Brrrrrrrring!!!!

My roommate, it would seem, is a trendsetter. Many moons ago, when he was setting up his then new cell phone, he assigned ringtones to the people who call him most. Each person got a ringtone specific to their personality (and no, I'm not going to name any of them here - that would be unkind, not to mention get me booted out of the apartment.) For those not special enough to get their own individual ringtone assignation (like myself) he set the generic ring as "Axel-F" - that old electronic tune from 1984 that was in the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. At the time, I thought this was... well, quaint. To be honest, I loathe ringtones. I mean, let's face it - they're annoying and disruptive and the ringtones people often think of as cute expressions of personality are more often infuriating expressions of character flaws. Still, you simply can't leave your phone on vibrate all the time because half your calls would go unanswered. And as far as ringtones go, Axel-F isn't too bad. You know, a groovy little early electronica tune that'll get you to bop your head before you realize your supposed to be embarrassed for doing so.....

So - it was to my general surprise and delight (as well as dismay, if that's possible) to read this morning that for the second week in a row, the #1 song on the British pop charts is a ringtone. I kid you not. Apparently some animation called the Crazy Frog (click link for a video - yes, that's right... a video) has taken over Britain and it's rendition of Axel-F - which was originally released as a ringtone - has crossed over to CD and hit #1 on the pop charts.

Some people aren't taking this lying down, however. There are those who find this little guy infuriating and have called in to complain and demand the ads on which he appears (he's taking over all media outlets it would seem) be removed. Honestly, I'm not sure how I should feel about this so I think I'll keep my thoughts to myself for now. Clearly my roommate stumbled upon something revolutionary, however... and clearly I'm going to keep my normal "chirrrrrp chirrrrrp" ring tone for the near future - when my phone isn't set to vibrate, that is...

And with that, I'm off. Busier than a one-legged Riverdancer these days. Have to play the good son and pick my parents up at Logan Airport. Have a good evening, amigos. Manana.