Books, mostly

Hello.

It's been a while.

There are many things to share, but let's begin with this: books to look out for in 2010, courtesy of The Independent.

I've got to say, I haven't been overly impressed by the books I've read recently. My last read was Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger, which was fine, good even, until the end, which was bitterly disappointing. Perhaps my views were slightly marred by the 'Horror' sticker carefully placed on the text by the excellent librarians at Shoreditch library. If we are never going to find out who the ghost is, indeed if it even exists at all, then that is disappointing for a 'horror' story in my view.

So, I hope this list will yield something cool.

I shall wander to Shoreditch library to take out Yann Martel's new venture, certainly.



I'll read McEwan if I have time. I probably won't have time, unless it gets really good reviews. Like, rave reviews, that come on the TV and everything.

I have read one of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's books - I must make an effort to finish this new one. I got half way through The Shadow of the Wind, but my problem with reading books set in Barcelona (I've only read this one) is that they remind me of the time that those Spanish pickpockets stole my money and my pride.



European holidays are good though.

I have been to see a film recently, but only the one. Paranormal Activity, which has been on in most large cinemas across the country. I don't go to see scary films that often, and after seeing this I still can't understand why people do.

There was nothing wrong with the film, I quite enjoyed the film, it did what it meant to do very well, but I wouldn't do this sort of thing very often. I think the fact that I don't do it very often makes it better when I do.

The last real scary film I watched was Saw, and whilst it makes a lot of money, and I can see the point, it does feel pretty wrong to get off on something that you are only watching because it is more depraved and gross than anything else you've ever seen. Johann Harri's story is better than mine, also courtesy of The Indepdent.

Not done anything else interesting this month at all. I've been making presentations and writing essays. Dull. Must make a note to do more interesting things in the future, for the purposes of the blog only.



And I went to see this woman, it's all coming back to me now.

This is good too:



And this:



But Drowned in Sound says it better than I do.

Last.fm

What a great invention.



I haven't been using it for a couple of years, so this list is a bit outdated. Thankfully, I had some taste when I was 18.

Hoxton

I have already become attached to this quirky area of town in which I am living. Whenever people ask where I am living, the response I give them in 'Hoxton' (not Hackney, Shoreditch or Islington).

To this I get a response of, ooo, trendy. I find this simply bizarre. Not because I misunderstand why people consider this area to be trendy, it is simple to see. Banksy has paid a visit (shouldn't we feel grateful) and we share a postcode with the beautiful people wearing Christian Louboutin shoes in swanky Islington offices.



But really, Hoxton is Hackney. It's a bit scary at night, and most of the population lives in high rise blocks that don't have proper addresses. It is the side of London tourists don't really see. Capitalism at its absolute nexus - the best and the worst.

This is what I find most upsetting but also captivating about London - everything is a flipside. London is a rich city, so rich, sickeningly rich - too rich. Walk down to Liverpool Street, just ten minutes from here, and people bathe in money. They have tailors, 'City of London' parking permits and twenty minute haircuts in your lunch hour for £60.

Walk outside that tightly controlled, marble, clinical area and the money evaporates. There are so many homeless people. More homeless people than you can even bear to think about. There is one that sits just outside the door of Somerfield by Old Street tube. I have come out of that shop so many times with a bag of food and he just sits there.

(No image available)

If I'm going to advertise anything, it would be the George and Vulture pub. An Aussie behind the bar, six pound pizzas (a bit salty but let's not be foodies about this) and a really old quaint globe in the corner just waiting to drop off its hinges.



I made a visit to London Fashion Weekend about a month ago. I simply must complain about the 'presenter' that was there to bridge the gap between the fee paying public and the fashion folk. She was awful. I detest the phrase 'love it'. She loved everything.

Charlie Brooker on Jan Moir

Charlie Brooker's responce to Jan Moir's homophobic article in the Daily Mail has been causing a stir in the 'bloggosphere' today (good word, or bad word?..I just can't decide).



The Mail published a pretty abhorrent piece pinning the causes of Stephen Gately's death down to his homosexual lifestyle. I won't say much more about the content of the article becasuse Brooker is better with words than I am.

My responce to this however is, why is everyone so surprised?

That being said, I do hope that the Mail gets sanctioned by the Press Complaints Commission about this. The Guardian really should set up a political party, what a conundrum that would be.

and in New York...

...Nick Cave was playing with the Dirty Three at the ATP Festival.



Oh my word.

I've moved

to LONDON.

So far, my explorations have been to:

Portobello Road antiques market



The whole time I was thinking, Hugh Grant, where is High Grant, is he hiding amongst all these Americans?

Whilst the houses are clearly gorgeous, I did wonder why anyone would wish to live on that particular street, and you would be mobbed by tourists everyday.

I can definitely tell the difference between East and West London. It's a territorial thing. As I got back on the Central line to take me home, I walked for the Eastbound platform. I thought, yes, East, people are more sensible there. It is a place where 4 toilet rolls cost £1.30, which is robbery enough, not £1.80, like in West London. In West London, people are swimming in money, it comes out of their noses.

I've also been to the Whitechapel art gallery, which I thought was wonderful, especially as it was free.

They had this exhibition on about Picasso's Guernica, by a Polish artist called Goshka Macuga. It was all about how the tapestry in the UN HQ in New York was concealed during a speech Colin Powell made in support of the Irag war. Great.

Ialso enjoyed their exhibit of Elizabeth Peyton's work, although it was much further from genuis. How hard is it to paint a picture of Pete Doherty looking pensive? I'm not an art brain of course, and the pop culture value was fun. She had Noel and Liam, Bowie and Jarvis. I wonder what Jarvis himself would think of it.

Contractual obligations

Last night, I made a one off trip to the nightclub 5th avenue, Manchester. It was so very cool when I was 18, but as I am now 20, it makes me feel old, and badly dressed.

Anyhow, after passing the large hoard of overweight bouncers, I was signalled over to one of them - he had a clipboard. Clipboard mafia was my instant thought - I do not want to take part in any survey about what I think of the 5th ave experience. I think it's pretty poor to be honest and the bouncers at that club are by far some of the most obnoxious and jumped up in town. But there was no survey to complete, instead, they wanted me to sign a contract, accepting 'liability' for any damage done to my feet as a result of my 'inappropriate footwear'. Apparently, there have been a number of incidents where stilettoed girls have crucified sandal wearing ladies with their points and 'ripped their toes off'.

FFS.

I think the words of Peter Andre are appropriate here, this is insania.

The Observer

David Mitchell is right about everything.


If I end up bumping into him in the pub, it will be worth moving to London.

Coco avant Chanel

Worth a fiver to see it, but it didn't need to be as long as it was. If you're not interested in clothes, then I would wait until it comes on television.

Underage and Pregnant

This show is very popular on iPlayer at the moment and I can see why. It is BBC3 at its best - looking into the cracks of screwed up Britain, finding something really troublesome and worrying, and not asking 'why are these girls doing this?' but shoving it in their face and blaming them for their ruined childhoods.

Good to watch, though.

In memory

I was never an avid reader, but I do think its' demise is sad. Nobody likes music anymore, they just like what's cool. It's not about dithering over the words any more.

Nothing good makes money any more. If we don't want to wake in a world full of Tesco furniture, reading the Amazon magazine, then we should start supporting independent ventures, and businesses, now.

Johnny Depp

I recently went to see Public Enemies, the new Hollywood film based on the life of John Dillinger. Dillinger was a bank robber operating big jobs during the Great Depression, and managed to create a image for himself as a hero of the people (or so is the case according to the film, and wikipedia).

Johnny Depp stars and it's worth watching just for his performance, which is reminiscent of his role in Blow. He can definitely make shooting people and cocaine addiction look appealing.

You are not a vegetarian

Just an image.

"It lives in your heart"

Sebastian Faulks - Human Traces

An Oxfam books buy for me. I'd say my buying experience was rather like my experience reading the book. I sorted of wanted it/liked it, but was constantly wondering/considering something better.

Kisses

This Irish film is on now at the Manchester Cornerhouse.

The focus is child abuse on a poverty stricken estate in Ireland, and the victims run away to Dublin for some fun and end up living on the streets, which turns out to be worse. The ending is a huge let down, as they simply return home. That's it.

It bears a strong resemblance to Anne Enright's The Gathering: Ireland, alcoholism, child abuse, violence and poverty.