Oh, how I wish ...

... that I could write down my opinions about the London riots. I have several thoughts that I could, theoretically, share with the world. But no. I'm sorry to say this ... and this is nothing personal against any Brits reading this, England is a wonderful place in many ways, and what little I have seen of Scotland is cool too, and you, my potential British reader, may well be a fine upstanding citizen. I have friends who are English, I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. Well, that's kind of true. There's no way I could say half of what I really think about this issue without being - not to put too fine a point on it - extremely offensive. My opinions on British society are so very very far from being politically correct that I myself balk at putting them in print. You know that's got to be a bad sign.

Augh, biting my tongue ... ! I SO want to say something. But I won't. La la la. Move it along, nothing to see here.

UNITED KINGDOM 2011 - I Can

It's childish, I know, but the first thing I think about every time I hear or see this song mentioned is always The League of Gentlemen. I can I can't? I can I can't?? I CAN I CAN'T??! I'm a fan, what can I say. They've messed with my mind.

Anyway ... be that as it may ... this post is not about the LoG, but about the UK song for this year. Which, surprisingly, does not completely suck. Who'd have thought it? I certainly needed to see this before believing it. But I would like to go on record as saying that this year I do think that the UK ESC entry does not totally suck ass. It's a step in the right direction for the UK, if nothing else.

Unfortunately, there isn't much else beyond that. The entry is performed by a reformed boy band and it sounds totally like a boy band song. If you like that kind of thing, I suppose it's alright by you, but personally I think it's as dull as dishwater. Most boy band songs are one big yawn - however, they are sometimes annoyingly catchy. This one isn't, though. It's just annoying. This song has something of the same problem as the Irish entry - there isn't much difference between the verse and the chorus, which has the effect of creating a kind of wall of sound impression which makes the song enervating to listen to. I'm not sure I can really explain it, but that's the effect it has. It makes the entire song annoying ... you don't know when it's going to end, there are few signals to let you work out where in the song you are. And if you don't like the verse, there's nothing more to look forward to either, because it all sounds the same. o_O

This song could be a hit for a boy band - in fact I think it already is - but I don't think it has much of a chance in the ESC. It's just too bland. It has zero personality. It doesn't stand out in any way whatsoever. I have no idea how they think anyone will remember this enough to vote for it. Or remember it at all. It's the kind of song that you forget while you're still listening to it. It could work in a different setting, but I don't think at all that this is what ESC audiences are looking for. Maybe they're thinking that the band - I use this term loosely - will bring in votes just for being who they are? I don't know how big they are, and were, around Europe, so I can't really offer any perspective on that. It may work. But I don't think it'll be enough with a song this weak. The UK will probably bomb again, IMO. But see what you think. This is Blue performing I can* by ... some of them and some other guys. A whole bunch of them. This gaggle of guys will compete for the UK on Saturday, May 14th.



Widescreen here.

Lyrics here.

*I CAN I CAN'T!!?

He was such a nice man

I'm guessing that everyone who's reading this is familiar at least to some extent with the recent activities of mass murderer Derrick Bird. 12 people dead in a 'shocking surprise attack', allegedly. Although of course media coverage has been at its highest in the UK, where the events took place and where the media in general is the trashiest in the world (and thus of course collectively faints with joy when something like this happens), there's been a lot in the media here too. (Can you say 'media'?? Whee!!) And there's something that is so typical that I've seen quoted from like four different sources ... something that I was expecting to see from the moment I heard about what had happened. It never fails. He was such a nice man.

No matter how messed up the person or how disgusting and fucked up the crimes, the reaction of the perp's surroundings is always how they never saw it coming and they would never have thought him capable of anything like this, he was such a nice man. Every time a serial killer is caught or a mass murderer goes on a spree (I'll assume you know the difference between the two) it's always the one reaction you can count on like clockwork. The only exception seems to be school shooters - they only get like half of it, they usually get 'he was always a weirdo/outsider, but we never thought he'd do anything like this'. So it boils down to the same thing - people never see it coming.

Although, in fact, this reminds me of a funny story. Well, funny maybe isn't quite the word. But I like it. This is a supposedly true story that happened sometime in 1988. Some of Jeffrey Dahmer's friends, if that's the word I want, from high school had met up for coffee and were reminiscing about people they'd known back in the day. They were talking about people like that guy still lives in his parents' basement and that chick's been divorced three times ... stuff like that. One of them would throw out a name and everyone would share whatever they knew about what that person was doing. So then one of them mentioned Jeff, and it turned out that not a single one of them had heard from him or of him or has seen him at all since graduation. And they're all saying fuck, that guy was weird ... !! But they had no idea what's become of him. And then as a joke one of them said, He's probably a serial killer by now! And they all laughed. But by that time Jeff had actually killed four people ... and would kill thirteen more before the Milwaukee police finally stumbled across him. Funny joke, huh?

So, back to my point ... it's always the same, he was such a nice guy, always helped his landlady with her groceries, no one ever thought he'd ever be capable of harming a fly. I just find it so hard to credit that. Parents especially are maybe the worst. Yes, it's natural to want to see the best in your children, I guess. But if you genuinely want the best for them, does it really help to pretend like nothing's wrong and you're all one big normal family ... like the rape case in Sweden I posted about a while back, where a woman's teenage son has been convicted of rape twice in two totally separate cases, and she refuses to believe he can have done anything wrong. How does that help?

And how is it even possible? I don't mean any offense to anyone reading this, if you feel I'm pointing fingers at you, but seriously, how is it possible to not notice anything amiss if someone close to you and/or someone you spend a lot of time with is so completely fucked up mentally and emotionally that he's planning to brutally kill his own brother, the family lawyer and two coworkers ... and whoever else he comes across as well as, finally, himself? Just to stick with Bird as the example. Is it really possible to genuinely believe 100% that everything's fine and dandy and he's just so happy to be a grandfather for the first time and nothing to see here, move it along ... I don't buy it. I think it isn't a matter of genuinely believing that everything's fine, it's a matter of wanting to believe it - and wanting it enough that you trick yourself into thinking it's really what you feel.

Derrick Bird allegedly said to someone the day before the murders that 'there's going to be a rampage soon'. Yet no one reacted. Jeffrey Dahmer was in the hands of the police or other authorities a number of times, but he fell through every crack in the book. Harold Shipman was suspected by how many of his patients' relatives and friends, but who did anything about it? Jack the Ripper* was interviewed by the police as a witness, but told an obvious lie and totally got away with it. With both the lying and the killing. To paraphrase Poppy Brite, murderers are blessed with tremendous skills of adaptation ... so many of them fly under the radar so well. But I'd say it's likely that they are helped by the vast majority of people in their surroundings not even having their radars switched on. o_O

I do understand that it must be incredibly traumatic to be one of the bystanders caught up in this - to be a close relative, especially, of someone who carries out an act like this - but does it help to refuse to acknowledge reality? My little boy could never have done what those girls say he did, I raised him better than that. The Ted/Andrei/Dennis/Peter/John I knew could never have done anything like this. I'd never have seen this coming in a million years.

If those among us who are, if you'll pardon this cliché, walking time bombs, wouldn't it be more helpful for both them and their future victims for them to be seen and taken seriously for what they really are - people with serious problems that need to be acknowledged. If it's not acknowledged, it certainly can't be fixed. I can't see how it ever helps to bury one's head in the sand.

Jeffrey Dahmer's father felt, after his son's crimes came to light and Jeff made a full confession, that he should indeed have seen and understood. But it was so much easier to pretend the danger signals weren't really there. At least, easier for him ... >:-(


*I am of the George Hutchinson persuasion.

UK 2010 - That Sounds Good to Me

Well, this was bound to happen. The Brits have been floundering in the ESC for years - no wonder since the contest has such a tiny fanbase there, relatively speaking - but last year they hit upon one solution. Get an already very established composer to write the song, then find some unknown kid to perform it (cheaper that way). This actually worked really well for them last year, they ended up placing 5th, which for the UK these days is an amazing result. So this year - different songwriters, but same formula. And like I said, this was bound to happen - Stock Aitken Waterman in the ESC ... !! :-D

Well, almost, anyway. Matt Aitken's not really a bigwig in the music business these days anymore. But Mike Stock and Pete Waterman are the brains ... if that's the word I want ... behind this year's UK entry. Which is ... hmm ...

It's totally SAW, I've got to say that. The kind of thing you might peg as theirs even if you didn't know it. But is that a good thing? I'm really not sure. This song isn't bad, as such, it's just ... it's boring. I'm not sure how they think this song will stand out? It's a totally standard pop song, quality craftsmanship, but there's nothing that makes it shine in a crowd. And this will definitely be a crowd. I'm not at all convinced that this will be noticed much by anyone. Maybe those in my generation who remember the 80s ;-) because this song definitely feels dated. Even the performance. Those girls have got to lose those T-shirts. Ick.

Well, judge for yourselves. This is Josh Dubovie performing That Sounds Good to Me by Mike Stock and Pete Waterman, who will be competing for the United Kingdom on Saturday, May 29th. The UK is also in the Big Four and thus go straight to the final. That will definitely be to the disadvantage of this song.



Lyrics here.

In related news, the Brits - as I'm sure you know, my well-informed readers!! - have an election coming up. Pat Condell made a video about it, here. I love Pat Condell.

London 2010: Richmond Park

I am soo sick of all this snow and cold now. Today it looked nice and springlike, but it was actually pretty damn cold. 7 degrees below at Tveita this morning. Sheesh. I want warmth and spring flowers and green growing things ... !! :-(

Sigh. At least we're not having crazy snowstorms and avalanches like they've got in the northwest right now. o_O

Here's another video from London that I made - this one is from Richmond Park in Richmond-upon-Thames where there were snowdrops and crocuses and green grass growing. Damn foreigners!!

London 2010: Around and about

Here are some glimpses from London last week. I'm making several videos, the others are more specific ... from our visits to the Dickens House Museum and to the National History Museum, for instance. This is just the random glimpses that don't fit anywhere else. :-) Still, might be fun to watch. There's, let me think ... the Hungerford bridge across the Thames, the bust of Nelson Mandela by the Southbank Centre, a bagpipe player on Trafalgar Square, wall decorations at Charing Cross station, some singers in Covent Garden ... This and that. :-) Enjoy. :-)

Contrasts

Yesterday ...

Today ...

Home sweet home ... :-)

I'll be gone for a few days ...

... starting Wednesday morning, painfully bright and early. Actually, not bright - it'll still be dark for hours when I have to leave on Wednesday. Argh. But it'll be worth it ... it'll be so worth it ... !! :-D

Because, guess what, I'm going to London! Yay! Actually, not that much yay ... London really isn't my favorite city. At all. Not even favorite in the UK, nowhere near. I don't know why exactly, it's just too big, there's too much of it. It's exhausting just being there. :-) But this time there's something there I want to see ... namely the theatrical production of Pterry's Nation, at the National Theatre. It's C. and I who are going there to see it, because we're both major Pterry fans and ... it'll be fun. Plus of course there's someone in London that I want to see - we'll be staying with my friend Sol and of course it'll be great to see her again too. :-) And you, Crispin, of course ... !! :-D

So ... from Wednesday through Saturday I probably won't get online much. A quote may pop up on Saturday, I suppose. Something clever not said by me. ;-) But apart from that, probably not much. Here's hoping I'll have some good shots to post on Sunday, though ... !! :-)

And just to keep somewhat on topic: Keanu's been in London too, look ... I'm almost willing to bet I'll get to see more of the city than he did that time. (The Lake House premiere weekend.)

Carcassonne 2009: London Zoo, part 1

I mentioned that I travelled to France via England, and met up with Anne Ida in London. I spent a day in the city on my own before meeting up with her and our friends that she was staying with, and I decided to spend that day at the zoo. :-) I'm not a big fan of London and I wanted to find just one place where I could spend the whole day and just more or less relax ... so I picked the zoo. Where of course I took lots and lots of pictures. :-)

From the Aquarium ... which is the oldest of its kind in the entire world, in fact. Many pretty waterscapes. :-)

And some very pretty fish, like this one. I love the colors ... and it also had a gorgeous iridescence that doesn't really show up in the photo ... but it was quite beautiful.

Some really wonderful setups to be seen ...

Raja, the zoo's Komodo dragon, Varanus komodoensis. Paz, he seems a bit lazy, doesn't he? ;-)

The zoo has added three Gálapagos tortoises, Geochelone nigra, to their collection this year as part of their celebration of the Darwin bicentennial.

Zaïre, the matriarch of the zoo's troop of western lowland gorillas, Gorilla gorilla gorilla. She was eating something and quite busy with that, so seeing her up close was out of the question.

But Effie, the other adult female in the troop, was sitting by the glass watching us watching her. Oh, look at her face, it breaks my heart. :-( I do enjoy zoos if they're well constructed and maintained, but deep down I always know that it just isn't right. :-( Except at the Nordic Ark ... :-)

A lazy tiger, Panthera tigris sumatrae. In fact they have two. :-)

Some ... pigs ... of some kind ... Wild boar from somewhere. I honestly don't remember exactly what these were. :-) But this is a pretty good shot. And it's interesting to think that our domesticated pigs probably were something like this once ... :-)

An eastern white pelican, Pelecanus onocrotalus, grooming itself.

Adult large flamingos, Phoenicopterus roseus ...

... and a flamingo baby. Aww. :-)

Feeding time in the penguin pond. The one getting all the attention is Ricky the Rockhopper ... I already posted a picture of him. He was just too cute. :-)

I mean, just look at him. :-D

This twolegs seems to be in possession of MAH BUKKIT!!!

Romania, United Kingdom, Albania, Germany

Romania:
A song that gets better every time I hear it. Though it would have been better with just him, she kind of ruins the song a little bit for me.
She's changed her dress, a silver dress, what a surprise!! :-D
A good song. They'll do well.

United Kingdom:
A perfectly alright song, and the singer's really good. Good stage presence, good voice, puts a lot of effort into it, and I love the light effects. :-) But they'll do badly - because this song is 20 years old. Stock/Aitken/Waterman could have produced this in 1988. This poor guy is totally wasted on this song. A shame, actually.

Albania:
A good song! She's sweet and she has a really good voice, and the song is a beautiful ballad. It won't take much to make this Albania's best result ever, they've never placed higher than 16th. They deserve to do well with this IMO. A lovely entry.

Germany:
Blech.
These women look like drag queens at a distance.
Awful costumes. Awful presentation.
The song itself isn't that bad, the entry could have been much better. But hopefully they will do badly with this.

UNITED KINGDOM: Andy Abraham - Even If

Ah, the Eternal Second ...

At least they don't have to worry about the bitterness of ending up in 2nd place yet again ...

This is so old-fashioned!! It's not in itself a bad song. Just rather bland. But it sounds so old! It sounds like something Stock/Aitken/Waterman could have produced in 1988. Are they trying for nostalgia ... ??

He's a pretty good singer, he could have done so much better with a better song. And he's pretty goodlooking, that can't ever hurt. ;-) I think the UK may do better with this than they have in recent years, since Westerners may like it, but it may be too anonymous to make much of an impression on audiences.

Unfortunately for the UK, they have drawn almost the worst starting slot imaginable - they're starting second. Which may cripple their entry's chances before it even gets on stage. :-(


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raXV1PuD4Kc