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Crawling through technology, life and love Contact me: hotmail gmail home 
Listening: 
Playing: Donkey Kong Jet Racing - Wii iTuning: Podcasts - Russell Brand, Chris Moyles and Mark Kermode Reading: The End of Mr. Y - Scarlett Thomas 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 Sainsbury's Recent GBlogs Arsenal FC Some blogs I enjoy: bboyblues2000 bitful blogadoon brainsluice chig groc minkered scally sparky troubled diva Books recently read: 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  
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Thursday, February 28, 2002
Star spotting...
 Some workmen are doing some building work to the outside of our office that blocks the pavement. To let pedestrians get past they've put up some temporary red and white barriers in the street to allow people to walk step off the pavement without getting run over by the traffic. As I was leaving work yesterday I spotted of all people 80s heart-throb Gary Kemp talking to someone else very earnestly in this temporary road/pavement area. No doubt they were discussing some Spandau Ballet project. I scuttled past trying not to stare too much. As I walked away a thought occurred. If only I'd had enough time to dash across the street and take a snap with my digital camera....
(wait for it, wait for it) ...I'd have him Through the Barricades.
The Grammys 2002...
The Grammys go on for hours and hours and hours so you might be excused for dosing off half way through. But just how disappointing it must be to wake up having just missed the all important "Category 82: Best Album Notes" award? What a bummer. In case this tragedy happened to you let me fill you in. It was a tie. "Richard Pryor...And It's Deep Too! The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (1968-1992) by Walter Mosley, album notes writer (Richard Pryor)" and "Arhoolie Records 40th Anniversary Collection: 1960-2000 The Journey Of Chris Strachwitz by Elijah Wald, album notes writer (Various Artists)"
Serious About Shorts...
On Tuesday night prior to Pop Quiz Darren and I went to the Curzon in Shaftsbury Avenue to go and see four short films culled from various Lesbian and Gay Film Festivals around the world. They were all very good. Very funny, touching and well worth seeing. The first was DOORS CUT DOWN (Antonio Hens, 17 mins, Spain, 2000) "From shopping centre toilets to his parent's home the libido of the 16-year-old in this film is going to get him in trouble one of these days." This was hilarious. This Spanish school kid leaves school everyday and goes down to his local shopping mall and cruises the toilets having sex with strangers and generally living the Life of Riley. He gets kicked out of the mall one day with the local bike mechanic and told not to come back. He starts to have extra English tuition at home and soon seduces his English teacher. Much to his Dad's disgust who walks in on them while they're fucking. One visit to the local psychotherapist later it's his parents that need the therapy not him. He then returns to the mall with his bike mechanic boyfriend and snog in front of the security guards. Then came 4PM (Sam Backhurst, 13mins, UK, 1999) "A hilarious tale of a one-night stand between two London girls that goes terrifically right...and then horribly wrong!" Sex, politicians, goldfish, guns, lost keys, porno photographs. A very funny lesbian farce. The weakest of the four was MEETING (Marie-Pierre Huster, 9mins, France, 2001) "A prospective job becomes more intriguing when a woman discovers that last night's tryst was with the new boss's wife" Lots of sexy and moody pouting and stylish close-ups of lipstick lesbians dancing and fucking but short on real plot. More of a male fantasy film I think. The best of the four was the final EARLY FROST (Pierre Pinaud, 17 mins, France, 1999) "Ten-year-old Caroline leads a normal suburban life until she notices that her beloved pet rabbit, Pitou, has homosexual tendencies." This was SO funny. A black comedy to be sure. A little girl has a rabbit who turns out to be gay. The bigoted parents don't approve and end up suffocating it in a freezer bag and putting it in the freezer. They pretend it's run away but the girl finds out what's happened and goes ape. She throws the now rock solid fraozen rabbit at the mother giving her a black eye. The girl befriends the local gay couple who offer to bury it in their garden. The girl recovers from the trauma. The parents need therapy. Darren and I were screeching with laughter throughout. Billy Whizz, the unlikely named organizer, is going to try and get us some invites for the LLGFF launch later this year. Can't wait.
George Michael's Freeek! Video...
Did you miss George Michael's full(ish) Freeek! video shown last night at 11:15 on Channel Four? C4 censored a bit of it. Well here's the first 20 seconds for you lucky people. You can also listen to a bit more of Freeek! here or watch the first 20 seconds of the video in different formats and streams Windows Media Player freeek_trailer_w_34.wmv freeek_trailer_w_100.wmv Real Player freeek_trailer_r_34.rm freeek_trailer_w_100.wmv Previously I had only seen the shortened version without the opening "Blade Runner" sequence. Well my first reaction was: WOW! My second reaction was: What a load of self-indulgent twaddle! Sure it looks good but if you gave me $1m and I threw it at the screen I could make it look good too. Apart from Blade Runner there are elements of hundreds of recent sci-fi films, robots, Tron, Madonna, Leigh Bowery and Japanese Anime peppered throughout the video. Reminiscent of a Puff Daddy video everything is over the top. The high tech video effects are dazzling but ultimately unfulfilling. If there's a story to be told or point to be made (about cyber-sex? porn? alienation?) it was lost in the flashiness of it all. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge, huge George Michael fan. But he just looks so silly clad in various rubber suits (red, brown and black) and cod-pieces and stomping about the set. Sometimes with four scantily clad girls on a leash, sometimes by himself. Mostly he's dressed up like a dog's dinner. At one point he's dressed as an alien wearing a huge all-in-one red rubber suit with massive impacted red rubber boots and he lumbers about like the creature at the end of Altered States. In a strange way it reminded me of Elton John in his Pinball Wizard boots. Are we perhaps seeing George Michael enter his Glam Rock phase as EJ did? Wednesday, February 27, 2002
Bootlegs...
As you may be aware David, Dave and I have a fascination with bootlegs. Those mixed-up play-two-records-at-the-same-time tracks. We write about them on our web sites, e-mail each other with new examples we've found and make compilations for friends. Well now that Kylie has jumped on the band wagon with the Can't Get You Out Of My Head / Blue Monday fusion it seems this musical meme is reaching it's maturity. There's even an article about it in today's Guardian. I'm not sure I agree with everything it says but it's an interesting read. It even mentions our new friend, Osymyso, and a web site that has lots of bootleggy stuff www.cartelcommunique.com. I suppose it begs the question what is a bootleg? Is it crude sampling like M/A/R/R/S and the KLF did back in the 80s? i.e. basically stealing the hook or the bridge from another song. Is it sampling like all the rappers seem to do now? i.e. re-recording a track with permission or even getting the original vocalist to record a fresh version for them. Or is it simply an extreme form of mixing? Just playing two songs at the same time. I think it's the latter. People have been sampling, mixing and downright stealing other people's musical ideas wholesale for years now. Bootlegging seems to tap into something else though. When done well it almost seems to create something new from two or more existing songs. It highlights the essence of each song used giving birth to a hybrid. And as any gardener will tell you F1 hybrids can be stronger than either of their parents. Next Thursday 7th March is the next King of the Boots party at Asylum "London's Smallest Venue". I think we'll all be going.
Smile please...
A close friend had a wild weekend. Very wild. His boyfriend (also a close friend) is away. Pictures were taken using his boyfriend's digital camera. He can't delete them now. Boyfriend is back tomorrow. Panic phone call to me for help. What should I do?
You
Recent advice is that the police should use public transport rather than police cars to get about London. It cuts costs and deters crime on the buses and the tubes with a high profile uniformed police presence. All sensible stuff. However on my way into town last night my tube carriage was full with uniformed officers. All the police had had to take their helmets off so they didn't bash on the carriage roof which took up even more space. And as it was still rush hour they were being crammed in like sardines along with the rest of us. Lots more people were trying to push on as we approached the West End which made matters even worse. Quite a funny scene then when some irate commuter shouted at this bobby at Covent Garden, "Shove up! Yes! YOU! There's loads of room further down the carriage!"
Shoot for the moon...
I'm all on my own this coming weekend. Mark is going shooting. So if anybody has any suggestions about how I can
The Ian Martin Test...
It was fun compiling the Ian Martin Friend Test yesterday pretending to be Ian. I had to try and work out what Ian would have put and at the same time have a bit of fun with some inside knowledge. My double guessing obviously succeeded to a better degree than I had anticipated though. Even hours after taking the test David was convinced Ian had written the quiz himself, and Ian thought that David had written it. Tuesday, February 26, 2002
The "Me" Test....
It seems I know David better than his boyfriend does. And no David that doesn't mean I'm your new boyfriend. It just means I know you well enough not to be your boyfriend :-) Well how well do you all know me then? Do you know what makes me tick? I also have an online test for you to try: onthe.friendtest.com. Highest possible score: 100 [link from David]
London Traffic Congestion Charges...
The facts Area: Eight sq mile stretch of central London Amount: £5 daily charge from 7am - 6.30pm Monday - Friday How they will check: 130 cameras will scan number plates and you have to pay in a shop, post office or over the internet in the next 24 hours Fine: £80 fine if you fail to pay Registration: Vehicles can be registered on internet Discount: 90% discount for people living in charging zone Services: 100% discount for disabled and essential services Start date: 17 Feb 2003 
When I was in Singapore a few years ago I saw how their congestion charges worked. All the cars avoided the zone like the plague during the day. This caused severe traffic jams just outside the zone and then a huge 6:30 rush into the zone when the charging period ended. Traffic didn't move any faster, it just moved the problem somewhere else. Does you city have congestion charges? Do they work?
Power cut...
Over the weekend our building had a planned annual power down. All the electricity in the building it turned off for an entire weekend for maintenance. When I say 'annual' I really mean 'frequent', of course. Our building seems to turn the power off every couple of months just for the hell of it. Does your office do this? Are we the only place that has to suffer these ridiculous power cuts? When the power does get turned off I need to close every system down one by one and make sure it's safe and secure (electrically speaking). This often involves me staying late on a Friday night as there's always some prat who wants to finish off some vitally important memo to his cat or something. Then on Monday morning I have to get up half way through the night to start powering all the systems back again so our office is ready for an 8am start. It just so happened that one of our systems didn't recover from the shut down last weekend, namely Internet Mail (so apologies if you have sent me any mail to my work address in the last few days), and I've only just managed to get it working again. It was a routing problem.
Universally Challenged...
Ha, ha, ha! Edinburgh lost last night to Imperial College, London in BBC2's University Challenge. By a big margin. The smug Canadian, Mary-Anne Foster (her with the ginger hair, glasses, annoying cackle, studying 'Infomatics') along with her pompous team mates Gregory (trying and failing to look and act like James Bond), Warner (singlehandedly reviving the idea of the Sloaneranger) and Griffith ('don't mind me I'm just along for the ride') put in a disastrous performance. Incorrect answers to early interruptions of questions cost them dearly. I love the show though. The philosophy of hard questions but easy answers is a winning one. It's fun to nurse a bottle of wine and shout out the answers with your b/f to see who can get the most right. Monday, February 25, 2002
The NME Awards 2002...
It's obviously the season of awards and the reason to have an opinion about awards. So here's mine. Now I like Ash, don't get me wrong. But getting the award of single of the year for Burn Baby Burn is a tad unwarranted. The NME awards had other surprises too; including The Charlatans winning "the outstanding contribution" award. Pull-ease. The awards for Moulin Rouge, Basement Jaxx and Missy Elliot were however as welcome as they were deserved.
Out today (but not that out)...
Pop Idol winner Will Young releases his first single today. Chart experts are predicting the double A Side, Evergreen and Anything is Possible, will become the fastest selling debut single in British history. Advance orders for the record already top 1.2 million, beating the previous record held by the winners of Popstars, Hear'Say. On ITV2 yesterday Will confirmed that his album will have contributions by Cathy Denis and Burt Bacharach. Gosh. Sunday, February 24, 2002
Baftas 2002...
Just finished watching the Baftas. Stephen Fry is an utterly perfect host for these occasions. The winners were somewhat predictable with Lord Of The Rings sweeping the board and Judi Dench and Russell Crowe winning their own respective best actor awards. Good to see Moulin Rouge got some recognition and picked up three gongs. Shrek had to settle for just the one.
Four seasons in one day...
The weather's been weird recently. Snow, rain, sun and wind all in one day. And for some reason it prompted a session of spring cleaning and DIY. Don't know why. But the leaky toilet's fixed, the candle holders are up in the dining room, the pictures are up in the sitting-room and the spot lights in the bathroom don't flicker anymore. By way of self congratulation I spent the evening last night playing Luigi's Mansion before popped out for dinner with Marky, Nicki and Mikey and then heading to the Artful Dodger's closing night party. The game was frantic, the restaurant buzzing and the club packed. All my basic hungers satisfied. Mind, belly and groin. Now if only the weather would sort itself out. Saturday, February 23, 2002
A round up of today's news...
Posh and Becks to have another sprog Chuck Jones cashes in his chips X-box launched in Japan Kylie's going to tie the knot Use the web too much? You'll turn into a goldfish and get RSI Friday, February 22, 2002
Curling at the edges...
I tried to stay up and watch the curling on TV last night but I got bored and went to bed. But while he stayed up watching, Mark used our digital camera to take a photograph of a flower and superimpose the winning position of the curling stones that won us the gold medal. Clever boy. 
I'm a whore...
Marcus has branded me, quite rightly, a games console whore. Sony, Sega, Nintendo - I have them all and I still want more. I just can't stick to just one. Exhibit A: I have eight (!) Nintendo Gameboys Exhibit B: I imported a sexy black Nintendo GameCube a few weeks ago a full 14 weeks before it is officially available in the UK Exhibit C: I'm anxiously drumming my fingers until two weeks next Thursday I get my sparkly new Microsoft X-Box Well now there is more evidence of my whore-dom. At work I have to buy backup tapes on a regular basis to keep all our data safe. Guess what came as a free gift with the most recent box of 25 tapes? Looks like I can have one in the sitting room AND the bedroom now. Unless you know of someone else who wants it instead? I may be a whore. But I've got a heart of gold.
Remember Pong?...
Well this isn't the Pong you remember, at least I hope not. No, this is Pong for the 21st century. What starts off as a seemingly innocuous game of electronic tennis quickly turns into an entertaining battle of wits between the two virtual adversaries. Slightly profane, but immensely hilarious. Be sure to catch both parts, preferably in order. Indeed, expect the unexpected. Pong Pong 2 You may have seen this before. Indeed I think I was sent a link to it by David or someone last year. But it's still worth another look. [Link from CramSession] Thursday, February 21, 2002
Curling...
It's the longest and most boring game ever. But what the hey. We won a Gold Medal so who am I to carp?
The Brits 2002: The TV Show...
We just finished watching The Brits. The early highlight was Kylie in a micro-skirt singing Can't Get You Out Of My Head backed with New Order's Blue Monday. It was simply fantastic. One of those rare moments when you know that pop music is here to save your world. A perfect mix of sex and technology that got our jaws dropping open. Sadly the rest of the two hour show was but a steady anticlimax. Compere Frank Skinner was a complete waste of space. Co-host Zoe Ball is, and always will be, an amateur. Dido (who won two awards) has always been, quite frankly, over-rated. Mild highlights of the show were Anastasia and Jamiraquai duetting to Donna Summer's Bad Girls and Sing stripping off at the finale to show his rather gorgeous upper torso. But at the end of the day it was a record company event, largely voted for by them and attended by them. We even took a time out to watch a new episode of Friends on the other side half way through and still didn't feel we missed much. But that's the nature of award shows I guess. No surprises.
I just got a call from Mark...
M: I saw a mouse! J: Where? M: There on the stair! J: Where on the stair? M: Right there! M: A little mouse with no clogs on J: Well I declare! M: Going clip-clippety-clop, twitch, twitch, I'm almost dead, just leave me here on the stair J: Oh yeah!
A fair cop...
Police Commmander Brian Paddick is in the news at the moment. He's the man in charge of the Lambeth Borough police service which covers Brixton - a notorious area in South London for drugs and crime. The reason why he's in the news is that he has a very different approach to criminals than other Police Officers. He treats them with respect. He's always been open. He's always been honest. He's always been liberal. But now he has commited the worst crime imaginable - he's dared to post something on the Internet. He posts on a bulletin board on urban75 And for this unforgivable crime he is in very hot water indeed. He also happens to be gay and quite cute too.
The biscuit game...
This memorandum came round in our office just now. It has been brought to my attention that members of staff feel the need to enter the meeting rooms and help themselves to biscuits. Please don't, these are supplied for the visitors and members of staff attending meetings and not for general consumption. Thank you in anticipation of your cooperation in this matter. CMW Cost of biscuits: 2p each
The Brits 2002: The Winners...
Best British female solo artist: Dido Also nominated: Geri Halliwell, PJ Harvey, Sade, Sophie Ellis Bextor Best British newcomer: Blue Also nominated: Atomic Kitten, Elbow, Gorillaz, Mis-Teeq, So Solid Crew, Starsailor, Turin Brakes. Zero 7 (Winner chosen by BBC Radio 1 listeners) Best international male solo artist: Shaggy Also nominated: Bob Dylan, Dr Dre, Ryan Adams, Wyclef Jean Best international group: Destiny's Child Also nominated: Daft Punk, Limp Bizkit, REM, The Strokes Best pop act: Westlife Also nominated: Blue, Hear'Say, Kylie Minogue, S Club 7 (Winner voted for by viewers of ITV1 show CD:UK, readers of The Sun and via BT Cellnet text messaging.) Best international newcomer: The Strokes Also nominated: Anastacia, The Avalanches, Linkin Park, Nelly Furtado Best British single: S Club 7: Don't Stop Movin' Also nominated: Atomic Kitten: Whole Again, Bob the Builder: Mambo No 5, Daniel Bedingfield: Gotta Get Thru This, DJ Pied Piper: Do You Really Like It, Geri Halliwell: It's Raining Men, Gorillaz: Clint Eastwood, Hear'Say: Pure and Simple, Robbie Williams: Eternity/The Road To Mandalay, So Solid Crew: 21 Seconds (Winner voted for by commercial radio listeners) Best international female solo artist: Kylie Minogue Also nominated: Alicia Keys, Anastacia, Bjork, Nelly Furtado Best British male solo artist: Robbie Williams Also nominated: Aphex Twin, Craig David, Elton John, Ian Brown Best British group: Travis Also nominated: Gorillaz, Jamiroquai, Radiohead, Stereophonics Best British album: Dido: No Angel Also nominated: Craig David: Born To Do It, Gorillaz: Gorillaz, Radiohead: Kid A, Travis: The Invisible Band Best British video: So Solid Crew: 21 Seconds Also nominated: Basement Jaxx: Where's Your Head At, Coldplay: Trouble, Dido: Thank You, Elton John: I Want Love, Fatboy Slim: Weapon of Choice, Gorillaz: Clint Eastwood, Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue: Kids, Robbie Williams: Supreme, Travis: Sing (Winner voted for by Smash Hits readers and viewers) Best British dance act: Basement Jaxx Also nominated: Craig David, Faithless, Fatboy Slim, Gorillaz Best international album: Kylie Minogue: Fever Also nominated: Alicia Keys: Songs In A Minor, Daft Punk: Discovery, Destiny's Child: Survivor, The Strokes: Is This It Outstanding contribution: Sting Wednesday, February 20, 2002
Web rage...
Suffering from web rage? Then why not go to Moments of Simplicity for a soothing and relaxing experience. You can enjoy urban therapy, colour therapy or nature therapy. Ahhhhhhh. Lovely.
The Brits 2002...
Tonight it's The Brits. Can't make it? Tuxedo at the dry cleaners? Well, why not have a listen to some of the artists who have been nominated and make your own mind up who should win. Hear a clip from Can't Get You Out of My Head - Kylie Minogue Hear a clip from Handbags and Gladrags - Stereophonics Hear a clip from Little L - Jamiroquai Hear a clip from 21 Seconds - So Solid Crew Hear a clip from Roxanne - Sting Hear a clip from Side - Travis Hear a clip from Pyramid Song - Radiohead Hear a clip from 19/2000 - Gorillaz Hear a clip from Let Love Be Your Energy - Robbie Williams Hear a clip from New York City Cops - The Strokes
Reasons for not going to the gym...
It requires effort and commitment to keep going back It's boring It takes time You ache afterwards It costs money I'm a lazy git Reasons for going to the gym... I'm incredibly unfit. I can't walk up stairs without getting short of breath I'm paying for the membership already (heavily subsidised by the company I might add) It's in the basement of the building where I work so I can get the lift door-to-door I can go there on company time not my own The endophin rush is nice I'll feel better about myself when I go Cute men go there
Numbers...
At 2 minutes past 8 o'clock this evening, the time, date and year will be a palindrome, viz: 2002 2002 2002. Why does this sort of thing interest me? Don't answer that!
Not even close...
Our regular team of David, Ian and I were up to full strength at last night's Retro Bar Pop Quiz with Darren joining us again. We were all squeezed into a corner at the end of the bar and felt optimistic as the question setters were known for their heavy reliance on 70s/80s pop. We were sadly mistaken though. Mistaken to be optimistic that is. We got a measly 13½ out of a possible 20 points. Here are the questions. 01. Name two artists that had hits with the title The Look of Love. 02. Name two artists that had hits with the title Money. 03. Name two artists that had hits with the title Things Can Only Get Better. 04. Name two artists that had hits with the title Why? 05. Who had a top ten hit with Painter Man in 1979? 06. Spot the connection: Dollar's Mirror, Mirror, Talk Talk's Today and The Jam's News of the World. 07. Which famous musician has done a recent cover of The Lion Sleeps Tonight? 08. B-52s: were they siblings or a couple? 09. The Mamas and The Papas: were they siblings or a couple? 10. Talking Heads: were they siblings or a couple? 11. Who has recently covered David Essex's Rock On? 12. Who has recently covered The Human League's Being Boiled? 13. Who has recently covered Christie's Yellow River? 14. Who had a top ten hit in 1990 with a cover of The Rolling Stones' I'm Free? 15. Spot the connection: Blondie's Heart of Glass, The Associates' Club Country, The Beatles' Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Motorhead's The Ace of Spades. 16. What was the A-side of the Pet Shop Boy's B-side A Man Could Get Arrested? 17. What was the A-side of the Eurhythmics' B-side I Could Give You (A Mirror)? 18. What was the A-side of M's B-side M factor? 19. Who had a top ten hit with Hole In My Shoe? 20. What year were these all hits: 10cc The Things We Do For Love, ELO Living Thing and The Sex Pistols Anarchy In The UK? The winners got 17½ but didn't win the cash so that rolls over to next week.
Pollock - The Movie...
Ed Harris should have won the Oscar. He turns in an award-winning performance. The editor could have shaved thirty minutes off the 122 minutes we had to sit through though but it was a fantastic film. Big ups to Darren for arranging the tickets. Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Pollock...
Darren and I are going to see Pollock before Pop Quiz tonight. I know very little about Jackson Pollock the artist but somewhat more about Pollock the film. Ed Harris and Marcia Gay Harden were both nominated for Oscars last year. Marcia won, Ed lost out to Russell Crowe (for Gladiator). It gets released in the UK next month.
Sway...
The Millennium Bridge, which was closed for swaying, will reopen this Friday. The £18.2m bridge, central London's first new river crossing for more than a century, was opened on in June 2000 but was shut three days later. Engineers who decided to close the bridge after it began swaying alarmingly blamed the "synchronized footfall" effect of hundreds of people stepping in unison. Anyone want to come and make it sway again this weekend? Bring your heaviest boots :-)
Kim Smith (my only claim to fame)...
My Mum and Dad knew the Smiths quite well. They lived just round the corner from us when we were growing up. Their Dad, Reg, used to be a teen idol in the Fifties but he wasn't much cop anymore. He used to go by the name of Marty Wilde ("'cos I'm wild, geddit?!"). I think they used to live in West London somewhere (Chiswick?) before they moved near us. Their daughter Kim (who was a year older than me) came to my birthday party once. She had long black hair and went to school in Ware. She then went on to college in St Albans I think to do some arty course and dyed her hair blonde (the way you do). I'd love to say that we're still in touch and she sends me Christmas cards every year but that just isn't the case. We lost touch altogether after she left college. The next thing I heard she was going to take on her father's stage name of Wilde and her Dad and brother, Ricki, had written a song for her called 'Kids in America'. The rest, I guess, is history. Do you / did you know anybody famous? Monday, February 18, 2002
Kim Wilde...
My friend Kim has a new single out call "Loved". It's very much like Madonna's 'Nothing Really Matters'/'Ray Of Light' - but that's a good thing (!) You can download "Loved" here (when you see the directory listing, right-click and select "save as"). "Loved" has also been remixed by Pulsedriver. This remix will be released in Germany as a CD on February 22nd. The remix is called the Pulsedriver vs. Beam remix and has been available to club DJ's for a few weeks already on 12". There are also promotional CD-singles containing the full length and single versions of this remix. Pulsedriver has had some success last year in Germany with a cover version of Kim's 'Cambodia'. There are a few indications that the remix will become commercially available in Germany and/or the UK. Boo hoo. Right now, a promotional CD-single is circulating in the UK and in Europe. This three track disc contains "Loved" and the full length "Kids in America (D-Bops Bright Lights Mix)" and "View From A Bridge (RAW Remix)". There's also a 12" promo doing the rounds. I think they play this at the Vauxhall on Sundays. Sunday, February 17, 2002
Sunday...
What a lovely day. Sunny outside and we're off bowling. Hurray! Update: I haven't played for almost 5 years but I got a score of 137. Woo-hoo! Saturday, February 16, 2002
Pet Shop Boys links...
The Pet Shop Boys started there tour with a very well received gig in Bristol. Even The Times liked it. The new PSB single Home and Dry is out on the 18th March - the same date as George Michael's Freeek and that Gareth from Pop Idol's Unchained Melody. You can watch the PSB video here low bandwidth or high bandwidth. Home and Dry is backed with a number of new cool tracks: Always and Sexy Northerner. Friday, February 15, 2002
Are you a man or a mouse...?
Can you kill? Would you kill? OK, put it this way, would you or could you cause someone to die through your action or inaction? Could you pull a trigger and shoot someone dead? What if they had a gun and were going to shoot you? Would you defend yourself or your loved ones? What about your country? Would you ever enlist? What if we were at war? Could you cause death remotely? Push a button and fire a rocket or drop a bomb? Would you feel bad about killing someone? Can you kill? Can you? Would you stop a fight if you saw it in the street? How about a man hitting a woman? Even if it was domestic fight? What if there was blood? What if someone was on the ground being kicked? How about three men fighting, or more? Would you break up a riot? Would you defend the small guy being picked on by the gang? Would you fight or stand and watch? Would you fight? Would you? How would you stop someone being bullied? How do you defend the weakling? How about fighting in place of someone else? Would you take on someone bigger than you? Would you walk away from a fight? From abuse? What if you were being taunted? In front of your friends or family? What if you brother or sister was being bullied? Or you mother or father were being harassed? Would you fight someone? Hit them? Scare them off? Could you stop a bully? Could you? Do you like cheese? Do you like running up drainpipes and hiding under floorboards? Do you twitch your nose and scratch your ears? Do you defecate continually leaving a trail across the floor? Are you scared of cats? Do you like cheese, do you? Do you? Are you a mouse? Are you? A mouse?
Century 21...
 My favourite New York store is about to reopen. At 22 Cortlandt Street, Century 21 was always chocker with discounted designer clothes. It was always my first stop whenever I visited the Big Apple to pick up some Calvins. After a $10m refit following the WTC towers almost falling on it last September it will be a welcome friendly face in downtown Manhattan.
We shall always have Venice...
Ian e-mailed (and texted) me yesterday asking whether I'd join him for a drink (read: bar crawl) in Soho as he was meeting his ex (Geoff) and he might be in need of a little moral / mental / physical support. He wanted to show Geoff 'a good time' last night. I think it's only natural. Amongst the whole flood of emotions that wash over you when you meet an ex for a drink you can doggedly hang on to the single fact that you want them to have 'a good time' when they're out with you. I know from experience that it can be a bit of trial meeting up with an ex too. It's that pleasure/pain principle. That love/hate thing. That oxymoron. They can remind you of the good times you had together; "Remember when we...?", "That time you...", "When we went to..." Delightfully tasting together the sweet meats of nostalgia. And yet you kind of hate them for surviving without you. For getting on with their lives quite so well. It's almost a sibling rivalry. You want them to do well and be happy - but not THAT well and THAT happy. At the root you know that somehow, something didn't work between you both. And now they are moving on without you. You wish them well. You care about them a lot. But the question always hangs in the air, "Why couldn't we make it work?" So it was last night with Ian and Geoff. Geoff is a perfectly affable chap. Living in Kuala Lumpur designing interiors as far afield as Beijing (where he is soon to rent a loft apartment as a base). He was interesting, interested and a fine drinking companion for the evening. Marky joined us too (in much need of a drink or three after his controversial bare-backing conference). Ian directed us to various drinking establishments but it was only when we were on number three or four that he seemed to relax. "Let's not get into all that 'old boyfriend' thing", says Ian. And minutes later they do. Sweet, really sweet, to watch. G: Remember Napoleon's? Off Oxford Street? I: Not off Oxford Street! G: It was. I: Oh, yes. So it was. (you can feel them slipping back into boyfriend-chat mode) G: Remember that brown donkey jacket? I: Yes. G: I still wear it. This is yours too (points to leather jacket he's wearing). G: Remember our trip to Venice? I: Beautiful colours. Very romantic. The pinks and blues at sunset. G: Yes. I: Beautiful (wistfully). G: Yes (even more wistfully). Ian and Geoff were together for nine years and with that much history they are a part of your life forever. It was an honour to be invited along real |
