Author: Padraig Fahy

  • [The JukeBox] #75 – Sonique – It Feels So Good (And a Bit of History)

    [The JukeBox] #75 – Sonique – It Feels So Good (And a Bit of History)

    Back in late 90’s/early 2000’s, Sonique (Sonia Marina Clarke) burst onto the pop and dance scene but with a little bit of help from her friends.

    Sonique was born and raised in England. At 17, she put together a reggae band called ‘Fari’ and ended up writing the music for the band. After Fari disbanded, she set about getting her own recording contract.
    In 1985, she released her solo single “Let me hold you“. It reached the Top 40 Dance Chart in the UK.

    This wouldn’t be our first sighting of Sonique though as she was a member of the dance band S’Express, which you might remember for this song:

    After S’Express disbanded , Mark Moore (A producer and DJ for S’Express) and Sonique continued being friends.

    Clarke would accompany both Mark Moore and the infamous DJ Judge Jules to their gigs for about 3 years.

    She signed with Serious Records and released her first single “I Put a Spell On You”, a cover of the 1956 hit by Jay Hawkins:

    It would end up being the ‘B’ track on the single release of It Feels So Good.

    She would end working as a In-house DJ for Club Manumission in Ibiza between 1997 and 2001.

    Her debut album ‘Hear My Cry’ was released in 1998 but re-released in 2000. With the re-release, ‘It Feels So Good‘, topped the UK chart for 3 weeks in 2000 and became the third best-selling single of 2000 (Beaten by ‘Can We Fix it?’ by Bob The Builder and ‘Pure Shores’ by All Saints)

    Sonique would retire as a DJ to focus on her singing career. She would return to the decks after her next album Born to Be Free (released in 2003) was not successful.

    Clarke was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2009 but would get the all clear a year later and celebrated by releasing a cover to Cyndi Lauper’s hit Girls Just Want to Have Fun with proceeds going to Cancer Research UK.

    Sonique is still releasing music to this day but in collaboration with other DJ’s and producers such as Dario G, Mauro Picotto and Ramiro. Her latest solo album was released in 2011 under the ZYX label titled Sweet Vibrations.

    Here is Sonique’s biggest hit, It Feels So Good.

    YouTube:

    Lyrics:

    You always make me smile
    When I’m feeling down
    You give me such a vibe
    It’s totally bonified, mmh
    It’s not the way you walk
    And it ain’t the way you talk
    It ain’t the job you got
    That keeps me satisfied

    Your love, it feels so good
    And that’s what takes me high
    Higher than I’ve been before
    Your love it keeps me alive
    Thought I should let you know
    That your touch it means so much
    When I’m alone at night
    It’s you I’m always thinking of, ooh-oh, baby

    Ooh I want you to understand
    How I feel, yeah, deep inside
    oh oh, you make me feel
    what I need to feel, yes
    In my heartYour love, it feels so good
    And that’s what takes me high
    Higher than I’ve been before
    Your love it keeps me alive
    Thought I should let you know
    That your touch it means so much
    When I’m alone at night
    It’s you I’m always thinking of, oh-oh, baby

    Your love, it feels so good
    And that’s what takes me high
    Higher than I’ve been before
    Your love it keeps me alive
    Thought I should let you know
    That your touch it means so much
    When I’m alone at night
    It’s you I’m always thinking of, ooh-oh, baby

    Your love, it feels so good
    And that’s what takes me high
    Higher than I’ve been before
    Your love it keeps me alive
    Thought I should let you know
    That your touch it means so much
    When I’m alone at night
    It’s you I’m always thinking of, ooh-oh, baby

    Your love, it feels so good
    And that’s what takes me high
    Higher than I’ve been before
    Your love it keeps me alive
    Thought I should let you know
    That your touch it means so much
    When I’m alone at night
    It’s you I’m always thinking of, ooh-oh, baby

    Spotify & Deezer:

    It Feels So Good
    Sonique – song – 2000
    Deezer

  • Regarding Third Party Tools in FFXIV

    Regarding Third Party Tools in FFXIV

    On Monday, Square Enix released a post on the Lodestone addressing third party plugins/addons/mods, etc in Final Fantasy XIV.

    In their post, they details that all third party tools are against the Terms of Service, which is not new but has been reiterated to players over the last few years but more so within the last 6 months.

    Up until now, the ‘ruling’ from Naoki Yoshida (Director and Producer of Final Fantasy XIV) was that you can use them, as long as you are not being toxic or harassing other players and using it for your own benefit.

    What these plugins/tools/addons/mods do is enhance the gameplay of Final Fantasy XIV, mostly using Quality of Life (QoL) enhancements, like a different UI, bigger numbers, alerts, etc. The scope of this is endless, but it has come at a cost.

    It has been revealed that certain players were able to get to the last phase of the Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate) map earlier than it was supposed to be intended. It, along with the weapon rewards from that fight were datamined and leaked online weeks before it was available to players.

    In addition, the community believes that certain groups that did not livestream the progression of the Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate) World First Race (Which is an unofficial race that is held by the community to see who can complete the raid the fastest), which gets a mere nod from Square Enix at the end, believe that they were using third party tools to either: Complete the fight quicker, practise on a different server, skip mechanics due to plugins/addons/tools.

    This has let to certain streamers both in North America and Japan receiving 10-day bans from Final Fantasy XIV for streaming on Twitch with Advanced Combat Tracker (ACT) being displayed. Neither player was cheating nor being toxic towards anyone else. It turned out that streamers on 4Chan and Japan’s 5Ch has been involving themselves in report brigading and were causing these streamers to get banned.

    Now, everyone (Including myself 😛 ) have a opinion on what Square Enix should and shouldn’t do.

    Here is my take on it:

    Square Enix can obviously make the rules that they want to set out. They are imposed to protect not only the players, but Square Enix legally.

    Could the rules be changed? Yes. It can be. But Square Enix won’t because it is not an issue on their side but it would be on the mod authors side to make the change.

    Where there should be rules is with the guys like Dalamud or XIVAlexander and other tools.

    Dalamud had already released a statement where Patch 6.1 was released about plugins for PvP

    This is the right way to go about it. Mod authors can stop anything going through their official repositories but unable to very 3rd party repositories which is all they can do.

    The likes of Cactpot (which displays callouts for raids), should look about adding a delay to the release of some World First races fights (Savages, Ultimates) for the first week or two or until most of the World First teams have cleared the fight.

    Streamers should be allowed to display ACT as before but again, they can’t be toxic about it. The report brigading from 4/5chan should end within the next week or two when the dust settles but I just hope that Square Enix doesn’t make any further changes to the ruling or the Terms of Service to change this.

    Hopefully the community can get their act together and stop throwing their toys out of their pram when it comes to the world first race. Just because you and your group were not the first to kill DSR, doesn’t mean that you throw abuse to others.

    Be kind.

  • [The JukeBox] #74 – Ann Lee – 2 Times

    [The JukeBox] #74 – Ann Lee – 2 Times

    A simpler time, back in 1999, we had some classic hits like Mysterious Times (#52), Missing (#18) and It feels so good (Coming in )

    2 Times by Ann Lee has always been a bop in nightclubs across UK, Ireland and beyond.

    The YouTube video has the following about Ann Lee:

    Ann Lee is a British Eurodance singer and songwriter who rose to fame in the late 1990s. She is known solely for her 1999 hit single “2 Times”.

    Having moved to live in Italy in the late 1980s, Lee was talent-scouted, and was used as the lead singer on a series of Eurodance singles, issued under various aliases. These have included Charme, Anne, Ally & Jo, DJ Space’C, Lolita, A Kay BJ, Alex, Wienna and TH Express.[citation needed] She also released a few Eurobeat solo singles on the Italian label A.Beat-C. under the names Annerley Gordon and Annalise. Gordon is credited with contributing to the composition of “Rhythm of the Night”, released in Italy in December 1993 on the DWA record label, by the Eurodance project Corona.

    Her first solo single under the name “Ann Lee” was “2 Times”, originally released in 1998. It was re-released in early 1999 and became a Top 10 hit in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Norway, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. It also hit number 2 in her native United Kingdom, and reached number one in Flanders and Denmark. In Canada it reached number 14 on the singles chart. “2 Times” was featured in the 2001 film Head Over Heels as the movie’s theme song.

    YouTube

    2 Times
    Ann Lee – song – 2013
    Deezer

  • [The Jukebox] #73 – Takeharu Ishimoto – Twister

    [The Jukebox] #73 – Takeharu Ishimoto – Twister

    In a much simpler time, 2007, Square-Enix released a new IP on the Nintendo DS, called The World Ends With You (TWEWY). An RPG utilising the DS’ bottom touch screen to move your character and using badges to unleash attacks such as fire, ice and other elements.

    The game was set in Tokyo’s suburb Shibuya, and while most of the landmarks were duplicated into the video game, some names of businesses being modified, like the infamous department store 109 becoming “104” and Starbucks becoming “Outback Cafe”.

    In the 2021 sequel, NEO: TWEWY, the game is once again set in Shibuya and this time it kept the names of Tower Records and Parco in the game. 104 and Outback retain their names from the first game.

    (Sidenote: While they share the names, Tower Records in Japan and Tower Records in Ireland operate independently from each other, but it would be so so SO nice if I could get some Japanese only music in the Irish stores. They have some Anime movies (Mainly Studio Ghibli titles) but it would be cool to get some pop/dance/OST)

    Twister while not the main theme, became synonymous with the franchise as it has been remixed many many times (25 times in fact) for battles, boss battles and final battles for the iOS Release, the Final Mix release, NEO: TWEWY release and the anime intro!

    Original 2007 Version
    2018 “Final Remix” Version
    2021 “NEO: TWEWY” Version
    2021 TWEWY Anime Intro Version 

    Lyrics:

    “Brain wave, main wave”
    Psycho got a high kick
    Collect and select
    Show me your best set
    “Crystals, blisters”
    It’s all over now
    Psycho cane
    You’re so keen
    I need more candy canes
    “Cold cake, cold break”
    Freak got a high kick
    Mr. Twister
    Moist with roistering
    Stick it up
    Take it up
    Step aside and see the world
    Effect has defects
    “Take a bow to the moon (Bow-wow to the moon)”
    “Brain wave, main wave”
    Psycho got a high kick
    Collect and select
    Show me your best set
    “Crystals, blisters”
    It’s all over now
    Psycho cane
    You’re so keen
    I need more candy canes
    “Cold cake, cold break”
    Freak got a high kick
    Mr. Twister
    Moist with roistering
    Stick it up
    Take it up
    Step aside and see the world
    Effect has defects
    “Take a bow to the moon (Bow-wow to the moon)”
    “Morning rays, hairspray Queens”
    “Get on their way to their nests, the west”
    “Honest, they once had a dream”
    “Belles of society, in the shells of their unity”
    Cornet ‘n spinet
    “The sound flows, follows till they’re home”
    Dragged by the power of dreams
    That power is yet unknown
    “Morning rays, hairspray Queens”
    “Get on their way to their nests, the west”
    “Honest, they once had a dream”
    “Belles of society, in the shells of their unity”
    Cornet ‘n spinet
    “The sound flows, follows till they’re home”
    Dragged by the power of dreams
    That power is yet unknown

  • WWE Wrestlemania 38 Night 2 PPV Predictions

    WWE Wrestlemania 38 Night 2 PPV Predictions

    It’s Night 2 of Wrestlemania 38 and here are my predictions for the most stupendous Wrestlemania Sunday of all time

    (I am doing this late, so just my predictions)

    Non-Title Matches

    • Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston vs. Sheamus & Ridge Holland

    See my post from yesterday with my prediction. It was cut from the card due to time constraints.

    • Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn (Anything Goes Match)

    Johnny Knoxville to win!

    • Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory

    Pat McAfee to win!

    • Bobby Lashley vs. Omos

    Bobby Lashley to win!

    • Edge vs. AJ Styles

    Edge to win!

    Title Matches

    • RK-Bro (C) vs. The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy in a Triple Threat for the RAW Tag Team Championships

    The Street Profits to become the NEW RAW Tag Team Champions

    • Queen Zelina & Carmella (C) vs. Sasha Banks & Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley & Liv Morgan vs. Natalya & Shayna Baszler in a Fatal 4-Way for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

    Rhea Ripley & Liv Morgan to become the NEW WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions

    • WWE Champion Brock Lesnar (C) vs Universal Champion Roman Reigns (C) in a Winner Take All Championship Unification Match.

    Brock Lesnar to become both WWE and Universal Champion.

  • WWE Wrestlemania 38 Night 1 PPV Predictions

    WWE Wrestlemania 38 Night 1 PPV Predictions

    The most stupendous 2 night event, Wrestlemania, WWE’s flagship Pay-Per-View takes places this weekend from the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

    This will be the 2nd time that WWE will hold the event over 2 nights. Wrestlemania 37 last year, the first PPV with a crowd since March 2020 really solidified that you don’t have to have a 6 hour PPV (Looking at you Wrestlemania 35)

    As there is going to be a lot of matches on the card for tonight, I will keep the predictions concise.

    Note: At time of writing, these matches are scheduled to happen tonight, matches may not happen, competitors may change and matches may have moved to tomorrow

    UPDATE:

    • Seth Rollins vs ???

    Well, this has been confirmed in the last few mins (at 5:30pm IST on 2nd April 2022) It’s quite obvious that the person that is going to face Seth is Cody Rhodes.

    I can see Cody winning his return match at Mania. Should be a fun one.

    Non-Title Matches

    • King Woods & Kofi Kingston vs Sheamus & Ridge Holland

    The small stable that Sheamus has with Ridge Holland and B U T C H (fka. Pete Dunne) has really grown on me since the introduction of B U T C H and them being the heels, I can see them taking the victory from Woods and Kofi.

    There is nothing at stake if Kofi and Woods lose so hopefully the heels go over here.

    Sheamus & Ridge Holland to win.

    • Drew McIntyre vs Happy Corbin

    This hasn’t been the best build for these. It feels like that we have seen this match, plenty of times. I could see Madcap Moss turning on Corbin which will cost him this match.

    Drew needs to get back into the title picture as him floundering around in the mid-card is not doing him any favours.

    Drew to win.

    • Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs The Miz & Logan Paul

    I hate this feud. This is nothing more than to make Logan Paul look good here and as much as I despise him, I suppose he’ll do as a competitor here. I would like to see Ray & Dom win this but there is no reason for them to do so.

    The Miz & Logan Paul to win…

    • “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to ‘confront’ Kevin Owens

    I don’t see this becoming a match, but more so a brawl to build up to another PPV… perhaps Summerslam and then have the two face off. If they do a match, Stone Cold to win. But I see this as a fun closure of Night 1 regardless of what happens.

    Title Matches

    • The Usos (C) vs Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship

    I like Shin & Boogs but the story isn’t about them, it’s about the Usos and whether they can ‘do the job’ and keep the titles in the Bloodline. I feel a shake up coming with the Usos is coming but not yet… Perhaps at BackLash or another PPV but for now The Usos to retain.

    • Becky Lynch (C) vs Bianca Belair for the RAW Women’s Championship

    As much as I adore Becky for being an Irish badass, you can’t look past the fact that Bianca is here and is here to get revenge for the Summerslam loss.

    I’m torn though, Becky would be untouchable if she can retain the title, but then questions would need to be answered about Bianca… If she can’t beat Becky, what is the point of her being there? Is she going to admit defeat or are we going to go for another match down the line at Summerslam and then let her have the big moment then?

    Becky Lynch to retain!

    • Charlotte Flair (C) vs Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women’s Championship

    Well, there is nothing much to say about this. Take the title off Charlotte and give it back to her later in the year to pad the number up again. A great excuse for Ronda to get that big Wrestlemania moment that she didn’t get at Wrestlemania 35.

    Her running rampant in the SmackDown’s Women’s locker room will keep her tied over until some big returns like Asuka and Bayley happen and then have a big match at Summerslam.

    Ronda to win the championship.