Calm down dear, it's a commercial...

Part of my job as a soi-disant scribbler on the net is to point out bits of pop-culture fad to you (hopefully after everyone else has, so I've got things to link to.)

I was going to write a post on how the Cillit Bang advert appears to have people in a frenzy but luckily Aardvark.dj* has done the hard work, so I don't have to - check it.
(It's a story for our times, I'm telling you.)

The link on his post to the JAKAZiD remix of the ad is priceless!
(Straight into the sound and vision, so lower the volume if you're accessing it from a funeral home or summink.)

*Check out the rest of his blog - v. good.

Dove-imitation ban strikes Yorkshire!

In the news today, Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax has banned visitors from cooing at other people's new-born babies.

My first reaction to that headline was, "Who the hell goes around cooing at other people's babies?" I am clearly a heartless pig without a paternal bone in my body.
Yay me.

Enforcing this ban should prove delightful. Excuse me, Sir, did you just impersonate a pigeon in the vicinity of that infant? You come along with me. Now, now.

Brace yourself for a deluge of the phrase, "political correctness gone mad."

On a more serious note, I would have thought that early interaction with a range of people would provide much-needed stimuli for a baby and is essential for its development. Although babies are not public property. You wouldn't, however, guess this from some members of public who will quite happily stop a stranger with a baby and perform the coochie-coo routine. This is an especial problem with multiple births - walk around with twins and you're a magnet for all with spare time on their hands and inane questions on their mind: "Are they identical?", "Isn't it sweet when you can dress them the same?" and "Why are you swearing at me? - I'm just asking about your children!". General invasion of personal space can start earlier as pregnancy appears to be an excuse for random touching - women having to endure patting of the bump from well-meaning passers-by. For why?

Such instances of aggressive cooing and over-familiarity can happily be avoided by the wearing of a T-shirt reading "Touch my child without my permission and you die", or the carrying of a loaded weapon which can be drawn and fired to the accompanying spoken refrain of "Coo this, m*therf*cker!!"

I digress...

Formula 1

Fernando Alonso is crowned 2005 Formula One World Champion by taking third place in the Renault at Sao Paulo in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

He also becomes the youngest ever world champion, beating the thirty-three year old record of the great Emerson Fittipaldi.

Nice one, Fernando!

Race report, here.

It's not over yet, however, as the McLaren 1-2 finish gives them a two point lead in the Constructors Championship over Renault.

Music to sit up and take notice of

The Angry Liberal Records site is now up and running - here.
Get down there, read the reviews and grab your copy of the new Corporation:Blend EP, Chapter of Accidents - brilliant stuff and highly recommended (see earlier post.)

For more good new music (on an electronic tip), check out Lestrade and download Transport Sec.

Scoot on over to The Mighty Boosh fansite: The Boosh Is Loose!
Head for the 'Special' page, where you can download 'Midfielding' by Midfield General featuring none other than Noel Fielding purveying his natty line in mad storytelling over the top. Genius.
(Must do a separate post on the Boosh. It's the best programme I've seen for a long time. And I watch a lot of television.)

Music blogs - there's a few beauties out there you know.
* Musicircus is a beautiful one, with the emphasis firmly on the jazz and the classical. Nice.
* Mocking Music, which has a great post on the C-86 tape given away with copies of the NME, back in the day.
* Keeping the C-86 alive is indie mp3, the Ronseal woodstain of blogs. Head over there and listen - he's got very good taste.
* Spoilt Victorian Child. Probably the best-looking of the bunch (found it via thingsmagazine, natch), a site that's well worth full exploration - plenty of informative posts, downloads and see the link to SVC Records and SVC Radio, too. I certainly feel spoilt...

Fact of the post: click and scroll down to find out why Israel enters the Eurovision Song Contest. Then look up the Intervision Song Contest. Mad shit.

P.S. Do you want to know what the Future of Music is? Do you? Well, I'll tell you. Come closer. It's this.

Switch off your computer - watch TV instead

Buzz on over to Beeline TV, a cracking little site that allows one to watch TV channels from all over the world (Peru, Iceland, Cuba, Latvia, Israel, Serbia etc.) free, gratis and for nothing.

Incomprehensible but addictive.

Moving on to the impenetrable, caught the excellent documentary on 30 years of the BBC arts programme strand Arena the other night. I remember watching episodes of Arena from a young age - it's best described as pompous, stylised and brilliant with it's head up it's arse and it's tongue in it's cheek.
Hmmm... OK, that's given me a disturbing mental picture now...

It was the idea of the young Alan Yentob (he'd just left BBC1's Omnibus and would end up making Imagine - he makes good television, doesn't he?) who is now the BBC Creative Director.
The distinctive theme tune was "Another Green World" by Brian Eno.

The programme is still going strong - have a flick throught the BBC Documentaries page for details of its finer moments.

Aside; for all the best in TV criticism, check out the wonderful Off The Telly. Shamed though I am to admit it, their reviews of repeated General Elections from the '70s on BBC Parliament were a guilty pleasure of mine...
For those of a less dull disposition, their article on the second decade of The Simpsons is possibly one of the best TV critiques of all time - here.

Also, for your TV guide needs, you can plump for The Custard or the trusty Radio Times (which'll let you customise your channels.)

Katrina

News Resources:

Comprehensive Wikipedia article on Hurricane Katrina that struck the states of Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida and Alabama in the USA. Subsequent to the damage from the storm, the protective levee system of New Orleans breached resulting in severe flooding and the evacuation of the city.
Thousands are believed to have been killed.

The Guardian Newsblog has a number of informative links, including one to the list of posts from New Orleans Livejournal bloggers - Katrinacane - giving first-hand accounts of bloggers who stayed in the disaster zone. A regular poster is Interdictor, working at the offices of Directnic, keeping the servers running. I suggest you read the posts - harrowing stuff. Hope they're staying safe.
(Also mentioned in this Times article.)

Reports on the devastation are also looking at the wider implications and impacts on issues such as global warming, oil reserves, and economics - Mark Tran, here.

Pictures of the levee break from Kathryn Cramer's site, here.