Phil Gyford's blog

QotD: Over or Under?

nobody@vox.com(Phil Gyford) — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:05:56 +0000

Okay, we hate to ask, but... over the roll or under the roll?

I think it's my first Question of the Day, and I can't believe it's loo roll that's got me responding.

I didn't realise there were intelligent people who seriously believed it's correct to have it under the roll. I assumed that when I came across such arrangements it was put that way by someone who'd never even thought about the issue and it was just 50/50 chance.

I am saddened that I have been enlightened to others' ideas on this. Over is not only easier to use in at least two respects, but also looks nicer, and anyone who thinks otherwise lives in some weird fantasy world with upside down hands and an altered sense of aesthetics. So there.

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QotD: In Heavy Rotation

nobody@vox.com(Phil Gyford) — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 19:21:48 +0100

What albums are in heavy rotation for you right now?

Albums? Albums... oh yes, I remember them.

It's very rare that I play albums more than a few times these days. I rarely play them enough to get to that point where I know lots of the words and then eventually get sick of it. A few plays and it disappears into the general iTunes morass of randomised playing.

The only album I've played over and over in the past few months has been 'The Last Brontosarus' by Jacob Borshard, which is downloadable for free from his site. Really recommended if you like Belle and Sebastian, Camera Obscura and other "twee" tunes.

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QotD: The Best Part of Waking Up...

nobody@vox.com(Phil Gyford) — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 09:22:08 +0100

What's your morning beverage of choice? Coffee, tea, juice? Homemade or store-bought?

Orange juice, occasionally grapefruit juice. Shop-bought, organic, not from concentrate.

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QotD: Better than the original?

nobody@vox.com(Phil Gyford) — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:37:03 +0100

What is your favorite cover song?
Question submitted by Ray.

Oh well, I suppose I should try posting something to this thing, although I'm not sure why I'd need another place to write stuff. If it takes Questions of the Day to get people to write then maybe they shouldn't be writing...

Anyway... I've got 342 songs in my iTunes "Covers" playlist. Picking from the ones I've rated 5/5...

My favourite covers tend to change the atmosphere of a record, and if I was going to pick a single favourite on that basis it'd probably come from this lot:

Cat Power - Most things from her Covers Record, particularly Wonderwall, Satisfaction and Wild is the Wind.
Cibo Matto - About a Girl
Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa - Baby One More Time
Dynamite Hack - Boyz N The Hood
Macha and Bedhead - Believe
Nina Gordon - Straight Out of Compton

But then there are also covers that pick up the original, slap racing stripes on the side and make it GO GO GO:

Snuff - Theme from Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads
The Vandals - Don't Stop Me Now

There, is the world a better place for me posting that?

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