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Friday, September 30, 2005

review

modern art can be wonderful. it can inspire. it can also make you go what the fuck is this.
the show at the andrew mummery gallery falls into the category don't even waste your time. it is everything you don't like about modern art.
avoid at all costs.

right now i am off to have a coffee at coffee@ with joel (even though i shouldn't mention his name!)

technology

once again technology has beaten me.
there i was playing with the new camera (it is a lovely thing). i do this, i do that, i email a few pictures here, and there, i even put one or two on the blog.
go to save them to a new file, as i want to amend them to send some of the gig pictures to the lovely piney gir at wired women.
where have they gone?
no idea.
deleted.
lost.
disappeared.
gone.

oh well a lesson learnt.

church


it is one of my favourite buildings. it is in one of my favourite places. so it's a bit of a winner really.
it is hawksmoor's christchurch. peter ackroyd has written a book about it. i have been told the book is very good. i just managed to get 50 pages into before i realised it was shite and it wasn't looking like it was going to get better.
one day i will give it another (probably just after i have had another attempt at joyce's ulysses.....

soaked

coming back from the wired women gig that took place in the spitz i decided to walk home. the exercise would do me good i thought. of i trudged, the gig had been good, a couple of bands to check out in the future, a contented little bee i was. there was some light spitting rain. nothing to worry about, i like the rain.
little did i realise that as i crossed that invisible line that meant i could no longer do anything other than walk home the heavens would open up and i would get soaked. i was absolutely drenched by the time i got home.

but the walk home was invigorating.
i felt fresh and alive.
it reminded me why i loved the rain.

though it did feel nice to get dry and then snuggle up under the duvet.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

tories

why do they bother?
is it because they can't get jobs elsewhere? (surely archie will give them a good word at asda?)
so two more have thrown their hats into the ring.

david davis is banging on about modern conservatism and radical reforms to improve the lives of people, we'll ignore that conservative and radical seem to be uneasy bedfellows. so what does this entail? more public service changes (at a guess this means less of them, and what there are will be responsible to a profit making company), eu reform and of course gutting taxes and less state involvement (again lets guess what this means - mmmm less of the things we want and need from the state such as health and education and more of the things we don't want such as prescriptions of how to live our lives while corporations get away with making our lives a misery - either in the workplace or in the ways they mess with our daily lives...)
not sure about you but this doesn't seem new and this version of modern conservatism seems to be exactly what major, hague, ids and howard have been offering.

davis does talk about how his tory idealism would provide a "consensus to change" (read that to be i am going to make sure my mates are fine and so no one will have a go at me for my ludicrous policies...)
and how radical is a consensus?
answer not very.
(though the idea of consensus breaking out in the tory party is a radical thought.)

on the other hand david cameron is talking about "change to win". added to this is the management speak of self help there is "a we, as well as me in politics" (well no shit sherlock... pardon me for thinking that politicians were there for the benefit of the community and not the other way round!)
talk about winning back the trust of the voter is paramount so how is going to do that.
mm be open to new ideas like the flat tax (tax cutting for the rich), that there should be strong national sovereignty (because currently we are so wishy washy about it) and that rolling back the state shouldn't be at the expensive of the weak.

mmmm now let me see what is the difference between davis and cameron?
oh not a thing...
(well cameron couches his bollocks in shite terms, but that isn't much of a difference.)

liam fox has gone on about europe. no change there then!

so to sum it up the tory leadership contest will mean the following changes:
different face same old story.

it is so sad it is no longer funny (oh ok i am lying as i am giggling away about it...)

desk


this is what my desk looks like.
it is tidier than it used to be.
check out the noo noo - top class present that made me smile all day.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

review

started watching the new tv sensation "lost".
stupidly i started watching it at a time when all sensible people are fast asleep and deep in dreams. me i was looking at the clock and thinking stay awake and get into work early.
so first disc is in - 4 episodes. the pilot is entertaining. the characters are uniformly central casting types. square jawed hero and anti-hero to appeal to the ladies, a bit of an anti-establishment musician with a british accent - he's a bit rough but still loveable. the women are pretty, none seem to have problems with hair, weight or skin.... there is one fat bloke, an old bloke, a smattering of ethnic types and a bunch of people who will be in the background until it is their time to push the story forward (or die).
so far the premise is interesting: plan mysteriously crashes onto a mysterious island that has lots of mysteries on it. even the survivors carry the air of mysterious about them and they all seem to have secrets.
the first episode successfully sets up the fact that not all is right in what looks like paradise. there are mysterious sounds in the jungle. the second episode reveals more and hints at some of the secrets of the cast.
so far i am enjoying it.

but you said there were 4 episodes on the disc.
mmm so i did.

ok i admit it i fell asleep during episode 3, woke up for the ending of it and the start of 4, and nodded off again.
so those two will be for tonight....

currently still knackered and i was late for work.

picture


well here is something done on the new digital. not what i have wanted to be doing with it but getting a feel for it. and loving it.

noooooooooooooooooooo

just listened to some fred durst.
i liked it.

i must be tired.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

speechless

the new labour party is having its conference this week, (it was the liberals last week and next week it will be the turn of the conservatives).
i have been able to catch the two main beasts in the new labour jungle give their speeches, and i was impressed by both. yesterday brown's speech was a clear call to arms - his clarion call one of "you know it makes sense, i am the man to lead you to another term..." today tony blair got up and pretty much showed that when push comes to shove there is no one better than him in british politics (and it could be argued world politics). a cleverly constructed speech - pushing all the right buttons, a few laughs, a few self deprecating barbs, a reminder of what labour used to mean (i am sure the audience clapped because they remembered those days fondly), a warning that the old ways won't work and the usual baiting of his political opponents.
all in all a bravura performance.
and it was all for nothing.
what do you mean pat? do you mean it was pointless because he will be gone in a few years (well maybe and maybe not, i wouldn't want to bet the farm that he finds a way to stay on...).
no i mean all that work, all that effort to show how slick, how professional, how caring and forward looking is wasted when their nearest rivals just keep blowing it.

the conservative party has a lame duck leader, he has said he wants to go and many others have said they want to take his place.
seems simple really.
but the party that used to be electorally unstoppable seems incapable of working out how to elect their leader. the recent proposed method has been thrown out by the conservative party’s electoral college.
how blair must have laughed. brown must be chortling away to himself thinking “shoo in, it’s a shoo in”.

so i propose we all put our thinking caps on and help the tories get over this hump by suggesting other ways that they can discover who should lead them to their fourth successive defeat.
perhaps a sudoku championship? perhaps a scavenger hunt ? see who can eat the most pies in the quickest time?
it doesn’t really matter. in a sense i have been fortunate to see the party who ruined so much of britain become a farce of a political party. it is just a shame that it means that there is no longer and consistent and effective opposition to new labour.

Monday, September 26, 2005

review

another free gig. and what a treat it was.
mister lee who were sold as being anti-folk. the signer has a voice that was like bono in that he could do loud shouty rock and quiet melodic stuff, he gripped his mic as if he were henry rollins and had bulging forearms to go with it. throughout the whole gig he sat, well perched (rather precariously at times) on a flight case. not only did he sing, he banged a drum and twiddled knobs to get different sounds from his voice.
he was accompanied by a guitarist and bass player (who also played eclectic fiddle) both were fine musicians.
but mister lee is really just one person's band, he knows it, they know it, but it doesn't stop them from rocking out.
very good, very entertaining will go see them again - even if they are from leicester!

they were followed by moly who are part of the post rock movement. two guitarists, bass and drums. following in the footsteps of godspeedyoublackemperor moly build slowly and rise to a crashing crescendo of noise and music. in essence there is a terrible sense of deja vu about all their songs slow quiet slow quiet fast fast louder louder faster faster crashing crashing sound. the only differences between the songs are the length of the slow fast and loud bits.
however they do it well and when they rock out they rock out.
but the format of the music limits them, or they are limited by the fact they are guitar based - who knows add in a keyboard or some strings and you have a whole new palette of sounds to play with.
i must have enjoyed them i bought their cds. and i know i will go see them again...

technology

i am a user of technology.
i wish i was rich as i would buy loads of wonderful technological things (some that would be useful, some that would just look nice, some that i want but have no real need for. i would list all of them that i would but it would be a very long list).
but i also have an odd relationship with technology - it seems to hate me.

so given i hate mobile phones it should come as no surprise that my mobile phone has not worked properly since i have had it.
for a long time i couldn't turn it off.
now i can turn it off.
used to be able to get text messages.
now i can't read them (the phone teases me by letting me know i have the text, but it just won't let me read them...)

and now thanks to the miracle of technology i have managed to delete all my numbers.... i am not sure how i did it, but i have. all those numbers of all those people i had stored in case i would ever need them (such as rocket pizza) have now all disappeared. so i will have to start the long boring process of 1] remembering who they were 2] asking them to give me their numbers 3] adding them back into the phone.
not really sure why i am going to go to all that trouble as i rarely use it, but somehow i think i should pretend to be part of the 21st century and have a mobile filled with numbers. especially as, unlike my pal paul who has a phone that can show movies, my cheap arsed phone does nothing beyond making and receiving calls.....

technology can't live with it, can't kill it.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

news

it suddenly occurred to me the other day while i was buying the new look guardian (not as wonderful as they make it out to be - but nicely convenient) that i have not really been following the news that much recently. that i am very very far behind on what is going on in the world.
i should go home tonight and read the observer and the sunday times but i think i will go to a free gig instead....
i think i am becoming american....

review

was at the interim galley/ maureen paley gallery today. it is one of those spaces that i really like. it is one of the many white cubes that epitomise the art gallery.
showing there was the latest show by wolfgang tillsman - "truth study centre". now i have to admit that i am not a tillsman fan.
when he won the turner prize in 2000 i think that for me more than anything signaled that the turner prize was not about art anymore, but it was about image.
photography is one of those art forms that anyone can do and anyone can do well, especially with the advent of easy to use digital camera. so to be a good photographer you have to have more than just a decent camera. you can have a great technique, such as ansel adams, you can be an innovator, think man ray, you can have a defined style, think mapplethorpe, you can have a special subject matter, such as nan goldin. none of these people are defined by the camera they use they are defined by what they bring to the use of the camera. they bring their eye for what is interesting for what is art.
tillsman just seems to take snaps - not even photos. they just seem to be things that most of us would take to boots on a roll of happy snaps, flick through them once and then move on. not have them displayed in a gallery for everyone to see.
true the art that is displayed on the ground floor is impressive and enjoyable being as it is mainly black spaces that are broken up by "stress" lines that appear in the images. they appealed to me.
the work that is upstairs bored me rigid, all of it was displayed on purposed built tables, all with perspex tops, which meant that the overhead lights ended up obscuring some of the image: no loss really. none of the images appealed, none seem to stretch the art, or question the art - other than saying "hey look i am getting paid a fortune for doing stuff you lot consign to the photo box in the junk room!".
the only images i liked were of a branch outside a window going from bearing fruit to being bare, a nice capturing of the seasons.
the only other thing of note was a blown up extract from an interview of norquist in newsweek where he describes americans as being people who do not want to be european and who have fought many wars to stay that way. and that those who wanted to remain european who were too lazy to move back were called canadians.....
all in all an exhibition that i would recommended you don't go to.

Friday, September 23, 2005

blurgh

for no real reason i feel shit.
feel all kinda blocked up and lethargic.
going for a curry and a coffee shortly - maybe that will perk me up.

or maybe i need a solid satidfying dump?

Thursday, September 22, 2005

noticed

today (while i was spending more money than i should have been) i noticed two things:
1] breasts are getting larger and more of them are on view. this is a good thing. (sorry emma).
2] policemen are getting younger. this is probably a good thing, except so many of them look like they have only just had their first shave and that just seems wrong.

review

i was going to review the all star batman and robin comic by frank miller and jim lee. on paper it is a project made in comic book heaven. both are stellar name creators. both have a history with batman. frank miller has just become nova hot property thanks to sin city.
to be honest i wasn't looking forward to it. i expected it to be more of the same as they had done in the past, but an uneasy alliance of miller's noir style with lee's hyper real art.
oh if that was the only problem with it.
rather than waste anyone's time talking about it: let me sum it up briefly. shite shite shite.

(better executed in terms of the writing and art was the latest issue of wolverine by mark millar and kaare andrews, but the premise was so whack that you spent most of it going what the fuck were they thinking when they did this. i don't know, i am not sure they know. and i am pretty sure the only reason it got printed (a bit like the all star batman and robin) is that millar is someone the companies do not want to piss off).

bring back stan is all i can say.

huzaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh

after much talking about it, after much cogitating, after much dithering and procrastinating i have finally done it.
i am now the proud owner of a nikon d70.
a big woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo for me.

have to admit there is something odd about buying something that expensive. i feel a bit deflated now. i guess i just don't get the whole shopping thing. at least not for big items.
tomorrow when my copy of essential ghost rider and my 3 new corgi batmobiles turn up i will be as happy as a pig in shit. these are small knickknacks bought for fun, and like a kid at christmas i will get excited about them.
(hell the batmobiles are even making me think it is time to dust down the mantelpiece and change the items that are on there - something that has not been done in at least 5 years - quentin crisp eat your heart out (except in him it's eccentric behaviour in me just plain messy laziness, not that i am arguing...)

anyway dear reader i have the camera, you can look out for lots of doom and gloomy pictures to appear on here now (hah hah paul you thought you had escaped that - but no!!!!)

now i can just think of the next big purchase i am going to make.
the apple ibook. that should be next month....

coffee






i drink a lot of coffee. probably far too much.
i love it, i need it, i crave it. hell i am addicted to the stuff.
i drink a lot of it in coffee@ in brick lane.
here is a moody, arty picture of the place i drink.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

25

is the bus that controls my life.
it gets me to work.
it gets me into the west end.
it gets me home.
i have a love hate relationship with it - it is a necessary evil that never does quite what i want it to.

but ah the magic has returned.
college has started up and qmc's union bar is open again.
what on earth does that have to do with buses you say.
hunnies and hotties i say!
oh yes the lovely ladies of qmc board the 25 to go to the union bar, and what a gorgeous lot they are. i never know quite where to look.

have already fallen in lust with a liverpudlian who is a short, cuddly version of lucy (xena) lawless crossed with bettie page. stunning. she is my diva of the 25, long may she ride it. (the bus that is.)