Things most people know about European languages  – One – Spanish for ‘beer’ is ‘cerveza’. Two – English is not in the same language family as French and Spanish. When looking at other European words for beer it is appa[…]

“[John Thelwall] also had the misfortune to be a mediocre poet — a crime which, although it is committed around us every day — historians and critics cannot forgive.” —E.P.Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class*
It was ca[…]

A quiz: name this Marvel Comics crossover event.
An incident – caused by the irresponsible use of superhuman powers – has caused massive loss of life, public outcry and led to swift government action. Many people with superhuman abilities[…]

British Political Pop 1990-2005
This is the second of a pair of compilation CDs giving one potential outline of how British pop acts tackled politics. This CD looks at the post-Thatcher era, from 1990 onwards. This coincides with my own life as a vot[…]

Politics And British Pop, 1979-1990: A CD
Even After Closing Time…

This is the first of two CDs following the threads of British political pop from 1979, the date of Thatcher?s first election victory, to 2005. It is flawed and incomplete, due […]

Mughal-E-Azam and an example of American movieviewing 2005
‘It’s gotta be some sorta camp fest, right?’
Or so I thought as I received the invitation. Good friend Vic, enthusiast for many things in life including film, had been insi[…]

The 2001 Election by Dave Boyle
I was on pins for the 2001 election. For most of the country, it seemed a foregone conclusion, but the marginal I was working in, we didn’t have a clue. We knew that ultimately, the ability to form a government w[…]

(Since some say Placebo is worse than the Cure)
“Absolute shit. The worst. ‘I’m depraved, me’”
Nobody likes Placebo. Except their fans, and nobody is a fan. Except the people who buy the records and show up at the shows, etc[…]

Since we’re redesigning…
Freaky Trigger is a UK-based website which consists of a bunch of themed weblogs. It started life in 1999 as a music site, edited by me, as a way to get my ramblings on pop music out of my head and onto the web. I[…]

Club Seal and the Indie Boom
You can tell a band has a particular grip on people when fans turn up to discos and dance only to their songs. Club Seal, on Friday in Islington, was the first ‘indie club’ I’d been to for about three ye[…]