Get your dose of retro action in this video! The Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC 464, 1541 disk drive, Sony Walkman, D&D, Sodastream and various other memories of the 80’s all make an appearance. Might not be safe for work though. You’ve been warned! 🙂
An introduction video used for a couple of our concerts as a kick starter. A tribute to C64 and the 80s – and Benni Benassi’s “Satisfaction”
This blew me away the first time I heard it. The title tune of classic C64 game Wizball recreated by Reyn Ouwehand. You could watch the embedded movie, but for the full stereo HD experience take a look at the high quality version on Youtube. Reyn explains why he did it:
I also play this track in my C64 live-set but then I got some beats and the arpeggios coming out of Ableton Live. During the live show I couldn’t get Ableton to work and it kept on crashing on me and then Leoni challenged me to do it acoustically without the computer. And so I did….
Truth be told I never got too far in Wizball. It’s a strange shoot-em-up that has many fans and I’m strangely intrigued by it.
There’s even a remake of Wizball for the Mac and Windows. I’ve played it on the Mac and it’s brilliant. The title tune (by Infamous is spot on, graphics are stunning, and gameplay is as I remember it. Very odd and just a bit frustrating and hard.
You can read more about Wizball here or even download the original game on the Commodore 64 too.
C64 fans, get that guitar out and play along to your favourite SID tunes with Shredz64. It uses a small circuit called the PSX64 interface to connect Playstation controllers to the old Atari or DB9 joystick interface on old computers like the C64, Amiga, Atari ST, Speccy (with the right interface itself!)..
There are two videos, the first is an explanation of the whole thing, showing the C64 connected to the Guitar Hero guitar and the game loading SID files off a disk. The second video, after the jump, is a demo of Shredz64 itself. Not quite as fancy as Guitar Hero or it’s ilk, but impressive enough!
Continue reading “Shredz64 – Guitar Gero on the Commodore 64”
Saor Patrol, a Scottish band “with their vibrant pipe tunes and drum rhythms [that] please and excite many a crowd” certainly lived up to their reputation when they played for the crowds in front of Brown Thomas on Patrick Street this afternoon.
I came upon them when they were nearly finished but the few minutes of music I heard was exciting and lively, and my son Adam totally enjoyed the spectacle. When the crowd clapped in appreciation, Adam joined in, and almost jumped out of his buggy to dance to the beat!
They were playing in Cork City Hall today as part of the Your Mental Health awareness campaign by the HSE. Depression and other mental health problems still have an awful stigma in this country. People can be reluctant to talk about those problems, families and friends hide them away, or pretend they don’t exist, but they’re health problems like any other. With the right treatment at the right time most people can be helped.
Listening to Saor Patrol certainly lifted my spirits. I was tired and worn down but their music reinvigorated me!
Edit – I was wrong. The mental health event they were promoting is a Scientology event. Not a HSE one. Can’t believe those maniacs managed to hire out City Hall. I definitely do not want to have anything to do with that crowd. Ugh.
“Léim Thart” le Des Bishop ag canadh ag Oireachtas na Samhna 2007 i gCathair na Mart. It’ll be on RTE 1 tonight on “In the Name of the Fada” at 10:15pm if you want to catch a probably better version. I can barely make out any of the song in any of the Youtube videos of his performances I watched this morning!
Fair dues to him for taking on the Irish language. Takes a foreigner to show the Irish how to make it popular! 🙂
My 7 month old son, Adam watched this video after breakfast and barely moved his eyes from the screen. I think he’s a Daft Punk fan. Cool.
Via Scott
All bow before the dance sensation that is Snowball the Cockatoo. Watch him move to the rhythm of “Everybody” by Backstreet Boys. If you like that, you might like As Long As You Love Me too!
There is a serious side to this however. From the original Youtube description:
Not my video but I felt that it had to be posted on youtube to draw attention to an important issue, Bird rescues and sanctuaries.This is a video of a medium sulphur crested Eleanora cockatoo named Snowball living at the Bird Lovers Only Rescue in Schererville, Indiana. Snowball loves the Back Street boys and has taught himself to dance to their song “Everybody.” Bird Lovers Only Rescue needs reliable volunteers to help on Tuesday and/or Friday evenings. They are a donation-based not for profit bird rescue. There is tons of useful information about parrots on their blog. To see their Website, Blog and birds ready for adoption go to:
- http://www.birdloversonly.org/
- http://birdloversonly.blogspot.com/
- http://www.birdloversonly.org/bladopt.shtml
I hope this draws attention to their cause. Fortunately there are some really great people running these rescues. As we all know, all to often parrots are abused. There is also another wonderful Youtuber OverTheRaynbow who also runs a sanctuary. To view her videos click here: http://www.youtube.com/user/OverTheRaynbow
Think back to what you were doing 16 years ago in 1991. Can’t remember? Surely you haven’t forgotten “Everything I Do, I do It For You” by Bryan Adam from the Robin Hood soundtrack already? It was number 1 in many countries all over the world for several weeks. It was played off the air in Ireland where it stayed in the number 1 position for 9 weeks if I recall correctly.
How do I know this? I know it was 1991 because a music channel played this song last night, and I remember it because I was working in a bookshop for a few weeks at the end of August that year. We used to have the radio on, and Larry Gogan’s “Number 1 at 1” slot played this song every single day. Thankfully my hatred for “Everything I Do” has been dulled with time, but the memory of sorting through Leaving Cert exam papers in a dusty attic accompanied by the rough voice of Mr Bryan Adam will never leave me ..
Thanks to Ray Foley I have Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” going through my head all the time. Just a bit of fun for your auditory organs on a cold Wednesday night.
JD, the main character in the tv series Scrubs is a huge fan of Journey. The same song made an appearance in that show too. Just try to ignore JD’s preachy soppy talk over bits
Posting has been light on this blog because I’m too darned busy but check out the photo of my son Adam I posted on my photoblog today. Yes, I may be biased but I love that picture, an uncropped version is my desktop background!
You either know immediately what this video is or you’re going to be hopelessly lost ..
Yes, Fun Lovin’ Criminals and their first hit, “Scooby Snacks”. Marvellous tune. I saw them when they played in Cork a few years ago and unfortunately they sucked because the sound quality was crap. Brilliant band recorded, not so great live. *sigh*
They do however deserve an award for the most gratuitous use of bikini clad young ladies in a music video for Loco: