alexsarll: (death bears)
Alex ([personal profile] alexsarll) wrote2009-01-21 03:34 pm

This is the dawning of a new era - so maybe I should get out of bed

The new Morrissey album, based on two listens, is deeply patchy, and the new Anthony & the Johnsons is basically the same as the last one, but slightly less so. More to my surprise, given I liked You Could Have It So Much Better, first impressions of the new Franz Ferdinand are that for the most part, it's a bloody mess. [livejournal.com profile] icecoldinalex, this means that thus far you're still Album of the Year.

I know BSG's Number Six Cylon was named in honour of The Prisoner, but I'd never thought the parallels went much beyond that. I'm reconsidering in light of Season Three, where as with my Prisoner DVD, all the faintly pointless episodes seem to be contained on Disc Four. Homage!
Anyway, I have now finished the third season. Frakking Hell.

Finished The Worm Ouroboros and...well, I'm not cutting this, it was written near 90 years ago, but if you're planning to read it for the plot then look away now. I know the title should have given this away, but in some senses I have never read a more pointless book. Our heroes break the power of Witchland utterly - and then sit around moping, worrying that life will never again offer them anything so awesome as that war. This a war in which, aside from the danger to themselves and the deaths of their men, their land was despoiled and one of their sisters damn near raped. This in a book written by an Englishman mere years after the War To End All Wars might even seem, at terrible cost, to have succeeded. So by calling in a boon from the gods - they resurrect Witchland and take us right back to the start! I've seen the idea of Valhallan eternal war crop up a few times for examination in art - Grant Morrison was intrigued by it in early days, from his climactic Zoids to the Warner Bros deconstruction of 'The Coyote Gospel'. But I'm hard pressed to think of anything else written since the Middle Ages which quite so unambiguously celebrates that idea, particularly when the conflict encompasses innocents as well as the protagonists.
As a palate cleanser, have now moved on to the charming eccentricity of Dry Store Room No. 1. This has already been extensively blogged of late by my friendslist, so I shall restrain myself to mentioning how glad I am that I started this *after* my recent return visit to the Natural History Museum, such that when Richard Fortey says:
"There are still galleries in the Natural History Museum displaying minerals, the objects themselves - a kind of museum of a museum, preserved in aspic from the days of such systematic rather than thematic exhibits. Few people now find their way to these galleries."
- and think, after the Great Hall, that was the first place I went! And I got to surreptitiously touch a thing from another world, some witch-iron! It wouldn't be nearly so much fun if that had happened the other way round; I'd feel like I was being worthy, being watched, rather than naturally doing the right thing.

[identity profile] icecoldinalex.livejournal.com 2009-01-21 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Whaeeey!

Default win is still a win, ma!

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-01-21 03:54 pm (UTC)(link)
The soonest real rival I can see is that you might get beaten off by Bruce Springsteen. And it wouldn't be the first time, eh?

[identity profile] icecoldinalex.livejournal.com 2009-01-21 04:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I have to admit it lost the allure after 'Streets of Philidelphia'.

keep on truckin'...

[identity profile] mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com 2009-01-21 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
...I have a TONNE of DBTs stuff btw so if you want to expand yr music collection let me know :D

Re: keep on truckin'...

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-01-21 05:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooooh, that would be good, ta. When selecting my first album, I wasn't sure whether to be intrigued or terrified by the concept of a rock opera about Skynrd, but I decided that either way, I possibly didn't want to *start* there.

Re: keep on truckin'...

[identity profile] mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com 2009-01-21 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Actually, Southern Rock Opera is one of the few I *don't* have. I recently made a 'welcome to Truckers fandom' mix cd for a friend, I could make you the same (omitting the DD tracks and putting others on). Though lord knows when I'll see you next! I *have* been making more of an effort to get out and see ppl though.

I've never seen you at Electric Assembly gigs, not sure if they float yr boat but I'm def going on 3rd Feb, if that appeals.

Re: keep on truckin'...

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-01-22 11:25 am (UTC)(link)
Are they a similar sort of thing? I shall investigate and decide based on the results. But yes, the CD sounds great! Glad you're out and about more, too - it has been ages!

Re: keep on truckin'...

[identity profile] mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com 2009-01-22 11:25 pm (UTC)(link)
not at all! :D They're on last.fm and myspazz, if you want to have a listen.

[identity profile] alexdecampi.livejournal.com 2009-01-21 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
There is a truly godawful Wachowski Siblings video for one of the new Antony songs. Here it is. Warning: TRULY GODAWFUL.

...conversely, the new Coldplay video is Quite Good, and has a glorious ending. Warning: contains a Coldplay song. They are still Pure Musical Evil but I have to give credit to this video.

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-01-21 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not sure that I can bring myself to click on either of those. Particularly since once Wachowski shares Gender Issues with Antony - I am expecting it to be a penis, in bullet time, with WHY? flashing up over it on screen.
Of course, now I have that image in my head, it probably won't be so bad in comparison.

[identity profile] alexdecampi.livejournal.com 2009-01-21 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Wachowskis is basically a big gay dance spectacular - which is usually my favouritest thing ever; I truly believe that there is nothing that can't be improved by androgynes and sequins - but this lacks any joy, delight or... anything.

The Coldplay one is BRILLIANT. WATCH IT. Srsly.

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-01-22 12:07 pm (UTC)(link)
There was a lovely Mercury Rev video a bit like that a while ago - this is like they got Graham Norton to remake that for an ill-advised celebrity talent show. It doesn't help that the song is basically not cut out for a big gay dance treatment (as against his work on H&LA's 'Blind', say, whose video was not dissimilar but worked fine).

The Coldplay one is indeed brilliant, but also tragic, in so far as that idea would have worked equally well for songs by any number of other bands who don't suck.

[identity profile] darkmarcpi.livejournal.com 2009-01-21 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Heard the new Moz single a couple of times and whilst I'm sure it'll grow on me, I couldn't escape the awful feeling that it reminded me of the worst of Moz - i.e. it just sounds like weedy, bland indie.

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-01-22 11:26 am (UTC)(link)
It's not great, but I certainly wouldn't say it was as bad as the worst, by which I mean Kill Uncle and 'Dagenham Dave'.

[identity profile] renegadechic.livejournal.com 2009-01-22 12:35 am (UTC)(link)
frakking hell indeed! its quite an ending isnt it. season 4 is pretty interesting so far. i just finished episode 5 and ive downloaded the mini episodes and episode 11 from last week so i will be up to date when im down with 6 thru 10. how are you feeling about the story direction and all the changes now? i cant remember how things ended up with the president by the end of season 3 but shes getting on my nerves in season 4.

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-01-22 11:36 am (UTC)(link)
She was being a bit of a sore loser about Baltar's trial, and back on drugs, but frankly I was developing a bit of a MILF crush on her. Not that I'd ever touch Adama's woman, clearly - I value my neck.
It was dragging a bit with episodes like the strike and Harold Shipman In Space, but once they got back to the main plot, I loved it. I mean, I have no idea *why* the Almost Final Four are all hearing Dylan, but it works!

[identity profile] sbp.livejournal.com 2009-01-22 11:50 am (UTC)(link)
The draggy episodes were because the network was all "we need standalone episodes so that new people have a way in to all this plot" and the producers had to throw them a bone. But there haven't been any since that point in S3, so it's all plot from here on in.

Celebrating eternal war - well there's Moorcock's idea of the Eternal Champion which grew out of his Elric books and became more encompassing.

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-01-22 12:12 pm (UTC)(link)
To quote David Simon: fuck the casual viewer.

The Eternal Champion doesn't want to be forever fighting, though, does he? And in some incarnations - Jerry Cornelius, Jherek Carnelian - he spends most of his time at leisure.
(deleted comment)

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-01-22 11:33 am (UTC)(link)
I would respond 'you're just saying that because you want to bone him' but, well, that's pretty self evident.
(deleted comment)

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-01-23 11:13 am (UTC)(link)
I give you the visions of St Theresa of Avila, or John Donne's poem in which he tells god "I am not chaste unless you ravish me".