What have they got above the sand? We've got a hot crustacean band!

Anyone remember the iFish? It's one of those iPod speakers where you can plug in your ipod and tap it and things and, well, it reacts differently to different music and in my case happens to be a hell of a lot louder than my laptop's set of speakers. Well, I have one, or had one, so I went looking around the house and found it at the back of the cupboard after being taken on a traumatising motorcycle ride what taught me I'm quite happy staying on my own two feet thank you very much. Half an hour later I've found a screwdriver, batteries, and the cable that plugs it into an iPod. Sure, there are loose wires, but phfpht. I doubt there's enough power in that thing to actually shock me. So... A certain former guardsman told me last night that I should update the blog, and I did a sort of pathetic post about books last night so I've deleted it, and here's a much better one about music, and the iFish.


The iFish:
This be the iFish. It's actually pretty adorable, and this is the only video I could find on youtube. I'll say particular thumbs up "If you're going to be vegetarian you should go out, because a fish is still an animal. This particular fish is catching fire right now".




Not to mention for gods' sake, that's impressive, all boom-y and flame-y and it's tail didn't melt?!

See, the iFish got a lot of bad press, and I'm not sure why. The only issue I've ever found with it is occaisionally the music gets too loud and it's little speakers start to sort of fizz and I have to turn it down for a bit but that's fine, all technology has it's twitches if you overheat them (just make sure they don't turn twitchless and you're doing great!). A little work on Google and I'm informed that the audio isn't 'stereo' and I'm not quite enough of a geek to be sure what that means but taking a wild guess I think the audio is out-dated. Not much matter, 'cause it's still loud enough to be heard - upon more research - through three walls. If my family didn't know the lyrics to a certain Amon Amarth song they do now. It's got a socket in the cable where you can plug in headphones as well instead of using it as speakers.

But as I said, aorable aesthetics - it's tail waves from side to side, and flashes multi-colours which would be soothing if it wasn't quite such a fast cycle, and if music's playing or you talk to it or stroke it's head there's coloured dots on it's head too... but the fact that it has wheels in it's flippers is irritating. If you're trying to sleep (something I discovered last night, this sleep malarky, for the first time in several months) then the gears of it rolling from side to side and eventually knocking the iPod off the table can get on your rat. I found a solution - it can't roll about on fabric.

It's fairly hardy, but I'm not going to push it. I've dropped it more than once I'm sure, and my dog once leapt at it when she was a puppy to the rather hilarious effect that she got scared when she knocked the flipper and it lit up and started moving. I have a cairn terrier - you know, small wild hairy buggers bred to chase and kill things - but even she didn't like it. She was probably behind the holes in the cable, to be fair. Poor pup.

The lights aren't too bright. Which is good if you're trying to kip. They're more calming in the dark too, and mine apparently lines up with a mirror which makes the room look like it's stuck in the Stirling Uni rock night strobe lights. Which reminds me I owe my padawan a drink at Rock Night and the Jedi-Master a drink in the summer. Moving on. I've got it playing Mercedes Lackey now, and it seems to like that, because according to the manual the pattern of lights on it's nose means it's happy. It goes a little crazy if I play something with lots of drums in it but Demonbane is fair enough. Just stroked right down it's nose and the lights changed, which was kind of cool. If I put two fingers on it shakes it's tail a lot so maybe it gets angry if you try to pick it up or something which I suppose is fair enough.

One more 'issue' is that it turns off after 20 minutes but that's debatable. If you fall asleep listening to it the shut-off point is good for your batteries. If you're awake, I guess it's easy enough to lean over and tap one of it's flippers again. All in all? 8/10 from the Lady Redjay tonight. Even if the 'Lady' part is also debatable.

The Music:
Here, I was considering reviewing a particular cd or something, but there's one or two songs I've been listening to far too much lately so I just thought I'd spam you with those a little instead. Couple lines from the song, a video, and why I like it/why I'm listening to it. Consider it something of a music rec.

1) Hold the Heathen Hammer High, by Týr


Hold the Heathen Hammer high with a battle cry
For the pagan past I live and one day will die
Hold the heathen hammer high, never turn away
Down the wayward way so far faring strangers stray

Firstly, this song is fantastically fun to sing. First try it's too fast even for me, which is something I never thought I'd ever get to say. Second, it's a snapshot of a part of my head that's been recently quite violently awakened. Literally. It's amazing what can happen - more than just what I'm saying, to be fair - if someone puts a sword in your hand, gets you a little bit drunk, and teaches you folk songs. Padawan, you have been warned, your turn next. I've already been through step one. The song reminds me of someone who knows who they are too, which is nice, 'cause the bloody Canadians stole him from us in Stirland. *hmph* It's catchy, too. Was walking around the shops singing it the other day.

2) Separate Ways, by Journey


Here we stand
Worlds apart, hearts broken in two, two, two
Sleepless nights
Losing ground
I'm reaching for you, you, you

Went to see Tron: Legacy the other day. Fell in love. Will be hunting down a copy of the original films now so I can continue my fangirlish glee. Similarly, I've also got the last five seasons of Doctor Who to watch on Doctor Who, my response to which will be a squee which will rattle the bones of everyone I know when it happens and I start marathonning. Same goes for my glee at playing Brütal Legend - brother got a PS3 for Christmas - or reading more of the Legend of Drizzt books by R.A. Salvatore but I digress. Loved Tron, but I just perked up the second this song started to play, because I've heard it before and loved it. Cue, I have been looping the song for the last couple of days and arrrgh still would loop it. It stands a lot for some of my friendships in particular, too. And I love the old 80s songs like this. *g*

3) Winds of Change, by Scorpions


The world closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close,like brothers?
The future's in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change

My Dad found this on the karaoke machine on Christmas Day, and was pleasantly surprised. So was I, because it's also on his Rock Ballad cd, and I couldn't find the cd to remember what it was called. When I first held it I fell in love with the whistle bit, and for those who understand the word it reminds me of Skraelings, and by extension, the Redjay. It's also got fantastically deep lyrics, which is always a plus, and often why I listen to a song. Lyrics, sexy vocals, fiddle music, or a good rock-y beat. Or the simple fact of it being either Celtic or composed by Murray Gold.

4) Rinzler, by Daft Punk (from the Tron: Legacy OST)


Not sure why this one is being played so much. Simply put, I rather love it?

On an unrelated note, I had some online drama while I was writing this and... the people who matter to me, and who I hope I matter to, you know who you are. Please, please don't ever do what this online person has done. It's like a kick to the stomach and that's all I'm saying on the matter, but I love you guys and I hope you know that. *hug* Anyway, to return to the cheery tone of the blog entry... Skaal, and take care.



edit: Oh and the fish spins in circles I forgot to mention that.