Had a really good weekend, nice and relaxing. Which is weird, cos now i'm shattered. Got loads of work to do for Wednesday and I can't be bothered to do it, but I know it'll get done so i'm not gonna worry. Spent the time this afternoon doing something I haven't done in ages: just sitting down and listening to music. Don't seem to do it enough anymore.
Had a search around my library and decided I was going to listen to Burial because I don't listen to him enough anymore and miss it because I listened to him so much a couple of years ago driving across and around the country to visit people, sitting in my room for some time on my own and just relaxing without any worries. It's not sad music as some people might say it is, its calm music that just makes me forget about everything for a bit. So i'm glad i'm getting back into Burial and it just so happens that he's just released a new EP that i'm listening to; and its incredible.
This post is a bit short, and I know they're infrequent, but at the moment i'm happy with life, happy with how things are going, and I may be tired, but i'm relaxed. And whilst i'm listening to the music, I don't have to worry about anything.
Best song on the new EP:
Monday, 28 March 2011
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
How to get MLB.TV working on a UK (or non US/Canada) PS3
This is as much to remind me as to help others since it'll probably be only me reading it!
Basically, there are a lot of MLB.TV subscribers in the UK but a bit unfairly, the MLB.TV app is only available to US and Canadian PSN users. I figured there would be a way of getting around this and by fiddling around a bit, I managed to do it. So here it goes.
First you need to get the MLB.TV app from the PS store. If you're on a UK PSN account, you won't be able to find it, so what you need to do is create a US account. This is pretty easy. Create a new PS user and then a new PSN account linked to a different email address. To fill in the name/address section just use this website: http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/ and make a US identity. Once the account is made, log into it and download the MLB.TV app. You need to go to the media button on the left hand side then navigate to the app. It's free and pretty small so it won't take long...and now the first step is done!
Next step is to link the app to your MLB.TV account. To do this, you need to go to the activate your ps3 part of the app and it will give you a code. When you try to go to the website to put in this code, an error will come up. Basically this is because the website knows that you are attempting to access from a UK IP address and it doesn't like it. So what you need to do is trick the website into thinking you are on a US IP address. To do this you need to use a program such as Hotspot Shield: http://hotspotshield.com/
Start up and connect with the program then use http://whatismyipaddress.com/ to find out what location your new IP address is. 90% of the time it will be a US address, but if it isn't, just disconnect and connect again until it is a US address.
Now you can go to the website http://ps3.com/mlbtv , navigate to 'Current subscribers activate your PS3' at the bottom, log in, and now you should be able to enter the code your PS3 gave you. The PS3 should now tell you that it is activated, and voila, it is all set up! You should be able to watch everything as if you were an American! (Don't forget to disconnect from the Hotspot Shield at the end unless you want to watch Hulu or something on your PC, because the connection won't be as fast or reliable as your proper internet connection. This does trick ANY website into thinking you are in the US so if you want to watch something that you can only watch in the US, Hotspot Shield will help. [Hotspot Shield will only effect the IP adress of your PC, not your PS3.])
Have fun!
Basically, there are a lot of MLB.TV subscribers in the UK but a bit unfairly, the MLB.TV app is only available to US and Canadian PSN users. I figured there would be a way of getting around this and by fiddling around a bit, I managed to do it. So here it goes.
First you need to get the MLB.TV app from the PS store. If you're on a UK PSN account, you won't be able to find it, so what you need to do is create a US account. This is pretty easy. Create a new PS user and then a new PSN account linked to a different email address. To fill in the name/address section just use this website: http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/ and make a US identity. Once the account is made, log into it and download the MLB.TV app. You need to go to the media button on the left hand side then navigate to the app. It's free and pretty small so it won't take long...and now the first step is done!
Next step is to link the app to your MLB.TV account. To do this, you need to go to the activate your ps3 part of the app and it will give you a code. When you try to go to the website to put in this code, an error will come up. Basically this is because the website knows that you are attempting to access from a UK IP address and it doesn't like it. So what you need to do is trick the website into thinking you are on a US IP address. To do this you need to use a program such as Hotspot Shield: http://hotspotshield.com/
Start up and connect with the program then use http://whatismyipaddress.com/ to find out what location your new IP address is. 90% of the time it will be a US address, but if it isn't, just disconnect and connect again until it is a US address.
Now you can go to the website http://ps3.com/mlbtv , navigate to 'Current subscribers activate your PS3' at the bottom, log in, and now you should be able to enter the code your PS3 gave you. The PS3 should now tell you that it is activated, and voila, it is all set up! You should be able to watch everything as if you were an American! (Don't forget to disconnect from the Hotspot Shield at the end unless you want to watch Hulu or something on your PC, because the connection won't be as fast or reliable as your proper internet connection. This does trick ANY website into thinking you are in the US so if you want to watch something that you can only watch in the US, Hotspot Shield will help. [Hotspot Shield will only effect the IP adress of your PC, not your PS3.])
Have fun!
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
been a while...
I know its been a while but i have some time to myself so its about time i posted something new. Went to a gig last night. Salem at Thekla. Eventually ended up going on my own but i don't mind, quite enjoy gigs on my own...don't have to think about anything else apart from the gig...can't really make a fool of myself! One thing that did get on my nerves though, I suppose because I was on my own and all I had to do was watch the gig/people watch, was some of the other people at the gig. I don't want to be seen as hipster, or an indie kid, or any of that, but I do see myself as a bit of a music connoisseur; i know a fair bit of music, and generally music that other people don't know much about, or even don't like. I've been listening to Salem for about 2 years now, even though they only released their first album in September and i've racked up quite a lot of plays from various EPs i've found on the internet. Of course i'm not their biggest fan in the world, but i'm a reasonable fan and i don't know why, but it annoys me when people turn up to the gig shouting "i love you Salem", "you make my life", "play redlights, redlights, redlights". I dunno, it just gets on my nerves. Why not just let them get on with the gig - its somewhere for people to go and enjoy music, not listen to your incessant screeching on how much you love a band you probably only found about last week because someone played you one song off their album. I'm not gonna say that gigs should be reserved to "proper" fans, but at least let the "proper" fans enjoy the music the way its meant to be heard, not with a chorus of stupid girls screaming in the background. If i wanted to listen to that i would go to a Justin Bieber concert! Going on my own lets me see the music the way i listen to it; on my own. And i want to feel that when i'm there. Maybe its because I'm getting a bit older, but things get on my nerves a lot more. Not to the extent where I don't enjoy things anymore, but they do hamper my enjoyment somewhat. Maybe I should just ignore it and get on with whatever i'm doing, but when i shell out money for something I've been looking forward to so much, I just wish it could be perfect i suppose.
On a sidenote, the gig was, minus the screaming girls, amazing. Far too short but I can understand that. It wasn't so much the music that made it amazing, it was seeing the previously secretive people who made the mysterious music that i've been listening to for 2 years in the flesh. I only hope that it doesnt make the music any less mysterious in the future.
On a sidenote, the gig was, minus the screaming girls, amazing. Far too short but I can understand that. It wasn't so much the music that made it amazing, it was seeing the previously secretive people who made the mysterious music that i've been listening to for 2 years in the flesh. I only hope that it doesnt make the music any less mysterious in the future.
Monday, 18 October 2010
why
I suppose it should be my first post in which i say why i'm doing this blog but it wasn't so nows the time! I have always seen the idea of blogging as a bit self indulgent: a way of trying to prove to people how different you and your ideas are and how that makes you super cool - hipster i suppose. Now, i'd hate to think that i am now hipster in one way or another so that opinion has to change. Rather than thinking of blogging as a way of showing off, i see this as an experiment to see if i can say things that i wouldn't normally say to anyone else - but to myself. To be honest, this blog is self indulgent; of course it is, but there is no way that it could be regarded as showing off as in all fairness, for most of its life (probably a short life) it'll only be me reading it (likely to be its entirety. So, rather than it being a method to show off my ideas, it is simply a way for me to reflect upon my own ideas and see how much of an idiot (or genius) i really am.
Blogs that i have mostly encountered have been through stumbleupon of which i, along with many other people, am an addict. The blogs that make stumbleupon are, on the whole ones with USPs that keep other readers and i reading on, and if they are really interesting, they may even keep us coming back to. I don't believe for one second that at any time this blog will become one of those, but one can hope. I don't have anywhere near enough friends to have friends that have blogs with which to compare mine with but i hope that in time i can compare mine with other blogs that i will encounter in the future...so, in the hope of attracting some sort of comparison, my unique selling point is: "matt's song of the day!"™ © !!!11!!11!
What i am aiming to do with this blog is to write a sort of diary of my day to day thoughts on various things so i can look back and see what the hell i was thinking on 14th november 2010 when i'm 40 (yeah right). In all honesty, i do think my ideas and opinions are worthwhile and deserve to be aired (albeit to the faceless internet population who have not yet had the pleasure to see them yet) and that my views on various things: politics, current affairs, music, films, etc., are worth reading. So, in the coming days, weeks, and if i can be bothered, months, i will be sharing the thoughts that i have had on a particular day on something that i have seen, read, or come up with out of thin air and writing it down in the hope that someone other than me will read it and think: "wow, isn't that great and insightful. Isn't matt an interesting and intelligent person for thinking such a thing."
My first thought is therefore:
coming tomorrow. night
Song of the day:
Blogs that i have mostly encountered have been through stumbleupon of which i, along with many other people, am an addict. The blogs that make stumbleupon are, on the whole ones with USPs that keep other readers and i reading on, and if they are really interesting, they may even keep us coming back to. I don't believe for one second that at any time this blog will become one of those, but one can hope. I don't have anywhere near enough friends to have friends that have blogs with which to compare mine with but i hope that in time i can compare mine with other blogs that i will encounter in the future...so, in the hope of attracting some sort of comparison, my unique selling point is: "matt's song of the day!"™ © !!!11!!11!
What i am aiming to do with this blog is to write a sort of diary of my day to day thoughts on various things so i can look back and see what the hell i was thinking on 14th november 2010 when i'm 40 (yeah right). In all honesty, i do think my ideas and opinions are worthwhile and deserve to be aired (albeit to the faceless internet population who have not yet had the pleasure to see them yet) and that my views on various things: politics, current affairs, music, films, etc., are worth reading. So, in the coming days, weeks, and if i can be bothered, months, i will be sharing the thoughts that i have had on a particular day on something that i have seen, read, or come up with out of thin air and writing it down in the hope that someone other than me will read it and think: "wow, isn't that great and insightful. Isn't matt an interesting and intelligent person for thinking such a thing."
My first thought is therefore:
coming tomorrow. night
Song of the day:
Saturday, 16 October 2010
First Post
Well, this is my first post so i better make it special eh? Well no, nothing that i'm going to say is that special because i don't really have anything special to say but to hell with it, it's my blog and i will say what i want; whether its excruciatingly boring or not. Anyway.....
Music:
I think about this a lot but i've never posted it down anywhere so here i go. Music to me is more than simply something to listen to: it's a diary, or a way to remember the past better than any other thing. Take tonight for example. I listened to 3 songs that reminded me vividly of different times in my life. Ok, my life hasnt been long so far (i've recently turned 21) but a huge collection of songs can chronicle my life pretty succinctly. There is nothing that links these songs in any way other than that they are 'my' songs. Now really, do you know any other 21 old who listen to Lady in Red by Chris De Burgh who can tell you exactly the first time they heard the song and why they remember it? (It was on a GCSE history trip to Belgium and I remember it because me and one of my best friends at the time changed the lyrics to badger in blue...long story). I've changed A LOT since then; i no longer keep in contact with the friend and i like to think i've matured a fair bit, but i still remember fondly the memories that that song bring and strangely, even if its been months since i last listened to the song, all of the lyrics.
I don't know why, but when i listen to a song that brings back memories, i always feel regret. I don't think its because i wish i was back in the time I first heard it, or that i wished i hadnt changed, i just wish that i had listened to that song every day so the past would never leave me or that i wouldnt never forget the lyrics to a song that i once listened to so much.
My girlfriend told me today that when she becomes a parent she wants to be a voice of wisdom when it comes to music for her children, and educate them in the music she grew up with. I'm not so naive to think that when the day comes when i'm a parent, if it ever happens, that the dubstep or electronica i listen to at the moment would be anything but a vague figment of the past, but i would like to know that whenever that day comes, i will be able to impart the knowledge of the songs that bring back fond memories now onto anyone who would care to listen and maybe create new memories to go along with old songs.
By the way, x-factor sucks.
Song of the day:
PS: Don't hate on the Burgh
Music:
I think about this a lot but i've never posted it down anywhere so here i go. Music to me is more than simply something to listen to: it's a diary, or a way to remember the past better than any other thing. Take tonight for example. I listened to 3 songs that reminded me vividly of different times in my life. Ok, my life hasnt been long so far (i've recently turned 21) but a huge collection of songs can chronicle my life pretty succinctly. There is nothing that links these songs in any way other than that they are 'my' songs. Now really, do you know any other 21 old who listen to Lady in Red by Chris De Burgh who can tell you exactly the first time they heard the song and why they remember it? (It was on a GCSE history trip to Belgium and I remember it because me and one of my best friends at the time changed the lyrics to badger in blue...long story). I've changed A LOT since then; i no longer keep in contact with the friend and i like to think i've matured a fair bit, but i still remember fondly the memories that that song bring and strangely, even if its been months since i last listened to the song, all of the lyrics.
I don't know why, but when i listen to a song that brings back memories, i always feel regret. I don't think its because i wish i was back in the time I first heard it, or that i wished i hadnt changed, i just wish that i had listened to that song every day so the past would never leave me or that i wouldnt never forget the lyrics to a song that i once listened to so much.
My girlfriend told me today that when she becomes a parent she wants to be a voice of wisdom when it comes to music for her children, and educate them in the music she grew up with. I'm not so naive to think that when the day comes when i'm a parent, if it ever happens, that the dubstep or electronica i listen to at the moment would be anything but a vague figment of the past, but i would like to know that whenever that day comes, i will be able to impart the knowledge of the songs that bring back fond memories now onto anyone who would care to listen and maybe create new memories to go along with old songs.
By the way, x-factor sucks.
Song of the day:
PS: Don't hate on the Burgh
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