The Squeee

If I did personal greetings on this blog, I'd wish my sister a very happy birthday. If I was Welsh, I'd wish everyone a Happy St. David's Day. But I don't really do personal greetings (as such) and I'm not Welsh. I am, however, a big fan of German singer Thomas Anders, and it's his birthday today. Happy 49th birthday, Herr Anders! May all your days be merry and bright, just like ... well, like you , as it happens. :) With lots of love from your fans around the world ... but especially me ... because this is my haunt ... *cough* It's been 14 years now, and that smile still makes my heart flutter. Or whatever. *happysigh* [ Photo source ]

Ahh, we're spoiled for choice all of a sudden! 2011 is apparently the year to really be a Thomas Anders fan. :) First, the release of album Two by Anders | Fahrenkrog back in June, then Hits & Raritäten came out on 9 September (review to follow soon), followed by the long-awaited release of Strong outside Russia on the 18th. Granted, "only" as an MP3 album, but I don't care. Main thing is that it's finally available. Which is really ironic, because only today, I received the Oriflame edition, recently ordered from someone on eBay as it was the cheapest place to get it. And then, I turn on my computer and find out that HEY, GUESS WHAT? D'oh. Went straight to Amazon.de, and got a message about geographical restrictions. Was about to have a hissy fit until I remembered to check Amazon.co.uk and there it was - and as it's on the UK site, it means my gift certificate balance is available = free stuff!! Actually, I was looking for the tracklisting fo...

I don't quite know what the spy theme is all about, but Thomas Anders in a tux - hey, that works for me. ;) Besides, it gives me something to look at while I'm waiting for Strong to be released in Germany because I'm not keen on paying £40 for the Russian version of the album. (I know it comes with a DVD but it's not like it's got a whole lot on it, you know?) And there's STILL no release date for it! It's been out like a whole YEAR in Russia now and Stay With Me is the new single, apparently. Ph33r my hacking skillz for embedding this video without it actually having an embedding link! (It's you and me, Tariq!) The song? Yeah, 's awight. The video ... yeah, err, looks shiny but I don't really know where the whole James Bond thing came from? And if we're talking spies, then I prefer talking about Spooks , because of who's in it, or who used to be in it. Yeah ... Him. Now that's a thought ... Thomas Anders and Lucas North...

Writing interlude! This one, apparently is in the style of Kurt Vonnegut . I really haven't got a clue, but I seriously doubt it. It was written, I think, in 1999, and I've not changed it - simply because I think it's cute in all its naivité (hey, I was 17!). At the time, I had never been in Koblenz, so really had no idea of what the town looks like, what the temperature is actually likely to be in December, and so on. Today, I would've said "why on Earth would they pick a spot half-way across town to meet? They could've just said THE BLOODY SQUARE OUTSIDE THE TRAIN STATION". But I digress. The funny thing is, this got published in a Vietnamese students magazine, or something like that, back in the day. Had an email from someone about it and got into a hissy fit at first, but was happy about the unauthorised use when I found out that I was properly credited in the magazine, the emailer had not been paid for it and he even offered to send me a copy, which...

(I did start writing this on the eve of the actual final... not that I got around to finishing it then... *cough*) The annual spectacle that is the Eurovision Song Contest has concluded. This year, Norway was the host, and they seemed to do a good job. We didn't watch the whole show, as we decided to pop to Blockbusters just before it started, but we heard a little of the broadcast on the radio in the car. It sounded like Terry Wogan had got back to his old job, but then we decided it wasn't, and opted for Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce - who sounds 98% like Terry Wogan! The songs were their usual Eurovisiony selves, the hosts spoke their normal English with heavy accents... Then there was the voting, and in those 15 minutes between the end of the singing and the end of the voting, aside from the normal medley of songs to remember which numbers to call, were a couple of guys and some attempt at a flashmob around Europe. Surprised to see Gothenburg there - would've thought...

Last updated: 10 June 2010 Here's an observation. It's all about the hair! Sometimes, you see someone who's gorgeous and then they do something with their hair and all of a sudden they aren't. Or they have such great hair that they're just a bit "oooh". Is it the hair or is it the characters that are being played? It's the hair. Before I had joined the ranks of the Armitage Army, I saw a bit of Spooks 7 with Richard Armitage and thought "meh, prefer him as Gisborne". All in the hair, because I wasn't looking at more than his physical appearance at the time (the re-watch after the fan turning made me look more closely and appreciate the actual character, beyond the looks). Gisborne has decidedly more hair, and I prefer RA with more hair. Like this: Cute. But too short. Makes him look like Daniel Radcliffe! Yes, yes, yes, YES!! *fans herself with the laptop* So let's have a look at some others that spring to mind... Toby Step...

The new Thomas Anders album, Strong , is already released in Russia - the rest of us have to wait until May or June before its being released in Germany in order to get it from Amazon. Boo! Hiss! The first single from it is called "Why Do You Cry" and is a catchy song, not unlike a good Modern Talking track. Here's the official video: For the new album, Thomas has gone to Russia. The Russians have written songs, they've come up with a video and directed it and everything. It might actually be quite a smart move, because Modern Talking were (and still are, seven years after the second split) huge over there. Having the duo's singer working with a team of Russians and releasing the album there first might actually be a really clever move, rather than working with the usual bunch of Germans. Whatever. I wish him lots of success with this new album, and I can't wait to get my hands on it! Meanwhile, I suppose I'll just keep working on my SingStar hig...

I was listening to Chris Evans on BBC Radio2 the other morning and heard them talking about Sharleen Spiteri and the song "Xanadu", and if it was a hit or a miss sort of thing. Didn't hear the song itself, but as the first single from her album Melody (2008) showed up in my playlist, I was reminded, and went to see if I could hear it. Found this, from the Graham Norton Show on New Year's Eve:

Picking up a curry at the local takeaway tonight, I spotted a headline on the Daily Mail on the table: Taking the pill for past 40 years 'has put women off masculine men' . If ever there was a headline to catch my eye...! It basically says that there might be a correlation between using contraceptive pills and finding more feminine-looking guys attractive. To proove a point, the article is illustrated with pics from different eras. Kirk (not Kurt) Douglas in the 50s, for instance - now, with regards to him and Donald Sutherland, I've always thought their sons were way better-looking, to be honest. It then moves on to Sean Connery and ends with Zac Efron now in the "naughties". If the Pill would make me fancy Zac Efron... I ain't taking it! (Which I'm not and have no plans to, so there you go! The hormones in my body are all my own.)

This is a response to a discussion about a celebrity worship scale which was discussed at the C19 forum, which I happened to sign up to today. They've got all sorts of goodies there, like book and history discussions and Jane Eyre fanfic - squee! I was thinking... there is a condition called "erotomania", which is essentially, crazy stalker syndrome. They're the ones who are infatuated with someone (celebrity or not), and truly believes their love is reciprocated. Saw a documentary about it, it was rather unsettling. But that's a specific thing, and everyone's a fan of something to a certain degree, and most of us can tell the difference between fantasy and reality, and most of us (I hope) know how to behave toward the person we are a fan of. I mean, while we might think that we would get along pretty darn well as a couple with certain celebs, as we seem quite similar in many ways, we know it's never going to be, and we would never do anything stupid ...