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25/03/13

Well, that was the most eventful weekend I’ve ever mostly spent in my jammies.

My dearest darling My Chemical Romance made the rather bewildering announcement that they’re splitting up, even though we all thought they were half way through making their fifth album. It was sudden and unexpected, and rightly met with a hefty dose of cynicism.

Stories circulated that it was all a publicity stunt, or something to do with legal stuff and their label. But a big soppy blog post from Gerard Way seems to have dissolved all such hope.

Naturally, there are people all over Twitter and Facebook dancing on their grave before it’s even settled. I don’t mind a bit of panto, and I *get* hating MCR. I used to think they were terrible. Then I went to review their show.

I’d been to a few big pop punk shows before - Good Charlotte, Simple Plan… - and always loved the weird, community atmosphere they have where everyone seems to automatically love everyone else just because they like the same music. There’s an energy certain bands give out that just makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy. But I’d never seen anyone take it as far as My Chem. I remember seeing a bald girl with a home-made t-shirt reading ‘My Chemical Romance saved my life’ and just thinking, I want in on this. I want in. Then I watched Gerard Way conduct the crowd like an audience, clapping hands, waving arms. I joined in. And it felt good.

So I let My Chemical Romance into my life, and then I let them save it. Or at least, I let them help me through some rough times with a bit of ridiculous showmanship and catchy lyrical hooks about carrying on.

I know that a lot of really big music fans don’t know what it’s like to have a band do that. People who maybe even think there is something impure about it. I suppose what makes My Chemical Romance special is not as straight forward as just music. But I think it’s sheer ignorance not to realise that whatever it is, to have that power, is an amazingly wonderful, exciting, maybe a little frightening, thing. 

They weren’t the first band to give me the sense of hope that I needed, and they’re not the first to do that and then take it away. It sucks to have a band whose message seems to be ‘everything will be fine if we all stick together’ decide that they’re splitting up, because it kind of maybe voids the whole thing. It’s kind of against team spirit… But hey. Real life is rarely a fairytale, and I’m old and wise enough to know that I don’t lose everything a band has given me just because they’ve split.

I am so chuffed to have had My Chemical Romance in my life and the adventures that have come along with it. From that first gig at the Barrowlands, to photographing them at the Corn Exchange, to the Planetary (GO!) video shoot, to interviewing Gerard and Frank in a hotel in London.

Long may the memories, and the music and the videos and the art and the imagination and the passion and the hope, live on.

And if you never liked them, come up with something smart and witty to say about it or just shoosh. This world is full of enough pointless, negative noise without you droning on.

In fairly different music news, an act I used to cry over regularly in the 90s (I sobbed for a week to get my mum to take me to their concert in 1995. Often I sobbed at the mere realisation that Declan Donnelly would never be my husband.) had a little ‘reunion’ on Saturday night. PJ & Duncan performed Let’s Get Ready To Rhumble (don’t forget the ‘h’) on Saturday Night Takeaway, as part of a medley with the pop groups from The Big Reunion.

Five, Atomic Kitten and Blue reuniting all makes me feel a bit uneasy. Five are now only Four, Kerry Katona has somehow become the respectably-dressed one in Atomic Kitten, and well, I never liked Blue in the first place. The whole reunion for these acts is way too soon (if I can still remember the dance moves, it’s too soon) and it just feels a bit embarrassing. Man, I loved Atomic Kitten. But I don’t want them back now. Especially not caked in Pat Butcher-esque makeup, Tash dressed in a see-through lampshade skirt, trudging awkwardly through dance moves that were naff enough at the time but just plain ridiculous delivered by a bunch of 30-somethings.

And I can’t even look at Blue without thinking about the dolphins.

Perhaps the difference is just that Let’s Get Ready To Rhumble is old enough for it to be funny. Or maybe it’s that Ant & Dec are clearly doing well enough for themselves that they don’t need to reignite a pop career for the cash. Or it could be quite simply that I was such a massive PJ & Duncan fan back in the day that I have been subconsciously dreaming of this day for a long, long time.

They’ve ended up cruising to No.1 on the iTunes chart and, if momentum continues, will probably place higher in the Official Top 40 next weekend than they did the first time around. (No.9, pop fans)

Personally, I think it would have been funnier if they’d done Stuck On U, or When I Fall In Love - my cheesy favourites from back in the day. Everyone knows Let’s Get Ready To Rhumble. The weird attempts at sexy breathing and seductive boyband vibes on Stuck On U would be *far* more hilarious to make them recreate.

Saturday night was all good fun, and I hope they chart absurdly high… but if they get any silly ideas about doing a proper reunion, I will despair. I mean, obviously I’d have to go. But I’d be shaking my head the whole time.

The other noteworthy event of the weekend was the Malaysian Grand Prix. I don’t have the Sky F1 channel in my flat, so by the time I watched the race on BBC I had already been told that it was ‘good’ and more confusingly, my mum told me that it would make me ‘angry’.

So I watched, and managed to not fall asleep (for all my love of Formula 1, there’s something about the sound of the cars just causes me to dose off during most races), and it was indeed good. Kind of crazy how many stupid mistakes were made at various points, with cars crashing in the pits, Hamilton going to the wrong pit… I quite like Alonso, but he was a flipping idiot driving around with his wing hanging off. Not cool, man. Not cool.

We got to hear a lot of radio, and it was clear that Vettel had been told to stay behind Webber, and Rosberg to stay behind Hamilton. Team orders. Ugh. Maybe at the end of the season. Maybe. But not now. Disgusting. Killing racing. Do not want.

So Rosberg just whined on the radio a lot, but was a good boy and did what he was told. Vettel, on the other hand, passed Webber. It was great, exciting racing.

Then after the race, all faces were set to glum. Hamilton was miserable because he knew he’d held up Rosberg and that Rosberg should rightly have been allowed past. Webber was in super stroppy mode because codeword ‘multi 21’ meant that Vettel should have let him win. Vettel was a sad wee puppy because he was in trouble for going against team orders. Three guys on the podium with trophies and champagne, and not a smile in sight.

Team orders, you ruined my sport. In two completely opposite storylines, you killed it dead. Rosberg should have been allowed past Hamilton, and Vettel should not have been chastised for racing. You have World Champion on your team, you’ve got to accept that he’s going to want to win. And if Webber had such a problem with that, why didn’t he race back? If Webber were the worthy winner, why didn’t he win? Too late to cry about it now.

It seems to be the prevailing opinion in the media that Vettel was a naughty boy. People have ‘lost respect’ for him. Ugh. But if that’s the case, then we’re stuck in a sport where we will now regularly see races that are decided half way through, with the rest of the ‘race’ being little more than a parade. Utter nonsense. Utter, utter nonsense.

My mum tried to use the analogy that it was like Vettel did a foul in football. But that doesn’t work. If Vettel had done something that was against the rules, he’d have gotten a penalty, just like a footballer would have gotten a yellow card. He didn’t break any rules in the sport.

The analogy would have to be that Vettel was supposed to pass the ball to Webber to score a goal, but took a shot himself instead. No one’s going to whinge over that if he scores a goal. And that he did.

So please, F1, don’t let this happen again. The sport has been compromised and weakened so many times in so many ways since I started watching in 1996. This whole tyre malarkey is a load of rubbish. I miss fuel stops. And I miss the kind of flat-out racing that led to half of the pack retiring, giving much more unpredictable and exciting results. I don’t want dangerous crashes or anything, but I’d be as well just watching traffic round George Square. You get some pretty wily moves from Glasgow taxi drivers. And the buses are such typical back markers.

Basically, I just want all happy faces on the podium next time. Come on. Vettel is so bonny when he smiles. Please.

But anyway, yes, that was my weekend. I left the flat once, to get strawberries and bread. And I am almost fully packed for going to Prague. Maybe when I get back I’ll tell you all about it.

My Ultimate Top Ten LOST Characters

I’ve been re-watching LOST. I’ve actually got to the point where I only have one episode left to watch, and I’m just not sure if I can ruin it all for myself all over again.

Anyway, regardless of the butchering of an ending (the primary reason I so often quote for feeling that we should NEVER meet the mother in How I Met Your Mother. I’d rather not have an answer than have one I don’t like), and some of the sheer madness in latter seasons (I’m not talking about the time travel - that was ace), I liked LOST. It was good! Honest!

In honour of that, I have compiled a list of my top ten LOST characters.

#10 Miles
Talks to dead people and HIS DAD IS MARVIN CANDLE!

#9 Danielle
Crazy French chick who sets traps like Wile E. Coyote.

#8 Desmond
He’s Scottish and he can see into the future. Sometimes.

#7 Ben
Good-guy-bad-guy-good-guy-bad-guy-evil-genius-hapless-idiot.

#6 Lapidus
He’s just got that Han Solo vibe…

#5 Keamy
Most. Terrifying. Baddie. Ever.

#4 Hurley
For writing Empire Strikes Back for George.

#3 Sawyer
HUNK.

#2 Mr Eko
Intense, but still seems like he’d give a good hug.

#1 Faraday
Physicist who writes himself notes in his logbook so he can do certain things at different points in the past and future to try and make everything OK. Of course, it fails miserably due to his nerdy lack of common sense. But he’s still my hero.

That awkward moment when Faraday’s time travelling and gets shot by his mum:

The 2012 TTFTAA Awards results!

Well, the results are in for the Things That Fiona Think Are Awesome Awards, and unsurprisingly, they’re all awesome! (If you missed the Nominations, they’re here)

Fun. were the only multiple award winners, bagging an impressive 5 but missing out on Best Video due to just not having as good a video as some other bands.

Full list below.

Best Album Released in 2012

Winner: Some Nights by Fun.

Runner up: Life Is Elsewhere by Little Comets

Best Album Not Released in 2012 That I Just Got Really In To This Year

Winner: Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay

Runner up: Read Music/Speak Spanish by Desaparecidos

Best Song

Winner: Some Nights by Fun.

Runner up: We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift

Best Music Video

Winner: McFly - Love Is Easy

Runner up: OK Go - Needing/Getting

Best Film or TV Show

Winner: How I Met Your Mother

Runner up: The Muppets

Best Holiday Destination

Winner: Disneyland! Any Disneyland! All the Disneylands!

Runner up: Copenhagen

Best (OK, hottest) F1 driver

Winner: Sebastian Vettel

Runner up: Jean Eric Vergne

Best Miscellaneous Other Thing!

Winner: One Direction

Runner up: James Bourne at King Tut’s

Best Female

Winner: Robin Scherbatsky

Runner up: Jenna Marbles

Best Male

Winner: Nate Ruess (Fun.)

Runner up: Tom Fletcher (McFly)

Best Live Band

Winner: Fun.

Runner up: We Are Augustines

Band Of The Year

Winner: Fun.

Runner up: McFly

The 2012 TTFTAA Awards!

Drrrrrrrum roll please!

It’s time for the First Ever TTFTAA Awards! The ‘Things That Fiona Thinks Are Awesome’ Awards will celebrate lots of things, mostly from the world of entertainment, that I have deemed to be awesome over the past twelve months.

Bookies’ favourites Fun. are expected to sweep the board.

I am proud to announce the 2012 nominees across 12 hotly contested categories.

Best Album Released in 2012

• Babel by Mumford & Sons
• Life Is Elsewhere by Little Comets
• Some Nights by Fun.
• The Muppets soundtrack
• Walk The Moon by Walk The Moon

Best Album Not Released in 2012 That I Just Got Really In To This Year

• Lenses Alien by Cymbals Eat Guitars
• Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay
• Read Music/Speak Spanish by Desaparecidos
• The Winter Of Mixed Drinks by Frightened Rabbit
• Wages Of Fear by Tellison

Best Song

• Anna Sun by Walk The Moon
• Backsell by Desaparecidos
• Life’s A Happy Song from The Muppets
• Some Nights by Fun.
• We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift

Best Music Video

• Fun. - Carry On
• Get Cape Wear Cape Fly - Daylight Robbery
• McFly - Love Is Easy
• OK Go - Needing/Getting
• Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Best Film or TV Show

• Chronicle
• How I Met Your Mother
• Katy Perry: Part Of Me
• Madagascar 3
• The Muppets 

Best Holiday Destination

• Amsterdam
• Berlin
• Copenhagen
• Disneyland! Any Disneyland! All the Disneylands!
• London/Silverstone

Best F1 Driver

• Fernando Alonso
• Jenson Button
• Paul Di Resta
• Jean Eric Vergne
• Sebastian Vettel

Best Miscellaneous Other Thing!

• Ben Folds Five reunion
• James Bourne at King Tut’s
• Jon Richardson
• M1LK Birthday Party feat. Drive By Argument, Jocasta Sleeps and Theatrefall
• McFly’s book, Unsaid Things
• One Direction
• THUMPERS

Best Female

• Rachel Antonoff
• Jenna Marbles
• Katy Perry
• Robin Scherbatsky
• Taylor Swift

Best Male

• Jack Antonoff (Fun.)
• Stephen Davidson (Tellison)
• Tom Fletcher (McFly)
• Nate Ruess (Fun.)
• Louis Tomlinson (One Direction)

Best Live Band

• Desaparecidos
• Fun.
• Twin Atlantic
• The Xcerts
• We Are Augustines

Band Of The Year

• Desaparecidos
• Fun.
• McFly
• Twin Atlantic
• The Xcerts

The one-woman judging panel will be meeting soon to review each category. Winners will be announced shortly thereafter.