The Stage Is Bare And You’re Standing There…
There are rarely moments for reflection in the run up to Christmas, but when you finally get to sit down in a heap, the halo of good cheer can sometimes hover uneasily above the head of the curmudgeon. Is it fair or appropriate to spoil the party with a good old fashioned rant? Let’s face it with RR on hiatus and Shane’s much anticipated fix a few days away, this perhaps may offer a chance to vent some spleen without jeopardising domestic harmony.
In a departure from the normal format, this week’s Waste Of Space opens the floor to the Spillers’ unseasonal ranting. That’s right folks, you get to deal from the bottom of the deck – it’s no trump for this hand – so please step forward into the annoying glare of the Super Trouper with your very own Waste Of Space nominations. You don’t have to stick to musical objects of derision, although some might prove entertaining.
Off you go then.
Oh, and Merry Christmas to y’all.
Nested comments suck!
yeah – Nested comments suck!
Dond!
Double dond. You’ll never find me doing it … D’OH!
Days that don’t allow me time for listening to music and/or keeping up with blog content…children insisting on listening to Nellie the Bloody Elephant on the laptop for hours on end, thus depriving Mumsie of access to music and/or blog content….laptops that suddenly bugger up their internet connection, thereby depriving children of Nellie the Bloody Elephant and Mumsie of music and/or blog content…
I have two copies of it on 7″ debby. If you have a turntable that might solve your problem
Thank you for the offer, it’s much appreciated (but to no avail)!
Paul McCartney’s entire solo career, including Wings, with the possible exception of Live and Let Die because I like the grammatical solecisms, but especially Mull of Effing Kintyre. Have you any idea how hard it was to sit through the whole ‘RR Songs of Scotland’ thing, keeping my mouth shut on the principle of “don’t buke other people’s musical choices, however embarrassing and unfortunate”, while numerous people whose opinions I otherwise respect and who in any case I like were coming out with burbling professions of love for that ghastly song? The bagpipes. The schmaltzy lyrics. The saccharine vocal performance. The bagpipes. Give me Nellie the Elephant any day.
There. You said it. I bet you feel better now Aba!
*whispers*
I hate that song too.
*shouts*
So do I!
D’yunno what? I loathe the bloody song, an’all! But my long-held principles on what RR should be about, coupled with the amount of love that was shown for it, meant I just couldn’t not pick it. FWIW, the GU copy-eds did slightly tone down my comment addendum in the piece you read compared to what I actually wrote.
Can you forgive me, Prof, or will you be spitting into the smoker when I do finally send my email order through?
Rich –
I got copyedited a bit on my Midnight Rambler blurb – as i fully expected to be, and rather rightly so i think, all things considered. Wanted to see exactly how much i could get away with, and it is the Graun after all, there’s only so un-PC you can be. In the end i thought it was nicely sub-edited and i’m not at all unhappy.
You’re a better man than I am, DsD – I couldn’t have picked a song I loathed that much in a million years, however much everyone else loved it.
I can’t stand it either although this version raises a fliker of a smile – unfortunately I didn’t think of it until afte the Scotland topic was finished
Trolls. Webcore has been jousting with one over on RR.
I so wish webcore and RTJ would let it be. Here it is Christmas Day, and I opened RR hoping for some Christmas cheer and instead there was just a load of beastliness. It isn’t clever or funny to try and engage with a troll. All you should do is ignore it – it’s your attention it wants.
I don’t think either of us were trying to be clever or funny.
Then I’m at a loss as to why you do it.
Because everything i said, including the modded post, i was quite serious about.
Was that one troll using two IDs? Seemed to be. In which case, why haven’t the Mods shut the account down? (It’s still against the rules to have multi-accounts, isn’t it?)
DsD -
I think there were 3 this time around. Plus another couple of new ones usually each thread.
It looks like Fleur Du Mal is back on the circuit, unfortunately (as AngelicaDuLac this time). She’s a particularly annoying troll, in that she makes some valid and erudite points before going on the unreasoning rant. It’s all too easy to engage with her (so I understand amy’s position) but a pain in the proverbial to disengage from.
She’s tiresome though. Lotta big words saying ultimately nothing. Even i know that there are other great bands besides the Stones.
She posts almost the same essay every time – surely even she must be getting bored with it by now.
I did once post an ironic dig at her on one thread which to my surprise she took in good humour! Harmless enough I suppose.
Personally I don’t see the point of engaging with the current troll infestation on RR. If other people choose to that’s up to them but ignoring them seems probably the quickest way to deal with them. I suspect that it’s the one troll and one we’ve seen in other “sycophantic” guises, very odd behaviour.
Exactly. The same essay with minute variations as to why the Stones are the only great band in the universe. Even i don’t swallow that one.
She attempted a few forays onto the yank political threads a few times quite awhile ago but got smacked down by yankees with enough regularity (as it was obvious that she had no idea what she was on about) that she probably gave it up. But then again i gave it up over there too so she may still be at it.
Uri Geller. An intensely irritating man.
A mate of mine gets really irate at the mere mention of Jamie Cullum. I guess I don’t need to post a video to explain.
The Pogues ‘Fairytale of New York’ supposedly being the only good Christmas song. God, it really isn’t. Gruff Rhys’ ‘Slashed Wrists This Christmas’ is a great song – it totally captures how bleak the holidays are for some people; and how love can be found in the most unlikely places. Also, there’s The Waitresses and Half Man Half Biscuit’s Christmas songs.
Also, people being alone this time of year – when you’re walking your dogs, and you see really lovely parents with their kids, looking so happy together, and find yourself hoping that maybe one day you might start a family of your own… but know it won’t happen.
Until they start screaming, at least. Bullet dodged, possibly.
Merry Christmas RR/Spill readers.
Merry Christmas to you too, sir. Anda very happy new year to you too.
Where do you live, Rich? I’m taking my grandsons to the panto on Thursday – would be great if you could come too.
Oh no it wouldn’t!
Oh yes it would!
Adele. Katy Perry.
Oh! A new record player for Christmas!! This is the best thing ever!! My old record player played stuff slightly too fast so I stopped using it! This is the best present ever!
***spends ages adjusting counterweight on arm, puts record on***
Why is it so very very quiet? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I NEED A PRE-AMP PHONO STAGE AND ALL THE SHOPS ARE SHUT!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
***orders one off ebay, plays the CD version that came with the vinyl***
MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL ‘SPILLERS!!
xx
I read that, in the early seventies, when the first Comet Warehouses opened in Britain a lot of middle-aged folks decided to try out this stereophonic lark,made their purchase and drove off happily with their brand new “stereo record players”.
These were, of course, turntables. The idea of needing an amp and speakers too was a new concept to many of us. The old Dansette didn’t need any of that palaver.
On getting home people would phone the store and complain irately that they couldn’t hear a thing.
If anyone knows this to be an urban myth, please don’t tell me.
Sounds true & good to me. But where did it get Comet in the long run, eh?
Failing once again to get the in-laws to cut way back on the amount of xmas shopping. Damn if there ain’t more stuff here than ever before despite pledges to cut back this year.
Hey, i have one of those $10 cell phones too. Which is what we call them here, in case you didn’t get the memo. I think i have like $2.33 left on it, time to top it off.
I only trust my self with cheap “burner” phones because they have a bad habit of drowning around me: two fell in with the laundry, one dived into a swimming pool, and one other simply disappeared.
I make a conscious effort to use UK spellings and grammar on RR and the Spill when I can remember to do so. It’s equal parts courtesy in deferring, and a fun mental game to play in trying to catch them all while posting.
There was an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 where one of the gags I loved had a British safari adventurer getting sinking in quicksand while the Bots read off this rapid fire list of non sequitur “Britishism” clichés in a stuffy BBC announcer voice, “Arsenal nil-nil at Manchester United, Stiff upper lip old chap, packet of crisps, We shall redouble our efforts and take the lorry to the lift”
I just hate to talk on the phone an do it as little as possible, so don’t see any need for a $100 / month phone contract.
I have a personal sort of laugh at the cell / mobile thing because we used to work with an English guy who used to call them mobiles while everyone else called them cells, so there were a few jokes there.
I have to be careful that the Britishisms we use on here don’t seep out into my real life conversations. People get bewildered, and it’s not worth the explanations.
First awesome gift -
Musician guys next flat (oops, apartment) over left a CD taped to my door last night. I so hope they make it big.
Re: Cell/mobile phones – I didn’t even own one until about 2009. Just never saw the need nor expense for having one. One of the reasons I ruined so many phones was that I had no experience carrying around and securing one all my life.
With this $10 AT&T GoPhone, I can get a $25 airtime card that’s good for three months at 10¢ per minute and 20¢ per text. I get a VERY limited text-only internet too, but rarely use it. The Spill works, but with the Grauniad I can only read the articles and not the comments.
At the rate I use the phone, I’ll just about use up the minutes in three months, so it works out perfectly for me… Almost perfect, that is. I called directory assistance – one of those automated voice recognition things – to get my aunt’s phone number – since I really only have occasion to call her on Christmas – to send some Christmas greetings, since I forgot to write it down or program it into my phone.
First call hooked me up to a completely wrong number – a picture frame shop?! – second attempt got me through only after holding the line to speak to a live operator. Total cost = $5.50. Grrrr.
I have the exact same phone and use the exact same plan! Never did figure out how to text or get the internet on it though. But yeah, when i have to call some institution and get put on hold with muzak fot a good chunk of minutes, it is a problem. I have to call Verizon to sort out a billing error they made, and i don’t think that the $2+ i have on the will cover it.
I only got the phone a year or so ago when i was in transition limbo between apartments for 2 weeks and didn’t have access to another phone.
Bank holidays. The holiday bit is OK but the 2 “Sundays” in a row going stir crazy at home because you’re looking after bored kid(s) and you haven’t the means or the will to take them anywhere they want to go and they just want to play video games anyway. Just saying.
Bloody Forbidden Planet! I ordered two most excellent prezzies for my MK grandsons and only one of them came!