Posts from March 2008
31
Mar 08
Amy Diamond – “So 16”
“Not sure what nostalgia this song’s groovin’ on, but I like it!”
Europop 2008: Group C – Holland 0 Italy 2
A perennial pop underachiever and a sleeping giant of the game square up in this intriguing Group C clash. Click below the cut for managerial comment, analysis, match reports and previews.
HOW TO VOTE: Pick the track you like best and vote below. This poll will be up until sometime on April 7th.
Holland v Italy: Which track do you prefer?
- Italy: Piotta 70%Loading ...»
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Son Of A Layperson’s Guide To Four-Colour Fun
I read MOAR comics and summarise them so that you, the layperson, can taste some of the thrilling world of “mainstream comics”. As before, this contains many, many spoilers.
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30
Mar 08
Us Against The World: My Journey Into Mum-Pop
A couple of weeks ago I found myself transfixed by a Youtube video of Westlife singing their new single, surrounded by swirling ice skaters and talented lighting technicians. It was wonderful.
As I hit the ‘blog this right now’ button, I wondered if – at 26 years old – I’d finally sealed my fate of becoming a Mum. Not biologically of course (*shudder*), but in my musical tastes. Is Mum-pop really my inescapable destiny?
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Sandwich Squeeze
Something that became miserably clear to me last week: Marks & Spencers have brutally culled their sandwich range – goodbye most of the black-label “food to go” range which brought us the Steak & Blacksticks Blue sandwich (probably the nicest EVER CREATED by a British supermarket chain) among others. The black-labels have been replaced by an odd range of tortillas, kinda-sorta-open sandwiches and things which look like someone’s started making a wrap and wandered off before the actual wrapping happens. All these new things cost a lot and have visibly less filling – not surprising given the cost squeeze on food suppliers as prices rise.
There’s been another subtle change in the sandwich range though: everything possible is now branded “British”.
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29
Mar 08
10cc – “I’m Not In Love”
“I’m Not In Love” is 10cc’s most famous song, and surely deservedly – it’s the one where their smarts crash and fragment on some vicious emotional reefs, which is also what the song’s about. So it’s a neat (conceptual) package even before you factor in the extraordinary production.
But isn’t it all a bit heavy handed?
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28
Mar 08
A Layperson’s Guide To Four-Colour Fun
What with one thing and another I’ve rather fallen behind in my comic reading, so I took the opportunity recently to catch up on a bunch of Marvel and DC stuff, reading a year or so’s worth at a time. Here’s what I thought – naturally with plenty of spoilers as this post is designed to give people who don’t read comics an idea of what they are missing.
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Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Nappy Club Rash
Whilst I don’t really give an Osakan monkeys that Billy Corgan has got his knickers in a twist over his record label permitting the Smashing Bumpkins to be used in promotional material for Pepsi and Amazon without permission, the real boggler is from the “… and finally” at the bottom, concerning use of the Beatles tracks for advertising… after years and years of blanket refusal to allow their tracks to be used for promotional purposes, when they FINALLY decide to relent, who would you imagine would snap them up as their first client? Well…
“This year Sony/ATV, which owns the publishing rights to the Beatles catalogue, said it would license their tracks. The first deal was with a US nappy brand to use the line All You Need is Luvs. It does not need to consult the surviving Beatles but said it felt a “moral obligation” to do so.”
Methinks Jacobs Creek are missing a trick here – come on guys – “Ticket To Wine” is up for grabs!
Europop 2008: Group C – France 1 Romania 1
Our first Group C match features a giant of the European pop game up against a relative newcomer. Play or download the songs right here and click below the cut for polls, managerial comment, analysis and previews!
27
Mar 08
Our Year Of Agatha Christie Covers: 4: Dix Petits Nègres
Sort of a cheat this, but if you’re going to cheat, that’s the title I want to cheat with. This is not just a cover of a French Agatha Christie novel whose title has been changed a few times in the English. It is the cover of a Bande Dessinée adaptation.
Nice 3D name logo which contrasts nicely with the deliberately 2D artwork on the cover. You get the feel of the artwork and the mysterious house aspect of one of Agatha’s most (in) famous mysteries.
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