Which File Extension are You?

I was talking to some people at work about the death of John Peel and how we all have a 'Peel Moment' and how our view of music changed or was`influenced as a result. Mine was when as barely a teenager when I first heard him play Be Bop Deluxe. I’ve subsequently compared all guitarists against the gold standard that is Bill Nelson. His passing means that things will never quiet be the same again.

Now we all know that Halo 2 is going to be quite good when it's released in a few weeks time, but many people can't seem to wait and there's already over 380 reviews on Amazon. Do they know something I don't.

I was thinking the other day after a brief email exchange with my buddy Stu Crump that there’s no excuse for not having an Xbox now. The Crystal Xbox has been reissued, the price has dropped to £99, Fable is rather smart and Halo 2 is but a few weeks away. Oh and soon you’ll be even to get you’re Super Monkey Ball fix on Xbox as well. Go on Choddo you know you want to.

Quick thought. I'm sat here watching 'The Matrix' and I still think it's brilliant. But here's the thing...how come Andy and Larry Wachowski got the 'Reloaded' and 'Revolutions' so wrong? My pet theory is that they probably spend way too much time with one George Lucas, another director who had a great francise and frankly blew it. At least I suppose George managed two and half good movies.

The M Coupe has been in for its biannual brake fluid change and to have the throttle control valve replaced. At long last it looks like BMW have got to the bottom of cars idling problems. I suppose replacing the Vanos and power steering rack didn’t hurt either. Thankfully the BMW warranty saved me bearing the brunt of the £4000 bill. BMW gave me the 5 Series pictured above whilst they had the Coupe. After spending a few days with it this really was the best picture I could take without making it look like the ugly behemoth it is. I’m not a fan of the new ‘Bangle’ inspired cars and whilst not as bad as the new 1 Series and X3 it’s still no old painting. It has the traditional BMW build quality and is relaxed and comfortable to drive but BMW seem to have learnt little from the rather excellent car it replaces. Shouldn’t all the controls point in the general direction of the driver? To accommodate the sweep of the dashboard you have to lean over to see the settings on the heater controls. Being a gadget addict I was looking forward to the iDrive system which controls the AirCon, Stereo, on board computer and phone if fitted. It’s all a bit if a mess to use, especially whilst moving and some of the most basic actions are buried in the semi intuitive menu system. So buried in fact BMW have many of the functions duplicated as buttons on the dashboard. I could go on about the Auto box which requires about 24 hour’s prior notice before kicking down and the super tanker handling but suffice to say BMW seemed to have taken a step back as regards a driving experience compared to the previous model. It takes about 5 seconds after locking the new 5 Series and turning away before you forget you even drove it. I wonder what the new Audi A6 is like.

I've probably seen hundreds, no make that thousands of dead bodies. In films, on the TV and in magazines but never in real life; that was until the other day. Taking the dog for a walk down the river I noticed there was lots of Police in boats and on foot. I didn't think much of it as I assumed that some kids had nicked a boat a crashed it into the bank, so I peered over the edge to see a handful of 'uniforms' stood next to a dead body. Bit of a shock, but it struck me that the Police probably fish people out the Thames on a daily basis. I wonder when you stop seeing them as people and just a body?