Basically, its another collection of pointless links mostly nicked
from other blogs
Is That It?
Well, no, one day, I hope to break free from the bonds of having a day job and spend my time
floating round the med,
knocking up the occasional track for a cool label. Till then, this is my only outlet for
my compositions.
If you like Progressive tracks with nice breaks, you might like to listen you my latest, finished creation...well,
actually, its my only
*finished* creation, Celestial.
Download the MP3, Or stream
it.
The excellent vocals (in case you're wondering) were taken
from a track by Loreena
McKennitt called 'The Mystics Dream'.
One of the problems I have is actually finishing a track... No stamina y'see ;) I've got round this (sorta) by
stuffing all my unfinished
tracks into
Acid and creating one long mix. Whilst unfinished, they also represent the best stuff I've produced to
date...without sounding
self-congratulatory, its easily as
good as any of the other mixes...but just pure, homegrown Roguetrooper. Enjoy...(and play loud) Clicky Streamy Clicky downloady
The track I'm working on at the moment is a bit of a departure
for me. Normally I don't like long intros, but the beginning
to Gravity developed into this dark, broody soundscape. Its
a full 4 mins till any proper percussion kicks in which sounds
a long time, but its just right for the track (currently running
at 12 mins). Anyway, you can Stream the MP3 hopefully...
or download it(11Mb)
Heres what happens when you use Acid Pro as an mp3 sequencer..nearly an hour of beats n breaks.
Have a listen to Methodical or download it.
Want some more? heres another with Leftfield and
Hybrid (to mention a few). You
can download this too if you like.
Think I'm going to have to find a more permanent home for the mixes and stuff. judging by the amount of stuff I'm
churning out of the
Triton... Anyway, heres the Adam Freeland stuff mix from below on the blog...nice trancy, break filled mix that
hardens
somewhat towards the end when Joujouka arrive..However, its still only 135BPM and doesn't disrupt the flow too
much... Same as usual, you
can stream it or
download it...beware though, its
20Mb. Sounds best about
4am Sunday morning. Enjoy.
I was looking through my mp3 collection the other day and came across some depeche mode stuff I never realised I
had. Perfect excuse to
mix a few tracks up in acid and give the Basildon boys a breakbeat flavour. Its still a work in progress at the mo,
but I've since discovered
that DM and Breaks were made for each other. Have a listen and you'll hear what I mean. Download or Stream
Kontact::
"I was duped into
coming here!!! I want my money back!!! Who do I complain to?"
Seeing as my logfiles report that most people come here looking
for the excellent DNA java trials bike game, heres
a link so you don't have to scroll through all my archives....How
good am I?
Archives::
Stuff I've been messing
with::
::Webcam
Feed::
Nosy? come and take a peek round chez Rogue via a (sometimes) Live Webcam
Stream
::Words::
I love Edward Goreys stuff, for lots more about Ed and his stuff, you should wander across to goreygraphy.com
Turning out to be a good game playing afternoon today...which is nice. This Java trials bike game is quite short, but great fun. Especially mastering the backwards flip at the start of the second section.
Remember the Micro Machines game for the Playstation? Well, RJS visual design have developed this rather neat little shockwave version that features luvvly RC minatures of Ford Mustangs, Honda Civics and Mazda RX-7's... Sweet.
I've been kinda neglegent this week blog-wise, primarily due to the fact that I've had a very big, very broken machine on my hands at work.
I would have probably managed to squeeze a few links in at some point, but I didn't take account of the fact that the so-called 'engineering' company that built the darned thing (a fully rotational moulding machine) are a total bunch of lazy-arsed morons, with all the engineering ability of trainee trolley pushers.
My boss is partly to blame too as his comissioning trials consisted of:
Q)Does it mould stuff?
A)Yes... sign release form and accept machine.
He never actually 'inspected' it or bothered to check that we had all the correct documentation and drawings before accepting it.
Consequently, when we came to strip it down this week, we had to make our own drawings as we went along.
From the limited documents we did have, we've discovered that relay 'A' is connected to valve 'B' instead of 'A' etc, that coverplates have been welded on as they couldn't be arsed to screw them on. That after draining the gear box (that has the drain tap 8 inches above the bottom for some reason) we found a screwdriver, a bolt (that had unscrewed becased they didn't wire-lock it) and a shaft collar....the list goes on.
The worst of it is, we have 8 of these machines (all installed before I joined the company 2 years ago). Apparently, after the first 2 were installed about 8 years ago, the company went bankrupt (for the first time) and for 2 years they were constantly breaking down until (trading again under a new name) they came in and did a half-arsed job at fixing a botched job. You'd think the directors of my company would steer well clear of them in future, but lured by the prospect of saving £££'s, we had another 6 built by them.....
Still, keeps my job interesting I suppose.(/vent)
Anyway, come 16:30 today I'll have put it far behind me as my lil Angel Jessica is coming down from her mums in Whitley Bay (near Newcastle) to stay for the weekend. I normally see her every other week, but for one thing and another, I haven't seen her for 4 weeks.... I can't wait...
Last time she was here, Alex was only 2 days old and 6lb 15oz. In the 4 weeks since then, he's more or less gained 37% of his original weight and now weighs 9lb 8oz.
He's also learned to look at stuff you hold in front of him and follow it when you move it. Wendy thinks he smiled too, but I'm not so sure, probably just wind.....which he seems to have an abundence of at the moment. Well, only half an hour to go, think I'll go and look at the pile of bits we've removed in disbelief again for a bit.
I've been wondering whether to create a weblog just for Alex. I've decided not to cos (1) there seems to be a lot of 'babyblogs' about and (2) I simply can't be arsed.
I've also been wondering if all this will still be around when Alex is old enough to read and appreciate it, I can't begin to imagine what the internet and its successors will be like, but hopefully there'll be enough of this junk left for him to be acutely embarrassed by it when he's older.
Actually, last night was a prime example....
I'd just finished feeding him at about 1:30 am and although in a semi-catatonic state, I decided to change his nappy too. Now, Alex has been a bit constipated over the last few days so I wasn't entirely surprised to see a small mound of rabbit droppings stuck to his bum.
I fumbled in the near darkness for a babywipe and deftly flicked the lump into the nappy. I still had hold of his legs and was just about to slip the new nappy under his backside when something 'appeared at the back door'. I quickly made a grab for the old nappy as... well, imagine squeezing primula cheese out of a tube....hold that thought... ok.
Luckily I managed to get the old one back under his bum before we had 'touchdown' on the cot blanket. The little pile I removed must have been like a cork in a bottle cos it kept coming and coming, steadily forming a near-perfect Mr Whippy style cone.
Alex just sighed, opened one eye and looked as me as if to say
"Do you want chocolate sprinkles and raspberry sauce with than dad?" then fell back to sleep.
Not proud. - online confessions. I like this one. Go and absolve yourself, then read all about the filthy antics of others. The 'best of year one' ebook is excellent. Often hilarious, sometimes quite sad.
Monday afternoon, and the pro-plus have just run out... I'm pretty whacked again today, but its worth it cos I had quite a good weekend.
Wendy hasn't been sleeping at all well since Alex arrived and coupled with the baby blues, she's up and down like a yo-yo at the mo. I thought that having a night off with some decent kip might help her feel a bit better so I bundled her off to her mum and dads for the night on Saturday, while I'd stay at home with Alex.
I didn't really have any plans, maybe a bit of gaming and an early night, but when I got home and it was just me and Alex, I was hit by the most amazing feeling of responibility and love for the little dude. It was really the first time I'd had chance to sit down and think about the last few weeks since he was born. I sat looking at him try and exert some measure of coordination over his limbs and wondered what he was thinking... What does he think when he see, touches, tastes or smells something new, I mean, for the next year or so, hes like on this adventure where every day something he's never experienced will happen. Can you imagine what that must be like?
It felt great thinking about all the cool stuff I'll have to show him when he's a bit older! I couldn't wait so I decided we should have a boys night in, stay up late, drink, play games. So thats exactly what we did. We threw caution to the wind and would have burnt Wendys 'Contented little Gina-Bot' book... if we could find it. The only routine tonight was going to be fun!..... oh and feeding and nappy changing too.
I flicked the radio on to keep Alex occupied while I tidied up a bit and Judge Jules was coming to the end of his show, when he plays some half decent tracks. He played the new Kernkraft track, which although it sounds remarkably like Zombie Nation, which I hated, it was just what we needed to get the party started. I was just teaching him the finer art of being in a whistle posse when two of my best buddies, Sean and Ants (who are brothers) rang to see what I was up to. The conversation was short and went something like. Me and Alex here, Wendy not, neighbours away, new games, bring more beer... So they did.
We had a great night, so did Wendy, who slept in till 10am by all accounts, getting her dad to bring her breakfast in bed etc.... The only sad thought I have is about the fact until Jessica was about 3, I was away a lot while serving as a Weapons Engineer in the Royal Navy. I didn't think so at the time, you get sort of conditioned to not seeing your family and friends for 6 months at a time, but I missed out on *so* much with her....
A midwife told me a few weeks ago that after birth, a chemical is released to mums brain to make them 'forget' how painful labour is, so, when contemplating having another offspring, the prospect of giving birth and passing something the size of a grapefruit through something the size of a walnut is kinda rose tinted and not so bad at all really.
Anyway, the point I'm getting to... rather slowly.. is that I forgot how tired you get in the first few months... I said to Wendy that she should have a few days rest and that I'd get up to feed Alex in the night...after all, its not that bad.... HA HA HA
The net result is that I'm sat at my desk surrounded by empty coffee cups and a half empty box of Pro-Plus...4 nights of getting up at midnight, 3am and 6am have left me feeling like that bloke looks in the Conflakes ad when he wakes up. I'd go and stand outside in the freezing rain for a bit if I could be arsed....Why does Columbia have to be so bloody far away.
On a good note (as far as Alex and the makers of SMA are concerned) the health visitor came today to check that Wendy and Alex were ok and to see how much he weighs.
Apparently, most babys loose up to 10 percent of their birthweight in the first 2 weeks.. except Alex... He's now 8lb and getting through 25 ounces of milk a day (20oz/day is normal)
According to my mum, I was such a hungry baby that I had to have a bit of Farleys rusk mashed up in my bottle on the day I was born, Alex would probably do the same, but experts reckon that giving solids to a newborn too early can seriously increase the chances of cot death.... I'm lucky to be alive, apparently.
On that I think I'll go and celebrate the fact that I'm still around by having a double expresso and a Pro-Plus chaser.... Cheers!
Well... Alex is 2 weeks old today and already there have been loads of changes in the way he looks, acts and umm.. smells.
He's a lot more alert during the day now, apparently he can clearly see about 30cm or so. He's discovered his thumb and sometimes manages to get it in his mouth.... purely due to the fact that the law of averages states that if you move your head and hand randomly with your mouth open, at some point your thumb will fall in.... unless you make a fist... which he tries to suck all the same.
We've had lots of conflicting, well meaning advice from everyone from the lady next door to the health visitor. Fortunately, having done this before, I know to ignore most of it, but Wendy finds it all a bit puzzling some times.
One example is about soothing newborns by swaddling them snugly in a blanket... pants.
Alex hates blankets anywhere near him. He's a little inferno. If he could voice his opinion, he'd probably prefer to sleep in a blanketless cot with a sheet of ice for a mattress and the windows wide open.
Some other things we've discovered are:
He likes being in the car.
He likes Pink Floyd.
He doesn't like the engine FX on Colin Mcrae Rally 3
One thing I've found is that everyone wants your money when you have a baby. I've been looking around for some information about baby development. 99% of the sites I looked at are either selling advice books or just crappy sites selling baby clothes, food, toys etc.
Speaking of books, Wendy bought a book some time ago, lured by the promise of baby sleeping through the night earlier etc. Its called the The New Contented Little Baby Book. Its written by an ex midwife called Gina Ford whos supposed to be like some all powerful baby guru. Call me old fashioned, but would you buy a book written by someone who looks like the progeny of Cleetus and his sister? Me neither.
I think that in a former life, or maybe even this one, Gina was some kind of Sergeant-Major drill instructor hell-bent on turning our children into a global army of Gina-Bots. Talk about a Nazi regime!! I'll try and transcript some of the pages when I get home so you can see what I mean.
