![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
We Are The Puppies Of Our Time!
May. 24th, 2015 07:25 pmEurovision is always one of the greatest nights of the year, although this year it was a shame that it clashed with Confuzzled as all of my usual buddies were unfortunately in Birmingham. Still, this didn't significantly dampen proceedings as we had a modest gathering at ours, with Ying and Glowcat coming around for the fun (we had invited Soma and Patter but they cancelled for different reasons). It may have been a more modest party, but at least it did ensure that we could hear all of the songs (something I get embarrassingly quite possessive about), which were of exceptionally high quality this year. In a way, it was a shame that there weren't that many silly novelty acts as these tend to brighten the whole event but nearly every song had an element of quality to it, making it quite a stiff competition. I imagine this is one of the reasons why the UK's entry did so poorly - it certainly wasn't a bad song and far better than the five points it attained - but in a fierce contest, it wasn't too surprising that it got forgotten about. And it was frequently forgotten too, highlighting the little impact it made (but feel sorry for Austria - nil points in their own country - literally hero to zero in 12 months).
In the end, the three songs that we voted for - Sweden, Russia and Italy - finished in the top three, which was a rare example of me agreeing with the winning song (the first time since Lordi in 2006 in fact). Usually what happens is that a trashy electro-pop or mawkish track prevails and the good songs finish in positions two through five but this time it was refreshingly different. I do feel that the Swedish song won based more on the stage choreography, which was admittedly very well done, but in the end I have few complaints as at least the entry had a chorus I can still remember now. Some furs were a little unhappy I voted for Russia but it was one of the better songs and I prefer to keep politics out of the event. I had actually intended to be away from Twitter all weekend due to Confuzzled overload but Eurovision and my general Twitter addiction brought me back (seriously, it's been difficult as I automatically and instinctively hit the Twitter app whenever I unlock my phone). To be fair the conversation about Eurovision was enjoyable, particularly as many of us were on a high after the Irish gay marriage referendum vote, a plebiscite which gave many of us huge hope as the winning margin was so convincing.
It was also interesting to note that the concept of "political voting" was largely debunked, at least regarding any influence this has on the winner. After all, the top five all consistently got high marks from all countries as they clearly were the best five tracks. Granted there are some countries almost guaranteed to get 12 points off neighbours but this only really affects the mid to bottom of the board, which is why the Billy No Mates UK can often be found languishing in the nether reaches. However, if the Australians couldn't even give the British entry some points then, quite frankly, that says it all. And remember, three countries broke rank and didn't give Russia the maximum 12, which was odd in a year when their song was so strong. I've always believed the political voting thing to be somewhat over-egged and although some allocations are predictable, in general, the top ten songs generally rise to the top regardless. That's what happened this year too.
The evening was largely spent sharing Domino's Pizza and drinking with friends while enjoying the show and Graham Norton's commentary, which wasn't as acerbic or hilarious as previous years. There were moments of brilliance but they were fleeting, perhaps related to the quality of the songs on show. His weak jibe at Middlesbrough to open the show was also a little pathetic, another lambasting of my home town from a man who has probably never been. Still this didn't dampen my spirits and afterwards, we chatted about a range of things with the Chin Review, Ross Noble and Rainbow playing in the background. Ying was an expert on Eurovision so during the show interjected with a range of pertinent facts while Glowcat was particularly intrigued with the dungeon, where she got to spend the night. She got quite tipsy in the end, with secrets flowing, but it was all a lot of fun and the four of us had a great evening.
We went to bed just after 3am and the conversation continued this morning, first over an average Wetherspoons breakfast and then during a little tour of Pudsey, where we showed our guests our little wildlife centre in the park, full of mice, rabbits and various types of fish native to the area. It's a nice little collection, detailing all of the local wildlife in scenes familiar to the vicinity such as a canal. The land animals seem to live in homes built out of various construction equipment such as trolleys and ladders for some reason, not sure what that was about, while I wanted to scoop up all the coins dropped in the canal display as I felt sorry for them (I am a weird pantheist at times). The retreat is a tiny place, probably there to get kids interested in local ecology, but we spent an enjoyable quarter hour here before taking the scenic route home, when we discovered the park has an ice cream kiosk and some outdoor gym equipment has appeared in a local play area down the road from where we live.
After a cup of tea and some Pringles, we drove the duo home and got to explore the Middleton and Rothwell areas of Leeds, the former for my first visit and the latter for just my second. It's amazing really that, despite having travelled to 46 countries, there are still parts of my own city I haven't yet seen and I do like exploring, even if there isn't an awful lot to do and see in these places. I hope to explore more over the summer, particularly places like Rothwell which have a few interesting things to see like an old mill with a clock tower (now converted into flats) and the whale jaw bones over a park bench. Provincial.
I'm now on my way to Liverpool to meet my uncle, before travelling to Wembley for the Championship play-off final tomorrow between Middlesbrough and Norwich. I'm actually quite nervous as this is the culmination of our season, nine months of hard work coming down to one game. It's dubbed the "richest game in the world" as promotion will boost the club's finances by £100m, not to mention the profile of the town around the world. It's a big deal. It would also mean that the slog of this campaign - all 48 games thus far - has been fruitful and we wouldn't have to do the same again next season to try and get promotion again. The month of May promised so much but has let me down on every turn - the Tories won a majority, Newcastle survived at the expense of Hull in the top flight - so I really hope it's not a clean sweep tomorrow. I feel the game could go either way, and it'll be an event regardless, but a win would be absolutely fantastic. Hopefully I'll be celebrating this time tomorrow.
In the end, the three songs that we voted for - Sweden, Russia and Italy - finished in the top three, which was a rare example of me agreeing with the winning song (the first time since Lordi in 2006 in fact). Usually what happens is that a trashy electro-pop or mawkish track prevails and the good songs finish in positions two through five but this time it was refreshingly different. I do feel that the Swedish song won based more on the stage choreography, which was admittedly very well done, but in the end I have few complaints as at least the entry had a chorus I can still remember now. Some furs were a little unhappy I voted for Russia but it was one of the better songs and I prefer to keep politics out of the event. I had actually intended to be away from Twitter all weekend due to Confuzzled overload but Eurovision and my general Twitter addiction brought me back (seriously, it's been difficult as I automatically and instinctively hit the Twitter app whenever I unlock my phone). To be fair the conversation about Eurovision was enjoyable, particularly as many of us were on a high after the Irish gay marriage referendum vote, a plebiscite which gave many of us huge hope as the winning margin was so convincing.
It was also interesting to note that the concept of "political voting" was largely debunked, at least regarding any influence this has on the winner. After all, the top five all consistently got high marks from all countries as they clearly were the best five tracks. Granted there are some countries almost guaranteed to get 12 points off neighbours but this only really affects the mid to bottom of the board, which is why the Billy No Mates UK can often be found languishing in the nether reaches. However, if the Australians couldn't even give the British entry some points then, quite frankly, that says it all. And remember, three countries broke rank and didn't give Russia the maximum 12, which was odd in a year when their song was so strong. I've always believed the political voting thing to be somewhat over-egged and although some allocations are predictable, in general, the top ten songs generally rise to the top regardless. That's what happened this year too.
The evening was largely spent sharing Domino's Pizza and drinking with friends while enjoying the show and Graham Norton's commentary, which wasn't as acerbic or hilarious as previous years. There were moments of brilliance but they were fleeting, perhaps related to the quality of the songs on show. His weak jibe at Middlesbrough to open the show was also a little pathetic, another lambasting of my home town from a man who has probably never been. Still this didn't dampen my spirits and afterwards, we chatted about a range of things with the Chin Review, Ross Noble and Rainbow playing in the background. Ying was an expert on Eurovision so during the show interjected with a range of pertinent facts while Glowcat was particularly intrigued with the dungeon, where she got to spend the night. She got quite tipsy in the end, with secrets flowing, but it was all a lot of fun and the four of us had a great evening.
We went to bed just after 3am and the conversation continued this morning, first over an average Wetherspoons breakfast and then during a little tour of Pudsey, where we showed our guests our little wildlife centre in the park, full of mice, rabbits and various types of fish native to the area. It's a nice little collection, detailing all of the local wildlife in scenes familiar to the vicinity such as a canal. The land animals seem to live in homes built out of various construction equipment such as trolleys and ladders for some reason, not sure what that was about, while I wanted to scoop up all the coins dropped in the canal display as I felt sorry for them (I am a weird pantheist at times). The retreat is a tiny place, probably there to get kids interested in local ecology, but we spent an enjoyable quarter hour here before taking the scenic route home, when we discovered the park has an ice cream kiosk and some outdoor gym equipment has appeared in a local play area down the road from where we live.
After a cup of tea and some Pringles, we drove the duo home and got to explore the Middleton and Rothwell areas of Leeds, the former for my first visit and the latter for just my second. It's amazing really that, despite having travelled to 46 countries, there are still parts of my own city I haven't yet seen and I do like exploring, even if there isn't an awful lot to do and see in these places. I hope to explore more over the summer, particularly places like Rothwell which have a few interesting things to see like an old mill with a clock tower (now converted into flats) and the whale jaw bones over a park bench. Provincial.
I'm now on my way to Liverpool to meet my uncle, before travelling to Wembley for the Championship play-off final tomorrow between Middlesbrough and Norwich. I'm actually quite nervous as this is the culmination of our season, nine months of hard work coming down to one game. It's dubbed the "richest game in the world" as promotion will boost the club's finances by £100m, not to mention the profile of the town around the world. It's a big deal. It would also mean that the slog of this campaign - all 48 games thus far - has been fruitful and we wouldn't have to do the same again next season to try and get promotion again. The month of May promised so much but has let me down on every turn - the Tories won a majority, Newcastle survived at the expense of Hull in the top flight - so I really hope it's not a clean sweep tomorrow. I feel the game could go either way, and it'll be an event regardless, but a win would be absolutely fantastic. Hopefully I'll be celebrating this time tomorrow.
