Black Flag sounding that weedy explains an awful lot.

[alexsarll]

New Bill Drummond participatory performance piece, running November-December on Kingsland Road - anyone else interested in attending?

Next Wednesday, ITV are showing a modern take on Frankenstein by Bodies' Jed Mercurio. The comparison's not exact, but if you think roughly in terms of Jekyll, you'll get there. After watching the first half, I was itching to plug it to all and sundry. It's incredibly well-timed, bouncing off the (arguable, possible) creation of artificial life into Jon Gibbs' prize-winning picture of lightning hitting a windmill at Scroby Sands. The cast is excellent, including Cherie Blair from The Queen as Frankenstein, that bloke from Drop The Dead Donkey, Servilia and Anthony from Rome, and Errol from Fifteen Storeys High. The monster's design is cunning, playing the same trick Dagon pulled when it based the Deep Ones on octopodes rather than fish, making the comfortably monstrous truly uncanny again. The sets and atmosphere have something of the same near-future despair as Children of Men, and the skies (post-volcanic storms such as those prevalent around Mary Shelley's writing of the original novel) are brilliant.
And then I got chance to watch the second half and...maybe it's my own fault for breaking the mood, but the magic was gone.

Every now and then I read a Graham Greene; I opted for A Gun For Sale this time mainly because I'd read a JM Coetzee piece claiming Brighton Rock as its sequel, and the idea of a famed book being the sequel to a less-known one interested me*. Finding an edition with an introduction by a fellow I used to know was a bonus, though personally I'd prefer to give away rather less of the plot, and restrain myself to saying that the book's conspiracy thriller plot is startlingly modern. Though perhaps it would be truer to say, in the field of human failure, we've yet to produce a writer who's advanced past Greene.
I had never really thought of the industrial Midlands as a territory of Greeneland, but really that was foolish of me; they're awash with the broken and the bitter and the compromised, bully boys "living in their vulgar, vivid way for five years before the long provincial interment of a lifetime".

Even with the humourless prigs up in arms about any chink in the smoking ban*, and the poisoning of hearts and minds against alcohol well underway, I was still quite amazed by the latest news from the fat front:
"In this environment it was surprising that anyone was able to remain thin, Dr Susan Jebb of the Medical Research Council said, and so the notion of obesity simply being a product of personal over-indulgence had to be abandoned for good."
If you're going to take that line, if you're going to abandon any belief in personal choice or free will or human willpower, then surely it is inconsistent to persevere with democracy? How can the British people possibly be trusted to choose their leaders but not their lunch?

Plugging the NME's predictably dire 'Love Music Hate Racism' CD (if you loved music, you wouldn't be putting out CDs with The Enemy and both ex-'Libertines' on), Kele from Bloc Party says "there are lots of people who would be happier if I wasn't in this country". True, but that's got nothing to do with the colour of your skin, Kele - they just heard your album.

*As much as anything because it would spite the sort of lit-crit snobs who disdain sequels. Turns out it's more of a spin-off, but I suppose one shouldn't expect a Serious Writer to be competent in the use of such terms.
**And I think it's worth mentioning here - you know how one of the justifications was to protect those obliged (by our archaic unemployment laws) to work in pubs? The other night I passed a pub whose staff were enjoying the time-honoured afterhours staff pint. Two of them were also savouring fags; the others' faces betrayed no sign of discontent with this.

Comments

[drummygirl.livejournal.com]

I want to attend the Bill Drummond thing! Thanks for posting!

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

No worries! Let's see how many takers there are, may be worth organising a group trip.

[sbp.livejournal.com]

Me too - it's just near work.

[beingjdc.livejournal.com]

Two of them were also savouring fags; the others' faces betrayed no sign of discontent with this.

Maybe those two were managers. It's generally unwise to upset your co-workers if you can avoid it, especially if they're more important than you.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Well yes, *maybe*, but there was no evidence whatsoever for that in their apparel or age, so maybe it was just that they were all a decent enough bunch of non-puritans.

[beingjdc.livejournal.com]

Theory three: They were underpaid labour from a country where the link between passive smoking, cancer, and heart disease is still a state secret. Theory four: They were planning to complain to the management later rather than make a scene.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Be assured that I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on the pub in question whenever I pass it afterhours.

Also - they wouldn't have had to make a scene if they were unhappy, they could just have left.

[beingjdc.livejournal.com]

Ah, the good old days when an Englishman was free to make choices for himself. "A night in on my own, or cancer? A reputation as a recluse, or a coronary? What is it to be tonight?"

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Or, y'know, going to either of the pubs within five minutes that were still serving and where there's no smoking.

[beingjdc.livejournal.com]

I would imagine they were taking part in the time-honoured and dubious tradition of English pub staff of only being allowed to take their tips in drinks. Difficult to do that at a pub where you don't work.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Well then, once more we come back to the problem being situated in our bizarrely Victorian working practices, rather than in smoking.

[ksta.livejournal.com]

Have you read The Man Within?
If I were a man, it would be representative of my character, I like to think.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

No, just this, The Power & the Glory, England Made Me and The Ministry of Fear. I tend to avoid the ones where there's a good film version, but have otherwise made a fairly random choice depending what's to hand when the Greene mood strikes me.

[darkship.livejournal.com]

I've gone from long-term 'White Room' admirer to full-on KLF geek this year (and they haven't done anything to justify this, I've just been listening to loads of Cauty/Drummond), so the chance to meet Drummond, let alone be one of The 17, is certainly appealing.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

For me, while I have been in the presence of Drummond and even asked him a question, the idea of *musical* interaction with him gives me the utter fear.

[darkship.livejournal.com]

I'm just imagining a lot of shouting. Perhaps I should sample it and combine it with the 'Black Room' demos I have, although that would somewhat defeat the point of the 17 Choir exercise.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

You have Black Room demos? Wow! I thought they were never allowed out into the world lest they caused Eevil?

[darkship.livejournal.com]

They snuck out online ages ago, much to the mystification of all concerned; however, the guys from Extreme Noise Terror have confirmed that they're legit. Don't get too excited though: they're little more than ENT instrumentals- I don't know what the versions with Drummond's vocals on are like, and I feel nobody ever will.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Ah, fair enough. TBH I have and hardly ever feel the need to listen to the ENT take on '3AM Eternal', so I can probably live without 'em, at least as instrumentals.

[darkmarcpi.livejournal.com]

That Drummond link doesn't appear to work.

I might be up for going though, as Kingland Road is vaguely my neck of the woods. (Shame Drummond's plans don't involve KLF shenanigans a la setting fire to the whole area.)

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, well you do seem to be right but it was definitely working earlier for me and others - try again tomorrow?

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

Yeah link no worky. What's the deal?

I hear there is great dim sum to be had somewhree near Kingsland Road too huh interesting.

[sbp.livejournal.com]

http://www.seventeengallery.com/

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

Haw! So a bit like karaoke then, Bill?
I'm provisionally up for a toddle along :)

[sbp.livejournal.com]

You forgot to put the http:// in so LJ thinks it's a link off your local journal.

[sbp.livejournal.com]

http://www.seventeengallery.com/

[augstone.livejournal.com]

i am both intrigued and a little frightened of what the drummond thing may behold. both good things. billetdoux will be here on november 12th and i would bet a lot of money would want to attend. so i'm thinking of around then.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

November 12th, you say? Well you're the first one to suggest a definite date, and it's one I'm free, so I'm provisionally game for that.

[augstone.livejournal.com]

i will have to check with billetdoux about his schedule but that should work. i have always said that you and he are each the lj giants, in terms of informativeness and social connectivity, of your respective countries. so it makes sense that you two would meet at a bill drummond event.

[fugitivemotel.livejournal.com]

Count me in!

[fugitivemotel.livejournal.com]

Dude, I would definitely like to go to the Bill Drummond thing! How do we apply?

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I think we just email dave @ the gallery, so I shall do that once Aug has checked his mate's schedule, I reckon.