Neoliberalism

There is a lot of talk at the moment about how Aer Lingus are no longer running flights from Shannon to Heathrow. The good folk of Limerick in particular seem a bit excited about it. God bless them, wait till they hear about how Iarnród Eireann's forthcoming cancellation of rail links to the city, which is likely to combine with the scheduled bus moratorium and army roadblocks to make leaving the city somewhat difficult.

I am a bit more upset to discover that Aer Lingus are no longer flying from Dublin to Bristol, and no one else seems to go there bar stinky Ryannair. It looked like this would make travelling to Christmas ATP somewhat difficult, but then my clever beloved pointed out that Aer Lingus do at least still fly to Birmingham, and it seems to take less time to get from Birmingham International to Taunton than it did from Heathrow to Rye. I am not entirely convinced by this, but then English geography was never my strong point.

Birmingham International is a great retro future airport. It has this amazing faux maglev monorail thing to bring you 50 feet from the airport to the train station. Deadly.

Links update!

I've added in some new links to other blogs. And I've sorted them alphabetically, so it is much harder to see which ones are new.

I tried to change the layout of Inuit Bikini Scarlet Carwash, but it was too difficult.

The Sixth Doctor

I bet you are wondering when I am going to finish running through the Sixth Doctor's stories.

Have you ever seen the Alps from a plane?

I went to see that George Clinton and P-Funk All-Stars recently (using recently in a somewhat flexible and cavalier manner). As you know, Clinton is the guy behind Parliament and Funkadelic, making him at least partially responsible for adding a wigged out mentalness to funk music. This was my second time seeing him. As with the last time, there was a degree of confusion as to which of the gentlemen on stage was Mr Clinton (with the guy in the nappy or the somewhat dishevelled street drinker look-a-like who came in later being two strong candidates), but eventually when the funny haired man himself joined us ambiguity was laid to rest.

The concert had good and bad features. All told, the band went on a bit – they kept me up well past my bedtime, meaning that I was not on top of my game at the important meeting I had the next day. Part of this going on a bit stemmed from not all the songs played being brilliant. This, though, called to mind the comment by someone (Eoghan? Dermot? Jazzy Geoff?) many years previously, when other p-funker Bootsy Collins came to town – basically, the live show needs its longeurs to replicate the strange and unsatisfying pieces that separate the good tracks on the records. Maybe so. The other bad thing about the concert was the number of chatty event people who showed up. I found myself stuck near two talkers while the sublime 'Maggot Brain' was being played, meaning that the platonic ideal guitar solo was disrupted for me by people talking about how great 'Maggot Brain' had been last time they had seen Clinton. Thanks guys.

But the good stuff was great. All the event people in the world can't spoil 'Maggot Brain'. And the All-stars generally, when they hit the groove, were awesome. Part of the fun with them of course was how many of them there were onstage and how oddly attired so many of them were; the stage resembled Rick Santorum's concession speech in this regard, and I did catch a glimpse of the Crying Eagle and Lizard King joining the band briefly. So you could not beat it as visual spectacle. They played several songs I recognised, Parliament-Funkadelic classics all, but the tune that has wormed itself indelibly into my mind is one apparently from the All-Stars' most recent album, sung by the better of the two lady singers present (accompanied by Clinton). It had a great rolling beat of an almost glam rock fashion, and research suggests it might be called 'The Sexy Side of You' (though I remember it as 'You're Making Me Wonder', so maybe they should release it as a single called 'The Sexy Side of You (You're Making Me Wonder)'). DISCLAIMER: While I am saying that I enjoyed this song in the live context, I am not saying that I like it more than other P-Funk classics, nor that I fancy acquiring the record on which it appears.

I should also mention Clinton's preternaturally attractive granddaughter, who came on for one song and rapped serviceably in a Betty Boo styleeee.

So yeah, deadly stuff. Mike my funk the P-funk.

everything everything everything

I have been thinking in terms of going to the forthcoming concert by UNDERWORLD which is taking place, I believe, in the Tripod on the 4th October. Maybe I will find the wherewithal to really get into the music. Oh the nostalgia.

Police Dog Saves Woman

Jake is three year old Alsatian who works with the Northumbria Police. He recently saved a woman's life by finding her in bushes, in which she had collapsed, just an hour after she was reported missing.

"The fact the woman was found so quickly undoubtedly saved her life," remarked PC Alistair Cairnie-Coates, who works with Jake. "Jake knew he'd done well because he sensed the sheer feeling of relief that we all had when this woman was eventually located."

Jake lived in animal rescue centre before joining the police force. He had originally been found as a seven week old puppy, tied to a lamppost after having been abused by fireworks.

More: Police dog saves collapsed woman

Old Story

Back in 2002, an unnamed labrador-alsatian cross fell into the River Tees in Middlesbrough. The dog got into difficulties, and seemed likely to be about to drown. Passers-by were horrified, and seemed unable to help.

But then a seal appeared, and helped the dog to the shore. The seal, and two of its friends, then watched the dog on the shore until the fire brigade arrived to look after him. "It was just like the dog had a guardian angel", reported eye witness Chris Hinds.

More on this story, including a stock image of a seal: Seal saves drowning dog

Black Cross

I've been listening to the JUSTICE album a lot lately, especially on vinyl sunday. It is totally awesome. I will review it properly in due course, but for now I say acquire it as soon as possible so that you can be cooler than your loser friends.

As you know, JUSTICE are the people who remixed Simian's rubbish 'Never Be Alone' into the totally brilliant 'WE! ARE! YOUR FRIENDS!'

Best Film Title Ever

Django Nudo und die lüsternen Mädchen von Porno Hill

It is a sequel (of sorts) to Django. I'm not sure where it fits into Django continuity with the 100 other sequels.

Apparently Takashi Miike is remaking Django with an 11th century Japanese setting, Yojimbo/A Fistful of Dollars style.

Good Dog Protects Swimmers

Bilbo the Dog is a Newfoundland who works on Cornish beach of Sennen, helping swimmers who get into difficulty and making sure people stay away from dangerous currents. Tourist Lein Snippe was threatening to go swimming in a deceptively dangerous stretch of water when Bilbo came to the rescue, swimming in front of her and doing his best to keep her out of the water. "Basically he was telling me 'don't do it'," the BBC reports Ms Snippe as saying.

Newfoundlands like Bilbo apparently have a natural talent for rescue work. Bilbo works as part of a team with a number of humans.

Bilbo advises visitors to Sennen to always swim between the flags.