A real blow out.

What's the weirdest (and true) excuse you've ever had for being late for work? The weirdest one I've ever had has been that I was late as I was blowing up balloons for a charity coffee morning. That is precisely what happened to me this morning.

I just happened to wander into the surgery on my way to work, as I do every morning, when one of the staff collared me and asked me if they could "borrow my lungs", so to speak. I wouldn't have minded so much were it not for the fact that the balloons must've been made out of some extra strong rubber. I had to stretch them about ten times before I could successfully blow into them and it took me another two minutes to tie the ends. By the time I'd finished, I was almost gasping for breath.

Of course, I didn't tell them that was the reason for my lateness. One thing's for sure, if ever I'm asked again to blow balloons up for anybody, I'm going to make sure there's a pump handy!

There's a bit of it in all of us...

You Are 40% Slacker

You have a few slacker tendencies, but overall you tend not to slack. You know how to relax when the time is right, but you aren't lazy!

Are You a Slacker?

Only 40%? I thought I would have more than that.

Hi, Martin! (another classic from YouTube)

While looking on YouTube again, I came across this very funny clip of an interview with Keane. In it, drummer Richard is talking about an English fan called Martin, who has apparently been to more than 50 of their gigs in the last two years, both at home and abroad. Whoever this guy is, he is one loyal and dedicated follower of the band! Click the link below to see it. While you're there, the clip of singer Tom recalling a quite embarrassing moment with Gwyneth Paltrow is also worth a look!


www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMgwf-Es33E

Is it really necessary?

There are some things that I just don't understand. Like Sudoku, Japanese, and why that Barry Scott bloke from the Cillit Bang ads ALWAYS HAS TO SHOUT.

But what I really don't understand is why any company would want to advertise something like a pregnancy test like its the greatest technological breakthrough mankind has ever known, or at the very least, like they would a Gillette Mach 3 razor. Clearblue have done precisely that in its TV advert for their new digital pregnancy test. The camera focuses on the product's appearance; the camera's angle makes it look like Gillette's newest product at one point, while a male voice goes on about its "advanced design and technology". The advert even has a demonstration of the product in action- a stream of fluid (I don't need to tell you what!) lands on the tip of the test before the final shot shows the result on the digital screen.

OK, so the ad shows that it is a pretty nifty piece of kit. But still, it's a pregnancy test. When it comes to it, are we going to be bothered about whether the one we get has digital technology or not? No. We're just going to run down to the chemist, grab the nearest, cheapest one and just hope that the result it gives is the right one, whatever we hope it to be. And given the price of the digital one, I can't see there are many women who would want to pay over £10 just to find out whether they're up the duff or not.

My personality cluster (another timewaster from blogthings.com)

Your Personality Cluster is Introverted Thinking

You are: Objective, honest, and credible Intellectually curious, with many diverse interests More inclined toward ideas than people Fiercely independent and unapologetically unconventional

What's Your Personality Cluster?

Off their trolley.

The Mail on Sunday yesterday reported that a group of Marks and Spencers shoppers are planning a protest over the company's decision to now play music in its stores. Apparently they have the backing of some pressure group that campaigns against what they view as unecessary noise.

There are people dying in the third world. Polar ice caps are melting. Our soldiers are being killed in an phoney, unneccesary war.Innocent people are being killed in terrorist attacks.And these people are getting wound up over music being played in Marks and Sparks.

These people are in serious need of a reality check.

The kind of Blogger I am

You Are a Life Blogger!

Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary. If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible.

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

Awards and Awards...

So the Arctic Monkeys won the Mercury Music Prize. That's their 15 minutes of fame over, then. Let's face it, virtually every act that wins the prize ends up fading into obscurity. Very few acts escape the curse of the prize; in recent years only Franz Ferdinand have managed to achieve the same level of success with their follow up album than they have with their winning album. It's a shame really, as a lot of the acts that have won that the curse hit deserved to have more success than they got, Gomez being a particular example. Everyone thought they would achieve great things after Bring it On, but they never did.

I personally would say that it's probably better for an artist to not win or not even be nominated for the Mercury prize- at least they have a better chance of having a lasting career. Don't get me wrong, I'd love it if the Arctic Monkeys could last beyond a second album, but I just don't know whether they can. Furthermore, I can't help but think that the Mercury Prize is now handed to the artist that's had the most hype and most hacks lining up to kiss their arse rather than the artist that has made the best album.

On another note, another awards ceremony took place last night in the form of the GQ awards. Notable winners included Sir Paul McCartney, Jonathan Ross and Keane, the latter scooping the award for Band of the Year. There's some pretty funny pictures of Tim and Richard (Tom wasn't there, of course) posing with Juliette Lewis, who presented them with the award. I should really put a link to them on here!

RIP to the Crocodile Hunter

I couldn't believe it when I heard the news that Steve Irwin had died. I used to watch his shows whenever they were on TV. Most of the time I'd watch and end up thinking he was an absolute nutter for some of the risks he took. However, while I thought he was crazy, I thought he was brilliant at educating people about animals and conservation. He was a real one-off; a man who showed that wildlife programmes could be fun as well as educational. Furthermore, he had a real passion for what he did and while his death was tragic, at least he died doing what he loved. He will be greatly missed.