You Don't Really Care For Music, Do Ya?

Hey ho. We all knew which song was going to be #1 this Christmas. The question was, which version of Hallelujah would take the top spot. Tragically, it was X-Factor winner Alexandra slitting the throat of Leonard Cohen's classic to line the pockets of that c*** Simon Cowell.

Erm, anyways, I did my bit. I bought Jeff Buckley's version (which ended up at #2) and Leonard's version (#36), but sadly to no avail. Ah well. I guess it's a good enough song to withstand any amount of butchering.

* There's something about the Leonard Cohen video that reminds me of the Muppet Show. Just me?

Cool Stuff

1. Steam. I downloaded this last week, since when I've been wallowing in the nostalgic bliss of playing all those games that once made Friday afternoons at work so spectacularly unproductive. Doom, Doom II, Quake, Quake II, Heretic, Hexen, Hexen II. After 10 years, I finally have a computer that can do justice to the graphics of Quake II. And it looks... uh... yummy.
2. Remote. A little app for the iPod touch or iPhone, that lets you use the iPod/Phone as a remote control for iTunes. Perfect for those staying-in-bed days. Which - for me - is most days. Did I mention that I'm off work until January 12th?
3. I just noticed this - VLC Media Player's system tray icon has been given a little Santa hat. How very festive. Here's the magnified version.

This Time It's Personal

Hey, you remember that Attic Lights song "Wendy", dontcha? Y'know, that song you couldn't get out of your head for a fortnight. Imagine how much more infectious that would have been if your name actually was Wendy.

Well, quit imagining, because they've helpfully recorded 60 alternate versions of the song with 60 different names, so (almost) everyone can get a piece of the action. Anyone whose name is Adam, Alex, Amy, Andy, Becky, Ben, Billy, Boogie (?), Bowie, Charlotte, Cheryl, Chris, Claire, Danny, Davey, Emily, Emma, Gary, Gemma, Hannah, Helen, Ian, James, Jay, Jessica, Joey, John, Julie, Karen, Katie, Kevin, Laura, Lauren, Lee, Lisa, Louise, Lucy, Mark, Marky, Martin, Matthew, Michelle, Mikey, Natalie, Neil, Nicola, Paul, Peter, Plu-ey (?), Rachel, Ritchie, Robert, Romeo, Sammy, Sarah, Simon, Sophie, Stevie, Teddy or Tommy, that is.

Would it have killed them to record a Big Al version? Tsk.

Huh?

Last night was the BBC's annual fundraiser for Children in Need. Remarkably, on the night they topped last years £19 million by a further £2 million. Quite spectacular, considering that apparently no-one in the whole world has two beans to rub together.

Anyways, this year continued the tradition of giving a teaser of the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special. Which this year turns out to be quite baffling.

Ambiance

Here's a handy little app for the iPod Touch/iPhone. It's perfect for sleepyheads like me who like to get a bit of shut-eye on the train to work. It's not easy getting to sleep on the train - too damn noisy for one thing. I'd like to meet the genius who thought it was a good idea to make mobile phones that can play music through a speaker, thereby giving people yet another new way to be annoying.

The obvious solution is to plug the earphones in and stick a bit of music on. While his usually succeeds in drowning out the outside noise, it aint easy dropping off to sleep when AC/DC are beating your eardrums to a pulp.

What you need is something that plays nice soothing sounds, something to shut out the noise around you, but not so distracting as to keep you awake. That's where Ambiance comes in. I've been using it for a while now, and have found the Stream and Waterfall settings to be particularly effective. In fact, the first time I tried Stream, i slept almost all the way to Glasgow.

Just one thing. I wouldn't recommend using it on a full bladder.

Manuelgate

Oooh, it's all got a bit messy in the Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross/Andrew Sachs fiasco, what with Brand resigning from the BBC and Ross being suspended for 12 weeks, without pay - and when you're on 16 grand a week, that stacks up. I would imagine that will be the last time either of them decide to leave rude messages on some unfortunate actor's answerphone and crack jokes about shagging his granddaugther.

IMHO, the show's producer was at fault as much, if not more than, Brand and Ross. Everyone knows they're a pair of loudmouthed eejits. So it probably wasn't a great decision on his part to give them Andrew Sachs' home phone number. On top of that, it was a recorded show, so how difficult would it have been to edit those sections out before broadcast?

And what does Mr Sachs' granddaughter, Georgina Baillie, have to say about the BBC's reaction to this matter? Well, according to Thursday's Metro:

"Me and my grandad are both really happy because it could have damaged our reputation permanently," said the 23-year-old Satanic Sluts dancer.

Uh... hello?

Attic Lights (again)

This is the song that I've listened to more than 150* times over the last 5 days. If there's such a thing as the perfect 3-minute pop song, this is the one that would get my vote.

* at last count

Attic Lights

Anyone want to take a guess as to what might be my favourite song from the Attic Lights album?

39

I managed to remember to take my camera to QPR last night. Unfortunately, I forgot the put the 2GB memory card inside it. I had been hoping to record some of last night's event for posterity. As it turned out, I managed to record about 90 seconds of the old song '39. Which, to be fair, has always been one of favourite Queen songs. Allegedly, if you count the songs on the first 4 Queen albums, '39 is the 39th track to appear. I've never been quite sad enough to check up on this. No, I haven't.

Anyhow, this a far better quality version than the one I grabbed...

Queen + Paul Rodgers, Glasgow SECC

The guy from the [Glasgow] Herald couldn't have been more wrong. "Don't expect to hear too many oldies tonight, because [they] have a new album to plug".

In a two-and-a-quarter hour set, QPR played 5 songs from their new album. The first half hour was a relentless bombardment of old favourites. Hammer to Fall, Tie Your Mother Down, Fat Bottomed Girls, Another One Bites The Dust, I Want It All, I Want To Break Free. Later on, three songs from A Night At The Opera: Love of My Life, '39, and I'm In Love With My Car. And on to A Kind of Magic, Radio Gaga, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions.

Not to mention 3 songs from Paul Rodgers' back catalog... Seagull, Bad Company, and something called All Right Now.

Yeah, not too many oldies.

We Believe

OK, last one. I promise.

Runaway

While I'm on about Queen & Paul, who'd have seen this coming?

Small

Off to see Queen & Paul Rodgers tomorrow night. Their new album, The Cosmos Rocks, has been a pleasant surprise - after all, the notion of a Queen album without Freddie doesn't initially sound promising. But they've pulled it off.

Here's my favourite song from the new album - it's called "Small", which is something you wouldn't readily associate with Queen. Full of surprises.

Suspended

Oh hurrah. The rail dispute hasn't been entirely resolved, but the second 24-hour strike has been suspended. So, thank goodness, I get to turn up at the office tomorrow*. Praise be, the extra 3 hours of quality time were really starting to take their toll.

*Or later today, nitpick fans.

Strike!

Those pesky rail signalworkers are at it again. Unless there's a breakthrough in last-minute negotiations tomorrow, they'll be staging two 24-hour strikes this week. Cunningly though, the first of these begins at noon on Tuesday and ends on noon on Wednesday. The second will run from noon on Thursday until noon on Friday. Clever, eh?

Imagine the disruption if this goes ahead. I, for one, would be forced to work from home all week - which would be awful, what with having to stay in bed for an extra hour in the morning, and having to conform to the most relaxed dress code imaginable, and being home 2 hours earlier than usual in the evening. Just awful.

Citizen Firefighter

This sculpture stands just outside Central Station in Glasgow. It's a tribute to all the firefighters of Strathclyde Fire & Rescue, and takes on another significance at this time of year.

I took the photo today on my lunchbreak. As you can probably see, a few people had left flowers. There were a few more by the time I passed again on my way for the train home.

On an unrelated note, the sign above the door of the hotel in the background appears to be missing the word 'Low' at the start. Trust me, I've stayed there.

Fred

Oops. I missed your birthday. Sorry about that, Fred.

I'm still here

In case there was any doubt. It's been a long time posting, but I haven't had a whole lot to complain about. In fact, I only have one minor grievance. In fact, it's not even a grievance. It's just a little nit-pick.

Here goes.

Is it really necessary to remind us all that shampoo is "for external use only".? Aw Jeez, and I was just about to start washing my hair from the inside.

Journey's End

Without giving anything away, last night's season finale of Doctor Who was just about the best thing I've ever seen on television.

Despite the idiot continuity announcer yammering all over the top of the closing credits.

Dear Auntie

The following suggestion* has been logged with the BBC, for all the good it'll do me.

It's the series finale of Doctor Who. Just for once, at the end of the programme, it would be really nice to hear the closing music without some idiot continuity announcer yammering on over the top of it. After all, why go to the trouble and expense of a new orchestral arrangement if the viewing audience never gets a chance to hear it?

Worth a try.

* Complaint