It's coming... o v e r y o u r h e a d . . .


Crawling through technology, life and love

Contact me:
hotmail
home


Listening:

Playing:
Pool Paradise - GC on Wii

iTuning:
Podcasts - Chris Moyles, Mark Kermode and Stephen Fry

Reading:
All 24 25 Tintin books

Bits and Bobs:
Wish List
Gerry's Lyrics Pop Quiz
Minipops Quiz

Sites I like:
Marc Almond
Top 40 Singles
News
IMdb
The Register
Hacks
Recent GBlogs
Arsenal FC

Some blogs I enjoy:
bboyblues2000
bitful
blogadoon
brainsluice
chig
groc
minkered
scally
sparky
troubled diva

Books recently read:
Time Out Guide to Havana (and Cuba)
And The Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks - William S Burroughs and Jack Kerouac
At My Mother's Knee ... and Other Low Joints: The Autobiography - Paul O'Grady
Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon
My Booky Wook - Russell Brand
When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris
Then We Come To The End - Joshua Ferris
A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
The End of Mr. Y - Scarlett Thomas
I Never Knew That About London - Christopher Winn
The Arsenal Miscellany - Adam Gold
Young Hearts Run Free: The Real Story of the 1970s - Dave Haslam
Magical Thinking - Augusten Burroughs
Veronika Decides To Die - Paulo Coelho
Time Out Guide - Amsterdam
Lillian's Story - Kate Grenville
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
Schott's Original Miscellany - Ben Schott
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J K Rowling
A Gay History Of Britain - Matt Cook
Time Out Guide to Madrid
Time Out Guide to New York
Kingdom Come - J. G. Ballard
The Hours - Michael Cunningham
Mutants - Aramand Marie Leroi
A Young Man's Passage - Julian Clary
Growing Pains - Billie Piper
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Wild Swans - Jung Chang
Highbury: The Story of Arsenal N.5 - Jon Spurling
Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins - Rupert Everett
Affinity - Sarah Waters
Lighthousekeeping - Jeanette Winterson
Tipping The Velvet - Sarah Waters
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Of Human Bondage - W Somerset Maugham
Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
Lucky Man - Michael J Fox
Labyrinth - Kate Mosse
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
The Night Watch - Sarah Waters
The Pedant's Revolt - Andrea Barham
The Republic Of Trees - Sam Taylor
Written On tbe Body - Jeanette Winterson
Untold Stories - Alan Bennett
The Plot Against America - Philip Roth
Read All About It - Max Clifford
The Folding Star - Alan Hollinghurst
Thursbitch - Alan Garner
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris
Staying Alive - Matt Beaumont
The Bookseller Of Kabul - Asne Seierstad
Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince - J K Rowling
A Short History Of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
Count Karlstein - Philip Pullman
The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Spell - Alan Hollinghurst
The Double Life Of Daniel Glick - Maurice Caldera
The Smoking Diaries - Simon Gray
Straight- Boy George
Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
Deception Point - Dan Brown
The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Sydney - Time Out Guide
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland
The Scarecrow and His Servant - Philip Pullman
Tha Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
Planet Simpson - Chris Turner
The Line Of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst
Barcelona - Time Out Guide
The Closed Circle - Jonathan Coe
The Clerkenwell Tales - Peter Ackroyd
Copenhagen - TimeOut Guide
The Butterfly Tattoo - Philip Pullman
The Broken Bridge - Philip Pullman
In Search of the Pleasure Palace - Marc Almond
Brick Lane - Monica Ali
Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre
Last Exit To Brooklyn - Hubert Selby Jr
You Shall Know Our Velocity - Dave Eggers
Touching The Void - Joe Simpson
Life Of Pi - Yann Martel
Istanbul - Time Out Guide
Millennium People - J G Ballard
The Duchess Who Wouldn't Sit Down - Jesse Browner
Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland
Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami
Our Man In Havana - Graham Greene
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
Lyra's Oxford - Philip Pullman
Doran - Will Self
Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
the book, the film, the t-shirt - matt beaumont
High Society - Ben Elton
Man And Wife - Tony Parsons
I Was A Rat - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix - J R Rowling
Great Apes - Will Self
Barrel Fever - David Sedaris
Round Ireland With A Fridge - Tony Hawkes
Close Range - Annie Proux
The Third Way - Anthony Giddens
dot.con - John Cassidy
The Salmon of Doubt - Douglas Adams
One Hit Wonderland - Tony Hawkes
The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
The Cloud Sketcher - Richard Rayner
Keane: the Autobiography - Roy Keane
A Wasteland of Strangers - Bill Pronzini
The English - Jeremy Paxman
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People - Toby Young
Dead Famous - Ben Elton
The Amber Spyglass - Phillip Pullman (again)
The Subtle Knife - Phillip Pullman (again)
Northern Lights - Phillip Pullman (again)
The Bear and The Dragon - Tom Clancy
101 Reykjavik - Hallgrimur Helgason
Forward The Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Carter Beats The Devil - Glen David Gold
The Tin Princess - Philip Pullman
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Tiger In The Well - Philip Pullman
The Rotters Club - Jonathan Coe
Generation X - Douglas Copeland
Perfume - Patrick Suskind
All Families Are Psychotic - Douglas Coupland
The Shadow In The North - Phillip Pullman
No Logon - Naomi Klein
The Dirt - Motley Crue
Miss Wyoming - Douglas Coupland
The Amber Spyglass - Phillip Pullman
The Subtle Knife - Phillip Pullman
Northern Lights - Phillip Pullman
The Ruby in the Smoke - Phillip Pullman
The Sandman - Miles Gibson
Blood and Gold: The Vampire Marius - Anne Rice
The Actrocity Exhibition - J G Ballard
Shameless - Paul Burston
Sing Out! - Boze Hadleigh
Brilliant Orange - David Winner
New Boy - William Sutcliffe
London - Peter Ackroyd
Wonder Boys - Michael Chabon
One For My Baby - Tony Parsons
How To Be Good - Nick Hornby
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Lust - Geoff Ryman
Tulip Fever - Deborah Moggach
Dead Souls - Ian Rankin
The House Of Sleep - Jonathan Coe
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers
What a carve up! - Jonathan Coe
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon
The Grapes Of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Heartwood - James Lee Burke
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
Man and Boy - Tony Parsons
The Map Of Love - Ahdaf Soueif
e - Matt Beaumont
The e Before Christmas - Matt Beaumont


Archives:

September 1971
February 2001
March 2001
April 2001
May 2001
June 2001
July 2001
August 2001
September 2001
October 2001
November 2001
December 2001
January 2002
February 2002
March 2002
April 2002
May 2002
June 2002
July 2002
August 2002
September 2002
October 2002
November 2002
December 2002
January 2003
February 2003
March 2003
April 2003
May 2003
June 2003
July 2003
August 2003
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
January 2010
February 2010


This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?
Google
WWW www.overyourhead.co.uk
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Tim's Birthday Kazbar...
On Sunday Stu and I headed down to the Kazbar in Clapham to help Tim, along with this lovely friends and family, celebrate his birthday. Great fun.

Snaps here.



Monday, February 08, 2010
Kinetica Art Fair...
On Sunday we walked down to P3 opposite Madame Tussauds to see the Kinetica Art Fair. It was great fun. Lot's of moving art, light shows and optical illusion art.

Kinetica Art Fair is produced by Kinetica Museum and is the first of its kind in the UK. It provides collectors, curators and the public with a unique opportunity to view and purchase artworks from leading contemporary arts organisations and artists specialising in kinetic, electronic, robotic, light, sound, time-based and interdisciplinary new media art.

[Thanks for the recommendation David]



Friday, February 05, 2010
War Horse...
Last night Stu, Mark, Mark's work mate Sarah and I went to the New London Theatre Drury Lane in London's glitzy West End to see War Horse.

It would be difficult to imagine a production of greater ambition and complexity - for all the animals in the show, including the full-sized horses, are puppets.

One soon gets used to this grand deceit though and accept the sight of two men in a horse body and someone moving the head - for these are no pantomime horses. They are intricately contrived mechanical devices that manage to convey a horse's movements and mannerisms perfectly. So much so that one soon forgets that they are puppets and the story begins to shine through. And what a story it is.

Based on Michael Morpurgo's best-selling book War Horse recounts the adventures of a horse, Joey, as he moves from life on a farm into the battles of World War 1 on the Western Front. It is a story of a friendship lasting through the toughest of tests.

In the First World War, along with the dreadful toll of human lives, there were other casualties too – some two million horses. They were used as cavalry horses, for pulling guns and ambulances; in the battlefields of the Western Front they were essential to the armies on both sides. At the end of the war most of our surviving horses were sold off to French butchers.

A powerful story, well told.

And, no, I didn't blub. Although many did.



Thursday, February 04, 2010
Get Lost: A Survivor's Guide...
Series six of Lost begins tomorrow night at 9pm on Sky1. Can't wait. But for those you who have maybe either not watched it, have forgotten what has happened thus far, or indeed are just plain confused by the labyrinthine plot here is a quick survivor's guide.

Series one
On a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles, Oceanic flight 815 crash-landed on a deserted Pacific island, leaving 48 survivors, including: handsome doctor Jack, sexy fugitive Kate, smouldering conman Sawyer, miraculously cured paraplegic Locke, former Iraqi torturer Sayid, heroin-addicted rock star Charlie, overweight lottery winner Hurley and a dog called Vincent. Jack and Kate looked like getting frisky on the beach where the survivors made their camp, but Kate was also attracted to the roguish Sawyer. In the meantime, the jungle started spewing forth smoke monsters and hungry polar bears. Locke discovered a hatch in the ground somewhere in the jungle and spent most of the series trying vainly to open it.

Series two
Some survivors from the other half of the plane – which crashed across the island – trekked to the beach to find their fellow passengers, only to spend the rest of series two getting killed one by one. The "Others", the original inhabitants of the island who'd been snooping around killing and/or kidnapping survivors, lived in holiday chalets and were led by Ben, a budget version of Kevin Spacey doing "sinister". Locke blew the hatch open and found angry Scotsman Desmond down in the island's concrete catacombs, listening to records and pressing a button to prevent the destruction of the world (don't ask). Locke decided not to press the button. The world sort of ended – well, the sky went all white for a minute or two.

Series three
Desmond woke up seeing the future – specifically, that Charlie was going to die, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Charlie died. Meanwhile, Jack, Kate and Sawyer were taken prisoner by the Others. Jack agreed to operate on Ben's cancerous kidney. Kate and Sawyer got freaky. Jack got friendly with Juliet, one of the Others, then helped Kate and Sawyer escape. Locke dumped his friends and started hanging out with the Others. Locke and Ben went to see a ghost called Jacob in a hut in the jungle. Then Ben shot Locke because he felt threatened by how chummy he was getting with the other Others. (Ben is deeply insecure.) A freighter arrived to take the survivors home. Or did it...?

Series four
Four sciencey people from the freighter landed on the island in a helicopter, but they were more interested in finding Ben than they were in saving the Oceanic survivors. And it turns out the sciencey people weren't the only ones on the freighter; there were also a band of mercenaries sent by the villainous Charles Widmore (Jim from 'Neighbours'), hell bent on killing everyone. But Sayid and the Others somehow kicked their asses anyway. Claire disappeared in the jungle. Like, literally disappeared. Locke took over leadership of the Others. Ben pulled an underground lever and moved the island. Like, literally moved it. The sky went all white again. Some of the survivors were in the helicopter when the island moved, so they crash-landed in the ocean, only to be rescued by Desmond's girlfriend, Penny, in her posh boat. Penny, incidentally, happens to be the daughter of Jim from 'Neighbours' – sorry, I mean "Charles Widmore".

Series five
Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sun, Sayid and Claire's baby returned to the mainland claiming they were the only survivors of the crash. Sayid became a hitman. Hurley became a nutjob. Jack became an alcoholic, then persuaded the rest of his reluctant friends to return to the island. On the island, things went mental. The characters kept involuntarily flashing through time, which gave some of them killer nosebleeds. Eventually, they were stuck in the 1970s, where they pretended to be part of the Dharma initiative. We met two guys who'd been on the island for a very long time. One wore white and was called Jacob. One wore black and wanted to kill Jacob. Ben and Locke killed Jacob instead. Faraday, one of the sciencey guys from the freighter, decided to detonate a hydrogen bomb and destroy all the magnetic energy that caused the plane crash in the first place, which would reset the clocks and put everyone back where they started, on that flight to LA. After a lot of shooting, grenade-throwing and so forth, the bomb fell down a hole, where Juliet banged it with a rock. The sky went all white. Again.


Wednesday, February 03, 2010
The Equality Bill...
So the Pope is coming over to the UK and has fired off a few salvoes about how equality can go too far, huh? So what's got his goat?

Well, the Equality Bill is currently making it's way through Parliament. The Bill contains an Equality Duty that will require public bodies to think about different groups when planning and delivering services. There are already duties which currently cover disability, gender and race - the Equality Bill will replace these with a new duty which will also include religion and belief, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment in full.

Scary, isn't it? Equality. Well, scary for those who remain in power through the politics of fear.


Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Queer Question Time...
Last Friday night Darren and I went down to the RVT to watch Queer Question Time. It was a fun old night. The trans-community were feeling sorely aggrieved because the allegedly transphobic Julie Bindel was on the panel. Consequently there was a fairly well-attended and vocal demonstration outside the venue with the police on hand.

The panel in full were:
Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London
Julie Bindel, freelance journalist and political activist
Jonathan Fryer, writer, broadcaster, LibDem politician
Shazia Mirza, comedian & writer
David Gold, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Eltham

The night was at times chaotic to be honest with frequent interruptions by a few people inside the venue who seemed to want Ms Bindel to answer for some of her 'hate crimes' against transgender people (their words not mine.) It is always interesting to see people struggling for the moral high ground at events like this.

The arguments still roll on and on but one thing is for sure - I'll be going back to the next QQT.

One ray of hope was found amongst all the shouting and insults though when Mark Healey (organiser of the London Hate Crime Vigil in Trafalgar Square) asked a question...



Monday, February 01, 2010
Uniform Party...


Friday, January 29, 2010
Jerusalem...
Last night Stu and I went to see Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre in London's glitzy West End. It was long play with three acts, two intervals but gripping and very, very funny throughout. A sort of 'Shameless in the woods'.

In Jerusalem, Mark Rylance portrays Johnny Byron, a local man who finds himself in high demand in all corners of the community and not for good reasons. The story takes place on St George’s Day in which a fair has arrived in town for all to enjoy – but with everyone wanting a piece of him, it is only his children that want him to go on the rides. A look around town will highlight the local police, who are after Johnny to put him behind bars for what they perceive to be the activities of a modern day Pied Piper. Elsewhere, the local council wish to have him evicted from his home; Troy Whitworth wants to provide him with a good beating and even his friends are in on the action, wanting to get hold of him so that they can provide him with the normal cocktail of booze and drugs.

The staging involved live chickens, a live tortoise and goldfish and several real trees surrounding an onstage caravan.

Highly recommended.


Thursday, January 28, 2010
iPad...
So, the Jesus tablet is finally upon us. Apple announced it's long-awaited iPad yesterday in the States. It's feature set looks interesting - but not revolutionary. Will it change the world? Probably not. Will techies want one? Of course.

The specs are:
9.7 inch (25cm) multi-touch display
1 GHz Apple processor
16, 32 or 64 GB of flash memory
0.5in (1.25cm) thick
Weighs 1.5lbs (0.7kgs)
Wi-fi, bluetooth and 3G connectivity
Speaker, microphone
Accelerometer, compass
Battery life of 10 hours? We'll see on that one.

The cheapest iPad, which will come with 16GB of flash memory and wi-fi will cost $499. The most expensive version, with 64GB of storage and the ability to connect via a mobile 3G signal, will cost $829.


Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Lou Reed had ECT for being 'gay'...
Born in 1942 into a Jewish family in Brooklyn, the teenage Lou Reed was subjected to electroconvulsive therapy to “cure” his homosexuality. His parents ordered this as they were "disturbed by his developing homosexuality."

Reed wrote about the experience in his 1974 song, "Kill Your Sons" and also is quoted as saying, "They put the thing down your throat so you don't swallow your tongue, and they put electrodes on your head. That's what was recommended in Rockland County to discourage homosexual feelings. The effect is that you lose your memory and become a vegetable. You can't read a book because you get to page 17 and have to go right back to page one again."

Reed we went on to work as a house songwriter for Pickwick Records before finding cult fame with art-rock band The Velvet Underground. Post-VU, he released a succession of acclaimed albums, most significantly 1972’s ‘Transformer’, whose themes of drug use and cross-dressing chimed with the mood of the glam-rock movement spearheaded by his friend David Bowie.



Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Four Lions...
Chris Morris, the genius-man behind The Day Today, Brass Eye and Blue Jam, has spent the last few years researching and making a film about some hapless British would-be terrorists. The film is called Four Lions and has premièred at the Sundance Festival in the States.


Monday, January 25, 2010
Goldfrapp - Rocket...
Fantastic early '80s American synth-driven singer/songwriter mid-tempo pop; Christopher Cross's Ride Like The Wind, Van Halen's Jump and Journey's Don't Stop Believin'.



Radio Gaga...
Some's having fun with Lady Gaga http://www.raraahahahromaromamagagaoohlala.com/


Friday, January 22, 2010
100 Games Cup Cakes...
Can you guess the 100 games represented on the 100 cup cakes? http://www.steelheadstudio.com/100cupcakes/


Thursday, January 21, 2010
Banksy - Exit Through The Gift Shop...


Arsenal 4 - 2 Bolton...
Sam and I went to the Emirates last night to watch Arsenal make a brilliant comeback from 0-2 down to win 4-2 and so go top of the Premiership League. Goals came from Rosicky (43), Fabregas (52), Vermaelen (65) and Arshavin (85).


Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Avatar...
Stu, me and the gang went to see a 3D cartoon last night - James Cameron's Avatar at the BFI IMAX.

Starring the rather lovely Sam Worthington (as Jake) it tells the story of him 'becoming' an Avatar and using it to interact with the Na'vi - a tall blue computer-generated race who inhabit the strange blue computer-generated planet of Pandora. Initially Jake's working for the evil RDA trying to exploit the ridiculously named mineral Unobtainium but then he inevitably goes native.

Ok, so the plot is thin as paper and the film way, way too long but it looks great.

Reminded me a bit of Titan A.E.

A sequel or two in the offing? As Cameron said last week, "Yes, there'll be another."


Tuesday, January 19, 2010
You say potato, I say ghoughpteighbteau...
Ghoughpteighbteau? It's an example of a constructed word, used for illustration of irregularities in spelling in English. It is a respelling of the word 'potato', and like potato is pronounced /po??te?to?/.

It has:
gh, pronounced /p/ as in hiccough /?h?k?p/;
ough, pronounced /o?/ as in though /ðo?/;
pt, pronounced /t/ as in ptomaine /?to?me?n/;
eigh, pronounced /e?/ as in neigh /ne?/;
bt, pronounced /t/ as in debt /d?t/;
eau, pronounced /o?/ as in bureau /?bj??ro?/.


Monday, January 18, 2010
Goldfrapp - Head First...
Goldfrapp's new album Head First will be out in March - preceded by the single Rocket. Like Felt Mountain, Head First will feature 9 tracks. An unmixed version of the album will be sent to journalists this month.

Here is the track-listing :
1. Rocket
2. Alive
3. Believer
4. Dreaming
5. Shiny and warm
6. I wanna life
7. Head First
8. Voicething


Friday, January 15, 2010
I Protest!...


More here.


Thursday, January 14, 2010
I Promised Myself...
I love this song! Starting with the Nick Kamen original here are just some of the versions I've found. Enjoy!

Nick Kamen's original version


Jose Galisteo


Dead Or Alive


Nick Kamen (2004)


A*Teens (love this camp boys' mime)


John Davies


Basshunter


Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Magic Roundabout...
Only in the United Kingdom would you find a large roundabout with five mini-roundabouts. (Not to be confused with the "Magic Roundabout"s in Colchester, Hemel Hempstead or High Wycombe – or, for that matter, this "Magic Roundabout".)

In 2005, it was voted the worst roundabout in a survey by UK insurance company Saga Motor Insurance. In September 2007, the Magic Roundabout was named as one of the World's Worst Junctions by UK motoring magazine Auto Express. In December 2007, BBC News reported a survey identifying The Magic Roundabout as one of the "10 Scariest Junctions in the United Kingdom". However the roundabout provides a better throughput of traffic than other designs and has a better safety record.

Only in the UK, right?


Monday, January 11, 2010
Space:1899
Very funny spoof of Space:1999.


Friday, January 08, 2010
Sunday Madness...
Last Sunday Hudd, Mark, Andy, myself, Chris, Andy, Tim, Guy, Darren, Stu, Bryn, Kevin, Michael and Andrew all went out for a bite to eat. But it didn't stop there! Great fun.


Cirque Du Soliel's Varekai...
Last night Stu and I went to see Cirque Du Soliel's Varekai at the Royal Albert Hall. We'd not seen a CdC show before and I hope I don't damn it with faint praise by saying that it was exactly what I expected it to be. A circus show. A spectacular circus show.

The Evening Standard review summed it up very well; At its best Varekai is an exhilarating experience. It has dazzle, imagination, gravity-defying stunts, even a smattering of eroticism. What it needs, perhaps, is more soul.

Apparently Varekai is the Romany word for "wherever", and this characteristically elaborate spectacle by the Canadian company Cirque du Soleil, written and directed by Dominic Champagne, plays with traditional imagery of wandering, rootlessness and flight. The show in fact begins limply, with some charmless clowning and a squeaky-voiced sprite thanking the corporate backers. It relapses a couple of times into mediocrity, notably when yet another clown turns Jacques Brel's imploring "Ne me quitte pas" into a piece of spotlit slapstick. However, there is a huge amount to admire: beautifully costumed by Eiko Ishioka, the production features thrilling trapeze work, moments of balletic poise, a man on crutches moving more athletically than anyone on Britain's Got Talent, and a juggler who treats Panama hats as if they are boomerangs.There may be a story of sorts - loosely connected to the myth of Icarus - but the emphasis is on acrobatic moves and slick choreography. The cast's physical feats are so accomplished that one can lose sight of the risks they involve. Some sections are overlong, and the soundtrack, reminiscent of Claude Challe's Buddha Bar compilations, is cloying. But the visual feast is rich.

The highlight for me was the brothers Andrew and Kevin Atherton, swooping dramatically from the roof on lithe elastic straps.


Thursday, January 07, 2010
Hypnotic Tango - My Mine...
I've always loved this song. Even with it's much-sampled chorus.


Wednesday, January 06, 2010
28 Days Later in one minute, in one take...
I so love this clip. And the music. The best of the 'in One Minute' movies IMHO.


Tuesday, January 05, 2010
New Year's Eve 2009...
Stu, Darren, Mark, Chris, Hudd and I had a fantastic time on New Year's Eve. We celebrated at home first with some dinner, then headed into town for midnight. The Duke Of Wellington was our first and, as it turns out, our only port of call in Soho. My high point - dancing to I Gotta Feeling.

On the way home we decided to pop into the King Edward VI in Angel for a snifter. Messy? Sure. But fun.

Below is a montage of some of the snaps I took. Click here for bigger versions.



Monday, January 04, 2010
Enhance...
A tribute to all those films that try to 'enhance' the impossibly blurry surveillance footage.


Thursday, December 31, 2009
My Favourite Jokes for 2009...
Q: Who's the nicest man in a hospital?
A: The ultra-sound man
-----------------------------
Q: Who covers his shifts while he's away?
A: The hip-replacement guy.
-----------------------------
Q: What do you call a tellytubby who has been burgled?
A: A tubby.
-----------------------------
Q: What is Grand Master Flash's favourite website?
A: Wik wik wiki wikipedia.
-----------------------------
Q: What's brown and rhymes with Snoop?
A: Dr. Dre
-----------------------------
Q: How do find Will Smith when he's lost in the snow?
A: You look for the fresh prints.
-----------------------------
Q: What do you call a Mexican peeping-tom?
A: Senor Minge.
-----------------------------
My Uncle was a terrible ventriloquist.
When I was little he used to put his
hand up my arse and tell me to keep quiet.
-----------------------------
Remember – drinking alcohol can seriously harm your baby.
Especially if you're in Portugal and can't be arsed to pay for a babysitter.
-----------------------------

When on holiday, I like to show everyone just how British I am by offering them heroin out of my suitcase
----------------
Really, I like to show how British I am by losing one of my children.
----------------
I'm Austrian my children don't go on holidays.
----------------
I'm Nigerian, I try and stop my children going on holidays, especially to America.
----------------
I'm Pakistani and I've been on holiday in Britain for 27 years now.
----------------
I'm Brazilian and I avoid the Tube when on holiday.
----------------
I'm Chinese and our regulations for holiday luggage can be really strict.
----------------
I'm French and I surrender
----------------
I'm American and I don't get it.
-----------------
I'm Maddie, and I'm still on holiday!

[Feel free to reuse these and pass these off as your own - I did!]


Legally Blonde: The Musical...
Last night Stu, Marcus, Richard and I had VIP tickets to see Legally Blonde: The Musical at the Savoy Theatre.

We'd almost seen it in New York a couple of years ago - and now I wish we had. It was fab; way better than we'd thought it was going to be. We laughed. A lot.

Shedian Smith as Elle Woods was excellent (which we'd half expected having been wowed by her in Little Shop Of Horrors a couple of years ago) as was Alex Gaumond, Duncan James (yes, him from Blue), Peter Davidson (yes, him from Doctor Who) and Jill Halfpenny (what a revelation she was!)

Coming from the same pen that wrote the dire Batboy: The Musical I had a bad feeling about the show - but how wrong I was; the songs were good, the lyrics funny and the dancing top notch. And the dogs were very sweet.

Best bit: The song There! Right There! with the refrain "Gay or European?" to the tune of something resembling Beauty and the Beast's Gaston.

Go see.


Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Christmas Party ft the surliest Santa ever...
On Sunday before Christmas Stuart and I went to Upminster to meet up with the gang for Christmas lunch at The West Lodge, Essex.

Just like last year it was great fun; eating, drinking, dancing and 'Pete, the Music Man' (think Raw Sex).

Making a welcome come back was grumpy Santa Claus to entertain the kids. This year he was more surly than grump though - having been on the sauce since 11am. Stuart doesn't really like kids which is of course why we made him do it. He is, officially, the surliest Santa ever. Needless to say he was brilliant!



Click on the image below to be taken to the full set of photos.



< -5 BoyLOGS +5 ? > < webloggers > < # Blogging Brits ? >