rotten_eyeballs

I had an urge to write something last night as I was going to bed so I sat down n wrote this nonsense. It just came out without thinking. Dunno why I'm posting it but what the hell else was I gonna do with it. Anyway...

Sweat pouring from every inch of my body I stumbled out of the dark ally and into the street. I felt almost blinded by the sunlight. Tears streamed from my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. Wax, thick and warm began oozing from my ears and down the sides of my neck. Slimy green mucus cascaded from my nostrils, running around my mouth and off my chin. A woman wearing a suit gave a dirty look as she passed by, and spat on the pavement behind me. I lurched forward into the road while babbling and drooling like an infant. My bladder and bowels began emptying themselves. Piss ran down the front of my legs and shit ran down the back. The two substances mingled in pools at my feet. A toothless old vagrant guffawed and danced a jig. Something hit me from behind. Something big. I was propelled several meters through the air before landing flat on my face. The air had been forced out of my lungs and I struggled to get it back in. I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees. Blood trickled from a long gash that ran across my stomach. A bus driver knelt down beside me, muttered something in Spanish, pulled a blade approximately ten inches in length, and committed seppuku. As he drew the blade across his stomach, my own stomach opened up like a pencil case being unzipped. Intestines spilled out, making a satisfying wet plopping sound as they hit the ground. Our intestines spread out across the tarmac and mingled. The bus driver’s eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped to one side. I tipped over onto my back and began grabbing handfuls of intestines, not caring or knowing if I was holding his or mine. I held them aloft and began laughing maniacally. One section burst, and waste rained down over me. I coughed and spluttered as I tried to laugh through the torrent of crap. The toothless old vagrant was now out of breath and so stopped jigging. He gazed at me and appeared bored. A youth in a tracksuit attempted to kick a pigeon but missed. The toothless old vagrant guffawed again. The youth sniffed and jogged away. The toothless old vagrant farted then moved on. I put the intestines down and grabbed hold of the bus drivers wrist in order to look at his watch. “Nearly tea time.” I thought. “I’m making a curry tonight.” I thought. “Enough messing about for today.” I thought.

Me and my brother went to see 'A Dangerous Method' tonight but it was sold out. There was going to be a discussion on Freud and Jung afterwards, which would have been interesting, however this meant I lost out to all the acedemic types who were loitering in the lobby. It's very irritating, I've never seen a film sell out at the Tyneside that isn't 'Sex In The City 2' (a film that should never have been shown there in the first place (though I guess they made money off it)) or 'Harry Potter'. Actually I think I remember 'My Neighbour Totoro' being sold out, but this was before 'Spirited Away' became a crossover success, when most Studio Ghibli films weren't available on VHS in the west, so to see one at a cimea was a rare treat.

Anyhoo, I just came home and watched Depeche Mode '101' on BBC iPlayer instead.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01bywst/

There are a few things that stand out in this film, things I can't imagine many other bands as big as DM would allow. It's quite candid (at one point we see Dave Gahn pottering about in his knickers) and there's not a lot of posturing by the band. They all come across as genuinely nice guys, and are just being themselves. Mind you, this is at a point just before the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll lifestyle kicks in around the time of 'Violator' and beyond. However it also can't be said that they are fresh faced innocents, new to the world of pop music and relentless touring. By this point Depech Mode had already been going for nearly ten years, more than enough time for a band to become cynical and corrupted.

Also a large chunk of the film's focus is given to a bunch of fans who won a competition to hop on a tour bus and follow the band round the country to some of their concerts. This suggests to me a level of modesty abscent from other stadium filling acts of the day. Though you can see why other bands/film makers might shy away from the idea. This group of youths have the potential to be either boring or cringeworthy. Arguably they're neither. Most of them seem likable enough, and they're kind of interesting to watch in retrospect, as my brother pointed out they're like the protagonists of some lost John Hughes movie. Here they serve to draw us in, as (potentially) fellow fans of the band and when they get excited during the Rose Bowl finale (and when we see how pumped they are afterward) it reminds us of how exciting a big live music experience can be, and immediately you wish you were there. This longing to be there is helped by the fact that the music sounds fucking brilliant.

Perhaps the most startling thing about the film is how blunt everyone is about how much money they're making. This is something most bands would deffinately opt out of showing. There are scenes of people emptying boxes full of cash from merchandise sales and being in total disbelief as they count it. But rather than being disgusted by such a display, it doesn't feel like they're bragging about it, it's presented as a fact. The film makers are just documenting the reality and the band don't mind being honest about it.

Anyway I enjoyed this film and it's reminded me of how good DM's music is.

Just recently re-discovered the Paradise Don't Come Cheap album by New Kingdom. I used to love this.



Remember when Hip Hop was great? When it was commercially viable AND had artistic merit. Hip Hop was social commentary you could party to. Even when rappers talked about making money in records it had a deeper meaning because those artists were hungry. The rappers that are making money now are the music establishment and it feels like they are just rubbing their wealth in your face. Dre and Timberland have a lot to answer for. Can't remember the last time I bought a new rap album. I'm sure there's good stuff out there, but even the stuff I hear that may be a bit underground or different just doesn't have the same impact for me. We seem to be treated to one or two decent "Urban" artists a year, but Hip-Hop used to be so vibrant and varied, there was almost too much good stuff coming out between the mid 80's and late 90's to keep up with. I have been enjoying these though.





Looking forward to checking out the new M.I.A. album. The last one had a brilliant first single but the rest of the album was dissapointing, hopefully this new offering wont follow suit.

30 years ago last year AIDS began spreading and killing thousands upon thousands of people around the world. This documentary tells the stories of some of San Francisco's residents during the outbreak of AIDS in the 80s.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01b65lr/


It's pretty heavy and left me emotionally drained after watching it. It's very interesting and it's very tastefully put together, it doesn't feel exploitative. You really feel like the film has been made with great respect for the people who died during the epidemic and everyone involved tells their stories with dignity. It's both amazing and horrifying to here accounts of how one of the most open and liberated gay communities in the world was attacked by a mysterious new virus that seemed to come from nowhere. The cast's recollections from first noticing that there was something happening, and slowly becoming aware of this new killer, to watching the epidemic blow up to monstrous proportions is chilling, and the images evoked are like those of some apocalyptic horror movie. It's almost unbearable to think about and impossible to imagine how it must have been for the people of this community to watch as so many of their friends and neighbors died around them from something they knew very little (or in the early days, nothing) about. It reminds us of how dangerous ignorance can be, meaning the lack of information available to the people trying to fight and survive the virus, but also extending to the bigotry of the US government and their failure, during the early stages, to form a sensible and progressive plan of action.

There are many poignant moments in the film which provide food for thought, some dark and depressing but some very much uplifting and inspiring. There is a happy ending of sorts. AIDS is still with us and still killing, but by the end of the film we have learned of how the gay community of San Francisco came together and inspired communities all across America and the wider world to fight not just the virus itself, but also the complacency of governments, and the ignorance of bigots.

http://wewereherefilm.com/

Hello everyone out there in internet land. My first post and I have no idea what to write. I don't really have a game plan for this thing yet so I'll leave it at Hello right now.