It’s taken me many (many) years to realise this but after some random internet surfing, I’ve come to an epiphany. Bear with me…..

Right, everyone knows what the Hamster Dance is, yeah? Well, after some pointless internet surfing on youtube, I came across some bits of Disney’s Robin Hood film- the one from 1973 (on a totally unrelated note, I will say I love that movie despite the fact I haven’t seen it in years).

Well, I’ve noticed that the Hamster Dance samples the Robin Hood music and speeds it up. Really! See for yourself-

-Robin Hood intro
-Hamster Dance

Mood : blah   Music : The Hamster Dance  by  Some Complete Idiot

Yikes! I’ve just reached 20,000 songs played on lastfm!

What was the all important 20,000th song? It was “Scuttlebuttin’” by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Honestly, it’s a cracking tune

Looking back through my blog, I noticed that it took me 11 months to reach 10,000 songs. It’s only taken me another 4 and a half months to reach 20,000.

Roll on 30,000!

Mood : blah   Music : Scuttlebuttin'  by  Stevie Ray Vaughan

Yes it’s true, I’m returning to my old job tomorrow, part-time.  I’m only doing part-time because I have a few other things I’d like to do this summer-

-visit Loch Ness (yeah, going hunting for Nessie!)
-get fit (that’s in progess- badminton etc)
-build some websites
-get back into Java (need to get familiar with this again before September

As a result, I might not be online quite as much as I normally am.  I recently signed up for a Twitter account though.  Basically, even when I’m without a computer/the internet, I can still tell everyone what I’m upto.  All I have to do is to send an SMS to my account and it will update my status.  Cool huh?

Anyway, that’s all for the now folks.

Mood : discontent   Music : My Favourite Mistake  by  Sheryl Crow

Don’t worry, this blog post isn’t about to reveal any major part of the plot and ruin it for you guys.

So, has anyone seen the new Indiana Jones film yet?  I was really looking forward to seeing it in the cinema because I wasn’t born/old enough to see the original trilogy.  I saw it on the 10th of June and I have to say, I’m a bit disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong, the first half of the film is brilliant- classic Indiana Jones.  However, about 1 hour, 15 minutes into the film, there was a part of the plot that really ruined the film.  In fact, I was screaming “noooooooooooooo” inside.  Like I said, I’m not going to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it but what I can say is that the particular area of the plot doesn’t belong in an Indiana Jones movie.  Not at all.  I made a comment to my sister as we were sitting in the cinema at this point but again, writing it here would be classed as a spoiler.

Harrison Ford was superb.  He looked fantastic and was the same old Indiana Jones we all know.  The acting was definitely not a problem at all- in fact the entire cast were great.  The music was fantasic as well- Elvis at the start of the movie!  Of course, I have to mention the infamous Raiders March.  I love that particular piece of music and it was fantastic to hear that in the cinema.

There seemed to be quite a few references to other movies throughout the film.  Have to say the Star Wars one made me smile “I have a bad feeling about this”.

All in all, I did enjoy it but at the same time, I felt disappointed because it wasn’t as good as what I was expecting.  I just wish they’d show the old trilogy at the cinemas again- it my opinion, the cinema is still the best place to sit and watch an Indiana Jones film.

As for the ending, well, I liked it.  It made me go “awwww”.

Mood : nervous   Music : Crash and Burn  by  Sheryl Crow

C’mon folks, today is the day! Firefox 3 has been released.

Wanna be part of a Guinness world record for the most software downloads achieved in the space of 24 hours? Go get Firefox 3!

Ok, here’s the deal. I’ve been a Computing student for 3 years now and have accumulated some books which I no longer require so I’m selling them on Gumtree.

The following titles are for sale (check out the links)-

- Introduction to Java Programming by Y. Daniel Liang (3rd edition)

-Database Systems by Connolly and Begg (2nd edition)

-HTML 4 For Dummies (4th edition)

-Dreamweaver 4 guidebook

-Introduction to Information Technology Law by David Bainbridge (6th edition, 2007, formerly “Introduction to Computer Law”).

Please help and cheers for looking folks

Mood : blah   Music : Surfin' USA  by  The Beach Boys

Yeah, I’ve been considering this for a while and I think it’s time this site got a face lift and gets generally freshened up a little.

….and I’m considering making this site pink….

*runs*

Mood : calm   Music : Win Some Lose Some  by  Bryan Adams

As you guys all know, I finished a very stressful year at university a few weeks ago. Since then, I’ve been able to spend a lot more time on things besides Computing. Recently I’ve spent a lot of time reading and I’m currently loving the books Kathy Reichs has written.

In real life, Kathy Reichs is forensic anthropologist and her novels feature a character named Temperance Brennan who investigates various crimes. I know what you’re thinking, you’ve heard the name of that character before? That’s because the books inspired the tv series Bones (which is how I discovered the books). The books and the tv series are totally separate though in that the only similarity between them is the name of the main character and her job. Perhaps Seeley Booth is based on Detective Ryan, I don’t know?

So far I’ve read Déjà Dead, Death du Jour, Deadly Decisions, Fatal Voyage and Grave Secrets. I finished Grave Secrets last night but it ended on a bloody cliffhanger so I had to go order a few more books- Bare Bones, Monday Mourning and Cross Bones. Ok, they can be more than just a little grizzly at times but they’re a good read.

Right now I’m half way through Bridget Jones Diary (written by Helen Fielding). I hadn’t read it since…..2001?! Something like that. It’s certainly been a while. Even though I’m reading it for a second time and have seen the film, I’m still under the impression that Bridget Jones is in fact an alcoholic. Well perhaps a binge drinker at least. Anyway it’s quite entertaining.

Next books on the reading agenda are “The Simarillion” (by J.R.R. Tolkien) and “And Then There Were None” (by Agatha Christie). Oh, and I haven’t read any of the Harry Potter books this year so I need to rectify this situation.

Mood : tired   Music : Feel The Silence  by  Goo Goo Dolls

I’m aware I haven’t really done any proper updates for a while so here’s another one…

On the 31st May, I attended the first day of the first ever Montrose Music Festival. I thought it would be a great opportunity to see some band which were just starting out. I arrived with a couple of friends at around 3.30pm and it was a fantastic day. Seriously, couldn’t have asked for better weather really. After getting some water and food, we headed to the first venue. In total, we saw the following bands-

Brown Eye Superfly
This is the first band we wandered off to see. Saw them at Sharkys. They played some great funky music. Just before they started playing I somehow expected the singer to “sing” Slipknot style which scared me a little. Didn’t happen though (phew). Sharkys was way too hot though, even with the first exits open so we only saw them play about 3-4 songs of the set. Awesome though.

Sons ‘O The Soil
They were playing on the High Street, outside the Ball House with quite a large crowd. We stopped to watch them as we were wandering off to the Ash Bar. Good stuff . Here’s some pics of the gig I found online.

Lights.Action!
These guys were playing at the Ash Bar and I have to say, they were my favourites of the night. We essentially had a front row sofa for this gig (when we first went in, there were no seats but these people left and told us we could have their space which we were chuffed about). Great singer who we yapped to afterwords and bought a cd off him. Think they’re gonna be HUGE!.

think:Fire
They played the Ash Bar and to be perfectly honest I didn’t enjoy these guys much. For starters, the sound just wasn’t right. The guitars were too loud and subsequently I couldn’t heard a thing the singer was singing.  Pity though- the music sounded good.

Co-Pilot Effect
Again, these guys played the Ash Bar and took FOREVER to set up. I was really impressed when one of the band members produced a gorgeous white Gretsch on stage, knowing just how awesome these guitars can sound (especially in the hands of Bryan Adams and Keith Scott). When they started playing, I was a little disappointed- I couldn’t heard the guitar at all. In fact I don’t know if it was actually plugged in. Total waste of an awesome guitar. These guys had 2 singers, the one with the guitar and “I Like Bears” (slogan on the t-shirt he was wearing). Again, I think there were sound problems because the guy with the guitar didn’t sound quite right at all.

By this point, all 3 of us were pretty hungry so we went in search of some food. Following that, we went on a quest to try and get into another venue to hear some more musical goodness. Easier said than done.

After wandering all over the place, we discovered that most places were packed to the gunnels. We did make one last ditch attempt to get into the Ash Bar again where we saw Kashmir Red playing (I think it was them). However, the lead singer appeared a little drunk when he was giving some banter between songs. We decided that the place was too packed and called it a night.

Long day but good live music. There was such a fantastic atmosphere in the town that day as well, a real festival feel to it. Great boost to the local economy as well. Think the weather most definitely helped- huge turn out. Can’t wait for the next festival. For details, go here.

Mood : blah   Music : Hurt  by  Johnny Cash

Yep, 2 of my new fish died on Tuesday.  The smallest Comet and Blue Minnow (the minnow with a diamond shape on it’s head).  I have no idea what happened- water conditions were optimal.  Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia and pH levels were fine.  Maybe the fish were just weak?

Bit sad about it though.  Those animals were my care and responsibility

Mood : blah   Music : Help Push The Car  by  Gingersol