Went to the Fete at Center Parcs today. Got to meet a few people that Mum works with which was quite interesting. Mum was playing in the human table football game, which was somewhat amusing to watch as she was paired with 'Sarah' who has a little more weight behind her than mum - mum's attempts to move left and right ('cos they're attached by a bar) tended to be somewhat in vain .

Also got to see the new plans for the Plaza and have a very useful explanation from 'Don', one of the directors of the company. Part of the marquee that had the food (free) and drink (at cost, except for soft drinks which were free) was laid out with pictures of the aftermath of the fire and the new plans and artists impressions of the new plaza area. It looks like it's going to be rather nice really. It'll be odd to not be all under cover, but that's completely understandable given the problems of the fire, and it's not entirely unsurprising - the other UK parks are like that (well, I don't know about the Oasis park, but Longleat and Sherwoord aren't under cover in the same way that Elveden was.

Anyhow, it was rather fun.

One of the things I like about the people on the libxml2 list is that they're so much more helpful about problems than most forums. Things Get Done.

I'm somewhat overwhelmed by the Archive album 'You all look the same to me'. Originally recommended to my by Simon, I downloaded 'Again' off the Internet - yeah, yeah, let's not go there - and was captivated. I'm sure it's not everyone's cup of tea. A 16 minute opening track an put off many people, but it's not your typical 16 minute epic. Obviously it's not a pop track at that length, but it's a simple track; simple but clever. A track that's 16 minutes long and I can listen to repeatedly for as long as I did has to be pretty clever. And that's just to open the album. After hearing Again, a few times, I bought the album. Oddly, it was 8.99 on Amazon, but now it's 11.99. Maybe it's more popular now and they want to make more ? I dunno...

So we've 'Again', a long track devoted to a fear of splitting up with someone who is bad for you - and who you are bad for.

If I Was to walk away From you, my love, Could I laugh again ? If I Walk away from you, And leave, my love, Could I laugh again ? ... You're tearing me apart Crushing me inside Without your love, - you used to lift me up - You're crushing me inside, - now you get me down - With you close by, I'm doused in madness; Can't lose this sadness. It's ripping me apart. It's tearing me apart. It's tearing me apart. I don't know why. [ Again, from You All Look The Same To Me, by Archive ]

Numb. Track 2. After the breakup, there's nothing else to say. You're numb. And it keeps going around. It works. Drums, and guitar. And a (I keep wanting to use the word, so it's going here) relentless beat and 'Numb' .

I'm not making it sound so great am I ? You want to listen to it without my comments. You do. If you don't like it, that's just life, but... it's new. It is.

Meon. Track 3. Strange title. Yes, it's not got a space in it. Are you thinking 'Concept album' yet ? No ? Meon is the next stage; the questioning 'where now ?' and 'who would want you ?'. We've synths and drums, and some guitars I think. I'm not good at what's there musically. You're thinking 'concept' now aren't you ? It's not a story concept; it's a common thread concept, I think.

Does anybody want to take me on ? Does anybody want to hear the things I have to say I fear today. Does anybody want to see my cry ? If I'm the only one, I'd rather die. [ Meon, from You All Look The Same To Me, by Archive ]

Depressing ? Maybe; but it's all part of the way the music is made up. It works well, and it's a look on life you want to see.

We're at track 4. Goodbye. You just know it's going to be a downer. But it's more upbeat than the other tracks. The beat and keyboards (the keyboards are quite cute on the whole album!) just leave you swaying to this one. It's cute.

You're my sweetest, Goodbye. I know I'm gonna look, so, so, so, so bad. But there's no easy way, For me to have to walk away, But I don't wanna hear this no more, And I don't wanna feel this no more, And I don't wanna see this no more, And I don't wanna experience this no more, 'cos I know I've got to say, I know I've got to say, Goodbye. [ Goodbye, from You All Look The Same To Me, by Archive ]

In some versions, it seems, Goodbye is followed by another track - 'Now And Then'. On the version here, it's tagged on to the end of Goodbye at 5:42. It's a keyboard/vocal track. Simple, and very sweet.

Every now and then, You hold me. And now and then, You're here. Every now and then, You show me. But now and then, You can't. Now and then, You love me. Now and then, Means everything, To me. [ Now And Then, from You All Look The Same To Me, by Archive ]

'Finding It So Hard' follows this short track (or the end of Goodbye) and we're lead into a strange 'pinging' sound with an organ backing it. I can't describe music as you know! And then we come to a moderate drum beat, and... Oh, I can't do it. I'm not a music critic.

'Finding It So Hard' ends and we have 'Fool' to follow. 'Fool' is a gem. Not to say that the rest of the album isn't, but Fool is more catchy. Focusing on the awkwardness and fear of rejection, Fool is a track I can relate to, very easily.

'cos I'm a fool. A fool for you. I seem to want, Everything that you do. I don't know; I procrastinate. 'cos I hate those days That I'm bound to me. It's never sure, It's never pure, It always hurts. So climb out. [ Fool, from You All Look The Same To Me, by Archive ]

Note: The above lyrics have been corrected from those I originally heard.

And finally we get to 'Hate'. What can you say about such a track...

I hate your face right now, I can't stand a sight of you, So please, Leave me alone. [ Hate, from You All Look The Same To Me, by Archive ]

There's a hidden track at the end of Hate; it's an keyboard/vocal track. I don't know the lyrics to it though.

I've finished "The Science Fiction Century" now. I ought to do some quick summaries of the stories - some are quite excellent - but I'm a little tired right now.

My IRA adapter arrived today. And it's tiny. Well, not tiny, but smaller than IRMan. And it has little tiny LEDs to tell me it's working. Anyhow, it works exactly the same as IRMan and so it'll work with my interface. It won't, however, return the same codes. But that's no problem unless you're swapping the interfaces regularly.

AudioGalaxy was shut down today by agreement with the RIAA. Actually, it's not shut down; it's just that artists and their representatives have to opt-in to have their files shared. That's fine by me. The uproar this seems to have caused for some people, though, is astounding. It's like the mafia claiming "but we want to extort money and kill people" in the hope that those enforcing the law will turn the other way.

Certainly I wouldn't have heard of some artists without AudioGalaxy. Some I don't care for, and some have opened up large areas of music I didn't know about. Samplers really are the way to go there, and it would do record companies good to put out more samplers. In decent formats and not bloody stupid proprietary formats like Real or Microsoft media formats.

But anyhow. Get yourself a copy of Archive's album 'You all look the same to me'. Now. Do it. You know you want to. Very highly recommended. Well, so long as you don't mind Floydy type tracks... or the 16 minute opening track 'Again'. No; don't let it put you off. It's cool. Really.

Angela (Beardsmore) rang today. I've not spoken to her in ages, and her mobile wasn't valid when I rang her last (around April time). Anyhow, after not talking for over a year (a year and a half at least, it must be), she rang. So, lots of interesting things, and news about what she's been up to. She's back at uni, doing a PhD now. Golly. Well, we always knew she was going to go far .

Anyhow, she's on holiday in a bit, so I'll get to talk to her again after she comes back. Yay!

Some links; Simon suggested Artist Direct for information on artists. And long ago (and I can't find the reference) David Chess suggested the Better Star Wars site.

Marian emailed me from New York (!) to ask where the rhyme 'I will never let our Jane' came from. I've still little clue, but Mum says that Grandma used to sing it and that Dad didn't know it when they met so it's possible that it's a Lancashire thing.

I've ported nasm 0.98.33 to RISC OS. I have absolutely no use for this. It's not even a complex port.