks . For me, it was the hardest time I ever had to stop cigarettes after smoking for 35 years. I went "cold turkey" told everyone I worked or lived with that I would act crazy(during nicotine withdrawal)and did so for about 3 months.i.e. light headed & cranky. One can do it as in my case a friend suffered from smoke related bladder cancer from cigs that alerted me to stop from his pain. It has been 12 years since the last time I smoked.
Michael Jack, New York,New York USA

Clive you are right. All things not only smoking, normally turn out to be more enjoyable as fantasies than in reality !!..I too, owned an 80 a-day habit, but kicked it by not putting a fag in my mouth - yet still dream of that initial puff every day....!! it never leaves you....
Rory, Croydon, Surrey

For as long as you think of cigarettes as a long lost love, you will crave to be reunited and sooner or later, you'll take it up again. The simple truth is that they have no redeeming features and we just kid ourselves that we get some value. Allan Carr's book is pure genius. 3 or so years and I've stopped counting because I don't miss them any more :)
Sean Rodden, Sydney, Australia

I gave up smoking after 30 odd years, just over 11 years ago. I still crave a little for a smoke. I just packed up one evening and that was it. I hate the smell of smoking now, and I am sure I will never start up again. Aren't I?
Frank, Banbury

With the right weather conditions 80 a day is not so unreasonable. The only way to successfully quit smoking is to quit smoking successfully. To do that, one must quit smoking. So, if you want to quit smoking, quit. I don't know what all the fuss is about. I smoked 30 a day for 5 years; then I quit and that was that. You doesn't need a good reason or a patch or will power ... you will only end up smoking again because reasons change; because patches just keep you on the back-burner until you can cope with the guilt of lighting another cigarette; because will power is nothing but hot air (2nd law of thermodynamics will bring you right back to the ashtray). If you want to quit, quit.
Nao Yoshino, London

Yes, always a wistful sort of dreamy golden view back to when the ciggie was lit, before and after every significant, insignificant or imaginary event worthy of hastening the beginning of the end. See? When one does not smoke, one has more lung power to write impossibly long, meandering sentences and maybe even recite them out loud without passing out! Well written, quite smitten, and having been several hundred thousand times bitten by the keen nicotine dream as well, loved the article. I, too, look forward to that day, when learning I have some fatal disease (old age?) and that my time is near, will have my bed wheeled down to the local liquor store or gas station, there to finally once again light up, dreamy contentment on my face, as I inhale, exhale and expire...
Erkht, Fairfax, California

Ah, the Bangkok airport smoking rooms. They didn't cure me of smoking, but they did cure me of regular smoking and desperately seeking the smoking room wherever I land! The next one can wait...
simon ferrigno, herne bay

Environmental impact of tobacco production is rarely considered, as in this article!
Colin, Bournemouth UK

]]> http://hespeaks.wordpress.com/?p=144 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:30:26 +0000 hespeaks http://hespeaks.wordpress.com/?p=144 FakeRestaurant.com

This is how creative advertisers and promoters should be really. I love the concept, the execution and certainly the comments those real people gave. Hmmmm, makes me hungry really. Oh well! i might as well ditch the diet for today. Hardee's here I come.

Click on the link above to know what am I talking about.

Let's see if that add. really made you crave a juicy thick burger.

The world's most expensive hamburger, "interesting really" Home of the Whopper just welcomed a new guest in town, "The Burger" the most expensive burger in the world, with a price of $200.

Ingredients:

• Wagyu beef
• white truffles
• Pata Negra ham slices
• Cristal onion straws
• Modena balsamic vinegar
  
• Lambs lettuce
  
• Pink Himalayan rock salt
• Organic white wine
• Shallot infused mayonnaise
  
• Served in between two Iranian saffron and white truffle dusted bun.

So why would a fast food chain launch such burger? Apparently, it is decided that all the profit gained from this new burger will be given to help a London Child charity, assisting children with abuse issues, homelessness, disability, poverty and illness.

What's funny is that people in West England are only able to order this burger via a hotline.

Check out the links on the music page linked above to find TheChrisBerry on iLike and Facebook.

I found this while surfing the internet, it really cracked the hell outta me. Thought of sharing it with you guys. Enjoy !

No hemos hablado aún en Musicsfera de Beck y su nuevo álbum y ya es hora de hacerlo. Modern Guilt es el nombre elegido y su fecha de salida esta marcada para el próximo 7 de Julio en Inglaterra (con Xl recordings) y el 8 de julio en EEUU (junto a Interscope).

Después de darnos el tracklist (a continuación) y la portada (imagen superior). ahora Beck nos obsequia con 2:02 de vídeo presentación de su nuevo álbum, donde podemos escuchar fragmentos de 4 de sus nuevas canciones. Pueden verlo a continuación.

UPDATE: También ahora desde Ilike podemos escuchar dos canciones enteras del nuevo álbum. Enlace aquí.

Las canciones que podemos escuchar en el vídeo son: “Gamma Ray”, “Youthless”, “Modern Guilt” y “Walls”. La verdad es que suenan muy bien todas las canciones y eso es bueno. 4 nuevas canciones que, por los 30 segundos que podemos escuchar ya nos enganchan significa que podemos estar impacientes con la llegada del disco, o como es habitual, de su filtración.

De momento saber que Beck a colaborado para la creación de su décimo álbum de estudio con Danger Mouse en la producción e invitó a Cat Power a cantar en dos temas.

El track list de Modern Guilt es el siguiente:

1. Orphans [ft. Cat Power]
2. Gamma Ray
3. Chemtrails
4. Modern Guilt
5. Youthless
6. Walls [ft. Cat Power]
7. Replica
8. Soul of a Man
9. Profanity Prayers
10. Volcano

Ahora ha esperar y a pasarnos por el youtube para ver si encontramos algún vídeo como este de Beck tocando sus nuevas canciones en directo. En esta ocasión es Modern Guilt.

Vía | Cuchara sonica

Web | beck

Myspace | beck

My pixel phase continues, wonder when will it end .. First it's the pixel sofa, and now this. This I like a lot.

Loving this fish bowl really. Roger Arquer designs. I've always wanted a huge A#$ fish tank with two young sharks. "similar to the one in Hilton Kuwait"

More pics:

Roger Arquer website