I just have to say that I think the new Depeche Mode album is great. I only listen to it when I do the washing up, so I haven't heard the last few songs very much, but the first track is a brilliant start and then it just keeps going. One of the songs really annoy me, though, because when I listen to it using a headset it sounds out of key but on the stereo it sounds fine...ish. The problem is that the first thing I did when I got the CD was to rip it (yeah, so what) and then listen to the album on my headset, so even when I listen to the CD on the sitting room stereo (not that I have more than one stereo, just a 'fancy' way of telling you where it's situated) I can still hear the out of key bits.

Or perhaps my hearing is skewed.

I also learnt today that apparently it's bad luck to walk past someone tying their laces. I'm not sure if it only applies to winter shoe laces and on carpeted stairs, but this guy at work stopped right next to me today as I was in the process of fiddling with my shoes (because I am actually three years old and still don't know how to make knots), saying something in the neighbourhood of 'oh, I don't need any bad luck today', so I said 'is that it...ok, I'll just pretend they're fine and wait till you've gone'. Why on earth would I go out of my way (literally) to accomodate some stranger's superstitious whim?

Also in this edition: Congratulations to Daniel Auteuil on his getting the European Film Award for Best Actor! I'm looking forward to the film. Then again, I'm looking forward to any film of his, because there are lots that I haven't seen, since most French-speaking films aren't released over here. Not with subtitles, anyway, and I have to admit my French lacks something...or most things, to be precise. I think I can say a complete (clean) sentence if it would involve a knife, a hat and a heart. Of course, I wouldn't need to speak the language to understand a film (I mean, I've seen several Danish films without being able to utter much in that language).

Ooh, speaking of which, I heard this Icelandic guy today talking about how Norwegian sounded old-fashioned to them. I almost fell off my chair, because we consider Danish to sound old and Icelandic to sound ancient. I guess it all depends on what you're used to.

Have I mentioned Bleak House yet? Well, it's a great series. The Beeb really knows how to make period dramas. Of course, the Beeb knows how to make most things TV related (including some bad telly as well, let's face it, after more than seventy years in the TV business there's bound to be a few misses, too), but Bleak House has been a real treat these last few weeks. Super talent, modern filming, brilliant script, wonderful costumes, great make-up and then of course Dickens. A must-buy on DVD.

Current track: Cliff Richard & The Young Ones - Living Doll

Labels: award shows, daniel auteuil, film, linguistics, music, personal, TV