People, you must see these Microsoft UK training videos! No self-respecting fan of The Office can afford to miss them. Watch them now!

This week’s top five is a prog rock/art rock smorgasboard, featuring tracks from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s:

1. “Digging in the Dirt” — Peter Gabriel: I almost wore the cassingle of this track out when I was 14, I listened to it that much;
2. “Dance on a Volcano” — Genesis: the first track from the band’s first album without Gabriel quickly established that the loss of a charismatic frontman didn’t necessarily mean the end;
3. “He Knows You Know” — Marillion: Fish, doing his best impersonation of Gabriel, gives a powerful performance in this song full of paranoia;
4. “Comfortably Numb” — Pink Floyd: the best track from The Wall is this, a majestic, soaring duet between Roger Waters and David Gilmour;
5. “Up the Hill Backwards” — David Bowie: Robert Fripp’s guitar cuts through this track like a bandsaw, as the meter shifts and the vocal harmonies crystalise.

You talkin’ to me?

A man remains in a critical condition after being run down by a taxi driver he had just assaulted on the NSW mid-north coast.

[…]

Police said the man punched the taxi driver through the driver’s window and, as the cabbie reversed away, was struck by the vehicle.

Now that’s true poetic justice!

A couple of months ago, I mentioned a band I’d discovered, called Djam Karet. Yesterday I ordered from their site both volumes in their Beginners’ Guide series, totaling 20 tracks, for only $27 AU, including shipping, which is a pretty reasonable price, I think.

I shall report back with my findings, but everything I’ve heard so far has been fantastic.

David Lee Roth’s first solo single, and another classic from the golden age of MTV!

1. One book you have read more than once: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

2. One book you would want on a desert island: Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter

3. One book that made you laugh: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

4. One book that made you cry: Have I ever cried while reading a book? Not that I recall.

5. One book you wish you had written: Dune by Frank Herbert

6. One book you wish had never been written: Probably Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, just because I found his style of argumentation intellectually dishonest, but in truth, there’s no book I wish had never been written.

7. One book you are currently reading: Film: An Introduction by William H. Phillips

8. One book you have been meaning to read: The Emperor’s New Mind by Roger Penrose

9. One book that changed your life: Umm… No book has done that, really.

10. Now tag five people: I’m afraid I’ve run out of people to tag…

This is just too unbelieveable not to post: the new season of Survivor will be divided into teams of races. This is such a good idea, I can’t imagine why no one thought of it sooner!

How’s this for brutal: not only did Paramount just sever their relationship with Tom Cruise, they publicly bagged the guy for good measure!

Viacom Inc. Chairman Sumner Redstone said his company’s Paramount Pictures is terminating its 14-year relationship with actor Tom Cruise’s production company, citing the actor’s controversial and sometimes erratic behavior of the past year.

To be perfectly clear…

“As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal,” Mr. Redstone said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount.”

What’s the deal here? Is it really that simple, or is there more to the story? For what it’s worth, Cruise’s people gave a very different story, but what I find intriguing is how candid Redstone was about the situation. For whatever reason, Cruise must have really pissed off the wrong people.

Okay folks, it’s time for a new feature: once a week, based on the top five artists I’ve been listening to the week before, I’m going to recommend five tracks for faithful readers to listen to.

Here’s this week’s top five:

1. “Kayleigh” — Marillion: this was a big hit in the UK in 1985, but I have no recollction of hearing it at all, even though it’s a fantastic piece of mid-80’s pop/rock;
2. “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man” — Prince: a bit reminiscent of the song he wrote for The Bangles, “Manic Monday”;
3. “The Sound of Muzak” — Porcupine Tree: Steven Wilson’s prog rock call to arms;
4. “Carpet Crawlers” — Genesis: the best track from Peter Gabriel’s swansong with Genesis, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway;
5. “Stand Back” — Stevie Nicks: one of Nicks’ more memorable hits from the 80’s.

Good news, folks! That gum you like is going to come back in style:

A Philippines judge who believes in dwarves and claimed to have psychic powers has lost an appeal to keep his job, court officials said.

It gets better:

[The judge] also was understood to have claimed supernatural abilities, the ability to read the future and held “healing sessions” in his chambers.

The suit(e)… burns!

So I got around to hearing On an Island, David Gilmour’s last solo album (the prior one being A Momentary Lapse of Reason — just teasing, Dave), and it’s fantastic. This album is just busting with atmosphere, and reinforces my opinion that, ultimately, it’s Gilmour that I listen to Pink Floyd for, not Roger Waters.

The songs often recall Pink Floyd (how could they not?), particularly the title track and “Take a Breath”, the latter sounding like a lost track from Animals.

What can I say? This album has turned me into a Gilmour fan, just as Darktown turned me into a Steve Hackett fan. It’s immediate evidence that a guitarist’s solo album need not be merely a vehicle for their guitar virtuosity.

(I’ll forever be indebted to Gilmour for giving the world Kate Bush, as well…)

Forget the shitty covers of this track — the original song is a classic, and the promo video is pure MTV goodness. Winner of 1985’s Best Video of the Year. Enjoy!