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Dylan Kids, Liverpool '66 - Dr Oliver Reed

2007-11-19T05:28:00.000Z

MotM

2007-11-16T06:15:00.000Z

1 minute 25 seconds of unimprovable television.

Sport & Comedy - MotM

2007-11-16T06:09:00.000Z

For such a central aspect of life, sport has inspired surprisingly little great comedy.

But it did inspire a Great Comedian here.

Note that this material is not for the easily offended. For those that are, here is the great man himself recanting with good grace.

Parkour for the Elderly - file

2007-10-27T17:21:00.000+01:00

England's Eccentrics - Mimitig

2007-10-19T13:40:00.000+01:00

Musically speaking, this is a rich seam to mine and where do we begin?

Well, quite possibly with the God of English eccentricity in musical terms, who could be more appropriate than the man I like to term St Viv of Stanshall?

Here we have an example of the sweet essence of giraffe, from the wardrobe of his soul.

Of course Viv was just another one who used words and music to define the language. Others before him used music in a subversive way, and here is an example of early protest music – using language to make a point. Of course, you have to live in a democracy to see how this works. I’m not sure if it works in the UK anymore.

I am left (sic) to turn to an American for a final word on protest. This is the man who explains all my typos by the description of the man who spells Henry as Hen3ry – the 3, you see is silent.

We will all go together when we go.

The Crystal Ship - file

2007-10-15T09:56:00.000+01:00

Gingerbread Haka - MotM

2007-10-11T07:07:00.000+01:00

Bob said...

2007-10-08T14:54:00.000+01:00

Specialities - file

2007-10-08T07:36:00.000+01:00

we are all

special

Control or Maybe Not - Mimitig

2007-10-06T06:23:00.001+01:00

Once upon a time there was a city called Manchester. It was great for various reasons – the cotton industry, the Manchester Ship Canal – just two reasons pulled from history.

Then came the Twentieth Century – everyone gets a go at being an entrepreneur as industry and manufacturing decline. There were some spectacular successes in the music business from all over the UK – in London there was Malcolm McLaren (The Sex Pistols

in Scotland: Alan McGee (Creation), and in the selling of records as well as making them there was Geoff Travis (Rough Trade) – they all made their mark and have left a legacy. But to my mind, none have left as much of a mark as Tony Wilson

and Factory and the Hacienda from the Manchester scene. Tony died this year. In a couple of day’s time we will see the release of a film documenting the rise and demise (literally) of the band Tony was most closely involved with;Joy Division

Ian’s music, but Tony’s business genius brought this set of musicians to the world’s attention.After Ian’s tragic suicide, Peter Hook and the others regrouped and formed New Order. With Blue Monday they topped the charts and should have made fortunes for themselves and their cohorts. Of course with Tony in charge that didn’t happen. Attention to design and detail ensured that this, one of the world’s best-selling singles never made a bean. That was Tony, and in a way that was Ian too. His motivation for music was never to top the charts. He wrote and sang because he had too. I wait now to see the film of his life. He was depicted in 24 Hour Party People – a damn good film, actually – but this is different. This one is not about Manchester or Madchester. This one is supposed to be about him “Control”

A Solitary Vice (For Men Only) - Tony Ellis

2007-10-05T05:57:00.000+01:00

Boys, I’d like to talk to you about a very difficult and embarrassing subject. You know what it’s like: Your mother or partner is getting ready to go out and you have a couple of hours to yourself. They take ages to get ready and you’re beginning to think they’ll never go. You pace around the house, trying to look calm and purposeful but inside you’re screaming: “just put anything on and go!”

Finally, after the keys and mobile have been found and you’ve been told what needs doing, you’re alone. Still, better to check. You sneak a look out the window and wait until they disappear around the corner. You begin to relax. A final look out of the window then lower the blind. Pour yourself a drink, put the Kleenex nearby and you’re ready.

Let’s start with this one. It doesn’t really do it for me: too clichéd and Hollywood, I suppose. Still…

Well, now that you know what this about, did it work for you? If not, what does? I know that sometimes even the most manipulative US TV film can catch me unawares, but which scenes or films always guarantee you a good sob? Add your clips and maybe we’ll vote for the top 10 heartbreakers…. Here are my three in reverse order:

3. I’m not sure what it is about this scene. I’ve always found the music stirring, but the song on its own does not have quite the same effect. Maybe it’s because I can feel the emotion of the participants as it spreads around the room, expressing their courage and their hopes.

2. This one is cheating a little. I’ve only seen it once, but it represents a first for me: it hit me in the cinema and didn’t leave me alone until I got home. In a way it’s a natural: ‘ordinary’ people; dysfunctional families; an impossible situation. Then there’s the writer and director giving perfect lines to an excellent cast and catching every nuance of expression as they deliver them. I doubt that even this short trailer will leave you unscathed. Those last lines…

3. I can hardly write about this one. Sometimes, even seeing on the TV page that it’s on will set me off. Excuse me…

No, really, I’m OK now. I think the main reason this film has such a devastating effect on me every time is its innocence. ‘It could all be so simple, just leave it to ordinary people’ it seems to say. I don’t know; maybe you need to be English or an Eastender to feel it. Or British and of a certain age. Or maybe you just need to be me…

Anyway, I feel much better for that; hope you do too. And I’ve still some Kleenex for my next top 10…

Parkour - file

2007-10-04T09:33:00.000+01:00

Yamakasi was the name of the first band of Traceurs (Parkour practitioners) and the title of Luc Bessons’ 2001 movie. This is a clip from the movie but it’s worth noting that while the publicity focused on the Japanese urban samurai angle the word Yamakasi actually comes from the Lingala language of the Congo and means ‘strong body, strong spirit, strong person", though in French usage its meaning is closer to ‘high energy’.

George Hébert noticed in the early 20th Century that success in rescue attempts relied on the combined skills of athleticism, courage and altruism. His response was to go on and develop a personal exercise regimen focused on building ability in real life situations, this system exemplified his personal maxim "Etre fort pour être utile" - "Be strong to be useful."

He wrote: “A (Natural Method) session is composed of exercises belonging to the ten fundamental groups: walking, running, jumping, quadrupedal movement, climbing, equilibrium (balancing), throwing, lifting, defending and swimming, which are part of the 3 main forces; Energetic, Moral and Physical.

The true Natural Method, in its broadest sense, must be considered as the result of these three particular forces; it is a physical, virile and moral synthesis. It resides not only in the muscles and the breath, but above all in the "energy" which is used, the will which directs it and the feeling which guides it.”

David Belle is the founder of Parkour.

“Understand that this art has been created by few soldiers in Vietnam to escape or reach: and this is the spirit I'd like parkour to keep. You have to make the difference between what is useful and what is not in emergency situations. Then you'll know what is parkour and what is not. So if you do acrobatics things on the street with no other goal than showing off, please don't say it's parkour. Acrobatics existed long time ago before parkour.”

Totally Wired – Mark E Smith and the strange and frightening world of the Fall - Mimitig

2007-10-03T14:54:00.000+01:00

And that’s the thing, ain’t it just? He has always been wired – you don’t have to be weird to be wired was his thing.

Mark is one of those maverick musicians that England throws up from time to time. They are seminal to the musical heritage but outside it, because they simply don’t care for how the world sees them.

The Fall were taken to John Peel’s

heart and he made sure that all their releases were played on his late night Radio One show. But more than that – all the indie promoters wanted the Fall, even though we knew that Mark was a difficult bugger. I never got him to play at my club, but I went to see him and his various cohorts so many times. And, in a very unusual circumstance for an indie producer, I PAID for his records. In my vinyl collection now, I still have all the limited release coloured records – and none for free.

One time fellow Fall man, Mark Riley, once said to me, bloody hell, Mark’s a tricky bugger.

John Peel is dead (RIP) but Mark, amazingly, isn’t. We totally are in awe of the talent and stoicism and just toughness that means Mark is still rocking the vaults and disturbing the elements, even if he isn’t troubling the “charts”. His mates knew their true mission was to be in The Fall.

English Free Running

2007-10-03T14:20:00.000+01:00

The Hanging Pig - file

2007-09-30T07:05:00.000+01:00

In a week that saw the passing of ‘The Quiet Artist’ Marcel Marceau, one of the last bastions of real Theatre tradition, it’s tempting to think on the inner life of performers.

In Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s astonishing 1991 movie Delicatessen, the day to day trials of unemployed circus clown, Louison, are revealed; his memories and affections. and his ability to bring the musical circus world into the real world.

Er…that is to say; the real world of post-apocalyptic 1950’s France, of course. Louison lives in a big old boarding house over a sinister delicatessen, it’s owned by Clapet the butcher who collects his weekly rent for board and lodging.

This world echoes the rationing and food shortages of the war years in Europe; it thrusts the sinister butcher into a position of power, which he abuses. Where, for example, does his meat come from and why do workmen keep disappearing?

Louison lives in ignorance of this for the longest time, attached, as he is, to his memories, his chores and his love for the butcher’s daughter Julie.

As a film, Delicatessen is quite unique in its entirety; the story is unusual, to say the least, the wonderful cast reach all the corners of their characters with panache and the vision of this little corner of bizarro France is delicately painted.

There is a haunting atmosphere that prevails throughout the movie and like the best suspense movies it knows how to use silence. The empty spaces between the dialogue and the action, where there is time just to watch, beautifully mimic the fresh air of live theatre which isn’t so dependent on packing time as Hollywood and the short-attention-span-generation.

As befits a movie whose anti-hero hails from the circus, the score is dreamlike in the extreme. Like the circus too, the music asks questions about itself through parody.

There are many delicious strands to be savoured in Delicatessen, even if the food itself is perhaps best left on the plate.

To me, I love the way that the music is organic in this movie, it feels like the noises of the house (it is, in part) and gently plays the soundtrack to Louison’s strangely talented life, more than that, it shows me how life might be musical by nature

Viddy Violence - a theme for Mimi

2007-09-28T20:00:00.000+01:00

My besty mate wonders if her boy thinks about fights. This in the 21st Century. It’s been going on for generations and there’s a clip here that was BANNED for years, the film was A Clockwork Orange, its stars were Malcolm McDowell and a young Ray Winstone.

The film poster (an absolute classic) was seen on bedroom walls a decade later. Young star Malcolm went on to be part of Lindsay Anderson’s team and became Mick Travis. If and O Lucky Man were films that defined their age, their actors and their audiences.

The first clip is the very young Malc

Fighting the droogs, and then, in If
There was something indecent about Travis:

And Travis just hated them all.

He became the unprincipled travelling salesman in O Lucky Man

A very lucky man to encounter the gorgeous Helen

And at the very end of it:

Lindsay – who I meet years ago at a film festival, is now dead. Malcolm has gone to Hollywood for Star Trek movies. Helen is the Queen of England.

I still love the films, but I don’t think any of us thought the participants would be in this place now.

Marceau: The Speaking Part

2007-09-28T17:38:00.000+01:00

Marcel Marceau, The Quiet Art - Guitou

2007-09-27T13:41:00.000+01:00

Depart
assez vu. La vision s'est rencontrée a tous les airs.
Assez eu. Rumeurs des villes, le soir, et au soleil, et toujours.
Assez connu. Les arrêts de la vie.-O rumeurs et visions!
Départ dans l'affection et le bruit neufs!

Departure,
Seen enough.The vision met itself in every kind of air
Had enough. Noises of cities in the evening, in the sunlight, and forever.
Known enough. The haltings of life. Oh! Noises and Visions!
Departure into new affection and sound

Arthur Rimbaud

What a fool am I? - Mimitig

2007-09-26T15:04:00.000+01:00

As much as I envelop the sentiment of this:

Which is nothing more than empire and royalty, so I also embrace the king of equality – who I once worked with.
Our friend in socialism Billy Bragg

It’s a choice for us all.
So is it a choice of Esa Pekka or Billy? I don’t think so.
We’re none of us really believing in a new England.
There’s only one thing we all hang our hopes on.
Love. One way or another, that’s what we go to bed believing in.

xxxx
mimi

What if you spoke like you commented? - Ebren

2007-09-26T14:49:00.000+01:00

sometimes someone makes something that captures the spirit of the age while giving you a new insight onto your own and others' behaviour.

This isn't that, but it's fun.

Fast Lady in Pearls - Zephirine

2007-09-22T17:42:00.000+01:00

Racing driver and aviatrix Mary Bruce, looking sophisticated for the camera

Looking a bit more disheveled on arrival in Japan on her 1930
solo journey round the world.

How to fly a 1930s plane - note the speed required for take-off.

Read the full text of Zephirine's witty biography of the amazing Mary Bruce at Pseuds' Corner

Seperated at Birth?

2007-09-21T16:07:00.000+01:00

Caveman Culture - file

2007-09-21T15:47:00.000+01:00

Ahead of tonight’s crunch game at the Stade de France there’s surely only one name on the lips of those tense with anticipation, one image in theirs minds; Sebastian Chabal a.k.a. The Caveman (L’Homme des Cavernes), previously, and chillingly, known as The Anaesthetist.

France vs Ireland in group D of the Rugby World Cup will probably decide who gets past the group stages and who lingers there. For France, as the home nation, it is a must-win game as to be knocked out at this stage would be catasrophique.

Yet, “Cometh the hour, cometh the Caveman”, Sebastian Chabal has been doing a Lomu over the last few years and treading on anyone who gets in his way. Witness the literal destruction of the All Blacks in these clips from last June’s tour of New Zealand.

France is, apparently, in the grip of Caveman mania at the moment and his supporters enjoy nothing better than walking around in shaggy black wigs and long, wild, beards. He’s already been immortalized in the French version of Spitting Image (must they copy everything we do?) by ‘Les Guignols de l’info’ a Canal + institution (are there any French speakers willing to translate before I mangle it surreally?)

The Caveman persona is not just about his Neolithic countenance, primeval ferociousness in the tackle or nefarious doll marketing strategies, oh no. Like Eric Cantona, that other feral Frog, he plies his trade in the prehistoric wilds of England; at Sale. There, they like to sing “Chabad to the Bone” [sic] because he is and there is no better excuse for a bit of George Thorogood, is there?

The Revenge of the Underbull - Tony Ellis

2007-09-21T15:40:00.000+01:00

My Favourite Sporting Photograph - MotM

2007-09-21T06:43:00.000+01:00

Cricket is not a sport that lends itself to great photography, but it has produced just about my favourite sports photograph.

On one level, this is a photograph of the great West Indies pace quartet of the early eighties, but it's actually so much more than that.

In the background, one can discern the peaks of the Trinindadian mountains looming over Queen's Park, Port-of-Spain, a name redolent of the island's colonial past. The island's still troubled present is evident in the fences to restrain the crowd and the shabbiness of the stands (now gone in ICC World Cup redevelopment). The outfield is hardly the green baize of Lords with the fierce Caribbean sun having scorched the grass.

But none of that matters when you look at the four men. They stand in line, slightly impatient, but doing as they are told because they are a team with a job to do. But they are also individuals, each adopting a different stance and each finding a different position for their hands. Andy Roberts, Antiguan, stands at the front, the oldest, the subtlest and the acknowledged leader - a man who spoke little, but every word was cricketing gold. Next is Michael Holding, Jamaican, loquacious off the field, silent and devastating on it. Third in line is Colin Croft, Guyanese, constantly aggressive, sometimes ill-disciplined with a vicious delivery angling into the right-hander. Finally Joel Garner, Bajan, an extraordinarily skilled bowler who used his height and long fingers to great effect.

The West Indies pacemen defined bowling for a generation - the reasons are all there in the photograph. For more, read Zepherine's excellent piece at Pseuds' Corner.

Mouth of the Mersey

Photograph Getty Images courtesy of The Googly