This is a question for all the *couples* out there... I'm wondering - why is it necessary to hold your partner's hand, or have your arms around each other, when doing the most mundane and uninteresting things? Like, picking which sandwich to buy at a petrol station... Do these things really cause anxiety? Do they require mutual support, and the care of those who love you? Or is it just that you can't seem to do the simplest day-to-day task without clinging to your boyspouse/girlspouse for support and reassurance?
Am I being bitter, harsh, cynical, and generally an all-round bastard? Yes... But I'm tired, annoyed, and I don't care... So there!!
Friday, 29 January 2010
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Scrobble me, baby!
I have recently started using "Last.fm" - the music-based social networking site, or something like that... (I am at http://www.last.fm/user/manek43509 if you're interested...) Now, every piece of music that I listen to, either on my iPod, or on Spotify (the brilliant music-streaming service from those fabulous Scandinavian types) shows up on my Last.fm profile, for everyone to see - if they're so inclined...
This is known is "Scrobbling" - a word which ranks perhaps even above "Dongle" in a list of "Hilariously Stupid Technical Terms of the Internet Age"...
There are, of course, plenty of exciting advantages to this, which have no doubt been "blogged" (ooh, there's another for that list!) about already, far better, in all probability, than I could do... However, I'm beginning to find it slightly dangerous, also... "How?!" you ask, a look of incredulity etched upon your finely chiselled features... Well, I shall tell you - so sit up straight, and don't fidget!
It's quite simple, really - I'm at risk of becoming a total music poser... I have always had a philosophy that the only thing which should govern what songs you listen to should be whether you like them or not - if you like a band, listen to their music, if you don't like them, don't listen to them... Seems fairly straightforward, right?
I actually quite like "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley - so I do, from time-to-time, put it on, on my iPod... But now that I know everyone can see my Scrobbles - what songs I've been listening to, who my favourite artists are, etc - I've been more careful about choosing songs that will show me in a good light, in the eyes of others...
I will listen to an experimental jazz trio, for example, just so people will see the name on my Last.fm profile, and draw the conclusion that I'm an open-minded, intellectual free-thinker... (This, of course, only works with people who've never met me!)
I DO actually like experimental jazz - as much as I like big Rick A - but the point is that I'm picking this music for the wrong reasons... I'm putting what other people think of me, based on what bands I like, or seem to like, above my own, admittedly broad, music tastes... And this will never do!
And this is the social networking effect, from top-to-bottom... I make no bones about the fact that I'm a real social networking whore - with accounts on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Last.fm, 365project, and even Bebo, I'm all over that stuff like a bear on a bicycle...
And with every aspect of your life laid bare, for all to see, on the world wide web, you're naturally going to be thinking about trying to present a good image to all these people whom you assuming are scrutinising your every move, from behind their computers, at their desks in Toronto, or wherever... But you must not compromise yourself, for their sake! And neither must I...
This is known is "Scrobbling" - a word which ranks perhaps even above "Dongle" in a list of "Hilariously Stupid Technical Terms of the Internet Age"...
There are, of course, plenty of exciting advantages to this, which have no doubt been "blogged" (ooh, there's another for that list!) about already, far better, in all probability, than I could do... However, I'm beginning to find it slightly dangerous, also... "How?!" you ask, a look of incredulity etched upon your finely chiselled features... Well, I shall tell you - so sit up straight, and don't fidget!
It's quite simple, really - I'm at risk of becoming a total music poser... I have always had a philosophy that the only thing which should govern what songs you listen to should be whether you like them or not - if you like a band, listen to their music, if you don't like them, don't listen to them... Seems fairly straightforward, right?
I actually quite like "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley - so I do, from time-to-time, put it on, on my iPod... But now that I know everyone can see my Scrobbles - what songs I've been listening to, who my favourite artists are, etc - I've been more careful about choosing songs that will show me in a good light, in the eyes of others...
I will listen to an experimental jazz trio, for example, just so people will see the name on my Last.fm profile, and draw the conclusion that I'm an open-minded, intellectual free-thinker... (This, of course, only works with people who've never met me!)
I DO actually like experimental jazz - as much as I like big Rick A - but the point is that I'm picking this music for the wrong reasons... I'm putting what other people think of me, based on what bands I like, or seem to like, above my own, admittedly broad, music tastes... And this will never do!
And this is the social networking effect, from top-to-bottom... I make no bones about the fact that I'm a real social networking whore - with accounts on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Last.fm, 365project, and even Bebo, I'm all over that stuff like a bear on a bicycle...
And with every aspect of your life laid bare, for all to see, on the world wide web, you're naturally going to be thinking about trying to present a good image to all these people whom you assuming are scrutinising your every move, from behind their computers, at their desks in Toronto, or wherever... But you must not compromise yourself, for their sake! And neither must I...
Saturday, 9 January 2010
The Cinema
I haven't seen Avatar... I probably shan't bother to, either...
This isn't because I don't think it'd be any good - on the contrary, I expect it would be amazing - but I simply can't be bothered... What a horrid, lazy, apathetic, bone-idle, layabout-ish attitude!
And yet, it's always the same, with films - "movies" as they are often known... I rarely go to the cinema to see a film - in 2009, I think I went once to the Odeon in Norwich, to see "Slumdog Millionaire" with my sister... It was good, I enjoyed it - thanks for asking...
Truth be told, I'm not sure of the reason for this indifference to the cinema experience... The closest I can come is "I've never liked popcorn" - hardly a worthy justification, is it?
Anyone who knows me will know that I think very little of doing things "on principle" only - it's a incredibly silly habit that too many people get into... So I do not eschew the movies out of principle - purely, as I have said, out of laziness! I know that I'm missing out on seeing a lot of great films, and I'm not that fussed...
Well, wasn't that interesting?
This isn't because I don't think it'd be any good - on the contrary, I expect it would be amazing - but I simply can't be bothered... What a horrid, lazy, apathetic, bone-idle, layabout-ish attitude!
And yet, it's always the same, with films - "movies" as they are often known... I rarely go to the cinema to see a film - in 2009, I think I went once to the Odeon in Norwich, to see "Slumdog Millionaire" with my sister... It was good, I enjoyed it - thanks for asking...
Truth be told, I'm not sure of the reason for this indifference to the cinema experience... The closest I can come is "I've never liked popcorn" - hardly a worthy justification, is it?
Anyone who knows me will know that I think very little of doing things "on principle" only - it's a incredibly silly habit that too many people get into... So I do not eschew the movies out of principle - purely, as I have said, out of laziness! I know that I'm missing out on seeing a lot of great films, and I'm not that fussed...
Well, wasn't that interesting?
Friday, 1 January 2010
Dr Who
I have just watched David Tennant's final outing as "The Doctor"... Apart from the fantastical storyline, it was really quite OK!
I actually quite like David Tennant as an actor... I know he has many, many fans... I would like it, however, if these fans could give the new chap - Matt Smith - a chance... We saw him, briefly - it was about a minute-and-a-half at the end, where he rabbits on about not being ginger... Not, in my opinion, enough to judge him on, really... Already, people are saying that they don't like him? Why? Because he's not David Tennant! Personally, I think it's a shame that David is gone - but I am rational enough to reserve a judgement on the new actor until I've actually seen him acting! I hope everyone else can do the same...
I actually quite like David Tennant as an actor... I know he has many, many fans... I would like it, however, if these fans could give the new chap - Matt Smith - a chance... We saw him, briefly - it was about a minute-and-a-half at the end, where he rabbits on about not being ginger... Not, in my opinion, enough to judge him on, really... Already, people are saying that they don't like him? Why? Because he's not David Tennant! Personally, I think it's a shame that David is gone - but I am rational enough to reserve a judgement on the new actor until I've actually seen him acting! I hope everyone else can do the same...
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