bye bye Waybuloo! - I won't miss you!

We have a 20 month old, and so watch a lot of cbeebies in this house.  That's fine, I quite like some of it - Teletubbies at 6.30 on a weekday morning is a soothing alternative to the hysteria of News 24.  But I cannot abide Waybuloo. I don't like the little cartoon-y creatures - wide eyed moon monkeys with sickly, simpering voices .  I don't like their stupid yoga exercises or their perpetual games of hide and seek that they play with groups of medicated-looking children ( I have long suspected that these little creatures are happy go lucky for most of the time - but like a lazy old tomcat, if you trod on one of their tails they would turn in a heart beat into hissing, yapping bundles of teeth and claws) .  And I especially didn't like that the were shown at 6 each evening - a very delicate time of day when adults, frazzled from a day at work / child care are in close proximity with a child frazzled from a day of causing mayhem   The last thing any of us needed were these gurning muppets.  But - sweet joy - Waybuloo has been replaced; relegated from the prestigious bedtime hour.  Now we can watch a show about a cartoon zoo. Much more palatable.

The End of the World as we know it - postponed. Again.

You may have noticed that the world did not in fact come to an end on Saturday.  Seems that Harold Camping, who had originally forecast this date as the start of the Rapture, had mad a slight miscalculation.  He now confidently predicts that the world will sign of on October 21.  Of course, until then I am sure that he will be happy to accept any contributions from believers.  Said believers may wish to note that Mr Camping had previously stated that the planet's number was up on both May 21 1988 and also 7 September 1994. 

Outed by Twitter

The news that it was Ryan Giggs at the centre of the Twitter campaign to undermine a super injunction was met in this house with indifference.  Having considered it for a few minutes I've a couple of comments:
When you boil it down, the story is 'Married man sleeps with Woman.'  He's not the first married man to break his marriage vows, won't be the last.  So why is it news?  It's news because he's a famous footballer.  And thus his indiscretions are of importance to everyone - according to the media, anyway
But really, who cares?  The media claim that the public care and that we lap up these sort of stories. But do we really?  Or is it just that the media obsesses over these things and we all just get caught up in the storm?
I sometimes wonder what our European neighbours think of this English prurience.  Surely the French and Spanish have better things to write about than who their sportsmen are knocking off.

Danny Baker is Evil

When he made his welcome return to Radio London recently, he began plaing this.  And it's now lodged in my head and I can't get rid of it.  It is only a matter of time before I start repeating it amongst polite company.

The Wit & Wisdom of Premiership Football Managers #1 & #2

Messrs Ferguson & Redknapp often provide pithy comments and notable quotes - which must be manna from heaven for sporting journalists trying to file copy that isn't filled with the usual guff and cliche (not that either manager isn't wont to expel their own fair share of guff and cliche, mind).

Enjoyed Feguson's grouching about his players' use of Twitter.  Apparently it all came to a head when Rooney appeared to threaten one of his followers (although he later claimed it was just banter).  Anyway - Ferguson seemed genuinely perplexed about the merits of Twitter. He noted that there were much better uses of time, for example he suggested that his players might visit their local library. The image of a group of tracksuited footballers wandering gormlessly round a library is priceless. Wonder what book young Wayne would choose? 

Just recently, Jermain Defoe had complained about his season at Spurs.  He advised that he might need to consider his options, given that he felt that he had been overlooked and underplayed.  This is the same Jermain Defoe - a striker by trade - who has managed to net the grand total of four goals all season (some perspective, in  last season's game vs Wigan, he scored five).  When questioned about these comments, Redknapp not unreasonably suggested Defoe should perhaps focus on getting the goals he was being paid for.  Defoe had also gone on to say that a place in the Europa cup would prove a distraction for Tottenham.  Perhaps, Redknapp asked to a pack of hacks, Jermain had other commitments on a Thursday that would stop his participation in this competition.  I'm not a huge fan of Redknapp but must admit I did admire the sarcastic tone he took in responding to the gripes of a millionaire footballer.

Rediscovering The Joshua Tree

Happened upon a documentary discussing the making of U2's The Joshua Tree on, I think, one of the Sky Arts channels. Not an especially interesting or enlightening programme, but it did send me back to the album for the first time in over a decade. Back in the day, U2 were one of my favourite bands but over the years they just dropped off my radar. It happens - what seemed astounding, exciting or meaningful when you're 19 can seem deeply gauche and annoying and dreary as you grow older.

So, after such a big break, what was it like to revisit this record? Well, it was something of a Proustian experience, that threw up some vivid memories of 1987.  I recalled buying the album from Tower Records in Piccadilly on the first day of its release. I remember spending hours poring over the album art - moody pictures of the band standing grim faced in front of vast American vistas - as the music seeped into me. I recall arranging my day off so that I could get onto the phone at 9am and book tickets to the Wembley gig - then 4 of us from work travelled up to that shabby old stadium to watch my first ever concert.

Then, in July we went to Australia.  The in flight entertainment included a handful of 'in-house' radio stations.  One of these featured Red Hill Mining Song and I can remember listening to this track during the final phase of the journey - across the Indian Ocean from Singapore to Perth.

In Australia we stayed with one of Dad's cousin's and borrowed a car from one of his son's mates.  It was a big-engined Ford - a young bloke's car with plenty of welly.  I recall sitting in the passenger seat, elbow resting on the open window, a cassette of The Joshua Tree blasting away as we drove through Western Australian landscapes - endless blue skies and unbroken horizons - the music chiming perfectly with the location.

And that's what the album is to me - a portal back to my final teenage summer.