| Rhymes with vogue |
[May. 23rd, 2012|08:41 am] |
It's Bob Moog's birthday today.
For one day only, Google's home page looks like this:
Click it to play it!
(I mean, click the real Google home page, not my screen grab...)
I dunno why Google have chosen to celebrate Bob Moog's birthday this year, when as far as I know they have never done so in previous years. But it's a nice touch. Hours of fun, and all that. I fully expect Amanda Palmer to have recorded an entire album on it by about tea time. |
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| Balls to the wall |
[May. 20th, 2012|10:17 am] |
As you may know, I've got a couple of big steel balls. They're usually covered with a thin greasy film, and that's perfectly normal. But I was getting some serious leakage recently, so I had to go to a specialist and get him to bring his tools to bear on my nuts. The result: now I've got new balls, and no leakage. I feel so much better now.
I'm talking about the steering gear in my 1967 Land Rover here, of course.
Here's a photo of one of my new balls. Now ain't that steampunk?
Fitted by Richard Hall at Glencoyne Engineering. New seals, new bolts, but the balls themselves are second-hand items - taken off a military axle that happened to be in the workshop. Excellent condition, and they've probably got more years of life in them than brand new cheapo aftermarket versions.
I did think of trying to do the job myself, but my only working area is the street outside my house. I don't even have a level surface since I live on a narrow road with parking bays half on the pavement. I'm sure all sorts of things would have gone horribly wrong...
So I decided I needed professional help - and I think that was the right decision, because that's a great job.
Here's my other ball:
And by way of a bonus, here a photo from my trip home from the workshop yesterday. This is my Land Rover visiting the Mid-Norfolk Railway at Wymondham Abbey Station.
A strange photo in a way - the grass looks almost supernaturally green. But I haven't photoshopped the colour here at all:
Wymondham is pronounced 'Windum', as I didn't realise - fortunately the man in the ticket office didn't actually larf at me. The Mid-Norfolk Railway runs from Wymondham to Dereham. I confess I was so embarrassed about pronouncing Wymondham wrong that I didn't even attempt Dereham. Is it 'Dear-ham'? Or 'Derrum'? Or something in between?
In the background of the photo you can see a class 73 Gatwick Express loco hauling a 3-CIG Brighton Line electric multiple unit ('3-CIG' decodes as 3 carriages, Corridor stock, BrIGton line - you see it all makes sense somehow).
Strange to see this train in the wilds of Norfolk - it seems only five minutes ago I was travelling on trains like that (possibly that exact train) outta London Waterloo.
Hmmm. Old cars and old trains in one post. Don't worry, I'll get back to comedy pictures of rock stars soon... |
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| Ich bin ein Berliner wieder |
[May. 18th, 2012|08:40 am] |
You might remember the photo I posted here a few months ago, showing me at Warschauer Strasse S-Bahn station in Berlin...
This one.
Well, here's an update. Me, at Warschauer Strasse S-Bahn station in Berlin...two days ago:
You can never have enough photos of yourself at Warschauer Strasse S-Bahn station in Berlin, that's what I always say.
(Note Kaiser's supermarkt bag. Tesco has not reached Berlin yet. The operative word being 'yet', I suspect.)
Half of Warschauer Strasse station seems to have been demolished in the 8 months between the first photo and the second. The platform where I was standing in the first photo has now gone. You see, you can't turn your back for a moment.
The Google Maps view is a historical document. That's not the way this part of Berlin looks now - the big empty construction site (originally the minefield to keep East German citizens away from the wall) is now a blimmin' great sports stadium, and Warschuaer Strasse station is half the size. Don't quite follow the logic there - lots of extra people will now be travelling to this area, so they reduce the public transport facilities. I thought that was the sort of gormless decision that only happened in the UK!
Anyway. This was der Blick von meinem Fenster. We're looking west here - river Spree on the left, TV tower in the distance, and more or less in the middle you can see Jannowitzbrücke station. As long as you can see a station, you're doing OK, that's another thing I always say.
This visit to Berlin was too swift to bring back my usual stack of un-tourist photos. But I did grab this one.
I now have a new favourite German word - Elektromeister!
I suppose the English equivalent would be 'Qualified Electrican'. But Elektromeister sounds better, doesn't it? There's something almost alchemical about it.
And here's why I was in Berlin. Nina Hagen. Nina Hagen!
Nina Hagen is currently on a huge Euro-tour to promote her new album, Yet More Songs About Jesus (actually it's called something else, but that's basically the gist of it). She's playing all manner of out-of-the-way places, even minor offshore European islands like Corsica. But - almost inevitably - she's not playing the minor offshore European island known as the UK.
So, to use a possibly inappropriate phrase, if the mountain will not come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain. And, of course, there's something rather neat about seeing Nina Hagen in East Berlin - from where she escaped, back in the bad old days.
More on Nina will appear hier when I get my new issue ready. Until then, please stand by... |
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| Summer's lease hath all too short a date |
[May. 17th, 2012|07:01 pm] |
So, farewell, then, Donna Summer...
Even if you don't have any Donna Summer music in your collection, I bet you've got a few tunes which wouldn't exist if it had not been for her collaborations with Giorgio Moroder in the late 70s.
It's common knowledge that Donna Summer's excursions into electro-disco were a big influence on New Order. But few people seem to be aware of just how much they took. Listen to this - and when it gets to the drum break, name that New Order tune!
(The video is a fairly surreal experience - but it's the only original version of the song I can find on YouTube. Watch out for the guy in the dark blue suit jacket, who's initially shown only from the waist up. When the camera pulls back for a full-length shot it's a genuine WTF moment. )
Did you hear it? The drum break at 1.30 is clearly 'Blue Monday'. It's not 'a bit similar to Blue Monday' or 'sort-of like Blue Monday'. It is 'Blue Monday'.
(Someone on Farcebook mentioned that the intro to this song sounds distinctly Human League-ish, and I bet that's not a coincidence, either...) |
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| A kick up the art |
[May. 9th, 2012|02:26 pm] |
Martin Atkins is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to fund his new rock 'n' roll instruction manual, Band Smart: How To Succeed In The Music Business On Your Own Terms. He's not up to Amanda Palmer levels yet (I think she's exceeded the gross national product of most European nations now, or something). But it's getting there.
Here's the link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/martinatkins/martin-atkins-new-book-band-smart
As usual with Kickstarter, anyone who punts up cash gets a little something in return for their investment. A CD or two, T-shirts, tour memorabilia - all the way up to a drum session from Martin himself (it helps if you're a band there, I suppose).
But here's the genius idea. Martin will insert the word 'fuck' into the book in exchange for money. $1 buys one fuck. $5 buys a clusterfuck - that's five fucks (I always wondered how many fucks made a clusterfuck, and now I know). I think we should all buy as many fucks as possible, so the book is *all* fucks.
My five bucks is going in now! |
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| A Poppy birthday |
[Apr. 21st, 2012|05:27 pm] |
Today is Iggy Pop's birthday. Here's one of my photos of the man himself in action...
I think we should all club together and buy him some trousers.
My web host has a 'no pornography' rue (although they don't actually define what pornography is). To be on the safe side I judiciously cropped that photo at the precise Point Of Porno.
In further celebration of Iggy's birthday, here he is with Deborah Harry in one of his finest moments - although this is a slightly obscure track. It was recorded for a charideeee complication album, but it deserves to be better known.
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| Mint and boxed |
[Apr. 20th, 2012|09:58 am] |
I am clearing out my attic. It's taking some time...
The black box on top of the pile is my old promoter's essential supplies case. I used to take it to all my gigs, back when I was in The Showbiz. When I stopped putting on gigs I stashed it in the attic and I haven't opened it since. Shall I look inside...?
( What's inside the box? ) |
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| Falling and laughing |
[Apr. 13th, 2012|10:49 am] |
This one's for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) hirez and fcoll_reviews, who I think will appreciate it.
This is the subject header of a spam email I found in my inbox this morning:
HIP TEACHER CARRIER BAG
Isn't that a song title by The Fall?
(I was going to try and write a lyric to that song for comedy value, but it's surprisingly difficult to parody Mark E. Smith's style. I chickened out...)
(And...the link above is The Fall's official website, apparently. I love the way it's just as cantankerous and unhelpful as Mark E himself.) |
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| Kosmiche dancers |
[Apr. 6th, 2012|01:12 am] |
If you're a modern person with a television set, you may have seen this before. But I watched this documentary for the first time the other day, and it's really rather good. Quite poignant in parts, in fact. And, of course, you can't beat the beat.
So, let's go...motorik!
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