Upcoming music: Carnival Star

My friend Producer Mark is behind a brand new musical project called Carnival Star.

Carnival Star is a post-punk / gothic rock studio project assisted by a collective of musicians and very soon (as in a few days) you'll be able to hear some of the fruits of a several-month long period of blood, sweat & tears.

I was asked (quite foolishly, given that I talk such a lot of rubbish) to lend a few words of support for a Carnival Star promotional drive. Here's what part of that drive looks like:

If you want to learn more about Carnival Star, use the links below.

http://carnival-star.com

http://www.twitter.com/Carnival_Star

http://www.facebook.com/CarnivalStar

https://soundcloud.com/Carnival-Star

UPDATE: since this blog post went live, you can now buy two tracks by Carnival Star on Bandcamp right here: http://carnivalstar.bandcamp.com/

Why I couldn't watch Netflix tonight.

Me: *turns on PC to watch Netflix*
PC: Hi. Sorry, but I have a bunch of important updates...
Me: Really? I only want to watch a film. Does it have to be done this precise moment?
PC: Yeah, it's kinda urgent stuff, really...
Me: Okay then, but be real quick about this. I'm off out tonight, I just want to have an hour to myself before I rush about getting ready...
PC: No probs. Hit OK and I'll get on with it.
Me: *clicks the OK button and let's it get on with it.
PC: I need to restart.
Me: Of course you do...here, I'll restart you *sigh*
PC: *restarts, does stuff, restarts itself again, gets to logon screen. 20 painful minutes have passed.*
Me: Okay, logged in. Can I watch my damn film now?
PC: I have an important update.
Me: FFS!!! You just installed a ton of them and took your damn time doing it! Why is there one more? Couldn't you have just installed it before?
PC: No, because...well...look, I just couldn't. You wouldn't understand. It's really tiny, only 379Kb, it'll take no time at all, honest.
Me: *sigh* OKAY. Get it done. I'm running out of damn time here.
PC: *update takes unusually long time to download 379Kb*
Me: REALLY? REALLY????
PC: I'm working on it-don't pressure me! .........OKAY. IT'S DONE.
Me: *by now, near to tears* Can I watch the film now please???
PC: Yes of course, no problem. I just need to reboot first...
Me: *Says nothing. Reboots. Smoke leaks from ears. Logs on.*
PC: Hi...
Me: *Turns off Windows Update.*

Ministry of Dipshit Legal Maneouvres.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23956750#

In which a record label that produces compilation albums but doesn't own the rights to the music it uses, sues a streaming service because it can be used by people to compile playlists which can replicate the order in which tracks might appear on their compilation albums.

Life imitating an Ally McBeal episode, much?
Get a fucking grip, record companies. You're practically dead in the water as it is.

Vapour Trials.

Today, the fate of E-cigarettes and their use in the UK hangs in the balance. Its (rather badly) reported on here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22867161.

For their part, the BBC are doing a very good job at demonising the use of E-cigs-the focus on their mission today must be 'Go tabloid or go home'.

 

I've been a user of them since March and I haven't been near all but two real cigarettes in all that time. They're a real godsend as far as I'm concerned. But this new found method of making me last a few more years for the sake of the kids is predictably, under fire from the ever more sinister and growing police state that is the UK & European superpowers.

There are two issues which I understand as being problems:

1.      There are no age restrictions on buying e-cigs. Of course, manufacturers are being real dicks about it and making brightly coloured e-cigs to deliberately attract younger customers. This needs to stop, seriously.
And all governemt. has to do? Restrict the age limit for buying them, just like cigarettes. Done.

2.      There are no controls on what goes into e-cig juice. All sorts of stuff could be in them (albeit no more dangerous than the cr@p already in real cigarettes I might add). There are also no controls on monitoring how much nicotine is actually in them-just because ot says 18mg on the bottle, is it REALLY 18mg?
So fine, regulate that. Nobody really wants to inhale unmonitored poison anyway. I'd rather my e-cig juice was made properly.

What the EU & UK *won't* do is either of the above. They'll likely address the issue by banning general sale altogether and make it far more difficult to buy other than online from unregulated suppliers, and anything they do allow you to buy will be so hiked up in price that it would be cheaper to start smoking again. Which keeps that tax rolling in.

Unsurprisingly, this subject has been handled far better overseas outside of Europe.
I'd love for the UK & EU busy-bodies to prove me wrong, but let's face it; at about 1pm GMT today, they probably won't.

World Goth Fair: It turned out ever so slightly better than we expected...

So, World Goth Fair in Second Life has pretty much now come to a close. the Cursed event is shut, Port Seraphine is still open for the moment.

The initial figures are in and there will be a blog post on the WGF website tomorrow, But what I can tell you now is that right at the 11th hour we apparently broke the *1 million Linden Dollar barrier*, which in real currency terms is over $3500 (or over £2500).

Of that, a staggering 83360L was made in the licensed t-shirts due to 2084 separate sales of 40L per shirt (there appears to be a lot of gamblers in Second Life). This comes to over $300 or £200.

Obviously, this isn't the final figure, is approximate & doesn't take into consideration the commission cuts that Linden Labs & Paypal will take, but I think you'll agree that this is a pretty hefty sum. The final figures will be available to us soon enough, but...WOW.

On a shopping mission (or, Children Of The Quorn)

I couldn't think of anything funny to say about this; it writes its own jokes.
It's the dark overlord of goth Wayne Hussey doing his shopping.
You're welcome.

 

All my Mixcloud mixes, ever...