the guardian

Damien to the rescue

First of all, to anyone who called, emailed or texted me in the last ten days but never heard back, I apologise. I was really, really busy. (Unless you’re a PR person of any description, in which case I probably was just ignoring you.) Anyway, I’m back in the land of the living now. A couple of thing I loved while I’ve been away…. Read the rest of this entry »

Earth to Zoolander! Earth to Zoolander!

The lesson, I think, for those seeking to satirise that which is already beyond satire… Why bother?

YOU’RE NOT SINGING, YOU’RE NOT SINGING, YOU’RE NOT SINGING ANYMOORE…!

Polls and top tens lists and all that crap, whether compiled by critics or voted for by “the public”, are all inherently arbitrary and silly. The only exception to this rule is when my favourite show, The Sopranos, is rightfully anointed the greatest television series of all time. To sweeten the deal even further, that square-jawed cardboard cut out of a cop you’re all so fond of limps in at a laughable no. 14… Read the rest of this entry »

THIS IS CRYPTIC

The Guardian’s weekly football photoshop mash-up The Gallery is in today. No prizes for guessing what topic they’re covering…

OBSCURE SIXTIES GARAGE ROCK TRACK REFERENCED IN TABLOID NEWS HEADLINE SHOCKER!

A front page article in the Guardian today, concerning lingering resentment on Merseyside over The Sun’s coverage of the Hillsborough tragedy, hardly told us much we didn’t already know. Briefly, sensational tabloid news reports aren’t always true and, despite their protestations to the contrary, Liverpudlians really do have a tendency to wallow in victimhood. (Comparing a slanderous twenty year old newspaper article to the holocaust? Really?)

What did grab my attention though was The Sun’s Hillsborough tribute headline this week. As any garage rock aficionado will tell you, ’96 Tears’ was the title of a 1966 hit single by ? & the Mysterians. (In 2006, it was voted no. 120 on Pitchfork’s 200 Greatest Songs of the Sixties list.) A random Scouser contacted by Tripping Along the Ledge for comment fumed “This is a slap in the face to the people of Liverpool… It’s no different to what Pol Pot did to the Cambodians… etc. etc. etc.”