Shane Meadows This is England’88 finished last night and although it was a pretty bleak Christmas for most involved there was a little hope in the end.
Joseph Gilgun’s performance as Woody in this has been nothing but superb, his transition from friendly Christmas hello’s to distraught when he heard about Lol’s overdose was amazing stuff. I’ve loved watching him in Misfits too as the replacement for Robert Sheehan’s Nathan. In that he’s had the best lines of the season, he’s also been in Emmerdale but being soap free household my view of him hasn’t been tainted by that. Vicky Mclure won a Bafta last time for her performance as Lol and reprises her role this time trying to come to terms with her actions from the last series.
There wasn’t as much room for light relief in this 3 part Christmas special and I kind of missed the antics of Gadget and gang from the last time round but the focus was more on the aftermath of the last series. A brief appearance from Combo in prison serving time for killing Lol’s Dad was touching and seemed strange as Stephen Graham is now better known as Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire. Better get used to those bars kid.
80’s nostalgia spot- Vosene Shampoo (do they still make it?)
80’s error?-I’m sure they had a fibre optic xmas tree in the window of the posh house Shaun went to. I’m pretty sure I didn’t see any of those in 1988.
Just returned to my blog after a few months absence. I just went through a phase of not really wanting to keep it up to date, being a bit on the busy side and completely forgetting my admin password. I've decided to resurrect it and keep it up to date. More boring text to follow.
Congratulations to the people of Egypt. I've been watching the events unfold over the last 18 days with a sense of watching history unfold. In 2011 news of what is happening on the ground is no longer confined to biased news reporting or guarded western self interests. A true picture of events can be seen thanks to social media, people filming and modern communications. As for TV news, Al Jazeeras coverage has been second to none and I hope it keeps the extra UK viewers it has gained. Not because I believe that their coverage has any less of an agenda but because they often give a different view from the increasingly irrelevant BBC news, BIG LETTERS FOR THICK PEOPLE ITV NEWS and Murdoch's voice of Sky.
Also I think this image should be used in schools across the world(especially the USA) to demonstrate religious tolerance. I no more believe in a God than I believe that the current Government will lead us to a better and brighter future but I respect your right to believe that the earth is 4 thousand years old and a man in the sky created it. The fact that the need to kill and maim over centuries due to an inability to agree the details amongst yourselves completely baffles me. It is this image of Christians protecting Muslims whilst they praying that gives me hope that one day you might agree to disagree.
I am a reluctant Sky subscriber. There, I've said it. I am in constant torment over my families Sky subscription as I do not want to line the pockets of the Murdoch Empire. I will admit though that this self righteousness is not as overpowering as the sheer amount of moaning I am subjected to if Spongebob Square-pants and MTV is not available as a choice. Me, I could always take it or leave it and the expense of Sky was next on the chopping block as soon as the contract is up.
Things have changed though, I have found it difficult not to get excited about the new Sky channel, Sky Atlantic HD for the terrestrial people out there. How can I not get excited, their deal with HBO brings all the programmes that we have normally had to wait months for or go searching on the Torrent sites with increasingly dodgy adverts on (Yes I am aware that research shows busty Russian girls are attracted to western men, especially from Glossop). Mad Men, The Wire, Six feet under, Treme, The Soprano's, Battlestar Galactica. The list goes on, they are even showing the X files from the beginning which I am determined to make time for.
The main attraction and selling point has been the premiere of HBO's multi million pound series Boardwalk Empire. I watched this on the launch night and found it to be everything that it had hyped up to be by critics on it's release it the states. Serious stuff with a great turn by Steve Buscemi and a shock (for me) appearance of Combo from This is England as a young Al Capone.
This momentous small screen piece was followed by what I can only assume was made as a dare. Blue Bloods focuses on an unfeasibly cop orientated family that crams in as many cop cliches as is possible in a hours worth of television.
Dead Cop Brother. Check Scenes in dress uniform. Check Girlfriend disapproving of cops choice to join the force. Check Missing child. Check Race against time due to child's illness. Check Hard cop breaking the rules to save the missing child. Check Morally justifiable police brutality. Check Relative is the DA. Check Retired Grandpa Cop. Check Moral dilemma by young cop to betray crooked cop. Check Tom Selleck's Moustache. Check
Now I may be being a bit mean to this so I'll watch it again next week. The shots of New York were great and the return of Tom Selleck's moustache to television may not bring about world peace but it does brings us a little bit closer.
If he wears a Hawaiian shirt next week I'll buy the DVD.
When we have children we have a specific idea of how we want them to be and behave when they grow up. In my case, one of the most important thing for me is that my kids grow up with decent musical taste, I couldn't stand it if they didn't. I couldn't face it if my children had the Tesco taste of the average Briton. To this end I have always attempted a subliminal strategy when introducing my kids to music. I never blocked the S Club or Britney phase but i did try and introduce slowly some decent taste into my daughter and later my son. For example she loved the Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, so much so that she accompanied me to see the Lips on the Yoshimi tour at the Manchester Apollo. I don't think I need to tell people how spiritual an experience seeing the Lips live can be and I am pleased that She keeps the t shirt from the show .
At least she can have the rare opportunity to have a cool first gig, Most have a really shit embarrassing first gig, either that or they are lying. My fist gig was Transvision Vamp at the Manchester Apollo,I think we''ll leave it a t that. We have all met someone who says there first gig was the Smiths or The Stone Roses at Blackpool. Lying Bastards all of them.
So i did the best I could to ensure she had a good start in musical life. She has repaid that great start with a penchant towards mediocre, laughably dull American pop punk bands.
I should have seen it several years ago, that uncomfortable day when my 10 year old little girl brought her pop girl magazine or whatever it was called home and on the cover was Green day. What the fuck are they doing on the cover of a child's pop magazine, they are the same age as me, it was just weird. I did have a grudging respect for the band that appeared to be the only band who had released an anti Bush statement in the American Idiot album but I struggled to keep a place for that as they just got bigger and bigger.
Music is historically the way teens rebel, from Rock n roll, Teddy Boys, Mods, Rockers straight through to punk, Goths and Rave. That's just how it happens, the trouble is that when you are into music and its usually you who introduces your teen to a new band or scene how are they going to rebel? I rebelled when I was young with Thrash metal and loud punk, lots of swearing and angry lyrics. I always thought I was so cool but in reality my Mum enjoyed some of the bands I used to blare out.
My teen is rebelling with crap music. Safe American pop punk. Her favourite band is All Time Low. She has attempted on many occasions to try and get me to listen to them and I know that deep down she just want smy approval but the snob in me can't give it. They arouse no feelings at all. No hate, no love, no feeling at all and sometimes that is worse, just Meh. I know that the right thing to do is just say "oh yes love, they are pretty good, can I lend the album?" but I can't. She might tell someone that her Dad likes them.
Go on I dare you
Critical acclaim for All Time Low:
"OMG!! JACK is soooo hot!<3 i like thi? s version better!!" - darksunshine1995
"I <3 Jack n Alex!!!!! <3 they r? sooo cute" - OneHotAngel19
"alex and jack are fucking? sexy! i love this band!!" - iluvyou1998ily
I finally got around to reading "Do androids dream of Electric Sheep" by Philip K Dick this week. the book had long been on my meaning to read list but factors including apathy and the fact I'd not chanced upon it second-hand meant it has remained unread since I first watched Blade Runner in the Eighties. The reason I have finally got around to it is the life changing habit of now having e-books on my Iphone to be able to read. Something I didn't really think I'd take to but the convenience of having the book you are reading with you constantly is fantastic. I have ditched Ibooks and started to use the Stanza app.
Do Androids dream of electric sheep is a 1968 scifi novel that was filmed as Blade Runner in 1982. It is officially described as the inspiration for the movie and not a direct depiction. it is hard reading a story that is the basis for a film that you are already very familiar with. You can't help making plot assumptions, comparisons and may even eventually leave it unfinished as the familiarity destroys the entertainment. This was a great surprise though should have read it years ago.
The plot is based around a bounty hunter who hunts androids, retiring them (killing) at the behest of the San Francisco police department. The novel is set in 1992 (although in later adaptions this is moved further into the future) after the great world War Terminus which has blocked out the sun and the stars and left the Earth a cold dead place covered in deadly fallout dust that has killed almost all animal life. Humanity is divided into those who emigrate to the colonies of other planets, those who stay and the specials who have been effected so badly by the radioactive dust that they are classed as a sub species. Our hero Deckhard, however is not the ruggedly handsome Harrison Ford coolly eating Chinese food from a zeppelin type Chinese take away but an insecure over burdened regular guy with a artificial mood enhancer that he dials into just to make it through the day. He is married to Iran who uses the mood enhancer to dial into despair so she can feel something. The mood enhancer is one of my favourite parts of the book. If you don't feel like dialling in a feeling you can dial in number 3, 3 is the setting which makes you feel like dialling in a feeling. Perfect.
The owning of an animal is the ultimate status symbol, keeping them on the rooftops of their apartment building they are the ultimate symbol of empathy and empathy is the ultimate symbol humanity. This to me was the most interesting part of the book. Deckhard's animal, a sheep had died a year before of disease. He had replaced the animal with an electric sheep which he still resentfully cared for daily as if it were real rather than face the shame of everyone knowing it was electric.
Lower than the specials on the pecking order are the androids, these are common on the colonies even given away free to emigrating humans but are illegal on Earth. Androids that kill their owners and return to Earth are hunted down. Which is what Deckhard does for a living. The plot follows him as he tracks 6 of the latest models the Nexus-6 that have taken up refuge in the San Francisco area as well as John Isidore a special who lives alone in an abandoned building who befriends the androids hiding there.
I loved the whole story and I won't give away the ending even for those who saw the film. I'm checking out Ubik next.
We were at the eels gig on Saturday night at the Manchester academy. A fine gig I might add with E and the band in fine form. We did however, experience one of the many things that irritate me at gigs. There are a lot of things that irritate at gigs and I assume these are general gripes such as tall people standing in front of you, sweaty people touching you, over priced band merchandise and Scandinavian prices for beer. These are part and parcel of the gig going experience.
One thing that is getting more irritating as I get older though is talking at gigs. I don't mean shouting in-between songs or even saying something to your mates. I mean stood there chatting like you're in the pub completely oblivious to the fact there is a hush over the crowd as a softly played song is performed. If your disinterested in the artist then fuck off to the bar.
Seriously, it's not cheap to see a band live these days and that is one of the consequences of downloading music, legal or otherwise. In the twenty first century it is the touring which makes the artist the money and I accept that.
Eels tickets were I think £20 each plus booking fee(another rant for another day) so almost £50 for the two of us. That's a lot of money. If you paid that to go to the theatre you wouldn't stand some fucking moron behind you talking throughout. So why do we put up with it at gigs. Who are these people?
Maybe I'm noticing it more as I'm getting older and the bands I am going to see are quieter. In 1992 I saw napalm death, in 2010 I saw the low anthem, who it has to be said had an impeccably behaved crowd. You could hear a pin drop. There isn't this problem at classical concerts. You have paid to hear someone perform, let them perform and listen to the music. I'm pretty sure Damien Rice stopped a gig once because people were talking. Now I'm not a big fan of his music but I can understand his frustration, he pays a lot of attention to detail and his songs are quite emotional. If all he can hear is some berk going on about the mpg of his new Beemer you'd get frustrated.
I recently got the new big star box set and on the last disc there is a live concert recorded from around 1974/5 in the background you can hear people talking. All the way through, completely disinterested in this legendary band performing. So it's not a new thing, just something I don't think we need to put up with.
Eels last Saturday night, I didn't film this by the way.
Thought that I would point everyone in the direction of a piece by Joe Sacco in todays Guardian. A tale of African refugees in Malta, a frank and honest piece. I love Joe Sacco's work, my favourite is Palestine which I thought was fantastic. Have read of his latest and then search out more:
I have inherited an iPhone 3G after Shelley obtained the fried gold which is the iPhone 4 this week. I can even post to my blog via my phone which is a vast technological leap forward for me as up to recently my phone was over 4 years old. Testing out the blogging app by uploading a pic of me this week as I inadvertently took a White shirt and red tie to work. It took me ages to realise I looked like Shaun from shaun o the dead. I didn't however have red on me.
The World Cup is almost upon us and although I have let the football bug slip for the last few years mainly due to a disgust about the amount of money involved I am looking forward to watching the tournament. There always seems to be an increase in nationalism and patriotism when the world cup is on, an exaggerated sense of rivalry that is all part of the tournament. This year however there seems to be more than the average xenophobia kicking in and plain outright racism through the media and facebook groups. I'd been struck recently by the amount of acquaintances on facebook who had been inviting me to such groups like "they don't like our flags but they like our benefits". First I was struck by the fact that they had invited me to an "I'm not racist but..." group that they probably didn't know me very well and that I really need to distance myself from some people. I never really thought much else about it until I spotted this in the paper.
This story struck me last week. It was in the Daily Mail although I'll admit to not reading it there but repeated in the equally awful Metro paper which was sitting in the canteen. I read the piece about a woman and her Toddler wearing an England shirt who was accosted by the bus driver with an Eastern European accent who said he found the shirt offensive. Apparently his exact words were "I find that really offensive. You should dress your family in less offensive clothes." Because that's how evil Eastern European bus drivers speak. I read it and thought, that didn't happen, she has just made that up, I genuinely couldn't believe that they had printed that as a story. Today I found the investigation by the bus company and they have released a statement:
It didn't happen! When I read it I knew it didn't happen but thick fucks will read that and believe it as can be seen by the comments on the piece. The worst that could have happened is that the evil Eastern European bus driver made a joke that was lost on its recipient(not sure how that could happen she looks pretty sharp). What galls me is the media is actively encouraging hatred towards immigrants and is in reality inciting racial hatred. Why is it they can get away with printing this shit and not have to prove the story was true.
There is no ban on England flags to get all riled up about, call it a hoax campaign or even moral panic if you like, created by the right wing media to promote the sale of papers and to incite hatred in order to sell more papers with stories that incite hatred, and so on and so on. Also I spent a long time watching football and in all the home games and away games I went to in 15 years I was never allowed to wear a football shirt in a pub and that wasn't the fault of evil Eastern European Bus drivers. It was because of all the fighting between rival supporters.
I was riding home the long way through Broadbottom and Charlesworth which is mostly up hill but on a day like this was worth the extra effort. I was just cruising down past Hargate Hill when I thought that days like these made it worth it. Worth riding in the rain, sleet and hail. Worth all the drivers who try and intentionally kill you and the negligent motorway maintenance trucks that always misjudge the size of the wagons and clip your elbow as they pass you. The kids that throw bricks, sticks and spit at you. Its all worth it on a day like today, the sun shining, nice breeze as you pass through the Glossop countryside heading home on May day.
Then some knobhead flew out of the Gamesley estate in his Fiesta beeped at his mate in the pub and nearly knocked me off. Back to reality.
An email from my Mum at Chethams School of music has pointed me in the direction of this poll to find out Manchesters favourite song of the last 5o years. The winning song will be put in a time capsule on the new building. Unfortunately I couldn't get any one to guarantee that if I voted for the M people that all copies of the song would be buried in the ground never to be heard again so I voted for Joy Division.
Wow. What a week it's been. I have to admit that this is the most interested I have been in a General Election since I was entitled to vote. I make no secret of my alliances and the fact I've been actively campaigning in High Peak for the Greens has been an experience. I attended my first election count last week and it was a genuine event. We had Tory winner, and sour grapes from the Labour party. We got 2% which although not fantastic was a great start for a new local party. The tactical voting and Cleggmania which has supposedly gripped the nation in the run up to the election never really materialised. The country wanting change never really happened and basically two thirds of the country voted for the two old parties. They didn't really want change, they just mostly want cheaper petrol.
One fantastic result was the first Green MP in Caroline Lucas for Brighton Pavillion and I think we can all thank the good people of Brighton for showing how demanding change and then delivering it is done. I truly believe that one Green MP will make a huge difference.
HUNG PARLIAMENT!
If the scaremongering by the right wing press is to be believed we will be heading towards a Mad Max style breakdown of society by the end of the week if Cameron is not in power. With Sky News reporting that the public are losing patience with the negotiations and are demanding a decision. I'm not losing patience, are you? I am finding the wining and dining of Nick Clegg rather amusing, so far he has got the resignation of Gordon Brown, a promised referendum on the Alternative Vote, tax concessions for earners under £10K and some cabinet seats. All he is waiting for now is once a week with Samantha Cameron and use of the comfy swivel chair at meetings and it'll be a done deal.
Do you ever have one of those days at work where you just have that much to do that your brain shuts down and you end up spending half an hour completing a Zombie attack survival check sheet. I should know better.
If you are looking for a single reason to challenge the current political system in this country then you only have to look at the way the Digital Economy bill was passed through parliament last night. This is a piece of legislation which takes away your right to be innocent until proven guilty if your internet connection is suspected of being used for file sharing. It will now be our responsibility to prove we weren’t. This leaves us all at the mercy of the entertainment industries legal representatives when they decide to accuse us of infringement. I couldn’t afford thousands of pounds worth of legal fees and I doubt many people could and will be forced to pay them the nominal fees they ask for. There is also the fact that the woolly wording of the bill also leaves the opportunity to block websites which may have intent to supply illegal material. Sounds good a t first but then you realise that could be anything from Google and Youtube to whistleblowing sites such as wikileaks. In fact anything the Government feels is detrimental to the Government, maybe they could borrow the software from China.
So far, so annoyed. They also snuck in there the small fact that the analogue radio signal will be turned off thus rendering 100 million radios useless and everyone requiring a much more energy intensive digital DAB radio.
How was this passed you ask? It was passed at 2330 on a Wednesday night in front of around 50 MPs who debated the merits and twice as many sat in the bar until it came time for them to put down their G and T’s and go in and vote for the party line. Our elected representatives working hard for us once again, even after 20,000 people felt aggrieved enough to write to their MP’s about the bill. This is why our electoral system is broken.
When you vote in four weeks time remember how little the three main parties represent the general public and much they favour their business partners and sponsors.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Democracy in action"][/caption]
Yes I know there are more important things going on in the word than the closure of a digital only radio station that caters for a niche audience but I don't care it's my radio station. This is footage from the BBC Director General's appearance on Newsnight where he was savaged by Jeremy Paxman, who I have to say has balls of steel to make his boss look like a twat on national television. This footage has been cut together with footage from the Thick of it by some clever bastard.
This on I love as Adam Buxton (of Adam and Joe fame) offers the director General out for a fight on Channel 4 news.
Call me cynical but as the BBC 6 music/Asian Network radio station closures have panned out this week I have a nagging feeling that I am being used. The leaking of the news that 6 music was to close on Friday was the kick start to a massive campaign by a very vocal 6 music listening community. There are around 600,000 listeners per week to the digital station that has finally given a modern music appreciating audience a medium that they hold dear and will defend. You only have to see how much of a stink was kicked up when someone decided that Georg Lamb would be a good idea on the station. There is also a fair amount of presenters/guest presenters and bands that are being very criticising of the BBC for axing 6 music.
Now I'm not one for conspiracy theories and I'm not going to go all David Icke on you but hear me out. I'm Mark Thompson and I need to trim some of my output because of a reactionary right wing press witch hunt to destroy the socialist nightmare that is the BBC and a Tory Government is just around the corner. I want to close a radio station that serves a minority audience but it will be a little bit tricky to pull off without compromising the public broadcasting remit that the BBC has to answer to. What can I do? I'll also announce the closure of another minority audience radio station one that has a similar number of listeners. Only this station has quite a passionate following and is used mainly by people of a certain age who would exploit all social networking tools and media to demand that their station remain open. There will be a massive backlash across all the news outlets and the BBC trust will have no option other than to reverse the decision. 6 Music will stay open and may even gain some more listeners who will tune in to hear what the fuss is about. In the mean time my original target will close and Asian network will be no more.
Just a prediction. Hope I'm wrong and they both manage to stay open. I don't listen to Asian Network but I have no doubt that the people who do love it as much as we love 6 music. The BBC is meant to cater for minority audiences in a way that commercial television and radio doesn't. If that means people who listen to bhangra or a John Peel Beta Band session from 1998 we aren't going to find it on radio 1/2 or any of the commercial station sin between 'go compare' and 'we buy any car' adverts. Thats why we pay the TV licence.
In the oft misquoted words of Voltaire "I don't agree with that Pap your watching on BBC3 but I'll defend to the death your right to watch it"
I have always been a defender of the BBC. I admit that I do not watch or listen ot a lot of its output, especially that aimed at the teh majority market, soap operas, dancing programmes, etc. I do enjoy the fringe output that the BBC produces the latest gem is that of Charlie Brookers Newswipe programme which I don't feel could have been made anywhere else but the BBC. Stewart Lees comedy Vehicle last year was my favourite programme. I don't really find the appeal of anything that is broadcast on BBC 3 but hey ho each to their own. Apparently not though as rumours are abound today that the radio stations 6 music and Asian Network are to be axed. I don't listen to Asian Network so I can't comment but the axing of 6 music using the argument that the commercial sector should provide this kind of output is just outrageous. Yes it wen through a rough patch when George Lamb was on in the morning but those dark days are over and the station is a pleasure to listen to the majority of the time and provides a service that is not available anywhere else on that medium. There is no national radio station for serious music fans that wish to escape the dross that is current popular music. Except 6music. It will be a disgrace if this is axed. They wouldn't dream of axing radio 3 and if Radio 3 was a digital only station it would have similar listening figures. SAVE 6 MUSIC
