Category
Media & Advertising
-
08.13.06The summer of MagnersI admit it: I was suckered. When I was *cough* 16 or so, and just discovering the wonders/evils of alcohol (as you do, and DON'T tell me you didn't because I KNOW you will be lying) and on holiday or out at indie clubs, I drank cider. Like so many other teenagers, I discovered that it was the most palatable thing to my undeveloped drinking palate, tasting a lot like fizzy apple juice, and boy, did the marketing teams know it. I shudder to remember a visit to friends in Somerset, when we sang in New Year 1990 on the market ...
-
08.07.06Buy this book. NOW.A very good friend of mine, Frank Wynne, has just had his first book published: I was Vermeer: The Legend of the Forger who Swindled the Nazis.It's the story of "a paranoid, drug-addicted, alcoholic, hypochondriac painter whose journey from zero to hero earned him $50 million, the acclamation of the world's press and the satisfaction of swindling the Nazis. Half a century after his death, his handiwork is still suspected in at least four Vermeers in major galleries, and the ugly daub sold last year at Sotheby's for $30 million had long been attributed to him. The book takes a ...
-
01.15.06RevudevilleBeing a collection of reviews of films seen in the last few months, either in cinema, on planes, on TV, or on DVD. Mrs Henderson PresentsSweet film. Utterly Judi-Dench-by-numbers, but well-made and well-told nevertheless. Even the sight of Bob Hoskins with his kit off wasn't enough to sour the experience. Though it was close, I admit. War of the WorldsSaw this on a plane and was underwhelmed, partly because I am hugely and perversely fond of the Jeff Waynes prog-rock seventies musical version, in which your imagination does a lot more of the work, and partly because the screen at my seat ...
-
06.26.05Bloody Hell!Richard Whitely dead! Or, to put that another way, hitradcrdwyaelehdi. Your time starts now. Updated, 24 hours later: Some people have been surprised at the intense outpouring of emotions at news of RW's untimely demise. After some reflection on the bus, I have come to the conclusion that it stands to reason, really. See, I think there are clear parallels to be made between the passing of Richard Whitely yesterday, and John Peel's exit, last year. Consider the characters in question:Both a bit bumbing. Both slightly awkward broadcasters. Both personal and honest in an endearing, yet sometimes almost cringeworthy way. Both presenters of ...
-
04.07.05…And I’ll puffYou know, I was going to log on here and enthuse about how much I've been enjoying Huff - another fine export from the US, based around Hank Azaria as a psychiatrist, and his complicated, compelling world. I was going to rave about the series, and to support that, I was going to link to the official website, and give information about when/how you can catch it, as well as who's in it and what recent episodes have entailed. However. Since Showtime, the channel which broadcasts the show in the US, has got such a lame user experience for non-US viewers, I got ...
-
02.08.05Taken to ExtremesI'm learning to drive. I own a car (K-reg VW Golf 1.8, red, since you ask). These facts combined sort of vaguely qualify me to make the following post. There is an advert on TV at the moment (these days, that is, not literally now) about car tax. Does that make it more of a public information / governmental threatening short film? In any case. The shot opens on an expired tax disc in the window of a car. We can tell it's expired because it's dated 1953 or something, and signed by Clement Atlee. A menacing voiceover says that ...
-
10.26.04John Peel, RIPI suprised myself at how upset I was to hear that John Peel died today. I have to admit that I was, in recent years, more partial to Home Truths than the Peel Sessions - call me a fuddy-duddy, or a young fogey - though I know without a doubt that I've certainly benefitted from the influence of his exceptional, generous, eclectic taste in music over the years. He was one of the very very few people who would always grab and hold my attention whenever I flicked through channels or stations. I wanted to listen to what he had ...
-
10.19.04Too muchSo a few weeks ago, those two freakish domestic harpies from How Clean Is Your House? started a new series on Channel 4 called Too Posh To Wash. The first episode featured the daughter of an earl or something in Durham. She was a complete minger; not washing her underwear, skanky hair, no teeth brushing and so on. She was, indeed, too posh to wash. But subsequently every other subject appearing on the programme (or at least the handful I've seen) is simply too skanky to wash. Or too lazy. Or too dumb. So the title of the show, while true for ...
-
10.13.04Leave it behindCurrently loving the title track from the new Trashcan Sinatras album, Weightlifting It's been a lonely winter hibernating away, You need a little sunlight on that face. How long can you stay in the darkness? Dust round the empty nest? You could make your way out, If you lay down the load. You will find a great weight lifting, Easing your mind, a great weight lifting, Leave it behind, a great weight lifting, You will find a great weight lifting, Just leave it behind, a great weight lifting, and you will find, a great weight lifting.You can hear a chunk of it on the intro page to their official site, linked ...
-
10.04.04Brands in moviesBrandchannel has an excellent and comprehensive cataloguing of brands appearing in movies. I'll leave it to you to decide whether those placements might have been paid for or not.
recent posts
- Another city, another event, another night alone in another hotel.
- Is this the emergence of the Twittering classes?
- Noises off
- Music for Rail Journeys
- Being a list of songs relating to the switching on of the LHC
- A moment’s pause
- In search of a simple sandwich
-
Looking for the Anti-Valentines?
