Peter Pantsless
Got this from my chum PJ's blog: No Pants Day!
Of course, this has a completely different meaning to those of us in the UK since 'pants' are what we wear under our trousers... So for us No Pants Day would mean going commando, which is fine unless you had been on the Guinness and Vindaloo the night before in which case you're taking a helluva risk. And there's the bollocks-chafing to consider too... Perhaps this explains why the term 'pants' as a mild form of abuse (as in 'that book was a load of pants') never crossed over from here to the US...
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Tap tap tap
After taking a whistle blower from the government GCHQ - the UK's top eavesdropping facilty - to court for breaching the Official Secrets Act the authorities have suddenly, mysteriously withdrawn claiming lack of evidence... Now a case cannot be brought to trial unless the Crown Prosecution Service investigates and decides there is enough evidence to warrant a public prosecution. They did and now that it is in court after months and months of government spooks and high-priced lawyers looking into it it suddenly seems to have vanished.
Gee, couldn't be anything to do with the fact the government realised that a trial would potentially expose a whole lot of fibs and stretched half-truths that were used to goad the British people reluctantly into an illegal war of agression? COuld it be that they are desperately embarassed that the secret allegedly revealed concerned the fact that US intelligence services asked their British counterparts to help them to put taps and intercepts on the communications of other nations - friendly as well as not - who may have voted against them in the UN before the war? Could it be that Tony "I'm not a War Criminal like Milosovic, Honest" Blair is crapping himself that a public trial would force him to air items like the attorney general's legal advice on the legality of a war without UN support which he refuses to publish...
...Or worse than any of those, perhaps he is terrified that a trial in a court of justice would become an investigation into the intelligence used to lead us to war and it would be one he couldn't influence unlike the whitewash of the Hutton report...
After taking a whistle blower from the government GCHQ - the UK's top eavesdropping facilty - to court for breaching the Official Secrets Act the authorities have suddenly, mysteriously withdrawn claiming lack of evidence... Now a case cannot be brought to trial unless the Crown Prosecution Service investigates and decides there is enough evidence to warrant a public prosecution. They did and now that it is in court after months and months of government spooks and high-priced lawyers looking into it it suddenly seems to have vanished.
Gee, couldn't be anything to do with the fact the government realised that a trial would potentially expose a whole lot of fibs and stretched half-truths that were used to goad the British people reluctantly into an illegal war of agression? COuld it be that they are desperately embarassed that the secret allegedly revealed concerned the fact that US intelligence services asked their British counterparts to help them to put taps and intercepts on the communications of other nations - friendly as well as not - who may have voted against them in the UN before the war? Could it be that Tony "I'm not a War Criminal like Milosovic, Honest" Blair is crapping himself that a public trial would force him to air items like the attorney general's legal advice on the legality of a war without UN support which he refuses to publish...
...Or worse than any of those, perhaps he is terrified that a trial in a court of justice would become an investigation into the intelligence used to lead us to war and it would be one he couldn't influence unlike the whitewash of the Hutton report...
This week's word-association from Subliminal:
- Angel:: fallen
- Birth:: death
- Logic:: Spock
- Stars:: my destination
- Nursery:: rhyme
- View:: finder
- Hart:: to hart
- Creation:: destruction
- End:: less
- Fortune:: cookie
Sunday, February 22, 2004
Makars
Terrific to see that after the debates of the last few years regarding having a separate Poet Laureate for Scotland instead of the generic British Poet Laureate that the Scottish Parliament has pretty much done that, appointing one of my favourite poets (and certainly one of the greatest living Scots bards) Professor Edinw Morgan as our national poet.
Morgan has long been an advocate of such a post, pointing out that the supposedly British Poet Laureate has always been held by an Englishman - no woman, no Scot, no Welsh or Irish bard. Not exacly representative of the Untied Kingdom, is it? With typical modesty he has been on record as saying that he would love ot do it, but he is too old. The Scottish Parliament disagreed and has made him the first holder of the post, dubbing him the Scots Makar.
For those who don't speak BroadScots, this is a term deriving from the 15th and 16th centuries, often used to describe writers such as Dunbar and basically means a maker of words. I've always thought that it is a far more descriptive and, fittingly in this case, poetic way to describe the work of a creative writer; a makar. Interestingly enough, Jorge Luis Borges, one of the greastest writer of the 20th century, wrote in an introduction to his collection Dream Tigers that he considered himself not as a writer of novels, short fiction or poetry or essays but as a 'maker of words'. In other words as a makar. A fine title for a fine sculptor of metaphor and imagery; the best writers translate the dreams of our symbolic imagination into our black and white symbols - words - by which we gain understanding and meaning of those imaginarly realms. Makars indeed.
Terrific to see that after the debates of the last few years regarding having a separate Poet Laureate for Scotland instead of the generic British Poet Laureate that the Scottish Parliament has pretty much done that, appointing one of my favourite poets (and certainly one of the greatest living Scots bards) Professor Edinw Morgan as our national poet.
Morgan has long been an advocate of such a post, pointing out that the supposedly British Poet Laureate has always been held by an Englishman - no woman, no Scot, no Welsh or Irish bard. Not exacly representative of the Untied Kingdom, is it? With typical modesty he has been on record as saying that he would love ot do it, but he is too old. The Scottish Parliament disagreed and has made him the first holder of the post, dubbing him the Scots Makar.
For those who don't speak BroadScots, this is a term deriving from the 15th and 16th centuries, often used to describe writers such as Dunbar and basically means a maker of words. I've always thought that it is a far more descriptive and, fittingly in this case, poetic way to describe the work of a creative writer; a makar. Interestingly enough, Jorge Luis Borges, one of the greastest writer of the 20th century, wrote in an introduction to his collection Dream Tigers that he considered himself not as a writer of novels, short fiction or poetry or essays but as a 'maker of words'. In other words as a makar. A fine title for a fine sculptor of metaphor and imagery; the best writers translate the dreams of our symbolic imagination into our black and white symbols - words - by which we gain understanding and meaning of those imaginarly realms. Makars indeed.
Thursday, February 19, 2004
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour…
Every Night and every Morn
Some to Misery are Born.
Every Morn and every Night
Some are Born to sweet delight.
Some are Born to sweet delight,
Some are Born to Endless Night.
We are lead to Believe a Lie
When we see not Thro’ the Eye
Which was Born in a Night to perish in a Night
When the Soul Slept in Beams of Light.
God Appears and God is Light
To those poor Souls who dwell in Night,
But does a Human Form Display
To those who Dwell in Realms of Day.
William Blake, Auguries of Innocence, 1803
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour…
Every Night and every Morn
Some to Misery are Born.
Every Morn and every Night
Some are Born to sweet delight.
Some are Born to sweet delight,
Some are Born to Endless Night.
We are lead to Believe a Lie
When we see not Thro’ the Eye
Which was Born in a Night to perish in a Night
When the Soul Slept in Beams of Light.
God Appears and God is Light
To those poor Souls who dwell in Night,
But does a Human Form Display
To those who Dwell in Realms of Day.
William Blake, Auguries of Innocence, 1803
Sunday, February 15, 2004
Hope is epoh
Why do we try following the path of hope when we know that all hope actually does is set you up for a big crash? Why do we try reaching out to others when we know that the hope and warmth is going to end up as a spear of ice chilling in our own hearts? And why, oh why do we do it again and again? Because we’re fucking fools, that’s why. Because, against all reason and against all prior experience we convince ourselves that this time it will be different, that she is different and of course, you set yourself up for a dreadful and very painful fall because it's not and she's not. And the heart takes more wounds again, until it’s covered with scar tissue and feelings become numb and hope shrivels away like a plant in winter and I wish it would fucking stay away because I don’t need this anymore. I don’t want it anymore. I don't need hope to be raised only to have it smashed time and time again by someone then the shards jammed into my heart. I’m so bloody tired of it. You can only take this so many times before you feel yourself giving up and drowning in a morass of isolation, despair and crushed dreams. Real life? No wonder I prefer movies and books. Real life is horrible and the people in it always let you down.
And epoh? It’s an ancient Irapaho word meaning ‘pathetic or pitiable loser’. And obviously its hope backwards which is how I feel right now. Hope bubbles up like a hot spring before being crushed beneath the moving glacier of real life, which grinds over everything, relentlessly, sucking meaning and warmth for all before it.
And for all the happy couples basking in post-Valentine’s bliss (when you spend a fortune to try and tell each other the things you should already bloody know to keep card companies happy), a pox on you all, you smug, happy bastards. Like Frankensteins’ unfortunate monster, if I cannot inspire love then I will inspire fear and loathing… Oh wait, at least halfway there already - just have to work on the fear thing… Now excuse me, I have a black cloud to go and sit below. Love, who needs it?
Sorry it's not a funny witticism of a blog today - I'm tired of being Mr Happy Entertainment Monkey for everyone.
Why do we try following the path of hope when we know that all hope actually does is set you up for a big crash? Why do we try reaching out to others when we know that the hope and warmth is going to end up as a spear of ice chilling in our own hearts? And why, oh why do we do it again and again? Because we’re fucking fools, that’s why. Because, against all reason and against all prior experience we convince ourselves that this time it will be different, that she is different and of course, you set yourself up for a dreadful and very painful fall because it's not and she's not. And the heart takes more wounds again, until it’s covered with scar tissue and feelings become numb and hope shrivels away like a plant in winter and I wish it would fucking stay away because I don’t need this anymore. I don’t want it anymore. I don't need hope to be raised only to have it smashed time and time again by someone then the shards jammed into my heart. I’m so bloody tired of it. You can only take this so many times before you feel yourself giving up and drowning in a morass of isolation, despair and crushed dreams. Real life? No wonder I prefer movies and books. Real life is horrible and the people in it always let you down.
And epoh? It’s an ancient Irapaho word meaning ‘pathetic or pitiable loser’. And obviously its hope backwards which is how I feel right now. Hope bubbles up like a hot spring before being crushed beneath the moving glacier of real life, which grinds over everything, relentlessly, sucking meaning and warmth for all before it.
And for all the happy couples basking in post-Valentine’s bliss (when you spend a fortune to try and tell each other the things you should already bloody know to keep card companies happy), a pox on you all, you smug, happy bastards. Like Frankensteins’ unfortunate monster, if I cannot inspire love then I will inspire fear and loathing… Oh wait, at least halfway there already - just have to work on the fear thing… Now excuse me, I have a black cloud to go and sit below. Love, who needs it?
Sorry it's not a funny witticism of a blog today - I'm tired of being Mr Happy Entertainment Monkey for everyone.
Friday, February 13, 2004
Sad Valentine
In a sad tale for Valentine's Day (you know that holiday cooked up by card companies to make money and by couples to make the rest of us feel nauseated and suicidal at the same time) Mattel has announced that after 43 years the glitzy showbiz coupling of Ken and Barbie is over. Ken is being dumped for a surfing Ozzer as Barbie goes through her mid-life crisis. Rumours have it Ken has already been spotted in a night club being consoled by 'good friend' Liza Minelli.
In a sad tale for Valentine's Day (you know that holiday cooked up by card companies to make money and by couples to make the rest of us feel nauseated and suicidal at the same time) Mattel has announced that after 43 years the glitzy showbiz coupling of Ken and Barbie is over. Ken is being dumped for a surfing Ozzer as Barbie goes through her mid-life crisis. Rumours have it Ken has already been spotted in a night club being consoled by 'good friend' Liza Minelli.
IRAQ ELECTIONS - THE UN SPEAKS
The envoy of the United Nations, Lakhdar Brahimi, has informed the Woolamaloo Gazette of his worries over the possible Iraqi elections for this summer. Speaking from a small concrete bunker while wearing four centimetres of kevlar plating to protect himself, Brahimi told our reporter that regardless of the date they are finally held, the Iraqi elections must bee seen to be fair, credible and reflect the genuine wishes of the population. For this reason it is thought, given the way the current US president came into office, that the Americans are obviously the last people on Earth who should handle it.
The envoy of the United Nations, Lakhdar Brahimi, has informed the Woolamaloo Gazette of his worries over the possible Iraqi elections for this summer. Speaking from a small concrete bunker while wearing four centimetres of kevlar plating to protect himself, Brahimi told our reporter that regardless of the date they are finally held, the Iraqi elections must bee seen to be fair, credible and reflect the genuine wishes of the population. For this reason it is thought, given the way the current US president came into office, that the Americans are obviously the last people on Earth who should handle it.
Library Queen
Jacqueline Wilson claims the title of most borrowed author in Britain's public libraries, a once all-but unassailable position held by the late Catherine Cookson and her dreadful romances for elderly ladies. Can't say I've ever read her myself, but Wilson is very popular with young girls and I know our former kid's books buyer, Angie, loves her stuff and says the author herself is very nice, and she knows her kid's books like I know my SF and Scottish, so I'll take her word for it.
Wilson said humbly that the fact the Cookson has been gone for a few years now while she is still putting out novels obviously helped. I can't help but think it's not just Cookson's death but the fact that her major audience is very elderly women with no taste and it's probably fair to assume a fair few of them have shuffled off the mortal coil in the last couple of years too. Or maybe they're all reading Mave Binchy or Danielle Steel or some other awful generic rubbish. Oh, how judgemental we booksellers are.
Jacqueline Wilson claims the title of most borrowed author in Britain's public libraries, a once all-but unassailable position held by the late Catherine Cookson and her dreadful romances for elderly ladies. Can't say I've ever read her myself, but Wilson is very popular with young girls and I know our former kid's books buyer, Angie, loves her stuff and says the author herself is very nice, and she knows her kid's books like I know my SF and Scottish, so I'll take her word for it.
Wilson said humbly that the fact the Cookson has been gone for a few years now while she is still putting out novels obviously helped. I can't help but think it's not just Cookson's death but the fact that her major audience is very elderly women with no taste and it's probably fair to assume a fair few of them have shuffled off the mortal coil in the last couple of years too. Or maybe they're all reading Mave Binchy or Danielle Steel or some other awful generic rubbish. Oh, how judgemental we booksellers are.
Thursday, February 12, 2004
More awards
The WH Smith’s awards voting has opened again - you can vote online as you could last year. Not that many in their suggested titles I'd vote for to be honest, but each category also allows you to put in your own choice.
The WH Smith’s awards voting has opened again - you can vote online as you could last year. Not that many in their suggested titles I'd vote for to be honest, but each category also allows you to put in your own choice.
Street art
Walking home this evening I passed Marks and Spencer’s on Princes Street. On the way in this morning (far too early) I noticed them setting up in the window what appeared to be a boudoir of some sort. I assumed perhaps it was a photo studio and they were going to do slushy Valentine’s pictures for lovey-dovey couples. Nope - as I found out on the way home when I saw a large crowd (of mostly men) peering in there was a gorgeous model in her lingerie lying on a chaise longue in the window while anther woman was painting her picture. Being well-known as an admirer of the arts I naturally paused to admire this fascinating installation piece and to absorb how much of the artistic process it revealed to me. Oh, okay - I ogled the model’s knockers and her long legs. Satisfied? I managed to snap this before I was chased away for licking the window...
Walking home this evening I passed Marks and Spencer’s on Princes Street. On the way in this morning (far too early) I noticed them setting up in the window what appeared to be a boudoir of some sort. I assumed perhaps it was a photo studio and they were going to do slushy Valentine’s pictures for lovey-dovey couples. Nope - as I found out on the way home when I saw a large crowd (of mostly men) peering in there was a gorgeous model in her lingerie lying on a chaise longue in the window while anther woman was painting her picture. Being well-known as an admirer of the arts I naturally paused to admire this fascinating installation piece and to absorb how much of the artistic process it revealed to me. Oh, okay - I ogled the model’s knockers and her long legs. Satisfied? I managed to snap this before I was chased away for licking the window...
Double your pleasure
Alex and I got great news today when our events manager confirmed we’d managed to get Ken MacLeod, one of our favourite authors and also one of our locals, set up alongside the excellent Peter F Hamilton for a double-bill author event at the end of the month. We’re still under the threat of a supposed major refit soon (well, actually should have been a while ago…) which is screwing up plans for events since we don’t know quite when it commences (if it ever bloody does) and obviously we can’t book a gig months ahead if we can’t be sure our events space isn’t being ripped up…
So this could be our last one for a while, but at least we have Ken in as well. Ken has had an event here on his home-turf for each of his books going back a fair few years now, so we were pretty keen to make sure we go his new book in before the refit (alleged refit at any rate). He and Peter did a double feature in our bookstore a couple of years ago which was great and as usual we had excellent support from the local SF Mafiosi in the shape of Iain Banks and Charlie Stross (now joining Iain and Ken on the Orbit imprint this summer) coming along too. And as usual we all ended up in the Guildford afterwards. By coincidence our Book Club the same week is discussing the Sky Road, one of Ken’s earlier books. Now I just need to try and get Newton’s Wake and Pandora’s Star (not named after my big ole' cat as far as I know) read in the next couple of weeks while juggling Quicksilver and the Confusion… Ah, the fun of having too many damned fine books by damned fine writers to read…
Alex and I got great news today when our events manager confirmed we’d managed to get Ken MacLeod, one of our favourite authors and also one of our locals, set up alongside the excellent Peter F Hamilton for a double-bill author event at the end of the month. We’re still under the threat of a supposed major refit soon (well, actually should have been a while ago…) which is screwing up plans for events since we don’t know quite when it commences (if it ever bloody does) and obviously we can’t book a gig months ahead if we can’t be sure our events space isn’t being ripped up…
So this could be our last one for a while, but at least we have Ken in as well. Ken has had an event here on his home-turf for each of his books going back a fair few years now, so we were pretty keen to make sure we go his new book in before the refit (alleged refit at any rate). He and Peter did a double feature in our bookstore a couple of years ago which was great and as usual we had excellent support from the local SF Mafiosi in the shape of Iain Banks and Charlie Stross (now joining Iain and Ken on the Orbit imprint this summer) coming along too. And as usual we all ended up in the Guildford afterwards. By coincidence our Book Club the same week is discussing the Sky Road, one of Ken’s earlier books. Now I just need to try and get Newton’s Wake and Pandora’s Star (not named after my big ole' cat as far as I know) read in the next couple of weeks while juggling Quicksilver and the Confusion… Ah, the fun of having too many damned fine books by damned fine writers to read…
Fire the photons!
Great story in the normally dreadful Metro this morning - sorters in the post room for the Prudential insurance offices in Stirling thought they had a bomb after x-raying a suspicious package with an odd shape inside it. The building was evacuated at once. The Fire Brigade, the police and an Army bomb disposal team all arrived soon to deal with the package.
Which, it transpired, contained not some Fundamentalist explosive device or deadly biological agent but a model of the Starship Enterprise for a promotional campaign… Most illogical, captain.
Great story in the normally dreadful Metro this morning - sorters in the post room for the Prudential insurance offices in Stirling thought they had a bomb after x-raying a suspicious package with an odd shape inside it. The building was evacuated at once. The Fire Brigade, the police and an Army bomb disposal team all arrived soon to deal with the package.
Which, it transpired, contained not some Fundamentalist explosive device or deadly biological agent but a model of the Starship Enterprise for a promotional campaign… Most illogical, captain.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Murder most foul
Crikey, a rather nasty murder (as if there were jolly nice ones) just a few minutes from my home (it wasn’t me, gentle readers, there were no puncture marks or mysteriously missing blood) in Edinburgh. Right round the corner from the Golden Rule, one of my local pubs which I was in just the other night and also round the corner from my chum Melanie. Nasty.
Yes, I know American readers will be astonished at how amazed we are here in Scotland by murders, even in major cities, but they really aren’t overly common, thankfully.
Crikey, a rather nasty murder (as if there were jolly nice ones) just a few minutes from my home (it wasn’t me, gentle readers, there were no puncture marks or mysteriously missing blood) in Edinburgh. Right round the corner from the Golden Rule, one of my local pubs which I was in just the other night and also round the corner from my chum Melanie. Nasty.
Yes, I know American readers will be astonished at how amazed we are here in Scotland by murders, even in major cities, but they really aren’t overly common, thankfully.
Sea of Souls
The first two-part story from BBC Scotland’s new series Sea of Souls with Bill Patterson as the leader of a university parapsychology in Glasgow left me feeling quite under whelmed. It dealt with a woman finding by accident that she had an identical twin sister and basically indulged in ESP between twins and the old doppelganger angle which has been around for centuries. In other words, well-acted but nothing new or exciting.
However, this week’s two-parter dealing with reincarnation was much better. It began seemingly predictably with a young boy who has memories of a past life which ended in mysterious circumstances. However, the second episdode kicked everything up a notch and then took off on much less predictable paths, throwing in a dose of moral ambiguity for good measure. Won’t ruin it for anyone who is still to see it, but the second part made what was till then a rather pedestrian and predictable tale pretty damned good.
The first two-part story from BBC Scotland’s new series Sea of Souls with Bill Patterson as the leader of a university parapsychology in Glasgow left me feeling quite under whelmed. It dealt with a woman finding by accident that she had an identical twin sister and basically indulged in ESP between twins and the old doppelganger angle which has been around for centuries. In other words, well-acted but nothing new or exciting.
However, this week’s two-parter dealing with reincarnation was much better. It began seemingly predictably with a young boy who has memories of a past life which ended in mysterious circumstances. However, the second episdode kicked everything up a notch and then took off on much less predictable paths, throwing in a dose of moral ambiguity for good measure. Won’t ruin it for anyone who is still to see it, but the second part made what was till then a rather pedestrian and predictable tale pretty damned good.
In the wake of Newton
Wooho: my good old Uncle Tim from Orbit sent me a nice shiny copy of one of my favourite authors new books today ; Ken MacLeod’s Newton’s Wake (plus a copy for Alex too - do I know how to scrounge shamelessly or what?). And we’ve got Peter F Hamilton confirmed for an author event at the end of this month. Trying to see if it would be possible to double-team him with Ken, whose book is due out around the same time. We’ve had Ken and Peter doing a joint appearance before, which went great and it would be fun to have both of them again.
Wooho: my good old Uncle Tim from Orbit sent me a nice shiny copy of one of my favourite authors new books today ; Ken MacLeod’s Newton’s Wake (plus a copy for Alex too - do I know how to scrounge shamelessly or what?). And we’ve got Peter F Hamilton confirmed for an author event at the end of this month. Trying to see if it would be possible to double-team him with Ken, whose book is due out around the same time. We’ve had Ken and Peter doing a joint appearance before, which went great and it would be fun to have both of them again.
"It is the old wound, my king... It has never healed."
Lancelot to Arthur, Excalibur
The always excellent Channel 4 News had a fascinating item tonight on the secret price being paid by American service personnel wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. While returning troops have had a hero’s welcome and those who fell in action are given military honours, all well-publicised, those who have been wounded and maimed are sneaked in quietly, at night, well away from the public gaze. In addition the Pentagon’s figures for those wounded in these conflicts flatly contradicts the figures given by the US Army (the Pentagon doesn’t count mental trauma, nerve damage, friendly fire - and lordy, the yanks are bloody good at that! - vehicle accidents and a whole host of other injuries, thus cutting thousands from the official casualty list, somewhat like the way the British government manages to cut unemployment figures by counting them differently).
Is the Bush administration frightened to let Americans see maimed soldiers coming home that they need to sneak them in the back door, hidden from the delicate public view and has to massage the figures for a war they declared over back in May of 2003? And unlike those ‘honoured dead’ with those nice photo-ops of the Last Post, flag on the casket, smart, dress-uniform escort etc people with missing limbs, burns, well they stick around don’t they? Like some of those pesky Vietnam Vets…
Oh and there’s something Bush really doesn’t want to think about. The ‘V’ word. Not only still an open wound on the American psyche but a particularly touchy subject for the Thief in Chief who so famously avoided war service through his daddy pulling strings to get him posted to the National Guard (which he then skipped for the most part anyway). And, as the reporter noted, in a year when it is looking likely he may face a bona fide Veteran in the elections in the shape of Senator Kerry it must be even more worrying for Bush.
Of course, this hiding away of the not-so-telegenic war wounded is nothing new. Those of us of a certain age will remember the Falklands war. And the great photo-opportunity at the thanksgiving service Thatcher arranged for her re-election… Sorry, I mean for the Nation to give thanks after victory… And the fact that all those who had been horribly mutilated were brought into the great stone cathedral at a different time from everyone else, left after them and were kept at the back throughout, away from the cameras. But this raw, bleeding human face of war has a way of coming through again and again no matter how of the those in power - those responsible for these atrocities mark you - try to hide them from the public gaze. “Foul deeds will rise, tho’ all the Earth o’erwhelm them to men’s eyes.” Men like Simon Weston, so dreadfully burned in the Sir Galahad, have had to fight not only to get back their lives but to keep the knowledge of their continuing suffering before the public. And this is before we consider the mental traumas. And then there are the Iraqi civilians…
Lancelot to Arthur, Excalibur
The always excellent Channel 4 News had a fascinating item tonight on the secret price being paid by American service personnel wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. While returning troops have had a hero’s welcome and those who fell in action are given military honours, all well-publicised, those who have been wounded and maimed are sneaked in quietly, at night, well away from the public gaze. In addition the Pentagon’s figures for those wounded in these conflicts flatly contradicts the figures given by the US Army (the Pentagon doesn’t count mental trauma, nerve damage, friendly fire - and lordy, the yanks are bloody good at that! - vehicle accidents and a whole host of other injuries, thus cutting thousands from the official casualty list, somewhat like the way the British government manages to cut unemployment figures by counting them differently).
Is the Bush administration frightened to let Americans see maimed soldiers coming home that they need to sneak them in the back door, hidden from the delicate public view and has to massage the figures for a war they declared over back in May of 2003? And unlike those ‘honoured dead’ with those nice photo-ops of the Last Post, flag on the casket, smart, dress-uniform escort etc people with missing limbs, burns, well they stick around don’t they? Like some of those pesky Vietnam Vets…
Oh and there’s something Bush really doesn’t want to think about. The ‘V’ word. Not only still an open wound on the American psyche but a particularly touchy subject for the Thief in Chief who so famously avoided war service through his daddy pulling strings to get him posted to the National Guard (which he then skipped for the most part anyway). And, as the reporter noted, in a year when it is looking likely he may face a bona fide Veteran in the elections in the shape of Senator Kerry it must be even more worrying for Bush.
Of course, this hiding away of the not-so-telegenic war wounded is nothing new. Those of us of a certain age will remember the Falklands war. And the great photo-opportunity at the thanksgiving service Thatcher arranged for her re-election… Sorry, I mean for the Nation to give thanks after victory… And the fact that all those who had been horribly mutilated were brought into the great stone cathedral at a different time from everyone else, left after them and were kept at the back throughout, away from the cameras. But this raw, bleeding human face of war has a way of coming through again and again no matter how of the those in power - those responsible for these atrocities mark you - try to hide them from the public gaze. “Foul deeds will rise, tho’ all the Earth o’erwhelm them to men’s eyes.” Men like Simon Weston, so dreadfully burned in the Sir Galahad, have had to fight not only to get back their lives but to keep the knowledge of their continuing suffering before the public. And this is before we consider the mental traumas. And then there are the Iraqi civilians…
Sunday, February 8, 2004
And this week's word-association from Subliminal:
Enough of that, time to test-drive the new optical-wear by taking them (and my eyes and other bits) to the movies. Promised Melanie we'd go see Girl With a Pearl Earring and we've both been too full of cold, flu and other yucky stuff to go until now. Just think, if Vermeer had been working today it would probably have been Girl With a Silver Tongue Stud or Girl With a Clitoral Piercing. Or perhaps he would just have skipped the tedious painting malarkey and fixed 5,000 pearl earrings to a large piece of dried hippopotamus dung and entered it into the Turner Prize. To the movies!
- Identity:: who am I?
- Reveal:: my darkest desires
- Live:: music
- Attitude:: oh I got some of that okay
- Night:: embracing
- Nevada:: hot
- Weekend:: dirty
- Write:: often
- Friend:: love
- Seventeen:: jailbait
Enough of that, time to test-drive the new optical-wear by taking them (and my eyes and other bits) to the movies. Promised Melanie we'd go see Girl With a Pearl Earring and we've both been too full of cold, flu and other yucky stuff to go until now. Just think, if Vermeer had been working today it would probably have been Girl With a Silver Tongue Stud or Girl With a Clitoral Piercing. Or perhaps he would just have skipped the tedious painting malarkey and fixed 5,000 pearl earrings to a large piece of dried hippopotamus dung and entered it into the Turner Prize. To the movies!
Saturday, February 7, 2004
Zap 'em
An interesting article on BBC-I about the easy target of violent video games and how they are too often used by the simple-minded as the reason for the collapse of western civilisation... When I was younger it was 'video nasties' and that lead to wholesale censorship which had a lot of repercussions for the freedom of expression, art and the ability of those in power and certain sections of society (usually religious types) to blind themselves to the real failings in our culture in favour of blaming an easy target. Certainly easier than admitting that poverty and a lack of purpose or future prospects cause cosial problems, because then you'd need to look at why. Then you'd have to start questioning the whole basis of our system which, like any other capitalist syste, necessitates a divisive society with a few lording it over the many. Then you'd have to think on ways to create greater equality amongst everyone instead of blaming games (the 2000s) or videos (the 80s) or Rap (the 90s - before that it was heavy rock and Punk) or comics (those EC comics burnings of the 50s and 60s) or... Well, take your pick. All much simpler than admitting our entire system of society is based on a pyramid structure with a whole lot of people at the bottom. Blame the games...
I find it amusing when the Older Generation talks of the modern generations being far more violent. This from the very people who brought us World War Two and not only created atomic wepons but used them - twice - on civilians. And those in authority railing against video games corrupting youth into easy violence. The same authorities who bombed the hell out of another nation after lying to their people. So little Johnny got violent because he played Grand Theft Auto. What was George or Tony's excuse for their extreme violence?
More Whitewashing
I thought this was wonderful this week when protestors dressed as High Court Justics literally whitewashed the gates of Downing Street. Even funnier was the fact the police protecting the Prime Minister's residence stood and watched for a good while, allowing the protestors to daub a fair bit of the iron gates before they actually stopped them.
On an interesting sidebar, when I was a boy those gates didn't exist. You could walk into Downing Street and walk right up to the door of Number 10. Getting your picture taken standing next to a friendly London copper - unarmed of course - in front of the Prime Minsiter's home was as common as getting your pic taken with a Beefeater at the Tower of London. Even as a kid I thought that this was such a fantastically British instititution - being able to walk right up to the front door of the Prime Minister. All changed during the vicious days of Thatcher of course and nowadays even Westminister has big concrete blocks around it for security.. Changed days, but at least the spirit of humorous protest is still alive and well in our eccentirc isles adn I salute it.
An interesting article on BBC-I about the easy target of violent video games and how they are too often used by the simple-minded as the reason for the collapse of western civilisation... When I was younger it was 'video nasties' and that lead to wholesale censorship which had a lot of repercussions for the freedom of expression, art and the ability of those in power and certain sections of society (usually religious types) to blind themselves to the real failings in our culture in favour of blaming an easy target. Certainly easier than admitting that poverty and a lack of purpose or future prospects cause cosial problems, because then you'd need to look at why. Then you'd have to start questioning the whole basis of our system which, like any other capitalist syste, necessitates a divisive society with a few lording it over the many. Then you'd have to think on ways to create greater equality amongst everyone instead of blaming games (the 2000s) or videos (the 80s) or Rap (the 90s - before that it was heavy rock and Punk) or comics (those EC comics burnings of the 50s and 60s) or... Well, take your pick. All much simpler than admitting our entire system of society is based on a pyramid structure with a whole lot of people at the bottom. Blame the games...
I find it amusing when the Older Generation talks of the modern generations being far more violent. This from the very people who brought us World War Two and not only created atomic wepons but used them - twice - on civilians. And those in authority railing against video games corrupting youth into easy violence. The same authorities who bombed the hell out of another nation after lying to their people. So little Johnny got violent because he played Grand Theft Auto. What was George or Tony's excuse for their extreme violence?
More Whitewashing
I thought this was wonderful this week when protestors dressed as High Court Justics literally whitewashed the gates of Downing Street. Even funnier was the fact the police protecting the Prime Minister's residence stood and watched for a good while, allowing the protestors to daub a fair bit of the iron gates before they actually stopped them.
On an interesting sidebar, when I was a boy those gates didn't exist. You could walk into Downing Street and walk right up to the door of Number 10. Getting your picture taken standing next to a friendly London copper - unarmed of course - in front of the Prime Minsiter's home was as common as getting your pic taken with a Beefeater at the Tower of London. Even as a kid I thought that this was such a fantastically British instititution - being able to walk right up to the front door of the Prime Minister. All changed during the vicious days of Thatcher of course and nowadays even Westminister has big concrete blocks around it for security.. Changed days, but at least the spirit of humorous protest is still alive and well in our eccentirc isles adn I salute it.
Two heads better than one?
A story from the Dominican Republic which is both weird and dreadfully sad
A story from the Dominican Republic which is both weird and dreadfully sad
More tests
Tried this one - What Movie Star Are you?
Hmmmm. Still think I'm more Cyrano d Bergerac or Don Quixote...
Tried this one - What Movie Star Are you?
Hmmmm. Still think I'm more Cyrano d Bergerac or Don Quixote...
Stardate?
Another link I followed from Ariel and, oh my gods, an SF online dating site!!! Will there be any women on it at all, apart from a few middle-aged Anne McCaffrey fans? And no, I'm not being nasty about women of a certain age or McCaffrey fans before you get indignant, just an observation based on years of first hand experience of selling Anne's books (and she is a very nice lady) - while she sells to all ages and gender there is a noticeable concentration of middle-aged women who come in for each new one - I'm sure other SF booksellers probably know what I'm on about (just as there are certain folks you can guess right off are looking for the new Doctor Who novelisations or a number of other authors or series - it's not pigeonholing as such, it's just a Spider Sense you pick up after being exposed to so many SF books and a dose of gamma radiation).
Another link I followed from Ariel and, oh my gods, an SF online dating site!!! Will there be any women on it at all, apart from a few middle-aged Anne McCaffrey fans? And no, I'm not being nasty about women of a certain age or McCaffrey fans before you get indignant, just an observation based on years of first hand experience of selling Anne's books (and she is a very nice lady) - while she sells to all ages and gender there is a noticeable concentration of middle-aged women who come in for each new one - I'm sure other SF booksellers probably know what I'm on about (just as there are certain folks you can guess right off are looking for the new Doctor Who novelisations or a number of other authors or series - it's not pigeonholing as such, it's just a Spider Sense you pick up after being exposed to so many SF books and a dose of gamma radiation).
New perspectives
Just picked up my new spectacles and am currently suffering from the inevitable spatial distortions which go with breaking in new glasses. Everything is slightly skewed and spaced out while my eyes adjust to new lenses and I'm certainly much more sensitive to sub-space distortions than usual, which may be handy, you never know.
Couldn't get the frames I wanted. I've worn round frames since I was in my teens but now that spectacles have gone all ridiculously trendy I can't get those type anymore and had to settle for something else. I liked my round frames - I've worn variations on them for 18 years and I liked them - pretty timeless design, round frames of the sort that have been around since the 1700s. So if I ever went back in time one day and was wandering around, say Vienna a couple of centuries back talking with Franz Schubert my glasses would not look out of the ordinary. Ok, perhaps not the most likely thing to happen, but these are the sorts of things I think about you know. Anyway, you two-eyed devils out ther wont have a clue what I'm talking about while all my four-eyed brothers and sisters will be nodding their heads and know exactly what I mean when I say my depth perception and visual field are pretty freaky right now.
I'm also greviously out of pocket too of course since they cost a bloody packet. At least I got a second pair free which I had tinted with the darkest lenses they had available (the darker the better, dark as Satan's arse). Tried them on when I got home too and just realised that - unlike my old round ones which were 'Joe Lennon' specials - these ones make me look like Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith. Ok, chubby Agent Smith...
Just picked up my new spectacles and am currently suffering from the inevitable spatial distortions which go with breaking in new glasses. Everything is slightly skewed and spaced out while my eyes adjust to new lenses and I'm certainly much more sensitive to sub-space distortions than usual, which may be handy, you never know.
Couldn't get the frames I wanted. I've worn round frames since I was in my teens but now that spectacles have gone all ridiculously trendy I can't get those type anymore and had to settle for something else. I liked my round frames - I've worn variations on them for 18 years and I liked them - pretty timeless design, round frames of the sort that have been around since the 1700s. So if I ever went back in time one day and was wandering around, say Vienna a couple of centuries back talking with Franz Schubert my glasses would not look out of the ordinary. Ok, perhaps not the most likely thing to happen, but these are the sorts of things I think about you know. Anyway, you two-eyed devils out ther wont have a clue what I'm talking about while all my four-eyed brothers and sisters will be nodding their heads and know exactly what I mean when I say my depth perception and visual field are pretty freaky right now.
I'm also greviously out of pocket too of course since they cost a bloody packet. At least I got a second pair free which I had tinted with the darkest lenses they had available (the darker the better, dark as Satan's arse). Tried them on when I got home too and just realised that - unlike my old round ones which were 'Joe Lennon' specials - these ones make me look like Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith. Ok, chubby Agent Smith...
Sunset
After mostly stormy weather, wind, rains, snows we had a wonderful sunset a few nights ago. I glanced out of the windows of my bookstore and saw the medieval buildings on Castle Ridge turning a copper-red, the sandstone blocks reflecting the dying rays of the sun. I nipped out the door onto Princes Street and found the clouds arranged in an almost fan-like formation, uplit in a salmon-pink by the sun which was dipping below the western horizon. It only lasted a few minutes but it was utterly gorgeous and the picture really doesn't do it justice.
After mostly stormy weather, wind, rains, snows we had a wonderful sunset a few nights ago. I glanced out of the windows of my bookstore and saw the medieval buildings on Castle Ridge turning a copper-red, the sandstone blocks reflecting the dying rays of the sun. I nipped out the door onto Princes Street and found the clouds arranged in an almost fan-like formation, uplit in a salmon-pink by the sun which was dipping below the western horizon. It only lasted a few minutes but it was utterly gorgeous and the picture really doesn't do it justice.
The Martian Chronicles
After reading of the latest conspiracy theories on Ariels's Ed-Blog on the Alien regarding Mars, I feel I can now reveal that some of the imagery is indeed of Templar origing. In fact much of it resembles the stonework of Roslyn Chapel, near my home in Edinburgh, created by the Sinclairs who travelled to the New World long before that idiot Columbus stumbled across it. Templars still hold ceremonies in this remarkable church to this day and amongst the fabulous carvings (including images of plants native to the Americas which were carved in this Scottish church in the 1300s!). Roslyn is also rumoured to be home to the Holy Grail, carried here by the same Templars who fled Popish persecution and wer taken in by families like the Sinclairs and, of course, Robert the Bruce, King of Scots (whose death mask is reputedly one of the faces carved within the chapel too).
Well, the Grail isn't there, my little conspiracy nuts. After their voyage to the New World the Sinclairs arranged with Interstellar Templars to take the Grail to Mars for greater safety. Being Masons they naturally had to do some carving while they were there, so that's why we're finding them now with the new Mars probes. Those Masons get everywhere you know...
After reading of the latest conspiracy theories on Ariels's Ed-Blog on the Alien regarding Mars, I feel I can now reveal that some of the imagery is indeed of Templar origing. In fact much of it resembles the stonework of Roslyn Chapel, near my home in Edinburgh, created by the Sinclairs who travelled to the New World long before that idiot Columbus stumbled across it. Templars still hold ceremonies in this remarkable church to this day and amongst the fabulous carvings (including images of plants native to the Americas which were carved in this Scottish church in the 1300s!). Roslyn is also rumoured to be home to the Holy Grail, carried here by the same Templars who fled Popish persecution and wer taken in by families like the Sinclairs and, of course, Robert the Bruce, King of Scots (whose death mask is reputedly one of the faces carved within the chapel too).
Well, the Grail isn't there, my little conspiracy nuts. After their voyage to the New World the Sinclairs arranged with Interstellar Templars to take the Grail to Mars for greater safety. Being Masons they naturally had to do some carving while they were there, so that's why we're finding them now with the new Mars probes. Those Masons get everywhere you know...
Tuesday, February 3, 2004
Enquiries
Many are confused as to the remit of the hastily announced enquiry Tony Blair announced somewhat testily today. To set it all straight for you, the enquiry, headed by such impartial members as the former head of the civil service (so not an establishment figure at all) and one of TOny Blair's own party's former chief whips, so it will be at least as impartial and even-handed as the Hutton enquiry. And it's even kind of cross-party except the Liberals have already said its a load of bollocks and refused to join it and legitamize it (good for them).
But what will it do? Well, the enquiry will lay to rest the public's fears that we were misled or lied to by our leaders to drag us into a war that millions of Britons demonstrated against and for which there was no legitimate shred of justification (and indeed was against international law, making Blair a war criminal for the crime of agression, ot to mention civilian deaths). Our minds will be eased by the enquiry looking into exactly why Tony and the government were totally right to go to war and are, of course, still right now even although we can't find any bloody weapons and knew fine there weren't any to begin with... So why not just skip the actual farago of an enquiry and just hand in another whitewashed report right now and stop bloody kidding us?
To make sure this enquiry is totally impartial there will also be an enquiry into the enquiry and the enquiry members will report to the public affairs committee which will also then face a public enquiry which will find them all blameless.
Mind you, still better than George who is having an enquiry (as he pretends to be surprised that the intelligence was wrong, gee, I'm as shocked as the rest of you guys) but, what a surprise, it wont publish the findings until after the presidential election in November. My god, he must so fear the incorruptable hair of Kerry.
Many are confused as to the remit of the hastily announced enquiry Tony Blair announced somewhat testily today. To set it all straight for you, the enquiry, headed by such impartial members as the former head of the civil service (so not an establishment figure at all) and one of TOny Blair's own party's former chief whips, so it will be at least as impartial and even-handed as the Hutton enquiry. And it's even kind of cross-party except the Liberals have already said its a load of bollocks and refused to join it and legitamize it (good for them).
But what will it do? Well, the enquiry will lay to rest the public's fears that we were misled or lied to by our leaders to drag us into a war that millions of Britons demonstrated against and for which there was no legitimate shred of justification (and indeed was against international law, making Blair a war criminal for the crime of agression, ot to mention civilian deaths). Our minds will be eased by the enquiry looking into exactly why Tony and the government were totally right to go to war and are, of course, still right now even although we can't find any bloody weapons and knew fine there weren't any to begin with... So why not just skip the actual farago of an enquiry and just hand in another whitewashed report right now and stop bloody kidding us?
To make sure this enquiry is totally impartial there will also be an enquiry into the enquiry and the enquiry members will report to the public affairs committee which will also then face a public enquiry which will find them all blameless.
Mind you, still better than George who is having an enquiry (as he pretends to be surprised that the intelligence was wrong, gee, I'm as shocked as the rest of you guys) but, what a surprise, it wont publish the findings until after the presidential election in November. My god, he must so fear the incorruptable hair of Kerry.
Boldy going where no men are getting to go
Yep, Patrick Stewart has said in an interview with the BBC that he is all for unmanned missions like the recent Mars probes, but not for human exploration of other worlds just yet, not until we sort out this planet first. It's an argument I have heard many times and although it does have some merit I have always countered that we should be cutting back on the trillions we spend on weapons research, not science and exploration. Then we could explore the endless worlds of our universe and feed all the hungry of our world, educate every child, give drinking water for every thirsty soul. I don't think space exploration detracts from this at all - spending trillions of ever more elaborate devices to kill other human beings while children go hungry does.
Yep, Patrick Stewart has said in an interview with the BBC that he is all for unmanned missions like the recent Mars probes, but not for human exploration of other worlds just yet, not until we sort out this planet first. It's an argument I have heard many times and although it does have some merit I have always countered that we should be cutting back on the trillions we spend on weapons research, not science and exploration. Then we could explore the endless worlds of our universe and feed all the hungry of our world, educate every child, give drinking water for every thirsty soul. I don't think space exploration detracts from this at all - spending trillions of ever more elaborate devices to kill other human beings while children go hungry does.
Bye bye Rikki
Big turnout of fans, friends and fellow performers (many of whom would also have been fans and friends too) for the fuenral of one of the funniest of Scots comedians, Rikki Fulton. In a touching move the police provided motorbike riders as escorts; the hapless motorbike 'supercop' character being one of Rikki's most popular creations in Scotch and Wry. A sad day but it's hard to feel sad for too long when you think of Rikki Fulton. The gift of making people laugh, surely one of the greatest gifts one perosn can give to others and a gift Rikki had in abundance.
Big turnout of fans, friends and fellow performers (many of whom would also have been fans and friends too) for the fuenral of one of the funniest of Scots comedians, Rikki Fulton. In a touching move the police provided motorbike riders as escorts; the hapless motorbike 'supercop' character being one of Rikki's most popular creations in Scotch and Wry. A sad day but it's hard to feel sad for too long when you think of Rikki Fulton. The gift of making people laugh, surely one of the greatest gifts one perosn can give to others and a gift Rikki had in abundance.
Monday, February 2, 2004
Word association
I guess I should put my responses in for this, so (remember it has to be the first word(s) that come to mind:
Heamaglobin:drink
Toblerone:Switzerland's main contribution to world culture
Penguin:groovy
Bottom:bum
Sideways:my life as I view it
Bellybutton:fluff
Antidisestablishmenterialism:did I spell it right? what a great word
Hutton:arsehole
Enquiry:whitewash
Whitewash:enquiry
I guess I should put my responses in for this, so (remember it has to be the first word(s) that come to mind:
Heamaglobin:drink
Toblerone:Switzerland's main contribution to world culture
Penguin:groovy
Bottom:bum
Sideways:my life as I view it
Bellybutton:fluff
Antidisestablishmenterialism:did I spell it right? what a great word
Hutton:arsehole
Enquiry:whitewash
Whitewash:enquiry
B B of C
Just visited this link after spotting it on Alex's blog. Seems like a damned fine idea to me - personally I think the license fee is worth the money just to keep Murdoch in his evil place, sucking Satan's Media Cock (he has one for each evil area). You all know I've not been averse to criticising the Coprporation from time to time, but while it is far from perfect - what is? - it does produce excellent programming. Not only the predictable costume dramas and comedy but local interest material, music (playing and support of), arts and let's face it, the best documentaries on the planet. BBC documentaties make even Discovery of National Geographic seem like amateurs. Because of the way they are funded they were the only broadcaster who could afford the years it took to make something like the astonishing Blue Planet series with it's simply stunning wildlife pictures, or the Attenborough series. And despite whatever right-wing critics have said since the Hutton whitewash, the BBC is still the best news broadcaster in the English-language world (and indeed in the many other languages which the World Service reaches out to). This site allows you to add a support badge to you blog (and give a two fingered salute to the hypocritical, lying bastard Blair).
Just visited this link after spotting it on Alex's blog. Seems like a damned fine idea to me - personally I think the license fee is worth the money just to keep Murdoch in his evil place, sucking Satan's Media Cock (he has one for each evil area). You all know I've not been averse to criticising the Coprporation from time to time, but while it is far from perfect - what is? - it does produce excellent programming. Not only the predictable costume dramas and comedy but local interest material, music (playing and support of), arts and let's face it, the best documentaries on the planet. BBC documentaties make even Discovery of National Geographic seem like amateurs. Because of the way they are funded they were the only broadcaster who could afford the years it took to make something like the astonishing Blue Planet series with it's simply stunning wildlife pictures, or the Attenborough series. And despite whatever right-wing critics have said since the Hutton whitewash, the BBC is still the best news broadcaster in the English-language world (and indeed in the many other languages which the World Service reaches out to). This site allows you to add a support badge to you blog (and give a two fingered salute to the hypocritical, lying bastard Blair).
B' e d' aotramachd a rinn mo thaladh
aotramachd do chainnte 's do ghaire
aotramachd do lethchinn nam lamhan
d' aotramachd lurach ur mhalda;
agus 's e aotramachd do phoige
a tha a' cur trasg air mo bheoil-sa
is 's e aotramachd do ghlaic mum chuairt-sa
a leigas seachad leis an t-sruth mi.
It was your lightness that drew me
the lightness of your talk and your laughter
the lightness of your cheek in my hands
you sweet gentle modest lightness;
and it is the lightness of your kiss
that is starving my mouth
and the lightness of your embrace
that will let me go adrift.
Aotramachd/Lightness , written and translated from Scots Gaelic by Meg Bateman
aotramachd do chainnte 's do ghaire
aotramachd do lethchinn nam lamhan
d' aotramachd lurach ur mhalda;
agus 's e aotramachd do phoige
a tha a' cur trasg air mo bheoil-sa
is 's e aotramachd do ghlaic mum chuairt-sa
a leigas seachad leis an t-sruth mi.
It was your lightness that drew me
the lightness of your talk and your laughter
the lightness of your cheek in my hands
you sweet gentle modest lightness;
and it is the lightness of your kiss
that is starving my mouth
and the lightness of your embrace
that will let me go adrift.
Aotramachd/Lightness , written and translated from Scots Gaelic by Meg Bateman
Peter goes global
Meanwhile another Jackson has been making waves in the media. This time it Hobbit-sized Kiwi Peter Jackson who took the Best Director award at the Golden Globes while Return of the King took the Best Picture. ROTK also picked up awards for best Original Score and Best Original Song.
Although by no means a sure thing, the Golden Globes have always been seen as a strong barometer of the way the Academy will vote for the Oscars. Could this finally be Peter Jackson's year? We all know it damned well should be, but as this article makes clear, no fantasy film has ever won an Oscar.
Now, as a cinephile I have to say I think the Oscars are the most over-rated of all awards ceremonies, more often voting due to personal favourites by Academy members and the ridiculous amount of money spent by big studios to campaign for their award (this is not disimilar to the way the US electoral system works, ie spend lots of money to try and infuelnce you way into a winning situation - and they wonder why their government is so fucked up!!). So I really shouldn't be so bothered what these Hollywood eejits think. But I would still very much like to see the Lord of the Rings trilogy pick up some gongs. And just think how it will piss off the so-called literati who loathed seeing LOTR winning the BBC's Big Read recently if it picks up the book and film gongs within a few months of each other. Now we'll have to wait and see what the BAFTAs bring around soon, then the Oscar night itself (I'm not counting the Empire movie mag awards since they show those only on Murdoch's Sky Movies channel, so you have to pay extra subscritption just to see it, which seems a bit odd when these are suppsoed to be the 'people's awards' - besides Empire is more about big blockbusters and bloody adverts dsiguised as features now instead of being about good films as it once was).
Hmmm, Perhaps I should re-instate the old Oscar sweepstakes at work again this year?
Meanwhile another Jackson has been making waves in the media. This time it Hobbit-sized Kiwi Peter Jackson who took the Best Director award at the Golden Globes while Return of the King took the Best Picture. ROTK also picked up awards for best Original Score and Best Original Song.
Although by no means a sure thing, the Golden Globes have always been seen as a strong barometer of the way the Academy will vote for the Oscars. Could this finally be Peter Jackson's year? We all know it damned well should be, but as this article makes clear, no fantasy film has ever won an Oscar.
Now, as a cinephile I have to say I think the Oscars are the most over-rated of all awards ceremonies, more often voting due to personal favourites by Academy members and the ridiculous amount of money spent by big studios to campaign for their award (this is not disimilar to the way the US electoral system works, ie spend lots of money to try and infuelnce you way into a winning situation - and they wonder why their government is so fucked up!!). So I really shouldn't be so bothered what these Hollywood eejits think. But I would still very much like to see the Lord of the Rings trilogy pick up some gongs. And just think how it will piss off the so-called literati who loathed seeing LOTR winning the BBC's Big Read recently if it picks up the book and film gongs within a few months of each other. Now we'll have to wait and see what the BAFTAs bring around soon, then the Oscar night itself (I'm not counting the Empire movie mag awards since they show those only on Murdoch's Sky Movies channel, so you have to pay extra subscritption just to see it, which seems a bit odd when these are suppsoed to be the 'people's awards' - besides Empire is more about big blockbusters and bloody adverts dsiguised as features now instead of being about good films as it once was).
Hmmm, Perhaps I should re-instate the old Oscar sweepstakes at work again this year?
Let’s be Frank
Bargain of the week - picked up Donnie Darko on DVD for a mere 5 quid from the wonderful FOPP and Garbage’s Beautiful enhanced CD for a paltry3 quid. Total find (although I suspect this means a decent double DVD version is coming soon, since this one has bugger all extras, not even so much as subtitles) and as I’ve been holed up inside the flat with a stinking cold for the last two days they were quite timely (although trying to dance to Garbage by the light of your lava lamp with a runny nose and multiple sneezing attacks (me, not the lamp) is not something I recommend; certainly caused the cats to give me some odd looks). Oddly enough this week I was given a Frank pin by one of my colleagues who found one. She didn’t actually know who Frank was but just thought, hmmm, a badge with a bunny rabbit with a skull face, that would appeal to Joe…
Donnie (in this very scene pictured): “Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?”
Frank: “Why do you wear that stupid man suit?”
Bargain of the week - picked up Donnie Darko on DVD for a mere 5 quid from the wonderful FOPP and Garbage’s Beautiful enhanced CD for a paltry3 quid. Total find (although I suspect this means a decent double DVD version is coming soon, since this one has bugger all extras, not even so much as subtitles) and as I’ve been holed up inside the flat with a stinking cold for the last two days they were quite timely (although trying to dance to Garbage by the light of your lava lamp with a runny nose and multiple sneezing attacks (me, not the lamp) is not something I recommend; certainly caused the cats to give me some odd looks). Oddly enough this week I was given a Frank pin by one of my colleagues who found one. She didn’t actually know who Frank was but just thought, hmmm, a badge with a bunny rabbit with a skull face, that would appeal to Joe…
Donnie (in this very scene pictured): “Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?”
Frank: “Why do you wear that stupid man suit?”
What a boob
The entertainment at the Superbowl this weekend was a little more risqué than expected. Justin Timberlake dancing around Janet Jackson put his hand across her breasts. Unfortunately - or fortunately for the perverts amongst us (hands up now - I said hands, you dirty buggers!) - when he pulled his hand back the cup of her bizarre leather costume came with it, exposing her breast. You could say Justin made a right tit of himself, heh heh.
Such things have happened before - most geeks amongst us will recall Lucy Lawless (she of long-legged, ass-kicking Xena fame) bursting out of her low-cut top on a high-note at a baseball game. The pictures were, predictably, all over the web in hours and I’m sure Ms Lawless, who has a lovely singing voice by the way, has realised a solid law of public singing - always wear a dress with straps.
Of course, since Ms Jackson has a new album due for imminent release some pundits are already speculating that the whole knocker-expose was a carefully choreagraphed PR stunt. I really couldn’t comment either way. I’m just happy to see more breasts on TV. I may be a pervert, but I’m an honest pervert.
The entertainment at the Superbowl this weekend was a little more risqué than expected. Justin Timberlake dancing around Janet Jackson put his hand across her breasts. Unfortunately - or fortunately for the perverts amongst us (hands up now - I said hands, you dirty buggers!) - when he pulled his hand back the cup of her bizarre leather costume came with it, exposing her breast. You could say Justin made a right tit of himself, heh heh.
Such things have happened before - most geeks amongst us will recall Lucy Lawless (she of long-legged, ass-kicking Xena fame) bursting out of her low-cut top on a high-note at a baseball game. The pictures were, predictably, all over the web in hours and I’m sure Ms Lawless, who has a lovely singing voice by the way, has realised a solid law of public singing - always wear a dress with straps.
Of course, since Ms Jackson has a new album due for imminent release some pundits are already speculating that the whole knocker-expose was a carefully choreagraphed PR stunt. I really couldn’t comment either way. I’m just happy to see more breasts on TV. I may be a pervert, but I’m an honest pervert.
Enquiring minds
So Dubyah is going to have an enquiry into intelligence failures over WMDs. Now Tony follows His Master’s Voice once more and says, after months of resistance, that the British government may also have an enquiry now. Gee, isn’t it odd we’re having all these enquires now? After Hutton’s whitewash I mean? Like the US and UK government now know they can get away with lying through their teeth to us. It is now an ‘enquiry friendly’ environment for cheating government officials who lied to their people to drag them unwillingly into war.
So Dubyah is going to have an enquiry into intelligence failures over WMDs. Now Tony follows His Master’s Voice once more and says, after months of resistance, that the British government may also have an enquiry now. Gee, isn’t it odd we’re having all these enquires now? After Hutton’s whitewash I mean? Like the US and UK government now know they can get away with lying through their teeth to us. It is now an ‘enquiry friendly’ environment for cheating government officials who lied to their people to drag them unwillingly into war.
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