Thursday, 9 December 2010
Advent day 9: Look, look it's santa's house
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Advent Day 8: Astro Claus
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Thursday, 24 December 2009
HAPPY CHRISTMAS
Friday, 18 December 2009
Advent 18: The Christmas Armistice on Hoth
Reports vary but it’s believed that early on 25th the laser cannons stopped firing and the Mighty AT-ATs ground to a halt and a strange quiet fell across the Ice plateaus of Hoth, a silence only broken by the distant cry of a Tauntaun.
And then after a few minutes lone figures started to move tentatively out into “no-man’s land” and walk slowly and careful across the snow. When they were a few yards apart they stopped seemingly stunned by what was happening and then one orange figure removed his glove and offered a hand to a white figure opposite him. Slowly they moved towards each other watched by a thousand cautious eyes and then their hands met and they shook hands and then embraced.
All along the front the same event was quickly repeated, soon former enemies where laughing and joking swapping holographs of sweet hearts and sharing flasks of synthi-mac and bites to eat. After a few minutes a game of football broke out played amongst the smoking wrecks of snow speeders and the helmets and worse of fallen comrades.
All the time no one believed it could happen and then regretfully as the sun slipped behind the peaks final hands where shaken and arms patted and perhaps one and last final swigs (from almost empty) flasks taken and slowly and regretfully (with the odd wistful backward glance) the former foes returned to their respective “sides” of that lonely desolate frozen plain.
This Christmas remember its good will to ALL men (even those cloned from Jango Fett!)
Let’s hope peace can break out everywhere both here and in a Galaxy far far away
And remember as always
Make Lego Not war.
Monday, 14 December 2009
Advent 14: Old Gold
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Advent 10: Last minute gift ideas?
I've been really good this Christmas I would like some Off road secure parking solutions and a Silver members unlimited multi user pass......
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Advent 9: It's that record again.
I saw this the other day in the Cancer research and couldn't leave it there, don't they look young and fresh faced!
The b-side "Don't blame me" is the loudest song ever recorded!
Here's Thea Gilmour's modern take on this theme That'll be Christmas as full of mdern yule as Noddy's was in it's time.
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Advent 6: The day Mary left Jesus on the bus....
Organised religion responsible for the original and best tat for 2009 years!
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Low light
Advent 2:
The ghostly winter sun
washes empty trees
giving them shape
NB: the picture is much better than it looks here click on it for best results!
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Advent day1: What I really don't want for Christmas
The return of the "well it keeps me off the streets exctiing photo series".
So what would you have on your cushion?
Thursday, 25 December 2008
Happy Christmas!
Dear all,Have a wonderful, peaceful and happy Christmas!
Thanks for all you comments, thoughts, links, jokes, tunes,clips, ideas, inspirations, diversions, laughs, tears,beers.......cheers!
Anyway have good one
all the best C xxx.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Advent Day 4:
Signs of the seasons: the shops are full of Knock Off Bailey's
I'm never entirely sure that the wise men didn't turn up to Mary & Joseph's gaff with some pringles, some screen wash and a bottle weird "cream" based liqueur.Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Advent day 3: Dolly and Kenny special
I do like this sleeve it's manic and festive and it's got a stuffed deer's head. The songs a bit 80's on the clip you have to put up with creaky acting for 2 mins before it kicks in. Anyway I think christmas at Dollywood last for 3 months so things could be worse.
Monday, 1 December 2008
Advent Day 2: Postcard from Swedish girls
Hot Swedish girls!
Well that’s got your attention, as part of a sort out I’ve been scanning photos and postcards and came across these jolly scamps.
Intriguingly it’s from “ the Swedish girls” “Sissi & Kirstin” who were sadly missing from my childhood Christmases, It’s shame I think they may have brightened up things even more!
Speaking of Sweden we must talk about pop and one of my lps of the year.
More Modern Short Stories From...
It’s by Hello Saferide. Which is Annika Norlin and some friends , she writes in a poppy rocky sort of way with some mid 80’s big music production like you’d find on Waterboys songs or similar. I think some people might find her singing affected in a mid-atlantic way, but well I like it.
Her songs are mix of personal and broader issues with details of her life eg losing your virginity, waiting for a new boyfriend to turn up, but with added depth for example in the song about her first time she exposes the awkwardness of such occasions and contrasts it with the dullness of her Saturday job in a shoe shop. It could all fall into deepest excesses of singer song writer confidential therapy records but the music and wit save it. Also being Swedish there’s a hint of chill in the air making ideal for this time of year.
The best songs are "Anna" about those a parallels lives we might have lived. and "Arjeplog" (it’s a little town in Northern Sweden) a lovely love song perfect to listen to whilst you imagine that those flakes are floating down.
So maybe one for stocking fillers
Her’s her Xmas song Ipod christmas. Over at the excellent Swedesplease
and there's song over here
Little Drummer Boy
There's no getting away from it now Christmas will be here soon enough so I'm dusting off the advent calendar to celebrate this enjoyable if occasionally annoying season.
Little Drummer Boy Year 2
Advent Day1: I blame my parents they always encourage us as kids to make Christmas and birthday cards and the habit sort of stuck. So after a few years of making music compilations I was running out of good Xmas tunes and struck on the idea of making a Xmas film. I'd always liked Lows Yuletide EP and after seeing a drummer boy clockwork toy worked up the idea of him being chased by a killer robot initially across a number of famous London venues but eventually settled for things I could make in flat out of tinfoil and wrapping paper. It took a few nights to make mainly because I was using my cheap stills digital camera which could only record a few minutes of film before I had to transfer the shots to my borrowed laptop. Then using Microsoft movie maker I edited it. The whole thing if you excluded the cost of the borrowed laptop and the camera cost around £30 quid in clockwork toys, baubles and tangerines!
Broadcast yourself
When I made it in 2005 YouTube wasn't around (or if it was wasn't well know) so I spent some more evenings burning 20 or so cd's to send out to my family and friends as cards. They all seemed to enjoy it. That was that until last year by which time YouTube had grown to in effect the 6th TV channel in Britain and so I up loaded it.
I have to admit I was pleased after a day or so that 20 or 40 people had watched it, this quickly turned to 100's and by the end of January 20,000. It's many times more popular than any other of my films due mainly to the popularity of the tune.
I do find it thrilling that a film you make literally in your bedroom (mines a studio flat!) can be seen by a fair sized football crowd. Of course I doubt if many of the viewers have watched it all but even so they seen 30 seconds of my film. In fact this does raise an interesting idea if I was making it now would you change it? The opening scenes where meant to be a montage of
Christmassy things which would introduce the theme and it takes almost a minute it introduce the main characters of the drummer boy and the robot so maybe if I were re-cut it for YouTube I would literally cut to the chase a bit quicker, but you know what I'm not going to mainly because editing stuff is time consuming and fiddly but also the film fits the song and if some bored Danish teenagers tunes out before the main scenes more fool them!
IMHO
Talk of the audience brings me to the comments underneath; it's not new to say that YouTube comment posts don't show humanity at our best. Even the gratefully received positive ones are less than flattering being the usual "lol" "cool film" variety, the others fall into the cultural differences column with discussion of why there's tangerine in film.
The is also usual boastful pride filled evangelical nonsense as the god botherers storm in as, as the song is religious we get lots of random blessing that and Jesus stuff plus over literal analysis of the song i.e. did Jesus play the drums?
Lastly up is the abuse usually saying how bad the film or that they hate Jesus or Christmas.
I'm not saying the negative stuff doesn't affect me I just don't know why anyone would bother that much, I've seen hundreds of poor film on YouTube but rarely feel need to abuse the maker (or more likely poster) one guy (ivcam1021) recently told me to "next time ask a pro" . Which I didn't understand "ask a pro" what? How to make films but YouTube is all about broadcasting yourself it's about amateur film making or maybe he's a pro and I should email him when I want to film a radar tower and stick some electronica over the top! One thing I will guarantee is that anyone on YouTube who leaves a negative comment if you follow their name tag back to their profile won't have made any films of their own and are effectively anonymous, this sort of thing happens a lot less on flickr where if you slag off someone's snaps there's a good chance they'll swing by you page and could have something pithy to say about your collection of pics.
On the whole I think it's all funny really why do people think anyone gives a toss what some misanthropic teenager in Denmark thinks about a song written by some slow speaking Mormon stuck on a film about clockwork toys by a slight obsessive bloke from Yorkshire.
DO IT YOURSELF
anyway my films out there and it looks like because it's a Christmas film it will be watched for years to come all things being equal, already this Christmas 3 or 4 thousand views have clicked on it which brings us back to positive note on which to end.
If you have an idea and small amount of money you can make film and if it's any good people will watch, people however odd all over the world will see your film which is frankly very cool so happy advent I'm off to check my viewing counter one more time.
Monday, 24 December 2007
HAPPY CHRISTMAS
Here in the northern bit of the planet it’s dark most of the time which leads to retrospection, It’s apt to count your blessings at this time of year :
I started the year with less than positive prospects but have steered away from that hopefully and am in calmer waters ready to strike out to something better next year.
For all their help, love and support, I would like to thank a few people; obviously my family who have put up with me for quite a while now for which I am eternally grateful. My friends I would like to thank for their care, and especially this years for buying me drinks and just putting up with my gitishness.
I would also like to thank everyone online too for adding more fun, music, humour, random rage and good old fashion ideas to life, especially Miss woo, R&S, Ally, PM, DH oh and D&B plus many others who have entertained and inspired me.
So whether you kneel before a god or bow to no one, whether your are a rocker or a mod, an Durannie or Spandie, whether you dress to left or to the right and even those who can’t curl their tongues, have a great Christmas and a peaceful & exciting new year and hey let’s be careful out there and if you are going to Glossop put your money in your sock……. oh and don’t eat the yellow snow…….
Yours as ever BLTP
Sunday, 23 December 2007
signs in the east
Ooops forgot all these pics of Yule related places in London I scanned in, enjoy! My film camera was playing up hence the quality of some of them.
Saturday, 22 December 2007
A message from across the pond....
Wednesday, 19 December 2007
I wasn't a miner....but I know a man who was
It’s Billy Bragg's 50th birthday today
On the sad news of Tony Wilson’s death a few months ago I mentioned that I have several foot of records he inspired, well the other artist with a high footage is Billy Bragg.
It’s Bills birthday today the DEC 20th and he’s 50, which means I’ve been a fan for 25th years (there are too many high numbers in this last sentence).
This machine kills Fascists
Much like Factor
y I’m not sure where to start; as I’ve said before BB was the first proper concert I went to see along with New Order. It was anti-apartheid gig in Sheff and it was great.Next day I wore my “Soweto Don’t Mourn Mobilise” t-shirt to 6th form, I was stopped by a old gaffer in the street, who pointed out “tha alreet wearin’ that arand ‘ere, flower”. He may have had a point, but that sort of protest was in the air, recently a small band of us had listened to a frozen South African trade unionist round the back of the old court house and then had marched on Barclays. Just a few weeks earlier The Miners strike had just come to it’s bitter end, older friends at Uni were joining the peace camps at Greenham common. This is where Billy came in (and where for good or ill some people still place him) his first ep’s where a great mix of Punk and working peoples songs; I played his first single to death with its picture on the front of kids eating their jam tomorrow.
However what the media etc don’t mention having only taken a snap shot of BB is what he’s like live. In the 20 plus times I’ve seen him I’ve never seen a bad gig, often he’s the best thing on the bill (sorry!). The word raconteur gets over used but that’s what BB is, he’s perfectly aware he’s there to entertain and tells stories and jokes between songs, takes the piss out of other bands but mainly himself. He’ll tease his audience and point out the humorous side of the sometimes po-faced Union/socialist axis. He will also make serious points, normally about some forgotten local issue or sticky national campaign and because he’s won us over, what would be a lecture in the hands of Bono or what’s his name James Martin from Coldplay is just a serious and thoughtful counter point to the jokes about Blur eating kebabs.
Young and wild and warm and free
It’s almost a cliché to point out that he also writes loves songs, but it’s true some of his best work is about the day to day joys and lows of living from the redemptive power of soul music (Levi Stubbs Tears) to bereavement.
Here in no particular order are some of his highlights:
Best song about not having a snog at the school Christmas disco:
Saturday Boy.
Best song about losing your dad:
Tanks park salute.
Best song about a British road
A13_trunk road to the sea.
Best song to mention a cheese pavilion
Waiting for the great leap forward
Best song about astronauts
The space race is over
One of the best versions of Jerusalem
Jerusalem.
So Bill happy birthday and thanks for everything.
I was going to post a song but didn’t know where to start so here’s a jolly clip from a couple of Glastonbury’s ago. Sadly I think I went to see Mozzer instead (to whom Bill alludes) but here BB shows that socialists aren’t all worthy yoghurt weavers enjoy!
La Lucha Continua!
Here's a mad fan mash up