Pop Buzz UK

Picture Of The Week: The new alien busting duo of the Doctor and Martha Jones…

Debating: Whether the British soldiers being held in Iran will lead to all out war

Reading: ‘At Risk’ by Patricia Cornwell published by Sphere

Playing: Command And Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars on the PC and soon to be Xbox 360

Watching On TV: The first episode of the new series of Dr Who on BBC1

Watching At The Cinema: The exciting and visually stunning ‘300′

Searching For: Grand Theft Auto IV First Look Trailers

Looking Forward To: As a whole:- Easter weekend only 4 days away! Personally:- My 30th Birthday next Sat 7th April… I’m just glad to have reached it!

Learning: Having a baby can cost you up to two months sleep in the first year

Listening To: Even though ‘I’m Gonna Be 500 miles’ by The Proclaimers is still Number 1, Avril Lavigne is following closely behind with ‘Girlfriend’…

Dr Who, Doctor Who, Martha Jones, David Tennant, Freema Agyeman, British Soldiers, Iran, War, UK, At Risk, Patricia Cornwell, Command And Conquer 3, Tiberium Wars, PC, Xbox 360, BBC1, 300, Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto 4, Trailer, Easter, Birthday, 500 Miles, The Proclaimers, Avril Lavigne, Girlfriend

This is the new film called ‘300′ which came out last Friday in the UK. It looks an intriguing film, being an adaptation of the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller, which was itself inspired by ‘The 300 Spartans’, a 1962 film starring Richard Egan.

Directed by Dawn Of The Dead’s Zack Snyder, it’s a semi historical account of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC in which 300 spartans fought to the last man against Persian King Xerxes (played by Rodrigo Santoro). The odds are stacked heavily against Spartan King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) as the oposing army number 1 million soldiers. The film delves into historucal fantasy as all manner of fantastical creatures are introduced to the plot. (more…)

Yes, you heard me correctly, the network that I write for and that this blog is brought to you by is looking for new writers, and it could be you!

451 Press are a blogging network from Alabama in the US who want and need good writers to run some of their sites. They don’t expect you to do this for free however so the reward is 40% of the advertising revenue on that blog, not a bad deal if you ask me. The other benefits include a friendly, welcoming and helpful forum and free web hosting for your personal site/blog while you are an active writer for the network! So do you think you have it in you? And have a little bit of time and energy to devote each day to maintaining a commercial blog? (more…)

Are you a fan of Pop Buzz UK? No, I mean a real fan, one that is devoted to the cause of uncovering all that is popular in British culture today? Hmm, No, you’re just here for a quick read of the subjects that interest you! Well that’s fine because in these days of Web 2.0 and the like, we have fantastic stuff such as feeds, meaning everything is organised for you, and you don’t have to think too much (just the way I like it).

So in case you haven’t done so already, please add Pop Buzz UK to your feed tool of choice. Just click this link, choose your weapon and away you go, it’s as simple as that. Enjoy!

Pop Buzz UK, Feed, Feedburner, Fan, Pop Culture, Popular, Culture, Web 2.0

Debating: Lewis Hamilton’s excellent performance in the Australian Grand Prix

Reading: ‘The Tenderness Of Wolves’ by Stef Penney

Playing: Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 on the PC and xBox 360

Watching On TV: The First Grand Prix Of the Season in Australia

Watching At The Cinema: Eddie Murphy’s new ‘Norbit’

Searching For: Murdered journalist Daniel Pearl after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed boasted of being the killer

Remembering: My mum for being the best mum in the world

Looking Forward To: The Sony Ps3 finally being released this Friday March 23rd

Learning: Mobile phones in large part have little effect on medical equipment, despite bans on their use in most hospitals

Listening To: Sugababes Vs Girls Aloud with the Comic Relief cover of ‘Walk This Way’…

Lewis Hamilton, Formula One, Australian Grand Prix, The Tenderness Of Wolves, Stef Penney, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, PC, XBox, Eddie Murphy, Norbit, Daniel Pearl, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Mum, Mother’s Day, Sony Ps3, Release Date, Mobile Phones, Sugababes, Girls Aloud, Walk This Way

Debating: Virgin Media losing Sky One and other channels in a row over money

Reading: ‘Jamies little book of big treats’ by Jamie Oliver

Playing: Still the revolutionary RPG ‘FFXII’

Watching On TV: The end of ‘The Search’ on channel 4

Watching At The Cinema: ‘Hot Fuzz’, the excellent new comedy starring Nick Frost and Simon Pegg

Searching For: Charlotte Church after the news of her expecting her first child

Remembering: Robbie Williams in rehab after his mum’s revelations

Looking Forward To: Chelsea Vs FC Porto 2nd leg on Tuesday 6th March

Learning: A rise in crematorium funerals is causing an increase in damaging mercury emissions in the air from melted dental fillings.

Listening To: Take That’s second straight No.1 after their comeback… ‘Shine’…

Virgin Media, Sky, Sky One, Lost, 24, Jamie Oliver, Final Fantasy 12, FFXII, The Search, Hot Fuzz, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Charlotte Church, Robbie Williams, Chelsea, FC Porto, Take That, Shine, YouTube

This is the new film by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, best known for the excellent ‘Shaun Of The Dead’. Coming out last Wednesday (Valentines Day) in the UK, March 15th in Australia and April 20th in America, it’s another comedy very much in the same mould as SOTD. The pairing of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost again get together as a brilliant double act, playing off each other and delivering some classic lines. The cast also includes former Bond Timothy Dalton, the brilliant Jim Broadbent and Billy Whitelaw. (more…)

It’s time for my pick of this week’s new single releases here in the UK, and this week sees some beauties. All courtesy of YouTube of course so without further ado…

We start with the Kaiser Chiefs new song ‘Ruby’, the first to be released from the album ‘Yours Truly, Angry Mob’ which is released next Monday. The Leeds band will be hoping to recapture the success of first album ‘Employment’ which gave us such modern classics as ‘Every Day I Love You less And Less’ and ‘I Predict A Riot’. I think ‘Ruby’ is a great comeback single, and pure pop. They haven’t changed their sound significantly but enout to give fans something to chew on.

Next up is American beauty and god’s gift to men Beyonce with ‘Listen’ from the album ‘B-Day’. Despite the name of the album always bugging me because of it’s similarity to bidet, I think Beyonce is growing all the time as a solo artist and performer. This single shows off her voice to the nth degree and just cements her place at the top of the female divas list. (more…)

Debating: Gun Crime exploding in the UK

Reading: ‘Anybody Out There’ by Marian Keyes

Playing: ‘Battlestations: Midway’ on the PC

Watching On TV: The American road trip edition of ‘Top Gear’

Watching At The Cinema: Hugh Grant’s rom-com ‘Music And Lyrics’

Searching For: Prince Harry after the news he may go to Iraq

Remembering: Valentine’s Day… Thank god!

Looking Forward To: Pancake day AKA Shrove Tuesday

Learning: 10% of university work from across the UK is plagiarised

Listening To: Fall Out Boy with ‘This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race’…

Gun Crime, UK, Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There, Battlestations Midway, PC, American Road Trip, Top Gear, Hugh Grant, Music And Lyrics, Prince Harry, Iraq, Valentines Day, Pancake Day, Shrove Tuesday, University, Fall Out Boy, This Ain’t A Scene It’s An Arms Race

Debating: The Outbreak Of Bird Flu In The UK

Reading: ‘The Interpretation Of Murder’ by Jed Rubenfeld

Listening To: The Kaiser Chiefs With Brilliant New Single ‘Ruby’

Playing: Still ‘Lost Planet: Extreme Condition’ On The Xbox 360

Watching On TV: ITV1’s New Torchwood Style Series ‘Primeval’

Watching At The Cinema: ‘Dreamgirls’ Starring Beyonce & Jamie Foxx

Searching For: Prince Frederic Von Anhalt

Remembering: Anna Nicole Smith And Her Life Story

Looking Forward To: ‘Hot Fuzz’ Premiering At The Cinema This Week

Learning: Catherine Cookson novels have been borrowed from UK libraries 25 million times in the last 10 years.

Bird Flu, UK, The Interpretation Of Murder, Jed Rubenfeld, Kaiser Chiefs, Ruby, Lost Planet, Xbox 360, Torchwood, Primeval, Dreamgirls, Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx, Prince Frederick Von Anhalt, Anna Nicole Smith, Hot Fuzz, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Catherine Cookson

Would everyone please stop spreading and copying this vile piece of scaremongering all around the internet! It’s pure and utter bunkum, so just desist from making people crap themselves and tricking them into putting this superstitious claptrap on every MySpace account, YouTube page and blog.

For anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about, the one thing I won’t do is further the terrible scam by repeating it on Pop Buzz UK. It’s basically a hugely successful but morally wrong chain letter that’s doing the rounds. Posted on various pages, mainly in the comments section, will be a short story, pre-empted by WARNING, PLEASE DON’T READ! It then goes on to tell the story of a mythical murder, and then warns that as you have read the story, the spirit of the murder victim will steal your soul on the next full moon. Unless of course (and here’s the rub) you retype the above message on 3 other videos/blogs/myspace pages. (more…)

I’ve resisted the hype for 3 weeks but I can do it no more and have to share Mika’s Grace Kelly with any readers who have not had the pleasure yet…

It’s been Number One in the British Chart for 3 weeks now, getting there on Download sales alone until last week when it was finally released on CD. It’s only the second song to manage to make Number One purely on downloads, the first being Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’.

It’s a great tune, with a novelty feel, but with it, still feels like a proper pop song. Beirut born 23 year old Mika wrote the song after a loveless liasion with a record company, where they wanted him to basically be their bitch. It’s an infectious slice of camp pop music, and reminds me somewhat of the Scissor Sisters. Mika’s voice has drawn parallels with Queen singer Freddie Mercury, and I can’t disagree. I think we need to see what the album (which came out on Monday 5th Feb) brings before we give him that much credence. For now though, he is revelling in the new and very quickly found fame he is experiencing, and good luck to him.

Mika, Grace Kelly, Mika Grace Kelly, Number One, British Chart, Download, Download Chart, Gnarls Barkley, Scissor Sisters, Queen, Freddie Mercury

Debating: Prime Minister Tony Blair Being Questioned By Police

Reading: Tess Gerritsen’s Thriller ‘Vanish’

Listening To: Mika With ‘Grace Kelly’

Playing: ‘Lost Planet: Extreme Condition’ On The Xbox 360

Watching On TV: The Latest Drama To Hit ‘Eastenders’

Watching At The Cinema: ‘Blood Diamond’ Starring Leonardo DiCaprio

Searching For: Gazillionaire Author J.K. Rowling

Remembering: To Re-Read All Six Harry Potter Books Before July

Looking Forward To: Harry Potter Coming Out On July 21st

Learning: Newcastle is the noisiest place in England

Tony Blair, Cash For Honours, Tess Gerritsen, Vanish, Mika, Grace Kelly, Mika Grace Kelly, Lost Planet, Xbox 360, Eastenders, Blood Diamond, Leonardo DiCaprio, JK Rowling, Harry Potter, July 21st, Newcastle, England

The high speed crash which nearly killed ‘The Hamster’ Richard Hammond was shown on Top Gear this week and this is the edited footage of that horrific crash. There’s no blood or gore but it’s quite disconcerting to watch so be warned…

Richard Hammond Crash Footage - video powered by Metacafe

It’s pretty amazing viewing, and even more amazing that he’s sat in the studio talking us through the crash a few months after it happened. For those who are new to this story and aren’t aware what all the fuss is about here’s a short synopsis. (more…)

Debating: Whether Phone Tapping The Royals is Ever Justified?

Reading: ‘The Husband’ By Dean Koontz

Listening To: Mika’s Brilliant and Ultra Catchy ‘Grace Kelly’

Playing: World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

Watching On TV: The Big Brother Finale, At Last The Madness Ends

Watching At The Cinema: Rocky Balboa

Searching For: Big Brother

Remembering: Not To Overcook The Dishcloth (See Below)

Looking Forward To: Bloc Party’s New Album ‘A Weekend In The City’

Learning: Dishcloths are purged of 99% of their bacteria during two minutes in a microwave.

Royals, Royal Family, Phone Tapping, Dean Koontz, Mika, Grace Kelly, World Of Warcraft, World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, Big Brother, Rocky Balboa, Bloc Party, A Weekend In The City