The Flaming Lips: Borderline

I f**king love The Flaming Lips. In the entire spectrum of my vocabulary there is no other effective way to express my affection for them. I can honestly say that one of the few times I have ever felt genuinely ‘spiritual’ was at a Lips concert. Pretty deep, huh?

So I was overjoyed to discover that they have covered Madonna’s ‘Borderline’ with Stardeath and White Dwarfs for the compilation album Covered, A Revolution in sound: Warner Bros. Records. The vocals are perfect for Wayne Coyne’s cuddly and sincere voice and he has never looked so happier repeatedly beating the hell out of a huge gong.

Here’s a quick lesson in how to make me grin like an idiot for 6mins and 7seconds…

Desperate-ish Housewives

I amused myself for ten minutes this afternoon with the ‘Test for Husbands and Wives’, a psychometric test designed as a ‘blueprint for happiness’ in the 1930s by Dr. George W. Crane.

The test is simple; you gain points for positive behaviour such as ‘laugh’s at husband’s jokes and his clowning’ and lose points for obvious failings such as ‘flirting with other men’ and ‘smokes, drinks, gambles, or uses dope’ (incidentally, these are questions to the wives, there is a separate set of questions for husbands). Some questions are hilarious - and what’s wrong with red nail varnish anyway?!?

You can find a copy of the test online here. For those who are interested, I come in at an ‘average’ 48. Judging by the questions, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing…or a bad thing…?

Anyhoo, must go and find my feather-duster…are my stocking seams straight?

Vampires and 'Being Human'

I’ve been enjoying the BBC3 television series Being Human. Not only is it well acted and a perfect amalgamation of comedy and drama (and all the usual complimentary blather), I have been very impressed with how the writers have tackled the well-worn vampire/werewolf genre. I was obsessed with vampires and werewolves when I was a little girl (I shunned the pretty princess dresses in favour of a cape and rubber stake!) so over the years I’ve become a bit of a vamp connoisseur and pretty much read and seen everything vampire-related that I can find. So watching Being Human was a bit of a given.

The vampire Mitchell (Aidan Turner) teeters on the stereotypical suave, tall-dark-and-handsome type of vampire. An excellent actor, but I suspect that he has been cast for the ladies ;) It is the head vampire Herrick (Jason Watkins) that I have been particularly impressed with. He is far from what the average viewer would expect a vampire to look like – short, stocky and a little mentally unstable. I’m pleased that the writers chose Watkins as the ‘head vampire’ figure because, in my mind at least, it is Herrick that most closely fits the bill of an authentic vampire.

The vampire that appears in historical ‘natural history’ studies of vampirism is very different indeed to the charismatic, debonair vampire that features so commonly in film and TV. Far from tall, gaunt and pale figures, medical studies of vampirism describe a leech-like creature with flushed red cheeks and a stomach bloated out like a barrel, blundering about wildly with very little control of its post-mortem body. Think also of Max Schreck’s bald, delicate and rat-like vampire in the 1922 film ‘Nosferatu’. And so, in my mind, the vampire is a pitiful, repulsive creature rather than a powerful god-like man and it’s difficult to see where the idea of a suave and sophisticated vampire came from (I expect that Bela Lugosi was the culprit…).

Herrick fits perfectly into my personal notion of a vampire: he is slimy and power-hungry, but there is also something quite vulnerable and weak about him. In addition he also makes no apologies for his hatred of humanity, whereas the remorseful, moral vampire angle (expressed by Mitchell and characterised most famously by the vampire Louis in Interview with the Vampire) is beginning to wear quite thin…

The series has been extremely enjoyable and I’m pleased to hear that a second series is in the pipeline. If you haven’t seen it yet then get on the BBC iPlayer and watch an episode, you’ll be ‘sucked’ in ;)

Hasta la vista, Beethoven

I just got told off by J. S. Bach for not spending enough time practising the piano. Boy oh boy these dead composers can be slave drivers sometimes…



(Thanks to my highly-talented photographer friend Paul for sending this xx)

Watchmen fantasy anyone?

Ok, so first we had the Princess Leia fantasy outfits, then came the Lara Croft fantasy outfits and now Forbidden Planet is selling the Silk Spectre from Watchmen outfits here.

Geek guys all over the UK will now be desperately trying to convince their girlfriends/wives/(sisters?/mothers?) that they would look fantastic and not at all bulgy in a Silk Spectre outfit.

I might try wearing one to work on Monday morning and see if I get a pay rise…

Things that I have learned from my friends' mistakes #43

Today's lesson: Never drink cider before having a tattoo.

Alcohol is a blood thinner and it can all get very, VERY messy (as my friend discovered this afternoon...oops!)

String Finger Blues

I’ve been suffering badly from ‘string finger’ for a few days now. Earlier this week I plugged my electric violin into the massive amp in my bedroom (yes, I have various amps in my bedroom, doesn’t every girl?) and spent a few hours fiddling with levels and recording some improvised pieces for students. Since then, the fingers of my left hand look like I’ve gripped a hot griddle pan and the deep grooves sting like buggery in the shower. Even simple tasks like typing feels pretty damned weird.

Even though my fingertips have hardened over time, I still get ‘string finger’ after playing a long session on the violin or guitar and I’ve tried various methods to avoid it. Gloves, hand cream…I’ve even experimented with false skin that you paint on the end of your fingertips like clear nail polish (it’s fantastic for freaking the neighbourhood kids out by appearing to peel the skin off your fingers. Gross out stuff, but pretty cool!).

But it seems that some musicians suffer far worse than my little problem. A forum that I came across entitled ‘When Instruments Attack!’ made me laugh out loud. Prize for best post goes to: ‘Please do explain how playing the banjo leads to flatulence’.

New Placebo Single: 'Battle for the Sun'

♫..cos shes got hii-igh hopes, she’s got hii-igh hopes… ♫

So Placebo have made their new single Battle for the Sun downloadable from their website. That’s very gallant of them, thanks guys! Placebo’s first three albums were awesome, the fourth album was *whispers* a little forgettable, to be honest and the fifth album was passable, so I’ve got high hopes for the new album due to be released in June 2009.

The new single Battle for the Sun is pretty good. Aside from an opening percussion that sounds like it’s been taken straight from the Oliver soundtrack, the meat of the track gets back to the original Nancy Boy fuzz-and-grind kind of sound - which is long overdue – and it moves in a similar vein to the measured plod of Pure Morning. Unfortunately the brooding menace of Pure Morning is missing, which is a shame. But, having said that, the single bodes well for a fantastic album and Molko could read the back of a fag packet and sound lyrical (plus guyliner can ne’er do wrong in my book). Needless to say, Battle for the Sun has knocked the odd couple of MCR’s cover of Desolation Row (from the Watchmen movie soundtrack) and Lady GaGa’s Poker Face Glam As You Club Mix off the top of my Ipod playlist for now…

The perils of podcasting

Last week I was interviewed for my friend Richard’s podcast. It was my first experience of podcasting and I was very excited, although a bit nervous that I might turn into a gibbering goon when confronted with a microphone. History had warned me that this might be the case. I’ve always found recording music to be a tricky business and my brain invariably turns to mush the second that the record button is pressed…

So I had done my research, I was dressed smartly (yes, I know it’s not a visual medium, but it does influence my state of mind!) and I had spent the morning fine tuning my ‘academic self’ (she’s like me only a bit anal when it comes to dates and statistics).

What could go wrong?

Unfortunately, what I hadn’t quite counted on was ‘the giggles’. I thought that ‘the giggles’ was an affliction limited to quiet school assemblies and when being told off by your parents for attempting to drown your brother, but apparently it’s a latent sleeper in adults, just waiting to burst out at the most inappropriate time. Luckily it was Richard, the podcast host, who kicked it off, dissolving into hysterical laughter whenever he pressed the record button. This inevitably sparked off my fit of the giggles and we sat sniggering like two naughty schoolchildren for ten minutes or so before our first good take.

Then after ‘the giggles’ came ‘the erms’ (I didn’t realise that I say ‘erm’ so much in one sentence!) and eventually a general cacophony of noise descended upon us. Squeaky chairs, coughing, rumbling stomachs; everything and anything that could possibly either embarrass me or trigger off the giggles once again.

An hour or so later and we were finished. Apparently I sound quite posh which is a shocker, so I’m hoping that Richard can edit in an accent. Glaswegian maybe, or Welsh. South African would be amusing. God forbid that anyone might be listening to the content…

Day of the Triffids

One last thing before I finish my weekend...

As I've been writing at my computer this evening I've had a distinctly creepy feeling that something or someone is watching me. And now I've discovered the source. My pot plant. My pot plant is staring at me. See for yourself...



Freaky huh? ;)

Squeaky clean USA

I noticed a recurrent theme this afternoon when setting up my blog...

Now I know that Facebook is squeaky clean and Twitter has more than it's fair share of shiny-faced American marketing teams, but I certainly was not prepared for the onslaught of dazzling white, sugar pink 'cutesiness' that is the blogger layout. Now quite a few of my friends are Americans so I hesitate to blame the lack of goth/emo/grunge themes on the squeamishness of an entire nation, but if my instincts are right then I just have one thing to say...

...come on America, play in the dirt once in a while...it's good fun!