"Bank of Ireland’s chief economist Dan McLaughlin said there would be no more rises in the medium term."

vs

"A week ago, investors bet that the global contraction in credit would prevent the ECB lifting its benchmark rate from 4 percent. That view is now in doubt after the ECB on Aug. 22 loaned an additional 40 billion euros ($55 billion) to banks and said it was sticking to the policy stance expressed by Trichet on Aug. 2. Then, he promised “strong vigilance,'’ a phrase used to foreshadow each of the eight rate increases since 2005."

It is a slightly awkward question for a beauty pageant, but still …

It’s over 10 years since the original lovely girls was broadcast (season two, episode seven).

Lolcats have hit the print media, thanks to the Wall Street Journal. This is surely the end of grammar as we know it.

Maybe someone should tell the WSJ about the owls. 

There’s a new media player over there to the right. It’s the best one I’ve come across after testing a bunch of them. It allows you to upload your own tracks (unless they’re protected AAC, hello real Steve Jobs) and build playlists. It then buzzes off and finds the album art, which is almost utterly pointless since it displays album covers as half-inch square thumbnails. Ah well, can’t win ‘em all.

There’s also a (currently fairly sparse) recipes page which I hope to add to if I remember. I’m putting together a few Pageflakes Pagecasts, a cooking one will probably be the first one I publish. Drop me a mail with any cool foodie links you have … 

Wow. Subscribe to this NOW!

All joking aside: Scots, I know you’re a restless and angry people at heart, but let’s try to keep it peaceful, bokay? It’s what our brand is about. We’re all about peace and love and staying Zen. Negative people upset us. But if you can get in a few kicks on some filthy bastard Microsoft fans, and nobody sees you, well, no harm no foul as they say, and you will, in fact, be restoring a sense of childlike wonder to my life. Namaste.

Lots of aural and visual treats since I haven’t posted anything in ages. I was working on some other very important stuff and enjoying the marvellous summer we’ve been having.

Most of the MP3s and videos will play using Snap Shots if you roll your mouse over the links. Handy.

I’ve supplied download links for the streaming stuff, with accompanying file sizes! 

Jeff Tweedy & Jay Bennett (live) - ‘Hoodoo Voodoo’ | Elliott Smith (live) - ‘Thirteen’ |  Thom Yorke (live) - ‘After the gold rush’ | The Go! Team - ‘Grip like a vice’ | The Faces ‘Stay with me’ | Prolapse - ‘Tina, this is Matthew Stone’ | Low (live) - ‘The last snowstorm of the year’ | Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Just Dropped In (To See What Condition my Condition Was in) | The Mountain Goats (live) - ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ | Eazy Emo - ‘Coldplay vs. Clipse’ | The Flaming Lips - ‘She don’t use jelly’| Ringo Deathstarr - ‘Your town’ | Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood - ‘Jackson’ | Nerina Pallot - ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ | Karen Jo Fields - ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’ | Jim James (live) - ‘Suspicious Minds’ | The Bell - ‘I Am History’ | Neutral Milk Hotel - ‘Tuesday Moon’ | Spy Machine 16 - ‘On Struggle For Changes And Hope‘ | Neil Young - ‘Old Man’

Streams (.m3u playlist files, should open in your default media player)

Low (live at Noorderzon Festival, 20/08/2007) 

The Wannadies - ‘Hit’ | Jesus & Mary Chain - ‘Far Gone And Out’ - check out the Letterman house bass player, I’m not sure he gets the Reid brothers’ vibe |  I’m Not There (trailer) | I’m Not There (clip) | Blood Red Shoes - ‘You Bring Me Down’ | Heima trailer (Sigur Ros film) - this looks amazing | Hippies (Magnum photo essay) | Ingmar Bergman’s Soap Ads | 

Soupy Norman, "New Cork based drama inspired by The Playboy of the Western World and Winning Streak contestants." - 1. Soupy Norman saves the day - 2. Watch out Soupy is about - 3. Soupy to the rescue - 4. Dr. Soupy’s Prognosis  - 5. Soupy wins a car - 6. Return of Soupy - 7. Soupy Returns - 8. Who was Soupy Norman