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…it’s quite good, in a muzaky kind of way.

What is it? People have been mucking about with Microsoft’s SongSmith, mostly in a mocking kind of way, to see what it does with real songs; most of them are indeed abominations, but Eye of the Tiger is king of neat as a lounge track.

If the videos available on YouTube are any kind of guide, SongSmith has only two main modes, though: lounge ballads and techno remixes of the sort that end up being played in aerobics classes, with the odd bluegrass reinterpretation, Hayseed Dixie style.

(Actually, that’s not entirely fair; I could almost believe this was an original.)

“Can I smell your coffee?”

sniff, sniff, sniff

“Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm”

“Can I have a taste?”

“When you’re a little bit older.”

“I will drink my milk.”

…I have it.

The Lady Norwood Rose Garden is one of the nicer parts of Wellington, especially with a small child, who can run around, sniff flowers, and enjoy the ducks. One upgrade since last time I visited is the addition of some informative plaques—the most notable to me being that the gully in which the garden resides was carved out of the hill over the course of 3 years by a Great Depression-era public works program.

Anyone for Satan’s Awkward Gropings?

Because nothing went wrong, and I’m not one of the parents who woke up to a house with missing children, this is adorable, rather than horrifying.

At Carla & Ceri’s traditional New Year’s barbie one of the guests wanted to read Ada the good (but not as good as the French translation) Yummy Yucky; it’s organised as pairs of things which are delicious and, well, not. “Spaghetti is yummy. Worms are yucky.”

This was the point where Ada threw a spanner in the works, brightly contradicting the reader: “Worms are yummy for blackbirds!”