Tuesday 28 February 2006

Linda Smith 1957-2006

The comedian Linda Smith has died at the age 48. you will probably recognise her from appearances on Have I Got News For You? and suchlike. I remember her radio 4 series, A Brief History of Timewasting from a few years ago. It was full of puns and wordplay, but the gag ratio was extremely high and it always managed to make me laugh.

Naw, Frank, Naw

This man scored two goals to win a Scottish Cup Final. This man scored on his Scotland debut. This man was the main reason West Ham almost won the league title. This man will sing 'Have you ever seen a handsome Hun?' on request if you pay him enough money.

Dennis Weaver 1924 - 2006

McCloud actor Dennis Weaver has died at the age of 81. He was also well known for his roles in Gunsmoke and in the early Steven Spielberg film Duel. Here's the obit from the News From Me site.

Monday 27 February 2006

Nightmare Glue

I’d be inclined to agree with Tom that Glue on Friday was a triumph of sorts, since we managed to snatch a performance from the most ridiculous of circumstances, but to be honest, Friday has to go down as one of the most harrowing and exhausting experiences of my life.

It has become obvious over the course of the last year that you cannot expect one single person in the so-called entertainment industry in this town to act in a professional manner, but what we experienced on Friday was a wilful disregard for performers and punters alike on an unbelievable scale.

Basically a daft lassie who didn’t think a situation through put us and our audience in a genuinely dangerous position. When this was pointed out to her, she threw a strop and told us that if we pulled the gig, she wouldn’t have us back. We then had to perform a curtailed show in a dust filled black box, with debris everywhere, inch-thick stoor on all the seats, no proper lighting and nowhere to change.

I would point out that we were totally professional. Having expressed our view that we couldn’t do a decent show, we absorbed the bar manager’s irrational abuse and then put on the best show we could under the circumstances. And we never had the brass neck to charge our audience a penny.

It’s bad enough having to deal with the innumerable blithering incompetents who litter Scottish comedy without having to deal with morons who cop a stinking attitude with you the minute you dare question their idiocy.

Tom reckons that we have done our reputation no harm and that we have built good will with those who were there. I wonder if that’s true, especially after most of our audience gets the dry cleaning bill for their clothes. But then, what can you do when you are booked in a “venue” whose staff literally couldn’t care less whether you, your show or your audience lives or dies.

Obvious?

Is it obvious by the amount of posts today that I have no internet access since I moved into a flat? I dunno if it might become a problem for me at some point soon, when I realise that I’m cast adrift in the internet world of an evening.

I’d have to organise broadband and obviously pay for it, which I can ill afford. And then of course we’d have to go back to my Mum’s and actually pick up my computer. Which seemed like too much hassle, which was why I left it in the first place.

Still if it means the Pish readership gets more good reading of a Monday that can only be good news! Right, readers? Am I right folks? Eh? Am I right folks?

Sunset Rubdown

Here’s a post that will interest no one except for me. Wolf Parade keyboard player and vocalist Spencer Krug has announced details about his side project, Sunset Rubdown. He's chosen some odd song titles.

Good Night, and Good Luck

To round off the weekend I saw Good Night, and Good Luck. George Clooney’s second film as a director tells the story of Edward R Murrow’s crusade against Senator Joe McCarthy.

It feels more like a play than a movie. The Ho said to me on Friday that it was like ‘Glengarry Glen Ross without the swearing’. There’s a lot of archive footage at times. Perhaps too much, judging by several walk outs during the screening I was in. Shot in black and white and relying heavily on dialogue it’s certainly not going to be to everyone’s tastes. The B & W and the archive really adds to the realism of the piece though.

David Strathairn is brilliant as Murrow and Clooney gives a great understated turn as his producer Fred Friendly. I had worried throughout that Jo was bored by it, but she said she found it really interesting.

Here’s Wikipedia references for Edward R. Murrow and Joseph McCarthy.

Hugs not Kisses for Osama

The second hilarious Enemy of the US story today. This is my favourite part though.

"Jihad Jack" - Joseph "Jack" Thomas, 32, also said that although he loved Islam, his love of beer had made his conversion a dilemma.

"One"

Here’s Jon Stewart on what we can expect from his presentation of next week’s Oscars.

"I very much wanted to do a bit where the bear from 'Grizzly Man' and one of the penguins from 'March of the Penguins' came out to present best documentary. Only the bear would come out and I would go over and go, 'YOU PROMISED ME! YOU PROMISED ME! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID IT! WHAT ARE WE GONNA TELL HIS WIFE?'

That Striped Sunlight Sound

Also at the weekend I picked up The Go-Betweens’ DVD That Striped Sunlight Sound. A live show filmed in their hometown of Brisbane last August, 3 months after I saw them at the Renfrew Ferry.

The Go-Betweens are a rare phenomenon in that they’re a band that actually got better after they reformed. The stuff they’ve released since 2000 sits easily alongside material from their 80s heyday.

More enjoyable for me though is the second part of the disc, an afternoon interview with Grant McLennan and Robert Forster. They talk of the various stages of the band’s career, song writing and touring while performing acoustic versions of benchmark songs. It’s interesting to listen to the rivalry of their writing partnership. Forster kicking himself when McLennan came to him with the now classic Cattle and Cane. “He did childhood! Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?”

It comes with a free CD of the concert.

Here’s a review of it from The Guardian.

The photograph is from the Renfrew Ferry show. The guy that took it couldn’t have been standing very far away from where I was.

Kids in the Hall live in LA

Kids in the Hall played the Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood over the weekend. By the reviews that I’ve found it seems as if they were even more haphazard and under rehearsed than we were.

I can’t seem to find any reviews from LA based newspapers or magazines, but a whole host of bloggers and live journal posters have stuff to say about it. So here’s a round up of their reviews.

First up is Rock 'n' Roll Friends. Here’s a review from Listen, Lady. And one from e_ticket. They all say much the same thing. They forgot their lines, they improvised, but they were funny.

I found these photographs on Flickr. But then I found this full set.

We could try to work out what the sketches were about from the photographs. But no need as this link lists what all the sketches they performed were. I’m sure I’ll go through it and work out how to rip them off for the next YOMG show. I love the idea of the Brokeback Mountain sketch and I'm already thinking 'why didn't I think of that?'

Just Get me a Mars Bar...Anything

I think Saddam Hussein must be the biggest pussy to ever have been a dictator. This is funny. Right I’m not feeling well...er I’ve not thought this through...um...I'm feeling faint...can you get me a Mars bar...anything...

Capote

If I were some kind of movie critic I’d perhaps use the words ‘spellbinding’ or ‘mesmerising’ to describe Capote. I’m not a film critic though, so I’ll just say that it’s easily the best film of the year so far.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is amazing in the title role. His voice and mannerisms really invoke the character. Capote never comes across as loathsome, though some of his methods and actions could be considered so. You also never really feel like you completely like him either though.

The film sticks to the 6-year period in his career where he wrote In Cold Blood. They avoid doing what many biopics do and never cut to childhood flashbacks or veer away from the story at hand. It’s a nice, tight adaptation of Gerald Clarke’s book, which covers not just this period, but his whole life.

The supporting cast are excellent. I’ve often thought that Clifton Collins Jr is a most underrated actor. See him give outstanding turns in Traffic, Tigerland and The Last Castle. Christ Cooper seems to be everyone’s actor of choice now to lend your film some weight and Catherine Keener is superb as Harper Lee.

Bennet Miller’s cut to the chase style of direction really zips the film along. There’s not an ounce of fat in it and it never lingers too long on any one scene.

Capote wins itself 5 Tom stars.

Don Knotts 1924-2006

Tommy asked if I was posting a Pish obit for Don Knotts. I’ll just link to the piece on him on News From Me. I’ve found that Mark Evanier, the guy who runs that site has more or less the definitive word on anyone in American showbiz, so I’ll leave it to him.

Building Site Glue

So, another triumph of a sort for YOMG on Friday night. The various tensions and communication problems that go on when you’re about to perform in what is, let’s face it, a building site were a new hurdle for us all to clamber over.

And clamber we did. Dusty, cold and confused.

We had to kick off late, decided not to charge an admission and trimmed the show back to a one act of about 50 minutes. Due to the lack of changing room facilities we all had to sit at a table in front of the stage during the show.

This didn’t seem to ruin the magic for our audience. We were well received, even if the crowd was initially slow to get into it. A few people even went out of their way to congratulate us, one woman telling me that we should have charged people in.

Oddly I quite enjoyed it on stage, even although I was almost blinded by the two spotlights pointing up from the floor.

It wasn’t the best situation for Alison to be making her Glue debut in, but she adapted well, as did everyone. Chris did his usual sterling job on sound, despite us chopping a load of sketches just before showtime.

I perhaps most enjoyed the post show celebrations at the 13th Note. It never failed to get old when Grant Cadger met my every offer of a drink with the words “Aye, get me a Moet”.

I’ll stick some photographs up when I can get a USB cable. If only Tommy had his video camera. He could have made a great behind the laughter documentary.

Friday 24 February 2006

Can You Help the Police?


This is from the BBC's website. Police have just issued this mad photofit of the bank robbery suspect. Tommy suggests that the guy on the left is currently with Ronnie in Nashville.

£50 Million was nicked. There's a £2M reward on offer for information leading to the capture of those involved. Fraser suggests that with £50M in their back pocket the robbers should therefore be able to offer a £2.5M reward to keep your mouth shut.

Ronnie has an MBV

Congratulations to Ronnie who has been awarded an MBV in the Whiskerino beard contest. This is pretty much down to the fact that the nutcase flew all the way to Nashville to be there at the Beard Throwdown.

There is a rumour, that fair enough we started (well Tommy), that he will be eaten by ‘The Beards’ and although they have alluded to that, so far he seems alive and uneaten.

What is amusing me is that over there in the States Ronnie is revered as a hard drinker, rather than the blouse he is over here. He has also been termed a 'Brit' and people are knocked out by his accent. I’m sure he’ll make lots of new beardy friends during his stay.

And if he doesn’t come back in one piece he can be safe in the knowledge that T and The Ho are divvying up his stuff.

Tommy also has a post on the same subject.

Sabotage Website

This week we've been handing in our submissions for season two of Sabotage. Which conveniently leads me to this, Sabotage's new website. You can find out all about the pair of us and the rest of the folk involved with the show. Why not go look?

Glasgow to Edinburgh

We’re going through to Edinburgh tomorrow for an Edinburgh Festival Roadshow. Let’s hope there’s none of this on the bus. Cos I'll really not be up for it.

Sunday 19 February 2006

Lady Vengeance

Last night I saw Lady Vengeance. The third in a trilogy which also includes Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance and Old Boy, Lady Vengeance is a sometimes disturbing, sometimes amusing dark thriller.

The film looks gorgeous. The locations and cinematography are amazing. The story cuts back and forth in time. You can’t help but laugh at a few of the better set pieces, even although it takes a very disturbing turn towards the end.

You don’t have to have seen the first two films in the trilogy to make sense of it. Lee Young-ae (pictured) gives an brilliant performance (as well of course as looking amazing). It takes home a solid 3 Tom stars.

Here's a pretty fair review from The Independent.

Friday 17 February 2006

Heat Vision the Movie

Here is an interview with Rob Schrab, creator of Heat Vision and Jack. In it he talks about the film of same. If you dunno what I’m talking about, then look here.

As I Reveal in Detail in One of my Books

Legendary nutcase David Icke gives a chat via e-mail to The Guardian. Don’t worry folk, he’s still a bam.

"I once had an extraordinary experience with former Prime Minister Ted Heath. Both of his eyes, including the whites, turned jet black and I seemed to be looking into two black holes."

Thursday 16 February 2006

It Would Never Happen at Springfield Elementary

A teacher in Brooklyn has been charged with fondling three 10 year old schoolgirls. That’s horrible, but not that big a story. When you discover that a Simpsons character was named after him though that’s when it becomes a story.

Wednesday 15 February 2006

The Kids are Back

You Owe Me Glue aren’t the only sketch show performing next weekend (although they'll probably be the most under-rehearsed). Oh no. The other one I’m talking about though are on in Los Angeles though. At the 110 capacity Steve Allen Theatre. Who am I referring to? None other than Kids in the Hall.

They’re back for the first time, in I think four years and will be performing new material. They come together to begin working on the new stuff on Monday before taking the stage for 3 nights beginning Thursday 23rd February. The tickets of course sold out in no time.

Dave Foley was a Valentine’s guest on Craig Ferguson’s Late Late Show the other night and you can see a video of his appearance at their website. Bruce McCullouch has recently started updating his infrequently updated website.

Season 4 is now available on DVD. And finally, here’s an archive interview with them from The Onion’s AV Club. That link provides part one - interviews with Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald. This is part two featuring interviews with Bruce, Mark and Scott.

Tuesday 14 February 2006

Some Funny

Some funny for you.

Here’s an interview with Demetri Martin.

“‘Sort of’ is a filler, but at the end of a sentence, it can mean everything. ‘I love you. You’re going to live. It’s a boy.’”

This is an audio interview with Arrested Development main man Mitchell Hurwitz. He talks a lot about the show from the writing process to how he came to become a TV show writer.

Monday 13 February 2006

And that was Arrested Development


I haven’t been keeping up with what’s happening with Arrested Development now that it has completed its run on FOX. Whether or not the show will rise from the ashes remains to be seen, although it’s looking increasingly unlikely.

But I did see the last 4 episodes broadcast seemingly by FOX back to back opposite the Winter Olympics opening ceremony - a final, grand insult.

The episodes are hilarious with the usual amount of twists, turns and misunderstandings and it all ends perfectly. It’s as slickly and beautifully written as any TV show ever has been.

I won’t say too much as Tom hasn’t see them yet but look out for Gob’s stint in Iraq entertaining the troops, a girl-Michael, a wedding, a long lost sister and a guest appearance by the biggest queen in the world.

Magical stuff and I hope it isn’t over, but if it is, well, it was class all the way.

Record Snowfall in New York

You may have heard that New York has been hit by a record snowfall. The National Weather Service said 26.9 inches of snow had fallen in Central Park, the most since record-keeping started in 1869. The old record was 26.4 inches in December 1947.

You can have a look at New Yorkers documenting the blizzards on Flickr. Or you can view it as a slideshow.

Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins

Last night I went to see Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins play at Mono. Jenny Lewis is the lead singer with Rilo Kiley. She has just released her own album backed by the Watson Twins.

Support came from her boyfriend Johnathan Rice who features briefly in Walk the Line as Roy Orbison. From what I had heard of his stuff I expected to quite like him, but he was outstanding. A new song ‘We’re All Lost in the Desert and we’re Going to Die’ was the stand out for me. I even bought his album at the end of the night.

We had positioned ourselves to the right of the door at the wee walkway. Unbeknownst to us this was acting as the entrance and exit for the musicians. Despite saying to Tommy and Ronnie beforehand, “Do you really think she wants us three taking photos of her before she goes on stage,” I did snap the picture you see below. I shot her an apologetic smile, which she returned in a ‘You love me, eh?’ way. Though Tommy insisted it implied ‘Silly bastard’, though he wisnae slow in asking for a copy of the picture.

She put on a great show with a mixture of folk, country and gospel. The Watson Twins have great voices and provided some unique percussion playing quarters (US 25cents) at one point. Along with Johnathan Rice on guitar they ran through most of the new album, the highlights for me being Happy, Rise up with Fists and Born Secular.

Below is a Talking Pish photo special. There should be more pictures on This Place is Dead and Ronnie’s Flickr page. You'll also see photos of some original One Neck artwork that can be found in the Mono toilets.




















Walk the Line

At the weekend I saw Walk the Line. As you all know it’s the story of Johnny Cash and his love affair with June Carter. Joaquin Phoenix gives an impressive performance as The Man in Black as does Reese Witherspoon in the Carter role. The film pretty much concentrates on the first ten years of their relationship and the music is secondary to that.

I’ve been a fan of director James Mangold since Copland and he does a very good job at setting the various time periods that the film covers. Apart from the two leads the other stand out is Robert Patrick who provides an excellent turn as Cash’s constantly disappointed father.

Even if you’re not a fan of his music it’s an entertaining, well acted film that’s worth going to see anyway for its rollercoaster love story.

Sunday 12 February 2006

Clydebank 1 Bonnyrigg Rose 0

I went to see Clydebank play in the 5th round of the OVD Junior Cup yesterday. It was the first time that I'd been to see them as a junior team. If you don't know or care, Clydebank lost their status as a football league team in 2002. This link from the BBC tells the story of the club’s demise.

Clydebank won with a goal in the opening minute. However I had just came in the ground, so missed it. I was late cos my bus crashed on the way there. Not surprising that a First bus I’m on finally crashes cos routinely they’re driven by bams. This, however wasn’t actually the bus driver’s fault. A woman went through a red light at a roundabout and banged into the side. This did though cause the driver to shout “Ya fuckin idiot!” at the obviously frightened lady driver. He followed this up with “Fuckin women!”

The attendance at the game was 786, which is quite good for a junior match. Having not been to a Clydebank game for a number of years I recognised a lot of people in the crowd. Most of whom have got fatter and/or greyer. They also seem to have employed former casuals as stewards.

The ground is basically one long bit of terracing, with some waste ground with cars parked on behind the goal. There was a reasonably large police presence what with a large travelling support and no segregation. There was at least one arrest that I saw.

The game itself wasn’t too bad. Having scored early on Clydebank didn’t really have another shot on goal and had their backs to the wall for most of the 90 minutes.

What the junior side has that the senior team never bothered with is a souvenir stand. You can now buy all manner of Clydebank related junk from team shirts to polo shirts, mugs to DVDs, T-shirts to car stickers.





Thursday 9 February 2006

Bishop Allen

Here’s a wee plug for a band I’ve been listening to a lot recently. Bishop Allen from Brooklyn, released their first album, Charm School in 2003.

This year they are releasing one EP per month that they are lovingly posting out to people.

Go to the website to download a couple of songs, including Corazon the lead track on the new EP. There’s more on their MySpace page.

Another False Dawn


If you read Toms post about Armando Iannuci you may have read extracts of his Oxford University lecture on the future of comedy. Worth a read if you didn't. He's basically saying that British television comedy is in a state because well, of a variety of factors.

One he didn't really mention is the recent culture of awarding limited, often non-paying commissions to amateur writers and performers via contests under the guise of the "talent search".

This is the latest from BBC3. My main bone of contention regarding these? Well, apart from the fact that they are simply cheap ways of generating material, taking bread from the table of jobbing writers, these things tend not to be actual searches. It’s the contributor who does all the work. You go to them, so it’s not a search.

I’m not saying that it’s wrong to send stuff into broadcasters and I’m not saying that there isn’t a possibility that these contests will produce good stuff – it’s hugely unlikely, but not impossible.

All I’m saying is that to the BBC or anyone else who is interested in “searching” for comedy talent:

We put on a show, all laid out for you on a plate. An hour plus of stuff every month.

But we can’t seem to get anyone from the media to come and watch.

And it’s a good show. How do we know this? It makes rooms full of people laugh on a regular basis.

But as I said, we have encountered a remarkable reticence on the part of media types to give us a chance, despite the fact that our word of mouth reputation is all glowing reviews.

It smacks to me of arrogance and laziness, or at the very least a media that has ceased to be pro-active in its method of finding new talent.

I mean why come and see a polished show by people who work hard and are talented when you can get some intern to stick up a website inviting all and sundry to post any old rubbish?

Monday 6 February 2006

Iannucci Interviewed

Here’s an interesting article on Armando Iannucci. It focuses on The Thick of It and his previous satirical work. He also features on next week’s South Bank Show. There's a round up at the end of some of his best work on The Saturday Night Armistice.

Chappelle on Oprah

Dave Chappelle appeared on Oprah on Friday. No, seriously, he did. He tells Oprah that he wasn’t crazy but did suffer from stress. He also states that he might return to Chappelle’s Show but only under special circumstances.

I had heard that there was a rift between Chappelle and his writing partner Neil Brennan and he talked about that as well. This article has a little bit of that, as well as the views of a ‘deeply moved’ psychologist.

You can have a look at some clips, here, here and here.

Or read about it on Oprah’s site. Dave says his troubles began in the middle of the first season, during a contract renegotiation. "Through a series of events and a little pressure, I ended up settling for way less than what I wanted. Then in season two, the DVD is released and it sets all these incredible records. Now suddenly this is a bigger moneymaker than they thought. It's already making money and it's a whole new revenue stream. And [now], my contract's up."

'Grandpa' Al Lewis 1923-2006

'Grandpa' Al Lewis, star of such TV shows as The Munsters and Car 54 Where are You? died at the weekend. He was 82, although he is also reported to have been 95, including on his own website.

He had a varied career, in addition to being an actor he was also a basketball scout, a restaurateur and a political activist.

Sunday 5 February 2006

Grizzly Man

I've just been to the GFT to see Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog's documentary about Timothy Treadwell. Treadwell lived and died with grizzly bears out in Alaska. I'm not giving anything way by saying that he and his girlfriend were killed and eaten by bears as the film is centered around this.

Treadwell shot more than 100 hours of footage while living with the bears. Some of the footage is absolutely fascinating. He gets up close with the bears repeatedly and there is one extended sequence of two bears fighting that is riveting.

However no matter how close he gets to the bears and how much he says knows and is friends with them, there's never a sense that he has a true understanding of the creatures. I didn't at any point feel I was listening to an expert on the animals, as you would were you watching a David Attenborough programme for example.

Instead Treadwell comes over as a children's television presenter naming the bears and joking about Mr. Chocolate the bear as if we're watching him interact with a puppet. He later appears more like a sports commentator as he reviews the play by play of a bear fight.

I think it's apparent that he was mentally ill. He constantly talked about how he was 'protecting' the bears, though really did no such thing. He knew that they were dangerous animals and that they could kill him. However that only served to be the big fuck you to the world he was so in search of. "These bears can kill people - but not me - I'm surviving - I'm their friend".

He seemed to have a very sheltered view of wild animals and their existence despite living among them for 13 summers. He was devastated by every bear or fox cub death, like events had just taken an apocalyptic turn, instead of realising that was the way of the world.

His girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, died alongside him, and if there's a victim in all this its her. She's almost invisible in the story as Treadwell was keen to portray himself as completely alone with the bears even although Amie followed on with him, despite not being 100% convinced it was the right thing to do.

The film reveals that he was a reformed alcoholic and when I heard that it all made a little more sense. He had replaced one dangerous crutch for another.

There's a lot of differences of opinion in the film. The people that knew him all seemed to love him, but experts in the field that Treadwell worked in all thought he'd been disrespectful to the creatures he claimed to love and he'd brought his demise on himself.

I'm always fascinated by people who have one defining moment in their lives that takes their life in one particular direction when it could have been so much different. I won't reveal it here, but I found Treadwell's moment fascinating.

Herzog, a famed nutcase in his own right, offers a balanced and moving film. He obviously admired and cared for Treadwell, though he differed with him on many of his life views. It's a documentary well worth seeing, that takes home 4 Tom stars.

Here's an interview with Herzog about the making of the film.

YOMG in EK


Last night we took the Glue show on the road and visited East Kilbride Arts Centre. Safe to say we brought the ruckus once again. A different type of audience than we're used to we had a few Senior Citizens in among the 36 paying customers.

Some of the sketches didn't go down as well as they have in the past, but then again some of them including a couple of the new ones, went down an absolute storm. It was nice to play in an actual theatre, with a dressing room, entrances from behind curtains, lighting effects, spotlights and all that kind of stuff.

Bertie again seemed to be a big favourite among the audience. We may be forced into giving him a longer slot.

I came closer than I ever have to losing it on stage. Ironically during a sketch that the audience didn't seem to find funny. Fraser gave a line as 'Jack Nicklaus' instead of 'Jack Nicholson'. No biggie, what threw me however, was I could clearly hear Darran laughing from behind the curtain.

The next project for us is coming up with a load of stuff for Sabotage which has recently acquired Still Game director Michael Hines in the director's chair. Quick on the heels of that though is the next YOMG at the end of the month. And with a new girl to slot in we'll have to find our mojo to get a few new sketches written.

Friday 3 February 2006

Nick Griffin - Immigration Poster Boy


In many ways, it would be quite wrong to suggest that Nick Griffin, the BNP leader who was cleared of using words intended to stir up hatred in Leeds yesterday, doesn’t know what he is doing.

He is a classic example of a calculating narcissist whose lack of talent and charisma has led him to use crass shock tactics in order to gain notoriety. You generally find that people like Griffin are quite happy to accept hatred as well as adoration, so desperate are they for any kind of fame and attention.

But calling yesterday’s failure of the courts to bang him up a “tremendous victory for freedom”, might just be the kind of statement that ultimately shoots his career and the aims of his play-pen Nazi party in the proverbial foot.

You see it’s the very freedom that Nick was banging on about that attracts people to this country. So, in essence Nick has become a poster boy for immigration, celebrating the very virtues sought by those he would keep at bay.

I have a very firm view on freedom of speech. As the legal interpretation moves dangerously close to fluidity, I consider it absolute, with obvious legal exceptions like slander. In which case, yes I would have freed Griffin yesterday too. I would however make it easier for people to bring private prosecutions against people like Abu Hamza and Nick Griffin if, for example, a member of their family had fallen victim to a race hate crime or a terrorist attack. That way, their right to say what they want remains but responsibility for how their words impact on the world is placed firmly at their own doorsteps.

Griffin faces more charges in the coming weeks along with Mark Collett, his pathetic mini-me. I am looking forward to seeing the clueless fannies embarrass themselves even further.

Thursday 2 February 2006

Number 10

This morning both of us here at Talking Pish received gifts sent from Thailand. Make your own jokes here. Our friend Jamie, (who many of you may have unwilling have heard due to the fact he recored the announcements for YOMG) sent us both Maradona Argentina shirts. Much like the shirt featured to the right.

Jamie loves Diego Maradona, loves him far more than should be acceptable. That’s the thing with Jamie whenever he likes something he really, really likes it and is totally passionate about it. He now lives in Thailand where he looks even more of an oddball in his white John Travolta suit and Hawaiian shirts than he did over here.

Anyway I think that I will have to now diet in order to get into the thing. It hasn’t been made in Maradona size.

Wednesday 1 February 2006

Match Point

I saw Match Point last night. As you all know I’m a big Woody Allen fan, but this film was quite a disappointment for me. First off, I cared little for the characters. Centred around London’s middle to upper class I identified with and had no sympathy for anyone. Jonathan Rhys-Myers plays a tennis coach who has ‘built himself up from nothing’. However he talks as posh as anyone and seems fairly minted from the off.

The next thing that put me off it, and I suppose it’s not Woody’s fault, was the succession of British comedians and TV stars that passed through it. Alexander Armstrong, Paul Kaye, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and James Nesbitt to name a few.

It definitely didn’t have the same flavours as previous Woody movies. It takes about three quarters of the film to get going, but by that time I didn’t really care and the unbelievable premise did nothing to pull me in.

I’m glad he’s getting the plaudits once again, but this didn’t do it for me. It takes home 2 Tom stars.

So, Back to his Best or Not as Good as he Used to be? When was the last great Woody movie? Well, looking back at them. Melinda and Melinda was kind of unremarkable, Will Ferrell wasn’t used as well as he could have been. Anything Else was certainly funny, but not great. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion and Hollywood Ending got such limited releases here I haven’t seen them. Small Time Crooks had its moments, though he should have spent more time on the daft crooks. Sweet and Lowdown hits the mark in many places Sean Penn’s crazy guitarist with a touch of the Moe Syzlaks about him was great. Celebrity was okay, but suffered from Kenneth Branagh’s Woody impression. Deconstructing Harry was very good but perhaps too disjointed. Everyone Says I Love You was also excellent. A film that used a great cast well. Tim Roth as a scary ex-con, Edward Norton, Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Drew Barrymore, Billy Cruddup, Alan Alda and Goldie Hawn.

But here it is – his last great film it’s 1995 and it’s Mighty Aphrodite. Mira Sorvino lands an Oscar for her performance as idiot porn star Linda Ash the natural mother of Woody and Helena Bonham Carter’s adopted son. Michael Rapport gives a nice comic performance and F. Murray Abraham leads a Greek choir which juxtaposes with the contemporary action.

Grandaddy No More

Disappointing news in rock that Grandaddy have split up.