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Sunday November 09, 03
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11:53 AM - Up Close and personal
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Current listening:
The Mo-dettes: White Mice(7" single).
Recent viewing:
Brookside, Last Ever Episode(Channel 4).
And so we bid farewell to Britain's greatest ever soap. It was a truly sad moment on Tuesday to watch the credits roll for the last time. To anyone who grew up in the 80s, Brookside was a major cultural event, an 'issues based' soap-opera. Brookside was part of my school days, my adolescence and my adulthood. It was far and away the greatest programme Channel 4 ever created and pissed all over all contenders(Eastenders, Hollyoaks, Family Affairs and especially the lamentable and downright awful Coronation Street).
Right from the off it tackled problem issues with gusto and unflinching drama. Conceived at the nadir of the Thatcherite era, it tackled full-on such issues as bullying, the miners strike, drugs, rape, family loyalty, domestic violence, cults, homosexuality, murder, violent crime, date-rape and incest.
It also plays a huge part in Morrissey/Smiths-lore; Morrissey made his 'acting' debut in the Damon & Debbie offshoot 'South'; Morrissey appeared on The Tube with Margi Clark and Shelagh O'Hara(who played Karen Grant) and asked Shelagh if he could have two parts in Brookside; at one of the recent London concerts Morrissey paid tribute to the late Katrin Cartlidge(who played Lucy Collins) who died tragically young just last year; and one of Morrissey's friends and acolytes, Sean Duggan, became a main scriptwriter for the show, even naming one of the characters Suzannah Morrissey.
The final episode saw the residents take violent and sinister retribution against the local drug-dealer, and in a poignant moment Barry Grant(the only surviving member from the first ever episode) is seen heading off to avenge the killing of his brother Damon 15 years ago.
Brookside was like Shakespeare in a world of Ben Eltons, and it's fantastic writing and impassioned acting(Ricky Tomlinson, Paul Usher, Dean Sullivan, Sue Johnstone take a bow) will be missed.
As the final credits rolled for the last time, Jimmy Corkhill winked to the camera and the epitaph 'The End Of An Era' appeared on screen. That says it all.
Farewell Brookside, you will be missed.
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Thursday October 30, 03
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10:58 AM - When Irony Wears Thin
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Current Listening; The Smiths: Unloveable(bootleg CD)
Standout track: Unloveable(live soundcheck), I dont know why they never performed this live for the soundcheck version is truly gorgeous. Morrissey's voice has SO much more passion and melody here than on the official version. This actually happens a lot, his vocals are often far more melodic and enthusiastic live than on the official studio versions. Take any live version of 'Heaven Knows...' as an example, in some live versions the vocals soar and sound majestic, yet on the single they are notoriously flat in places. I think this is because Morrissey finds the studio a very tiresome place, and some of the vocal takes are after several run-throughs. Live, he has one chance to hit it and the enthusiasm from the performance always brings out that little bit extra.
Recent Viewing: Threads(BBC4). I hadn't seen this since they originaly showed it in 1984, when I was at school. This drama concerning Britain pre and post-Nuclear War is a very sobering viewing experience indeed. The scenes pre-Nuclear strike show a world(or a country rather) losing control as fear is replaced with panic and it becomes clear that unthinkable is now inevitable. The scenes of the actual Nuclear strikes occuring suffer from budget-related amateurishness, but the scenes of Britain following the attacks and descending into the long Nuclear Winter are some of the grimmest in televisual history. A constant stream of open infected wounds, perpetual spewing and people of all ages writhing in flesh-burned and radiation-poisoned agony is made all the more horrifying in that the entire thing is filmed on Super-8 cine-film. The downer ending(like there was going to be any other kind) has a girl giving birth to a deformed(we imagine) baby. This should be repeated every year as a warning, and it certainly pisses all over American TV's 'The Day After'.
Current Celebdaq Status: 39,045. My highest position to date. Shows what investing in a few old media-whores can acheive. Although buying shares in McCartney the very night before Heather gives birth was a stroke of genius/luck.
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Thursday October 23, 03
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09:56 AM - One chord wonders
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Current Listening; The Smiths: 'Unloveable' bootleg CD.
Standout track(so far): This Night Has Opened My Eyes(from TV show Y.E.S. 9th February 1984).
Recent Viewing:
The Secret Policeman(BBC1): extraordinary documentary in which journalist Mark Daly went deep undercover to expose racists within the Greater Manchester Police Force. PC Rob Pulling shamed every decent white person in this country with his increasingly repugnant views and actions; donning a KKK hood and threatening to beat up an Asian colleague, claiming that Stephen Lawrence's killers should be given diplomatic immunity and that Lawrence's parents are "a pair of f#cking spongers", boasting that he would, if necessary, kill an Asian, praising Hitler, voting for the British National Party etc. This was a truly remarkable and eye-opening programme, the repercussions of which will probably go on for some time.
Henry VIII prt2: "Oi! Tudor, shaht your mahff you sleg".
Mark Thomas, Debt Collector(Channel 4): As it stands, Iraq currently owes several global conglommerates £383 Billion in debts. Or rather, deposed(possibly deceased) despot Sadamm Hussein owes them. But the large organisations(think of any 5 huge companies and it will be them) want their cash and are currently in the process of stripping the allready impoverished Iraqi people of all their assets. Have they not suffered enough!!! Political activist and arch satirist Mark Thomas reveals how the companies wouldn't exactly miss the money if they never received it. And surely the lesson is "Dont do business deals with tyranical dictators". Tough shit, you lost your money, boo-hoo. Thomas went around London naming and shaming(on camera) those who refuse to budge. His message is clear: Cancel The Debt. Let the ordinary people of Iraq rebuild their (ahem) liberated country.
R.I.P: Elliot Smith.....we'll miss misery.
Current Celebdaq Position: 53,776. Not a good week, cant get out of the 50,000's. It's all Blaine's fault. All my other investments are suffering because of this tosser.
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Friday October 17, 03
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05:16 PM - Out of the races and onto the tracks
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Current listening: Public Image Ltd: Metal Box
Stand-out tracks: Death Disco(aka Swan Lake); Careering; Poptones.
Recent viewing: Henry VIII Part 1.
Given Ray Winstone's usual displays of polemic turmoil and rage, this was an oddly meatless and toothless performance. A strange decision to play the ruthless monarch as a troubled and consciencious sort.
Maybe part two will be better.
Current Celebdaq position: a paltry 56,409. I've dropped nearly 17,000 places in 7 days. Rubbish!!! Time for a new strategy.
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