...is full of Eggs!
Sunday, 15 February 2009
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
LAST TWENTY..
No, I'm not giving up smoking (since I never started). Nor down to my last twenty quid (which would be worrying?).
It's that time again. The post of my last twenty mp3's played on MediaMonkey. For what it's worth (well, fills up another post?)
Here it is (if you can't read it, then click the picture to see more detail):
Another strange mix... the OneTwo stuff and the 808 State electronica are fairly obvious choices for me. But those few A-ha tracks surprised me. I burnt a Best Of collection of A-ha when I was last at Sister Polko's house (bad man. home taping is killing music after all?) and when I've listened to them I've been most impressed. I'd go so far as to say that Coldplay must have listened to this CD just before they went into the studio... go on, try them back to back. Strange enough they are very similar with A-ha just slightly ahead of Coldplay given that they have the authentic 80s sound after all.
And this list marks a welcome return for Joan Armatrading on my playlist - I own every album (those big black plastic disc like things.. you remember..?) that the woman from Birmingham has ever released. One of the country's finest songwriters - when you're in the mood for it - but I think it's such a shame that she represents all that is bad with Birmingham. How many bands/singers do you know from there that have stayed? or support it in some way? UB40 are probably the only ones?? rest my case m'lord..
..which brings us neatly to The Twang. This track was played as I was just emailing a friend with a few examples of this bands material (and they may well go out and buy the CD? who says home taping is killing music now?). If you don't know about them - find something and play it. Then buy some. Or ask a friend like me to send you more! Anyway, they are a Birmingham band - not exactly famous or big in the hits list, but brilliant all the same. Check out their info here.
The other things on the list (and this is the house PC not my own work PC or my notebook) reflect a desire to play something different and shock people as to the breadth of my musical appreciation. Has it worked? You tell me.
Oh, it's also nice to see - in a six degrees of separation kind of way - that I'm never more than 20 steps away from a Braintax track too! If you haven't heard of him, then you haven't been born yet - as Jazzie B once said Get A Life... which may well be my next track played..
It's that time again. The post of my last twenty mp3's played on MediaMonkey. For what it's worth (well, fills up another post?)
Here it is (if you can't read it, then click the picture to see more detail):
Another strange mix... the OneTwo stuff and the 808 State electronica are fairly obvious choices for me. But those few A-ha tracks surprised me. I burnt a Best Of collection of A-ha when I was last at Sister Polko's house (bad man. home taping is killing music after all?) and when I've listened to them I've been most impressed. I'd go so far as to say that Coldplay must have listened to this CD just before they went into the studio... go on, try them back to back. Strange enough they are very similar with A-ha just slightly ahead of Coldplay given that they have the authentic 80s sound after all.
And this list marks a welcome return for Joan Armatrading on my playlist - I own every album (those big black plastic disc like things.. you remember..?) that the woman from Birmingham has ever released. One of the country's finest songwriters - when you're in the mood for it - but I think it's such a shame that she represents all that is bad with Birmingham. How many bands/singers do you know from there that have stayed? or support it in some way? UB40 are probably the only ones?? rest my case m'lord..
..which brings us neatly to The Twang. This track was played as I was just emailing a friend with a few examples of this bands material (and they may well go out and buy the CD? who says home taping is killing music now?). If you don't know about them - find something and play it. Then buy some. Or ask a friend like me to send you more! Anyway, they are a Birmingham band - not exactly famous or big in the hits list, but brilliant all the same. Check out their info here.
The other things on the list (and this is the house PC not my own work PC or my notebook) reflect a desire to play something different and shock people as to the breadth of my musical appreciation. Has it worked? You tell me.
Oh, it's also nice to see - in a six degrees of separation kind of way - that I'm never more than 20 steps away from a Braintax track too! If you haven't heard of him, then you haven't been born yet - as Jazzie B once said Get A Life... which may well be my next track played..
Friday, 6 February 2009
THANK CREDIT CRUNCH IT'S FRIDAY
..and so it is. The end of another relatively flat working week. But, at least Polko's got some work to do? Feel more sorry for the investment bankers that are now sat at home twiddling their thumbs. Or don't, as the case may be.
I was sent a bunch of Friday jokes (joke emails are constrained to Friday's in Polko's office - if you send me them any other time of the week, they get binned instantly!). Some are worth setting down in this blog for longevity.
Q: What's the capital of Iceland?
A: About £3.50
Q: Why have estate agents stopped looking out of the window in the morning?
A: Because otherwise they'd have nothing to do in the afternoon
This second one brings me neatly to an observation I made last night. There was nothing on TV, nothing at all. Quite a feat given we have Sky TV and about a zillion channels to choose from. As I flicked through high number channels (don't ask me why we have Sky as we tend to stick to the first 6 channels or so anyway - that way you don't wear out your thumb on the remote?) I noticed two channels called..
Real Estate TV & Real Estate TV+1 (Sky 262 and 263 if you're sad enough to be interested)
Now come on, I know there's been a fair bit of interest in property in the UK in the last five years or so - a lot of it by misguided individuals who call themselves 'property developers' because they've bought or have been left a second house to rent out - they should meet some of my clients. The ones buying up 100+ acre sites or blocks of city and town centres to build billion pound shopping centres and office parks - you know, property developers... get it? I don't think some of you do...
Anyway, I digress. Now, I'm not in TV but if ever there was a flawed business model in the media world it has to be to start a digital TV channel specialising in property, or 'real estate' as they seem to want to call it (it'll never catch on in the UK?), at around the time of peak property prices, over-inflated loan to value deals, rising re-possessions, increasing unemployment/uncertainty in the jobs market and zero liquidity in the financial system?
A quick browse to their website reveals that this so called TV company is just another part of the investment scam that has been driving the market in the past few years - the only real content on there is a search engine for finding property for sale - and this appears to be pretty much tied to major new build developments with explanations such as, "Hot new apartments at Celsius, Bracknell's new landmark development". Who are they trying to kid, £180,000 for a 1 bedroom apartment (and note that's from £180,000). On the old model (3.5 times your salary lending) that would need an income of £51,250 (and I am assuming a 100% mortgage here too). Which first time buyer is going to be earning that then?
Of course, in the real world (away from Real Estate TV's domain) new build developments are full of such stupidity - developers have been paying crazy money per acre for their land, the cost of materials has been rising rapidly and therefore end prices have been on an upwards spiral since 2000. We all know this. Yet, many people have jumped in and bought houses on new developments to try and rent them out and become 'property developers' - thus falling unfairly and squarely into the waiting hands of the real developers who've cashed in, closed out most remaining residential schemes and are sat waiting for the next circus to hit town. If I see it coming down the road I'm sorely tempted to change profession and become a ringmaster. Watch this space.
..and so to finish on a high note, another one of those Friday jokes..
Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling and Peter Mandelson are flying to a world economic summit. Peter looks at Alistair and chuckles: 'You know, I could throw a £50 note out of the window right now and make one person very happy.'
Alistair shrugs his shoulders and says: 'Well, I could throw five £10 notes out of the window and make five people very happy.' Gordon says: 'Of course, but I could throw ten £5 notes out of the window and make ten people very happy.'
The pilot rolls his eyes, looks at all of them, and says: 'I could throw all of you out of the window and make the whole country happy.'
Here. Here.
I was sent a bunch of Friday jokes (joke emails are constrained to Friday's in Polko's office - if you send me them any other time of the week, they get binned instantly!). Some are worth setting down in this blog for longevity.
Q: What's the capital of Iceland?
A: About £3.50
Q: Why have estate agents stopped looking out of the window in the morning?
A: Because otherwise they'd have nothing to do in the afternoon
This second one brings me neatly to an observation I made last night. There was nothing on TV, nothing at all. Quite a feat given we have Sky TV and about a zillion channels to choose from. As I flicked through high number channels (don't ask me why we have Sky as we tend to stick to the first 6 channels or so anyway - that way you don't wear out your thumb on the remote?) I noticed two channels called..
Real Estate TV & Real Estate TV+1 (Sky 262 and 263 if you're sad enough to be interested)
Now come on, I know there's been a fair bit of interest in property in the UK in the last five years or so - a lot of it by misguided individuals who call themselves 'property developers' because they've bought or have been left a second house to rent out - they should meet some of my clients. The ones buying up 100+ acre sites or blocks of city and town centres to build billion pound shopping centres and office parks - you know, property developers... get it? I don't think some of you do...
Anyway, I digress. Now, I'm not in TV but if ever there was a flawed business model in the media world it has to be to start a digital TV channel specialising in property, or 'real estate' as they seem to want to call it (it'll never catch on in the UK?), at around the time of peak property prices, over-inflated loan to value deals, rising re-possessions, increasing unemployment/uncertainty in the jobs market and zero liquidity in the financial system?
A quick browse to their website reveals that this so called TV company is just another part of the investment scam that has been driving the market in the past few years - the only real content on there is a search engine for finding property for sale - and this appears to be pretty much tied to major new build developments with explanations such as, "Hot new apartments at Celsius, Bracknell's new landmark development". Who are they trying to kid, £180,000 for a 1 bedroom apartment (and note that's from £180,000). On the old model (3.5 times your salary lending) that would need an income of £51,250 (and I am assuming a 100% mortgage here too). Which first time buyer is going to be earning that then?
Of course, in the real world (away from Real Estate TV's domain) new build developments are full of such stupidity - developers have been paying crazy money per acre for their land, the cost of materials has been rising rapidly and therefore end prices have been on an upwards spiral since 2000. We all know this. Yet, many people have jumped in and bought houses on new developments to try and rent them out and become 'property developers' - thus falling unfairly and squarely into the waiting hands of the real developers who've cashed in, closed out most remaining residential schemes and are sat waiting for the next circus to hit town. If I see it coming down the road I'm sorely tempted to change profession and become a ringmaster. Watch this space.
..and so to finish on a high note, another one of those Friday jokes..
Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling and Peter Mandelson are flying to a world economic summit. Peter looks at Alistair and chuckles: 'You know, I could throw a £50 note out of the window right now and make one person very happy.'
Alistair shrugs his shoulders and says: 'Well, I could throw five £10 notes out of the window and make five people very happy.' Gordon says: 'Of course, but I could throw ten £5 notes out of the window and make ten people very happy.'
The pilot rolls his eyes, looks at all of them, and says: 'I could throw all of you out of the window and make the whole country happy.'
Here. Here.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
SNOW JOKE
George was thinking how he could have served humanity better had he been born in the Twentieth Century......in the time of Land Rover's and Snowmobiles?
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
POOR PARENTS...
In an interview today the British Schools Secretary Ed Balls suggested that in the face of weather being not as bad as expected some schools could have opened instead of shutting for the day...
The BBC coverage mentions, "Many parents - faced with having to take time off work to care for their children - are puzzled and angry."
Perish the thought that parents should actually be saddled with having their kids and spending time with them playing and relaxing in the snow.. ..instead of parking them in some school or creche while they go out and earn the monthly payment on their new car or sofa or something..
I mean, what were the headteachers thinking not allowing them to get rid of the pesky kids for the day??
The BBC coverage mentions, "Many parents - faced with having to take time off work to care for their children - are puzzled and angry."
Perish the thought that parents should actually be saddled with having their kids and spending time with them playing and relaxing in the snow.. ..instead of parking them in some school or creche while they go out and earn the monthly payment on their new car or sofa or something..
I mean, what were the headteachers thinking not allowing them to get rid of the pesky kids for the day??
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