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musicandchips
Thoughts from 30-Something London
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Wednesday, November 12, 2003 :::
ERAS Productions
I've had a bit of a blog-holiday recently, several reasons. First, restricted access to computer thanks to not being in the office very much. Second, with rather a lot going on it's been hard to find the time even when I did have access. And Third, my last post (Oct 22nd) was possibly the most accomplished piece of writing I've managed so far, and when most of it was lost between posting and publishing something inside me snapped (I'd been having a bad connection week anyway), and I just couldn't face writing even when I did manage to scrape the time together. In order to avoid a similar disaster I’ve started composing in Word then copying over once it’s finished. A good friend who understands these things better than I is insistent I should be using Notepad, but I’ll be buggered if I can find it! So if there are any bizarre characters where there should be normal punctuation, Fear Not!! You don’t need to re-tune your sets - it’s just the digital projection of my incompetent self.
Speaking of which, I saw Matrix Revulsions over the weekend. ‘Nuff said. What a disappointment. What is it with final instalments in movie trilogies that they all have to be poor relations to their predecessors? How many others have weak plots, over-played special effects, ramped-up schmaltz levels, and inferior performances? Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Godfather, Back To The Future, Star Trek, The Terminator, Die Hard, Mad Max, Vacation, Aliens, Lesbian Spank-Fest; the list is as long as it is depressing. Just as rock stars should all have the good grace to either retire of go out in a blaze of glory at 27, so movie-makers should be barred from completing trilogies. I just pray with everything crossed that Peter Jackson can break the mould. Return of the King, BRING IT ON!!
The Soham murders trial is in full swing at the Old Bailey at the moment, a fact it’s impossible to miss since it dominates every print and broadcast media outlet 24/7. I’m really unsure just how the public interest is served by reporting every breath of every participant in the grisly affair, every detail of the horrific crime, every movement of the jury. It feels voyeuristic in the worst possible way. Where are the people who complained the war took up too much air-time? I guess their consciences are guilt-free in this instance, so they can lap up the gore and moral outrage with impunity.
It also highlights the frankly ridiculous situation at the other end of the news-overdose spectrum; the heir to the British throne is embroiled in a scandal so shocking in its implications that we’re not allowed to know what it is (even though everyone does since it’s publication overseas cannot be prevented by a British court). Never mind that we pay for the f*cker to live his life of royal luxury and privilege, and therefore have every right to know what he’s been doing to the staff we pay for. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-royal per-se: a huge proportion of our national income from tourism, and a large part of our influence on the world stage, stems directly from our having the royal family. But these ain’t the dark ages anymore, and if you’re going to be allowed to live like royalty on tax-payers’ money then you damn well ought to be ultimately accountable to those same taxpayers. Can’t have it both ways chaps! This is a democracy remember?
Speaking of which, the hoo-har surrounding Bush’s imminent trip to our fair capital next week is reaching near comical levels. In order to protect his democratic right to dine at Buckingham Palace and No.10, I (and every other Londoner) must have my democratic right to walk down Whitehall denied for the day. And I must allow my taxes to pay for an extra hundred or so ex-special forces bodyguards for the duration of his trip. The fact that I don’t want the thieving, murdering, un-elected imbecile anywhere near my city be damned. I must also, according to Blair, forget the past where Iraq is concerned and look to the future. Forget that there never were any WMDs, nor any imminent threat from Saddam to even his closest neighbours, let alone anyone else, forget that every reason I marched against the war in the first place has been proved right, right, and right again. And in forgetting, I presume, we are also to ignore the fact that being asked to do so is tacit acknowledgement from the Prime Minister that he KNOWS every reason he posited for going to war was utterly fallacious? If even one of the original aims of the invasion had been accomplished he’d be baying it from the rooftops. Instead we are asked to forget. Again, you can’t have it both ways. And I’m sorry, but I will NOT forget. I was there the day democracy failed in England. I watched it’s final spasmodic death throes as it lay beaten and bleeding in the dust of Hyde Park, and let me tell you, it was not a pretty sight. I’ll be there when Bush is driven in bullet-proof convoy through my city, the conquering hero come to gloat with his whipping boy, because we must not forget. The very fabric of our society depends upon it.
On the home front, I’ve re-discovered Playstation, and have been virtually addicted to The Getaway ever since. I’m not very good, and am currently stuck in the middle of a gang war between the triads and the yardies. I’ve noticed they like to shoot each other, but they just won’t stop shooting at me! Gits.
Music-wise, I’ve been listening to a lot of demos recently, and in particular those of Shuffle, Galen Ayers, and the Ga Ga’s.
::: posted by Andy at 11/12/2003 02:24:00 PM
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