Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Euro 2006
Nice wrap of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest here.
For mine, the winners (Finland "metal" outfit, Lordi) were no less worthy winners than anyone else over the years, including Brotherhood of Man. Actually, come to think of it they probably never did win it ... I guess I could have just checked this out on Google, but what sane person cares about such things.
Terry Wogan was good, and if I had to pick a highlight (so many, many highlights) I'd probably go for Poland reporting their votes, which went a little something like this:
POLISH GUY, who looked like a young Michael Caine replete with horn rimed glasses ie ready to party like it's 1962: "we gave 8 votes to Estonia [or something], 10 to Finland, and ..."
[Slight pause ... you just know he's going to do something outrageous, like, say, award 12 votes to Poland. Haw haw! You can't actually give votes to yourself, of course, which is what makes it all so delicious.]
POLISH DUDE: " ... 12 points to Poland!"
[Another slight pause, just to let it all sink in. Ha ha, who would have thought?]
POLISH DUDE: "No, not really we awarded 12 points to [drowned out]"
HOST CHICK: [in alarmed tone] "You can't do that!"
[Another pause, presumably due to a hefty time lag, where each is trying to work out what the other has said]
WOGAN: "He was joking!"
And so on and such forth. With such hilarity ensuing on a minutely basis you'd be mad to miss it next year.
For mine, the winners (Finland "metal" outfit, Lordi) were no less worthy winners than anyone else over the years, including Brotherhood of Man. Actually, come to think of it they probably never did win it ... I guess I could have just checked this out on Google, but what sane person cares about such things.
Terry Wogan was good, and if I had to pick a highlight (so many, many highlights) I'd probably go for Poland reporting their votes, which went a little something like this:
POLISH GUY, who looked like a young Michael Caine replete with horn rimed glasses ie ready to party like it's 1962: "we gave 8 votes to Estonia [or something], 10 to Finland, and ..."
[Slight pause ... you just know he's going to do something outrageous, like, say, award 12 votes to Poland. Haw haw! You can't actually give votes to yourself, of course, which is what makes it all so delicious.]
POLISH DUDE: " ... 12 points to Poland!"
[Another slight pause, just to let it all sink in. Ha ha, who would have thought?]
POLISH DUDE: "No, not really we awarded 12 points to [drowned out]"
HOST CHICK: [in alarmed tone] "You can't do that!"
[Another pause, presumably due to a hefty time lag, where each is trying to work out what the other has said]
WOGAN: "He was joking!"
And so on and such forth. With such hilarity ensuing on a minutely basis you'd be mad to miss it next year.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
The Things You Remember That You Tried So Hard to Forget
It seems strange to think of it now, but that thing in your life that's so big right now ... be it a TV show, style of clothing, cool expression, whatever ... chances are, one day it'll be not only gone, but completely forgotten. Just like Lucy Lawless.
So imagine my surprise (go on! Imagine!) when the other day I found myself recalling the horror that was 'Sex/Life'. 'Sex/Life' was an Australian TV phenomenon in the early 90's, and since so many Aus TV shows are ripped off from somewhere else I'm guessing it was reasonably popular in other countries too. (I could google it and see, but typing "sex/life" into Google is like looking up "Smith" in the phone book.)
For those who can't remember or never knew, it consisted of about 20 minutes of people talking about aromatherapy and the like, constantly looking at their watch, when finally - FINALLY - they would cut to the chase and say something like "premature ejaculation is a problem experienced by many men. So here's 10 minutes of footage of some Swedish models having it off" followed by footage of the same.
The show was incredibly popular for a while, and then thud, or splat, or whatever ... gone without a trace. And were it not for some freaky synapse malfunction, I'm pretty sure I would have never thought of it again.
In hindsight, it seems bizarre that it was ever made in the first place. However, it did serve to demonstrate that no matter how popular a show, it can vanish suddenly, never to be heard of again.
I take solace from this every time I see an ad for Big Brother.
So imagine my surprise (go on! Imagine!) when the other day I found myself recalling the horror that was 'Sex/Life'. 'Sex/Life' was an Australian TV phenomenon in the early 90's, and since so many Aus TV shows are ripped off from somewhere else I'm guessing it was reasonably popular in other countries too. (I could google it and see, but typing "sex/life" into Google is like looking up "Smith" in the phone book.)
For those who can't remember or never knew, it consisted of about 20 minutes of people talking about aromatherapy and the like, constantly looking at their watch, when finally - FINALLY - they would cut to the chase and say something like "premature ejaculation is a problem experienced by many men. So here's 10 minutes of footage of some Swedish models having it off" followed by footage of the same.
The show was incredibly popular for a while, and then thud, or splat, or whatever ... gone without a trace. And were it not for some freaky synapse malfunction, I'm pretty sure I would have never thought of it again.
In hindsight, it seems bizarre that it was ever made in the first place. However, it did serve to demonstrate that no matter how popular a show, it can vanish suddenly, never to be heard of again.
I take solace from this every time I see an ad for Big Brother.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
eBay is Great!
I have to say, eBay is truly wonderful. My collection of ill-fitting Tottenham Hotspur jerseys is growing apace, and this is really not something I could have done before eBay. Or not as easily anyway; I probably would have had to buy some slightly poorly fitting shirts at a shop and then get a tailor to add 10 inches to the arms or reduce the chest width to that of a small child's etc. Anyway, I'm very happy, and I say two thumbs up to eBay. (One thumb 2 mm in diameter; the other 3 metres long).
Ah hell; it's my own fault for not studying the fine print that says stuff like "SHIRT SIZE XXXXXXL".
I also scored a new copy of "Song for the Deaf" for $9. Bargain! It's great; it's the aural equivalent of someone driving a semi-trailer into your living room and applying a defribrillator to your buttocks. Probably.
Ah hell; it's my own fault for not studying the fine print that says stuff like "SHIRT SIZE XXXXXXL".
I also scored a new copy of "Song for the Deaf" for $9. Bargain! It's great; it's the aural equivalent of someone driving a semi-trailer into your living room and applying a defribrillator to your buttocks. Probably.
