Happy New Year (or how to begin and end a paragraph with a date)

2007 was an indeterminably odd year not unlike a painting so busy with various colors and shapes you can't decide if you like it or hate it but in the end it leaves you feeling queasy! For all the bad and good things the year brought I bid it farewell and eagerly anticipate the promising new year ahead, 2008!

HIM rocked my world

12/12/07 - London Astoria

An amazing concert in a cosy venue (soon to be shut down only to be replaced by a shopping mall (?) ). Vile was on form in voice and in humour as always ;) Linde provided the most amazing lead guitar solos. A great night!

Wounded Doves of the Silver Screen

Charlize Theron wins an Oscar for her vivid portrayal of an abused lesbian prostitute turned murderer. Jolie leaves men and women alike, awestruck as the athletically violent heroine. These are the kind of roles which are admired in the film industry today and subsequently the kind which define women. Cast your mind, however, back to a more serene time when the silver screen first acquired its definition.

This is a time where less is more. It is not a time for physical expression, at least not in the way we are now accustomed to seeing. Instead more is achieved by the lack of it. The heroine remains composed until the pivotal moment in the plot where the amassed emotion is achingly looking for its release. All that the limbs do not express is instead achieved by the heroine's face and in particular her eyes.

Few actresses today could hold a candle to the likes of Gene Tierny, Joan Fontaine or Ingrid Bergman . Granted it is a time where the feminine is very much the weak sex, however, these elegant women with their wounded dove looks are bewitching and in their own way empowering.

There is one actress in particular who is the most captivating of them all. Perhaps, because there is a truly ethereal element to her. A sensation emanating from her screen presence, giving the illusion (or perhaps even the reality) that she is never truly there, that if you were able to be in her presence there would be a part you could never know or possess, a part that belonged to another place. Hail Grace Kelly!

Favourite Grumpy Characters

The grumpier and glib the better:

* Two old guys (the Muppet Show)
* Adam (Northern Exposure)
* Albert (Twin Peaks)

TBU ...

Wedding Vows

Wedding Vows make me sick! Can we ask film directors around the world to cut that bullshit out!

Death Proof

Simply put, the man's a genius! No need to say more!

The woods are lovely dark and deep
and I have promises to keep
and miles to go before I sleep
Did you hear me butterfly?
Miles to go before you sleep

Happy Birthday Kevin!!!

Hail Kevin! One day soon I will make you proud :P

Stereophonics at the ICA London ~ A Perfect Friday Night Out

5:30 Work's over, my adrenaline's pumping - I am too excited for words. On the tube off the tube on the tube off the tube ...finally make it to the ICA

6:10 At the ICA - damn need to queue :( Meet some 'phonics fans, talk about their music bla bla ... my anticipation has sky-rocketed, I actually agree to talk to the i-tunes dude (very stylish - very gay - very nice)

07:10 Finally inside! Need some food and some beer ...get a nice veggie dish (pitta bread, baba ghanoush, houmous and tzatziki (note to self - must give chef the proper recipe for tzatziki cause this one is pathetic)

07:30 Support band Little Man Tate on stage. They have potential but they need better music, lead singer's got a cheeky glint in his eye ;) Guy on my far right is well into their music, he knows all the lyrics - Who the fuck are Little Man Tate ???

08:30 Support band finish. Stereophonics crew need to do a sound check, tune the guitars (there are 12 guitars ...how many do they need !!!) God this is taking ages, people are cramming in behind me, the air is getting staler, the heat is rising, finished my second beer, my cheeks must be red I'm feeling a little peaky - WHERE ARE THEY ALREADY!!!

09:15 Suddenly silence and then the lights go down. Everyone's screaming! Any second now THEY will appear! Bright red light ! Loud guitar string strung out! THEY COME ON!
Yes the magic starts! Kelly sounds even better live! The music sounds better live. The vibrations coming up through the ground! Jumping up and down, everyone's hot sweaty and happy. The crowd is insatiable! We want more! More! More!

11:15 After a final encore, the band play us out with Dakota - it's a perfect night!


You made me feel like the one
Made me feel like the one
The one

I don't know where we are going now

The Gospel According to Robert Rodriguez

“If you want to be a filmmaker and you can’t afford film school, know that you don’t really learn anything in film school anyway. They can never teach you how to tell a story. You don’t want to learn that from them anyway, or all you’ll do is tell stories like everyone else.”

Simplicity. Persistence. Rebellion. This is Robert Rodriguez! His film will not be one of a philosophical nature, there will be no ambiguity in the finale and heated discussions will most certainly not ensue. And yet my cinematic experience will not be that of a disappointed viewer but rather it will be invigorating. Why? Because it will appeal to my base, raw, human instincts. Everything created by him is sentient of the animal within. There are no rules, there are no complications from the techniques he employs through to the end product. His journal Rebel Without A Crew is inspirational, the legend that is Hollywood is brought down to its knees, all gaps are bridged, and the ability is offered to one and all - it is there to be taken! It is not unjust of him then to ask: Are you a Mexi-CAN or a Mexi-CAN'T?

Those Crazy English Summers ...

Fields of fire that passed the train
The sky is victorious but here comes the rain
Friday is taking me home again,
And I've nothing but you on my mind.

Grass is greener without the pain,
I think that I'm changing but I'm just the same
My sun is a ascending again
And I've nothing but you on my mind

Sometimes I feel like I'm glad to be free,
Sometimes I still want your arms around me
Sometimes I'm glad to have left you behind,
The Crazy English Summer has put you back on my mind.
Life's a riot a lover a friend,
Pity the day that it has to end
Friday come speed me home again,
I've nothing but you on my Mind.

Sometimes I feel like i'm fine on my own,
Fifty Thousand miles from home.
Sometimes I'm weak and the past is my guide,
Summer returns and puts you back on my mind