Jimmy Carr twitters away

I’m unconvinced by the whole Twitter thang but at least Jimmy Carr’s manner of delivery seems to suit the medium.

Here are his latest ‘tweets’ from Dundee, pure comedy genius.

• i'm still on a train. it would appear someone's put Dundee right up in the north - presumably so they don't bother anyone.
• "i think of Dundee as the 'Paris of the north' because its covered in dog shit and nobody washes." Good idea for an opening line tonight?
• just been told Dundee is 'the city of discovery'. Presumably because the Discovery Channel made a wildlife documentary about the locals.
• just in the interval of the show in dundee. i feel a little guilty cause i've been slagging the place off all day and i'm really enjoying it
• what now? according to one twitterer earlier Dundee has only one night club 'Fat Sam's' named after the local beauty queen..i've got to stop

Positive thinking

Congratulations Barack Obama! Interesting to see how people are a lot more optimistic about the future. Great things to come one hopes, big respect to Mr. Rascal.



Further evidence here

Elbow at Roundhouse, Camden

A great gig, a great night. Why? In no particular order...

1. Music - 4 albums of diverse, intelligent and powerful songs, 2008 mercury Prize winners. Enough said.
2. Venue - Modern without being soul-less, History without being overbearing, technology without the gizmos, intimate without lacking presence. I think the Roundhouse is the best venue in London not least because you can get very, very close to the stage without having to push through the throngs.
3. Personality - Guy Garvey is a very charming man. Charming in a good bloke way as opposed to charming in a smarmy, lawyer/car salesman way. Engaged the audience in equal part with witty and touching deliveries between numbers, he is very much the spokesman for the band.
4. Anticipation - I brought these tickets five months ago. I didn't know what i'd be doing in October and I didn't know who i'd be going with. I just knew that it wouldn't be a problem on either count. I was correct.

A great gig, a great night.

Good things to do in London - part 1

1. Walk from hampsted heath to primrose hill. take in the view, then go for sunday lunch here. Drink Adnams or Deuchars if they have it on draught. Alternatively walk along the south bank, the bar beside the Hayward Gallery is quirky and does a wide selection of pickles if you like this type of thing.

2. Watch obscure films. The curzon soho is an obvious choice but it's sibling the curzon mayfair is quieter and it's less hassle to get a ticket, but admittedly less choice than it's bigger brasher relation. For a touch of glamour go to the Electric on portobello road, which isn't so expensive but does have exceptional seating to sink into. And a good local cinema? I'm a fan of the ritzy in Brixton, it has a decent bar and avoids the mega-chain feel of it's West end rivals. I saw 'Happy go Lucky' here which incidentally is a very good (london) film.

3. eat Asian food - Cheng's at the bottom of Wardour street does a mighty fine selection of dim sum, Green Papaya in Hackney does melt in the mouth belly pork and half way along brick lane is a yellow fronted Bangladeshi restaurant. This has proved to be a superb place to soak up beer, unfortunately I can't seem to remember the name. The best I can do is approximate that it's between Hanbury and Princelet street. Screw your eyes up, stagger around a bit and you should find it. For a decent and authentic and surprisingly cheap Thai meal try Charlie Wright's International Bar in old street. A bit intimidating and sometimes has a few characters in but that is part of it's charm.

4. drink beer. lots of it.
Here are some good locations
Clerkenwell: The 3 Kings*, Sekforde Arms
Islington: The Crown, Island Queen, The kings head

For cocktails go to Freuds which considering is in the west end is actually quite nice generally because of the euro-boho-arty crowd that congregate there (thanks i think because of the proximity to Central St Martins?)

* The 3 kings demonstrates why London is rocking in the summer - that glorious friday evening sight of throngs of people spilling out on to the pavement drinking away as dusk descends in the balmy air.

5. After beer comes a kebab and the best kebab in london comes from here. Bodrum wins because of the quality of it's bread, the turkish bread is thick enough to soak up meat juice and chilli sauce before it dribbles down one's front. I eat a lot kebabs and am disapointed by the number of establishments that insist on sticking to flaky pita bread - shameful.

Enjoy!

Laugh? i nearly pissed myself

Phil on Bus

Photo by FuryBoy.

I love this photo. I hate looking at myself in photos so it was a nice surprise to see this on Chris' flickr site. Really like the blurry, energetic hand!

I remember the day but i don't remember this being taken. Too much booze once again?

Love music, hate racism

Love Music, Hate Racism.
Fuck the BNP.

Militant atmosphere in Victoria Park for the Rock Against Racism concert. Inspiring to hear passionate and committed people stand up and be counted. And good tunes too from mix of newbies and oldies. Standouts for me were Jimmy Pursey (Sham 69) covering The Clash's White Riot' and 'Dancing in the dark' performed by the all-stars who stepped in to replace Baby Shambles. It could have gone horribly wrong but it was so bad it was good. Long live the guilty pleasures in life.

Evening wrapped up by The Good, The Bad and The Queen. Never paid tehm too much attention before but realised that yet again Damon Albarn is a VERY clever man. Stunning ensemble rendition of 'Ghost town' closed the event.

Happy Go Lucky

Endearing feel-good film (with a subtle dark undercurrent) that effectively avoids being TOO 'happy go lucky'. I really enjoyed this film, it had all the qualities that good Brit films posess - intelligent script, underplayed acting and realistic, sensitive settings. And being set in London it was fun to play the 'I know that place' game. Walked out of cinema feeling lifted and energised and fleet of foot with a spring in my step. But maybe that was the impact of the incense stall by Brixton tube?

Sterling performance from Sally Hawkins as the main protagonist and a delicously dark piece of acting by Eddie Marsan as an unhinged driving instructor.

The Arsenal

Ian Wright illustration at Arsenal Museum © Miles Donovan

I wanted to write about the many and varied websites/blogs that cover all things Arsenal. I wanted to write about how match opinions are shared, transfer rumors spread and football banter exchanged. And so, following another eventful night of football I'm going to attempt to showcase a selection of sites that show the folklore, the history, the pride that Gooners have in their team.

Redaction - Interesting arrival on the scene, I like it's militant stance. Useful away game PDFs to download.

Arseblog - Highly entertaining, engaging, the number 1 Arsenal blog. And quite often the number 1 sports blog at the bloggies. Lots of banter, not afraid to cuse the C-word where appropriate, eg Ashley Cole, John Terry. Often for great comedy effect. Seems to have a thing about Gingers but hey-ho no one is perfect. Many a smile created on the religously updated daily Arseblog and a weekly chortle thanks to the imaginatively titled 'Arsecast'

Goodplaya - intelligent, balanced analysis from a seemingly intelligent, balanced gooner.

Arsenal-land - slick site, not as insightful as it used to be. Good forum, this was my introduction to the online Arsenal world.

We are the herd - Passion, commitment, community. Found this whilst reading up on the legendary Dainton Connell, king of the North Bank. Forum dealing with Arsenal's Firm, tales of battles of yesteryear.

All examples of a spirit best summed up in the final paragraphs of this post by Arseblogger: "Let’s stand behind our team. We are the Arsenal."

How amusing

Link to The Observer