Daily Rant

The 'Greatest' Songs

2008-10-09T21:46:32+02:00

What qualities must a song have to be called the 'greatest'? The natural beauty of Lennons Imagine? The outrageous invention of Bohemian Rhapsody? The attitude and arrogance of the Stones Satisfaction? Or the anger and pain of Nirvanas Teen Spirit? Pink Floyds Comfotably Numb? Or Led Zepellins haunting Stairway?
We all have our favourites, thats the beauty of music. It affects us all in different ways and changes with our moods. Theres music for romance, anger, adulation, success, drunken nights out, drunken nights in. Whatever the moment may be. It depends if you like rock, pop, trance, techno, jazz, classical. Brought up in the 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s and where your hometown may be. For the younger generation it may be something from Britney or Christina. For the parents, something from Elvis. For the grandparents something from Bing.
Somewhere deep inside each of us there must be those chosen few songs. I tend to ignore the 'official' lists (although some do cross over) as they tend to be the views of a select few. For me its the songs that create the greatest emotion. Songs that no matter how many times you listen, you still feel in awe. I cant limit this to one particular style but they would reflect the different times of my life and make me smile when I think about them now.
Music is a wonderful thing. Without it the world would be a sad place. No matter how much music you think you know, there is always more to be heard and appreciated.
I would never mock those who listen to the likes of the Spice Girls and Britney (although I dont approve of it) and other manufactured pop crap, as we are all individual and have our different tastes. What makes a song the greatest for you?
Maybe one day I will hear that song that surpasses Bohemian Rhapsody or Comfortably Numb. The wonderful thing is that I look forward to it.

Comments

Move over please Harry Potter

2008-10-04T22:11:27+02:00

Am I alone in thinking the Harry Potter series is overhyped? I dont deny Ms Rowling her talent but having read today that she makes 6 times as much as the next successful author, im starting to think that the world needs to chill a bit. Dont get me wrong, I would have been proud to come up with the whole Potter story and make wads of money from it but I do think that the world has overreacted somewhat.
I actually read the whole series back to back after refusing to read any of it for many years and fair enough it was pretty good. Sadly though, the ending was utterly pointless, predictable and laughable (like Angels and Demons by Dan Brown!) which let the whole series down. Famous faces were climbing over each other to get into these movies, why? I just cant understand why there is still so much hype. There are many great authors and novels out there we should all experience but I guess Rowling just tapped into the inner child in us all.
As with any transition from novel to movie (with some exceptions) it was a disappointment. The first movie was fun but I feel that it went downhill from there. Theres still 3 to go and although I wont bother with the first 2 of those, im looking forward to a good laugh from the final one.
So, she's made her money, you've read all the books and more than likely you will all part with more money to see more average films when the truth is that your own imagination is so much better than the big screen which is why the books were so good. Keep your money in your pocket and your mind young.
To answer my own question from the start, yes I probably am alone.

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The "Oh my awesome" count

2008-10-04T21:30:58+02:00

So I have just sat through a home improvement/decorating reality tv show from the USA. You know the type - a bunch of unrealistic DIY guys, handsome, big smiles, chiselled jaws and 5 o'clock shadow. No sign of man breasts and workmans arses anywhere to be seen and even more realistically a nice sofa to sit on instead with beer and remote control in hand.
The reason for the "Oh my awesome" count is that the very first word I heard when I turned it on was "AWESOME" followed soon after by "Oh my God" We decided to count the "Awesomes" and "Oh my Gods" and came up with 6 and 17 respectively in the space of 30 minutes, including adverts. Now this is by no means a rare occurence. I challenge each and every one of you to do the same. In future we will be incorporating it into a drinking game - it will be messy.
Go on waste 30 minutes of your life and actually watch one of these programmes, its quite amusing. Americans have this fascination with these two phrases and when their new and improved living rooms are unveiled, there is one and only one thing they can say............"OH MY GOD".
Next time on Poshrant.......ridding the world of "you know" during interviews :-D

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I stopped smoking!!

2008-09-19T11:17:13+02:00

I started smoking at 17 and continued for 18 years. I went through all the highs and lows smokers experience and made all the typical comments :-
"Its my health so its my problem"
"I can stop anytime I like"
"These chest pains arent smoking related"
"Its just a cold"
"I enjoy smoking"
etc etc etc
I even had days (and im not alone in this) where I thought that if I dont wake up tomorrow because of smoking, then I had better smoke more today.

I read a very famous book on stopping smoking. Im not going to say what it is as im not here to advertise and make money for others but its the main one. It works, trust me on that. I stopped one month ago and I have been out running every day for the last 3 weeks. Like most smokers, I tried patches and gum but the truth is they just delay the craving.

I truly recommend stopping smoking. Do you remember the last time you woke up and actually felt healthy? I waited 18 years for that feeling and it truly is worth it.
Im not going to be a nightmare ex-smoker, I dont complain about others smoking but I just feel better.

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Pointy Umbrellas

2008-09-12T14:48:04+02:00

Its rains in the UK, we know that. We need umbrellas to get through our daily lives unscathed. Why do they have little pointy things all round the outside that abviously are a danger to anyone within a yard or two. I personally have split the skin on someones head by accidentally banging into them. Thankfully it was a friend so I escaped lightly. I think its about time they placed rounded parts instead of pointy parts on brollies. Also as a side point, wh black umbrellas? A friend of mine has a transparent blue umbrella as she said its always a blue sky then. Theres definite logic there. Certainly if all the businessmen started carrying brighter brollies then the city would cheer up a bit in the dark winter months.

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Dog Poo/Horse Poo

2008-09-12T14:42:55+02:00

As theres so many laws now for dropping just about anything on the ground, I think its about time we discussed horse poo. I myself dont have a dog but regularly walk my friends dog. If it was to poo on a footpath and I left it then I could be fined. I dont disagree with this as I dont particularly like picking poo from the soles of my shoes so that is not my issue.
Horse poo is my issue. If there is a sports or music events as there so often is here, there will usually be police horses used for crowd control. A sensible idea but its common for there to be huge piles of horse poo on roads and footpaths. They attract flies, smell, take skill and alertness to avoid (especially on a unicycle) and are just a huge mess.
Im wondering if 'citizens arrests' still exist so that we can confront the police and ask them to clean up after themselves. I honestly believe that if I followed them with a dog and the dog pooed on their horse poo, I would be fined. Police you do a great job but please keep the streets clean(er).

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Unicycles, a waste of time and money?

2008-09-12T14:33:45+02:00

Can someone tell me the point of unicycles? Having lived for 33 1/2 years without seeing one, I have seen 4 in the last 18 months. Now im not talking about visits to the circus but people riding them down the streets of London. Whats wrong with a full bike? Theres obvious advantages - you wont wobble so much so no one will laugh, they dont take years to learn to ride, you dont look stupid, if you wear a helmet on a unicylce you look extremely stupid as its an admission you cant ride properly - for a bike its just safety, they cant ride uphill, they cant ride downhill, they dont really have any brakes and even though you buy less than half a bike you pay more than double the money.
Basically theres no obvious advantages to riding a unicycle so please please just buy a full bike.

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Celebrity Obsession

2008-09-12T14:24:11+02:00

Having just returned to the UK after 4 months away, I was truly (and foolishly) hoping to find that all the talentless and pointless celebs had all packed up and left town. But no, it was not to be. Why oh why are people in this country so osbessed with people like Jade Goody, Victoria Beckham, Cheryl Cole etc etc. THey have genuinely proven they have little or no talent and nothing of any value to offer us.
Programmes like Big Brother are mind numbing, boring and downright scary viewing and lets be honest, the only people who enter are so desperate for fame that they will embarrass themselves in and out of bed just so millions of uneducated and uninspiring people can watch and talk about it the next day over coffee. Is there really nothing better to do with your lives than encourage these pointless people.
Its one of the UKs great mysteries why we adore and encourage talentless people when theres actually so much talent trying to get through. Im sure theres many young genuinely gifted writers, musicians and actors out there who cant get a look in because we are so obsessed with the antics of the average Joe.
It is hilarious that these arrogant people will sit in front of a camera for a number of hours on odd phone in game shows and talk endlessly about how boring and pointless their lfe is.
I have spent time in Canada and parts of Europe where they just arent interested in fame like here. There may be one or two of these programmes but its in he middle of the night just to fill in the scheduling gaps but its an obsession here in the UK.

UK why do we encourage talentless people to become famous. Does it say something about the intelligence level of our population that we are so enthralled by this. Theres so much of the population working in bars, restaurants, warehouses etc that will work up to 70 hours a week just to survive and yet people with nothing to offer the world will go on to make millions just because they are famous for being famous.
Grow up UK, we are honestly an embarrassment in the eyes of the world

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