End of Movember and the Tache

For the past few weeks every time I look in the mirror someone else stares back at me.

It the end of Movember and the tache has to come off.

That's better. Back to normal.

Getting Bushy

My Village People look is really coming along. It's getting really bushy now and check out all those white hairs. I seem to have more white hairs on one side than on the other and so I have an unsymmetrical face.

Cyclists, Be Seen or Die.

This time of year the evenings are dark when driving home from work. One stretch of road called zzz from Windsor to Ascot is very dark. On one side is a forest and on the other is a farmers field. There are no street lights and the cats eyes are missing.

One day last week while driving down this road oncoming cars were steering on to my side of the road obviously trying to avoid something. It was only when I passed that I noticed a cyclist, dressed in black with no lights on. They were almost invisible.

A few days later and the same thing, oncoming cars were steering on to my side of the road but this time they were driving around a car with its lights on.

It was only when I drew level with the car that I noticed, in the beam of the lights, a dark shape on the floor. The shape of a body.

Now, I'm not saying that they deserved getting knocked down but they must have been mentally ill or have a death wish. Not only that but there's a footpath on that side of the road so why not use it if you haven't got any lights?

I feel sorry for the poor bugger who hit them.

What do you think?

Proper Tache Now

Two weeks in and it's starting to look like a proper moustache.

I've been getting some strange looks recently. It could be the tache or the Harley-Davidson, or maybe the huge truck I now drive or it could be the large, bloody axe and my murderous look I now carry around with me.

You be the judge.

CDs and Music Downloads Need an Overhaul

I've just brought the new Coldplay CD from Play.com and I think it's pretty good. It's very Coldplayish but there are no stunners like "Fix You". But this post isn't about the music it's about the media it's played on.

The problem with Mylo Xyloto is that Coldplay have ruined my enjoyment of it by having a number of short intro tracks. These tracks, which are about a minute long, have their own title and the end of them leads directly to a main four minute song. This is all well and good while listening to the CD from start to finish but on an MP3 player it sounds somewhat rubbish, unfinished. This is because a lot of music players can't cope with the jumping from one track to another very well and have a tiny gap in-between tracks. And let's not forget that most players can play tracks randomly. This means that all these tracks either suddenly stop when the music has just built up or they start abruptly with no intro. It's simply annoying. Of course, we don't want to put limits on music artists telling them not to have tracks that lead into other tracks, that would be ridiculous. Many classical and movie sound tracks are like this and other artists such as Queen and Snow Patrol have tracks leading into others.

Then there is the extended track at the end of the CD. These are either monotonous drivel or simply nothing, no music, just empty tracks taking up CD space. Sony do this a lot and I think the reason why they do this is because some years back when CD burners first came out they could only successful record on to short play recordable CDs (60 minutes). Long albums couldn't be recorded. Therefore, I think studios continue this annoying habit to try and prevent CD copying which isn't a problem these days because CD burners can record to almost anything. Then, when you rip the CD to your MP3 library you have to contend with this enormous track with 6 minutes of nothing at the end or in the middle of two songs. Kasabian have done this and I think Robbie Williams has also (both Sony).

Another thing is cost. How come a CD is cheaper to buy than the downloaded version? I mean there is the cost of all that plastic and the sleeve and then the cost of transporting it to the shop and some bod unpacking and stacking it on the shelf and the rent of shops and warehouses. All these costs are redundant with a music download. So, what do you get with your download? Nothing or maybe the album art, which is free anyway yet you may have to pay an extra pound or two.

I think it's about time the humble CD and download got an update. For a start they should contain much more information such as lyrics, photos and bios. The CD sleeve has this information so why not add it to the media itself? Then there is the ability to link tracks together; a way to say to the player that track A should be followed by track B and don't play track D without playing track C first. Of course, player will need to be updated but that is the easy part. 

One last thing and I know this is a weak argument but it does make some sense. When you buy a CD what are you buying? You are not buying the songs because you don't own them, you only own the right to listen to them. If you loose or damage a CD you have to buy another one. This is surely wrong. If you buy the media but don't own the rights to the music then shouldn't you be able to get another copy if you can't play it any more? Buying music (and video) is somewhere between renting and buying. It wouldn't be a problem if you could backup the CD to a cheap writeable CD-ROM which you use without the worry of getting it lost or stolen. Although, if you could get replacements from the studio then where would it stop? You could argue that your old vinyl or cassettes could all be replaced with CDs and that simply isn't going to happen. Downloads are fine though because you can always download the music again if you can remember were you brought it from.

The Tashe has Begun

The first steps of the new moustache.
I've not gone for the side burns just the handle bars.

You can donate by going here

6 days Growth

The tache

Letting it Grow in Movember

It's Movember. Yes, that's not a spelling mistake. It's Movember, not November. This month is the month for ALL men to turn the 5 o'clock shadow into some proper facial fur for charity.

I've joined the cause and I'm planning on growing the side burns longer going along the chin and up over the upper lip. A bit like Lemmy from Motorhead

Check out my mobro page and donate some cash for prostate and testicular cancer.

I'll be posting photo updates of the progress.