Steve's blog

Did a few minor updates to the blog tonight:

• Added tooltips to the Amazon icons on the right
• Applied a three-column style to a few more pages
• Tidied up some css stuff

Plenty of things are still broken, though. Sorry. I'll get to them when I can be bothered. More importantly, though: here's some good amazing virtuoso bass playing from some random geezer on YouTube.

You just know this guy has some serious chops hidden away just under the surface, but he keeps this 'simple'. Ok, so it's hardly simple. In fact, it's really very tricky. But what I'm trying to say is he never goes over the top. He clearly knows (better than I ever will) that good bass playing is all about the groove. It's as much about what you don't play as what you do. I've not checked whether this is an exact copy of Stuart Zender's original line, or just a guy who can play every bit as well as Zender. Either way, this video is a major lesson inspiration for me. Enjoy.

I know that there's only one way to successfully pull off a black colour scheme: make it absolutely brilliant, otherwise is just looks very 1999.

Well, I haven't managed to make a brilliant layout yet, but I did find a stunning header image. Illustrator Greg Martin created this with Jessica Mae Stover. Quite something, isn't it? I'd chop off my right hand to be able to draw like this. Only trouble is I'm right-handed, so that probably wouldn't help much.

There are still loads of css bugs; I've only worked on a few pages so far.

And from the sublime to the...hornophone. Thank you, Harry Hill!

This is Louis Johnson. What to say about Louis other than "absolute genius"?

Along with Larry Graham, Louis pretty much invented the slap bass sound you're about to hear in the following clip. It's thanks to Louis that the awesome bass I own even exists. Leo Fender invented the Music Man Stingray just for Louis. The Stingray has been revered since the late 1970s to this very day as an instrument with a perfect action and a 'proper' funk sound.

I could write for hours about Louis, but instead I will just say: "Michael Jackson's Off the Wall". If you're familiar with it, you'll know what I'm talking about. If not, go buy it. Really, it's that good.

Now watch and listen to this. It's awesome.

Ok, so he's just showing off; that was kinda the point of this instructional video. But Louis can play like this for hours, in perfect time, and totally repeatable. But he's not just about monster speed an technical jiggery-pokery. Louis also played the bass line in Michael Jackson's Billy Jean. A simple yet devastatingly effective line. And, no, it wasn't a one-bar sample. He played every note individually all the way through the tune, each one identical to the last and right on the beat. Amazing. That's why he's possibly the most prevalent session bassist in history.

Look him and his music up. I promise you'll enjoy a funk education.

Eurovision Song Content. I couldn't possibly say anything about it that hasn't already been said, but I will say a few things, just or my own amusement:

• All songs (I mean all songs ever sung in the whole world) should have a jaunty little dance at the end, like Romania's songs
• There's something about Finnish goths...
• Do all Eurovision songs have to have girls playing drums in the background? The bigger the better, it seems (the drums, not girls you understand. Not that I have anything against big girls. Not at all. I'm just not into big gothic Lithuanian girls playing the timbale)
• The Ukranian song is the best thing I have ever heard. Really. I was actually giggling with joy at that amazing audio-visual delight
• Tara-du-day du-dara dara-du-da
• Ok, you're from Ireland. We get it
• Thinking about it, why does every song have to have someone hitting something, empyong massively over-exaggerated arm movements and throwing their heads back in some sort of pseudo-musical ecstasy? Or rotating something?
• Moby really let himself go
• Hats! So many hats!
• That Macedonian bird...
• I'm a fat, long and greasy-haird, slightly scary-looking, soon-to-be-middle-aged bloke. Even if I could sing (which appears not to be a requisite for Eurovision), I don't think I would be the best advert for my country. Why do most European countries this is the ideal specification for their artists?
• Slovenia and opera don't mix
• Singing camply gives you the license to be filthy
• Despite Terry's assertion to the contrary, the Moldovan singer should not pull her trousers up

I posted this before the announcement of the winner, so here's my prediction:

1. 1) Ukranine
2. 2) Latvia
3. 3) UK

"What! The UK in third position!?" I hear you cry. I know, but that was a seriously catchy song. Plus you could see a little bit of the girls' bras, which helps. And it is a very, very gay song...

I'll post the results later. That's right: edge of your seat, please.

[Edit] Oh, see, now I just look stupid. The final result was:

1. 1) Serbia
2. 2) Ukranine
3. 3) Russia

Steve <X3 Eurovision

Inspiration from Joe's blog