broken dreams - tom bower

Another book l have eventually managed to finish.
I started this ages ago, but then dropped it in the bath, and have been waiting for it to dry out so l could finish the remaining  pages.  They were soggy and then wrinkled (a bit like me) but at least had some use, as they were just about still readable.
Tom Bower has certainly done some investigating (as is his wont), but 'Broken Dreams' is dispiriting reading if you are a fan of old school football and its characters, as so many of them have been dodgy wheeler dealers, and after lining their own pockets with a fast buck at the first opportunity.
The usual suspects are present and correct.  Don Revie, Brian Clough and Harry Redknapp prominent among them, but for me, Ken Bates was the one l have the greatest disliking for, and that is some doing with Revie on the list.
I'm pretty cynical at the best of times, and think most people would be corrupted with the slightest temptation, but it's still depressing and annoying when people are caught out and my cynicism is confirmed.

toodle pip

suzi quatro - unzipped

As l grew up listening to the Glam sounds of the early 1970's, l picked up Suzi Quatro's 'Unzipped' from a charity shop when out and about the other day, to see if there were any great revelations about that time, and trashy gossip about the stars of the day.
Unfortunately, no there weren't (apart from a small piece on Gary Glitter), but there were some interesting stories about her early days travelling around with her sisters (and others), playing in their all girl band 'The Pleasure Seekers' and growing up to the sound of the early Doo Wop and Rock and Roll records.
Suzi was forthright about her strained relationships, both with her family and partners, but there was a bit too much hippie/new age/spiritual mumbo jumbo for my liking, and l would have preferred a straight forward account of her life, rather than it being split between 'Little Susie from Detroit' and 'Suzi Quatro'.
It was an enjoyable enough way to pass the time, but not as scandalous as l had hoped for.
Saying that, she has certainly put the hours (and years) in, and her 'Rocking with Suzi' radio show has been pretty good and informative whenever l have caught some of it, and well worth listening to.

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experiments in the revival of organisms

Want to see dead animals bought back to life?  Amputated dogs leads responding to external stimuli??
Look no further, it's all here, in a Soviet film from 1940.



Spooky stuff.

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more vivian maier photographs

More photographs by Vivian Maier.  And these aren't even my favourits.

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the press photographer of the year award

Some of the photographs from the press photographer of the year award.  The shadow horse is my favourite, and l need to get a camera with a fast shutter speed.

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geoff and michelle win the lottery

This is Geoff and Michelle Hughes, who used to run the Colburn Lodge a few years ago, which was one of my local pubs.  They then moved to Middlesbrough and ran The Coronation pub in Acklam, which, as luck would have it, was also one of my haunts, as Robbo and Kerry lived around the corner from it, so l would go there and then stay over.
I found out last week that they had won nearly $78,000 on the lottery by getting 5 numbers (plus the bonus ball).  Now they are pretty nice people, but l am still bitter, twisted, and jealous as anything.
I would be off to America and Japan in no time if l won (and probably dead pretty soon afterwards).

toosdle pip.

john lennon on the voice

What a great pisstake - John Lennon auditioning for The Voice.

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the rolling stones at glastonbury festival and the strypes

No doubt there will be much discussion around the country today about The Rolling Stones' appearance at Glastonbury Festival yesterday, so here's my view.
They delivered what was expected of them. A collection of their mostly well known songs with a lot of prancing about (resulting in some poor singing), with some shoddy playing and posing thrown in for good measure. Mick Jagger tries to please everyone with his cockernee geezer accent and desperation to show how he can still move about at his ripe old age of nearly 70, and Keef is more concerned with looking cool and iconic, rather than bashing out some memorable tunes.  It was good to see Mick Taylor up with them, sharing some of the plaudits and glory, and Keith Richards looking as though he is going to end up emulating Taylor in the lifestyle choices nowadays, rather than the other way round (healthy eating wise).
Some songs sounded decent, some (2,000 Light Years From home), were atrocious.
Nowadays, half of the attraction of seeing The Stones is the fact that they are an institution.  Wizened old legends, creakily stepping down from their personal Mount Olympus' to entertain the common folk, who may never get the chance to see them again. Supposedly their rehearsals for the tour came in at a million of your English pounds and pence, but they still play like a sloppy, pissed up bar band playing the songs for the first time.
On the other hand, this could also be commended, as they don't try to be ultra professional, and are more bothered about the audience going away happy after an entertaining spectacle rather than pleasing the TV viewers at home, and that is certainly how it came across yesterday. They were much better than they could have been, it's normally a great day out, and rather like some football matches, the build up and anticipation (plus the all day drinking with mates or partners) is most of the fun.  The match/concert at the end is something that will hopefully prove to be worthwhile and pleasurable, but a good day out can still be had if it is not.
If you really want to recapture the early bluesy Stones, go and see some young bands who still have it all to prove, not some old gits looking after their retirement funds.

I've got high hopes for The Strypes.  At the moment, they can't get near what the Stones were like in their heyday, but they have a long, long time ahead of them to have a decent pop at it. If they end up half as good, that would still be an achievement worth aspiring to.



The Stones - remember them this way.  Gimme Shelter on Pop Goes The Sixties



The young pretenders - The Strypes with Blue Collar Jane on The Late Late Show.


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calexico at glastonbury festival

Watching some of the Glastonbury Festival highlights yesterday, l was disappointed to see how few people were there to see Calexico.  There may well have been something else on at the same time that took would be fans away, but it must still be frustrating for them playing to so few at such a large festival, after all the work they have put in over the years.
My own view is that they would be a bigger band if they stuck to more of their up tempo tunes, therefore creating a raucous live atmosphere.  On the other hand, part of the reason l like them because of the sometimes haunting mood that they put across.  They seem to be sticking to playing whatever takes their fancy, and if that leads to success or failure, so be it.
Doing things the right way.  I have a lot of admiration for that attitude, but sadly, l can't see them continuing for a lot longer.
As a side note, some of the  the artwork they use on their posters and t-shirts is brilliant, check it out below (although the middle one is an actual Calexico (the place) poster.  Would still look good on a t-shirt though.

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david vann - dirt

Despite never hearing about the book or author before, I read David Vann's 'Dirt' after it was recommended to me as something l'd like, and l wasn't disappointed.  It features Galen, a spoilt, new age worshiping would be guru and spiritual master (who isn't), who refuses to eat, and takes great pleasure in winding up his mother, who won't pay for him to further his education.  He goes out walking at night to be at one with nature, has some painful/pleasurable sex with a relative, and then goes completely off the rails as things start to spiral out of control.  
Marvelous stuff.

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robin thicke - blurred lines

Although l'm not too keen on all the bitches and hoe's songs that are so popular with the USA R'n'B fraternity, l love Robin Thicke's (featuring T.I and Pharrell) 'Blurred Lines' as it's just sooooooo damn catchy.
Now if only l could dance or had a smidgen of rhythm in my sad old body, l'd be up bustin' some moves (so it's a good job l can't).

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the trickle down theory

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depressed? cheeky sod!

When l was out and about yesterday at work, the person l was supporting was given this leaflet by a passing member of the public (female).
What on Earth was she trying to hint at?
It's about finding a way out of depression by following the path of the Lord, but was she assuming the person l was supporting looked depressed?
Needed assistance from a higher power??
With me supporting them???
I'll have you know l am fantastic at my job thank you very much.
How very dare they (as Edith used to say)

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and thinking about women photographers - sheila rock

 Sheila herself

The Buzzcocks

Siouxsie Sioux

The Cure

Johnny Rotton / Lydon

Billy Idol

The Clash

Debbie Harry

When the punk wars were happening, Sheila Rock was one of the photographers that was in the thick of it, shooting some iconic images along the way.  I don't know what l expected her to look like, but certainly not the innocent and sweet looking lady at the top.

She has a new book about Punk for sale, and her website is here.

It just goes to show (yet again) that you can't judge a book by it's cover.

However, you can judge a crap British 'Comedy film' by the amount of 'iconic' and 'hilarious' stars that are in it. But don't get me started on that one.

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the vivian maier story

There was a great BBC Imagine documentary on the other night about Vivian Maier, the loner nanny who took thousands of photographs, mostly street scenes from around the Chicago area.
The photography itself was really high quality, but of course the most fascinating part of the story was that she kept the photographs to herself, and was so driven in her need to take them, expressing herself and capturing her own (and her surroundings) history.  I have always had a great admiration for anyone who just does their own thing, not caring what others think (hence my love of Keef), so this was right up my street.
Since her death in 2009, there has been a huge demand for her prints and originals, plus gallery displays and coffee table books, but you would like to think that she would still have had some success if her work had been unearthed earlier.  Now that she has ceased to be (as The Pythons would say), she will always be the elusive loner character, and her worth will probably only increase, as her cult following grows.
Maier kept her photography work in various storage containers, which was then bought unseen when she could not meet her storage bills, with the consequence that it was divided up among  innocents, collectors, and get rich quick charlatans.
Some of the images and information can be found here and here, and the BBC doc is here.
I may post some of her street photography at a later date, as l particularly like the ones with billboard or theater writing in the background, but for the meantime, above are some of her self portraits.
How very reflective.

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