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Map Of Swing Seats
the Guardian has a map up of all the swing seats in Thursday's election
5th May 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
#Spotted: William Petersen getting told to 'take a walk' by James Caan in 'Thief'.
5th May 2010
Read on TwitterSkate or die: Ian MacKaye and The Solitary Arts
Great piece up at Fistfulayen regarding the contribution of skateboarding to many people's world view (mine included). The article is in reference to an Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat/Fugazi) interview done for The Skateboard Mag. Interesting, as MacKaye's world view was itself was an inspiration to many skateboarders and pre 'alternative' music US-punk fans (me again).
"I think when skaters walk down the street, they’re looking at it with an entirely different grid in their minds .......To this day I swim to the bottom of swimming pools just to check out the transition."
Via Fistfulayen, via Atiba Jefferson, via The Skateboard Mag
4th May 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
New Wolf Parade
Wolf Parade have a new album out in June, entitled Expo 86. Sub Pop have the details, including where you can download two of the new tracks - the killer synths of Ghost Pressure (which could possibly lead to a gig writing the next Shakira single) and the slower-burner What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to Go This Way).
Looking forward to this one.
4th May 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Caught end of Crank 2 and side effect has been a day listening to REO Speedwagon's 'Keep On Lovin' You' http://bit.ly/1meRcs Journeytastic.
30th Apr 2010
Read on TwitterCruise Missile To Go
An enterprising Russian company seems to be attempting to solve the age-old problem of how to conveniently move your cruise missiles around without the unwieldy bulk of an aircraft carrier. Their solution is a not-quite-pocket-sized shipping container - catchily titled the 'Club-K'.
It's not too clear how far in development this is, but it's far enough along to warrant the handy graphic simulation that the company have produced (above). No big worry though, Venezuela and Iran are the only countries to have so far professed an interest.
Maybe we need to get Jack Bauer of of retirement already.
30th Apr 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Airspace Rebooted
Nice little video up at Vimeo tracking the re-start of air travel across Europe - following the monster airport shut down caused by Iceland's Volcano.
#Locochimpo
#CurrentAffairs
#Travel
29th Apr 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Emotional Chimp News
Chimps feel death and mourn in the same way as humans, according to a new report....
Via BBC News
29th Apr 2010 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Jeff Tweedy Solo Show Alert
After foolishly missing Jeff Tweedy's last solo appearance in London in favour of a Bob Dylan show (review here), we are at last able to make amends.
Tickets on pre-sale right now for the Wilco main-man's solo show at Islington's Union Chapel on June 30th. See you down the front.
29th Apr 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Just rode the new \#eastlondonline New Cross Gate to Bond St with a mere 30m transfer. Good to have you back old pal.
28th Apr 2010
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Promo Promo: Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union
Promo up for one of Titus Andronicus' most Springsteen-channeling songs - A More Perfect Union. As noted in the YouTube comments "The lead singer looks like one of those 3 villans from Superman 2".
28th Apr 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Hot Tub Time Machine
(dir. Steve Pink)
"It must be some kind of... hot tub... time machine" Craig Robinson deadpans to the camera when he and his buddies find themselves in a ski lodge in 1986. That's about the depth of the plot in this wilfully stupid comedy. Which is what makes it work. It feels like a film where they came up with a title that they liked, and then wrote backwards around it. There's the odd bit of psychological depth - dudes aren't happy with assholes they've grown up to be, could this be a chance to fix the mistakes of the past? - but it's all buried in a pacy round of 80s gags and puke jokes. Lots of 80s ski bunny action too if you've ever wondered what life was like up on the slopes then. (Bonus fact - it was shot in Fernie, Canada, and looks a lot like certain other Chimp-friendly destinations.)
John Cusack trades off his 80s persona, taking every chance to diss the decade (all "Reagan and Aids") - although it's weird having some kid play the 80s version of him as we all know exactly what he looked like. Rob Corddry plays a similar pissed-off/manic role to the one he had in What Happens In Vegas; Clark Duke is Cusack's nephew experiencing the 80s for the first time (what? no wi-fi?); Craig Robinson is funny when checking out his Kid N Play boxcut.
More 80s cameos from Crispin Glover (aka George McFly) and Chevy Chase as the possibly mystic hot tub repair man. Nice nods throughout - Bowie skiing on MTV ads, Scritti Politti sounding great (I'm ready for the greatest hits coming out soon), and some ski patrol lunks freaking themselves out over some Red Dawn-style commie paranoia.
Could do without the homophobic panic that runs through a lot of these mindless slacker comedies though, and if you think about it too hard, the ending isn't really a total win, but hey, this isn't a Brief History Of Time, it's a Hot Tub Time Machine.
28th Apr 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 3 star reviews
Gran Torino
Disappointing swansong for Clint's acting career, with any promise hamstringed by a v clumsy script.
27th Apr 2010
Read more 2.5 star reviewsI'm in New Cross Sainsbury's wearing a tracksuit. Where did it all go wrong?
27th Apr 2010
Read on TwitterShepard Fairey: Make My May Day
Nice piece over on World Famous Design Junkies w Shepard Fairey painting a new May Day mural.
Bonus fact: he's got a new print available in Habitat.
27th Apr 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Spotify 0.4.3
It's still a long way off even a 1.0 release, but Spotify is getting a major upgrade today - bringing a load more iTunes-like functionality.
Major features include the ability to import and play the music on already on your computer, share your playlists and likes publicly, integration with Facebook for playlist sharing and starring of tracks and an auto-playlist from those tracks.
All the details here.
Of course, all this is moot if iTunes turn around with a similar offering - quite likely since their purchase of the US equivalent of Spotify, Lala.
27th Apr 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
East London Line Re-opens
Every hipster chimp's dream day has arrived. With the re-opening of the East london Line today, partying in Hoxton and New Cross on the same night is an easy reality.
The updated line will run 7am until 8pm from New Cross Gate to Dalston Junction - until the official re-opening on May 23rd when it will run full hours, 12 times an hour. The final route will run all the way down to Croydon, for that essential IKEA trip.
Surprisingly enough, this opening is well ahead of the original 'late 2010' schedule. Thanks Ken!
Via BBC
27th Apr 2010 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Boom! Renee gets the no-beeps treatment, and Jack Bauer enters his final home straight with a serious vendetta...
26th Apr 2010
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My Pen! And other Kids in the Hall Highlights
Stumbled across a gold mine of Kids in the Hall highlights on YouTube, including My Pen! (above) and The Ham of Truth (below).
Their new show Kids In The Hall: Death Comes To Town has screening in the United States of Canada already. Not sure if/when it will show up in the UK.
Here's more old clips... Wait. No habla english?
26th Apr 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
RT @SELondoner East London line preview starts tomorrow, Tues 27th; first public train will be the 1205 from Dalston!
26th Apr 2010
Read on TwitterDon't Talk To Aliens
"Don't talk to aliens" is Stephen Hawking's advice in a piece over at The Times.
"If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans".
26th Apr 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Is Time Travel Possible?
the science of going back to the future - I like the sound of the "cosmic microwave background"
26th Apr 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
The 'Men Who Stare At Goats' synopsis does not lend itself to radio advertising.
25th Apr 2010
Read on TwitterWatching a bit of 'Tank Girl' now. Terrible. Lori Petty seems to be doing a bad Groucho Marx impression.
25th Apr 2010
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