And already I am beginning to regret this idea. No Blondie! (lets face it, the main two albums are Parallel Lines and Eat to the Beat and both where released in the 70s). No Ween, No Primus, No Suzanne Vega (first album 1986). But, lets see how I make out.
Observations:
80s music has MUCH longer introductions than modern music. For instance, The Polices track De do do do, de da da da. at a little over 4 minutes, is not really over the modern norm of 3 1/2 minutes, but it takes 4 loops through its main progression (music people please forgive me if I am misusing terms) before the lyrics start. Each loop through, my ear, tuned to more modern (get in there quick) layouts feels a pause.
To try to mix things up a little and make them easier to manage (less decisions) I have started using random play on my iPhone to present the songs in an unexpected order. I don't want to get stuck picking the same albums over and over. BUT, this feels very jarring to me, I much prefer listening to a whole album in order. Thats how I use music to pace development when I am working at home (but thats a whole nother post). Also, I need to find some way to feed myself with 80s music I don't already know. "This page":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_in_music is a start I suppose, but I have to find some other way.
Writing:
'And so on' and its cousins are weak cheaty ways to try to fill out a 'three'. The "rule of three":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_three_(writing) is very powerful . Trying to fill out a short list with 'and so on' or other 'fill in the blank' alternatives is just cheating and you should be ashamed.
Software:
And by way of filling out another 'three', or possibly making a nicer 'chunk' (I am reading "Universal Principles of Design":http://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-Principles-Design-Usability-Perception/dp/1592530079, see number 40) I have decided to move my blog over onto Haggis as a platform. Hopefully this will spur me to spend more time developing code and less time in that amazingly attractive time suck (yes, "Warcraft":http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/, I am talking about you, and Minecraft, you needn't look smug either!). This is going to require a bit of a plan, cos "Typo":https://github.com/fdv/typo/wiki is quite a full featured blog platform and I have high goals for what a Haggis blog must do.