May to August 2006

May 2006

Emma took me and Gee to see Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers at the Parr Hall in Warrington (in our Cultural Quarter!). Most people have heard of the Kodo Drummers from Japan - well they travel around the world and put on massive shows in big concert halls and their drumming is called Taiko. Mugenkyo are not Japanese and they have a much more modest show - there are just six of them (how else could they fit onto the postage stamp stage at the Parr Hall?). Taiko Drumming is the ancient Japanese art of drumming, performed for centuries. This is one gig where you will see drummers launching themselves at the drums. Now I have always considered myself a bit heavy handed but this guy and the girls were beating the hell out of them - with sticks that were little more than broom handles. The best thing of all is the sense of timing that they had - and all this with no click track or other aid. Combine this with the choreography and then you leave the place feeling a bit normal. Photographs are to be found in the gallery under set 03.

Took Emma to see Confetti at Runcorn. Now, I must say that I am a bit of a sworn enemy of Brit-Coms and Rom-Coms so it was a bit strange to see me caving in under pressure and going to watch this. I mist say that it is not that bad after all, and this is for several reasons. The main one is that the makers have not just gone for the easy option and just got Richard Curtis to write it. The second one is that the brilliant cast (Martin Freeman of the Office, Olivia Colman out of Look Around You, Alison Steadman). Best of all, large parts of the film are improvised, giving a sort of documentary feel. The basic plot is that three couples are in a competition for the most original wedding - so the plot is a bit run of the mill but the delivery is what saves it from oblivion. Not such a bad film - but it's my choice next time (which is pretty cool as there is quite a lot I want to see this Summer).

May 2006 has saw another milestone on the site - breaking the 6000 mark on the website. Thanks to anyone who has helped me to reach this utterly meaningless milestone.

Another vintage e-bay month! Sold a huge chunk of my old vinyl that I had spent most of the early 1990's going around record fairs and buying. At the time I had a Technics Hi-Fi that I was very smitten with but resisted the temptation to buy loads of stuff on CD. Well, as I no longer have that piece of hardware (I gave it to Mark after he had put some bloody brilliant shelves up for me - he's a bit of a home improvement genius) I had to unload them - shame. But my loss is certainly someone else's gain - some guy in Cheltenham bought loads of it (my Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Jasper Carrot etc collections). Improves the health of the bank account a little bit.

Went on Holiday to Scotland - specifically Drummore on the Mull of Galloway. It was a very mobhanded affair - myself and Emma, Mark and Gee (Emma's big brother and his missus) and Russ & Gill (Mark and Emma's mam and dad) - and the dogs - that's Frodo and Sam (Mark & Gee) and Boomer (Me and Emma). The venue was a cottage from cottages4u.com right on the bottom of the Mull of Galloway - the Southernmost point of Scotland (that's our cottage above). It was nice to finally have a holiday - I don't think I have ever needed a holiday quite so much in my life. We had a great week, and contrary to what I expected we got perhaps the best week of weather that was possible.

Also whilst up in Scotland, Gill needed a lift to Prestwick Airport so she could carry on to Eire. Emma and I decided that it would be a nice chance to carry on further north and visit Glasgow. I last visited Glasgow in 1998 so I was well overdue for a return there. This was an ideal opportunity to visit that famous Rush shrine of Glasgow Apollo. As any Rush Saddo will tell you, the live album (also my fave album of all time by any artist) Exit Stage Left was recorded here (well - a lot of side one and two was, the rest being recorded in Montreal, Canada) - Status Quo also recorded Quo Live here as well - just about every major UK tour has touched down here over the years - Iron Maiden, Motorhead, ACDC - need I say more. Thus it is truly hallowed ground and considered one of the greatest rock venues of all time. Well, it would be if it was not for the fact that the last gig to be played there was in 1989 and a massive UCI cinema now holds centre stage on where Alex, Geddy and Neil once played - the old Apollo has been demolished. I have photographed the said venue and have put it in the holiday set accordingly.

Staying with Glasgow, having had another chance to go round it (on an open topped bus - just like a real tourist), I can say that it is one brilliant city and truly deserving of the high regard in which it is held. The sad truth id that only one day is nowhere near enough to take it all in and there will be another trip up there as soon as I can afford it. Went in Starbucks as well - Glasgow Borders - best I have been in......The photos from all of the Holiday can be found in the Holiday Gallery - just follow the gallery icon from the lobby.....

As a little addition to my holiday, the fact that the telly was jammed with Big Brother (every summer is telly hell for me - keep me away from any towers and sniper rifles), I decided to take a good book. I bought myself LA Confidential by James Ellroy. I finished the book in record time (for me - I am a very slow reader) and have kicked myself for not reading him earlier. Most of you will be familiar with the film of LA Confidential, and whilst this is a great film, it has to be said that the book is much better - and nastier. The film is complicated but is only a snapshot of the novel - if really nasty crime novels are your thing then he is your guy....

To close the month, well pleased to get this link regarding my Australian cousin Brad - who is also a drummer (obviously it runs in the family!). He plays in a Perth based band called Cherry - follow the link above to go to their site. I am very jealous of him for having a regular gig! He is family so he gets a free plug.

June 2006

To start the month, took Emma to see X-Men 3. I have raved about the X-Men movies since the first one was released back in 2000 - arguably the best of the super-hero movie series (even better than Superman I & II?). So I was scared that taking Bryan Singer off the project (relax - he is directing Superman) might upset the balance and leave us with a film that I did not like. Like all third in the series, bigger is deemed to be better, so this is the one with the biggest set pieces - like moving the Golden Gate or taking out an 18 wheeler and its security guards. The cast is bigger and there are masses of new characters - Kelsey Grammer is Beast, Vinnie Jones is Juggernaut and so on. More deaths (can't tell you that only for spoiling it for you). Sadly like all third parners, it is not as good as the ones that came before it - the proof: Superman III, Godfather Part Three, Return of the Jedi (still not that bad) etc.

Now - it is not a bad film. I rather liked it - Ian McKellan is at his menacing best, the set pieces are nicely done. But it misses the simplicity of the openers of I & II - will we ever get a film that starts as strongly as X Men I (the concentration camp scene) or X-Men II (the presidential assassination attempt)? I doubt it. It just lacks the brilliance of I & II. Well - there is nothing wrong with the plot. Basically, a cure for the mutant gene is found and mutants are divided about whether they need it or not, with Magneto of course taking the most militant response. There are nice parallels to be drawn - particularly the threats to the population by Magneto - this is an obvious reference to the Bin Laden threats that turned up after 9/11. Nothing is left up in the air at the end, and the next one could only be worse, so please, Warner Brothers, don't make any more. Let me remember the X-Men in a nice way. If they are stuck for a comic book based film, how about a Green Arrow movie? Strontium Dog from 2000AD?

Replaced the old Big Dog hi hat stand - a sad loss I'm afraid. The Big Dog had sustained an injury and was not really viable as a hi-hat stand any more. Still, I was able to get hold of a Mapex stand for £22 on e-bay - brand new (and that includes postage). It was an end of line sale - pretty good as I had some money lying around in my Pay Pal account to cover the purchase anyway. Still, sad to see the Big Dog go. Perhaps I could sell it as spares or repair to someone?

July 2006

I'm glad to say that I don't feel the slightest bit bad about turning 36 and that I have not marked the occasion by buying a sports car or something. I watched an old video of classic football matches about a week before and I learnt that Stanley Matthews was 38 at the time of the Matthews Final in 1953 (also his first FA Cup Winner's Medal). He also played first division football until he was 50. Plenty of fight left in me yet. Emma bought me loads of goodies; DVD of (Old School) Pink Floyd - filmed back when they were the house band of the underground, DVD of One Day in September (the totally ace documentary about the Black September Attack at the 1972 Olympics, narrated by Michael Douglas), a French Language CD (always wanted to speak another lingo) and the new Keane CD (fine bunch of lads - one of only a few contemporary bands that I respect).Turning 36 is not so bad - I feel better now and more at ease than I did at 21 (I was in the RAF back then so it might have been understandable why I might have welcomed the grim reaper himself into my room). Mark & Gee bought me the Vic Reeves biography - looks like a good (surreal) read and I was also able to get a well cool book about the Vulcan raid on Port Stanley during the Falklands war.

Myself and Emma went to see Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest. I loved the first film so much that I just had to go and see this one. You may recall the first Pirates film, a real surprise hit for Disney a few years ago, telling the story of a ship full of cursed pirates. The thing that most will remember is the outrageous performance of Captain Jack Sparrow by Johnny Depp. His performance freaked out the Walt Disney execs - they thought he was all a bit too camp. Depp has since stated that he based Jack on Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones (I always thought he played a bit more like Marc Bolan but there you go). I must say that whilst this is clearly a good laugh, it is not a patch on the first one. It lacked the brilliant Geoff Rush performance (classic line - "I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request.... it means no") and the first film was much shorter and compact. The bad guy is the hideous Davey Jones, the captain of the Flying Dutchman. Though played by Bill Nighey, is basically more an exercise in CGI than character acting (he is buried under several layers of CGI - if I had not known that it was him already then it would have been a struggle to put a name to him). There are still great scenes a plenty, but the whole thing drags on a little bit too long to be as good. Like most trilogies, this has been filmed back to back with the third part. I just hope they trim that one down a little bit. Sometimes, less truly is more.

Well, the latest exercise in English futility ended with yet more proof that we are the sporting equivalent of that crap kid who always got picked last at footy (me circa 1978 in other words). When oh when are we going to be half decent at the bloody game that we invented? It was an entertaining month or so - until FIFA does something about the diving, the play acting and the little kids that have the cheek to call themselves professionals of any kind then I am afraid that the game will always be beyond us.... or we could always learn to cheat ourselves. Mind you, it was pretty cool to see Zidane round off a flawless career by committing the greatest off-the-ball-incident of all time.... and I enjoyed watching the Brazilians (i.e Nike corporate slaves and all round cheats themselves) get eliminated. Rooney - yes he did deserve to get sent off.... we can't kid ourselves as a nation.

Took Emma to see Superman Returns. Always been a massive fan of Superman - he was just my kind of Superhero - I used to buy lots of Superman and DC. In fact one of the fondest memories of my youth is going to see Superman II at Widnes Cinema (now a car park) whilst my dad took Sue to see some Disney Cartoon. This version is an update of the story, directed by one Brian Singer - he of X-Men 1 & 2 and The Usual Suspects. Since there have been so many bad comic book films (Fantastic Four, The Hulk and Catwoman being the poorest ever?), it was nice to see a very good one for a change, and I suppose that if you want to do a decent job for a film franchise then you should just hire Brian Singer to do the job for you. Those of you familiar will recognise all of the elements from the original that have been updated:

Lex Luthor is now played by Kevin Spacey. A bit less light relief than the Gene Hackman version - his henchmen are the nastiest people who ever lived. Forget Ned Beatty as Otto ("Don't you worry, Mr Luthoor. San Francisco nearly fell into the sea"), these guys truly are horrible - I mean why are they allowing the scene where Lois gets what can best be described as a right leathering into the final cut? And as for the Superman getting his ass kicked scene? It's horrific (certainly worse than Clark getting his ass kicked by a truck driver in Superman II - a scene that even now I have trouble watching!). These are proper bad guys.... even worse than General Zod.

Like the first films, the other star roles are filled by virtual unknowns (in fact, Kevin Spacey is the only real big name in it). When Christopher Reeve was hired in 1978, he had done virtually nothing up to that point, Margot Kidder had not done a great deal, so it was seen as a very brave move to hire unknowns for the film. It's good that this version has also gone for the same casting tactic for the two biggest roles in the film: Superman and Lois. Brandon Routh - filling the Superman role, brilliant - I could never see anyone other than Christopher Reeve doing the Kent/Superman thing. Kate Bosworth fills the Lois Lane role - this is a different Lois than Margot Kidder, a bit cooler. The whole film is excellent, everything just seems right, there is loads of great little detail, the special effects are spot on, the cast is perfection - even the opening titles are perfection (especially as they used the original John Williams music). The only thing is.... I can't help thinking that the original was better in some way, and I don't know which way.... Go and see it anyway.

August 2006

Started the month off by accompanying Sue (my sister) and her 'ickle lad, George to meet Thomas the Tank Engine at the East Lancashire Railway, Bury. Bury? Ohhhhhhhhhh. (I decline to explain the ohhh to anyone who did not work at P&O on the Shell Contract). For those of you who have spent the last twenty years on Mars (or if you are one of my overseas surfers), Thomas the Tank Engine is a top kids programme that was once narrated in typical nasal-Liverpudlian fashion by.... Ringo Starr (so at least there is a drumming connection) - before Michael Angelis (another nasal-voiced scouser who had once appeared as Chrissy in Boys From the Blackstuff) took over. The less said about the American version the better (starring Peter Fonda - once the bad boy of American cinema, now appearing in kiddies films - and - Alec Baldwin, hard to believe that he once delivered the most brilliant and sweary of speeches in Glengary Glen Ross). Always nice to visit the East Lancs - it makes me all whistful for a past when we actually used to employ people who did not work in a call centre.... you all in your hearts know the goddam issues.... I think George had a nice time as well. Needless to say, you can find pics of this in the holiday gallery.

More travelling. This time to the Republic of Ireland, via Cork Airport (after not flying for 34 years, I am making quite a habit of it nowadays). This was very much a mob handed holiday: mum & dad, Mike (brother) and his missus and kids (they already live out there), Sue (sister) and her 'ickle one (George) and myself and the missus. This involved flying out to Cork from Liverpool (but a short hop) and then hiring a car (a Ford Galaxy no less) to Cahersiveen on the west coast of County Kerry. There was plenty of days out and about but mainly some nice walks to be had by myself between Cahersiveen and our holiday cottage (in fact, a bit big for a cottage). I took a load of photos and you can find the best of these in the Holiday Set of the gallery (set 09). Enjoy.

So whilst I was away in Eire, a big box of goodies from Canada turns up for me. This turned out to be from Dan who had popped into Niagara for his birthday and decided to send Emma and I a big box full of Canadian goodies - Maple infused tea and coffee, sweeties etc. Top nice gesture from him - though it did serve to remind me of how much I miss the place. In response to Dan's lovely gesture, I will try and get hold of some gifts that sum up Runcorn..... erm.

In much the same way that I spent a working holiday at the G8 Summit (more or less this time last year), I found myself at the Creamfields Festival in Daresbury, Warrington. It has to be said that the only way for me to end up at an event like this would be for me to have to work at it. This is due to the fact that I hate dance music, and I am not a fan of outdoor gigs or festivals (the ones were you are obliged to end up covered in shite or pay £1 for a luke warm can of coke). Having said that, Alison Goldfrapp sounded good (even through some trees and a distance of about a mile) but then I have had a soft spot for her for a while. Anyway, the rest of it sucked - the long hours etc. And inside really sounded like the Heart of Darkness - if you had walked along for long enough, I swear that you would have found a tent with Marlon Brando in it, surrounded by special forces and natives armed to the teeth.

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