Archive for category General
We’re really mourning the death of the ’80s
Posted by katiesol in General, Self indulgence on March 10th, 2010
You’re a vampire Michael! My own brother a goddamn, shit-sucking vampire. You wait til mom finds out, buddy.
RIP Corey Haim. I feel bad on behalf of everyone expressing grief at your passing who didn’t give two hoots about what you did when you were alive. Me included. Sorry.
Five things I loathe about getting my hair cut
1. Sitting in front of a mirror for an hour
Honestly, if I wanted to make myself puke I’d just stick my fingers down my throat. It’s more humane than making me deconstruct my appearance and all its flaws over the course of an hour, with increasingly ridiculous hair and someone irritatingly good looking flitting in and out of the reflection.
2. Being too short for the appliances
It’s not just the humiliating half hour spent jacking the seat up to its highest point, it’s also the dull ache in my neck after straining to get my head over the sink rest.
3. Hate-hate-hating the haircut but saying you like it
My very inconvenient personality flaw that renders me incapable of saying anything negative to anyone in a position of power means that when the hairdresser shows me the back of my head into which they’ve painstakingly shorn a lightning bolt, I’ll say I love it, pay my fifty hard-earned pounds then go home to cry myself to sleep.
4. Being given a cup of tea but not being able to actually drink it because you’re too nervous to move
Aforementioned personality flaw extends to unauthorised movement whilst in the chair of submission.
5. Paying so much money
Now, don’t get me wrong, I know it’s a skilled profession and there’s no way I’d do even a passable job of cutting anyone’s hair; but since when does every hairdresser in the world get to charge the best part of £50 for a trim? This is why I have to live through the sharp intake of breath every time I visit the hairdresser and answer their suspicious ‘When was the last time you had it cut then?’
[via CoolBrands in pointless exercise debacle
Somewhere out there, there is a list. A list that has been created by an ‘Expert Council’*, taking into account the opinions of over 2,400 members of the British public. A list so extensively researched that it makes your university dissertation look like the scrawl on the back of a napkin. This list will change the fate of humanity. This list has implications further reaching than any you could imagine.
It is <dum dum duuuuuuuuum> THE COOL LIST.
/anticlimax.
So, what’s cool this year then? The iPhone has taken the top spot, followed by Aston Martin, Apple, iPod, Nintendo, YouTube, Blackberry, Google, Bang & Olufsen and Playstation.
But does the fact that a handful of celebs, media-types and common people think that iPhones, Aston Martins, Nintendo and YouTube are ‘cool’ make them any better? If you make a call on your Apple iPhone from your Aston Martin to talk about Nintendo then watch the whole shebang back later on YouTube**, does that make you the coolest person alive?
No. It doesn’t. It doesn’t make you anything, other than fairly wealthy or possibly a criminal if that isn’t your Aston.
Possibly the coolest image known to man
I have an iPhone, did you know that? I might not have mentioned it before; I like to keep it on the DL. I’m quite fond of my little iPhone. I like having Twitter with me everywhere I go, and the general shinyness pleases me. I enjoy pawing at the screen, swiping my way from page to page even when the app I want is right there on the home screen. So yeah, I think it’s pretty cool.
But hearing that the ‘Expert Council’ and over 2,400 Brits agree, and that the iPhone is the ‘Coolest Brand’ turns me right off. By ‘winning’ this ‘accolade’, my iPhone has actually lost ‘coolness’. I think slightly less of it now. I don’t think that’s quite the effect they were going for, to be honest.
It’s pretty clear from the number of quote marks in this post that I think the whole exercise is utterly ridiculous. And that’s without even mentioning the fact that this repeated use of the word ‘Cool’ makes it all sound like a Dad trying to impress his teenage daughter’s friends.
*One of these ‘experts’ is Edith Bowman. So… that pretty much sets the bar to low.
**Also, in what universe is YouTube cooler than Vimeo?
While I was away
I did not tan.
Apple approved the Spotify iPhone app - oh happy day/oh crap now I have to fork out for a premium Spotify account.
Big Brother walked spanish.
I fell a little bit in love with Hal Incandenza. But now I’m stuck in the longest footnote ever and may require magnifying glasses to get out.
Shiny Media, sans rubbish puns
The sad news broke last week that Shiny Media has gone into administration. All sorts of heinous crap has been shot* about this in the last few days. I won’t link to the gossip-loving drama fiends but suffice to say that plenty of gratuitous, self-serving rubbish has been spewed by people who are in no way involved and know next to nothing about the situation but are paid to write well-timed controversial posts as traffic and comment bait.
I think I’ll be avoiding that particular blog from now on. Likewise that other blog.
All the online drama aside, whilst the news was in no way a surprise, I was pretty sad about the whole Shiny meltdown. I’ve been a reader/viewer of TechDigest and ShinyShiny for a long time, and during my forays into PR everyone I’ve spoken to on both sites has been jolly nice. I used to envy the working environment of the Twitter-based Shinies before they all left/got laid off because they all seemed to really enjoy working there, and I’ll still seek out their work now because I know I’ll enjoy reading it.
It was exciting to know there was a company like Shiny Media out there – founded and run by people a lot like me. Not only was it young and vibrant, it also gave off the impression that should one feel that way inclined, one could possibly do something similar. Not to undermine the talent and hard work that the founders put in, obviously you have to have something a bit more special than just a laptop and a brain to make it work even for a short time. But at the very least its existence was sort of (oh god, this is going to sound so gushing and lame… forgive me) inspirational.
And, on a wholly selfish note as someone who would one day like to write words about stuff for a living, it’s one less entry route. What with there being a major job-drought in the writing arena and Shiny being famed for their willingness to take someone on based on the brilliance of their personal blog (I’d be a shoe-in on that front, yeah?) rather than academic or actual journalist-ing experience, it’s a blow to all us experience-less would-be pros.
The loss of the company aside, I sincerely hope that all the freelancers and employees find work they enjoy to replace it - and find it soon; check out this wonderfully positive blog post for more informed info on the full-time staffers.
*the other notable thing about this week being that I’ve been re-reading Catcher in the Rye
Exert myself physically? No thanks!
Posted by katiesol in General, Terrifying times on July 26th, 2009
When I first heard about ultramarathons (as run by favourite author Haruki Murakami) I thought that was it. I’d found the sporting event in which I’d least like to partake. After all, I’d find it difficult to summon up the motivation to run away from a burning building and that’s with mortal fear spurring me on. The idea of running 100km at all - let alone in one day - is just about enough to put me off ever leaving my sofa again. But today I discovered a race I’d like to participate in even less: the Death Race.
The Death Race is an uber-assault course which takes place in Vermont. Name aside, with a website address like youmaydie.com and a waiver to sign stating the same, you know you’re in for some hardcore physical activity. Tasks have to be completed within 24 hours and can range from chopping logs to help out a local farmer, to crawling through barbed wire and stinging nettles for the fun of it. But that’s not all; there’s a psychological beating to take too. Mind games and memory tests run alongside the harrowing physical trials to make it the ultimate in unpleasant experiences.
I have no idea what it is that makes people ready and willing to take up a challenge like that. I mean, I could give it a good guess – for the glory, a bet or even just to see if you can – but I’ll never know that strength of feeling that actually compels you to sign up, train up and show up. It’s not that I don’t trust my body to crack on and get the job done (after some fairly hefty training since I’m the least-fit person I know), it’s the fact that I just don’t want to.
I can sort of see why you would do it – in the same way that that I can appreciate how amazing it would be to conquer a mountain, trek across a dessert or jump out of a plane – but I know I’ll never get my head or my heart into the right place to actually physically commit to it. And should the unimaginable occur and you find me giving it a go, I’d be the character in the film that succumbs to failure first. Yep, it’s a pretty depressing thing to admit that if you were in Jurassic Park you’d be the guy who gets eaten whilst hiding in the toilets, but that’s me.
So I’m pretty much in awe of anyone who takes part in the Death Race. Regardless of how far you get and how fast, to simply get yourself there is feat enough for me. Kudos indeed to anyone who makes it all the way through without giving up – mega kudos to those who complete the course in the allotted timeframe. But awe-filled hat tips to all those who set out and fall short; I might not be able to feel your motivation but I can certainly feel your pain.
Read ‘Accidental adventurer’ from the Guardian’s Sport Magazine for insights from this year’s joint-winner.
The inevitable Michael Jackson post
Posted by katiesol in General, Self indulgence on June 27th, 2009
After the is-he-isn’t-he drama, the shock of it actually being true and a day of jokes tasteless or otherwise, I realised today that Michael Jackson actually* died. I’ve read the entire Guardian MJ tribute edition cover to cover, I’ve got Thriller on and I’ve been seeking out internet grief; needless to say, I’m feeling gloomy. And soz, I’m going to do that annoying ‘feel-it share-it’ thing that the internet compels us all to do.
I was born in the ’80s [thanks, Calvin Harris, but this really isn't the time] so Michael Jackson has been a household name my whole life. 1984 wasn’t solely notable for my birth, it was also the year that Jacko’s hair caught fire whilst filming an advert and the term ‘Wacko Jacko’ was coined in response to news that he slept in an oxygen tent and wanted to buy the Elephant Man’s remains. Such is the nature of cultural memory that I feel as though I remember all that happening.
What I really remember, though, is being obsessed with Dangerous with it’s weird, opulent cover art and Macaulay Culkin cameos. It was one of the staple soundtracks to epic NES sessions with my older sister. I remember loving Earth Song more than any song I’d heard before, dancing around the living room filled with passion for saving the planet and spreading the love through the power of pop (thank the lord there’s no video footage of this).
I remember Pepsi adverts taped on VHS in the ad breaks of Disney films and watching them again and again and again. I remember my first day at my gymnastics club, thinking it was the single greatest place on earth because one of the warm-ups was done to Bad. I remember that hat, white socks with black shoes, the glitter, the glitz, those iconic dance moves.
So yeah, I am sad that Michael Jackson has died. But I feel weirdly detached from the sorrow that the rest of the world seems to be feeling. I can’t get on board with lighting candles, moonwalking flashmobs or the gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair. I don’t think there’s any celebrity whose illness or untimely demise would compel me to camp outside their hospital. Why is that? After all, it took me ages to stop being bothered about Heath Ledger’s death and I even shed a tear over Steve Irwin, and neither of them had half as much impact on my life.
It’s really sad that someone has died - and died young. That man has children, parents, siblings, friends. He had fans and unfinished business and plans for the future. But that man isn’t the man I remember from my childhood. The Michael Jackson I cared about hasn’t been around for a really long time, and that’s why I feel really sad without feeling any real loss.
So here’s to that Michael Jackson. Thanks for being a part of my childhood Jacko.
*conspiracy theories aside, you nuts
Whales, on the other hand…
…are brilliant. They can stay. It seems that whale watching now generates far more money than whale hunting (according to the International Whaling Commission) , which is as good a reason as any to turn those hunting ships into massive whale watching cruisers.
Also, if you go whale watching with someone who gets seasick easily there is much ‘fluking up‘ punning fun to be had.
Via BBC online
Do we really need music charts?
The Official UK Charts Company (which, presumably, feels we do so need music charts) has finally deigned that the UK’s charts should take streamed music into account - but still not for another year at least, according to this report from the BBC.
Talk about playing catch-up. Services like Spotify and We7 may have taken off in a big way over the last six months, but streaming music via sites like Last.fm, MySpace and other music-minded social networks is nothing new.
Official Charts Company managing director Martin Talbot told the BBC:
The charts have always been there as a popularity poll, as a means of identifying what are the hottest records of the moment. That’s been relatively simple when people have bought stuff to keep forever. But that’s going to become increasingly more complicated.
If the point of having charts is to show what’s popular, what people are listening to and give an indication of the general music zeitgeist in the UK, then ignoring music that is streamed makes them completely redundant. Complicated or not, seeing as charting music in the UK is the Official UK Charts Company’s raison d’être then they should get on it.
Ever since those heady Napster days, the internet has meant that we have access to a wider variety of music than ever before and release dates are nigh on pointless. You have to wonder if we really need the charts at all; how many people could really tell you what was number one now or what has been at any point in the past year without Googling it? If you want to find new music do you rush to check the charts, or do you use online services or consult friendship networks either online or off?
I’m not debating the fact that people do buy singles - in fact, single sales appear to be at an all time high although 98% of sales are digital - but in my case, single sales are sporadic at best. I couldn’t tell you what the last single song I downloaded was. That’s one of the major problems with singles charts - they only reflect what’s popular amongst people who buy singles.
I remember when there was genuine suspense and excitement around who would top the charts - including streamed music could be a way of getting that back, although I’m willing to concede that my age and music tastes may have had a part to play in the excitement. But I really feel that counting streamed music alongside paid-for could revolutionise and revitalise the British music charts - it could be brilliant. I hope it is, because in that case I’d be absolutely on board with the UK having a music chart. But as it stands I can’t help but feel there’s really no need at all.
Image via Suanie’s Flickr stream