Well last week was obviously a case of much ado about nothing as all the panic and fear has just collapsed into irrelevance. I can guarantee that all of those people who looked around for hours for fuel are now feeling like absolute fools. But, still, there’s nothing you can do when total idiots and panic come together, is there? Anyway, on to this week’s news!
Political Oops of the Week
Announcing that the smartphone beta test is over, Nokia took over New York’s Times Square in a similar fashion to its takeover of London for the Lumia 800 launch, with Nicki Minaj performing.
Continue reading Nokia Take Over Times Square for Lumia 900 Launch
Being a music writer, a music listener, and a music fanatic, I find it extraordinarily hard to miss the (forgive the phrase) ‘word on the street’. And unless you’re a chronic agoraphobic or have severely disabled hearing, you’ll know the word on the street too – it’s Adele. In fact, it’s been on the street for so long now, we’re starting to question it’s status as an elaborated metaphor and see it increasingly as a permanent piece of iconography – an image of crude graffiti – perhaps depicting a penis – attracting gazes from all pedestrians who happen to pass within its vicinity. But let‘s face it, bleach and a scouring pad isn’t even going to do the job. And when you can’t beat ’em, write about ’em.
Now in no way at all am I implying ‘Adele’ is someone to beat – as a recording artist, yes – but I have no intention of pursuing the career. The big question is, why is she someone to beat? Why is this generic, cockney, overweight lass from London suddenly the most successful singer of the 21st century? In effect it’s one of the simplest reasons that any of us can fathom, but in a cloud of opposing ideas and conflicting messages it seems nobody is quite equipped with the means to provide it. For me, it’s a hilarious irony – the fact that for years we’ve systematically debated and condemned the horrors of sexualisation, glamorisation and objectification of women – but the minute the perfect anomaly arises within our midst, the only three words we can muster is – what the fuck. When we see a buck to the trend we ask ourselves “Why“? We assumed that in the world of sexual identikit pop stars, that the rise of the antithesis to that very idea would just simply not be possible. Let’s break it down.
Yes, it’s true. We all beat the Americans and now we are officially the world’s biggest drinkers. Hurrah! Although, livers all across Europe will now be seeking counselling at some point in the near future.
The World Health Organisation led a report with the European Commission to ascertain the truth, and it emerged that people in Europe drink more alcohol per day than in any other region of the world. On average, Europeans drink the alcohol content equivalent to three glasses of wine per day every day.
Continue reading Europeans Officially Crowned the World’s Biggest Drinkers
Cult of Mac is reporting news of more Apple rumours. Speculation is always rife around Apple, and it quite often turns out to be wrong – from the iPhone 5 announcement speculated to be last year to rumours that it would have a 4″ screen. Nonetheless, the speculations are worth exploring and they sometimes turn out to be true.
One of the arguments is that a smaller iPad will be used to rival the Samsung Note, which is apparently competition because it comes equipped with a stylus. The obvious response to this is that many phones came with a stylus just a few years ago, but the move to capacitive screens – which Apple spearheaded – forced the move away from styluses. The suggestion that the Note will have an impact is to suggest that we should have just stuck with PDAs. As for the Samsung Note being a competitor, it should be mentioned that with the iPad being nothing more than a bigger iPhone, Apple already have an iPad with a smaller stature.
Music pioneer Jim Marshall has passed away at the age of 88.
Along with Les Paul and Leo Fender, Jim Marshall was one of the people to forever change popular music. So much so that the creations of all three remain the cornerstone of electric music today, with the “wall of Marshalls” remaining one of the most iconic sights. Launched in 1965, the Marshall amplifier wasn’t an immediate hit, and it was perhaps Jimi Hendrix more than anyone who popularised it after discovering he could daisy-chain one head to another. Today we can see that almost everyone who’s anyone in music has used a Marshall amplifier from the 1960s to the present day.
