but radio has lost that loving feeling....

Now, this is going to sound really negative, I know, but I can't believe quite how mediocre sounding so many of the "hotly tipped" bands for 2008 all sound.... and that's without even hearing some of them. It's their bloody names. Check out this lot, and tell me that it doesn't conjure up images of shoddy, low-fi mediocrity:

The Ting Tings
The Courteneers
These New Puritans
The Troubadours
Vampire Weekend
Pete & The Pirates
Does it Offend You, Yeah?
Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong

Now, some of that lot might be brilliant for all I know. Hell, I'm seeing three of them live in February and I guarantee that before the end of the year, I will own an album by at least one of them.... but that's not really my point. My point is that I hear their names and my heart sinks because they sound so drab and uninteresting before they've even started. Frankly, some of them sound (and look) like they're trying too hard too (and Joe Lean, I'm looking at you here). Perhaps I'm getting old, but how many times do we have to hear a band firing off with their mouths in the press about how brilliant they are and how they're going to be the biggest band in the world long before they've recorded much more than a couple of limited press singles? (yeah, that's you, Liam Fray from the Courteneers).

I was listening to Zane Lowe on Radio 1 the other day. God love him, the Zipper is enthusiastic about absolutely everything, but some of the new stuff he was playing left me pretty cold. He played something (and looking at the tracklisting for the show, I think it was either by Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong or by Does it Offend You, Yeah?), and to my ears they just sounded sloppy; a bit like the Libertines or Los Campesinos, but without any of the talent to fall back on. On first listen (always a dangerous place to make a judgement) it was just nothing music, with little interesting to say. Apparently this is the great hope for 2008. All this on top of the fact that I'm already pretty unconvinced by the crop of 2007 that includes The View, The Hoosiers, Scouting for Girls, The Wombats, The Pigeon Detectives and the like....

Hmm. Perhaps I am getting old.

As I say though, I'm not trying to be negative, and I will try to give these young pups a fair crack of the whip, even if they are starting somewhat on the backfoot. Not everything new is rubbish either, and it's fair to say that I have also heard some fantastic stuff in the last few months too: they're not new bands, for sure, but I absolutely adore "Boxers" by The National, and I'm currently really enjoying Cat Power's "Jukebox", British Sea Power's "Do You Like Rock Music?" and on the same Zane Lowe show, I heard an absolutely entrancing song called "Out Come the Wolves" by a guy called Jacob Golden, so it's not all bad.

Music is brilliant.... sometimes even when it's played by people with big mouths and rubbish names....and I suppose band names have always been kind of rubbish, haven't they? There must be more bands with crappy names than brilliant ones, I reckon. Oasis? Red Hot Chili Peppers? The Beatles? The Rolling Stones? The Beach Boys? All appalling names!

**edit**

Actually, whilst I'm ranting, I should also mention the bunch of appallingly pretentious twits I read about in this article in Observer Music Monthly about the "New Eccentrics" - bands like Foals, These New Puritans, Lightspeed Champion and Ox. Eagle. Lion. Man. (seriously, that's the name of the band. See what I mean?). Not only do they all have awful, awful haircuts, but they come across as utterly humourless no-marks who think they're clever. A winning combination, I'm sure you'll agree.

Get this lot from Frederick Blood-Royale (real name, Frederick MacPherson) of Ox. Eagle. Lion. Man.

'I almost feel ashamed when I go home and watch Neighbours. I feel like I've let down my forefathers'

or

'If someone's made it their life to make music for you to listen to, I can't have it on in the background while I'm making a fucking bacon sandwich'

or

'There's nothing to gain from choosing chemicals or alcohol to change your reality. Nothing can take you away bar death'

or

'I write music for the mind. For the library.'

They released a single on VHS, for heaven's sake. VHS!

*sigh*

What can you do? They'd have to be pretty bloody good to get me past the haircuts, to be honest.

---

Speaking of music, go check out Cody Bones.... he's currently wondering who the greatest frontman in the 1970s was. His rules are pretty stringent (if they play an instrument then they don't qualify), but it's an interesting debate none-the-less. He's plumped for Robert Plant, but I want to break the rules and go for someone like Joe Strummer or Johnny Rotten.

Anyway. Go lookee.

fist in the air in the land of hypocrisy....

>>>>> ST's ALPHABETICON - R <<<<<

Previously in the Alphabeticon: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, singles, N, O, P, Q

And so on to the soothing comforts of pointless cataloguing. Welcome to another exciting installment in my regular and utterly futile trawl through one particular set of shelves in my house... a set of shelves that perhaps hold a little over half of my CD collection, and pretty much none of the ones that I have bought in the last six months. Come to that, I don't think it even contains any of the ones I listen to a lot... they're all sat next to stereos, or in the car or somewhere more accessible like that. In fact, now we're a bit further down the alphabet, I've actually had to push the futon to one side to get access to the lower shelves...

Anyway.

After the tumbleweeds blowing across the Qs, the Rs are a positive party town....

369. Rage Against the Machine – Rage Against the Machine
370. Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles
371. Rage Against the Machine – Evil Empire
372. Rage Against the Machine – Renegades

I've latterly become something of a big fan of this band. I was familiar with "Killing in the Name" and "Bullet in the Head", of course, and "Wake Up" was very well used in the end credits for "The Matrix".... but it was only comparatively recently that I have felt motivated enough to dig further through their back catalogue. Why? I think it was listening to Audioslave that did it.... good band though they were in their own right, listening to them just made me think how good RATM were. There's simply no one like them. Chris Cornell is a good singer, but with that band he simply isn't a patch on the furious invective of Zack de la Rocha. They've recently got back together, and if I get the chance, then I am definitely going to see them. They're not all that sophisticated and it's mainly a lot of muscular ranting, but I reckon the world needs bands like this.

373. Rodrigo Y Gabriela – Rodrigo Y Gabriela

Stunningly virtuoso duelling acoustic guitars tackling Metallica covers. What's not to like? I think the most amazing thing of all is quite how they both manage to make their guitars into such effective percussive instruments at the same time as furiously picking out solos - when you see them live, their hands are a blur. Superb.

374. Otis Redding – Blue

doobie-doobie-doobie. DOO. BEE.

375. Raconteurs – Broken Toy Soldiers

Shockingly short, but not bad side project for Jack White and Brendon Benson. They were shit live though, and there's nothing to match the genius of "Steady, As She Goes", either.

376. Right Said Fred – Up

Horribly, I think we actually have two copies of this CD in the house. There's nothing I can say to make the shame go away. Well, except to say that "Deeply Dippy" remains as pure and as joyful an expression of the effects of the first blush of love as ever committed to song. Possibly.

377. Rocket From the Crypt – Scream, Dracula, Scream!

Fun. I bought this when I was studying for my MA at the University of York. It's shouty, brass backed rock and roll, but who couldn't love songs like "Born in '69" or "On A Rope"?

378. REM – Murmur
379. REM – Green
380. REM – Out of Time
381. REM – Automatic for the People
382. REM - Monster
383. REM – New Adventures in Hi-Fi
384. REM – Up
385. REM – Reveal
386. REM – Around the Sun
387. REM – Singles Collected
388. REM – In Time 1988-2003

I feel as though I've grown up with REM. Like a lot of people my age, it was "Losing my Religion" that first piqued my interest, and "Automatic for the People" was simply ubiquitous back in the say. I left it at that for a few years, but then I started to explore their back catalogue and to tentatively look forwards to some of their less successful recent albums. "Reveal" and "Around the Sun" are a bit patchy and uninspired, but "Up" and "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" are both superb and "Monster" has its moments too. They've been massive of course - few bands have been bigger - but the fascinating thing about them is the way that they have been able to maintain such interesting textures in their music over such a long period of time. They've still got it live, too.

389. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Uplift Mofo Party Plan
390. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Mother’s Milk
391. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik
392. Red Hot Chili Peppers – What Hits?
393. Red Hot Chili Peppers – One Hot Minute
394. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
395. Red Hot Chili Peppers – By The Way
396. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Stadium Arcadium

I first started listening to the Chili Peppers back in about 1989 and around about the time that "Mother's Milk" came out. It's a patchy album, but I was in my dubious heavy metal phase at the time and was sufficiently interested to go backwards through their back catalogue. When "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" came out, I was hooked. I don't think I had that album off my stereo for much of the next 18 months, and since then I've picked up everything they've done. The socks-on-cocks funk metallers are long gone, of course, and now they deal in beautiful, beach boys-esque harmonies and textured, shimmering guitar... peaking with "By The Way". They're now one of the biggest bands in the world and you'll only every get to see them playing an enormodome near you.... on the evidence of their last album though, I think they've peaked. It's not that "Stadium Arcadium" is a bad record, it's just that it's pointlessly long, with the good songs hidden by poor quality control. I'm not giving up on them just yet though. Of all the bands I like, this lot might be the ones who have made the biggest progression -- from the barely literate priapic nonsense of "Special Secret Song Inside" all the way to the harmonies of "Dosed" or "Zephyr Song"....

397. Razorlight – Up All Night

Johnny Borrell is clearly a hateful man with an overly large sense of his own worth. To my ears they still sound a little bit lightweight (and their last album was appallingly short)... but they might just be on to something. "Golden Touch" is hopelessly overexposed, of course, but that doesn't make it any less of a good song.

398. Ramones – The Chrysalis Years

onetoofreefour! Not a classic Ramones collection by any means, but this triple CD set was worth it just for the presence of "Loco Live". And it only cost me a fiver.

399. Radio 4 – Gotham!

There was a reason I bought this. I think it was a song I heard somewhere, together with a vague notion that I'd read about the band being good. The fact I can't remember what that song was probably says it all. Terrible name too, at least in the UK.

400. The Dan Reed Network - Slam
401. The Dan Reed Network – The Heat

Ah, another legacy from the metal years that I can't quite bear to get rid of. Dan Reed is hardly metal, being rather too sappy and keyboard driven for that, but I have very fond memories of listening to these albums over coffee and biscuits with my friend Des at school. "The Heat" is a stinging critique of George Bush's war on Iraq, you know.... the first one. Still relevant today, you see?

402. Radiohead – Pablo Honey
403. Radiohead – The Bends
404. Radiohead – OK Computer
405. Radiohead – Kid A
406. Radiohead - Amnesiac
407. Radiohead – Hail to the Thief

I bought "The Bends" in Coventry on its day of release and on a whim. It didn't take me long to realise that I'd picked a winner, and I think it may still be my favourite Radiohead album of all. I knew "Creep" of course, and had actually seen the band playing the "Whip Round" disco at the Warwick Students Union... so called because the band get paid from the collection pots that get taken around the bars and shaken at disinterested students who are mildly resentful at the noise that is interrupting their conversations and has meant the jukebox has been switched off. I've seen them live several times since: in a big top, at Glastonbury, at South Park in Oxford and at Nottingham Arena.... and, with the exception of that last gig, they've never been anything less than interesting. You have to take your hat off to quite how brave a band they are: "OK Computer" is widely hailed now as a classic now, but the band had already started to push the envelope. "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" simply pushed it even further, constantly challenging our notions of what to expect from a mainstream rock band. Compare and contrast with Oasis, for example. I wasn't totally sold on those albums at the time and mourned the absence of the guitars, but listening to them now it's easier to appreciate them... although I still think they'd have made a better single album with a bit more editing than being separately released. "Hail to the Thief" is ok, but not as good as either. I haven't got my head around "In Rainbows" either, but I will tell you this: I proudly paid nothing for it. My reason for doing so was that awful gig they played at Nottingham Arena that I paid £30 to see. I read a very interesting argument the other day suggesting that the whole "honesty box" thing went against the principles of barter, where the seller begins the transaction with a price that then forms the basis for the negotiation of offer and counter-offer. By setting the initial price at zero, Radiohead were asking their fans to offer upwards... which is counter-intuitive as by offering it for nothing, they were saying it was worth nothing. Interesting. Anyway, I think it's fair to say the band aren't on the breadline. Like REM, they're a band who have been consistently interesting for many years now, and as such are to be cherished.

408. The Rolling Stones – Hot Rocks 1964-1971
409. The Rolling Stones – Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)

Two greatest hits complations (one was a gift). That's about right really. I like them well enough, but every year they continue to flog themselves around the world with new product and an absurdly expensive tour is another year I think a little less of them. Diminishing returns and all that. At their peak, they were fantastic, of course. I do love the story about Mick Jagger putting "little Mick" into a hollowed out piece of wood filled with bees though... the stings are supposed to make it bigger, you see..... Idiot.

Lost somewhere in iTunes: Rainbow, the Rapture, Rare Earth, The Raveonettes, Reef, The Rembrandts, REO Speedwagon, Reverend & The Makers, Rialto, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Rilo Kiley, Robots in Disguise, the Ronettes, Royksopp, Run DMC, Rush, The Rumblestrips....

Next time..... S !

--

Shuffleathon 2007 Update

Yes, still going. I've sent out a couple of replacement CDs to Wombat and JamieS to replace the ones that they never got (you know who you are!). If anyone else feels hard done by, either because they never got their CD, or because their lovingly crafted CD didn't get the review it deserved, then please let me know. Happy to oblige.

Shuffler	Posted	Received
1. Tina	yes	review
2. Sarah	yes	no sign
3. Cody Bones	yes	review
4. Mark	yes	review
5. Michael	yes	review
6. Hen	yes	JamieS review
7. Cat	yes	review
8. bedshaped	yes	review
9. Pynchon	yes	review
10. J	yes	review
11. The Great Grape Ape	yes	review
12. Ian	yes	review
13. Martin	who knows?	not a peep
14. Monogodo	yes	yes
15. Threelight	yes	review
16. Paul	yes	review
17. Charlie	yes	review
18. LB	yes	review
19. Katyola	yes	review
20. Lisa	yes	review
21. Graham	who knows?	not a peep
22. Del	yes	review
23. Spins	yes	pending!
24. Ben	yes	review
25. Dragon	yes	yes
26. Adem	yes	review
27. Mike	yes	review
28. JoeInVegas	yes	yes
29. Wombat	yes	CD from ST in the post!
30. Max Bob	yes	review
31. Stevious	yes	review
32. Asta	yes	review
33. Alan	yes	review
34. Russ L	yes	review
35. E.	yes	in the mexican postal system
36. Mike T-D	yes	review
37. JamieS	yes	CD from ST arrived
38. Briskate	yes	review
38. Me	yes	review

From an original idea by lovely YokoSpungeon....

down is the new up....

You know what it's like when you get back to work after some time off, right? You wander in somewhat reluctantly, take off your coat, fire up your PC and then head straight off to get some coffee or something. Anything but actually face up to the fact that you're no longer on holiday. Worse. To focus on the fact that as well as not being on holiday anymore, you're actually now at work. Work!

And it's probably a Monday too.

The weekend seems an awfully long way from here.

I spent most of yesterday having catch-up meetings and trawling my way through the red mass of email that had arrived whilst I was away in sunny Sestrière (still sunny too - I've checked. Curse you webcams!). When I looked finally plucked up the nerve to have a look in my diary to see what the rest of the week had in store for me, initially I was quite pleased to see that Wednesday and Thursday had been set aside for a course.

Ah, excellent. Another couple of days away from my desk and either actively daydreaming with a look of deep concentration and interest on my face (an excellent skill, right up there with sitting at your desk with headphones on, looking engrossed in your work when in fact you are listening intently to your bosses talking about you when they think you can't hear them), or perhaps keeping myself entertained by making myself a thorn in the tutor's side and asking questions about absolutely everything; challenging every assumption... something that's painfully easy to do on most business courses.... This one is actually out of the office too, and so I'm not even going to be obliged to dress up either. That's two shirts less to iron this week, anyway.

It sounded great.

I got given a couple of big folders wrapped in cellophane relating to the course, as well as a big book, but naturally I just left them on my desk on Monday night and came home as early as I possibly could.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I realised at some point this morning, as I perused the joining instructions for the course, that not only was the course actually quite intensive and with an exam at the end.... but that I was also being expected to get my way through about six hours of reading from the big book before I turned up at tomorrow morning at 9am.

I had a quick flick through the book at about 6pm this evening in the lull between getting the last of my day's work done and heading off for a swim. It was actually quite interesting*, but it was a s-l-o-w read.

Damn it.

And I was going to waste my evening blogging and stuff and everything.

Mañana then... assuming the bastards don't give me homework or anything. Haven't they heard of the Alphabeticon? It doesn't write itself........

Does anyone really care about Managing Successful Programmes anyway?

--

*work day interesting that is - not interesting interesting....

I leaned on the wall and the wall leaned away...

The bobsleigh events at the 2006 Winter Olympics took place at the Cesana Pariol venue, just around the corner from Sestriere in the village of Sansicario. The track there measures 1435 metres and has 19 curves and a vertical drop of 114 metres. A 4 man bobsleigh here is capable of reaching speeds in excess of 130km/hr and the passengers can experience up to 4Gs of pressure as they hurtle round the bends to the bottom. The gold medal winners in the Men's four man bobsleigh at the 2006 games were Germany. Their fastest time down the track was 54.80s.

The track was built especially for the 2006 games, and as you can imagine, now that the games are over, the organisers are keen to try to get some payback on that investment (it costs about a million Euros to keep the track frozen during the season, even this high up in the mountains). As a result, if you are so inclined, it is possible to pay to team up with a driver from the Italian national team and take a ride down the track in a four man bobsleigh.

And so I did.


The team huddle: l-r, Keith, Drives, Ian, me

The talk on the bus prior to arrival at the track was pretty scary, so when we actually arrived at the top, I was keen not to do any hanging around and volunteered to be in the first run. I signed a disclaimer, and before I really knew what I was doing, I was wearing a helmet, putting on a compression belt ("to hold your spine in place against the G force") and was being introduced to my driver.

"If your helmet bangs against the side of the bob, don't worry: this is normal. Try to sit up straight and look out for the corners as they come up."

Then, with a final word that the person sitting directly behind him should make every effort not to touch him (who wants to have their driver knocked out when he's trying to steer your sled down a tube of ice at 130km/hr?), we were seated in the bob. I was in position four, and with three hefty lads in front of me, it was a real squeeze to get in. I struggled to get my hands far enough down the sides to be able to grasp the cable that was supposed to help me stay inside the sled, and I had the ridge at the back of the bob digging into the small of my back. On top of that, I immediately began to get cramp down my legs from the forced position. Oh well, this wouldn't take long. With the gentlest of push starts from a couple of guys at the top (as opposed to the sprint starts that the Olympic teams have), we were off.

The first of the 19 corners didn't seem too bad, although even at this pace, the force of the turn was enough to push my helmet against the side of the bob as we first climbed into the corner and then again as we came out the other side.

We began to pick up speed.

I'd been told to try and hold my breath or to breath in as we approached the corners - the air in my lungs would help hold my body upright. The simple truth was that, even as early as the second corner, I really couldn't hold myself up high enough to see round the three guys in front of me and to pick out the corners. Frankly I'm amazed the driver could see them coming. Each one came and went in a flash; each one hurled my head violently one way and then the other, smashing my helmet with increasing force into the sides of the sled. My forearms, braced against the edges of the bob, soon began to feel the pressure too as we were thrown from side to side. I could feel the back of the sled digging into my spine, and -- alarmingly -- I could even start to feel myself rising slightly off my seat.

I hung on a bit tighter.

We flew down the track, faster and faster and faster. I began to become disorientated as we went through bend after bend with increasing speed and my head smashed from side to side. The pressure on me increased, and I could feel my head being forced down towards my lap and I was struggling to breathe. We shot through a chicane and BANGBANGBANGBANG went my head against the sled. We must have been at maximum velocity now, around 130km/hr and with about 4Gs of force pushing down against my body.


...and it looked a little something like this

And then just as I thought I couldn't take any more, it was all over. We came out of the slightly covered track and into the open of a gently inclined run-off. The sense of exhilaration was immense. I struggled out of the bob and found that I wasn't quite in control of myself and my legs had turned to jelly. I had to be helped off the track and out of my helmet, but I couldn't stop grinning. We had a team photo taken with the driver and checked out our time: 1m 02.24s. A little over 62 seconds. Seven seconds slower than the Olympic gold medal winning time in the same track, but without the benefit of a running start and without the need for any lycra.

That was probably the most brutal 62 seconds of my life and I felt like I had been beaten up. Apparently I had the worst deal sitting on the back seat, but my head ached, my neck hurt, my arms hurt, I had a huge bruise on the small of my back..... but my God, it was worth every penny. I was never really scared at any point in the ride, I was just in total awe of the forces that I was experiencing and the speeds that I was travelling at. Quite how anyone is able to concentrate enough under those kinds of forces to think about steering and braking, or how they are able to react fast enough to do either at those speeds is completely beyond me. All I could do was clench my teeth, and at one point let out a scream of pure exhilaration.

What a rush.

It probably sounds terrible, and it certainly wasn't easy, but what an incredible experience. I'd do it again tomorrow if I could, and if you ever get the chance, then have a go. Seriously.

Brilliant.

Compared to that, going down the Olympic Men's Downhill course on skis was a relatively sedate affair....

So, skeleton or luge next year, do you think?

cold as ice...

Well, I'm back and I'm knackered... but I suppose the main thing is that all limbs are intact and it was a fantastic week skiing in the sun.

When I've got a bit more energy, I'll regale you with stories of how I went down an Olympic Bobsleigh run in a 4 man bob at about 89% gold medal winning pace (possibly the most brutal 62.24 seconds of my life), how I watched Inter Milan playing Juventus at the San Siro Stadium, how I successfully navigated the black run that hosted the 2006 Olympic downhill skiing events (or perhaps more pertinently, how I survived the actually-much-harder-than-the-run drag lift that takes you up to the top of the piste). If you're really lucky I'll tell you all about how we won a pub quiz thanks in part to C's cocktail making / drinking abilities and to my glorious triumph in the "Dance Like Your Dad" round.... (although, sadly, the photos from this triumph are on someone else's camera at the moment, so you will be spared the pictorial evidence).

I'll also be able to share photos with you that are almost identical in every respect to the photos that I take every year when we go skiing...La Rosiere in 2007, Courchevel 1650 in 2006, Courchevel 1850 in 2005 (but hey, different coat then)... i.e. some snowy mountains, me in sunglasses and the same jacket standing a little awkwardly on a pair of skis or with a cup of vin chaud in hand.....

Bet you can't wait, eh?

Anyway. How are you?

pie and mash up!

Earworms of the Week

Me again, but I'm trying to line up some Guest Editors to entertain you... starting in two weeks' time, when I'm back from my holiday.

Oh, did I not mention? I'm off skiing in Italy on Sunday, and although it's been snowing there all week, the sun came out today. Hurray! The advice of the skiing forecast? "Great conditions - wax up your skis!". Sounds good.

Anyway. To the business in hand:

> "Rule the World" - Take That

This was the first song by Take That to make it onto my iPod. I never disliked Take That when they were around the first time, they just weren't really my cup of tea. That Gary Barlow has some talent though, eh? This is the theme tune to the movie "Stardust" and the song features a terrible pun on the name of Claire Danes' character... but it's great anyway. Gonzo Howard does a good job with the shouty bit on the chorus too, eh?

> "Suburban Knights" - Hard Fi

This song is just getting better every time I hear it. I bought the album the other day, and although I've only listened to it a couple of times so far, at the moment, all of the other songs are rather suffering in comparison with this one.

> "Heavyweight Champion of the World" - Reverend and the Makers

I get the distinct impression that John McClure, the main man here, is something of a cock. He's the flatmate of Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys, and I get the distinct impression that he thinks he's something special (in contrast with the extremely humble Turner). As a band they're in something of a funny position though: they're well known for this song, but so far for nothing else. They got all pissed off at Glastonbury in 2007 when they played this early and then had to put up with late arrivals in the crowd shouting for it. I was interested to see them on Jonathan Ross the other day too.... a great showcase for them, but they ended up playing the single that they released more than seven months ago. Have they got any other songs? Mind you... this is a good one.

> "Through the Morning, Through the Night" - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

It's funny that everyone should be so excited about Led Zeppelin at a time when Robert Plant has produced a really interesting album of his own with Mrs. Elvis Costello Alison Krauss (not Diana Krall - quite right and well spotted Tina). It's a lovely, soothing album, and Percy manages to keep his holler well under control throughout. On this song, he is barely singing at all... it's very much a showcase for Krauss, and she does a beautiful job.

> "Way Down in the Hole" - Tom Waits

The theme tune to "The Wire", of course. We finished watching "Battlestar Galactica" season three a few weeks ago and were in dire need of a boxset to watch. I bought the first season of the "The Wire" on the basis of all the consistently ecstatic reviews it's been getting.... two episodes in, and it's a keeper. Good theme tune too.

> "Slow Show" - The National

Another of the "Albums of 2007" that I have belatedly discovered. "Boxers" is a cracking album. It's quite understated and very much focused around Matt Berninger's deep, baritone voice (which, weirdly, reminds me a little bit of that guy from the Crash Test Dummies).

"You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years"

I know the exact feeling.

> "Romeo & Juliet" - Dire Straits

Naff? Possibly. I think it's a great song by a great band. This song will always remind me of skiing over into Italy from the French side and coming across a huge PA down near the bottom life playing this song. I hadn't heard it for years, and it sounded brilliant. I borrowed the album off LB the other day, and I haven't been able to stop listening to it since.

> "The Eels Song" - The Mighty Boosh



As sung in the third (and most recent) series of the Mighty Boosh by the extremely sinister Hitcher, accompanied by jazz maverick, Howard Moon and Vince Noir, the king of the mods.

What's not to like?

Mind you, my favourite characters in the Boosh are definitely Tony Harrison and Saboo from the Board of Shamen though.



"If you can't even handle a little carpet, what are you going to do when we come to the crunch?"
"Oh my word, are we back to the crunch?"
"The crunch. What are you going to do?"
"Oh here we fucking go. The crunch this, the crunch that. Why are you so obsessed with the crunch?"
"Do you want to know about the crunch?"
"I do, yes"
"Because you are going to meet the crunch a little bit before me, my friend"
"This is an outrage....!"

I like the Mighty Boosh. This humour very much appeals to me for some reason. I think C. doesn't really see it. She just thinks they're weird....although not so weird that she won't come with me to see them live later this year.

Right. And that's your lot.

See you in a week.

Take care of each other, yeah?

counting all the ripples on the sea...

In his first post of 2008, Andrew Collins had an idea.
"It's a new year. Time to solve the problems of the world - and there are one or two - before it's too late. I've been thinking about this for a while now, and it's dawned on me that the only way we're going to make the world a better place without having to plough through all that due process and red tape and so-called democracy is to start being better ourselves."

Fair enough. Be the change you want to see in the world and all that.

But how?

He put forward the following and called it The Manners Manifesto

1. Smile
2. Say please and thank you
3. Let that car in
4. Be friendly to strangers
5. Help old people off or on the bus
6. Buy the Big Issue and give some change to the homeless
7. Be polite to Jehovah's Witnesses
8. Never swear at people on the other end of helplines
9. Never, ever drop litter
10. Leaving bags of stuff outside charity shops when they're closed? Come on!
11. Talk to people at the check-out
12. Don't swear when there are kids about

The thinking behind each one is detailed in the post itself, and it worth having a look at the follow-up discussion that this stimulated on Metafilter (if only to marvel at the idiot who thinks it's his right to litter the world with his butt ends if the world insists on banishing him outside into the cold to smoke).

I'm sure you don't agree with it all, and none of this stuff should need to be said at all, but the sad truth is that we could probably all do with a bit of a brush-up on a few of the points. Here's my own self-assessment:

good: 2, 8, 9, 11
could do more: 1, 3, 4, 6 (but at least I always make eye contact), 12
not really relevant, but yes in principle: 5, 7, 10

Actually, I reckon I could still do more of the things I think I'm alright at.

The point is, I think, is that we are all human beings and we're all in this together. We can either try to make the journey as pleasant as possible for each other, or we can decide not to bother. You don't have to be a pushover, but you just have to try to remember that it's easy to make somebody's day, and it's easy to ruin someone's day... sometimes you have the choice. Which one would you prefer someone chose for you?

Christ, I sound like a hippy.

I'm not the most outgoing of people in the main, but I do enjoy being as polite and friendly as I can manage with the people I run into in the course of my normal day... not the people I know, of course - I'm a bastard to them. I mean the people I don't know: the checkout girl, the bus driver, the taxi driver, a waitress. A smile here, a little comment there, making absolutely sure that all my Ps and Qs are in the right places... it doesn't take much. Some people will always be miserable bastards, of course, but actually surprisingly few, and when someone responds positively with a smile or whatever, I find that little spark of human interaction really gives me a kick and puts a spring in my step.

Of course, when she sees me doing this, C. generally accuses me of being a flirt and of having a magic touch with ladies of a certain age.... well, that's not it at all. I'm not denying that I find it easier to make a connection with ladies, but it's definitely not flirting - not consciously, anyway. Jesus - I wish I could be so relaxed about flirting, but I've always been absolutely hopeless at it. Terrible. I've never knowingly chatted up or flirted with anyone in my life, I don't think. The very thought of it makes me start to sweat. If, as C. alleges, my behaviour is tantamount to flirting, then perhaps I have the slightly unfortunate ability only to flirt with people I'm not really seriously interested in flirting with.

Whatever. It's not flirting. I'm just doing my bit to make the world a better place, one person at a time (two at a time, if you count me).

Anyway. Enough about me. How do you score?

cut you in, I just cut you out.....

>>>>> ST's ALPHABETICON - Q <<<<<

Previously in the Alphabeticon: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, singles, N, O, P

Well, this week's trawl through the bit of my record collection that is stored on one set of shelves shouldn't take us too long.... although it would detain us for a tiny bit longer if I could remember where I'd put all of my Queensryche CDs. Good band!

365. Queen – Greatest Hits

I'm not a massive Queen fan, but as a general rule, I prefer their earlier stuff to their later stuff - hence the presence of their first hits compilation, but not the second. Mind you, if you are only going to buy one album by Queen, then it really should be this one, I think: Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust, Killer Queen, Don't Stop Me Now, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Flash..... and so on. They're not my favourite band by any means, but they're nice every once in a while. In fact, I'm going to listen to this now, I think.

366. Queens of the Stone Age – Rated R
367. Queens of the Stone Age – Songs For the Deaf
368. Queens of the Stone Age – Lullabies to Paralyse

Hm. "Songs for the Deaf" is an album I bought on a whim and absolutely adore. It's a brilliant album, with Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan sharing vocals and with the tuneful hard rock being furiously driven along by Dave Grohl's drumming. I saw them touring this at Rock City, and it's still comfortably one of the very best gigs I have ever been to. Sensational. I then went back to "Rated R" and was less impressed. There are good songs on there, though ("The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" and "Feelgood Hit of the Summer" for starters), and you can see where they're going. I bought "Lullabies to Paralyse", the follow up to 'Songs for the Deaf' when it first came out.... and although it's not a terrible album by any means, it was a big disappointment and I've hardly listened to it. I haven't bothered with the last album ("Era Vulgaris"). Shame. When they're good, they're very, very good. Mind you, I'd see them live again at the drop of hat.

Lost in iTunes: Quiet Riot, Quincy Jones (the Italian Job soundtrack, no less)

It'll be a bit busier next time: ...R.

--

Shuffleathon 2007 Update

Well, I've started so I'll finish.

CDs are now in the post to JamieS and Wombat to try and makeup for the Shuffleathon CDs that never showed up (although I understand that one of those has just been resent, so hopefully should arrive this time).

Anyone else feeling hard done by? Uncle Swiss is here to try and help... (God, I started this, so it's probably the least I can do). I'll do some reviews if you really want....

Shuffler	Posted	Received
1. Tina	yes	review
2. Sarah	yes	???????
3. Cody Bones	yes	review
4. Mark	yes	review
5. Michael	yes	review
6. Hen	yes	JamieS review
7. Cat	yes	review
8. bedshaped	yes	review
9. Pynchon	yes	review
10. J	yes	review
11. The Great Grape Ape	yes	review
12. Ian	yes	review
13. Martin	hello?	hello?
14. Monogodo	yes	yes
15. Threelight	yes	review
16. Paul	yes	review
17. Charlie	yes	review
18. LB	yes	review
19. Katyola	yes	review
20. Lisa	yes	review
21. Graham	hello?	hello?
22. Del	yes	review
23. Spins	yes	????????
24. Ben	yes	review
25. Dragon	yes	yes
26. Adem	yes	review
27. Mike	yes	review
28. JoeInVegas	yes	yes
29. Wombat	yes	CD from ST in the post!
30. Max Bob	yes	review
31. Stevious	yes	review
32. Asta	yes	review
33. Alan	yes	review
34. Russ L	yes	review
35. E.	yes	?????????
36. Mike T-D	yes	review
37. JamieS	yes	CD from ST in the post!
38. Briskate	yes	review
38. Me	yes	review

From an original idea by lovely YokoSpungeon....

michigan! ponshewaing! cadillac!

I find it interesting that, although Iowa and New Hampshire were both headline news over here, the results of the Michigan Primary didn't make it onto the news at all this morning, at least not on BBC Radio Five Live. I had to go online to find out that Mitt Romney had salvaged his bid for the White House by beating John McCain into second place and taking something like 39% of the vote. This is interesting news indeed, even for an outsider like me because it means that there have now been three different Republican winners in three states: Huckabee in Iowa, McCain in New Hampshire and now Romney in Michigan. It really is anyone's guess who will win the Republican vote and stand for President at the end of the year.

So why the lack of coverage? I reckon it's because UK media is only interested in what they see as the more glamorous battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The present incumbent in the White House can't stand again (thank God) and none of the other major Republican candidates - with the possible exception of Giuliani, who isn't really kicking off his campaign until the Florida Primary at the very end of January - are especially well known to a British audience. Besides, when it comes to the USA, we only really deal in broad brushstrokes and the popular image painted here of a 'typical' Republican is of a right-wing, pro-life, anti-gay, anti-gun control, religious crackpot (which is more or less the way that Mike Huckabee is being painted), and as we British (in the face of all evidence to the contrary) still like to think of ourselves as liberal-minded free-thinkers, so we probably instinctively feel a closer kinship with the Democrats....

What of the Democrats themselves? Well they withdrew the right of Michigan to send delegates to its convention because the state party chose to hold their primary early. This rendered the Democratic poll in Michigan something of an irrelevancy and so it hasn't really made the news here, as we have no further updates on whether Clinton is in the driving seat or if the force is still with Obama. No exciting Democrat news, therefore very little broadcast media press coverage in the UK. What really hasn't been mentioned at all here, and may perhaps be more significant in the long run, is just how much damage this does to the chances of the Democrats winning the state in the Presidential election later this year. How would you feel as a Democrat if your right to have a say on who stands for president was taken away like this? Would you think about voting elsewhere as a result? How about for the Michigan native Mitt Romney? Or perhaps someone with strong appeal to independent voters like John McCain? Obama or Clinton or whoever ultimately wins the Democrat nomination may well find Michigan a tough nut to crack. Thinking of Florida's hanging chads in 2000, elections have certainly been decided on less....

Apologies if all this is old news to anyone reading this in the USA, but I'm genuinely interested in all of this, and I'm starting to pick up the slants that the UK media is putting on their coverage.

Back to ill-formed musical opinions and assorted other nonsense later on.

strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart...

In my quest to be better informed about the US Elections, I did some reading on John McCain.

Well, there's an interesting life: both his father and his grandfather were admirals in the US Navy, so McCain himself went to the US Naval academy and became a pilot flying bombing missions from carriers. In late 1967 and on his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam, McCain was shot down near Hanoi. He was a prisoner of war from them until 1973, during which time he was in solitary confinement for 2 years and was frequently subject to some brutal torture. He retired from the Navy in 1981, and in 1982 was elected for the first of his two terms in the US House of Representatives. In 1986 he was elected to the US Senate from Arizona for the first of his four terms.

In 2000 he was a candidate for the Republican nomination, but was beaten by George W. Bush (amidst some dirty campaigning). McCain is now 71 years old but is again a leading candidate for the Republican nomination in what looks like it will be one of the most open presidential elections in years.

He may be a conservative (and one that's vehemently in favour of the US military involvement in Iraq, to boot), but you can see why he appeals to voters, be they Republican or otherwise. Hillary Clinton may talk about the importance of her experience, and she is indeed experienced when compared to Barack Obama, but when she is compared to John McCain, she looks like a babe in arms.

Bearing in mind McCain's five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, how sensible was it of another candidate for the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney, to debate the issue of torture with him...

In response to the question, "Is Waterboarding torture?", Romney initally replied:

"I oppose torture. I would not be in favor of torture in any way, shape or form."

Seems fairly unequivocal.... but he foolishly didn't leave it there. He continued:

"...as a presidential candidate, I don’t think it’s wise for us to describe specifically which measures we would and would not use....there are people who, for many, many years, get the information we need to make sure that we protect our country. And, by the way, I want to make sure these folks [terrorists] are kept at Guantanamo. I don’t want the people that are carrying out attacks on this country to be brought into our jail system and be given legal representation in this country. I want to make sure that what happened to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed happens to other people who are terrorists."

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the subject of water boarding at Guantanamo Bay as part of his interrogation, his children - 6 and 8 years in age - were also allegedly subject to abusive interrogation.

At this answer, McCain shoots Romney a look of what looks like contempt, and replies:

"I am astonished that you would think such a—such a torture would be inflicted on anyone in our—who we are held captive and anyone could believe that that’s not torture. It’s in violation of the Geneva Conventions. It’s in violation of existing law. And, Governor, let me tell you, if we’re going to get the high ground in this world and we’re going to be America that we have cherished and loved for more than 200 years, we’re not going to torture people. We’re not going to do what Pol Pot did. We’re not going to do what’s being done to Burmese monks as we speak. And I suggest that you talk to retired military officers and active-duty military officers like Colin Powell and others, and how in the world anybody could think that that kind of thing could be inflicted by Americans on people who are held in our custody is absolutely beyond me."

I know very little about McCain's other beliefs and political policies, and I'm not saying that I would vote for him or anything, but for that one, utterly unequivocal answer alone, he has earned my respect...and Romney, for his evasion, has lost it.

[watch the question and the answers from both candidates here]

--

I've read that the coverage that we get in the UK on the US Elections is woefully ill-informed. I get mine mainly from the Guardian, but I'd be happy to make use of the magic of the internet to read some more well informed resources. Anyone got any suggestions?

pop ya collar....

When we first picked up the cat, the RSPCA informed us that she would have to wear a collar. Neither of the cats that my parents have had in my lifetime had been collared, but it seemed reasonable and sensible enough to give our cat a collar with an ID tag on it just in case she ever got lost (the RSPCA also implanted her with a microchip, which they do with all animals that pass through their care apparently). The only slight reservation I had about the collar was the fact that it is impossible to buy a collar without a bell. The idea of the bell, of course, is to try to give birds and other small animals half a chance against this vicious and instinctive predator, but part of me has always thought that it was a bit cruel to burden a cat like this. It's in their nature, after all.... I soon changed my mind though: more or less as soon as I heard the cute "tinkle tinkle" noise that the bell made as it clanked against the tags on the cat's collar. It was a noise quickly became associated in my head with the approaching cat - a noise often followed by a small "miaow". Pavlov in reverse, if you will.

Did you know that a cat's collar should either be elasticated or have a quick-release catch? I know it sounds perfectly obvious, and I'm sure you did know that, but as I'd never had a cat with a collar before, it hadn't really crossed my mind. Again, it's perfectly sensible. Cats go wandering; cats jump and climb on stuff.... if a cat was to get their collar caught on something, they could easily do themselves a mischief. It's only common sense, therefore, that if you are going to make them wear a collar, it's probably best to give them one that is unlikely to choke them.

When we got home from town the other evening, Minou was waiting for us on the doorstep. This was a little unusual: not only was the weather pretty crappy, but since we've had the catflap and she's had a magnetic "key" adding to the bling already hanging from her collar, she's been able to look after herself and - being a cat - can normally be found in the warm. It took a few minutes for the penny to drop, but we soon realised that she'd lost her collar somewhere. This meant that the poor thing must have caught it on something and had a few moments of desperate struggle before the stretch in the elastic will have allowed her to wriggle free. I expect her collar is still hanging off a branch somewhere... but at least the cat herself was alright.

Of course, the loss of her collar meant the loss of her ID tag, her bell and, with the magnetic "key" for the catflap, her freedom. And so, the next morning I trooped off to Pets at Home to buy a replacement. The collar was easy enough, and so now, instead of the disgustingly dirty plain black one she had before, she's modelling a natty little number with some fluorescent thread woven in as well as another bell. The magnet came in a two-pack, so we now have a spare, and the tags were done in a quite cool machine that lets you watch as it engraves (she has one tag with our address and phone number on, and another tag saying "scan me....I'm tagged"). Sorted.

She now looks broadly the same as she did before, but she sounds different: her collar just isn't tinking in the same way at all..... in fact, through the combination of a different bell and the (non-magnetic) ID tags, when she flops through the catflap, she now sounds distinctly christmassy, leading to the nickname "Santa's Super Sleigh".

She doesn't seem to mind at all. Neither the name nor the noise seem to worry her in the slightest... Judging from her mildly haughty look, I think she must be pondering issues of far greater importance.

Stick for instance. You can never have too much stick.

And we cover our lies with handshakes and smiles...

-
Earworms of the Week.

Not counting last week's Earworms of the Year 2007 marathon, it's been a few week's since I last a normal earworm post. So why don't we get 2008 off to an entirely predictable Friday evening earworm start with lots of guitar based nonsense.....

10. "When Under Ether" - PJ Harvey

Ah, Peej. Anyone who has listened to "Rid of Me" will know that there is something otherworldly and more than a little disturbing about PJ Harvey. She's hidden it better recently, and her last couple of albums have brought her fairly mainstream success and a mercury music prize, but on her new album ("White Chalk") that weirdness is back: she discards her guitar for a piano and puts on a very long, white Victorian dress. She also sings in a strained, whispered voice that seems to a little higher than she normally sings and is right on the limits of her ability. All of this together conspires to make the album sound more than a little oppressive. This particular song appears to be the tale of an abortion:

"Something's inside me
Unborn and unblessed
Disappears in the ether
This world to the next
Disappears in the ether
One world to the next"

The tone is not quite of regret, but neither is it quite matter-of-fact. Haunting. It's an album that took a while to grow on me, but it's superb.

9. "Cello Song" - Nick Drake

I've long had and adored "Way to Blue: an introduction to Nick Drake", but the other day I nipped out and bought "Fruit Tree", a boxset of Drake's three albums, a DVD and a booklet. The likes of James Blunt and Damien Rice show that there is a massive market for singer-songwriters, but listening to these albums made me think how much better than any of them Nick Drake was... brilliant. The albums have been remastered and they sound fantastic, and I really could have picked any number of his songs for this list. I'll settle on this one simply because I love the way that Drake uses his voice as an instrument alongside the cello. If you haven't heard any of his stuff then I strongly urge you to check him out.

8. "Loughborough Suicide" - The Young Knives

A very local, East Midlands reference point for the Ashby-de-la-Zouche based Young Knives, and another in their line of songs about nervy, inadequate types. Given the subject matter, and given the band's tendency not to play anything entirely straight, this song is done with a surprising amount of sensitivity.

7. "Exit Music (For A Film)" - Radiohead

The song from "OK Computer" that always has the most impact on me. Sure, it's not as obvious as "Paranoid Android" or "Karma Police" or "No Surprises", but the starkness of this song gets me every time. Listen to it on a really good pair of headphones, and you start to hear the catches in Yorke's voice as he sings; to hear each laboured breath he sucks in between the lines. It's the song that first really convinced me of the album's brilliance, actually.

6. "Brianstorm" - Arctic Monkeys

The song that shows quite how muscular a rock band the Arctic Monkeys can be when they put their minds to it.... without ever letting go of that lyrical cuteness. See you later, innovator.

5. "Neighbourhood" - Space

Perhaps it's entirely appropriate, on the day that Liverpool becomes the 2008 European Capital of culture, that I have a song by a silly, novelty Scouse band trapped on my internal jukebox. It seems a little ridiculous to think of it now, but there was a time in the 1990s where Spaced were able to forge a career successful enough to warrant putting out a Greatest Hits album. Actually, I'm being unfair. Although songs like this and "The Ballad of Tom Jones" make Space sound like a novelty band, I think that there might actually have been a bit more to them than that. "Avenging Angels" is a good song, for starters. Two top ten albums and three top ten singles (one of which -- Tom Jones -- I bought). That's not such a bad career, eh? La. Actually, is that more than Ringo?

4. "Glory Box" - Portishead

Brought to mind as I went through the "P's" on the Alphabeticon the other day. A timeless classic. The loop seems to go on forever, but it never once drags and Beth Gibbons sounds sassy and sorrowful all at the same time.

3. "Caribbean Moon" - Kevin Ayers

I was introduced to Kevin Ayers on Mike T-D's shuffleathon CD from the tail end of the year. That song ("Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes") together with a ringing endorsement of Ayers from my friend The Eye in the Sky, and my interest was piqued enough to pop out and buy a compilation album. Kevin Ayer's appears to have one of those restless talents that is not happy to be tied down to one particular style, and the album is filled with a kaleidoscope of different types of song. I would imagine that it's fair to say that "Caribbean Moon" probably isn't his most highly regarded song... I would imagine that the cod-reggae accent he chooses to sing the whole song in would put paid to that... but it is stupendously catchy, and that's the reason it's the song that's stuck.

2. "Aggro" - The Enemy

I'd heard of this lot a long time before I actually heard anything by them. They were yet another band from that production line of indie guitar bands that are currently marauding all over the charts.... along with the likes of the Pigeon Detectives, the Hoosiers, the Wombats and so on. I knew that they were from Coventry, and I knew that they looked like urchins, but in spite of a string of hit singles, I didn't hear a single song by them until approximately a week ago when I finally listened to the album that LB had lent me some time before. Bloody hell. I was so wrong. Yeah, alright they are still from Coventry and they do still look like urchins, but they are not in the least bit like the Pigeon Detectives or the Hoosiers or any of that lot.... this is a band that is more (superficially, at least) from the bloodline of Oasis and Kasabian, with a touch of the blast and energy of the Arctic Monkeys and the social conscience and urban landscapes of bands like Hard Fi and the Clash. I loved this lot from the moment that the opening chords of the opening chords of the album kicked in --- with this song. There's more to follow with the likes of "Away From Here", "Had Enough" and "We'll Live and Die in These Towns". "Aggro" is the song that I've been 'worming for most of the week though.

1. "Two More Years (MSTRKRFT mix)" - Bloc Party

This popped up when I was listening to LastFM the other day (something I almost never do, with most of my listening coming off my iPod or the radio in my car. This time I just typed "Interpol" into the radio player thing, and off I went on a magical mystery tour that encompassed bands like System of a Down, TLC, Damien Rice, The Shins, The Postal Service, Arctic Monkeys, The Bravery, The Rapture and the like). I'm familiar with the song, of course, but this remix adds a totally different and dirtier guitar riff that takes the song off in a completely different direction. I suppose I sort of expect remixes of famous songs to add a shitty electronic beat to a song and to take it off in a leftfield direction. There's something brilliantly bold about taking a song by a guitar band and changing something as fundamental as the guitar riff. I loved it and I've now downloaded it too.

---

So there you go.

I'm keen to get some Guest Editors lined up to do this slot... I reckon it gets a bit boring if I do it every week, and it's good to get a bit of variety now and again. I know I ask this a lot, but who wants to have a go? Stick your details in the comments box below and I'll get in touch and we can arrange a date. New blood is especially welcome, but it's a new year, so feel free to apply even if you've had a go before. I've done it loads of times and there's no statute of limitations. It's not too arduous - all I need is that you start your week with a clean sheet of paper, and on the Friday of that week you submit me a list of the ten tunes that have been taking up the most brainspace, together with a bit of blurb about each one. It's not about producing the coolest list of songs you can think of and it's not really something you should be able to prepare in advance. You're not allowed to edit, either. If you can't get the tune from the Coco Pops advert out of your head, then I'm afraid that has to go down on the list. That's all there is to it.

Apply in the comments box below. All welcome.

I want to give you children...

I met up with an old friend of mine the other day. Whilst chewing the cud about this and that in the pub, he suddenly looked at me, put on a glum face and said:

"Lisa wants to get a cat"

"Right. And that's bad is it?"

"I don't like cats"

I shrugged. "So don't get a cat then"

He pulled a face. "She says it's either a cat or a baby".

Oh. I see his problem. It's catch-22: she's not offering him a real choice at all. When she says it's a cat or a baby, what she really means is that it's a cat then a baby. Either way, there's bound to be a baby involved at some point - it's just a matter of time.

I don't really see how he can win this one. It's a double-bind.

He can stall for time, I suppose, but if he *really* doesn't like cats then he simply has to bite the bullet and get on with the other option.

...or he can run as far and as fast as his legs will carry him. And even then, Lisa's pretty sporty, and I rather suspect that she can run both further and faster than him, and he knows it, so he's back to square one. He can run, but he can't hide.

No wonder he's looking a bit glum.

...everything is gonna burn

Another picture from the Guardian's "24 hours in pictures" feature from yesterday.

Tungurahua is about to erupt again and the Ecuadorian authorities have evacuated 1,000 or so people from villages at the foot of the volcano as a precaution against pyroclastic flows and the like.

Of course, we were there in March last year.



Just after we came back to the UK, there was a feature on the news called "Living in the shadow of the volcano". It told the story of the people living at the foot of Tungurahua and how they lived in perpetual fear of an eruption. The thing is though, having just been there, I knew that this wasn't really true. Sure, there are people living underneath an active and actually erupting volcano, but they aren't exactly living in fear. Just at the foot of the mountain is Banos, Ecuador's most popular holiday town. Even though you drive into the town over the debris left by pyroclastic floes down from the mountain (the road rises about 10m in some places to get over this stuff), business is going on entirely as normal. It's true that they have alarms to warn them of an eruption, but even then, an evacuation would be a rather leisurely affair, as lava from the volcano will take about three days to travel the mile or so down the mountain to the town. To be honest, they probably welcomed an eruption as it was bringing droves of tourists to the town to have a look, and there was a thriving industry geared up around taking people up the volcano and selling them postcards and so on. We went horseriding up the side of the volcano.



Scared? Not really.

Mind you, hearing the explosions, watching the smoke and ash billowing out of the crater and feeling the ground shake is an awesome experience.....

Ecuador is a brilliant place, and that was a fantastic holiday.

*sigh*