Water, water everywhere....

Well first of all I'll say that I have every sympathy for all those who have been flooded. Their lives must have been turned upside down and will most likely take months to put everything right....
BUT....
How many more times do we need to see a reporter in wellies/waders plodging about in some street going on about how deep the water is? We get it... the streets are flooded... If it's not the reporter up to his knees in water, it's the reporter interviewing the local who assures you "I've lived here 15 years and it's never been like this". Well no shit Sherlock - if it was common for it to be 'like this' you wouldn't have your 5 minutes of fame because the media wouldn't be interested!
So yes - we've had a lot of rain and there are about 6000 homes flooded. Does that really mean we need non-stop coverage every night showing us exactly the same scenes?And dare I say it - if it were 'up North' having the flooding would it get more than a quick couple of minutes just after the really important story about the cat that was lost for 37 minutes?? Probably not....
Could the media for once please not take a story and do it to death? How about some real objective reporting rather than the inane and frankly insulting "Oooh look at that - the water is almost up to the letter box" - too much to ask?? Sadly I think it is....

Cover Versions

So I was sat tonight watching 'The Voice' tonight... what stood out were people singing songs in exactly the same way as the original - they may as well have been doing karaoke.... badly.... So that got me thinking about cover versions. Well there are plenty about but these days they tend to be for adverts rather than because a band just wants to do them. Now I like a good cover version, but don't see the point of them being exactly the same as the original - I like to hear a different interpretation of the song and that's what makes it interesting....
So anyway - I thought I'd do another top ten, this time for cover versions. As always this is according to my current mood so could be different tomorrow!

10. Somewhere Only We Know - Lily Allen
Originally by Keane and made popular by a cute rabbit waking a bear up for Xmas. Hated the advert, loved this version.

9. Don't Stop - Nina Nesbitt
Originally by Fleetwood Mac and another made popular by an advert - not too different from the original but sounds cleaner and fresher.

8. Hazy Shade of Winter - The Bangles
Originally by Simon and Garfunkle. I hadn't heard the original until after I heard the Bangles version. Don't know if that's why I think The Bangles do it better but they do!

7. Dear Prudence - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Originally by The Beatles - How dare a punk band do a cover version of The Beatles? Well they dared, got their biggest selling single and did a damn good job...

6. Hounds of Love - The Futureheads
Originally by Kate Bush. The start does it for me...

5. All Tomorrow's Parties - Japan
Originally by The Velvet Underground. Never liked the original version but then again I never liked anything by The Velvet Underground. A beautiful version by one of my favourite bands.

4. Police and Thieves - The Clash
Originally by Junior Murvin. There was always a link between punk and ska but The Clash stripped the song back and improved the original by about 1000 times

3. Tainted Love  - Soft Cell
Originally by Gloria Jones. Not many people even realise this is a cover. The original isn't much cop to be fair and Marc Almonds over the top (and pretty much out of tune) vocals made this a huge hit.

2. Walk On By - The Stranglers
Originally by Dionne Warwick. What can I say? The Stranglers totally turn a sickly sweet love song into bitterness and regret - and it works so well.... Go take a walk in the trees.....

1. I Second That Emotion - Japan
Originally by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Another Japan cover version. For a band who had their own original style it seemed strange that they did cover versions, and to do motown covers when they their roots were in glam rock seemed a bit strange. But this is an excellent cover, has been one of my favourites since I heard it and will probably always feature in my top ten!

Bog Roll

Do they think we're all stupid? Toilet roll is just the latest in a long line of products where the manufacturers clearly think we're blind, stupid or both... So I was renewing the Andrex and noticed a clear difference in size of the cardboard centre between the old and the new. I'm not quite such a pedant that I measured it but I'd estimate the difference in diameter was about 3mm. Not much really, but when you think of how thin toilet paper is I reckon your're looking at a reduction of at least 30 sheets. And guess what. You pay the same price.

This is an increasing trend - the price stays the same but the quantity you get for the price is reduced. This can be a decrease of more than 10% in some cases. Products which have done this range from your favourite bar of chocolate to your washing up liquid via tinned soup, loaves of bread and countless other products. In some cases the quantity is going down and the price going up at the same time!

Now, I have no major problem with increasing prices (well, we'd all prefer prices went down but that's not going to happen) - as long as they're justified. But why the subterfuge? Why not just keep the quantities the same as what everyone is used to and put the price up? It would seem the honest way of doing things. I know myself that I will tend to avoid products where this tactic has been used - I hope everyone else does the same!!