Sites I like
Have you been to The Island?
Had a bit of an outing yesterday, to Birmingham. Not sure when I was last there, but the Bullring's been re-vamped since then and it was well worth a visit. Winding through the rabbit warren of shops from New Street station and then finding our way outside to gawp at just how cool this part of the city centre looks now, my sister and I reached for our cameras and rattled off a few shots of the outside of Selfridges before heading back in for lunch.
Looking at this amazing Future Systems creation and the sprawling glass and metal structure of the shopping centre that it's attached to, one could imagine a swooping helicopter shot, swirling around us to reveal what was making us stare, open mouthed. Or perhaps I've watched one too many Micheal Bay movies... but at least it was a good one. Despite having a title straight out of a Simpsons episode and far too many big budget explosions, a great storyline and two fabulous leads made this one extremely enjoyable. It's just a shame we only got to see two Ewan McGregors in it rather than two Scarlet Johanssons as well. How great would that be?
Posted on August 28, 2005 | Comments (7)
Memory like a sieve
I got some photos back the other day, after the films had been sat a while waiting for processing, and thought I had the wrong set. "There's photos of a cat in here! I don't own a cat", I almost said to the guy behind the counter. Then I realised... I took these photos of my friend's cat in June. Damn this dreadful memory of mine.
In other news, it looks like Topper isn't alone in his hatred of the 'beautiful game' and its fans, after all. Football fans are idiots - it's official. Sort of.
UPDATE: On reading through that article, I can't believe that Aresnal charge £1,825 for a season ticket and Real Madrid just £200!
Posted on August 24, 2005 | Comments (2)
Mo Mowlam dies
"Renowned for her light-hearted disregard of formality, kicking off her shoes and chewing gum in meetings, she reputedly took her wig off to break tension in tense talks." I've always thought this country could do with a few more MPs like Mo Mowlam. Hopefully reading about her in the obituaries today will inspire a few more colourful characters to enter the world of politics.
Posted on August 19, 2005 | Comments (0)
Together We're Heavy
Went to see The Polyphonic Spree last night, and it was teh good. There were robes, town criers, climbing percussionists and happy songs. They even joined hands to weave their way through the audience, from the back of the hall, to take the stage for the encore. All 22 of them! For a more eloquent review, see Chris's site.
Just got Jamiroquai, Royksöpp, Joss Stone, Foo Fighters and Depeche Mode to go now before my gig marathon is over. Phew.
UPDATE: I've just read Zoe Williams' reply to Michael Buerk in today's Guardian, and had to share this quote with you. "Well, be fair, we needed our own products, because when we tried putting mascara on with a screwdriver, we only poked ourselves in the eye."
Posted on August 17, 2005 | Comments (1)
Weekend smiles
Why can't weekdays be as good as weekends? Whereas my Friday (and now my Monday) was spent on an uncomfortable chair in front of an old CRT monitor, trying to summon up enthusiasm for a mundane task, my Saturday was spent in Rags to Bitches, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges. The famous department stores were for browsing only, but that's OK when you've already spent your money on some lovely stuff in Manchester's best (only?) vintage clothing boutique. Flic Everett, I salute you... and I may be back next Saturday for the fairy cakes.
Sunday was spent watching VH1's 100 Greatest Floor Fillers (Dancing Queen was number one, unfortunately), talking knitting with Pix, and uploading my panoramic night shots to Flickr. And now I'm back in the uncomfortable chair, trying very hard to concentrate. Perhaps another mug of Darjeeling would help?
Posted on August 15, 2005 | Comments (0)
All your 'favourite' chart hits
I've noticed something exciting happening on the radio recently. The charts are slowly turning back to the way they used to be, perhaps thanks to the inclusion of legal downloads of tracks. Pre-1990, I was obsessed with the charts and used to listen to the top 40 on Radio One every Sunday without fail. A two week family holiday to Fort William turned into a disaster for me when I discovered that all those mountains, untarnished by radio transmitters, meant that my only contact with the sort of music BBC Radio Scotland don't play was Top of the Pops. I doubt anyone else has raced back down Ben Nevis at top speed just to get a hit of trashy pop tunes. These were the golden days of singles entering the charts at the bottom end of the 40 and climbing towards number one over the following weeks. The days of hearing a song on the radio and being able to go into a shop and buy it that day, should you want to do so.
Then everything changed. From entering the charts at number one being a rare occurrence to suddenly being the norm, singles were all of a sudden hyped on radio and tv months before release so that all the sales were in that first week. After that, the song would drop without a trace. Although this meant the likelyhood of Bryan Adams spending another 16 weeks at number one had greatly decreased, a new number one every week just put fear into the heart of an ex-chart junkie. Even if a song was good, I just couldn't bring myself to care any more as I'd probably be sick of it by the time it was on sale in the shops anyway.
Things are slowly changing back now. We're getting annoying tracks staying at number one for week after week (who was worse - frog or Adams?), songs are being played to death on the radio mere days before they are available to buy, and finally a song has done the old-fashioned thing and actually climbed to number one. James Blunt with his conflicting "I've got a plan"/"but I don't know what to do" lyrics may not have produced my favourite song of the year, but I was pleased that he bucked the trend and moved up the chart rather than just down. This gives me hope for the wonderful Longview who are, apparently, poised to enter the top 20 this week. Perhaps people will see them perform on Top of the Pops because of their chart placing and love the song so much that they too will go out (or stay in) and buy it. Oh, hang on... nobody watches TOTP any more, do they? Damn.
Posted on August 12, 2005 | Comments (1)
See, I've got a really short attention spa...
Yesterday at work, I really couldn't concentrate on anything. My mind was wandering mid-way through tasks, sentences, emails... everything. These days at work I feel like Zach Braff's character at the beginning of Garden State, only I'm not on prescription medication. Perhaps there's something in chocolate that has a similar effect on me. Damn my colleagues and their "bring goodies back from holiday" traditions.
One thing did hold my attention for longer than five minutes yesterday though, and that was the start of Lost on Channel 4. Promoted so subtly that I didn't know I simply had to watch it until I realised it was physically impossible for me to press record the VCR and go to the pub (did everyone else feel this real need to watch it?), I sat through the first part wondering how they were going to justify an entire series. OK, so the guy getting sucked into a jet engine was unmissable, but they can't have that happening every week. After watching yet another apalling Big Brother eviction interview from Davina McCall, I still hadn't moved from the same spot on the sofa and so watching the second part of Lost which followed it was easy, although I was yet to be convinced of the show's greatness. By the end of this one though, the lure of yet more over on E4 was just too much.
However, I was a bit disappointed that the scriptwriters felt that a plane crash, throwing about 40 people who don't know each other (and all their back stories) into a survival situation with rescuers looking in the wrong place, wasn't quite enough. Why do we need the unknown creature(s) in the forest too? It just left me wondering if they'd crashed in Jurassic Park. I also hope they focus more on people other than Kate and Jack in the next episode, as there's an awful lot of people there that I would like to find out more about. Like the backgammon guy, and the oriental couple. Man, that guy's in everything I watch on TV!
Posted on August 11, 2005 | Comments (2)
Parallel universe
It struck me last night, when listening to Mark Radcliffe asking Gaz from Supergrass what he would have been if he hadn't become a musician, that there is probably a famous Lori Smith in a parallel universe somewhere being asked the same question. I very much doubt she's saying, "I think I'd just be working in an office doing admin stuff".
Posted on August 09, 2005 | Comments (1)
Guess who's back?
OK, so thinking I'd plan and execute a redesign of this site before I posted again was a little ambitious. I just couldn't resist adding to my little corner of the web again, as a lot has happened in the couple of weeks since I last updated. The old art building at the college where I work has been torn down (see photo), Robin Cook has died, Sevitz has posed in the buff (sort of), Derek got evicted from the Big Brother house (shame), Dixons are to stop selling 35mm film cameras, and Just Shoot now has 150 registered members on the forums.
I'm sure there's a lot more I wanted to say, but I'm getting forgetful in my old age, so it'll have to wait. Hello again, anyway.
Posted on August 08, 2005 | Comments (4)