"Code Monkey" is a song written by Jonathan Coulton and is described as such:

Yay, monkeys. This is not autobiographical, but I did indeed used to have a job writing software. VB! MS SQL! I affectionately referred to myself and my co-developers as code monkeys, especially when a client asked me a question that I didn't want to answer ("What do I know? I'm just a code monkey.").

Jonathan Coulton is a hero to all nerds - and his songs are Creative Commons licensed for mugs like me to cover.

You really, really, really should visit his site now and bask in his geekish glory.

(after you've watched my cover, that is)

Click here to put this video on your iPod.

With a couple small gigs coming up this and next month, I needed to get a new guitar as my Yamaha has been crapping out on me and is beyond repair. I only went into Hands Music in Kingston (great store, btw) to get some strings and ended up walking out with a 12 string Crafter D8-12/N. While it wasn't expensive compared to some other 12-strings Ive priced up, this one wasn't cheap either, and will serve as a XMas present to myself for a couple of years, I think...

So, just for the boys who wanted to hear what it sounds like instead of seeing pictures, here's a rough-cut video of me singing Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Boy, I need to practice some more. Hadn't heard this song before yesterday - went YouTubeing for some 12-string inspiration and found this Unplugged performance.

He's definitely using a different (perhaps open?) tuning. I'm nervous to try alternate tunings at the moment as I've only one set of backup strings.

• Fix You (Coldplay)
• Kodachrome (Simon & Garfunkel)

• Take It Easy (Eagles)
• Mrs. Robinson (Simon & Garfunkel)
• Brown-Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)

Seeing as blog entries only support one enclosure at a time, I'm reposting the Campfire Songs individually. Romeo and Juliet (Dire Straits)

Seeing as blog entries only support one enclosure at a time, I'm reposting the Campfire Songs individually. Hotel California (Eagles)

Seeing as blog entries only support one enclosure at a time, I'm reposting the Campfire Songs individually. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (Clapton)

I went to a Bank Holiday music festival and get-together put together by some fantastic friends of ours in Kent. 2006 marks the 12th one so far, and I was fortunate to have been invited down for my third this year. I had been in the past (2000, 2004) by myself to sing, but this year I asked Adam to come down with me. My father came down too, intending to go back later in the evening, but decided to stay on until morning.

I was in Portugal at the end of last week for an education conference and was out late one night (well, every night in fact), and heard this song again. It's been 2 years since its release, but something made me like it for the first time.

Thought I'd actually give GarageBand a whirl tonight. Everything was done on the Powerbook internal mic, I might consider actually getting a proper mic for doing this sort of thing. Of course, it would help if I had a Mac to do it on...:-)

Still getting over the last dregs of a cold, and it was only in post production when I realised how flat my voice sounds on the lead vocal. Also I b0rked the timing on the guitar, and forgot the 4-bar lead in. So the song pretty much just kicks in and that's that! Apologies for the background hiss...

So here it is, GarageBand Will Be Loved. Enjoy (best with headphones, I think)!

All I was doing was surfing around, minding my own business when I ran into this on the Muruch blog (better half of the Brencast):

"I should preface this by saying that (with the exception of "Trouble") I don't like Coldplay, including "Fix You". I think the original sounds like a yawn set to music. So I was very surprised when my husband forced me to listen to the above cover and I loved it."

"Jim Christian is the guy behind the Posithink podcast. Jim has such a nice, emotive voice that he transformed this rather mediocre pop song into a beautiful ballad. Which leads me to think Chris Martin should give up torturing our ears with his singing and become a songwriter for better artists."

Holy. Freaking. Crap.

This is a reference to the "Fix You" Vidcast test I did some time ago over on Posithink.

Well, I thank you wholeheartedly. Really I do, because Muruch has great taste in music and I know she means it.

If this is a more material manifestation of my thanks, here's a version of Radiohead's "Creep" I did after reading that entry tonight, inbetween pizza slices. Up until I read that post, I'd been having a pretty bad day...

...I still am, but I think the song's worked most of the mood out of me

If your ears can stand a guy in his office with a USB mic and a copy of Audacity, then away you go.