Sorry for not having updated in a very long while. Reason? Lack of sleep (annoying new neighbour with a powerful stereo and ASBO friends, need I say more?), a very long shift at work (two weeks, basically) and the release of The Sims 3.

When I say I worked for two weeks straight, that is actually a lie, since I worked eight days, had one day off and then worked four. Still, very straining when you don't get any sleep at all due to your fucking neighbour. And one third of that day off was spent at the theatre having a bloody headache. Don't know what it is, but somehow I always manage to get a blinding headache while in the theatre, no matter what I do to prevent it. The play was miraculously fun, though. What am I saying? It was La Cage. You may kill me now. I've seen it...umpteen times. I've actually lost count. 17 times as a minimum (including Oslo). Once more and I've definitely seen PQ as many times as Dennis in that musical.

Pathetic.

Anyway, so The Sims 3 was released. It's as annoying as the previous instalments, to be honest. You just cannot put it away, yet it's a complete waste of your life. Love the new integrated neighbourhood, though; huge improvement. Also the fact you, in effect, decide what they do while at work or in school. Wonder how many expansion packs they'll release, seeing as this incorporates so many of the previous packs already?

Today saw the long-awaited release of Red Dwarf: Back to Earth DVD (well, 'long-awaited' if you're very impatient) and I devoured it all from about 10am to 1pm. Gave up on the easter egg and just launched the DVD in VLC instead because it allows you to look through the DVD title by title (something you should already know if you're a slightly neurotic geek like myself). Finally found it. As per usual, a bit of an anti-climax. Still, the DVD was packed like the rest. Of the DVDs, I mean. Ooh, err!

So that got me back in Chris Barrie mode/mood, which was just as well as I've had really boring dreams about Roger Allam for the past two nights (blame seeing him by the stage door last week--I'm such a wanker (not in the literal sense...well, not when it comes to this, at least :p )).

And I did the most typical thing yesterday. Now, if you don't follow me on Twitter (and you should--not that it's interesting, but that's where I post most of my random thoughts these days), you wouldn't know much about my new neighbour. To cut a long and irritating story short, he's a pothead who's prolly just moved out and wants to party all night. Fair enough, apart from the fact sound carries really well in this building. He's kept me awake most nights for a fortnight. Until you've experienced that yourself, you won't know what sleep deprivation does to you--how desperate it makes you. Let's just say I've fantasised about murdering him with my IKEA knives. No, I don't think I'd actually do that, but I wouldn't have ruled me out straight away if he were discovered in a pool of his own blood in the foreseeable future. ANYWAY. He knocked on our door yesterday. Keep in mind I want to kill him, right? He asks me if I have some oil he could borrow. I, for some reason, inquiry as to the nature of this oil--of the olive kind, perhaps? He nods. I go get the rest of my olive oil and hand it to him. WHY do I do this? Because, most probably, in The Sims 3, my character would have the trait 'Good'. And possibly 'Coward'.

That's it for today. Was supposed to be just an apology, but then I got all riled up from having watched 'Supersizers' from the 80s for no particular reason (other than their opulence and close proximity in time to myself) and felt I had to post something a little more fleshy. Apparently.

Fave song in the charts: 'In the Heat of the Night' (Star Pilots). The PSN Store launched their own 'Vidzone' the other day and that brought back memories...isn't Michael Jackson's 'Remember the Time' as well as Annie Lennox's 'Walking on Broken Glass' just effing brilliant? No? Well, what on Io (Red Dwarf and RIMMER (SO wrong if you've watched a lot of Queer as Folk) are back, dammit!) are you visiting this blog for? We clearly have little in common. Sex, perhaps, but nothing else.

Labels: chris barrie, film, gaming, music, musicals, personal, philip quast, red dwarf, roger allam, theatre, TV

Yay, we won. Since I'm technically still a Norwegian citizen, due to silly UK laws, I say "we" when speaking about Norway. Unless it's something negative, when it's "they".

Funny bit: Alexander Rybak claiming he won because 'he had a story to tell'. Erm, no. People liked the catchy song. The lyrics were crap!

Extreme tweeting going on yesterday; everyone who'd been dissing Eurovision all week still sat down to watch AND tweet at the same time. It was massive. I would read about 50 updates, send a tweet, then in the meantime about 50-100 new updates had been posted. Let's just say I didn't have the time to read them all. I barely watched the show, only listened to it! Great fun, though. Not such great fun this morning, when I woke up with a furry tongue and a pounding head, wondering what the hell I'd been drinking the night before and why on Io I thought that was a good idea on a work night.

Anyway, I did go to work and am now planning on how to get to the Seamen's Church later on (stop your sniggering!) in order to celebrate Norway's constitutional day with other Londoners. Hipp, hipp, hurra!

PS! If I haven't already mentioned it, you need to watch The Thick of It. I would especially recommend the specials. Excellent stuff. They're so funny, all of them. Guest Roger Allam is brilliant as leader of the opposition. I must have seen the specials four times, and it still makes me laugh out loud. DS.

Labels: comedy, music, Norway, personal, roger allam, TV

Must be the 15th time or so that I see that show. I need a proper tattoo parlour and a proper account balance so I can get that lovely, little tattoo showing my love for La Cage aux Folles that I've been dreaming of for years. It's massive.

Anyway. Proper review for the May 13 performance. Well, as proper as I can make it.

First things first, I believe Duncan Smith stood in as Tabarro instead of Robert Maskell. Other than that they were all there. Especially the Cagelles, they were very much there. In my opinion they have certainly benefited from the move from the Menier (even though it pains me to admit it, it was actually even better at the Playhouse Theatre, which of course is a good thing, considering the excellent Menier production); they now have more room to play in, and they have grown into the roles to such a degree that they are definitely acting more now (not 'just' dancing--and before anyone hits me over the head; their dancing and acrobatics have always been nothing short of amazing). They've basically become more bitchy, something I find adds to the whole story.

Speaking of dancing, by the way; what on Io happened to Philip Quast since we last saw him? Perhaps the larger stage has done him wonders as well, because I was pleasantly surprised at his moves. Elegant, at times flamboyantly so, I would say. Especially the double back-flip which received a standing ovation. OK, I lie. But I'm certain I'm not dilly-dallying far from the truth if I say I think people would have given him a standing ovation had he done a double back-flip. Followed by a hurried search for a chiropractor in the house. But I digress (should be written on my headstone).

Right, now for the Change of the Decade. Well, the change from Graham Norton and Stephen Pacey to the surprising duo of Roger Allam and Philip Quast, respectively. 'Surprising' mostly from a personal perspective, perhaps, as I never thought I'd be able, nay allowed to see them perform on stage together. After yesterday's performance this will go down as my favourite version of my favourite musical. It couldn't possibly get any better than this, could it? If so, I dare not go see it, as I prefer my heart to be whole and in working order.

Some of us get a little carried away at the theatre, but we're usually calm and collected elsewhere.

This time around the Georges/Albin story seemed more real; I was going to say I believed they were partners, but that would have been a fib (or 'wishful thinking' as some of my slash-loving acquaintances would point out). Of course I didn't. But by Gog, they were so much more compatible than any of the previous pairings I have witnessed.

And here comes the clinch, the whole reason for you to go see the show if you have been the least bit half-on, half-off the fence up till now: They've cast an actor to play Albin. I know how that sounds, but wait for it. You see, the part of Albin is a very emotional one; he's a drama queen, ok, but it's all a façade--he's a vulnerable man who is both overly effeminate and as such should leave no doubt in anyone's mind about his sexuality, and yet so far back into the closet I have a feeling he sometimes has tea with Aslan. All brought on by society, as per usual. (How long have poets, playwrights and even screenwriters been writing about the struggle for freedom from the firm grasp of society? Digression again, sorry.) So the role of Albin cannot--well, shouldn't--be filled by someone who is just one thing, someone who cannot cope with both the out-and-out flamboyancy and the defencelessness which, after all, are two extremes switched between at increasingly fast intervals during the play. I was swept away by Allam's acting and for the first time, in 15 performances, felt that Albin really was Jean-Michel's maman.

(Of course, this means that I am dissing Dennis Storhøi. I may have to lie down and die. At least repent.)

If anyone thinks I'm saying Philip Quast isn't an actor, they should probably read the whole thing again and pay attention this time. I'm probably saying that everyone who's played Albin so far hasn't been an actor, so bring on the insults; I don't care. (I think it's been known for a while that I wasn't a fan Douglas Hodge's interpretation...)

Now then, now then, now then. For the slightly more personal and short review:

It's brilliant! Buy tickets now or lose out on something spectacular! Truly! This cast should be there all through summer (please consider holidays, days off sick etc.--annoying, I know, but it turns out they're actually...shh, don't tell anyone...real people! Who'd've thunk?), until Aug 26, but don't hold me responsible if they're not. Write to your local MP instead. I want you all to be more politically active.

And fabulous hair! PQ no longer looks like my uncle. He now looks like a Clubland version of my uncle. Urgh. Oh yeah, and I caught one of the roses and stole it thought 'finders keepers'. Currently starting to collect dust with all my other theatre memorabilia. I have tickets for two more performances (so far) because I thought 'hey, I think this may be the best version ever and I have a Mastercard!' Hopefully I won't try and beat my ten performances in five months record from Oslo 2004...that'll be a bit expensive (and stalkerish). Not to mention pathetic--I have to keep chanting 'it's just a play, it's just a play'.

Well, I hear there's a Eurovision Song Contest semi final I have to cast my vote in tonight, so got to go!

Labels: dennis storhøi, music, musicals, personal, philip quast, roger allam, theatre, TV

I should apologise for leading some of you astray yesterday with my highly uninteresting dream about John Barrowman. Apparently the post turned up in so many searches the trackers could hardly keep up. So if you're here for a second, wasted time in as many days; I apologise for luring you in once more. There's still nothing to see here.

Listening to some Erik Satie again; very relaxing indeed! Just watched the Drinking with the girls documentary from BBC3 or 4 last week, and although it was fun, it was also a bit disturbing in a way, and I needed to relax. So what better way, when you don't have any alcohol? ;-)

Ooh, and Depeche Mode were on Jools yesterday. I missed/ignored it, so had to download the programme today. Jools Holland is pretty crap at interviewing, but presents us with a nice and varied array of musical guests.

New business idea: Tweeting for a living! Seems a lot of people are already doing that, actually. Or someone should have a word with their bosses...

By the by, remember Carpool with Robert Llewellyn! Lots of fun to be had. He just said he would plug the show only once a day from now on, so obviously he needs all the publicity he can get! ;-) Look out for Carpool episodes from the US in the coming months, too.

Labels: music, musicals, personal, technology, time wasting

Yes, that means you, Chris Barrie. A new one. Or a couple of new ones.

Listening through some songs from 1989, reminiscing about staying in Hastings that summer. I remember Soul II Soul's Back to Life was a big hit that summer, as well as seeing Prince's Batman album everywhere (and in those days vinyl albums were still the norm, so the golden Batman logo was all over the place).

Labels: cars, chris barrie, music, personal

Btw, did I link to Depeche's newest video? As a good, little fan, I have of course preordered the album.

Labels: music

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

In case you didn't know.

It's been a year since I realised Greg Proops was the best thing since sliced bread, computers and Erasure mixed into one. Well, maybe I could do without the bread. And what a year it's been! My poor DVD recorder has been on constant daily timer in order for me to quickly accumulate most episodes of both version of Whose Line is it Anyway?, and in usual Ingaroo-fashion it didn't take me too long to see him live even though the odds were against me from the very start, his living and working in LA and all that crap.

Other things have happened this year, too, but since I can't remember much of it, I'd rather save that for 2008's This and That list, due sometime within the next few weeks on this very site, and instead concentrate on things I can remember, such as this past weekend.

I spent much of my time revisiting Bullworth Academy (it's a game) and watching films. I got some excellent films for Christmas, thanks to Aug and his good taste, and managed to see a few European flicks not touched by Hollywood: Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven), La double vie de Véronique (The Double Life of Veronique) and the fabulous Vier Minuten (Four Minutes). I then quickly went on a mad shopping spree on Amazon and am expecting some nice additions to my film collection over the next few months (yes, some of them are not yet released).

Speaking of which; I decided I needed to do something about my film collection yesterday, and set about putting them in alphabetical order. I haven't done that since I moved here! It became quite clear to me that this was the only decent way to deal with the problem, after I nearly panicked on Christmas Eve when I couldn't find Love Actually anywhere. It took me about five hours to do it properly, but at least I got to listen to some music (The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, mostly) while doing so, and the end result was fantastic! Maybe it won't take me 15 minutes to find a certain DVD from now on!

I also finally bought the whole of Monty Python's Flying Circus on DVD! Yay me! This is quite extraordinary, but the thing is I've never actually owned all the episodes. For a through-and-through fanatic like me this is blasphemous, almost. I had the first series on VHS in different editions (two with Swedish subtitles, one with Dutch subtitles and one in the original version which cost me about three times as much as the others), but could never really afford buying the whole set when it was first released on DVD, and then after a while I sort of...forgot. But since I have so much of their other stuff (including just about anything remotely connected to any of the members, off telly and radio and so on), I felt it was about time I could finally access my favourite exploding Burmese penguin sketch(es) at any time (and in good viewing quality ;-) ). So what did I do when I gleefully got the boxset in the post? Why, put it on my shelf with all the other stuff I've been excited about buying and then never bothered to actually watch, of course!

Which reminds me I have promised myself to read a book today. Ta-ta!

Labels: comedy, film, gaming, greg proops, lists, Monty Python, music, online shopping, TV

Finally got to watch There Will Be Blood yesterday, and I have to admit Daniel Day-Lewis is a very good actor. And what haunting music! Of course, the end music was very familiar and to my great surprise I discovered I only have one song by Brahms, so naturally had to run out (i.e. go online) and buy his Violin Concerto in D on CD.

The film reminded me a bit of Lost in Translation; slow-paced and not too much happening, but compelling viewing nevertheless. Of course, There Will Be Blood had some action sequences and there was the matter of the increasing madness to follow. Oh, and of course it had Ciarán Hinds in it, which is always a plus.

Anyway, good to see Paul Thomas Anderson back on form. I'm still not quite sure what Punch-Drunk Love was about.

Labels: ciàran hinds, film, music

Yeah, rock on, etc. I went to the Wembley Arena yesterday after work in order to join in on the fun and watch Fall Out Boy (emo superstars...apparently) jump around and sing. I arrived at about 18.45, and the first act, You Me At Six, went on after about half an hour. They seemed like a jolly bunch of Brits. After seven powerful songs, they left the stage and sent the roadies on. It took them more than half an hour to rig everything for the next band, Boys Like Girls, who were only on for four songs, so all that fuss for barely anything. Although...they were quite amusing to watch.

Two and a half hours after I arrived, the main act finally came on, and gave it all for about 75 minutes, leaving me with a headache and a temporary case of tinnitus, but also with a couple of cool videos shot with my mobile, and a nice memory. The venue was very large and those who were standing by the stage seemed to be having a great time. Where I was we were more moderate (some had even brought their parents), with the exception of a few screaming fangirls, barely in their mid-teens. As I haven't really bothered to become a proper fan of Fall Out Boy, meaning I don't know their names, looks or lyrics (note to self: Learn lyrics to join in at gigs), I was very surprised to see so many teenage girls there, but apparently one of the members is a real heart throb, so there was a lot of screaming and fainting going on. People kept being pulled out from the mosh pit (which, technically, wasn't even close to being a mosh pit), never to return (well, that's my theory).

It then took me less time to travel back home from the venue than from work, even though Wembley is supposed to be farther away. Hmm...

With my throbbing headache, I had no choice but to sit down with a cup of tea and a chocolate bar and watch the recording of Medium with my flatmate, so I got to bed at one and is now seriously tired. Unfortunately, I got a pre-ordered game two days early yesterday, and so I am sitting at work only itching to get home and try it out, but by the time I get there tonight, I may be too tired to do much at all. Oh, well.

Btw, I got Windows 98 to work. I honestly don't know how it happened. It was stuck on the same installation screen all night, so I turned it off before going to work, and when I tried again in the evening, it worked! So now I can play my beloved Magic: The Gathering games again. Le sigh. Now, if I could only get Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri to work properly... Little pleasures.

Labels: concert, gaming, music, TV

Feels like Sunday.

The doorbell woke me this morning at around half eight. Thinking it was the postman (=fun), I ran out, dressing on the way there, and made some noise to make them realise someone was indeed stirring behind the door somewhere, and please don't go away. However, the glee was short-lived, as it turned out to be a repairman I had completely forgot was supposed to come here today. After barely five hours of sleep, this was not a pleasant surprise. Still, made me get up and actually do something.

Besides, the postman came right after the repairman had left.

I have spent the day moving the rest of my CDs to my hard drive, plus watching a lot of Whose Line (I cannot believe that after having waited for that particular episode for more than eight months, they end up censoring the whole of Greg's dominatrix segment of episode no. 404!) (by the by, Drew Carey's homophobia is beginning to tire me...but then again, he's not a good improviser, much because he is embarrassed too easily), Sliding Doors (because I am a hopeless romantic) and a couple of episodes of A Country Practice (still on series two), plus I've played some Colin McRae's Dirt. This evening I have been laughing a lot during a very nice chat with Lee and Lori, which I believe lasted almost three hours! (Still four more hours to go before we break our old record, but that was a very long time ago, and I have to admit I was younger and less prone to falling asleep at the keyboard then).

This week I have been hooked on a few songs by Alphabeat, Regina Spektor and also Simple Minds's Glittering Prize and, of all things, Summertime by NKOTB. Oh my.

Labels: comedy, film, gaming, greg proops, music, personal, TV

...and not just any kind of hair. A pubic hair was waiting for me when I got back to work after my holiday; neatly placed on my keyboard. I choose not to think about how it got there.

I have to say, the thought of Jason Donovan in drag amuses me, and for some reason it makes perfect sense.

Well, the last Proms concert was terrific, although I have to admit I could hardly choose between all the different parks, because there was a lot of salivating going on when I checked the different line-ups. I guess this digital telly revolution is giving me too much choice after all (even though there never seems to be anything on when you want to just spend the day on the sofa, glaring at the box) (that's the telly, not...something else) (perv!)

Not too sure about the Tess of the d'Urbevilles thingie; the only reason why I lasted beyond the first 20 minutes, was Ian Puleston-Davies (for any Norwegians out there, that's pronounced poll-stn. Perv!) After that, I pulled out my trusty RadioTimes and read up on the story, which proved to seem more interesting as it went along. No, I am not familiar with Hardy to begin with.

Yesterday, after work, I pulled out all my CDs and started sorting them into "have been ripped to mp3" and "have not yet been ripped" (AKA "may have been ripped earlier, but then deleted again from the hard drive for reasons unknown, or actually probably because I never listened to them anyway and needed the space"). And then, guess what? Well, I started ripping them, dumb-ass! Boy, there were a few CDs there that I had all but forgotten. Some of them I sort of wish I had forgotten, but no chance there. Still, to make my collection as complete as possible, plus taken into account the fact that the CDs aren't getting any younger and sturdier and I certainly won't buy any of them ever again, I need to rip them all (ok, with a few exceptions due to their being of too embarrassing a nature--the fact that I have them in the first place). There were quite a few I was surprised to see I hadn't already ripped, too. Like all of my Monty Python records. I mean, OMGWTF??? I love those guys! They're the reason for my anglophilia, nerdiness, sense of humour and accent! (OK, I can't blame them for my Norwegian accent; I mean the accent I try to emulate when speaking English.) They are, in effect, the real reason for my moving to the UK! It all started with poor, old Michael Palin (which means I am highly annoyed these days when the name Palin is mentioned everywhere and it always turns out to be someone else than him...but hopefully this will only last for a couple more months (fingers crossed for a sensible election this time--we've waited slack-jawed for too long now; we're developing nervous tics!))

Where was I? On my way down Politics Lane again? Sheesh...well, I'm not done yet. Still, concentrate on the CDs for now. Let's see...oh yeah, I found an old album by a Norwegian band calling themselves Innocent Look; it's even been signed by the guys. Oooh. The problem is that they're so unknown they don't even have a profile on Last.fm. I mean, I have a profile on Last.fm, and they don't. How sad is that? I also found quite a few compilation albums I had forgotten all about, but I used to listen to them a lot there for a while. They bring back memories. Good and bad, embarrassing and sad, fun and...something else rhyming with -ad, perhaps.

Anyway, back to watching The Daily Show. How tragic is the situation when you have to turn to Jon Stewart to get the latest news from the US?

Labels: comedy, current affairs, michael palin, Monty Python, music, musicals, personal, theatre, TV

I've had a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong (well, maybe not that long) holiday since the beginning of September, and have enjoyed myself immensely. During this time I hardly ventured online at all. I didn't even check my Facebook account! Wow!

'So what on earth did you do, Ingaroo?', I can hear you saying. Well, a couple of things.

Spore arrived one day early, so I was stuck in Spore-land for four consecutive days until I tired of it (as I by then had realised that the Spore universe is far from endless...twice). If anyone want a copy of Spore, let me know. The replayability is nothing near Will Wright's other successes; Sim City and The Sims. In fact, Spore is rather limited. But it did inspire me to get back to playing Galactic Civilizations II again, which in itself is a good thing.

Other than that, I have sorted my vast Whose Line collection properly, I have watched Braveheart and Gladiator and all of the James Bond films starring Pierce Brosnan (AKA "The Last Real James Bond"), I have started watching Michael Palin's Full Circle for the second time and Against the Wind for the third, I have finished reading just one book (Jack Railton's The A-Z of Cool Computer Games), and I have not left the flat for a whole week. Amazing.

OK, two things:

1. The new Lost in Austen series is fabulous. And, as per usual, Hugh Bonneville is stealing all the scenes (mostly the ones he's in, but a few where he's not present also). After three years of reading RadioTimes I have concluded that editor Alison Graham and I have very, very little in common. She just about hates everything I love, and vice versa.
2. Bonne chance to Sue Perkins for tonight's Last Night of the Proms (well, the Hyde Park bit) - I followed Maestro and am certain it was my votes that gave her the victory. Then again, could be that most people agreed with me that she was the best of the wannabe conductors. Nice concept, by the way. Plus interesting to see Clive Anderson's hair again, since I normally just listen to him on the radio these days (a million repeats of Whose Line from the nineties don't count). Anyway, Prom 76 it is, and it has both Bryn Terfel and Hélène Grimaud in it, yay!

Labels: comedy, film, gaming, holiday, literature, music, personal

So Frankie Boyle couldn't shut up long enough for his own team mates to get a line in sideways in tonight's Mock the Week...no surprise there, then. Still, Greg Proops looked nice and had at least a couple of new routines (and some old ones). Let's just hope he's left the country by now (well, he has a show in LA on Saturday, so I'm guessing yes--years of travelling between the two countries must have left him with at least an inkling of how unfunny jet lag can be), and then I can concentrate on other things.

Like my new CDs; Alphabeat, Sara Bareilles, Eric Johnson and last, but not least: Verdi's Requiem, a 2001 version with the Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Claudio Abbada and featuring Angela Gheorghiu, Daniela Barcellona, Roberto Alagna and Julian Konstantinov, as well as the Swedish Radio Chorus. A beautiful and powerful performance. BBC's series Maestro is doing wonders to my classical collection. I mean, I have kilos (tonnes would be exaggerating) of all sorts of classical music, but they keep bringing up music I don't actually have in my collection (the horror!). The concept is brilliant; eight celebs trying their hand at conducting an orchestra, with relevant judges and also no phone voting! It's like a new era. I guess it would only work with such a matter, though. I mean, who the hell would be watching Big Brother series 453 without having any say in the results whatsoever? Wait...who would watch Big Brother? (OK, I've watched one celeb version, but they're (luckily) much shorter than the usual run.) (Excuses, excuses...)

Let me just share with you my glee at this autumn's game releases (all preordered a long time ago):

Tomorrow: The Sims 2 Apartment Life
5 Sept: Spore
19 Sept: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
26 Sept: Colonization
3 Oct: Order Up
30 Oct: Little Big Planet
31 Oct: Fallout 3

I guess I won't be going to Oslo to see Vi menn, hehe! Dennis will just have to do without me...something with which I am certain he is familiar already.

Labels: comedy, dennis storhøi, gaming, greg proops, music, TV

The brain works in mysterious ways. As I was going to look for any updates on Greg Proops's line-up for the summer, I suddenly got this song on my mind, a song I recognised as a previous favourite but which I hadn't heard in years. I started humming it out loud and after a few minutes it dawned on me that it was Veronica by Elvis Costello.


Greg Proops.


Elvis Costello.

Connect the dots yourself.

Labels: greg proops, music, time wasting

I have wasted three hours today on the new Creature Creator from the upcoming game Spore, available for free from their official website. You need this. Seriously.

And then you'll pay for the upgrade, haha!

Last Wednesday I went to see Judy Collins at the Southbank Centre. So there was me, a couple of others in their thirties, and lots of people in their fifties and sixties. It was fun, though; she had a lot of stories filled with name-dropping (Leonard Cohen, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, to name a few), and her voice was still amazing. All in all a nice concert.

Then I went to see Superhero Movie and the fourth Indiana Jones film. Both mediocre, I guess. I liked Indy better than Superhero, though. For those of you don't know what Superhero Movie is about, it is basically a parody on lots of those Marvel and DC Comics live-action films that have been cropping our screens since the turn of the millennium. So I didn't quite know if I should laugh or cry or bitch-slap her when the teenager next to me kept saying to her friends: "That is well like that Spider-Man film!"

I have also managed to watch the whole of American Gothic (the series) this past week. Not quite sure why I bothered, really, as it actually doesn't have an ending! LOL! I still haven't forgotten the great cliffhanger in VR.5 which turned into an annoying ending when they cancelled the show. Idiots. Wasting our lives like that. That's something I'll never get about the American TV companies. At least over here they tend to write a proper ending when they are told the series will not be picked up for a new season, or they make a Christmas special or something which will tie things neatly together. Yes, I am frustrated.

Also bought Okami for the Wii. My Gog, there was a huge difference between the controls on the Wii and on the PS2! The whole point of Okami is that you have this "celestial brush" you use to alter the world around you (it's basically a magic wand with ink), so imagine how much easier it is to just wave the remote control on the Wii instead of moving the tiny joystick on the PS2 controller. So I have actually finished quite a bit of the game already! And I have had the game for the PS2 since early 2007. Tsk, tsk.

Yesterday I celebrated my 14th day in a row of getting up early in the morning to work out with Wii Fit! I am amazed it has lasted this long, really. Let's face it; if I can sleep another five minutes in the morning, I do so. But on days when I have to go to work, I actually get up at six to work out for an hour. Wow. All hail my new-found self discipline. It will probably vanish as quickly as it appeared, so better celebrate it now, while we have the opportunity.

OK, back to the Creature Creator. Tomorrow is another visit to Hairspray! Giddy with glee!

Labels: concert, film, gaming, music, musicals, personal, sport, theatre, TV

How come Warner always have to stand out? I mean, it started out well, with putting sound into films and all that, but then it went downhill from there. I even have my own Warner Bros. section of old DVDs as they insisted on making these ridiculously large covers back in the day. They're wankers, basically. There you have it.

Labels: film, music, online shopping, technology

Regarding my last post; I did not mean I am a clinically insane stalker fan who should already have had a minimum of three restraining orders against her. I do not, for instance, buy Alan Rickman's suit from "Galaxy Quest". Just needed to get that off my chest.

Besides, I haven't quite entered complete fandom of Allam yet. I'll let you know once I come to the conclusion it's about time we send out wedding invitations. For now, it's The Three and a Half Musketeers for me (Quast, Storhøi, Proops, with Rickers on back-up).

I just bought the Eurovision Song Contest album. Guess it didn't feel right I'd only skipped through the songs. After all; who'd've thought I would end up loving Ukraine's entry from last year, after repeated brainwashing play? To even things out, I threw in a pre-order of Weezer's new album (that's the third album they've named "Weezer") and Barenaked Ladies's newest. I still love the fact that BNL made the intro music for The Big Bang Theory.

Looking forward to tomorrow's Afterlife (even though it means I have to actually leave the house). Always excited about a new Michael Frayn play. Would recommend his Alarms and Excursions. Ooh, and Potter's Blue Remembered Hills is showing on BBC4 tomorrow evening. Don't miss it!

Labels: dennis storhøi, greg proops, music, philip quast, roger allam, theatre, TV