Philip Gamble: freeg131

What I’m listening to at the moment:

• Show of Hands, Roots and Country Life – exploring their most played on Spotify.
• The Beatles, I Need You. Put on pub jukebox by a seemingly drunk landlady.
• Naked Famous, Young Blood + others. Heard during a TV episode.
• Groove Armada, Paper Romance. Played at work.
• Cater the Unstoppable Sex Machine, Sheriff Fatman. Intrigued by band name whilst on a Wikipedia browsing session got their via Nicholas van Hoogstraten from White Zimbabweans from Zimbabwean Economy.

My “5 Star Rated” Spotify playlist.
 
 
What I’m watching at the moment:

• Waterloo Road – what will the social issue be this week?
• The Real Hustle – new series on BBC3
• Watchdog – skip through the boring bits
• Don’t tell the bride – Recent Pride and Prejudice wedding went perfectly, normally something goes wrong.
• Just finished watching the Naked Gun Films for the first time in a couple of years

 
What I’ve read recently/am currently reading:

• Ned Boulting – How I won the Yellow Jumper. Excellent book about Ned’s escapades covering the Tour de France for ITV. He went to his first Tour knowing nothing about cycling other than there was some cancer guy called Lance who had won it.
• Barbara Demick – Nothing to Envy. True stories about life in North Korea.

Wunderlist is a very nice task management tool. Very simple, quick to use, cross platform and totally free.

Watched Something about Mary and the first Naked Gun Film for the first time in ages this week, still find new funny things each time I watch them!

Eric Schmidt on lack of Computer Science in schools. So true.

Learnt what Payola is (secret payments to media so that they broadcast certain music).

You can (try to) rent out your home for thousands during the Olympics.

Canberra Milk Kid continues…

Neal Bates and Coral Taylor drive and navigate for the Toyota team in the Australian Rally Championship. Apparently.

And Mark Webber makes an appearance in a second advert:

Last week’s episode in Utah and Israel were rather goods one and contained a few memorable quotes.

Each show follows the same pattern. Out of control children, often blamed on lack of a father. Children go abroad. Agree to follow rules. Don’t follow rules. Get pissed off. Arguments. Heart to heart with host parent. Grow to like host parent. Go back home and promise to be good.

The teenagers are two spoilt British teenage fuckups, who all smoke. At least one is addicted to weed. Normally at one will have bizarre facial piercings. There’s a mix of private school drop outs, chavs, emos and goths.

Last week’s episode featured a girl who was a mum at 17, obviously not with the father and living on benefits whilst her mum looked after the baby so she could go out and get drunk with her friends.

The families they go to live with abroad are normally, but not always, rather traditional and extreme in their views.  Recent examples include living with a vicar, or with home-educating mormons or a very strict traditional family.

Quite a dramatic outburst turnaround/reconing from Hannah in the recent Utah episode. (Incidentally in Utah you can drive at 15, drink at 21 and have sex at 18.) A rather sad ending as both the children and host family were in tears when the children left to head back to England when their trip abroad had come to an end.

Good show even though it is trashy!

World’s Strictest Parents Quotes
“Sex, Drugs, Alcohol – they destory lives”. Hang on?

“I’ve been smoking since I was 12.”2 minuites later. “I’ve been smoking since I was 9.”

“God gave us shoulders for a reason”. One week on I can’t remember what the reason was.

“I really think you’re been totally unreasonable”.  ”It’s the community norm”

“Obviously you have not been brought up to be respectful of adults…” “Shut up and listen to me!”

Next week one of the Lebonnease hosts wants one of the children to “find a cave somewhere and live in it all alone”.

Chris Froome, currently second in the Vuelta a España, became the champion of Kenya because he made the jersey.

Good piece in the Daily Mail about more migrant workers applying for lower skilled jobs than British citizens.

Stephen Fry’s top 100 gadgets.

Yet another report of Computer Science graduates having poor employment prospects.

People who buy and don’t deny buying Linkedin recommendations don’t want you or anyone else to know that they have done so.  That I can’t be bothered to deal with this/these <opinion>condescending twat(s)</opinion>. Chilling Effect.