Blatant begging
January 28th, 2010 · Posted by Skuds in Politics
The Pull of the Moon by Diane Janes
March 17th, 2010 · Posted by Skuds in Life
Tonight I finished reading The Pull of the Moon by Diane Janes – another of my freebies from Amazon’s Vine programme. In this case it was a pre-publication uncorrected proof. I’m not sure why exactly, but I do get a little extra thrill from reading pre-publication proofs, something I possibly do more than most people thanks to having a sister in the book trade. Mind you, because she lives so far away and we only see each other a few times a year I do often find myself reading pre-publication proofs well after the publication date, but for some reason that doesn’t diminish the pleasure as much as it perhaps should.
In this case, of course, I got the book with an obligation to review it, and here is what I wrote: [Read more →]
→ No CommentsTags: Books·Reviews·Vine
Get Better
March 17th, 2010 · Posted by Skuds in Music, Politics
I’m very impressed by the new album from Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip so far. I doubt I will get as attached to any of the tracks as I am to Thou Shalt Always Kill, because that really is a classic, but there are some fine lyrics on tracks like Great Britain, Stake a Claim and Get Better, which are all political but in a non-party, pragmatic, personal way, and funny with it. Here is the official video for the last of those:
Imagine a song that really reached out and touched kids
and not in a Daily Mail way, innocence corrupted
but in a way where criticism remained constructive
and wasn’t too politicised, and children weren’t instructed
to behave in a way that was unrealistic
or made out the way they lived was somehow sick and twisted
that simply pointed out reasons to get it together
not shouting get a job but just saying ‘get better’
→ No CommentsTags: YouTube
Busy week so far
March 16th, 2010 · Posted by Skuds in Life, Politics
Is it only Tuesday? The week seems old already, because ther has been a lot going on. Yesterday I went out to a gathering of lefties at an informal meeting of the local UAF, but with the news about Laura’s retirement being fresh there was a lot of gossip and speculation before we got down to business. [Read more →]
Crawley says hello!
March 16th, 2010 · Posted by Skuds in Technology
Someone is excited to see the Google Street View car
Elephant in Horsham
March 16th, 2010 · Posted by Skuds in Technology
Just one unusual Street View so far in Horsham
Street View – Sussex
March 16th, 2010 · Posted by Skuds in Technology
Haven’t found too much in Crawley or Horsham yet, but what about this fantastic capture in Brighton!
The end of an era
March 15th, 2010 · Posted by Skuds in Politics
Laura being interviewed outside the Brighton Centre during the 2009 party conference
I got home from work today, fired up the PC, and the first thing that caught my eye on Twitter was news that Crawley’s MP, Laura Moffat, is standing down. I have very mixed views about this. [Read more →]
→ 5 CommentsTags: Crawley·Elections
It’s in Belgium
March 14th, 2010 · Posted by Skuds in Life
Jayne and I sat down to watch In Bruges this evening. What a fantastic film that is. Neither of us knew much about it: she didn’t know anything and I just knew it was about a couple of hit men hiding out in Bruges. It was violent in parts, but absolutely hilarious.
Bit of a bargain too – only twelve quid for that, The International and Wayne’s World 1 & 2. I wonder if WW has aged well. It was very much of its time, but hopefully a few of the jokes will still wrok.
→ No CommentsTags: DVD·Films
Mismatch
March 13th, 2010 · Posted by Skuds in Life, Music
Watching Blues at the BBC tonight left me very confused after Long John Baldry. Surely the blues is not meant to be sung in a velvet dinner jacket, floppy bow tie and large frilly cuffs?
→ No CommentsTags: TV·YouTube
Iron Maiden
March 12th, 2010 · Posted by Skuds in Life, Music
I watched the Iron Maiden concert that I recorded on BBC Four’s Heavy Metal Britannia night yesterday. I understand it is a cut-down version of the Flight 666 film of theirs. I don’t know what it is about Iron Maiden but I just can’t warm to them as much as I probably should. [Read more →]
→ 2 CommentsTags: TV






