I have been completely hooked on space and sci-fi lately. It began with XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and then I finally returned to Star Trek: The Next Generation a couple of weeks ago. XCOM is brilliant. Played the original and first sequel a lot about a decade ago (and intermittently ever since), and I really like the new version. I decided to name all of my soldiers after musicians and actors I quite like, and my crack team of all colonels have done very well indeed. I must admit it came as a shock to me that Andy Bell (of Erasure) would turn out to be the biggest bad-ass in the squad, followed by his band mate Vince Clarke as the toughest Heavy out there.

It took me seven months to watch through the first series of ST:TNG, but so far only two weeks for series two, and I started series three earlier today. I also watched all four ST:TNG-era films across two nights (tip: don't watch Star Trek: Nemesis before you've actually watched the whole series; you'll thank me--or maybe that is just the way to watch the whole thing. Start with the first series, then the four films, then go back to series 2-7). Anyway, Q FTW! I'm also of the opinion that Brent Spiner should appear in everything on telly. He was excellent in Warehouse 13.

Oh, actually, that reminds me; this probably started a bit earlier. After all, I watched series 4.5 of Eureka, two series of Warehouse 13, then the fourth series of Fringe, before going back to ST:TNG. I have been sci-fi'd for about two months now. I'm also looking forward to the rest of the "new" Star Trek shows, starting with DS9. I just have to watch the whole of Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, Stargate Universe, Battlestar Galactica.

I've been missing out on a lot of sci-fi stuff, can you tell? I blame not having all the right TV channels.

And then, while watching all this and beamed down photos from the Curiosity Rover, I find myself thinking this enormous universe we're part of is absolutely mind-blowing. It's ridiculous that some people think we're alone out here, but we will probably not find any real proof within my lifetime, which is annoying, to say the least.

So I guess I'll just keep dreaming, together with Cpt. Picard, Maj. Carter, Cmdr Shepard, Adm. Adama and the rest.

Labels: erasure, science, star trek, TV

Re: my last post, and Erasure's dancing (well, Andy's dancing; Vince hasn't been dancing since pre-Depeche Mode, I think)...it didn't really improve over the years. I'm beginning to believe in the notion that white men can't dance. Not even flamboyant white men like Andy Bell. Ouch. (Yes, I've watched through most of the videos by now. Fun to see the changes over time. Excruciating to see the "special effects".)

Labels: erasure, music

Watching the DVD of the new Total! Pop thingie by Erasure, I noticed that they had had an appearance in 1987 on the Tom O'Connor Roadshow, which basically consisted of lots of elderly people in the audience. I know that this may not mean much; after all we all have different tastes and people can surprise you, but the probability of even 10% of those being the least bit interested in synthpop back in '87 is very low.

Luckily, Erasure could soon pick better gigs and dance moves. And I just discovered that even though I wasn't a fan from the very beginning (due to being too young and too non-UK-based, really), I have been a fan of them for 17 of their 24 years of existence, so I don't feel too bad about it. Also considering I genuinely own most of their back catalogue, including quite a few rare promos (one being a Japanese one I happened upon in a second-hand shop in Oslo back in the late nineties) and I actually listen to all of their remixes etc., I think I could call myself a proper fan by now (I am going to continue ignoring the fact that I have yet to see them live).

This morning I spotted the cover headline in the Metro saying "Soldiers in £250K MOT pay shambles". I thought this was rather weird; had they been fiddling with MOT papers or something? I thought perhaps they had been forging papers for their tanks or something. I then realised it said "MoD" (Ministry of Defence), not "MOT" (the Ministry of Transport's roadworthiness test for vehicles). I think my recent surge of interest in classic cars has coloured my ARS (Acronym Recognition Sense) (ok, so neither MoD nor MOT is technically an acronym, but "ARS" is funny).

I have to say the guys behind the Red Dwarf marketing are working overtime these days! There are lots of online virals and hidden extras lurking, and they even update these daily! Amazing. Of course, my head will implode soon if this keeps up. Only 11 days to go! (Start here if you're interested.)


The boys from the Dwarf urge you to click on that link!

Labels: chris barrie, comedy, erasure, humour, music, red dwarf, time wasting, TV

I'm talking about Erasure's new compilation album, not the number of visitors to this site.



This weekend (Tue-Thur) I have mainly been watching Red Dwarf, playing Final Fantasy IX and waiting for my gigantic Shakespeare book. Just to update you.

Labels: erasure, music, personal

I am currently listening through my songs. Since I switched from WinAmp to Windows Media Player (blame Nullsoft for not offering a working version of WinAmp for my Vista x64 OS, and now it's too late), I have to rate all my tunes so that I know/remember which ones I like best. I think it may take some time, considering I have more than 21K of them. Ouch.

Anyway, at present only a handful of songs have got five out of five stars, and Back to Paradise by .38 Special is one of them. I first heard it on the soundtrack for that brilliant/dumb film Revenge of the Nerds II, thought it was great and it's stuck with me ever since.

Other songs with five stars are Lady Madonna (The Beatles), Celebrity (Barenaked Ladies), We are All on Drugs (Weezer), and of course Sometimes (Erasure). I am currently listening to Miles Davis but have drunk way too much coffee today to be in the right mood for a five-star-rating for his Kind of Blue album.

Finally got to listen to a couple of interviews with Proopdog just now, after hoarding them all week. I spent the entire day waiting for the fucking morons working for CityLink, and they never turned up. This is the third time for this delivery that they've claimed to have tried to deliver the item when in fact they couldn't possibly have been anywhere near our doorbell. This is not the first time this is happening. In fact, it's the fourth time since we moved here that they have LIED about trying to deliver the item because they couldn't be arsed to scrape together their two semi-working particles of grey matter and try to get the simple intercom whatchamacallit system functioning.

From now on I am officially boycotting any company refusing to use other delivery companies (which could prove tricky, but I have already stopped using favourites dabs.com because of this, and the principle is most important to me). CityLink can go screw themselves. If they could ever figure out how to do it, of course, but trust them to mess that up too.

The parcel wasn't even for me! Grr...

In other news, I managed to trawl through heaps of episode guides for Whose Line is it Anyway? today in order to catalogue those I had taped. Must keep track, otherwise I will end up having lots of duplicates on my PVR's hard drive. And not to worry, I am of course only keeping them until the DVD's are out...sometime next century or summat. (Fingers crossed that by then I won't care, haha!)

(A quick trip to Play.com shows me the gift vouchers I bought for a couple of people on the 24th of December weren't delivered until the 26th! I do apologise. They said they would be delivered straight away. Bastids.)

Well, the episode of Mock the Week from 2006 featuring The Proopsmeister is on Dave in about an hour (sometimes I am lucky), so I'd better go and prepare. Uhmm...doing what, exactly, I don't know. Certainly not having another cup of coffee! I'll be bouncing off the walls if I do. Hmm...pizza, perhaps? Left over from yesterday. There's nothing like cold pizza. Except for hot pizza. And other food that I like.

Labels: comedy, computers, erasure, food, greg proops, music, online shopping, personal, TV

Post no. 700!!!

I must admit I had forgotten all about my annual Favourite Things of the Year That Went thing until this morning, so here it is, after just mentioning that, reading through a few of my old posts, I actually remarked upon my planned move to England 15 months before it happened (see post of 15 Feb 2004), but of course no one noticed, haha!

I am also going through a short-lived Greg Proops phase. I know it's short-lived so I am not going to give him his own label (unless "The Proopster" could possibly be a label...hmm...). Anyway, to the list!

This year's list's categories are blatantly ripped off from all the three lists before it, and rightly so! Some may have been added, some may have been lost in the post (I am using Royal Mail, after all).

My Top Favourites of 2007

Coolest Villain of the year
Ralph Fiennes for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (see also the list from 2005)

Best Steve Carell Film of the year
Evan Almighty, and that wasn't very good, even.

Best Hank Azaria Film of the year
Run, Fat Boy, Run

Indie Album of the year
The Go! Team: Proof of Youth

Musical Album of the year
Original Soundtrack: Hairspray

Most Surprisingly Good Album of the year
Melanie C: This Time

Album of the year
Erasure: Light at the End of the World

Funniest New Series
The Armstrong & Miller Show, BBC (UK)

Strangest Series Cancellation of the year
The Class, Warner Bros. (US)

Most Disappointing Comedy Series of the year
The Omid Djalili Show, BBC (UK)

Favourite Comedy Series Characters of the year
The WWII RAF pilots from The Armstrong & Miller Show, BBC (UK)

Favourite Comedy Series Sketch of the year
See above.

Best End to a Series
The Vicar of Dibley, BBC (UK)

Most Anticipated Film of the year
Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World's End

British Film of the year
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Most Anticipated Game of the year
Crysis

Most Disappointing Game of the year
Assassin's Creed

Most Surprisingly Good Game of the year
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Best PC Game of the year
Two Worlds

Best Console Game of the year
Final Fantasy XII (PS2)

Best Handheld Game of the year
Final Fantasy IV (GBA) (I only have my trusty PDA and GBA, ok?)

Best Game of the year
Two Worlds

Best World Premiere of the year
The stage version of Breaking the Waves, Oslo Nye Teater (Centraltheatret)

Best Stage Revival of the year
Arsenic and Old Lace, Oslo Nye Teater (Hovedscenen)

Best Norwegian Stage Production of the year
Fiddler on the Roof, Oslo Nye Teater (Hovedscenen)

Best Play or Musical of the year
La cage aux folles, Menier Chocolate Factory (surprised?)

Would Have Most Wanted to See
Evita just once more

Most Anticipated Book of the year/decade/century
J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Most Annoying Yet Strangely Catchy Song of the year
Timbaland: Apologize

Worst Idea of the year
My trying to get a job in sales

Best Moment of the year
29 November, when I first saw my two favourites suddenly combined: La cage aux folles and Philip Quast

Labels: anders hatlo, comedy, dennis storhøi, erasure, evita, film, gaming, geoffrey rush, greg proops, lists, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, Norway, personal, philip quast, ralph fiennes, theatre, TV, work

...I'm supposed to be right now? The National, Lyttleton. But thanks to the always unreliable London Underground I missed the play. The train, which should have taken 20 minutes to get there, took instead 45 minutes, and by the time I got off at Waterloo I just jumped right onto the train back home. At that point the play had already started and it would have taken me another eight minutes to get there, which is just embarrassingly late.

Then I realised it is Monday the 16th, which is my Friday the 13th. Duh. I knew I shouldn't have laid any plans.

I went back home and picked up my ticket for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on Wednesday and then treated myself to a honeydew and a cantaloupe melon. Well deserved, I think, after having wasted £27.50 on a ticket and even £4 on the bloody trip downtown (I didn't even punch out anywhere, so how they can justify charging me £4 for the trip, I don't know. But I guess they'll have to get the £550 million they're over budget from somewhere).

Now I'm really cross. Still, have to stay positive. At least I wasn't going to see any of my favourite actors or anything. Speaking of which, congrats to Dennis Storhøi on his 47th birthday yesterday!

Once again, I just have to mention the newest album of Erasure's. It really is terrific! It's like I have gone back to my teens, when I could listen to the same album over and over. I just can't put this one away! Mad woman.

Labels: dennis storhøi, erasure, music, personal, theatre

The Society of London has published a brand new and very interesting interview with Jason Isaacs that I think you should all read. Looking forward to seeing lots of him this year (on stage, in the new Harry Potter film, in Brotherhood and hopefully in another series of The State Within).

I really must apologise if you think I have commented too little upon the newest bird flu scare here in the UK. I just can't be bothered, that's why. I've never been scared of that thing, just like I wasn't scared of SARS when that was deemed to be the new doom of civilisation. Sorry!

And then I would have to apologise; turns out the acoustic Erasure album, Union Street, isn't half bad after all. Perhaps slightly too much on the C&W side of things, with quite a lot of steel guitar sounds, but still not the worst I've heard.

Labels: current affairs, erasure, film, jason isaacs, music, theatre, TV

I would like to write a bit about music today. I have recently been listening a lot to my old favourites Jean Michel Jarre and Erasure. Looking back, I probably have to admit that even though I listen to all sorts of music, synthesizer music has always been closest to my heart and also remains there today. After all, among my top favourites you'll find the above-mentioned artists as well as Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode and recent discovery Apoptygma Berzerk. You probably could not get more synthesised.

I remember discovering the Pet Shop Boys first, although I didn't realise it to begin with, but I have been a fan of theirs since Always on My Mind back in 1987. It's still the best version of the song; the Elvis version is rather dull. Then, in 1989, I discovered Jean Michel Jarre because someone I had a crush on liked him. I did not actually have a crush on him, but this was during the summer holiday and everyone on the course I was attending (in this country, actually) was in love with someone else on the course, and he was the only one left. How sad. Anyway, I bought a cassette of Jarre's music and haven't looked back since, to tell you the truth. At the moment, however, I am listening to some of his pre-Oxygéne stuff and it is about the same level as my own computerised music back in the nineties (i.e. mostly crap). Does that mean there's hope for me as well? Could it be that I will be able to make great music in the future? No?

Now, Erasure were lucky in that they had a couple of big hits during the summer of 1992, when I discovered music for real and actually started spending my own money on buying records. So I went to the shop to buy some singles for my brand new CD player and ABBA-esque happened to be top on my list. The next day I went back to buy some of their albums; luckily the previous year's Chorus was one of them, which reminded me that I had in fact liked them in 1991 as well, when their Love to Hate You came out. So that cemented my fandom and they are still my number one group. I'm one of those who buy every version of their singles (they tend to release three or more versions). Call me crazy.

I then listened through some of my old cassettes during the last part of 1992/beginning of 1993, and heard a song (these were all recorded from the radio) by Depeche Mode that I thought was brilliant. Knowing that they had a link to Erasure (Vince Clarke, basically), I thought I'd give them a go and bought four or six albums at once (I honestly don't remember any more, but I could probably check the covers as their price tags are still on there and I recognise my favourite record store's tags). I was hooked, of course.

Now, Depeche Mode is probably the group who have changed their style the most since they began, but the others have tried as well. Jarre's Metamorphoses from 2000 was his first all-vocal album in his more than thirty years of making music. It's average, I think. And Erasure, bless'em, have released an acoustic album recently. I shudder when I think about it and it may very well become the only album of theirs that I will buy only as a last resort. Pet Shop Boys seem to be stuck in their usual style, but it's always a hit and very poppy, so who cares?

Labels: erasure, music, personal

I'm moving house at the moment and that means I have a lot of tidying up to do. I'm very attached to memories, but this time around I've decided to be very firm and throw away most things that I haven't used for years. That actually includes my old Amiga 500!!! My apologies to classic gamers out there, but read a bit further to understand my decision: Mouse. Nest. Pee. I wouldn't risk turning on the old bugger only to be fried. There are plenty of emulators out there. So my trusty Friend, AKA Mike Amiga (yes, I named it) (I was nine) (excuses, excuses), whose input devices hardly work anymore, will have to die. The same goes for my old typewriter. Let's face it, if I would want to go back to "the good old days" I would much rather choose a manual typewriter, not the electrical one I've got. Might as well use a computer then.

So, the mouse, who was also named (Kåre) (not by me), turned up to frighten me in the middle of the tidying up and after that I hardly touched anything before my companion had checked everything. Twice. I'm such a wuss. I mean, I'm used to gerbils and hamsters, for god's sake, and Kåre was very cute, but I guess the surprise factor got to me. Anyway, he'd had the most wonderful time partying amongst most of my things, so I basically rescued what I could and threw away all the rest. What a clever little creature, shortening the time I used for tidying up so well!

No matter, I did find quite a lot of old memories. Photos. Postcards. Letters. Upon letters. I was an avid letter writer until I discovered the 'Net. A few years after that, too. But then it all died out. I found letters just now from people I couldn't remember ever having written to. I had penfriends all over the world. I was probably the one who ended the friendship in most cases, by not replying all of a sudden. Very me.

I also found my old wallets, which brings me to the point du jour. (Speaking of points; what the hell went on during the Eurovision Song Contest? Ooh, the less said, the better, I suppose.) My oldest wallet, which I believe I was given by a classmate back in year two, when I was popular (that didn't last, LOL, when they found out how weird I was), is white (-ish) and has lots of writing on it. On one side you can more or less clearly see the following, astounding, names: Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Ralph Macchio, Prince, Andy Bell (singer, Erasure)...so far, so good. Then, after a bit of squinting and turning of the wallet, I can make out Twisted Sister being written there. But then...Nigel Havers, Peter Coyote, Eric Idle, Michael York (really? Can't remember that), Michael Palin and Dustin Hoffman. Now, the latter two plus Nigel I still like quite a lot, but not "like that". I remember my old diary had Tom Cruise and Paul Newman written side by side on the cover. I have to admit I put Tom's name there to balance things out, because I've never fancied him. LOL! Ah, the memories...

Labels: computers, dustin hoffman, erasure, michael palin, music, personal, TV

Just got home after seeing Ocean's Twelve at the cinema. Good fun. Surprise appearance by favourite Jeroen Krabbé turned out nothing, as he had no lines, LOL! Luckily, Eddie Izzard did. Wa-hey! Should probably be seen by those who liked the first film. In fact, I'd recommend watching Ocean's Eleven first (that's the one from 2001; the original's called Ocean's 11).

We really went to see that Team America film or whatever it's called; I didn't actually want to see it until Wossy recommended it in his Film 2005 last weekend. Alas, there was a big queue and we couldn't be bothered, so went for a very long walk instead, trying to find something to do, but it was bad timing; every single cinema (of which there are 11...or 12 in this city) had just started a film and the next one would be in about two hours. Eventually we had walked for such a long time we might as well go to the nine o'clock performance. :-)

I'm having a written row with the janitors in this place; they keep telling me to get a sign for my letterbox, and I keep putting up one...only that it's printed, and they don't want that. That no-good neighbour of mine from downstairs, however, can do what he wants. Bet they're too scared to even talk to him. I'll keep it going for a bit longer. So far the postman remembers where my letterbox is (could that be because of the insane amount of parcels I receive from Play and eBay'ers? *blushes*).

Erasure down ten to number fourteen last week. It was great as long as it lasted. Bloody Elvis is ruining it for everyone. When will people realise he's dead? He is, in fact, an ex-rockstar. Get used to it. Please.

Current track: Nothing.

Labels: erasure, film, jeroen krabbé, music, personal

I am strangely proud about the fact that my boys Erasure have entered the official UK single chart at number four. That's their best chart position since 1994. Wahey the lads!

Also, and I should have said this on Sunday when I actually went to the sneak preview, I have to mention Jean-Pierre Jeunet's new masterpiece, Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement), starring several of the best actors out there. Visit the official site here. (Because I can't be bothered to write more about it, mwahahaah!)

Speaking (a lot) of Erasure (lately) - I watched most of their Hits! DVD last night, and realised I had seen very few of their music videos after 1992. I had, in fact, only seen a couple, and only once each. That is very sad. Of course, that made me notice a few things I wouldn't have if I knew the videos very well. Among them, that Coupling actor Ben Miles appeared in their video for Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day) (which was a great video, by the way). I was also reminded of the fact that Erasure have made some really funny videos, in both senses of the word.

Current track: Erasure - Siren Song

Labels: erasure, film, music

I just cannot believe this. Then again...I'm not too surprised, so maybe I can believe it after all. Let's see, I noticed Erasure in '91, became a bona fide fan in '92. In all those years they haven't set foot on our shores, apart from a surprise gig they did at a closed event quite a few years ago. They're going out on tour again this spring, but my nearest venue is the one in Copenhagen. There's a sea between us, and anyway, the concert is sold out already. I was planning on going to London later this spring when I can get some time off work, but by then they've already moved on to touring the US. This is the only group I've been this devoted to - basically, I've bought all of their records, singles, maxi-singles, vinyls, remixes, promos, interview CDs, videos, DVDs - and still no chance of seeing them live. What will I have to do?

By the way, I got rid of some of the crap on this blog (no, not the text :-) ); hopefully it'll load quicklier now. Also, look out for an Erasure special on the WTFQ?/AICY?-radio in the coming week; celebrating their 20th anniversary.

Current track: Erasure - Breathe

Labels: concert, erasure, music

The good news: The sixth Harry Potter book is completed. Yay!

The bad news: Andy Bell, Erasure's singer, is HIV positive. However, he's known this for six years and doesn't fret about it himself, so I guess I shouldn't be too worried. It's just that I remember back in '92, when I became a fan of Erasure's (has it really been twelve and a half years?), I was scanning through some of my old magazines and found a small article about Andy which said that he couldn't get life insurance because he was gay. (I didn't know he was gay until I read that, but then again I hadn't seen them live...should have guessed it if I had ;-) ) I was infuriated, but years later I realised that insurance companies really are evil through and through.

Current track: Nothing. Can't be bothered to turn on the radio. I mean, after all it's 20 cm from my right arm.

Labels: erasure, music, personal