An ode to loneliness

It was a dark and stormy night. A sense of foreboding hung heavy in the air, like a souffle that wouldn't rise. The goldfish shifted restlessly in their bowl. In the distance, a butterfly screamed....

* * * * *

Today was student loan day, and the first day back at uni after the Easter holidays, so the pub where I work was understandably busy tonight. Despite the blatant predictability of this, the management had rota'd on only a skeleton staff. (Sadly not actual skeletons for staff - that would have made the night so much more interesting!) For two hours, O was on his own in the kitchen, so to cheer him up (OK, to entertain myself) I sang as many songs as I could possibly think of about being alone or lonely. He seemed to appreciate it.

All by myself, written by Eric Carmen

On my own from Les Miserables

Lonely by Akon (or, of course, the Slugs from Flushed Away!)

The second verse of A Case of You by Joni Mitchell (which is one of my favourite songs ever)

You are not alone by Michael Jackson

You're not alone by Olive, obviously, since I am old enough to remember the original and like it much better than Tinchy Stryder's version.

Alone by Heart

Blue Moon, originally written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934

More awesome ads

I loved the Meerkat adverts to start with, I really did, but there is only so many random people going "Simples" at completely irrelevant moments I can take. So now I don't like them.

Much as this saddens me, I'm cheered by the new Warburtons adverts, which are pure genius on a stick.

This one even made me weep a bit.

Another company who are good at making delectable adverts, if not produce, are Marmite. I adore the political slant they have put on their latest adverts, with messages from the Love and Hate parties.

Sadly, the campaign seems to be biased towards the Love party, which is ridiculous considering how right the Hate party is.

When I am queen there with be designated Marmite Eating Areas.

In which we pay homage to commercialism

I spent the weekend staying with people who have TV, and now have the exceptionally annoying jingle from the Go Compare adverts stuck in my head. You know the ones with the dancing, singing fat man with the crinkly mustache who you just want to smack?? It's driving me (and everyone I work with) absolutely mental, and has lead to a lot of discussion about good/bad advertising. Generally I try to avoid watching adverts (something which has got remarkably easier since we stopped having a TV in our house) but every now and then someone produces something that is just pure genius. Thus, I present to you (in no particular order):

The Really Really Awesome Adverts List!


Its an Mini Adventure! They were several of these a few years back and they were all awesome, but my favourite was the one with the zombies!

The skating priests from the Stella Artois adverts!

The Barclays adverts with Samuel L Jackson. If a dollar was a chicken would a chicken be evil?

That Skoda ad where they bake the car.

Ooh, They're floaty light!

The T-Mobile flash mob adverts from last year!

I want to go to this party!

It's never Christmas until you see the Coca Cola advert!

And finally, my current favourite, Comparethemeerkat.com. This is a piece of advertising brilliance! As well as several lovely ads, there's a web page, a Facebook page, Twitter and an iPhone app! Simples!