January to April 2007

January 2007

Mark and I went to Ellesmere Port to see Flags of Our Fathers. I have been looking forward to this movie since I first read the book back in 2001 (by the son of one of the Iwo Jima flag raisers, John Bradley). It's just one of those books that you know will make a great film. You don't have to be familiar with history to recognise the image of the flag raising over Iwo Jima in 1945 - it's the most reproduced photograph of all time. The book, and the film, dealt with the lives of the flag raisers: , Ira Hayes, Jack Bradley, Rene Gangron, Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley and Mike Strank (only Bradley, Hayes and Gangron survived the battle).

The photograph was taken by Jack Rosenthal (who died in 2006) and has to be the greatest war photograph ever taken. The story behind the photo is a strange one. A flag had already been raised, but - depending whichever version you believe - the flag was thought to be too small or some admiral quite fancied making a souvenir of it. A larger flag was sent up the hill with Sgt Mike Strank and his mates. Also walking up the hill was a press photographer called Jack Rosenthal. He was a bit dismayed to be told by a press photographer on the way down that the flag raising had already been and gone, but carried on to get some pics from the top of the mountain. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture the pic - which has composition that many photographers would die for (so much so that the myth began that the pic had been posed). The three survivors found themselves to be in the middle of a media frenzy - which they found to be a little embarrassing (especially as one of the flag raisers was mis-identified). This is a really good film and must join the list of the best war movies ever made. The obvious comparison has to be Saving Private Ryan - it uses the same slow shutter speed and fixed focus lenses to create the same in your face feel of Ryan - perhaps a bit slower but still a great film.

Took Emma to see, and it was her turn so she got to choose, a Chick Movie. I suppose I had been spoilt a little bit by going to see Flags just a couple of days earlier, but sat down to give Renee Zelwegger (who Hollywood seem to drag out every time they need someone who can do an English accent without sounding like Dick Van Dyke - she just sounds suspiciously like Bridget Jones instead) and Ewan McGregor a chance anyway. Basically, the film is the story of Beatrix Potter, the legendary children's artist and her efforts to get published in Edwardian England. There's no car chase or shootings (whoever heard of a film without those?), but I suppose it was a quite harmless little film. Emma liked it anyway.

Well pleased to be sent a copy of the Rush Eucon 2006 DVD - which runs to a mammoth 4 discs! Obviously I wanted it to see my performance on Subdivisions. Have to say I was marginally pleased - apart from the train wreck that was the beginning. Also, spent a lot of the slot hidden behind the bass player. Such is the life of a drummer. Anyway, thanks to Pete Forster for sending it to me.

Not been to the Crewe Limelight for a while. I have always known that Martin was a big Kraftwerk fan (and of Krautrock in general) so when I heard that Man Machine (top Kraftwerk tribute) were playing I thought I would ask him if he fancied it. It should be noted that this took place on the same day as the storms that hit the UK - so just getting to the venue was a test of endurance (especially for the band who had spent 9 hours trying to get to Crewe from London!). Man Machine play a smattering of their own material as well as the main faves of Kraftwerk - namely Tour De France, Autobahn, The Model, Trans Europe Express. They were OK - their sound was a bit too modern and unlike the ultra cheesy early sound of Kraftwerk - perhaps the technology was too good for them. Kraftwerk used to get by with ultra low-tech solutions to their needs. If they encountered a need for an instrument that did not exist they just built their own (such as electronic drums). I must take my hat off to the guys but I think I need to see some musicians on the stage. Pictures are in the gallery in set 03.....

Took Dad to see The Last King of Scotland at Warrington. I had been looking forward to this film for a while - in fact I first read the book when I was at university and thought back then it would make a perfect film. The book tells the tale of a newly qualified doctor (played by James McAvoy in the film) who leaves his Scotland home to go and work in Africa. Along the way he finds himself the personal physician of one.... Idi Amin (who has just seized power in a coup just as the good doctor arrives). It's a really good book and now that there will a film tie-in edition available you should go out and buy it. The first thing that has to be said about the film, as it is the thing that most people will remember, is the utterly terrifying performance of Forest Whittaker as Idi Amin - everything is spot on. Not so close is the translation of the book - but perhaps it is too good a book to squeeze into two hours of film. It does stand alone as a decent film - without the book comparison. Moving on to Idi, it is worth mentioning that rather than try him as a war criminal when his dictatorship ended (you know, for killing 300,000 of his own people)  he was granted asylum in Saudi. He was a total nutter - I think Billy Connolly once said "you know you are in deep shit when they start designing their own uniforms" . Good film anyway.

February 2007

Just about the whole of February has a bit of a common theme: Australia. This is the reason for the inclusion of our Sovereign lady up there on the Australian bank note. I have had close relatives in Australia since the early 1970's when my auntie Sylvia and uncle Tom went out there as the last of the £10 poms. So, they were on the beach in the 1970's when we had the power cuts and the Winter of Discontent, they were on the beach on the 1980's when we had Thatcher, unemployment and the threat of nuclear holocaust. Although my mum dad and sister have been out a few times since then I have never been, nor has my bruv, Mike. So mum and dad arranged for ALL of us to go out - including myself and Emma. I don't really know much about Australia, apart from dodgy soaps, The Sullivans on ITV in the 1970's, Cell Block H (aaaaagh!), Kylie, BIG tribute bands, ABBA fans, Men at Work, INXS and Rolf's Cartoon Time (though someone ruined it for me and told me that you could see the guidelines already pencilled in on his drawings that he did between the cartoons). Add to that list the Bill Bryson Down Under  book (which contains about two lines about my destination, Perth). So given all of that I had to pop along and find out a bit more.

The first thing that has to be said that the flight out there has to be something of a test of endurance! That's Manchester to Dubai, Dubai to Perth, a flight time of about 18 hours! However, it was made more agreeable by Emirates Airlines having individual LCD screens built into the back of the seats so you can keep yourself entertained. This allowed me an opportunity to catch up on some of the films I had missed - Pierrepoint (the film about the hangman), The Wind That Shakes the Barley (the film about the Irish Civil War) to name but two. I also watched 2001 for about the 1000th time and watched An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore's Powerpoint!) on the way back. I also gave into the temptation and watched Dirty Harry for the umpteenth time - which was not cut for swearing like it is on the TV most of the time. You could also access a camera in the nose so you could watch the plane's course through the sky. I would not recommend this for landings as it can really freak you out if it is a bit of rough landing. Don't start me on Jet Lag. The first week saw us stay at the River Retreat which was thoughtfully located on the flight path to Perth Airport. After the hell of the initial jetlag (try to imagine the most miserable and tired you have ever been and then add the factor of the balmy nights and being wide awake at 0200 hours in the bloody morning - aagh!). I gave in and purchased what I thought would be the Australian equivalent of Nytol (my usual poison when sleep is a factor) - called Restavit. Now Restavit says on the box "May Cause Drowsiness", what it should say is "Don't Make Any Fecking Plans". It helps you get a full sleep but then carries on working for about twelve hours after that, making you feel like and look like Keith Richards. At the beginning of my hol, I was not a happy camper. Pictures in set 09 of the gallery.

Things looked up in the second week when we relocated to the South West of Western Australia. This was the area around Busselton. Here there was a nice big bungalow for us to stay in, far away from any flight paths. This was a largely tourist area - nearly all of the houses were investment properties and the local town had only been built in the last few years (mum tells me that the only thing in the area when she first came was a cheese factory). It was a very nice area and boasted plenty of nice beaches. This week also fell on Emma's Birthday so I decided to buy her an introduction to Scuba in Busselton. Sadly it never came off as the sea was too rough (Emma was a bit scared so it was not a major disaster for her!). Pictures in set 09 of the gallery.

The last week was full of highlights. The most notable being Fremantle. I had already been to Fremantle in the first week but had missed out on the two things that I really wanted to check out: the famous Prison and the grave of Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC. I had always had a place for AC/DC's particular brand of metal and I must confess that despite all of my wobbling on about Prog Rock, I do rather admire the down to earth , and, all due respect, easy stuff that they play (not that there is anything easy about dressing up as a schoolboy and duck walking into guitar solos). It was nice to visit Bon and see the various tributes that have been left for him. You can see these and pictures of the prison (which also claims a link to Bon Scott as he was once a prisoner there) in gallery set 09. As a nice footnote, I decided to buy some AC/DC in the HMV sale on my return to the UK as the only stuff I had was on vinyl. You forget how good this stuff is.

Took Emma to see Hot Fuzz at Cheshire Oaks. This is a fairly surreal Brit Com that is closely related to Shaun of the Dead and Spaced (by virtue of each having just about the same cast!). Simon Pegg stars as Sgt Angel who, after making far too many arrests in London, finds himself transferred to a sleepy village. The film is full of references to just about every cop movie you could name and is as surreal as they come. It plays as a cross between Whicker Man (not the poxy Nic Cage version) and League of Gentlemen. For anyone wanting a couple of hours of not having much of a plot to follow (there is one of sorts but it's optional), this is the film for you.

March 2007

Well it was going to be hard to top February and I was so concerned with coming back down to reality that I never really had time to get anything done. Also, I didn't bother with my update e-mail as there was nothing to update people with. Well, the first thing was that the old faithful iPOD Shuffle had to be replaced with something a bit more practical. Emma had bought me a Teach Yourself French CD for my birthday (last year!) so I needed something that would allow me to see the screen and thus become the fluent French speaker that I want to be (and not Joey off that episode of Friends). Emma told me that there was a mini for sale on the bulletin board at work. This is the one that was superceded by the Nano (which is about half the size and weight) but I still rather like it - it has a nice feel (yes, but the Nano is much nicer). It also means that I can start putting all of my obscure 1970's CTI Jazz recordings - and lashing of Bill Hicks (greatest stand-up comedian ever FACT - and his Arizona Bay CD gives this site its name). There is a lot of Bill Hicks and they are spilt into such small tracks that the main result of this is that when you use shuffle play is that you get a lot of small slices of Bill. Well, it's my iPOD, if people are offended by Bill then I don't care (and besides, I am wearing headphones). Sadly, the worst thing about listening to Bill Hicks on your iPOD (apart from being reminded of just how much I miss him) is that you spend a lot of time in Starbucks drawing attention to yourself, headphones on, cackling to yourself like a lunatic - Bill would have been proud of me (not so sure of what he would make of me drinking in Starbucks.....).

Took myself to see 300 at Cheshire Oaks. This is another Frank Miller comic that has made it onto the Big Screen (eventually people will acknowledge that he is a genius). 300 was originally released as a graphic novel a few years ago and tells the tale of King Leonidas who took a tiny force of 300 Spartans to face a massive Persian army. It has to be said that this was one of the best films I have seen in ages and a perfect antidote to all of those Rom-Coms and Teen movies that seem to be flying around at the moment. It is a proper gory, testoserone filled epic and will no doubt gain a lot of fans that like their films to eat grannies. The whole film makes copious use of the original Miller artwork and also of Bluescreen (that means that virtually none of it is filmed on location). It is a true blokes movie and you should all get out there and see it. Should we read anything into Persia being the old name for what is now Iran? No? OK then.

There's been a lot of Rush stuff going on. Rush have announced a new album that will be coming out at the end of April 2007. I had resigned myself to the fact that they would probably never tour Europe again (Neil's book of the 2004 tour was particularly low key on the possibility of touring in the UK) but then the UK tour dates were announced. Keep you posted on this one.

April 2007

In addition to the Rush news mentioned above, there is now some more. Rush released their new single, Far Cry, as a download on iTunes on the 16th April. I must say that I was quite impressed with the track - for a band that is not really a single band. Usually the tracks that make it as far as a single release are not half as good as the stuff that makes it onto the album so we must be in for a potential good album when it comes out at the end of April. This was also the same day that I discovered that I have been allocated 4 tickets for the 14th October Rush gig at Manchester MEN - but I won't be able to relax until those house lights go down.

Went to Manchester Cornerhouse to see yet another German film that tackles a traumatic time in their history (rather like the two last German films I have been to see there: Downfall and Sophie Scholl, both recalling events of WWII). This film deals with the state-within-a-state that was the Stasi, the secret police of the former East Germany - in 1984. This film is about Stasi Captain Gerd Weisler, a loyal party man, who is called upon to place under surveillance a famous playwright and his stage actress wife. However, far from doing his job as he normally does, he starts to sympathise with the couple and recognises just how dull and mundane his existence in the Stasi is compared to their relationship. The film is done brilliantly, the sets used in the East are all very dull and the tension is kept very high throughout. The best bit for myself was of Weisler interrogating a man, cut with scenes of him using recordings of the interview as an example of how to break a suspect down. Great little foreign film - winner of the oscar for that as well. Well worth seeing - especially if Hollywood is boring you as much as I of late.

More Ipod news. I found a shop in Warrington that does loads of little spares for Ipods so I bought a mains recharger and one of those FM Transmitters. Let me explain, the FM transmitter tunes into your radio and plays through your stereo. This replaces my old cassette adaptor that used to slice one channel off the music but play it all through both speakers. This gave a very surreal (as well as terminally annoying) listening experience if you listened to heavily produced music, examples of which would be Revolver by the Beatles or Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. Let me explain: George Martin created a lovely effect by splitting the Beatles up between the two channels (the prehistoric recording equipment in use at Abbey Road dictated that this was the only way to accommodate the Beatles at that time) - the best example I can think of is Paperback Writer. Listening to this in one channel only makes it sound like a studio jam. Yellow Submarine also. But for maximum disorientation, Dark Side of the Moon through my old adapter was just annoying and not enlightening at all.

This nice new adapter is very clever in that it just sends a signal to your radio - no wires trailing out or anything like that. The funny thing is, I seem to recall someone telling me that they were illegal or something. Well, if the signal starts to bring down airliners or sattelites then I will go back to the crusty cassette adaptor. Obviously intimidated by all of this, Emma bought a pink new model Nano. Her white one was giving her problems - like skipping tracks as if the advance button was jammed or something (but then it started to work again after Emma had bought hers - but the new generation is a very nice piece of equipment). It was during this time that I discovered that my own Ipod's terrible performance had been down to the cable extender that I used to allow me to have the bloody thing on my desk. Now removed, both myself and the missus have nice fully working Ipods. Just something else for us to argue about in the car. Just joking, every day is magic.

As a charming little footnote, I, along with countless others, am assured by Ashley Davidson that my Rush ticket is somehow amongst these in this picture. Fingers still crossed as I type.

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