Today’s …
Today’s Confession:
I think I might be developing a liking for James Blunt. Hush that shrill! He was on TV at the weekend with an acoustic set that he’d recorded here at work – “James Blunt at the BBC”, and I found myself getting really into it – especially a cover of the classic tune by the Pixies – ‘Where is my mind’. So yes – me, a James Blunt fun. That’s quite embarassing isn’t it?
Today’s Celeb Spot at work:
(Actually Yesterdays) … Was Zoe Ball. She who I used to oggle over when she used to present Saturday morning TV all those years ago, was seen by yours truly in the building looking desperately thin, smoking (yuk!) and actually looking quite old for her age I would have said. She’s only 35 but she deffo looked much older! Oh, and it was indeed because they’d all just come out of Strictly Come Dancing.
Today’s Best Quote:
“Have you noticed how when men get all wobbly and lovesick, they can’t eat and therefore lose weight, but when women get all worked up it just makes them eat more and they put on weight!”.
Really? I don’t believe this. Do you? Discuss!
Right, that’s it .. I’m now off to go and stalk all the sports celebs that are now turning up for the Sports Personality of the Year award.
After living in London for the first 33 years of my life and working for the 
So for ten weeks in June, July and August 2009, I drove 20,000 miles around the the lower 48 contiguous states of the USA visiting towns and places that shared the same name as places on The London
Good on you for looking for the sports celebs. Oh and F5. Got 2h20 I think on the DLR yesterday too.
If Hitler recorded something at the Beeb I reckon you’d start to like him too, Geoff.
Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez ….
Thanks Geoff!
Yeah.
James Blunt: no excuse. Alright, alright, I haven’t heard any of this other songs, and I don’t want to.
You appear to have used the word cover as a shorthand for “unforgivable abominable desecration”. Is this some new street phraseology?
“Uncle” Geoff,
Can I hijack this comments page to be the first to congratulate Helen & Rob…
Issac – Just get here on time mate. Even if they’re showing the Liverpool triumph.
Phil – Cheers mate. Indeed, my sister just gave birth!
Stalker Moment – Just seen Eriksson, Mourhino and a whole bunch of others just milling around! Cool.
And while we are plugging can I please get one in for http://www.marathondrinkers.com !?
http://www.wonderlandchristmas.com/av/Wizards.wmv (4.83MB) seems to set a standard for quality Christmas decorations.
…and can I drop a link for my new techmind projects-blog? [warning: geeky]
http://www.techmind.org/blog/
Thanks!
While I think of it, is there going to be a pre-Christmas (or early new-year) geofftech/tubegeek
pub/social meet up thing somewhere in London?
Just a thought…!
Anyone else want to plug anything? It seems to be popular…
I’m working most days right up to and including christmas day itself now, so no time for socalising me…
I’ll plug the London Guild of Assassins: the classic game of student murder, nearing the end of its successful first game. Check the site out at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/debnron/assassins or email londonassassins@gmail.com if you’re interested in coming along to the post-game pub meet-up on Wednesday from 5 til 7.30.
Geoff!!! Christmas Day?! I hope you’re charging them severely for the pleasure!
I do get a little extra financial renumeration – yes, all funded because of the unique way that you pay for your license fee. Which is going up next year incidentaly.
My betting is that someone will die. someone famous always dies on chrismas day, don’t they? you just know it.
I bet it will be Patrick Moore.
James Blunt is the devil. Why on earth could you possibly like someone who makes stalking sound so romantic?
if you’d of seen the programme, where he describes about how he wrote the songs “Goodbye my lover” and “You’re beautiful” then you’d understand. What can I say? I’m an old emotional romantic at heart, but only a few number of people ever get to totally understand and appreciate that.
Oh and http://www.deathlist.net/ for all your “who’s going to die?” needs.
Geoff, go along with the sentiments about Blunt. My wife saw the programme and told me how good it was/he was. Now to try and get her tickets for one of the gigs on the tour I didn’t know he was doing so didn’t buy from scamming Ticketmaster when I should’ve.
Can anyone help me? And yes I’m watching eBay.
/thank you/ someone that supports JB!
I think you had to see the programme. it was rather good.
I didn’t see the programme, but I trust her judgement, and with you backing her up as well! Doesn’t get me any closer to getting her tickets though!!
Well I want Coldplay tickets for any night this week at Earl’s Court. Face value £38, touts are expected to be about £50!! eek. anyone got a spare one? Ian?
Geoff, see here:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COLDPLAY-TICKET-EARLS-COURT-14-12_W0QQitemZ6588218150QQcategoryZ58737QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
James Blunt did a Pixies cover?!
now that I *must* track down! (Pixies fan here!)
Fimb. If you’re a pixies fan, I suspect you want to avoid tracking down the Bluntism.
Geoff. If you weren’t quick enough off the mark to secure one of the hundreds of thousands of tickets then I’m afraid I can’t let you have any of those I’m currently using as firelighters.
Fimb,
want me to email you the AAC I have of it? (I already transferred it over and onto my ‘pod!) Actually – do you have the over-produced version by Placebo as well? From the sound track of ‘fight club’ i think it was. i almost prefer that to the pixies …
Ian,
I’ve been using mine to snort all manner of delirium-inducing substances! They’re very useful.
Everybody: I don’t care what the damn song is about, if it’s a bad song, it’s a bad song. Yes, I sympathise with him; no, I do not like his rubbish, whining music.
That London Guild of Assassins website is great, wonder whether i could set one up at uni…
Ian – I’m also a bit of a collector of unexpected cover versions, so its needed for my collection!! *L*
Strangely, when I saw the Pixies live earlier this year, they didn’t do a cover of any James Blunt songs *L*
And Geoff – oooh, yes please!! Please please please *grins*
Mikey – what uni? Do email londonassassins@gmail.com if you fancy any further discussion!
Setting a Guild up will probably require you to umpir eit, but you’re unlikely to have many players yet, so it’s not too hard. It really is splendid fun, and if you can do it in London you can do it anywhere.
I’m at Essex University(no jokes please)
It does sound very good fun, wonder if there are enough people here who also believe it to be fun…
Chaps – do you wanna email each other off my comment, re: assasins, rather than yak on about it here!! ta… i can provide you with each others email addresses if you want.
Actually, now that you’ve mentioned emails, there’s something i’ve been meaning to ask for ages. Why does the comments section now require an email address? I can’t really see the point in it
Mikey,
It’s so Geoff can provide you with email addresses so you can yak to each other about assasins
Geoff…being from englandshire.. have you heard of Stiffie shots? the vodka that tastes of cola-cubed, tutti frutti, blackcurrent or strawberrys n cream?? None of my friends who live in england seem to have heard of them? And i can’t seem to find them online either…so have you?
Something’s up! Both Geoff and Geoff’s cousin have misspelt “assassins” in the same way! Are they one and the same?!
Alan and Geoff: since everyone else is plugging things, let me point you in the direction of http://www.scarletmist.com – a v cool website set up so people can buy and sell their gig tickets at face value, thereby not hurting your pocket as much as if you relied on the touts.
Goes without saying that tickets for bands like Coldplay will be snapped up as soon as someone on there says they’ve got spares, but it’s worth checking in every few days just to see who else you could go watch…
And having just checked, there are tickets available for this week’s Coldplay shows…
Scarlet Mist is only really of use for shows that are not very popular, and you could probably get a ticket off a tout or ebay for less than face value. All very well if you’re selling.
whoever said about the vodka that tastes like sweets – its much much cheaper to make that yourself….get The Rage and smash up lots of boiled sweets with hammers, then put them into bottles of vodka. Shake lots. Put in the fridge for about a day, and voila! flavoured vodka.
good for parties, or any time you need to have lots of alcohol and lots of sugar at once. or something.
http://snipurl.com/kq9r
also has a few tickets.
re: JB – I first heard Goodbye My Lover last summer on the Jonathan Ross radio show.
It was exactly a week after I’d moved out of the flat I’d shared with my (now) ex, and although that was what absolutely needed to happen, after 8 years, even if it’s all gone wrong, the death of a relationship is a shattering thing for anyone. Particularly if you thought the person you were with was *the one* and you’re still trying to come to terms with the realisation that they’re not.
I had just been pottering around my bedroom listening to the radio when the song came on and within 30 seconds I was crumpled and sobbing my heart out.
So much of the lyrics just hit way too close to how I was feeling at the time. It felt a bit like being kicked in the stomach.
It’s just a shame that he’s become overhyped and I can’t bear to listen to his stuff any more, because he’s actually pretty talented and has written some really good, heartfelt songs and the combination of “Goodbye My Lover” and “You’re Beautiful” is actually really powerful.
That Scarlet Mist site is really cool – Ben Folds is playing the Brixton Academy tonight!
And no-one’s got any tickets.
Oh Peter, if only we’d known earlier…
I’m going with a bunch of mates, one of whom *did* have a spare.
Seconded! Best comment for ages Px! “goodbye my lover” + “you’re beautiful” is a fairly stunning combination of two songs together – especially now that i know that it’s about the same person. Time to buy the James Blunt album! (and there’s a sentence i never though I’d find myself typing)
If James Blunt ever did a cover version of ‘Nimrod’s Son’ I’d happily pay money to watch him.
The Standard was right. The world really has ended.
i like paul’s comment. i’d pay money to see him sing that.
Why does any post with James Blunt get so many comments? Even I posted about JB today, as Geoff has kindly provided me with the link to view the “slow strip at the cliff’s edge” that has women melting worldwide… Geoff & PixelD are right–striptease and bedroom eyes aside, JB is a very talented lyricist, esp on the “Goodbye My Lover” (full of soul and heart) and “You’re Beautiful” (full of longing and regret) tracks. Lots of lyrical and melodic hooks in his music. That’s what has you singing along. I bought the disc and it has not been out of my car stereo since–much to the consternation of my 10-year old twin boys. They say, “Mama, we think that sounds like a girl singing.” (However Christopher has decided he does like “High” now because he can sing along to the lyrics.
Full of longing and regret?! It’s a steaming pile of cliched cheese! It’s a mutated, generic, weeping sore on the pus-oozing appendage of modern music! It’s the jewel in the doughnut of pop that chips all your teeth and removes your fillings! It’s the cancer in the lungs of the dying smoker of the state of love songs today!
Samantha – hope the gig was a good one. I’ve not really heard much of Ben Folds’ solo stuff, and some people have said it’s a bit shite in comparison to Ben Folds Five. Who knows! You, probably. But there does appear to be a pair of tickets for Little Britain in Manchester next Tuesday, and the other week I got a letter from someone I met ages ago who lives in Manchester, so that might be an idea, if I can be bothered…..