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November 24 Amazing - thanks to Mr. Paul Cecchi for finding this. Young upstarts in Electronica take note...
November 12 Over the years Anthony and I have scoured the internet looking for this ad.
No-one remembers it apart from us it would seem and we could never find it.
Until now.
Chapeau Bennett. Chapeau.
So that's it - I ran my first marathon - 4hours and 40minutes. What a strange experience it was. First thing to note is that I should have done more long runs - I found kms 30-40 quite bloody hard. Second thing to note is that it is a bloody long way, and the battle is significantly mental as well as physical. The first 25km went like a dream. My half way time was 2.15 - on for the 4.30 that I secretly wanted. Then some pesky hills turned up round about Cap D'Antibes which put paid to my steady progress. I got my 'shit' back together round about km 35 but the damage was done. Still, very proud to have done it and not all together ashamed of my time. The marathon runs from Nice to Cannes and takes in some pretty amazing parts of the Cote D'Azur. It's a very beautiful place and I can certainly see what all the fuss is about. I ran this with my old chum Anthony Riley. He had a flu/cold for 2 weeks beforehand and so was sadly not in the best shape. He finished slightly behind me, but if I had been in his shoes I'm not sure I would have even finished: which is testament to the kind of man he is. We had one exceptional dinner whilst we were out there (Oy, how expensive is Continental Europe with the €uro as strong as it is against the £?) - http://www.keisukematsushima.com/en/info.html where Mr. and Mrs. Riley (for she joined us as 'support') and I plumped for the tasting menu with accompanying wines. AMAZING. Quote of the evening has to be from Anthony: "This Sea Bass carpaccio will change your religious beliefs." - cleverly combining middle class snobbery with "Carlito's Way": no mean feat. Luckily I was sufficiently drunk to not remember how much I paid, but I assume it was horrendously expensive... I returned from Nice sore and oh-so-stiff but happy. Strangely enough I think I shall run again (I had kinda assumed, as is often the case with me, that once I had run this all interest, aspiration and dedication would fly South, but I think I will continue). In the mean time (deh-deh-deh) I think I shall give myself a week off... October 22 Strangely compelling ad. from Thailand. Quirky & charming it tells
the true story of Mae Toi. Touching (but then it's meant to be, to sell
policies, right?)
October 21 ...is not something to be taken lightly. I figure I have done the bare minimum and have not done nearly enough runs round about the 20 mile mark (most I have done is 16). However I have stuck at it and run 3 or 4 times a week for most of the 16 week period (apart from when I had flu). I'm in the home stretch now: just over 3 weeks to go until me and Dave start pounding tarmac in Nice - I feel excited, nervous, but in control.
On another note today is Andrew James Griffin's 37th birthday. I have a real problem with 37 (my ripe old age has not really bothered me until now...) but 37 is old: it's nearly middle-aged ferchrissakes...
More on that as I approach the dreaded 37...
September 02 Last Sunday I started to feel ropey. By lunctime I had flu-like symptoms. I slept, popped paracetemol and hit Get Loaded on Clapham Common http://www.getloadedinthepark.com/ (I got there late AND feeling like shit) so missed half of it. Great. Turns out it was a foolish thing to have done. I was home by 11 feeling incredibly bad.
There then followed 36 hours of really bad flu: shivering, sweating, muscular pains, a pair of tonsils nearly poking out of my mouth: the works.
By Tuesday I was feeling more human. The fever had certainly subsided and I just felt super weak.
Today (Wednesday) I have felt lethargic, but very few aches and pains. Apart from a pair of tonsils as big as plums and covered in pus I am, I would say, 80%.
So... Swine flu (if indeed it WAS that...): the first 48 hours are a real bitch, after that it is just knackering, and quite frankly? Boring.
Oink oink my good man...
August 26 Sophie Ellis-Bextor came onto my radar (as I imagine she did with most people) when she sung on the Spiller song "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" back in the super-early noughties. I liked the song, more for the laid-back disco vibe than anything else.
I guess I never gave her a second thought until I started to hear (and like) her hits "Take me home", "Music gets the best of me" and "Murder on the dancefloor". Naturally I purchased her first album "Read my lips", listened to it a few times (more background music than anything else), but none the less enjoyable ditties...
Her next album (I had to look this up) "Shoot from the hip" did not even make my radar, and so I assumed that was that: a typical short term romance with a relatively talented pop star. No news there.
However, in 2007 her songs "Catch you" and "Me and my imagination" forced me to revisit the moon-faced one. I purchased her 3rd album "Trip the light fantastic" and although I have not listened to it that much, it remains an accomplished Pop album.
She's done some new stuff with Calvin Harris, which will not doubt guarantee her some high-profile gigs/success.
Although she is an attractive lady, and sometimes looks thoroughly stunning, she will be DEVASTATED to learn I do not find her attractive.
We wish her well with her 2009 projects and beyond, as she is apparently a thoroughly pleasant lass (a friend of a friend sat next to her and her family on holiday recently and said she was utterly charming).
August 13 It was a long time since I last attempted a good old 'jump up' in Barbdos.
Luckily for me I was joined by Princey, Lucky Pierre and Ham & Cheese for a day of rum-soaked debauchery 'pon de Spring Garden Highway.
To be honest I remember very little of it past 15:00 (Yes, we started too early...) and I ended up being 'daggered' by some very exuberant ladies before having to retire and 'rest' on the beach.
By the time I awoke it was 18:00, the party was in full swing, the others had gone home and I still felt a little woozy on my way home.
Many songs are popular at Cropover 2009 - but my favourite remains "Chow Mein" by The Chinese Connection. Not overtly racist in the slightest. Oh no.
"...and may your first child, be a masculine child..."
Or not in the case of my dear friend Marcello Cedrola who, this week, with some help from his wife Paola, gave birth to 2 twin girls.
As he says, the photo sums just about everything up...
Major Lazer looks very good... here's what normal people would say about it:
That said, there is nothing wrong with 'Pon The Floor - we could all do with a little dance like this from time to time.
August 07
The quotes alone from "Uncle Buck" and "Trains Planes & Automobiles", "European Vacation" form an every day part of my conversation... let alone "Weird Science", "The Great Outdoors" & "Christmas Vacation".
I felt sad when John Candy died in the mid-90s (1994?), and this is another one: people that made your teen years that much more fun dying... I suppose it makes me think how we are all moving on... I wonder if Chevy Chase will go to his funeral?
August 06
If "The Dirty Digger" really does do this then I wonder how we will follow. The hybrid model of FT.com has seemed a sensible option for some time... June 16 Karen Stephenson was very kind enough to think of me when her boyfriend discovered he could not attend.
I am pleased she did.
First night highlights were The Ting Tings, Basement Jaxx and The Prodigy. All were excellent. Basement Jaxx always put on a good show but props to The Prodge who were delightfully over the top and loud as fook.
Second day wasn't really my bag: Razorlight and The Stereophonics headlined. The 'Phonics were better than expected, but highlight was certainly McFly in the Big Top Tent (where "lesser" bands perform). However, my enjoyment may have been highlighted by too much bourbon.
Third day was all about The Pixies. Goldie Lookin' Chain were brilliant, Simple Minds were not and sadly I was not to see The Pixies. The ferry was booked for 2030, they were on at 1930. I left the field to the sounds of "Debaser". Life's really not fair...
May 26 Luciano Ligabue is the only Italian musical artist I honestly like. Sure, it's old re-hashed Cod-Rock, but he does it with heart, and back in 1991 when I had moved to Italy, and was listening to Pixies and Cardiacs (with a nice dose of West Coast rap thrown in) this was the only music that I could possibly nod my head to. 99% of popular Italian songs are love songs - or at least they were in the late 80s/early 90s. Nowadays it is a bit different and groups like Ligabue, Litfiba and even Giovanotti were responsible for making Italian popular music a bit "harder" / less sloppy... Anyway, I digress: nearly 20 years after my introduction to "Liga" (courtesy of Giampiero Piscitelli and Enrico Lucci) there I was at the HMV Forum in bastard North London "rocking out" with 2 Italian chicks... whodathoughtit??!! They played for pretty much 2 hours, some great songs that encapsulated almost 20 years of work, and it was testament to his continued quality of output (not that I am really aware of it anymore) that people in their 20s, 30s and 40s were there. A great spectacle and he certainly has something of "The Springsteen" about him, in that he is nearly 50 but somehow keeps on rockin' without looking ridiculous. Great fun at the "wrong" end of the Northern Line: http://www.ligachannel.com/?q=node/1319&media=foto&content=Eu09londra May 23 http://www.shootexperience.com/photos_new/I was invited to join Jobby, Simon Allum and Sally Foote on a project. So, the idea here is simple: we all assembled at Tate Modern at 10am. We were all in teams of 4, and we were given 4 phrases from a famous story and given 3 hours to rush out and photograph representations of these phrases. Obviously good photographs were the order of the day, but also humour and using the back drop of London were also important. Our 4 phrases were: "she said" "tea-time" "you stay here" "do not fear" I'll post our 4 efforts over on the right, but click on the link above and see if you can find ours. It was a good day out, very enjoyable, and I would like to do it again... May 02 "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert".
I really like this film. I must have seen it 4 or 5 times (not that many times when I compare this with say, "The Godfather", "Aliens" et al.) but none-the-less a firm favourite.
The 3 central performances are so strong, but yet pretty much all the supporting cast are memorable, comic, touching and in some cases tragic.
There's a musical of it on now in London. I doubt I will go and see it though.
April 13 An Easter Sunday evening in with Paul, Titty, Ham & Cheese and Mrs. H: we did not watch television, we did not listen to the wireless, we did not read.
Instead we all took turns on Spotify: unearthing hidden aural pleasures of yesteryear...
Favourite moment: discovering the sub-genre of "Anthemic Rock".
Strangely enough 10cc turned out to be the only band we could all agree were good.
Nobody appreciated my Busta Rhymes / My Bloody Valentine / Nu Shooz mashup.
Fools.
April 12 The second DVD I bought (after "The Matrix") was "Ghostbusters". It remains one of my favourite films. It has not aged terribly and there is a fine combination of younger and more adult themes/humour that make this 'good family viewing'.
One of my favourite birthday parties was when mum & dad treated me and a few friends to a trip to the cinema to see this and then a trip to The Deep Pan Pizza Company.
I also love the theme song and video that features the stars as well as Chevy Chase AND John Candy plus a few other comedy gods...
Enjoy.
March 29 2.01:55
Would have probably been sub 2hrs, but for the fact that I got to the pen too late so had to start with the 2hrs 30mins group and so spent the first couple of miles working my way through the pack.
Felt good pretty much all the way round, 10-12 miles a little tough, but a great race: well organised, nice day and good group.
March 16 People often say, "Christian, if you had to go back to the mid-eighties... what would you be dancing to?" "Five Star"? "Dead or Alive"? "Paul Hardcastle"? "Phil Collins & Philip Bailey"? I smile contentedly, lean back on my deckchair, shake my head dismissively, take a sip of my cream soda, loosen my Hi-Tec Convertibles ...and I answer, " Mai Tai - 'History' ": I'm hiring! http://www.milkround.com/jobs/graduate-job.aspx?isPreview=1&jobid=360255Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!
London, Soho, W1
We are looking for an enthusiastic, hard working, articulate and
confident graduate who is interested in breaking into a fast-growing
International Digital Media Sales team.
Working with a team whose remit covers the sale of advertising for www.newsweek.com
to the European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian markets, you must be
able to demonstrate a professional approach, have drive & ambition,
be highly numerate and demonstrate a passion for Digital advertising;
this is a prerequisite for the job.
This role is sales support, working alongside the sales team. The
key responsibilities of the job are to assist the manager in all
aspects of setting up campaigns and dealing with our foreign offices,
advertising agencies and clients. Proficiency in MS Office is a must.
The job will also involve the booking of campaigns, monitoring their
performance, adjusting/optimising where relevant and creating reports.
The role offers excellent opportunities to work with many markets, and
so we are looking for candidates who have an affinity with foreign
languages.
If
you think you have the right skills and aptitude for this role then we
would love to hear from you. Please send a covering letter and a copy
of your CV to: christian.cecchi@newsweek.com.
March 15 The 1UP Show was a great Vodcast/show that Ziff Davis ran. Not sure of the details, but 1UP certainly got sold and these guys got laid off. Very few Vodcasts are this good. In fact, very few TV shows on video games have ever been worth watching.... The last show went out at the end of 2008: http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3145462A group of the guys formed a new company Area 5: http://area5.tv/about : About Area 5 Media
The crew of The 1UP Show was laid off after UGO’s purchase of 1UP.com. This is where we’ve landed.
Area 5’s named after the last (and our favorite) area of the game Rez,
and we’re going to continue to do what we do best—make the best gaming
shows that we can. Area 5’s first original show is CO-OP, a weekly look
at the meaningful, the important, the interesting, or the just plain
fun games that are out there or will be coming out. I wish them luck - check them out on iTunes - podcasts - the show is called "co-op".
Ladies and gen'men, I give you http://www.mediacloud.org/(from their site) Media Cloud is a system that lets you see the flow of the media.
The Internet is fundamentally altering the way that news is produced
and distributed, but there are few comprehensive approaches to understanding the nature of these changes. Media Cloud automatically builds an archive of news stories and blog posts from the web, applies language processing, and gives you ways to analyze and visualize
the data. The system is still in early development, but we invite you
to explore our current data and suggest research ideas. This is an
open-source project, and we will be releasing all of the code soon. You
can read more background on the project or just get started below.I'm going to have a look at this over the next couple of days, will update with my thoughts. Please feel to add in the mean time... March 14 Why can't we have more programmes like this? "Dance Energy" people - live and direct from 1991. Only The United Kingdom could create a programme like this. I bet Norman Jay, Trevor Nelson and Sir Jazzy B are proud.
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