Monthly Archives: November 2007

Red Hot Chili Peppers get pissed off by TV show

Crazy, Music, TV

Red Hot Chili Peppers

 Hey, Chili Peppers, tell me about it! Just the other day I was watching Neighbours in the afternoon, and then that really annoying Doctors came on, with its creepily upbeat theme tune, and before I can capture even a moment of yet another boring storyline where nothing really happens, I grabbed the remote control, turned off TV and stormed off in a huff.

Seems the same thing has happened to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. So much so, that they’re actually suing the American TV network Showtime. Wow, when they get annoyed, they get MAD!

Oh wait. That’s not right. Oh I see. Turns out that the band are actually pissed off because the TV network have stolen the name of both one of their most famous songs and one of their albums, Californication. Californication, the TV show, stars David Duchovny as a highly-sexed writer.

I’m pretty sure that when the TV show came out, almost everyone immediately thought of the Chili Peppers’ song. I certainly did. There might just be something in this lawsuit.

Radiohead don’t pay for their own album

Music

Radhiohead 

Thom Yorke, lead singer of popular beat combo Radiohead, has admitted to not paying for the band’s latest album. That’s right – he paid NOTHING for it. How could you, Thom, oh, how could you??

Quite easily, in fact. And he’s in good company. About three-fifths of Radiohead fans who bought the group’s last album also paid nothing – the album, In Rainbows, was available to buy as a download only and fans were allowed to set their own price to purchase it. The vast majority decided to set themselves a price of $0 (well, if it’s an option – why not go for it?), whilst the average price of the download came to about $6.

A question still remains, though: couldn’t Thom Yorke just have been given the album? I mean, he did make it. Maybe he was just trying to see how this new-fangled Internet technology thing worked.

Nigella on Red

Magazines

In another clear example of getting celebs to pose weirdly for the cover of magazines, here I bring you Nigella Lawson on the cover of the December 2007 issue of Red magazine: (What’s that??)

Red Magazine, Nigella Lawson

In many ways, she’s still got that whole domestic goddess thing going on. It’s like she was baking something deliciously yummy for her hubby Charles in the nude – as you do – when, oh! The doorbell goes. Ooh, let me just grab some sumptious satin curtains around myself to answer the door. Why, it’s just the photographer from Red. Yah, sure, just take my photo like this, I’ve already done my hair and makeup, and this delightful breese is giving me a bit of a windswept look.

Except she’s still got that slightly puzzled look on her face, as if she’s standing their with a fixed expression thinking “Have you taken it yet? Have you taken it yet? Haveyoutakenityet??? Have you taken iiiiiiit yeeeeetttttt? Oh wait, you just took it? I wasn’t already!”

Hmmm to the Amazon Kindle

Gadgets, Technology

Kindle

 Amazon.com has launched a “revolutionary” wireless electronic reading device…that looks like something from the 1980s, and which costs $399! I mean I’m big on retro stuff and love the 80s, but this is pushing it a bit far. In the same year that we’ve been given the gorgeous and sexy touch-screen iPhone, seen the Wii’s popularity grow out of all proportion, and get new technological advances left, right and centre, we get a gadget such as the Kindle come along.

It claims to have a a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks just real paper, thereby, I suppose, getting round the old eye-strain problem associated with computers. It says it has long battery life, downloads very fast and is light, and can store about 200 titles. Sure, it allows users to download books, newspapers and blogs wirelessly, with no connection charges…but you’ll still have to pay $9.99 per book or for a newspaper subscription.

I’m not convinced. Don’t most people like physically holding (and owning) books? Gripping the cover tight on a real page-turner? Lending them out to friends? All in all, what’s the point of the Kindle? Aside from saving on bookshelf space. Oh, and not fighting with big broadsheet newspapers on the train during a rush hour…

Not a great start…

Music, Spice Girls, TV

Spice Girls

The Spice Girls gave their first live performance for…ohhh, centuries…Thursday night at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Despite massive hype, the Girls failed to sing live and only performed two songs – old hit Stop and new song Headlines (Friendship Never Ends). They had nice costumes, though. Honestly, people! You can’t ask too much of them! They’ve been out of action as a 5-piece for nearly ten years, you can’t expect them to look good AND dance AND sing.

The girls then gave a second performance in two days for Friday night’s Children in Need fundraising event. Goodness, TWO performances in TWO days?? That’s quite a workload! The jury’s still out on whether they sang live then either…methinks probably not.

I’m A Celebrity…no harsh criticism, please!

I'm A Celebrity, TV

IACGMOOH

 Ouch. The Daily Mail really knows how to hit people where it hurts. And by “people”, I mean celebrities, of course. And by “hit”, I mean take a sly dig at but actually not really because the paper will give them lots of exposure over the coming weeks thereby increasing their presence to the general public.

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! returns once again to our TV screens tonight. 10 celebrities (or as the Mail says, “celebrities” – how cutting, Daily Mail, how cutting!) return to the wilds of the Australian jungle, with only creepy crawlies and two short Geordie lads for company. Except 10 have now become 9 as ex-Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren has quit before the show even started, claiming the show was fake. Well, duh. If I went camping in Australia, I doubt I’d have to perform Bushtucker Trials everyday in order to get some grub.

Everyone criticises this programme each year for featuring Z-List celebrities. Now, people, think about this for a while. Do we really have 26 difference types of celebrities? From A-List right down to Z? Like, what’s a P-List celebrity, for example? P-List does also kind of sound like a name P Diddy might possibly go by one day.

Okay, so the full list of (ahem) Z-Listers is: Gemma Atkinson, Marc Bannerman, Jason ‘J’ Brown , John Burton Race, Janice Dickinson, Lynne Franks, Rodney Marsh, Cerys Matthews and Anna Ryder Richardson. Fun times ahead!