The Next Big Thing

You know what drives me up around the proverbial bend and beyond? People who can't do their supposed job. Then, in addition, there are institutions that purport to provide a service then don't. The customer or client is always right, right? Isn't that the cliche? Well not always and if someone tells me they'll do something or they'll call then I expect them to bloody follow through.

That's the trouble, the concept of following through seems to have gone by the wayside.

The David Simon thing at GFT was pretty great. They screened the second episode of the fifth season prior to the Q&A. It was Alan Taylor of the Sunday Herald that was guiding the conversation and he had a good beat on the tempo of the show. You can get an idea of how it all went with this Wirecast from The Word magazine website.

A woman next to me was a huge fan of the programme and decreed the event to be "massive". She had come to the theatre purely on chance and scored a ticket in the foyer. Jonathan Watson of the BBC's "Only An Excuse", that records his "Watson's Wind-up" show at this venue was at the other side of me. Strangely I didn't recognise anyone else there.

The only bummer about the whole thing is that they were selling pre-signed books after the session. He didn't hang about to meet the audience and that meant that the copies I had to get signed for gifts never got the necessary scribble. You win a few and indeed some things do not come to pass. Qué whassname.

Incidentally, on Sunday the GFT has a doors open day on Sunday 21st September (this weekend)... Special events: Meet the staff and find out how one of the UK’s most successful independent, specialist cinemas works. Its legendary predecessor, The Cosmo, opened in 1939 in this modernist European building (with clear Dutch influences) which still boasts much of its Art Deco interior

I did sort out the tickets for next week's Ronnie Spector visit after Mr Duff telling me she was a revelation at Ponderosa Stomp. It's at The Arches so I hope there isn't a groundswell of fuckers with mobile phones in the audience. I still have a bad, bad taste from the disrespectful tosspots that attended the Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham show there.

And talking about these devices of doom, they're nothing to do with the devil, I'm sure he or she hates them too. Have you seen the furore about Metallica's James Hetfield allegedly acting like a baby at the O2 arena show? All he was doing was reasonably asking these fucking idiots to switch the bastard things off for a while. Unfortunately these life support systems must now be on at all times. Entire generations are utterly controlled by these portals and their constant need to photograph, record and upload to Dufustube.

This weekend I will mostly be selecting tunes to play at my "Andy Dunkley" (if you click the link, scroll down to March 16th entry) stint in Spain that's coming up in a wee while.

And as a footnote, The Spice Dragons reunion trounced the comeback of Led Zep. Page must have had wind of that when he "did" the Olympic ceremony. Hold on to that integrity folks. It's the only one you've got. Use it or down the slippery slope to bathe with the other dunderheids.

Am I relieved that it’s Friday? "nor’alf "(apply Alan Freeman impression here).