Posts Tagged ‘Rants’

I am a big fan of Depeche Mode and have been since they added their two-penneth worth to the synth-pop scene of the early 1980s. Most people are surprised to find that the band are still together and are still touring and producing albums. Their latest offering, Sounds of the Universe, was released this week and just as I have done since the release of Violator in 1990, I’ve bought a Depeche Mode album on launch day.

To be honest, this time around I wish I hadn’t bothered.

Sounds of the Universe is horribly average. It’s a chore to listen to – there are no hooks, there’s little punch or interest, tracks start, build up then go nowhere. It’s a crying shame as the quality of the album’s production values is fantastic.

We’re four albums on since Songs of Faith and Devotion and still Depeche Mode prove that they cannot make good music without Alan Wilder.

This is my car:

It’s a 2003 Volkswagen Golf GTI that I bought for much cheapness back in November 2006. I admit, I don’t clean it as often as I should and I still can’t get rid of that horrible smell in the boot from when a carton of milk split open in a shopping bag, but do I try my best to look after it and I always try to keep it running in a tip-top condition.

Despite my efforts, this hasn’t stopped the car from trying to fall to pieces over the past two weeks…

Read the rest of this entry »

Inside the tunnel of the LHC

As the test firing of the Large Hadron Collider commenced at about 0930BST this morning, certain cretinous people around the world prepared for the end of the world as the care-free scientists of CERN played god with science.

They didn’t destroy the world of course, the fact you are reading this now proves it. And don’t get all existential with smart-alec comments about how we’ve shifted dimensions either, no damage has been done as CERN have only fired two beams of protons to test the circuit of the huge undergroud tunnel; the first low energy particle collisions are still days away.

I must quote Professor Brian Cox of Manchester University who was reported in the Daily Telegraph article linked above as saying, “Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a t—.”

Anybody still concerned about the LHC can visit www.hasthelhcdestroyedtheearth.com to check on the status of the Earth’s exisitance.

I do like these new self-serve checkouts they have at all the major supermarkets. Not only do they reduce the opportunity for clod-brained supermarket staff to treat me like a criminal, they give us normal members of the public the chance to be a checkout girl/boy and play with the scanning lasers without the shame of having to get a job in a supermarket in the first place.

spEak You’re bRanes is a website that offers a window into the psyche of the average British nutcase.

You know the type of person, it’s a person whose stupid opinions punctuate level-headed, sensible journalism by contorting any article into a pro-Nazi Muslim-baiting propaganda message.

I particularly liked one example of a person who felt the need to take time to write to the BBC complaints section to say, “The weather presenter was heavily pregnant, which annoyed me immensely. Instead of standing there looking as if she was about to give birth, she should just go home and look after herself. Someone needs to tell her to stop being so silly.”

spEak You’re bRanes – If you like it so much, why don’t you go live there?