interesting quotes on the psychology of humour

"In fact, the women preferred the funny men despite rating them, on average, less intelligent and less trustworthy."

"A 1990 study suggests that when women and men chat, the amount of laughing by the woman indicates both her interest in dating the man and her sexual appeal to the man. (The man’s laughter did not relate to attraction in either direction.)"

brainthoughts of the comedian

are we not men?

how do you tell if a rock band are human?

if they pass the touring test.

math-rock (a true story)

a rock band are about to start playing a song.

"do you need a count in?" asks the drummer.

the guitarist replies "nah, i sent off my tax returns for the year already."

teh underclass

i say, i say, i say,
did you hear about the working class man who fell out of the bottom of society?
he prole-apsed.

more music stuff

as an amendnum to that last post proper, i thought i'd remind every one that half man half biscuit's most recent record, 'CSI: Ambleside', is one of their best ever, jaunty, singalongy, and pogoy. so it's not all national shite day on the favourite bands front. go buy.

XMA

what skin condition do east londoners suffer from?

Hacne!

life

brutalised by sound

i wouldn't say i'm in danger of losing my hearing; but i'm certainly waxy. with rehearsing and gigging, i've had to stop using my walkman on the way to college as the tubes just over-power even my closed cups. the real problem is the studio monitors that have arrived on my desk, courtesy of adrian. even at only 2/10, with computer turned down to 10%, there's a lot of pressure on these ears. i just love hearing all the sound so much.

it's probably not wise that i'm sitting a mere foot away from two massive speakers, even if they're turned down to what looks like a ridiculously low level objectively. it's just too much having them there.

i'm also brutalised by several new records i've bought. i've often marvelled how two of my favourite artists, ephel duath and euros childs, sit next to each other in my mp3 collection (which is unavoidably alphabetical; obviously i wouldn't keep my cds in an order that put the two next door to each other. they'd end up having border disputes). unfortunately i can't get into either of their new cds. both go along, sound similar all the way through and don't leave much of a lasting impression. even cult of luna's latest feels somewhat amiss; it's gone more straight stoner-metal, feels too long, with the interesting bits taken out and put into their own little tracks. i feel lost and diasporatic, like at the end of a major series of a long running drama before a reboot or the return of a major antogonist. honestly, it feels like a chapter is over.

thank crikey then for cats in paris, whose album 'courtcase 2000' i have listened to about once a week, on average, for about 5 months. it has such detail, variety, and humour. so it's such a shame that they've lost their second keyboard player due to job, masters, and lack of fun. also good atm is wild beasts - a consistent album, but it just sounds good, and the songs are catchy if a little samey. kind of like tiger lillies meets the smiths with new romantic and afrobeat connotations.

interestingly, with friends round for dinner, cats in paris was so wrong. dark captain light captain, who i've follwed since they formed from one member of father of boon, is great music to not listen to. it's monotonous indie folk if you pay too much attention to it, but as wall paper it's lovely. rachel compared it to zero 7, which did cringe me out a bit. fiona and gorwel owen's 'spring always comes' did work nicely here, yet that's a good album to pay attention to as well. so it is possible to do both... but if i had to choose between the two i know which side i would fall on.


but yes, i'm looking for a new clutch of favourite bands.. any suggestions?

pungent

why do punjabis eat bread with their chole (chickpeas)?

because it's their kulcha.

mythed off

So did you hear about that Cthulu? he's a loose canon.