Christmas at last!

It's taken me awhile to get in the mood but now, thanks to the E Street Band, I'm into the Christmas spirit. I popped over to chilly Belfast last Saturday. Brrrrrr, 'twas a cold day, but it was fairly bright and thankfully it wasn't raining like last year. Warmed up by a hot Hog Roast roll from the Christmas market I went along to the show at the Odyssey Arena. A great venue and a tremendous concert. Gerry Adams, in a prime seat, seemed to enjoy it. Nils Lofgren nearly took off from the stage during his scorching guitar solo during 'Because The Night' and it was nice to see and hear 'Santa Claus' as a send off into the Northern Irish night. My thanks to James McC for the after show tour of Belfast pubs! I'll have to go back sometime when it's warmer! Telegraph, Belfast Telegraph and Irish Independent reviews.

Last night the tour made its last stop in 2007, at the ginormous O2 Arena, London. Another great show. Only around 400 fans were let into the 'pit' area in front of the stage - the organisers could have easily have catered for another 200 and still have had plenty of room. With so much space around me I felt a bit self conscious doing my gangly pogo 'dancing'. I spotted Badly Drawn Boy in a VIP seat to my left, he sat down throughout the whole show, but he was nodding his woolly head. Apparently Stephen Merchant was there (of course), and allegedly Rob Brydon, Bette Middler, an unknown number of Manic Street Preachers and Jim Rosenthal(!) were in the crowd too. I'm already looking forward to the band returning in May of next year. Guardian, Times and This is London reviews.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
December 19th 2007, London O2 Arena
A great set of photos from the O2 by 'Seeger Tour' here. Update: and here's a nice compilation of clips shot from behind the stage, courtesy of 'ramrodwillem'.

Another Machine Gun Stump Movie!

Kawaii. Thanks to 'Road' for pointing my mouse in the direction of this trailer for The Machine Girl, a Japanese Schoolgirl revenge flick that is due to be released sometime in 2008. It looks like it's makers certainly know the right exploitation film buttons to press as it features Yakuzas! Ninjas! Gushing Blood! Chainsaws! A Drill Bra! And a Schoolgirl heroine sporting a massive 'Gatling' gun on her amputated arm stump! Yey, she might make Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead) and Rose McGowan (Planet Terror) very proud.

Warning: Don't watch if you are easily offended by gory fake violence...


Nice, but can the finished film live up to this bonkers trailer? I doubt it, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Evil Clown Attacks!

Let's get this straight from the start, I can honestly say that I've never taken any illegal drugs... Time now for a brief report on Frank Sidebottom's Puppet Pantorama @ The Bull & Gate... Frank was joined on stage in his musical extravaganza by various puppet friends - including Little Frank, Little Denise (headless), Tracy Island Puppet (duetting on Zoo Scrapbook), Darth Vader without shoes puppet, Lab Rat and many many more! It was all totally bonkers! The highlight of the night for me was when the one and only SpongeBob SquarePants came out and enthusiastically joined in on an ace cover of Sheena is a Punk Rocker! Oh yes he did, he really did.

SpongeBob is a Punk Rocker
Arrgh, I forgot to mention that Evil Clown was there too! And he was Crowd Surfing! And kicking me in the head with his big shoes in the process! "Oh no he didn't" - Oh yes he did, he really did, actually.

Evil Clown goes Surfin'

Freddie Mercury with Little Frank as Brian May

Hit The North
www.franksworld.co.uk

Pantorama !!!

Yes, this coming Friday December 14th, Frank Sidebottom is back in London for Christmas @ The Bull And Gate, Kentish Town! Francis will be performing his special Xmas Pantorama, backed by a band featuring members of Scritti Politti(?) - And look out for special guest appearances from Little Frank and Little Denise!

www.franksworld.co.uk

Her Brains They Rattle..

Woohoo! A nice boot has just appeared of a Magic Tour show that I saw in Philadelphia a couple of months ago (see earlier post). Here's Thundercrack from the DVD - if you look closely enough you'll probably spot my bald patch bobbing up and down near the front :-)

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Thundercrack
Philadelphia, Wachovia Center, October 6th 2007
(Video: NYC Bitch Committee, nicely dubbed with CC audio thanks to 'tailschao')

Love that 2 guitar, fiddle and sax break in the middle! Next week I'll be off to catch their show in Belfast. If I manage to survive the cold wind and rain I'll report back...

Contemplation...

I don't know what's worse, sitting here all bunged up, suffering from 'Man Flu' or the thought of Bruce Springsteen playing at the Emirates Stadium next May (tickets already on pre-sale to Arse*@| members!)? Sigh. I will of course end up going, despite the venue being the home of the Gooners. Seeing Bruce and the E Street Band so close to home, on what may be their last tour together, is something I can't miss.

Still, here's something to make me feel better, a shot in the arm courtesy of Bill Nelson over in sunny Dreamsville...


You can now download two new tracks for FREE - the first is Contemplation (2007), a great re-recording of a classic Nelson song that originally appeared as a lo-fi demo/session track on the BBC Radio 1 'Kid Jenson' show in the early eighties. The song was subsequently re-worked and became a 10 minute epic that was released on the Getting The Holy Ghost Across album in 1986. The new 2007 incarnation of Contemplation was designed initially as a backing track guide for the song's performance at Nelsonica 07 last month, however Bill has now made it available as a full studio version with added guitars and vocal. For free! And as if that wasn't cool enough, there's also...

The Dreamsville Poetry Experiment - An interesting experiment involving an artist and his fans! Bill has set to music a 69 line 'found' poem, with each random, unconnected, line contributed by a different Dreamsville forum member*. When I first heard about this a few months ago I thought that it would end up being a load of incoherent pretentious claptrap, with fans providing awful lines of poetry that would make a spotty 14 year old blush. Well I've got to say that the end result of the experiment is actually pretty neat, thanks to Bill sprinkling his magic music dust over the often bizarre collection of words and phrases. Bill recites the 'poem' over an amazingly atmospheric musical piece, it's like a transmission across space and time. The Dreamsville Poetry Experiment has spawned a strange and dissonant baby. * (Personally, I like line 38 the best ;-))

As mentioned above, both tracks are FREE! Download page

Angels of Islington

From just a few hours ago, Marah @ The Carling Academy, Islington, London... careful with that microphone stand guys!

Walt Whitman Bridge (end excerpt)

New album Angels of Destruction! out on January 8th.
Listen to it now in a high quality stream and pre-order here.

Update: Guardian review

www.marah-usa.com

Six Strings For Sara

From the Bill Nelson forum:

"A new charity called 'The Sara's Hope Foundation' has been set up by Ged Hoburn and his family. It was set up in the memory of their daughter, Sara, who tragically lost her battle with colon cancer in 2001 at the age of 16. Inspired by Sara's strength, warmth and positivity, her family and close friends are raising funds to build and run a holiday retreat in the sun for children facing similar battles and emotions.

From November 26th, an exclusive instrumental track written and recorded by Bill Nelson entitled 'Six Strings For Sara' will be available for download."



Update 2nd Jan 2008: You can buy the track NOW from musiczeit. The cost of the download is just £4.99 for mp3 format or £5.99 for flac format. ALL the proceeds go to the Sara's Hope Foundation.

'The pier lights our carnival life forever'

Best wishes to 'Phantom' Dan Federici in his fight against melanoma. Here's to a speedy return to E Street.

4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ. 19th September 1978
Melanoma Research Foundation

Bedford Light Of Day

A few snaps from last night. A very good night out, well worth the drive through the sleet to get to Bedford. The venue seemed pretty much packed. All the performers were great. Highlights for me were Willie Nile covering the Ramones' 'I Wanna Be Sedated' and Marah's 'The Dishwasher's Dream'. Badly Drawn Boy (Damon Gough) covered 'Thunder Road' and Joe D'Urso did a nice version of 'The River'. Serge (who incidentally plays a mean kazoo) told a very funny shaggy dog story about having dinner with Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa and Nils Lofgren, and talking about BDB with Bruce... I won't go into the detail as it might spoil the joke for others should Marah ever appear on stage with Damon again.

From L to R: Badly Drawn Boy (Damon Gough), Joe D'Urso, Willie Nile and Marah (Christine Smith, Dave & Serge Bielanko)

Damon, Joe, Dave & Serge

BDB

Marah (acoustic trio version)

Twist and Shout finale

The Dishwasher's Dream (excerpt)
Marah (featuring Serge and his pint of Fosters)
Two pairs of tickets were raffled for the upcoming Springsteen O2 concert. Well done to all the performers, everyone else involved in setting up the show and to the audience for helping out such a great cause. www.lightofday.org

I'm Just Around The Corner To The Light Of Day

Stockholm, Rotterdam, Barcelona, Rome and now Bedford! This Sunday the Light Of Day Europe tour makes its final stop in the UK.

Badly Drawn Boy, Willie Nile, Marah (acoustic) and Joe D'Urso will all be strapping on their guitars and performing to raise awareness of the fight against Parkinson's Disease.

Sunday November 18, 7.30pm start
The Harpur Suite
Harpur Street
Bedford, MK40 1LE

Tickets: £20.00 in advance and are available from www.entshed.com. See www.lightofday.org for more info.

'Some Things Just Don't Change'

It's nice to always have something or someone you can rely on. Tomorrow night Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes are playing at the Shepherds Bush Empire, London. Let's see, how many times have I seen Southside play over the years? I'm so old I can't remember, it must be close to 20 or so... the thing is, every show is great, it's like meeting up with a good old friend once a year. Long may the Jukes keep going!

Ok, I'm getting in the mood now... Another piece of rare Southside video from 1978 - a classic good time Sam Cooke song, performed here to the max with guests Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt and Roy Bittan.

Havin' A Party - Southside Johnny And The Asbury Jukes
Wait, there's more... From the Official website, a great free mp3 download of Hearts of Stone that mixes Johnny's classic 1978 vocal with Springsteen's original version (which wasn't released from the vaults until 1998!). To my ears, having known the separate versions for years, this made up virtual duet sounds a bit weird, but it's interesting in a 'what if' kind of way.

Update (9pm): It's spooky! A DVD of one of my favourite 80's movies Adventures In Baby Sitting turned up in my postbox today. That's not weird since I'd ordered it and was expecting it, but the funny thing is I've just remembered that Southside and the band are in it - they play themselves in a nightclub scene. I'll watch it before I go to bed tonight. The film stars the lovely Elizabeth Shue as the babysitter of the title, and amidst all of the action and comedy the male teen lead forms a crush on her. Sigh, I remember feeling the same way when I first saw it all those years ago. Oh, yes, and 'Thor' the Mighty God of Thunder is in it as well! Does entertainment ever come any better than this?

Hey Jesse your so fine... Hey Jesse

Jesse Malin was back playing in London last night, this time at the Islington Academy. Jesse and his band gave another great performance. I'd say it was even better than the ULU gig they did in May; The highlights for me were a terrific 'Brooklyn', 'Wendy' and a cover of The Clash's 'Death or Glory'. Here's one of the quieter moments amongst all the kickass noise...

Jesse Malin - Solitaire
6th November, Islington Academy, London
And here's a clip of 'Death or Glory'. It's halfway through the song, Jesse has brought the music down and got the audience to sit on the floor around him. I've had to brighten the picture a bit since this took place out of the reach of the stage lights, but you can get an idea of what was going on...

Jesse Malin - Death or Glory
www.jessemalin.com

Tramps Like Us

Many famous people have lived at one time or another in my 'hood... John Keats, Boris Karloff, Amy Whino and the new Bionic Woman to name but a few. Now though Enfield's most famous resident is... Lenny The Tramp!

Lenny in ironic mode, standing outside Barclays Bank, Enfield
- the location of the World's first ATM (Photo: J Spranklen)
Lenny, who currently 'lives in a bus stop', has become an internet phenomenon that almost rivals the popularity of Billie Piper's baps. And 'viral Lenny' is still growing like a rolling snowball. The 'Lenny The Tramp Appreciation Society' group on Facebook has over 4500 members - double the size of the biggest Kylie Minogue fan group! I guess the question to ask is - looks and fashion sense aside, can Lenny compare with Kylie as a popstar?

BBC News article and video.

Hang On To Your Hats!

It's November already! The clocks have gone back, and the gloomy days and long cold nights of winter are nearly upon us. Wait a minute... it's not time to hibernate yet. There's something alight in the darkness. A loud life-affirming noise is heading towards us from across the ocean. Throw away those anti-depressants*, and get yourself ready for Marah's imminent UK Tour.

Photo by Hanna Toresson
“Marah blow the roof off with their barely contained energy. It’s street music, soul music, music to walk off a skyscraper to…you’re left with your hair standing on end, shaken up, exhilarated, that hole in your heart temporarily fixed, which is all you can ask of great rock ‘n’ roll. And God knows, this is great rock ‘n’ roll.”
Uncut Magazine

That sounds about right. See you at the Islington Academy, London on November 28th. For more band news visit www.marah-usa.com

(* always consult your Doctor first!)

Dangerous Stranger

Tomorrow I'll be in York for the 7th annual official Bill Nelson fan convention - the appropriately named Nelsonica 07 ('Secret Club For Members Only').

I first got into Bill's music when I bought Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam in 1981. It turned out that I was a late starter, he had already released seven studio albums by then - five of which were with his band Be Bop Deluxe. I had a lot to catch up on.

Here's a rare video clip from 1978 - a live performance of a track from Drastic Plastic, the last (and my favourite) Be Bop Deluxe album. At this point Bill had moved away from his earlier glam and prog rock leanings. He was now driving his retro Sci-Fi tram into angular 'New Wave' territory. Bill was challenging his longtime fan base for whom he'd been a 'guitar-hero'. The fabulous noodley guitar solos had gone! Well almost, here he sneaks a nice one in at the end...

Be Bop Deluxe - Dangerous Stranger
BBC Sight And Sound Concert 1978
Video courtesy of 'Pentalogarhythm'

It's making you a prisoner

It might take a few years but one day there be a nice widescreen DVD out there of Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970). I love that movie! How can I describe how great it is? Probably not very well, so let me leave it to an expert - the ever enthusiastic John Landis...

A growing collection of cool trailers for great (and not so great) films can be found over at Trailers From Hell. What makes this collection special is that, with each trailer, you can listen to an entertaining and insightful commentary from a talented genre filmmaker, such as Joe Dante, Larry Cohen and the aforementioned John Landis. Hey, relative newbie Edgar Wright is there too!

We Love Martin Jol

Trade Test Transmission

Yeah it's true - we might have the choice of 57 digital channels but late night TV is really poor. Ceefax used to be more entertaining than what we have now. Are you old enough to remember when TV channels would shutdown rather than just show repeated news or bronzed muscle-bound shiny white-toothed Americans selling impractical exercise equipment?

Back in the 70s, the BBC used to closedown at night and during a fair bit of the day as well. In closedown they'd just transmit the BBC test card. Watching the card was worse than watching paint dry. However, I don't see why they can't bring it back - folks who would rather watch a programme late at night could 'interact' by pressing their red remote button.

Commercial channels could show their test cards and still have adverts every 10 minutes or so like they do now. I don't think viewing figures would go down. I mean Channel 4 are already halfway there when they show 'live' coverage of the Big Brother contestants asleep in the early hours of the morning - Did anything move on the screen in the last 15 minutes? No, so why not save money and just show a test card instead?

Visit Channel M for another example of a test card.

Sonic Screwdriver

A few nights back I was tired and thumbing my remote. Cycling through the Freeview channels late at night is a mind numbing experience:

{click} Some programme with sign language {click} advert {click} advert {click} Rip off premium rate Quiz {click} advert {click} 'Live' Poker {click} 'I can't believe how crap Nuts TV is' {click} +1 {click} +1 {click} advert... and then {click} Good grief! It's a naked Billie Piper being shagged by a guy! And now she's put a condom on her finger and now she's putting it up his... ughh!

Yes, kiddies favourite, Bille Piper was playing a 'high class' prostitute in ITV's seedy drama Belle Du Jour. I guess you've got to admire the former teen pop star and Dr Who assistant for having the nerve to take on the role. I can't say I enjoyed watching it. I just sat there with my mouth open until it had finished. It wasn't clear to me what the intention of the show was - An erotic drama? A comment on the trials of being a prostitute? Or both? Well I didn't find it sexy, but maybe it wasn't supposed to be. It was a bit like watching a car crash... awful but you just can't look away.

Thanks to MustyMC, my internet Nude Celebrity correspondent, for pointing me in the direction of Billie Piper's Playboy photo.

Eats shoots and leaves

or Funky Kung Fu Pandas Go Shopping

Puffy AmiYumi are back with a new album, Honeycreeper. It features Boom Boom Beat and songs from their latest CD single: Oriental Diamond and Kuchibiru Motion (Lip Motion).

The video for Kuchibiru Motion (song written and produced by Yellow Monkey's Kazuya Yoshii) has the girls lounging around on a bed, sexily dressed in fishnet stockings and a leopard print top. They are eating fruit. Once they have finished the strawberries it's time for them to sit on the toilet and put on makeup... sounds like it could be good eh? Well I'm not going to post it here.

Much more interesting is the video for Oriental Diamond. As Puffy PVs go it's quite low budget and simple, but it's still got their bizarre and original touch. Here Ami and Yumi appear to be visiting China, wearing Panda headgear and waving Bamboo shoots! Watch as they get involved in a bit of Kung Fu action and then shop! It's all good for Japanese-Chinese relations. This is a ridiculously catchy tune, driven by frantic drums and speeding guitars. Add on top some glockenspiel and a Chinese gong and it's damn near perfect pop.

Puffy AmiYumi - Oriental Diamond
More info from puffyamiyumiworld

Heaven Help Us All

So what's your favourite film about Old Nick, Beelzebub, Satan... The Devil? Is it Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, The Devil Rides Out, Prince Of Darkness or even Exorcist II? - Films that can strike terror deep into the heart of any God fearing or, more correctly, Devil fearing man.

Personally, as creepy as they are, none of the above gave me the willies as much as when I first saw THE DEVIL'S RAIN (1975) - a film I've not watched for years. I was young and impressionable back then and a lot less cynical. The Devil's Rain left its mark on me with its outrageous climax. It's one of those memorable old films that I'd love to see again, however I'm nervous at the prospect - not because I'd find the film too scary to watch but because I might end up discovering that the film is not as great as I remember it to be.

One day I'll track down a DVD of The Devil's Rain. I'm sure it will come across as a load of old low budget codswallop, but hey it's got William Shatner and Ernest Borgnine in it, plus real life Satanist Anton LaVey who is not only a technical advisor for the film but also plays himself - The High Priest Of The Church of Satan! What's not to like?

Here's the terrific trailer - it shows you pretty much all the the film's juicy bits! 'A melting Hell on Earth'. 'Heaven help us all when the Devil's Rain' (ouch!). Great stuff!

Headline news

When I listen to news headlines on the radio and TV I often get confused. In the good old days newscasters used to pause between headline announcements. Now, in a bid to make the news sound more exciting, it seems that everything is presented much faster and with a sense of urgency. As a result I keep hearing headlines running into each other. It all becomes very strange. Here are some examples from today...

Erotic art traces history of sex
Satanist guilty of vicar killing
'Maggots' found in school dinners
UK pub lunch price soars to £20
Sir Menzies tells of 'irritation'

Roller Skating Child

Whilst in New York I took a look to see if there was anything worth catching on (or off) Broadway. To my pleasant surprise I saw an advert for a stage musical version of Xanadu! Yes, that awful ONJ roller disco movie... whose only saving grace was its brilliant soundtrack. This deliberately cheesy and funny revamp has been getting rave reviews. If I'd had more time I would have tried to get a ticket. Hey, wait a minute didn't I suggest back in December 2005 that Xanadu should be turned into a stage musical? Yes I did!


Another show that sounds like it'll be worth seeing is Mel Brooks' musical version of his classic movie Young Frankenstein! It's currently previewing. Something to remember to look out for the next time I'm in the Big Apple. "It's Alive... It's Alive!"

“The Bronx is up and the Battery’s down”

I'm back home now after my 'Magic' trip to North East Coast, USA. Time to quickly recap here what I got up to in my last few days in NYC...

Monday: (Columbus Day) After a morning lazing around in the sun in Central Park I popped into the MoMA - A good collection of the usual modern art suspects like Klee, Mondrian, Rothko, Magritte and Warhol, and hey, that Picasso guy could actually paint! Blade Runner in the evening (see previous post).

Tuesday: Tramped around the East Village and Bowery (a once scummy area, but now being redeveloped into trendy and expensive condos - much to the alarm of its residents). Bought a load of DVDs (see below) from the excellent Kim's Video store in St Marks Place.


Wednesday: In the morning I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and took a stroll around leafy Brooklyn Heights. After lunch I walked back to Manhattan and did a little clothes shopping (love the Pound to Dollar conversion rate!). In the evening I took a bus to the Meadowlands, New Jersey, to see Springsteen and the E Streeters play show #5 of their tour. Another good show, although with a seat at the right rear of the stage I was often distracted by looking out at the audience (video clip)

Thursday: You know, that awful last day when you have to kill time before travelling out to the airport for your night flight home. Well, I recommend a trip out to the Bronx Zoo. As Zoo's go, the Bronx has one of the best, and it includes an excellent Gorilla enclosure - so good I didn't want to leave!


So now, sadly, I'm back home. A pile of clothes to wash, a pile of bills to pay, a pile of CDs to listen to (Bruce Springsteen - Magic, Steve Earle - Washington Square Serenade, John Fogerty - Revival and Todd Rundgren - The Definitive Rock Collection) and a pile of DVDs to watch (Robot Chicken Season 2, From Beyond, Planet Terror, Argento's The Stendahl Syndrome and the 3 film Creature From The Black Lagoon Legacy Box set). Back to my version of reality.

More Human Than Human

New York, NY. My favourite movie of all time has just got better.

Last night I went to see Blade Runner - The Final Cut, now showing in a limited engagement at the lovely old Ziegfield movie theatre on 54th street. With this new fantastic restored digital 'print' the film looks and sounds better now than it did when I first saw the original version, at a Starburst magazine preview, in London a ¼ of a century ago. It's a thing of beauty, an amazing work of art from director Ridley Scott.

Blade Runner's most obvious technical flaws have been fixed in this new 'Final Cut' - including reshooting the scene of Zhora's death, which used to feature a stunt double that looked nothing like actress Joanna Cassidy, and the scene where the white dove flies off into the (now dark) sky.

All nicely done, but I noticed something annoying - a 'George Lucas-like' revision of dialogue has snuck in when Replicant Roy Batty meets his maker Tyrell. I'm not sure if the 'I want life' line was changed in this cut or the previous 'Director's cut' but it no longer has the same impact that it used to have in the original theatrical cut. This is minor quibble that can be forgiven due to the tremendous restoration of the film as a whole.

If you get a chance then you really should try and catch this 'Final Cut' on the big screen rather than wait for its forthcoming DVD release.

Philadelphia Special

Yesterday in Philly... I made a slow start and took a train to the suburb of Manayunk. It's a nice place for lunch; There's a smart main street lined with restaurants, bars and trinket shops, and a pleasant canal towpath walk for some exercise.

I had to head back into the city by 3 though in order to get my General Admission lottery wristband for the Springsteen show in the evening. I got band number 808 out of 1000, thankfully the draw was favourable and I made it into the pit.

Wow, what a show! My 65th in the last 22 years and this one was up in the premier league. Watching the 2 guitar/sax/violin jam on Thundercrack from just a few yards away was tremendous. Photo by Tim Gray (more).


It's now Sunday morning and I'm still on a high as I prepare for my Greyhound bus leg to NYC.
______
Update: Thanks to 'cricket' on BTX here's a nice pic taken from behind the stage. Hey, I can see myself in the crowd. Look, there I am!

The Streets of

Philadelphia, PA.

Yesterday... After a brief visit to the Natural Sciences museum to view a few dinosaur bones, I decided to see how far I could get from the city center walking out along the Schuylkill River through Fairmount Park. After about two miles I began to wilt in the 85 degrees F (in the shade) heat. Phew, what a scorcher!


I'm sure that if I'd continued further then eventually I would have escaped the sound of the nearby freeway that follows the river from the heart of the city. It was a hot and noisy experience, oh for some shade and the peace and quiet of nature.


In the evening I went to see the new David Cronenberg movie, Eastern Promises. Cronenberg delivers this London based Russian mafia drama with a matter of factness, a detached non-flashy style. The London portrayed in the film is pretty grim and could easily be mistaken for old Soviet Eastern Europe. Initially I found the accents funny to listen to, including that of Naomi Watt's English nurse, but as you are drawn into the seedy gangster world you soon get used to them. Viggo Mortenson is great as the Russian gang's driver/Mr Fixit; Want to dispose of a body? He's your man. Viggo, as intense as ever, sure shows some acting balls in this role! I don't think I'll be visiting a Finsbury Bath House anytime soon! Eastern Promises is a good film but are all Russians really as nuts as this?

Today I'm chilling out in a Java Café off of South Street. Dudes sit here all day, taking advantage of the Café's free web access. They are coding their websites whilst slurping iced coffee. Not a bad way to work. No office rental either.

Tonight it's Magic tour show #2. I'm not expecting any changes from the 1st show but it'll be a blast.
______

Update #1: I forgot to mention that it's Larry Fine's birthday today. This evening, to mark the occasion, I stuffed myself with a delicious 'Three Stooges' burger at the restaurant that now stands on the his site of birth.

Update #2: Concert review

An All American Breakfast

Hartford, Connecticut - 'Insurance Capital of the World'. Here I sit in front of a large feast: 2 eggs SSU, bacon, fried potatoes, toast, a pot of coffee and an OJ. A good way to recover from the night before and to prepare for the day to come.

Last night The E Street Band opened their new tour here. A good solid start and a very enthusiastic crowd. Finally, Bruce has reclaimed 'Reason To Believe' from The Beat Farmers! Review.

It's time now for me to settle my bill and head for the train station. Next stop there's a Cheesesteak with my name on it.

Network's goin' down

Friday evening. So there I was in the bar on the 5th floor at Waterstones bookshop, Piccadilly. I'd just had a tricky job interview and I needed somewhere to sit down, calm my nerves and relax with a beer. I thought I'd pick the Waterstones '5th view' bar as I'd seen that they had free Wi-Fi access and I was itching to play with my cool new n800 Internet Tablet. So I took a seat and ordered a Kirin and a big slice of apple tart to go with it. I tried connecting to the network with the password I had been given. No joy. Hmmm. My refreshments came and the waitress then told me that "the internet isn't working"... Doh! I'd wish I'd known that before making my £7.50 order! Never mind, the tart was very nice.

Today. I encountered more technocrapola. This time it was on the Virgin Atlantic website when I 'checked in' online for my flight to JFK tomorrow. The check-in process was fine but I couldn't print my boarding pass due to a problem on the system. As requested by an on-screen error message I tried again later, and again later. No joy. Eventually I decided to ring their website help desk - 'Our team is looking at the problem. You can print your pass at the airport tomorrow.' OK. I will, if the machine at the airport works properly.

These are just two trivial examples of how people's lives are affected by supposedly integrated bits of modern technology going wrong. It happens all the time. Computers and networks crash. It's a good job that critical systems like aircraft fly-by-wire and missile defence control can't go down like this...

Anyway what am I grumbling about? I'm flying off to American airspace for a holiday in NYC!

Jump a little lighter

Only 8 days 'til I fly across the pond to catch the first few shows of the Magic tour - can't wait. Whilst I'm looking forward to hearing all the new songs, it's going to be hard not to feel a little nostalgic when seeing the E Street Band. I hope they ask this old beauty out for a date...

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Toronto July 26th 1984Happy Birthday to Mr S.

All Well Noisy on the Western Front

From just a few hours ago...


Carbon/Silicon started a North London groove at the Electric Ballroom in Camden. Here's the opener (and current single), 'The Magic Suitcase'...

Carbon/Silicon - The Magic Suitcase
The set showcased songs from their soon to be released album 'The Last Post', including a new track called 'Acton Zulus'. It was an enjoyable show, with a rousing performance of 'Why Do Men Fight?' to finish. I'm too tired right now to remember much more, except that there was no 'Soylent Green' (my favourite CSi song) - but hey WTF?

Carbon/Silicon - What The Fuck

Where's My Talcum Powder?

Finally, thanks to Amazon, a copy of Bluefinger is heading my way - I had to cancel my CD-WOW order, it was in delivery limbo... I guess them going into administration doesn't help!

Anyway, let's put on some tight black rubber baby... Ooo yeah

Black Francis - Tight Black Rubber

Staying behind after class

Apologies reader for my lack of recent posts. I've been in detention for the past week, unable to get out and about or even sit down at this PC for long. The cause? A painful hip joint or nerve or something... Anyroadup, I'm propped up by a pillow now and I feel a duty to type on regardless.

One of the benefits of having to lie down on my couch everyday has been the ability to watch ITV's Loose Women at lunchtime, followed by live coverage on BBC 2 of the Women's World Cup in China. All very enjoyable. As a result I've become more in touch with my feminine side, and eaten too much chocolate in the process!

Another recent treat has been watching St. Trinian's on DVD. 'So what?' I hear you think. Well I believe I was the only person on the entire planet (and therefore the whole universe?) that sat through all four St. Trinian's films over the weekend:

The Belles of St Trinian's (1954)
Blue Murder at St Trinian's (1957)
The Pure Hell of St Trinian's (1960)
The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery (1966)

These classic British comedies about public schoolgirls running riot have aged well. I found that, despite having already seen them several times before in my yoof, they are still very entertaining.

Now that I'm older, I can properly appreciate all of the great old comic actors that appear on screen: Alastair Simm (Headmistress Fritton/Clarence Fritton), Joyce Grenfell (Policewoman Ruby Gates) and George Cole (Flash Harry) are of course in the most memorable roles, but let's not forget some of the good supporting cast members in the series like Beryl Reid, Terry Thomas, Sid James, Terry Scott, Frankie Howerd, Lionel Jefferies, Dora Bryan, Reg Varney, Irene Handel and... Arthur Mullard!

Oh and I've not even mentioned the girls yet! Those sexy 6th formers dressed in tights and suspenders, drinking booze and smoking! And the charming little 4th and 5th formers who, when not down at bookies with Flash Harry, would be throwing tomatoes at policemen, whacking dodgy Europeans or Arabs (trying to enslave the 6th formers) with their hockey sticks, or burning down their school (again).

So there you have it, I wached all of the St Trinian's films in one weekend. Well no, actually that's a bit misleading - apparently there's another one... A secret correspondent has informed me of a disastrous attempt in 1980 to try to update and revive the series with Wildcats of St. Trinian's. This same correspondent's only recommendation of the film to me is that it's supposedly 'got tits in it'. Er, yes, but that just sounds really sad, and obviously not in the spirit of the comic strip the original film was inspired by. I've not seen the dubious 'Wildcats' and hope I never will.

More sad news!!! A new St. Trinian's film is currently in production (sigh). Why on earth are they bothering? The first four films have funny scripts, wonderful performances and are now coated in a golden wave of British comedy nostalgia. We just don't need any more St. Trinian's films. The new one is apparently going to 'star' Rupert Everett and Girls Aloud! Oh God, it sounds like it's going be as shit as that sorry attempt to revive the Carry On series - Carry On Columbus. Noooooo! Arrgh me hip! I'd better lie down.

Can't Take It With You

Listen to the title track of Marah's excellent new EP Can't Take It With You here.

Available now from YepRoc
www.marah-usa.com

Meerkat Love

Back in march I posted a picture of a friendly Meerkat that I'd met in Namibia. He was quite popular with the ladies, the cute little bugger. Here's another photo of him, in a more relaxed pose...

Best Holiday In The World Ever?

I've got itchy feet right now and I'm thinking about getting away and doing something exciting. Scuba Diving perhaps? I quite fancy trying that, diving in warm water over an exotic coral reef teeming with brightly coloured fish. Recently, looking through some old holiday snaps, I found this picture of an ad I spotted in a Namibian Travel Agent's window...

Scuba Diving in Romania - Just how exciting does that sound?

Here Comes The Night

One year and one day ago I saw the first ever gig by Liquid at the Pop Bar in Soho, London - but where are they now?

Four years ago today I was lucky enough to be enjoying the 10th show at Giants Stadium that summer by Mr S & The ESB. Roll on this year's tour...

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Night
31st August 2003, Giants Stadium, New Jersey
From the fan produced 'Giant House Party In Jersey' DVD

It's started already.... must stay calm.

The next month or so will be a stressful time as I (and thousands of others) try to get tickets for shows the minute they go on sale (see previous post). The last gig of the pre-Christmas tour is at the London 02 arena and tickets will be on sale at 9AM on Thursday. So here I am this morning, sitting here warming up my dialing and internet booking fingers in preparation for the network meltdown tomorrow...

Only to find that 2000 tickets for the London show have gone on sale a day early! - for O2 mobile phone customers only - bastards!!! F*$@!!! Another reason to hate 02 (the first being that they sponsor the Arse***). Of course many of the 'lucky' 02 customers who now have tickets are selling them on eBay at inflated prices! W@nkers! O2 have done this pre-release thing before and I can bet you that every professional ticket tout has more than one 02 mobile in order to cash in this offer. ARRGGHH!!! Must stay calm.

So there goes my plan to look for a job...

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band autumn tour itinerary:

Date	Venue	On sale
Oct 2	Hartford, CT Hartford Civic Center	Sept 8
Oct 5	Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center	Sept 8
Oct 9-10	East Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena	Sept 10
Oct 14	Ottawa, ONT Civic Centre	Sept 17
Oct 15	Toronto, ONT Air Canada Centre	Sept 17
Oct 17-18	New York, NY Madison Square Garden	Sept 10
Oct 21	Chicago, IL United Center	Sept 8
Oct 26	Oakland, CA Oracle Arena	Sept 15
Oct 28	Los Angeles, CA Venue TBA	TBA
Nov 2	St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center	Sept 22
Nov 4	Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena	Sept 15
Nov 5	Auburn Hills, MI Palace Of Auburn Hills	Sept 21
Nov 11	Washington, D.C. Verizon Arena	Sept 21
Nov 14	Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena	Sept 14
Nov 15	Albany, NY Times Union Center	Sept 8
Nov 18	Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden	Sept 22
Nov 25	Madrid, SPAIN Palacio De Deportes	Oct 2
Nov 26	Bilbao, SPAIN Bilbao Exhibition Centre	Oct 9
Nov 28	Milan, ITALY Datchforum	Sept 10
Nov 30	Arnhem, NETHERLANDS Geldredome	Sept 8
Dec 2	Mannheim, GERMANY Sap Arena	August 31
Dec 4	Oslo, NORWAY Oslo Spektrum	Sept 3
Dec 8	Copenhagen, DENMARK Forum Copenhagen	Sept 3
Dec 10	Stockholm, SWEDEN Globe Arena	Sept 1
Dec 12	Antwerp, BELGIUM Sports Paleis	Sept 8
Dec 13	Cologne, GERMANY Koln Arena	August 31
Dec 15	Belfast, UK Odyssey Arena	Sept 6
Dec 17	Paris, FRANCE Palais Omnisports De Bercy	Sept 7
Dec 19	London, UK O2 Arena	August 30

Photo Credit: Danny Clinch

Chan-o-meter

I've just got back from seeing Rush Hour 3. I know, I know, every review says it's rubbish and that it should be avoided, but when you're a Jackie Chan fan what can you do? - You have got to go and see it.

Yeah, yeah, Jackie's getting on a bit for an action hero these days and motormouth Chris Tucker's character can be annoying to the nth degree. Sure, I know all that... but it's a Jackie Chan film!

So without expecting too much I sat in my local popcorn pit and watched the film unreel. Plot? Our heroes Carter (Tucker) and Lee (Chan) go to Paris and fight some triad henchmen, Jackie's got a Japanese 'brother', the women are beautiful and the jokes are crude - that's it. Wise cracks + slapstick + fights (repeat 5 times).

Occasionally the old Chan/Tucker comedy chemistry is present but mostly it seems a bit forced and Tucker is often too irritating for words. In the film's favour however the action sequences are better than I was expecting; Chan is still pretty nimble, Youki Kudoh is great as a knife throwing assassin and the climax at the top of the Eiffel tower is quite good. Oh, and as and nostalgic bonus there's a sequence where Carter and Lee get chased by a group of bad guys on motor bikes - which felt like a throw back to several Hong Kong films from the early eighties.

To conclude, Rush Hour 3 is not a great film. No surprise there. It's a quick cash-in, the third in the franchise and it offers nothing new. Was it worth the trip to the cinema? For me, as a fan of JC and the first film, I'd say 'yes'. I'm glad I saw it. Despite all of its shortcomings it was still pretty entertaining. Just go see it with low expectations, ignore the absurdities and you just might enjoy it.

So where does Rush Hour 3 sit in the pantheon of Jackie Chan films? I've fed my thoughts into the Chan-o-meter (TM) and here is the result...

[Click on chart to enlarge]

Internet Killed The Radio Star

Tegan and Sara - Back In Your Head
Los Campesinos - Don't Tell Me To Do The Maths
Spoon - The Underdog
The Wedding Present - This Boy Can Wait
Bruce Springsteen - Radio Nowhere

To download mp3 track Right Click on link and choose Save Target/Link as...

More Muffs please

You've no ambition and only ever sit around
I don't know why
And you know it's true and you never wanted anything
You're a lucky guy
You're a lucky guy
Oh oh oh, you're lucky

So sang the amazing Kim Shattuck on the opening track of the eponymous album by The Muffs in 1993. I say sang, yeah she was singing, but it was more than that, it was the raw energy and her astonishing guttural screaming that drew me to The Muffs. She had great songs too, which got even better on their second album Blonder And Blonder where Kim's voice felt like it was ripping your insides out one minute ('Agony') and then could flip to be almost as sweet as a bird ('Just A Game').

I was lucky enough to see The Muffs play The Garage, Highbury, in what must have been '94 or '95. A great 'in your face' gig at a great old venue. Those were the days. A long time ago though. From what I can gather from their website it looks like Kim and the other Muffs are still ticking over in the background, so maybe we'll see another release one day. Let's hope so.

I was looking around the web for an old video to show. There are a couple of old 'classics' like 'Lucky Guy' and 'Sad Tomorrow' out there but I've chosen the following song which kind of lept out at me today. Here's a really raw, lo-fi, live in the studio take of 'Oh, Nina'.

The Muffs - Oh, NinaMuffs Home and MySpace

In the blessed name of Elvis

I once swore that I was never going to go near Elvis again, but there he was in Newquay last month, singing to me in an amusement arcade. I just couldn't resist the lure of the lights and music. As a result I must have lost at least £100 to the king of fruit machines over my 5 night stay. 'Thang you very much'.

I was reminded of this because tonight is of course the 30th anniversary of the alleged death of the real Elvis Aaron Presley. To commemorate the occasion I shall start by doing a few karate moves in front of the TV and then I'll re-watch Bubba Ho-Tep - with a commentary track by The King himself. 'Ahuh huh'