Friday 14th July 2006

Doctor Jones, I need some help! I am addicted, well and truly. Is there no cure? I am surprised it did not happen to me a few years ago, but on Tuesday evening I started searching for various movies on YouTube and spent the rest of the evening adding personal favourites to my play list. Eventually I pulled myself away and went to sleep but it is just compelling to enter in a word or phrase and find videos in seconds. I searched over a variety of topics, starting with Michael Jackson and his inspired back catalogue. Of course there is a substantial amount of fan concert footage but there are also unique gems, such as this acoustic version of Human Nature. Perfect. I then moved onto searching for Bollywood movies from yesteryear. As I have already mention in entries in the past, I am not a big fan of modern cinema from the sub continent but back in the 1980s, I loved most of the three hour epics. With my heroes, Ambitabh and Mitun on screen, there was no villain whom would enjoy his dues for long. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of classic video clips on there, including trailers, which at the time I would never have seen. I created a new play list and started to overload it with all my favourite Bollywood songs, both new and not so new. Even for those of you that do not understand the language will get the idea that I really like my mushy, soppy romantic numbers. I would have gone out to see Superman this evening, but my friend Pav is out camping, somewhere in Wales. My other friend was busy in the north of England so my options were limited. I asked Chris if he wanted to come at the weekend, but he gave me a big flat no. He was not bothered by the return of biggest superhero the silver screen has ever seen, after a 19 year break. My final option, although of course I mean that entirely in the order in which the opportunity arose, is to take my sisters. We are off to Reading to watch the early evening performance just before 6pm. I will of course report back with a full review but the second highlight of the evening will last less then eighteen seconds. In vast contrast to the years we have had to wait for the cape crusader to return, we have lived with the famous ‘Asteroid’ by Pete More for nearly forty years. What am I talking about? If you have been to any cinema in recent years, you cannot claim not to hear the jingle which accompanies the Pearl & Dean intro. One of the reasons I always try to get to the cinema early is to hear and see this moment before the advertisements begin. However as I was growing up, our local cinema was a UCI (now Empire) they showed Carlton Screen Cinema advertising, so I missed out until I was 17 and could drive to Reading, Maidenhead and beyond. Perhaps one of the reasons why I prefer Vue cinemas. They have this year, revamped or rather re-recorded the theme to give it a new lease of life. Generally I do not have personalised ring tones on my mobile phone, but once, just once I am willing to break with tradition. Still not with me? I found a copy of the older introduction which was played in auditoriums up and down the land until 1996.

Yesterday, got to work and logged onto the Arsenal web site. I just had to get hold of a ticket for Dennis Bergkamp’s testimonial match, the first official match at our new home at Emirates Stadium. A few weeks ago, talk on the forums had been that red members did not have a chance in hell to get a seat as all silver members would take their allocation. However, talking to Terry on MSN convinced me that I still in with a chance. The web site was only updated after the weekend that any remaining tickets would be issued from Thursday at 9.30am. So, I logged in just before 9am and kept an eye on the clock while started on some work with a college, every few minutes returning to IE and clicking on some pages to keep my session active. Exactly at 9.30am, the page went completely blank and I had to login a fresh but no login page appeared, just white empty explorer window. Eventually I got to a screen which showed me some information, that the web site was extremely busy at the moment with a redcurrant banner across the screen, counting down to the time it would take before I could get to the login screen for the online box office. Arsenal have done away with Ticketmaster and opted to use their own electronic ticket booking service, as all membership cards will double up as entry passes to Ashburton Grove. After a twenty minute wait I was eventually allowed in to book my tickets, Mr. Williams assisting me with the best choice of available seating. The worse thing was the progress bar kept getting near to the end and readjusting itself back adding crucial minutes to the chances of me getting hold of the already limited stock of tickets. Never mind I got there in the end and confirmed my booking with two arms up in the air, only to turn around and say to my colleagues that perhaps my celebrations were premature and I should wait for the e-mail confirmation. Which of course I printed the moment in arrived into my Yahoo! inbox. So I was going to see my all time football hero in his final match following eleven years service to the Gunners. It will truly be an emotional afternoon, all things considering. When was the first time I saw Dennis play? It was the Holland versus Switzerland group match in Euro ’96, at Villa Park, Birmingham. Wow! Ten years ago since my first football match. Funnily enough, this evening I received an e-mail from someone calling themselves “xxx xxx”. No, not the usual spam, but a message from Michael (who cannot spell testimonial) wondering how much I was willing to pay for tickets. Well no thanks, I have my legitmate ticket thank you. Stop trying to tout tickets and take some English lessons. Back in January, yes six months ago I mentioned Hollyoaks and a hilarious sketch, which I loaded up as screen captures. Well not to let you down with my first YouTube loaded post, I thought I would upload my first video to the sharing web site and share it with the rest of the world. Now you can finally see for yourself the funny moment which almost killed me.

It is with disappointment I have to report what song I have been listening to on Win Amp over recently nights. There is no point trying to cover up the facts, they are clear for all to see. Perhaps it is the 1980s feel, which is so inspired by Madonna’s Holiday, or the sweet vocals of the artist, but something about the single has me in a fix. (I have far too many of her songs in my collection as it is!) Being such a sucker for catchy tunes on the radio, it is a good thing I only listen to KISS 100 at the weekend. What is the name of the song? No need to give the title, prefer instead to go back to my old ways and just quote lyrics, or rather the hook! All The Girls’ Stepping Out For A Public Affair All Night, Let’s Rock, Cause The Party Don’t Stop All The Cameras, Come Out, For A Public Affair Who Cares, Let’s Rock, Cause The Party Don’t Stop

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