New Blog.

Hi all, have decided to change to a dedicated blog, on my own site! You can find this on www.Jdyer.co.uk . On this new site, you can comment very easily on my posts and get more involved than ever before!

Thanks
Jamie Dyer

The Simpsons - My Take On An American Legend

Hi all you blog fans out there, hope you are all well. If you’re in England, you’re probably enjoying the sunshine and the rain that is parading over us at the moment. If you are elsewhere, I have no idea what your weather is like but you do! That made little sense so I’ll just get on with my subject for today. I’m trying to write at least 3 articles a week as one a day was proving too much when thinking of the load I have for other projects I am involved in.

I want to talk to you today about a television show I love to pieces. So much so that for months, it was practically the only thing I watched on television. I loved the humour, the animation and the fact it parodies reality in its style and approach. I am talking about The Simpsons, America’s greatest animated family, next to the Flintstones. Although, compared to the Flintstones, the Simpsons have run for 15 more seasons.

I remember seeing The Simpsons in the mid 90s, when BBC2 used to show it daily at 6pm. Those were glorious days, when you would tune into the show at 6, then watch Fresh Prince afterwards. The bonus with it being on the BBC was that there were no adverts to disturb the enjoyment. Occasionally, they would play Star Trek – The Next Generation instead of FP, which to some would have been a great joy. I was never a big fan of Star Trek until recently when I realised I finally have the patience to appreciate and enjoy it.

It shocked me to learn, years later, that the Simpsons are not intended for Children. At first glance, it looks like a cuddly children’s programme, but the content is more universal and occasionally a lot more daring. Other shows such as Family Guy, have taken this and gone way ahead with the adult humour. In later seasons of the Simpsons, they started to address deeper issues, such as sexuality, in which Homer befriends a homosexual then tries to stop Bart from becoming one. This is not the subject matter of a programme aimed at little kiddies. In the early 90s, Bart was seen as a bad influence because of the things he got up to, but as Matt Groening has pointed out, the early shows that caused this offence play “so sweet now”.

I have to say I prefer the earlier seasons. Seasons One to Five are probably my favourite of them all. They are the makings of a show that would become an institution the world over. Sure the animation was a little crude early on, but the material was there from the off. Homer seems to have become more stupid as time has gone on and it’s put the show out of context. They’re now looking for stories, and they’re starting to get very hard to come by. The earlier seasons would feature a flashback episode, where they would go back to 1980 to when Bart was born, and things like that. They really started to mess with the continuity as they struggle to look for stories of originality. It was when Bart says in a more recent episode, “the 90s, never heard of it”. This is despite the fact that in 1991 he had a hit with “Do The Bartman”, a rap record written by Michael Jackson. They really mess with the continuity and history of the show.

This isn’t supposed to a complaining post, because I’m sure they get plenty of them on a daily basis, I actually still enjoy the show. Everything fits together well and they have a proven format they know works. It was when they tried to make it into a movie that it went a bit far. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t find myself enjoying that movie very much. This is maybe because they showed all the best bits in the promotion for it. They did a Culture Show special, which looked at the history and showed clips from the film. I hate it when they do this, as they give away the memorable jokes. The movie gets a thumbs down from me I’m afraid.

Anyway, I’m going to end this post for now. I could say loads about The Simpsons, I’ve seen seasons One through to 15, after that it got a little hazy after that but I’m sure if you showed me episodes from later seasons, I’ve seen them. If you have opinions about the show, then please get in contact and comment here, your opinions all add to the point of a blog!

Piers Morgan - CNN - Can't Not Notice

Hey all you blog fans out there, just chilling out to a bit of Status Quo and thought I’d write something for this blog. Thanks for all the nice comments I have received recently, it has been much appreciated. What I want to talk here, you may not have seen, but you may have heard about through the internet. It is most prominent through Twitter.

I’m talking about Piers Morgan here, that guy we all love to hate. He really rubs people up the wrong way, most notably Lord Sugar, and you don’t want to get on the wrong side of him. Piers, starting out in journalism, he seem to have made his way onto television very slowly but surely. His roles in America and Britain’s Got Talent are things he was most famous for either side of the pond. He only got the job in America because Simon Cowell recommended him as he wasn’t available to take part.

Piers has also had the celebrity chat shows and such, where he talks to famous people about their lives. I found with these shows was that a majority of it was what I would call fluff. The guests got more and more bizarre also. I can understand Richard Branson, Bruce Forsyth among others, but why Kym Marsh or even Cheryl Cole. In a show which focuses on people’s lives, why have people who have hardly lived. Sure they’ve had bad experiences but you just don’t have the scope that you have with the heavyweight veterans.

He also did those programmes where he follows people around. This sounds like a programme for a stalker but this is not the case. His programme on Cliff Richard was ok, but it seemed like Piers was the one doing the talking not Cliff. This is where the criticism comes in, Piers can sometimes override his guests and suddenly it’s the Piers Morgan hour. Luckily when he did Lord Alan Sugar, he was put in his place. Speaking of Alan putting him in his place, have you seen Twitter? Some of the posts between these two have been hilarious. It all spawns from Piers’ new venture into America, as host of a CNN show, which replaces heavyweight Larry King. I wish Piers the best of luck with this, as it’s a refreshing change to see an Englishman have such a big solo slot in America, I’m sure Lord Sugar wishes him luck secretly.

I actually watched his show on CNN, as it is broadcast in the UK also. I caught the Anthony Hopkins show. I found the content to be very dry and very much aimed at a niche market. No longer is he working for a company that loves shiny things and fluff, this is serious business. So those who are hoping to tune in to hear Barrack Obama talking about his socks will be most disappointed. He spent his time talking to Hopkins about religion all because of his new film.

Anyway, this is the end of my post about Piers Morgan, if you have any comments about this subject, then please don’t hesitate to comment. If Piers wants to respond to anything I’ve said here, I won’t stop him!

Theme Park - A Classic!

Hi there blog fans, was just looking through my classic blog posts and thought I’d post this one about one of my favourite games, Theme Park. Hope you enjoy this; I have many articles like this one in my blog vault. Things I have written for other blogs that haven’t gone anywhere so hopefully you will enjoy!

Everyone at some time has had a go at the legendary Theme Park. I have fond memories of playing the original SNES version and thinking how amazing it was. Quite why, I'm not sure. The game's premise is perhaps the dullest thing in the world but somehow it works. You become involved in the happenings of your park and begin to enjoy watching that virtual money roll in.

I discovered the PC version shortly after and discovered a whole new world of shares, ordering supplies and striking up financial deals to make yourself successful. Let's be honest though, I reckon most of us just stuck it in sandbox mode and let the game do all the work while we loved watching the people go in and out. The music was one of the selling points for the game as far as I am concerned. It portrays a dreamy idealised world where everything is about the theme park and not much else. Tell that to the guy who programmed the dreary end sequence, which appears if you become bankrupt, which frankly ruins the mood of the game and is quite disturbing for a young person to see!

So if your a newbie to this whole thing, let me explain what this game is about. Basically you start a park then you buy rides, shops etc to go in your park. You can also add landscaping and workers to work in your park. You then try and make money with this to move onto the next park. You sell your park via auction in which your competitors bid on your park. If you've played Theme Hospital, you'll get what this game is all about. At the end of each year, they assess how much you have earned and your standing within the theme park community.

So whether you remember playing this as a kid, or you've never seen it before in your life, give it a try. But be warned, it can become very addictive. Also, if you own a PS3, you can download the PS1 version, which is quite close to the PC version of the game!

Please remember that if you want to comment on anything you have seen here, then don’t hesitate to comment! Your comments and opinions are greatly appreciated and add to the debate.

Chuckle Brothers - The Music Stopped, Sadly

Hi all you blog fans out there. Hope you are keeping well and enjoying what this blog has to offer. At this time, it feels like the blog offers nothing but we’ll see if that changes in due time. It’s been interesting to see feedback, sent through other services, about this page. It’s been very positive and I love the idea of audience participation in the subjects I discuss.

I’ve been looking into a childhood favourite recently. If you are like me, you watched these two guys on regular occasions just to see their hi-jinx and formulaic comedy routine. When I was really young, I used to say their names without saying their known surname. I’d go, Barry, Paul, Barry, Paul. People at this time mistook what I say and thought I was saying Barrymore, which is a different thing altogether!

I am of course talking about the Chuckle Brothers, Paul and Barry, who have delighted us with their presence with Chucklevision since 1987. Although I think the shows have become quite predictable, they are still fun to watch. Their Laurel and Hardy like routine is timeless, their catchphrases are easy to remember, and the Chuckmobil, or whatever it was called, is the one thing children want to have a go at driving!

I’m not here to talk about the TV series though, or the stage show, but the short lived music career of the brothers. I stumbled upon it by accident when looking through Youtube. There is a video on Youtube for the song, “Silly Me, Silly You”. This is a reference to another one of their catchphrases, and you know what, it is not that bad. I find myself repeating it and repeating it. Barry’s actually not a bad singer, Paul isn’t too bad either. I can see why they do stage shows every year, some with this song included.

It was when I tried to obtain a copy of the album, To Me To You, that I stumbled upon problems. There were not any copies on Amazon and Ebay had one copy, which went for under £10. It came to my attention that it was a rare album. I think this is a shame as it means people can’t experience in its native form; watching on Youtube just doesn’t have the same feeling for me.

Anyway, I guess I should end this post by saying, if you get the opportunity, give it a listen, you might be pleasantly surprised. That’s all from me for now, but if you have any comments on this subject, then please don’t hesitate to comment on this post.

David Beckham, Endorsing and the PS1!

Hey all you blog fans out there, apologies for not posting in the last few days. There is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes. Valentines day was good, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and you got something from that someone special! Just typing, and chilling out to Les McKeown’s solo album. If you don’t know who he is, he’s the singer from the Bay City Rollers and strangely, it has one or two tracks I would deem worthy.

I’m not here to talk about solo albums; I’m here to talk about something else. As some will know, I’m a big gaming fan. I’ve been writing some stuff for this blog gaming related, I need to finish it at some point.

I’ve been looking at a lot of PS1 games recently. I even did a list of them all, around 85 at the time of writing in total. I recently had a go at an endorsement product. It was called David Beckham Soccer! I mean, I’m not a big fan of David myself but I thought I’d give it a try. What I have to keep in mind is that it was released on the PS1 in 2000, so the graphics are not going to be up to scratch. I realised this when I went to play a game on my 21” and it looked snowy all over the pitch. I’m not talking about the weather either! I love it how companies get big name players to release their own video games. It was the same as Michael Owen, but frankly, I found his game much more enjoyable and less set on the fact of who was endorsing it other than the title screen. This showed Michael Owen joyfully saying “Welcome to Michael Owen’s World League Soccer 99, Have Fun!” I didn’t see such an entertaining thing in Beckham’s game, this is disappointing in a way.

I found the control system difficult but then I wasn’t used to it. I guess a lot of football games of this period had issues with the controls. I remember Actua Soccer had similar tendencies in the control style. The difference between DBS and AS is that Alan Shearer is way cooler than David Beckham in my opinion. Anyway, I’m getting off subject a bit here.

I guess what I’m trying to say is although there were good football games in this era; there were also some bad ones. People tend to forget that there was more than just Fifa in the 32-bit days. Anyone remember Viva Football? It was a game that allowed the player to play as one of the great teams from the past. I didn’t care that the graphics and controls were a bit dodgy; it was this one fact alone that drew me to it.

I guess that’s the key to games these days, gimmicks. All you have to do is to look at Little Big Planet and see that!

Anyway, thanks for reading this pointless article. I’m hoping to get some more up soon, so if you have any suggestions, please don’t hesitate to comment!

Emusic - It's Not What You Think It Is!

Hi all you blog fans out there. I’m going to take a little break from my passion for gaming posts and tell you about something I think you should know. It concerns a music download site which give away free downloads but unfortunately, their output is not to everyone’s taste. I’ll start at the beginning. I recently bought a new television and was offered a range of free things. One of these free things was a trial with Emusic, which is a download site similar to Itunes and Napster. Actually, it would seem this way from first glance but I was wrong. I got on there and it was basically a breeding ground for old recordings and unknown artists.

I personally don’t mind this as I listen to a lot of non-mainstream stuff. I was thrilled at the amount of Show of Hands material which was available to me, and cheaper than any other download site to my knowledge. I was offered some free downloads and I took them. In doing so, I had to sign up and choose a payment plan. I was told I could just cancel quite easily once my free downloads had been done. Unfortunately, I didn’t cancel quickly enough and sure enough £25 had been taken out. My answer to this is just to use up all that credit, because in my opinion it is good to discover non mainstream stuff, and then try and cancel.

I would beware that a lot of the older recordings of 60s artists appear to be rerecorded. These are sometimes inferior to the original and as some would say, not worth the money you spend. I think part of the attraction of the site is that downloads are only 42p, as opposed to 79p on some sites. This was great for me to get those older songs that have been stuck in my head for ages. Songs by Chuck Berry and the like are easily accessible, with most of his known recordings on there for all to download. If you’re looking for DJ Wotsit or MC Mammy featuring Miss Warble, you’re not going to find it here. I wouldn’t say it was suitable for the teen market unless they have a very eclectic taste in music. I would recommend this site strictly for people who prefer non mainstream or music from the mid 20^th century. I was interested to see an album by Inkspots on there, certainly not to everyone’s taste but I’m sure someone out there appreciates it.

So there you go, they are a non mainstream music provider. I was even shocked to see my own song on there. Just type in Jamie Dyer and up it comes, I Gave You My Lovin’. Shameless piece of advertising but I was thrilled to see my own recording up on this site, I wasn’t sad enough to download it from the site though!

Thanks all for reading and please leave any comments or stories of experience you may have on the subject below!