I like the concept of routine. Rewritten to suit myself of course but as I get longer in the tooth I struggle to get to grips with change. Not the kind you keep in your pocket, the kind that prods you into having to learn. Not that I’m against learning per se but I have parameters. So I have this new computer. Once I get set up with wi-fi I hope it might avert me from crashing out on the sofa because I’ll discipline myself to use it in another room.

 

Aye. Right. I can hear you think and this is not unfounded but once I get up to speed then what was once normal service could happen again. Efficiencies that actually improve things could also be brought to bear. For instance, maybe I’ll be up for doing artwork and stuff again if anyone gives a hoot. I would be kind of nice to piss about with that again but who knows how long it'll take me to get to grips with this. Hopefully not long because I'm not reknowned for my patience.

 

 

A car clutch failure looked like it might impinge on yon weekend just past but it didn’t wreck things completely. It complicated logistics here and there but not three much. Saw a movie called “Bring Me The Head of the Machine Gun Woman” that was shown as part of Frightfest.

The plotline of this Chilean exploitation flick doesn’t stand too much scrutiny but its several degrees more fun than Django. Caught an episode of Hellfjord, need to see more before I can decide how contrived to a perceived demographic it actually is. 

From there, I met Magnus Dahlmann off the airport bus. He’d made the journey to catch the Sunday Monorail Film Club Screening of Big Star – Nothing Can Hurt Me. Making its long-anticipated debut in a town that has long played a part in the growth of the legend of the band. I would argue the point with anyone that a certain band from Bellshill is almost singularly responsible for giving this much of a hoot, the film plus a US-centric path and tells the story the way it probably needs to be told. While the DB’s and REM or whoever certainly were torch bearers, "Bandwagonesque" is hands down the follow up to Radio City. I think there’s room for a film about Alex to be made aside from this but this is pretty excellent. Personally I found some of it very moving. Articularly the inclusion of that Cramps Memphis footage on the big screen and the Panther Burns clips.

I’m glad Drew DeNicola sanctioned the film to the film festival because of the strong bond that Scottish pop has with that Big Star skewed-anglophilic sound. Having Magnus here allowed scope for wandering around town pointing out hotspots where celebrations of the band have taken place over the years. By the time it makes it to DVD, I’m sure there’ll be a ton of extras but take any opportunity to catch it in a theatre that you can. 

February is almost over. We’re all over the dank, driech cold dark winter. The intention of doing this every day hasn’t exactly worked out but I’m breaking in some new hardware so who knows how March will shape up.  It certainly starts well with the return of Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby. The immediate world is always a better place with them around.

RIP - Kevin Ayers

I can’t find a trailer for Good Vibrations anywhere. I’ve hunted high and low but there doesn’t seem to be one. Pretty odd for something that’s a month away from a limited cinema run.

However, maybe it’s better that way because you’ll have to go and see it. While not without its flaws here and there, the overall effect and taking into consideration that you should never let the truth get in the way of a good story, I would reckon that most, if not all of you would chime with it.

Watching an actor play someone you actually know is pretty odd. And I’m standing by for more of that with the CBGBs film that’s due soon. Two other aspects of film personally moved me and I’m not going to divulge those just in case you can get the same frisson.

Terri Hooley was at the screening and he stated that Glasgow was the place he really wanted to attend the screening. He was a little overcome with emulsion as befits his character. The fact that a story like this could ever be made into a film in this day and age is out of step with perceived regulation. However this made it to screen is something to be celebrated. I read a very mean-spirited, entirely missing the point review of it online. Then I read that it made Mark Kermode cry. I wonder if he was affected by the same parts as I was?

Perhaps I’ll get a chance to ask him when The Dodge Brothers hit Bo’ness in March.

This posting every day thing isn’t really working out for one reason and another. Spent most of yesterday in the cinema... and it started well with a screening of “Angels With Dirty Faces” in the morning. Part of Glasgow Film Festival’s Cagney "season", the expression “they don’t make then like that anymore” certainly struck me when I was watching it. Being able to see these films on the big screen is genuinely magic.

From GFT, I made for the less-conducive climes of Cineworld for “Joe Dies at The End”. While not outright awful, its contempt for conventional storytelling becomes increasingly premeditated/irritating. Consider Bill and Ted take the "Lost Highway" in a version of “Go” or “The Hidden” for a post Scott Pilgrim world without the inherent charm of any of those. Add a hint of Donnie Darko and it plays out like a pilot for a TV show that will almost certainly never be made. Based on an internet phenomenon, it ultimately suffers from not being as smart as it seems to believe it might be.

And the location meant that by the time I made it down from the top floor of the cineplex then I just got back to the station as the train was pulling out. Part of a litany of events that peppered the whole day but I digress.

The final viewing of the day was “Django Unchained”. I’d bodyswerved reading anything about it and went in expecting to like it as I generally do with Tarantino movies. I like the way he appropriates and has created an audience made of people who would never go to see the stuff he filches from. With the exception of Christoph Waltz’s excellent performance – he gets all the best dialogue, it’s a series of set pieces built around the premise of "Blazing Saddles" as realised by Sam Peckinpah. The gore is B+Q red though and maybe a couple of fart gags would have loosened it up a bit. It’s way too long and choreographed. In my opinion, having rap in the soundtrack of a western is just wrong. DU is just too up itself to be entertaining to me and I think the John Legend song just tipped it all over the edge in populist self congratulation. He could have used Richie Havens, that would have made all the difference. I reiterate, to me. Go see it yourself but just don't expect to be blown away.

Disappointment is something I should be used to by now but it still rankles. I could use a suprise or two of the upbeat variety right about now. Let’s hope that tomorrow’s “Good Vibrations” screening provides a little of that.

RIP - (George) Shadow Morton

Looking for a sure thing?

Let Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. be your date this Valentine's Day week.

You won't even have to buy us dinner first...

*WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13th / RODEO BAR /

375 Third Avenue (at the corner of 27th Street)in Manhattan / Three romantical sets, from 9:00 sharp 'til midnight / No cover!

Plus, in later Lenten action...

*THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28th / OTTO'S SHRUNKEN HEAD
538 East 14th Street (just west of Avenue B) in Manhattan / Two post-President's Day tribute sets, from 8:00 sharp 'til 10:00 / No cover

Lovingly yours, Michael
Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.
"Ballads, Boogies & Blues"

In Belfast, this coming Saturday night...

They're about a month away... check the dates!

Five days into February and the posts just keep on coming. Granted, the bulk of these thus far have been a jpeg or two but compared to the past wee while it’s something...

Truth is I don’t have the time to do too much right now. I’m a little out of the blogging habit too. Those two are ganging up a little but normal service will return at some point.

The Hippodrome Silent Cinema programme was released today. This may be of interest to anyone within travelling distance of Bo’ness. It’s been extended this third year and the programme even includes Mark Kermode’s skiffle ensemble The Dodge Brothers.

RIP - Reg Presley

Thanks to Alastair McKay for the link.

This coming Saturday

down ol' MRC way...

Just weeks on the heels of his Glasgow Nortonthon down the road in Mono, McChuill’s was the setting for Mr D’uffs fourth annual LUX LIVES extravaganza last night.

It was a non-stop revue once things got going and this is going to be pretty tough to beat both in terms of the east coast match on March 1st and next year hitting 5. But he rises to a challenge does Colin...

At this point in time I have no recollection of what everybody did. Not because of over indulgence but just because I’m losing brain cells at a rate of knots. Los Tentakills were up first and set the bar pretty high right there with a version of "Surfin’ Bird" that rang in my ear (I was right next to the PA) for the rest of the night. Next up, the one man rockin’ machine that is The Charles Randolph Rivers Slim Rhythm Revue ixnayed a one man trawl through “Sunglasses After Dark” for a heavy skiffle crack at “Mystery Plane”.

Mondo-A-Go-Go tackled “Surfin’ Dead" and won. I can testify to that. This almost never seen combo came out of the woodwork specially for the occasion. Nice segue of “For The Love Of Ivy” into The Creeping Ivies whose short, sharp tear through 4 songs wasn’t nearly enough. They could have snuck in one of their own but they didn’t. They’re back in Glasgow on February 22nd and soon they’ll have vinyl copies of their debut album “Stay Wild” available.

Z28 bludgeoned “Potentate” in a manner not unlike Nine Pound Hammer and veered near to Van Halen here and there. Both amusing and disturbing in equal measure. The Primevals came on to some technical hiccups during a rendition of “Two Headed Dog” but were blowing a full head of steam by the time they signed of with a locomotive-injected roll that was their “Drug Train”. Hysteria wasn’t too far away by the end of that.

Up next was The Fnords but I had to go catch a train and got the one before the last one. Not quite a zoo but a pack of foul-mouthed women made it an interesting journey. You should have heard it. As limited vocabulary goes it was a humdinger especially with the added ingredient of slurred speech due to too much bevvy. Now anybody that knows me is aware that I like and partake of the vernacular often but this was off the scale unlady-like. Forget the Drug Train, this was a whole 'nother world.

So yes, mark those diaries for March 1st. I’ll link to the info as soon as it’s available. Yes I said I’d update every day and I didn’t yesterday but maybe I’ll do another later today. Then again I may get sidetracked and I’ll be gone until what passes for summer. Is there any point to this? I’m not sure.

Nearly 34 years after The Cramps performed their first show on UK soil in Glasgow, it felt bizarre to be in a packed room where everyone seemed to be getting what they were about. This felt like progress until I hit the mass night-life where the real zombies hang out. The ones that always leave their minds at home.

I took January off. At least that's how it turned out. It wasn't exactly planned but there's a lot going on. There's also a lot not going on but that's another story so maybe I'm back. Let's not get ahead of ourselves but I'm kind of determined to post at least once a day from here on in.

So enough blah, it's that time of year again and it's difficult to consider that Lux has been gone for 4 years but he has.

And there will be celebrations of his grandiosity all across the planet over the nexy few days. If you're heading for the Glasgow shindig tomorrow then I'll see you there. Event convener Mr Duff has surpassed himself so if you can get there then I'd suggest you do because as big fun on the bayou goes, this is will be a belter!