Is your bed made? Is your sweater on?

And now for another in my irregular series of cover version posts. This time featuring a song that’s very close to my heart: “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” by Vampire Weekend.

I bought Vampire Weekend’s album for maybe the most uncool reason possible: it was recommended on Countdown. Yes, the daytime game show, which I was watching at my grandparents’.

Actually that’s not strictly true. I had heard it before when a friend played it to me, and I absolutely loved it. But then much alcohol was consumed and I entirely forgot about this wonderful album. So a few months later when Jeff Stelling out of the blue mentioned it on Countdown, it came back to me. I grabbed it as soon as possible. It was only then I realised that one of their tracks (“A-Punk”) was the theme to the excellent Inbetweeners.

I genuinely think every track on the album is great, and it’s not very often I feel that way. But “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” is a particular favourite, partly because the lyrics remind me of a certain girl who I was very close to. That all ended quite bitterly, but of the songs reminding me of her, this one somehow always makes me feel positive. And of course it’s great musically too.

  • The first cover is a slightly unusual choice, since it ditches the lyrics I love so much entirely. Vampire Weekend have obviously been greatly inspired by African and African-influenced music, and this takes that one step further by replacing the lyrics with African chanting. I’m not sure if this can strictly be called a cover version, but it is absolutely great and extremely cheerful.
    The Very Best (Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit) – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa:

  • And the second is unusual too, since it is by someone specifically mentioned in the song. Yes, the venerable Peter Gabriel, along with Hot Chip: Peter Gabriel & Hot Chip – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Vampire Weekend)

Lol, maths

I apologise for the technical quality of this picture. It was made in Facebook’s “Graffiti” application, using my laptop’s useless touchpad. Even so, it’s apparently the second most popular picture I’ve ever posted on b3ta. Hooray for maths jokes! :-)

Also from the maths jokes compo:

Ghost Hunting With X

Whilst flicking through the TV schedules late at night, ITV2 threw out one of the most amazing titles I’ve ever seen. “Ghost Hunting With The Happy Mondays”

Ghost Hunting. With The Happy Mondays.

So I was just about to post this, and maybe some of the other ridiculous titles I’ve seen recently (e.g. “Pants Off Dance Off”, “100 Men Own My Breasts”). I decided to google the ghost hunting show first, and it turns out that “Ghost Hunting With X” is something of a phenomenon. Where X = “Girls Aloud”, “McFly”, “Coronation Street”, “Radio 1”, “Louis Walsh and Boyzone”, and strangest of all: “The Dingles” o_O

In this episode Yvette takes Lucy Pargeter (Chastity Dingle), Verity Rushworth (Donna Windsor-Dingle), Hayley Tamaddon (Delilah Dingle), Joseph Gilgun (Eli Dingle) and Mark Charnock (Marlon Dingle), to three of the reputedley most haunted locations in York, including the National Railway Museum.

Only four of the five members of Girls Aloud took part in the pilot episode of the show, which was set in North Wales. Nadine Coyle opted out of the show because she was too scared.

Wikipedia

Two thousand and ten

Happy new year! I was getting tired of the radiance-based theme here, so switched to the aptly titled “veryplaintxt”. This is a lot tidier and also removes the need for me to co-ordinate colours, something I’m really hopeless at. I might make some customisations of my own at some point, and that should be easier as this theme is very nicely coded. I’m quite happy with how my Wikinews user page is turning out, so will probably use some ideas from there.

Christmas covers

So I’ve wanted to post some cover versions for a while, they’re a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. And I’ve really been inspired by several other sites, such as:

So in the spirit of the season, here’s a rather unusual but excellent cover, of this year’s unusual but excellent Christmas number one:

Merry Christmas!

Found this on Milkround whilst looking for jobs

“TPP is a fast-growing software company, based in Leeds, deploying a market-leading computer system to the NHS. As part of the high-profile NHS National Programme for IT, TPP’s product, SystmOne, makes a genuine difference to clinicians and patient care across the UK.”

“Below are examples of the types of things that you could experience at TPP: developing good relationships within all levels of the NHS, from customers to Chief Executives”

“Salary and benefits:
– £20,000 starting salary
– BUPA health and dental care (after six month’s service)“

Spam

Some spam e-mail subject lines I have received recently:

  • Prices for these watches coincide with your abilities. Good to hear it.
  • A fabulous instrument will give you a fabulous reputation. Is it a theremin? I hope it’s a theremin! Oh…
  • Endless diamonds on your replica watch. Endless I tell you!
  • With a big stick you will be the king of the beach. Speak softly.
  • You need more blood to make your penis bigger? Yes, it seems spammers have now sunk to selling human blood.
  • Buy vi.aaaaaaaa-grrrrr.raaaaaaa and start. your n+ew hap,pier life in y-ear 2009! Full marks for enthusiasm, but loses some for being sent in November of 2009.
  • Our watch will look great even on any loser. :-(

Scientists find key human language gene

This is an article I originally wrote for Wikinews here.

Rendering of the FOXP2 protein
Rendering of the FOXP2 protein

Researchers have found a crucial genetic difference between humans and chimps that could help explain our language and speech abilities. The difference lies in a gene called FOXP2 which encodes for a protein of the same name. This acts as a transcription factor, controlling the activity of other genes.

The human and chimp versions of the protein differ in only two of their 740 amino acid components, but when researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, replaced the human gene with the chimp version in neurons grown in the laboratory, they found it affected the expression of at least 116 other genes.

The results are detailed in a paper published on Thursday in the scientific journal Nature.

Author of the study Dr. Daniel Geschwind, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said the gene had a “major role” in differences between chimps and humans. “We showed that the human and chimp versions of FOXP2 not only look different but function differently too.”

Some of the affected genes control the formation of connections in the brain, whilst others relate to facial movements. Several have already been found to be involved in language disorders. Mutations in FOXP2 itself were also known to affect speech and language; the gene was first identified in members of a family suffering from language problems who were found to share a genetic mutation.

Frances Vargha-Khadem at University College London has studied patients with FOXP2 mutations, and agrees with the new research. As well as language problems, some of her subjects have changes in the shape of their jaws, mouths and tongues. She thinks that chimps may also have these differences.

“We believe FOXP2 is not only important for the higher order cognitive aspect of language but also for the motor aspect of speech and language,” said Genevieve Konopka, one of the authors of the paper at UCLA.

Previous research indicates that the changes in FOXP2 occurred around 200,000 years ago with the rise of modern humans. Geschwind also suggests that several of the related genes may have evolved together. Preliminary studies have shown signs that they too emerged relatively recently.

Scientists are now keen to further study FOXP2 and the genes that it affects. Geschwind believes this could eventually lead to breakthroughs in treatment for disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, which affect language skills.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the A.P. Giannini Foundation and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression.


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