Kellogg’s, ah Kellogg’s. Never has there been such a company with such an insatiable desire to stretch a brand to breaking point. You would think there was a pretty limited number of ways you could serve up cereals. Pretty much one per ce[…]

1: The Fanta-Stick
Possibly invented to tie in with the Christopher Ecclestone incarnation of Doctor Who, for whom this was his catchword. And seeing what we say, it is clear that the Fanta-Stick would be a slightly fizzy* orange lolly marketed by th[…]

There are of course all kinds of differences between live albums and studio ones. Within rock and some other genres, notions of a primacy attached to the live experience exist, ideas of greater authenticity, that it’s where a band really show t[…]

There are some lovely spaces in London institutions. The Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern has rarely been filled, but feels majestic in its own right – almost as if to cleanse your art palate before hitting the galleries. Big opening halls in cl[…]

Or do they. A nicely entertaining discussion of Superman #149 where Superman gets hit up for $1,000,000,000 of unpaid tax. Which in the fifties was a lot of money. This seems a surprisingly round number, but like many Superman stories of the age the […]

Here’s my third Poptimist column for Pitchfork. It’s about pop, but mostly about 2000AD and the concept of thrill-power.
The notorious “giant scorpions” cover which I cite in the piece was drawn by Massimo Belardinelli, who I […]

GOOD CHARLOTTE – “Keep Your Hands Off My Girl” – Score: 4.18 (12th) – Controversy: 2.83 (8th)
(Females: 12th. Males: 12th. Under 30s: 11th. Over 30s: 13th.)
Most like: MIA. Most unlike: JoJo. (But not significantly like […]

Idiocracy is Mike Judge’s follow up to the under-marketed and thus cult DVD hit Office Space. In many ways Idiocracy shares Office Space’s occasional flashes of brilliance padded around a dullish romantic central point, and is never quite[…]

the who ep on sat (“gridlock”) has divided the fans sharply (er WARNING — portals to LJ): — i really really genuinely enjoyed it start-to-finish and was initially totally surprised that anyone else didn’t: except on refl[…]

Excuses, excuses 
Attempting to order a much-needed Friday pint of Hoegaarden after work last week, I was disappointed to be told that there was none to be had. ‘Seriously,’ the barman told me, ‘it’s not just us, there’[…]