Archive for March 7, 2008

She bangs the drums

{ March 7, 2008 @ 2:49 pm } · { Being back in the UK, Uncategorized }
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Princess of (Brit) Pop!the-stone-roses-the-very-best-of-the-stone-roses.jpgsleeper.jpg

 This weekend I will be reunited with my CD collection. It dates back to the year 1995, when I bought my first ever CD single - ‘Charmless Man’ by Blur. Then their albums followed - The Great Escape, Parklife, Modern Life Is Rubbish, Leisure and the self-titled ‘Blur’. You could say I was a little obsessed with them. However, despite the rivalry between Blur and Manchester lads, Oasis, I was crazy about them both. And Pulp too. I remember spending whole days ripping out posters from any magazine they happened to be in and slapping them on any uncovered patch of wall I had left. My room was a shrine to all that was Britpop and I was by far, the youngest and most dedicated indie queen in the kingdom. 

Other albums I’m looking forward to getting my paws on again are:
 
  • Sleeper: The It Girl
  • Pulp: Different Class
  • Gomez: Bring it On
  • Suede: Coming Up
  • Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Take Them On, On Your Own
  • Ian Brown: Music of The Spheres
  • The Stone Roses: The Very Best Of
  • Sleeper: Smart
  • Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: BRMC
  • Elastica: Elastica
  • Kasabian: Kasabian
  • Badly Drawn Boy: Hour Of The Wilderbeast
  • White Stripes: White Blood Cells
  • Space: Spiders
  • The Smiths: Best Of
  • Nirvana: Unplugged In New York
  • Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand
  • Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Howl
  • Bloc Party: Silent Alarm
  • Oasis: Definitely Maybe
  • and much, much more… 
Recommended track of the day: ‘Something For The Weekend’ by Super Furry Animals.

 

Life after MSN

{ March 7, 2008 @ 10:51 am } · { Being back in the UK, Uncategorized }
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Life after MSN 
 
During my time in Spain, I became more and more dependent on MSN’s Messenger programme, particularly when it came to keeping in touch with family and friends back in the UK. It’s free to install, it’s free to use, you can hook your web cam up to it and you can send and receive MP3s, movies and images at the click of a button. 

However, due to the fact that my workplace at the time allowed its employees to use such programmes during working hours, it became something of an addiction. Not just for me, but most of my colleagues too. We would use it to talk about other colleagues behind their backs, to ogle any rare species that graced the office floor or just to have a whine and a moan about life in general. But it was such a distraction that deadlines were often missed (not by me, of course) and rumours (for example,  ‘MP’ snogging ‘SB’ in the kitchen), began to fly around the place quicker than a mosquito to my bare legs.
I must admit though, I do miss it now. It was fun. It created drama, it induced laughter and made each day juicier than a bloated pomegranate – another reason why getting out of bed was so much easier on a Monday morning in Spain.
But strangely, the obsession continued beyond working hours. I would get home, switch on my laptop and get straight back on MSN. It began to rule my life and I felt like I was living ‘online’. Nothing was real. Just images and words and abbreviations and cyber sounds. Hell, I even managed to forge some kind of online relationship with a complete stranger/total loser from the USA, but I didn’t realise that’s what he was until I got back to the UK and back to reality.

So, the moral of the story is, there is no moral. If you want to live your life online, that’s fine. Just don’t let it take over completely because it’s REAL people and REAL situations that matter the most. Nowadays, I don’t use MSN. My laptop is out of action and my current job doesn’t allow use of such programmes so it’s completely disappeared from my life. For the time being, anyway.

 

Since not being exposed to extreme MSNing for a good 5 months or so, I now have a REAL man and a REAL relationship and the best thing about it is he can’t switch me off when my behaviour gets erratic! However, if you live far away from your family and close friends, it’s the cheapest way to keep in touch, so log on!
msn.gif msn2.jpg   Get real.