Off To The Brits – For Free!

I got to hang up on a DJ and they still called back and gave Mel tickets, travel and hotel for two to the Brit awards. A good morning all round. Mel had voted online for acts on the Brit Awards site and won tickets for voting.

We’re just waiting to find out what time we need off work. They guy on the phone wanted to speak to Mel but wouldn’t say who it was citing some vague Data Protection reason, not being a morning person I decided they obviously weren’t that interested in talking to Mel so I poilitely informed them I was hanging up on them and put the phone down.

Luckily (for us) they must be used to it and weren’t easily detterred and called back

Fingers crossed for a free bar – haha.

Feeder at the M Club in Crewe

A Valentines Day gig at the M Club in Crewe to see Feeder play another sell-out venue. The venue itself was pretty good, shame about the area it’s in but we did only see it in the dark.

Feeder played a great set as usual mixing in their older (and equally good) material and finishing as always with their signature tune Just a Day. I did comment to Mel though that I could stand to go see them just once where they didn’t play that track to finish, not b’cus I don’t like it, it’s one of my fav tracks, more so we could say we went to the one gig they didn’t play it at

Also got to listen to a cool up & coming band from Bournemouth called Fearne. Check them out at the fearnemusic website and keep an eye out for them in future, they put on a good show, more enjoyable than the local Crewe band that followed them that had an okay sound bu the vocals let them down. Would have been better with the supports playing the other way around.

Anyway, another smashing gig by Feeder that goes to show why they are my favourite album and live band.

Waking Up The Neighbours

Boredom can be very bad, very bad indeed. Especially bad to your credit card when it’s a Saturday and your plans have once again been spoilt by the weather. It can lead you to do crazy things, the deperation to do something can even result in you heading out to look at electronic drum kits because your other half has always wanted one (and partly because your dream of unlocking your inner rock god was shattered when you realised you’re crap at guitar).

One short trip later and we were back with a set of Alesis DM5 Pro Kit drums, the guy at the shop split the kit with the Surge cymbals, but unfortunately gave us the wrong cymbals so for the moment we’re stuck without them.

The kit took around about an hour to assemble, though this is just the time necessary to get everything bolted together. Once it’s actually up there’s almost an infinite amount of adjustment that can be made to each item to suit the player/playing style. It’s pretty high quality and the sound, through headphones at the moment, is good enough from our perspective for Mel to learn on.

It’s also fairly quiet, though you can hear it from a few rooms away but only a bit. The main problem is the noise caused by using the kick pedal travelling through the floor and adjoining walls. A bit of padding/proofing should take care of that though.

We’re waiting until we get the cymbals to give it a proper test but we’re more than happy with it for now.

Always Forgetting the Milk?

If your anything like me then you have a million and one things you need/want/ought to be doing right now, and most nights your lying awake thinking about all those things, trying to remember them. Jotting down lists on scraps of paper which are then misplaced, discarded or become redundant and out-of-date.

I’ve tried a number of task management programs but after loading them with tasks I then fail to follow through with them. In lieu of the availability of an iPhone version of Pocket Informant I’ve opted for the popular and well designed web application ‘Remember the Milk’ (RTM). Accounts for the web application are free but for a small fee you can upgrade to a pro account which gives you access to tools for GMail and an iPhone application.

First impressions of the iPhone/iPod Touch application are very positive. The screen icon can display the number of todays incomplete tasks and auto-updates are possible (I’ve set mine to only sync over wi-fi). The app buttons at the bottom switch between tasks for Today, Tomorrow, This Week and all of the task Lists along with configuration and settings accessed by the More button.

Using iPhone location services RTM can also suggest tasks you’ve set locations for, based on your proximity to these locations.

Power Support Anti-Glare Film for iPhone

A big fan of screen protectors having owned a number of PDA’s and other handheld devices with large screens, getting screen protection for the iPhone was a must straight from the off. I bought the anti-glare films (two in the pack) for a tenner at the same time as the phone.

That might sound a bit much to some and I’ll admit I’ve purchased the cheaper variety from eBay for previous devices but these films are worth the fiver each. The anti-glare version is great for cutting down reflective glare when using the phone in bright outdoor conditions and it also adds a really nice feel to the screen which actually makes it even easier and nicer to use.

The set also comes with a third film strip which is applied to the screen and then removed to lift remainng dust from the surface before applying one of the proper strips.

If you haven’t already got one fitted to your iPhone then what are you waiting for?