All of these things are normally down to Em. She’s been using the service since June and I’ve only just finally caught the bug. It was prompted mostly by hearign the news this morning that the UK arm of twitter won’t be letting people update their tweets via sms. The UK are losing their twitter number. Thanks twitter!
So, anyway, it’s prompted my move to finally go to Plurk. Not that they offer sms either, but it looks a nice structured web site. You get your own dedicated plurk page, and there seems to be a little chat community on there. I’ve already got one Plurk friend that isn’t Em! I’ve put a widget on the side bar of my blog, with a link to my page, as well as Plurk itself. Just a quickie for today.Monkey Olympics
Well, not long to go now until the opening ceremony. I have LOVED the BBC’s promo video for their Olympics coverage. Made by the animator of the Gorillaz videos and with music made by the group. I love the music and was sad enough to download it onto my mobile.
Monkey Olympics promo.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/H34YLFPFYMU]
Watched Mock The Week last night. I love this show primarily for Frankie Boyle. The man is SSSSOOOO rude! Every week we tune in just to see how quickly Frankie will say something outrageous. It never takes long!
He’s got big hopes for the future…
Anyway, off to watch the opening ceremony…
Talk About Advanced Notice!
This just popped through the mail slot.
Take a look at the date.
And in case you can’t quite read it, that’s July 27th, 2708!
I Know I Have! Thanks Daniel.
I saw an article on the BBC New web site saying that Daniel Powter’s song Bad Day has been the most played song in the UK in the last 5 years.
I can’t tell you how much I detest this song. As soon as I hear the first melodies, I scream blue murder and try and get away or turn the sound down. Anything to get away from it. If I actually HAVE had a bad day, this song is the blooming last thing I want to hear! “Yes, Daniel. I’ve had a bad day. And now YOU’VE just made it worse!” I mean why sing to someone “you’ve had a bad day, ne na na na nar”. Just f*ck off Daniel Powter!!! Next most played was Kelly Clarkson’s mediocre Because Of You. I don’t mind admitting to the “guilty pleasure” of liking Since You’ve Been Gone, but Because Of You?! God, it’s SO MOTR! James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful was 3rd most played. That I don’t mind. There’s a lovely sentiment to that song that I’m not ashamed to admit liking. I can see why people have been “Blunted” out though. I like Goodbye My Lover and Same Mistake more though as songs. Rounding off the top five were Scissors Sisters’ Don’t Feel Like Dancing (probably not my fave track of theirs) and Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars – which I adore! I mean, that sentiment in that chorus – “If I lay here. If I just lay here, will you lie with me and and just forget the world?” That’s on par with the chorus of The Smith’s There’s A Light That Never Goes Out…for me. As far as I’m concerned, Chasing Cars isn’t played ENOUGH!DVD’s
After working on my list of U2 songs for yesterday’s post, I watched some DVD’s. It’s SSSSOOOOO the non-rating season in the UK. Here’s a sample of the “delights” on TV last night.
As of 6pm: BBC1:News 6.10-6.30
My Family 6.30-7.00
(a modern day Brit family comedy – ie: not THAT funny) – OK if you really ARE stretched for something to watch)
Last Choir Standing 7.00-8.00
(yet ANOTHER reality TV talent show – this one obviously about finding “the” choir group of the UK – I just can’t generate any interest in it)
The National Lottery: This Time Tomorrow 8.00-8.50
(yes, our lottery programme goes for that long! They usually have some quiz show linked into it. This one is seemingly called “This Time Tomorrow” where the quiz winner gets flown off to an exotic location as their prize)
Casualty 8.50-9.40
(hospital-based drama series)
News 9.40-10.00 BBC2
The Weakest Link 6.15-7.00
Dad’s Army 7.00-7.30
Carry On Camping 7.30-9.00
(Lord have mercy! Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I DO love an old “Carry On” film, but not prime time on a Saturday night!)
Cor, Blimey! 9.00-10.45
(TV drama about the Carry On films and stars of the movies) ITV1
Twins 5.35-7.30
(the movie with Arnie and Danny De Vito)
New You’ve Been Framed 7.30-8.00
(one of those home video compilation shows – give me strength)
Who Dares Sings 8.00-9.00
(another reality TV show – basically karaoke on TV)
Foyle’s War 9.00-11.00
(drama series about some war bloke or something. Dunno. Never watched, never will – even despite David Tennant being in an episode once) Channel 4
Gok’s Fashion Fix (repeat from Thursday night) 6.00-7.00
(hosted by fashionista Gok Wan, telling people who care what’s hot in fashion and trying to help members of the public improve their fashion sense)
Channel 4 News 7.00-7.30
Day Of The Kamikaze 7.30-9.00
(a documentary about Japanese Kamikaze fighter pilots of WWII)
Big Brother 9.00-10.00
(the day’s “highlights” from the reality TV show’s house) Five
Superstars 6.05-7.00
(has-been athletes competing against each other for reasons beyond my comprehension)
Five News 7.00-7.15
Cricket on Five 7.15-8.00
(the day’s highlights of the current test between England and South Africa)
NCIS 8.00-9.00
CSI:NY 9.00-10.00
(sorry, I’m not interested in CSI:Anywhere – well, maybe I’d watch CSI:Luton! – NOT) The only cool thing to be had on was highlights from T In The Park (Scotland’s big music festival – think Glastonbury but in Scotland) on BBC Three. I just recorded what I wanted to see. So, hence DVD night. I watched a film called Deja Vu with Denzel Washington. Oh My God! That film WAY surpassed what I was expecting of it. I just sort of remembered it being talked about on film reviews and stuff, but couldn’t really remember much about it, but added it to my rental list anyway. Oh man it was good! A lot more Sci-fi based than I was expecting too. The ending was a tad far-fetched (I suppose it’s just that Hollywood need for a happy ending), but the film had me glued. After watching that, it was time for a bit of a DT fix, so I started watching the TV series Blackpool. I watched the first two episodes. I remember wanting to watch it when it was on the TV, but just never got the chance. I think I was worried by the musical slant on it that it might be too kitschy. It IS kitschy in those scenes, but fun. And Mr T is being quite sexy in this show. I love this running theme they have through it that his character – a detective called Peter Carlisle – he is completely addicted to sugary foods. So far – just in the first two episodes we’ve seen him eat chips, ice cream, candy floss, cake, and biscuits. In nearly every scene he’s in he’s eating something. Like a bloke would stay that skinny eating all that junk food? The ice cream scene is particularly yummy. DT eating ice cream from a cone, licking the ice cream off – I can’t tell you how much I was wishing to be the ice cream!!! I think had I got to watch it on the TV I might not have stuck with it. It’s a bit of a slow-burner. The plot doesn’t really develop until the second episode. But now I’m really dying to watch the rest of it. The lead guy in it, David Morrissey is going to be in this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special. And there are rumours he might end up being the Doctor’s new assistant. Here’s my fave scene so far, with Messers Tennant and Morrissey being ever so slightly homo-erotic. Not the best clip, but the others up were out of sync. I’ve got Run, Fat Boy, Run to watch later on. I’m scarily now starting to get a thing for Dylan Moran! I’m on a real geeky-sexy trip at the moment! Next thing you know, I’ll be watching the whole series of Black Books (which I should anyway because by all accounts it’s wonderfully funny). He’s touring around the country at the moment. I’d love to see him again. We saw him at the Cambridge Corn Exchange a few years back and he did this thing about Irish men, and their hair. I was in stitches. Here’s a clip of it from another performance in Dublin (from the official DVD release). Dylan Moran on Smurfs.
More Glasto and The Doctor
Glued to the telly again last night for more Glastonbury and last nights penultimate Doctor Who.
I’ll start with Glasto as I’m waiting for a clip I’ve uploaded to YouTube to be available when referring to Dr Who.
It was Amy Winehouse and Jay-Z headlining Glasto last night. Amy! What a mess! The total shambles that woman has made of herself, honestly. She sounds amazing on the record, but with the things she’s been doing to herself for the last 12 months, she’s now got emphysema and it really shows in her voice. Plus she does all this needless warbling and mumbling. It was just dire.
As for Jay-Z. Good sense of humour starting his set as he did, but it can’t detract from the fact that I (and many other traditional Glasto fans) don’t see a place for rap at Glasto. He went straight into 99 Problems and I tuned out!
I actually liked watching some of James Blunt’s set. He did a lovely version of “Goodbye My Lover” and I love “Same Mistake”. Joan Armatrading sounded on form. I saw her do “I Love It When You Call Me Names”, my fave song of hers. Was pee’d off there was no footage of Crowded House shown. Well, if there was, I didn’t see, and I was surfing all the channels all night. The highlight of the night though, for pure cool was Buddy Guy. Woah, what a legend! I’d not even heard of the guy until last night. He was cool!!!
On to Doctor Who. We’re left with a “cliff-hanger” at the end of the penultimate episode. Is The Doctor about to change?
[youtube=http://youtu.be/u7_HtNN9KLc]
Nnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooo!!!
The episode itself, I thought was a bit mediocre. I really hope it picks up next week. This scene (the reason behind the regeneration) just made me want to throw up, seriously. I know Rose means a lot to The Doctor and likewise, but this running scene was just OTT. And exactly HOW long is that road meant to be? They both seemed to run LONGER than the actual road!
Chai, Glasto and DW/DT.
There’s a yukky job to be done today. The fish tank needs cleaning (hell, does it need cleaning). But before that I wanted to add a post. I’ve been wanting to write one for the last 48 hours, but just haven’t got round to it. Anyway, here I am (God, you can tell it’s Saturday, the woman next door has started her vacuum marathon! She vacuums her house (same size as owns, the whole 25 squared foot of it -approx) for at LEAST 1 hour!!
Anyway, I digress. Firstly I wanted to talk about Chai. Em’s friend Stan came to visit last week and he brought with him a box of Twinnings Chai tea bags. I’d heard of chai in the past, about it being a spiced tea that you can sweeten and milk like you would normal tea. That it’s sort of like latte’ for tea drinkers. ANYWAY, I’m into trying different flavours of tea and stuff, I like Earl Grey, Darjeeling and Lapsang Souchong, so I thought I’d give Chai a whirl. My God, this stuff is YUMMY! I love it, especially that I can sweeten and milk it. For as I do drink the other teas mentioned, I don’t do it too much ‘cos you can’t really sweeten or milk them (with the exception of the Lapsang). The first drink of it I had, it reminded me of these varieties of Magnum on the market at the moment called Mayan Mystica. All ginger and cinnamon-y. Very nice. Next thing, Glastonbury. Coverage of it started on the BBC last night. I watched some of The Feeling’s set. They did good covers of Video Killed The Radio Star and Take On Me. I like The Feeling, and the singer’s a bit nice too – in that skinny, geeky way I’m into at the moment. I watched some Candi Staton too. The woman is SIXTY SIX years old!! She was fab! Saw a bit of The Ting Tings. I’ve been hearing their stuff on tele and radio and that, not knowing it was their stuff. They do anthems for Chrissy like “That’s Not My Name” and “Shut Up And Let Me Go”. Kind of like a mixed-up Brit version of The White Stripes. Bloke on the drums, girl on guitar, singing. But the highlight of last night for me was Kings Of Leon. Their set and performance was just KILLER! Loved it. Probably one of, if not, THE BEST live set I’ve ever heard. Last thing, tonight’s penultimate Doctor Who, for obvious reasons initially, but also because the last few eps of the show have been stellar. It’s going to be off-air for most of next year, with only some special eps being aired next year. Just when I’m getting into DT, he’ll be pulled from under me!! (cries into hands) I have been OD’ing on past Tennant work at the moment. Just watched the first 3 eps of Takin’ Over The Asylum, a TV series he was in with Ken Stott. About a radio DJ re-starting a hospital radio station in a mental hospital in Glasgow. DT plays a patient called Campbell who’s bipolar. It was made in 1994. He was only a baby, but was acting very well in it. I wanted to add a clip from the show, but all the stuff on YouTube is out of synch and my attempts to get a clip out with my own software has been to no avail (no audio), so it’ll have to wait I’m afraid. Anyway, here’s looking forward to tonight…Innuendo In The Aisles
I’ve seen these before but armed with my mobile I just HAD to take a pic for the blog! I can’t believe you can’t even escape the good old British innuendo even in the supermarket. Benny Hill would have loved these!
Monkey Dust
Oh how I miss this show. It was so “close to the bone” and SO dark, but I loved it! I can’t even believed the BBC showed something like this, even if it WAS on one of their cable channels!! Subjects such as cottaging are not things you expect to see on the Beeb. It’s rude, but I do LOVE the character Jeff, The First-time Cottager and my favourite was Ivan, The Meatsafe Murderer and Mr Hoppy.
Here’s a couple of clips for your entertainment. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlKF2p2k9K0]Embedding is disabled on this clip – sorry.
Documentaries: Sex, Religion, The Moon and Gordon Brown.
I’ve watched a few documentaries on Channel 4 in the last week and it’s had me questioning things and stuff.
I always think about these things in bed at night and say to myself “I must write about this in a blog post” and then never get round to doing it, or go off on a complete tangent and talk about something else entirely. Anyway, the first doc I watched was In The Shadow Of The Moon about the Apollo Moon expeditions. Towards the end of the doc they were talking to one astronaut, Charles Duke about what his overall feeling was at having been one of very few humans to actually visit the Moon. I’m not sure if I’ll remember it ver batim but he said something like…he had an epiphany while up there. He was looking around thinking that this (the Universe) could not have been made by accident and that someone or something MUST be behind it. He had a new found sense of faith. That he believed in God more than ever. He is now the leader of the Duke Ministry for Christ. I just found that weird. That for a man of science (being an astronaut) you would think after seeing what you saw out there in space that you’d be thinking “Wow, what an amazing Universe this is! Surely just one being could not have made all this?!”. Instead he thought “Wow! God did good!” I find it very hard to believe that one sentient being – be it “God” as depicted in The Bible, or some other “higher” being, working alone – would be responsible for the Universe. Religion seems to dispute categorically the notion that the Universe is just random acts of biology, chemistry and physics coming together to make this thing we live in. Yet if there was a defined “beginning” (ie: God created the heavens, etc), where the f*ck did God come from??? I think we, as humans are just another virus floating around. We just happened to mutate enough to grow a brain that works out language and maths and all the mental functions we use now. But it’s probably very infantile in its approach compared to what could be “out there”. And by that I don’t mean God or a God but other alien life. How do we know we’re not just some HUGE mistake? How do we know that this God of ours (if he is to be believed to exist) is not just creating this tension between us (as humans) to force us to wipe each other out? Perhaps “he” can’t be bothered to fix his mistake (IE: us humans) and thought “You know what? I don’t want to eradicate them myself, so I’ll let them do it to themselves”. And for us what seems like has gone on for THOUSANDS of years – a vast expanse of time for us – has just been nano seconds to this “God” of ours??? I’m getting a bit deep here, but there you go. Anyway…on to the next one… Last night there were two docs on. One about Gordon Brown’s first year as Prime Minister. I enjoyed watching that. I was worried it might be heavy, or over-politicised (yes, I know, it was about politics, what did I expect?), but it wasn’t. Maybe I like my politics “dumb”, I don’t know, but I know I enjoyed watching the “review” of Gordon’s year. I was in Oz last year when Blair finally said “good-bye” and Gordon took over. It was weird coming back to the UK a few weeks later and have a new PM in charge. I was holding out SO much promise for Gordon. It was SO great to see the back of Blair! But it’s all gone wrong for GB. Most of it being things beyond his control. Bad floods, Foot and Mouth outbreaks, Northern Rock and the credit crunch. It all seemed to conspire against him. And really, it’s culminated in him taking the decision NOT to have an election at the end of 2007. Something at the time I was hoping strongly that he would do. Because I could just see his PM-ship getting worse and worse for him and that by the time an election was actually due, we’d be getting ourselves a new Conservative government – which is SSOO gonna happen now š Anyway, the doc was good. Thank you Andrew Rawnsley. The last doc I want to mention was Victorian Sex Explorer. Just looking at the Channel 4 web site for info on it there’s a page that says “All the best bits from The Victorian Sex Explorer”…erm, was there any? This is what I was about to say. I was disappointed. Not because there wasn’t any “sex” in it or anything gratuitous like, but because it was just bland. I really wanted to know about this guy’s life, but it wasn’t so much about him but more about the “things” he explored. Which was fair enough, I suppose, but it was SO inanely done. I just sat there at the end of it thinking “was that it?” I want my hour back!! Well, that was a rant! Ciao