Is This Progress? Take That Rip Off Fans .... Or Maybe Not ....

Tomorrow Take That release Progressed , a double CD of eight new songs from the Progress sessions plus the Progress album , which every Take That fan will already have. So you're paying for an album you already have , in order to get the "new" songs.

But take a step back . The album is available for less than ten quid , so eight tracks for ten quid is actually decent value for money , and you can give your copy of Progress away to a friend or whatever or drop it in to Music Magpie and get a quid or so back. You also have the option of downloading the tracks individually , though that will probably cost you around £8!!

Tickets for the gigs are around £50 so really the cost of Progressed is fine, in fact I reckon that fans have been treated more than fairly with Progressed!!

Kindle vs Paper - Round 2

The Pullman books , and The Kindle App on my phone

While I can see the benefits of the Kindle , I stll think that books will be around for a long, long time. I just picked up a couple of beautifully produced editins of "Lyra's Oxford" and "Once Upon a Time in the North" by Philip Pullman. All the text and pictures could easily be incorporated in a Kindle edition, but there is no substitute for the gorgeous books.

Yes I think the Kindle will get stronger and stronger , but still feel it will complement the current book market , not take it over. I will probably get one eventually, but still wouldnt be happy thinking I could lose my book collection if I lost my piece of hardware.

Palinandrism - Is It A Word?

A good friend of mine made a comment using what seemed to be a made up word and got thinking of famous people who often display their idiocy by doing this in the full glare of the public. When you're at school you will often make up words in this way and think you are the first person to think of this . Pter Andre decided he was a genius when he came up with "Insaniac" on reality TV. He  made a single , sold lots of records , so maybe he was. Sarah Palin came up with "refudiate"  and compared herself with Shakespeare  because of it . Well the bard is four hundred years in the ground , and most people would like Sarah Palin to be in the same situation , so again I suppose she is right in a way. See the article here.

Anyway I combined therir names and came up with Palinandrism (noun: Masking your shortcomings in vocabulary by making up words) , putting myself in that group. I'm just wonder if anyone else will start using it. How do words come into being . I know the compilers of the Oxford English Dictionary have something to do with it.

Also my vague IT background exposes me to lots of meaning less names and phrases which generally want you to punch the perpetrator's lights out. "Thinking Outside The Box" , "Obfuscation", "Object Orientation"  and "Blue Sky Thinking" are several that just annoy me , and they are the tip of a large ever growing iceberg (though not sure whether that is the correct metaphor to use. Anyway that's my rant so far....

Coincidentally I Fought The Law

Despite the rubbish organisation , I reallly enjoyed the Evolution Festival , managing s to see Pete Molinari , Mama Rosin , CW Stoneking , Billy Bragg and Iggy and The Stooges , as well as getting some gorgeous pizza and spending time with my good friend Karen , her fun husband Gary , and lively children Natasha and Angus. Anyway between acts I heard a vaguely reggae version of "I Fought The Law" , though not quite reggae.

On Monday I trawled HMV's sale and bought some CDs , one of which was "Great Expectations" by The Jolly Boys. Guess what , it was their version , how much of a coincidence is that, and it only cost me three quid, ridiculous , but a wonderful album. Here's the song in question:



And if you fancy trying HMV go here:

Georgio was Italian and Marilyn Likes Greggs Pasties

Just picked up this months Mojo and was surprised to learn two new facts.

Firstly Marilyn Manson is a fan of Gregg's Pasties !! The purported quote is "What's that place in England , Greggs. They make the best pasties" . Don't know if they get pastie in America , can you imagine Greggs getting Marilyn to advertise . Though the natural projection is Homer Simpson - "Mmmmm Pasties".

The second is that Giorgio Moroder is Italian!! Always assumed he was German with a surname like that, and the fact that he worked out of Munich and was far more influential than the oft namechecked Kraftwerk in the spread of electronic pop music. How influential was Donna Summer's "I Feel Love":



on his own "From Here To Eternity":



And he even did Kiss!!



I rest my case....

Contactless

Contactless Reciept

Pasties on Credit!!

Used my contactless card for the first time today in a McDonalds Drive Thru. It's far too easy and efficient . My god if a Charver got hold of it , he could have a field day , Gregg's , McDonalds Labrini - thi list is luckily limited.

Still worrying you don't have to even sign or PIN anything!!

Heart As Big As Liverpool

Just visited Liverpool for the first time in ten years ,and the place is looking very well , though suffering from a dearth of decent record shops.. Probe is still going in a natty location next to the Bluecoat Chambers. This has given me the excuse to include mine and John Peel's two favourite songs about the place. First up is Pete Wylie's "Heart As Big As Liverpool" , this excellent video would have met with Mr Ravenscrofts Approval I'm sure:
Watch it here
Another one:



2nd is Amsterdam's "Does This Train Stop On Merseyside" , and wonderful song and I've included Ian Prowse' solo rendition at The Anglican Cathedral followed by a documentary about the song. The album is well worth buying as is anything by his previous band Pele!!:



And Here's The Documentary: