Freakangels

Just found Freakangels. Freakangels is a weekly, free web-comic by Warren Ellis and it seems to be pretty good.

Check it out

www.freakangels.com

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone
Thanks also to amazon.co.uk who are giving away free MP3 albums on their website. Good one. The offer is just on for christmas day and boxing day. I got the Glasvegas album

The Vaselines live at the Glasgow ABC

I first heard the Vaselines on the B-side of a cassette copy of 'Bleach' by Nirvana. I remember listening to it on a car stereo and thinking 'What the fuck is that?'. I was unaware of the Nirvana connection at that time and I thought that someone was taking the piss.

I was right. The Vaselines were taking the piss. I've gradually managed to understand the joke over the past 16 years. I understand why Kurt Cobain liked them.

The current era is a musical paradise. All my favourite alternative rock bands from the '80s and '90s are reforming and playing in Glasgow. I was keen to see the Vaselines but I thought that they might be shambolic. They were actually rather good.

The support act were a band called Isoceles. I was mildly upset that King Biscuit Time did not appear but Isoceles were a welcome substitute. No-one could accuse them of being original but they were energetic and entertaining in a Franz Ferdinand sort of way.

The Vaselines opened with Son of a Gun and played most of their songs. They had a heavier guitar sound than I expected. Frances McKee and Eugene Kelly paraded their famous comedy double act which was cool. It was a bit freaky to hear Frances McKee (who looks like an old-school Blue Peter presenter) talking about having a 'gang-bang/line up' with the 'attractive young men' in the support band. Disconcerting.

The gig was better than expected.

Recent political comedy moments

I was pissing myself when the list of BNP members was published on the internet. I realise that even political racists have a right to privacy but I still thought it was funny. I do not think that racists should be teachers, policemen, doctors or soldiers. I hope that this event might give some of these short-sighted numpties a kick in the arse if their jobs are in danger. Hopefully they might stop being nasty racists and accept that people are people. That would be nice. It probably won't happen.

The funniest moment was Nick Griffin complaining of 'fascism' while being interviewed by Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Griffin came across as a nasty thug.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the leak. I hope they escape any serious punishment.

blogged.com

I have been sent an email from blogged.com that says that this blog scored 7.4 and was rated as good.

I'm not sure what that means.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I've been reading Neil Gaiman stuff for about 20 years now. I have a complete run of Sandman comics sitting in my parents house and I've read most of his novels. The Graveyard Book is probably aimed at children but can be appreciated by adults.

The story is about a baby who wanders into a graveyard on the night that his family is murdered. The ghostly inhabitants of the graveyard hide the baby from the murderer and pledge to bring him up and keep him safe. They name him Bod (short for 'Nobody').

Bod grows up in an unusual loving environment and has a few adventures along the way.

The book is readable and entertaining. You feel that you could let youngish children read it without upsetting them too much. I hope that children will still be reading this book in 50 years time. Gaiman has said that he was influenced by The Jungle Book when he was writing this story and that inspiration is tangible.

see www.neilgaiman.com

Graham Lineham

Graham Lineham is the guy who wrote Father Ted and The IT crowd. He is funny and he has a blog.

see

http://whythatsdelightful.wordpress.com/

Zack and Miri make a porno

The new film by Kevin Smith has a title that might scare casual viewers. In some ways that might be a good thing if it keeps the modern Mary Whitehouse brigade out of the cinema but the title is a bit misleading. Zack and Miri make a porno is a modern love story.

The story is about a pair of lifelong friends who are down on their luck. They live together as friends and they are struggling financially. Up to their eyes in debt, without heat or water, they decide to make a pornographic film to earn money.

It sounds like one of those shitty gross-out teen comedy films but the direction of Kevin Smith makes it more than that. There are disgusting moments. Chocolate frosting will never be the same again. However, the heart of the film is tender.

Seth Rogan is great as usual. This is his best film for a while. Elizabeth Banks is much better than she was as Laura Bush in W where she was almost underacting. Jason Mewes is Jay without Silent Bob.

I hope this film makes a lot of money. It's the most enjoyable Kevin Smith film that I've seen for a while. Much better than Clerks 2. Go and see it or wait for the DVD so you can pause bits.

check out

www.zackandmiri.com

www.viewaskew.com

TV on the Radio live at the Glasgow ABC

The profile of TV on the Radio has increased a fair bit since the last time I saw them and wrote about them a few years back. They have received a lot of media coverage for new album Dear Science and as a result they are playing larger venues. Their last Glasgow gig was at the intimate ABC2 but this was in the much larger main venue. The show was sold out.



The crowd was a lot younger than before. TVOTR have clearly broken into the student market. The set was energetic and tight although I did feel that they looked slightly uncomfortable on the larger stage. Songs had been drawn from throughout their career and the new material stands up well against the older stuff.



My one criticism of the night was that the sound was not perfect. The vocals are key to the music of TVOTR and at times they were quiet or muddy.



A great band. I hope they continue to put out interesting music and that I get the chance to see them again. My friend who had never heard them before enjoyed the show. That counts as a solid recommendation.

Check them out

W. - film review

An average film about an average president.

I went to see this because of my general dislike of American foreign policy and the Bush administration over the last few years. I guess that my views are not that unusual.

Oliver Stone likes making big important films about significant American Presidents. It seems somehow fitting that he has made a TV-movie style docu-drama about George W Bush who I feel history will remember as the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This isn't a full-on assault on Bush. He is shown in a sympathetuc light. It isn't a great film but it isn't terrible.