Live Forever

SO Oasis have split, which is sad.

I can remember very vividly first hearing Live Forever by Oasis on the radio and being blown away by their sound.

This is the first Oasis’ single I can recall and I still think it is their best.

The band split after Noel left and he said on the internet, “the lack of support from my management and bandmates has left me with no other option than to get me cape and seek pastures new.”

In the 1990s Oasis and Blur were two of the biggest bands on the scene and their music dominated the charts.

I like them both, but I think Oasis are better as their sound is grittier and seemed to hit a chord with me.

When the bands released singles on the same day, I preferred Oasis’s Roll With It to Blur’s Country House.

In 2001 or 2002, I can’t remember now, I had the good fortune to see an Oasis’ gig in Newcastle. They were brilliant. As soon as they started to play you were transfixed and as they continued the quality of their output did not diminish.

Their first album – Definitely Maybe – is probably their finest. I also like their album of b sides – songs like Acquiesce and Half The World Away rank among their best.

Congratulations on Radio 2 for having a Beatles’ weekend. Even though the songs are 40 years old, they are still relevant today.

Nothing like a good brew

A BREW can help people in times of stress, it’s official.

Psychologist Dr Malcolm Cross from City University has released findings of a study he has done which shows just one cup of tea can reduce anxiety after experiencing stress.

In the study people were put through a stressful situation and those who were not given a cup of tea had a 25 per cent rise in stress. While individuals who went through the same ordeal and were given tea had a four per cent decrease in stress.

Mr Cross believes the actual act of putting on the kettle can help alleviate stress.

He said: “Put simply, the findings illustrate what most mothers would tell us: if you’re stressed, anxious or just feeling blue, make yourself a nice calming brew.”

Meanwhile why is it that the winning lottery numbers often come in a close sequence, i.e. Saturday’s draw was 16, 31, 32, 46, 47, and 48.

I bet not many people would have had 46, 47, 48. Oh well, there is always next week’s draw.

Moving on, it is good to see tennis player Andy Murray has moved up to world number 2 in the world, replacing Rafael Nadal.

Nadal and Roger Federer have each been one or two for the last five years.

I now think Andy Murray has a good chance of winning this year’s US Open, the first Brit to do so since Fred Perry in the 1930s.

Flying iPods

I think the decision about Freddie Flintoff’s selection should have been decided upon on Thursday, ie the day before the fourth test was to start at Headingly.

To leave it to the morning of the test was unwise as it must have left a feeling of unease over the England side.

The matter should have been sorted out sooner because a team very rarely relies on just one man.

This was a crucial test that if England had won, they would have taken back The Ashes.

There is nothing worse than seeing a field of happy Australian players, or an England batting collapse. When England start to collapse, there is an almost inevitability about it.

Meanwhile it was disturbing to read that an 11-year-old had claimed her iPod Touch had “popped, emitted a big puff of smoke and flown 10ft in the air.” Apple has refused to comment on the issue.

Also it is now being said Facebook is uncool.

The suggestion comes after Ofcom, which is a media regulator, recorded a 10% drop in 15 to 24-year-olds using the site while there was a 25% increase of 35 to 54-year-olds on them.

Facebook may be uncool, but I think it is here to stay.

It may not be used very much by those people in their late 30s but those in the teens, 20s or early 30s rely on it more and more to communicate with friends.

The Street goes from strength to strength

With all the fuss over the licence fee, one programme is proving it is worth the money.


The Street, which is written by Jimmy McGovern, returned a month ago to BBC1 for a third series and I have been gripped ever since.


This year the programme has already attracted the Hollywood names of Anna Friel and Bob Hoskins.


In the first episode, Hoskins played a landlord who stood up to the local hard nut. The story was similar to the film High Noon and saw Hoskins bar the son of the local gangster after he caught him having a cigarette in the pub’s toilets.


The local gangster viciously beats up the landlord, but Hoskins shows up his son when he serves him a drink with a decorative umbrella in it and saying he is treating him just like his father does.


The second episode saw Anna Friel play a mother of two who has to turn to prostitution to pay for her sons to go to a better school.


She starts a relationship with the man who comes to do some work in her house, little does she know his father is one of his clients.


This episode had more ups and down than a fiddler’s bow, but it did finish with a happy ending.

The following week’s stories told the tale of how a soldier coped after coming back from Afghanistan injured and on Monday (August 4) we followed the man who is mistakenly called a hero.

It such a shame this is the last ever series to be made.