It's the same old story, all love and glory is a pantomime

[alexsarll]

I was in a radio version of The Oxford Dons. You can download it here. But change the price to zero before doing so.

So. The last week, what's to report? Let's start with Saturday, because Saturday was awesome. I like Glam Racket but I'm not sure I've ever stayed for a whole one before. This time I did and...Bowie and glitter and kissing, oh my. Plus bonkers songs I'd never heard before ('Pantherman') or had never realised were quite as dodgy as they actually are (Slade's 'Skweeze Me Pleeze Me', there, with the lyric "And I thought you might like to know that when a girl means yes she says no"). Proxy Music were live, showing off their new Eno who definitely looks more the part, but perhaps doesn't quite have the presence to front two solo tracks. Other expansions include a very fetching new female Andy Mackay, a Lene Lovich cover (a bit off-message, but still pretty good) and the encore - 'Mother of Pearl'. I always said their repertoire should include at least the third Roxy Music album, which even Eno (who had just been sacked) knows is their best. And now it does. Bliss. Before that I'd been in the Pembury. I'd heard a lot about the Pembury but never been there before, and it seems to be essentially a family-friendly Ale Meat Cider, without the cider. Well, they had one, and it was OK, but it seemed to take them about half an hour to change the barrel at one point. Why must they persecute my people so? This was an especially severe contrast given Ale Meat Cider had this week had something like seven or eight ciders on, including one called Moonshine which tasted like Christmas.
Friday was rhodri's birthday, meaning the entire internet was crammed into the Hope & Anchor, even down to such rarities as dafinki and strange_powers. The birthday boy's own Gentlemen's Agreement are still way too smooth for the venues I see them in (they should be in an eighties cocktail bar at all times, ideally one with red leather sofas), but headliners Scaramanga Six suited the sweaty rock'n'roll basement perfectly, even if one of their singers does look uncannily like Derren Brown's tougher brother. I especially liked the track which begins with a breakneck spoken word section ending "You should have killed me when you had the chance!"
Then on to No Comment, the first time I've been upstairs at the Garage since it had the refurb and embarrassing rename. I'm nothing like an expert on industrial, meaning I only recognised two tracks and one of those was Empirion's mix of 'Firestarter' which at the time I didn't really approve of. But after all these years, I can admit that it's very good for stomping around in. There is, however, a limit to how much stomping one can do in cowboy boots (my only shoes capable of taking the weekend's torrential rain) so I didn't make it to the end.

I've watched two films this past week: Kevin Smith and Seth Rogen's Zack and Miri make a P0rno, which is a lot better than I'd heard, and Hot Tub Time Machine, which isn't. Both have Craig Robinson, an actor I have never knowingly seen before (though apparently he was in Pineapple Express), in supporting roles. This may be the least noteworthy coincidence ever, yet I am noting it nonetheless, because that's just how I roll.

Comments

[puzzled-anwen.livejournal.com]

I love my green shoes, but they were sadly not an excellent choice for walking in the rain, although I suspect that only my actual hiking boots would have survived walking right THROUGH a puddle that I was actively trying to walk around.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I did just about manage without wet feet on Saturday in my desert boots, but I had to treat myself to a couple of short bus rides for that.

[puzzled-anwen.livejournal.com]

Mine were wet through by the time I got to the bus stop.

[sbp.livejournal.com]

I liked Zack and Miri. Not seen HTTM, but I heard it was good. Maybe it isn't then. I've only managed to get about halfway through my DVD of Pineapple Express - Cheech and Chong aren't really my thing.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Or mine, but Seth Rogen and that other bloke are much more likeable and the jokes aren't so narrowly stoner-centric as C&C. One of many cases where the later generation is actually much better than the progenitor (see also: comics, where the mediocre work of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby et al ultimately gives rise to awesome work when their characters and setting fall into the hands of competent creators).

[puzzled-anwen.livejournal.com]

I've heard nothing but bad things about HTTM, generally from people who had expected to like it.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I assumed the reviewers just hated fun as is so often the case, but on this occasion there was very little fun to hate.

[retro-geek.livejournal.com]

Cripes, I hadn't noticed that Slade lyric! I tend to always play that one as it's one of Aug's faveourites, but I may well switch to a different Slade single next time. And I always thought Noddy Holder was such a nice young man...

Glad you enjoyed Pantherman too! I'll send you the mp3, if you like.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes please! Also: did you see this:
http://www.examiner.com/louise-brooks-in-national/louise-brooks-private-journals-to-be-revealed

I think one has to forgive a certain amount in pop lyrics from the olden days. Hell, even from the eighties - most Depeche Mode stuff from their heyday is incredibly dodgy ("You're only 15, but you look good").

And yes thank you, bag was retrieved with no problems!

[retro-geek.livejournal.com]

Yay! What's your email address? I'll send it as a message attatchment.

And I hadn't seen the Louise Brooks thing, thank you for alerting me! Very exciting. I especially like the quote on the Vareity website link about Dietriche having eyes like "a puzzled bloodhound".

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Bitchy, and yet not entirely unfair...

I am on alexsarll at gmail dot com

[retro-geek.livejournal.com]

Also, did you get your bag back from the dj booth before you left? I remember putting it there at the start of the night, but I don't remember giving it back to you at the end. Having said that, I can barely recall anyhting that happened towards the last hour or so. It got a bit too rock'n'roll for me, I think!

Re: aha

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

What a peculiar place for it to have ended up. Still, glad that you hadn't actually lost anything, or at least not anything concrete. It's barely an evening out if one has not lost a few abstract nouns along the way.