There is a slight problem when thinking of low budget productions of treating this as a caveat, to ignore the obvious knock on effects and over-praise what there is that is acceptible. This can then confuse the average punter, who goes along to see a[…]

THE ADVENT CALENDAR OF ALCOHOL – 15 December (14%-15%) – Martini & Rossi Bianco
Rossi must feel a bit pissed off, up in the great cocktail bar in the sky. It was a clever trick naming the key ingredient in the flagship suave cocktail[…]

Very true: also what is it with headline writers thinking that writing out – or even worse PUNNING ON! – the “uh-oh!” hook from “Crazy In Love” is a good idea? It’s so rhythm dependent it just looks stupid in[…]

Why do Cliff’s Christmas records always sound so cheap? With his money and connections you’d think he wouldn’t have to resort to the same bell presets as the Fast Food Rockers. Anyway as you might expect this is bilge. Cliff bastes […]

Mmmm, Piney goodness. Needs must and all, I remembered as a youth being doused in strongly smelling pine fragranced baths. If you are doing the dates coming back on the calendar thing in your head you are probably remembering that way back when Radox[…]

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Even for someone like me whose single step would preferably be into the back of a chauffeur driven, mini-bar equipped limousine, this holds. The reason I bring up this trite aphorism? Because, […]

The shame of the (not-so) secret RI:SE fan 4 days left… Iain Lee
RI:SE’s last week and the source for much fun-hater joy. But I for one (quite literally the only one) will be bereft. Nothing else can quite fill the gap before Bewitched/Ki[…]

I wrote this a month ago and it has languished in my bag for so long (for the length to do Mac to PC conversion). Already Little Britain, a BBC3 exclusive, has transfered to pretty much prime comedy time BBC2….
Two hours of Special BBC Comedy. […]

Soul Mountain – Gao Xingjian
What does it mean to win the Nobel Prize for literature? Alfred Nobel was a scientist, should we therefore assume that it will be for science fiction? The literature prize, even more than the peace prize (but perhap[…]

THE ADVENT CALENDAR OF ALCOHOL – 14th December (13%-14%): Green Ginger Wine
It’s a wine, made from green ginger and dried grapes (i.e.raisins), and left for 9 months, which sounds pretty disgusting. I’ve never actually tasted it on […]