'This little squirrel I used to be slammed her bike down the stairs' by @diaryofaledger

First year of University I was living in some woman's house in Chingford.  My girlfriend was in Stoke on Trent and we were both struggling with the distance thing.  Then I fell in love with Tanya Donnelly.

First time I heard Feed the Tree would have been sat in the room of my digs listening to the radio while I played Sensible Soccer...  I was so studious.  I loved it immediately but knew nothing about the band or where Miss Donnelly had come from.

I probably had the album within a week and slowly but surely, mainly thanks to the NME I started to get the bigger picture around Donnelly and just how damn cool she was.

He fragile, little voice, was immediately attractive, but there was also an element of a girl rocking out.  She was a precursor to PJ for me, lovely and more than a little kooky.  I do so love kooky.

Listening back to the album now it's all very quiet and dark to start with until Dusted kicks in and the album springs to life.  Sure it's about Drug addiction, but it's the voice, almost buried by the guitars, that makes it such a great song.

It's an album of slow thoughtful songs punctuated by moments of joy and energy.  It's one of the first indie albums I fell for and an album that took me on a winding path to the Pixies.

I'll always be grateful to Tanya Donnelly for that.

The One Where Pixar Kicks Uncle Walt In The Nuts

So... If this vote proved one thing, it's that Classic Disney is loved by Smart phone users.

It got 9 votes to Pixars 4. Dreamworks with just 1. Which I blame Mrs F for.

On the site itself?

Total opposite. It's all about Pixar.

And that's the way I'd go, too.

I have a soft spot for Lion King. No idea why. And Beauty And The Beast, as it's Mrs Ts favourite. (Eh? It's like she's trying to live the dream... what? Oh. *shakes fist*)

Other than that - Ethan is growing up with Pixar. Oddly, my fave, Finding Nemo is the only one we don't have. I'll sort that.

Monsters Inc. and the Toy Stories? Well, they are timeless already, aren't they?

Pixar seem to be incapable of making a bad film, which is something Dreamworks will never be able to boast. God, ET does love Shrek, though.

Classic Disney? Well, Bambi and all the others stand the test of time.

But is that because we feel like they have too? Is it because we're told they are classics - that it's rammed down our throats?

I'll be honest, we bought ET all of the available Disney Classics on Blu. He's pretty "meh" towards them. On watching Dumbo I could see why. Although it did send to sleep, so I can't complain too much.

It's hard to argue against that being a technological thing.

And I suppose it's sad there is unlikely to be too many cel animated cartoons ever again. But when Pixar movies look as good as they do... can we moan?

Flash can say what he wants about the new Karate Kid, and how the transfer is the best he's seen... he can't have seen a Pixar movie.



I didn't make that video. But I probably would've picked that backing track. Random.

The One With The Battle Of The Bands

So, on Saturday The Ledgers, Ledgerettes and assorted Ledger Mascot will rock Wembley. With the greatest band of all time.

In the meantime, lets vote and see whose crown they took.

Musically, there have been some huge, HUGE music stars.

Lets pit them against each other in one of the greatest Battle Of The Bands, since Scott Pilgrim Versus The World.

Ladies and Gents, as Vince Vega rightly said, you're either a Beatles man, or an Elvis man. Or woman.

Whatever.

Vote!

The One With A Bit Of Everything...

So a recap on the day...

Daddy Day Care from yesterday. Friday, what to do? A new ball park, (with gas powered Gatling Guns!), and a huge glass wall, overlooking the train station. A good find from my Mum. He bloody loves it.

Saturday? Swimming!

Mrs T went off shopping, so we got in some serious swimming. He loves it. And I love taking him. It's great to get both in on the same weekend.

The fact that McDonalds duplicated our order made it possibly the greatest start to any day. Ever.

Then Prestiging. I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying Black Ops. The fact that I'm unusually good at it helps. I've always been pretty average/OK at COD games, not here. Twenty kills and three or four deaths is what I'm setting out for. My K:D is 1.52, and I want 2.0. I feel like I'm playing like that.

Prestiging means you lose all of your guns etc, but the in game currency means you can buy it all back. I didn't think I'd want to Prestige again... I'm not so sure,  now. My Accuracy, (my one thing I was better at on MW2 than anyone I know), is 21%. And it's going up.

We'll see. It could all be one big 30 hour fluke.

A bit like United. 7-1. Shades of Ipswich and Roma, destroying the opposition. Players like Anderson looking desperate not to be loaned out. Colour me impressed.

I may even lift my Match Of The Day ban, tonight. Even they won't be able to screw that up.

Plus I think I won some money on this one...

File it under "Bets AT can't win", Jambo.

The One Where MUFC Owe Blackburn

I hate to say it but my overriding memory of Blackburn will always be them losing to Liverpool, only for us to not be able to beat an average West Ham team.

That, and Rio and Robbie Savage having a scrap in the tunnel.

So I'll stick my head out and call a two nil United win. Rooney scoring and saying, "I already apologised, FFS! Get over it."

The One Where It's Hard To Say I'm Sorry

There he said it. Happy now?

The One You Don't Want To Read

Have you ever been told not to look... and all you've wanted to do is look?I've always had that.

I just can't not look.

Once a year, a film comes out where we're told we can't look. Told in fact that the release will be delayed, whilst the BBFC apply cuts.

Maybe it's me getting old in the tooth, but who are the BBFC to say what I can and can't watch?

I'm 30 next year. Ancient. Even my Dad can't tell me what I can watch anymore.

I know he'll be really disappointed I've watched this. To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed myself.

Don't hit any of the links, OK? They're for me. Not you.

But, coming back to my earlier point, I couldn't not watch it.

Since I saw the red band trailer a few weeks ago, I knew I'd end up seeing it.

On reading up, and hearing four minutes had been uncut, including a whole scene...

Well, I had to see it for myself.

The thing is, there is two things at play here.

One, is my love of films - meaning any film garnering this much attention), and it has to be said great reviews), needs to be seen.

The second is my hatred of censorship. I want to be able to judge for myself, right or wrong. It's only a film, right?

The third, which I'm throwing in there, is my own thing. As I've said, if you tell me not to look, I'll look. Even if I know what I see won't be nice. But crucially, I'll look because what's in my head is normally far worse.

In this case?

I'm not so sure.

The One Where T-Scott Can Do One

I really like Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson.

Denzel Washington has spent the last ten years asleep, but is still usually worth watching.

So why did I hate Unstoppable...?

The One With Simply The Best

5 years ago? Really?

'You wake up with a gun in your mouth.' by @diaryofaledger

I wasn't a fan if the first Suede album.  It was ok, but I didn't really get the Brett love.  To me he just seemed a bit of an arrogant twat and although all the indie chicks seemed to think he was a god and that Bernard was some kind of guitar wielding geek genius, I just didn't get it.

At the time of their second album, Dog Man Star, I was reading the NME every week and the big news was that Brett used to date Justine from Elastic who was now dating Damon from Blur.  How terribly exciting.  Before Blur v's Oasis there was Blur v's Suede and it was much more interesting, in a sort of gloom laden, probably addicted to coke and heroin sort of way.

It was 1994 when Dog Man Star came out.  Just weeks before release Bernard Butler walked away from Suede and my interest was piqued.  Here was a band labelled as the next great British hope and they were falling apart at the seems.  Who doesn't love a bit of tension?

We Are the Pigs had whet everyone's appetite, a stirring guitar, arguably that classic Suede sound of the first album, but tighter and more dynamic.  It's a great great song, but the album is something else entirely.

It might actually be the lost great album of the 1990s, buried under their peers now, Suede's legacy, sadly burned by the slightly half baked albums that followed.  But Dog Man Star delivers at every turn, in parts like a throw back to the '70s, rich in sound and full of guitar solos, but in others it's almost 'show tune' like in its pomp and circumstance.

My favourite moment?  Opening line of The Wild Ones.  Sung so beautifully, so perfectly.  Shivers, every time.

The best song?  I've been musing that all day after some comments on my facebook wall from the artist formerly know as ChestyMorgan.  She went with The Power, which I adore.  The words swimming over the guitar, the anger subdued and hidden from view until you listen properly.  It's got Bowie all over it, but it's a stunning track.

For me though Dog Man Star contains one of the best album closers of all time with Still Life.  There's something Phantom of the Opera about it (and I hate musicals, fact) but the words are gorgeous and warm.  Love at its darkest, the chorus when it comes, so potent and over the top.  It's the sort of song that Muse have been failing to write for the last ten years.  And then, just when you think it's over, the orchestra takes you somewhere else, it becomes like something out of a western and always makes me think of wide open spaces and the bluest, clearest skies.  Brett Anderson may have been an utter twat but on that one song he redeemed himself for me.

There's other moments when the album goes way beyond where I'd ever expected to.  The Two of Us and even the opener, Introducing the Band, just two of the best.  Black and Blue is pretty amazing too.  The album gets more and more showy until that stunning climax, building towards it.  It's that attention to detail in the track listing that I love, as the band become something completely different.

Dog Man Star should have been the album that saw Suede take over the world.  For a while they had us in the palm of their hands but without Butler is was never the same.  For one album they transcended everyone else around them by a county mile, producing something that sounded like nothing else any of their peers could write.

Truly special.  (But definitely an acquired taste required.)

The One Where Schindlers List Goes 3D

Haha.

I mean... WTF? Sickos.

The One Where I Come Clean About Take That

Well, well, well. On the Blog itself, Howard Something (Howard Donald?), actually got more votes than any other Take That member.

Mental.

Obviously, the fact there was only three odd votes meant that his odds were improved!

Looking at the App though, which didn't break this week - or revert to last weeks vote - (progress!), it's all about Gary Barlow.

And I love Gary Barlow.

The One Where Avatar Gains 18 Minutes

I'm writing this as I go, so bare with me.

I feel awful, and as GC will tell you, I never get sick.

So I skipped my Black Ops date with @KyeLani and @DiaryOfALedger, wrapped myself up, and invested 3 hours in the new Extended Cut of Avatar.

So... was it worth it?

The One With Disney V. Pixar

Toy Story 3 will be the movie I forget to put in my top three this year. I guarantee that. But I loved it. I'd say it's flawless, in fact.

And on Monday, it comes out on Blu Ray.

Ethan's not well, so I think that may be an opportunity for an early Christmas present... don't you think, Mrs T?

It brings me to this weeks vote.

Pixar are amongst the most consistent people in the world, so it begs the question... Classic Disney, or Pixar? And, if that does churn your stomach... Dreamworks?

The One Where *He* Returns For MUFC

What a bizarre season. Maybe the best so far for neutrals, or people outside the top five?

I don't know how we're still unbeaten, and within touching distance. I'd say in 50% of our games we've been woeful.

But the Glazers are paying off a third of the debts next week, apparently.

We look like we've signed Lindgard, a 26 year old keeper. With the Spanish keeper De Gae, supposedly linked with a £15 Million move, too. We'll see, on that one. There's no doubt that was one of Rooneys (valid) concerns. How do we replace these ageing Legends?

How do we pay off the debt?

Are we starting to see the answers the Glazers gave him?

We may see Saturday.

The One Where I Get A Live For Films Tatt

This is like Christmas frickin' day!

A lil while ago, I wrote a review of Enemy Mine for my favourite movie site. (Sorry, JoBlo - but it 'aint working out).

Phil, the guy who runs the website published it...

The One Where A Dragon Saves Ethan Zachary

"It's Chrisssssttttttmmmmaaaassssssssss"

It's been a strange Daddy Day Care.

Ethan has a shocking cough. It hurts to listen too, so he's on medication. It meant a duvet morning, and a promise of How To Train Your Dragon, to cheer him up.

"It's mine... MINE!"

He wanted to see Mowah Nanna (my Mum), though - so we trotted off to the sand pit - that I'm pretty sure he thinks is his own. We had breakfast, and then trotted off to Asda to get the Bluey.

Some sound advice from people had suggested it was really good, but maybe not worth the £15 bucks I was going to pay.

"Is it normal for a 3 yo, to know how to work a microwave. As in, literally knowing his bottle needs 45 seconds on 750?"

So, I took the advice. For the first time in forever I bought a DVD. £12 bucks, in an Asda exclusive given ET HTTYD, plus the straight to DVD sequel.

And it's brilliant.

Maybe I just thought that as it was something new from Shrek and the like - but I thought it was genuinely brilliant.

I sort of regret not getting the Bluey, as although it looks great, standard definition is a ball ache if all you watch is HD. Oh well, ET doesn't know that. And on the plus side, the sound is still awesome - making me realise this sound set up will deliver no matter what the visuals are like, now.

Then a knock.

"You try concentrating on Black Ops when this lil beauty is sat looking at you. TRY IT!"

My iPhone had had no signal/service all morning... Mr Postie had my iPhone 4 - as part of a £29 bucks upgrade.

Just as ET had nodded off as fate would have it. But also just as I'd booted Black Ops up for the first time in 8 days.

After three awful games, and what looks like a loss of stats (anyone else noticed that?), I had a stormer. 18:2, and that's why I love Jungle.

But that pretty lil iPhone was just sat there. So I ditched Black Ops, and opened that little beauty up.

First thing I did?

Isle Of Wight 2011 play list...

The One Where Green Lantern Deserves A Break

It's times like this I thank God I'm a film fan, and not a comic geek.

No allegiances. No fuss. No problem.

This looks fun.

Plus, Ryan Reynolds deserves a starring role.

I wonder who his favourite Take That member is... *Points to top left of Blog*



And just as I was wandering what Daniel Craig has been up too...

I can't stress enough how little I cared about this film before I saw that teaser. Now?

Sold.

Dad??

AMMENDED: As you know, I live on LiveForFilms, and just saw this...

Power of a trailer, eh? GC and MovieGrrl seem to dislike the comedic elements. Wonder if this whizz can work his magic on the final film, too?

The One Where The IoW2011 Festival Is Missing Something.

From the sublime to the ridiculous.

I warn you now, this is a comic, of pictures detailing the pain I went through. If you're on the App get your ass to Mars. (Or over to the actual website.) Whilst there, vote for your favourite Take That member.

Whilst twiddling my fingers, waiting for Isle Of Wight Festival tickets, I was messing around on Vodafones website.

I forgot my phone number, so text the Ledgers. JMcG replied, so I logged in.

Then, as I'd suspected was due, I was offered a free upgrade.

So I got an iPhone 4, thinking I'll sell my current one for 250 Bucks, and I'm quids in.

Same tariff. 18 months. Quids in.

Couldn't really have been easier.

Then I tried to order a single ticket for the IoW ticket.

How hard could it be.........?




Jesus.

It was a nightmare.

Our works Internet crashed.

Vodafones site crashed.

All the while I'm thinking Kings Of Leon, The Foo's and Kasabian is probably as good a line up as any of us would've dreamt.

I had complaints that needed sorting.

Ridiculous.

Bon Jovi?? Eh??? WTF! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Eh?? EH??? What. The. Fuck.

FUCK JON BON JOVI IN THE FUCKING FACE! I WANT KINGS OF FUCKING LEON YOU CU....

This isn't happening. This. Is. Not. Happening.

*Makes girly whimper noise*

Oh, get in iPhone 3GS, soon to be scrap. Almost there. Almost there.

What's that? Wtf is that? What. The. FUCK. Is. That???

In the end, the final picture shows me getting to the payment page on my iPhone. That second box? That's the Terms and Conditions, that YOU HAVE TO TICK. EXCEPT YOU COULDN'T TICK IT!

*Breath*

Jesus.

I called JMcG, knowing he may be sat in front of a computer, planning ways to go to the festival himself, if he could lie to his wife that their Anniversary was in fact the week before. Or after.

JMcG, cool as you like, banged it through first time. And I owe him a beer for it.

And the following day 3/4 Ledgers were confirmed. Greatest line up ever or not, that leaves me feeling a bit empty. So much so that thinking about it today, I kind of hope Biffy aren't there.

We're all gutted you can't come mate - and I apologise in advance if I go on about it loads in the next 6 months (202 sleeps!) - but we all understand why you can't be there.

The One With MUFCs Disastrous Start

So, almost a 1/4 through the season.

United are going strong in the Carling Cup.

United have all but qualified from their Champions League Group, with out conceding a goal.

United have got as far in the FA Cup as last year. (Granted we haven't played, yet).

United are second in the league, unbeaten, playing predominantly mediocre football. A huge four points off Chelsea. Who, by most peoples mark are incredible. One of the best teams in the world. Playing amazing football. Sacking a loyal servant at half time, in a reserve game. Classy.

Yeah. It's been a pretty disastrous season so far.

Thank god we don't have our biggest asset returning - who will want to play well to play his way out, or restore the faith.

'Dance and drink and screw because there's nothing else to do' by @diaryofaledger

Back at the start of 1994 Pulp were nowhere.  Three albums down and their unique(ish) sound had captured no one's imagination.  Brit Pop changed that though and His 'n' Hers did pretty well, songs like Lipgloss and in particular Babies, were coming out of badly set up speakers at every indie disco in town.

What followed, in '95 was an album that put Pulp on the cultural map.  An album that for a while over took them and threatened to break lead singer and driving force Jarvis Cocker.  Different Class is so British, so of its time that listening back to it now it feels dated.  Brilliant but dated.  That there's a song about meeting up with someone in the year 2000 probably doesn't help.

What does survive throughout is the humour.  Cocker knew how to spin a lyric brilliantly, 'Your name was Deborah, it never suited ya.'  Genius.

Pulp were always about the words more than the music.  The songs are built to fit around Cocker, but it works so well here.  There's plenty of art school musings from the the man from Sheffield trying to make his way in London but it's hard to believe how much grief they got for Sorted for E's and Whizz a song basically taking the piss out of rave culture.  But it added to the infamy and helped raise the bands profile even further.

And then of course there's that song that they finished their brilliant set at Glastonbury with in '95 after replacing the Stone Roses.  Common People is the moment when Pulp reached perfection.  Sure there are songs on This is Hardcore (follow up album released in 1998) that are better produced, but Common People WAS 1995.  It's such a perfect piece of joyful pop music whilst at the same time a scathing attack on the rich kids at University slumming it with the masses.  The video was wonderful too.  Cocker's seemingly impossible, skinny, ever bendable body throwing shapes in a dayglo supermarket while trying to woo a young Sadie Frost.

Does the rest of the album stack up?  As a document of 1995 yes.  As an album that you'd listen to over and over again to now... maybe not.  I preferred His 'n' Hers more stripped down approach and the less 'concept album' feel of This is Hardcore with its denser more intense sound.

What is exciting is that around 15 years after I last saw them play live they'll be at the Isle of Wight Festival next summer, reformed and gigging again.  Common People with a backing of 50,000 is going to be special, I can promise you that.

The One With COD Black Ops Fragging Halo Out

COD v Halo v GoldenEye v Other

COD FTW, then.

I've played a fair bit of Black Ops, so far.

A week ago tonight, I was getting ready to go out to a midnight opening.

It totally deserves to win this vote, too.

COD, as a series, has raised the bar.

I love Halo. It gives me something than COD can't, (Spacey weapons, and cool veichles).

Did I trade them both in immediately, though?

Yep.

COD, when you're doing well, is the best FPS ever.

What Black Ops adds is a level playing field.

A few games in, get a gun you like, buy attachments, then go.

It's genius really can't be understated.

Whether that's popular with everyone is clearly in question.

I make no apologies for loving this new installment.

Don't get me wrong though. In a few weeks, if I lose my winning MoJo, I'll be having a pop like everyone else.

GoldenEye is an interesting one. I remember playing it on Xmas day, and getting motion sickness.

Seeing it released on the Wii makes me cry a bit inside. I'd love to play it again. Microsoft were rumoured to be porting it over... That would be a definite purchase - even though I know it will have aged terribly.

And would it have Napalm strikes, and let me pretend to be Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now?

Doubtful.

The One Where SkyLine Is A 1* Film... No, Wait, 3*... No... 5*??

Right. Up until the last sixty seconds, SkyLine is a 3* film.

After that? It may be a 1*. Or maybe a 5*. I'm genuinely not sure. Such is my surprise to where they took it.

Made on a minuscule budget (by Hollywood terms), by a couple of potential retards, it didn't do an awful lot to piss me off.

It starts immediately with the invasion. Blue lights shooting down in L.A, that wake a couple of unlikeable characters.

Then the title card.

And that's when you'll know whether you're in for the long haul.

Because The Brothers Strause (*sighs*), try their first trick....

The One Where Everything Changes But Take That!

Tomorrow is an historic day.

A new Take That album!

With Robbie.

There could only really be one vote...

Who Is Your Favourite Take That Member??

As ever, vote top left please.

Apologies for the picture, lads.

It's for the ladies. And gays.

The One Where I'm All Over Christmas, 2010

What's the verdict?

I love the cover.

http://www.johnlewis.com/Magazine/Feature.aspx?Id=666&intcmp=Christmas_banner_TVad_121110&s_kenid=kw532490&tmplaceref=TV+Ad+2010

The One With The First Ledger In 6 Months

Tonights a Ledger, so there's no proper Blog post.

It'll be a difficult one.

Having one the last three... four? ... Three, I think... I'm almost under pressure to lose, to keep their interest.

Ha.

To be honest, I couldn't care less if we just watched the boxing.

It's been too long, since we shot the shit.

The One With Battlefield Los Angeles (Film Of The Year, 2011?)

Hi y'internet people. I have no idea why the internet sent you here, either. I write a Blog. Review films. And for some obscure reason, when you're all googling Battle Los Angeles, you're coming here. Sorry about that. Just so you know, I actually saw the film and reviewed it for the greatest site ever. Just click the link, HERE. You probably don't want to know what I thought of Skyline...

Holy shit. If they don't screw this up, this could be in my top three of 2011.

I'm seeing SkyLine Sunday. I'll do a drunken review somewhen.

Ledger night Saturday, donchaknow.


Battle Los Angeles Trailer
Uploaded by teasertrailer. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

The One Where Let Me In Is Number 3

I've been meaning to tell you about the third best film of the year.

I'm working extra today, so I thought I'd let it post while I'm out.

Friday is cinema day, you see.

Well, it used to be...

The One Where I Ditch MoTD

I'm not going to defend the Derby. If you support either team, you were probably biting your nails. (My first time in six months. :-/)

My issue is two fold.

One, the amount of people going on about it, that know NOTHING about either club. "Worse game ever", blah, blah, blah.

This is from people whose own teams were playing.

Use a bit of vision and creativity, and watch your own game, surely?

God, I hope I never care more about another teams result than mine.

Secondly, the BBC.

In a bid to try and show people the story of the game, they miss all of the key ingredients. The substitutions.

They changed the game, no question.

Brown on for the fiery Rafael, (who won over all critics by squaring up to Tevez).

O'Shea on for Evra.

The second one was crucial - as Hernandez, with twenty to go, and City on the ropes, was coming on to put two up top.

Having to change another defensive position forced Fergies hand, though.

Hernandez didn't get on until fifteen to go, and that was for Berba - who looked gutted. And rightly so. It was the right sub, but again, Berba was the best player on the park.

Vidic looked captains material, too.

All in, I'm happy.

Far more than City fans should be.

Yes we beat them last year. But they didn't play 4-6-0 at home, then.

Can't wait to see their 6-4-0 formation at Old Trafford.

Way to kill the game, bitters.

ps, both fans must appreciate the video above. How cool is that? I saw it floating around twitter, which once again proves that's the place for fun, informative information. Way before the BBC I help fund.

The One With LoveFilm On The PS3

So I got an email from Love Film.

It was available on the PS3, and I had forgotten it was even happening.

So I downloaded it.

Signed in.

Then reaped the benefits of being an unlimited customer and being able to watch some for free.

The Perfect Storm! I haven't seen that for years.

...

Loads up.

Starts.

Standard def.

Can't pause.

But other than that... how cool?

This has serious potential.

The States has had this for years - but as far as free apps go. SOLD.