Mixed lollies
I’ve been handed a bulging bag of fferins cymysg, as we never used to say in Wales, so I’ll dive straight in. Mark offers this piece on university snobbery hiding in a restaurant review, written by the stubbly food critic from Gordon Ramsay’s The F-Word. Mark was also interested in what people get wrong about Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of Infidel — she’s no fundamentalist. And, the death of John “I’m Free” Inman, inspired Mr Broatch’s headline of the week. TVNZ has bought screening rights to the second series of reality show Castaway, which will be set on Great Barrier Island. For the sake of the contestants, let’s hope Jaz Coleman doesn’t find them before they’re rescued.
NZBC cub reporter Joe Bowman has been trawling YouTube again, and offers us an eclectic musical interlude consisting of a 1978 version of Talking Heads doing Psycho Killer on BBC2’s The Old Grey Whistle Test; You Don’t Come Close by The Ramones; Man of Constant Sorrow by Bob Dylan; Statue of Liberty by XTC; and Tim Buckley’s masterpiece Song to the Siren. I am puzzled as the oyster, indeed.
I subscribed to the UK Literary Review for a couple of years, back in the 1990s, and wish I’d been able to afford to continue doing so. Stephen points to five strong features in the current issue. I was curious about this one, recalling the life and death of Saartjje Baartman, the “Hottentot Venus”, a South African woman who was exploited in 19th Century London:
NZBC cub reporter Joe Bowman has been trawling YouTube again, and offers us an eclectic musical interlude consisting of a 1978 version of Talking Heads doing Psycho Killer on BBC2’s The Old Grey Whistle Test; You Don’t Come Close by The Ramones; Man of Constant Sorrow by Bob Dylan; Statue of Liberty by XTC; and Tim Buckley’s masterpiece Song to the Siren. I am puzzled as the oyster, indeed.
I subscribed to the UK Literary Review for a couple of years, back in the 1990s, and wish I’d been able to afford to continue doing so. Stephen points to five strong features in the current issue. I was curious about this one, recalling the life and death of Saartjje Baartman, the “Hottentot Venus”, a South African woman who was exploited in 19th Century London:
“Saartjie appeared on stage between twelve o’clock and four o’clock, six days a week, in a prime location at 225 Piccadilly (funded by the sale of the giraffe skin), where she stood alongside a mock-up of an African village. Amongst those who paid the two shillings to see her posterior clad in a skin-tight body suit while she danced and played her ‘ramkie’, a form of guitar, were the dandy Beau Brummell and the actor Charles Kemble…”
Stephen also liked this collision of body parts in an SMH business piece about the difficulties of turning rabid consumers into environmentally friendly eco-luvvies:
“Recycled as a category is bugger all,” says Joe Hancock, managing director of Gorilla Communications which developed the Quilton ad campaign Loves your Bum. “Using recycled toilet paper is a no-brainer yet people are not prepared to make the sacrifice on their arse.”
Mr Stratford also notes, with a hat tip to James Taranto, how British trade magazine The Bookseller awards an annual Diagram Prize for the “Oddest Title of the Year”. This year’s nominees include Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoon Boxes of Daghestan; D. Di Mascio’s Delicious Ice Cream: D. Di Mascio of Coventry—An Ice Cream Company of Repute, with an Interesting and Varied Fleet of Ice Cream Vans (yes, that’s a real book, and no, the author is not D. Di Mascio); The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification; and Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence.
From me, with a hat-tip to Juha Saarinen, 59 things that would have stayed secret if they hadn’t been disinterred by the UK’s Freedom of Information Act. And, in this beautifully written if vicious review of a film I now do not wish to see, Peter Bradshaw explains why The Good German is a misjudged, self-regarding and cynical take on 1940s thrillers in general and Casablanca in particular. Mark — who sees more films over the weekend than I will in my entire life — thinks he might be right. In spite of the fact that the reviewer does what Gore Vidal so abhors, by writing largely of his opinions and not what the film itself is about, it makes for compelling reading.
And how could I ignore writer Susan Hill’s blog, in which she notes that Russell Hoban’s adult works are “unjustly neglected” (Hat tip to Richard Cooper of The Kraken and Thoughtcat). Readers discovering writers and then reviewing their books — it makes this cynical blogger warmer around the heart! “Or whatever part is leading you. We’re talking pragmatism here.”
Please don’t miss the Hustle for Russell next Monday night, and remember that NZBC has a complimentary ticket for the person who posts the top comment — you still have time.
Ta-ta for a bit.
From me, with a hat-tip to Juha Saarinen, 59 things that would have stayed secret if they hadn’t been disinterred by the UK’s Freedom of Information Act. And, in this beautifully written if vicious review of a film I now do not wish to see, Peter Bradshaw explains why The Good German is a misjudged, self-regarding and cynical take on 1940s thrillers in general and Casablanca in particular. Mark — who sees more films over the weekend than I will in my entire life — thinks he might be right. In spite of the fact that the reviewer does what Gore Vidal so abhors, by writing largely of his opinions and not what the film itself is about, it makes for compelling reading.
And how could I ignore writer Susan Hill’s blog, in which she notes that Russell Hoban’s adult works are “unjustly neglected” (Hat tip to Richard Cooper of The Kraken and Thoughtcat). Readers discovering writers and then reviewing their books — it makes this cynical blogger warmer around the heart! “Or whatever part is leading you. We’re talking pragmatism here.”
Please don’t miss the Hustle for Russell next Monday night, and remember that NZBC has a complimentary ticket for the person who posts the top comment — you still have time.
Ta-ta for a bit.
posted by Chris Bell at 12:26 PM
5 Comments:
I like Your Site and it is sad to see so few comments. So I have written this one, there is no truth that bribery was involved.
www.nottvnz.blogster.com
Nice try, iblog. As you know, we did bribe you but we regret it. Your comment wasn't very good, was it.
Hat tip to UK reader Dorothy Hopkins for spotting how the Daily Mail was outraged to discover reality TV is nothing of the sort:
http://tinyurl.com/2mtt42
In the words of Ricky Tomlinson, "Castaway my arse!"
Greetings from Darwin.
I am heading back to NZ but taking the scenic route.
I hope all goes well for Russell Brown and that he makes loads of money.
Do let me know if there is a follow up event as I would love to attend.
I would have gone to this one but I am so far away.
Russell has made a great contribution to the NZ media scene and there is probably barely an employer he hasn't worked for. I hope they have dug deeply.
Even though we don't vote the same way, I have a great deal of respect for Russell, and I hope his enterprising initiative proves highly rewarding.
All the best from NT
Darren
Ha ha to everyone! I won the ticket, so there. I like the sound of the auction to win a morning tea with Helen Clark. What a load of fun that would be!
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