Lopez Blogs

Greetings from the future and the past. It is the past because I am writing this on Friday night as I prepare for my week long sojourn in Gay Canaria with mr pants. It is also the future (the present?!) because this isn't going up until Sunday so god knows what will have happened by then. All I know is that packing is a nightmare when your other half has OCD (you should see us trying to leave the house) and I still have 30 pages of CJ Sansom's Revelations left. Oy vey. Anyway, here is what's been occuring this week. Oh!

• Bumders rejoice! Hurrah! The Inbetweeners is back. It is very hilarious indeed and hopefully the second series (starting April 2nd) will be as clunge ticklingly fantastic as the first one. More realistic than Skins and funnier than even my beloved Gavin and Stacey (which will tragically but probably rightly end after year 3), I can't wait to be up to my nuts in guts with this charming show again :)
• How annoying was the unresolved finale of Kyle XY. I hope all you BSG-ers out there got a satisfactory ending. This is nearly as annoying as the last episode of Veronica Mars. An online question and answer session does not a tidy resolution make :( Hmph.
• Bummers rejoice! Hurrah! The Apprentice (UK) returns! More board room bitchery and slightly posh/rough dudes looking vaguely hot in suits (remember Alex/Lee last year respectively). Naturally I will miss the first episode due to holiday (just as I will more devastatingly miss the last episode of Dancing on Ice, grrrr). Some of the contestants look freaking bizarre (particularly 2 and 4!), but there may be some minor cosmic horn for Phil and Rocky (who looks like he'd nut you soon as look at you). I reserve fully my right to alter my cosmic horn.
• While of course very few people care that Leon Jackson was dropped, I am - well not sad exactly, but disappointed. His debut album wasn't particularly exciting but it had some great moments on it, particularly Creative and Stargazing. And of course this isn't great news for Same Difference :(
• Darren made a brilliant observation today. He said that if The Saturdays are the A*Teens, then Red Blooded Women are West End Girls with their Depeche Mode covers. It was an amazing moment of pop clarity for him!
• Finally, I've rediscovered Infernal's Redefinition (of disco) this week. It's the perfect song to sum up the Gran Canaria sound and i'm pretty sure they will be playing it in old D'Luv haunt, the slutty Bar Tubos. I shall report back next week. Try not to have anything amazing happen in the world of pop while i'm away :)

TOP 21 TRACKS OF THE WEEK:

21 - Girls Aloud, Untouchable (NE)
20 - William Young, Let It Go
19 - Lily Allen, The Fear
18 - Infernal, Redefinition (NE)
17 - Alesha Dixon, Breathe Slow
16 - The Saturdays, Just Can't Get Enough
15 - Simon Curtis/Victoria Justice, On The Wings of a Dream
14 - Take That, Up All Night
13 - Kelly Clarkson, My Life Would Suck Without You
12 - The Days, No Ties (VID)
11 - Lenka, Trouble Is A Friend
10 - Deborah Gibson, Already Gone
09 - Sugababes, Every Heart Broken
08 - McFly, The Last Song
07 - Same Difference, All Roads Lead To Heaven
06 - Alcazar, Stay The Night
05 - Taylor Swift, Love Story
04 - Kevin Borg, With Every Bit Of Me
03 - Pet Shop Boys, Love, etc.
02 - Mans Zelmerlow, Hope and Glory
01 - BWO, You're Not Alone (3 weeks)

back on Sunday 29th :) Be good til then...

Ah what a week it's been. A whole new movie musical soundtrack got me all obsessed. As did the new pet shop boys track. Oh, and of course I am far more into melodifestivalen than i have been in previous years - i'm just dying to hear full and funky new tracks from Mans Zelmerlow (who is looking incredibly gorgeous these days, though i can't quite forgive the chinos, eh camerashy?!), Marie Serneholt, lovely little Jonathan Fagerlund and of course the almighty BWO. Darren is slowly getting better, and I absolutely mastered ten minute super hula hoop on wii fit. My hip swivelling grindiness will come in very useful when Dazpatient is fully healed. God, i reach new lows daily, so moving swiftly on...

Look ladies and gentlemen! It's MORE Simon Curtis, this time out shopping for his own cd at target. My copy arrived in the mail this week (damn those excessive shipping charges, but boy it arrived quick) and I've been celebrating it's high quality goodness ever since. There is also a tv spot floating around that makes me very excited in an "oh my god that's Simon Curtis, in white, at least twice" sort of way! And finally, I know you people have criticised Simon's shoes at these red carpet events in the past, but i really like these ones. By the way, Simon's feet look freaking enormous! Don't forget to tune into Spectacular on Nick on 16th Feb! (Like i would let you forget...)

Look! The Feeling built a snowman - Bill! - to promote their brilliant dvd, Coming Home (which in true obsessive fan style, I must review soon!) There is a catch up on their website with the everso lovely Richard Jones (I was just telling Chartrigger and XO what a celebrity manwhore I am, and moments after lusting after Mans, I've moved onto Richard!) with some great pictures and some news about their third album, which they are currently in the throws of recording. It all sounds very exciting (to me) and i love the line they use to promote their dvd - "buy the dvd or Join with Us album for your valentine sweetheart. Both will last longer than flowers (and truth be told, Bill)!" Harsh, true, but hilarious.

BAND I JUST HEARD OF - Ok, while i was trying to sort out the "phishing" of my myspace account (WTF is that?! I couldn't be bothered to sort it in the end. I don't access it enough to care :P), I clicked on the webpage of Just For Kicks. They sound like a musical version of the tv show The Inbetweeners (more on that below). It's all a little bit Ordinary Boys (before they imploded) - that ace bop all over the place ska sound with great sing a long choruses. Give It To Me Now is one of the catchiest brit-pop songs i've heard in a while, while the cheekiness of Yellow Pages Man (with the refrain "who i don't know ain't worth knowing") evokes memories of Madness. Some great piano playing along with quirky lyrics ("see my ex out with a bloke, he's a merchant banker!" and driving guitars and drum beats make a totally likeable and winning combination. I'm absolutely smitten already - i can only imagine how much fun these guys are live. Can't wait to hear more of them - i have a new obsession!

Ok, I am so so behind on my tv watching - i mean, seriously behind. I am even three episodes behind on my beloved Gossip Girl. Still, I have just finished Veronica Mars Season Two boxset (i love those cheesy graduation moments where the seemingly not very popular main character gets an ace reception - think Buffy's cheesy but brilliant umbrella moment in The Graduation Part Two!) and during a bout of insomnia the other night, rewatched the entire series of DanUK approved The Inbetweeners. The first minute of the above youtube video is the funniest thing i have seen on tv in ages and ages, and horrifyingly very similar to my first naked love experience, except mine involved a dude and them facing the other way. Tragic - anyway, if you get chance to buy the dvd, DO! It's amazing!

I'm actually a little bit scared of John Barrowman. He has been doing "panto" literally next door to my house (I live right next door to the theatre)and I see him out and about a fair bit. Not in a social context of course, just sort of "ooo look, there's torchwood. Again". Anyway, i'm always scared he will wave his infamous willy at me. To get over that fear, I listen to his *perfect* version of I Know Him So Well quite a lot. The clip above is a live version with his studio version duet partner, the adorable Daniel Boys. I love that the wind is gently blowing their suit jackets. Particular highlights are the harmonised duet at 2m23-2m48 and the incredible note they both hold at 3m11 (til 3m26!). It's all very incredible and I get the feeling that if this had been performed by an X Factor contestant with a guest star, it would have a) blown the roof off, b) been the best x factor moment since this - particularly at 3m45) and c) SO much better than this snotty mess.

TOP 21 TRACKS OF THE WEEK:

21 - Leona Lewis, Run
20 - Same Difference, We R One
19 - Britannia High, Start of Something
18 - Jason Mraz, Live High
17 - Leon Jackson, Creative
16 - Little Boots, Meddle
15 - Neo, You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
14 - Danny, Radio
13 - Girls Aloud, The Loving Kind
12 - Darin, See You At The Club
11 - Annie Lennox, Shining Light (VID)
10 - Taylor Swift, Love Story
09 - Lily Allen, The Fear
08 - Alesha Dixon, Breathe Slow
07 - Same Difference, If You Can't Dance
06 - Take That, Up All Night
05 - Pet Shop Boys, Love Etc. (NE)
04 - The Killers, Spaceman
03 - Kelly Clarkson, My Life Would Suck Without You
02 - Simon Curtis/Victoria Justice, On The Wings Of A Dream
01 - Sugababes, Every Heart Broken (2 weeks)