theafroblog

Our final day!

2007-05-10T20:00:00.000+01:00

It seems like forever since I first walked into Drayton, 5 years ago. Yet now we're only a week away from our GCSEs - the most important exams we've ever taken - and stepping out of the uniform forever.

To be honest, I don't quite understand what all the fuss is about. There are a few people leaving who I'll miss (Anya and Marianne especially), but something like 80% are coming back next year anyway! I guess the only reason I'm so cynical is because I never know what to write in those books other than "see you next week".

In other news, my shingles have returned - last I had them was just before the mocks. It's a form of chickenpox brought on by stress and tiredness, but thankfully not contagious to those who've had chickenpox before.

Ps. I'd heartily recommend checking out this gallery of photos taken over the last few days at school. Talk to Adam if you want to add your own photos to it.

"Emo is bullshit"

2007-04-07T22:53:00.000+01:00

"Emo is bullshit! If people want to take it for the literal sense of the word, yes we're an emotional band, we put a lot of thought into what we do. People always try to stereotype us, but we don't fit the emo stereotype."

- Brendon Urie, lead singer of Panic At The Disco.

Wow. Next they'll be telling us they're male.

(Quote and image from this NME article)

Review: Album omnibus

2007-04-07T22:19:00.000+01:00

Three weeks ago I bought four albums at an excellently-priced CD store (and borrowed Klaxons off Rupert). Having listened to them pretty solidly over the last few weeks, I thought I might as well review them all at the same time.

Let's start at the top. Klaxons are amazing. I only wish Rupert had played me more than the intro to Atlantis to Interzone, then I would've discovered them months before they hit the mainstream. Most of you will have heard the album by now, and if you haven't - why not? Klaxons have a sound that somehow incorporates pop, indie rock and "new rave", which appeals to just about everyone. My only complaint is the secret track is just plain noise, but hey, it's secret for a reason.

Kaiser Chiefs' first album was pretty patchy. Sure, the singles were good, but there was nothing else to write home about. This follow-up, Yours Truly, Angry Mob, is far superior: the songs no longer sound as though they were composed in a pub, but still retain the catchiness and energy of the original. A particular standout is "Love's Not A Competition (But I'm Winning)", although the humorous nature of all of Kaiser Chiefs' lyrics slightly spoils the tone. If you liked the first album, or any of the songs off it, you'll like this one.

Amnesiac is weird, even for Radiohead. Although perhaps not quite as weird as Kid A (I've yet to listen to it) it makes Klaxons sound like Spice Girls. Its strange mix of computer-generated sounds, distorted vocals and genre-fusing jazz and electronic tracks. And I love it. It certainly wouldn't appeal to the masses - my brother walked in on "Like Spinning Plates" and accused the song of not actually being music - but if you're looking for something new and interesting I'd highly recommend it.

I only heard of the Vines a couple of months ago, although Highly Evolved was released nearly five years ago. I have no idea how I missed it, but thankfully the album hasn't aged one bit, consisting of simple and catchy garage rock. Some tracks (such as "Factory") can be a little too simple, but they all give the feeling that the band just love to play guitar and shout into microphones, even if it doesn't end up making much sense. Overall, the raw energy of the album proves that Australia can produce better than Kylie Minogue.

Finally, we come to Nirvana by Nirvana. I have to admit that I'm not the biggest Nirvana fan in the world - I mean, sure, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Heart-shaped Box" are great songs, but I still don't quite understand the hype. This best-of just confirmed my impression of them: fantastically-written songs, powerful yet simple riffs which are perfect for beginners and a thoroughly depressing and repetitive tone. I can understand why people like Nirvana, but they're just not for me.

Reading: a guest post by Joe

2007-04-06T21:21:00.000+01:00

Hi Guys. So there’s 137 days to go until Reading 2007, and there’s like 30 Drayton Year 11’s going. Excellent. I’m proper looking forward to it. I’m just glad I was able to secure my regular weekend ticket on the night they came on sale, and didn’t have to bother with all the coach ticket shit, nor did I have to shell out £200 on eBay, like some.

I know people have been complaining about the line-up a lot, but just consider that only 28 out of around 100 acts have been confirmed. In the grand scheme of things, The Line-Up Is SICK, although admittedly it could be a lot better.

Remember, there’s still like 75 acts to be confirmed, and there’s hundreds and hundreds of wicked bands who are likely to play, so it will be a lot better by August. Personally I’ve got my fingers crossed for The Horrors, The Hives, Hadouken! Bedouin Soundclash, The Holloways, The Maccabees, The Ordinary Boys, all of which are perfectly possible, but theres so many more acts I want there that could quite easily happen. Although If I REALLY had my way, the line-up would look like this so far:

Unfortunately, you can’t always get what you want.

Plus, I’d make a lot more changes than that, but time is money guys.

If there’s an act not on the confirmed 28 that you would like to see at Reading, it’s not too difficult to work out the likelihood of them appearing. Just consider these factors:

Their popularity (obviously)
Recent Releases (new albums etc)
Their place on the bill last year (Headliners don’t tend to return the next year)
Their current tour dates (if it says “25^th August – Reading Festival”, that’s quite a good sign)
The band’s thoughts on the festival (if a big band say they want to play Reading, they will probably be asked to play)

Yeah, so that’s the lowdown on Reading 2007. Whatever the line-up ends up looking like, it’s an incredible experience for everybody, so if you got a ticket, make sure you’re looking forward to it. Only 137 Days and counting!

SEE YOU THERE YOU WANKERS!

The WoW starts now

2007-04-03T22:25:00.000+01:00

I got so excited leading up to the impending launch of World of Warcraft. Adam had been telling me about everything you could do in the game, and how we'd play online with Nick and Nick and Sam and people. So I downloaded the beta, and I hated it. There was nothing to indicate what to do next, the combat was uninvolving and the price (£9 per month) was far too high - so I gave up after the 2 week-trial.

For those of you who don't know, World of Warcraft is the most successful massively-multiplayer online game (MMOG) ever. Something about its familiar, Tolkien-esque setting and accessible nature has convinced over 6 million people around the world to explore the land of Azeroth - battling monsters, crafting armour and, crucially, interacting with other players from around the world. It's this social aspect that makes the game so appealling, since tasks can be carried out in groups of players, all aiding each other.

So the other day, the Times came with another free trial of the game. Why not give it another go, I thought? After all, 6 million players can't be wrong. For some, levelling up their virtual orc is more important than their children.

And though I'm not quite as addicted to the game, I get it this time. No objective? Sure there is! There's plenty to do, it's just not spoon-fed. The combat is still slow and tedious, but I can chat with nearby players while I watch my dwarf hack away at enemies. As for the price, my younger brother has also got into the game - being a fan of several other MMOGs, his newfound love of WoW comes as no surprise - and hopefully we'll be able to split the cost of an account between us.

Anyways, this entry's gone on for far too long. I'm off to hunt some wild boar near Kharanos.

Review: the school production

2007-03-13T17:53:00.000Z

The school production is rather unorthodox this year. Rather than one big play, it's two abridged Shakespeares - The Tempest and As You Like It.

The Tempest was Shakespeare's final play, a weird blend of romance, comedy and horror about an overthrown king with magic powers who takes revenge those who overthrew him. As You Like It is relatively straightforward - a romantic comedy based around unrequited love. I think. Someone got rejected several times and four couples got married at the end.

Despite the confusion of the audience (or at least me), they were still hugely enjoyable because of the great casts. I may complain about "Miss Farrow's favourites" a lot, but she does know how to cast people. Everyone suited their roles excellently, and it was refreshing to see some new faces amongst the regulars.

Although both were pretty well-polished, it was obvious from the interesting transitions and clever human forest that far more thought, if not time, was spent on As You Like It. (Which makes sense, since it was originally put together for the Shakespeare festival) That said, The Tempest is more entertaining purely because it involves magic, monsters and a shocking amount of alcohol.

Worth seeing? Probably. But as with all Shakespeares, it's worth reading the synopsis beforehand so that you understand what the hell is going on.

Coursework and deadlines

2007-03-01T19:54:00.000Z

It's Friday tomorrow. A normal day for many, but for all of year 11, it's the day when the Maths coursework is due in. Which means that half the year will take the morning off "ill", while the other half will boast about how late they stayed up last night, trying to finish it off. I should know - I was part of both last year.

Oh, sure, there's other subjects too, but we're all united in our fear of the maths department's strict deadline. In fact, we're so united that we seem to think it's alright to ask people we haven't spoken to in years for their entire coursework over Msn. At least 5 came asking for help before I added (and he's not sending coursework to ANYONE) to my screen name.

I'm perfectly happy giving friends help, but when I haven't even spoken to you for months that's just taking advantage. (remind you of anyone?) I pity Adam - he's too nice to turn people down like I do. Despite the fact that he finished his coursework a week ago, he'll still be up all night doing other people's.

We also have the year 11 photo shoot tomorrow morning. Teachers seem to think it'll work as a deterrent to stop people from bunking, but I expect the photo will just be half-empty instead. Which is a shame. I guess there's always the sixth form photo.

It's official: Sony hates Europe

2007-02-24T16:05:00.000Z

Actually, that's not entirely true. Sony hates the entire world, apart from North America and Japan.

I'm sure you may well have heard of its upcoming console, the PlayStation3. It's the follow-up to the PS2, which is arguably the most successful console ever. But, guess what? As well as having to pay more than Americans for the console, we're now getting a stripped-down version that will only be able to play a "limited" amount of PS2 games, rather than all of them.

This is because Sony are taking out a processor chip that was used for playing these old games in order to cut costs. But since the PS3 is costing Sony $200 per unit (that's right, they're making a loss), none of this cost-cutting will make it any cheaper for us. So, to summarise:

we're getting the PS3 5 months later
for £100 more
and able to play less PS2 games than the US version

Anyone still planning on getting one?

Story from Kotaku.

Life On Mars is actually quite good

2007-02-20T20:23:00.000Z

My parents have been raving about the time-travelling detective series Life On Mars for ages, so I agreed to watch the first episode of the second season last night. And you know what? It was brilliant.

Life On Mars, for those who don't know, is about a detective who is hit by a car in 2006, and wakes up to find himself in 1973. Throughout the series, he struggles to adapt to his new surroundings while trying to persuade his fellow cops to use his modern-day techniques.

The entire show has a great 70s atmosphere - and although I don't know what the 70s were like, I can certainly imagine it being like this. The police are rough and ruthless, balking at the idea of thoroughly investigating a crime scene, women are forced to put up with endless sexism and some people even have afros. ^_^

But there's another side to Life On Mars, which the adverts seem to skip around: it's actually quite dark. Not only are the stories based around fluffy topics such as corruption high in the police force, but the character himself often questions his own sanity. The show's intro sums it up perfectly: "am I mad, in a coma or back in time?".

If you have a Doctor Who or Torchwood-shaped hole in your TV schedule at the moment like me, Life On Mars is the perfect replacement. And even if you're not, it's a damn good drama.

Ps. I didn't manage to get this blog post out in time for the episode tonight - unfortunately, there isn't another episode for two weeks!

Guitar: one week on

2007-02-15T21:30:00.000Z

So, it's a week and one day since my first ever guitar lesson and I'm already far better than I was last wednesday. My teacher's away this week, so thankfully I have another week to brush up on my (non-existent) skills.

I guess the best way to sum up guitar is that it hurts. A lot. The tips of my left hand are still stinging, and my fingers cannot stretch the distance for even the simplest of tabs - just the intro to Tenacious D's Lee is beyond me.

But hey, I've only been playing a week now, and five chords isn't that bad, right?

Right?

"Happy" Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T18:47:00.000Z

This is a guest post by Hannah - I had writer's block. Thanks to her for filling in for me.

Sooooo.....it's Valentine's Day, possibly the most dreaded date on the calendar for anyone over the age of 13. Even some of those lucky enough to have a boyfriend/ girlfriend. Seriously! As soon as the January sales are over the shop shelves suddenly become laden with overpriced chocolates, cheesy cards, fluffy teddies, and just about anything you can fit the words 'Happy Valentine's Day' onto. Valentine's tea-cosy, anyone? Thought not.

It's all just so....pointless! Elliot pointed out this morning that it 'wasn't very nice weather for Valentine's Day'. And why not? Because it's a normal day! Just another day in February, as rainy and as cold as any other. There's no reason why the weather should change, and no reason why people should change, either. Those with boyfriends and girlfriends, why not just show your love for them any other day? Why not every day? It's not as if you like them any more on Valentine's day....is it?

And as for the singletons out there....just try to forget about it. Admittedly it can be hard, with glittery heart displays in almost every shop window, couples everywhere you look and countless mentions of 'the V word' from just about everyone *cough* Elliot *cough*, but just try. At the end of the day, who cares? Come the fifteenth it'll all be over, forgotten, and most importantly, all the special Valentine's chocolate will be half price. Now there's a way to cheer yourself up.

Safe all
Hannah

Elliot: Ah well... at least Nintendo loves me.

It's like a disease

2007-02-13T18:23:00.000Z

Fantastic news. Apple are opening a new store in Kingston, the closest one yet.

The Apple Store Bentall Centre in Kingston will open on Saturday February 17th at 9.00 am — and you’re invited to help us celebrate. Join us for the Grand Opening and get the chance to win a Digital Lifestyle Collection that includes a black MacBook and an iPod nano.

Now I can travel down there every weekend and drool over the 30" screens.

They are ridiculously large. I took advantage of one last time to watch the Pick Of Destiny trailer in HD. But seriously, who doesn't enjoy messing around in a shop full of computers? Even if you despise Apple, the thought of putting Fabio on every single computer is surely pretty tempting.

The girl in my Msn display picture...

2007-02-12T20:54:00.000Z

Is not my girlfriend! She's just my friend. Well, ex-girlfriend, if you want to get picky about it. Some might say "friends with benefits", but to be honest we're just quite close.

Since when has having someone with you in your display picture meant that you're going out with them, anyway? Alex H isn't going out with Mahad...*

*I think that was the display picture, and I'm pretty sure they're not going out. I might be wrong.

I ain't no-one's photoshop bitch

2007-02-09T21:58:00.000Z

Yesterday evening, a person (who shall remain anonymous) added me on Msn. He asked if I could turn part of an image black-and-white for him. Being the kind person I am, I said yes. So I started cutting out the pillows and wine bottle for him, and he mentioned another photo that he wanted a track list on.

Hang on, I thought... a track list? What did he want that photoshopped on for?

Then it hit me: it was the Media coursework, making CD covers! Silly me, I'd been working on mine that evening, and I didn't even realise. So I asked him when it was due in for. Can you guess? That's right, it was for tomorrow. The cheeky bugger had added me on Msn (having heard about my 1337 photoshopping skills) and asked me to do his Media coursework! I refused, despite his pleas. I don't care about cheaters - but when you don't even tell the person that it's coursework, that's just taking advantage of kindness.

The worst bit is that when I got to school this morning and told Adam about it, he replied "oh... I did it for him."

The stupidity that is CCW coursework

2007-02-07T20:27:00.000Z

A letter arrived yesterday morning addressed to my parents, concerning CCW. It seemed that I had forgotten to hand in something coursework-shaped to Mr Green, and the school wanted to make its position very clear: I either hand it in before next Friday, or I don't get entered into the exam.

And oh, what a pity that'll be. Let's get one thing straight: the CCW curriculum is a joke. It's patronisingly simple common sense that anyone with half a brain should be able to figure out for themselves. The coursework is to "participate in a school or community based activity" (whatever that means). Somehow I doubt that any universities will care whether I've taken the subject or not.

What exactly will happen if I don't get my coursework in on time? I won't be entered into the exam. That's a guaranteed C down the drain. Oh no.

Guitar: first impressions

2007-02-07T19:01:00.000Z

I had my first guitar lesson today, and it's bloody hard. Even a simple "D" chord takes me ages to put together, and then one of my fingers slips a millimetre and the chord sounds rubbish again. "A" is the worst, though. Three fingers cannot physically fit in the same fret bar. Well, they probably can, but it's damned hard.

Another problem, which I had been warned of previously: the tips of my fingers feel as though they've been cut with razor blades. The bloody strings are so thin that they leave deep marks in the ends of your fingers, and it hurts like hell.

I'm sure that all beginners suffer these problems, and that people who have been playing for years will roll their eyes at my complaints. But I get the impression that guitar has a pretty steep learning curve - I just hope it gets shallower later on.

Vista ain't all that

2007-01-31T17:51:00.000Z

There's so much media coverage of the release of Windows Vista at the moment, but I just don't understand why. What's so great about Vista that's going to convince me to go buy a new PC (since my old one certainly won't be powerful enough to run it)? Let's go through the features that Microsoft is showing off...

The new look, "Aero". Ooh, pretty glass effects. I have to admit that that this is one feature I do like, although it's not included in the cheaper versions.

The redesigned start menu and search functions. You can search your entire computer instantly now? Macs and Google Desktop have been doing that for years, sorry. No big deal.

The new sidebar with "Gadgets" - small little programs that check the weather and stuff. Umm... Haven't Yahoo! Widgets, Google Desktop (yup, it does more than just searching) and Opera been doing that for years?

The updated software. Yup, it comes with stuff for photos, video editing, DVD burning, plus a calendar and address book. But this stuff has all been included on Macs for years.

To be honest, almost every part of Vista has been ripped off from Apple, but that's no bad thing. I'm sure I'll be using it in the future, and any improvement is a good thing - I'll definitely appreciate searching without that poorly-animated dog next to the results.

Overall, there are plenty of new things in Vista, but is any of it going to make you rush out and buy a copy? Somehow I doubt it.

My song of the moment

2007-01-29T17:42:00.000Z

Why I love my Mac

2007-01-26T21:47:00.000Z

I mentioned yesterday that I was having trouble with getting the footage from the advert onto my PC. Let me put you through the steps I took.

Switch on camera.
Plug USB cable into PC.
Install CD for the camera.
Restart computer for new programs to work.
Record footage onto computer.
Get frustrated that it's poor quality and has no sound.

After aquiring a FireWire cable so that I could connect the camera to my Mac, these are the steps I took.

Switch on camera.
Plug FireWire cable into Mac.
Start up iMovie and record footage off camera.

It's just one more reason why I'm so happy I made the switch.

Media club ads (with added Lemmon)

2007-01-25T20:07:00.000Z

So Lily, Jasmine and I won a competition to film an advert for Media Club (where Year 7s, 8s and 9s get to produce a news bulletin with help from the BBC), and we got to skip CCW in order to interview kids saying a handfull of pre-determined answers.

We hunted down a handful of KS3ians including Lemmon and Pippa's sister, but to be honest carrying around a camera is even more effective at attracting attention than letting off a box of fireworks, and there were swarms of them desperate to get on camera (what we didn't tell them was that the footage was to be shown in front their entire year group). Miss Welch and Jasmine fended them off with the warning: "it's coursework".

I've never before noticed how much respect year 11s get from the younger years. One kid was shouting at Lemmon as I set up the camera, so I said to him "be quiet, and go stand over there." Much to my amazement, he bowed his head and walked off.

The 50 minutes blazed by, and we had some great footage by the end. I volunteered to take the tape home to edit it. Unfortunately, after several hours, all I could get onto the computer was jerky footage with no sound.

Well, when I do finally finish the advert, it'll be up against tough competition (I hear Anya's group's "media is everywhere" ad is very good). And if it wins, all of Key Stage 3 gets to laugh at their friends making fools of themselves! Fantastic, no?

The Simpsons Movie? Pah!

2007-01-22T17:51:00.000Z

So I was in watching Night At The Museum on Saturday (2 stars/5) and there was a trailer for the legendary Simpsons Movie. There was a time when I watched Simpsons religiously, at 6 every evening.

First off, I have to comment on that "proud to be ugly... in full 3D" bit. Sure, older epsiodes may look like pretty ugly, but newer episodes are as clean as the CGI bunny. And that crane is so obviously done with CGI (like the Futurama rocket).

Anyhoo, the Simpsons jumped the shark years back - I only realised when Channel 4 bought the rights to it just how far the programme had sunk. Every episode contains a celebrity cameo, and they're not even well thought out these days (although the Michael Jackson episode was genius).

The saddest thing is that the Simpsons has lost touch with its roots, and is only a cash cow for Fox these days. The movie will just be more of the same, and from the look of this trailer, not funny in the least. But hey, Family Guy and Futurama are much better anyway.

MySpace hacking

2007-01-18T19:11:00.001Z

Hannah got hacked again. This time the hackers didn't just send out bulletins full of Spam entitled "I am going to have sex!!!" - they deleted her "about me" section and her background.

Most people assume that there's nothing they can do about being hacked. They're wrong. Remember when you clicked on this image?

Yeah, that didn't send you to anyone's MySpace profile. In fact, that wasn't even MySpace. it was a website designed to look like MySpace so that they could steal your password and log into your account. MySpace hacking is huge - even Tom's been hacked.

What can you do about it? Here's my advice:

Change your password the moment you're hacked.
Use Firefox 2 or Internet Explorer 7, which warn you when you're on a fake login page.
And always follow the advice on the MySpace login page that says "Look for login.myspace.com in the Address".

Linerider = funness

2007-01-17T19:39:00.000Z

I can so see myself wasting hours on this thing.

Basically, you draw lines, and a little guy on a sledge is forced to ride whatever you draw. It really is that simple, and incredibly addictive once you work out how to land it.

If you're bored, why not try it out instead of filling out another survey on MySpace (which I will soon be ranting about, believe me! Those stupid "boy/girl" stories... no, I'll save this for another day).

You can find it here: www.official-linerider.com

Why the PS3 will fail

2007-01-15T17:05:00.000Z

PlayStation 2 is the most popular and fastest selling gaming console ever, so it's no wonder that the most anticipated console of the "Next Generation" is Sony's PlayStation 3. But is it really going to dominate the competition as much as its predecessor did? Here's why the PS3 will phail with a "ph".

Firstly, it's hideously expensive. It's $600 in America, and likely to be £425 when it finally arives here. Compare that to its competition: the Wii is only £180, while the XBox 360 is ~~£300~~ £200.

Secondly, it's incredibly late. It was supposed to be out wordwide by spring 2006, but because of manufacturing problems it was delayed until November - in the US. We still have to wait until March.

The Blu-Ray player that Sony have put in the machine is causing all of its headaches. It's over-expensive and very difficult to make. Who needs that blu-ray player, anyway? No-one has hi-definition TVs apart from Chris.

There's more problems with the console, of course, but most are caused by its price and lateness. And it's all because of that damn blu-ray. Sony must be kicking themselves.

Winter cleaning

2007-01-13T22:55:00.000Z

Well, I had a huge clear-out and re-arrange of my bedroom today. The first casualty? My computer.

I had been spending frankly unhealthy lengths of time on it, so my parents ripped it from its groove in my desk and moved it into the study two doors down.

So I may be a little slow repsonding to comments from now on, and I certainly won't be on Msn as late as I was (and would like to be). I shall, however, try to update this blog as often as possible, even if it won't be every single day.

MySpace top eights

2007-01-13T17:18:00.000Z

Someone pointed out yesterday that a person with only 4 "top friends" looks like they don't have very many. And, to be perfectly honest, I can understand why. So I bowed to the almighty peer pressure and extended my top friends to 8.

The thing is, it's so easy to miss people. And what if there are 9 people just as suitable to go in your top 8? Then what?

Then people get angry and annoyed. Arranging your mates is like playing with explosives. I've already had Minami leave the comment oh thats nice. *takes elliot off top friends*. And even though she was kidding, I can imagine huge arguments blossoming from this.

Why don't MySpace just have an option to get rid of your "top friends" section altogether? Because MySpace is rubbish, that's why.

Update: Apparently you can get rid of it. But it's not official, so MySpace is still rubbish.

The PE department are evil

2007-01-11T19:15:00.000Z

Seriously, making us do games out in the freezing cold surely must be illegal. Especially if all we've got in our games kits are skimpy t-shirts and shorts.

Even if you think I'm a bit of a wuss for complaining about the cold, you must agree that the PE department - possibly all PE departments - are run by soulless teachers who only care about inflicting pain. I mean, c'mon. The head of department is called "Ms Payne"!

Ah well, I'm nice and warm now. Next week I'm wearing tracksuit bottoms and a rugby top, for sure.

I love Simon Amstell

2007-01-10T16:51:00.000Z

True fact: I used to watch Popworld on Channel 4 every Saturday morning. It was one of the very few television programmes I watch it religiously. Why? This man on the right, Simon Amstell.

Simon Amstell's "thing" is to poke fun at celebrities, specifically those in the music business - therefore, Popworld was the perfect show for him, with A/B-list celebs dropping in for an interview each week.

While most music programmes treat their guests like gods, Simon Amstell and Miquita Oliver were brave enough to tease the Kooks' frontman about his ex, Katie Melua, and to make Britney Spears walk out of an interview.

They left the show almost a year ago (to be replaced by the inferior Alexes). Thankfully the BBC noticed his genius and signed him up for Never Mind The Buzzcocks, which has replaced Popworld on my short list of must-watch programmes.

Ps. Don't believe me? Check out Simon Amstell at the 2005 Brit Awards.

Why Windows Live Spaces sucks

2007-01-09T18:06:00.000Z

So I was using Windows Live Spaces (formerly Msn Spaces) to write my old blogs, and I was incredibly frustrated by just how rubbish it was. So here's my top 5 reasons why Spaces sucks (there are so many, believe me!)

The blog editor is rubbish. Like, it won't even let you put pictures in blog entries easily, and it cuts out most HTML.
The photo galleries are rubbish. It takes forever to load, sometimes didn't work properly, and the photos themselves are tiny and poor quality. There's plenty of alternatives out there.
No friends? Any rational human being would have thought "hey, I know. Why don't we make their contact list as their friends list?" Of course, Microsoft aren't rational human beings.
The themes are rubbish. On sites like MySpace, you can use whatever background you want, from whichever site. On Spaces though, you only a handful of backgrounds to choose from - and almost all of them were boring.
The blog editor is rubbish. I know I've covered this already, but I need to rant about it a little more. You couldn't even post YouTube videos! Like this clip from Scrubs of the amazing Knife-Wrench.

Oh, I've run out of room. And I still had how horrible it looked and how useless the lists feature was. And how slow it loaded.

The only good thing I can say about Windows Live Spaces is this: the fact that it bugs people on Messenger every time you post a new blog entry gets a lot of people reading it.