boardroom changes
Finally, now we can get back to worrying about the football, not the men behind the scenes.
Welcome to Catch
a story of coffee, music and football
ouch
Let me tell you, giving blood hurts more that I thought it would. Damn needles!
designs without borders
Welcome to Catch Simple, I’ve been thinking about a little change for a while but hadn’t been able to get it right, hopefully this should stick for a while.
ie fixed again
I don’t test everything when I make a little change, so IE users, please let me know if something looks odd!
planning for the future
There are a number of times in ones life when you have to think about the bigger picture, the long game, the future. This week, I had such an event.
Much has been said in the news about planning for retirement, how people are not going to have enough money later in life if they don’t start saving now, and how people who did save then find out that they’ve got nothing coming in return because someone in a suit looked the other way for a second and the whole lot disappeared.
While I was given a set of pension forms when I started work 6 months ago, I didn’t bother filling them in at the time because I couldn’t actually join the pension scheme until I’d been around for x months, where I though x was 6, but it turns out x was 3 but no-body told me, and I didn’t go through the various papers I’ve got lying around to check. Another reason was that the forms looked quite complicated, and pensions are scary.
This week I finally decided to fill them out, and what a laugh it was. Firstly, whoever thought to put the explanatory notes, like use black ink, on a tab tucked into the centre of the form and not ON THE FRONT was an idiot. Now once you’ve done the dog work and filled out all the usual details, name, NI number etc. you have to decide where you want to put the money you’re about to save. In the past it was simple, you put your money in the scheme and all the decisions were taken out of your hands, you simply didn’t have much of a choice, like in this quote from the Simpsons:
Mr Burns: Here, tell me how my stocks did yesterday.
Homer: Uh… they all won.
Mr Burns: What about my options?
Homer: Well, you can either get up or go back to sleep.
Mr Burns: I believe I’ll get up.
Nowadays, where pensions are dealt with by the banks, and all your employer does is pay some money into it, you’ve got all the choices. What do you want to invest in? Stocks? Bonds? Property? UK? US? EU? Japan? China? How much risk do you want? The first question is bad enough, ‘How much money do you think you’ll need when you retire?’ If someone could let me know how on earth I’m meant to know that I’d be grateful. Then there’s the investment fund, I had 38 funds to choose from, where I could invest in one, or split the money between two. Or I could invest in a further 11 ‘lifestyle profiles’ which split the money further and moved it around during the years. So with so many questions, how did I manage it? I’ve no idea.
I just hope that they don’t send the form back and ask me to fill it in again with black ink!
keane on tour
Tickets for Keane’s 8 date tour go on sale tomorrow, so you best get in quick! I’ll be there in Reading.
serious commentary
I didn’t realise that you needed to be a wannabe comedian to be a football commentator for the bbc, but judging by these snippets of this afternoons live web commentary, that’s who they’ve got to do the job. So when do I start?
From the Czech Republic vs Italy game:
36 mins: Another shot, another chance goes begging for the Czechs. This time Pavel Nedved’s effort is blocked by Marco Materazzi. The Czech Republic are creating the most opportunities but the table doesn’t lie - if it stays like this they are joining Michael Owen on an early flight
home.
Now there’s no need to insult ex saints players…
The Czechs need to find two goals with 10 men - against Italy. There’s probably more chance of Sven-Goran Eriksson starting with Theo Walcott on Sunday.
Exaggeration is always a good idea…
47 mins: Italy win a free kick 30 yards out and Francesco Tottie clearly fancies it. After pacing out an exaggerated run-up he charges in and scuffs the ball about half a mile wide of the post. He looks down at the ground, no doubt wishing it would open up and swallow him.
This is a gem…
63 mins: Francesco Totti whips in a corner and finds the head of Mauro Camoranesi. It couldn’t have fallen better if Totti had placed it there with his hands but Camoranesi somehow puts it wide. Maybe the weight of his ponytail upset his balance.
and from Ghana vs USA:
7 mins: Referee Markus Merk hands out a yellow to Eddie Lewis for handball. The official appears to be in a trigger-happy mood.
This one needs work…
60 mins: Ghana’s Eric Addo comes on for Matthew Amoah. Addo returns after eight years in the international wilderness - wherever that is.
and this one…
61 mins: Eddie Johnson of the Kansas City Wizards (influenced by the Wizard of Oz?) comes on for USA team-mate Steve Cherundolo.
At least it keeps me entertained at work, keep it up lads!
halfway there
It’s the longest day, so it’s downhill to winter from now on!
twelve stops and home
The loosely named ‘Review week’ continues or possibly concludes with a look at an album from one of my chosen new artists, The Feeling.
We’re all getting tired of hearing ‘Fill My Little World’ on the radio, I’m not sure that the word single was meant to define how many times it should be released, but I’m beginning to wish it did. Which is why I’m glad the album has finally come out.
I’ll say now that this review is not going to be as detailed as that for Keane midweek because I’m writing it in a rush and it’s just not that sort of album. While that was a ‘tricky’ second album with it’s mixture of tracks, styles and influences, this isn’t. ‘Twelve Stops and Home’ is a typical first album, full of Singles, plausible singles and topped off with the best of the other hundreds of songs that a band are sitting on by the time they come to produce a first album. Not that it’s a bad thing. It’s a really summery record. It’s also really rather poppy and it’s not ashamed to admit it, which is a) what I was expecting but b) not the type of thing I usually go for nowadays. The Feeling fill a void between serious MOR bands and ultra poppy manufactured rubbish. It’s always nice to find a niche, although I’m prepared to be corrected on this.
While all of the tracks are in a similar vein: upbeat, catchy summer popness, there is some variation. ‘Kettles On’ is a slower number as are the tracks towards the end of the album (a kind of winding down). Personal favourites and possible singles include ‘Love it When You Call’ (stop singing that after a couple of listens) and ‘Helicopter’ with it’s silly lyrics:
“I’d feel much better I’m sure, If I had an Ocean Liner”
Wouldn’t we all!
keane - under the iron sea
Before Keane made it big back in 2004 with first the single ‘Somewhere only we know’ and subsequent album ‘Hopes and Fears’ people knew that bands needed guitars, but relying solely on keyboards, drums and vocals, the Battle based 3 piece forced their way into the mainstream and won over a huge number of fans. The fact that a crop of copycat bands hasn’t appeared in their wake shows either how hard is it to achieve their sound with so little, or just how good they really are.
While the single ‘Is it Any Wonder?’ carries on in the same way that ‘Hopes and Fears’ left off with, an upbeat affair with layered keyboard tracks topped with Tom Chaplin’s unique vocals, the album isn’t a repeat of their debut. While ‘Hopes and Fears’ was filled with singles and featured few distinctly different sounds the kind of album necessary for a new band to break into the mainstream, it’s success has allowed the band to create a second album which is more like what the band really stands for. The upbeat singles are still there, with the probably second single and future sing along favourite ‘Crystal Ball’ the best of the bunch, the slower songs are still there too but there’s more. ‘Hamburg Song’ is almost solely piano solo and vocals, ‘Broken Toy’ features a three time near swing beat and both ‘Put it Behind You’ and the opener ‘Atlantic’ are dark, moody, sweeping, almost orchestral numbers that while appealing to people like me, might possible put some folk off.
A sentence of the bio from the bands site probably says it best:
“We wrote Under The Iron Sea because we needed a record that was going to make us feel alive again.”
Overall it’s just great and definitely better than ‘Hopes and Fears’ which I still love. It’s the first album in a while that I want to play over and over again but have to stop myself from doing in case I get tired of it. If you’re fan then go buy it, if you’re not, still buy it, I can’t recommend it enough.
review week - the festival
The fact that I’m writing this while almost fully asleep at half 4 in the afternoon should give a pretty good impression of what I’m about to say. Either that or it’s the hayfever drugs that I’ve got in my system to allow me to see and breathe. The same hayfever drugs that meant that I missed the most of the Friday night and all of the Saturday acts going home to get to allow me to survive the Sunday. Still, it was great.
The bands
If you asked me before who I most wanted to see, the answer would have been Coldplay, and they didn’t disappoint. It was worth missing the first two days to be able to see them. Their most memorable tracks being ‘Yellow’ (complete with giant yellow balloons being passed around the crowd), the finale of ‘Fix You’ and their version of ‘Perfect Day’, included because Lou Reed decided not to play it earlier. Mr Martin et al’s performance was nearly eclipsed by Richard Ashcroft’s set of classic tracks including a mass sing along of ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’. It’s just a shame that he clearly isn’t fully ok somewhere inside. Also worth a mention were The Delays who deserved a later slot but were storming none the less, Maximo Park who I was most impressed with despite hearing hardly nothing of before and Kubb who tried to put me off by playing album tracks in order, for which I have a CD thanks guys.
Outside the bands
5 years ago when the festival was revived, about 15k (I think) people turned up for the one day. Now the event has grown to a quoted 60,000 (although I think it’s more like half of that) and I think it might just be getting to big. The lack of Glastonbury and a failure to provide day tickets didn’t help, but the campsite was pretty packed and I think the staff were running out of places to put tents. Apart from the first night, the queues to get between the campsite and arena seem to have been sorted and the journey out today was far less stressful and involved less queues (0) than last year. There also weren’t the constant messages to pack up and leave that plagued the Monday morning last year. I’m not sure what the state of the world is when M&S have a food stall at a festival, but that might just be the 21st century for you. Last night’s fireworks weren’t half bad either.
So I’ve learnt not to camp in a field of uncut grass without powerful drugs inside me but it didn’t spoil the weekend. There are still a couple of little stories that I’d like to tell at some point but those can wait until I can better concentrate of what I’m typing. Overall, the IOW festival is still a enjoyable, friendly thing (especially when you’re with the right people, rock on guys and gals) and there’s something special about making that little trip across the water. Long may it continue.
gone to iow
If you’re seeing this message then I’ve gone off to the IOW Festival. I’ll be back on Monday. Until then, don’t expect to see anything new here as I’ll be in a field and I’m not taking a laptop. If you’re very lucky I might come back with a few stories as well as a very sunburnt face.
Have a good weekend all.
more money
I’m please to say that random topics and a little luck gifted us third place at the pub quiz last night, hurrah!
a note about the football
So the World Cup is finally almost upon us. I hope this means that we can stop talking up various teams/players chances and the endless tide of new World Cup ‘Merchandise’ can start to tail off. I heard there’s even some football involved at some point.
Now I’m thoroughly behind the team (well the players at any rate), but I’m not going to pretend we’re going to win it. I’d like it to happen, but as a Saints supporter I’m blessed with a sense of footballing realism and I’m prepared to state now that I we won’t win. That said, I’m not sure who I think will, I’d mention Brazil, Italy or Germany but I doubt that any team would like me to jinx it for them.
I’d also like to question why the BBC and ITV see it fit to show some of the games live off their main channels. While I’ve got BBC3 and ITV2/3/4 some people won’t and they’ll miss out. It’s only for a month, so stop putting Eastenders and Coronation Street first and put the football where it belongs, after all you won’t think twice about simultaneously covering a game on both networks if England are involved. I would however like to hope that some of the digital bandwidth is provided to give us a break from the usual round of bad commentary that graces both channels at the moment.
So lets lay some rules down. #1 - The football is for watching, all of it, except those games that start when you’re still at work, which are for listening to. #2 - England shirts are for wearing on match days only, not all month, or until England get knocked out. #3 - Flags are fine, in moderation, except those on cars, which are not worth the effort it would take to rant about them.
As for the reported 30 world cup songs released this week, give me strength.
tax freedom day
Happy Tax Freedom Day people! We’re now all working for ourselves (except it’s a Saturday).
episode 1
The first addon to Half Life 2 has been released and you don’t have to own the original to play. Order online for only £12!
music from the past
Against common misconceptions, music didn’t start in the mid 90’s, nor the mid 80’s. In fact there was music even before I was born. Enough of this crazy introduction, I’ll jump straight to it, last night I saw Mungo Jerry and it was great.
As a radio 2 listener, I’m used to hearing slightly non-recent music on an everyday basis, but it doesn’t mean I’m a fan. I like the odd single as much as the next person, but I’m not going to hurry off to listen to a back catalogue or stand in the centre of a middle aged crowd shouting lyrics at a gig. That said, once in a while it’s nice to see something different and especially nice when its better then you expected it to be. It’s also great once in a while to see someone who is at home being called a musical legend. I have fond memories of seeing Ray Davies at the Isle of Wight Festival last year and singing ‘Sunny afternoon’ at an appropriate time of day, of seeing Elton John at St. Mary’s last summer and of seeing the late Edwin Starr while at uni a couple of years back. Each of these time’s I went to hear the hits but ended up gaining an insight into what music and the music industry was like back before today’s hit parade of big money artists.
Yes it’s great to hear the classics, but it’s also great to hear tracks that you didn’t associate with that particular artist. It’s the different type of crowd you get and the interaction between the artist and the crowd. Last night embodied this. The audience of a little under 100 would shout a request and the reply would come “I haven’t played that in a while, so why not”, there atmosphere was fantastic and like many great gigs, went on just a little after the expected end. It’s also more than a little wierd to hear someone say “this was a number one in 1971″ or “I actually wrote this song for Elvis”.
A warm up for next week’s IOW and a musical education in one and all for £5, what more could you ask for.