This is a truly cockney post card – from Margate (why do I hear Chas and Dave?) to Bethnal Green. Sent to Green Street in 1910, shows The Oval in Margate in a strange sort of painted photograph…can you imagine an open tennis court like that today? Click more to see the full message.
Daniel Day-Lewis has immortalized that line in one of the most memorable scenes from ‘There Will be Blood’, but it turns out that way before becoming an internet meme (what’s a meme? – click here) it was actually a line used in real life.
Over on ‘Observations of Film Art’, director Paul Thomas-Anderson lets on that the dialogue came from a US congressional hearing.
Its appears that it sort of ‘transmogrified’ into the movie, only to be committed to memory by Daniel Day-Lewis’ epic delivery:
Anderson concedes that he’s puzzled by the phenomenon — particularly because the lines came straight from a transcript he found of the 1924 congressional hearings over the Teapot Dome scandal, in which Sen. Albert Fall was convicted of accepting bribes for oil-drilling rights to public lands in Wyoming and California.
So – now you know, when you see Daniel Plainview screaming at Eli Sunday – its all just a rip-off from Senator Albert Fall – or was it Kelis?
Click more for the ultimate milkshake mashup!
During my travels, I’ve been really enjoying listening to some new music – three albums have been heavily rotated on my Zune: The Stage Names by Okkervil River, Falling off the Lavender Bridge by Lightspeed Champion and the marvelous Made in the Dark by Hot Chip. I’ll cover off the other two in later posts, but for now I want to talk about Hot Chip.
I was really impressed with the last Hot Chip album, The Warning. Over and Over was a real breakthrough single and they managed to gain attention and airplay with that really infectious track.
The new album is a logical extension of the clashes of style on that album – there could almost be three sections to this album – the pure electronica/pop soundclash, the rockier more progressive section and the ballads.Its a really nice varied set.
The opener is the barnstorming Out at the Pictures and track 2 opens with Todd Rundgren (I think) talking you through the strange noises in his studio before ‘Shake a Fist’ kicks in with savage portamento bass lines and all sorts of analogue trickery.
The single ‘Ready for the Floor’ is awesome, there were rumours that this was written for (or offered to) Kylie Minogue – and as much as I like her sound, I prefer the Hot Chip take on this…the melody is great and the lyrics are excellent.
Some of the ballads on the album fall a little flat, mainly due to the lack of strong voice, but they remind me of Kings of Convenience or Erlend Oye, and its rare to hear electronica sound so tender and gentle so it can be forgiven.
Whole album is excellent – give it a listen and see if you agree.
South Shields – sent to Hill Corner, Langley Burrell, Chippenham in Wiltshire in June 1959 – the postcard makes South Shields look quite attractive in a late 1950′s way. Click more for the great message (infection and colic!)…cheerio!
This has been mentioned in a few places – including Eileens Blog – but there is a site to capture 6 word memoirs – inspired by Hemingways famous 6 word story(written for a bet):
“For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn”.
I particularly liked this one from the site:
Believed in hope; still awaiting justice.
and:
Reached for stars,hit the floor
So I’ve been starting to think what mine might be – a couple about my life as a DJ:
Discovered Kraftwerk, still love four/four.
Never better than behind the decks.
But I’m settling for one of these two…which are more general:
Summer of sixty nine. Started there.
Regret nothing. Every decision led here.
The site for this shenanigans, is here.
The more astute of you may have noticed that I have added a new feature into the sidebar (its over there on the right) – which shows my current Live Messenger status. It seems to work quite nicely, showing whether I am on or offline, and my current screen name (which I use for location).
Its really easy to setup your wordpress blog, or any website to show your Live Messenger status – I did it two or three minutes. Heres the steps:
There is a much more detailed tutorial on how to set this up over at Angus Logans blog – but honestly, if I can do it in a few minutes, then anyone can.
I look forward to hearing from you on messenger – and I hope this works for y’all!
Torquay – The Rock Walk in Torquay, sent in 1925 to L. Allen (Lily Allen?) Commercial Road in Limehouse, London, I love the palm trees in Torquay…really makes the English Riviera come alive. Click more to see the full message
Check out this guys skillz – you’ll need to watch about 90 seconds to get the full effect.
Yep – thats how weird it gets! One man, singing ‘A whole new world’ from some disney film…
So – I travel 5000 miles for work, and then find fellow Brits playing rock music at my destination – what an opportunity!
The Showbox is in downtown Seattle, right next to Pike Street Market – a really nice venue, probably holds about 1000 people and reminds me a little bit of Shepherds Bush Empire. Apparently a lot of the grunge bands played there, so the stage has seen some ‘action’.
First support was from Louis XIV who played a sort of bluesy-rock with added violins, kind of sounding like the Killers with a bit less energy. It wasn’t really my cup of tea, but I guess they went down quite well. The second support was a lot better for me, Hot Hot Heat, a four piece from Canada who were excellent – loads of presence (and hair) from the lead singer and nice indie rock – definitely worth investigating a bit more.
The Editors took to the stage about 10am – the set was pretty similar to the one I saw at Brixton Academy back in October, but the smaller venue and I think better sound made this a treat. Tom Smiths voice sounded excellent as ever and the delivery was super tight. On the intense sound system, Bones and The Racing Rats were particular highlights for me.
The Showbox is an excellent venue – I’ll be keeping an eye on the calendar during my next trips to Seattle to see if there are more good shows to see.
A few pictures over on Flickr – here
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