Saturday, November 08, 2003
Ah! The Americans have come to drive this potential terrorist out of hiding - using the well known technique of playing awful music loudly until the victim's head pops. Oh wait, sorry it's only the local pre-fireworks PA testing. And why is it the sound engineers of dodgy local DJs/radio stations have abysmal taste in music?
Oooh what sounds like a Shania Twain remix (although the remix effect might be the result of badly set up equipment). What fun!
And did anyone else get that really funky effect on TV on Thursday night? It only seemed to effect BBC1 - but it's very strange watching Question time with what looks like Norwegian TV stuck over the top. So the screen was strobing pure white over the mixed images of the BBC and which ever other channel, and jiggling horizontally over Edwina Currie's eyes where subtitles in a Scandinavain language[1]. Which given that she has scary eyes anyway...
[1] Which I think was Norwegian, as it had to be Northern European, but wasn't German, didn't have the "4 letters where 1 will do" appearance of Dutch, lacked the flailing apostrophes of Danish, and looked too legible to be Icelandic. And also it seemed to only have one accented letter, and that was an "o" with a stripe across it which (like a derestricted/national speed limit sign), that an ex-flatmate who happened to be Norwegian told me only existed in Norwegian - admittedly she was mad, but hey...
Ok so I just stuck what I thought was one of the phrases used into Google, and all the address in the top 10 end in .dk, and some of them have that variant on "o", so maybe it was Danish. Ay well.
And no more will the Conservative Party be listing heavily to Port[illo] (like it ever was) - He is off (well in a couple of years) to pastures new, or at least more fun and more profitable. Was about to ask what he's going to do - but as he was on Newsnight review, I guess Portillo's off to become the new Germaine Greer. Either that or he's going to disappear into high parts of the various EU bodies (and accompanying Quangoism), but he seems to have a touch too much of the theatre about him to do leave the media.
Though he hated the latest Matrix - which to me is quite funny - but that's probably because I may have [after watching the 2nd one] referred to Keanu Reeves looking "like Micheal Portillo in a cassock". He so does, though.
So what do we make of the whole unreportable royal issue - I must say it was helpful of Prince Charles to issue a denial, so we all know who it was about. Although there still appears to be some variation in quite what is alleged to have been stated in a recording owned by one person, held by someone else, made by another person, referring to two other people. Clear? Right so someone recorded someone else gossiping, and the gossiper has made previous claims that turned out to be unfounded - this sound like a good basis for a newspaper story - it does to a tabloid (even the Guardian don't believe it). So what is the point of this (other than to boost the Google rating of various websites)?
Hmm, what else is happening that we aren't supposed to notice (hence the whole "ooh look - superman [run away...NOW!]" spectacle)? Or have we used our actual news quota for this year, so it'll be suggested speculation till Christmas?
So basically much ado about nothing, and even if it was true - it's not without precedent is it?
And speaking about precedent - Top of the Pops on Friday - am I old, or has it all been done before (and was quite bad originally)? For example: Phixx (so called apparently because they didn't win one of the many "I'm dim enough to want to be famous" contests, and so named because it's cool to hilariously misspell something. And someone once told a record executive that the letter "x" is really rad and dynamic) and their stunning performance which consisted in ripping off clothes, to reveal bodies coated in enough baby oil to turn the Johnsons into proper oil magnates. Oh and then they got chained up and writhed a bit. I suppose there was a song, but I don't remember, but as the singers didn't even have microphones I don't suppose it mattered.
But then there's always been really crass music.
Anyhoo, better stop before I find something else to half-heartedly rant about.
Oooh what sounds like a Shania Twain remix (although the remix effect might be the result of badly set up equipment). What fun!
And did anyone else get that really funky effect on TV on Thursday night? It only seemed to effect BBC1 - but it's very strange watching Question time with what looks like Norwegian TV stuck over the top. So the screen was strobing pure white over the mixed images of the BBC and which ever other channel, and jiggling horizontally over Edwina Currie's eyes where subtitles in a Scandinavain language[1]. Which given that she has scary eyes anyway...
[1] Which I think was Norwegian, as it had to be Northern European, but wasn't German, didn't have the "4 letters where 1 will do" appearance of Dutch, lacked the flailing apostrophes of Danish, and looked too legible to be Icelandic. And also it seemed to only have one accented letter, and that was an "o" with a stripe across it which (like a derestricted/national speed limit sign), that an ex-flatmate who happened to be Norwegian told me only existed in Norwegian - admittedly she was mad, but hey...
Ok so I just stuck what I thought was one of the phrases used into Google, and all the address in the top 10 end in .dk, and some of them have that variant on "o", so maybe it was Danish. Ay well.
And no more will the Conservative Party be listing heavily to Port[illo] (like it ever was) - He is off (well in a couple of years) to pastures new, or at least more fun and more profitable. Was about to ask what he's going to do - but as he was on Newsnight review, I guess Portillo's off to become the new Germaine Greer. Either that or he's going to disappear into high parts of the various EU bodies (and accompanying Quangoism), but he seems to have a touch too much of the theatre about him to do leave the media.
Though he hated the latest Matrix - which to me is quite funny - but that's probably because I may have [after watching the 2nd one] referred to Keanu Reeves looking "like Micheal Portillo in a cassock". He so does, though.
So what do we make of the whole unreportable royal issue - I must say it was helpful of Prince Charles to issue a denial, so we all know who it was about. Although there still appears to be some variation in quite what is alleged to have been stated in a recording owned by one person, held by someone else, made by another person, referring to two other people. Clear? Right so someone recorded someone else gossiping, and the gossiper has made previous claims that turned out to be unfounded - this sound like a good basis for a newspaper story - it does to a tabloid (even the Guardian don't believe it). So what is the point of this (other than to boost the Google rating of various websites)?
Hmm, what else is happening that we aren't supposed to notice (hence the whole "ooh look - superman [run away...NOW!]" spectacle)? Or have we used our actual news quota for this year, so it'll be suggested speculation till Christmas?
So basically much ado about nothing, and even if it was true - it's not without precedent is it?
And speaking about precedent - Top of the Pops on Friday - am I old, or has it all been done before (and was quite bad originally)? For example: Phixx (so called apparently because they didn't win one of the many "I'm dim enough to want to be famous" contests, and so named because it's cool to hilariously misspell something. And someone once told a record executive that the letter "x" is really rad and dynamic) and their stunning performance which consisted in ripping off clothes, to reveal bodies coated in enough baby oil to turn the Johnsons into proper oil magnates. Oh and then they got chained up and writhed a bit. I suppose there was a song, but I don't remember, but as the singers didn't even have microphones I don't suppose it mattered.
But then there's always been really crass music.
Anyhoo, better stop before I find something else to half-heartedly rant about.
