Another thing that made me happy this week was the outcome of the Grammys - the following introductory paragraph put a great big smile on my face:
U2 have won five prizes at the most prestigious US music awards, the Grammys, eclipsing the pre-ceremony favourites Mariah Carey and Kanye West.
Now I am not suggesting that I am a mad U2 fan but nothing could please me more to see almost anyone edging Mariah Carey out of an award. When she first came out I thought she had a pleasant enough voice and I dare say that she still does. However, what I cannot abide about her is her Prima Donna attitude - they call it being a Diva - I call it being a spoiled brat.
I saw her on a TV show a few months ago and oh dear the poor love - my heart bled for her when she realised that her microphone was too heavy for her poor little delicate arms to hold and she needed a microphone stand after all. And then there was her water - now most musicians that I have seen live like to have a drink on stage to keep the vocal chords lubricated. So did our little Mariah have a bottle of water on stage near her non-existant microphone stand? Did she have one behind her on the drum kit riser? Or even on top of Randy Jackson's bass amp? Oh no, she had her own little peon that dashed on stage with her bottle of Evian in between each song so she could take a drink.
What a bloody farce. So anyway, the grammy results made me smile - not so much because U2 won, but because Mariah Carey didn't. I am not saying that her music is not good - but I just can't support the success of someone that far up their own ass.
Other grammy news - Paul McCartney came away empty handed - this added to my pleasure since I honestly do feel that he is grossly over-rated.
On a more supportive note - I was absolutely delighted to see Kelly Clarkson pick up two grammys. I didn't really get into American Idol until the second season - so I can't say that I have been a Kelly fan since she won that. However, over the past year in my view she has gone to the next level and has become a true superstar in my view.
What of course I do not know is ... she might be just as much of a pretentious diva as Mariah appears to be. And in fact Mariah might be much less of a pretentious diva than I think she is.
But for now I shall continue to chuckle at Mariah only getting 1 grammy out of 5 nominations and U2 getting 5 grammys out of 5 nominations. Oh yes and Kelly getting 2 out of 2 !!
And finally, 19437 BBC website readers were asked "Did U2 deserve to eclipse Mariah Carey and Kanye West at the Grammys?" and 87% answered yes ... so I am clearly not alone in my happiness
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Friday, February 10, 2006
More infrequent Simes ramblings
I've been blogging on and off for years in some form or another. Way before the days of the internet really - I suppose it really goes back to my BBS days in the late 80s. IND3X was really a platform for me to pontificate I suppose. Thinking about it now it amazes me that IND3X lived from 1987 until 1996 - I put a lot of me into it one way and another and it was all virtual and now it is gone.
Of course, that is a really superficial view. The reality is that I made a lot of friends during that time and a few of the closer ones are closer still now and that's what it was really about.
And of course us geeks moved on from the BBS world to the internet - and back then in the mid-late 90s it was the stuff of geeks. There was no broadband - if you had cash to burn you might have considered getting a leased line to your internet service provider but we're talking thousands of pounds. So it was all dial-up and we're talking pre-Windows 95 and so you needed all kinds of plug-in software to put a TCP-IP stack onto your computer.
Of course, it is much easier now and even the most casual of computer users have wireless networks in their homes, never mind broadband connections.
Somewhere in the middle of all of this internet stuff I spent a lot of time chatting to people on IRC (before it got pretty well killed off by the myriad of instant messenging products). Some of these people I knew from the BBS world and some were new. Some of them even got married to one another. And some of them are no longer together.
I've combined the internet with my other passion, music and spent a lot of time making friends around the world who share my enthusiasm for Roxette and Marie Fredriksson. I've travelled overseas as a result to meet people and to go to concerts with them. The internet has shrunk my world.
I've discovered the obsession known as Everquest. Which still for me is IRC with something to do. I look forward to meeting my friends in that game and killing nasty monsters with them. I've travelled the world meeting some of these people too.
I keep in touch with old friends and make new. Just a few weeks ago I spent a very pleasant evening with a couple that I barely knew - they invited me to stay in their home. All based on a virtual embryonic friendship.
I've been working away from home several days a week for the past year or so. I have a flat that I stay in when I am up there and I now know I am going to be there for another year at least. So I have bitten the bullet and have got a broadband connection there too.
Oddly, this connection was activated today, Friday - the day I come home for the weekend of course. And guess what, my broadband connection here at home is broken and they can't fix it until Monday. I am typing this on a dial-up connection - which is OK for this kind of thing - but not a lot of use for much else that I want to do.
Amazing thing this internet eh?
And finally ... I've realised that I often blog when I am pissed off and want to whinge and whine. I'm going to make a concerted effort to be more positive in my blogging by introducing a new feature:
Things that made me happy since I last blogged:
Well OK it has been over a month since I last blogged, so this time it will be a selection of more recent things that have brightened my life:
1) Got a new job role at work, I am now a Delivery Project Executive - which sounds a lot fancier than it really is - but I am enjoying the new challenge.
2) Jody and Mark greeted their new baby Chase into the world this week - a little brother for Connor.
3) One of my team got some unsolicited positive feedback from the customer this week which was really pleasing.
4) I went out for a drink and a nice meal with Stephen, Kathy, Vicky, Scott and Shawn last night - this was a farewell for Stephen who is off to do a new role. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable evening.
5) I watched Hollie watching Cinderella when I got home this evening - it is so much fun to watch her singing along with the songs in the film.
and on that note I am going to get some sleep.
Of course, that is a really superficial view. The reality is that I made a lot of friends during that time and a few of the closer ones are closer still now and that's what it was really about.
And of course us geeks moved on from the BBS world to the internet - and back then in the mid-late 90s it was the stuff of geeks. There was no broadband - if you had cash to burn you might have considered getting a leased line to your internet service provider but we're talking thousands of pounds. So it was all dial-up and we're talking pre-Windows 95 and so you needed all kinds of plug-in software to put a TCP-IP stack onto your computer.
Of course, it is much easier now and even the most casual of computer users have wireless networks in their homes, never mind broadband connections.
Somewhere in the middle of all of this internet stuff I spent a lot of time chatting to people on IRC (before it got pretty well killed off by the myriad of instant messenging products). Some of these people I knew from the BBS world and some were new. Some of them even got married to one another. And some of them are no longer together.
I've combined the internet with my other passion, music and spent a lot of time making friends around the world who share my enthusiasm for Roxette and Marie Fredriksson. I've travelled overseas as a result to meet people and to go to concerts with them. The internet has shrunk my world.
I've discovered the obsession known as Everquest. Which still for me is IRC with something to do. I look forward to meeting my friends in that game and killing nasty monsters with them. I've travelled the world meeting some of these people too.
I keep in touch with old friends and make new. Just a few weeks ago I spent a very pleasant evening with a couple that I barely knew - they invited me to stay in their home. All based on a virtual embryonic friendship.
I've been working away from home several days a week for the past year or so. I have a flat that I stay in when I am up there and I now know I am going to be there for another year at least. So I have bitten the bullet and have got a broadband connection there too.
Oddly, this connection was activated today, Friday - the day I come home for the weekend of course. And guess what, my broadband connection here at home is broken and they can't fix it until Monday. I am typing this on a dial-up connection - which is OK for this kind of thing - but not a lot of use for much else that I want to do.
Amazing thing this internet eh?
And finally ... I've realised that I often blog when I am pissed off and want to whinge and whine. I'm going to make a concerted effort to be more positive in my blogging by introducing a new feature:
Things that made me happy since I last blogged:
Well OK it has been over a month since I last blogged, so this time it will be a selection of more recent things that have brightened my life:
1) Got a new job role at work, I am now a Delivery Project Executive - which sounds a lot fancier than it really is - but I am enjoying the new challenge.
2) Jody and Mark greeted their new baby Chase into the world this week - a little brother for Connor.
3) One of my team got some unsolicited positive feedback from the customer this week which was really pleasing.
4) I went out for a drink and a nice meal with Stephen, Kathy, Vicky, Scott and Shawn last night - this was a farewell for Stephen who is off to do a new role. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable evening.
5) I watched Hollie watching Cinderella when I got home this evening - it is so much fun to watch her singing along with the songs in the film.
and on that note I am going to get some sleep.
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