This little berry is getting on in life, but seeing as it’s still the best one currently available and I just got my grubby claws on it, thought I’d throw down a review.  It’s not gonna be a long one, so don’t expect an in depth exclusive. Here are the specs, lazily linked:

I finally did it.

No, not sell my soul to Satan, I bought something online. Yes, lil' ol' inexperienced me, I made my first internet purchase. I di an EFT and everything, and it scared the piss outta me. I ordered a Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch (which I hope to review once it arrives) from buycool.co.za, and so far so good. My order will take "2 to 4 working days to arrive", and all I can think about is all the scary faeces that may occur in that time.

What if my order gets messed up? What if my money went somewhere else? What if they send me the wrong thing? What if they actually don't even exist and it was all a bad dream? I know I'm sounding whiny but I'm scared dammit. I log into my account and my invoice says my order is being "processed'. The hell does that mean? Polony gets proceesed, not graphics tablets. I imagine apart from people who can't afford the internet, it's people like me that are the reason that internet shopping will never take the place of physically going to the shop. Sure it's conveniant and allows one to buy objects that aren't easily available, but it's too impersonal, too cold, and it lacks that ability to quite simply look and touch what you want to buy first. Maybe after this transaction is completed my mind will change, but until then, I shall keep on with the butterfiles in my stomach.

And damn you every single PC shop in Durban for not stocking Wacom tablets...

I was digging around the landfill that is my room when I found an old CAR mag from 2005. Being prime toilet literature (Sorry CAR, that's pretty much the peak of your use for me), I gave it the once over, and all dated car information aside, I saw an add for a "new" phone.

TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT WITH A PHONE   read then caption, with 2 pictures of the phone, the front and rear, flanking it. The phone in question was a Sony Erisson K750i. I'm gonna type out the description verbatim:

The new 2 megapixel K750i with Autofocus. Viewed one way it's a digital camera, with a 2 megapixel camera and a 262k colour screen you can take and display perfect pictures, and with a 64 MB Memory Stick PRO Duo you can store up to 200 at high resolution


2 Megapixel? 64 MB memory? They're actually boasting about features like that? You pick up a phone with features like that today from  Pep, and if you lucky they throw in a free pair of socks. It was both shocking and funny to note that what was cutting edge a mere 5 years ago is now almost laughable by todays yard stick. We all know technology is hurtling along like the speed of light on steroids, but dammit it's still weird to look at.

It got me thinking though, what objects that we have today will, in another 5 years perhaps, be totally common, funny, and in retrospect, an absolute waste of money? A lady I work with was showing me her  Nokia something or the other that cost almost 4 grand when it first came out, but my  newer Nokia cost me a grand and does not only the same, but more. All these people rushing to buy all these over priced new goods (cough cough, Apple) may be left feeling quite stupid with their then "It" purchases. I mean the Ipad seems awesome now, but in a few years when the Itampon comes out, aint nobody gonna care about you and your huge old tablet.

And if I've mentioned it before, I'll mention it again (Hey, funny original endings are hard to come up with, gotta rehash shit now and again), this is where rich people play their part in society. Let them buy the new stuff, test it out, be our digital guinea pigs, and when the technology gets cheaper, we'll all indulge, for half the price.

So thank you for making me poor Jesus!

I'm not a negative person.

At least I think I'm not. Although I get called negative a lot. I guess I'm a serial realsit who doesn't hold onto positvity that long, which, when I actually type that down and read it, does actually sound pretty much like the description of a negative person, so...dammit. Anyway, I read the paper today, yay! It depressed me again though. I'm sure most of you have heard the story of the tourists who got hijacked in Cape Town by now. Newlyweds, come here for a honeymoon, and boom, the guys wife gets killed. I read the article in the paper today and damn, it's not on.

"Shit," I thought.  "Ah  well, it can't get much wors-"


2 WOMEN RAPED IN PLACE OF WORSHIP!  shouts the next headline.


"Okay, thats messed u-"


53 DIE IN BUILDING COLLAPSE IN DELHI!


I then turn to the comics, and not bother to read the rest. What the hell Daily News? Trying to make me emo? I swear, the amount of horrible and terrible things that occur makes you want to not read the paper. Where am I going with this? Nowhere. I just felt down for a moment, needed to vent, and again ask myself that unanswered question, What's it all about hey? It's hard to smile when you think of all the carnage sometimes.

But if it's not happening to me, it's not my problem, right?

Part of me wishes I felt that way, but I assure you it's a very small part.

I loves me some Jamiroquai. Not many bands can get my feet tapping as much as them, and I was happy when I finally got to listen to the new album. The last time they spun some new yarns was with Dynamite, way back in 2005, and now they're back with something vaugely resembling a bang.

The best way to describe this album is chilled. The most dance worthy track on here is the first single thats getting airplay at the moment, White Knuckle Ride. It's an awesome song, but still not as instantly catchy as classics such as Canned Heat and Virtual Insanity. The rest of the disc is filled with, in all honesty, similar sounding tracks that don't stray far from the well known sound they have. This is both good and bad. Fans will not be disappointed, but no new ones will be won. Songs such as the melodic Blue Skies  can't help but make you feel all warm and fuzzy, while songs like Goodbye To My Dancer and Never Gonna Be Another tug ever so gently at broken heart strings while managing to still be upbeat.  Jay Kays voice is excellent as always, and the arrangements and instrumentation (Is that a real word? Well it is now dammit) are on par with past efforts. It's a polished affair, and has just enough production to keep the sound tight, and not head over into over produced drivel (Cough cough...Muse...Resistance...) What's left to say other than...

This is a nice album.

But, nice guys finish last, don't they? Like I mentioned above, this isn't going to convert anyone, and nor is it going to, as a fan, make you love them any more. The interesting thing this album did do, was that it reintroduced me to some of their older music I have neglected. Imagine this album as meeting up with an old friend, except not in the hectic night out way, but more of a Sunday tea kind of affair. You sit, laugh, enjoy yourself, and ultimately, look back on all the fun things you did in the past. This album helped me put JMQ back on my music map, and my MP3 is now filled with some of their old gems again. I honestly just got 3 tracks from Rock Dust Light Star on there, but hey, what they helped me remember was worth more than what they brought to the table. So put it on in the background while writing, reading, or having a few drinks, and every so often you will find your foot tapping along, even if you don't know the name of the song that's on.
So does that make this album good or bad? Neither, it's just nice. 

I ran into an old friend from High school yesterday. He was with his fiance, but she walked away to allow us some time to catch up. And so we did, asking all the usual questions about what you're up to, whats new, do you still see some of the guys from school, etc. Eventually I asked about the aformentioned fiance, a rather attractive looking young lady, and was told that they've been together for a solid 3 years. Then he told me he cheats on her.

"My man," he said, pulling a smile, "If you had to go home and eat chicken everyday, you would get tired of it, you know? You gotta eat something else now and again on the side!"

"Er...yeah," I reply. "Ha ha ha."

"You know how it is boss!"

We talk a bit more, then he walks back to her, they hold hands happily, innocently, then walk off into the crowded distance. It was somewhat shocking, as the guy I left behind in school never seemed like the cheating type, but then it hit me that the vast majority of male friends I have or have had are cheaters without concern. It's something I despise, something I wish wasn't so easily accepted by men in general. I have protested against it amongst friends, but you get labelled as the weak one, that if you aren't a player, you aren't a man.

So guys, your definition of being a man is:

- To have no self control

-To betray someones trust

-To lie and manipulate

-To be a self centered bastard

If thats the criteria, then Goddammit bitches, guess I ain't a man, and I'm proud of that. Newsflash you bastards, if you aren't prepared to be faithful to someone, then um, heres a thought, DONT GET INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM. But see, these assholes want the best of both worlds, the love and security of a relationship, and also the thrills of playing the field and being single. You cannot have both and maintain your integrity.

But I forget, being a man has nothing to do with integrity, does it?

Thought I'd try something somewhat different today, so I'm gonna review a guitar. Why? Because dammit I can (And hey maybe MYDL could use some music tech as well, attract a bigger crowd). The guitar in question is the Cort X2, have a gander at it first:



As you may already know from a previous bitch blog, I play lefthanded. Couldn't take a pic of mine as my camera is crappy, so found a pic of a right hand that somebody flipped and called a left. Come on, even I'm not that lazy...but apart from the reversed logo in this pic, it looks exactly the same.


Anyway, first up lets be shallow pigs: This is an attractive guitar. Sexy fits it perfectly actually, as it took the general strat shape and added some sensual curves into the body. The silver hardware matches up great, and all in all, pick this up and you'll look like a badass even if you're gonna be doing James Blunt covers. When picking it up it actually feels like you're carrying something, as oppossed to some really light guitars I've felt. The heaviness of it feels satisfying, and it hugs your body nice and tightly.

But now lets close our eyes and move onto the more important part: the sound. First up, this isn't an expensive guitar, and is more aimed to the low-mid price range. It cost me R2600, which is pretty reasonable for such a good looking lefty, but my point is, don't expect this to be a sonic masterpiece. It's fitted with Powersound pickups, and you can create a gloriously loud sound with them. This baby screams rock and metal, but I've found the humbuckers can work well for lighter stuff too when coaxed enough. It can get a bit messy at times, so it needs a bit of extra control, especially when you got some distortion on. It has a bolt on maple neck with jumbo frets, and it is really fast to play. You can fly up and down the neck with ease, so again, break out the rocker in you and let loose!

...Except not too loose. It comes with a floating tremolo which, to be honest, is crap. I know it's not a Floyd Rose, but even the tiniest bit of whammy bar action sends the tuning out a bit, which sucks. The 3 way selector switch is fine, the volume knob is...well, a volume knob, but the tone control leaves something to be desired too. Turn it all the way left, you get muddy bass mess, but then turn it slighlty left and its treble, all the way to the other end. One can't really find a middle ground tone wise using the knob, so I control that on the amp or effects pedals EQ. Bit annoying for when you want to change tone on the fly. String action was a bit high, but after I put on some 10's, added another spring to the tremolo and fine tuned it, I got a nice level.

So, it looks great, apart from a few tone and tremolo issues sounds great, and is relatively affordable. Whats the catch? Well, none. I totally love this guitar. It ain't perfect, but hey, I'm not Hendrix, why do I need a R10 000 guitar? Invest a bit more cash in it and you have a seriously gig ready axe that wont let you down. So screw Fender, buy a Cort dammit.

I hardly use Facebook that much. I guess you could say I'm a rational user of it, i.e., I don't change my status every 5 minutes or have 4583 friends of which I actually only know 10, but instead I log on now and again to see what some of my friends have been up to, messaging or commenting where I can, and accepting or inviting the odd friend. Something weird happened to me earlier though...

So, I'm perving looking at the People You May Know list for either someone I actually know, or someone I may like to know (Oh don't act like you've never done it), and upon trying to invite someone, I get this message:


"This Request Can’t Be Sent
Do you know this user personally? To prevent misuse of Facebook, this request can’t be sent. To learn more, please visit the Help Center. If you believe you’re seeing this message in error, you can report the problem."



After some confused Googling, apparently this is one of the beefed up new security features that FB has put up in the last few months (This may be old news, but like I said I dont use the FaceBastard that much so this is still news to me).  The benefits are obvious: Stops the spammers, stops the stalkers, and the weird robots and phishing stuff. Of course, Facebook, may I question why the hell you show me people I may know and then not let me befriend them? One of the factors for this message coming up is apparantly not having enough or any friends in common, leaving FB to assume you're a crazy stalker, or the other is sending out too many friend requests. It can't be the latter, as I can probably count the number of friends I have on all my appendages, so the former must be true.

Except...and FB, this one may be rather difficult to grasp...have you ever heard of socializing and meeting new people?  "No Friends In Common" Well duh you Socially Retarded network, I just met the freaking person last night, and now you tell me we cant be friends? And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't social networks about, oh I don't know, being social? Why the flying fudge did you turn into my Grandmother FB and tell me who and who not I can associate with? If people want to become friends with random strangers, let them, what business is that of yours? It's like all that bad rap Mxit got when it first blew up about how unsafe it is. No, Mxit is a cheap safe place, it's the people who use it who make it unsafe, you as the user need to just be careful. Same with FB. These new (or semi new) regulations should be optional, not forced.
'But this system is great!' you protest, 'I don't have to get loads of requests from weirdos I don't know anymore!'

Well how about doing it the old fashioned way then babe, just post one Godawful ugly profile pic of yourself instead of that one perfect pic that took you 2 hours to get just right. Trust me, you wont be getting many more invites after that...

Abridged series. For those who aren't Anime fans, Abridged Series are fan based parodies of an anime series. Basically, they take the original show, edit the episodes to be somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes long, and then dub their own voices over them and pretty much take the piss out of the series and throw in as much pop culture jokes and references as possible. The most famous of all would be the one started by a guy named LittleKuriboh and his Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged series, but then a whole host of others followed, the best of which are the ones based on Naruto, DrangonballZ and Sailor Moon. They are extremely mind numbing fun to watch in spare time, and for the past week or so I have been indulging in Sailor Moon Abridged. Until today that was, when I logged onto the creators Youtube channel and saw this:

Within the next few months I am going to make my first online purchase. Ever. (I know thats ages away, but I got writers block dammit so I'm gonna write about this now). I needs me a graphics tablet, and those things are hard to come by in the real world, hence the decision to go online. I'm getting a Wacom Intuos4  small, and cannot wait. But as a virgin online buyer...what to do? Is it safe? Will my identity get stolen by some evil bastard who will use it to buy animal porn?