the newest season of the thick of it has started on the beeb. i cannot be more excited.

nick griffin went on the beeb today. it didnt go over well for him. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8321157.stm
watch the second video. wouldve been there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJFDD5klLvA&feature=player_embedded

the black keys are making a hip hop album, with mos def and other great people. does this sound awesome or what?

to polanski {the toast of the town}

why did they wait until now? i couldnt even guess.




appropriate. great scottish band.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/opinion/25krugman.html

im proud of my $29 power bill last month.

yes please.

walkmen tomorrow.



think i may go see them tuesday, for the fourth time..

another tour please


banksy is on this too. wiki if necessary

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/movies/13darg.html?hp

The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future from Los Campesinos! on Vimeo.

philip roth doesnt play the flute

quick one.

was watching gangs of new york, the fife and drum music they play going into the fights. actors on screen are all street kids (white, nan gaidhael). the soundtrack is othar turner and the rising star fife and drums. very much black and very much old. one of those important guys no one ever knew about, those are the ones who live the longest too arent they? 94.

spoiler alert:was talking about the human stain.



been listening to a lot of him recently, and the carolina chocolate drops+joe thompson

kickin it 2004 style. back to school tomorrow. forgot to call to turn on the power/water. maybe id rather it be that way. in due time. town hall meeting this week. i hope for fireworks.



another oldie.

did anyone read that story about dylan that came out this week?

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/14/arts/AP-US-People-Bob-Dylan.html?scp=6&sq=dylan&st=cse

being

new dave eggers out about katrina.

i got nothing else but dread. im never sure if i like its familiarity.

hahahaa

http://wonkette.com/410351/sell-out-your-friends-and-lovers-to-the-white-house-enemies-list#more-410351

Lol ken layne and jim newell are in obama's goon squad

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6738969.ece

lol

have noticed that krugman,et al. in their respective columns have noted (not positively) nearly every s.c. rep/senator (sans clyburn) over the last few weeks on healthcare. every point they (reps/senators) have made have not only been in my opinion wrong, but more importantly based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the bill in committee.

or i wonder, is it they understand the bill perfectly (as they undoubtedly do) but realise that their respective constituencies stand no chance in hell of even trying to understand the content (to the reps personal gain)? certainly, because it sthe way our system works. hedge your bets..

and they are saying 'this bill is too complex, blah blhah. is it? well certainly, but could it be any more confusing than our defense spending bills (which in truth fund very little of the meaty stuff of the pentagon's spending , as thats all done with secrecy). and in fact, its pretty clear if you read it.....

how can it be socialism if in creating a separate government-run insurance entity to operate within the market you in fact CREATE COMPETITION amongst insurance companies bargaining for customers? lowering costs, while covering more individuals.

we can sum this up with some godard- 'to be or not to be? thats not really a question.'

and now the real stuff.

from our friends kieran hebden/fourtet/william bevan/burial (are they really different, etc,etc, did that blog a year or so back on that)

heart break is thom yorke writing songs for twilight 2. come on thom, watch true blood.

http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/movies/24loop.html?hpw

saw this one over there. FOTY 'film of the year'.

THIS IS AWESOME

via this american life

after tomorrow. it was a good a run. back to

http://www.thestate.com/sanford/story/839350.html

coleridge or dime store erotica or what?

whatever it isnt, its good.

this is too bat shit crazy. neo liberal governor with argentinian mistress. its like an accurate portrayal of the 1970s!

where in the world was mark sanford

so this has been fun

When asked why his staff said he was on the Appalachian Trail, Sanford replied, “I don’t know.”

Sanford later said “in fairness to his staff,” he had told them he might go hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

at least ill have this to come back to. i guess he was hanging out with viola's crowd.

Sanford said he was alone on the trip. He declined to give any additional details about what he did other than to say he drove along the coastline.

"I don't know how this thing got blown out of proportion," Sanford said.

REallly

Record Club: Velvet Underground & Nico 'Sunday Morning' from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

beck

nae much time here in salzburg. the week in praha was maybe a very defining moment, especially given the paradigm. ill be going back for a while longer a bit later. no direction home has started playing, which doesnt symbol an end.

around there for a while. back when im back.

no new news in about an hour. we'll see

http://isgordonbrownstillprimeminister.com/

keep track here.

brown out by wednesday

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8084290.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/04/gordon-brown-purnell-polly-toynbee

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/get-gordon-the-backbench-rebels-with-a-single-cause-1697309.html

http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13768362&source=features_box3

a tragic hero he is not, but when did the captain ever let the first mate take the wheel of a sinking ship? and for good reason.

labour becomes even more of a farce. not even the guardian gives them editorial support as of today. why are the lib dems not walking away with this?

a class as pass/fail-the break line like watching jack nicholson chase lines of coke around a hotel room.

character for a book-obsessive classifieds reader, other details. mathieu amalric for the film adaptation.

darklight only between 1030 and 330 is great, it must be in recognition of my most, (but often admittedly post) productive hours. how ill miss this.

i watched some episodes of generation kill again today, which led to no end in sight, which led to why we fight, which led to gunner palace (docus). 6 years ago feels like yesterday still, but at the same time its so far removed. it was all so different then. the bad reality show is ending there, but i miss being the antagonist. this thought has just conjured up images of palin in 2012, i retract my statement.

veckatimest is the best thing ive heard in ages, if 22 plays in 3 days is any indication.
bolano elevates himself above mcewan on the arbitrary 'best novelists' list. whether he is at the top or not, i cannot say. nonetheless it is significant.

im totally put off by the economy. bigger problems elsewhere. give paul krugman his money, im tired of reading about it all.

champions league final was gads but i cannae be bothered.


bolano 2666, the savage detectives

grizzly bear veckatimest

phoenix wolfgang amadeus phoenix

sheep

http://www.lacan.com/essays/?page_id=218

best in a while.

and now for something not too entirely different

http://www.ifc.com/dylan/

really hoping that the lib dems and greens can pick up 400 seats in commons. oh wait, they'll get theirs next week. so sick and so tired of this expenses mess. although these reactions have been priceless i'll have to say.

did you know:
blackwater doesnt go by that name anymore, they're Xe
erik prince resigned a month or so ago
and they left iraq today
or started to

http://xecompany.com/

who won this battle?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_S._Westhusing
anyone ever heard of this?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/09/world/africa/09pirate.html?_r=1&hp

thats what pirates want, libraries, and more of them. thank you imf/world bank for your generous and reasoned grant-giving.


the one guy talks like hes from bed-stuy.

the coast guard argument, the only logical solution to this since i started following the thing about a year ago.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-05-03/protest-fashions-from-paris/

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/05/03/us/AP-US-Edwards-Affair.html?src=twttwt=nytimes

shame.

we have a kitten now. mirror stage via the piano. always a fun spectator sport that.




more or less new. also more or less old.




i'm really into these guys. kind of have that british sea power feel to them, which is never a bad thing.

fish

if justice souter can be like that, i can be like that too. upon seeing the pictures of his house, i smiled and got the feeling i rarely get, the best one. the one that we might never get in a bad year and the one we get maybe three times in a good one. the editorial we of course.


dylan's 'highlands' from time out of mind, the aberdeen/highlands relationship by mention.

http://www.juno.co.uk/ppps/products/352434-01.htm

button

i watched the formula 1 today. bahrain something or another. absurd. the two youthful english bbc commentators, both with large mouths and wearing clashing pink shirts, 'we didn't plan it, if we'd have known we surely would have planned differently,' the other commentator, older, in blue, who struggled for airtime. odd, but not really. robert plant shirking an interview on the grid. eric clapton saying hes the biggest fan of formula 1, also on the grid. the crown prince high fiving all around. everyone approaching him casually. the way the bbc would change the lap indicator, the laps done/laps total thing, before the leader crossed the line. the way the pit crews don't forget to put bolts on and as a consequence, wheels stay on. i realise now that all (or enough) that matters in formula 1 happens behind closed doors, the race is a forgone conclusion, a technicality, shorther than you might think it to last too.






meiburg

now now

i have a twitter now http://twitter.com/thekettle
i do not have a facebook now

i have zizek as a friend, though its most certainly not him. i was drawn.

to not belong anywhere
to have a niche
to belong

swift?

.oh my.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8013709.stm

So give me a try at describing just how difficult it is
When you kinda love two girls to figure out which one you miss
Stumble away from your stairway with your perfume on my clothes
Well I kinda loved two girls but now I've kinda lost 'em both


avett brothers, theyve taken a long (4 year) crawl, but they have finally and officially cracked my top 10, that of course includes 50. and they're locals!

theres always a need

when you say nothing at all

for some reason i couldn't really think up what to say about 'arms like boulders,' though we don't realise that that is just as significant as saying 'something.' so in other words saying 'nothing' isnt really saying nothing at all.. actually there are a literally a million things about this topic. people levy this charge against seinfeld, that it is a 'show about nothing.' really, how? but i digress, the relationship isn't quite the same. in saying nothing about this song, im really saying so much more. this song has too many disparate parts to make into an inclusive post (something i never accomplish, but strive for nonetheless).

i thought about pointing out how it is a quintessential springsteen song, or rather, more accurately, springsteen-esque; though i soon decided it was most certainly not a quintessential springsteen song, or rather, more accurately, springsteen-esque'.

that was actually the only battle i was having here i realise. a debate over an closed term that is actually open. and an open term that is actually closed.

so what i should have done was to just discuss the quintessential springsteen song and the springsteen-esque, but no one has used the two terms properly over the last thirty years so any attempt would be a botched abortion.

that all being said, what do i really think o fthe song. well i've already told you that.

''and so now---yeah you're looking for sweethearts''-sex
''and you're, you're the kind---but i won't take my body down''-morning after, its not night anymore
''let me tell you---from difference of opinion''-i would not date this girl
''there is a song---yeah there is no snow when you're looking for your answers''--they always change the channel when its on right
''and you're, you're the kind---but i won't take my body down''-oops, he did it again.
''And by the time they get your letter of explanation---Yeah nothing will stop it''-you're too late when you have to explain yourself, he obviously had his mind made up from the first line.(but the song was written post- all this, so he obviously did not have his mind made up.
''And you're, you're the kind to hide your eyes from the sun---You'll have to lay everything down''-bye

the war on drugs

i got this album a months ago, and i didnt like it all. now i do.

sometimes i work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq6SBMI_c28

i love the lyrics. i only have 20 minutes so i cant do a proper look over of this track yet, thatll be later today. may even do the whole album if you're lucky and i'm lucky. perhaps i should have just waited until then to even mention this. this is a teaser then.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grWTcdH7L1w

i might do something with this too.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/science/earth/18endanger.html?_r=1&hp


finally. the problem with a neutral civil service is that they couldnt do this 8 years ago.

in scotland we have these things called wind turbines, theyre nice.

to the club.

quickie

right so im on an all nighter and what not but i have to allow myself to be distracted, all to easily i fear.



ive always liked welch and rawlings. and even more so since ive been here. or maybe not more so but i certainly have listened to them a fair few times. its all petit a really, just globalized i suppose. i never thought i would miss barbecue and okra to such an extent, though i should have guessed. that feeling is undoubtedly more pronounced as a consequence of the scottish diet. missing peach season is going to be gutting too i think. the ability to properly isolate myself is another thing, the highlands are great for it, of course even better than what i can do in the southern appalachians, but it could never feel the same. but other than these things its hard to think up much else. living in a city is weird too. its too easy to track peoples comings and goings on the street. i might enjoy that too much, but its a two way street if you know what i mean. im not trying to be subtle here. it really is a two way street.



the new silversun pickups is good stuff, #2 in line for the new zizek. what else

ok back to it. in line with tradition ive pushed the upper limits of the word count 4000 words so far (5000 max) and have yet to start writing about fun stuff yet. i think my book is going to be a sequel to infinite jest or bolano's 2444. but if only in terms of length (scope).

navy seals are pretty good arent they

post-war

its often the case that when i am meant to be writing a paper (on devolution in scotland, if you care) that i get distracted and fall into thinking about something much more pertinent to the human condition.

there is an m ward song called 'post war'. we can listen to it together.




3,4 or 5 days ago i was in bastogne and foy, belgium. site of the battle of the bulge in world war 2. i think the line 'put a dollar in the machine and youll remember when' more or less serves as a thesis for what im going to be talking on, but of course im not guaranteed to finish on this thesis and in fact you should no expect it.

of course there are millions of battlefields on earth, in fact we might make a statement that the entire earth is one and ill let you make that case, so long as you let me focus in on the ardennes singularly (more or less). bastogne is the archetypal war site experience, for a tourist. you go, you see, you leave. it influences you for a day, no more. the violence has been removed entirely. yes there is a large monument, a sherman in the town square, now named mcaullife square after the 101st airbornes leader who refused to surrender the town, uttered NUTS, and tied up the entire german offensive, giving patton time to make it to the front. in fact, basically everything in town is named from a derivation of either macaullife or nuts or screaming eagle and it is tacky, quite. it is possible to make it through the town, looking hard for signs of the battle only to come up with nothing authentic. and this is the world's exposure to one of the most significant battles of the 20th century? yeah basically. you can buy a t-shirt though.

foy is a different story. within sight of bastogne, in the trees south of this hamlet was where easy company, (band of brothers) were stationed. and its here where something surreal happens. we (my belgian friend and i) walked from bastogne towards foy. it took 10 minutes to get there-that is 10 minutes from the city center of bastogne to the front. 10 minutes in any direction would have you reach the front, the germans were really that close in.

we were following a dirt track, created in the war and rarely used since, though it still remains a well worn track to follow. this was what the jeeps used to carry the dead and wounded from the front back to bastogne, and the little supplies that remained from bastogne up to the front. the track ends in the woodline, and its there that a recently erected and rarely visited monument, even given all their attention, to easy company. we went into the treeline, and then everything changed. rows and rows of foxholes, not deep enough to be used today, but at first glance you might not think that they were 55 winters old. i can think of no eerier moment in my life than that first sight of those foxholes. i know i stopped breathing and im not sure when i started again, and in all honesty all i wanted to do then and there was puke. ive been to places, from standing on the steps of the lincoln monument to the corner where jack the ripper cut someone up, and never have i felt as strongly affected as when i stood in those trees.

from out of the other end of the treeline, the hamlet of foy emerges, the company advanced on town as the siege was breaking. we followed the line that they took into the town, a half mile over exposed fields, though i found it impossible to imagine mg42 bullets flying beside me and artillery landing nearly on me, but maybe they were in the same trancelike state that i was in, i wouldnt be able to say.

foy has grown, now maybe it has 15 buildings instead of 9 and the road through it has grown substantially. nonetheless it is all that bastogne is not. every building from that stood in 1944 is still covered, absolutely covered rather, with bullet holes. i couldnt help but think that the man who's footsteps i was following in had been cut down 55 years ago. that feeling was inescapable and has not yet left.

what will happen when those foxholes fill in (50 years? maybe?) and those 9 houses are torn down as bastogne continues to grow? there will quite literally be nothing left. and there really is no answer, no choice but to let it fade, to dig the foxholes would be desecration. to shoot the new buildings would be,well, maybe not such a bad idea... but i digress. my views on monkey wrenching are well known. in essence, bastogne wins. i draw a similar parallel to the american revolution, was it in kings mountain or yorktown that the revolution was won? and what has become of yorktown today? there is a theme park and suburban encroachment. in kings mountain at least you can walk around unhindered.

it frightens me what has departed, and will soon depart our collective consciousness, if i can use that word and get away with it.

did i take a single picture? never, and how could you?





it is true though this. a characterization of war affects me, leads me to the site of the war, and then that actually changes me. existence wins.

hello update whatever have you

hi. ive covered some miles in the last few weeks. currently totaling how many miles exactly i noticed that in 4 days of trying to speak french (poorly) that for the time being my syntax in english has gone to shit. whatever. ill break the trip down, more for my sake than yours.


plane aberdeen to dublin. person sitting next to me (american that i had met 2 weeks prior) was amazed that i was able to point out what we were flying over. i wasnt, because google earth does that to you, and thats the problem (not really). the passion of flight is reduced by google earth, totally. this really is not a problem. dublin airport, like all european airports, is wildly inefficient. like heathrow, it has become too big for itself. the bandaids dont work. not my problem though. dublin has been destroyed. it has become a sick parody of itself. my 1 day with the americans (i had planned my solo trip, to find out 3 americans would be in dublin for the day i was there) was spent trying to avoid them in order to find joyce and beckett haunts and sight glen hansard. i was mildly successful. the one thing that dublin does well is to put these little placards up in places that joyce mentions in ulysses. thats ok. but dublin in itself has become piss. i left there for cork. irish countryside (county Tipperary) is nice, but not the best. not to mention i had that tune 'its a long way to tipperary' stuck in my head, as the meter fit with the train. so that was an interesting train ride.



tired of writing this so ill finish this some other time maybe. the good stuff is in my moleskine anyway, so dont worry.

hiya

whats new? not a whole lot. i leave next week for ireland, norway, denmark, the rhineland, a bit of holland and then belgium. 3 weeks or so of goodness. im doing it all solo too which im pretty excited about. worked on carbon neutrality a bit too which leaves me quite pleased.

my birthday weekend is over, i might say finally. quite good and all though but decadence, although relative, might need to be kept in check for one reason or another.

scotland is great, the deen is fine but the highlands are amazing. id really be perfectly content leading some anonymous life up there. i guess this is about the first time ive lived in a city proper, not really my thing but we already knew that. ive had insatiable cravings for fried chicken and fried okra the last week or so, grits especially. i also miss trees and clay. krispy kreme donuts. oh and bud light. beer pong. on the other hand there is scotch, which is basically Magic. materialistic longings aside, all is well.


im just seeing zizek is releasing two books over the course of a month. never any shortage of reading is there.?



oldie but goodie

http://www.wearephoenix.com/


i cannot convey my excitement. my guiltiest pleasure.

did anyone watch the oscars, i didnt cause i couldnt. but still. pretty flat this year all around. reader was good, slumdog was good and vicky christina was good, but there wasnt much out there with oscar potential. that is to say there were a lot of good films this past year. you read that right.

what else, hmm. its warming up here and it stays light til about 5. pretty soon itll be light til 1030 and up at 500, meaning that my solunar cycle will be completely backwards, as i tend to be awake so much longer when its dark out. sokay

aberdeen's finest

yes this place and its landlord very much do exist. more on that another time

just because im here, doesnt mean i dont pay attention to whats going on there. stimulus bill-republicans take advantage of Our Dear Leader by inserting tax cuts, which will not be solving anything any time soon, or even ever. i suppose we can call that postpartisan.

hello

its cold here

i like it

http://zeitgeistfilms.com/examinedlife/

the phenomenology of hope, de tocqueville revisted, etc

right, so i havent much time, packing etc. i can tell you some things though. i watched obamas train trip on cspan on the weekend. cspan because it was covering obama inside the train, not talking heads outside of it. (build a metaphor into the previous sentence). fascinating. the first time i think perhaps since ike that weve had a president who can truly connect on a 1-1 level with people. interesting conversations, oh youre from cleveland, i know i guy in cleveland, do you know him? turns out the lesbian couple did. etc etc. herein lies another issue. without a doubt the first president to pay any attention to lgbt rights, and it goes without saying this issue has not been addressed. tuesday will be moving (i will be liveblogging on wonkette.com, so tune in), obama has written his own speech. dunno when that happened last. etc etc. if we truly want change, its time to buy into it. we of course do not live in a county where such a thing is deemed appropriate nor effective so, we'll see nothing and have a new president in four years. the phenomenology of hope, redux. oh and watch closely, cause it might be a body double on tuesday. dunno what to watch for really.

on de tocqueville. oh the irony. of course it has been discussed so i will not. perhaps the man to stamp america's seal of approval was not the most appropriate. i saw simon sharma on pbs the other night, was half asleep, so i didnt catch all that i should have, but it was another one of those journey-around-america wankfests where they happen to fine the one black school with children allowed to achieve, the one native american community able to subsist, the one reformed blood able to keep his block off the streets, etc. its as if to say the election has retroactively solved all these problems that have plagued america since de tocqueville's time. no, sorry, nothing is suddenly better now. nor will it be unless we allow ourselves to work again. a financial sector should not, and as we've proved, can not, comprise a fifth of our economy. volunteer your ass. work for free every once and a while. it feels good.


what will he get done on wednesday?


white collar crime-how can stealing 50 billion dollars land you house arrest? ->burglary lands you a decade in jail.



a bit power poppy. but hes a mcsweeneys person, so represent.

there are two ways to bring the fuzz. 2008 was all about noiserock so heres a quicky. track then bring the fuzz. fuzz then bring the track. 1 is hipster, 2 is sellout.

mumpower

http://wonkette.com/405436/everyone-laugh-at-the-tennessee-republicans

An Idol; A Muse; and A False Prophet.---In which order?

right so i picked up a rolling stone the other day. tend to hate it, especially since they thinned it out and shrunk the pages. but this time i found quite a few talking points amongst the veritable crap. 1 an article on ray lamontagne 2 a piece on antony (and the johnsons) 3 an interview with Benecio del Toro.


but of course rolling stone are fascistic and none of these articles are available on line.

one speaks on the femininity of earth, and ties its defilement to male-domination.

one has won an academy award and been deserving of 7, but is undeniably ego-maniacal (though to his credit, this has allowed him to prognosticate with scarjo in an elevator)

the other is dylanesque. a curious background, an excellent songwriter, but with
a flawless ability to craft public opinion.

you can guess on the meaning of the title, draw some connecting lines between the 3 people and the 3 descriptions until i can get the articles. dont by rs cause its gash, just wait on me.

what we should watch

http://www.amctv.com/videos/the-prisoner-1960s-video/

amc is remaking this, but this is the original.

what mcgoohan said of the show. co creator/writer/star

I think progress is the biggest enemy on earth, apart from oneself… I think we're gonna take good care of this planet shortly… there's never been a weapon created yet on the face of the Earth that hadn't been used…

…We're run by the Pentagon, we're run by Madison Avenue, we're run by television, and as long as we accept those things and don't revolt we'll have to go along with the stream to the eventual avalanche… As long as we go out and buy stuff, we're at their mercy. We're at the mercy of the advertiser and of course there are certain things that we need, but a lot of the stuff that is bought is not needed…

…We all live in a little Village… Your village may be different from other people's villages but we are all prisoners."

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=ed01ed40-4a7b-4ce6-b98e-62da05e46bab

baer and

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=f555be7f-dd65-4941-bfa7-a5197b5e8bbe

levy

the vikings were in north america for 500 years 1000-1500 at least. jamestown was 401 years ago. spanish 100 years before that. natives for millenia. fuck whitey.

Banksy

Im assuming you guys know about the graffiti artist Banksy. If not, intro:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/banksy/pool/

and wiki

one nation under cctv.

im mapping out which ones i can take a look at while in london, not too surprised to see the more controversial ones are being whitewashed, given that councils are often puritanically ignorant and unsympathetic. however, i should have guessed that people are selling their walls after banksy paints them, ie taking down their wall, brick by brick, and selling it to galleries for a price 'worth their while.'

the black angel's death song

my visa came, only took 3 months of hair pulling.