Author: Chris5156

Avatar An moment of inspiration

This week I passed a statue of a great man on Woodford Green.

Winston

I stopped to admire it, and as I did so, I recalled the stirring words of what was probably his greatest ever speech:

“Iodine sandwiches; iodine sandwiches. Iodine sandwiches – iodine sandwiches, iodine sandwiches. Iodine sandwiches.”

Who among us could hear those words and fail to look around for a fascist dictatorship to defeat? Not I. That’s why I immediately set about decking anyone shifty I could see nearby.

Who have you decked recently, and why?

Avatar Brioche: still an afterthought

Last week I bought a big bag of brioche buns for breakfast.

On Thursday and Friday I got some out and had them.

This morning, I was looking for breakfast in a kitchen that was increasingly looking breakfast-free, when inside the white Lego head I found the rest of the brioche rolls.

I didn’t think I was the kind of man who’d buy some tasty French treats and then forget about them, but it seems that all these years on I’ve learned nothing. Brioche is still an afterthought.

Luckily they hadn’t gone off because brioche keeps for ages, so I ate them anyway.

Avatar Socks

Socks!

socks

Pouring Beans, as usual, has its finger on the pulse of popular culture and, like everyone else, socks have become our number one topic of conversation this week. Everyone loves socks, and nobody can stop talking about them. So the question is – what’s your favourite kind of sock?

Choose now.

If you are having difficulty thinking of types of sock, here are some ideas:

  • Long socks with stripes
  • Short socks with heels and toes in a different colour to the other parts of the sock
  • Plain grey socks
  • Thick socks with that sort of ribbed pattern for hiking or rambling perhaps
  • Little trainer socks that always feel a bit too short
  • Hand socks (“gloves”)

Avatar A Sensual Awakening

Details of the Papples’ forthcoming fifth studio album have just been released by the group’s vast publicity machine. Fans are eagerly awaiting the new release, which was apparently recorded last month and is undergoing final mastering and production work.

The cover and track list have been made available, and we can exclusively reveal them here on the Beans.

cover_only

There are twelve tracks, though no word yet on which will be the lead single.

  1. Good Invention
  2. Captain’s Hat
  3. 10/10
  4. Leg Jazz
  5. Run With It
  6. Instrumental
  7. Dirty Work
  8. You Can’t Clean a Sieve
  9. Ghosts in the Microwave
  10. Kerfuffle
  11. Tigerplane vs Chickencopter
  12. Swamp Hospital

The band have described this as a “concept album”, describing the tragic life of a reclusive genius. Legendary producer Nizzle is rumoured to have been involved throughout the album’s creation.

Avatar The “X Factor”

I appear to be watching a television programme called the “X Factor”. I’m not really sure what to make of this, and I’ve never really watched it before, but there appears to be a simple formula to the proceedings.

  1. Young woman with slightly-too-revealing outfit sings a song but wobbles her voice around so instead of just singing the song she sings all the notes ever invented.
  2. Judge who didn’t choose the song says it was rubbish. Judge who chose the song says it was brilliant.
  3. Man in shiny outfit sings a song with a bit too much rapping while women writhe around him in skimpy costumes like feminism never happened*.
  4. Judge who chose the song says it was a game changer. Judge who owns the programme and can do what he wants says something sardonic and cutting.
  5. Group of people who have no life experience and want only to be famous come on the stage and sing a soulful version of an 80s pop song with more wobbly Mariah Carey vocal stylings.
  6. Judge who appears to be dressed for bed says they didn’t think it would work but they’re so excited for how far you could all go.
  7. Presenter pulls the contestants aside and asks how it was. Contestants say it was great and they’re so happy to be here. Presenter says thank you and that was amazing, even though it was plain to everyone present that it barely even qualified as interesting.
  8. Voting happens and some of the entirely interchangeable contestants leave, though some are then allowed to sing again and might stay in, and others will be arbitrarily brought back later, comfortably removing any sense of jeopardy.

My main conclusion is that the titular “X Factor” appears to be ill-defined and plays at best a peripheral role in what is actually a singing competition. Most of the screen time is taken up by contestants, who are, to a man, detestable, singing other people’s songs to a panel of judges, none of whom would be worth saving from a house fire. Perhaps it would be better to rename the programme something more closely related to what happens on screen, such as “Twats Singing At Twats”.

* Feminism has yet to happen on ITV.

Avatar Spooky Hallowe’en Post

You open your web browser and make your way to the Beans as the rain pours down. As you turn the handle on the great oak door leading in to the website, lightning crackles in the distance. Inside, instead of being orange coloured, it’s dark and scary.

You fumble with the light switch but the lights aren’t working. Maybe the power’s out. But wait – what’s that? There’s a scrabbling noise from over near the Bean Counter. Something is moving in the shadows.

You go over to investigate and begin making your way unsteadily down the dark stone staircase towards the Old Beans. The sound is louder here. The hairs on the back of your neck stand on end and a shiver runs down your spine.

Suddenly you’re dazzled by a bright light as an unfamiliar figure lurches at you from the other end of the great cellar. You gasp and recoil, falling backwards onto the slippery stonework. You shield your eyes from the light as the creature comes towards you, cackling horribly. It’s the Ghost of Beans Past. A disembodied Locker 29 is clutched under its arm, and it’s holding a range of overpriced designer pebbles. You think it might be wearing a Virgin Petcare name badge.

“All subsidising and no subsidising makes Ian a dull boy!” it screams at you through its slobbering, mis-shapen jaw.

As it looms above you, ready to sink its horrible teeth into you and consign you to an eternity of irrelevance as a forgotten comment in the Beans Archive, your browser pops up a window telling you that this monster has an unsigned security certificate.

You click “do not accept” and are redirected to the Google Homepage.

Avatar Ffffifth

Back in spring of this year, the music press were full of excitable rumours about a new supergroup being formed by The Papples and elusive pop star Kevil, with Nizzle said to be on board to produce their debut EP.

Naturally, we all assumed that nothing those three renowned artists did could fail to succeed, but their project remains firmly under wraps and no release date has been scheduled. Perhaps we’ll never know what they came up with.

What has come to light, though, is this interview, in which band members K-Zone and Chef Shizzle reveal some of the details of this ill-fated endeavour.