tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56269482011-04-22T02:48:36.559ZThe moving cat sheds, and, having shed, moves on.YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.comBlogger331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1162667286588525962006-11-04T19:01:00.000Z2006-11-04T19:09:10.693Z

Earlier this year (second post, down there somewhere) I wrote about Dolly Parton's covers album, and in it mentioned Yusuf Islam, aka Cat Stevens, predicting that he might be making a big comeback to the music business soon.He is!His new album, An Other Cup, comes out on the 13th of November, and I'm dead excited about it. The lead single, "Heaven / Where True Love Goes" is getting decent airtime

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1159813837970131882006-10-02T18:25:00.000Z2006-10-02T18:30:37.980Z

Doctor Who. The Beatles. Obviously I was going to put the two together, somehow:All done with my own hand! I'm particularly proud of the bottom right - if you look at the Beatles' original (Let It Be), then you'll see the pose and expression are almost identical. A propitiously serendipitous find indeed.

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1152981818112042282006-07-15T16:38:00.000Z2006-07-15T16:43:38.123Z

Reggae. Always great, isn't it? Yes. But also often very samey, isn't it? Yes.Who's considered the greatest of the reggae artists? Bob Marley. And who's considered (by me) the most samey? Bob Marley. Most of his stuff has the same tempo, same beat, same sounds... other artists throw in a bit more variation. I do like Mr Marley, of course - who doesn't? - but for variety in the form one has to

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1152551094505018452006-07-10T16:46:00.000Z2006-07-10T17:09:48.056Z

Duran Duran did a covers album too. It's been hailed as one of the worst covers albums ever attempted by a major artist. It's called Thank You. Most of the people who bought it probably thought, "yeah you'd better be thanking me", before taking it off to the local CD exchange shop. But I like it. I may be weird.It opens with their version of White Lines, as originally recorded by Grandmaster

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1152549759675105152006-07-10T16:23:00.000Z2006-07-10T16:42:39.723Z

So, it's all over. No more Doctor Who until Christmas. What a ride it's been! We've had feline nurses from five billion years in the future; an alien werewolf and Queen Victoria; Sarah Jane Smith, K9 and a load of bat-winged aliens enforcing the sort of school dinner that would send Jamie Oliver apoplectic; Madame de Pompadour and some seriously ticked-off robots; the return of those shiny

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1150392851539777652006-06-15T17:32:00.000Z2006-06-15T19:28:29.226Z

Life must be dull on the Counting Crows' tourbus. The band's primary hobby is doing what their name suggests. I understand their grand total of corvine enumeration is well into quintuple figures. Such a moniker-related hobby isn't restricted to just this band, not by a long shot. The Stone Roses, in the early days, spent their days travelling from dive to toilet inflicting biblical punishment on

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1147978289520515652006-05-18T18:24:00.000Z2006-05-18T18:51:29.566Z

Another covers album! Hurrah! This time, it's Tori Amos and her Strange Little Girls record. The angle was that all the songs are about women, but written by men. She's taking the song and doing it from a female perspective, allegedly. You'd think that would require a bit of re-writing: prime example is her version of Eminem's '97 Bonnie & Clyde (no, really!), which contains references about and

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1147976556524349092006-05-18T18:14:00.000Z2006-05-18T18:22:36.570Z

Phew, that was a long holiday. Not so much a holiday, more like... captivation. Yes, blogfans, that's right! I was kidnapped shortly after making my last post here and I was taken away, having been bundled blindfolded into the back of a car, to a mysterious place far far far away.I woke up in a dark room that smelt of mildew and vomit. It wasn't my vomit - it was lunch. It was soon my vomit,

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1142791814988240572006-03-19T18:08:00.000Z2006-03-19T18:10:15.000Z

Back to the 1922 Popular Mechanics. There's a little article about a horse with an artificial "nose" in its neck. Fairly standard, really: it's a little silvery tube inserted into the windpipe to assist breathing. First time I've seen such on a non-human, that's all. Only took me 84 years to notice.And on another page is another small article describing what was apparently a new invention. Here's

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1142283713482454772006-03-13T20:58:00.000Z2006-03-13T21:01:53.483Z

I need to buy some new books in the Doctor Who range, and quickly. I've read all that I have apart from a few, and I'm putting those off until I've acquired the ones that come between the last one I read and the first of the few I do have. Makes sense? Good. It's a bit annoying to have to stop in the middle of a pretty good story arc just as I was getting into it. Hopefully something like The Who

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1142283420718746742006-03-13T20:56:00.000Z2006-03-13T20:57:00.726Z

Did you know that the elephant evolved from prehistoric man's efforts to preserve the mammoths? Someone misheard the slogan Save the Mammoths.

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1141963464123030252006-03-10T03:50:00.000Z2006-03-10T04:04:24.173Z

Hi! It's me again, loyal reader(s). It's not apathy, honest, it's just that I don't care.Here's another post about a covers album, this time Nothing's Going To Happen by Elf Power. You're possibly asking: who? Elf Power, that's who. Don't ask stupid questions.So, the record. It's made up mostly of versions of songs by pretty obscure bands, which is rather fitting, considering that Elf Power are

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1141666922924836802006-03-06T17:40:00.000Z2006-03-06T17:42:03.003Z

Damn it! How can it be legal that one person can be so talented and so beautiful and such a nice person? It just isn't fair. And ever come across her half-sister, Anoushka Shankar? Same bloody story. Grr!

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1141494392727293862006-03-04T17:43:00.000Z2006-03-04T17:46:32.740Z

I'd dedicate this post to all my regular readers, but I imagine I'm the only one, so I won't bother. Felt a bit poo lately, which is why there hasn't been anything here for a few days. And I don't seem to have much to say; I can't think of anything right now. Oh well, maybe later...

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1141147577383662442006-02-28T17:23:00.000Z2006-02-28T17:26:17.413Z

I saw the headline and thought, "oh my God, it's like King Kong of the oceans!"I imagined a theatre was exhibiting a live giant squid, which then went crazy and started grabbing at the people in the audience. I also entertained notions of Squiddy climbing Centrepoint, perhaps holding tight onto Philippa Forester (she seems suitable), before being buzzed to the ground by helicopters.The truth is a

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1141105969415519492006-02-28T05:48:00.000Z2006-02-28T05:52:49.426Z

Boredom, tiredness and a new discovery (Windows Movie Maker) led to me throwing together a NEW!!! title sequence for Doctor Who. I might submit it to the BBC. You never know, they might accidentally lose all the existing sequences they have, and they'd have to use my one here as an emergency replacement. It could happen...Apologies to the BBC and everyone involved with Doctor Who. It's a 1.37MB

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1141063399098281562006-02-27T17:38:00.000Z2006-02-27T18:04:11.753Z

For reasons best left to the mists of time, I have a copy of Popular Mechanics, dating from 1922. It's quite a hefty volume - almost 200 pages - and is missing the covers, but apart from that it's in pretty good nicker. Like publications of today, the most interesting and revealing bits are the advertisements, of which there are many. There are quite a few selling tyres, and also several offering

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1141019520881523232006-02-27T05:37:00.000Z2006-02-27T06:03:03.436Z

Check out Wikipedia's page on predicted events for the year 2012: all pretty run-of-the-mill stuff such as Passover, the London Olympics, the end of the contract for Saturday Night Live, a couple of solar eclipses, the last solar transit in the 21st century for the planet Venus, the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic, and this:December 22 — Possible date for the end of the long count of the

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1141018533538267482006-02-27T05:25:00.000Z2006-02-27T18:42:44.693Z

Hey, here's another entry in the irregular series of things about covers albums. Well, it's the second such post, I suppose that makes it a series.Kathryn Williams and her album Relations: it's good! I don't really know much of her other work, but going by this record of mostly well-known songs, she's probably good at what she does.Rod Stewart did a song once, totally unlike the rest of his

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140975901816959282006-02-26T17:35:00.000Z2006-02-26T18:04:32.663Z

I know I'm a little sad for doing this, but I did it anyway.I like punctuation. I can't disguise the fact, and I won't deny it, either. I really enjoyed Eats, Shoots & Leaves, often finding myself nodding in agreement with Lynne Truss, the author. How dare they leave out that apostrophe? Terrible abuse of a colon! That poor question mark, his role built up and up and up and up, only to be cruelly

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140973989630399342006-02-26T17:09:00.000Z2006-02-26T17:13:09.630Z

ABBA brought us Chicken Tikka.Prince brought us Little Red Courgette.kd lang brought us Instant Gravy.The Jam brought us Eatin' Trifles.And the Jam are of course themselves named after a foodstuff that is popular in sandwiches or on toast, just like Marmalade and The Cyrds (hey, mister tangerine man).

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140973739214168322006-02-26T17:03:00.000Z2006-02-26T17:09:00.746Z

Today I mentioned MC Hammer in an online forum (don't ask), and then came to do stuff here, and saw mention of MC Hammer on the way. So it seems only right that my post today should concern that ever-popular Scottish rapper, McHammer. He of the baggy kilt.I suspect he chose the name Hammer because his rhymes and riddims (is that a rap thing, or is it reggae?) are as subtle as a, etc. And I don't

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140803814760643192006-02-24T17:51:00.000Z2006-02-24T17:56:54.770Z

This apparent flying dog is pretty horrifying. Aaargh!It turns out, though, that this monstrosity is just a Boxer dog lying on its back, and the picture has been flipped over. Here's what it should look like......which doesn't really improve it much.

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140731550772708292006-02-23T21:49:00.000Z2006-02-23T21:52:30.780Z

O by Damien Rice+K by Kula Shaker=OK by Talvin Singh?Sadly, no. There couldn't be three more dissimilar records, really.

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140729802605096202006-02-23T21:19:00.000Z2006-02-23T21:23:22.606Z

I just got hit by a rental car!Hertz?It did, but I'm fine now.This is one of only two Dilbert cartoons that have stuck in my mind, and you wouldn't believe how difficult it is to work that joke into everyday conversation: it's not often people exclaim they've been hit by a rental car.The other one has Dilbert refusing to go to sleep for some bizarre reason, and a policeman comes along and

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140729481932255652006-02-23T21:16:00.000Z2006-02-23T21:18:01.933Z

This poor fella got wet and had to be hung out to dry.

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140729208840787002006-02-23T21:04:00.000Z2006-02-23T21:14:43.720Z

The Louvre in Paris, in the latter half of 1979, was briefly home to a most curious artifact: a police box from the streets of London, some twenty years earlier. Or so it seemed... this police box hummed as if it was alive, and also happened to be considerably bigger on the inside than the exterior dimensions would suggest. Not that visitors to the Louvre would have known that.At the same time,

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140728297580273112006-02-23T20:40:00.000Z2006-02-23T21:03:03.900Z

Radiohead, then. They're up there with all those other "greatest bands of all time", of course. Inauspicious beginnings on that debut album, Pablo Honey. It's got everyone's favourite quiet-loud-quiet-loud-released-in-1992 song - Creep. That's about it, really. The rest of it is OK, but that's about it. Note to self: find out if Creep started the quiet-loud-quiet-loud genre, QL2.Fast forward a

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140640152053625022006-02-22T20:13:00.000Z2006-02-22T20:36:55.796Z

Writer Andrew Hultkrans, in a small volume about the under-rated album Forever Changes by Love, wrote the following passage:As a lifelong music addict, I have reached the point where I can be 99% sure that if a record doesn't grab me within two or three plays, it doesn't deserve a place in my collection. My ear isn't foolproof, but it's close. I say this because I've only encountered two albums

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140637710805049802006-02-22T19:40:00.000Z2006-02-22T20:02:32.176Z

You hear an Eric Clapton guitar solo, and you think, "Ah! That's Eric Clapton!"You hear Roger McGuinn doing his thing, and you think, "Good ol' Rodge!"Along comes George Harrison, and you're mumbling, "Mm, there's George. Fab!"Oh, look, here's Jimmy Page now! Fantastic!And so on. All these guitarists - and many more, of course - have a very distinct style, and I can pick out Clapton, McGuinn,

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140635202934197602006-02-22T19:04:00.000Z2006-02-22T19:06:42.943Z

This is a picture of one of the most evil things ever to have walked this Earth - a ridiculously cute kitten with skew-whiff eyes. It'll grow up to be a silent killing machine, you know. Fear it.

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140633481906291902006-02-22T18:26:00.000Z2006-02-22T18:40:59.530Z

I know it's dreadfully uncool (or whatever) to like covers albums. And yes, I know it's dreadfully unhip (or whatever) to like country music. And, yes yes don't go on, I know it's dreadfully not with it (or whatever) to like oldsters. But you got me - I like covers albums. I like country music. I like Dolly Parton. And I like Dolly Parton's new album, which is, you may have realised by now, a

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5626948.post-1140631976516508902006-02-22T18:08:00.000Z2006-02-22T18:38:34.000Z

If I'm ugly then so are you - so spake Sugababes, and who am I to argue? On the surface of it, it seems like a pretty nasty playground-ish sort of thing to say. But not so! If you read the rest of the lyric to this song (that'd be Ugly by Sugababes, then), you find out that it ain't the case. But I'm not going to go any deeper than that, right now. Why? Cos yer ugly - but that's okay, cos so am

YouLoveMehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14422831879974901046noreply@blogger.com0