Always. Come up with something original! (I blame Kurt Schwitters, T.S. Eliot etc….)

Walking through the UCLA campus one lunchtime, I heard the unmistakable (if slightly misguided) strains of Dread Zeppelin blasting out near the student union shop. I’m sure AW folk will remember DZ – they played […]

I’ve skied the Lauberhorn at Wengen and the Hahnenkamm at Kitzbuhel (although the famous drop on the former (the hundschopf) was closed to preserve it prior to the race). I took my time…

Thanks Lunaman, I bought it yesterday and am already over a third of the way through. It could have done with better proof-reading and fact checking, which undermines my confidence in the accuracy of the story, […]

Thank you!

Na na, hey, hey, kiss him Goodbye Mr. Chips
The House of the Rising Sun also Rises
This is the Sea The Sea The Sea
Sweet Child o’ Mein Kampf

The Colour Purple Rain
The Power of Love in the Time of Cholera
Decline and Fall at your Feet

Since you’ve been Gone with the Wind
My brother Jake’s Thing
Bleak Housequake
Last Exit to Brooklyn owes the Charmer under Me
Birdsong for my Father

I have now! Thanks.

I watched quite a bit of this year’s Glastonbury and was underwhelmed by most of it – except for Sharon Van Etten, who was mostly outstanding. I saw her in a Big Star tribute event at the Barbican a few years ago […]

And the count in. And the “hello, hello” bit and the video itself. The “feee- eeel” bit is good, but it doesn’t really stand out. This may be the last U2 song that leapt out of the speakers.

Really? I vaguely remember the TV series, watching some of it because I loved the novel. Wasn’t it a sci-fi / future dystopia thing? Whereas V (the novel) ranged from 50s New York to South-West Africa in the early […]

I think there was a mention of Thomas Pynchon’s V in a review of Station to Station. I’ve read it twice, although the last time was over 30 years ago! I may re-read it. V led to The Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity’s […]

And isn’t the title “Da ya think I’m sexy?”? Who says “da ya”?

I like andouillette and usually have it when I am in France. It’s a strongly flavoured, loosely constructed sausage. But you need lots of (Dijon) mustard, a hearty red wine and – ideally – a dining companion who […]

Family and friends excepted:

Jeff Buckley
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Ayrton Senna

I remember “Swoon” as being pretty good and based on the Leopold and Loeb case. Although given the thread that inspired this one, maybe it’s another that might not stand up! Incidentally, I once briefly met Armand […]

I really enjoyed Beulah and although this one is not quite as impressive, it’s a pretty good album and I’ll continue to follow his career. Whereas Beulah was fuelled by the breakup of the Civil Wars – and several […]

You took the words right out of my mouth. (Also not the correct answer).

Might it be from “Being Dead” by Jim Crace? I read it when it came out and this passage did ring a vague bell.