The Less and More of 2009

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Another year huh...

As the final year of the noughties nears, it's hard not to think about what's being left in 2008 and what might happen in 2009. So I've been thinking about things I'd rather see left behind in 08, and things I'd like to see more of in 09.

Bad news first of course....

Less:

1. Celebs drink driving- clearly a) we know what they look like and b) the cops would like to use them as an example to everyone else - so why do they do it? It's either because they reckon they won't be caught or they don't like paying for a taxi or a driver..... So celebs- stop doing it because it's just plain annoying, never mind dangerous...

2. 'R' word whining by people who can change things- Cowen, the government, shop owners, builders.... stop whining about people not spending money on overpriced things. People won't feel the need to go to Newry if you lower prices and lower the VAT rate. As for the builders trying to sell overpriced houses for €1.8/2 million- be realistic, you're not going to get the €1.5m profit you were planning on, so just sell those empty houses for a reasonable price and start repaying those bank loans.

3. Spencer Pratt still in our lives- of The Hills fame - the Speidi union is bad enough and Heidi isn't that bad, but her keeping Spencer as a boyfriend when he behaves worse than a small child is criminal. The world has never seen such an immature young man. Having created trouble by the bucketload with Heidi's best mate Lauren Conrad, Spencer now can't sit still unless he's making people pick 'a ship' to be on, and ranting about how much he hates the lovely Lauren. Go away Spencer!!!

4. High level people getting bonuses for not much/bad work- I'm looking at the banking sector here- getting a salary is generous enough for the mess that's been created and overseen by some of these people- but bonuses and lavish Christmas parties are just plain ridiculous.

5. Recession talk- it probably wouldn't be this bad if we didn't keep talking about it. Enough already, lets get the confidence going again.

In better news I could do well from seeing MORE...

1. Price reductions and better value- possibly the only benefit of the downturn is that we're seeing more reasonable prices, prices that we should have been paying all along. With the Sterling at rock bottom its good to see retailers finally having to reduce prices to more reasonable levels.

2. Cheap(er) oil- today a barrel of oil cost US$39, pretty good when compared to 2007's closing price of $96 a barrel. But while it's all good news as we enter 2009, and we can continue to drive the gas guzzling SUV's that certain sectors of Irish society seem to love, we have to face the fact that in the not too distant future our oil supply may dry up. Soon enough it could be back on your bicycles, so enjoy the comfort of the car until then!

3. Sunshine- We've been shivering for weeks now but at least there's been less rain than usual. So for 2009 can we please request more sun, less rain and higher temperatures.

4. Decent leadership from people like Obama- the year 2008 will probably be best remembered for the US Presidential election that brought us Barack Obama. A complete breath of fresh air Obama turned everything we thought we knew about US Presidents on it's head. Already admired by people and leaders around the world, his leadership and vision is something leaders at home and abroad should emulate. 2009 will be the year this man gets to show off his real flair.

5. Peace- some of the prosperity we enjoyed over the last decade may be gone, but at least we appear to be living in a peaceful Ireland. A time where people freely crossed the border simply to buy things cheaper is an amazing achievement given the situation just ten years ago.

I'm sure there's millions of more less and more's to think of, those above are just a few that I've been thinking of... feel free to add more ideas in the comments.....

Happy New Year!

Alexandra wins X-Factor 2008 with Hallelujah

Twenty year old Alexandra Burke has won X-factor 2008. In a moving performance of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, the studio audience, television audience and judge's were left in no doubt that Alexandra had the X factor. Alexandra, from North London, was one of 182,000 people who applied to be on the X factor 2008. A clearly shocked and emotional Alexandra told host Dermot O'Leary 'this is for everyone'. Simon Cowell said 'congratulations Alexandra, you deserve it' and praised Cheryl Cole for her role as mentor.

Twelve finalists made it into the live televised finals which began on October 11th 2008. Diana Vickers was eliminated last week, leaving Eoghan Quigg, boyband JLS and Alexandra Burke to battle for the title of winner 2008. Eight million votes were cast by television viewers.

Sixteen year old Eoghan Quigg, from Derry, sang 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas', 'Flying Without Wings' and 'We're All In This Together (from High School Musical) before being eliminated with the fewest votes. That left Alexandra and JLS to vie for the top spot. To prove their worth, both acts sang a version of Leonard Cohen's 1984 track 'Hallelujah'. The prize of X-factor is a £1 million recording contract.

Copies of Alexandra's 'Hallelujah' will be available for download tonight and will be in shops on Wednesday. The X-factor winner is typically a strong contender for the coveted Christmas No1. The 2008 final also featured performances from Westlife, Boyzone and Beyonce. Applications are now open for the 2009 series of X-factor on itv.com/xfactor.

(pik from BBC)

Designated Drivers drink for free

Soft drinks of course. As I've tended to fall into the role of designated driver lately, I was appalled at how much it costs to NOT drink on a night out. I was in the pub for about 6 hours and in that time had about 7 Cokes which set me back €2.50 a bottle. But the bottle was a mere 200ml.

But thankfully, Coca Cola have launched this year's designated driver campaign. It means that at participating pubs, the designated driver can obtain free soft drinks at the bar. Nice one. The campaign runs for the month of December and aims to 'reward drivers for socialising safely'.

Designated Driver was launched for the first time in 2004 and since then it has gone from strength to strength. The campaign also has the vital support of key organisations including Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society (MEAS) and An Garda Siochana.

Pork withdrawl- contamination

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland tonight recalled all pork products produced since September 1st.

In a statement released today, the FSAI announced 'laboratory results of animal feed and pork fat samples obtained this afternoon by the FSAI confirmed the presence of dioxins. Consequently, the FSAI is requiring the food industry to recall from the market all Irish pork products produced from pigs slaughtered in Ireland'.

The FSAI revealed pork products on a number of farms were found to have up to 200 times more dioxins in them than the safe limits set down. Dioxins are environmental contaminants that may be formed during combustion processes and may be present in industrial wastes. It is illegal for dioxins above set levels to be in food products.

Speaking on RTE's Nine News this evening, Irish Farmers Assocation President Padraig Walshe said the problem was 'very isolated' as the contaminated feed was made by one small processor. He added that the safe pork products would likely be back on supermarket shelves by the middle of the week.

The public have been advised to discard any pork products in their fridge and to refrain from eating pork products at eateries for the time being. Pork products include pork chops, bacon, ham (fresh and packaged) and sausages.

Irishtimes.com this evening reported 'Rod Evans, a spokesman for the FSAI, told irishtimes.com that the health risks were likely to be “very small” and said a short period “of higher level exposure to the dioxins is unlikely to have any health consequences'.

Discovery: Youthful posher accents operate at lower frequencies

Whilst doing work with the free software Audacity, we discovered that music and voices at 41khz sound distinctly different at 48khz. It would appear that when you adjust the khz frequency voices sound a) younger and b) more towards a posher postcode. We discovered this playing U2's 'Stuck in A Moment'- when played at 44khz Bono's voice resembles a 14 year old, and a very well spoken one at that!

If we transpose this into real life one *could* say that some of Dublin's more posh accents are simply the norm, at a lower frequency. Other hypotheses welcomed.

It's quite hilarious really so try it out for giggles.