Apology
I appear to be having a few problems with blogger at the moment. There appears to be a substantial delay before new posts and changes to old posts are actually visible on the website. Therefore please bear with me if I do not appear to be posting new stuff and/or stuff which obviously neads correcting remains current on the blog. I am working on it.
Saturday, July 03, 2004
Redirection: I have a piece on how the names of the various divisions and leagues in English football are getting even sillier.
I've noticed this too
In this hugely entertaining piece in which he laments the decline of pubs as venues for the men of Middle England to enjoy themselves, Digby Anderson does indeed identify one of the key problems of English pubs today.
Yes, there are indeed far too many people consuming silly drinks out of pink bottles. Beer (either real ale or imported from Belgium, Germany or the Czech republic), fine wine, and single malt whisky are acceptable alcoholic drinks. Everything else is for wimps. Silly drinks in pink bottles are beneath contempt.
In this hugely entertaining piece in which he laments the decline of pubs as venues for the men of Middle England to enjoy themselves, Digby Anderson does indeed identify one of the key problems of English pubs today.
Yes, there are indeed far too many people consuming silly drinks out of pink bottles. Beer (either real ale or imported from Belgium, Germany or the Czech republic), fine wine, and single malt whisky are acceptable alcoholic drinks. Everything else is for wimps. Silly drinks in pink bottles are beneath contempt.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Wednesday evening song lyrics (even though it is Thursday and I haven't done any song lyrics for three weeks).
-- As I Lay Me Down, from Sophie B Hawkins' 1994 Album Whaler.
It felt like spring time on this February morning
In the courtyard birds were singing your praise
I'm still recalling things you said to make me feel
Alright I carried them with me today now
As I lay me down to sleep
This I pray
That you will hold me dear
Though I'm far away
I'll whisper your name
Into the sky
And I will wake up happy
I wonder why
I feel so high though I am not above the sorrow
Heavy hearted 'till you call my name
And it sounds like church bells or the whistle of a train
On a summer evening I'll run to meet you barefoot
Barely breathing
As I lay me down to sleep
This I pray
That you will hold me dear
Though I'm far away
I'll whisper your name
Into the sky
And I will wake up happy (oh darling)
As I lay me down to sleep
This I pray
That you will hold me dear
Though I'm far away
I'll whisper your name
Into the sky
And I will wake up happy
It's not too near for me
Like a flower I need the rain
Though it's not clear to me
Every season has its change
And I will see you
When the sun comes out again
As I lay me down to sleep
This I pray
That you will hold me dear
Though I'm far away
I'll whisper your name
Into the sky
And I will wake up happy (oh oh...)
As I lay me down to sleep
This I pray
That you will hold me dear
Though I'm far away
I'll whisper your name
Into the sky
And I will wake up happy
I wonder why (hmmm)
When the sun comes out again
When the sun comes out again
When the sun comes out again
When the sun comes out again (oooh)
When the sun comes out again
When the sun comes out again (hmmm)
(comes out comes out oooh)
And I will wake up happy
So I pray
-- As I Lay Me Down, from Sophie B Hawkins' 1994 Album Whaler.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
A development.
Something I have seen in a few music shops lately is combined packages consisting of the DVD of a movie and the soundtrack CD in one box (and for one price).
This is quite an interesting development. Traditionally, music companies have fleeced people who like to buy soundtrack CDs even more than they have fleeced people who like to buy other CDs. Soundtracks were seen as a specialist taste, and we were (and to some extent are) still being charged as much as £15 for soundtracks, while the cost of most other CDs plunged downwards through the £10 mark some time ago and is still dropping.
The logic behind this is impeccable. Obviously the people most likely to buy a CD soundtrack are the same people who are most likely to buy the DVD of the same movie. And the DVD market has been growing so fast that it makes sense for the rapidly declining music industry to attempt to bolster its own revenues by latching on to this. But they can only be making a couple of pounds per CD, which is a bit of a come down.
And of course, one reason some people like soundtracks is that many of them are a sort of mix tape: an opportunity for the film-makers to devise a set of songs that naturally fit, possibly for unexpected reasons. For a time, they were about the only kind of officially sanctioned mix tape in existence. These days of course they are not: producing your own mix CDs or your own playlist on your MP3 player has been a growth industry for the last few years, and programs like iTunes have made it easier than ever. And now you can of course buy lots of other people's playlists through the iTunes Music Store and similar.
I have no idea whether these appeal to film soundtrack afficonados, bus I suspect that they might.
Something I have seen in a few music shops lately is combined packages consisting of the DVD of a movie and the soundtrack CD in one box (and for one price).
This is quite an interesting development. Traditionally, music companies have fleeced people who like to buy soundtrack CDs even more than they have fleeced people who like to buy other CDs. Soundtracks were seen as a specialist taste, and we were (and to some extent are) still being charged as much as £15 for soundtracks, while the cost of most other CDs plunged downwards through the £10 mark some time ago and is still dropping.
The logic behind this is impeccable. Obviously the people most likely to buy a CD soundtrack are the same people who are most likely to buy the DVD of the same movie. And the DVD market has been growing so fast that it makes sense for the rapidly declining music industry to attempt to bolster its own revenues by latching on to this. But they can only be making a couple of pounds per CD, which is a bit of a come down.
And of course, one reason some people like soundtracks is that many of them are a sort of mix tape: an opportunity for the film-makers to devise a set of songs that naturally fit, possibly for unexpected reasons. For a time, they were about the only kind of officially sanctioned mix tape in existence. These days of course they are not: producing your own mix CDs or your own playlist on your MP3 player has been a growth industry for the last few years, and programs like iTunes have made it easier than ever. And now you can of course buy lots of other people's playlists through the iTunes Music Store and similar.
I have no idea whether these appeal to film soundtrack afficonados, bus I suspect that they might.
Redirection: I have a piece on Wimbledon (mainly about Tim Henman and Roger Federer) over at ubersportingpundit.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Leben Sie transparent...
Whenever things look bad, one can reassure oneself by acknowledging that things were once much worse.
(Link via Blognor Regis).
Whenever things look bad, one can reassure oneself by acknowledging that things were once much worse.
(Link via Blognor Regis).
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Redirection
I have a piece on England's loss to Australia in rugby on Saturday, a discussion about how England's recent performanes compare with other World Cup winners in various sports, and thoughts about what this means.
I have a piece on England's loss to Australia in rugby on Saturday, a discussion about how England's recent performanes compare with other World Cup winners in various sports, and thoughts about what this means.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)