Musings on the byways of popular culture
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….as bum reviews go, it’s a step up from Greil Marcus’s “What is this shit?”
There’s something satisfying about reading a review which is a proper drubbing, and there can’t be many people more deserving of one than the preternaturally talentless comedy racist Leigh Francis.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/mar/11/leigh-francis-review-london-palladium
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You Me At Six are to split after twenty years.
I have a question:
WHO THE FUCK ARE THEY??
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We’ve all been to gigs where we’re waiting around like Vladimir and Estragon and the main “turn” doesn’t deign to actually crack the boards until well beyond the witching hour. Finally some punters have cracked and said enough.
thoughts?
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We now have 1000 Afterworders.
If course I know this isn’t a thousand actual people – many have left, some sadly never to return. But I remember it being a big deal when we got up to 666 members – presumably on account of all the Maiden fans on here – but that now seems like a dot on the horizon.
Who are all these people?
Stand and unfold yourself!
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Forewarned is forearmed! Danny Dyer is marching back.
I freely admit I am posting this because I think that the headline is one for the ages.
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… apparently it happened.
Something is happening and you don’t know what it is, do you Kilgore Trout?
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Obituary
83. Ohhhh Thelma….
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Obituary
70 – this one’s a shock. I found him to be one of the few honourable people in British public life in the last 20 years.
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Rapper Young Thug’s racketeering trial has begun with Georgia prosecutors accusing him of being a gang leader in charge of a “wolf pack”.
The Atlanta rapper, born Jeffery Lamar Williams, is accused of co-founding a violent street gang in his hometown.
Prosecutors are using the critically acclaimed performer’s own lyrics as evidence against him. This strikes me as an extraordinary story. Where does it end? The Stone Roses’ Shoot You Down cited in a Gunchester trial? Donald Fagen nicked for the murder of Richard II in Pomfret Castle? Blondie arraigned at The Hague for violating the START treaty?
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Quite a sweet story about Pet Shop Boys. I’d forgotten that Janice Long is no longer with us, so it has that PSBian tinge of sadness. Bless her.
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From the BBC:
…an algorithm by Twitter is causing some issues for The Kinks. The band’s name is leading to all of its posts being flagged up as containing sensitive content. The band’s co-founder and guitarist, Dave Davies, has pleaded with the social platform’s owner, Elon Musk, to lift the warnings.
It’s an outrage. Now here’s a song about copping off with a tranny.
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Sturgeon has decided “That’s plenty”.
There are suggestions that she is the first major politician to become a casualty of the gender wars. Whatever, it’s a surprise. It’s comminly agreed that she could have been FM as long as she wanted.
I don’t really have any opinions on NS, except the fact that she’s both a woman and Scottish brings out the usual foam-flecked reaction from the usual types of Englishmen, but she’s clearly been a pretty big figure in UK politics over the last decade.
Thunks?
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Being a poncey arts graduate I know absolutely nothing. I tend to assume that people in charge of things do, mostly so that they can use that knowledge to shaft the rest of us. But no, public life is full of people pontificating about economics at a pub-bore/do-your-research level who are only really experts in pushing a certain agenda.
We had a Prime Minister for six years in David Cameron (allegedly a graduate in Politics, Philosophy and Ecomonics from “The Greatest Unbiversity In The World” ©) who did not know the difference between the national debt and the structural deficit. I very much doubt the two blonde PMs could either.
According to a new report, the reporting of economics is part of the problem. This stood out for me:
Confronted by a complex situation, with a limited understanding of the issues involved, one respondent to the review suggests that reporters rely on simplistic political narratives – party intrigue, or Westminster gossip; meanwhile, assumed authorities are deferred to for the actual economics.
This rings a bell. How much reporting of politics is about anything other than personalities and factions, essentially a soap opera with uglier characters?
And how » Continue Reading.
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….also, isn’t what constitutes “sex noises” somewhat subjective? I’ve listened to the clip but I can’t hear anyone opening a tin of swarfega.
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….as it failed to mark the centenary yesterday of Ivor Cutler.
Here’s my first experience of him – the Peel session 1979, including a version of the story Egg Meat. I was very young and it blew my mind. This guy was from another planet. The incredible stillness of his delivery with the haunting strangeness of the story itself – at once everyday and fantastical. In this story he’s a cross between Chic Murray and HP Lovecraft.
Memories of the great man here please – particularly if you saw or even met him.
But remember: “If your breasts are too big, you will fall over – unless you wear a rucksack”
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Very interesting little article about the making of the Wah! hit (the only one?) The Story of the Blues. I’ve always found Pete Wylie to be a bit of a pillock, but he’s still good copy.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/jan/02/seance-channel-john-lennon-wah-story-of-the-blues
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Two dudes can sue because their favourite star was in the trailer but not in the actual film.
Interesting precedent, and not just because it allows us to have a go at Richard Curtis films.
Bob Dylan doesn’t appear on Sgt Pepper despite being depicted on the sleeve.. *
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You’d think his famous run-in with the locals would have put Bob Dylan off Manchester for life, but apparently he’s a Corrie tragic.
Sad Eyed Lady of the Rovers etc
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Are you a fan? Probably not, you’re all too progressive* and cool. Personally I love it – yes, including turkey. I am the only person I know who actually likes turkey, and I’m actually quite sad when it’s finally finished about three days before Easter.
The thing about Christmas dinner itself is that, like the so-called Traditional English Breakfast, everyone has their own very fixed ideas about what it is and yet every few years something new gets added to it. I had no knowledge of the satirical penis-impersonation that is the pig in blanket before about 2000, and yet people go on about it as if it’s been part of Christmas since Joseph and Mary parked their saddle-sore arses in the stable.
Anyway this is inspired by this very entertaining endurance feat involving Christmas dinners: in spite of its justified reputation for po-faced finger-wagging, the Guardian does occasionally provide moments of fun.
I particularly like: “….you realise it’s served with mashed potato. This is such a heinous Christmas-dinner crime that (like William Wallace) whoever was responsible should be hauled to the Tower of London, stripped, tied to a hurdle, dragged through the streets by horses, hanged, drawn, quartered, » Continue Reading.
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Ah shit!!!
RIP. What a talent
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The bell-end’s bell end is at it again.
Yebbut he’s a genius and you should listen to his brilliant album Here’s My Big Cock, it’s a masterpiece etc.
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I almost feel sorry for Kwasi – his trip to the US (with presumably a begging bowl) cut short and back to London, a la Denis Healey returning from going to see the IMF in 1976. (If only, for all our sakes, this govt. was on such good terms with the IMF). Meantime, there’s a big picture of him on the front page of the Telegraph – The Telegraph – and the headline says “I’m not going anywhere”. Translation: don’t renew your Sky Plus subs for number 11, pal.
The Tories seem to be having a break from what they do best – convincing the electorate that they can run the economy – and are falling back on what they do second best: putting each others’ heads on spikes.
Still, at least the food banks are busy eh?
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I’m lookinng for advice on where to go next with the 3-CD Trojan box sets that appeared in the 90s and 00s. I’m aware that some are better than others, to say the least. Here’s what I already have:
Roots Dub & Dub 2 Rocksteady Jamaican R&B Lovers (not Lovers Rock) Tighten Up
….any other triple-decked whoppers I should try?
PS. “You must have them all” is not an acceptable answer. There are 69 of them.
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With most of Europe now drier than an Apostolic wedding do while water companies rake in billions and beaches are awash with shit, Feargal Sharkey writes this very timely piece. It’s the best thing to have been produced by any of the Undertones since Big Decision.
Smart boy Kevin, who probably works for someone like BP or News International, will not be bothered.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/20/water-company-ceos-industry-political-failure
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I like the new look. Very stylish, as Donald Sinden would have said.
