WELCOME TO THE
WALTZER
EXPERIENCE


Keeping it real in a very surreal world. Week 22 | May 2000

Design Department night out in Belgo's.
[Phil or Siobhan]
   Philip, Fiona, Siobhan, Sally, Viv, Glen, A Woman from the IT House , Mark, Fiona, Martin.

[][][][]

THE ARCHIVES
Listed menu: Easy to navigate.

STATEMENT OF THE WEEK:
Fiona:
"Why do you never quote me? I often say intelligent stuff."

DROP US AN E:
waltzer@excite.com

AUDIOFIND
GET MP3:


The Waltzer Experience is grown by Alan Wall in a big greenhouse. Probably.

© 2000 Alan Wall

   

[news]

Web Construction Special: Part Two

Check out part two of my 4-week Web Construction Course. This week:

  • Aesthetics: How does it look and feel?
  • Usability: Is it easy to get stuff done?
  • Common Pitfalls of designing sites.

Our First Department Night Out

On Wednesday the design departments of the Business House and the IT House went out for a department session.

How did it turn out? Well there was lots of drinking and messing and lots of sore heads the next morning. The place, Belgo's, was great. Stylish interior, very friendly and helpful staff and the biggest beer menu I ever saw, with flavours as wild as cherry, chocolate and cinnamon. There were more flavours, but I'd be tormenting my brain trying to remember them. Styley if you've an open mind. Yes.

Then came the shots. They had these wooden shot "sticks", some of which held 30 shots. We had a few 6 Sticks, but they weren't too potent. Luckily enough, I suppose.

We didn't really mix much with the IT house, but to be honest, I don't think it had anything to do with any internal politics. Rather that the venue didn't lend itself to mingling. For example, the table service meant we never had to go to the bar. Therefore we weren't walking around, going to the bar, waiting for drinks and all those things that encourage mixing.

A good night was had none the less. I would go there again, no problem. You'd quickly spend a lot of money there, though. Most of the drinks were about £4 for a half pint. They're probably not used to people being drunk in the house!

Next Week: Blue Jean Queen Festival

Next weekend I will be at the Blue Jean Country Queen Festival, so excuse me if the intellectual content of the site drops briefly! I can guarantee some great stories and photographs of my exploits in Athboy, Co. Meath, though. If you would like to come along, please do. The more, the merrier! Check the line-up

Saturday 3rd June
2.00pm-6.00pm: Street Carnival
8.00pm onwards: Music and entertainment in the pubs of the town
10.00pm: Barbeque in the grounds of the Old Darnley Lodge Hotel, music by PLATINUM followed by JOANNA AND TEQUILA SUNRISE in Marquee 1, ballads with POITIN in Marquee 2, Buck Mulligan's Nite Club

Sunday 4th June
12.00 noon: Fancy Dress Football
2.30-6.00pm: Music in the Park featuring the Modelling Competition
8.00pm: Banquet in the Darnley Suite
10.00pm onwards: Music by the KAYE TWINS in Marquee 1, THE THREE AMIGOS in Marquee 2, Buck Mulligan's Nite Club
MIDNIGHT: Announcing of Blue Jean Country Queen 2000

New: Drunken Audio

Pictures of us drunk is funny, but imagine if you could listen the crap that was spouting from the drunken heads! Well very soon I will have MP3 highlights of amusing drunken conversations of the odd night out. Download, listen and laugh. And laugh. Mark actually recorded some of the conversation on Wednesday night, and listening to it in the office this morning was hilarious, embarrassing and even a touch shocking. Now you will have the chance to listen to your drunken selves and relive the glory of the pub.

Do not be afraid! I understand how this may be seen as an invasion of privacy, so I will tell people that they are being recorded at the time, AND I will let them hear the recording before it goes on the site in case they want to veto it. No problem. The last thing I want is to upset anyone.

Site Redesign

I have been toying with the idea of redesigning this site so that the articles are on different pages linked off the main page, cos it's getting a bit full, and there is a lot of scrolling. But lots of people say they prefer not to have to click around, and they always know they haven't missed anything.
Please take the quick poll to the left if you haven't already. It doesn't take you away, just refreshes showing the score so far. Thanks.

    Top 10

Things To Shout Over The DJ
By MC Waltzer

10. Booyakasha!
Originated from Ali-G, who picked it up from the white homey-wannabes in the Hoods of Berkshire.
Gets everyone laughing anyway.

9. Rapid Tunes, Rapid Tunes
Viv's line really, but I use it. One of his crew said it about a TV programme, and the rest is history.
Goes down well on the floor. No biggie.

8. Make some noise
A classic from the early 90's. Does anyone recognize "Next DJ on the Decks, DJ Binman! Make some fuckin' noise"?
Essential.

7. DJ *** comin' at ya live.
I think John Power came up with this in 94.
Just fill in your DJ's name and you're away. Leaves a warm feeling in the crowd.

6. One Two Yippee Four
Another classic. Remember Music Power use to be in Temple Bar? This was one of the tapes over that track "We're going on down, down to a funky town". Yes.
One of my most often used MC sayings, this one goes with everything, and everyone expects you to say "Three". When you don't the crowd just go wild!

5. Wicked on the decks
Bit of a commercial one, this. Widely used by cheesy pop rappers.
It's in the way you say it. Get it right, and you've invested in a smashing night.

4. Kick it up in the house
Originally confined to the underground clubs such as the Asylum, this one got out and is commercially used at all the pop and dance stations and clubs today.
You'll still get a bit of respect.

3. Comin' in for a rush
Once again from the old tapes, this one is still very juicy, and I am reluctant to put it in.
Timing is everything, say it when the breakdown is about to climax.

2. Dublin is the place to be, DJ Waltzer rockin' you and me!
DJ Pressure's MC came off with this one. What ever happened to Pressure? Until 94 he was the biggest DJ in Ireland.
Don't over-use this one. Once in a night is enough.

1.
"Searching frough ma pocke'
Ah fought ah fand an e,
But it was just a mini Polo mint
My chauffeur gave to me... check it out."

Oh yeah. A real gem. If anyone remembers this I will get them a delicious pint of Vodka and Redbull.
Again, it's a once a night rhyme, but man, does it go down well? Say this and the crowd are yours.

Waltzer says: "Don't waffle too much while MCing. DJs can and do turn down your volume very easily."


Disagree with the Top 10?

Throw your version of the Top 10 together and click "send". Next week you will see an average of the massive compared to this one.


Send me your Top 10: waltzer@excite.com 

    [that wrecks me buzz]

The School Of Hard Knocks

It's true that the best lessons are learned at the school of hard knocks. But I tell you, sometimes the knocks are very hard.

The other day I learned my lesson to the tune of £60. It all started when I wanted to check with Abbey Discs if they had a certain recording available on Delicious Vinyl. Having typed "www.abbeydisks.com" into my browser, I noticed there was no site. Hmmm, no site for Abbey Discs? Well lets see if the domain is available. On to WhoIs to see if anyone owns the domain. A quick search told me that it was available. So off I went to Register.com, took out my credit card and purchased "AbbeyDisks.com".

Now I wasn't going to use it to sell records or anything, just try to sell it to Abbey Discs when they decide they need a site. So I wrote down on a note pad "Find out all you can on Abbeydiscs", and as I was writing, my stomach dropped. I felt weak and nauseous. I had just paid £60 for abbeydisks.com, and it is actually spelled Abbeydiscs.com.

Now I know they allow minor spelling errors be corrected within 24 hours, but what if the domain abbeydiscs.com is taken? I quickly checked... Lo and behold, it was registered to the company already. Well, I felt quite the fool, and I had to accept that I had just been to The School Of Hard Knocks.

Now that wrecks me buzz.

[featured site]

Winamp

[winamp]

If you like your MP3s, you have to get Winamp. It's a great little package for playing all your music formats, and it allows some great plugins and skins.

There are plugins available that do some great things, like allowing you pitch (speed) control, or vinyl noise like dust and scratches, or how about PlayStation style music visuals?

Then there are skins. These are great. Download a skin and it immediately makes winamp look like a retro seventies stereo, or an ultra modern chrome hi-fi. Check it out, and keep an eye on the Waltzer Experience of some exclusive skins I am working on myself. If you are a designer, why not go to the developers' section to learn how to make your own skin. Winamp put up your skin on their site for download. There are hundreds up there now. Wicked.