Thought I might take a virtual leaf from Alex’s blog to mention some of the music I’ve been listening too recently. Realised it would almost be the same as Alex’s blog because I’ve been listening to his groovy Fog albums and the chilled-out ambience of the Boards of Canada, slow-grooving to them by the light of my lava lamp, much to the amusements of the cats.



Right now I am listening to a band called Nickel Creek that my chum Kate from Virginia put me on to. Proper bluegrass folksy stuff (including one based around a Robert Burns song) - bluegrass meets Cowboy Junkies I suppose. Gorgeous stuff. Passed on some Robert Johnson early blues to her - proper sold my soul to the devil at the crossroads kind of blues.



On a completely different note I can’t help wonder how Alex got on with the Alice Cooper I loaned to him. Maybe I’ll hit him with some Yo Yo Ma on Bach cello next. Let it never be said my tastes are not broad ranging.

New Wave from Cannes Festival



This year’s Cannes Film Festival had a number of well-regarded films by independent movie makers. As the mainstream press has barely mentioned them we at the Gazette have decided to give you a heads-up on some forthcoming celluloid gold to watch for between the summer blockbusters.



Antarctic Africa: Fred, a penguin from the Antarctic, is having a mid-life crisis and decides he will live out his boyhood dream to take part in the Paris-Dakar rally. Accompanied only by his best mate - Iceman, a novelty ice cube - he sets out from the French capital for the burning sands of North Africa. In the middle of the desert his rally car’s air-conditioning breaks down - now the race is to save his friend Iceman before he melts. A touching adventure buddy-movie for all the family. It may not play too well in America due to the French connection.



Bugling in the Borgo Pass: an 800-year old vampire realises his undead life is passing him by. In a bid to get back into society he forms a brass band with other vampires and tours Transylvania. Their musical fun is suddenly threatened by their own success when the undead band win through to the finals of al Eastern Europe Brass Band Pageant only to find it’s being held in a Cathedral with the world’s biggest crucifix. From the makers of Dead and Undeader and Dude where's my Coffin?

Journalists were also shown a short teaser trailer for the long anticipated revival of a British movie classic series - the return of the Carry On movies. Despite the death of most of the original principal cast members they will all return - cutting edge CGI is being used to bring virtual versions of the actors back for a 21st century performance. The Gulf War spoof Carry on Baghdad will be the first in the new series. A CGI version of Sid James will play George W. Bush while one of the few surviving members, Jim Dale, will play Tony Blair. Newcomers to the cast will include a blacked-up Alexi Sayle as Colin Powell, James Belushi as General Tommy Franks and Gene Wilder as Dick Cheyney. Mel Brooks will direct and also cameo as Hitler. A sequel is already planned - Carry on CIA will again have a CGI Sid James as President Bush while Jerry Seinfeld is tipped to play the head of the CIA who is asked to ‘beef up’ intelligence reports on countries Bush doesn’t like.

At the end of a BBC programme tonight I couldn’t help but notice the name of one of the people who made it - Prim Bath. I’m moved to wonder if that person has a sibling named Proper. Poor bugger.

Strange dreams



I had a most peculiar dream last night. I dreamt that I was writing, directing and starring in my very own remake of the remake of Ocean’s Eleven. Except in my version my gang was going to Las Vegas to commit a different type of ultimate heist. We were going to richest homes of the Mafia bosses who owned the biggest, most successful casinos in Vegas. We were going to do something no gang of thieves had ever managed in this desert town. We were going to steal all of their swimming pools. Heist the swimming pools of every casino mob boss in Las Vegas. And we would do it in style.

We had that Peter Tatchell in our bookstore today, buying from our SF section. A nice Greg Bear books, so obviously Peter is not only an SF fan but one with taste too boot. Many folks will recall the protests he held in Paris recently, especially over Mugabe’s visit. Protests that the French government tried to stymie illegally. Nice to see the leaders of other countries are just as prepared to subvert the democratic process when it suits them as our leaders are (see we all have so much in common!). It didn’t stop Peter of course, a veteran campaigner for gay rights, civil liberties and peace. We need more people like you, Peter, because there’s way too many of the bad guys out there, especially the ones who are pretending to be the good guys. He’s very welcome back in our store anytime. George Bush can bugger off, not that we’re likely to find him wanting to buy a book in our store. Not the most literary man in the world, is he? A shame in a way as I could direct him to some excellent Noam Chomsky books on the post 9-11 world, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (about the Florida election debacle) and of course, Michael Moore’s Stupid White Men. Maybe Uncle Dick could read it to him sometime and Condaleeza Rice could take time out from having oil tankers named after her (will they name the oil slick after her if it bursts on the Alaska coast too?) to help them with the very big words.

Well, according to the growing news stories this weekend (beginning in the Guardian and then on into the BBC and others) it appears our esteemed leaders may have been economical with the truth. Of course, when a resource is in short supply it has to be strictly rationed and the truth is no different. It has been suggested that Tony Blair, and George Bush asked their intelligence gathering services to ‘massage’ their reports on weapons of mass destruction (or WMD as all the kids are calling it these days) in Iraq. The intelligence communities made clear that they had no concrete proof of any such weapons. This was something of a shame as this was Bush and Blair’s main excuse for bombing the crap out of Iraq. So Bush had his own agency gather information which was more appropriate to his needs.



These suggestions have not just been invented by liberal or left wing media types. They have come from leaks within both British and American intelligence and from blatant interviews by former intelligence officers, including one who worked for years with President Bush Senior. These are not the first leaks from MI5, MI6 and the CIA which have flatly contradicted what our elected leaders have told us. Blair tells us he knows something we don’t (again - this excuse is wearing very thin) and that he will make this ‘evidence’ available soon to the people of the UK. What are they doing? Why is it taking so long to show us this ‘compelling evidence’? Are they taking longer to fabricate it than they thought? Perhaps they need to find the right post-graduate dissertation to rip off again.



There are two main possibilities which present themselves here. First of all, if there are no WMD found in Iraq but our intelligence did really predict there would be then our intelligence gathering on a major enemy was incredibly poor. Given how important intelligence is in the ‘war against terror’ - and there’s nothing like killing civilians to end terror - this would mean the West has a major weakness in it’s defences? If we can’t get this right how can we expect them to infiltrate and intercept terrorists determined to attack another civilian target in one of our cities? On the other hand, if the reports are true and Bush and Blair had their reports doctored to suit their war agenda then it means our elected leaders lied to our representatives and to the people. It would mean they committed our troops to an illegal war on a trumped up charge. It would mean both leaders should be impeached at once and arrainged on charges of misleading the elected representatives of the people (and possibly face charges of war crimes).



Oh and apologies for the non-working graphics I tried out - haven't quite got the hang of it yet