3-track sequences

While listening to Bloc Party's 'A weekend in the city' yesterday, I was reminded of how brilliant the three track sequence from tracks 8 to 10 is. The led me to ponder other three track sequences that I adore.

I decided to browse my music collection and note down such sequences. I expected to find maybe 20 or so. I found 88. 88! Insane! Many of those consisted of more than 3 tracks, some even hit double figures, several accounted for entire albums or almost entire albums. And this is not counting the many superb songs I know that just don't happen to occur as part of such sequences on their albums.

I am once again amazed at (a) how much awesome music I own, (b) how lucky I am to own it, and (c) what a huge effect music has on me.

If anyone is interested, the sequences are below. Apologies for the lack of consistency in capitalisation.

Anberlin – Cities – Godspeed/Adelaide/A whisper and a clamour

Anberlin – Cities – Inevitable/Dismantle.Repair/Fin

Anberlin – New Surrender – Breaking/Blame Me! Blame Me!/Retrace

Ash – Free All Angels – Walking Barefoot/Shining Light/Burn Baby Burn

Athlete – Beyond the Neighbourhood – Airport Disco/It's not your fault/The Outsiders/Flying over bus stops/Second Hand Stores

Athlete – Black Swan – Superhuman Touch/The Getaway/Black Swan Song

Athlete – Tourist – Wires/If I found out/Yesterday Threw Everything At Me

Bloc Party – Silent Alarm – This Modern Love/Pioneers/The Price of Gas

Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City – Song for Clay/Hunting for Witches/Waiting for the7.18/The Prayer/Uniform

Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City – Kreuzberg/I Still remember/Sunday

Bluetree – Greater Things – Life's Noise/Burn Me Up/For You

British Sea Power – The Decline of British Sea Power – Fear of Drowning/The Lonely/Carrion/Blackout/Lately/A Wooden Horse

British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music? - Lights out for darker skies/No Lucifer/Waving Flags

Casting Crowns – Lifesong – Praise You in this Storm/Does anybody hear her?/Stained glass Masquerade

Coldplay – A rush of blood to the head – In my place/God put a smile on your face/The Scientist/Clocks

DCTalk – Jesus Freak – Coloured People/Jesus Freak/What if I Stumble?

DCTalk – Jesus Freak – In the light/What have we become?/Mind's eye

Delirious – Glo – God you are my God/Glo in the dark part 1/God's Romance/Investigate/Glo in the dark part 2/What would I have done?/My Glorious/Everything

Delirious – King of Fools – Sanctify/Deeper/Revival Town

Delirious – King of Fools – White Ribbon Day/King of Fools/History Maker

Delirious – Kingdom of Comfort – God is Smiling/Give What You've Got/Love will find a way

Delirious – Mezzamorphis – The Mezzanine Floor/Heaven/Follow/Bliss

Delirious – The Mission Bell – Miracle Maker/Here I am Send Me/Fires Burn/Our God Reigns

Delirious – World Service – Rain Down/God in Heaven/Majesty/Inside Outside

Easyworld – This is where I stand – Try not to think/100 weight/Junkies and Whores/This is where I stand/A stain to never fade/Demons

Editors – The Back Room – Lights/Munich/Blood

Editors – An End has a Start – Smokers outside the hospital doors/An end has a start/The weight of the world/Bones

Enya – A day without rain – A day without rain/Wild Child/Only Time

Evanescence – Fallen – Going Under/Bring me to life/Everybody's Fool/My Immortal

Feeder – Comfort in Sound – Just the way I'm feeling/Come back around/Helium/Child in you/Comfort in Sound

Feeder – Pushing the Senses – Feeling a Moment/Bitter Glass/Tumble and Fall

Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out/The dark of the matinee/Auf Achse

Heat – Can I See Heaven – One Sacrifice/Can I see heaven/In love with God/To love you more/Arms of love/Arise and Shine/Can I see heaven part 2

Idlewild – 100 Broken Windows – Little Discourage/I don't have the map/These wooden ideas/Roseability/Idea Track/Let me sleep

Idlewild – Make another world – You and I are both away/Ghost in the Arcade/Once in your life/Finished it remains

Idlewild – The Remote Part – You held the world/A modern way of letting go/American English

Idlewild – The Remote Part – Tell me ten words/Stay the same/Scottish Fiction

Idlewild – Warnings/Promises – El Capitan/Blame it on the obvious ways/Disconnected/Goodnight

Kato – Welcome to my world – Natural High/Javaman/Heaven Help

Killers – Hot Fuss – Jenny was a friend of mine/Mr Brightside/Smile like you mean it/Somebody told me/All these things that I've done

Killers – Sam's Town – Sam's Town/Enterlude/When you were young/Bling/For reasons unknown/Read my mind/Uncle Jonny/Bones

Lifehouse – No Name Face – Hanging by a moment/Sick cycle carousel/Unknown

Lifehouse – No Name Face – Only One/Simon/Breathing/Quasimodo/Somewhere in between/Everything

Lifehouse – Smoke and Mirrors – Halfway Gone/It is what it is/From where you are

Live – Birds of Pray – Heaven/She/The sanctity of dreams/Run Away

Matt Redman – Facedown – Facedown/Breathing the breath/Mission's Flame

Matt Redman – The Friendship and the Fear – There is a louder shout to come/Believer/Bowing Down/Deep calls to deep

Matt Redman – The Friendship and the Fear - Knocking on the door of heaven/Once again/Can I ascend/Can we walk upon the water/The way of the cross/I need to get the fire back/The yoke is easy/The friendship and the fear/In the waiting

Matt Redman – Intimacy – The heart of worship/Now to live the life/For the cross

Matt Redman – Passion for your name – It's rising up/The cross has said it all/I will offer up my life

Matt Redman – We shall not be shaken – We shall not be shaken/Through it all/You alone can rescue

Matt Redman – Where Angels Fear to Tread – Blessed Be/Befriended/When my heart runs dry

Mew – And the glass handed kites – Circuitry of the wolf/Chinaberry tree/Why are you looking grave/Fox cub/Apocalypso/Special/The zookeeper's boy

Mew – Frengers – Am I wry? No/156/Snow Brigade/Symmetry/Behind the drapes/Her voice is beyond her years/Eight flew over, one was destroyed/She came home for Christmas/Shespider/Comforting sounds

Muse – Absolution – Apocalypse Please/Time is running out/Sing for absolution/Stockholm Syndrome

Muse – Absolution – Butterflies and Hurricanes/The Small Print/Endlessly/Thoughts of a dying atheist

Muse – Black Holes and Revelations – Take a bow/Starlight/Supermassive black hole/Map of the problematique

Muse – Origin of Symmetry – Plug in baby/Citizen Erased/Micro cuts

Muse – The resistance – Uprising/Resistance/Undisclosed desires/United states of Eurasia/Guiding Light/Unnatural selection

Oasis – Be Here Now – D'you know what I mean/My big mouth/Magic Pie/Stand by me

Oasis – (What's the story) Morning Glory – Hello/Roll with it/Wonderwall/Don't look back in anger

RHCP – By the way – Cabron/Tear/On Mercury

RHCP – Californication – Around the world/Parallel Universe/Scar Tissue/Otherside/Get on top/Californication/Easily

Sabio – Escape – Mother/Frozen/Carry me

Santiago – Dance – Fade/Ne Puritans/Pyrotechnophobes

Sigur Ros - () - Vaka/Frysta/Samskeyti

Sigur Ros – Takk – Takk/Glosoli/Hoppipolla/Meo Blodnasir/Se Lest/Saeglopur/Milano/Gong

Sixpence none the richer – Divine Discontent – Still Burning/Melody of you/Paralyzed

Stellastarr* - Harmonies for the haunted – Lost in Time/Damn this foolish heart/The diver/Sweet troubled soul/Born in a fleamarket/On my own

Stereophonics – Roll up and shine/The bartender and the thief/Hurry up and wait/pick a part that's new

Steve – Falling down – Zealous core/My ever my all/M/Fine/Falling down/Divine design/Smile/Hunger/Hey now/I am here

Strangeday – Blink and miss it – Lead me on/Fearfully, wonderfully/It'll be alright/Trust in you/Wonderful

Tait – Empty – Spy/Talk about Jesus/American Tragedy

Tait – Empty – Carried away/Empty/Unglued

Tim Hughes – Here I am to worship – Maker of all things/May the words of my mouth/Here I am to worship

Tim Hughes – When Silence Falls – Beautiful one/You/Consuming fire/Giver of life/Whole world in his hands

Tom and Olly – Tom and Olly – Little things/Daydreamer/Trouble/Let me tell you

Tom and Olly – Tom and Olly – Love at the disco/Sun is shingins/Dream of change/Paint a smile/Jamie/City stars/Falling

U2 – Achtung Baby – Zoo station/Even better than the real thing/One/Until the end of the world

U2 – All that you can't leave behind – Beautiful day/Stuck in a moment/Elevation/Walk On/Kite

U2 – All that you can't leave behind – New York/Grace/Ground beneath her feet

U2 – How to dismantle and atomic bomb – Vertigo/Miracle drug/Sometimes you can't make it on your own

U2 – How to dismantle and atomic bomb – City of blinding lights/All because of you/A man and a woman/Crumbs from your table

U2 – The Joshua Tree – Where the streets have no name/I still haven't found what I'm looking for/With or without you

U2 – Gloria/I fall down/I threw a brick through a window/Rejoice/Fire/Tomorrow

U2 – War – Sunday Bloody Sunday/Seconds/New year's day/Like a song

World wide message tribe – Techno intro/Reach for heaven/In my life/Alleluia

World wide message tribe – The cross/Life/O come all ye faithful

I wish kids were more confident

This week, I had PCC (PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education), Careers and Citizenship) with my form - yeah, that's why we call it PCC.  It really boring, except for the times you get to talk about sex drugs and rock'n'roll.
Anyway, at the start of the new year I decided to do a lesson about looking back on last years achievements and setting targets for the future.  At one point I got them all to write down, individually, 3 things they were good at.  They then showed the list to a friend, who was to add one more thing to it.  I then asked for some volunteers to tell everyone what was on their list.  No-one volunteered.
My form aren't particularly shy, and it was very unusual that no-one wanted to speak (though, in this circumstance, I wasn't surprised).  I asked then why no-one volunteered.  Various answers were 'it can come across as arrogant', 'people might disagree with you' and 'it's not very modest'
This frustrates me - that kids aren't confident enough to admit to others what they are good at, and that they worry about what people will think of them if they do.  I know it's important not to brag about one's attributes and skills, but I think it's important to be able to acknowledge and admit them.
It's partly the old 'British modesty' thing, and it's partly that people just aren't confident enough about themselves.
If I could change one thing about the world, I would raise everyone's self-esteem. 

The crux of deathbed regrets

A post from the master of graphs and Venn diagrams, Jessica Hagy.

http://thisisindexed.com/2010/09/the-crux-of-deathbed-regrets/

If you can get your head around it, it's a good point well made.

Twilight

I read the Twilight Saga this summer. I wanted to know what all the fuss is about. Now I've read them, I'm still not sure what all the fuss is about.

I guess they're easy to read, which helps with the whole popularity thing. There's kissing and fighting, so maybe something for everyone?

But generally, I found the series unfulfilling, disappointing and unconvincing, mainly for the following reasons.

1. 
   
   The classic vampire mythology (coffins, stakes etc.) is dismissed as (I quote) 'all myth', allowing Meyer to set up her new 'sexy vampire' mythology. This is convenient but flawed, because now I could write a book about vampires and dismiss classic vampires and Meyer's vampires as 'mythology' and write that real vampires are actually made of jelly and smell of lavender, and actually prefer a diet of lettuce and rubber. That Meyer shows such disrespect for the fantasy/horror genre mildly insults me, and I'm not even a particularly ardent fan of that genre. Compare with (inevitably) Rowling, who takes the original mythology of ghosts, werewolves, dragons, sphinxes etc, and applies it to her stories, while maintaining the integrity of the original myths.
2. 
   
   The story centres around the relationship between Bella and Edward, which is fine – it's basically a romance story. Not particularly my thing, but that's ok. But their relationship is portrayed as so perfect! When they're together, they never seriously argue, or if they do it's written in a very light-hearted way. Also, Bella's descriptions of Edward focus on his 'perfect, godlike body' and 'flawless, angelic face'. Only once that I can remember does she describe what she likes about his character, and that is only when someone directly asks her. This is all both vomit-inducing and unrealistic, and basically emotional pornography.
3. 
   
   The story, while easy to read, is mostly slow paced. For large sections, nothing actually happens. There's no pace or excitement, which is a bit of a problem for novels that try to mix the genres of romance and fantasy. Only for a few chapters part way through book 4 was I really gripped, and that was possibly because the focus was off the two rather boring lead characters and on Jacob, who is way more interesting but gets much less page time.
4. 
   
   Several times, questions were set up and kept me pondering, and then never actually answered. For example, the question of exactly why Bella smells so good to both Edward and James is set up in book one, as though it will be revealed later and will form a vital plot point or twist. In fact, it is never revealed. This is very disappointing. Again, contrast with Rowling, who sets things up in one book and reveals their importance 4, 5, 6 books later.
5. 
   
   Most of the story is written first person from Bella's point of view. A short section is from Jacob's POV – this is a really nice change but unfortunately comes across as gimmicky because it is the only other POV used and is relatively short. If the books had had several POVs, or if Jacob's POVs had been more like 40-50% of the series, it would have worked. Written as it is, it doesn't.
6. 
   
   There are so many deus ex machinas! For example, how the two alpha's discover they can communicate, how Nessie can communicate to Bella and not get stopped by Bella's shield, and, the massive one, how Jacob imprints on Nessie (disgustingly and unconvincingly convenient) – I thought Meyer was having a laugh and was about to say 'only kidding, that would be stupid!'
7. 
   
   By the fourth book, the series had become something of an X-men ripoff. Every other vampire has some sort of superpower (the origins of which are disappointingly not explained) and all the talk is of how to combine the powers to win the battle and how to take out the enemy vampires with key powers etc, etc. All very well but painfully unoriginal.
8. 
   
   There is no payoff at the end of the story, no climax. Everything is set up nicely for a big confrontation, and then they all say sorry and go home! No-one even dies (well, only one minor character who we've never actually met before and therefore have no attachment to). An incredibly weak ending.

Overall, a big disappointment. Ok, so I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, but I also wasn't expecting to be so continually disappointed and bored. It seemed as though some author somewhere had written some really good books, and I was reading some trashy fanfiction based on them.

Reviews such as 'Move over, Harry Potter' are at best laughable and at worst blasphemous, and I side with Stephen King, who said "the real difference between J.K. Rowling and Meyer is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer, and Stephenie Meyer can't write a darn.  She's not very good."