Music in me: longest album titles ever

Have you ever wondered what was the longest music album title ever?

Until today, I thought the record belonged to Fiona Apple. It did for a long time and was even mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records for 2001. Ladies and gentlemen, it's When the Pawn!

When the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king
What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight
And he'll win the whole thing 'fore he enters the ring
There's no body to batter when your mind is your might
So when you go solo, you hold your own hand
And remember that depth is the greatest of heights
And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land
And if you fall it won't matter, cuz you'll know that you're right.

You can also listen to it here, told by the author herself - I recommend checking it out.

Fiona Apple held the record for quite a few years, until 2007. Then came Soulwax with an album of remixes, Most of the Remixes, with a title of 552 characters:

The following year, Chumbawamba went even further, 865 characters in The Boy Bands Have Won:


I only quoted the first one, as the two others have pretty clear covers (or you can read them on the Wikipedia pages). Plus, Fiona's one is way more creative: it's a real poem with lots of rhymes, structure, and most importantly, a deep message. Soulwax's title is like a long explanation of what to except from the album, written in a very casual tone: I except more artistic value and sweat and tears in the creative process. Chumbawamba is not poetic either, but definitely does carry a message, and an interesting one, although the words "the boy bands have won" almost discouraged me from reading the rest. (Last time I listened to a boyband was when I was eleven and a friend made me a mix tape, then I totally moved on to the Spice Girls, so I don't really feel like the boy bands have won anything with me.)

Giving your album a very long title is an easy way to attract attention to it (honestly, I have never heard of Soulwax before and here I am blogging about them), but it doesn't make it automatically remarkable. To me, Fiona's one is definitely the longest great album title ever.

China gymnastics 2000 medal revoked

Remember how back in 2008, I was wondering if the China olympic female gymnastics team had cheated by sending underage girls? Remember how while investigating the matter, I found that a gymnast from the 2000 team had admitted to cheating the same way?

Well, I learned recently that China's 2000 team medal got revoked! One of the gymnasts, Dong Fangxiao, was found to have falsified her age. (It's not the one I was writing about two years ago. Yang Yun is considered innocent due to lack of proof.) The team taking the spot is U.S.


Well, I'm happy. I'm not happy for the Chinese girls themselves, as they were just put in the middle of such a situation. You can't really put all the blame on a fourteen-year-old for anything: it's also the parents, the coaches, the teachers who are co-responsible. Plus, the incident doesn't change the fact that both Dong and Yang put thousands of hours into perfecting their skills. But, so did other girls, and competition should be fair: putting younger girls against older ones is not. China nor any other country should be allowed to cheat that way.

[Article, picture credit]

I'm a Bachelor of Science. Computer Science.

As I was writing a little bit before yesterday, I recently had the opportunity to defend myself, and I'm very happy to announce that I succeeded: I now am a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. (On the other hand, I don't really know what I should capitalize here, but it sure looks great that way.)

Boy was I stressed. Well, I kinda mentioned it already. Plus, it's evident: it was my first defense, but most importantly, I hadn't revised everything I wished.

My stress was quickly relieved, however. I came to school over two hours earlier for some last revisions on-line and was drinking a vanilloccino when one of my professor asked me whether I was free. Without thinking too much, I said yes and got taken to a room where defenses were taking place. I took the exam and was free two hours earlier than expected - lucky me!

Next defense, coming soon! This time, in mathematics.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow, I'm defending my Bsc in computer science.

Which means I'm revising my eyes out. And napping.



That's totally a good thing, because Lifehacker keeps saying how cool naps are.

Two things I'm not doing are procrastinating (I'll do that later) and panicking. It's weird. I should panic. If I take the list of requirements, the speed I'm revising them, the amount of time left and do the math, I've got reasons to panic. Just not the time, I guess. I need 2-3 more days of 100% focus on studying, but that thing is tomorrow.

Unless it isn't, because I need some signature here, something else here and the professor I need them from doesn't have any classes this semester, so he's kinda hard to catch. Honestly, I wouldn't be too disappointed if tomorrow's defense wasn't to happen.

[Picture credit]

Random linkage: Cat Ladders

There are blogs about absolutely anything these days. Today, I'll feature Cat Ladders, a blog about - you guessed it - cat ladders! The site features over 800 pictures of cat ladders from 29 countries.

Most posts feature simple solutions, like this one from Poland:


There's also something for the big cats:


... and something for not cats:


My personal favorite is this one:


Pure royalty! I wonder if it has a little red carpet on it.

If you want to learn more about cat ladders and Cat Ladders, there's also an interview with the blog's author. Enjoy!

Life geekified:Tetris stuff for the house

Tetris time, everybody! I have gathered today some cool Tetris stuff for the House.

Let's start with the bathroom. Here are Tetris tiles, avaliable at Tertis-tiles.com:


GadgetHer presents a Tetris mirror:


This beautiful bookshelf is designed by Brave Space Designs:


But if you feel like making your own, Instructables has a tutorial:



Plus, a tutorial for a matching lamp is also included:


Finally, this Tetris furniture looks really cool:


On my wishlist: all of the above!

Hello Kitty stuff for housewives

It ain't no doubt that Hello Kitty loves everyone and it sure applies to housewives as well. Being a housewife myself, I have recently found a bunch of cool housekeeping stuff in the loveley theme of Hello Kitty.

For instance, Hello Kitty Hell shows us a washing machine and a mop:



Merlin.pl has a toy hover (okay, not exactly housewife item, but future housewives will love it):


The best stuff is to be found at Universal Kitty House. Among other items, there are latex gloves:


a sponge:


and the coolest toilet brush I have ever seen:

So cute! >.<

Geek gets guitar!

Hello, World!

I am thrilled to announce that I am now the happy owner of a brand new electric guitar: a Viper 200FM:


And to go with it, Hubby bought a Rolland Cube 20-X:


So I'm learning to play the guitar again. I can play a few chords so far.

No complaints from the neighbours have been noted yet.

The new 7 great tricks to improve your life.

No, this isn't another "7 great tricks to improve your life" article. I have read many of them. I have read many great advice lists and found many great ideas on various sites (like Zen Habits just to name one). I have also found a lot of advice that doesn't suit me and finally, there's even more tricks that I have found and lost.

It's time for something different.

New year is coming, and with it, the resolutions. So, for that occasion, I have 7 awesome tips to make your life better:

1. find 3 sports activities that you will practice without making any excuses
2. find the 3 weight loss mistakes you keep on making
3. find 10 tips that will help you become more productive
4. same thing for organized
5. find 5 cool family activities to do more often
6. find 6 lunches that you will finally pack for work
7. find 7 more positions for the list you're reading that would best apply to you.

Once you've found all that stuff (and I bet you know where to look), you'll have a great starting point for improving your life in 2010. Good luck!

I made a huge mistake today

Gosh, I made such a huge mistake today...

I was multitasking, combining Christmas shopping with shopping therapy (which means bying gifts for others and myself) and I bought this Hello Kitty lunch box:



when that Hello Kitty lunch box is avaliable on the market:




Maybe at least mine is cuter...

[Picture credit, credit]