Christmas gifts, Christmas trees, Christmas is the time to please.

So Christmas has ended as soon as it had arrived, and while most of us worry about measuring our new waistlines, we are all left to contemplate the festive celebrations for another year.

Did I get the right size turkey? Was there enough tinsel on the tree? Did I watch enough repeats on TV? Ok, you may not be asking yourself these sorts of questions right now, but you might have been asking them before the 25th came around. The point I’m trying to make is that most things, if not everything, seems to fall into place ready for the big day, so much so that there are no questions that need answering. You may not share my opinion, but there is no doubt that more often than not Christmas brings a certain collectiveness amongst families and neighbourhoods alike.

When I was younger, I sometimes used to view Christmas as some sort of judgement day, where Santa Claus decided whether you had been good enough throughout the year to deserve a shedload of presents. It wasn’t a frightening sort of judgement day of course, more one that used to tease you, making you think that you had to be on your best behaviour. Either way, unless you had robbed Woolworths of all their pick and mix, you ended up getting what you wanted after all.

A lot of people have also said that Christmas has become too commercial, whereas all it has done is move synonymously with the society of today. The modern day has become commercialised as a whole, and so with Christmas being the biggest celebration of the year, it was bound to get pounced on by companies to exploit over the years. Even though commercialism can sometimes be seen as our worst enemy, pressuring us to buy everything Cheryl Cole has her face on, I think it thrives at Christmas time. Maybe we realise afterwards that some of the stuff we’ve bought is useless junk, but businesses mainly do a good job in surrounding us with bargains, enchanting us into their stores. Anyway, it’s not really Christmas anymore until you’ve seen the Coca Cola advert, is it?

I feel Christmas is the only acceptable time where you can wear silly paper hats at the dinner table, tell ridiculously rubbish jokes and throw calorie count charts outside the window without a second thought. All of these I feel contribute to what they call the “magic of Christmas” and even though it may all feel superficial at the time, what other part of the year can you realistically get away with doing these things? I mean, I dressed up as a reindeer at work, and even though I looked silly beyond belief, if it hadn’t had been Christmas, I wouldn’t have done it. So for these and many other reasons Christmas must be seen as different and unique to every other time of the year.

As the snow slowly melts away, and the focus is taken away from Christmas and onto the January sales, I sometimes wonder if the snowman still standing proudly outside my house is outstaying his welcome at all. Maybe the longer he stays up, the longer it will feel like Christmas, and with he already being a week old he’s got to be closing in on a Guinness World Record for longest standing snowman in Britain. Having said that, I don’t think I’ll be calling up the police anytime soon if he gets stolen by the time morning comes.

Snowman or no snowman, it’s been the second consecutive Christmas where there has been snow around, and for me a little sprinkling of the white fluffy stuff makes Christmas seem a little more real. As everyone revels in the presents they received, the best present for me was seeing all my family happy and well, with the added bonus that they loved my presents. However, no matter how much I promise myself, I don’t think my shambolic wrapping skills will ever improve.

So, as my collective thoughts and memories of Christmas 2010 draw to a close, I really do hope all of you have had the Christmas you all so richly deserved. Even though all our sights are now set on New Year’s parties next weekend I hope that Christmassy feeling hasn’t left you just yet! Enjoy the rest of Boxing Day and whatever holiday you may have left, and I’m going to end on something I’ve learnt over the years by leaving you with a quote from Calvin Coolidge; “Christmas is not a time nor a season, it is a state of mind”.

A snow covered Britain: Winter wonderland or snow joke?

So this is what it feels like to live inside a snow globe? All covered in white and for many of us, trapped in our own homes until the snowfall subsides.

While children and adults pretending to be children are making the most out of the white stuff, a large amount of others have had to reschedule major plans because of it. What’s more, according to experts and meteorologists we need to start getting used to harsh winters like this as they are probably going to stick around for the long term, perhaps for even up to a century.

After the ridiculous snowfall from earlier on this year now fresh in the memory, should the country now focus on being better equipped to cope with this kind of weather next time it strikes? For example, Northern Ireland has recorded it’s lowest ever temperature at -18°C, while also describing it’s road network as the worst it’s ever been. With trends like this happening all over the UK, and with grit supplies struggling to cope with the sheer demand, what changes need to be made to make our daily lives fit in with the snow?

Only to a certain extent can we anticipate heavy snowfall, although in the future when there will be more advanced technology to hand then weather further down the line can be predicted with greater ease. Studded tyres have also been seen as a solution, but right now we get nowhere near enough days of snow to warrant this. Plus, with the weather becoming more erratic due to the forces of global warming and climate change, there is no guarantee we will be able to spot extreme conditions heading our way.

Not only does the snow affect transport network, but also it has hit consumer trade across the country. On a personal level I have noticed this dramatically in the local supermarket that I work in, where one day it will be heaving with panic buyers who purchase as if it’s the next ice age, and then the next day the shopfloor will be as quiet as a library. The severe conditions seem to do strange things to us, we worry about how long it’s going to last and the implications it will have, but once it all melts away we wonder what all the fuss was about.

Herefordshire and Worcestershire have also been hit badly, losing £15 to £20 million in lost business, where shoppers have decided against venturing out to shopping centres and main streets. With the snow continuing to fall, even heavier in places such as Wales, this bad spell will only continue for some economies. Not only that, but airports have also had to close, spoiling many people’s Christmases, and also losing trade in the form of tourists coming to stay in places like London for the seasonal period.

Maybe we get frustrated because snow appears to be such a simple obstacle that we struggle to get past, yet every time it falls in vast quantities it grinds the country to a sudden halt. Countries like Canada and Sweden must be laughing at the UK right now, as they have to deal with much heavier snow for around six months in a row. Maybe we need to borrow some ideas from them, or even just a snow plough or three, especially if we are to have a climate similar to that of Canada’s, which is what has been predicted by 2050.

It also seems that even when we over compensate ourselves for protection against the snow, nature still prevails. Nottinghamshire County Council has just ordered 5,000 extra tonnes of grit, having already gone through three quarters of its original stockpile for the whole of winter. What’s more is that the original amount of 14,600 tonnes was actually four times the quantity that was considered sufficient to cover the snowfall expected this winter. So even if we try and play safe by arranging extra stock just for security, it just shows that we can’t, and may never, be able to properly estimate how thick and fast the snow will fall.

So will we ever be able to tackle the snow properly, so much so it doesn’t impede on our lives? The clear answer at this moment in time is a definite no, and for the foreseeable future I can’t see us being able to anticipate the snow well enough not to disturb our daily lives. Maybe one day it will happen, but for now we will possibly have to contend with sledging to work, building our next best friend out of snow, or even going camping in an igloo.

And this one time, at band camp...

Call the 1990s what you will, the decade before the new millennium, 10 years of cheesy music or even the bit before the end of the world. However, for many people, including myself, the 90s is fondly remembered for being our childhood, and what a great time the 1990s was to be a kid.

First off, we saw the rise of games consoles with the success of the NES in the 1980s fuelling more consoles to be produced by Nintendo, including the SNES and the N64. This also prompted Sony to bring out a rival, called the Playstation, and so throughout the 1990s home gaming took off. From a personal view, I never had a Nintendo console, but I spent a staggering amount of hours sitting in my Reebok Classics and Joe Bloggs t-shirt playing Spyro The Dragon, trying to defeat Ripto and his merry monsters while painstakingly collecting as many diamonds as my eyes could handle.

1998 was also another breakthrough year in gaming technology, as the release of the Gameboy Colour took the world by storm. It was the latest must-have toy for that Christmas, and with that everyone could realise their dream of being Ash Ketchum. For the rest of the 1990s and into the early 2000s, Pokemon became one of the biggest crazes amongst the gaming world. However, while I think everyone once dreamed Pikachu was actually real, I don’t think anyone would have wished a Magikarp on their worst enemy.

When I first sat down to write this article, naturally memories began to flood into my mind back from when I was growing up. Like when I fell off a cupboard trying to turn on the light consequently breaking my arm, meeting Mickey Mouse at Disneyworld, my sister pushing me into a paddling pool fully clothed or even seeing the glow in the dark Sooty show.

However, when childhood memories are discussed with friends, work colleagues or even people you met the other night, it is always the material things that seem to crop up into conversation. This is probably because more people can relate to an episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch than to you falling in some stinging nettles while playing tag at school. With channels such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network at our disposal, what was a kid to do except watch an unhealthy amount of Dexter’s Laboratory and Kenan & Kel, not forgetting the Rugrats. Personally, I found Mojo Jojo from the Powerpuff Girls the scariest thing since Jaws. After watching the show again recently for a bit of fun, I struggled to comprehend how a monkey with his brain in what can only be described as a jam jar was rational, let alone frightening.

Anybody remember those small discs that you had to hurl at stacks of other discs? Does the word “pogs” ring any bells? Yeah that’s right, that’s the game that used to be so addictive, but now seems so pointless. In fact, when you think about it, there seems a growing trend of pointlessness amongst toys in the 1990s. Tamagotchis are another fine example, and past the furry exterior Furbys were another waste of valuable hours as a child. However silly this seems now, that was one of the best things about growing up, playing with pointless objects and games, and getting such unexpected enjoyment out of it.

I could go on endlessly about the different toys, TV shows and computer games we used to play or watch when we were younger. While our Saturday mornings always seemed pre-conditioned for SMTV:Live, everyone will have a slightly different take on their childhood. By saying that I don’t mean growing up drastically altered if you chose Charmander instead of Squirtle when you started off playing Pokemon.

The 1990s provided children an abundance of different things to keep them occupied. While this may be true of every other decade, in the 90s home entertainment broke through in the form of games consoles, and coupled with other factors I feel the 1990s were one of the most exciting decades to grow up in.

Whatever your take is on your childhood, I can guarantee that you will look back on that terrible show you used to love, or possibly disgusted with yourself for thinking that Mr Blobby would make the best role model. On the flip side, you can always think of yourself as a cool kid for wanting to hang out with the Chuckle Brothers, or even for waving round a toy lightsabre pretending you were Luke Skywalker. Anyway, enough of dwelling on the past, I’ve just remembered that my Furby is moaning at me for not watching the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with him...

An Apple a day keeps the competitors at bay.

30 years ago you would have been forgiven for thinking that an apple was just an everyday fruit, made famous by falling on Isaac Newton’s head. Apple Inc. has since transformed that premonition, so much so that people’s first thoughts aren’t of just a fruit anymore, but of a corporation that makes music devices, computers, phones and other electronic items.

Apple’s rise to the forefront of technology has been staggering. This is especially overwhelming as it started with the co-founder, Steve Wozniak, hand building its first product, the Apple 1, in 1976. The company initially struggled to cope with its competitors, IBM and Microsoft. However, after subsequent products such as the Apple III and the Apple Lisa became commercial failures, it wasn’t until 1984 that Apple really made its mark in the world of computers.

The release of the first Macintosh, along with its iconic “1984” commercial, brought massive attention and interest to the corporation. It was these series of products that really proved that Apple was a serious contender to other competitors, despite the blip that was the incredibly heavy portable Macintosh. While the company tried to develop new merchandise throughout the 1990s, it wasn’t until 2001 that they had a truly unique flagship product.

As most people know, the iPod has revolutionised the way we listen to music. Even though it was not the first portable media player, it has since become the most recognisable and most popular, selling over 220 million units since it’s inception. Along with the iPhone, the iMac, and the newly released iPad, these products represent the core of Apple’s products today and have helped it become a technology giant.

To put Apple’s development into facts and figures, it was only worth a few thousand dollars back when it began in 1976. Now it is valued at a breathtaking $222 billion, with CEO Steve Jobs’ fortune estimated to be a cool $6.1 billion. This is made even more significant by the milestone that Apple achieved earlier this year, where they overtook Microsoft for the first time ever to become the world’s largest technology firm. Even though their rivals continue to earn nearly triple the profit Apple do, this is seen as a vital step to the business solidifying it’s position as the most, or one of the most, influential in the advancement of technology.

In the UK especially we seem to love Apple products. Worldwide, iPhones outsold Blackberrys in the last quarter, selling 14.1 million handsets between July and September. In Britain this trend is reflected, where the iPhone has become the fastest selling smartphone, catching up with the leader Nokia, who shifted 26.5 million handsets.

However, Apple enjoys less success in the United States, where Blackberrys are leading the line with a 36% share of the smartphone market, while Google’s Android operating system has recently pushed the iPhone into third place. In the near future this doesn’t seem likely to change as the number of apps that will become available to Android users is tipped to better Apple’s own App Store. However, as the iPhone 4’s own slogan has proved with increased sales, Apple can “change everything. Again”.

Of course, the story cannot be told just by sales figures and growth rates. Apple has shaped technology in the 21st century and will do for years to come. It has kept its rivals on their toes, and with the arrival of the extraordinary iPad, this has prompted other companies to bring out new versions of the tablet device in order to compete with this success. The iPod however has no realistic rival, and has been an iconic symbol for media players since it was created. It has made the transition of music from your computer, to your iPod ready so you can walk the dog, only a matter of minutes. This means listening to music, looking at your bank balance, or even destroying green pigs with a flock of birds is easier than it ever has been.

What is more important is that Apple seems to keep it’s customers happier than any other company. In terms of the iPhone 89% of owners said they were very satisfied with it and would consider upgrading to a future generation of the iPhone, while only 71% of Android users were happy with their device. These statistics are vital, showing that Apple have the edge in attracting, and more importantly, keeping customers.

There is no sign of Apple slowing down either, with the IT juggernaut topping $3 billion profit in the second quarter of 2010, beating the same quarter last year by over $1 billion. This has been helped by the increasing demand for iMacs and its sister products, including the MacBook. Apple’s trick is that they make their products look extremely fashionable. I myself am a victim of this, after self-professing I’d never buy any Apple products I went and bought an iPod Classic in January 2009 and an iPhone 4 only last week. This mix of desirability and fashion has led to Fortunes magazine naming Apple the most admired company in the world for the past three years.

So, can anyone stop Apple? Yes, it can be seen that Apple has met its fiercest competition yet, certainly in the phone market. However at the moment they’ve still got their noses in front. Microsoft and Google have got their work cut out if they are to replace Apple at the top of the tree anytime soon, but this can only improve the market as a whole.

So who knows, Apple’s sales could drop over the next few years, establishing a new world leader in technology, but what is sure is that the battle within the technology market is definitely an enthralling one. It might even take an event such as an apple falling on a director’s head to provide the spark for the stand out product of 2011.

£113 million. What would you do with it?

Becoming a millionaire, or even a billionaire, is always high up on most people’s aims in life. Travie McCoy sings about wanting to be one, most football clubs are run by one, and a successful gameshow has also been created where your intelligence could enable you to join the seven figure plus club. Money is such a coveted necessity these days it is hard not to dream of becoming rich, especially as it is so heavily exploited in the media.

However, what would it be like if you became a millionaire overnight? In comparison to building your fortune over several years, becoming an overnight millionaire is a totally different proposition. There is a much bigger temptation to squander all your money, just like Michael Carroll did back in 2003 when he won £9.7 million. 7 years on, and he’s back earning jobseekers allowance, while proudly proclaiming that all he spent his money on was drugs, gambling and prostitutes. Maybe he wouldn’t have spent it so quickly if he knew he could have been best mates with Ashley Cole.

The recent Euromillions draw on Friday 8th October still has a ticket worth a measly £113 million waiting to be claimed. Such a vast amount of cash, as well as the fact no-one has come forward to claim a sum that would surely secure their future, has got me thinking; what would I actually do with all that money if it was me?

I’d probably start off by following the trend and purchasing both a new car and a house. With all that money you could easily fit two of each animal in your new home, and call it Noah’s Ark while you’re there. Also, whilst my twelve car garage was being built I’d realise slowly that I’d be richer than most popstars. Even David Cameron would be banging on my door begging me to pay 0.1% of the country’s debt off, so in that sense I’d be a bit awestruck.

After all, I would officially be the luckiest person in the world having won £113 million just by selecting a few numbers. Then again, I would probably try and create something with the money that wouldn’t normally exist. Something like a real Willy Wonka factory, which I reckon would be possible, and be honest, would you say no to swimming in a chocolate river? A DeLorean from Back To The Future would be something else worth splashing cash on, and especially handy to go forward in time to make sure I wasn’t the next Michael Carroll. Sonic screwdrivers are also an option, although I think house and car crime could be a little higher if they ever went on the market.

In all honesty, in the 10 minutes that I sat down to think about what I’d do with all that money, my imagination went wild, but nothing available right now stood out for me. Maybe the person with the winning ticket is unsure as to what they’d actually do with all the cash, or maybe they’ve changed their mind and don’t want it at all. Or, in the most unfortunate of circumstances, the silly sausage has just lost it down the back of the sofa.

Why don’t you all have a think about it, I mean what would you do with £113 million? You could share it all and buy a pint for every person in the country, or you could sit and ponder what to do with the money, just like I’ve just done.

Is social networking shrinking the world?

“Did you know Mark and Olivia are going out?!”
“No way! Who told you that?!”
“Facebook.”

Is this conversation familiar to you? If so, then you are a social networking fiend. Don’t worry though, you’re not alone. The majority of people log on at least once a day to sites such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter to share their thoughts, daily activities and even emotions, to the world. I am no exception, and it has come to the point where I think of it as a guilty pleasure. I know that I should be spending less time on Facebook, yet I find myself “liking” an undesirable amount of statuses, updating my own page or just generally gazing at the screen to pass the time. We all use social networking sites, far too much in many cases, but really how much have they changed our lives?

Let’s start with the facts. Facebook for instance, has 500 million users worldwide, which equates to one in 14 people in the world. To put that into perspective, the next biggest site, Twitter, “only” has just over 100 million users. Facebook has taken social networking to another level, as anything seems possible on there. You can build your own farm, become a fan of Anne Widdecombe and if you’re feeling extra cheeky, you can even ask your mum what’s for dinner. This has led to us spending copious amounts on the site, while Myspace and Bebo recede slowly into our memories as a 13 year old.

I feel Facebook has also broken new ground, as a lot of the older generation have signed up, even if it is just to see what the fuss is all about. Nowadays whole families can be linked across the world of Facebook, like some sort of crazy cyber family tree. Don’t fret though, even if you aren’t blood related your best friend could easily turn into your sister, or worse still, your husband.

Maybe some parents have got Facebook so they can keep a closer eye on their children, but I believe they have discovered that Facebook is extremely easy for catching up with old relatives, and seeing what people get up to when they can’t see them as much as they’d like. Or maybe I’m totally wrong and they’re all just vying for the highest score on Bejeweled.

Facebook serves as a sort of “halfway house”, a third party where you can create events, speak to friends, check out the photos of their latest holiday and do much more. This can be rather handy, knowing that you can learn someone’s life story through several clicks of a button. However, I find it extremely disheartening, recognising the fact that you don’t actually have to see someone in person to be friends with them. Although social networking will never eradicate people meeting up with their friends, it has made people contacting others through the internet far more comfortable than it’s ever been.

Facebook has also bulldozed it’s way into modern culture and the everyday language we use. Phrases such as “Facebook me as soon as you get in” and “Did you find that out on Facebook?” proves how much of a social community it has become, where people can discover things about distant friends that they would not normally know. From that respect, the amount of information and emotions that are plastered all over Facebook is rather scary, but we have all accepted it as normal.

Is this worrying? Even though we never think about it, it probably is, as people who we don’t even know could be looking at our profile information without us knowing in the slightest. It especially is with reports in the past of paedophiles and thieves accessing people’s profiles to discover their whereabouts, with disastrous consequences. Facebook is tightening it’s security measures all the time, so there is less of a chance of this happening now, but there will always be cause for concern.

Even Twitter is making the global community far more local, but what is unique about Twitter is that it’s bridging the gap between celebrities and their fans. People can discover what their idols get up to on a daily basis, and while Dizzee Rascal might not be too keen on the idea of a female fan purring over the thought of him just having “a bangin’ shower”, I think celebrities enjoy the opportunity to be normal people. If you’re really lucky, your favourite popstar could “follow” you back, effectively letting Lady Gaga know when you’ve got a massive hangover, or telling Wayne Rooney to concentrate on his skills with a football, and not any other type of balls.

Social networking sites will continue to grow in popularity, especially as there is a film released this month about Facebook, entitled ‘The Social Network’. How ironic then that people could be organising a trip to the cinema to see a film about the very site that they’re planning it on.

As a result of their success, Facebook and Twitter have compressed the worldwide community into several manageable, easy to roam websites. Although they have made it far easier for friends to connect and contact each other, it is slightly worrying that Joe Bloggs from the Cook Islands could be looking at your photos from the night before right now.

Social networking is fast becoming a part of modern culture, growing synonymously with the internet, and even though we could easily live without it, it’s hard to see past it.

Rocking around the digital clock?

The year is 1968. Jude was the name on everyone’s lips, while Mick Jagger and co. made the leather jacket the must-have clothing accessory. Neil Armstrong was on the cusp of achieving groundbreaking history, and England were football world champions.

Fast forward to the present day and oh, how times have changed. A lady whose name far more resembles a baby’s first words is the music sensation that has swept the globe, whereas plimsolls are not just worn for school PE anymore. Mars is now the focus of space exploration to see whether humans could live there after all, while English footballers are better at scoring with prostitutes than for their national team.

To match our ever-changing society, the music charts has altered dramatically in the past 50 or so years. At a first glance you could easily be led to think that rock and roll has been left in the dark. Even though rock and roll emerged into the mainstream in the late 1950s, it was even more popular during the 60s. During this era bands such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones dominated the music scene, whilst The Kinks also had their music listened to all day and all of the night. In 2010, R&B and pop seems to be filling the top 40, with Taio Cruz and Flo Rida churning out number ones like there’s no tomorrow. Even X Factor manufactured stars always claim the coveted Christmas top spot, with only a social networking inspired group forcing Rage Against The Machine to battle to the peak in order to spice things up.

I know it may seem like it, but by no means am I complaining. I love all sorts of music, and if you rifle through my iPod then you will find albums by Kanye West, Kasabian, Pendulum, Lady Gaga, and ashamedly, the odd song by Miley Cyrus. The current trends that can be found in music do reflect the society that we live in, with the club scene being stronger than ever, and artificially created beats being more chart-friendly than crunching guitars.

So as a result, has rock and roll already enjoyed its golden age in music, and should everything after the 1950s and 60s be considered an Indian summer? I mean, if The Beatles were around in the 21st century, would they mastermind 27 number ones and have several hit albums over the course of ten years? We will never know the answer, but I fear that they would get lost amongst the Tinie Tempah’s and Pixie Lott’s of today.

You only have to go back about 15 years to see two other British rock and roll heavyweights fighting it out to be top of the charts, with Oasis and Blur ruling over the UK music scene during the 1990s. With the exception of a certain ‘Spice fever’, rock and roll music left a lasting impression in that decade, and while bands such as Biffy Clyro and Kings Of Leon have tasted success to a degree, and are inevitably popular, they are not always consistently in the charts.

The truth is, all of the above bands have cited rock and roll artists such as The Beatles and The Who as major influences, as well as inspiring a whole new legion of indie and alternative bands like Coldplay and Franz Ferdinand. In this respect rock and roll music can be seen as timeless, and a genre that will live on through the songs of others. Rock and roll music has had such a profound effect, so does it really need to be sailing into the top 40 every Sunday afternoon?

Each decade, or generation, has had a clear cut genre that has either emerged or been more popular than the others. In the 1950s and 60s it was rock and roll, in the 70s it was punk, in the 80s it was bands who heavily used synthesizers, in the 90s it was what is now referred as ‘cheese’ music, and finally in the 2000s it has been R&B and indie.

In effect every decade’s music has reflected the way that society has transformed and changed. So who knows, it could be rock and rolls time again in the future, and although I can’t see it happening soon, there isn’t any reason as to why it shouldn’t creep out of the shadows again.

So in answer to the title of this article, I personally don’t think rock and roll is dead, but it is not as popular as it used to be. Then again, it doesn’t need to be, as even though I was born near on twenty years after rock and roll mania started to subside, The Beatles and Elvis Presley well and still be listening to rock and roll eight days a week.