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December 31, 2003
TV Is Getting Worse
I think this past year has seen TV get worse and worse. From the debacle of Big Brother to the new strain of quizzes and challenge shows, we are entering Hell.
I mean, we were okay when we laughed along with Clive James at those wacky Japanese and Endurance, but such shows are now rapidly becoming the norm over here. Even the Germans are getting into it (I blame it on the Dutch!)...
The US gets it off to a roaring start with Fear Factor, a kind of mental Fort Boyard with car crashes, and gave us The Chair (which in it's US incarnation, at least at first, gave us treats such as the poor contestant sitting in the chair trying not to crap himself while an alligator is suspended just above his face. And he still has to answer questions. Oddly enough, the UK version got rid off the alligator, but added John McEnroe. Still not quite as scary as facing Anne Robinson on The Weakest Link, though...
But recently we have moved nearer to the End of Days thanks to shows like Little Monsters on Sky One and Distraction. The former has a bunch of kids who are in serious need of a kick up the arse terrorising adults by putting them through hell in games such as carrying rubber ducks while being shot in tender parts by the kids wielding paintball guns. And what are they there to win? One thousand pounds. A grand. Its not worth it, but it shows the level some people will go to just to get on TV. Imagine the horror of having to become Jade Goody to be a celebrity. It's like the poor sap I mentioned in a recent blog entry that obviuosly only decided to become a property developer so he could be on Property Ladder and meet Sarah Beeney. At least I would have some idea of that it means to be a developer, though I must admit the idea of meeting her is tempting!
Back to the plot here! Distraction takes the point I mentioned above and makes it into a virtue. The contestants have to do things like answer questions, okay? Some rounds mean that a wrong answer gets them shot with that paintball gun again in the most sensitive areas. Other timnes getting the answer right may mean sticking a live maggot in your mouth - the ultimate winner being the one with the most maggots (not the highest number of right answers as they may have swallowed or spat it out!). Finally when they get to to last bit, they have wone a nice car. They then have to answer five questions - a wrong answer gets part of the car smashed, slasher or scratched.
What is wrong with these people? Are they mad? couldn't they get into the audience for Graham Norton or Trisha? Why do we have to have the british equivalent of trailer trash? And why the hell do they have to be on my TV?
Of course, the rot is not just in reality and quizes - drama etc has been getting worse for years (check most of ITV's output - lowest common denominator or what?) Run in horror from what is happening to Andromeda or The New Kevin Sorbo Show as it should be known... quake in fear at the thought that Mutant X is in it's third series and likely to make a fourth... Wonder how it can be that Star Trek: Enterprise is actually becoming decent, and that Smallville has gone from being crap to pretty stunning. Is it because these shows are getting better? (Yes in Smallville's case, but the jury is still out on Enterprise). The apparent quality of these shows may simply be due to them rising a little above the background crap...
Do you know what kids are being given now? Boobahs. Like some horrible science lab experiment using DNA from Tellytubbies and Flimbles. Okay, they are for little kids (very little kids!) but so is Balamory for frell's sake, and I'm hooked on that (and not just 'cos I think Miss Hoolie is cute)! Some intelligence, please! We will never see another Noggin The Nog, and kids today can't keep up with the manic brilliance of Dangermouse - it's too hard to go from the 'durrr' of the modern crop (did I spell that right?) to something that might actually exercise your brain. Even a series like Rentaghost is clever compared to adult stuff like My Hero...
Roll on 2005, when Doctor Who is back... or hang around to see who gets to show the Farscape miniseries now shooting in Austrailia, assuming anyone has the intelligence to follow the plots that is!!!
Posted by Badgers at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)
It's Already 2004 In Some Countries!
While here, the same old bad 2003 is slowly winding its way to it's own demise. And good riddance! Perhaps this year will bring the good stuff... I hope so!
So this year then? Well, personally, it has seen the death of my favourite pet dog (Sadie), and the introduction of another (Sukie, the black pain-in-the-arse whippet) a few months ago. It's seen my job go from too busy to overload, and the solutions (first, stop taking referrals for half the area, second get someone in for a day and a half a week to cover it, then have her finally go off long term sick after a few very short weeks leaving it all in my lap again) just fall apart. Moneywise this year has been tight (I'm sure we all feel the same), with some serious spending necessary for various reasons, though thankfully as the year comes to an end I have plans that mean that next year will be tight still, but end on a much happier financial note. My car got serious repairs to the dents at last (the cause of most of the spending!), and is still going strong (a miracle for me!) and started first time when I went out to clear all the ice off it. Considering how depressed I got this year (not as bad as in previous years - if it had have been, this last blog entry of 2003 would have been simply "Goodbye") things are looking up.
How have your resolutions gone this year? Mine went out the window! I've actually put on weight (14 1/2 stone at the moment - thats the response to the depression, or at least its the response when I didn't have any money!), my plan to go on an actual holiday went out the window (my plans for one this year are going in the same direction, but only as I have plans, and sadly the holiday isn't one of them). My plans for serious world domination via the medium of Flash hasn't happened yet, though thats due to illness (a bad year for me there) and lack of sleep - this will change!
So, as things stand, how are things? For me, I still have a resignation letter typed on the computer at work, waiting for the date to be added as I fear I may well quit the job before the end of '04. I can see an end to my financial worries (credit cards paid and clear by November, the loans well on their way to being paid early). To do this, though, any plans for holidays will be shelved, as will my nights out - it looks like the latter has already started! I fear I may be spending my New Year on Tatooine. And that's as un-christmas as you can get, really... Romance is so out of here too, for obvious reasons!!!
So, this year's resolutions are a little different to last year - I think I can achieve most of them (unlike James, who's yearly" I will quit smoking" resolution is forgotten before he's even made it!). The ones I'm willing to share are:
1 - Pay off as much of my credit as possible by any means possible (even by having a PayPal button on the site!) - currently this looks possible, but no more nights out for a year, except in very exceptional circumstances (but that won't happen!)
2 - Be teetotal all year - not difficult if I'm not going out, and as long as I steer away from tea as it makes me puke! I may have to cut back on the fruit juices too...
3 - ...As my third is to get this weight off and keep it off! Assuming my leg ever gets right (and they find the bone/whatever that is causing me so many problems) I will be able to get back to regular exercises (something I haven't been able to do for one reason or another in nearly a year). My goal is 12 1/2 stone, though due to a sudden previous weight loss I know I can manage 11 1/2 without feeling too ill all the time... We shall see...
4 - Get down to the Flash, site stuff, etc... I know I can do this - I can even try to get work on an even keel too... I'll need to if I'm quitting!
5 - Win the Lottery :rofl
There are a couple of others, but they are a secret! One of thenm kinda buggers up a couple iof the others above, but it is more than likely the one that will be broken first... sigh.
So - thats pretty much me wrapped up for the year - I'll see you next year for more of the same, only better, I hope!
:biggrinHappy New Year!:biggrin
Posted by Badgers at 02:08 PM | Comments (0)
December 29, 2003
It's Nearly Next Year!
Just a couple of days to go, and things are not going too badly... I've posted off the 5600 card to the lucky buyer, and James is pestering me about presents - he has found some lighters that the other idiots can get him - Robotech or some such - so I've put a bid in and the others can give me the money once they arrive - that should help!
Not a lot has happened in the past few days since the last update, apart from more Dungeon Siegeing on Sunday. Let me tell you, Andrew worries me - he gets really excited about guns, and almost as bad when he picks up a Great Sword Of Badger (+10 to Health, +20% to Hit, +100 to Geek) in this game... sigh! Still, I have been playing Star Wars Galaxies, and I'm finding it a far better game than the Beta was - it's playable! And interesting! And full of life (and in one corner, some netsexing, but what do you expect in a glorified chatroom?!? :kiss:kiss)
Hmm - tomorrow I think I may take myself to Manchester a few days earlier to spend before my New Year's deadline approaches! Talking of New Year, I have my resolutions ready, and all are achievable (though two of them will no doubt make me an unhappy person for the next 12 months, if not the rest of my life, and one will piss James and Nick off no end, but it has to be done - it may even have already started, considering my current plans for the 31st... sigh) so we shall see - I may even put them online where you can all see them this year!
Oh - I decided not to bother with the roundup of the year - I have too much to go through, though I will go through my most significant things this year (bye bye Sadie, old girl :sad) in the main entry on the 31st.
Linkzone!
Babylon 5 fans rejoice! :biggrin Thanks to James I have good news for those who got grumpy that Babylon 5: Into The Fire was canned by Sierra... though the project may end with the Prologue, sadly. I've Found Her is a space combat sim set in the B5 universe, and looks great - I have played it, and found it to be interesting (though I had to stop when James Messengered me which buggers stuff up and I lost my hyperspace beacon... d'oh!). Well presented and free (!!!) you can download the game (220mb) and the covers for cases too! Nip over to ifh.firstones.com to pick it up!
Posted by Badgers at 03:55 PM | Comments (0)
December 25, 2003
No More Arguments, Which Was Nice...
Dad settled down once I'd set up the printer/scanner on his computer, so no more arguments. And amazingly, the 'Boney Fondler' (see previous entries!) wasn't mine! It was for him. Thankfully.
The afternoon was spent with him slobbing in his chair (he has to work tonight) and watching The Man Who Sued God, then beating some buggers in Beyond Good And Evil on the PC, and finally getting to watch X-Men 2...
So far, then, not too bad - better than usual in fact. Lets hope yours went half as well!
Posted by Badgers at 10:39 PM | Comments (1)
Christmas Argument Count = 3 (And Counting)...
And its barely even midday yet... The Christmas trees have finally been decorated, I came down at 3am to put the presents down. This morning began with an argument over extension cords (this after the argument last night about the bloody outdoor rope light things he wanted round the fireplace), continued with another one I just heard as I was dragging boxes upstairs once the decorations had been taken out, and the final one when they finally got round to opening the presents... I don't know if the 'Skeletal Fondler of Olde London Towne' is mine as it hasn't been given to me - I came upstairs to watch Sophie Ellis Bextors' video for Won't Change You (:biggrin) when he started getting angry about the Lexmark scanner/printer. - but he just came up to say sorry. I should think so too! He deserves something, then gets pissy about it when he gets it...
Perhaps next year Santa can get me adopted?:rofl More to come on this, I fear! Ah well, Merry Christmas to everyone else, anyway!
Posted by Badgers at 12:04 PM | Comments (0)
December 24, 2003
'Twas The Night Before Christmas...
Well, that was fun!!! More shopping, aching ankles and all! Only a few more days until next year...
After being forced into having Friday off I hoped that the weekend would be restful, and it was for a change - I hardly had to go in the loft more than twice, and carrying the computer to Nick's wasn't as painful as I'd thought it would be...:lol James convinced me to try and go out for New Year's Eve ('or he'll carry me himself'), but ran into some difficulties himself - we expected him to arrive on Sunday for a pop-in, but he stayed ages as we were playing the new Dungeon Siege till 8.00... ulp! Andrew loved his present ("Is it a sniper rifle?" he asked, his eyes lighting up with real joy when, yes, he got a toy sniper rifle!!! He has a sniper manual coming next Sunday as it just arrived too!) , and Nick of course loves the Love Kylie lingerie poster (and he will love the Kylie presentation thing I got him too, but it only arrived this morning, and I decided to pop it in a nicer frame). Nick, showing his usual level of ability bought Andrew Star Wars Galaxies (he's had the US version for months!) and me Max Payne 2 (also played and finished ages ago) so we swapped - I hope to try the newly bug-fixed (!) Galaxies in the New Year (for at least a month!!!). James didnt get anything except a set of Crow tattoos and an airbrushed Crow t-shirt that he is in love with (not surprising - it's superb!). As usual, they can't think what to get me (last christmas (I gave you my heart) I asked Andrew to get me Spaced Season 1/2 at 9.99 each from a shop in town where the DVDs were on offer... I'm still waiting!) or James (the man who has everything, but never takes it out of the box as it will be worth more)... :rofl
So, Monday I went to work and I found my boss not talking or looking at me, except for a brief glance when I came in (she is pissed I think, that I didn't have the past two days off) I waited for her to go downstairs to have a smoke, then prinyted off as diary sheet of the people I was going out to see (5 people each day, returning to spend an hour or more on the paperwork and send letters to people I want to go out to see in the fortnight after Christmas!) with my leg (which was a bugger on Monday). She finally spoke to me at 4.00 on Tueday, to say happy Christmas (and give me a box of Quality street chocolates - gah!) and hope I was going to rest my leg - she also advocates going out on New Years... I really hope my leg feels better by then... but then there may be a problem anyway...
Y'see, James was going to pop up after he'd sorted out whatever problem his cousin had in his PC this time, and pick up a couple of Gamecube games for his daughter to try... excpet his car didn't want to start - if it is expensive (or even costs any money at all) it means that he won't be going out on New Years, and I won't (heck, can't) go out without someone I trust to hold me up when either the alcohol hits or my leg gives out! Ah well - we shall see!
Talking about New Year, I will hopefully go through the main areas of the site (Blog, etc) doing a look back over the year, ahead of the revamp (which is coming!), looking at what happened, what was planned but didn't, what I hope will happen, etc... I may even put in a few things I haven't mentioned previously, like the significant look :kiss I got as I limped home yesterday (not from my boss!)... (that should set James going, and get him going out even if he's broke and the car is too!)
Back to the blog! Today I went into town with mum for her to do that last minute shopping (I got the frame, as mentioned above) and then came back to go to Kwiksave. She popped into the shop round the corner where she gets all her Myth & Magic stuff (and where dad has started to get lots of skulls, skeletons, etc - he's becoming a closet Goth!:biggrin). She pointed out a little statue of a girl being, um :blush, fondled, by a skeleton... I went outside as she was trying to get me something - guess what - she came out with a box under her arm. I wonder why they never have any money! I think she believes that I don't know she got it (her whispering as I went out was a little too loud!), probably in the same way I believe she hasn't tried to get a sneak peek at the Printer/scanner and DVDs I have gotten them... here was a nice demon with the wings holding a mirror, but I think that will now be coming for my birthday in March! :biggrin
One good thing is that I have managed to sell the Manchester United signed shirt for Barbara (she will be pleased) and also the Geforce 5600 card I put up on Monday night! The Radeon 9600 Pro I was going to sell is now going to Nick (for $$$, but not as much as I could have got on eBay), so I have some money coming my way!
Sigh. So, Christmas is finally happening - Mum is downstairs popping up a few lst bits in the hallway, we will finally get the trees up tonight (!) and hpoefully dad will get his bloody lights around the window. Can you believe they put them up, then went to check if the set worked (it didn't)?
Oh - link time! For New Year, if you are stuck at home, go here to watch the time tick by... www.humanclock.com - madness, but fun! And for general madness (and a scary look at what I'd love this site to become(!), visit, wander over to Something Awful ,but beware - naughty words and slight anti-hosexual attitudes ahoy (James should fit right in!). And if you think your Christmas decorations are a little over the top, try here and links to a site where you can turn on and off the lights at a guy's house...
PS - Well done to Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for totally buggering up the Christmas Number One spot! We all expected the usual mushy, crappy Christmas song, but the masterpiece that is Mad World gets it! There IS a God (possibly, though I still don't believe, to tell the truth!)
Posted by Badgers at 06:12 PM | Comments (3)
December 19, 2003
'Tis The Season To Go Shopping Tra-lalalala La-la-la-la
Its been one of those weeks, generally, and today hasn't been a bundle of laughs either...
As you know, I had a heavily swollen ankle last week - it hasn't gotten much better. On returning to work my boss made me cancel as many appointments as possible so I had to stay in the office. Not too bad an idea, but it does mean I have now got 50+ people to see, not including the new referrals and the 40 or so I have now inherited from Hyndburn and Ribble Valley! Y'see, the lady who was doing it for a day and a half a week has been off sick, and now won't be back - but if we just stick the people she had made appointments for back in the pile, we'd have complaints, so... I also had to miss what was going to be my Christmas meal as I couldn't get to the meeting at Lancaster (the boss again), and had to sit waiting for her to be ready for my supervision (a bi-monthly event where she maons at me about the stuff I have done wrong or not got round to due to being so bloody busy!). That wouldn't have been so bad, except between my ankle (more on this in a moment) and the fact I was by 4pm going green about the gills, the supervision didn't happen - and she moaned at me on Thursday about it! And I overheard her talking about me to someone on the phone, telling them that 'I really shouldn't be at work, and she was worried about me'! All this because I still have a swollen ankle, limp a lot and according to the x-ray I had done last week, it loks like I have arthritis in the ankle (to be expected due to the fall years ago) AND a rogue object, either bone or gristle (they were not sure which, or even if there is something definitely there) wandering around in my foot, which is probably the cause of all this. I now have to got to physiotherapy AND have at least an exploratory operation on the damned foot. Oh happy day.
And yesterday I was virtually ordered to take today off as leave, along with the next two weeks. To spite them, I had today off (oh how I wish I hadn't) and will be working next week up to Christmas Eve (lots of people getting visits to make up for having to cancel so many appointments this last few weeks!)
At home things were not much better - I had loads of problems with the computer, so I decided to reformat a little earlier than planned, then had lots of problems with my Radeon 9600 Pro... All is now sorted due to a little purchase (a 9800 Pro which may be the best I have made in ages!) and the latest (surprisingly) stable Catalyst Drivers... I also had to buy something expensive for Mum & Dad for Xmas due to some serious problems they are having on their machine (the scanner will scan, but when you print, the scanner can't use the parallel port... grrrr!). They will kill me (especially as it is on top of all the other gifts I have got them) but who cares?
Presents - luckily I only have a few people to buy for (sniff!) so I decided to spend just £20 on each of them - this went well, though I am still waiting for some of the stuff to arrive... looks like everyone else will get half their present now, and the other for New Year!
Oh yeah, new Year... My plan was to be going out to have a storming good New Year but due to my ankle this is not going to be possible - I know James wants to go out just to get out of the house, but sadly he will be without me and Nick will be with his mates from work in Colne. And Andrew will celebrate New Year by playing Galaxies. As usual. I'm just glad he didn't get into Everquest... though with the sequel coming out this year, we may never see him again!
Now, shopping... I had to go with them as I had to pay for the shopping today - maybe its my leg, but I really hated it! first the usual half-hour performance of getting everything ready and going in and out the house... then the drive there with dad driving in first gear untill the engine screams then doing the same in second... then I got mum amazed how people panic buy 'cos Christmas is just around the corner and the shops will be closed for a day (or less in some cases)... she then proceeds to buy lots of stuff! And so as to save on doubling back on herself and to save my foot, she'll go this way down this aisle then up that one... but still managed to double back on herself all the time, dragging me limping and pushing the trolley after her...
All this, and the Christmas decorations are not up yet... in fact they are still up in the loft! I have a feeling that this weekend will seee a sudden mad rush to get everything up (not that I'd bother personally!), which means I'll be lucky if I can walk!
Hmm. So, no New Years stuff for me, which is annoying as I won't be going out next year (just putting up notice ahead of time so certain people don't whinge) due to financial plans, so I'll see about getting back to doing the I.T. stuff, and redesigning both Badgers and Rogue Noid Productions... as its something to do! And yes, that's despite my 9.2 (!) score in the Hot or Not Experiment I conducted this week... ah well - I now need to come up with some doable (and some challenging) resolutions... wish me luck!
Happy Shopping, guys!
Posted by Badgers at 06:16 PM | Comments (3)
December 12, 2003
Donald Pulls A Sir Humphrey!
"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns, there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know."
With this wonderful speech, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld gets the Plain English Campaign's Foot In The Mouth Award 2003... something tells me he learnt to speak english through watching too many reruns of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister! This is without doubt the closest speech in real life to something spouted by Sir Humphrey Appleby (Nigel Hawthorne), and he came up with some tongue twisters!
Other notable quotes (sorry, no Bush-isms!) include:
Chris Patten on the Conservative Party - "Having committed political suicide, the Conservative Party is now living to regret it."
Marks & Spencer Roast Chicken Salad had 'Now with roast chicken' on the packaging... what did it have in it before?!?
SMEG (a kitchen appliance manufacturer) came up with this classic in some Dishwasher instructions - "By pressing the relative button of desired program (see table) it will lid up the relative pilot light to confirm that the operation did occurred on the DISPLAY (9) will appear a program duration forecasting ('h.mm')." H.mm indeed!
Jungle.com on whether they sell blank CDs - 'We are currently in the process of consolidating our product range to ensure that the products that we stock are indicative of our brand aspirations. As part of our range consolidation we have also decided to revisit our supplier list and employ a more intelligent system for stock acquisition. As a result of the above certain product lines are now unavailable through jungle.com, whilst potentially remaining available from more mainstream suppliers.' - I guess that's 'no' then?
Hear the quote here (Real Player Needed)
BBC News Article here
The Plain English Campaign (which I have trouble with!) can be found here!
And here is a little non-BBC site on Yes Minister!
Posted by Badgers at 03:04 PM | Comments (0)
Christmas Singles and Cover Versions
Sigh. Here we go again with the usual crop of singles aiming to grab the number one spot for Christmas - Cliff goes head to head with novelty songs and pop idols, etc... At the moment The Darkness (sooo not James' fave band at the moment!) are the favourites with Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) which I must confess is my fave as I feel it is as close to being this year's answer to Slade's classic! Another favourite (though with no chance) is Bill Nighy with the song his character sings in Love Actually - a horribly mangled Christmas-themed version of Love is All Around Me (can you guess the name of the single yet?) - a cynical (in the movie) track aimed to keep Blue from the top spot - if only this was true considering what they have done to poor Stevie Wonder... more on that later on!
James thinks it should be Bo Selecta - Hmmm. To be honest, if it isn't the Darkness, it will be The Pop Idol finalists with their (surprisingly not absolutely terrible... but close) version Of Merry Christmas (War Is Over) as Robin Gibb with Ashley from Fame Academy have little chance...especially as I've barely heard it on the radio. At least it frees us from last year with Popstars 'winners' One True Voice (really? Which voice?) and Girls Aloud battling for pop supremacy and the chance to be remembered for a week or so for a short while (more on this later, too!). Cliff still has a chance, though Santa's List is too much like the last few Christmas singles (besides the obvious Message with a big 'M') to stand out - is certainly doesn't seem to be a Mistletoe and Wine... (shudder!)
And have you noticed the numbers of covers out lately? has this year been a record year or what? Even discounting Atomic Kitten's assault on karaoke (how come there is only one cover (Ladies Night) on the new album? every song they have released this year has been a cover or at least had an ELO song laying in the background...!). The big Christmas albums (Pop Idols Christmas Factor and Fame Academy Bee Gees) are of course full of covers. The Bee Gees covers are pretty bad (considering last year's album wasn't too bad), and the Pop Idols one is not too terrible (though you can't go that far wrong singing songs like Rocking Around The Christmas Tree!) though it has a couple of duds in my opinion... well, two that really stand out from the rest! Susanne hasn't got the voice or sexyness to make Santa Baby work (she's no Eartha Kitt, but who is?), and Marc D's version of Last Christmas is so anemic it makes mine sound good! :rofl Compare it to another George Michael karaoke classic I'm You Man by Shane Ritchie, released for Children In Need this year - that has the power and isn't just someone trying to be George... The level of horror Last Christmas creates is in fact close to that I feel watching Westlife singing Mandy... C'mon guys, even Barry Manilow put more feeling into it than you lot! To get an idea of the revulsion, imagine someone who is a devoted fan of the old Battlestar Galactica watching the new version... Still, Popstars last year came up with the worst - Girls Aloud singing a terrible original song, but the boys in One True Voice totally murdering a decent if not special Bee Gees song last year (the abomination that was Sacred Trust is no doubt the reason Fame Academy chose to do the Bee Gees special this year, to show they could be worse - oops!)
If they always turn out bad, why do they still do them? Is it possible to outdo Tony Christie's original Amarillo? Do we need another version of American Pie? How are Atomic Kitten still selling singles in the face of Destiny's Child, and the Sugababes? Why oh why did Stevie Wonder agree to sing with Blue? Even Will Young and Gareth seem to have moved away from covers (and both are doing far the better for doing so!) Even Girls Aloud are stil covering with their massacre of Jump! The answer is simple - its easy money! Sure, you have to pay to get the song, but then you have a song that was a hit then and will be again, especially if you get the pop muppet du jour to sing it...
Of course, some covers are good - they are few and far between. No doubt your choice of which is which is not mine (people are buying Atomic Kitten singles after all, and no doubt Will and Gareth's mangled version of Long And Winding Road hits the spot for some of you!). If you want an example, try Michael McDonald's Motown Album - all covers, all brlliant! And of course there is Gary Jules haunting version of Mad World... My favourite cover of Last Christmas, in fact, is taken from a Sailor Moon Christmas album and includes lines like 'Last Clistmas I gave you my heart' in fluent 'Japlish'...... Really! I may be alone in loving this, though!
One last interesting cover fact - Years ago a group called Undercover did an album and intended to realease nothing but covers - the did a good version of Never Let Her Slip Away, a decent enough Baker Street, and a slighty dodgy piano-less The Way It Is, before vanishing. Not a way to keep a career going, perhaps..
Ah - there you go - a nicely unstructured rant! Merry Christmas (Rant Is Over!)
or:
Merry Christmas (Don't Let The Drinks End!)
Posted by Badgers at 02:35 PM | Comments (2)
December 10, 2003
Ow Ow Ow Ow Ow OW OOOWWW!!!
Not a great week so far, the highpoint being finishing Call Of Duty...
Saturday, of course, meant Christmas shopping in Manchester and I managed to get the DVDs and stuff for mum & dad to enjoy themselves with (though they'l kill me) along with the extended Two Towers, Babylon 5 S3 and a half-price Monty Python Autobiography for myself. I was unhappy as in the past month I couldn't find copies of 2000AD progs 1365/6 anywhere and there were none at Forbidden Planet either - did these make it to the North West? Sigh. I completed my collection of Strangers In Paradise collections though, which made up for it!
Sunday of course didn't happen (ie the idiots didn't get together as usual due to Nick being in Wales), and I enjoyed getting the room tidied over the weekend - James brought up a few games and I was very unimpressed by the way Deus Ex 2 ran... especially considering the basic engine it used. Disturbing considering how well Max Payne 2, Halo, KOTOR, and pretty much eveything else does. Ah well - life is full of disappointments!
In fact, disappointments all round this week - I have had one day at work on Monday, which wasn't too bad - I got some stuff done, bought a nice leather jackety-thing for going out this weekend, and found that when I got home, my ankle hurt. Not too much, but this was to change - by the time I went to bed it hurt a lot. And I was woken up by it at nearly 1am when I found I couldn't bear to have the bedclothes on it - probably because it had swollen up like a football! A sleepless night followed, and I had to cry off going into work as I just couldn't walk - I managed to get up to the doctors and it looks like my old friend the tendon has managed to do something again - the doctor feels it is a chronic tendon strain aggravated by the fact that I tore it 10 years ago - and sent me for an x-ray, just in case I did break something two months ago when I fell over the ladders on the stairs. Luckily, the pain has subsided and the swelling has gone down enough to limp painfully around, but I'm taking this week off as there is no way I can do my job properly - it even hurts to sit here typing this! I may have to go in for a meeting tomorrow afternoon, though... oh happy day... What gets my goat and stuffs it in the back of the car is that I didn't do anything to make it do this!!! :angry
Also, this past week saw one of Mum & Dad's tree frogs having problems - they thought it had broken a leg, but I looked and saw it was swollen with fluid - I checked online to find it was dropsy - a build up of fluid in the tissues - it could sometimes be dealt with like a blister, but in the end it wasn't needed as the poor thing's knee burst and the fluid drained out itself, although it left it with a nasty wound that the vet superglued together. Unfortunately, with dropsy the frogs don't tend to live long, though some do make a recovery. This frog was not to be one of the lucky ones as despite moving and being much more lively yesterday, it finally died overnight.
In other news I think James may be blanking me for a couple of reasons - firstly the obvious - our half-planned going out this weekend would have to be without me as I can't walk properly due to the ankle (though after a night out, this wouldn't be unsurprising, though due to a different cause! :drunk:drunk:drunk) and he had set his heart on it. I know he and Nick could go out together (so to speak) but I know full well they won't. And he'll blame me. As it is, he blames me for ordering a book he asked me to get while on Messenger a few nights ago! He asks me to get it, I go to Amazon and do it - let him know its done. He then asks me how much it is - then complains that I shouldn't have done it while his wife was standing behind him. Someone is a muppet, and it isn't me... still, I think she clouted him round the head a few times, so thats okay, really! I mean, he doesn't tell me she's there, he asks me the price while she is there, and he has the gall to moan at me! All for £3.75 - I ask you... I doubt I'll be seeing him over Christmas then...! Remember the Alton Towers debacle? I can't wait to see his review of the new clubs in town!:biggrin
Ah well - lets end with a smooth link - a quicky review of the Battlestar Galactica remake! It looks good (great FX, but the ribbed Galactica is a little... phallic, though I suppose it goes well with the sex that goes on in the show!) The best thing to say is that it *isn't* Battlestar Galactica, though the Vipers and the robo-Cylons are definitely cool. I'll reserve judgement till I see the second episode - it may get a series commitment or not depending on how Sci Fi Channel US feel (I'm still hoping for official confirmation of the semi-official Farscape miniseries announcement), though viewing figures on the first episode are said to be very high indeed... we shall see! Its certainly a darker and more adult BSG...
And for more SF stuff, go to 5yearmission.com and USS Intrepid for new Star Trek fan films - one is a British ST fanfilm, a the other is the start of an interesting new series following on from season 3 of TOS... And of course don't forget Starhip Exeter and Hidden Frontier! Tell them I sent you!
And so, I'll catch you later - I hope to do a few updates while I'm off this week - gotta read them all!
Posted by Badgers at 01:33 PM | Comments (3)
December 05, 2003
Happy Christmas!
Not really, of course, but unlike all the shops and lots of houses locally, I at least waited until December to type it!
So, what has happened this week then? No biggies, though I got a little close to being killed earlier in the week when a car decided it wanted to be in my lane to go on the motorway, then decided against it and swerved back out of the lane just as it became the motorway... Muppet!
Work-wise things have been okay despite the woman who does the other half of the area (1 day a week) being off ill and me getting it in the ear from two people I spoke to earlier in the week (to say she was off ill) grumping that she hadn't been. This job would be sooo much better without people! Or Universal Aids Ltd:angry. After asking the old lady to move furniture etc herself now I find they didn't fit something in one place, fitted something else instead of what I asked to fitted in another (a doorbell instead of a loop system - not a lot of difference I suppose!) and fitted a large number of items without setting the sensitivity knob so the doorbell lights flash when the TV is on. Or someone speaks. Or any sound at all. I think they want out of the contract... still, they have to send an engineer out to two of the people with flashing lights that keep flashing... all the way from Stockport just to twiddle a knob in Burnley... heheheh!
James is also a bit miffed that I can get eagles (1 under par) in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004... I've been playing it since I reformatted the PC and its really good - you get a great sense of acheivement out of winning things - something James wouldn't understand as he just gives it a good whack in the general direction of the hole! (I which I had a smiley with a sticking out tongue!). Course, I might be crap against them, but who cares!
Other news is that I have 'reviews' of Lava-Ignite from people who have been there - very posh and flashy, apparently, and it should be a good night out. Of course, I'll wait for more people to have gone first, and then go myself - and as for it being flashy and posh, we'll see how it survives having copious amounts of blood splattered around (this is Burnley, after all!)
Oh - one thing to note is that this coming week I'm selling a Manchester United shirt on eBay, signed by the team 2002-3, including someone called Beckham, so if anyone wants to bid for it, do so... its not mine, I'm selling as an agent. So I want enough to get a nice commission so I can afford to go out!!!
Posted by Badgers at 06:09 PM | Comments (3)