rolling thunder (1977) - john flynn

Rolling Thunder is meant to be one of Quentin Tarantino's favourite films, but l can't see why, as there is absolutely bugger all that's great about it. It's the usual tale of a family being killed, then revenge being enacted on the perpetrators, this time by two ex Vietnam prisoners. William Devane plays the main character, who discovers everything has changed since he has been away as a prisoner for seven years. Things gradually get worse from then on in, including losing his hand during torture. He ropes in (one handed obviously - ho ho ho) his old army buddy (a young Tommy Lee Jones) to go to Mexico, to kill the baddies with him, and he still has time to meet another (younger than his wife) woman. Classy man (mind you, he is kind of punishing himself and he has grown to love the rope/torture/agony while a POW). Plenty of violence and stereotypical Mexicans, but the film was pretty lousy.

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tony bennet and lady ga ga - the lady is a tramp

Ignore some of the bad dubbing - this is pretty damn good.

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primal scream vs theresa may

It's bad enough Theresa May banging on about immigrants and cats (which was untrue), now she has upset Primal Scream.

Primal Scream are totally disgusted that The Home Secretary Theresa May ended her speech at the Tory party conference with our song Rocks.

How inappropriate. Didn't they research the political history of our band?

Hasn't she listened to the words? Does she even know what getting your rocks off means? No. She is a Tory; how could she?

Primal Scream are totally opposed to the coalition government, Cameron, Osborne, Gove, Howard, Clegg etc. They are legalised bullies passing new laws to ensure the wealthy stay wealthy, taking the side of big business while eradicating workers rights and continuing their attacks on young people, single parents and OAP's by slashing education and social security budgets, and persecuting the poor for being poor.

We would like to distance ourselves from this sick association.

The Tories are waging a war on the disenfranchised, They are the enemy.

Primal Scream

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shaun of the dead (2004) - edgar wright

From the makers of 'Spaced'. Shaun of the Dead is marvellous. Starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost! Directed by Edgar Wright! It's a romantic comedy but with zombies, lots of gore, an English setting, loads of pop culture references and repeated jokes. What's not to like? Spot the other comedy stars in it! Excellent.

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a mighty hot curry by kismot of edinburgh

Kismot curry house in Edinburgh raised some money for charidee by having a curry eating contest featuring their 'Kismot Curry', with superb results. The full story here. What a great advert for the resteraunt, people (especially on stag nights) will be queuing up to try it now. One of their waiters on their official website even says "I'm not a racist, but it always seems to be stupid white people". Great stuff!

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octopus camouflage

This is amazing, when I first saw the ending l couldn't believe it myself.

I'm sticking to swimming pools from now on.

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who on earth is tom baker?

This is one of the most frank and revealing autobiographies l have read (actually, listened to, as it was on audiobook). Tom is full of doubt and self loathing, and is certainly not the happy go lucky character l imagined him to be before starting on this. It still has lots of funny 'laugh out loud' bits, but also a lot of sad episodes. At one stage, Tom is naked, has just made a deep cut on his left breast, and is watching the blood drip to the floor. Standing there naked and bleeding, he said "I was alone, poor, bleeding and unwanted. I had never felt happier". Fascinating.

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how to get rid of people using gravy

For some mad reason the FPO decided to invite the family round for lunch at the weekend, destroying my peace, quiet and happy home. I was even sent to the shops after finishing work to buy sausages (with firm instructions not to buy any cheap ones), cauliflower and booze. On returning home, I tried to watch 'The Sunday Supplement' before anyone turned up, but fell asleep on the settee within about 5 minutes, to be woken with Rook at the door, as a prelude to everyone else arriving. All was going swimmingly once everyone had settled down with a drink, as l was royally entertaining everyone while the FPO was in the kitchen, slaving away cooking (as she should). However, when it was food time, l poured the gravy onto everybodies plates. Where's the harm in this you may ask. Ah, there's the rub...when pouring it onto Louise's plate, little Lol put her hand in it and obviously got burned (slightly, as l have the reflexes of a mongoose and wiped it off). Lol was crying on and off after that (probably scared l was going to throw some more over her) and Louise and Dazzer took her home early, leaving us with Rook and Deb. Still, we then had a good night, watched 'Later' with Jools Holland, and all got drunk. I'll have to remember the gravy trick next time l want some solitude. Everyone has now been warned!

# Postscript - the baby is fine with no injuries, so don't bother calling Childline.

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rope - alfred hitchcock (1948)

Rope is another classic from Alfred, which involves an (apparently) perfect murder using (guess what) and James Stewart as Rupert Cadell (an old housemaster), working out what has happened. A very similar idea concerning guilt is in the rather fantastic book Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (in fact it is mentioned in the film), and there is a lot of talk about morality, supposedly superior people (Nietzsche and his superman ideas gets bandied about) and who gets to choose who should live or be killed (it was, after all, just after the Second World War). It was interesting to see a film done in real time and with long shots, but I thought the ending was a bit poor. However, l still enjoyed it, even with the over the top acting (and gay subtext).

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the barringer crater in arizona

The Barringer crater in Arizona was created about 50,000 years ago and is certainly something l would like to see before l shuffle off this mortal coil (along with many other things). Then again, if you think that's big and impressive, l suggest a perusal of the Vredefort crater in South Africa. Now that would have been one hell of an impact.

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dodgy old mickey and minnie mouse milk advert

Another dodgy old advert - l'm living in the wrong era.

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bloody spiders (again!)

As it is nice weather again today, l thought l would open the front door and see how hot it was, as l had not even opened a door since Monday, and have been inside all week. Look what was awaiting me (and l nearly walked into). A bloody big spiders web right across the doorway with a fat spider in the middle. I wouldn't mind so much, but it must only have spun it's web today as the FPO went out through the doorway this morning on the way to work. Christ l hate them. Saying that, it didn't half go flying off into the distance when l whacked it with one of the kitchen implements (which l then washed vigorously afterwards). I am definitely checking doorways before strolling through them in the future. That's something else to be worried about - no wonder l can relate to Woody Allen movies (see below).

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play it again sam - herbert ross

Although directed by Herbert Ross, Play It Again Sam was written by (and stars) Woody Allen, and it maybe my favourite film of his. Allen Felix (Woody) is getting a divorce and trying to get acquainted with another girl (with the help of his best friends, Dick and Linda). He keeps getting imaginary advice from Humphrey Bogart, and ends up falling for Linda (Diana Keaton), which turns out to be mutual. In the end they all do the right thing, which also involves re-enacting the end of Casablanca (just watch the film). It is excellent throughout, Woody is fantastic doing his slapstick routines, and the wordplay also scores highly. Although l have nearly recovered from my illness, l nearly killed myself with a mixture of laughing out loud, followed by a bouts of frantic coughing. Well worth it though, as it's brilliant film. I may even dig out and have a drink from the mug that l bought at Rick's cafe (in Casablanca, but not the original one as it was a studio build).

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the exorcism of anneliese michel

After thinking about The Exorcist in the earlier post, l have been reading about Exorcisms, and in particular, the Exorcism of Anneliesse Michel (and the ensuring prosecution). The above clip has tapes from the Exorcism (which went on for months) and some photographs of her. The film 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' is loosely based on the events, and there is still a lot of debate as to whether she was possessed, if the priests and family did the right thing (she dies of dehydration and malnutrition), and if she should be classed as a saint.

To me, much as l love the films, the demonic stuff is all rubbish and she suffered from a mental illness (probably Depression and Dissociative Identity/Multiple Personality Disorder). The priests and family failed her insomuch as they did not provide (as we say in the trade) a 'Duty of Care', resulting in her death. It's still interesting hearing and seeing Exorcisms, just to witness the sheer (and unwarranted) belief that the 'victim' is possessed. Maybe she was prepared to do anything just to get some attention (that is not an official medical diagnosis). Once again, l blame God.

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the exorcist 3 scary clip

Thinking and reading about the Exorcist films earlier, l was reminded of this clip from Exorcist 3. A truly scary moment (although the first Exorcist film is still the best). Try not to soil yourself while watching it.

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wilson greatbatch has died

Who is Wilson Greatbatch? You may well ask and think that he has nothing to do with your drab and wretched lives (copyright Tom Leher), but he is someone who will definately affect my life, and maybe yours as well. Why? Because he is the man who invented the Pacemaker, a device l will (probably shortly) end up getting put in, once l flake out again and manage to record what happened beforehand (as l currently have a memory device installed - space age stuff!). Bring it on I say! Then again, the pacemaker looks a bit bigger than the memory device, and that took some shoving and writhing to cram in. I'm also a bit dubious about how far those wires are going to go as well, so l reckon there could be a sore chest involved afterwards. The good news is..... more time off work! (hurrah!)

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white humpback whale

Something else l would like to see. Not just a humpback whale, Oh dearie me no, this is only a white one! This is thought to be a baby and has just been photographed near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. If it wasn't for the dodgy spiders down that neck of the woods (or sea), l would be there in no time (OK, some time, but a short amount of it).

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dodgy sega advert

An old advert for Sega games, and pretty damn funny as well. A medal for whoever came up with it.

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heidi the cross eyed opossum has died

I had only just found out about Heidi, the cross eyed Virginia Opossum from Leipzig Zoo, when the little bugger went and died (was put down on the 28th Sept). She was certainly an animal l would loved to have seen, but to commemorate her, here's some photographs. I will now have a minutes silence....

Damn! Impossible - still coughing!

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breakfast of champions - alan rudolph (1999)

As l am still up and coughing, l found the 'Breakfast of Champions' film on my computer, which l had forgotten l downloaded a while ago, so stuck that on to pass the time. It was certainly a strange film, as the main actors were excellent (especially Albert Finney as Kilgore Trout), but they also hammed it up too much and went for cheap laughs, rather than just trying to make a good adaptation of the (rather excellent) book. A pretty boring film with not many (in fact no) laughs. Read the book instead.

Heading off to bed now as watching this must have affected me more than l thought, as l have just been and tried to be sick (no success). This illness had better bugger off soon, it's either the illness or me - one of us has to surrender..

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bob dylan - (2010), plus leon busy (1905) 'opium'

There is a bit of a fuss at the moment as to whether Bob Dylan has ripped off an old photograph for his 'Opium' painting. You would be a fool to deny that it has not come from Leon Busy's photograph, which was taken in about 1905, but where is the problem with painting a photograph? If Dylan claims all the inspiration for himself, and says it is original, that is another matter. Until then, chill out and make the most of his Bobness while he is still alive (Plus l like both the painting and photo). Not sure about putting the paintings in an art gallery if they are to be judged on the paintings themselves, but l have no issues with Dylan's paintings/writings/drawings/artifacts being displayed somewhere as a tribute and homage to the great man.

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la regle du jeu (1939 ) - jean renoir

La Regle Du Jeu, known as 'The Rules of The Game' in English, is by Jean Renoir, and is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. Not by me it isn't matey boy. A French drama/farce/satire highlighting the decadence of the upper classes just before the Second World War, it just wasn't that dramatic or funny. I did think some of the cinematography and deep focus was excellent, but the actual story left me cold. A hero pilot returns, everyone meets at a country house, where they are all (including the servants) being (or trying to be) unfaithful, then someone gets shot at the end. There's a nice close up shot of a squirrel, so at least it salvaged something. The first film l have been able to watch for a few days, so l will have to send off a letter of complaint to the French authorities. (and God, who made me ill).

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