Here's my somewhat ridiculously overdue Top Ten Films of 2008, the disappointing sequel to Top Ten Films of 2007. To make up for my tardiness, each one comes with a lovingly hand-crafted haiku summary. I thought the haiku was an original touch, until I realised that sites like this have been doing this sort of thing for ages.Never mind, eh?10. Hellboy 2: The Golden ArmyStateside GuillermoBut Hellboy goes to UlsterRed Right Hand, indeed...9. The OrphanageTwisty Spanish yarnWith a very sad middleBehold the sack mask!(Thanks to Clare for that one!)8. Burn After ReadingCoen's strike againDumb idiots hatch dumb plotIt's sadistic fun!7. [...]
The funniest thing I read today appeared in an article about 80s Anti-Thatch pop in this month's Uncut: It's 1980, and The Beat are scheduled to play "Stand Down Margaret" on the early evening kids' TV show, Cheggers Plays Pop. "We had to get the song on by stealth," laughs lead singer Dave Wakeling. "Our genial old Jamaican saxophonist, Saxa, explained to presenter Keith Chegwin that The Stand Down Margaret was an old Caribbean dance. 'Come now, Cheggers,' he was saying. 'Let me show you how to dance The Stand Down Margaret...' and he invents some ridiculous little dance routine. [...]
Le 11 novembre 2008 Clare et moi avons passé plusieurs heures circumnavigating la ville de Birmingham sur l'autobus du numéro 11. C'était idée de limites de Jon Bounds de 'Birmingham: n'est pas Merde.' We're still on the number 11 bus, we're still in Perry Barr and we're now passing the Crown and Cushion pub. There's been a Crown and Cushion standing at the corner of Wellington Road and Birchfield Road for as long as I remember, although it hasn't always been this Crown and Cushion.The current incumbent is a fairly modern-looking, functional affair that, by my somewhat unreliable estimation, was [...]
I wouldn't normally do this sort of thing, but this evening I've been reading The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover by the country singer, humourist, crime novelist, politician and self-appointed cigar czar Kinky Friedman and I just had to share the following gem: 'It is a rather tedious fact of life that most of us who are confined to the human condition spend a great deal of time wanting to be something we're not. Or someone we're not. The proctologist, scrupulously washing his hands before and after each patient, dreams of being Dr Albert Schweitzer. The rock star, [...]
Here's another pesky but obligatory year-end list for me to get out of my system: it's my Top 5 list of the gigs I really would have liked to have gone to in 2008 but for one reason or another didn't.I'm sure I can come up with something snappier than that.5. Public Enemy, Custard Factory, Birmingham. I mentioned this during one of my 11-11-11 write-ups, but sort of subsequently forgot about it. I'm sure it would have been fun.4. Band of Horses, Birmingham Academy. Clare bought us a pair of tickets, there was a mix up over the dates and [...]
