Posts from April 2008
24
Apr 08
Europop 2008: Group B – Austria 0 Poland 3
With Group B still posed on a knife-edge, can Austria and Poland find a way to break the deadlock?
How to vote: Just tick the track you like best! This poll ends at lunchtime on May 1st.
Austria v Poland: Which track do you prefer?
- Poland: Blog 27 79%
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IN SALAD (of all the) NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM(s)
huntin for images of BRANES in pulp culture i came across THIS via boingboing: “In November 2006 Till Nowak created the image SALAD. For this image he created 12 digital vegetable models in 3ds max using photographic references. They were combined to become a tribute to the fantastic biomechanical creations of H.R. Giger and the vegetable portraits of Giuseppe Arcimboldo.”
full size here
23
Apr 08
Our Year oF Agatha Christie Covers: 7: Nemesis
Why this particular cover. I think this is the first in this series where Aggie’s name is her signature. This is has been quite standard in the last twenty years as part of her branding, giving the visuals a particular stamp. A signature edition, personally certified by the woman. And it throws up interest questions about how we view the signature in British media. Christie was a writer, a signature is the simplest piece of writing she would have done. Though it was not a signature she used often, after she divorced her first husband and took on her later married name one assumes her cheques would not have been signed Agatha Christie.
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22
Apr 08
A Bite of Stars, a Slug of Time, and Thou – Episode 4
Martin Skidmore joins Mark Sinker and Elisha Sessions to discuss the first space-travel story of the series, and the first truly obscure find, “Beyond the Reach of Storms” by Donald Malcolm. As always, Elisha reads excerpts at the front of the programme. Music includes “Firekeeper” by Red Planet.
Produced by Elisha Sessions
Next – “The Red Brain” by Donald Wandrei
SLIK – “Forever And Ever”
Midge Ure is one of those pop figures who joins a bunch of dots, perhaps to a greater degree than his observed talent might suggest. From this boy band to New Pop to the charity records boom, via a tangential role (and almost much more than that, if he’s to be believed) in the Pistols story – he’s been around. That’s all to come: here and now he’s in Slik, chasing the last of the rollerbux with this preposterous and almost fantastic record.
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21
Apr 08
In Which The Last Mistress Does Nothing To Stop Other Mistresses Existing
I really enjoyed The Last Mistress, Catherine Breillat’s filmed version of d’Aurevilly’s novel. Look who am I kidding. d’Aurevilly means nothing to me, and I’ve never been a huge fan of Breillat’s sex comedies (such as the not that aptly named Sex Is Comedy). I’m here for Asia Argento, Dario’s daughter who is far and away one of the most unpredictably watchable screen presences of the moment. So whilst The Last Mistress may seem to be a pretty standard period costume drama, Argento being in it was more than enough to drag me along. And not only was I right to pick that, but the reason for it being any good at all is all down to Argento herself.
The key scene in The Last Mistress takes place just after a duel takes place.
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Europop 2008: Group B – Croatia 2 Germany 2
After a short break in transmission Europop 2008 returns with this match from knife-edge Group B. Listen to the tracks, vote in the poll, and click below the cut for managerial comment, analysis, previews and match reports.
How to vote: Just tick the one you prefer! This poll closes on April 28th at lunchtime or thereabouts.
Croatia v Germany: Which track do you prefer?
- Germany: Lopazz 50%
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ABBA – “Mamma Mia”
To swipe a phrase from my other favourite band, we are now into ABBA’s “imperial phase”, their shift from one-hit wonders to the world’s biggest pop group sudden and complete. The world had, in fact, been patient with ABBA – “Mamma Mia” is the fourth single from their self-titled album, the others – “So Long”, “I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do”, “S.O.S.” – having been each more popular than the last. That triad looks like an evolution now, but they were all on the same record, so the development is in the band’s (and Stig Andersson’s) understanding of what they were commercially capable of: a play-safe “Waterloo” throwback, a lilting bit of light pop and then the fully unleashed melodrama of “S.O.S.”, indelible melodic hooks melded perfectly to the song’s emotional beats.
“Mamma Mia” is more iconic than “S.O.S.” but it’s not as good.
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20
Apr 08
stendernauts misled: it is to weep
p^nk s lord thingamajig is on the way to london fields lido and crossing hackney’s graham road where it meets mare street in the Easty East of End when a small but full car stops and a woman addresses him thru the window:
woman: excuse me do you know where albert square is?
p^nk s lord t: er d’you mean the real albert square or the one on telly?
woman: YES!
p^nk s lord t: ok but they aren’t the same! the one on telly isn’t a real place — it’s a film-set up in north london somewhere that they film on
anguished voice from deep inside car: what? but we’ve driven all the way from birmingham to visit it!
p^nk s lord t: ok well it is findable but it’s far from here and i don’t know the way
woman (despondently): ok thank you
*car drives off trailing collective thinks-bubble of baffled upset*
p^nk s lord t (thinks to self): oh dear i wonder if they meant fassett square — that’s what albert square is based on and it’s just round the corner
Poll to Poll - PWC Result
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