SpaCeMonKeY UK

Madness - Mad Not Mad (1985)

Album Project update! Madness's sixth studio album, 'Mad Not Mad' (1985), the only one not to feature Mike Barson. Though I like some of the songs on here, some of them really aren't that 'mad'. For instance, 'Burning the Boats' is almost completely electronic. The only thing that makes it sound like Madness is Suggs singing on it. It's very 80's, very... polished. I've always liked 'White Heat', but I guess the most famous song on here is 'Uncle Sam'. Or maybe 'Yesterday's Men'. Or 'Sweetest Girl'. All of which charted in the Top 40. This album has a lot of songs on it that seem to be about goodbyes. Perhaps they made it knowing it was to be their last album for more than 10 years...

Labels: 1985, Album Project, Mad Not Mad, Madness

Madness - Keep Moving (1984)

Album Project update! Realised I never finished posting about Madness albums, and since they've released a new one I thought I should get on with it! 'Keep Moving' (1984) was their fifth studio album. If 'The Rise & Fall' was a bit more experimental, this is a bit more polished, less ska, more mainstream perhaps. The only song on it you're likely to have heard is 'Michael Caine'. But that's actually a song I'm not so keen on, I've never figured out why. I like 'Victoria Gardens' a lot, for equally unknown reasons. The album has a song on it about a boy who hides in a fridge and gets trapped. It's the last album to feature Mike Barson until their 1999 comeback album - he wasn't part of the lineup for 'Mad Not Mad'. Hmm... I'm pretty much out of facts now. :) Though I like the enthusiasm of their earlier albums, this is probably one of the albums I've listened to more. They're much more grown up. Much more accomplished in what they're doing. But not quite as much fun...

Labels: 1984, Album Project, Keep Moving, Madness

David Bowie - The Next Day (2013)

So, since I was last doing the Album Project two of the artists have released new albums - Madness and David Bowie. I've listened to both a lot of times now, but this is what I think about the David Bowie album! 'The Next Day' (2013), a 24th album, released 10 years after his last. Recorded in secret, a big surprise to everyone, but is it actually good? Is everyone just so happy that a legend has produced something new that they're praising something that, well, isn't actually worth listening to? Well, no. This is definitely an album worth having. You can tell that David Bowie's getting on - he doesn't have the range he used to, his voice is a bit more vibrato, but it's still wonderful to listen to. Some of the tracks (like 'Dirty Boys') have some fine saxophone on them, too. I'm not sure what my favourite songs on here are, a few of them have ended up stuck in my head. Like '(You Will) Set The World On Fire'. I think the more I listen to this album the more I appreciate it. And worth getting the deluxe version with the three extra tracks. So, not his finest album, but still a worthy addition to his 24 albums!

Labels: 2013, Album Project, David Bowie, The Next Day

Broken Sword on Android!

So, after last time's mini rant I thought I would play a proper game on my phone. Sadly a lot of the point and click games of my youth have only made it to ios, but Broken Sword 1 and 2 are on the Play Store. Broken Sword was never as good as Monkey Island but it was still a great game. Always felt the ending was a little rushed, but still. Before the series went 3D it was well worth a play. This Android version has updated graphics and a few extra bits, so there are things that you won't know how to do even if you've played it before. Not that I could remember all the solutions anyway! My verdict? Buy it and give a proper game a chance. Compared to most Android games it's brilliant. And even better, Broken Sword 2 is also available. And they've Kickstarter funded a new game! Oooh.

Labels: Adventure, Android, Broken Sword, Classic, Revolution Software

Candy Crush Saga!!!

Ok, so I started playing Candy Crush Saga. I got stuck on Level 33 for ages, and now I'm stuck on Level 34. It's not even fun. Just addictive. And I have a horrible feeling they sucked me in then made the difficulty curve insane to try and get me to spend money. 30 quid on a charm? I think not!

There has been a fair bit in the news lately about microtransactions. Why do I think 13 quid for a Final Fantasy game on Android is a bit much when it would actually be good? What are you really achieving if you're spending money to win at something? I have never liked free to play, there's always a catch. Otherwise they wouldn't be making money. But there has to be a better way...

Maybe we should all fork out a little bit of money to game developers and encourage those who aren't making irritating 'free' games!

Labels: Android, Candy Crush, Free to Play, King, Puzzle

Crawling babies and other animals

Wow, I haven't posted since July 4th! Blogger's changed again while I've been absent. Every so often I think maybe I should use one of their templates instead of the monkey, but I made the monkey, so... Maybe not. Hmm.

Anyway, here I am. I've been working three days a week since the beginning of October. Seb's crawling now, which is interesting. He's started being very fussy about food, won't be spoon fed savoury things, and today he's hardly had any milk either. Bit worried about it but perhaps it's a temporary thing. He seems to have been working on his two top front teeth so it's possible it feels a bit weird drinking from the bottle. I don't know really. It's hard being a mum sometimes, I have no idea what I'm doing!

(I gave up breastfeeding a few weeks ago.)

Seb does sleep through the night now - woo! It's amazing how much that helps things. And he's pretty cheerful most of the time. Much better at napping in the daytime too. All in all, things are much easier now than they were. If only he would be less fussy with food and start drinking more milk again, things would be perfect!

I can't really think what has happened to me in the last four months. Still don't do a lot that's not baby related. My parents are visiting for a few days so they built a wardrobe for us today - there's another one to build tomorrow, hopefully it'll be quicker for the second one. We're hoping to go out with all the grandparents somewhere tomorrow.

It's sad when the highlight of your non-baby events is building wardrobes.

Rob's enjoying being a house husband, I think. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to working full time but we need the money, so don't have much choice. I suppose I could make Rob go and find a part time job, but that's easier said than done. And he does a good job looking after Seb. Would be even better if he had the TV on a bit less, but hey.

I have Assassin's Creed III now, not that I've had much time to play it. I think Rob has played it more than me! I guess he's not doing a lot of housework while Seb's napping. ;)

Keep thinking I should order the new Madness album. I definitely need it for my collection. Hehe...

Finally posting, did you miss me? Brought the Mac upstairs, Seb's asleep in the cot nearby and I thought I'd see if the internet connection would actually work for a while...

You'd think lots of things would have happened since last time I blogged. I guess they have, thought TBH pretty much all my life is now taken up looking after a baby! Even with Rob home (he quit his job at evil Asda) things seem hard. Seb's still not sleeping brilliantly at night and he's 5 months old now. (5 months, wow!) Still, one day he'll sleep. :)

Seb rolls, smiles, laughs, cries quite a bit, has managed to sit by himself for about 15 seconds, eats pureed food (preferably mixed with baby rice) and kind of does a creeping thing that's apparently one of the indicators of an early crawler. Yikes!

Anyway, that's about all I have to say. Hard to think coherently since Seb arrived!