And I have managed to spot the worst ever Christmas lyric.
It is in "Little Saint Nick" by the Beach Boys.
Here is the line:
"Christmas comes this time each year"
Unbelievable. Unforgivable.
Thursday 19 December 2013
Worst Christmas Song Lyrics
I have been listening to lots of Christmas songs on Christmas FM.
And I have managed to spot the worst ever Christmas lyric.
It is in "Little Saint Nick" by the Beach Boys.
Here is the line:
Unbelievable. Unforgivable.
And I have managed to spot the worst ever Christmas lyric.
It is in "Little Saint Nick" by the Beach Boys.
Here is the line:
Unbelievable. Unforgivable.
Royalties from Christmas Songs
In 2011 I named my top 3 Christmas songs (here).
In 2012 I named my fourth favourite (here).
On his radio show this morning, Ray D'Arcy mentioned how much money Christmas hits were making for their composers every year. Mind boggling!
Some stats are available here.
Here is a list of how much money the top songs have generated so far THIS YEAR:
"Merry Xmas Everybody", Slade - £526,494
"Fairytale Of New York", The Pogues - £397178
"All I Want For Christmas Is You", Mariah Carey - £357431
"Last Christmas", Wham! - £310,148
"Mistletoe and Wine", Cliff Richard - £101,187
"Do They Know It's Christmas?", Band Aid - £80,233
"Merry Christmas Everyone", Shakin' Stevens - £55,344
"2000 Miles", The Pretenders - £46,624
"Stay Another Day", East 17 - £31,073
"Stop The Cavalry", Jona Lewie - £13,617
So get your thinking hat on, get in front of the piano, and see what you can come up with!
In 2012 I named my fourth favourite (here).
On his radio show this morning, Ray D'Arcy mentioned how much money Christmas hits were making for their composers every year. Mind boggling!
Some stats are available here.
Here is a list of how much money the top songs have generated so far THIS YEAR:
"Merry Xmas Everybody", Slade - £526,494
"Fairytale Of New York", The Pogues - £397178
"All I Want For Christmas Is You", Mariah Carey - £357431
"Last Christmas", Wham! - £310,148
"Mistletoe and Wine", Cliff Richard - £101,187
"Do They Know It's Christmas?", Band Aid - £80,233
"Merry Christmas Everyone", Shakin' Stevens - £55,344
"2000 Miles", The Pretenders - £46,624
"Stay Another Day", East 17 - £31,073
"Stop The Cavalry", Jona Lewie - £13,617
So get your thinking hat on, get in front of the piano, and see what you can come up with!
Tuesday 10 December 2013
Impressive Quality Assurance Process
I spotted the product below for sale in my local pharmacy.
If I was manufacturing a product with labelling in a language which I could not read, then I would be sure to hire someone who could read that language to check the text before doing a production run.
But maybe that's just me.
Certainly this manufacturer did not feel that this was necessary.
If I was manufacturing a product with labelling in a language which I could not read, then I would be sure to hire someone who could read that language to check the text before doing a production run.
But maybe that's just me.
Certainly this manufacturer did not feel that this was necessary.
Saturday 7 December 2013
Escape from Cable TV
I mentioned in a previous post that I decided to escape from the waste of money that is cable TV in Ireland (where I was paying over €30 per month for a "basic" package of about 13 channels - none of which were digital, none of which were HD, and only a few of which were even in stereo!!)
As I mentioned, a large part of the rationale for the escape was that we now turn to Netflix instead of TV.
The second key was the availability of Saorview (or Freeview if you happen to live in or close to Northern Ireland).
At the front of my house (which faces south towards the Three Rock transmitter) you can pick up a perfectly good Saorview signal by connection a metal clothes hanger to any of my TVs (including the small Samsung TV which I use as my computer monitor). The same is not true of the back of the house unfortunately where a proper aerial would be needed.
So I did the following:
Plus 8 digital radio channels.
All free. Forever.
And when I got it working first, only RTE TWO was in HD. Then a few weeks ago, RTE ONE went HD too. And no extra charge!
In summary:
As I mentioned, a large part of the rationale for the escape was that we now turn to Netflix instead of TV.
The second key was the availability of Saorview (or Freeview if you happen to live in or close to Northern Ireland).
At the front of my house (which faces south towards the Three Rock transmitter) you can pick up a perfectly good Saorview signal by connection a metal clothes hanger to any of my TVs (including the small Samsung TV which I use as my computer monitor). The same is not true of the back of the house unfortunately where a proper aerial would be needed.
So I did the following:
- Bought an aerial from TV Trade (€15 plus VAT plus postage)
- Bought a signal splitter in my local hardware shop
- Cancelled UPC
- Put up the aerial in the attic facing south
- Connected the aerial to the signal splitter
- Connected the outputs of the signal splitter into the existing cables running to the sitting room and the playroom
- RTE ONE (HD)
- RTE TWO (HD)
- TV3
- TG4
- RTE NEWS NOW
- 3E
- RTE JR
Plus 8 digital radio channels.
All free. Forever.
And when I got it working first, only RTE TWO was in HD. Then a few weeks ago, RTE ONE went HD too. And no extra charge!
In summary:
- No monthly charges
- No external aerial/dish
- No "box"
- Just free TV forever
- Perfect complement to Netflix
Asimov's Foundation Series
I read (and very much enjoyed) the "The Foundation Trilogy" by Isaac Asimov when I was a kid.
I heard, years later, that the "trilogy" was expanding.
I decided recently to read the full series. I was amazed to discover that the series now consists of 7 books.
When looking into the best order in which to read the "trilogy", I discovered that opinions differ. But all agree that more than 7 books are involved!
Follow this link to find some conflicting opinions/advice.
Asimov himself set out (in "Prelude to Foundation") an order in which the books should be read. But then he went on to add "Forward the Foundation" to the series!
So the order I am going to use is neither the order in which they were published nor the order recommended by Asimov himself. Instead it is the one set out by a user named "Ojisan642" at the link above. It is:
So 15 novels in all! I just completed the fourth book this morning. Enjoying them very much so far.
And if I want to read more after that, he claims (at the end of the fourth book) to have "published over 260 books."
And WikiPedia goes further to claim that he has "written or edited more than 500 books."
What an unbelievable achievement!
I heard, years later, that the "trilogy" was expanding.
I decided recently to read the full series. I was amazed to discover that the series now consists of 7 books.
When looking into the best order in which to read the "trilogy", I discovered that opinions differ. But all agree that more than 7 books are involved!
Follow this link to find some conflicting opinions/advice.
Asimov himself set out (in "Prelude to Foundation") an order in which the books should be read. But then he went on to add "Forward the Foundation" to the series!
So the order I am going to use is neither the order in which they were published nor the order recommended by Asimov himself. Instead it is the one set out by a user named "Ojisan642" at the link above. It is:
- I, Robot
- The Elijah Baley series
- The Caves of Steel
- The Naked Sun
- The Robots of Dawn
- Robots and Empire
- The Galactic Empire trilogy
- The Currents of Space
- The Stars, Like Dust
- Pebble in the Sky
- The original Foundation Trilogy:
- Foundation
- Foundation and Empire
- Second Foundation
- Foundation's Edge
- Foundation and Earth
- Prelude to Foundation
- Forward the Foundation
So 15 novels in all! I just completed the fourth book this morning. Enjoying them very much so far.
And if I want to read more after that, he claims (at the end of the fourth book) to have "published over 260 books."
And WikiPedia goes further to claim that he has "written or edited more than 500 books."
What an unbelievable achievement!
Appraise versus Apprise
I was writing the phrase "I will keep you apprised of the situation" in an email the other day when I was forced to check whether it is "apprised" or "appraised". It is the former of course.
"To apprise someone" is to inform him/her of something.
"To appraise someone" is assess his/her value.
Very, very different.
To remember the difference, it is useful to remember that we can get an item of jewellery "appraised".
"To apprise someone" is to inform him/her of something.
"To appraise someone" is assess his/her value.
Very, very different.
To remember the difference, it is useful to remember that we can get an item of jewellery "appraised".
Wednesday 4 December 2013
Last Man Standing
Was on my way to the train station the other morning when I saw the scene below in Malahide village.
I thought little of it until I suddenly imagined that I had just arrived at the end of a massive bin fight and that the victor had just emerged (maybe I watch too many action movies!)
The thought made me laugh out loud. And then I went back to take this photo.
I call it "Last Man Standing".
I thought little of it until I suddenly imagined that I had just arrived at the end of a massive bin fight and that the victor had just emerged (maybe I watch too many action movies!)
The thought made me laugh out loud. And then I went back to take this photo.
I call it "Last Man Standing".
Christmas FM Returns
It's here again!
On Thursday last (28th November) at 8AM, Christmas FM began broadcatsing for 2013.
And we were all tuned in and waiting.
The station broadcasts on 94.3 in Dublin and other frequencies around the country.
And world-wide on the Internet.
The charity this year is Aware which is an extremely worthwhile cause. You can donate €2 by texting a dedication to 50300. You need to include "xmas" followed by your message. All of the money goes to the charity.
Now we're really in the Christmas spirit!
On Thursday last (28th November) at 8AM, Christmas FM began broadcatsing for 2013.
And we were all tuned in and waiting.
The station broadcasts on 94.3 in Dublin and other frequencies around the country.
And world-wide on the Internet.
The charity this year is Aware which is an extremely worthwhile cause. You can donate €2 by texting a dedication to 50300. You need to include "xmas" followed by your message. All of the money goes to the charity.
Now we're really in the Christmas spirit!
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