Circadian Shift

Electronic:

• 20 Jazz Funk Greats breaks out the jackhammers with DJ Hell; you too can dance like a crazed robot in the privacy of your own home
• Music Forest has two mixes (including a healthy dose of acid) from DJ REM
• Mystery and Misery links to Robots in the Skies, a weekly radio programme out of Rochester, NY that makes their latest show available for download

Not electronic:

• music for robots features the decidedly un-robotic California Guitar Trio
• Last Sounds of Summer posts some Philip Glass; although not explicitly mentioned by LSOS, the track is from the album Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass, which I would happily recommend as a worthwhile addition to your collection
• A Best Truth links to some Cannonball Adderley (although the first link is 404)

People who've been reading this blog for the last year or so will have observed that I don't post nearly as much (if anything) about business and technology as I used to.

There've been a couple reasons for that, some of which I'd rather not go into. But one of the things that I'd hinted at, way back on the eve of my Second Blogiversary, was that I'd made a decision on which direction Circadian Shift was going to take in terms of its subject matter.

So, finally (having taken decidedly more than "a few weeks to implement"), I've got me a brand new blog...

Clicks & Notes is my new "work" blog, where I plan to keep track of all those job-related things (IA, web design, project management, etc.) that I used to post about in those great big mind-boggling lists back in late 2003 to early 2004. Just nice, uncontroversial* business and technology linkage, and me on my best behaviour with no swearing, whining, or silliness.

Everything else stays here.

Obviously, it remains to be seen how well I'll be able to maintain two blogs. It's highly unlikely that Clicks & Notes will be the same biztech linkage firehose that happened 'round here about a year ago. I'll just have to start slow and see what happens.

Anyway, feel free to check out Clicks & Notes (there's not too much there as of right now, but that'll change in a day or two). There is, of course, an RSS feed that you can subscribe to also.

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* "Uncontroversial" means that any linkage relating to the more, uh, difficult interpersonal aspects of working life will also stay here.

At long last, Brett has his Dufferin Mall Experience pictorial online.

The other DuffXers, Maria, Jamie, Eva, and Dave, have also weighed in with commentary and pics.

Ah, memories...

Welcome to the worst day of the year. You look like you could use some music. Something cheerful, for sure.

Newly uploaded to Circadian Shift: The Outpost are these two 90s-era tunes with a retro twist:

• "It's a Beautiful Day" by Pizzicato Five (MP3; 4,167 KB) -- upbeat 60s-tinged girl-group-esque J-Pop from the ever retro-friendly Pizzicato Five; this track is from their cheerfully titled disc 'Happy End of the World'
• "Tori" by The Ananda Shankar Experience (MP3; 7,758 KB) -- this super-groovy tune comes from Ananda Shankar's last album, 'Walking On'; think of what the soundtrack might have been like if Frankie and Annette shot a beach movie in Bombay

So, go on and shake, shimmy, and do a 1000 dances -- if nothing else, it'll help keep you warm.

BTW, after checking my site stats, I'm pleased to see that more than half of the visitors coming here are not using Internet Explorer:

As for the other 45% of you: why are you still using IE? Why? Why?

I've been happily using Firefox as my default browser for the last several months now, and it rocks. And don't forget that you can still use Firefox on a Windows PC where you don't have "install" privileges.

Not convinced? Visit Browse Happy to find out why you shouldn't use IE and to learn about some of your web-browsing alternatives.

New stuff:

• scenestars sneaks out some limited release Aphex Twin
• 20 Jazz Funk Greats features Caribou (the DJ formerly known as 'Manitoba')
• Nuclear Beef has some "post-techno" (huh?) by Cannibal Cooking Club and Tomas Nordstrom
• Kenneth Trax destroys the world with a bassline from RLF
• and, while not super-new, I only just discovered that Ursula 1000 has a couple free tracks (released in 2002) available for download from their site (look under 'Media')

Old stuff:

• blogalive continues the New Wave rampage with Thomas Dolby and Oingo Boingo
• silence is a rhythm two is a slave to the rhythm, courtesy of Grace Jones
• Music Forest has a mix by Underworld from 1996
• david f posts some Nina Hagen
• a best truth lays on the ska with The Specials, Bad Manners, Judge Dread, and Doreen Shaffer
• Revolution Classic strikes fool's gold with The Stone Roses
• Evigan Funk mixes up the hip-hop and reggae with Sly & Robbie

New stuff that sounds like old stuff:

• moe rex goes electroclash with tunes from Agent Provocateur, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Alter Ego
• scenestars features "the band to watch this year" known as The Bravery (see also previous scenestars postings here and here); my take on the band's music can be found in the comments to this post

Today was the day that I attended the second biennial Dufferin Mall Experience, with Brett, Eva, Maria, Dave, and Jamie, plus various dimunitive plastic and plush companions. There was much fun and hijinks (Toys 'r' Us! Dollarama! Churritos!) to be had by all.

Brett's preliminary writeup and pics are here; however, he won't have the main pictorial up for a few days.

In the meantime you can amuse yourself by viewing a few shots (some very blurry) that I made with the keychain cam.

Props to All Things Christie for introducing me to the Flashtoon Neurotically Yours.

Neurotically Yours features the antics of Foamy the Squirrel and his human friend Germaine, as well as lots of ranting. And coffee. And cream cheese.

(Obviously, because these are Flashtoons, you need Flash installed and sound enabled on your computer.)

Meanwhile, it is already after Noon and I am still in my pyjamas. Really must try to get out of The Hovel while there's still some daylight left in the sky.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Addendum 14 January 2005: There are also a handful of Foamy the Squirrel MP3s available for free download at Amazon.com (registration required), including the 'Fat-kins Diet' rant. Oh, and I did get out of the apartment before sundown yesterday. Today too. Go, me.

This is now the third day in a row that I have not dragged myself outside before the sun went down.

I also didn't get to bed until sometime after 5 this morning.

Oops.

Retro:

• blogalive's "Big 80's" theme week has morphed into a "New Wave" theme week, with live recordings from The Psychedelic Furs and Gary Numan
• La Blogotheque posts three songs from The Style Council
• Gutterbreakz profiles acid pioneer Gerald Simpson and features several tracks from 808 State and A Guy Called Gerald
• fire of rock features the early pub rock stylings of Ducks Deluxe; founding member Nick Garvey later went on to form The Motors
• and surely you must be wondering, whatever happened to Men Without Hats? largeheartedboy points to the article that puts you out of your misery

Not retro:

• music for robots posts the final track from Orbital's final album
• I've been listening to a streaming web radio station called SwissGroove for the last few days; they offer a nice blend of soul, funk, jazz-fusion, and downtempo electronica which makes for pleasant daytime listening

As noted on boing boing, Merlin Man of 43 Folders has expanded on his concept of the Hipster PDA with this article on how to organize it. There are some good tips there that I'll have to try out.

I've been using mine since the fall, and I like it. I also came up with a wee modification of my own...

The Hipster Mini works just like the regular Hipster PDA, but instead of using index cards, it uses blank business cards:

I like both sizes; the Mini version is good for when you want to travel super-light, or record very small thoughts :)

And here are some some shots I took of my regular Hipster PDA and Hipster Mini, side-by-side (shot with the keychain-cam, so they're a bit off-centre and blurry):

Also, I'm using a 3/4" fold-back clip for the regular Hipster, while the Mini sports a 9/16" clip. I find it makes for a very cute little card stack.

More MP3s:

• blogalive is currently running an 80's week, and thus far has featured tunes by The Police, U2, Joe Jackson, and Elvis Costello
• An Idiot's Guide to Dreaming has a few tracks by sound-bite collage/cut-up artists Steinski and Mass Media

Music-related visuals:

• The Museum of Bad Album Covers (via Way Down Here)
• Babies Who Rock features photos of rock stars taken when they were children -- the ones of Tommy Lee are hilarious (via MetaFilter)

boingboing points to this newly launched blog:

Circadiana: "This blog will be dedicated to tracking and commeting on the advances in the study of biological time, mainly circadian rhythms, but also other aspects of temporal biology, e.g., developmental timing."

Whoohoo! And the first post, "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sleep (But Were Too Afraid To Ask)" is an informative (and lengthy) read.

When eating a meatball sub while wearing a freshly laundered cream-coloured shirt, you really should pay attention to what you are doing.

More laundry required.

Some recent goodies from various MP3 blogs:

• grapeJuiceplus has two tracks from 80s electro-industrial beat-meisters Front 242
• Spoilt Victorian Child features Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Roxy Music
• búscate un novio links to audio and video files from Siouxsie and the Banshees
• and, for a change of pace, scenestars has some funky jazz-fusion by The Crusaders