Rubbish song made worse shock!

Just when you think Pop music has scraped the bottom of the barrel...along come these two off of BB with their version of....Barbie Girl! Suddenly we're through the barrel and rapidly heading for the Earth's core.

The legendary birth of meatballs 4

As someone who has a 35/40 minute journey to work and back every day, the podcast is a great invention, as most are somewhere near that length and fill the journey perfectly.

Here are some that I enjoy with links (assuming I can figure out how the software does links!)

Firstly Kermode & Mayo film reviews off of BBC Radio 5 Live. They are like a married couple with their squabbling and Mark Kermode's rants are awesome. For me this is what gets me to work on a Monday morning.

Next Baker & Kelly which is a football podcast but with their own twist on the game. It's full of hilarious anecdotes and stupid games, such as relating a famous teams squad numbers to say a Chinese takeaway menu. The caller who played a game high on LSD was a worth the download on it's own.

The Word weekly podcast consists of Mark Ellen and David Hepworth (who used to present the Old Grey Whistle Test many years ago, as well as starting Q magazine) together with a guest (usually a Word staff writer) chewing the fat on the weeks music related stories, articles they are working on for the magazine or things have just got their goat that week. It has a large dose of "grumpy old men" in it, which worries me as I agree with most of it. It ends with the HORA (hoary old rock anecdote) where one of them tells a great story from their past. While the content is good the audio quality is a bit dodgy and has in the past sounded like they're in a cupboard.

Finally for this post the Stuff magazine podcast. This is all about technology and can be a bit geeky, but that probably goes with the subject matter. The sound quality and conversation can be a bit amateurish but it may just be irony!

Enjoy!

Musings

It's been a funny old week!

Jose leaves Chelsea and boy will they miss him. The football may have been less than exciting at times, but they were in the best form since he took over than...well ever. Sadly it's likely to be more Quo than Yazz from now on.*

Blue Peter fixed a vote on the name of a cat! Cue lots of media likening it to the end of civilisation. What has BBC done to upset everyone? I think that it goes Iraq/Kelly/Government/Today with a large sprinkle of ITV etc all trying to deflect focus away from what they have been up to.

The Lib Dems have been at conference in Brighton, which apart from a great handbagging by Mrs Ming on one of the "Young Turks", passed by largely un-noticed. Next week the Labour party comes to Bournemouth where I work, so half the roads will be closed and all the bars and restaurants any where near the BIC will be full of party apparatchiks. Oh and there will be one or two more Policemen around than usual!

*"Down down" as opposed to "The only way is up"

9 November is iPhone day

Apple today announced the arrival in the UK next month of what Stuff magazine are calling "the Jesus phone" by which I hope they mean that it is life changing!

Now when it was launched in the USA earlier this year it was "an event" with people queueing around the block etc etc... Those lucky enough to acquire one were the centre of attention and to date 1 million have been sold.

Now it's our turn. O2 will have the network rights, you'll need to sign up for 18 months and it won't be cheap but it will sell and people again will queue.

But I won't. You see I'm happy with my phone, it does all I need it to. (yes I know I'm showing my age) BUT have you seen the iPod Touch. Now that looks like the iPhone, feels like the iPhone and is a better iPod. Now that i might just have to ask Father Christmas for!

Am I alone in that view or by delaying the launch of the iPhone in Europe to after the iPod Touch launch, have Apple reduced demand for it's own product? Bet O2 were happy when the iPod Touch was launched!

Yesterday was my parents 50th (Golden) wedding anniversary.

Lots of our week on the Isle of Wight was part of their celebrations as we met up with family and presents, best wishes and congratulations were willingly given. In all of it they have carried themselves, as they always do, with great modesty and humility. It was a real joy to see how much they are loved as last night they sat in a lounge full of flowers and gifts.

I am so lucky to have them as my parents and role models.

The Wight album

So we're back and I finally have found some time to write about our trip overseas (well the Solent)

Firstly, as the top photo shows, Southampton is actually a really cool port and to pass the Queen Mary 2 and have an enormous cruise liner in the background was an amazing start. I've lived in the Southampton area most of my life and it took an odd perspective on the port, I've seen change over the years, to remind me just how lucky I am.

The second photo shows "The Needles" one of the Islands most

photographed landscapes. This picture is taken from the top of a down over which we walked on Bank Holiday Monday. The heather was beautiful and yes that is the top of a chair lift you can see to the bottom left of the photo!

In the past any one who arrived on the Island via Cowes was greeted by a large pair of marine sheds with the doors painted in a

distinctive red, white and blue "union jack". This was the home of the British Hovercraft Corporation who built the hovercraft who were the quicker alternative to the ferry. (This was in days before wave-piercers and even hydrofoils) While most have disappeared , the Island still has a regular service between Ryde (ticket to?) and Portsmouth. As the photo shows, as it arrives at Ryde, it makes a pretty impressive sight!

The last photo shows the Isle of Wight steam railway. As a boy my trips to the Island involved numerous trips around courtesy of the steam trains that travelled over the miles of track. In 1967 that all changed when the steam was replaced by old London underground trains and most of the track was pulled up leaving one route down the east coast of the Island and , in due course, the Isle of Wight Steam railway. No visit to the Island is complete without a visit to that.

If I have roots, they are on this Island, the family name is regularly seen on businesses and signs. It is always does me good to visit and "step back in time"