Continuing CAMRA baiting week, I grab a copy of North London CAMRA’s monthly free sheet The Full Pint last night. Full of wonderful revelations, including the article about which postcodes are in North London Branch’s remit. Fascinating. […]

The rain over the last few days nagged at me. Not really annoying the rain, I thought, but odd timing. Why was the onset of rain int he last week of July bugging me. And then I remembered. The kids summer holidays have just started. Hence it starts r[…]

I like John Sayles a lot. Lone Star is one of my favourite films. Unfortunately his new one, Silver City, is not. Which is a great pity because it shares a lot of similarities with Lone Star, and has some terrific turns from Chris Cooper and Maria Be[…]

Why is War Of The Worlds (the book) any good. Tom points out the catastrophist nature of it here, and it is this which has been regularly cited. The Orson Welles radio drama is never lauded for its exciting plot developments or ending, but more for t[…]

A few things to say about The Descent, the mostly terrific Brit horror film by Neil Marshall.
a) He knows what he thinks is scary and he sticks to it. Mainly he thinks quickly stabbing people in the eye is scary. He is of course right.
b) Initially i[…]

Saw Stage Beauty the other day, Richard Eyre’s film of the play Compleat Female Stage Beauty. As such it purports to tell the story of the footnote in theatrical history when women were suddenly allowed to act. Interesting, if, one gets the fee[…]

So why did Roger Waters rejoin Pink Floyd for Live 8? Was it the sense of occasion? The putting away of petty squabbles for a greater cause. Maybe he discovered that Nick Mason hadn’t after all pranged his car in the street. All of these are po[…]

Someone, somewhere (mixmaster extraordinaire Steve M, an e-mail) mentioned Sunscreem earlier to me. I glibly shot back an e-mail saying that they were great and you should dis them at your peril.
And then I remember. Sunscreem were great. Not great i[…]

There is a bad habit, one which unfortunately I share, of considering things which have only the most tenuous of links as plays on words or puns. Call them parapuns if you will (I will), as they are half-baked and rubbish. An example: well an example[…]

We escaped the friendly man, and hushed tones were reserved for the grand sight of THE COWSHED. Rising in the distance it really is a very impressive pub from the outside. Not so much due to any great architecture, just the way it juts majestically o[…]