Yes, folks, yet another week has shot past in the blink of an eye. This Sunday was St Patrick's Day, the day of the year where countless numbers of folks try and kid themselves that they are as Irish as Graham Norton and then attempt to drink so much Guinness that they see little leprechaun's dancing before them on the toilet cistern as they throw it all back up again.
And, so, in honour of that custom, here are ten tracks from Irish folks, with not a Riverdance in sight!
1) Whisky In The Jar - Thin Lizzy
2) Where The Streets Have No Name - U2
3) Generation Sex - The Divine Comedy
4) Mystic Eyes - Them
5) Linger - The Cranberries
6) Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
7) Girl From Mars - Ash
8) Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor
9) Cannonball - Damien Rice
10) Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
There's your ten to track down and listen to. I trust you will enjoy them, and listen to them as you recover from your Guinness-induced hangover on Monday morning!
Until next time dear readers...
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Sunday, 10 March 2013
Monday Mix-tape - 11.03.2013
Another week has passed us by. While I let you get to grips with that bombshell, I will quickly say how I hope you've all been spoiling your mother, or, if you are a mother, your kids have been spoiling you (with help from dad should they not be old enough to reach the hob).
Right, recovered now? This week I've been listening to some classic tunes from that good old rollicking rock band from Manchester, Oasis. And so, this week, I've chosen ten tracks from the albums that were generally not as well received as the first two...
1) Gas Panic! (from Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants)
2) Hung In A Bad Place (from Heathen Chemistry)
3) A Bell Will Ring (from Don't Believe The Truth)
4) Where Did It All Go Wrong? (from Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants)
5) Force Of Nature (from Heathen Chemistry)
6) Mucky Fingers (from Don't Believe The Truth)
7) The Girl In The Dirty Shirt (from Be Here Now)
8) (Waiting For) The Rapture (from Dig Out Your Soul)
9) Be Here Now (from Be Here Now)
10) To Be Where There's Life (from Dig Out Your Soul)
And there you have it - ten little pieces of quality that were hidden amongst a veritable feast of mediocrity. Do enjoy them, and return once more next week...
Right, recovered now? This week I've been listening to some classic tunes from that good old rollicking rock band from Manchester, Oasis. And so, this week, I've chosen ten tracks from the albums that were generally not as well received as the first two...
1) Gas Panic! (from Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants)
2) Hung In A Bad Place (from Heathen Chemistry)
3) A Bell Will Ring (from Don't Believe The Truth)
4) Where Did It All Go Wrong? (from Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants)
5) Force Of Nature (from Heathen Chemistry)
6) Mucky Fingers (from Don't Believe The Truth)
7) The Girl In The Dirty Shirt (from Be Here Now)
8) (Waiting For) The Rapture (from Dig Out Your Soul)
9) Be Here Now (from Be Here Now)
10) To Be Where There's Life (from Dig Out Your Soul)
And there you have it - ten little pieces of quality that were hidden amongst a veritable feast of mediocrity. Do enjoy them, and return once more next week...
Sunday, 3 March 2013
Monday Mix-tape - 04.03.2013
Believe it or not, seven days have passed since last week's posting. That's like a whole week! Now we're into March and almost through a quarter of the year already. Christ on a bike!!
Currently, there don't seem to be enough hours in the day. Not that I'm particularly busy or anything, but I'd just like a few more hours to sleep. And, in keeping with this theme of sleep (or lack of), here are ten tracks for your pleasure...
1) The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight - R.E.M.
2) No Sleep Til Brooklyn - The Beastie Boys
3) Tired Of Hanging Around - The Zutons
4) Tired Of Waiting For You - The Kinks
5) Don't Sleep In The Subway - Petula Clark
6) The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Tight Fit
7) Nice Dream - Radiohead
8) If I Can Dream - Elvis Presley
9) California Dreaming - The Mamas And Papas
10) Insomnia - Faithless
And there you have it. Ten more tracks for you to discover and enjoy. Until next week.
Currently, there don't seem to be enough hours in the day. Not that I'm particularly busy or anything, but I'd just like a few more hours to sleep. And, in keeping with this theme of sleep (or lack of), here are ten tracks for your pleasure...
1) The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight - R.E.M.
2) No Sleep Til Brooklyn - The Beastie Boys
3) Tired Of Hanging Around - The Zutons
4) Tired Of Waiting For You - The Kinks
5) Don't Sleep In The Subway - Petula Clark
6) The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Tight Fit
7) Nice Dream - Radiohead
8) If I Can Dream - Elvis Presley
9) California Dreaming - The Mamas And Papas
10) Insomnia - Faithless
And there you have it. Ten more tracks for you to discover and enjoy. Until next week.
Friday, 1 March 2013
Opinions, Opinions, Opinions
We all have our own opinions on things. Since humans were able to form thought patterns and then articulate them to other humans, we have had opinions. And that's great. The problems come when some people are convinced that others want to hear those opinions, regardless of whether those opinions are offensive, ill-informed and based on nonsense.
Before the Internet, these people had to make do with writing letters to newspapers, or Points Of View (so they could have Terry Wogan, or a random voice artist to read out their drivel). But since the proliferation of the World Wide Web, the opportunities have exploded. Web forums, Comment sections, Blogs (guilty as charged, Your Honour), and Twitter are just a few places allowing us to spew forth our feelings on whatever subject takes our fancy, whether it relates to the subject or not.
As a regular visitor of the BBC website, a web site called www.football-shirts.co.uk, and also a regular Twitter user, I come across quite alot of ridiculous comments by people hiding behind stupid user names pretending to know what they're talking about.
Being most interested in sport, and football in particular, I quite often chuckle as these people argue amongst themselves and descend to childish insults over things which, ultimately, don't matter. The other website is one where people post pictures of new and rumoured football kits, and other people then come and say whether they like it or not. You get the odd logical comment, but mostly it's people ranting about the benefits of one manufacturer against another, which then moves on to the teams, and down from there! For example...
http://www.football-shirts.co.uk/fans/nike-arsenal-yellow-away_18080
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21613783
The BBC makes the grave error of giving these people the opportunity to clog the pages with this rubbish, and there are regular posters claiming to have access to facts and what-have-you to back up their opinion, only for someone else to come along and use other 'facts' to disprove them.
And of course, there is the behemoth that is Twitter. It amazes me that even now, people still haven't realised that a small off-colour remark can cause the greatest of fall-outs and upset. The presence of famous people only serves to increase the nuisance quota. Remember the Tom Daley incident? The fools in the Fabrice Muamba furore? Even when Welsh Football Manager Gary Speed took his own life, there was a number of people who felt it wise to make tasteless, nasty comments about him and his family.
True, these people were reported to police for their vile comments, but the whole thing was made worse by Twitter. The countless re-tweets of the original comments, the trending hashtag, then the returned vitriol of the sane majority. Ultimately, it always ends in the originator making a grovelling apology, blaming various pressures (like the kid who said he only said what he did because he was disappointed that Tom Daley hadn't won a medal - pathetic or what?).
I have seen a few incidents where people have tweeted celebrities and turned to abuse when no reply was forthcoming, or as recently as this week, a chap asked Masterchef eater-extraordinaire and general-all-round-nice guy Gregg Wallace to retweet his charity fundraising event. Now, all Mr Wallace did was to correct the guy on how his name was spelt (note the extra 'G'), and then it descended to abuse from the first chap, and then, as it re-tweeted, and more people got hold of it, the whole thing snowballed into random, unrelated folks inundating Gregg with abuse and pathetic name calling. Then sanity returned, and the messages of support came flooding in. And reading Gregg's tweets, he actually made the effort to reply and thank people for their support (albeit briefly, bless him). And the one thing that people lost sight of was that he hadn't refused to promote the chap's page, just asked him to spell his name right! As a Jonathan, I've seen my name spelt so many different ways (there are so many variables!), but for Gregg, it's an added 'G' - it's not hard, especially when you just have to read his Twitter ID. Ultimately, the grovelling apology came, with the blame laid fully at the feet of Apple and their bloody annoying 'Auto-correct'.
I've tweeted numerous celebrities on various subjects, and rarely if ever have they replied. But, do you know what? I don't care. They're busy people, getting messages from every Tom, Dick and Harry asking for something or other. They can't reply to everyone can they? They'd never get anything done.
So, next time you've got an opinion on something, stop for a moment and think: Does anyone else need to hear what I've got to say? Will the world feel enriched for my wisdom? Or will the Earth stop turning if I don't let it out?!
If the answer is Yes, then you're either misguided, self-involved, or a politician.
If you have anything to say on this subject, feel free to keep it to yourself!!
Before the Internet, these people had to make do with writing letters to newspapers, or Points Of View (so they could have Terry Wogan, or a random voice artist to read out their drivel). But since the proliferation of the World Wide Web, the opportunities have exploded. Web forums, Comment sections, Blogs (guilty as charged, Your Honour), and Twitter are just a few places allowing us to spew forth our feelings on whatever subject takes our fancy, whether it relates to the subject or not.
As a regular visitor of the BBC website, a web site called www.football-shirts.co.uk, and also a regular Twitter user, I come across quite alot of ridiculous comments by people hiding behind stupid user names pretending to know what they're talking about.
Being most interested in sport, and football in particular, I quite often chuckle as these people argue amongst themselves and descend to childish insults over things which, ultimately, don't matter. The other website is one where people post pictures of new and rumoured football kits, and other people then come and say whether they like it or not. You get the odd logical comment, but mostly it's people ranting about the benefits of one manufacturer against another, which then moves on to the teams, and down from there! For example...
http://www.football-shirts.co.uk/fans/nike-arsenal-yellow-away_18080
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21613783
The BBC makes the grave error of giving these people the opportunity to clog the pages with this rubbish, and there are regular posters claiming to have access to facts and what-have-you to back up their opinion, only for someone else to come along and use other 'facts' to disprove them.
And of course, there is the behemoth that is Twitter. It amazes me that even now, people still haven't realised that a small off-colour remark can cause the greatest of fall-outs and upset. The presence of famous people only serves to increase the nuisance quota. Remember the Tom Daley incident? The fools in the Fabrice Muamba furore? Even when Welsh Football Manager Gary Speed took his own life, there was a number of people who felt it wise to make tasteless, nasty comments about him and his family.
True, these people were reported to police for their vile comments, but the whole thing was made worse by Twitter. The countless re-tweets of the original comments, the trending hashtag, then the returned vitriol of the sane majority. Ultimately, it always ends in the originator making a grovelling apology, blaming various pressures (like the kid who said he only said what he did because he was disappointed that Tom Daley hadn't won a medal - pathetic or what?).
I have seen a few incidents where people have tweeted celebrities and turned to abuse when no reply was forthcoming, or as recently as this week, a chap asked Masterchef eater-extraordinaire and general-all-round-nice guy Gregg Wallace to retweet his charity fundraising event. Now, all Mr Wallace did was to correct the guy on how his name was spelt (note the extra 'G'), and then it descended to abuse from the first chap, and then, as it re-tweeted, and more people got hold of it, the whole thing snowballed into random, unrelated folks inundating Gregg with abuse and pathetic name calling. Then sanity returned, and the messages of support came flooding in. And reading Gregg's tweets, he actually made the effort to reply and thank people for their support (albeit briefly, bless him). And the one thing that people lost sight of was that he hadn't refused to promote the chap's page, just asked him to spell his name right! As a Jonathan, I've seen my name spelt so many different ways (there are so many variables!), but for Gregg, it's an added 'G' - it's not hard, especially when you just have to read his Twitter ID. Ultimately, the grovelling apology came, with the blame laid fully at the feet of Apple and their bloody annoying 'Auto-correct'.
I've tweeted numerous celebrities on various subjects, and rarely if ever have they replied. But, do you know what? I don't care. They're busy people, getting messages from every Tom, Dick and Harry asking for something or other. They can't reply to everyone can they? They'd never get anything done.
So, next time you've got an opinion on something, stop for a moment and think: Does anyone else need to hear what I've got to say? Will the world feel enriched for my wisdom? Or will the Earth stop turning if I don't let it out?!
If the answer is Yes, then you're either misguided, self-involved, or a politician.
If you have anything to say on this subject, feel free to keep it to yourself!!
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Monday Mix-tape - 25.02.2013
Welcome back folks! Another week has shot by faster than a bullet from Oscar Pistorious' gun. (That's ok, isn't it? I mean there's been no doubt that he fired the gun, it's more a question of whether he knew who he was shooting at? Well, I'll allow you to put the 'allegedly' where ever you deem necessary.)
This week, I've gone for a number theme, so here are ten tracks containing a number, and no smart-arse comments from me again (I've worked out that I can do the whole thing a hell of a lot quicker if I leave that crap out).
1) 18 With A Bullet - Pete Wingfield
2) 303 - Kula Shaker
3) Song 2 - Blur
4) 4-Day Weekend - The Bluetones
5) 5 Piece Chicken Dinner - The Beastie Boys
6) 78 Stone Wobble - Gomez
7) One After 909 - The Beatles
8) 10th Street - Fun Lovin' Criminals
9) 1973 - James Blunt
10) 19th Nervous Breakdown
And that concludes this weeks offering. I trust you will find them enjoyable (well, most of them at least) and look forward to throwing together another ten for you next week.
Tatty Bye, as Ken Dodd would say!
This week, I've gone for a number theme, so here are ten tracks containing a number, and no smart-arse comments from me again (I've worked out that I can do the whole thing a hell of a lot quicker if I leave that crap out).
1) 18 With A Bullet - Pete Wingfield
2) 303 - Kula Shaker
3) Song 2 - Blur
4) 4-Day Weekend - The Bluetones
5) 5 Piece Chicken Dinner - The Beastie Boys
6) 78 Stone Wobble - Gomez
7) One After 909 - The Beatles
8) 10th Street - Fun Lovin' Criminals
9) 1973 - James Blunt
10) 19th Nervous Breakdown
And that concludes this weeks offering. I trust you will find them enjoyable (well, most of them at least) and look forward to throwing together another ten for you next week.
Tatty Bye, as Ken Dodd would say!
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