There will now follow a short intermission. Posts here will be light-to-minimal for the next few days. Something approximating normal service will resume in a few days, or when we've worked out just what normal is anyway.

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posted 30 Jan 2006, 17.55 +0000

Lahore, 13-17 Jan Pakistan 679 for 7 dec (Younis 199, Yousuf 173, Afridi 103, Akmal 102*) drew with India 410 for 1 (Sehwag 254, Dravid 128*). Highlight here was India's attempt to secure the highest opening partnership ever; in a match where almost two days was lost by bad weather, there was no highlight.

Faisalabad, 21-25 Jan Pakistan 588 (Afridi 156, ul-Haq 119) & 480 (Younis 194, Yousef 126) drew with India 603 (Dhoni 144, Dravid 103) & 21-0. Another test, another high-scoring game with no prospect of a result. A record 27 sixes were scored in the match.

Karachi, 29 Jan - 1 Feb Pakistan 245 (Pathan 5/61, Akmal 113) & 599-7d (Iqbal 139, Yousef 97, Razzaq 90) beat India 238 (Asif 4/78) & 265 Yuvraj 122, Razzaq 4/88) by 341 runs. The first over saw Indian bowler Pathan take a hat-trick. The rest of the match was Pakistan's, as the batsmen pulled the innings to respectability, then bowled India out cheaply. The speed and efficiency of Pakistan's second innings was ruthless, and their bowling to India second time around was equally vicious.

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posted 02 Feb 2006, 18.52 +0000

Now here's a blast from the past, the Friday Five One Day Late!

1. Any plans to watch the Super Bowl? Hmm, whoever wrote these questions seems to be incapable of spelling "six nations". I shall be watching some of the matches, but not all.

2. Friday or Saturday: Which is a better date night? Well, all nights have dates. If it's umming, I'd prefer Saturday.

3. Do you do anything special on the weekends that you don't do during the week? Not working hard is good enough for me.

4. Where do you get your news from? Hard news comes from BBC radio, national and local; Ceefax; websites of Het Grauniad and the CBC. Arts news has more diverse sources, including the Independent and a number of commentators.

5. Kevin, Norm, Colin, Jimmy, Tina or Amy? I knew there was a reason why I hadn't done this in a long time.

More Friday Five one day. Perhaps.

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posted 04 Feb 2006, 11.05 +0000

Now, what's been happening during my absence?

* At least 66 people were killed when the roof of an exhibition hall collapsed in southern Poland. Another roof, this time in Germany, caved in under the pressure of snow last month, and a tunnel in Buckinghamshire collapsed under rain last June. What does this tell us about modern architecture designs?

* Over 1000 are dead after a ferry sunk on the short journey between Saudi-arabia and Egypt. Early reports suggest that there was some sort of fire on board, and some reckon there weren't enough lifeboats on board.

* The British government suffered a defeat on its controversial proposals to ban free speech in the name of religious tolerance. Two opposition amendments, effectively wrecking the legislation, were adopted by narrow margins. In one case, the majority was one, and the member for Sedgefield (A. R. P. Blair) was allowed not to vote. Chief whip Hillary "Crybaby" Armstrong is not expected to survive the next re-shuffle, expected as soon as last month.

* The second Gomery report has been published. Amongst the recommendations of the inquiry into a sponsorship scandal are: open and competitive tendering; making it easier to fire incompetent managers; better protection for whistleblowers; and ensuring that all government decisions are properly documented.

There's a comparison against the Hutton report two years ago; both inquiries centred on the protection afforded to whistleblowers, and expanded to review the style of governance. Unlike Mr Gomery, Mr Hutton went into his inquiry with a closed mind, and only heard the evidence that would support his prejudices.

* There's a growing diplomatic incident after troops fired on Canadian diplomats in occupied Baghdad.

* Wasn't there meant to be a cabinet reshuffle this week? No? Oh. R Kelly is not pregnant, says the Department for Examinations, but Mrs Blair is.

* And there's been a brew-ha-ha over some cartoons in the Danish press. Feels like an excuse for the western media to rant on about how "intolerant" these easteners are. It's like saying Dr Paisley or Jerry Failwell is a spokesperson for all of christianity.

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posted 04 Feb 2006, 11.30 +0000

Last week's Gilmore Girls

Good things about last week's Gilmore Girls:

* Lorelai singing "Wind beneath my wings".

* Jess and Caesar re-enacting the "Swedish Made Simple" sketch, without even realising they were doing it. "V. F. N. 10. E. M." "A.? U. F. N. 10. E. M.?!

* The penny candy costs a dollar. Or, at the current exchange rate, one penny.

* The seventh-day-adventists getting kicked out by the jews. Religious satire at its finest, and something the Mighty-big-tv recapper completely missed, in spite of all the clues being in the episode.

* The marching band entering at just that moment.

* Having a coffin take a walk around the town square. A great way to piss people off. Must remember this one.

* Luke proving that he is not an amoeba. Hurrah!

Things I don't understand about LWGG: Why Dave Rajalski has dumped that nice Lane Kim in favour of the vacuous Summer O'Theoc. I reckon he was driven mad by Mrs Kim's endless literary allusions and obsessive wood-crafting.

Two more episodes, then I have to find something else to do of a Sunday evening.

Hit for six

Smash Hits magazine is to close after 28 years. Owners EMAP put the blame upon a changing media landscape, and their target audience now gets the information from elsewhere.

This just shows the narrowness of EMAP's view. Back in the 1980s, Smash Hits was a witty general music magazine, as comfortable discussing Morten Harket's bracelets as talking about Bruce Dickinson's fencing career, or having running jokes about Treasure Hunt and picnic tables.

Somewhere around 1989, at the peak of Stock-Aitken-Waterman-mania, Smash Hits hitched its wagon to the teeny-pop boom, appealing exclusively to the 10-14 female market. (OK, and the twentysomething gay male market.) This was error number one.

In spite of the bias towards pop, ver Hits still reflected the glossier part of youth culture. Just the other night, I came across a copy from May 1995, featuring a huge Oasis poster, and a four-page interview promoting Antan Dec's BBC comedy series. Somewhere around 1997, the Hits lost touch, and became a mouthpiece for the pop stars of the era. This was error number two.

There weren't that many interesting pop stars in the early 90s, but this wasn't a problem for the swift journalistic wits of the time. There aren't that many interesting pop stars now, and apparently that's a fatal problem. In Het Grauniad, Alex Petridis reckons that much of the blame is down to the blandness of the modern pop star. There's a lot of merit in this argument - would Dougie McFly be able to tell anyone why Wednesdays are green - but it misses the fatal mistake.

Smash Hits should never have been a pure pop magazine. It needs to be a more eclectic mag, something that doesn't rely on a microscopically small market. And who decided the editorial focus if not EMAP.

So yeah. Well done, EMAP, shooting yourselves in the feet. Again.

Question or muckinate?

Two weeks' worth of Question Muck to take notes on. The 26 Jan edition came from Basingstoke, and featured John Redwood sat next to Simon Hughes. Which, if we're to believe the gossip from the mid-90s, would make for an interesting pairing. Neither sparkled. Zack Goldsmith of The Ecologist was worth his fee, the winner was the young sabre-rattler Claire Fox from the Institute of Ideas. There's no clear philosophy behind her approach, it's utterly pragmatic, and that does tend to appeal. Valerie Amos was the government's representative on the panel, she was depressingly on-message, and wound up the muckiest of all.

2 Feb saw the team go to Aberystwyth. The loser was obvious - Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister of Wales (the devolved equivalent of the PM) refused point-blank to answer a question about the Iraq war. It's not so much that he addressed a different question - panellists do it all the time, and not many people fire off their muck for that offence - but the way he washed his hands of the whole affair.

Somewhat harder to pick a winner, none of the other panellists was particularly impressive. However! Hunkstrel Adam Rickett (yes, that Adam Rickett) was on the show. Ten years ago, he was on every teenage girl's wall, showing off his perfectly-formed chest and somewhat overdressed in nothing more than a pair of jeans. Now, he's appearing with David Bumblebee and a host of no-hopers. And he's still terribly overdressed. But this is the wrong sort of muck.

What's next? Mark Owen discussing the intracacies of the Iran crisis? Patsy Palmer saying what she thinks on the pros and cons of open immigration? The bland one out of Westlife offering an opinion on - well, anything?

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posted 05 Feb 2006, 14.20 +0000

Another week, another new number one in France. Nolween Ohjo! is the release from Nolween Leroy, one of the contenders on the recent Star Academy programme. Her single is intriguing on first listen, very strange, but quite nice. Normal service resumes in Latvia, where Prata Vetra (that's Brainstorm to the rest of the world) put Lapsa to the top. Most interesting idea is I belong to you, a duet between top Italian popstar Eros Ramazzotti and leading popstrel Anastacia. Bet it won't come out over here.

 20 re Tatu - All about us
 19 16 Melanie C - First day of my life
 18 15 Franz Ferdinand - Walk away
*17 NE Pati Yang - All that is thirst
 16 12 Black Eyed Peas - My humps
*15 17 Depeche Mode - A pain that I'm used to
 14 13 Juanes - La camisa negra
 13 re Arctic Monkeys - I bet you look good...
 12 20 Kent - The hjarta and smarta ep
*11 14 Bob Sinclar - Love generation
 10  9 Mattafix - Big city life
  9  7 James Blunt - Ubiquitous
* 8 11 James Blunt - Goodbye my lover
* 7  8 Arctic Monkeys - When the sun goes down
  6  5 Sugababes - Push the button
  5  3 Tina Arena - Aimer jusqu'a l'impossible
* 4  6 Coldplay - Talk
  3  1 Madonna - Hung up
* 2  4 Sugababes - Ugly
* 1  2 Kelly Clarkson - Because of you

Two weeks at number one for the Notorious BIG, then, holding off a new entry from Chris Brown, whoever he is. The Ordinary Boys climb from 9 to 3, and may be about to break the record for longest climb to the top. A previous holder of that mark, Dead or Alive's You spin me round comes back in at position 5; on original release in 1984-5, it took 16 weeks to work its way up the listings. Just missing the top ten: Ashley Simpson, 29 New Pence, and Lee Ryan. Jesse McCartney's rather decent Beautiful soul and Bon Jovi's less decent record also grace the top 20. Fall Out Boy climb from 37 to 24, the physical single is re-released next week. The Go Team have their first top 40 career, with Ladyflash in at 26 - the group sounds like 2001 mashup wonders the Avalanches, and I'm sure that the vocal sting on the Go's single is from Since I left you.

Two weeks atop the albums chart for the Arctic Monkeys, with Richard Ashcroft and James Blunt rounding out the medal positions. Indeed, only Jose Gonzalez (7) and Kelly Clarkson (10) are non-Brits in the top end of the chart. The Ordinary Boys are really reaping the success of Celeb BB, the album's up to 11. Highest New Entry honours go to Michael Buble at 25.

Here's the good stuff on the singles listing:

 5 re Dead or Alive - You spin me round
 8  2 Arctic Monkeys - When the sun goes down
12 NE Ashley Simpson - Boyfriend
16 17 Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats
17 NE Jesse McCartney - Beautiful soul
20 10 A-ha - Analogue
24 37 Fall Out Boy - Sugar we're going down
26 NE Go Team - Ladyflash
27 20 Sugababes - Ugly
28 25 Kelly Clarkson - Because of you
31 21 DHT - Listen to your heart
33 22 Arctic Monkeys
- I bet you look good on the dancefloor
38 NE Mogwai - Friend of the night
39 24 Editors - Munich
 (posns below 40 follow later)
42 38 Boys Aloud - I predicate a riot
43 24 Starsailor - This time
44 NE Beth Orton - Conceived
47 45 Sugababes - Push the button
50 39 Kooks - You don't love me
51 29 Son of Dork - Eddie's song
54 33 Belle and Sebastian - Funny little frog
68 63 Kelly Clarkson - Since you've been gone

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posted 05 Feb 2006, 14.37 +0000

Another cold and settled week, warming up through the week-end.

30 Mo cloud                2/ 4
31 Tu cloud to sun         2/ 5
01 We cloudy, fog          1/ 1
02 Th fog                 -3/-1
03 Fr fog                 -2/ 2
04 Sa cloud                2/ 8
05 Su cloud                5/ 9

The temperature fell below freezing around 10am Wednesday, and didn't rise above until late Friday afternoon, when warmer air from the SW began to feed through. 51½ degree heating days this week, slightly below last week's total. The winter's total goes to 487½, well above the score at this point last year 369½/677½. The current figure was achieved on 25 Feb last year, a figure that has slipped down by a day against last week.

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posted 05 Feb 2006, 19.15 +0000

older writing... write to