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Not even the Coronavirus can stop the madness that is the Eurovision Song Contest! The official console has been cancelled, so instead we've got "Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light" which is a collection of the performances that we would have had if the contest was going ahead as normal.
And, of course, another highly inaccurate liveblog!
We begin with... a wall of Zoom streams telling us it's another year?
Oh, it's going to be rapid-fire songs with 30seconds of each one, followed by a (sometimes very heartwarming) message from the artists. Get ready!
Interlude time!
First up: an acoustic version of "Heroes" from 2015. This was impressive enough when it won, but somehow the unplugged version is better. And the NHS (and everyone else helping to keep the world turning) are very much the heroes of our time.
The next song... something about this really sounds like it's a Christmas carol of all things. And finally a bit of guitar playing that's all Italian to me. Impressive Italian, to be fair.
Interlude time!
Serbia get to re-run their 2007 win, carefully socially distancing in the middle of the road. Followed by another zoom video wall, with most playing but the occasional stream of someone looking awkwardly at the screen waiting for their cue as landmarks dramatically switch the lights on
And we get an extra special interlude (because the BBC doesn't do commercials), with a collection of Eurovision party photos.
Interlude time!
Unlike Serbia, Germany's 1982 entry has been moved inside. To the middle of a staircase because why not?
Interlude time!
What, no lucky cats? Very different to the usual Netta performances.
Netherlands now with last year's success. And they're scrounged up the EU's entire stock of tungsten lightbulbs for the set design.
And now a collection of short messages from past winners and runner-ups. But no trolls?
And that's all 41! There's no voting, which means no winner but more importantly no "nil points" for UK!
Instead our very own Graham Norton is put on the spotlight (on the UK commentary, after the interview he said "God that was awkward!"). Finally we end with yet another classic rerun - this time a rare UK win from 1997.
Until next year!
And, of course, another highly inaccurate liveblog!
We begin with... a wall of Zoom streams telling us it's another year?
Oh, it's going to be rapid-fire songs with 30seconds of each one, followed by a (sometimes very heartwarming) message from the artists. Get ready!
- Israel: Very orange
- Norway: Checking all the power ballad boxes here - sparkles, fire, smoke, the works
- Russia: What is this madness?
- Georgia: Another power ballad - this one with something of a film noir style?
- France: Nice and laid-back compared to the last few
- Azerbaijan: Ah, they've found the wind machine in the desert, guarded by a mysterious cult
- Portugal: Shoulders of power!
- Lithuania: Wave those hands!
- Sweden: Everybody move like this
Interlude time!
First up: an acoustic version of "Heroes" from 2015. This was impressive enough when it won, but somehow the unplugged version is better. And the NHS (and everyone else helping to keep the world turning) are very much the heroes of our time.
The next song... something about this really sounds like it's a Christmas carol of all things. And finally a bit of guitar playing that's all Italian to me. Impressive Italian, to be fair.
- Latvia: The future of silver service: precisely arranged carrots and broccoli
- Belgium: That looks like one very puzzled guitar player
- United Kingdom: Striding through a snowy forest because reasons or something
- Belarus: Oops, we forgot the background video
- Finland: Very red
- North Macedonia: Auditioning for Strictly
- Switzerland: Why have I got a piano? Why!
- Serbia: Bring on the clone army!
Interlude time!
Serbia get to re-run their 2007 win, carefully socially distancing in the middle of the road. Followed by another zoom video wall, with most playing but the occasional stream of someone looking awkwardly at the screen waiting for their cue as landmarks dramatically switch the lights on
And we get an extra special interlude (because the BBC doesn't do commercials), with a collection of Eurovision party photos.
- Spain: We found the BBC quarry!
- Albania: Very white
- Ireland: It's the story of my life! No, really, here's some old camcorder videos!
- Solvenia: See, King Canute would have succeeded if he had a backing track
- Austria: Are you sure we booked the right location?
- Bulgaria: Thunderstorm? What thunderstorm?
- San Marino: Bring back the nineties! With lasers!
- Iceland: Erm... just dance or something?
Interlude time!
Unlike Serbia, Germany's 1982 entry has been moved inside. To the middle of a staircase because why not?
- Greece: I must only use my superpowers for important things, like saving cats from trees
- Czech Republic: What happens if I touch the beam?
- Poland: ALL THE FIRE
- Moldova: Oops, I seem to have double-booked a photoshoot
- Cyprus: Keep on running
- Romania: Very blue
- Croatia: Are there words, or just random syllables?
- Germany: Don't get too close to the portal
Interlude time!
What, no lucky cats? Very different to the usual Netta performances.
Netherlands now with last year's success. And they're scrounged up the EU's entire stock of tungsten lightbulbs for the set design.
And now a collection of short messages from past winners and runner-ups. But no trolls?
- Malta: We can't decide if we want a water or a fire theme... so both, then?
- Estonia: We couldn't get any lightbulbs so will have to make do with candles
- Australia: The hands are coming to get you!
- Ukraine: Somehow, this seems like the most Eurovision-like entry this evening
- Denmark: Say YES!
- Italy: Did we remember to send the tickets out?
- Armenia: Unusual style for Eurovision. Confident though.
- Netherlands: Awww
And that's all 41! There's no voting, which means no winner but more importantly no "nil points" for UK!
Instead our very own Graham Norton is put on the spotlight (on the UK commentary, after the interview he said "God that was awkward!"). Finally we end with yet another classic rerun - this time a rare UK win from 1997.
Until next year!
Name that Song, round 11!
Apr. 25th, 2020 10:06 pmWell, people have been pestering me for a blog post - so here, have another round of Name that Song!
The rules are simple:
Step 1: Put your music player on random
Step 2: Post the first few lines from the first bunch of songs with lyrics that play, no matter how embarrassing the song
Step 3: Let everyone guess what song and artist/composer/work the lines come from
Step 4: Post the answers in a few days
Step 5: And last but not least, no cheating with Google!
It's Eurovision Song Contest time again, which means another highly inaccurate liveblog!
So if you win the Eurovision Song Contest, you get to land a jumbo jet at the studio using drones for runway lights? Someone's been watching past British entries for inspiration (a few years ago our entry was a very over-the-top cheesy aircraft safety briefing - not our finest moment)...
This year's theme appears to be triangles and dancing - triangular shapes everywhere, and dancing is actually required for the video postcards. Anyway, on with the songs!
And that's the lot! So to sum up, my favourites are Albania, North Macedonia, Norway and Serbia, Russia are trying too hard, Malta actually know how hard to try, and Cyprus and Iceland are trying their luck with NSFW entries.
Interval act 1: past contestants perform each other songs, continuing with the borderline-NSFW outfit theme. I think this is one of the strangest interval acts I've seen...
Interval act 2: bit of an odd collection of genres and instruments. Seemed a bit short and underwhelming though.
Interval act 2.5: okay, that's a nifty trick.
Interval act 3: other benefits of winning Eurovision: getting to go to the ball and rap about bananas.
Interval act 4: gothic steampunk pirate Madonna? Accompanied by monks wearing gas masks with flowers of all things. I take it back - this is more weird than the first interval act was. Oddly, the dancers in black remind me of the witch's assistants from the Howl's Moving Castle film...
Anyway, the lines are now closed and it's time for the results! I do find it wonderfully quaint, all the live links and the "This is $capital calling" greetings as each country announces their jury votes. Even today, getting all the satellite linkups together must be quite the achievement. Surprisingly Malta have not given the UK any points (for many years they gave UK the full score in protest at the traditional bloc voting). The Netherlands' presenter is over the moon to have been chosen to take part. Yay, Norway have given us 2 points so we are not on "nul point"! Romania have chosen to yodel their points? Someone has let the Russian presenter loose on a piano. Greece have decided to up things by deploying an electric guitar.
So with all the jury votes in, it's surprisingly close with no runaway winner. Sweden is leading, with North Macedonia, The Netherlands, and Italy not far behind. And unsurprisingly the UK is almost (but not quite) bringing up the rear - our entry this year wasn't bad, just nothing special.
On to the phone votes! There's an awful lot of points up for grabs, so theoretically anyone could still win it. I think they've changed the order though - last year I think they went from lowest score from the phone votes, this year they're going by the order the jury ranked them. And the UK is quite definitely last with 3 points from the phone vote, giving us 16 total. At least we didn't get the fewest public - Germany are ahead of us, but got nul point from the public! Now Norway have just been catapulted into first with 200 points - they're unlikely to win, but that just goes to show how different the juries and the public think. The public also like Iceland a lot, but only enough to put them into 4th (for now). And Russia's performance was popular too.
With 5 to go, I don't think it's possible to call it with the new announcement order. With 3 to go there's still 4 possible winners - Italy, Sweden, North Macedonia or The Netherlands (oddly the same top 4 after the jury votes).
With 1 to go... aww, North Macedonia didn't get anywhere near enough from the public. So it's The Netherlands or Sweden. I think it's The Netherlands - the points seemed more equally distributed this year and Sweden need over 250.
The winner is... The Netherlands! And with that, g'night!
So if you win the Eurovision Song Contest, you get to land a jumbo jet at the studio using drones for runway lights? Someone's been watching past British entries for inspiration (a few years ago our entry was a very over-the-top cheesy aircraft safety briefing - not our finest moment)...
This year's theme appears to be triangles and dancing - triangular shapes everywhere, and dancing is actually required for the video postcards. Anyway, on with the songs!
- Malta: Okay, that's quite neat. Incredibly gimmicky, but neat nonetheless and one of the better uses of video projection I've seen.
- Albania: Impressive.
- Czech Republic: Cue the slightly mad drummer to provide backing for a life story. Reminds me a bit of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song...
- Germany: Aww... though at times the vocals seem somehow off.
- Russia: And their singer has got lost in a hall of mirrors before being trapped in a shower. This might be best described as "trying too hard with special effects".
- Denmark: Aww
- San Marino: Word soup lyrics? Oddly enough, there was a recent article on training AI to come up with Eurovision lyrics, and the result was similar word soup...
- North Macedonia: Wow.
- Sweden: Meh.
- Slovenia: Lost in their own little world
- Cyprus: Um. I wonder if this was carefully timed to be post-watershed what with the clingfilm-and-gaffer-tape outfit?
- Netherlands: Decent entry.
- Greece: Sword ballet?
- Israel: Oddly enough, this makes me think of an Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical...
- Norway: I rather like this one.
- United Kingdom: We wish to make it very clear that the universe is big.
And we now have an interlude with interviews around an ironing board? Okay... - Iceland: They are aware that this is Eurovision and not a death metal nightclub, right? And is that singing, or just white noise?
- Estonia: Apparently it's stormy out or something?
- Belarus: You do know you're supposed to take the smoke machines out of the flight cases first?
- Azerbaijan: So this is how the robot uprising begins...
- France: Sometimes, one just has to make a point with a sledgehammer.
- Italy: I think this is also trying to make a point?
- Serbia: Okay, that's good.
- Switzerland: Meh.
- Australia: Ringwraiths vs Elsa boss battle? No, wait, they're just doing scarecrow impressions.
- Spain: Quick, escape from the dolls house!
And that's the lot! So to sum up, my favourites are Albania, North Macedonia, Norway and Serbia, Russia are trying too hard, Malta actually know how hard to try, and Cyprus and Iceland are trying their luck with NSFW entries.
Interval act 1: past contestants perform each other songs, continuing with the borderline-NSFW outfit theme. I think this is one of the strangest interval acts I've seen...
Interval act 2: bit of an odd collection of genres and instruments. Seemed a bit short and underwhelming though.
Interval act 2.5: okay, that's a nifty trick.
Interval act 3: other benefits of winning Eurovision: getting to go to the ball and rap about bananas.
Interval act 4: gothic steampunk pirate Madonna? Accompanied by monks wearing gas masks with flowers of all things. I take it back - this is more weird than the first interval act was. Oddly, the dancers in black remind me of the witch's assistants from the Howl's Moving Castle film...
Anyway, the lines are now closed and it's time for the results! I do find it wonderfully quaint, all the live links and the "This is $capital calling" greetings as each country announces their jury votes. Even today, getting all the satellite linkups together must be quite the achievement. Surprisingly Malta have not given the UK any points (for many years they gave UK the full score in protest at the traditional bloc voting). The Netherlands' presenter is over the moon to have been chosen to take part. Yay, Norway have given us 2 points so we are not on "nul point"! Romania have chosen to yodel their points? Someone has let the Russian presenter loose on a piano. Greece have decided to up things by deploying an electric guitar.
So with all the jury votes in, it's surprisingly close with no runaway winner. Sweden is leading, with North Macedonia, The Netherlands, and Italy not far behind. And unsurprisingly the UK is almost (but not quite) bringing up the rear - our entry this year wasn't bad, just nothing special.
On to the phone votes! There's an awful lot of points up for grabs, so theoretically anyone could still win it. I think they've changed the order though - last year I think they went from lowest score from the phone votes, this year they're going by the order the jury ranked them. And the UK is quite definitely last with 3 points from the phone vote, giving us 16 total. At least we didn't get the fewest public - Germany are ahead of us, but got nul point from the public! Now Norway have just been catapulted into first with 200 points - they're unlikely to win, but that just goes to show how different the juries and the public think. The public also like Iceland a lot, but only enough to put them into 4th (for now). And Russia's performance was popular too.
With 5 to go, I don't think it's possible to call it with the new announcement order. With 3 to go there's still 4 possible winners - Italy, Sweden, North Macedonia or The Netherlands (oddly the same top 4 after the jury votes).
With 1 to go... aww, North Macedonia didn't get anywhere near enough from the public. So it's The Netherlands or Sweden. I think it's The Netherlands - the points seemed more equally distributed this year and Sweden need over 250.
The winner is... The Netherlands! And with that, g'night!
Name that Song, round 10: the answers!
Nov. 28th, 2018 11:37 pmFiller, I know, but hey at least I'm posting the answers in a reasonable amount of time!
Anyway, it's time for the answers to round 10 of Name That Song! There were no comments on LiveJournal (which I was half-expecting), but I cross-posted the same quiz to Facebook and got some surprising results there. Turns out a few songs I thought were originals are actually covers!
( The answers! )Let's see... there were a lot of mainstream songs in there, but my music player also threw up a few more random entries. Songs for Phillip is incredibly obscure (I'm not sure if it was ever sold outside of Horsham), and I wouldn't have thought many people will know the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack. And of course there's an Irish entry from Clannad in there to mix things up.
The high score over on Facebook was 10 tracks right (artist or album or title) - did anyone here do better?
Name that Song, round 10!
Nov. 13th, 2018 10:43 pmSomehow it's been a few years since I last did the classic Name That Song meme...
The rules are simple:
Step 1: Put your music player on random.
Step 2: Post the first few lines from the first bunch of songs with lyrics that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Let everyone guess what song and artist/composer/work the lines come from.
Step 4: Post the answers in a few days
Step 5: And most importantly, no cheating by using Google :P
Pasta night!
Jul. 16th, 2018 11:30 pmToday's ten-minute takeover went old-school again, in particular with Evanescence's Bring Me To Life which ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elemnar and I spent the next few minutes trying to guess when that first came out. elemnar came up with Year 9/start of GCSEs, which would be around 2002 - wiki says early 2003, so that's not far off. Certainly I remember hearing it a lot on the radio on the bus to/from school.
It's not the first time we've played that game and been fairly close with our guesses. A few weeks back, on the journey back we were listening to Radio 2, which started playing Keane's Everybody's Changing of all things. I came up with mid-late 2004 via a chain of random memories... I vaguely recall it being out around the same time as KT Tunstall's Eye to the Telescope album. That I remember seeing an advert for at Three Bridges train station once. The advert I remembered because myself,elemnar, and a few friends (including hunter22?) decided to go to Brighton one day by train, and one of us spotted the poster and commented how it was someone's favourite album. And that journey I think was in the holidays between school and university, which would make it summer 2004. Talk about convoluted! Anyway, the answer is... December 2004 for the KT Tunstall album. That's later than I thought - perhaps the journey was over the Christmas break (it must have been during a holiday otherwise I would have been on campus and so wouldn't be at Three Bridges for a day trip)? But the real question is Keane, and that album (Hopes and Fears) came out May 2004, so I wasn't that far off after all! elemnar had guessed GCSEs/6th form which again would be 2004.
Actually, you know what - having looked through friends' old LJ posts (couldn't find anything in my own blog - but that made me wonder if anyone else had posted something) I'm fairly sure the Brighton trip was 22nd December 2004.
It's funny the random memories that get strung together sometimes.
Anyway, pasta night. We had a full house today so ended up with two games: a large game of Machi Koro (whichelemnar played) and a smaller game of Terraforming Mars (that I played). Last time I played Terraforming Mars I managed to eke out a win thanks to amongst other things managing to not only slam a giant ice asteroid into the planet, but gain corporate sponsorship for it. This time I drew both those cards again but at different times so I didn't manage the same hilarious combo. I did however get several "slam an asteroid into the planet" cards during the game, each one bigger than the one before... but ultimately it didn't work out, and I lost by quite a few points. I think I need to concentrate more on basic terraforming and the resulting immediate victory points (which also turn into increased money), instead of trying to set up a combo involving half-a-dozen cards that all ideally need to be played in order for best effect. The final game board had very few of my markers on it as a result.
elemnar and I spent the next few minutes trying to guess when that first came out. elemnar came up with Year 9/start of GCSEs, which would be around 2002 - wiki says early 2003, so that's not far off. Certainly I remember hearing it a lot on the radio on the bus to/from school.It's not the first time we've played that game and been fairly close with our guesses. A few weeks back, on the journey back we were listening to Radio 2, which started playing Keane's Everybody's Changing of all things. I came up with mid-late 2004 via a chain of random memories... I vaguely recall it being out around the same time as KT Tunstall's Eye to the Telescope album. That I remember seeing an advert for at Three Bridges train station once. The advert I remembered because myself,
elemnar, and a few friends (including hunter22?) decided to go to Brighton one day by train, and one of us spotted the poster and commented how it was someone's favourite album. And that journey I think was in the holidays between school and university, which would make it summer 2004. Talk about convoluted! Anyway, the answer is... December 2004 for the KT Tunstall album. That's later than I thought - perhaps the journey was over the Christmas break (it must have been during a holiday otherwise I would have been on campus and so wouldn't be at Three Bridges for a day trip)? But the real question is Keane, and that album (Hopes and Fears) came out May 2004, so I wasn't that far off after all! elemnar had guessed GCSEs/6th form which again would be 2004.Actually, you know what - having looked through friends' old LJ posts (couldn't find anything in my own blog - but that made me wonder if anyone else had posted something) I'm fairly sure the Brighton trip was 22nd December 2004.
It's funny the random memories that get strung together sometimes.
Anyway, pasta night. We had a full house today so ended up with two games: a large game of Machi Koro (which
elemnar played) and a smaller game of Terraforming Mars (that I played). Last time I played Terraforming Mars I managed to eke out a win thanks to amongst other things managing to not only slam a giant ice asteroid into the planet, but gain corporate sponsorship for it. This time I drew both those cards again but at different times so I didn't manage the same hilarious combo. I did however get several "slam an asteroid into the planet" cards during the game, each one bigger than the one before... but ultimately it didn't work out, and I lost by quite a few points. I think I need to concentrate more on basic terraforming and the resulting immediate victory points (which also turn into increased money), instead of trying to set up a combo involving half-a-dozen cards that all ideally need to be played in order for best effect. The final game board had very few of my markers on it as a result.
Yes, it's time for another instalment of me liveblogging my highly inaccurate guide to the Eurovision Song Contest Final! This time round there's only £1 riding on it ($work has expanded over the year and so we only get one country each) - I picked France out of the hat, so while I'm not going to win I doubt I'll lose and so should at least avoid the forfeit of having my office ringtone set to a past Eurovision winner.
Anyway, it's time for the show, the pseudo-liveblog, and as always the snark!
I'm not sure what I was expecting as the intro but an acoustic performance wasn't it - though it was very good. I definitely didn't expect the followup pair of DJs with a turntable - or the olympics-esque flag parade!
For a change, they don't have a video wall this year. Instead there's a pattern of arches and pillars with some sort of projection or LED setup - it'll be interesting to see if anyone makes proper use of them.
This year's theme appears to be vampires, zombies and werewolves - even the presenters have picked up on it! As a friend on FB put it "I have seen nothing yet to dissuade me that Eurovision is the one night a year Europe’s vampire get to come out and play."
So to sum up my favourites are Estonia, the United Kingdom, and Denmark. In other news Ukraine is apparently populated by vampires, Israel managed to fend off the Czech Republic for the "what is this madness" trophy, and Moldova win the inaugural comedy award.
Interval act 1: I have no idea what's going on here, other than it does all seem very laid back.
Interval act 2: A short documentary on Portugal's Eurovision history. Viva la Eurovision revolution!
Interval act 3: I don't think I've ever seen someone use a piano as a drum before.
On to the voting, with the traditional "This is $city calling" greetings from around the world as each country phones in with the votes from their official juries. Which are totally awarded on merit and have nothing to do with European politics at all... anyway, Latvia has given the UK some points! This will not be a nul point year! Watching the jury results come in, it does seem like they can't make their minds up. With all the jury votes in it's a tie between Austria and Sweden for the lead, with Israel, Germany, and Cyprus in the running for 3rd place... and France is somewhere in the top half. I don't think I'll be getting my £1 wager back :P
Time for the phone votes! My recollection is there's quite possibly 300-odd points up for grabs for the winner, so it could all change. ...And it just has, with Sweden, placed #2 by the jury, coming in the bottom few from the televote. That just goes to show how little the juries actually know :) Now Austria's been placed somewhere in the middle by the televote, so neither of the jury favourites are going to win.
With the top 8 to go, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Israel as the ultimate winners just because of how bonkers it is.
Interestingly Denmark's still in the running, and the juries panned it... but the televote's just ranked them 5th.
With the top 3 to go, I doubt Italy can manage it so it's a fight between Israel and Cyprus.
And the final result... Israel! Madness for the win!
Anyway, it's time for the show, the pseudo-liveblog, and as always the snark!
I'm not sure what I was expecting as the intro but an acoustic performance wasn't it - though it was very good. I definitely didn't expect the followup pair of DJs with a turntable - or the olympics-esque flag parade!
For a change, they don't have a video wall this year. Instead there's a pattern of arches and pillars with some sort of projection or LED setup - it'll be interesting to see if anyone makes proper use of them.
- Ukraine: ...So we have a vampire with a coffin that turns into a piano that's on fire. What.
- Spain: And we go from Ukraine's madness to an incredibly sweet piece performed by a couple on a an empty stage. Proof that you don't need a special effects budget to achieve a great performance.
- Slovenia: Audience participation time! Which is totally spontaneous and not planned at all :P
- Lithuania: Surely it's cheating to mix images into the video feed? That aside, another simple but good song.
- Austria: Meh. Good, but not my cup of tea.
- Estonia: Wow. Someone who can really sing, combined with a shiny new special effect - projecting video onto a giant dress. Colour me impressed.
- Norway: It's Mr. Bean with an invisible violin/drum kit/guitar/keyboard - oh wait, he has an actual violin. Not convinced he's actually playing it.
- Portugal: I rather like this one.
- United Kingdom: WTF happened there - it looked like a protester grabbed her mic and started yelling something incomprehensible (the Twittersphere thinks it was an anti-UK-media rant?). Full marks to SuRie for keeping going through that! Stage-crashers aside I did quite like that song.
- Serbia: The intro to this one reminds me a little of the opening theme from Ghost in the Shell. Not sure about the rest of it - I don't think the techno-like beats work with it.
- Germany: So the solution to not having a video wall is to bring your own. Again, surely that's cheating.
- Albania: Meh.
- France: Awww.
- Czech Republic: What is this madness?
- Denmark: The vikings have discovered Eurovision and wish to point out how badass they are through the power of wind and snow machines.
- Australia: Meh.
- Finland: What.
- Bulgaria: You fail at statue impressions :P
- Moldova: What is this, a comedy show? I don't know what that was but it was very silly.
- Sweden: Meh.
- Hungary: Rock on, dudes, rock on! Complete with crowd surfing and the obligatory Eurovision Final Chorus Key Change.
- Israel: ...And now we have beatboxing with lots of pink clothing. And a couple of bookcases full of lucky cats because why not?
- Netherlands: Apparently their drummer can only be trusted with one drum... and an invisible cymbal :P
- Ireland: Awww.
- Cyprus: Meh.
- Italy: Meh
This year's theme appears to be vampires, zombies and werewolves - even the presenters have picked up on it! As a friend on FB put it "I have seen nothing yet to dissuade me that Eurovision is the one night a year Europe’s vampire get to come out and play."
So to sum up my favourites are Estonia, the United Kingdom, and Denmark. In other news Ukraine is apparently populated by vampires, Israel managed to fend off the Czech Republic for the "what is this madness" trophy, and Moldova win the inaugural comedy award.
Interval act 1: I have no idea what's going on here, other than it does all seem very laid back.
Interval act 2: A short documentary on Portugal's Eurovision history. Viva la Eurovision revolution!
Interval act 3: I don't think I've ever seen someone use a piano as a drum before.
On to the voting, with the traditional "This is $city calling" greetings from around the world as each country phones in with the votes from their official juries. Which are totally awarded on merit and have nothing to do with European politics at all... anyway, Latvia has given the UK some points! This will not be a nul point year! Watching the jury results come in, it does seem like they can't make their minds up. With all the jury votes in it's a tie between Austria and Sweden for the lead, with Israel, Germany, and Cyprus in the running for 3rd place... and France is somewhere in the top half. I don't think I'll be getting my £1 wager back :P
Time for the phone votes! My recollection is there's quite possibly 300-odd points up for grabs for the winner, so it could all change. ...And it just has, with Sweden, placed #2 by the jury, coming in the bottom few from the televote. That just goes to show how little the juries actually know :) Now Austria's been placed somewhere in the middle by the televote, so neither of the jury favourites are going to win.
With the top 8 to go, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Israel as the ultimate winners just because of how bonkers it is.
Interestingly Denmark's still in the running, and the juries panned it... but the televote's just ranked them 5th.
With the top 3 to go, I doubt Italy can manage it so it's a fight between Israel and Cyprus.
And the final result... Israel! Madness for the win!
Atmospheric driving
Dec. 7th, 2017 11:51 pmI've taken to listening to the radio on journeys to and from pasta night - heading there I usually get to listen to Radio 1's Ten Minute Takeover somewhere around Chichester, and until recently my soundtrack for the return journey was the Huw Stephens show. Normally that's a mix of pop and rock, but a while back Huw Stephens picked something a bit more atmospheric...
Forest Swords - Congregate (official visual)
Now traffic is normally very light on the trip back from Jonners' given the late hour of the evening, but on that night the roads were unusually clear. It was rather eerie listening to that as I passed Portsmouth at 11pm, wondering where all the other cars were.
Advent Tea update:
Detox (tastes... interesting, couldn't work out what was in it)
Lemon Drizzle green tea (rather sweet, I think I prefer the non-Drizzle variant)
Forest Swords - Congregate (official visual)
Now traffic is normally very light on the trip back from Jonners' given the late hour of the evening, but on that night the roads were unusually clear. It was rather eerie listening to that as I passed Portsmouth at 11pm, wondering where all the other cars were.
Advent Tea update:
Detox (tastes... interesting, couldn't work out what was in it)
Lemon Drizzle green tea (rather sweet, I think I prefer the non-Drizzle variant)
Windmill, windmill, for the land...
Jul. 18th, 2017 12:40 amThe voteamabob once gain threw up the traditional pasta night games of Ticket to Ride and Dominion, so jonners99_uk did a bit more number-crunching and instead selected Scotland Yard and Galaxy Trucker as being the two games with the most first-choice votes. Perhaps the voteamabob app should take rankings into account when we eventually get round to writing it? Anyway, Sarah, Vicky and Martin played Scotland Yard with Matt leading them on a merry dance around London (and managing to get to the end without being caught!), while myself, Paddy, jonners99_uk and Beth played Galaxy Trucker.
We started off with a practice session to try and get to grips with the rules, then reset the scores and tried again for real. In the first round I think we all were on fairly even scores, but then it all went horribly wrong for the second round - the very first card Paddy drew was Epidemic which wiped out most of my crew (including my purple alien which I'd picked up to try and bolster my firepower). Then a few cards later we turned over a Slavers card, and without the alien I couldn't present enough firepower. So the slavers took the rest of my crew, and I was then out of the game with a crewless ship on all of 8 credits (having not managed to collect any cargo, and also having lost a chunk of my ship due to a pirate attack). The others made it through to the end with scores of 30-something credits, and we called it a night rather than add insult to injury with the third round.
On the way to pasta night I was listening to Radio 1's 10-minute takeover. The first track picked was Gorillaz's Feel Good Inc., and for a brief moment instead of being stuck in a queue on the Chichester bypass I was transported back to my degree at Sussex University all those years ago. In particular it reminded me of that common area tucked away at the top of the EDB building (now called Silverstone) - it had WiFi, power points, and was a good place to settle down with the laptop and bash away at a bit of coursework (when I wasn't playing Worms Blast or completing random LiveJournal memes). There used to be one of the many little cafés tucked away as well, and a computing cluster that was always deserted and so handy if I needed to be on the main uni network. Sussex was full of odd little common areas and cubby-holes - I found a good number of them (Mantell common room, Pevensey I, Pevensey II (I spent so much time there along withtalismancer and ptristan that the porters joked about placing a "reserved" sign on one of the tables), Essex house, loads throughout Arts A/B and the Library, and of course the Pevensey Bridge) and I'm sure there's just as many elsewhere in the campus still waiting to be discovered (I never did find the ENG 1-3 tunnels that pewterfish once described).
It's odd how an apparently random snippet of music can remind me quite strongly of a given place and time.
I know I keep saying this and yet do nothing about it, but I do miss Sussex University and I do want to go back there and study again one day. Returning for a Masters or even a PhD is actually possible, and is not a completely bonkers idea. The trouble is I'm torn as to what to do as while Brighton is an amazing place to live and study in, I actually quite like Fareham and don't want to move away (and that's without contemplating moving to Cornwall...). Wait, that's not quite right - it's more I don't want to move away from the friends I've made in Fareham, and in particular church and housegroup. Two years ago I'd have happily moved, but over the past year-and-a-half I've finally set down roots here.
Perhaps I could commute to Sussex? Again, not totally bonkers although it would involve either a daily drive along the A27 past the bottlenecks of Chichester, Arundel, and Worthing, or instead the joys of SouthernFailRail and an east/west change across Brighton station (which is just slow because the timetables don't line up). Actually, no, that's not an option thanks to the RMT's contempt for passengers - the train journey I could deal with (have 3DS, will game), the unreliability makes it completely impractical. Perhaps I could move a bit of the way along the coast and be within a reasonable travelling distance of both Fareham and Brighton?
Or I could even not go to Sussex and instead continue my studies at another university. Southampton and Portsmouth both have major universities, and those aren't the only ones within a reasonable distance of here. Except Sussex is a campus university, sitting in the South Downs and surrounded by the countryside, while Southampton and Portsmouth are city universities and that's just not quite the same.
In any case July's a bit late to be suddenly applying for a 2017 course. But for 2018... hmm...
jonners99_uk did a bit more number-crunching and instead selected Scotland Yard and Galaxy Trucker as being the two games with the most first-choice votes. Perhaps the voteamabob app should take rankings into account when we eventually get round to writing it? Anyway, Sarah, Vicky and Martin played Scotland Yard with Matt leading them on a merry dance around London (and managing to get to the end without being caught!), while myself, Paddy, jonners99_uk and Beth played Galaxy Trucker.We started off with a practice session to try and get to grips with the rules, then reset the scores and tried again for real. In the first round I think we all were on fairly even scores, but then it all went horribly wrong for the second round - the very first card Paddy drew was Epidemic which wiped out most of my crew (including my purple alien which I'd picked up to try and bolster my firepower). Then a few cards later we turned over a Slavers card, and without the alien I couldn't present enough firepower. So the slavers took the rest of my crew, and I was then out of the game with a crewless ship on all of 8 credits (having not managed to collect any cargo, and also having lost a chunk of my ship due to a pirate attack). The others made it through to the end with scores of 30-something credits, and we called it a night rather than add insult to injury with the third round.
On the way to pasta night I was listening to Radio 1's 10-minute takeover. The first track picked was Gorillaz's Feel Good Inc., and for a brief moment instead of being stuck in a queue on the Chichester bypass I was transported back to my degree at Sussex University all those years ago. In particular it reminded me of that common area tucked away at the top of the EDB building (now called Silverstone) - it had WiFi, power points, and was a good place to settle down with the laptop and bash away at a bit of coursework (when I wasn't playing Worms Blast or completing random LiveJournal memes). There used to be one of the many little cafés tucked away as well, and a computing cluster that was always deserted and so handy if I needed to be on the main uni network. Sussex was full of odd little common areas and cubby-holes - I found a good number of them (Mantell common room, Pevensey I, Pevensey II (I spent so much time there along with
talismancer and ptristan that the porters joked about placing a "reserved" sign on one of the tables), Essex house, loads throughout Arts A/B and the Library, and of course the Pevensey Bridge) and I'm sure there's just as many elsewhere in the campus still waiting to be discovered (I never did find the ENG 1-3 tunnels that pewterfish once described).It's odd how an apparently random snippet of music can remind me quite strongly of a given place and time.
I know I keep saying this and yet do nothing about it, but I do miss Sussex University and I do want to go back there and study again one day. Returning for a Masters or even a PhD is actually possible, and is not a completely bonkers idea. The trouble is I'm torn as to what to do as while Brighton is an amazing place to live and study in, I actually quite like Fareham and don't want to move away (and that's without contemplating moving to Cornwall...). Wait, that's not quite right - it's more I don't want to move away from the friends I've made in Fareham, and in particular church and housegroup. Two years ago I'd have happily moved, but over the past year-and-a-half I've finally set down roots here.
Perhaps I could commute to Sussex? Again, not totally bonkers although it would involve either a daily drive along the A27 past the bottlenecks of Chichester, Arundel, and Worthing, or instead the joys of Southern
Or I could even not go to Sussex and instead continue my studies at another university. Southampton and Portsmouth both have major universities, and those aren't the only ones within a reasonable distance of here. Except Sussex is a campus university, sitting in the South Downs and surrounded by the countryside, while Southampton and Portsmouth are city universities and that's just not quite the same.
In any case July's a bit late to be suddenly applying for a 2017 course. But for 2018... hmm...
Anyway, enough disappointment about how these days LiveJournal's more interested in third-party advertisers than their userbase (that said, they do at least offer the option of paying to remove ads - that's more than Facebook does!).
Instead, it's time forboggyb's highly inaccurate guide to the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Final! Yes, it's that time of year again wherein us Brits get to collectively snark at the artistic endeavours of Europe. This year $work's decided to run an office sweepstake and so I have a whole £2 running on it - so let's hope Romania or Norway does well.
So, on with the show, the pseudo-liveblog, and most importantly the snark!
This years theme: glitter and sparkles, judging by the flag intro and the presenter's outfits.
Overall I enjoyed Armenia and Norway, Portugal's entry is pure understated awesome (it's rather like an inverse Lordi), and Belarus wins the WTF award. I struggled a bit to pick favourites this year - Denmark, Poland and United Kingdom I almost really liked, but they're let down by harsh vocals which is a shame. Portugal aside, this year's collection seemed somewhat underwhelming and few songs really grabbed me - or perhaps it was that last year had some particularly good and epic entries in it.
And as for my £2, well I'm not holding out much hope but you never know (after all the bonkers entries have been known to win - like the Russian grannies from a few years back...).
First interval act: pretty decent.
Second interval act: interesting mix of modern synths and traditional instruments. And whatever bizarre (possibly made-up) drum-with-a-tail thing they've got in the middle. Overall I rather like it.
Third interval act: um... well someone apparently wanted their 5 seconds of TV fame. Full marks to the singer for carrying on regardless, but nil points to whoever was on the TV mixing desk and failed to switch away. Interruption aside, a reasonable song though I preferred her Eurovision entry last year.
( Time for the voting! )
Instead, it's time for
boggyb's highly inaccurate guide to the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Final! Yes, it's that time of year again wherein us Brits get to collectively snark at the artistic endeavours of Europe. This year $work's decided to run an office sweepstake and so I have a whole £2 running on it - so let's hope Romania or Norway does well.So, on with the show, the pseudo-liveblog, and most importantly the snark!
This years theme: glitter and sparkles, judging by the flag intro and the presenter's outfits.
- Israel: Good opening act. Mini-rant: is it just me, or is there practically no bass in the sound mix? I recall the past couple of years having similar sound mixes.
- Poland: Almost a good one. I think it would work better with more singing and less shouting. Did like the Freedom birds though.
- Belarus: What.
- Austria: Pretty background video, meh song.
- Armenia: Interesting. The choreography has a certain style to it that is so often lacking.
- The Netherlands: Female barbershop triplet with surprise electric guitar!
- Moldova: Microphone flower bouquets? Okay...
- Hungary: I see they've gone the traditional dress route - at least, I'm assuming this is traditional dress and not merely excessive gold braid.
- Italy: Surprise dancing gorilla with a bow-tie! Otherwise, meh song, decent (if incomprehensible) video.
- Denmark: I rather like this one.
- Portugal: Wow. Just wow.
- Azerbaijan: Not quite sure what to make of this. Seems like a macabre goth song... except somehow not.
- Croatia: Meh.
- Australia: Meh.
- Greece: Um...
- Spain: A nice upbeat song.
- Norway: Daft Punk lite!
- United Kingdom: Almost an excellent entry - I don't like the way the vocals become a bit harsh when she tries to put too much power into them.
- Cyprus: Full marks for use of the floor video display.
- Romania: Bonkers combination, but it seems to work. Slightly disappointed that the cannons didn't do anything.
- Germany: Meh.
- Ukraine: It's Andross!
- Belgium: Hmm. This one has potential.
- Sweden: Ok Go! Except nowhere near as convoluted.
- Bulgaria: Surprisingly good.
- France: Stunning background video, meh song.
Overall I enjoyed Armenia and Norway, Portugal's entry is pure understated awesome (it's rather like an inverse Lordi), and Belarus wins the WTF award. I struggled a bit to pick favourites this year - Denmark, Poland and United Kingdom I almost really liked, but they're let down by harsh vocals which is a shame. Portugal aside, this year's collection seemed somewhat underwhelming and few songs really grabbed me - or perhaps it was that last year had some particularly good and epic entries in it.
And as for my £2, well I'm not holding out much hope but you never know (after all the bonkers entries have been known to win - like the Russian grannies from a few years back...).
First interval act: pretty decent.
Second interval act: interesting mix of modern synths and traditional instruments. And whatever bizarre (possibly made-up) drum-with-a-tail thing they've got in the middle. Overall I rather like it.
Third interval act: um... well someone apparently wanted their 5 seconds of TV fame. Full marks to the singer for carrying on regardless, but nil points to whoever was on the TV mixing desk and failed to switch away. Interruption aside, a reasonable song though I preferred her Eurovision entry last year.
( Time for the voting! )
This year appears to be WTF Eurovision. As in, WTF is that dress, WTF is that hair, WTF argh my eyes, WTF how is that even possible, WTF will the new voting system result in, WTF are the judges on (really, UK judges, you voted like that)? So here's my highly inaccurate WTF does boggyb think of it all guide...
- Belgium: meh
- Czech Republic: I'm not sure why, but I really like this one. It all fits - the lyrics, the images, the theme. This is quite possibly my favourite of the evening.
- Netherlands: meh
- Azerbaijan: meh
- Hungary: So their trick is a mad monk with a giant drum.
- Italy: Pretty, though I had no idea what was going on - there's no English subtitles of the lyrics this year.
- Israel WTF is that hair?
- Bulgaria: And this song's trick is light-up jewellery/clothing that only turns on near the end as just static white. Meh.
- Sweden: meh
- Germany: Alice (of Alice in Wonderland) is in some sort of gothic wood? I have no idea what's going on.
- France: Nice use of the video floor/wall. There's quite a few this year that are actually using this as part of the performance with more than a simple backdrop.
- Poland: meh
- Australia: This one started slowly, but grew on me - it's another of my favourites this evening. There's also a video overlay at one point but unlike in Italy where it was some random scribbles, here it's actually linked into the choreography and the singer interacts with it.
- Cyprus: Well it's presented as being some gritty metal song... and actually sounds like a tame bit of rock (Nickelback is more aggressive). I think they were trying for Lordi's success.
- Serbia: Some sort of goth theme?
- Lithuania: Another good use of the video floor/wall and overall I like it.
- Croatia: So the latest WTF dress is a plastic sheet?
- Russia: Oh, that's pretty neat. Heh, it's almost like a game of Rhythm Thief. Wait -- WTF HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? It's unfortunately let down by the truck driver's gear change at the end - the last part feels like they ran out of ideas and tried to fill the time with a more traditional Eurovision entry - but aside from that, it's very well done.
- Spain: meh
- Latvia: Yet another good video.
- Ukraine: Possibly the best use of the video wall/floor today. The singer is also putting an amazing amount of emotion into it.
- Malta: meh
- Georgia: ARGH MY EYES.
- Austria: Very pretty. I think it'll be overshadowed by the other entries
- United Kingdom: Actually a pretty decent entry.
- Armenia: meh
To sum up: Czech Republic and Australia are my favourites, Russia's entry DEFIES THE LAWS OF PHYSICS, and Georgia will MELT YOUR EYES with retina-destroying strobe lighting and eighties video effects. But wait, there's more!
First interval act: meh
Second interval act: AWESOME. What they've done is to create a song with every single musical trope from TV Trope's Eurovision page combined with every single winning act - and not only dare to perform the result, but actually make it work.
Third interval act (just after lines close - and no, this is not Heroes): The song is alright - nothing special - but the staging is impressive. They're performing motion capture of the dancers (that's what the little white dots on their suits are for) in real time and feeding it into the video floor.
...And now we've run out of songs and are into the voting. Which is weird this year - no, I don't mean the new system (which supposedly makes it more suspenseful, and definitely makes it go faster) but where the points are going. The top scores are all over the place! Interestingly when it got to the popular vote the public has a completely different opinion to that of the juries... and the voting itself went right down to the wire with the winner unknown until the very end (the combined popular vote ended out handing increasingly crazily high scores, so what looked like on unassailable lead suddenly became very uncertain).
Letting the world drift by
Mar. 12th, 2014 07:29 pmRecently I picked up a Logitech Squeezebox Touch from my parents, and after fighting with it for a bit I persuaded it to speak to my network. Now, the main aim of such is to play music from a server on the network, and indeed my NAS is capable of running the necessary software. It can even play Ogg Vorbis which is handy as that's what most of my collection is in (chosen many years ago, as to my ear it doesn't sound as metallic and muddy as MP3).
Setting it all up properly is on the todo list, but in the meantime I've found a far better use for it. Connect it up to the NAD, point it at Chill's MP3 stream, and just let the world drift by...
Setting it all up properly is on the todo list, but in the meantime I've found a far better use for it. Connect it up to the NAD, point it at Chill's MP3 stream, and just let the world drift by...
Posted via m.livejournal.com.
Name That Song, round 9
Dec. 8th, 2013 06:23 pmWhile it's tempting to save this lot until next years NaBloPoMo, to do so would be epic levels of cheating beyond what talismancer managed this year. Especially as not only is this a meme, but I actually wrote this post back on the 28th. So rather than let all that work go to waste here it is, the ninth round of Name that Song!
Do I really need to tell you the rules:
Step 1: Put your media player on random.
Step 2: Post the first few lines from the first 30 songs with lyrics that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Let everyone guess what song and artist/composer/work the lines come from.
Step 4: Bold the songs when someone guesses correctly. Wait a few days before posting the answers to give everyone a chance.
Using a search engine is, as is traditional, punished by snark.
I'll try to post the answers this year!
Okay, you've had your extra couple of days (couple of weeks, more like).
The answers for last NaBloPoMo's Name That Song are (finally) revealed over at the original post, and the results are:
omgimsuchadork: 2 points!
ariskari: 4 points!
Congratulations toariskari, you win 1 internets!
The answers for last NaBloPoMo's Name That Song are (finally) revealed over at the original post, and the results are:
omgimsuchadork: 2 points!ariskari: 4 points!Congratulations to
ariskari, you win 1 internets!Real sound
Sep. 15th, 2013 06:44 pmIt is amazing just how much more there is to music when listening to it with real sound kit.
My parents have an old NAD 3020 amplifier that they replaced many years ago as the speaker knob was getting a bit crackly. For quite some time now I've been saying that I'd like to have it, so when I was there this weekend I finally dug it out and took it back to Fareham. One new mains plug later and it's alive and well, and while the speaker knob is rather tempermental it's not that bad (and I can always attack it with switch cleaner and/or replace it).
And the Tron Legacy soundtrack, played straight from the CD, sounds awesome through it. I have to keep resisting the temptation to turn the volume up and up :)
My parents have an old NAD 3020 amplifier that they replaced many years ago as the speaker knob was getting a bit crackly. For quite some time now I've been saying that I'd like to have it, so when I was there this weekend I finally dug it out and took it back to Fareham. One new mains plug later and it's alive and well, and while the speaker knob is rather tempermental it's not that bad (and I can always attack it with switch cleaner and/or replace it).
And the Tron Legacy soundtrack, played straight from the CD, sounds awesome through it. I have to keep resisting the temptation to turn the volume up and up :)
Name That Song, round 8
Nov. 30th, 2012 11:47 pmIt wouldn't be NaBloPoMo without Name that Song!
You have no excuse for not knowing these rules:
Step 1: Put your media player on random.
Step 2: Post the first few lines from the first 30 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Let everyone guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Bold the songs when someone guesses correctly. Wait a few days before posting the answers to give everyone a chance.
Using a search engine is, as is traditional, punished by public mocking.
Lines are now (over a year later!) closed and answers revealed!
Warning... incoming lyrics... warning... incoming lyrics...
- #1 M1 A1 ~ Gorillaz
- Hello, hello, is anyone there?
Hello, hello, is anyone there?
Hello, is anyone there?
Hello, is anyone there? - #2 The Piper O' Dundee ~ Caern Folk
- The piper came to our town,
To our town, to our town
The piper came to our town
And he played so bonnielie - #3 The One I Love ~ The Rasmus
Guessed byariskari - Haven't slept in a week
My bed has become my coffin
Cannot breath, cannot speak
My head's like a bomb, still waiting - #4 Aldebaran ~ Enya
- Codladh fada, codladh domhain
Éirigh, amharc síos
Aldebaran - #5 Tiny Little Fractures ~ Snow Patrol
- Is there a place I can go?
Is there a way to get me there?
If I've forgotten what to say
It's because all words are dust. - #6 One Toy Soldier ~ Enya
- One toy soldier stands alone
With his drum down by his side
One toy soldier on his own
With his drum to keep the time - #7 Everybody's Changing ~ Keane
- You're aching, you're breaking
And I can see the pain in your eyes
Says everybody's changing
And I don't know why - #8 Only Time ~ Enya
- Who can say where the road goes?
Where the day flows?
Only time - #9 Best of You ~ Foo Fighters
- I've got another confession to make
I'm your fool
Everyone's got their chains to break
Holdin' you - #10 I Will Find You ~ Clannad
- No matter where you go
I will find you
If it takes a long, long time - #11 Memories ~ Within Temptation
- In this world you tried
Not leaving me alone behind.
There's no other way.
I prayed to the gods let him stay.
The memories ease the pain inside,
Now I know why. - #12 If I Can't Have You ~ Kubb
- I can't have you, and I don't have money
And if I can't have you, I don't want any.
Cause if I don't have you
Tell me what'll do
We've got no love and I've got nothing. - #13 The Low Hum ~ Moby
- Here I am alone, this empty room
No sun is living here
I hear the muffled conversation
Of the neighbor, through the wall - #14 The Cave ~ Mumford & Sons
- It's empty in the valley of your heart
The sun it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears and all the faults you've left behind - #15 What Ever ~ The Rasmus
- Disaster strikes
I try to write
Describe the things I hold inside
This pride of mine still keeps me distant - #16 Circle of Life ~ The Lion King
Guessed byariskari and omgimsuchadork - From the day we arrived on the planet
and blinking stepped into the sun
theres more to see than can ever be seem
more to do than can ever be done - #17 Be Prepared ~ The Lion King (yes, my music player did give me these two back-to-back. Random number generators can be surprisingly not-random)
Guessed byariskari and omgimsuchadork - I know that your powers of retention
Are as wet as a warthog's backside
But thick as you are, pay attention
My words are a matter of pride - #18 Newgrange ~ Clannad
- There is a place on the east
Mysterious ring, a magical ring of stones
The druids lived here once, they said
Forgotten is the race that no one knows - #19 Race to the City ~ The Cinematics
- Progress is so good
You've got to keep it moving
You have to be rich
Or richer than your father - #20 Escape ~ Muse
- You would say anything
And you would try anything
To escape your meaningless
And your insignificance
You're uncontrollable
And we are unlovable
And I don't want you to think that I care
I never would, I never could again - #21 When I Needed a Saviour ~ Matt Redman
- Looking back on time,
Seeking to remind myself of all Your mercies,
I can testify, on every page of life,
Your grace just keeps unfolding and unfolding. - #22 Wicked Soul ~ Kubb
- I don't wanna watch the street on TV
I don't wanna hear about your day
I've got no time to hear, about how much you care
Shut your mouth and come this way - #23 Loose Ends ~ Imogen Heap
- Doing everything by heart
Got a real flare with excuses
Meeting someone at the bar
Where loose ends still have your sins - #24 The Only One ~ Evanescence
- When they all come crashing down- midflight
You know you're not the only one
When they're so alone they find a back door out of life
You know you're not the only one - #25 Mr. Mistoffeles ~ Cats
Guessed byariskari - He is quiet and small, he is black
From his ears to the tip of his tail;
He can creep through the tiniest crack,
He can walk on the narrowest rail.
He can pick any card from a pack,
He is equally cunning with dice;
He is always deceiving you into believing
That he's only hunting for mice. - #26 Whiskey is the Life of Man ~ Bellowhead
- Whiskey is the life of man
Whiskey from an old tin can
I like whiskey hot and strong
And I'll drink whiskey all day long - #27 Flyin Hi ~ Faithless
- In the supermarket
Prices
Prospects not the nicest
My wife is about as cold as ice is
When stressed she’s not the wisest
Who is? - #28 The Keys of Canterbury ~ Show of Hands
- Madam I will give you the keys of Canterbury
And all the bells in London shall ring to make us merry
If you will be my joy, my sweet and only dear
And walk along with me anywhere - #29 Broken Crown ~ Mumford & Sons
- Well touch my mouth and hold my tounge
I'll never be your chosen one
I'll be home safe and tucked away
Well you can't tempt me if I don't see the day - #30 Sleeping Awake ~ P.O.D.
- Reveal to me
The mysteries
Can you tell me what it means?
Explain these motions and metaphors
Unlock these secrets in me
Describe the visions
The meaning is missing
Won't anybody listen?
Name That Song, round 7: the answers
Nov. 30th, 2011 11:08 pmBring on the wall answers!
So out of the 30 songs, a sum total of 8 were successfully guessed by 3 readers. Huh, I thought it would actually be easier this time. Anyway, the results are in, and the medals have been awarded:
The bronze goes to omgimsuchadork with 1 points. allegramente has managed the silver medal with 3.5 points (you only get half a point for #28, since you only guessed the artist). But the gold medal goes to ariskari with a grand total of 4 points! Congratulations!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, rounds out the month of daily updates for NaBloPoMo! Congratulations to omgimsuchadork for also managing to post every day, special congratulations to allegramente for achieving the required 30 posts in just over half the time, and a honourable mention for talismancer who's likely provided more actual content in his 23 days of posting than I've managed in the entire month.
Name That Song, round 7
Nov. 21st, 2011 11:54 pmYes, folks, it's that time of year again. It's time for Name that Song, with your host, boggyb!
I'm using the standard ruleset for this:
Step 1: Put your media player on random.
Step 2: Post the first few lines from the first 30 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Let everyone guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Bold the songs when someone guesses correctly. Wait a few days before posting the answers to give everyone a chance.
Using a search engine is, as always, not permitted. Violaters will be snarked at.
Bring on the wall lyrics!
- #1
- Oh, if I could only get some sleep,
Creaky noises make my skin creep,
I need to get some sleep,
I can't get no sleep... - #2
- Look at the red, red changes in the sky
Look at the separation in the borderline
But don't look at everything here inside
And be afraid, afraid to speak your mind - #3 (guessed by allegramente)
- Lacrimosa dies illa,
Qua resurget ex favilla
Judicandus homo reus - #4 (guessed by ariskari)
- I watch how the moon sits in the sky on a dark night,
Shining with the light from the sun
But the sun doesn't give the light to the moon assuming,
The moon's gonna owe it one - #5
- I worked my days on a Galway Farm
In the sun and rain and wind and storm
But once a year I'll chance my arm
And cross the sea to England - #6
- There were two sisters side by side
Sing I-dum, sing I-day
There were two sisters side by side
The boys are born for me
The eldest for young Johnny cried
I'll be true unto my love if he'll be true to me - #7
- In this world you tried
Not leaving me alone behind
There's no other way
I prayed to the gods let him stay
The memories ease the pain inside,
Now I know why - #8
- Parce mihi domine, nihil enim sunt dies mei
Quid est homo, quia magnificas eum - #9
- Spare me your judgements and spare me your dreams
'Cause recently mine have been tearing my seams
I sit alone in this winter clarity which clouds my mind - #10 (guessed by ariskari)
- The king and his men
Stole the queen from her bed
And bound her in her bones
The seas be ours
And by the powers
Where we will we'll roam - #11
- For the pain and the sorrow caused by my mistakes
Won't repent to a mortal whom is all to blame
Now I know I won't make it
There will be a time we'll get back our freedom
They can't break what's inside
I'll face it cause it's the heart of everything - #12
- Baby's got an atom bomb,
A mother fuckin' atom bomb,
Twenty two mega tonne,
I ain't ever seen so much fun - #13 (guessed by allegramente)
- Dies irae! Dies illa
Solvet saeclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla! - #14 (guessed by allegramente)
- True Thomas sat on Huntley bank
And he beheld a lady gay
A lady that was brisk and bold
Come riding o'er the ferny brae - #15
- Is this a question of time
Is this a question of space
I've been out of my mind
I'm coming up for air
To work it out - #16
- White fool, come to a new land
There's a dark moon on the sand
Then nothing was ever the same again
This land is in their hands - #17
- I see love, I can see passion
I feel danger, I feel obsession
Don't play games with the ones who love you - #18
- Hey was there something that you wanted to say?
I don't know what to do when you look that way
Cigarettes and tequila at six
And the sun going down on our life as it is - #19
- I have a wish, just a silly old wish
I have a dream, just a silly old dream - #20
- Like the wind, hovering high
Like the clouds drifting by
We can fly
We can fly - #21
- She read her fairy tales
And brought the words to life
Found a friend she'd waited for - #22
- Working in the rain cutting down wood
Didn't do my little brother much good
Lost two fingers in a chainsaw bite
All he does now is drink and fight
Sells a bit of grass hots up cars
Talks of travel never gets far
Loves his kids left his wife
An everyday story of country life - #23 (guessed by omgimsuchadork and ariskari)
- Hakuna Matata!
What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata!
Ain't no passing craze - #24
- H-eight is the one for me
It gives me all I need
And helps me co-exist with the chill - #25
- Turn around and smell what you don't see
Close your eyes… it is so clear
Here's the mirror, behind there is a screen
On both ways you can get in - #26 (guessed by ariskari)
- Why does it feel like night today?
Something in here's not right today
Why am I so uptight today?
Paranoia's all I got left
I don't know what stressed me first
Or how the pressure was fed
But I know just what it feels like
To have a voice in the back of my head - #27
- One more time
I gonna celebrate
Oh yeah, all right
Don't stop the dancing - #28 (guessed by allegramente)
- Imtheochaidh soir is siar
A dtáinig ariamh an ghealach is an ghrian - #29
- Consider the flowers of the field in their beauty
More lovely that even the clothes of a king
Consider the birds of the air
Flying high, flying free
You are precious to me - #30
- The grid
A digital frontier
I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer
Lines are now closed!
Name That Song, round 6 - the answers
Nov. 17th, 2010 07:45 pmSigh. You post perfectly good snark-bait, and then talismancer goes and decides to take the day off.
Anyway, I did promise the answers to the quiz. Commenting has been disabled and existing comments revealed, so you can all see what everyone guessed. So, without further ado here's the song and artists!
( MISSION COMPLETE )And the results are...
olego: 0 points
talismancer 1 point
mirrordreams 1.5 points
ariskari 2.5 points
safrialailo 4.5 points
ladyofastolat 6.5 points
Congratulations to ladyofastolat for winning. Your prize is... the Internet!
