The Cheerful Insanity of Me

This is an interesting idea:


The c))motion screen

Basically it's ventilation covered by a plastic material that behaves in a similar way to bi-metalic strips. i.e. When it gets warm they bend and the ventilation opens.

And here it is in action:

Direct link

This has to be the most amazing thing ever...

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(Direct Link)

I enjoy the occasional alcoholic drink and there are times when I have a few too many, but in general I don't enjoy being drunk.

As with many teenagers who start to become able to purchase alcohol (whether legally or not), I went through the whole drink vast quantities to prove how much I could hold my drink when I was younger. The upshot of which was generally, however much you can take, you drink far more than this, end up losing most of your inhibitions, being very ill, spending far too much and not remembering any of it in the morning making it a utter waste of time.

Saw this advert at the cinema recently, which seems to cover the point quite well:

(Direct Link)

As I've grown up, I've opted to drink less, but move towards spending a bit more for something that actually tastes nice. Whereas, my aim as a teenager was to get drunk, now it's just to enjoy the drink. If I drink too much then it's because I've not being paying attention to how much I've drunk rather than because I've been deliberately aiming to drink that much and even then I don't get near the states I got into as a teenager.

However, even as a grown adult you still get into situations where peer pressure is pushing you to drink more than you really want.

Recently I ended up the pub with some friends, I had a pint and socialised for a bit, but not feeling like I wanted a second I wandered off for a bit, returning about 2 hours later. By that time they'd had a few more pints and were quite merry, which is obviously up to them if they want to.

From what I gathered when I got back, there had been a few of them buying drinks for another member of the group. Nothing wrong with that in itself as it's just friendly. However, what they'd been doing was buying doubles without telling her, which has been bothering me since I found out. If someone chooses to get drunk that's one thing, but if others around them are actively seeking to make them drunk then that's going against their free will.

You hear many horror stories of people who have had things like Rohipnol placed in their drink. While I'm fairly sure that no one here was trying to take advantage in that way, placing extra alcohol in someones drink is still the same abuse of someone's free will even if the result is more socially acceptable.

For all I know they could have all been perfectly happy with the situation. I didn't really stick around very long afterwards to find out.

To me, being drunk isn't a fun state to be in, so actively seeking to get someone else drunk is just seeking to make a fool out of them. How can that possibly be a good thing?

Haven't posted about an album for a while, so have a bit of a pile of CDs next to the computer now.

Continuing on the recent theme of albums that were big when I was a teenager, the next in the pile is Skunk Anansie's debut Paranoid & Sunburnt. The album is basically political hard rock with a funk edge to it. It's this edge that gives it the real interest and sets Skunk Anansie apart from other groups performing metal protest songs.

It helps that Skin's vocal style seems ideally suited to this, being able to pull off soulful melodies as in "100 Ways To Be A Good Girl" and more punchy agressive stuff as in "All In The Name Of Pity" and "Little Baby Swastikkka". Although it does make her absolutely terrifying.

Not a band for subtly though and the messages of all their tracks are rammed down your throat from the opening of each track right through to the end, kicking out violently at politics and religion. Most of the tracks are a interesting listen whether you share their sentiment or not though.

Highlights of the album include the singles "Selling Jesus" and "Weak" as well as "100 Ways to be A Good Girl" and "It Takes Blood & Guts to be this Cool, but I'm Still Just a Cliche".

You don't actually get to see music videos when listening to CDs of albums, but as "I Can Dream" has such a cool one with bendy wavy mirrory effects, I'm going to share it with you anyway:

(direct link)

All in all, Paranoid & Sunburnt doesn't seem to hold together as well as Stoosh or Post-Orgasmic Chill, but it certainly shows the direction Skunk Anansie were heading in.

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This is clearly what I'm missing by not having a TV.

No idea which side it is on there though. It was apparently Moulton Morris (and if I'd actually paid attention to the link I followed to find it, I would have known that, oops)

The introduction to this is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen

A human thunderstorm, excellent!

It then dissolves into an acapella version of Toto's "Africa", which is ok if you like that sort of thing, but nowhere near as interesting as those first couple of minutes.

(via mud_faerie)

This looks like fun:

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(via @LDN)

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For those of you that missed it

Ooooooooo....

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(via sapphorlando in progrock)

and even better Mike Walter's Melloman

*wonders off in search of old walkmans*

It's amazing how big fads can get. The latest fad diet in Japan has apparently increased demand for bananas by around 25-27%, according to inventorfeed.

The general principle behind the morning banana diet, is unsurprisingly, that breakfast basically consists entirely of bananas and water.

No idea whether there's any scientific grounding for this or even if it actually works, but it does have this amusing promotional video:

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(via inventorfeed)