BETAMAXNOMATES
'All she can do is dial and yell...'20080731
ALGERIA TOUCHSHRIEK
Another week, another disappointing musical offering. This track was inspired by - and indeed is dedicated to - British actress Samantha Janus. She was very good in Game On.
DOWNLOAD LINKS:
RAPIDSHARE:
http://rapidshare.com/files/133786167/BETAMAXNOMATES_-_Samantha_Janus.mp3.html
MEGAUPLOAD:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q7Q7UE1K
ZSHARE:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/162930079b079433/
SLAVE YOUR BEETLE BRAIN
Some brief movie reviews:
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Not bad, this. Overlong though, and, on the whole, rather aimless - like a lot of Judd Apatow-related movies there's plenty of scenes that could easily have been trimmed down or perhaps excised completely. Russell Brand is good, as is Veronica Mars and that one from That 70's Show is suitably adorable. Still, it's somewhat telling that the interviews Brand and Bell did to promote the film are a million times funnier than the film itself.
The Lookout
Also, sadly, on the average side. My somewhat unhealthy obsession with Joseph Gordon-Levitt led me track this one down. It has some interesting ideas and is generally well acted but the wheels well and truly come off towards the end. The pretty lady who used to be in Home And Away - seemingly an integral character to the story - disappears without explanation and the conditions of Levitt's 'neurological impairment' seem to change every ten minutes.
In Bruges
This is great. Go see this now. Sharply written, brilliantly performed (even by Farrell), with a story that never goes exactly where you expect it to. The trailer - and indeed the entire marketing campaign - seem contrived to make it look like the worst movie in the history of filmed entertainment (and indeed, encouraged me to avoid the thing for the short amount of time it was on show here) but it is, by my reckoning, an early contender for the best movie of 2008 so far.
The Ruins
Like this, only not as scary.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Not bad, this. Overlong though, and, on the whole, rather aimless - like a lot of Judd Apatow-related movies there's plenty of scenes that could easily have been trimmed down or perhaps excised completely. Russell Brand is good, as is Veronica Mars and that one from That 70's Show is suitably adorable. Still, it's somewhat telling that the interviews Brand and Bell did to promote the film are a million times funnier than the film itself.
The Lookout
Also, sadly, on the average side. My somewhat unhealthy obsession with Joseph Gordon-Levitt led me track this one down. It has some interesting ideas and is generally well acted but the wheels well and truly come off towards the end. The pretty lady who used to be in Home And Away - seemingly an integral character to the story - disappears without explanation and the conditions of Levitt's 'neurological impairment' seem to change every ten minutes.
In Bruges
This is great. Go see this now. Sharply written, brilliantly performed (even by Farrell), with a story that never goes exactly where you expect it to. The trailer - and indeed the entire marketing campaign - seem contrived to make it look like the worst movie in the history of filmed entertainment (and indeed, encouraged me to avoid the thing for the short amount of time it was on show here) but it is, by my reckoning, an early contender for the best movie of 2008 so far.
The Ruins
Like this, only not as scary.
20080729
INTELLIGENCE FAILURE
I hate making decisions. Always have. There's a Mexican restaurant around the corner from me that advertises '80 Different Types Of Menu!' It is my idea of hell.
Here's a good band. They're called (obviously) Fleet Foxes. Maybe I'm late to the party on this, maybe these guys are already huge but I just heard of them this weekend. They're sort of like Simon & Garfunkel meets Band Of Horses. I've actually come around a bit to Simon & Garfunkel; I still maintain that 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' is one of the most horrible songs ever recorded (as is most of the album) but some of their earlier stuff is great. Anyway, below is a live Fleet Foxes performance. The song is 'Mykonos' and it's sort of two quite good songs smushed together to make one rather amazing song.
Finally, Generation Kill. Iraq etc. By the guys who done The Wire. Great stuff altogether.
20080724
KERFUFFLE AT THE BUFFET
20080721
HAPPY MARINE DAY EVERYONE!
Marine Day? What's that then? Why, it's a spurious holiday of course, of which there are many in Japan. Marine Day (literally 'Umi no Hi' or 'Ocean Day') was established in 1995 to give thanks to the sea or celebrate the gifts of the sea or something. Back in May we had Greenery Day (thanks trees) and Children's Day. In September we have Respect-The-Aged Day and then - my favourite - Health And Fitness Day, supposedly set up to commemorate the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. Later in the year there's Culture Day and Praise Labour Day where you celebrate working by, well, not working. Spurious holidays (full list here) are great because you get the day off but you don't have to buy gifts or cards for anyone or any of that nonsense. That's why I'm drawing up a list of ideas for more spurious holidays to be instated over the coming months.
Firstly, Moon Day (the third Monday - eh? - in August) to celebrate the moon, the nice reflections it makes on the sea at night, it's control over the tides and ladyfolks menstrual cycles (as is my understanding), and its shimmery understated niceness in general. Not like that overrated ball of gas, the Sun. Besides that already has its own day - every bloody week. Secondly, Bacon Day (last Wednesday in April) paying tribute to bacon in its many delicious forms. Eating bacon on this day is compulsory and should be accompanied by a sombre ceremony or ritual of some kind, possible involving chants. Similarly, Say No To Wheat Day (first Thursday in June) is not so much about not eating wheat (though that obviously forms a large part of it) but about publicly rejecting wheat, chiding it even - stopping at the deli to tut in disapproval, shunning the baker when you see him on the street, and ridding oneself of all wheat-based products. Ever seen a man say goodbye to a baguette? I have and it still gives me nightmares today. Finally, Live Your Day Like It's A Sitcom Day (first Friday of July) involves, well, living your life as if it were a sitcom. This entails hatching hare-brained schemes with your buddies, going on a first date (with disastrous results), and just generally mooching around coffee houses discuss the minutiae of everyday life in a light-hearted and amusing fashion.
That's all I can think of right now. I'm off to celebrate the gifts of the sea the only way I know how.
That's all I can think of right now. I'm off to celebrate the gifts of the sea the only way I know how.
20080720
TERRAPLANE BLUES
PROXENETE MY BRETE
I don't often use this blog for whoring. Bit pointless really since only about three people read it and they only ever seem interested in discount pharmaceuticals and imitation designer watches. But I thought I'd bang this up here anyway. It's a collection of seven short songs I did for the Tokyo Laptop Battle this week. Some of it's rejigging of older stuff. Some of it's new. Some of it borders on 'sort of alright'; some of it really is shockingly poor, even by my own lax standards. Anyway, it'll be twenty three minutes of your life you'll never get back but - be honest - you would have wasted them anyway.
DOWNLOAD LINKS:
RAPIDSHARE:
http://www.rapidshare.com/files/130873808/BETAMAXNOMATES_-_Epic_Fail.zip.html
MEGAUPLOAD:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7ZAEQ4MQ
ZSHARE:
http://www.zshare.net/download/15596753d97fb8a0/
http://www.rapidshare.com/files/130873808/BETAMAXNOMATES_-_Epic_Fail.zip.html
MEGAUPLOAD:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7ZAEQ4MQ
ZSHARE:
http://www.zshare.net/download/15596753d97fb8a0/
20080710
ALL YOUR GRUBBY LITTLE DREAMS COME TRUE
- This is a collection of photos of Japanese people asleep in public. It's something you see here quite a lot. Sleeping on buses and trains isn't so unusual - and something I do regularly (see also: cinemas, nightclubs, funerals etc.) but I'm always amused by the street sleepers. People, generally salarymen (and occasionally women), in their suits, just sprawled on the pavement. Bit like that Radiohead video. It's hard to imagine this kind of sleep being particularly restful or relaxing but it's sometimes surprising how comfortable some of the street sleepers look. All tuckered out, just curled up on the pavement in their office wear, their Louis Vuitton man-bag their pillow. It's touching really. Particularly when I touch them it is.
- Here's a site that - well, the URL sums it up fairly well. A bit alarming initially if you're using a Mac but it's a very clever idea. Selection is a bit limited so far and does, for some reason, contain the godawful Vernon God Little. Really terrible book that - can't even remember if I finished it. I've been reading a lot of George Orwell recently and can conclude that he is 'rather good'. This one and this one are particularly illuminating reads.
- Mike Sacks takes photos of TV. You can see them here. The caption 'Ice-T's Friend' is my favourite.
- Peter Callesen is an artist who makes pieces out of regular A4 printer paper. They are amazing.
- And Mark Jenkins is a guy who does what would I hesitate to call 'guerilla art', mainly because anyone that uses a term like 'guerialla art' out loud in actual conversation immediately forfeits their right to be taken seriously as a human being. However his 'street installations' are quite cool. A bit like Banksy only without the lazy sloganeering and 'subversive' posturing. This Charlie Brooker article sums up my thoughts on Banksy rather neatly. There's a sense of playfulness and a keen eye for the absurd that sets Jenkins's work apart, I think. Plus it ties in rather well with the thing about street sleepers at the start. Almost like I planned it. Which I didn't.
Satan!
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