Just heard on the radio the sad news that Sir Coxsone Dodd, sound system pioneer and founder of Studio One, has died from a heart attack, aged 72.[…]

“In my view, it is not a gimmick” sez ENO spokesman of opera at Glasto. No, sorry, IT IS A GIMMICK. But I am thoroughly pro-gimmicks, so that’s fine – especially in the classical world where the gimmickal imagination rarely st[…]

Easy as it is to believe, sellout culture guru Malcolm McLaren had a shot at writing a musical with none other than Pete Waterman back in the early nineties.
What did this consist of? Its hard to say based on the evidence presented here, but plenty […]

I didn’t, of course, but apparently I’ve seen the next best thing: the first competitive goal by the All-American wonderboy, 14-year-old soccer sensation and certified New Pelé, Freddy Adu. Young Fred is to be seen with The Great Man him[…]

The art of the film poster has taken a nosedive in the last twenty years, well thought out collages, montages and paintings have given way to often messily generic screen grabs, cheap poster printing and photoshopped monstrosities. Every now and then[…]

Giggling happily at the horrible violence
No, not Kill Bill, but Home Alone!! Tarantino wd employ John Candy if he could and HE WOULD BE RIGHT! (Baffled non UK-ers note: this xmas movie was shown as a Bank Holiday TV Movie yesterday…)[…]

The Time Out Pub Of The Year shortlist has come out, and it looks like the beardy beeries of CAMRA (stereotypes are there for a reason chaps) have had a look in. Perenial CAMRA, and to be fair publog, favourite The Wenlock Arms is there. But also so […]

Les Kellett
The Wrestling Channel is a welcome addition to my Sky line-up. To be honest, most of it is Japanese shows with Japanese commentary or third-rate WWE knock-off stuff, not all bad, often fast and lively, but I think what little genuine star[…]

Now With Added Stats
Cosmetic Ads on TV are perennial science-blog fodder*, but I have noticed something new on the ads on (British) television. Statistics. Not simply “10 times smoother” but things like “10 times smoother, 15 women[…]

Screwing The Black
My snooker story is much the same as most of my generation. Watched it with grandparents, now find it dull, played it once – it took forever. The game is still suffering from the damage inflicted upon it by Stephen Hendry, a […]