During the gig at the ABC on Friday, Fran Healy did his fair share of chatting between songs - as he always does.

Of course, he mentioned that their new ablum Ode to J Smith was up for release this week and hoped we would like the new material as much as the band did.  They seem really excited about this new record which is good to see, and it’s a shame that due to fashions and trends it’s unlikely to be heard by any large number of people due to a lack of airplay.

Oops-a-daisy, seems the MacBook Air was indeed a reality!

Yes, it’s light and thin and shiny and all things good - but it just doesn’t appeal to me.  I think I might be ill, it’s the first gadget to ever become available that I haven’t instantly wanted and thought I needed!

I can see the point for people who have to carry a laptop with them everywhere, as the lightness and thinness will surely win them over - but the fact the screen is still reasonably large (certainly a lot larger than the pre-Keynote rumours had us believe) means it’s no easier to operate on a packed train or bus.

I’ve always though that the prices in Apple’s iTunes store were pretty reasonable - okay you don’t get a physical copy of the song or album you are buying but then you normally pay a bit less too so what’s to complain about?

Unlike other music retailers they don’t have sales which means that at the moment you are probably better off buying some albums in the shops as Amazon have them for as low as just a couple of pounds.