at the caravan site and off work

Hurrah! I have been slaving away for the last week or so, but l am now off until Thursday afternoon. Haven't done a lot recently, apart from myself and the FPO visiting the relatives at the caravan site by Richmond on Saturday (they were calling in there, they are not travellers), but that was only because there was an offer of free hot dogs with onions laid on the table (in both senses). We all managed to fit into the caravan, despite the kiddie toys on the floor (I hope they were Lauren's), and we also managed a brief visit to the river before l had to head back, as l was working that afternoon/evening. On Sunday, Robbo and Kerry called round for the footie, but the less said about that the better (apart from little Jamie kicking my head). I actually finished work yesterday evening, but stayed up watching the first series of 'Pete Versus Life' into the early hours, as l had not seen any of them before. They were well worth the late night effort, and the show has really impressed me, it's both off beat and original. Rather sadly, I was then woken this morning by the FPO getting ready for work, so l was up and out of bed, downstairs and watching films by 7am (hence the reviews below). What a nightmare, but l just couldn't get back to sleep. I have been alternating between TV and the computer all morning, as l still feel tired, so l don't want to read a book at the moment. At least there is football on again tonight, time for United to repair their reputation against the mighty Aldershot in the Mickey Mouse Cup, in preparation for the Everton game on Saturday (when l am off for the weekend! - and there is a party!). No doubt little Michael Owen will score again and there will be a campaign for him to be recalled for England (yawn). It's a hard life, but you can't let the bastards grind you down.

toodle pip

the taking of pelham one two three (1974) - joseph sargent

The old school version of the film, as The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three was remade in 2009 (but l haven't seen that one, so can't comment on it). As you could probably guess (unless you were an idiot), a subway train (guess which one) is hijacked, and a ransom of one million dollars is demanded (it is, after all, 1974), or the hijackers (headed by 'Mr Blue' (Robert Shaw) state they will start killing the hostages one by one. Lieutenant Garber (Walter Matthau) negotiates and tries to stall them, but the money is paid. Now all the police have to do is work out how the hijackers plan to escape, and how they can catch them. It's pretty slowly paced for most of the film, but it is also absorbing and believable. George from Seinfeld's dad is in it (Jerry Stiller, father of Ben), as is Woody Allen's best friend in 'Play it Again Sam' (Tony Roberts), so there are distractions, albeit good ones. Tarantino ripped off the 'colours instead of names' idea for Reservoir Dogs, so there's an bonus recommendation, not that it is needed. Class.

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ricky gervais and the mong controversy

So, Ricky Gervais has apologised for using the word 'Mong' after talking to the mother of a disabled child. It is good that he has taken other peoples opinions on board, and admitted he was in the wrong to use the word in the context that he did, because of the abuse that disabled children (or adults for that matter) may get. He had defended the use in the past because as far as he was concerned, the use had changed from describing a down's syndrome person (formally known as mongoloids), to just meaning an idiot in general (probably after people referring to themselves and others as 'monged' when on too much ecstacy). In the same way 'gay' no longer just means happy, he thought it had moved on. Obviously words can (and do) change their meaning over time and are also re-appropriated by victims of the word to give them autonomy over them (nigger, fag, queer, bitch), but l do think he used the word inappropriately. However, I do not think he should have been censored, and he should be free to say what he wants, after all, they are just words. It is then up to other people to let him know if they think the words are harmful, may incite bullying or hatred, or are just not funny. Anyone may (sometimes inadvertently) say something that is out of order, and if so, should be bought to task for doing so, which will (hopefully) prevent them from using the word (or words) again. If they continue to use an offending word, don't listen to them, hang around with them, or watch them (especially if they have a platform such as TV), but they should still be able to say them. That is the way to get them to change, not censorship. Comedy should make fun of anything, as long as it is funny and not bullying, but this would (in my humble opinion, which is really not that humble) exclude words that refer to specific disabilities and disabled groups (flid, spas, mong etc) who will suffer the consequences of their use. That does not mean that jokes cannot be made about disabilities, as long as the laughter is with them, not aimed at them. I also think new words of abuse will spring up, such as LD (to mean someone with learning difficulties of disabilities), but it does not mean they should be encouraged in any way. It's a mighty fine line to tread though, as peoples ideas of comedy and what may be deemed appropriate vary significantly. Good luck with the joke telling in the future.

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angel unchained (1970) - lee maddon

Angel Unchained is a biker exploitation movie that deals with Angel, (Don Stroud) a former bike leader meeting (and then deciding to settle down with) some hippies on a farm, mainly because he (predictably) falls for a young Tyne Daly (from Cagney and Lacey). They are then terrorised by some local hicks, so Angel gets the old bike crew in to help out. The story deals with the struggle for pacifism in the face of aggression and provocation, the bounds of friendship, and free love and jealousy. However, I am definitely giving it a lot more gravitas than it deserves. It is pretty dated and crap, features stereotypical hicks, hippies and bikers and the fight scenes are unbelievable. The film is so obscure and bad, it is not even on Wikipedia. Avoid at all costs unless there really is nothing else on the old glass teat.

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go (1999) - doug liman

Go is similar to Pulp Fiction, in that it has interconnecting stories, which are not told in chronological order. Although not as good as Pulp Fiction, it is still well worth seeing, and although there were no laugh out loud bits in the film, it had the odd humorous moment. Ronah, (Sarah Polley) is a a check out girl at a convenience store, and because she is going to be evicted due to lack of funds, decides to supply some ecstacy for two lads who were shopping in the store and asked if they could be sorted out, as the usual dealer in the store had gone to Las Vegas. The lads turn out to be working undercover (but there is more to their story), and (of course), the deal goes wrong. Shootings, car chases, sex and inappropriate sexual advances all occur, but things work out in the end (and it is Christmas). I checked it out because it was by Doug Liman, who also did 'The Bourne Identity', but then again, he also did 'Mr and Mrs Smith', so l shouldn't have used that as guidance. It also stars a young Katie Holmes, the future beard (I mean wife) of Tom Cruise.

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statistics on the recent riots

What a surprise. It turns out that most of the rioters were poor, young, male and less educated. It didn't need a government think tank to work that out. A genius predicted this at the time (Oh - it was me). More information on the report here.

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gadaffi's body has been on display - news - videos - capture!

The body has been kept in a freezer and then put on display lying on a mattress, stripped to the waist.

More news and photos here.

The video of him on display is here.

A video of his capture is here.

As Xeni Jardin said :

One wonders if a trial for crimes against humanity might have been a little more dignified—not because the deceased deserved it, but because the living deserved something better than perpetuation of the cycle of gore, brutality, and dehumanization.

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icelandic spoon trick

Language is no barrier to enjoying this.

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meat loaf at the afl final - it took the words right out of my mouth

Oh deary me. It gets worse as it goes along, and Meat Loaf has since blamed everyone else, (calling them 'butt smellers'), but the rest of his band sound OK, he just can't do it anymore.

Anyway, it took my mind off the footie for a while.

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united 1 city 6

I'd rather try to forget about this.

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a cow with three faces

It's like the old 'Is it a vase, or is it two faces' illusion. I hope this is natural and not just coloured in by somebody.

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life's too short gq magazine photo for the first series

The first series of 'Life's too Short' is coming soon. Here's a publicity shot from GQ magazine which looks a bit spooky (it is nearly Halloween after all). I'm looking forward to monging out in front of the TV watching this (off work with the drink and pills).

In case anyone is unaware, the monging reference refers to this and this.

toodle pip

barry feinstein has died

Another one of the old school masters of photography has died. Barry Feinstein was responsible for many of the images in my record collection, although l did not realise it was the same person that produced such iconic images. History is dying all around us.

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scarlett johansson (allegedly) stolen nude photos

I've been a bit slow in mentioning the hacked/stolen Scarlett Johansson nude photos which have been all over the web, but the person (Christopher Chaney) who (allegedly) hacked into her phone and got the photos, has since been arrested. I would however, be curious to know what an international movie star who has never done full frontal shots before, would be doing, taking photos of herself nude, and then not transferring and deleting them in case they were stolen/hacked (or she lost her phone). I don't really think it has anything to do with the (alleged) split up from Sean Penn, but it does highlight a great deal of naivety and stupidity from her. On the other hand (because one hand is already busy fnarr fnar) it provides something to look at during those lonely lonely hours when there is only you and your maker in the room (what a scary thought that is).

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the red sky at night

I've taken some good pictures of the sky and all it's colourful glory (IMHO), but this one is better. Damn that goddam photographer!

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gadaffi is dead - here are the newspaper covers - here is my view

So, Gadaffi is dead, and although there are conflicting reports about how he died, there has not been much doubt that he was shot in the head, dragged along the floor, and not shown much mercy. The British newspapers have been pretty keen to show the photographs of him dead, going with front page shots and having very little sympathy for him. On radio phone in shows l heard today, there was also little sympathy for the way his life ended, with callers saying he should have been shown no mercy, he didn't deserve justice, this is payback for Lockerbie and WPC Fletcher, a trial would have dragged on and cost too much money, and he should have been tortured and killed in the same way he killed his victims. I agree a trial would have cost a lot, may have caused more fighting and also put people at risk. I also agree he was a dictator who caused the deaths of lots of people and l have no problem with him being dead, in fact l do think his death saves money and the media circus and trouble a trial would cause (and it stops the bastard lawyers making money). My problem is the glee at showing pictures of his death on the front pages of newspapers and the general assumption that he deserved no rights because of what he had done. The reason for fighting dictators like Gadaffi is (supposedly) because of their human rights violations. If we do not then behave better than the dictators and set examples of a just and fair system/democracy, what is the point of going in. We cannot just pick and choose who deserves their rights, it's either everyone or nobody, otherwise, who gets to choose which individual is allowed them? It may be galling to treat murderers, dictators (and for that matter, even burglars and violent criminals) in a humane way, but that is how a decent society works. When there are wars, troops expect to be treated as prisoners of war, even if they have just been captured after killing a lot of opposition troops, possibly including friends and family of the victors. The urge at the time may be to just kill them, but it should be overcome. Even a killer should be entitled to be tried, and if capital punishment is then an option and decided upon (after a fair trial), so be it (although l am against it myself, after all, ever heard of miscarriages of justice or false/beaten confessions?). If Gadaffi had been killed while fighting, that to me, would have been a great outcome, but hysterically abusing and then shooting prisoners is not right. If you think it is, see if you still agree if some British soldiers get captured after a raid/killings/fighting in the future (Iraq/Afghanistan? Who knows where this could happen), after all, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" (Gerald Seymour).

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yeong-deok seo sculptures

Yeong-Deok Seo is a Korean artist who uses chains to create sculptures, which look pretty damn intricate and time consuming to make. Oh, nearly forgot - they also look great. More here.

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the stone roses on university challenge

The Stone Roses do University Challenge. Top stuff.

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the exterminating angel - louis bunuel (1922)

The Exterminating Angel (or Le Angel Exterminador in Spanish) is (as expected) another strange offering from Louis Bunuel. I loved Un Chien Andalou and Le Age D'Or when l was younger, as they were so strange, both funny, weird and scary. Although I had never heard of The Exterminating Angel before, I was expecting it to be at least 'slightly off the wall'. It didn't disappoint in the slightest. A well off group attend a dinner party, but afterwards, the servants (apart from the majordomo) leave, and the guests find they (for whatever reason) cannot leave the room. They then start to get irritable, hungry, thirsty and sick, and the niceties of their society start to crumble. They use expensive pots for lavatorial needs, break a water pipe to drink from, and eat sheep that wander in (don't ask). Some of them end up dying, until they re-enact the first evening, and somehow, manage to find the mental strength to leave. Whilst this has been happening, people outside the home have been unable to enter, for the same unknown reason, but when the guests start coming out, they can then come forward, as though a spell has been broken. If all that is all not strange enough for you, they all go to church at a later date, but the same thing happens to everyone in the church, while riots happen outside, and sheep once again follow them in. I thought my dreams were crazy enough, but this was certainly way off on the wacky scale, and you could read any analogy into it, some obvious (although not necessarily correct) like the lambs going to the slaughter (or sheep wanting to join the elite at any cost), or the rooms representing the planet and its depleting resources. I'd rather just appreciate these kind of films for what they are. Bonkers.

And l didn't even mention the bear.

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the dale farm riots and clearance

So, as anticipated, the police have gone into Dale Farm to evict the travellers who built on land without planning permission. Activists have become involved, there has been fighting, burning, tears and tasers (what a surprise). The thing is, l can understand that the land should not have been built on, therefore the travellers knew what they were doing, and by definition, they knew the risks, just the same as if l built another home in my back garden without planning permission. The council would be onto me, and l would probably have to have it demolished, although l would obviously still own the land. This is the same situation at Dale Farm, but it has been going in and out of court for the last 10 years, and, in the meantime, people have settled there (settled travellers? Definitely oxymoronic language by anyones standards). The land is old scrap land and the people are now settled (next to the legal travellers site). This now begs the question of where they all now going to live once evicted. Moving them is costing millions, and the land will still be unsightly and good for nothing once they have gone. This should have been sorted as soon as they started building, not 10 years down the line, and l am sure a lot of people working in the legal profession would have made shitloads of money out of this. Even though the travellers have broken the rules, after 10 years, evicting them serves no purpose and will just create more problems. The building rules may well be changed shortly, if the good Mr Cameron has anything to do with it, so let them stay. Next time another one of these situations looks like occuring, give the judges a kick up the backside and use some common sense to prevent building at an early stage. The travellers are at fault, but so is our legal system. Maybe we should send in the rozzers to sort out the judges, sitting there on their loathsome spotty behinds like poor people in church, procrastinating with their decisions while reaping the financial benefits and lording it over the great poor unwashed. Power to the people!!!

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