Coffee for wimps vs Britpop

GOOD THING: COFFEE FOR WIMPS
If you're like me, the arrival of the big coffee shop chains opened up a whole new world of coffee-drinking. Let's face it, coffee can be the most unpleasant-tasting of beverages - it's bitter and sometimes tastes like it should be used for cleaning drains. So that's why coffee for wimps is great, and by that I mean coffee that barely qualifies as coffee at all because it's been smothered in cream, sweetened with caramel or whipped up with ice and chocolate. You know what I mean - and it usually tastes good too, against your better judgement. It's coffee for non-coffee drinkers, no good for anyone who actually relies on coffee to get them through the day (or night), but great for people who want to be able to say "Let's go for a coffee!"but actually just wanted to drink hot chocolate or a milkshake. Not for coffee purists, though, who only drink espresso or Americano, or imbibe caffeine intravenously.

BAD THING: BRITPOP

Sometime in the early to mid-nineties, someone tried to convince the UK music-buying public that a revolution was coming, and the new saviours of the pop record were British. We were supposed to feel patriotic about this, proud to be British and inspired by the never-ending conveyor belt of shiny, new bands. Britpop had arrived - and it was total cobblers. At the forefront were Blur and Oasis, who were both crap, albeit in distinctly different ways. Blur were self-consciously intellectual - hey, you thought it was happy, bouncy pop music, but actually they were being subversive. Mmmm. Damon Albarn, the man whose sense of humour was removed at birth, was so irritating and blatantly mockney that he was just begging for a slap. And guitarist, Alex James danced like a girl and swished his daft fringe in a camp, twatty manner. In the rough corner were Oasis, whose communal braincell was usually being used by Noel Gallagher. His brother, Liam, had to get by without. To say they were inspired by The Beatles is the greatest understatement in the history of modern music - there's a line were tribute becomes rip-off, and Oasis crossed it whenever they put pen to paper. Actually, they were just a loud, dischordant version of The Beatles - armed with a rhyming dictionary.
And if Blur and Oasis were the pinnacle of Britpop, it doesn't say much for the rest. At the more bearable end of the spectrum were Pulp, Supergrass and Suede, but lagging pitifully behind were the likes of Cast, Menswear, Sleeper and Elastica - and the less said about Denim, Shed Seven and The Bluetones the better. Yes, Britpop was utter pap and - like Oasis' mate Tony Blair - wasn't as good as it was cracked up to be.