that canadian girl

Category: TV & Music

  • The end for allofmp3 in the UK?

    “Britons using bargain music download website allofmp3.com have been warned that they are breaking the law. Record industry trade association the BPI said consumers were breaking UK copyright law because allofmp3.com was not licensed to sell recordings”, say the Beebs and CNet.

    Allofmp3

    Why doesn’t the music industry focus on building a new business model that works in today’s world, rather than try to close down sites that sell illegal music? There will always be ways to acquire music or other entertainment media without paying for it, the music industry just need to make their offering more appealing than the illegal one. At the moment, this isn’t the case; overpriced CDs, DRM mp3s which cause unbelievable headaches when trying to transfer music to your own devices, albums with 2 good songs and a load of rubbish on the rest of it. You catch my drift?

    Services like Allofmp3, Napster, BitTorrent, etc will keep cropping up, and to try and beat them all is like playing Whack-a-Mole, there’s always another one appearing somewhere else! Rather than take away the users’ rights for buying legally[1], the industry needs to give users unique features and treat them well.

    It’s a broken and angry industry, stuck in its old ways. Music will change, with or without them.

    —
    [1] If anyone can find the picture of the insert Sony puts inside CDs to list exceptions where those legally-bought CDs would not play. “Any computer which has burning/ripping devices installed, any Apple Mac computers, some car stereos, DVD players, etc…” That’s the perfect example of taking away legal users’ rights.

  • Saturday: Eurovision Song Contest

    This Saturday will be the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held in Athens, Greece.

    It’s a unique event for so many reasons, but mainly, it’s the one time of the year where each country agrees to making a complete fool of itself for the sake of “music”.

    While Terry Wogan’s classic commentary makes the event slightly less painful, I suggest a drinking game. Let me know if you choose to tune in to the embarrassment that is the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night!

    Hosts

    • Sing
    • Speak in rhyme
    • Gaze into each others eyes — drain glass if they pash

    Singers/Backup Singers

    • Wink at camera
    • Drop to their knees
    • Make a peace sign
    • Sing in language other than English or native tongue (ie. Ukrainian sings Hasta La Vista)
    • Wear a hat – drain glass if wearing horns
    • Flick their hair – drain glass if bald
    • Have a moustache – drain glass if female with moustache
    • Show décolletage – drain glass if wearing a codpiece
    • Rapping – drain glass!

    Dancers/Musicians

    • Mime heavy guitar solo
    • Play an ‘ethnic’ instrument
    • Play piano while standing
    • ‘Ethnic’ dancing – drain glass if Hip Hop dancing
    • Pretend to fight – drain glass if martial arts
    • Contortionist – drain glass!

    General

    • Helicopter shots
    • Sped up or slowed down film
    • Any costume change
    • Any key change
    • Use of props (i.e. candles, ribbons, dummies)
    • Use of fireworks – drain glass if singer catches fire
    • UK gets no points – drain glass if UK catches fire
    • Your country wins – drain glass!

    All credit for this hilarious drinking game goes to Kim Beissel.

  • Lost: Season II, Episodes I & II

    Some “trucker mud” (instant coffee) to keep me awake til midnight: £2
    A Lindor Dark Chocolate bunny leftover from Easter: £3
    Using SkyPlus as intended for the duration of the first 2 episodes of Lost: Priceless!

  • Oooh! Is this Spring?

    I think today, the shadow of the possibility of something resembling Spring may have happened! We had sunlight for more than a couple of hours and while the weather wasn’t exactly warm, it felt much milder and comfortable outside.

    There were talks of pub terrasses, bbqs, reading good books in the garden, and staying up late just because the sun’s up later too.

    So we’ll be changing the clocks this weekend, losing an hour of sunlight in the morning but gaining one in the evening, which should be nice! (Just a shame it means one less hour to sleep…)

    Corinne Bailey RaeSomething else that’s making me feel like Spring is Corinne. (Yes, like you’d pronounce Corinne in French but with the “r” of an English speaker. Simple? Not for Mr. Chris Moyles) Another really rather “easy listening”, Corinne Bailey Rae, from Leeds, is that kind of easy blues-soul that reminds you of floaty summer dresses and evening cocktails in the garden. Not pretentious for two pence, I highly recommend adding the album to your Spring/Summer collection.

    Can’t wait till the Bellini and Sangria season starts, and till we get those BBQs back out from the garage (yeah B-B-Q-with-an-S, we’ve got 3 charcoal BBQs in the garage… don’t ask!) What’s your favourite summer activity? drink? What are you looking forward to most this summer?

  • James Blunt tops US music Billboard

    So it’s happened again. British music manages to sneak its way up the US Billboard, and it turns out to be complete and utter shit music.

    Why can’t it be something better? I mean, I’m not a fan of much of what plays on the radio, but if anything, ship the Arctic Monkeys, KT Tunstall or even (*shudder*) Coldplay over! Anything even vaguely decent has to be better than Mr. Valium himself, James “I once was a soldier but am now a pothead” Blunt.

    A quote from a BBC News article sums up only too well why the US have taken a fancy to James Blunt; “Americans like Brits when they are the musical equivalent of Hugh Grant,” says Mr Needham. “Sensitive, slightly bumbling and a bit posh.”

    I’m siding with Chris Moyles in saying James Blunt’s cd isn’t even worthy of becoming a coaster for my coffee mug (ok, he didn’t say it in those words, but he doesn’t think too highly of the man’s music) but please allow me to present you with an alternative version of the song. Much much better!

  • Superbowl commercials

    I’m not American. I don’t “get” American football. But most of all, I don’t get the Superbowl hype, or the willingness of American enterprises to blow millions on 30-second adverts every year.

    While I do understand that it’s a once-a-year chance to reach a demographic group and hit it hard, it’s still fascinating to see the price paid go up every year. This year, the average cost was $2.5 million per 30 second clip though I’m sure some advertisers paid handsomely more to get the best spots (ie. during the first third when people aren’t getting fidgety yet and taking so many bathroom breaks, food breaks, etc…).

    So if like me, you’re only interested in seeing the ad breaks to see whether Americans managed to pull off anything clever this year, you’ll find the ads on Google Video’s Superbowl page. I haven’t watched them yet, so I’ll come back with feedback once I have!

  • Lloyd Webber to revive Evita

    The Beebs’ Entertainment section brings us horrific news – We all thought Evita, one of the worst musicals of all time, had died a painful, slow death, surrounded by too many dull recitatives and sickeningly repetitive leitmotivs. Unfortunately, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has decided to revive Evita.

    Don’t get me wrong, I am a lover of musicals, and have spent an embarrassing amount of time listening to some of ALW’s other productions. I even gave Evita a good go, both the original musical and the Madonna movie version. And nope, no Rainbow Tour or High Flying Adored for me. I mean, I could still sing about 3/4 of the musical from memory, but that doesn’t mean I *want* my limited brain space to be used up by it!

    her: “Señor Peron?”
    him: “Eva Duarte?”
    them: “I’ve heard so much about you…”

    No, no!!! Make it stop!

    “On this night… on this night of a thousaaaand stars, let me taaake you to heaveeeen’s door, where the music of loooove’s guitars playyyyyyy foreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeverrrrrrrrr moooooooooooooooooooore!”

    *Twitch*

    Ok sorry about that guys, as I was saying, crummy musical, not my cup o tea, not going to see it. “Last year, Evita came in the top 10 in a BBC Radio 2 poll to find the UK’s favourite musicals.” Now that’s disturbing…

    My top 10 Musicals/Broadways:

    1. RENT
    2. Les Miserables
    3. Miss Saigon
    4. Starmania (Berger/Plamondon)
    5. The Life (Cy Coleman)
    6. Chicago
    7. Company (Sondheim)
    8. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
    9. Sunset Boulevard
    10. Phantom of the Opera – Loved it when I was younger, but now it truly grates on my nerves, so it’s only just made the list

    The top 5 are clear winners, the rest is wishy washy and could easily be swapped with other ones like Jesus Christ Superstar, Little Shop of Horrors or Demain Matin, Montreal m’attend, all depending on my mood!

  • I’m Luke, I’m 5 and my dad’s Bruce Lee

    My favourite song of the moment is the JCB Song by Nizlopi. A few Warwickshire boys who recently came out the paintwork and turned out to have produced a good, fun, lighthearted album. Not necessarily the album of the year, but the JCB song is heartwarming, and just soooo adorable.

    It’s got that same folk-pop feel (yuck, I feel dirty using the word “pop” because I associate it to pukingly bad dancey rubbish like Pussycat Dolls and Jessica Simpson, but that’s a topic for later) as Jack Johnson, maybe Rusted Root too (slightly less mental and over-enthusiastic though), with a nice thick layer of English countryside to it.

    Probably nothing new to the Brits (unless you live under a rock), as we’ve all heard this song all holiday season on a fight against Shane Ward, The Pogues and god knows who else for the Christmas number one. Unfortunately, it didn’t win against Shane, the X Factor winner, but it certainly gave it a run for its money.

    Ok, forget anything I’ve said. You can listen to the song, watch the video and doodle on Luke’s notebook right here!!!

  • Like Top Gear?

    Just a little heads up for Top Gear lovers abroad, quite a few videos are available on Google Video now!

    How to get around the Nurburgring in a Transit van, the unavoidable Supercars comparisons, the Lotus Exige vs the Apache helicopter, and everything else.

    Not that they’re ever serious, but if, like me, you couldn’t care less about the actual cars being reviewed, there’s always the clip of Hammond Hamster getting hypnotised by Paul McKenna and forgetting altogether how a car works or how to drive it! A classic Top Gear moment!

  • Le roi et l'oiseau

    I just had a moment of melting childhood softspot when I saw this link to Le roi et l’oiseau on DVD Times on Spyhunter’s blog. It was apparently renamed The King and the Mockingbird in English, but was never subtitled (Good! I hate subtitles – but not half as much as I despise dubbing! Just don’t get me started on that one!)

    I’m sure my sisters remember as well as I do watching this movie around Christmas, with the giant robot who sits on the pile of rubble, thinking about his lost friends. While the story is a bit fuzzy in my mind, I clearly remember the slow-moving story and the scarce dialog. In a way, it was a great way to get some quiet time amidst the crazy (and very noisy) French-Canadian family get togethers.

    Le roi et l'oiseau

    On the note of family get togethers and Christmas parties, I was thinking a few days ago how glad I am that neither my Canadian family or British relatives here have smoking houses. I couldn’t imagine how oppressive a dozen smokers getting together at Christmas would feel, on top of the heavy feeling brought on by too much eating and drinking, by the general noise of having so many people together. Thank Dog for non-smoking houses!