Two Hammies R.I.P.

Well since the last post I'm afraid to say that the other two hamster babies didn't make it. The smell started eminating from the now, so called "Bathroom of Death" sometime early last week. It's a horrible feeling knowing they died of hunger and they were so close to food, they just couldn't make it I guess, poor little things.

Anyway, I'm writing this on my laptop downstairs while my girlfriend is playing Crash Bandicoot 2 on the PS1 I borrowed off my nephew (pretty cool), but I've been listening to loads of great and new (to me) music over the last couple of weeks which I want to put links to for you to check out if you're so inclined. I'll post those up just as soon as I get a chance.

Sorted out getting a stronger signal on my Wi-Fi network and now it rocks.

Hopefully getting my XDA II tomorrow...

Later...

Another success!! After "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind" when I got back there was another little Hamster in the trap. (I have a humane trap that closes when they walk in, it's nice and dark for them and they're safe) So he's a little blonde chap who I've decided to call Mr. Blonde for obvious reasons and also cos there was that clip from Reservoir Dogs on the TV tonight where he's giving everyone there names and Steve Buscemi gets Mr. Pink and he's all pissed off etc. and he says that great line "It's ok for you, you've got a cool name" to Mr. Blonde... I love it...

Anyway, just a couple of things before I hit the bed. Firstly, "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind" - What a fantastic piece of cinema. It really uses the medium to tell the story. It's not a completely un-figure-out-able story as I had it pegged pretty early on, not that that really detracts from it. I just think Charlie Kaufman is a total genius and like, "Adaptation" and the superbly innovative "Being John Malkovich" he's really pushing the envelope. I'm so thankful that a brain like Charlie Kaufman has come along to save cinema. I love his work.

Have to get to bed, I'm falling asleep here... night.

The First One Out - Squidge is his name... ...
© Rob McKinney - BeatleNut.com

This is Blob! She's Tiny...
© Rob McKinney - BeatleNut.com

Two Babies Found ALIVE!!! (& rescued)

Not only are there definitely 3 alive and well, we managed to get hold of two of them lastnight. I've named them "Squidge" and "Blob" and I hope to have shots of them up soon. They're the cutest little things I've ever seen. Seeing as the Daddy is a long haired (Teddy Bear) and the mommy is a short haired (Fancy Hamster) some of them are long haired and some are short. Blob is a little puff ball and I think she's been at the whacky backy cos she seems pretty stoned! Squidge is very timid and cautious but a cute little fella none the less. I was just trying to upload a shot of Blob but this Hello thing is being weird. Anyhoo, that's the update on the Hammies. Hopefully we'll get the other three tonight...

Musically, I have been listening to "Mandolin Ecstasy" again and also lots of other stuff. I like it a lot, every track seems to start with a similar "call and response" deal between U. Srinivas Mandolin and the violin type instrument, (please forgive my ignorance but the name of the instrument on the CD Sleeve but that's upstairs and I couldn't be bothered getting it...) I guess it's the structure of carnatic music which he seems to specialise in. You should take a listen to it, it's very interesting. Maybe, online you could find recommendations by people who know what they're talking about.

I've also been listening to more Steely Dan (Pretzel Logic) and also some blues lastnight (Muddy Waters). Oh! I forgot I was listening to the fantastic and very sexy "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye as well, what a great record.

Right then, I'm off to see "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind" now which, having been written by Charlie Kaufman is bound to appeal to my own personal spotless mind...

Laters...

Babies are Alive!!

Well, it turns out lastnight that the little ones started scratching about in the walls. I was convinced they'd be dead by now having no food and no mother to look after them but there was definite noise making behind the scenes... They haven't ventured out yet but I'm trying to remember that they haven't had any human contact or seen much light so I guess they'll be extra cautious.

On the music front. My copy of U. Srinivas' "Mandolin Ecstasy" arrived today. I read in a recent interview with Dhani Harrison that this was George's favourite record. I've only managed to have one listen to it so far but it'll be going on the iPod for a good scrutinizing. I'll add it to the reviews just as soon as I get my head around it.

I've been listening to a lot of music over the last couple of days so here it is:

Yesterday I was mostly listening to:

"The Dirty Boogie" by The Brian Setzer Orchestra
"Dummy" by Portishead
"So" by Peter Gabriel
"Pirates" by Rickie Lee Jones
"Who Killed The Zutons?" by The Zutons

Today I have mostly been listening to:

"Mandolin Ecstasy" by U. Srinivas
"Powerage" by AC/DC

Current iPod song number: 5482

Listening to Jet

Howdy,

I picked up "Get Born" by Aussie band Jet yesterday and I'm on my second listen. I've noticed a major Beatle influence along with AC/DC, Stones, Oasis (in a big way), it's a pretty good album if you can take it for what it is, which is pretty much an extension of all those other bands. "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" is a classic single but it's in fear of being killed by over exposure. I hope they can maybe be a little more original in future endeavours...

I've also recently discovered a Liverpool band by the name of The Zutons and their debut album called "Who Killed The Zutons?" There are a couple of real stand out tracks on it, one being "You Will, You Won't". A great little band, I'll be keeping an eye on them for further releases.

Check them out if you get a chance.

Yesterday I was mostly listening to:

"Then & Now: The Best of Steely Dan Remastered" by Steely Dan
"The Doors" by The Doors

Today (so far) I've been mostly listening to:

"Get Born" by Jet

Later...

Current iPod song number: 5465

No sign of the babies...

Well, there's no sign of the baby hammies, no noise or anything which is weird I guess... Anyway, I spent the day listening to Supergrass's 3 excellent albums after going to the gig, and chatting with my girlfriend online. It's a bank holiday here in Ireland so no one works today. The sun is belting down but I haven't been outside the house yet, I guess I should be cos it doesn't get that sunny here for very long.

Anyhoo, that's all for today check out these albums, well worth it...

Today I have been mostly listening to:

"I Should CoCo" by Supergrass
"In It For The Money" by Supergrass
"Supergrass" by Supergrass

Oh and...

"Much Against Everyones Advice" by Soulwax (don't die without hearing this record, I mean it...it would be a waste...what melodic bastards...)

Late home again...

I'm really hanging together now, it's 4:48am here in Ireland and I'm back about an hour from a gig we were doing in Tullamore (about an hour outside of Dublin). It was a good gig, there were a few very appreciative Beatle Nuts there flying the flag, which was nice...

Anyway, I promised an update on the Hamster thing... I've had a Hamster called Cookie for about 6-7 months now and a few weeks ago I decided to mate her with my girlfriends male Hamster called Toby, however I think he was too old cos he didn't do the business, at least he got the leg over though... anyway, we ended up getting her sisters Hamster who is much younger and full of energy... Long story, even longer... she got pregnant, many of you will probably not know that a Hamster's gestation period is only a mere two weeks! So two weeks to the day she drops 9 of the little dudes, obviously she felt she couldn't raise any more than five so she ate four of them and we were left with 5 healthy ones. So she's nursing away, I'm keeping an eye on everything but following rules of not touching them for at least two weeks, then time comes to move them cos I got a bigger house for her and moved them all in. Everything seems to be happy... so one night last week, in a stoned haze, I leave the bloody cage open and Cookie escapes, cos that's her job being a Hamster... So she must've escaped, found a nice place inside the workings of the house, came back FIVE TIMES for each baby and brought them all to their new home! So I had to leave her with them cos they were too young to be able to make it out on their own. So I leave food out every night and Cookie comes and gets it and brings it to the kids. Then Cookie goes wandering and gets stuck inside the house, not before nibbling her way through one of my phone lines downstairs, knocking out the alarm... Now one evening when I come home she's on the other side of the house working her way through the plaster to try and get out, so I have to punch a hole in the wall to get her out (five holes in fact, it's hard to pinpoint a Hamster behind a wall...) now I've decided to keep her in her cage and I've left out food for the little ones hoping that they'll have to come out or starve, I'm stuck thinking that maybe they were too small and they pysically won't be able to find their way out or maybe she killed them out of mercy, but I don't think so. It is now around weaning time anyway so I hope they were just about ready to leave her anyway. So the latest on it is, I've left out one of those humane mouse trap things that don't kill them with some raspberry jam smeared on as bait but there's been no action at all and Cookie seems pretty pissed off that she's not allowed to her babies. I can't afford her nibbling through one of my power cables, frying herself and leaving me to foot the bill for a re-wire...

Worst comes to the worst, they'll die a slow and painful death and I don't know if I can deal with that... I hope they come out by themselves and they can be a happy family again...

So that's the lot. Supergrass were pretty damn good lastnight. What a great little band. Well worth checking out if you're into hard melodic pop rock.

Today I was mostly listening to:

"Fitzcarraldo" by The Frames (Also known as The Frames DC) (Unbelievable record)

Didn't really have much time to listen to music today...

Night night....

Subliminal programming, subliminal messages

Subliminal programming, subliminal messages

I'm big into self hypnosis and the power of the mind and I've recently purchased this software and have it running on both my machines all the time. It is great for changing your internal subconscious beliefs. I've been using it to increase my motivation and creativity and it seems to be making a big impact, I'll keep you posted about its effects as I continue to use it.

Anyhoo, I was listening to "Blood On The Tracks" again today, what a record! It's pretty hard to listen to, to think Bob actually has feelings under that "Too Cool For School" exterior. If you haven't heard it, you need to get it right away... this is a "must haver"... DO IT! DO IT!

Also been listening to Damien Rice in keeping with the whole folky thing, his record "O" is doing really well all over the world and he's a fellow Irishman so I'm being patriotic!

Today I have mostly been listening to:

"Blood On The Tracks" by Bob Dylan
"O" by Damien Rice

That's all for now, I'm off to Supergrass tonight, should be a rocking gig...

ps. I was going to fill you in on the Hamster situation but I'll leave that till later...

Welcome to the First...

Hi there,

This is my first blog ever so I'm easing into things. I'd like to use this to rant about what I'm listening to at any given moment and to get some things off my chest or just talk crap...

I ordered a copy of "Play Me Backwards" by Joan Baez on the Amazon Marketplace, which is great for finding those records that you heard once or twice fourteen years ago and can remember liking one song or there was a song that was significant to your life at that particular moment in time and it's been with you in your head for the longest time and saying stuff like "y'know, I really should get around to buying that album..." well... "Play Me Backwards" is one of those records that I can remember two songs from, which completely remind me of when my ex-wife and I were going out, before we were married and she was renting an apartment and she used to play this record. She kind of led me down a folky path that I hadn't really gotten into (Bob, Joni, Leonard et al) and I kind of led her down a vibey Rock N Roll path (Pink Floyd, The Doors etc.) she hadn't really been down so it was all good. Of course we were both BeatleNuts, in fact we met at a Beatle convention in Liverpool, I was there in a professional capacity, being George in a Beatle Tribute band and she was there cos of her love of the Beatles and she wrote a fanzine with her sister and friends. Anyway, enough of that, I was only gonna mention the Joan Baez thing. Anyway, it's a cool record, highlights include Track 2: "Amsterdam" and Track 5: "Steal Across The Border" more on this at a later date.

Today I was mostly listening to:

"This Is The Sea" by The Waterboys
"Machine Head" by Deep Purple
"Play Me Backwards" by Joan Baez

I have a 40GB iPod and it's really made me a music fan again, I love throwing it on shuffle and hearing songs I haven't heard in years.

Current iPod song number: 5444