Kim Wilde...
My friend Kim has a new single out call "Loved". It's very much like Madonna's 'Nothing Really Matters'/'Ray Of Light' - but that's a good thing (!) You can download "Loved" here (when you see the directory listing, right-click and select "save as").
"Loved" has also been remixed by Pulsedriver. This remix will be released in Germany as a CD on February 22nd. The remix is called the Pulsedriver vs. Beam remix and has been available to club DJ's for a few weeks already on 12". There are also promotional CD-singles containing the full length and single versions of this remix. Pulsedriver has had some success last year in Germany with a cover version of Kim's 'Cambodia'. There are a few indications that the remix will become commercially available in Germany and/or the UK. Boo hoo.
Right now, a promotional CD-single is circulating in the UK and in Europe. This three track disc contains "Loved" and the full length "Kids in America (D-Bops Bright Lights Mix)" and "View From A Bridge (RAW Remix)". There's also a 12" promo doing the rounds. I think they play this at the Vauxhall on Sundays.
overyourhead - some irreverent musings by a gay London guy - crawling though technology, love and life... so you don't have to.
Monday, February 18, 2002
Sunday, February 17, 2002
Saturday, February 16, 2002
Pet Shop Boys links...
The Pet Shop Boys started there tour with a very well received gig in Bristol. Even The Times liked it.
The new PSB single Home and Dry is out on the 18th March - the same date as George Michael's Freeek and that Gareth from Pop Idol's Unchained Melody. You can watch the PSB video here low bandwidth or high bandwidth.
Home and Dry is backed with a number of new cool tracks: Always and Sexy Northerner.
The Pet Shop Boys started there tour with a very well received gig in Bristol. Even The Times liked it.
The new PSB single Home and Dry is out on the 18th March - the same date as George Michael's Freeek and that Gareth from Pop Idol's Unchained Melody. You can watch the PSB video here low bandwidth or high bandwidth.
Home and Dry is backed with a number of new cool tracks: Always and Sexy Northerner.
Friday, February 15, 2002
Are you a man or a mouse...?
Can you kill? Would you kill? OK, put it this way, would you or could you cause someone to die through your action or inaction? Could you pull a trigger and shoot someone dead? What if they had a gun and were going to shoot you? Would you defend yourself or your loved ones? What about your country? Would you ever enlist? What if we were at war? Could you cause death remotely? Push a button and fire a rocket or drop a bomb? Would you feel bad about killing someone? Can you kill? Can you?
Would you stop a fight if you saw it in the street? How about a man hitting a woman? Even if it was domestic fight? What if there was blood? What if someone was on the ground being kicked? How about three men fighting, or more? Would you break up a riot? Would you defend the small guy being picked on by the gang? Would you fight or stand and watch? Would you fight? Would you?
How would you stop someone being bullied? How do you defend the weakling? How about fighting in place of someone else? Would you take on someone bigger than you? Would you walk away from a fight? From abuse? What if you were being taunted? In front of your friends or family? What if you brother or sister was being bullied? Or you mother or father were being harassed? Would you fight someone? Hit them? Scare them off? Could you stop a bully? Could you?
Do you like cheese? Do you like running up drainpipes and hiding under floorboards? Do you twitch your nose and scratch your ears? Do you defecate continually leaving a trail across the floor? Are you scared of cats? Do you like cheese, do you? Do you? Are you a mouse? Are you? A mouse?
Can you kill? Would you kill? OK, put it this way, would you or could you cause someone to die through your action or inaction? Could you pull a trigger and shoot someone dead? What if they had a gun and were going to shoot you? Would you defend yourself or your loved ones? What about your country? Would you ever enlist? What if we were at war? Could you cause death remotely? Push a button and fire a rocket or drop a bomb? Would you feel bad about killing someone? Can you kill? Can you?
Would you stop a fight if you saw it in the street? How about a man hitting a woman? Even if it was domestic fight? What if there was blood? What if someone was on the ground being kicked? How about three men fighting, or more? Would you break up a riot? Would you defend the small guy being picked on by the gang? Would you fight or stand and watch? Would you fight? Would you?
How would you stop someone being bullied? How do you defend the weakling? How about fighting in place of someone else? Would you take on someone bigger than you? Would you walk away from a fight? From abuse? What if you were being taunted? In front of your friends or family? What if you brother or sister was being bullied? Or you mother or father were being harassed? Would you fight someone? Hit them? Scare them off? Could you stop a bully? Could you?
Do you like cheese? Do you like running up drainpipes and hiding under floorboards? Do you twitch your nose and scratch your ears? Do you defecate continually leaving a trail across the floor? Are you scared of cats? Do you like cheese, do you? Do you? Are you a mouse? Are you? A mouse?
Century 21...
My favourite New York store is about to reopen. At 22 Cortlandt Street, Century 21 was always chocker with discounted designer clothes. It was always my first stop whenever I visited the Big Apple to pick up some Calvins. After a $10m refit following the WTC towers almost falling on it last September it will be a welcome friendly face in downtown Manhattan.
My favourite New York store is about to reopen. At 22 Cortlandt Street, Century 21 was always chocker with discounted designer clothes. It was always my first stop whenever I visited the Big Apple to pick up some Calvins. After a $10m refit following the WTC towers almost falling on it last September it will be a welcome friendly face in downtown Manhattan.
We shall always have Venice...
Ian e-mailed (and texted) me yesterday asking whether I'd join him for a drink (read: bar crawl) in Soho as he was meeting his ex (Geoff) and he might be in need of a little moral / mental / physical support. He wanted to show Geoff 'a good time' last night. I think it's only natural. Amongst the whole flood of emotions that wash over you when you meet an ex for a drink you can doggedly hang on to the single fact that you want them to have 'a good time' when they're out with you.
I know from experience that it can be a bit of trial meeting up with an ex too. It's that pleasure/pain principle. That love/hate thing. That oxymoron. They can remind you of the good times you had together; "Remember when we...?", "That time you...", "When we went to..." Delightfully tasting together the sweet meats of nostalgia. And yet you kind of hate them for surviving without you. For getting on with their lives quite so well. It's almost a sibling rivalry. You want them to do well and be happy - but not THAT well and THAT happy. At the root you know that somehow, something didn't work between you both. And now they are moving on without you. You wish them well. You care about them a lot. But the question always hangs in the air, "Why couldn't we make it work?"
So it was last night with Ian and Geoff. Geoff is a perfectly affable chap. Living in Kuala Lumpur designing interiors as far afield as Beijing (where he is soon to rent a loft apartment as a base). He was interesting, interested and a fine drinking companion for the evening. Marky joined us too (in much need of a drink or three after his controversial bare-backing conference). Ian directed us to various drinking establishments but it was only when we were on number three or four that he seemed to relax. "Let's not get into all that 'old boyfriend' thing", says Ian. And minutes later they do. Sweet, really sweet, to watch.
G: Remember Napoleon's? Off Oxford Street?
I: Not off Oxford Street!
G: It was.
I: Oh, yes. So it was.
(you can feel them slipping back into boyfriend-chat mode)
G: Remember that brown donkey jacket?
I: Yes.
G: I still wear it. This is yours too (points to leather jacket he's wearing).
G: Remember our trip to Venice?
I: Beautiful colours. Very romantic. The pinks and blues at sunset.
G: Yes.
I: Beautiful (wistfully).
G: Yes (even more wistfully).
Ian and Geoff were together for nine years and with that much history they are a part of your life forever. It was an honour to be invited along really. Geoff's off to Paris tomorrow for the weekend. Then back to Kuala Lumpur to join his current boyfriend. Ian no doubt will be continuing his own search for Mister Right. Well, at least Mr Right Now.
We finished the evening off by going to Bar Code for a night cap. We met up with Elliott (sexy beast), Will (a fellow Philip Pullman fan) and Saunders (the sly old fox). And what delightful people they all are too. An evening of happy singles and happy couples. Just as it should be on Valentine's Night.
Ian e-mailed (and texted) me yesterday asking whether I'd join him for a drink (read: bar crawl) in Soho as he was meeting his ex (Geoff) and he might be in need of a little moral / mental / physical support. He wanted to show Geoff 'a good time' last night. I think it's only natural. Amongst the whole flood of emotions that wash over you when you meet an ex for a drink you can doggedly hang on to the single fact that you want them to have 'a good time' when they're out with you.
I know from experience that it can be a bit of trial meeting up with an ex too. It's that pleasure/pain principle. That love/hate thing. That oxymoron. They can remind you of the good times you had together; "Remember when we...?", "That time you...", "When we went to..." Delightfully tasting together the sweet meats of nostalgia. And yet you kind of hate them for surviving without you. For getting on with their lives quite so well. It's almost a sibling rivalry. You want them to do well and be happy - but not THAT well and THAT happy. At the root you know that somehow, something didn't work between you both. And now they are moving on without you. You wish them well. You care about them a lot. But the question always hangs in the air, "Why couldn't we make it work?"
So it was last night with Ian and Geoff. Geoff is a perfectly affable chap. Living in Kuala Lumpur designing interiors as far afield as Beijing (where he is soon to rent a loft apartment as a base). He was interesting, interested and a fine drinking companion for the evening. Marky joined us too (in much need of a drink or three after his controversial bare-backing conference). Ian directed us to various drinking establishments but it was only when we were on number three or four that he seemed to relax. "Let's not get into all that 'old boyfriend' thing", says Ian. And minutes later they do. Sweet, really sweet, to watch.
G: Remember Napoleon's? Off Oxford Street?
I: Not off Oxford Street!
G: It was.
I: Oh, yes. So it was.
(you can feel them slipping back into boyfriend-chat mode)
G: Remember that brown donkey jacket?
I: Yes.
G: I still wear it. This is yours too (points to leather jacket he's wearing).
G: Remember our trip to Venice?
I: Beautiful colours. Very romantic. The pinks and blues at sunset.
G: Yes.
I: Beautiful (wistfully).
G: Yes (even more wistfully).
Ian and Geoff were together for nine years and with that much history they are a part of your life forever. It was an honour to be invited along really. Geoff's off to Paris tomorrow for the weekend. Then back to Kuala Lumpur to join his current boyfriend. Ian no doubt will be continuing his own search for Mister Right. Well, at least Mr Right Now.
We finished the evening off by going to Bar Code for a night cap. We met up with Elliott (sexy beast), Will (a fellow Philip Pullman fan) and Saunders (the sly old fox). And what delightful people they all are too. An evening of happy singles and happy couples. Just as it should be on Valentine's Night.
Thursday, February 14, 2002
Will Young wins gay poll for Valentine's Day...
Pop Idol winner Will Young has been voted the number one fantasy gay date for Valentine's Day. He obtained 22% of votes in an online poll. Gareth Gates was second with 20%, while actor Ben Affleck was in third place. Robbie Williams and David Beckham tied for fourth place in the poll on Gay.com UK. Sir Elton John only managed to poll 2% of the votes. [From Ananova]
The lovely Will has also launched his own web site to plug his debut AA single which you can listen to here: 'Anything is Possible / Evergreen' and which is out on 25th Feb.
My friend XXXX who works for a highly respected charity has had sex with Will.
XXXX is, of course, a man.
Valentine's Day rhymes...
Kisses blown are kisses wasted,
Kisses are not kisses unless they are tasted,
Kisses spread germs and germs are hated,
So kiss me baby, I'm vaccinated!
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Please can we meet,
So I can kiss you!
My love is like a rose divided into two,
The leaves I give to others,
But the rose I give to you.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Fancy a snog?
I’ll meet you in the loo!
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
You’re like a window,
I see right through you.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I was born beautiful,
But what happened to you?
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
The dog next door,
Reminds me of you!
Send any of these messages anonymously from Valentine's United.
Kisses blown are kisses wasted,
Kisses are not kisses unless they are tasted,
Kisses spread germs and germs are hated,
So kiss me baby, I'm vaccinated!
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Please can we meet,
So I can kiss you!
My love is like a rose divided into two,
The leaves I give to others,
But the rose I give to you.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Fancy a snog?
I’ll meet you in the loo!
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
You’re like a window,
I see right through you.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I was born beautiful,
But what happened to you?
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
The dog next door,
Reminds me of you!
Send any of these messages anonymously from Valentine's United.
The Dark Materials Trilogy...
Drew bought me Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass) for a Christmas present last year and I'd not got round to reading it until recently. I had noticed however that's it's author Philip Pullman recently won the £30,000 Whitbread Book Of The Year Award for The Amber Spyglass - book three in a Dark Materials trilogy of which Northern Lights was the first book. This was the first time a children's book had won the main Whitbread award. Coupled with the fact that two weeks ago in the pub everyone was talking about daemons (and essential feature of Northern Lights) and Ian is lending another Philip Pullman book (The Ruby in the Smoke - book one of a completely different trilogy featuring a character called Sally Lockhart) to Drew to read I thought I'd give him a whirl. Well to put in mildly I'm hooked. I've read three of his books in the last week alone. Starting with The Ruby in the Smoke I moved on to the Dark Materials Trilogy (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass).
Pullman is basically a children's fantasy writer akin to J K Rowling but his books deal with far more serious themes such as opium addiction, theology, science, murder, puberty, death, child abuse, mental illness and even castration (!) His hero/heroine are often aged 11 or 12, are all gutsy fighters from broken homes and often end up killing someone within the first few pages. The books are an easy read and have that page-turning quality that makes any book hard to put down.
The Dark Materials trilogy will now be made into a film by the production company behind The Lord of the Rings. New Line Cinema has bought up the rights following the success of its first Tolkien film, according to industry site Variety.
Drew bought me Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass) for a Christmas present last year and I'd not got round to reading it until recently. I had noticed however that's it's author Philip Pullman recently won the £30,000 Whitbread Book Of The Year Award for The Amber Spyglass - book three in a Dark Materials trilogy of which Northern Lights was the first book. This was the first time a children's book had won the main Whitbread award. Coupled with the fact that two weeks ago in the pub everyone was talking about daemons (and essential feature of Northern Lights) and Ian is lending another Philip Pullman book (The Ruby in the Smoke - book one of a completely different trilogy featuring a character called Sally Lockhart) to Drew to read I thought I'd give him a whirl. Well to put in mildly I'm hooked. I've read three of his books in the last week alone. Starting with The Ruby in the Smoke I moved on to the Dark Materials Trilogy (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass).
Pullman is basically a children's fantasy writer akin to J K Rowling but his books deal with far more serious themes such as opium addiction, theology, science, murder, puberty, death, child abuse, mental illness and even castration (!) His hero/heroine are often aged 11 or 12, are all gutsy fighters from broken homes and often end up killing someone within the first few pages. The books are an easy read and have that page-turning quality that makes any book hard to put down.
The Dark Materials trilogy will now be made into a film by the production company behind The Lord of the Rings. New Line Cinema has bought up the rights following the success of its first Tolkien film, according to industry site Variety.
Our fine four fendered friend...
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang previews from 19th March at the London Palladium. And I'm taking Marky as a Valentine's present. The cast of this 'magical' musical, based on the film, has been confirmed as Michael Ball as 'Caractacus Potts’, Emma Williams (who?) as ‘Truly Scrumptious’, Anton Rodgers will star as ‘Grandpa Potts’, Brian Blessed as ‘The Baron’, Nichola McAuliffe as ‘The Baroness’ and Richard O’Brien as ‘The Child Catcher’ - an inspired choice.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang previews from 19th March at the London Palladium. And I'm taking Marky as a Valentine's present. The cast of this 'magical' musical, based on the film, has been confirmed as Michael Ball as 'Caractacus Potts’, Emma Williams (who?) as ‘Truly Scrumptious’, Anton Rodgers will star as ‘Grandpa Potts’, Brian Blessed as ‘The Baron’, Nichola McAuliffe as ‘The Baroness’ and Richard O’Brien as ‘The Child Catcher’ - an inspired choice.
Love and Money...
We decided to celebrate VD early last night and went out for a meal in Upper Street. Lucky we did really as it seemed everywhere is booked up solid for tonight. Our local bistro will be doing a set menu at £25 a head. What a rip-off. Apparently lots of restaurants are doing the same. Contrary to reports I don't think that romance is dead as such. It just costs a bit more every year.
We decided to celebrate VD early last night and went out for a meal in Upper Street. Lucky we did really as it seemed everywhere is booked up solid for tonight. Our local bistro will be doing a set menu at £25 a head. What a rip-off. Apparently lots of restaurants are doing the same. Contrary to reports I don't think that romance is dead as such. It just costs a bit more every year.
Wednesday, February 13, 2002
Southampton...
I'm in Soton all day. And possibly all night too. It's going to be a long job reconfiguring a network and getting the routing tables right. People are going to be standing around watching me work. The pressure will be on. I've had to preconfigure a lot of stuff blind so it's fingers crossed. The funny thing is, I don't think I'll get much thanks for it if it all works. Oh well, I guess I'll have to file it under the 'pride in my work' category.
I'm in Soton all day. And possibly all night too. It's going to be a long job reconfiguring a network and getting the routing tables right. People are going to be standing around watching me work. The pressure will be on. I've had to preconfigure a lot of stuff blind so it's fingers crossed. The funny thing is, I don't think I'll get much thanks for it if it all works. Oh well, I guess I'll have to file it under the 'pride in my work' category.
Tuesday, February 12, 2002
Busy, busy...
I was only out of the office for three days but the workload has certainly piled up. That's a good thing by the way. It's nice to be busy sometimes. Helps the day go faster. Tomorrow I'm off to Southampton for the whole day installing some new kit in our office down there. I'm also setting up a VPN over the Net to our head office via ADSL which should be a giggle - especially as there is no SLA yet from BT. The words 'flying by' and 'seat of your pants' spring to mind. But I like a challenge I guess.
I was only out of the office for three days but the workload has certainly piled up. That's a good thing by the way. It's nice to be busy sometimes. Helps the day go faster. Tomorrow I'm off to Southampton for the whole day installing some new kit in our office down there. I'm also setting up a VPN over the Net to our head office via ADSL which should be a giggle - especially as there is no SLA yet from BT. The words 'flying by' and 'seat of your pants' spring to mind. But I like a challenge I guess.
Nintendo GameCube...
Straight from the airport I rushed to my brother's place out in deepest Hertfordshire. Why? Well he'd just got back from New York and bought me a little present. A little 5" cube aka a Nintendo GameCube! Whoopee! He also got me an extra controller, a memory pack and two games: Luigi's Mansion and Wave Race. So Marky and I were up to the small hours playing with my new diminuative toy. The graphics are fantastic - better than I'd seen before. Still maintaining the cutesy Nintendo game style that I love and yet somehow everything was even more gorgeous and hyperreal than the N64. Interestingly the games seemed to play faster than I'd seen before too. This I think is because the US versions of game consols run at the US's 60Hz AC rather than the UK's 50Hz AC. I used a power stepper to transform the frequency and also to down the voltage from 240v to 110v. Crashing through Wave Race was quite an experience I can tell you. The new controllers have rumble packs built in which all adds to the fun. I can see me spending some late nights on this little baby.
Straight from the airport I rushed to my brother's place out in deepest Hertfordshire. Why? Well he'd just got back from New York and bought me a little present. A little 5" cube aka a Nintendo GameCube! Whoopee! He also got me an extra controller, a memory pack and two games: Luigi's Mansion and Wave Race. So Marky and I were up to the small hours playing with my new diminuative toy. The graphics are fantastic - better than I'd seen before. Still maintaining the cutesy Nintendo game style that I love and yet somehow everything was even more gorgeous and hyperreal than the N64. Interestingly the games seemed to play faster than I'd seen before too. This I think is because the US versions of game consols run at the US's 60Hz AC rather than the UK's 50Hz AC. I used a power stepper to transform the frequency and also to down the voltage from 240v to 110v. Crashing through Wave Race was quite an experience I can tell you. The new controllers have rumble packs built in which all adds to the fun. I can see me spending some late nights on this little baby.
Monday, February 11, 2002
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