We have a posh bin. Our bin is so posh that the bin liners come printed with “Ich bin ein binliner.”

What’s posh about you?

Anybody had any success recovering an accidentally deleted file?

I’ve mistakenly dumped an audio file from an Olympus digital voice recorder and I could REALLY do with that sucker back. I’m prepared to pay for a bit of software that works but there’s a bewildering array online. (Technical note: It connects to my Mac via USB.)

The first episode of Preacher was on BBC Two the other night. Did anybody else see it? Like most people I read the comics back in the day, but you know how it is: I loved them so much at the time I’d no doubt think they were dead lame now. So I haven’t gone back. Even so, I was interested to see the show, which I thought was…

Really good!

For anybody not familiar with the plot of Preacher, it’s about a Preacher. To say much more would be to give shit away, and besides the first episode (sorry, ‘pilot’) didn’t go much further than that anyway. Okay, it goes a bit further. There’s this Preacher (Dominic Cooper) suffering a crisis of conscience which has in turn precipitated a crisis of faith. Or it might be the other way around. He has an ex-girlfriend, Tulip (alert: best character in the show) who is a kickass assassin. Maybe he used to be an assassin too. I don’t remember that from the comics (just his terrible haircut and constant smoking), and the pilot didn’t make it totally clear.

ANYWAY. So there’s those two, plus an Irish vampire guy played by » Continue Reading.

Here’s the deal, AW headz. You get ONE choice. Just one. Your favourite hip hop track of all time. If someone else has already picked it, move on to your second favourite. I’ll start below, with a bona fide, nailed-on classic of the genre.

Hello! My son had an iPad for Christmas and I back it up to my iMac. However, on the last occasion I did it, it plonked his songs onto my iTunes. Does anyone have an idea how I can stop this happening. None of the settings seem to help.

I’m really enjoying the new James album so I thought it might be time for an all-time favourite James song thread. There’s an incredible back catalogue to draw from, but I think this one just pips it for me. (It’s in the comments)

Take a mouthful of fizzy pop and try to watch this NSFW video without spitting it out.

Excited by the recent podcast on the mighty Fall from the long, long days, I’ve been giving some thought to the band’s ‘imperial’ period. To help us decide, here’s a list of their studio albums….

Live at the Witch Trials (1979) Dragnet (1979) Grotesque (1980) Hex Enduction Hour (1982) Room to Live (1982) Perverted by Language (1983) The Wonderful and Frightening World Of… (1984) This Nation’s Saving Grace (1985) Bend Sinister (1986) The Frenz Experiment (1988) I Am Kurious Oranj (1988) Extricate (1990) Shift-Work (1991) Code: Selfish (1992) The Infotainment Scan (1993) Middle Class Revolt (1994) Cerebral Caustic (1995) The Light User Syndrome (1996) Levitate (1997) The Marshall Suite (1999) The Unutterable (2000) Are You Are Missing Winner (2001) The Real New Fall LP (2003) Fall Heads Roll (2005) Reformation Post TLC (2007) Imperial Wax Solvent (2008) Your Future Our Clutter (2010) Ersatz GB (2011) Re-Mit (2013) Sub-Lingual Tablet (2015)

My question to you, Fall fans, is when you think their imperial period began, and when did it end?

Me, I think it spans the era of Dragnet (1979), which is when they left behind punk leanings and really established their eldritch sound, to The Infotainment Scan (1993), possibly » Continue Reading.

Mine. Manic Street Preachers. Reason: ex. Nuff said.

Yours?

I read this article, and agreed with it.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2016/mar/14/chris-evans-top-gear-cenotaph-driving-stunt-matt-leblanc-apology

But then I read this comment and agreed with that, too, and now I’m confused.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2016/mar/14/chris-evans-top-gear-cenotaph-driving-stunt-matt-leblanc-apology#comment-70602563

Can somebody tell me my opinion, please?

As we all know, Klaus Schulze & Pete Namlook’s The Dark Side Of The Moog albums tend to fetch a pretty penny. Lucky, then, that they’re being reissued in reasonably priced boxes. The first (volumes 1-4) is out now, the second to come next month. The first box also includes The Evolution Of The Dark Side Of The Moog.

Lovely, floatation-tank music and a good investment into the bargain, if you ask me.

You’ve got to feel sorry for Kanye here. After all, what does Bob Ezrin know about Hip Hop?

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/24/kanye-west-tells-producer-bob-ezrin-never-speak-in-public-again?CMP=twt_a-music_b-gdnmusic

Having just finished Jon Ronson’s excellent book, ‘So! You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, Huh?’ I’m all over this latest Stephen Fry Twitterstorm story like a rash.

One of the many points Ronson makes in his book is that it’s often those who allow themselves to be cowed by the outrage crew who suffer most. A figure like Max Moseley, he argues, simply didn’t feel shame and therefore emerged unscathed from his shaming episode. “As soon as the victim steps out of the pact by refusing to feel ashamed,” says Max in the book, “the whole thing crumbles.”

Which brings me to Stephen Fry, who last night told an outrageous joke likening a BAFTA-award winner to a bag lady. The subsequent outcry is such that he’s deleted his Twitter account.

Now, disregarding the fact that he’s often flouncing off Twitter, it’s clear that Fry is upset by the reaction, when — if you ask me — he shouldn’t be. Because surely if you tell an outrageous joke, part of the effect is the outrage? Fry has the safety net of being personally acquainted with the target of the gag, with whom it’s a bit of bantz, so he can rest » Continue Reading.

Ever since seeing this bit in The Trip, (link below), I’ve become somewhat obsessed with spotting actors who do ‘a thing’. That is, a tic, an expression, a look, a trait, or a bit of business that he actor *always* does, whatever the part.

In The Trip they talk about Richard Gere’s habit of interrupting a line of dialogue with a stare off into the middle distance, and that’s a great spot. Off the top of my head there’s James Caan’s eyebrows in sad apology, Tom Cruise’s smile, Gene Hackman’s raspy, rat-a-tat conviction, the chewy thing De Niro does with his mouth, the fact that Peter Cushing is always doing something with his hands. I’m even tinkering with the idea that an actor *needs* ‘a thing’ in order to stand out; that without ‘a thing’ they can’t become a star, because it’s what implants them in the minds of agents, directors and the public. Having said that there are certain actors for whom I can’t identify ‘a thing’. Di Caprio, for instance, though maybe he does have one, and it’s just a bit more subliminal.

So over to you. I’d really like your thoughts on actors who do » Continue Reading.

Perhaps a place for general obits and RIPs?

Anyway, RIP Dale Griffin.

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/14212483.Mott_The_Hoople_drummer_Dale__Buffin__Griffin_dies_at_67/

Okay, so here are the rules. You get to pick the three things from different disciplines that everybody else hates but you like — and you have to genuinely like them, not in an ironic way. I’ll start with three of mine.

1. Sigue Sigue Sputnik 2. Michael Bay 3. Seafood sticks

Your turn

I wouldn’t. Despite family members telling me I should go on it because I ‘know so much about music’ I’m well aware that I’d crash and burn on Popmaster.

What about you?

(And do have any past contestants on board?)

Hurrah! As if a whole CD of unreleased material on the Second Toughest remaster wasn’t enough, we now have…

http://www.underworldlive.com/news/2015/11/shiningfuture/

I thought I might enliven early evening with a fiendlishly hard 007 knowledge test. One question at a time. Fastest fingers win. First question at 18.25pm.