Words Dept.: category

I’m quite impressed by the borderline heretical grumblings over at FUC51. Not because I hate the Smiths, New Order or Joy Division (they’re actually three of my favourite bands) but because I hate the idea of living and working in a supposedly creative city that’s obsessed with a musical movement that ended twenty years ago.
Yes, [...]

Hello, all. You may have noticed I haven’t updated this blog for a fair while. This is thanks mainly to a combination of it being Christmas, going on holiday, and having lots of other fabulously exciting things to do.
However, I became conscious that my regular reader would be missing me, so I invited, via the [...]

Although I don’t generally comment on pop music and its purveyors, I couldn’t help but observe the hand-wringing over whether or not, technically speaking, the Sugababes – now that yet another member has quit – actually still “exist”.
What’s apparently happened, in case you don’t read the FT, is that the three original members of the [...]

I’ve got a question. How is it that people who are expressly employed to advise very senior politicians on “political” matters haven’t got the gumption to realise that by typing offensive words into an e-mail, there’s a risk that those words might be made public?
Damian McBride, a “special adviser” to the Prime Minister has been [...]

Just before midnight last night I was looking at the official website of Tony Hart in an attempt to find the theme tune to his 1980s kids show Hart Beat. My aim – ultimately achieved – was to stream it through the stereo in order to prove to friends what a fine piece of electro [...]

As I’ve nothing better to do and 2008 has now definitely finished, I thought I’d provide you with my list of my favourite things from the year just gone. Happy New Year, by the way.
Film
I thought Wall-E was surprisingly deep for a kids film and was also technically flawless. But There Will Be Blood blew [...]

One of the most enlightening pieces of journalism re the Russell Brand/Jonathan Toss incident was when the BBC’s David Sillito solicited the views of people queuing to watch the filming of the Alan Titchmarsh Show and compared them with the views of people queuing to watch Never Mind the Buzzcocks. The former group (old people) [...]

It’s difficult to work out who’s the cheesier – Radio Norwich’s finest Alan Partridge or Oldham station 96.2 The Revolution’s Steve Penk.
The former presenter of ITV’s TV’s Naughtiest Blunders (before he was replaced by, er, a voiceover) Penk has just bought the Revolution, overturning its indie playlist overnight in favour of James Blunt and sparking [...]

I’m thoroughly enjoying Journey to the East, Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn’s animated title sequence for the BBC’s Olympics coverage. Much better than some of the dross that’s actually taking place in Beijing – I mean, really, who wants to watch the Czech Republic win gold in shooting, let alone watch it in high definition, [...]

Following the successful launch of the exciting and dynamic television channel Dave, whose rapidly rising audience share is wholly reliant on endless Top Gear repeats, the bosses of UKTV are at it again.
Having signed the incredibly talented Richard and Judy (Alan Partridge and Lynn) to the network, they have decided the change the name of [...]