Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I announce the newest FaceOmeter sister initiative, the FaceOmeter Web Log (fOwl). fOwl will incorporate this blog and a series of video podcasts filmes by ME and cut by ME, perhaps from the streets, like ME. For the video podcasts we at team Face are incredibly lucky to be under the caring eyes of Ceridwen Brown, who's making us a stop motion animation for the opening credits. Footage for the first two episodes is also complete, and they'll be appearing soon.

In episode one I go to a Jeff Lewis gig, and in episode two Max and I drive to Exeter to play a gig. Compelling viewing. And if you can't wait till I sit down and beat my head against the rock that is WMM to produce them, I've got a song from that Exeter gig live right now for you to look at. It's here, and also embedded over at myspace.

This is the final in what is, for now anyway, a quartet of essays on the subject of the vibe. If you haven't got it (/got "it"?(!)) by now then there's no point continuing, but in an effort to combat the sectarianism which is already arising from the tendancy amongst some to use words like "multi" and "super" interchangably, I take this chance to lay out an exact heirarchy of terms, starting with the best and moving down. A-like so:

Poly
Pulti
Multi
Hyper
Super
Special
[normality]
Standard
Blandard
Hatred
Breaktred
Destructo
Terror Zone

Other posts in the 'Vibe' series:
What is "it"?
The Vible - A fragment
An exposition

I've linked to yahtzee's superb Zero Punctuation reviews before now, but this one deserves an entry of its own. Complete genius. I know it's trendy to like him in nerd communities just now but I'll jab forks into my eyes and so on and so forth and blah blah blah CHECK IT OUT.

PS. DON'T read the millions of idiots in the comment forum afterwards. Censorship of ignorance* people!

*a cunning double-edge phrase of my own spinning. i am the words man.

Props to S Carter, who commented as follows in response to an article about the fact that policeman brutally gunned down an electrician because he looked foreign.

"It seems that a lot more people die in filthy hospitals under the care of the NHS, than at the hands of the Police. Keep it in perspective."

Yes, S, it's really us that has the perspective problem, isn't it? As long as the police kill one fewer per year than the total number of people suffering from fatal diseases in hospitals, the filthy libertarians should keep their filthy, sick pie-holes closed! PS. Ban Video Games

...I'm getting too old for this shit.

(the content of that article is shocking enough - thanks to JC for the tip-off)

I need to clear up something about "it". Please note that "loving it" is not necessary to secure the presence of either the vibe OR the drill. Loving it is what will happen WHEN your respect for and knowledge of both drill and vibe have paid dividends.


"It", in other words, is the target of the religion, the irrepressable excitement that rises up in your heart and lungs when everything is just going really well and, basically, you love it.

Unless it's said with bile, in which case "it" is the M25. But that's a completely different "it" and not to be confused with this one.

Oh and then there's "it" in the sense of "doing it", which is allied to the "it" that one loves, has nothing to do with the M25 whatsoever, and would take far too long to explain. I don't think anyone's figured that "it" out yet. It's probably the second hardest concept to explain in the universe, after "fass". Maybe I'll try one day.

Right well Jeff Lewis is STILL simply the best, better than all the rest. But of all the hundreds of billions of times I've seen him, that was right up there. Fantastic. Sorry to sound like such a drooling fanboy, but there it is.

It's been a difficult couple of weeks for an array of different reasons; there've been highs and lows, ups and downs, cocktails, near-death experiences, conversational latin, coffees, Philip Pullman, basements, inferior library cards, Walter Pater, the smell of KFC, the taste of Carluccio, empty gigs, full hearts, full brains-

But Jeff Lewis is the great healer. Bring it on, Exeter. It is time.

Firstly, thanks to Vinay for THIS. It's a short little flash game which anyone can play and ENJOY. Apparently there are three endings, though I've only managed to get one. It was a good one though! Highly recommended.

Those attentive to myspace will have noticed a new gig added. December 4th will find me and my faitful ally Max "It's in the Sky" Jones at The Hideaway, which is in Archway in North London. You should definitely come. Why? Because you get discounted admission if you bring a TOY INSTRUMENT! Now this is the kind of gig I'm talking about!

Raid your local early learning centre and we'll see you there!

Shaking Sabres, a song which I've been mentioning for a while, is now available on the myspace page. Check it out, and note the appearance of the Hectic Eclectic Folk Choir, credited in full here!

Trivia: the picture that pops up (should pop up) when you listen to this song is more or less of the exact moment the song was initially written! So that's inspiration you're looking at. See if you can spot the Vibe in the picture anywhere...

My username is faceometer if you want to bail me out.