7/26/2004 05:20:00 AM|W|P|dan|W|P|So, Revenge Of The Sith, it is then. I like it. It has a nice echo of the original title of ...Jedi. Keep away from the Ewoks and we'll all be happy. I went to see Marah last Monday in Whelans. I've been into them for a few years, since their great "Kids In Philly" album came out, but I've never had the chance to see them before. More fool me, because they put on a hell of a show. The live show outstrips the records in every way - more passion, more sweat and more volume (it's been a few years since my ears were ringing after a gig, but this time it didn't subside until Tuesday afternoon). A really good rock 'n'roll act. I've hooked up with some people from the Marah board who I'm going to trade some shows with. Looking forward to hearing them. In the meantime, I picked up the new album "20,000 Streets Under The Sky", which is pretty good, but with one absolute standout track called "Freedom Park" - a glorious confection of 60's rock 'n' roll, guitars, ringing piano, lyrics about leaving some run down town and fantastic backing vocals and handclaps by a trio of girl singers (called The Sha-Litas, no less!).|W|P|109078789876222659|W|P||W|P|danpawley@gmail.com7/17/2004 06:03:00 AM|W|P|dan|W|P|I was back in my beloved westcountry for the weekend, to attend my friend Marcus' wedding. I was supposed to be an usher, but felt I somewhat neglected my duties by talking to my fellow usher about computer games and comics instead of paying any attention to the guests. Still, everyone seemed to sit down alright by themselves. It was good fun, and I got to see my brother for the first time in well over a year, and talk awful French to his girlfriend.   We went to see The Story Of The Weeping Camel this week. It was good. If you like cute animals, you will be ecstatic. I would have liked to see the young camel grow up, discover his true heritage as the Chosen One, learn kung fu and how to travel by telephone while wearing a black leather outfit, and then lead an uprising against their hated masters. This part of the story was left woefully underdeveloped, though. Just as well. The sequels would have been rubbish.       Going to see Marah on Monday.   I am blogging to: Dr Eugene Chadbourn and Noahjohn doing an inspired garagey Crazy Horse style demoliton of TLC's Waterfalls |W|P|109001248337051427|W|P||W|P|danpawley@gmail.com7/10/2004 04:26:00 AM|W|P|dan|W|P| Nottingham's famous xylophone man has died. I will miss him. One more piece of my past gone. And in the same vein... We watched Before Sunrise last night, in preparation for the soon-come sequel. Funny. Once upon a time, I thought it was one of the most fantastic movies ever. It's still a beautifully romantic movie, with two attractive leads in some wonderful places, but watching it again made me realise how much people change with time. How much I've changed over the decade since I fell in love with it. The dialogue that I'd previously thought was so clever was now revealed as the silly deeply earnest early twentysomething cod-philosophising that it was all along. Only I was too busy being a silly deeply earnest early twentysomething wannabe deep thinker to realise that. Richard Linklater nailed that youthful intellectual arrogance and bravado brilliantly. Now I really want to see what has happened to Jesse and Celine over the same length of time. Did they grow up like I did? Did they lose their cocksureness, their certainty that no one else had ever had those thoughts before, that they knew what was really going on? Did their soft fuzzy perimeter fade away and get replaced by something sharper, something with edges, something meant to keep people out? Am I going to think it another amazingly profound film, only to rewatch it ten years later, in my bitter early forties, and think "Ha!". I'll let you know. |W|P|108940221579619364|W|P||W|P|danpawley@gmail.com7/08/2004 04:43:00 AM|W|P|dan|W|P|Joseph from Blyth Power has agreed to my interview request for Dog Tower. Glerk. I'd better think of some questions pronto...something to do with weighty novels, no drinking and obscure historical doublecrossings and miscreancy. That should hit my target demographic right between the eyes. note to self: is "miscreancy" a word? If not, it should be. |W|P|108923002341418779|W|P||W|P|danpawley@gmail.com7/06/2004 02:47:00 AM|W|P|dan|W|P|Last night, I got an alarm call to tell me that the shop was being burgled, and possibly razed, by assorted miscreants. This was of course rather vexing. So I got up off the sofa and went back into town, about 11.30. Of course, there was nothing wrong with the shop that getting some decent wiring in the alarm system wouldn't fix, so I walked gloomily back up Grafton St, plotting ways of overextending my overtime claims and generally feeling rather misanthropic. And then lo! I came upon a crowd of...not daffodils, but Greek football fans. All as drunk as you like, wrapped in their flags, faces painted and shouting Hellas! Hellas!, singing and laughing. It was probably the closest I have ever been to such an explosion of widespread and total joy. It was all very touching, and I went smiling on my way. I am blogging to:Sonic Youth - "Silver Rocket"|W|P|108905038600990935|W|P||W|P|danpawley@gmail.com