Today’s Big Issue on the Catboy & Geordiebird Breakfast Show was all about whether or not women are any good at recommending good stuff at the cinema. Alright, it’s a bit of a generalisation but I don’t care. It’s about time somebody stood up and said it! There’s a comments box at the bottom of this post. If you think I’m talking twaddle, tell me what your favourite films are. The ones you’d recommend above all others.
To get you started, I asked Geordiebird to compile a Top Ten list of movies she’d recommend to other people. However, she saw through my ruse and compiled a list that reads like it was drawn up by the average thirty-five year old man… Rocky, Terminator, James Bond, Last of the Mohicans, etc. I know for a fact she’s lying. She has never mentioned any of these films in the seven years I’ve known her. She has put Ghost and How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, which is a slight bit of honesty… But not much.
On Friday, I was press-ganged into watching The Lovely Bones. The book, which every seems to love, sounded quite wet but I went to the cinema with an open mind and an equally-open bag of Maltesers. The Maltesers were fantastic. The film was awful. I’ve ranted about it on Facebook already, so I won’t go on. Needless to say at the end the girls pre-empted my “two hours of my life I’m not getting back” catchphrase. They had nothing good to say about it either.
I’m getting really fussy about cinema of late. Life’s too busy to waste on bad films. These days I scan various (trusted) review sites before I even think about going to the flicks. I don’t know if it’s just that I’m getting old and boring or films are just being made in the same style as painting-by-numbers. It could be that I’m in Dubai and there aren’t as many decent independent films shown. It could even be down to the occasional hatchet-job on the UAE editing. I don’t know.
Those issues aside though, I can’t remember ever being recommended a good film by a woman. I’m not trying to be controversial. It’s just a fact. I’ve been recommended a plethora of great books and numerous decent TV shows by women but when it comes to the silver screen, nada.
So, I’d like to use this opportunity to hear back from you. If you’re a man, leave a comment below and tell me if you’ve ever been recommended a decent film by your wife, girlfriend or female colleagues. Women, tell me what you’d recommend to me. And please don’t tell me what I want to hear. Be honest. I’ll endeavour to watch the ones I can find and I’ll report back. I promise if I like them, I’ll apologise.
Tom & Dan are in the Ahlan Hot 100 again this year (2 years aint bad boys). They were asked to record a video about being in Dubai’s list of trendsetters, style icons and unsung heroes. But they (and we) can’t work out which category they might fit in to!
Watch their little vid here (including the outtakes at the end!)…
Hello! Tom and Dan here. Just finished tonight’s show and are officially starting the ‘Tom & Dan’s Brits Blog’.
It’s a short entry, cos it’s late and we’re both shattered. Haha. (NOT ‘lol’).
In a nutshell, we are reporting back from the Brit Awards 2010 on 16 February in London for Dubai 92. And we’re going to do as much videoing, interviewing, blogging, photographing, celeb/musician hunting and partying, professional schmozing as we can.
And we hope to bring a little ‘Dubai’ to the occasion too. We’re proud of where we live and work and we reckon we can spread some much needed Dubai-love to anyone who’ll care to listen, whilst we’re there.
We want you to give us ideas of things we can do on our trip, things we can get at the show, questions we can ask bands, props we can take. That kind of thing. Leave us a message at the bottom…
And listener Louise set us the challenge on air earlier this evening of wearing ‘We love Dubai’ T-shirts and getting them signed by as many famous people as possible and seeing who can get the most! Then bring them back and give them away on our show (or sell them on dubizzle! -Tom)
So in the morning, we’re off to find us some ‘We love Dubai’ T-shirts.
That’s about it for now.
We’ll leave you with a pic of what Earls Court (the Brits venue) looks like when a book fair is on…
And a video of what it looks like when Coldplay are on… (we both agreed it’s probably one of our favourite Brits performances. We’ll find some more too as the blog goes on.)
That’s a wrap. Night night folks. T&D.
Wednesday, 03 FEBRUARY 2010 : Dubai
Hey there! Tom & Dan here.
Today we bought the T-shirts! And had the ‘artwork’ done on them! These are what we are gonna hopefully get the stars to sign. Check. Them. Out. Baby.
Then we wondered what they might look like with nothing underneath… oh dear.
And here’s a short video of us actually getting these…vests.
Saturday, 05 FEBRUARY 2010 : London
Hello from London!
We’ve finished all our work, packed our cases and gone to the UK for a a short holiday before the Brits next week. Dan is going to the seaside and Tom is going to a different seaside a few hundred miles North. Neither will be particularly sunny.
Here’s a bit of our journey from Dubai to London, including the taxi, being told off for filming on the aeroplane (we were taking off!) and the tube.
And here is our latest show podcast, which counts as part of the Brits Blog because we produced it on the aeroplane. And recorded a special in-flight introduction. Click below.
Tuesday, 09 FEBRUARY 2010 : London
Hiya. Waiting. 7 days from now. Brits time.
Waiting in Whitley Bay and Whitstable…
Wednesday, 10 FEBRUARY 2010 : London
Thanks for checking out Tom & Dan’s Brits Blog.
There’s some BIG news…we want YOU to come too!
Here’s the deal…
Want to go to The Brits? Are you in London on February 16?
We will be waiting at the entrance to Earl’s Court Tube Station at 4pm UK time on February 16 with two tickets to the Brits for the first person who comes up to them and says “Tom & Dan, take me to the Brits with Dubai 92”
We’ll be wearing ‘We Love Dubai’ t-shirts, so we’ll be hard to miss!
The tickets include AFTERPARTY tickets so you’ll be schmoozing with the stars.
Can’t get to the UK? TELL YOUR MATES! Tell everyone you know who could to get to Earl’s Court Tube Station for 4pm on February 16.
It’s the 30th anniversary of the Brits so set to be the biggest Brits ever!
Robbie’s getting Outstanding Contribution Award and will be hitting the stage!
Hope to see you!
And here’s a ’special’ video message with the details (again)
Thursday, 11 FEBRUARY 2010 : London
Hopefully you’ve seen the details from yesterday’s blog about YOU coming with us to the Brits. If not, get scrolling.
Prince Harry has just announced he’s going to be at the awards next Tuesday. Click here for more. Do you think he’ll sign our ‘We Love Dubai’ T-Shirts?
We reckon we can get him to do it!
Sunday, 14 FEBRUARY 2010 : London
Hiya blogfans. Happy Valentines Day.
We’re getting even more excited now. News Of Dizzee Rascal and Florence & The Machine duetting. Pixie Lott amazed to have nominated. Jay-Z and Alicia! And, of course, Robbie.
And somehow, we need to get them to sign our shirts!
We’ve managed to rope in good friend and professional filmmaker Michael Lebor to film what happens when we giveaway the tickets at Earls Court station on Tuesday. He’ll be using our regular camera, though so it’ll probably look like normal!
Our other friend is taking photos. Infact, we’ve got may friends helping out! Funny that. They, however, don’t have the chance to get inside. YOU DO!
One day we’d like to present an award at one of these events. In the meantime, imagine an award-show-style ‘…and the nominations are….’ for these…
BEST MALE
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BEST FEMALE
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BEST GROUP
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BEST ALBUM
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Whatever happened to Abri? Where are they? Wouldn’t it be great if they one day won Best International Group?
Tuesday, 16 FEBRUARY 2010 : London
Hello!!!
It’s Brits Day!
This is the official Brit Awards website: www.brits.co.uk and they’ve posted details of how you can download the duet between Dizzee Rascal and Florence and the Machine right after it happens at tonight’s show! We’ll let you know if it’s worth it!!
So, we’re gonna wearing our Dubai T-Shirts outside Earls Court station at 4pm and hoping to make 2 people very happy by giving away tickets and aftershow too.
It’ll be interesting to hear their story of how they came to know we were going to be there!
Follow us on Twitter @TomandDanShow if you’re bored later and we’ll update the website as much as we can. And don’t forget to tune in to hear us report back to the iRod and Louise.
Caboy from the breakfast show has made some Brits predictions here:
We’d never been to the Brits before and can safely say the whole thing was even more amazing than we’d imagined. First things first though…
Here’s a picture of Orla and her friend Elida, who won the tickets from us.
So picture the scene. London was under a deluge of rain. And we emerged after a little bit of impromptu busking and street ‘performance’ to a mad crowd rushing at us for the tickets. We ran to the other entrance of Earls Court Tube station where we’d said to meet, being chased all the way by people wanting the tickets we were giving away.
You’ll be able to see that all unfold in the video we’ll post soon.
Here’s a soaking wet Tom & Dan after their impromptu busking!
So once inside Earls Court, we were mesmerised by the whole thing. It was just incrdible. From the sheer view looking down on the stage and around the arena, to the brilliant perfomances from Lady GaGa, Cheryl Cole and Jay Z and Alicia Keys. And of course, Robbie Williams, who won Outstanding Contribution to British Music.
This is a little of Robbie’s performance. Dan reckons he actually heard Tom and him shouting his name and looked up. See whether you think he did…
The winners loved every moment as much as we did. But who wouldn’t, with such an amazing view…
This is what it looked like from where we were sitting…
This is Lady Blah Blah Gaga after ‘cleaning up’. Singers seem to do a lot of ‘cleaning up’ at awards ceremonies, don’t they?
After the show, we had just enough energy to schmooze our way through to the afterparty and have fun with dodgem cars, bingo and crazy golf! How cool!
Click below to hear from the winner, Orla.
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And then click below to hear from winner’s mate, Elida.
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Thursday, 18 FEBRUARY 2010 : London
Hello there.
Here it is. The final video in our Brit Awards 2010 journey.
Here we are giving away the tickets to the awards ceremony and afterparty…
So we just now need to discuss what happened with our lovely ‘We Love Dubai’ vests that we were going to get the stars to autograph.
But that can wait until we’re back in Dubai on Sunday…
I have never claimed to know much about music, which not only makes me an ideal candidate to host the biggest show on Dubai 92 but also an ideal candidate to show off my lack of knowledge by predicting the winners at tonight’s Brit Awards in London. To make it a little bit more interesting, here are some videos of the acts, too. Find out on Wednesday’s Catboy & Geordiebird Breakfast Show just how many I got right and feel free to leave your comments/suggestions at the bottom. We can compare results tomorrow.
BEST BRITISH MALE SOLO ARTIST
Calvin Harris
Dizzee Rascal
Mika
Paolo Nutini
Robbie Williams
I’m going to stick my neck out and go for Dubai favourite, Paolo Nutini. He seems to be going through a bit of a purple patch at the moment, although Robbie’s in there and the Brits do love him.
BEST BRITISH FEMALE SOLO ARTIST
Bat For Lashes
Florence And The Machine
Leona Lewis
Lily Allen
Pixie Lott
Normally I’d guess at one of the acts that had been asked to perform live but it’s difficult this year as quite a fe of them have. So I’m going to go with Florence and the Machine who had a great year last year.
BEST BRITISH GROUP
Doves
Friendly Fires
JLS
Kasabian
Muse
No competition here. Not one of my favourites but they win everything, so I’m going for Muse.
BEST BRITISH ALBUM
Dizzee Rascal – Tongue ‘N Cheek
Florence And The Machine – Lungs
Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You
Paolo Nutini – Sunny Side Up
I’m going to go with my gut here and say Dizzie Rascal. He’s had some good collaborations and the big crowds love him.
BEST BRITISH SINGLE
Alesha Dixon – ‘Breathe Slow’
Alexandra Burke ft. Flo Rida – ‘Bad Boys’
Cheryl Cole – ‘Fight For This Love’
Joe McElderry – ‘The Climb’
JLS – ‘Beat Again’
La Roux – ‘In For The Kill’
Lily Allen – ‘The Fear’
Pixie Lott – ‘Mama Do’
Taio Cruz – ‘Break Your Heart’
Tinchy Stryder ft. N-Dubz – ‘Number 1′
If Cheryl Cole wins this I’m sending naked pictures of myself to Ashley Cole. I’m going to go for double-take brother, La Roux.
BEST INTERNATIONAL MALE SOLO ARTIST
Bruce Springsteen
Eminem
Jay-Z
Michael Buble
Seasick Steve
Springsteen’s in there, so is Eminem but my money is going on housewives’ fave, Michael Bubbles!
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEMALE SOLO ARTIST
Lady GaGa
Ladyhawke
Norah Jones
Rihanna
Shakira
It’s got to be Butterface, Lady Gaga, right? The others might as well not turn up.
BEST INTERNATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH ACT
Animal Collective
Daniel Merriweather
Empire Of The Sun
Lady GaGa
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift is in there and I’d be stupid not to pick her but Empire of the Sun are in there, too. Although half of the duo is on the run somewhere in the States, there’s a chance the fat one with the silly make-up will turn up, so I’m going to pick them.
BEST INTERNATIONAL ALBUM
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D.
Empire Of The Sun – Walking On Dream
Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3
Lady GaGa – The Fame
Pretty poor looking list for this one. My brain won’t let me pick Black Eyed Peas. I start twitching just thinking about them. So, I’m going to go for Gaga again.
BRITS PERFORMANCE OF THE 30TH YEAR
Bee Gees – ‘Stayin’ Alive’ / ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ (1997)
Bros – ‘I Owe You Nothing’ (1989)
Coldplay – ‘Clocks’ (2003)
Eurythmics and Stevie Wonder – ‘Angel’ (1999)
Girls Aloud – ‘The Promise’ (2009)
Kanye West – ‘Gold Digger’ (2006)
Kylie Minogue – ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ (2002)
Michael Jackson – ‘Earth Song’ (1996)
Paul McCartney – ‘Live And Let Die’ (2008)
Pet Shop Boys – ‘Go West’ (1994)
Robbie Williams and Tom Jones – Full Monty medley (1998)
Scissor Sisters – ‘Take Your Mama’ (2005)
Spice Girls – ‘Wannabe’ / ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ (1997)
The Who – ‘Who Are You’ (1988)
I know it might not be fashionable to admit liking them but Coldplay’s Abu Dhabi concert will go down as one of the Middle East’s best ever. So will their 2003 performance of ‘Clocks’ at the Brits. They’re my tip for the top. Here’s the clip/
BRITS ALBUM OF 30 YEARS
Coldplay – A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Dido – No Angel
Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms
Duffy – Rockferry
Keane – Hopes & Fears
Oasis – What’s The Story Morning Glory
Phil Collins – No Jacket Required
Sade – Diamond Life
The Verve – Urban Hymns
Travis – The Man Who
Very tricky this one. So many great albums to choose from. For me, though, there can be only one. Oasis – What’s the Story (Morning Glory). Here are the promo videos for every song they released off the album. Every single one is brilliant!
So… Do you agree? Let me know. Comment below with who you think might win. We’ll compare notes tomorrow. If you do worse than me with correct guesses, you’ll more than likely get chastised on air for being silly. Good luck!
A primary school in Somerset (South of England) has banned Valentine’s Day cards from the premises. The headmaster, Mr Turner, told parents that cards declaring love can be “confusing” for children under the age of 11, who are still emotionally and socially developing.
Call me a killjoy but I’m with Mr Turner. I’ve always hated Valentine’s Day and am still haunted by memories of the popular girls at primary school counting their cards in class. One year a little girl called Emily Pattinson got nine. Seventy percent of the boys in our class sent her a Valentine’s Day card! I got one card that year from my dad. He signed it ‘To my little princess, Happy Valentine’s Day darling, love Daddy’. I remember thinking “Great! Can’t even pretend it’s from a boy.”
The next Valentine’s Day to stand out in my mind was during the first year of middle school when I was 10 years old. My best friend at the time was Nicola Booth and it was the first Valentine’s Day that we both had ‘boyfriends’. Nicola’s boyfriend was Blinky Paul and I was dating his best friend Irish Glenn. We were pretty serious, you know we had done stuff like ride to town on the bus together, held hands a few times and the four of us had watched Mutant Ninja Hero Turtles at the cinema twice. So when Valentine’s Day came along Nic and I were both really excited about buying cards. I put a lot of thought into mine and eventually decided on a red card with brown monkeys on the front personalising it with a cheesy roses are red, violets are blue type poem.
That year (1990) the 14th February fell on a Wednesday and the first lesson of the day was English. Nic and I were naturally feeling a little apprehensive about handing over our cards so we decided to half the embarrassment and present each others. She went first and what happened next changed my perspective on Valentine’s Day forever. First I heard a group of boys are making ‘upchuck’ noises and then saw my mokey card making it’s way back to me all ripped up, still in it’s envelope. To top off the morning, Nic and I then had a blow-up because she obviously, like any right minded person, didn’t want me to give Blinky Paul her card. Can’t really blame her, can you?
Not long after that, Irish Glenn left the UK to go back to Ireland. I just tried to find him on facebook to see what kind of grown up he’s become. He’s not on there or on Friends Re-united or Twitter. I like to think he flunked school and he’s too thick to work a computer. Either way, I’m pretty confident that my life is going better than his but I do wonder if the monkey card ripping incident will cross his mind tomorrow? I doubt it!
In a nutshell that’s why I’m with Mr Turner on his Valentine’s Day card ban. May no little girl this year suffer the shame I did in 1990.
