I know songs that could get on your nerves...

There is some music that I can listen to for hours on end and never get tired of it. However, there is a limit to the number of times I can hear certain songs on the radio until I end up wanting to smash it up. Take Kasabian, for instance. I must've heard Empire and Shoot the Runner a combined total of ten times so far this week (our work radio is set to XFM)- which is 10 times too many. I can normally tolerate their music, even if I can't tolerate them (they come across in interviews as arrogant little gits), but now I can't stand them. They've gone from being a half-decent Primal Scream tribute act to an awful glam rock tribute act. Empire blatantly rips off the violin part off a Slade song that I can't remember the name of. Meanwhile, Shoot the Runner was clearly inspired by Goldfrapp's Ooh La La (ok, so they're not a glam rock band, but the song was virtually a modern take on it, so in a way it counts).

Razorlight's America is another song I'm getting sick of. As much as I like the band, I think it's possibly their weakest song to date not a patch on the likes of Golden Touch. One wonders if they would've got a number 1 if Parky didn't give them a leg up by having them on his show a few weeks back. The sad thing is is that this will probably end up being the song they become most famous for, a clear example of what I call the David Gray effect. By this I mean an artist releasing a song that gets loads of airplay, a big chart position and becomes hugely popular, to the extent that nothing they release afterwards achieves the same success. It becomes the only song of theirs the radio stations play, and the artist even begins to loathe it. Snow Patrol are also in danger of falling victim to this if the stations don't stop playing Chasing Cars every five minutes. It's a great song sure, but it's not their best- that honour goes to Spitting Games.

You learn something new every day.

The first time I heard the word "gobbet", I thought it was something my two year old nephew made up when he was mostly babbling. I never thought it was a proper word, until my mum told me that it was mentioned in the film The History Boys, that she went to see the other day. I still didn't believe it, until I looked it up in the Concise Oxford Dictionary and, sure enough, it was in there. It defines it as thus:

gobbet n. 1. (arch.) piece, lump, esp. of raw flesh or food. 2. extract from a text esp. set for translation or comment in examination.

Amazing what you learn from cinema.

The Fraggles are back!

Just read on the BBC's website that Jim Henson's production company are going to make a movie featuring the Fraggles. For me, this is the best bit of news I've read for a while. I loved Fraggle Rock when I was a kid- I even had a Fraggle Rock story book that I must've read the print off loads of times. They've sort of been overshadowed by the Muppets and Sesame Street over the years, which is a shame as if they repeated the show today I'm sure it would be a hit with the kids. It sure beats the dross that's passed off as kids' entertainment today.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6069948.stm

Some random things I've been thinking about:

1. Why is it that your mobile phone battery or calling credit always runs out whenever you need to make an important call?

2. Why is it that whenever a mobile phone goes off in a public place, people are always ready to get their phone out, even when the ringtone isn't theirs?

3. Why is it that batteries in digital cameras always run out so quickly? And how come they always run out just when you're about to take a great picture?

4. Could there possibly be any more innuendo in the Sugababes' new single?

5. How come Joey Barton got pulled up and fined for pulling his pants down at City's game against Everton, when nothing was done about the Everton fans who gave him abuse during the match? If those who complained found a flash of his bare arse offensive, did they think the abuse Barton got about him and his family were perfectly acceptable banter?

An appropriate quiz for Friday 13th..

Your Luck Quotient: 59%

You have an average luck quotient. There's been times when you've been extremely lucky... but also times when you've been very unlucky. You probably know that you can make your own luck in life, if you're open to it. So listen to your intuition as much as you can. It's right more often than you might expect.

How Lucky Are You?

New Feature, trying it out!

I've just updated my copy of Picasa, which includes a feature whereby you can post Picasa photos directly onto your blog. If I've done everything right, there should be a picture of Jodrell Bank I took a few months back below!

A short entry as I'm still feeling crap!

First, the bad news. I've still got a cold. I've been dosing myself up on Lemsips and getting plenty of rest and while the tap that is my nose has stopped dripping a bit there's still a groggy feeling in my head.

The good news is that the little lump that I found on my breast is nothing serious. I got it checked out by the doctor and it turns out to be just a skin lesion-probably caused by an ingrown hair. I was relieved when she said it definitely wasn't the "big C" rearing its ugly head. I hadn't necessarily been worrying myself sick about it anyway, but it was worth going just to find out exactly what it was. After all, as I've said before, you can't take any chances where that part of the body is concerned.

Under the weather.

God I feel really shit today. I've got an absolute stinker of a cold, as well as an eruption of spots around the lower half of my face. Everything and everyone managed to get on my nerves, from the boss nitpicking over little mistakes I'd done by accident, to confused elderly customers on a mission to drive me mad. I very nearly lost it and walked out, so crappy I was feeling.

If that wasn't enough, the other night I discovered a red lump on my right breast that I've never noticed before. At first glance, it looks like a heat lump, but it isn't itchy, nor is it sore. It's not acne either- I do get some on my chest occasionally, but usually only little ones. I thought it would've gone down a bit, but it hasn't and so I'm going to have it checked out. It's probably nothing, but still, you shouldn't take chances where that part of the body is concerned.

The Sesame Street character I'm most like (apparently)...

You Are Elmo

Sweet and innocent, you expect everyone to adore you. And they usually do! You are usually feeling: Talkative. You've got tons of stories to tell. And when you aren't talking, you're laughing. You are famous for: Being popular, though no one knows why. Middle aged women especially like you. How you life your life: With an open heart. "Elmo loves you!"

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Hmm.I thought I was more like Ernie or Grover myself. But I did love Elmo when I was little, so I won't complain if the quiz thinks I'm like him! Still, I may do it again...