Don't play with your food unless you've eaten all your toys already

So I'm taking 100 days to make myself a better person! I can't remember where I saw mention of Josie Long's project but took a peek yesterday and joined up. As part of the London Word Festival she and various friends and artists decided to do something every day for 100 days that will make them a better person. And now they have 863 people signed up, including myself. It's day 53 for the project but latecomers are welcome, so my 100 days starts today.

My pledge is to take a photo of what's around me, and put it up on Flickr with a few words. I'm not sure I'll be able to put the picture up every day, there will be a few days I know I'll be away from the net. But I will take the picture every day and put it up as soon as possible. There's a Flickr group for the project which I'll also add to.

The discipline of doing something for 100 days is no bad thing. Making the effort, not breaking a promise and being related to a bunch of unrelated folks for no other reason than an idea that looked like fun. That's betterment in itself surely. And I don't take enough pictures in general, and I certainly don't focus enough on grabbing those odd moments. So this is an excuse to do that a little more.

When I started using Flickr all those years ago I never really expected that anyone other than friends and contacts would bother looking at my shots. So it's always a pleasant surprise when an unknown comment appears or I get a spike in the view stats with some more band pics. Of course there's a touch of pleased ego thinking they're my pics! But over and above that I'm fascinated by being able to share a moment with a bunch of complete strangers and bring back a memory of a great show or just a provide an image that pleases. That's the beauty of the old internet, a bunch of connections making a connection.

I hadn't looked at my page since last year and so decided to pop in last night. Which is when I caught a bizarre spike in views around Christmas. All on a shot of a snow dalek that was built down by the bridge moorings in last February's snow. Then I noticed that it's had over twenty four thousand views in total. Outstanding! I've made sure the guys who built it know that their efforts have raised a little smile or a chuckle to a whole bunch of folks theyll never know. It's like that little Japanese girl with the pizza. It's kinda cool really.

Halfway through series 4 of The Wire

White on top of white

I can't remember the name of my 3c English teacher. I do remember his face. That makes him no different to most folks I encounter these days. However he did have a resounding impact on me which was to bury an aversion to bad spelling and dodgy grammar deep inside; although some might argue that I'm still fighting the latter to this day.

Most times it doesn't worry me too much in the day to day but I'm exceptionally unforgiving when it comes to people who should know better: managers and anyone in any official capacity whatsoever.

An email appeared in work the other day that caused some amusement. It's for a training course at Disneyland Paris and you can read all about it at this location. The email offered an exciting opportunity for edutainment and imagineering! I'd like to offer those that wrote this drivel an opportunity to swim in the undertow. But wait, its a money can't buy offer for a truly amazing price (495 + VAT). Perhaps it's 495 worth of potatoes then. Plus VAT of course. These people must have taken all the mirrors down in their homes.

If you take a glance at the website, and you don't have to really, then it offers you the chance to LEARN a number of things. Some of these are things you can learn, like Leadership Management, some things that you can pretend to learn like Business Magic and some are really things that you experience, or would want to at 495 + VAT, like Thrilling Rides, Fine Dining and Complimentary VIP Access to the Park. But NOT FUCKING LEARN YOU CRETINS.

Listening to the Jarvis Cocker show on 6 Music

All bands secretly wish they were metal bands

The title comes from Dan. I think it says all that needs to be said about music. So all the music journalists can go home now and do something useful. Thank you.


I am a geek.

Here are the lists:

My 10 favourite films of 2009 in no discernible order have been:
The Wrestler
Gran Torino
Not Quite Hollywood
Star Trek
Crank 2
The Hangover
Let The Right One In
Zombieland
The Hurt Locker
Moon

My 10 favourite albums of 2009 in no discernible order have been:
Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons of Bad Luck
Walkenhorst and Porter - No Abandon
Lightning Dust - Infinite Light
The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
The Yellow Moon Band - Travels Into Several Remote Nations Of The World
Kiss - Sonic Boom
R.E.M. - Live At The Olympia
Willard Grant Conspiracy - Paper Covers Stone
Hush Arbors - Yankee Reality

My 10 favourite gigs of 2009 in no discernible order have been:
Metallica - Nottingham Ice Rink
Faith No More - Reading Festival
The Low Anthem - The Tabernacle
ZZ Top - Wolverhampton City Hall
Massive Atack - Brixton Academy
Blur - Hyde Park
Snuff - Reading Festival
Radiohead - Reading Festival
Okkervil River - The Scala
Neil Young - Hyde Park

There's no such thing as rock stars there's just people who play music

...and some of them are just like us and some of them are dicks.

Since I said I'd put some sleeve notes up for this year's comp I suppose I should. This is my third attempt. Which is useless by the way.

It's late enough now for those who may have looked to have given up. Probably late enough for me to not bother at all without anyone noticing. But after having gone to the trouble of getting the covers printed, cutting them all out by hand, folding them, putting them in the slip cases and burning the CDs, not to mention putting them in the cases too, then I should probably make some kind of an effort. For you.

So here we go, in order of appearance.

1) Desolation Row - My Chemical Romance (Watchmen soundtrack): Cover versions are a real guilty pleasure of mine and this is a classic. MCR cover a Sex Pistols covers band covering Dylan. It goes dagga dagga dagga dagga gnnnnrrrr and is therefore genius. Like the next one. It's also probably the most original thing about the Watchmen movie (which I really quite enjoyed for what it was).

2) Got Some - Pearl Jam (Backspacer): Some what? Do I need to go back and read the lyrics? I think this is what Pearl Jam sound like when they're having fun jamming in the basement with no one about. It also feels like it's an identical bpm to the preceding track so there's obviously something about that time signature that pushes the right buttons. Or perhaps it's because it goes dagga dagga dagga gnnnnrrrr. I picked Backspacer up in the HMV above Birmingham New Street on my way to a conference.

3) Pieces - Dinosaur Jr (Farm): This is just VERY LOUD pop music.

4) Ticket Taker - The Low Anthem (Oh My God, Charlie Darwin): I could have picked any track off this album. I almost did. What sealed it was when I realised this was a kind of post apocalyptic love song, which in my mind became a narrative that blended I Am Legend, Apocalypse Now and John Hughes. My imagination worries other people sometimes, I think it's quite sweet.

5) The Ghost of the Girl in the Well - Willard Grant Conspiracy (Paper Covers Stone): I love this song, I love their original version, I love the wooah ohhhh ohhhh bits that send shivers down my spine. This should really be used to soundtrack The Lovely Bones but probably won't. It's a stupid world sometimes.

6) Overland Hill - Walkenhorst and Porter (No Abandon): For those who don't know this next bit listen up, it's important. The Rainmakers are one of my all time favourite bands. We're talking top three here. At least. It's good to hear anything new by Bob and this is about as close to the Rainmakers sound he's got since the band split. Apart from the fiddles, they're new.

7) The Times - Lightning Dust (Infinite Light): Sometimes all I really want to say is that I just really like this song, and the only reason for adding any notes is so you can see what album it's on in case you like it too and want to track it down. And this is one of those times. Tell you what though, this is going to pop up in my top ten albums of the year I reckon. If and when I get around to writing them.

8) For While You Slept - Hush Arbors (Yankee Reality): You've not heard of them, I'd never heard of them, and once I had I couldn't stop playing them. There's always a bit: a hook, a line, a harmony, a whatever, like the woah ohh ohhhs from the Willard Grant tune. This has the widdly diddly bit that's repeated throughout until it gets a bit mental. That's the bit. Outstanding!

9) Try This At Home - Frank Turner (Poetry of the Deed): Bless you Frank for being cool on the train home from Reading, for having a very attractive girlfriend, for writing a very funny song, for providing the title to this piece and for sounding like The Levellers and yet still being seen as cool by the indie fraternity on the basis that you actually do wear skinny jeans but you don't have dreadlocks or smell bad.

10) When Lightning Strikes - Kiss (Sonic Boom): Appreciating Kiss is like appreciating good wine or good cheese. But even if you don't / can't then more importantly this has some grade a MOTHERFUCKING COWBELL... And if that's not enough for you then quite frankly I'm not sure why you've even bothered reading this far. Sonic Boom is an excellent album title.

Look, I'm going to post this now as the family has just arrived and we're about to have Christmas dinner. So I'll get back and fill in the rest later.

OK, later...

11) With a Girl Like You - Condo Fucks (Fuckbook): I like the original by The Troggs more.

12) Film Noir - The Gaslight Anthem (The 59 Sound): Technically this album came out last year making it invalid for this year's cd. But I only bought it this year. And I love this song. I like the line about less right than wrong, that's the bit again. I like the grng grng grng grng bit too. That's another bit. And then they re-released the album this year so it was all good for me to put it on the disc. Also they didn't play this one at Reading. Bastards.

13) Burnt Reynolds - Crippled Black Phoenix (200 Tons of Bad Luck): This is all Dan's fault so ask him.

14) Go - Marillion (Less is More): There's a previous post in which lies the roots of an explanation as to why this song retains a certain resonance for me. Anyway, I think it reminds me of Talk Talk, especially Steve Hogarth's voice. I wonder if he still has that cool glove that plays keyboards in the air?

15) Barter Blues - J. Tillman (Vacilliano Territory Blues): I don't like Fleet Foxes, live or on disc, or in photographs or text. I'm not that keen on their drummer's solo effort although it's way better than the band thing. But I like this one a lot. Especially the bit when it fades back in all grungy. That' the bit. Although you do have to wait a while to get to it. Sometimes a little wait is worthwhile. This wait is nothing compared to sitting through the Fleet Foxes album. Or any of the Twilight movies.

16) Everything's Coming Undone - Michael Stipe (Ciao My Shining Star): This is an album of covers of Mark Mulcahy and Miracle Legion songs. I have the original on the only solo Mulcahy album I own (and I know nothing of Miracle Legion) and it sounds nothing like this version. I'm not even sure any of the words are the same. Anyway, the album's also a tribute to Mulcahy's wife who died earlier this year. Listen to it again with that fact in mind.

17) Mazel Tov Cocktail - The Wildhearts (Chutzpah): Of all the bands that go dagga dagga dagga dagga gnnnnrrrr and grng grng grng grng and occasionally kersprrroing, The Wildhearts are the second best. Soul Asylum are the best. This also has the second best song title of the year after Burnt Reynolds. It would be silver all round for Ginger and the lads but this isn't the second best album of the year. That's someone else.

18) The Wrestler - Bruce Springsteen (Working On A Dream): The Wrestler is one of the best films I've seen this year. This is a beautiful song. It's the only one on this thing that makes me feel in any way melancholy. It reminds me of earlier.

19 Castaway - Shearwater (The Golden Archipelago): The Golden Archipelago doesn't come out till next year but this is a pre-release download with a proper cover and everything so it counts and YOU WILL listen to a new Shearwater song when there is one. Happy happy joy joy for me. Expect more next year.

Oh wow, that's me done.

In that case.

Merry Christmas xxxx

Watching Season 2 of The Wire

Rule number one: no drinking during the gospel songs. Rule number two: no gospel songs

I want to look this cool when I'm 60.