Category Archives: Art/Culture
Senses working overtime
Esref Armagan paints pictures in oils. He is also blind and has been for the whole of his life. File this under “Next time I whinge about anything trivial, please slap me”.
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Rediscovering the “off” switch
I’m not much of an opera fan, I like “shows” even less and l don’t think I’ve ever seen more than a few minutes of Jerry Springer (or any other confessional TV shows) so I didn’t bother watching the Jerry … Continue reading
Posted in Art/Culture, Music
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History to cherish and history to be ashamed of
It’s 110 years since the Lumière brothers first demonstrated their “moving pictures” to audiences in Paris… that’s a decent-sized period for which film has been available as a method of recording and interpreting social history. Of course, the medium was … Continue reading
Posted in Art/Culture, History
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Taking a breath
Seem to be quite busy in the run up to Christmas, so no solid content right now. For all the wrong reasons, I was introduced, earlier this week, to the writings of William Grim, specifically ‘Aesthetics of Hate’, an article … Continue reading
Posted in Art/Culture, Drivel, Food/Drink, Music
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Chris Morris and the Pay-as-you-go Internet
As a somewhat obsessive Chris Morris fanboy, I was interested to read (or rather, read *of*) an article in The Independent announcing that his latest work is to be a sitcom, scheduled for screening on Channel 4 in January. It … Continue reading
Posted in Art/Culture, Consumer, Journalism
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From the playpen
Time for one of these posts again… Right now I’m listening to ‘A Lifetime of Temporary Relief’, a new box-set of B-sides, rarities and unreleased stuff by Low. It’s particularly interesting to hear the very first demos; two tracks recorded … Continue reading
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The real Qwghlm?
Interesting little bit of trivia for Neal Stephenson fans. Try typing the fictional place name “Qwghlm” into Multimap… the resulting map shows the village of Quholm in Orkney. (thanks to Chris Applegate’s qwghlm blog)
Posted in Art/Culture, Travel
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Opera: accessibility vs snobbery
I hate it when someone dismisses a whole cultural genre or style out of hand, but I have to be honest here. I just do not like opera. I’ve tried my best, listening to examples of Mozart, Verdi and Wagner, … Continue reading
Posted in Art/Culture, London, Music
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The Easter break, in pictures
Forcing my reluctant brain back into work after the Easter break. Can’t think of much to write about, so here’s a few pictures of what we managed to do over the four-day holiday… FRIDAY Thanks to the 2-for-1 offer currently … Continue reading
Posted in Art/Culture, History, Local, London
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Free child pornography with your Super Sizzling Sun
So what’s worse… exhibiting pictures of a naked child in the very young-hip-and-urban Spitz Gallery in East London or printing one of those pictures (alongside one from a “genuine” child porn website) in a national newspaper? Or, to put it … Continue reading
Posted in Art/Culture, Journalism
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