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Crawling through technology, life and love Contact me: hotmail home 
Listening: Playing: Pool Paradise - GC on Wii iTuning: Podcasts - Chris Moyles, Mark Kermode and Stephen Fry Reading: All Bits and Bobs: Wish List Gerry's Lyrics Pop Quiz Minipops Quiz Sites I like: Marc Almond Top 40 Singles News IMdb The Register Hacks Recent GBlogs Arsenal FC Some blogs I enjoy: bboyblues2000 bitful blogadoon brainsluice chig groc minkered scally sparky troubled diva Books recently read: Time Out Guide to Havana (and Cuba) And The Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks - William S Burroughs and Jack Kerouac At My Mother's Knee ... and Other Low Joints: The Autobiography - Paul O'Grady Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon My Booky Wook - Russell Brand When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris Then We Come To The End - Joshua Ferris A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon The End of Mr. Y - Scarlett Thomas I Never Knew That About London - Christopher Winn The Arsenal Miscellany - Adam Gold Young Hearts Run Free: The Real Story of the 1970s - Dave Haslam Magical Thinking - Augusten Burroughs Veronika Decides To Die - Paulo Coelho Time Out Guide - Amsterdam Lillian's Story - Kate Grenville The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins Schott's Original Miscellany - Ben Schott Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J K Rowling A Gay History Of Britain - Matt Cook Time Out Guide to Madrid Time Out Guide to New York Kingdom Come - J. G. Ballard The Hours - Michael Cunningham Mutants - Aramand Marie Leroi A Young Man's Passage - Julian Clary Growing Pains - Billie Piper The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath Wild Swans - Jung Chang Highbury: The Story of Arsenal N.5 - Jon Spurling Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins - Rupert Everett Affinity - Sarah Waters Lighthousekeeping - Jeanette Winterson Tipping The Velvet - Sarah Waters The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini Of Human Bondage - W Somerset Maugham Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier Lucky Man - Michael J Fox Labyrinth - Kate Mosse Fingersmith - Sarah Waters The Night Watch - Sarah Waters The Pedant's Revolt - Andrea Barham The Republic Of Trees - Sam Taylor Written On tbe Body - Jeanette Winterson Untold Stories - Alan Bennett The Plot Against America - Philip Roth Read All About It - Max Clifford The Folding Star - Alan Hollinghurst Thursbitch - Alan Garner Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris Staying Alive - Matt Beaumont The Bookseller Of Kabul - Asne Seierstad Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince - J K Rowling A Short History Of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson Count Karlstein - Philip Pullman The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood The Spell - Alan Hollinghurst The Double Life Of Daniel Glick - Maurice Caldera The Smoking Diaries - Simon Gray Straight- Boy George Digital Fortress - Dan Brown Deception Point - Dan Brown The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith Angels and Demons - Dan Brown Sydney - Time Out Guide Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland The Scarecrow and His Servant - Philip Pullman Tha Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown The Perks Of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky Planet Simpson - Chris Turner The Line Of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst Barcelona - Time Out Guide The Closed Circle - Jonathan Coe The Clerkenwell Tales - Peter Ackroyd Copenhagen - TimeOut Guide The Butterfly Tattoo - Philip Pullman The Broken Bridge - Philip Pullman In Search of the Pleasure Palace - Marc Almond Brick Lane - Monica Ali Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre Last Exit To Brooklyn - Hubert Selby Jr You Shall Know Our Velocity - Dave Eggers Touching The Void - Joe Simpson Life Of Pi - Yann Martel Istanbul - Time Out Guide Millennium People - J G Ballard The Duchess Who Wouldn't Sit Down - Jesse Browner Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami Our Man In Havana - Graham Greene The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon Lyra's Oxford - Philip Pullman Doran - Will Self Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides the book, the film, the t-shirt - matt beaumont High Society - Ben Elton Man And Wife - Tony Parsons I Was A Rat - Philip Pullman Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix - J R Rowling Great Apes - Will Self Barrel Fever - David Sedaris Round Ireland With A Fridge - Tony Hawkes Close Range - Annie Proux The Third Way - Anthony Giddens dot.con - John Cassidy The Salmon of Doubt - Douglas Adams One Hit Wonderland - Tony Hawkes The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen The Cloud Sketcher - Richard Rayner Keane: the Autobiography - Roy Keane A Wasteland of Strangers - Bill Pronzini The English - Jeremy Paxman How to Lose Friends and Alienate People - Toby Young Dead Famous - Ben Elton The Amber Spyglass - Phillip Pullman (again) The Subtle Knife - Phillip Pullman (again) Northern Lights - Phillip Pullman (again) The Bear and The Dragon - Tom Clancy 101 Reykjavik - Hallgrimur Helgason Forward The Foundation - Isaac Asimov Carter Beats The Devil - Glen David Gold The Tin Princess - Philip Pullman Atonement - Ian McEwan The Tiger In The Well - Philip Pullman The Rotters Club - Jonathan Coe Generation X - Douglas Copeland Perfume - Patrick Suskind All Families Are Psychotic - Douglas Coupland The Shadow In The North - Phillip Pullman No Logon - Naomi Klein The Dirt - Motley Crue Miss Wyoming - Douglas Coupland The Amber Spyglass - Phillip Pullman The Subtle Knife - Phillip Pullman Northern Lights - Phillip Pullman The Ruby in the Smoke - Phillip Pullman The Sandman - Miles Gibson Blood and Gold: The Vampire Marius - Anne Rice The Actrocity Exhibition - J G Ballard Shameless - Paul Burston Sing Out! - Boze Hadleigh Brilliant Orange - David Winner New Boy - William Sutcliffe London - Peter Ackroyd Wonder Boys - Michael Chabon One For My Baby - Tony Parsons How To Be Good - Nick Hornby White Teeth - Zadie Smith Lust - Geoff Ryman Tulip Fever - Deborah Moggach Dead Souls - Ian Rankin The House Of Sleep - Jonathan Coe A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers What a carve up! - Jonathan Coe The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon The Grapes Of Wrath - John Steinbeck Heartwood - James Lee Burke Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson Man and Boy - Tony Parsons The Map Of Love - Ahdaf Soueif e - Matt Beaumont The e Before Christmas - Matt Beaumont  
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Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Brain Teasers...1. 'I saw my father's daughter's daughter's only cousin's father this afternoon,' remarked Gary. 'Delightful fellow, very intelligent, and jolly looking too.' Who was this remarkable relative, and where did Gary see him? 2. Which is the only whole number which, when written out as a word, has its letters in alphabetical order? Monday, January 30, 2006
Pam Ann... On Friday the lovely Ian, his equally lovely boyfriend Paul, haven't-I-met-you-somewhere-before David, Charles-Charlie-Charles, Ivor, Gary K, Gary S and I all found ourselves at the Bloomsbury Theatre watching Pam Ann's The Sky's The Limit show.I've seen Pam Ann a number of times over the years working the gay clubs and it never ceases to raise a titter, a chortle and sometimes even a gut-wrenching laugh. The humour is broad (well, broad within the confines of stand-up comedy) and generally well aimed. She is the creation of Caroline Reid; the first Aussie air stewardess of comedy who works for the world's most experienced airline...rest assured 'we don't make the same mistake more than three times!' We all had a great time. Not least because we weren't one of the twenty (!) or so people who were dragged up on stage during the show. If you want to see the sort of thing Pam Ann does with her day - here's a short movie. Jamie Gregory...A friend of mine Jamie Gregory (not his real name) has recently started a blog. So why not check out his psychogeography blog called unsurprisingly Jamie Gregory. Friday, January 27, 2006
Floating dog...Two pilots are looping a small plane - in the background their dog floats to the ceiling, ears flapping and tail wagging. It's the dog's utter failure to be amazed that makes this video clip so good. Thursday, January 26, 2006
A Friend Indeed...Thank you Ian for the chats last night. Always good to catch up. And sorry if I was brain-sluicing a bit after pint number three! As I sauntered back from the George and Dragon (incidentally bumping into Stuart who was just returning from seeing Jarhead with Andrew in Camden) I was reminded, perhaps rather oddly, of a piece of embroidery hung up in my parents downstairs cloakroom. It reads: Make New Friends Keep The Old One Is Silver The Other Gold Nikon Coolpix S1... My new toy (actual size!)Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Diamond..."I was eight years old before I realised that Diamond Lil was not a woman but a man called Harry". Oh dear. Last night Andy treated Kevin, David, Pano and I to a bit of fringe theatre. We went to see Diamond at the Kings Head Theatre in Upper Street. The story of a couple of trannies down Columbia Road during the war. And it was the biggest pile of poo-poo ka-ka I've seen in a very long time. 'Good' isn't the word. My toes curled so far up my legs I thought I was going to have to crawl home on my stumps. That said we did have a laugh; mainly 'at' rather than 'with' though. In fact David and I got the giggles at one point it was so cringingly bad. And David put it very well afterwards: The comedy was tragic, the tragedy comic. Actually, the play would be salvageable if they cut some of the songs; ok, all of them. And some of the characters; ok, all of them. And some of the dialogue... But Andy perhaps put it best as he struggled to say something positive and ended up damning them with faint praise: the lighting was good. The Green Pub Quiz Answers...The quiz answers from last week: 01. Mongooses 02. Five pairs 03. 1981 04. Mammals 05. A hen 06. Ungulate 07. Northern 08. Vatican City 09. George Bernard Shaw 10. A sow's ear 11. Tuba 12. Fah 13. Anita Kerr Singers 14. New Orleans 15. In the film: Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta and Gretl. In real life: Rupert, Agathe, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna, Martina, Rosemarie, Eleonore and Johannes Georg. 16. Michael Keaton 17. Liberace 18. Titanic 19. Bridget Jones's Diary 20. 12 days 21. 206 22. 100,000 23. Rubela 24. Two and a half quarts 25. Painkiller 26. 80% 27. True 28. Computer 29. Rust 30. Birds and sea creatures 31. Femme Fatale 32. 16 33. Lust (fornication), Gluttony, Greed (covetousness, avarice), Sloth (accidie, acedia), Wrath (anger, hate), Envy (jealousy) and Pride (vanity) 34. Spinach 35. Philosopher 36. Pnenomia 37. Beards 38. Friday 13th 39. China 40. The young Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Kid Creole and the Coconuts...Last night the delectable David, seductive Stuart, delicious Darren, cute Chris, rapturous Rachael and little old me all went to see the king of self-assured, self-centredness that is Kid Creole and the Coconuts at the London Jazz Cafe. Kid Creole is the alias of the America singer / songwriter / producer / guitarist / showman August Darnell. Backed with eight talented musicians (brass, rhythm, keyboards and bongos), three glamorous (and let's not forget nubile) Coconuts and a unequalled stage persona The Kid put on a great show. Complete with three, yes three, gratuitous hat changes. Think Cab Calloway. Think Hollywood films of the 30s and 40s. Think Jim Carrey in The Mask. He was smmmmokin'. All the hits were there. Well almost: Stool Pigeon, I'm A Wonderful Thing Baby, Annie I'm Not Your Daddy, Don't Take My Coconuts, (No More) Casual Sex and the sex of it (as David pointed out, written by Prince). Sadly no Me No Popeye though. Funny. Sexy. Cool. We laughed and danced like loons. It was a great night. Monday, January 23, 2006
Mr Hoist 2006...I had a date set for Saturday night. But wasn't sure whether he'd show. I'd been in town with Ian, Paul and Ali at a concert earlier and we'd followed that with a few whiskeys in Trafalgar Square. Turns out this was the Dutch courage I needed. I decided I was definitely going to go to meet him in that most romantic of places - the Hoist. Loins girded I headed down to Vauxhall where Ian and Paul plyed me with more whiskey and helped me on with my chaps. Suitably zipped in I was all set. Little did I know the place was going to be so packed - with Mr Hoist 2006 contestants (d'oh!), well-wishers and the usual leather clad crowd. And did my date show? No. I looked for hours. D'oh! Giving up on him I though I might as well have some fun anyway. And boy did I! Time flew. They swept me out with the rubbish at 4am! A friend asked me the next day, "Did you actually enter Mr Hoist 2006?" The answer I gave was, "either 'yes', 'no' or 'twice'. On current form, you decide!" Baroque Festival...On Saturday night Ian took his new beau Paul, Ali and myself to St Martin-in-the-Fields to see New London Soloists Orchestra perform a Baroque Festival. The progamme was: Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No 3 Vivaldi - Spring from Four Seasons Bach - Air 'on the G String' Vivaldi - Concerto for four Violins Vivaldi - Winter from Four Seasons Handel - Concerto Grosso from op 6 Bach - Concerto for two Violins in D minor All very easy on the ear but great fun and in such a wonderful setting. A sort of light and fluffy and non-taxing way to kick off a Saturday night. Saturday, January 21, 2006
When Musical Giants Collide...Just saw Howard from Take That & Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream in Budgens in Upper St having a chin-wag. Howard can't be on Atkins - non-organic potatoes, white bread & custard creams in his basket. Bobby was mainly low-fat but rather let himself down with a generic pre-made chicken pie and squeezable Helmans. Bless. Friday, January 20, 2006
Duckie at the Tate...Duckie are performing at the Tate Britain in a Keep the Faith show on Friday 3rd February 2006, 18.00–22.00 as part of the Late at Tate Britain. It says here: Taking the Tate collection as inspiration, Duckie join the faithful and delve into the world of art and belief. Join the congregation for righteous provocative performance, soulful tunes, virtuous visuals and real live vicars! Crucifixion slapstick...Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ is a notoriously hard-hitting version of the Jesus story. But what happens when you dub the Benny Hill show music over the top? Comedy gold, that's what. Oh, and eternal damnation. Click here to watch this and you will surely go to Hell. Thursday, January 19, 2006
Quiet Night In...I decided to have a night in last night (had to happen one day I suppose) and watched two of the worst films I think I've seen in a very long time on the big screen I've setup in my good room: The Village (I'd rather have watched the other Village People, I think) and Charlotte Gray with Cate Blanchett doing her wee accent ('oui', geddit?). Both a pile of cack. Thanks goodness Celebrity Big Brother and Desperate Housewives followed on so the evening picked up. No Habla Espanol... I was given one of these on Saturday night 'Never Say No' only it was filled in. Can anyone translate it for me? (If you do I'll tell you which boxes were ticked!)Wednesday, January 18, 2006
The Green Pub Quiz...Last night Guy and I went out for some beers in The Green in Islington's glitzy Upper Street. We had a right old laugh - ended up staying all night, drinking lots, ordering some food and joining in the pub quiz. Great fun. We only got 22 out of 40 but then we were rather trashed by the end. See how you get on (no cheating and Googling it!) 01. What is the plural of mongoose? 02. How many pairs of legs does a crab have? 03. When was Shergar kidnapped? 1979, 1981 or 1983? 04. Are turtles reptiles or mammals? 05. What is a Rhode Island Red? 06. What are animals with hooves called? Cloven, ungulate or bovine? 07. Which hemisphere has most of Africa's land mass? 08. Two principalities in Europe are smaller than New York's Central Park. Monaco is one. What's the other? 09. Who said British and Americans are two nations divided by a common language? 10. What can't you make a silk purse out of? 11. What is a sousaphone? 12. What note comes after 'me'? 13. Who won Best Performance by a Vocal Group at the 1966 Grammy Awards? The Beatles, The Rolling Stones or the Anita Kerr Singers? 14. Where is the House Of The Rising Sun? 15. Name three of the Von Trapp children 16. When a certain Michael Douglas went to Hollywood he had to change his name because there was already a Michael Douglas there. What did he change it to? 17. Who said after a bad review, "I cried all the way to the bank"? 18. All About Eve was nominated for fourteen Oscars. Which other film equaled that feat? 19. Which films tag line was "All Women Keep Score... Only The Great Ones Put It In Writing"? 20. How long did it takes the three Wise Men to get to Jesus? 6 days, 12 days or 14 days? 21. How many bones are there in the human body? 206 or 260? 22. How many hairs are there on the average human head? 100,000, 500,000 or 1,000,000? 23. What is another name for German Measles? 24. How much does the average man sweat in a day? Two and a half ounces, two and a half pints or two and a half quarts? 25. What does analgesic mean? 26. What percentage of the human brain is water? 75%, 80% or 85%? 27. The largest four planets in our solar system all have rings. True or false? 28. What was Babbage the 'father' of? 29. What do you get when you mix Fe, H2O and O2? 30. In Genesis what was blessed first by God; the birds and sea creatures, cattle and creeping things or man? 31. What is the French phrase for "deadly woman"? 32. How many balls are there on a pool table at start of play? 10, 15 or 16? 33. Name three of the Seven Deadly Sins? 34. What is an essential ingredient of a Florentine dish? 35. Immanuel Kant... doctor, philosopher or architect? 36. How do you spell it... pnenomia or phenomia? 37. What is pogonophobia a fear of: hair-dressers, beards or shampoo? 38. What does every month have if the first day falls on a Sunday? 39. Where was ice-cream invented: Greece, Italy or China? 40. According to George Bernard Shaw what is youth wasted on? Yeah! Right!...So you work for the BBC and you've been dispatched to CES in Vegas to check out the latest gadget and gismo when, suddenly, you find youself strangely drawn toward a bar, outside of which the porn industry's finest are parading along a red carpet on their way to the annual Adult Entertainment Expo next door. Your mobile rings. It's your editor demanding to know why you haven't filed that earth-shaking exclusive on the very cutting-edge of domestic media servers. What's your excuse? Well, if you're the BBC's Gareth Mitchell and producer Julian Siddle, it's pretty simple: "We tried to get out of the bar for two hours, but the bouncers wouldn't let us cross the red carpet, so we had to get legless while loads of top-quality, pneumatic totty and horse-endowed stallions strutted their stuff before our eyes." Or words to that effect. Rather puts 'the dog ate my homework' into the shade, huh? Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Sing If You're Glad To Be Gay...Sony to launch gay record label. More Best Gay Anthems... Ever! anyone? Valencia Pictures...      Monday, January 16, 2006
More Kate Bush's King Of The Mountain Remixes...There are at least SIX other King Of The Mountain remixes: King Of The Mountain (Mountain Mix), King Of The Mountain (12" Remix), King Of The Mountain (Grand Canyon Remix), King Of The Mountain (That Kick Inside Remix), King Of The Mountain (This Cloudbusting Dub Mix). Sample the sort of thing here. Saturday, January 14, 2006
Kate Bush's King Of The Mountain (Radioslave Mix)...Radio One's Blue Room is broadcast on Saturdays at 5am-7am hosted by DJ Rob Da Bank. He plays some great tracks (recent tracklisting here) including a remix of Kate Bush's King Of The Mountain done by Radioslave. It's a white label 6m 48s track but not commercial available (yet). If you happened to have missed it you can listen to it again for the next seven days at the BBC's listen again site. The Kate song is about 35 minutes into the show so you can jump by 15 mins twice and then 5 mins to be in about the right spot. Enjoy! Friday, January 13, 2006
Valencia I'll Be Bound...It was a very bumping Ryanair flight yesterday out of Stansted so I drank lots and talked to strangers. No change there then! I did finally arrive in one piece here in Valencia old town and very nice it is too; ye olde entrance gate, massive turrets, 10m thick city wall - the lot. Really very charming. Simon and Paul live near a square called Placa Del Tossal (yeah, I know). Being central this is where all the town halls, markets, shops and nightlife are: the 'happening' part of town. So we did some exploring last night and took in some of the local colour eventually finding ourselves in a bar called Nuncadigono which apparently, and perhaps rather aptly, means 'never say no'. Ahem. I can see this going to be a fun few days. Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lost (In Translation)...Er... what exactly was that nonsense all about then? Twenty-five weeks I watched that show and that's how they repay me! Last night's two hour Lost finale was simply a ramshackle of over-long and over-frequent advert breaks and very slow moving plotless action. Sure the bit with the geography teacher was funny but the whole thing smacked of Oh-goody-they've-commissioned-a-second-series-so-let's-not-give-too-much-away-and-change-what-we-were-going-to-do-and-throw-in-a-couple-of-cliff-hangers. And how redundant is that French woman? Grrrr. I'm never going to watch a Disney show ever again! Grrrr. SkinCFC's Male Erotic Gallery (SMEG)...I'm off to Valencia later on today to go and stay with the rather rather lovely and gorgeous (and let's not forget talented) Simon. Paul is joining us tomorrow. Simon has a web site where you can browse and indeed buy his rather wonderful artwork. Go take a look see at SkinCFC's Male Erotic Gallery (SMEG). "Warning! This website may contain nuts." Brain Teasers Answers...One tricky one and one obvious one this time around. 1. Write the alphabet in a 3-row grid with the following values: A, J, S = 1; B, K, T = 2; C, L, U = 3; D, M, V = 4; E, N, W = 5; F, O, X = 6; G, P, Y = 7; H, Q, Z = 8; I, R = 9. Thus Raphael = 9 + 1 + 7 + 8 + 1 + 5 + 3 = 34 2. 72. It is the only non-square number. Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Brain teasers...1. If Picasso is worth 28 and Monet is worth 22, how much is Raphael worth? 2. Which is the odd one out: Thirty-six, Sixty-four, Seventy-two, Twenty-five, Eighty-one? The Singing Dictionary...The dictionary meets karaoke at Dictionaraoke. I particularly like Take On Me. Tuesday, January 10, 2006
2005 Was Extended By One Second...You know that awkward moment on New Year's Eve just towards twelve when no one is quite sure exactly when midnight hits? Everyone's looking at their watch nervously and then someone starts loudly counting down from ten and you think, "well it's not quite right by my watch but let's join in anyway". Well, this new year just gone you had slightly more reason to be skeptical of these gun jumpers than normal. Scientists extended 2005 by one second. For the first time in seven years the Earth's rotation has necessitated a "leap second". The extra snippet was added to atomic clocks at midnight Coordinated Universal Time - the same as UK winter time. Said clocks read 23:59:60 before rolling over to 00:00:00. Although leap seconds could, if required, be deducted (a "negative leap second"), they have always been added "reflecting the Earth's general slowing trend due to tidal braking". The decision as to whether a leap second is needed - and the criterion is that universal timekeeping should be within 0.9 seconds of the Earth's rotation - is decided by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service. Did you notice a bit of extra drinking time this New Year just gone? No, me neither. Monday, January 09, 2006
Who knew burbing would take so long?... I spent a lovely afternoon with the triplets yesterday. Blimey, they've grown! Great fun feeding and burping them. But who knew burbing would take so long? I can't decide which is my favourite because they are all so sweet. I shouldn't have a favourite, you say? No, I guess not. But then again it'll give then something to fight over later in life. Tee hee. De Battre Mon Coeur s'est Arrêté...On Friday Stuart treated me to a film as thank you for doing some taping for him. Not only did he treat me to the film but he bought me a copy of his favourite book too - Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson. Nice lad. De Battre Mon Coeur s'est Arrêté (aka The Beat That My Heart Skipped) is a gritty psychological drama set in the dark, dank streets of Paris. The film is based on the cult favourite Fingers with Harvey Keitel. In this remake, the very cute Romain Duris stars as Tom, a ne-'er-do-well who works with two scheming real estate men, Fabrice (Jonathan Zaccai) and Sami (Gilles Cohen), who have little or no morals. When Tom sees his mother's old agent, he decides to return to the piano, practicing Bach's Toccata in E Minor for an important audition that he envisions could be a life-changing event. He hires a Vietnamese woman, Miao-Lin (Linh-Dan Pham), as his teacher, even though they speak different languages. While struggling to regain his mastery of the piano - which he gave up after his virtuoso mother's tragic death - he is called upon by his partners to participate in more and more shady deals and even help one of them cheat on his wife (Aure Atika). He also has a troublesome relationship with his father (Niels Arestrup), who asks Tom to collect money he is owed, putting him in many dangerous and violent situations. The Beat That My Heart Skipped is an intelligent, involving film, told in long takes with a handheld camera - and that really gives the film a strong impact. Recommended. Friday, January 06, 2006
Get back to work, George...Georgeous George Galloway, obviously not quite as popular with his constituents as he would like... As Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow, George Galloway MP earns an annual basic salary of £61,708. Paid by you, the British taxpayer. So what’s he doing as a contestant in Celebrity Big Brother? This is how much Gorgeous George's Respect for his constituents has cost you so far. Get back to work, George. Brokeback Mountain...Matt and I went to see Brokeback Mountain last night while still on it's exclusive presentation at the Vue West End. It's nationwide from today. It was moving film (well, the two women next to me were in tears pretty much throughout) of two gay cowboys from filmmaker Ang Lee - based on the short story by Annie Proulx. Set against the sweeping vistas of Wyoming and Texas, the film is the story of a ranch-hand Ennis del Mar (played by the gorgeous Heath Ledger) and a rodeo cowboy Jack Twist (played by the equally gorgeous Jake Gyllenhaal)who meet in the summer of 1963. The pair unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection while spending the summer together working the sheep on Brokeback Mountain. There are of course complications (they both get married), joys (they meet again regularly for 'fishing trips') and tragedies (worry not, I'll not give the game away) along the way but on the whole I'd say the film is a testament to the endurance and power of love. And of course the joke goes it should have been called not Brokeback Mountain but Bareback Mountain. Better title might have been Spit and Shove Mountain. Tee hee. Thursday, January 05, 2006
Card Humour... Wednesday, January 04, 2006
BBC News Opens Archives to Public...The fall of the Berlin Wall and footage of the 1966 England World Cup team are among items released from the BBC News archives for the first time. I particularly like the Poll Tax Riot clip. EastEnders' Mitchell Brothers Full Monty Kung-Fu Fighting...It's all a bit depressing being back at work after the Christmas and New Year's breaks. It's cold and dark and damp outside and that inbox ain't getting any smaller... so why not let Grant and Phil Mitchell cheer you up with a striptease? I guess the title says it all: EastEnders' Mitchell Brothers Full Monty Kung-Fu Fighting clip. Tuesday, January 03, 2006
From Russia With Love...Hi! I have found your structure and I have liked you I with hope shall wait your letter on my email or write to me the email - I shall write to you Ilya. Several years ago steel it is pleasant to me of the man. And I not that that hesitate of they be to eat any awkwardness.... I have friends but they do not know about it. And I do not want to tell him it.... Can be to me men like because I grew in family where there was no man? I do not know it. My father has died for a long time when I was small. There was only my mum and my senior sister. I do not know what reaction will be at them on that that like me guys instead of girls.... Therefore I would like to understand the feelings. Bless. Monday, January 02, 2006
Duckie New Year's Eve...Duckie was great fun. The tube strike didn't really materialize so I was good to go. Now if only I had (UPDATE: of course I mean 'hadn't' - paging Dr Freud!) left my ticket on my bedside table... d'oh! Matt, Aaron and I met up at Vauxhall Station though and we three had fun running round South Central chatting to the boys and chundering pints comme des poissons. Just after midnight we had a three-man conga round the pub in a let's-see-how-many-people-we-can-snog game. It was roaring success. Tie for first place seemed the only sensible outcome though. < -5 BoyLOGS +5 ? > < webloggers > < # Blogging Brits ? >
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