Groan Up

Igloo Energy

Recently we switched gas and electricity suppliers to Igloo. We switched because the monthly direct debit was going to be the cheapest with them. Also they were the highest rated supplier on Compare The Market at the time.

Just a few months in and we are impressed. The app and website are both really easy to use – far better than the e.on versions used previously.

We have a small credit balance and we earn 3% interest on it – in a month we’ve earned 19p. That’s better than in a bank account!

We are billed monthly and it is clear what our direct debit needs to be in order to stay on top of the bills. We can adjust the direct debit really easily.

We contacted customer services twice so far. They responded within 24 hours. They were able to adjust our direct debit (as there was a winter top-up which they had set up but we didn’t want) and then to move our direct debit to a more convenient time of the month. Both took just one email and all sorted!

If all goes wrong, we have no exit fees to pay to move on from them!

If you sign up using this link then we each earn £50 which would be credited to our account.

Lost

At the end of last week I read this article about Lost. It describes Walkabout as the most important episode of Lost. It’s worth a read if you loved the series. I can still remember the moment we discovered that Locke was in a wheelchair before he came to The Island…

Lost has now been replaced by Game of Thrones as my favourite TV series of all time. But Lost continues to be a close second. Lost is the reason we signed up for Sky TV back in the day, after Channel 4 lost out to Sky One for Season Three onwards.

The show still gives me goosebumps. The thing I loved is how the producers set about to tell a complete story from start to end. I hadn’t watched a show like it before. 24 was my favourite before. The things you knew about 24 were that something dramatic would happen on the hour every hour, and that by the end of the series, Jack would save the day. Lost hooked viewers in for the complete ride. You couldn’t drift in and out – you had to pay attention and watch it all.

The twists were superb and the way the mythology was built over the seasons was excellent. It had the biggest cast I can remember, and it was good how characters would come in to the show and then be missing from a few episodes. There was so much depth to the show that it could do that and you’d still be drawn in. In fact, with just a few episodes to go of the show ever, it abandoned the entire main cast and focused on important, yet barely featured, characters.

I still to this day find myself cross at Lost for a few things. The best ending to a season ever was at the end of Season One when Walt was snatched. And we still don’t really know why. And the entire last season was a let down with the confusing sideways flashes. And, when rewatching, I can’t believe that I was a fan of Jack when I watched the first time.

But I can see the influence in Lost in shows like Game of Thrones, with its large cast and complete story telling. (Funnily enough, people complain about GoT’s final season too.)

Biggest albums of the 21st Century

The Official Charts Company have published a list of the biggest selling studio albums of the 21st century.

I love lists like these as it’s great to see how musical tastes have changed over the years. This particular list is a sign of how musical consumption has changed. Of course, the last six years or so has seen a massive move away from purchasing towards streaming. This is reflected by the fact that only eleven of the Top 40 albums have been released since 2010.

Having said that, four of the top five were released in the 2010s. This could be an indicator of how a great album will still sell, but it is possibly more of an indicator of the massive star appeal of Adele and Ed Sheeran who each have two of the top five.

Adele’s 2011 release, 21, has sold 5.1 million copies and is one of the biggest selling albums ever!

I seem to hate current music as they seem to have forgotten the importance of a tune. And the best thing about the albums in the list is that they are full of great tunes. For instance, there’s nothing by Drake on this list – fantastic news.

I’ve never really been someone who buys albums. I tend to like tunes and so have always purchased and streamed singles. My favourite album on the list is Ed Sheeran’s Divide is incredible. Every song could be a single – there are no fillers. I probably have songs from every album on the list (with the exception of Norah Jones(!)

Type of people at children’s birthday parties

I’m not a fan of children’s birthday parties. But it is a good chance to do a bit of people watching. Have you ever noticed these people at birthday parties?

The parents:You can spot the parents a mile off. They are typically the ones that are dashing around putting food out, sorting drinks for grown ups or stood by the present table. If you’re the parent it’s not a time to relax and catch up with friends.

Over-enthusiastic adult:Often this is a random uncle or relative. This is the one that is more child than grown up who throws their all into entertaining the party. They will often be spotted on the bouncy castle, dancing or generally being the life and soul of the party.

Balloon player: Usually a role played by dads who need something to do, the balloon players carefully kick, knock or bounce a balloon to others. The game is never acknowledged by anyone playing. That’s one of the rules.

‘Doesn’t know how to ensure the children behave’ adult: This is the adult who is jumped on by children, buried by children, being chased around the room, or the one in goals at a football party. They don’t know how to say know so they are prepared to be worn out or injured by the children as they don’t want to look bad.

The phone reader: This parent doesn’t want to be disturbed. They’ve brought their phone and that’s all they need.

The Nose Wiper: There’s always a child that cries at everything. This means there’s a parent who spends their time following them around wiping noses, comforting tears and begging the child to calm down.

The childless show off: A relative or friend of the family who comes along to the party to try to look cool just because they don’t have a child.

The grandparents: These can be a mixed bag. Often they will be in charge of the kitchen and do all of the running of the party to help the parents relax for a bit. Sometimes they are in charge of the party games.

Give your top five things that annoy you beyond any rational basis

I recently came across this tweet:

Here’s my list:

People who dither at roundabouts.

People who take too long at the shop counter/checkout.

People who walk around holding their phone whilst talking to someone on loudspeaker.

When people spell ‘definitely’ as ‘defiantly’.

When people just reply to an email with ‘thanks’.

Feel free to add yours in the comments!

Lego Magazines

As someone who loves Lego but can’t really afford to buy it one way that I can get my fix is to read Lego magazines. Here’s a brief review of two that I have found.

Brick Fanatics

This is the newest magazine. I read issue 3 and I bought it online. It costs £5. The magazine is A5-sized. I think this probably causes problems for it. It makes articles shorter. It is considerably smaller in size than other similar magazines.

I like how current the magazine is, including features on The Lego Movie 2 and one on how Brexit might affect Lego supplies. There are interesting articles – I particularly enjoyed the report on how the Darth Vader minifigure helmet has changed, how to tell a genuine from a fake Deadpool figure and the love for a 1×4 tile piece. The report on the effects of combining up to four sets of Harry Potter Quidditch sets was my favourite although it was overlong. If I’m honest though, most of the reports were too short and I am not in the slightest interested in Overwatch, although that’s my personal preference. At 80 small pages long there just wasn’t enough in Brick Fanatics to keep me interested for more than a few minutes.

I feel harsh in not rating the magazine but I hope it develops as time goes on.

Blocks

I’ve been reading Blocks for a while now. It costs £5.40 per issue and until recently I have had a subscription. At 120 pages and A4-sized it comes in as a much more substantial publication. I reviewed the April 2019 issue.

I enjoy the round up of Lego news and upcoming releases. The articles and features feel substantial and have great pictures accompanying them. I liked the Lego plant feature written by Lego Masters Series One winner, Steve Guinness.

The Top Ten of spooky Lego feels a bit odd in April rather than October but I enjoyed it. It was interesting to find out how sets don’t have pieces missing.

There was lots of Overwatch in this edition which I am not interested in but there were lots of reviews of other sets which meant that I wasn’t bored. The feature on building animals was great!

Overall, Blocks is definitely the superior magazine. There’s something for Lego loves of all ages.

Other magazines

A few years ago I bought the magazines Brick Culture and Bricks which I loved both – particularly Brick Culture. I extended my subscription for both and then the publisher went bust and I lost money. I was more gutted that both magazines ceased to exist.

Kiss in Ibiza ’95

A celebration of the classic dance compilation album of 1995.

1995 was an important year for me. It was the year that I left high school. It was one of the best summers ever, spending lots of time with friends, listening to music, watching TV and doing nothing!

It was the year that I got into dance music in a big way and Kiss In Ibiza ’95 was my favourite album of the autumn as it included my favourite dance songs of the summer.

I bought a copy recently on Discogs and thought it would be fun to celebrate the music on it!

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CD1

This is the best CD – most of the best songs are on here.

De’Lacy – Hideaway – one of my favourite songs ever. It still sounds amazing. It needs to be loud so that you get the full effect of that bassline.

Nush – U Girls – A great song – an underrated classic.

N-Trance – Stayin’ Alive – The rapper Ricardo Da Force (probably not his real name) gets a mention. To be fair, he deserves it. This is an unbelievable song. And his rapping is some of the best ever!

Isha D – Stay (Tonight) – An underrated classic. It never actually made the charts. But it is well worth a listen.

Heller ‘n’ Farley Project – Ultra Flava – Classic bar lounge music. It charted the following year twice, in February and in December.

Mary J Blige – Mary Jane (All Night Long) – This was the first time I’d heard of Mary J Blige. The Bottom Dollar House Vocal Edit was the version featured and it is great. The original version is not great.

OT Quartet – Hold That Sucker Down – An absolute monster of a record. It deserved greater chart success. But it is an enduring classic. It charted in 1994 and again in 1995. For some reason it reached Number 45 in 2000 as well. This song is best at full volume.

The Shamen – Destination Eschaton – Not one of my favourites. It’s fine, but it’s one to skip if you have the CD.

Rhythm On The Loose – Break Of Dawn – Catchy vocals and a great tune.

New Order – Blue Monday 95 – The song needs no explanation as everyone knows it. This is a great remix for 1995, twelve years after it was first released.

BT – Loving You More – This was trance before trance was big. Great.

Jinny – Keep Warm – I loved this. I remember hearing it in Mr Smiths in Warrtington and in Valentino’s in Stoke.

Mory Kante – Yeke Yeke – I remember trying to make myself like this. It hasn’t aged well.

Berri – Sunshine After The Rain – I loved this song and then hated it for a while as it was overplayed massively. It is an absolute classic. It was originally released in 1994 when I first loved it. By the time it was re-released in September 1995 (this time just by Berri) it sounded even better somehow.

Liquid – Closer – Not one of my favourites. Diving Faces is THE Liquid song that you want to listen to.

The Original – I Luv U Baby – One of my favourite songs of all time. At the time I remember thinking it was quite unusual to have a male vocal on a dance track. It is such a great song

CD2

There are more songs to skip over on this CD. But there are some absolute classics.

Reel 2 Real – Conway – Conwy is one of my favourite places in the world. Conway is crap.

Junior Vasquez – Get Your Hands Off My Man – Loved this one.

Androgeny featuring Michael M – I could Be this – There was something strangely appealing about this.

Yosh – It’s What’s Upfront That Counts – This is one to skip. Parts of this are really annoying.

Mozaic – Sing It (The Hallelujah Song) – Very catchy. Well worth a listen.

Mary Kiani – When I Call Your Name – Definitely just an album filler.

JX – Son Of A Gun – Another one that was out in 1994 before scoring a re-release in 1995. It’s brilliant. I also loved You Belong To Me and There’s Nothing I Won’t Do if you want to check out JX’s discography.

Gypsy Queens – Everybody Listen – Possibly the weakest song on the whole album. Skip this.

Hi-Lux – Never Felt This Way – I have still not found this song as a single, a download or on any other compilation. It’s such a great song!

BB Club – Play This House – Not my favourite song on the album but it’s not dreadful.

Felix – Don’t You Want Me (Candy Girls Remix Edit) – I love Don’t You Want Me. One of the best dance tracks ever. It was just about ever present in the Nineties. It was released in 1992, and again in 1995. And then it was featured as the soundtrack to the best advert ever in 1996. The Candy Girls Remix is amazing!

Sleazesisters – Let’s Whip It Up – Not good. Skip this one.

Ian Pooley – Rollerskate Disco – Don’t bother with this one.

Shiva – Freedom – Not bad. One of the weaker songs on the compilation. But worth a listen.

Honk – Hullabaloo – One for you to skip past.

Mrs Wood – Joanna – A classic. It was released with a Sash remix two years later.

Xpansions 95 – Move Your Body – Brilliant! Love this remix.

99th Floor Elevators – Hooked – A fantastic song. What a way to end the compilation. Brilliant.

Comedy experts vote for top British sitcoms

Today I read that a panel of comedy have put together their list of top British sitcoms for the Radio Times. You can read about it here. I didn’t even know the Radio Times even existed these days. Here’s the list:

Fawlty Towers (1975-9, BBC Two)
Father Ted (1995-8, Channel 4)
I’m Alan Partridge (1997-2002, BBC Two)
Blackadder (1983-9, BBC One)
Dad’s Army (1968-77, BBC One)
Only Fools and Horses (1981-2003, BBC One)
Porridge (1973-8, BBC One)
The Royle Family (1998-2012, BBC One)
Absolutely Fabulous (1992-2012, BBC Two)
Dinnerladies (1998-2000, BBC One)
The Thick of It (2005-12, BBC Four and Two)
The Office (2001-3, BBC Two)
Peep Show (2003-15, Channel 4)
The Vicar of Dibley (1994-2007, BBC One)
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976-9, BBC One)
The Young Ones (1982-4, BBC Two)
Gavin & Stacey (2007-10, BBC Three and One)
The Good Life (1975-8, BBC One)
Detectorists (2014-17, BBC Four)
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973-4, BBC One)

After writing my own list recently (in no particular order) I thought I’d give my thoughts on this one!

Fawlty Towers – I do love Fawlty Towers, to be fair. It does make me laugh. But I don’t feel like it has aged well. Bickering husband and wife; stupid waiter; misunderstandings… It’s all been done better since.

Father Ted and I’m Alan Partridge – absolutely awesome!

Blackadder – I remember watching Blackadder Goes Forth and loving it and feeling quite moved by the ending. All of the series of Blackadder are worth a watch and I don’t know why I didn’t have it on my list.

Dad’s Army – my dad found it funny. But how is it on the list of best comedies ever?!

Only Fools and Horses – Yes!

Porridge – I have watched Porridge a few times but don’t get why everyone raves about it. Sure, Ronnie Barker is funny in everything. But this is another nostalgic series from the Seventies. Oh, wait, now I understand the type of person who might have been on the panel!

The Royle Family – Fantastic

Absolutely Fabulous – I have tried really hard to get into this but I just don’t get why people rave over it. I really don’t.

Dinnerladies – I loved Victoria Wood. But I don’t think I’ve ever even watched this.

The Thick Of It – Somehow this has mostly bypassed me. But I don’t know why as I am sure I would have loved it.

The Office – I can’t believe this is so low on the list!

Peep Show and Vicar of Dibley – I love them both!

The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin – I remember coming home after swimming lessons to watch repeats of this. I remember loving it. I also remember not loving the Martin Clunes remake around ten years ago.

The Young Ones – I understand why people might like this as it’s a bit quirky and different. I don’t like it though.

Gavin & Stacey – Fantastic!

The Good Life – I used to enjoy this when I was younger. Put its inclusion in the nostalgia file.

Detectorists – What on earth is this? This was out quite recently but I have never heard of it! Hmm…

Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads – I don’t know what this is.

In short, I don’t agree with most of the list. Many of the programmes were very much of their time and haven’t aged well. A good comedy should be timeless and I honestly don’t think lots of these hold up well these days.

Daisy And The Trouble with Books…

Recently my daughter and I have fallen in love with Daisy Butters books.

Daisy Butters always seems to find herself getting into trouble somehow, and it’s never her fault. She, and her best friend Gabby, get up to all sorts of mischief which usually ends up embarrassing her mum, or her neighbour Mrs Pike. Daisy takes great delight in winding up her enemy, Jack Beechwhistle.

Written by Kes Gray, the books are really funny to read as an adult. Lily laughs her head off at the adventures which are narrated by the child herself which makes them even funnier!

So far, our favourite has been Daisy and the Trouble with Life which is all about a strawberry dib dab.

So far we have read…

We are currently reading Daisy and the Trouble with Chocolate. But we still have Daisy and the Trouble with Vampires from the library still to read! There are also some Daisy books suitable for younger readers and we have read 006 and a Bit and Eat Your Peas a few years ago!

The author has started to write books starring Daisy’s archenemy Jack Beechwhistle and we will be reading Jack Beechwhistle and the Rise of the Hairy Horror next.

I can highly recommend the stories, Lily is seven, nearly eight and we love reading them together!

Leave a comment with your own book recommendations!

Nativity Rocks!

The poster for the movie doesn’t include most of the key actors. I wonder why?

Yes, it is January. And I’m reviewing a Christmas movie. I know, it is weird.

It was our little boy’s fourth birthday today. Our children are obsessed with all of the Nativity movies every Christmas. Lisa and I adore the first Nativity and the songs at the end – especially Sparkle and Shine! We went to see the musical in 2017. The children love Nativity 2 and Nativity 3. I thought both were pretty poor, but after watching them about twenty times each this Christmas they have grown on me to the point where I, dare I say it, like them…

We missed Nativity Rocks in the cinema but we decided that going to the Kids Club at the Odeon cinema near us (£2.50 a ticket) would be quite good fun. It wasn’t just us – the screen was pretty busy, to be fair.

The trailer

Starring Simon Lipkin, who played Mr Poppy in the musical in 2017, Nativity Rocks was actually brilliant and we didn’t miss the ‘original’ Mr Poppy at all.

It was a real return to form for the film series. The last couple of movies became really silly and, whilst this is totally crackers, it manages to feel just about believable.

We were close to tears a few times thanks to some touching plots and we laughed lots and lots thanks to laughs that appealed to adults as well as jokes that suited the children too!

We will look forward to watching it probably twenty times next Christmas!