ON THE TURN .

Friday, June 03, 2005

i'm undertaking what feels like a grand tour of yorkshire, job- and house-hunting in addition to my regular primary activity of lying down, reading and playing music. hence my lack of posts.

and my pissed/pissed off state of mind can hopefuly excuse the shite i posted on here last. in all that tripe, there was the odd kernel of a decent idea. honest.

so prior to the cup final dissapointment, i was having a cracking weekend.

my girls aloud tickets had been kept safe with valuable items like my interpol and patrick wolf ones, as well as less valuable ones such as my passportfor what felt like forever.

so if nothing else, the chance to clear space in my ~~shelf by the stairs~~ safe hiding place, was more than welcome.

the gig-going party, wasn't quite as planned, with folk dropping out due to other commitments, which was something of a shame. not least because after getting in touch with quite literally every person i know in sheffield, i couldn't shift the last ticket for love nor money. [shame on the people of sheffield for being unwilling to change their friday night plans at the very last minute]

the gig was, at the very least, an odd experience. my first bona-fide pop gig, i wasn't expecting so many children. to be fair, i'm not too sure they were expecting the likes of me, judging by some of the looks i got- of which, more later.

obviously there was the overpriced merchandise. which i obviously bought a shedload of. and overpriced booze. ditto.

thus laden, we staggered to our seats. which, given my credit-card crisis of late december/early january, were at the very back ofthe arena. this considered, they were rather good. and gave us easy accses to an impropmtu dancefloor.

kute, the first support act- mighty impressive, after a bit of a creaky start. considering a] no-one had even vaguely heard of them, b] they two were two on a massive stage, they were great. if i find it/remember it exists, the single will be added to my collection.

cookie, the main support act, were less impressive, but not-all-that-bad-when-it-comes-down-to-it. at least they were in a simmilar vien to girls aloud, therefore didn't stick out too much.

by this point, i'd probably bored all around senseless blathering on about the girls, in the most annoying pedantic manner, so it was just as well the lights dropped once more.

what surprised me most, was the screaming.

i didn't think i'd have gotten that exited...

great set, nothing to major missed out, great sound, live band (noodling around prince guitar solos- can't recall which- during the far too long and frequent costume changes), fantastic performances, lots and lots of nice touches.

dancing, big, bearded and in a jacket with elbow patches, i probably didn't look like i belonged at that gig. but that didn't explain the strange looks i got off of the pre-teens. probably jealous, i guess.

why write about this gig more than any other before, probably?

a bit bored.

why trail off prematurely?

ditto.
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:38 PM (44) comments

Comments:

Am super curious to find out the name o ff the man who apearsin Gen Stefani's video Cool and of all search engines available, nobody seems able to answer my question I never felt let down my google before this!

# posted by

Anonymous : 4:27 PM

I skim a lot of blogs, and so far yours is in the Top 3 of my list of favorites. I'm going to dive in and try my hand at it, so wish me luck.

It'll be in a totally different area than yours (mine is about laser hair removal nyc) I know, it sounds strange, but it's like anything, once you learn more about it, it's pretty cool. It's mostly about laser hair removal nyc related articles and subjects.

# posted by

Smallman : 5:18 AM

I am looking everywhere for shoes store and shoes store, while doing so I somehow stumbled onto your shoes store blog. I am happy to say I learned something and will look into this further...

Thanks for the great posts...

jon

# posted by

jon : 7:13 AM

Hi, I like your blog!. I have a blog about indiana used camper.
Stop by and check it out sometime at indiana used camper

# posted by

blogdollar2 : 11:12 AM

I really enjoyed all the great information on your **keyword** blog.
It reall is about time I started my own. I will be linking
it from my website about body hair removal Would love to know what you think.

# posted by

Anonymous : 8:55 PM

Hi,

I liked your blog. I found many interesting information here.
I also give free info about exchange home link theater. You can seen it on my exchange home link theater site.

If you have time please visit my web site to get some free exchange home link theater information.

Kind regards,
Nick

# posted by

Cyber Financial Corporation : 7:42 AM

Hello!
I find this blog very interesting and I will come back often.
In the meantime I can recommend wedding column decoration
This is a directory of all You need to find out about wedding column decoration.
So please, don´t miss this opportunity to find out all You need to know in one place.
wedding column decoration

# posted by

Anonymous : 3:28 AM

Cool blog you have. I have a easy flute clarinet duets
related site. Check it out if you get a chance. The URL is easy flute clarinet duets

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:00 AM

For custom shoes and more visit air jordans retro 13. The best spot for air jordans retro 13 and more! visit http://www.igotkicks.com/?ref=6

# posted by

airjordanfreak : 7:18 AM

Hi Thanks for your interesting blog. I also have a blog/site, covering roger wheelchair
related stuff. Feel free to visit my roger wheelchair
site.

# posted by

Wheel Chair Center : 7:39 AM

Wow I have been searching all day and finaly some information I can use. Thanks

# posted by

Car Insurance uk : 12:30 PM

Nice blog very informative.

I have a blog too. It is about car insurance

Thanks for the information.

# posted by

Car Insurance : 12:31 PM

Hey You have a good blog here Keep up the good work

I have a blog too it is about cheap car insurance

Thanks for the usable information.

Keep up the great work.

# posted by

cheap car insurance : 12:38 PM

I think you're right on track and not many people are willing to admit that they share your views. matthew fox site myspace.com is an AWESOME place to discuss LOST.

# posted by

Anonymous : 1:28 PM

I am totally nude come see me. Take a bit for all pics and movies to load.

Why do I do this I like to make men blow their jiz in their pants.

Visit me.??

# posted by

性爱 : 10:50 AM

Hey, you have a great blog here! I'm definitely going to bookmark you!

I have a article love marriage sex
. It pretty much covers article love marriage sex
related stuff. It's full of resources and articles. Come and check it out if you get time :-)

# posted by

TWPAdmin : 5:42 PM

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

# posted by

Roberto Iza Valdes : 8:34 PM

University of Phoenix Online Focuses on Team Learning

Unlike some other schools, the University of Phoenix Online focuses on Team Learning. For all classes, team assignments can make up to 20% of the student’s total grade. Consequently, students get more than they bargained for when pursuing an education at Phoenix’s online university (UoP online). Find detailed discussion on
arizona state university phoenix

# posted by

Anonymous : 10:12 AM

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

# posted by

Roberto Iza Valdes : 6:38 PM

I enjoyed you blog about depression self test. I also have a site about depression self test which makes me appreciate this one even more! Keep up the good work!

# posted by

Anonymous : 8:22 PM

101 Tips For Enhancing Your Love Life!!

You have a very good blog here. Full of jeri ryan divorce
content. Stop by my site if you have time to read more on jeri ryan divorce
.

# posted by

officialloversguide : 2:13 PM

Among these magnificent benefits is the chance to be able to promote your business, any business,

# posted by

Anonymous : 4:52 PM

Super blog you have. Did you know you can find information about Student Loan Payment
at Student Loan Payment
. Check it out if you have a change. I'll be sure and visit your blog again.

# posted by

GooglePlexMan : 8:58 AM

I see that you like posters as much as i do. Come check out my poster site.

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:50 PM

Hi Blogger, I was out on the net searcing for http://www.bookbinding.tulsa-works.com information and found this site listed in the top results for book binding tecniques and trade secerts related information. The post this post was not really all about what I needed, but non the less was a nice read. I can see why you are ranked high though, this is a pretty nice blog community you have here. It was well worth my time to stop and take a peek. Nice job you've done and thanks for letting me post.

# posted by

book binding tecniques and trade secerts : 4:45 PM

101 Tips For Enhancing Your Love Life!!

You have a very good blog here. Full of catherine zeta jones divorce
content. Stop by my site if you have time to read more on catherine zeta jones divorce
.

# posted by

ebaypowerseller2006 : 12:24 PM

"I just came across your blog about **keyword** and wanted to drop you a note telling you how impressed I was with the information you have posted here.
I just found a web site about Worldwide Data Entry Workers Needed .
Keep up the great work, you are providing a great resource on the Internet here!"
data entry job part singapore time
Trond

# posted by

PolarTrader : 10:40 AM

I found your blog on carbon fiber mustang hoods while searching the web and wanted to tell you it is great. Feel free to have your participants view carbon fiber mustang hoods for more great ideas.

# posted by

Anonymous : 1:32 PM

Great Blog! Ilike it.But here you can find woman looking for sexTake a look if you have a minute. Thanks and have a good one!

# posted by

Anonymous : 12:53 AM

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

# posted by

Roberto Iza Valdes : 11:44 PM

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

# posted by

Roberto Iza Valdes : 6:42 PM

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

# posted by

My-Juno : 8:29 PM

thought-provoking, mootable pv. just my thoughts, well anyways gl & be chipper is what i say

# posted by

mortgage broker : 3:32 AM

Hi thanks for your blog, I liked it! I also have a blog/site about wheel chair fetish that covers wheel chair fetish related stuff. Please feel free to visit.

# posted by

Wheel Chair Center : 7:48 AM

This is an interesting blog. I've been browsing the web for fetish foot free info remember story and I found a great adult site for pantyhose and foot fetish lovers at http://pantyhose-feet-pictures.com. Now you can GET PAID for looking at free adult galleries - http://paid-to-look.6x.to

# posted by

fetish foot free info personal remember story : 10:28 AM

Hi Thanks for your interesting blog. I also have a blog/site, covering car loan student
related stuff. Feel free to visit my car loan student
site.

# posted by

Car Loans Home : 4:55 AM

Thank you for the informative blog
Here Is some additional
Rugs Resources for stain resistant rugs if you or your readers are interested.

# posted by

Shawn T Lippert : 7:35 AM

Hi Thanks for your interesting blog. I also have a blog/site, covering uk new car loan
related stuff. Feel free to visit my uk new car loan
site.

# posted by

Car Loans home : 5:47 AM

Hey, you have a great blog here! I'm definitely going to bookmark you!

I have a cheapest uk car loan
site/blog. It pretty much covers cheapest uk car loan
related stuff.

Come and check it out if you get time :-)

# posted by

Car Loans Home : 6:14 AM

The massive redundancies and job insecurity has caused many people to radically rethink their career plans.
Link to this site: met life jobs career employment
http://www.careersemployment.info/

# posted by

joel : 9:14 PM

Hey, you have a great blog here! I'm definitely going to bookmark you!

I have a Body Building site/blog. It pretty much covers Body Building* related stuff.

Come and check it out if you get time :-)

# posted by

Body Building Site : 9:12 AM

I have been following a site now for almost 2 years and I have found it to be both reliable and profitable. They post daily and their stock trades have been beating
the indexes easily.

Take a look at Wallstreetwinnersonline.com

RickJ

# posted by

Rick J : 11:18 AM

Are you stuck in a job that is leading you on the path to no where?
We can help you obtain a College Degree with classes, books, and exams
Get a Genuine College Degree in 2 Weeks!
Well now you can get them!

Call this number now 24 hours a day 7 days a week (413) 208-3069

Get these Degrees NOW!!!

BA, BSc, MA, MSc, MBA, PHD,

Within 2 weeks!
No Study Required!
100% Verifiable

Call this number now 24 hours a day 7 days a week (413) 208-3069

These are real, genuine, They are verifiable and student records and
transcripts are also available. This little known secret has been
kept quiet for years. The opportunity exists due to a legal loophole
allowing some established colleges to award degrees at their discretion.

With all of the attention that this news has been generating, I wouldn't
be surprised to see this loophole closed very soon

Get yours now, you will thank me later
Call this number now (413) 208-3069
We accept calls 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

# posted by

mandymartin8350068878 : 3:31 AM

Watiti.com...
Join me and my circle of friends at
http://www.watiti.com, an online social networking community that connects people from all over the world.

Meet new people, share photos, create or attend events, post free classifieds, send free e-cards, listen music, read blogs, upload videos, be part of a club, chat rooms, forum and much more!

See you around! Bring all your friends too!

Watiti.com...

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:55 PM

Post a Comment

Sunday, May 22, 2005

-so, here i am, wandering around in my future. apparently, i'm a graduante, but short of applying to work in the co-op's warehouse, i'm not altogether sure what it entails.

i know that a fulfiling career, lovely home and all that jazz doesn't just fall into ones lap upon finishing a degree, but still.

i have a vague plan, but it is all rather daunting.

-the cup final, then.

shit.

we really should have won.

and, for the second year on the trot, ronaldo was robbed of man-of-the-match.

all in all, mighty disenheartening.

as is glazer. as expressed earlier.

a terrible, terrible mistake.

but i'm not too sure if i hold with all this breakaway fc-united business.

i, for one, love united. whatever setbacks we suffer.

the buyout by this cunt, terrible as it may be, is no different, fundamentally, than a relegation.

anyway, i've lost one club before. i refuse to go through it again.

we'll be back.

-superstar dee-jay?

well, yes i was. in my own little way, at least.

it was great fun.

i simply must do it again.

perhaps thats where my future lies.

yeah, right.....

-time flies, no?

this time last year, returning home to watch the cup final, i bought attitude for the scissor sisters cover.

and afterwards got all hot and sweaty dancing to filthy/gorgeous, which felt deliciously underground.

the same song soundtraked the pre-match warm up.

i found it odd, at least.

but the last year? fantastic.

i try desperately to avoid cheese.

so i settle for crypic instead.
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:29 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, May 13, 2005

i'm not normally purple.

but even if i was, right now i'd be a very funny shade of it.

just the bilibilographies and contents pages to construct now.

eight hours to go
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:23 AM (1) comments

Comments:

One day when I came home at lunch time I heard a funny noise. Went out to the back yard to find out if it was one of those ruddy boys, stood there was my neighbour called peter and a flux capacitor.....need I go on?

# posted by

Liz : 10:30 AM

Post a Comment

F I N I S H E D !

well, kind of. just the labourious process of footnoting to go now.

eleven-odd hours and counting....
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:22 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, May 12, 2005

in my previous singing of the university library's archetectural praises, i wasn't seeing the full picture.

i have spent my previous sessions here burried away in the stupidly-stuffy bowels of computer suite three when i could have been in the airy confines of suite number three.

a semi-balcony above one of the smaller reading rooms, this has been more sparsely occupied all day, and with big fuck-off twenty foot-high windows making up one wall looking east over netherthorpe, it should be a suitably dramtic place to spend my last night as the sun rises.

the desks, chairs and PCs are better here too, being (in turn) roomier, comfyer and fancy-daner.

how i regret not coming up here sooner.

but not long now.

[17.19.22 remaining]

and everything is nearly in place.

huzzah

an addition- i'm not so keen on this room now. i can see reflections in the window of those on the level below. its rather disconcerting.
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:03 PM (1) comments

Comments:

Loved the site. I created this site stools in the hope that it would be useful and informative. I hope you get a chance to take a look.

# posted by

Personal Development : 1:01 AM

Post a Comment

eighteen hours, fifty minuetes and eleven seconds and counting

getting there...
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:40 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

oh..dear.

to put it lightly
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:48 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

i'm trying to rationalise why i'm putting off making the final push and finishing my dissertation.

the best reason i can come up with is that after extreme candle-burning, all thats holding me together and staving off the inevitable nervous/emotional breakdown is the fact that i've still some writing to do.

i just know that as soon as i print off my final version, let alone hand it in, the exertions of the past few weeks will take their toll.

the good folk of sheffield will see, possibly for the first time, someone sobbing uncontrollably whilst in a coma.

its kind of written now. it just needs formatting, a bit of explaintions of legislation adding and binding.

i have thirty-four hours.
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:37 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

it would seem that over-size bottles of supermarket brand red bull knock-off are de riguer this week in the library.

i'm not one to buck a trend.
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:07 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

so, after years of saying i was going to, i'm going to make my debut as a superstar dee-jay on tuesday.

i was going to make it at my own often-proposed-often-postponed night. but instead i'm muscling in on the university gays' out [pithy slogan- don't miss out] night in ~~the raynor lounge~~ the cupboard.

and i've not got one of the shit opening slots. which is a blessing and a curse. i got it on the strength of being able to 'make folk dance'. which means given the [surprisingly] conservative-minded clientele, most of my selections will have to be at least half-familiar. odd mixes and obscure b-sides are surely the point of dee-jaying, though? oh well. i'm having fun with playlists now. they make a pleasant distraction.

but we're not permitted to use the turntables either, for some strange reason.

and i've only got half an hour.

but mustn't grumble. it should be a laugh.

do come along...
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:20 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

i heard the new stevie wonder track for the first time t'other day.

dissapointed much?

after spending all this time waiting, i'm feeling shocked, sadded, and cheated.

for fucks sake, its godawful.

all this time, and all we get is what sounds like a conversation peace outake.

i'm a fan of that album, i really am. but stevie was the innovator. he's not even trading on past glories anymore.

horribly outdated synths, a melody that isn't anything to write home about, and a weak vocal*.

really stevie, you shouldn't have bothered.

* something that normally i'd forgive. he's never going to get the rich tone of his youth back, but in this context, it just adds insult to injury.
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:42 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

for the first time ever, i'm all alone in the computer suite.

i'm a tad worried that there was a big fire alarm, and me being in my be-headphoned state, failed to hear.

but i can't smell smoke, so i'm guessing i'm ok for now.

this last phase of writing is proving the hardest- i'm fully aware that the deadline is looming, but just can't motivate myself to give my work the final polish and push. which is, i know, fully in keeping with the general stupidity that has so characterised the writing of my dissertation.

'not long now' is causing me to relax, rather than galvanising me.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:07 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, May 09, 2005

increasingly less confident about my work.

i'm confident i'm going to finish, but i'm sure i'm going to neglect to mention something fundamentally essential.

i only just realised my [working] final draft included nothing about the shift away from an industrial economic base.

how daft.

actually, i think i've everything covered, and all of my writing done.

let there be rejoycing....
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:47 PM (1) comments

Comments:

rejoice rejoice!

# posted by

Anonymous : 8:51 AM

Post a Comment

i'm going to sound mighty pretentious here, but fuck it...

every now and then a piece of music comes along, and it just blows you clean away.

in my case, they invariably make me listen to them endlessly on repeat, whilst lying on my bed, doing a kind of horizontal dance. i've never done this in the company of others. for obvious reasons.

music like this can put me in a great mood for weeks on end.

more often than not, with me at least, these pieces of perfection have been performed by women- i believe in you, i think being the most recently released.

i'm talking today obviously about kelly osbourne's absolutely storming one word.

its been decried as a rehash of fade to grey. but how on earth is that a bad thing?

fantasic chris cox mix, and even better cover of sound of the crowd as b-sides.

man alive, i cannot implore youse enough to go and buy this.
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:09 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, May 07, 2005

word-count update: i'm sure you're all nervously standing by, gently pissing yourselves in anticipation.

unecessarily agressive, but i'm sleep deprived.

dissertation maximum limit- 12,000

amount i have written that i'm happy with- 8,000

amount of words i expect to fill in with my 'WRITE ABOUT X' spaces- 1,000

amount i've written about the miner's strike and all that- 1,500

so thats 9,500 actually written, with a bit of gap filling to do and half a chapter to write [apx. 1,500 words.], my dissertation should be a healthy 12,000 words.

looks like i should finish writing early.

but working to the deadline with edits.

bollocks.

and thats before i mention my one on the internet....
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:51 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

i really want to return to the oh-so-witty-urbane-and-errudite* form of yore, that catapulted ontheturn into the nations hearts.

but what with making stupid bids on ebay (of which, more later) and struggling to chronicle the decline of british trade unionism/ the ease with which one can potentially contstruct a new personality online (to however small a degree) and thus alter our perceptions of what constitutes a community, i'm having difficulty in being witty-urbane-and-errudite. truth be told, i'm having difficulty staying awake.

plus there's the aditional worry of my lovely sister trapping her finger in a door, and having a nail, as a result, that resembles ziggy stardust, apparently.

so there.

i seem to be writing 2-3,000 words a day, but never getting any closer to finishing.

of course, by this stage [five-and-a-bit days, and, sadly, counting] 'finishing' translates as 'writing as close to the word count as possible, before collapsing in a state of nervous exaustion, and saying bollocks to proof-reading, let alone draft-marking'.

dicking about online probably doesn't help.

case in point with the word-count thing. i swear i was on 794 words about trade unions and equal pay legislation when i started writing this. which i've been doing in fits and starts, between churning out what i thought were long paragraphs. current word count? 800. bollocks.

i'm also torn between refering to refer to the social contract as a 'ronseal policy- in many respects, it did what it said on the tin'. or maybe that should be 'ronseal-esque'. should i? answers on a postcard please.

away from academia, vinyl then.

a word i'm still having difficulty spelling.

i am, if i'm honest, more than slightly addicted.

i took the fatal, retrograde step on my birthday way back in october.

my collection started modestly- a few pieces i couldn't help buying over the years, even though i had no means of playing them. but, as inevitably happened shortly began to spiral out of control.

seven inch singles are my favourites.

[889 words BTW]

they just look beautiful. i mean, my vinyl copy of for your pleasure shows up the cd for as the pale imposter it is, but there is something even nicer about the very notion of the 7".

that sleeves are more often than not made of paper seems gloriously lo-tech to my cd-jewel-case accustomed eyes. i mean paper. ha!

but i'm an addict. so don't expect proper. rationale from me. i'm just scrabbling for justification. the seven inch is just fundamentally right, ok.

and the cost. a factor which by buying so many is fundamentally undermined, but still...

no more than two quid for a current one, more often than not only 99p, and between 20 and fifty pee in the charity shops. sorted. ebay, of course, varies. as i'm finding to my cost. a statement which, of course, imean literally. fuck.

trouble is, as i say, i'm buying a lot. five or ten a week. plus my usual intake of cd singles. and albums. and 12"ers.

and other so-called 'necessities', like booze. and going gadding. and food. and rent...

ah well.

[971 words now. my total is just under 8k. i think. or at least it should be....]

*i'm hating myself as i write this, honest. i just can't stop though.
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:24 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

the wonderful new doctor who is, i'm guessing, univerally appreciated.

the lovely not-for-much-longer new doctor who, alrady held in high regard by me, just gets better and better
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:43 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, May 06, 2005

one of the wonderous things about the election result oddly not mentioned by the media is the fact that i don't need to change my dissertation round to reflect shifts in the political landscape.

huzzah!

i could write about how fantastic it is to see labour installed as the natural party of government, but i don't want to come across too twatty.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:30 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, May 05, 2005

just so you know- my plans for today.

stay in the library, ostentiously working, for another hour or so.

then head up to the sorting office to collect some post, before returning home for a quick nap.

then over to manchester to vote, perhaps napping when there.

return to sheffield in the early evening, where i'll be watching the election at a friends, til, i'm guessing the tories concede*, which i guess [once more] will be at around three.

then i'll return to the library for more work.

daunted much?

*idiotic electorate/god willing...
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:07 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

word counts can, at the end of the day, be significantly increased by the shoehorning of metaphor, simile, cliche (and asides) like there's no tomorrow.

and, indeed, reiterating the same point like its going out of fashion...
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:20 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

-rapid fire observations. for now, at least.

-the library is fuller than in the past. peversely, there is a drop in feelings of community spirit.

-the new new order album, waiting for the siren's call is, all things considered, mighty fine. but even when i was listening for the first time, oddly familiar. jetstream, the gloriouis ana matronic collaboration is going to be a great single [not least for the jaques lu cont/arthur baker/richard x mixes], but the video, like the album, oddly predictable. i just knew how it'd unfold...

-not that i'm really complaining.

-i am, however, complaining about trade unions. at this moment in time, i could well do without them. this writing is killing me.

-so too is writing about the internet. top tip; if one is intending to basde a large piece of work around the writings of one academic, try to read it carefully in advance to ensure that he supports yourmain argument. i'm now reduced to dismissing the very-wonderful manuel castells as an idiot. something i'm not too pleased by...

-as i've said in the past, talking heads remix albums are much better than they ought to be. in particular, i'm thinking of the milwaukee mix of hey now, augmented by childrens choir.

- the fuzztival, or at least may day BBQ section of it wasn't as good as last years. though drinking cocktails in torrential rain, and then resenting those who ran for cover, only to return when the sun returned was great fun

-as is mel hutchwright in corrie. but why no liz in the book group? did i miss something?

-the scousers in the final is perhaps the classic lesser of two evils situations. they have no chance. i hope...

-t.s. elliot apparently opened this here library. putting levenshulme's alderman alfred logan into the shade somewhat.

-giant pots of raspberry yoghurt are not, on reflection, the best foodstuffs to bring into a learning environment.

-but they are more socially considerate than chips. i'm talking to you, opposite and in yellow

-intermittent phonecalls are all that keep me going.

-my batteries died. however, i finally managed to work out how to play music on the computer. i fear for my idiotic/luddite tendancies, i really do...

-in order to finish all my work, i must write approximately four more words for every one that i've quoted. which when compared with my previous ration on 6,000 original woprds for every one quoted, is quite a siesmic shift in writing style.

-god bless whoever invented the desk fan.

- crazy ebay bids aren't, as popular legend dictates, connected to sobriety [or the lack thereof], instead correlating with the hour of the day. i'm trying to steer clear of 4am.

-etc

-etc
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:37 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, April 30, 2005

ok, its now my third late-night library session.

and in these three nights, i've very probably spent more time in here than i have in the past three years combined.

its remarkable whatthe fear of not even scaping a second will do.

as a result of this time spent, i have noticed how very beautiful our opened-in-1959 library is.

with it being ajoined to the hideous cod-soviet monster that is the arts tower, i've never paid much attention to its aesthetic side. again, not that i've been in here long enough to notice.

but its all very space age, with almost all original features.

and, as ever, the devil is in the detail.

the door handles, light switches and hand rails are all, for instance, fantastic.

the perfect soundtrack to this building?

early human league.

obviously.
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:49 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, April 29, 2005

the pet shop boys official site sells selected items of their back catalogue.

which is rather cool.

the cd single of you only tell me you love me when you're drunk, for example retails at six quid.

but poundland in sheffield sells it too.

for, unsurprisingly, one pound.

oh the crazy nature of capitalism...
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:13 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

apparently ontheturn , back in the day, suffered from a lack of popular culture commentry.

i could begin to redress this percieved failing right now with a review of the editors who i saw around two hours ago.

but to honest, i can't really be all that arsed.

they were good, like.

and i enjoyed them.

its just that they were a tad unremarkable.
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:56 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, April 28, 2005

currently stretching my library stint into an all-nighter in order to get a bus home rather than walk.

crazy, no?

but not as crazy as my whole attitude to work.

like most folk, i tend to leave stuff as late as possible.

but i've been lecture and seminar-free since december, yet have only properly started working in the last two weeks.

which, as i'm finding this writing lark quite easy, leaves me thinking lots of 'what ifs'.

like what if i'd started sooner.

i could be in bed by now...
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:17 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

with less than a month to go before my two [yes, two*] dissertations are due in, and me woefully behind, what better time to return to life online?

being busy with work [real work. the aforenentioned -wonderful fun, albeit knee destroying- removalling job] and then getting a nasty, nasty virus helped keep me offline. then really messing up the reformatting of my formerlly lovely machine just put the boot in.

right now, i'm sick to death of both trade unions and notions of the creation of new identities online.

just so youse all know the kind of crap i'm forced to ponder.

more later as i continue to milk the 24hr library special....

*well, not really. one of them is, whilst t'other is, apparently, a 'project' but requires as much work.
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:29 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, January 03, 2005

with much less fanfare than the inagural effort, here come the begininings of the ontheturn annual awards.

bullshit and waffle about them, soon to follow.

*******************************

OTT’s ~~Ten~~ Eleven Singles OTY-

First of the Gang to Die- Morrissey
Chewing Gum- Annie
Some Girls- Rachel Stevens
You Were The Generation That Bought More Shoes, And Got What You Deserve- Johnny Boy
Take Your Mama- Scissor Sisters
What You Waiting For? - Gwen Stefani
Decent Days and Nights- Futureheads
Comfortably Numb- Scissor Sisters
Musicology- Prince
Jesus Walks- Kanye West
Kick It- Peaches and Iggy

OTT’s Ten Albums OTY-

Scissor Sisters- Scissor Sisters
Love Angel Music Baby- Gwen Stefani
Real Gone- Tom Waits
Who Killed the Zutons? - The Zutons
What Will the Neighbours Say? - Girls Aloud
You Are The Quarry- Morrissey
The Futureheads- Futureheads
Coming On Strong- Hot Chip
Kleptomania- Mansun
Van Lear Rose- Loretta Lynn

OTT’s Ten Gigs OTY-

Peaches w/ Kissogram @ Manchester Academy
Scissor Sisters @ Leadmill
Nastyfest I @ Faversham, Leeds
Me @ Fuzztival, Sheffield
Move Festival @ Old Trafford CC
Kings Have Long Arms/ The Lovers @ Razor Stilletto, Sheffield
Har Mar Superstar@ Fusion & Foundry
Patti Smith w/ Television @ Manchester Academy
Rufus Wainwright@ Sheffield Octagon
the Rapture w/ Futureheads @ Fusion & Foundry

OTT’s Ten Videos OTY-

Comfortably Numb- Scissor Sisters
What You Waiting For? - Gwen Stefani
The Show- Girls Aloud
You Will, You Won’t- The Zutons
Fit, But You Know It- The Streets
In The Middle- Sugababes
Take Your Mama- Scissor Sisters
Flamboyant- Pet Shop Boys
Laura- Scissor Sisters
Chewing Gum - Annie

OTT’s Five TV OTY-

Shameless- c4
Angels in America- c4
The Mighty Boosh- BBC3/2
Coronation Street- ITV
Early Doors- BBC2

- posted by aa.logan @ 1:39 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, January 02, 2005

so, another new year.

a time for reflection and all that.

but right now, i can't be all that arsed.

i have a tentative review of '04 in my head.

which should come soon...

*********

that i find the mechanics of actual postal mail more remarkable than those involved in e-mail.

electronic transmission i take for granted. the transport of physical items causes me to stop and think.

how post-modern of me...
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:37 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

bad writing can affect you far more than the good stuff.

i had my first corrie dream in fifteen years of watching last night.

bizarre...
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:22 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, December 20, 2004

ontheturn goes international.

tenerife, to be exact.

and, once more from the sublime to the riddiculous.ç

in this instance, coupland´s elanor rigby, to coronation street-the epic novel.

was was a pile of shite, the other not.

of course coupland was great.

the corrie book, however, was worse than i feared.

leaden prose, flat dialogue and far too many over elaborate explainations- alan bradley always held the prefix ´rita fairclough´s live-in-lover´

but the gravest insult of all, was what got left out- the aforementioned alan´s brush with tram, all of reg and so much more. des´death was reduced to one line,´and just that he´d had a heat attack at that. no macdonalds. no percy. and so on. for quite some time. no fiona. or fred. or....

in a 1,000 page book, the last fifeen years were dealt with in less than 100 pages.

to be frank, i´m over-reacting, but i feel horribly cheated and/or betrayed...

holiday reading somewhat marred.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:31 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, December 11, 2004

hot chip, ripping off (i believe) auden got it wrong.

april is not the cruelest month.

nor is march.

it's december.

shit

- posted by aa.logan @ 9:28 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, December 03, 2004

broadband is fantastic. obviously.

so many great things about it.

like being able to listen to online radio. without constant buffering.

like this one.

aside from the obvious glories of annie it features, at around the 12 min mark, you'll always find my in the kitchen at parties, my favourite song that i've only ever heard once before. and now i've found it here.

never leaving the house again...
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:22 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

i sit here now, somewhat blitzed on a mix of white painkillers, rose wine and red bull.

for the record, i'm in blue clothes.

attempting to finish writing about post-industrialism and it's impact on democratic practices.

something i was enjoying doing.

but that wore off.

one can only write about the internet for so long without wanting to use it.

- posted by aa.logan @ 3:10 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, December 02, 2004

party.

at ours.

on the tenth.

do come along...

- posted by aa.logan @ 7:41 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

readers of this here mess, should, in theory, be aware of the fact that yesterday, the wait was over, as what will the nieghbours say was realeased.

'starring', of course, girls aloud.

at this point, i should forwarn readers that postponed deadlines aside, i'm still in academic writing frame of mind.

and i'm about to discuss this album.

so you have been warned.

readers should also be aware that last week, gwen stefani unleashed the unstoppable love angel music baby.

and like i compared pride and prejudice with summat by anne tyler in my english gcse coursework back in the day, for no real reason other than i was reading the two at the same time, i'm going to contrast the two....

more than anything else, WWTNS sounds like a girls aloud album. and a fine one, at that. that girls aloud have their own distinguishabe 'sound' is far from a bad thing (less 'wall of sound', more rotating wall of death in a wind tunnel. in short, like a fairground...), but of course how much their sound is indebted to those kind folks at xenomania is debatable- not that is is automatically a bad thing, of course.

gwen's effort, LAMB, however, just sounds like a great album, full stop. neither album is tied to a particular genre, but the girls just sound a tad parorocrial. whilst stefani's (undeniably more expensive) album is glossy perfection, what will the neighbours say never really fulfils it's potential- take 'graffiti my soul'. don't get me wrong, it's fucking fantastic, but one can't help imagining that if the sound was a tad more polished, the production slightly glossier, the mix ever so slightly bouncier (as it inevitably would have been had ms. spears taken it up), it would begin to do itself justice. but then, perhaps, that kind of thing isn't where girls aloud are 'at, or even what they're about.

perhaps my expectations were unfeasable, perhaps the comparisons are unfair. after all, i've already played 'what will the neighbours say' more times in the last two days than i have 'love angel music baby' in the last week-plus.

which says it all really.

on constant rotation=great albums

ergo

girls aloud=(still) fantastic...

sorry for going on rather.

but i've catching up to do.

- posted by aa.logan @ 8:27 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

bollocks.

back when i was writing this daily (days which are, incidentally, almost upon us/you again), i was able to record my opinions on the various musical extravangazas i witnessed.

like that do me bad things are reminicsent of zoot allures era zappa, but with the important distinction that they enjoy sex.

or that dancing with the ping-pong bitches isn't as much fun as you'd expect.

i'm sure society has mourned the loss of such insights...

- posted by aa.logan @ 4:17 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

at last, something good to come of my dodgy knee(s).

namely a one-week extension to my essay on trade unions and the labour party.

god bless the noted academic steve ludlam, understanding soul that he is...

- posted by aa.logan @ 3:33 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, November 27, 2004

what a crazy thursday night.

first, strines moor, gone nine o'clock. for no real reson like, perhaps other than to be outside in the cold at night.

out in the wilds, far from civilization and under a full moon.

i made allusions to american werewolf in london.

my companions pissed all over my chips, pointing out we'd crossed the border into derbyshire, killing the mood somewhat...

until a grouse took fright, shitting us all up once more.

so we stayed, lying in the heather, talking shite for a good while.

which was, quite obviously, nice.

so, getting cold, we decided to head back.

until a thought hit me.

the seaside.

which is how i found myself in a packed corsa heading to bridlington in the wee small hours.

which was fucking great.

the front was completely deserted, so it was just me, my friends, a modest amount of booze and the sea and moon.

lovely.

so what if we didn't get back while gone five.

it was, to be frank, one of the nicest days/nights of the year.

so ta to all involved....

- posted by aa.logan @ 1:58 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, November 25, 2004

further indicators of my [mental] mental state.

i was up while gone three putting up another kylie border last night...

- posted by aa.logan @ 8:22 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

a thought that has been occupying my mind far [far] too much in recent weeks-

the english language is fundamentally stupid. the name for each day contains the word 'day'.

i'm clearly going more than a little crazy...

that i'm begining to consider duran duran to be as cutting edge and significant as roxy music worries me also.

- posted by aa.logan @ 11:47 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

i really need to get me and the internet sorted...

-o0o-

rufus on sunday night was rather good.

obviously.

but thinking about it, he really shouldn't work. i mean, faitly operatic tunes, delivered rather nasally isn't the most appealing of prospects. but somehow it does. certainly, it shouldn't be as warm...

i mean, way back when, when it was very much a family affair i enjoyed it.

but this time round, it was just rufus.

preceded, of course, by martha.

but most exiting was the new news [to me, at least] that want [two] is soon to hit the shelves. finally.

and the stuff from it sounded mighty fine. especially the orpheous re-working based around buckley [junior].

watching him last time round with my dad was nice [again, don't get me wrong], but sat next to ross this time round nicer. a tad pathetic, perhaps.

no over the rainbow either. which was nice.

-o00-

election night, usa.

as if youse needed me to inform.

i'm pro-kerry.

i think.

i mean part of me shares the [somewhat morbid, twisted etc.- not thaty she is] view of http://ameliajane.blogspot.com [incidentallyt, i'm not liking this new way of linking. nor indeed much of the neo-blogger set up...], that its entertaining watching the global situation spiral ever downwards, so want bush to stay in.

but then i remember i'm an essentially compassionate person. and that he's a cunt.

but i should be careful what i wish for.

i feel somewhat to blame for bush getting in in the first blace.

i really didn't want gore to win, see.

on accounts of tipper's pmrc activites. the bitch.

i know i'm not in the slightest to 'blame', but still. the world's a bit of a bitch to me sometimes...

-o0o-

lately, i've taken to living dangerously.

when about to cross the road, i'll check the traffic, as per.

but if there is a car a safe distance away, i'll wait. and then wait a bit more, before crossing.

i'm not feeling a rush of air as i narrowly miss the bumper, nor am i forcing drivers to slam on their breaks. quite pathetic really. i'm not taking my life into my own hands, just hanging around on curbsides longer than i need to.

but not like that.

pathetic and sad, then.

but hell, i enjoy it...

- posted by aa.logan @ 6:59 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, October 30, 2004

can someone plase explain, after last weeks performance, how we can loose two-nil to portsmouth?

fuck.

- posted by aa.logan @ 6:11 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

after visting the physiotherapist tuesday about my knees, i felt rather violated.

and, to be frank fucking sore.

since returning to the steel city, my apparently fixed knees started acting up again. which,. if nothing else has had the side-effect of me looking incredibly dapper/ like a total ponce as i wander the streets supported by my cane.

hence my apperance on gibb street [or wherever] to see the lovely lady in a tracksuit.

of course i expected her to ask me to drop my trousers, diagnosis would be impossible without.

but actually asking that i remove them felt, to me, a step to far.

so when she essentially cupped my arse to 'feel the line of my bottom', and later got me laid down with my legs spread as she leaned over me, i was past caring.

perhaps i over-reacted, and these are probably conventional physiotherapy practices, but i still felt more than a little cheap.

but the pain.

'when do they hurt?' she asked me.

'whenever. it comes and goes?' i replied

'well lets try and replicate the circumstances' she suggested.

i [innocentally] agreed.

but by replicating the circumstances, she actually ment 'allow me to twist, prod and streech your kneecap'.

ow.

again, probably essential.

and again, great for me in the long run.

but it still hurt like fuck.

- posted by aa.logan @ 3:09 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

if, by some bizzare mishap, all student life got wiped out, all that would remain would be the times fridge-magnets-cum-bottle-openers.

there were already three of the fuckers disperesed around the kitchen when we moved in, and since then, a further two have appeared on the table.

who makes them?

or more to the point, who actually wants them?

-x-x-

internet acsess isn't yet as full as i'd like...

- posted by aa.logan @ 2:47 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

perhaps well-documented, perhaps not, but on accounts of my not wanting to appear too studenty [ie studenty at all], i've been loath to listen to screamadellica whilst resident in sheffield.

which is both stupid and a shame, as i rather enjoy whipping it out from time tt time.

it is even more stupid in the light of the penchant, recently developed, of mine for listening to the smiths and/or morriseys solo work, insisting on accoustic-guitar-based-singalongs in the front room and, above all going to university.

but what can you do?

- posted by aa.logan @ 11:51 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

i'm back.

no, really.

see, i was going to pack this all in, dismiss it [once more] as self-indulgant rambling.

which, it clearly is.

but i was possesed, once more, by a desire to write.

and not just this shite.

and not just [nearly overdue] essays either.

so i will.

i'm told i've a tendancy to either assume to much knowledge of others or over-explain the obvious.

this is,i'm reliably informed, something of a character flaw. but fuck it. it could also be a useful stylistic device...

- posted by aa.logan @ 11:34 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

so, where to begin?

a spot of housekeeping, perhaps.

truth be told, a combination of internet fatigue, and having a life [of sorts], conspired to prompt ontheturn to go on holiday.

which, for a start fucked over the T!LF project. ah well. i enjoyed the tornament anyway.

the haitus also prevented me commenting on the gigs i attendend. patti smith and television [in short, cracking]. the whole move doo-dah [a civilised affair, taken in from the comfort of the seats, rug over knees and cucumber sandwhiches and battenburg in gob]. clinic [not too bad, buty not further on from their slot supporting the 'lips last year]. and the [hopefully] inaugral nastyfest in leeds [the futureheads and pink grease once more, plus assorted half-familiar freaks and motherfuckers in a big old pub. obviously fantastic]

not to mention all manner of removaling exploits involving, amongst other things, [genuine] footballers' wives, minor gangland figures and other eccentrics. to be detailled, perhaps, once i leave the firm...

my descision to live in manchester and commute to sheffield has been shelved too. as was my intention to live anywhere bar the top of crookes. fuck.

normal service to be resumed shortly.

- posted by aa.logan @ 11:39 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, July 29, 2004

i'm not dead.

just sleeping.

- posted by aa.logan @ 7:43 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, June 27, 2004

were i the type to precede my posts with lyrics or song titles, i could go with found a job, i was looking for a job then i found a job, heaven knows i'm [not] miserable now or perhaps the irony of it all.

i am, on a temporary basis at least, a removal man. and, to quote another song, its the best job i ever had.

seriously, it is.

twenty-two hours worked in my first two days. plus, of course tips. and tea.

confessions of a removal man?

nothing robin asquith-esque yet. or even, truth be told, that interesting. time will tell...

- posted by aa.logan @ 7:29 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, June 20, 2004

i've kind of fallen off the internet for a while.

sorry.
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:57 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, June 14, 2004

first up, i know i'm meant to keep my euro 2004 comments restricted to T!LF, but sol campbell moustache? there is bot a time and place for such things. and sol is not a mexican bandalero at the turn of the century, he gets neither right...

moving back to manchester was less stressful than previous attempts, but sadly no job yet. no witty comments about it, mind.

and the fucking general public once more demonstrate what cunts they are. voting for the ukip? saints preserve us...
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:27 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, June 11, 2004

i don't want to get all nick hornby on your collective arses, but sometimes one has no other option.

the art of the compilation tape [by which, what with me being dead technological, i obviously mean cd...] is rather hard to master, but i believe the years of practice that i've put in mean i'm rather damn good at it.

but the making of 'special' compilations is a minefield i've rarely entered. dillemma upon dillemma.

not only am i worrying about what's included, i'm having to consider how my selections can be interpreted, as well as, of coutrse, how i want them to be interpreted.

who'd be a sad, over-obseesive slightly paranoid music fan....
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:51 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

brother ray, RIP
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:03 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, June 10, 2004

packing to move is hellish.

so i'm going to either-

a] live with my parents for ever and ever

or-

b] rennounce all material possesions.

my usual lack of motivation isn't helping much, either, truth be told...
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:18 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, June 09, 2004

so.

the stanley makes it's way to the sunshine state.

fuck.

had, in the dim and distant past, i decided to go with my initial 'hey, the 'ning sound like the storm' feelings rather than 'hey, theo is fantastic' i may well be overjoyyed right now.

but i didn't, so i'm not.

i'm taking solace in the fact that calgary got this far instead.

go flames!
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:36 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

i didn't enter the cinema to see the day after tomorrow expecting any realism or accuracy.

but one bit really grated.

the football commentry.

yes, us versus celtic made me feel all nice.

but why did the commentry use the american format?

putting the away team [ie us] first and the use of 'is' as opposed to 'are'. little things like that really piss me off. fucking concessions to american audiences...
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:12 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, June 07, 2004

euro 2004 is less than a week away

i'm so exited, it hurts.

not least because i'm going to be watching it on a lovely telly.

now theres only the problem of work to fit around it...
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:40 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

after complaining in them there comment boxes about the semi-civillian status of various members of pink grease, it would perhaps be hypocritical to change my position.

but fuck it, i'm going to.

friday night, down in the showroom for sheffield now+then, a celebration of sheffield music, built around a screening of made in sheffield.

which was most pleasant, and bristling with the cream of the city's avant-garde types. all tarted up, too. leaving me feeling a tad underdressed for the second night running.

saturday saw razor stilletto occour. again, most of the same folk in attendance, micro-celebrities one and all, but prompting me to feel rather big-time. but i never thought i'd find a club that played bowie. and roxy music. and psb. and depeche mode. and bowie. and the scissor sisters. and other stuff i'm too pissed to recall, but was great the same.

roll on the next one, i'm hopelessly in love...

sunday saw me seeing harry potter.

no comment on the film from me, bar the fact my head is reeling at the ian brown cameo.

but the film is, i'm sure sensible folk will agree, for children. the screening i attended, though not bursting at the seems, was rather full. but all the audience looked like they could vote. which leaves me worrying [a little] for humanity's future...

HOWCOULD I FORGET- the lovers. french and fucking fantastic. had i not seen so much great music this last week, i'd have declared them the best thing ever. in such great company, however, third isn't half bad...
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:21 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, June 05, 2004

so, barring [perhaps likely] resits, thats exams over until christmas.

huzzah!

now i've just got to find somewhere to live...
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:21 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, June 04, 2004

one game away?

i'm now officially nervous

- posted by aa.logan @ 11:04 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

time travel, is, apparently possible.

so is all that inter-dimensional bollocks.

last night i found myself in [what i can only guess was] an alternative 1972.

what does this mean? i was at pink grease at the fez, than.

fun.

it was a great gig. great, but not, as i must add, in my own somewhat strange lexicon, life-affirmingly so.

as one should, i'll start with the support.

dodgems, were, i believe, the first up. and they had such am impressive array of hair it was scary. all properly cut, styled and washed. very nice, but sadly their music, pleasant as it was couldn't keep up.

so thats them dismissed then.

kit had, once more, lovely hair. indeed, lead singer man's bryan ferry circa 1971 mop only has increased my desire to go for something simmilar. musically they were ok. nice clothes too.

see, i'm focusing on the superficial because thats what i feel the night's music was about- lokking good first, posturing well second [donning spangly gloves mid-song and the like] and cracking tunes a distant third.

i'm glad i saw kisso gram supporting peaches.

which is not to say that pink grease themselves weren't great. because they were. lead singer man lookied like a cross between ronno and, as one of my companions for the night pointed out, dolph lundgren [but not, as i thought i heard, todd rundgren...], eyelined, haired and dressed accordingly. the gig was, if nothing else, a lot of fun- lots of jumping, wandering through the audience and swapping instruments, sounding musically like, rather oddly, early mothers of invention freak outs [though not nescicarrily from freak out!]. so i can hardly complain about that, can i?

so yes, it was a great gig. a big old scene? perhaps. folk certainly seemed to know one another. but that means, as we [ie i] have discovered in the past, fuck all by way of guaruntee....
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:43 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, June 01, 2004

i know its going to happen someday. and by that, i obviously mean that it already has happened.

and by 'it' [i know this is getting convoluted. bear with me...] i mean me getting right pissed off with corrie.

which i did last night.

i'm not talking about exasperation at roy's non-sticking up for todd, but real anger.

kirk's aquisition of one of my favourite shirts [ben sherman, the hard days night artwork repeated over and over,for the record]which i've only just started to wear got me riled somewhat.

but bradley motherfucking walsh?

where to start. wrong in so many ways.

compare the introduction of his character with that of, say, charlie [who i apparently have a fight on my hands with my mam over..].

slow, gradual building up of storylines vs in your face cockney bollocks.

tip top my arse.

he'd better improove.

sharpish.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:11 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, May 31, 2004

desmond decker declaring his love for oldham council is something i thought i go to my grave without hearing.

but thanks to that august body, i now can cross that off my 'to-do' list.

especially given that it was free, it was fucking great.

a sunny day, following a fine set by nitin sawhney and an equally good spell behind the decks by clint boon, i was, of course, predisposed to enjoy his set.

but it was great in it'sown right. ok, he didn't have a horn section, and the midi re-creation grated and cheapened the experience at times but his exuberence and class overcame such small flaws.

given his age, the tiny desmond moved with alarming agility. obvious point to make, but essential nonetheless.

a legend deserving of the label.

and the crowd? diverse as i've ever seen in my life. old jamacian men in suits, sipping rum [i'm guessing] from paper bags. extended indian families. middle class white folk, so liberal that it hurts. and of course, those you'd expect to live in oldham- white, working class, dripping in cheap gold and clad in polyester.

and not one hint of tension.

not wanting to get smug, preachy or pretentious, but i have reflection on this.

fucking great
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:07 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

so much to write.

so little [self-imposed] time.

i watched childrens telly yesterday [with reason, honest.]

obviously, i feel dirty.

a feeling exacerbated by the fact that d-side's latest offering pleased me far more than phixx's.

but i was up for girls aloud.

the show, fine as it is, better had be a grower....

and now, proper music.

namely the wainwright travelling circus.

wow.

i'd heard good things about other legs of the tour, so was perhaps over-exited about it.

but, fact is, just about the only thing that could've made that gig any better would have been a guest appearance from tom waits. it was that good.

it wasn't, as i hoped, in the velvety smaller theatre in the lowry, but i'm not really complaining about that. and, seemingly as ever, swathes of the audience were far to eager to be entertained, rolling in hysterics almost at the slightest amusing comment. but i rose above it, not letting it detract from the glory of the evening.

it wasn't all rufus, but it almost was for me. like yungchen llhamo in the same venue a few years back, i was amazed that so much voice came out of so little person. and his solo stints were, on top of that, perfect replicants of his studio work, but somehow better. a touch to camp in his inter-song banter for my liking, any failing was more than compensated for by his interaction with the rest of those on stage.

i'm not sure how much of it was staged, but the familial bickering was perfect- exasperated, telling his mam not to tell the audience that the theatre was on fire as a joke, rufus endeared himself to me even further.

the contributions wrom martha, anna, kate and lilly were, unsurprisingly, fantastic too. and perhaps even nescicarry- a full set of rufus, would, perhaps, drag.

i'd also like to record a notable first- i noticed what the lighting technicians were doing- subtle changes really do make a difference.

in short, the gig was endearingly chaotic with moments of high beauty interspersed. a touch on the short side, but marvelous nonetheless....
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:54 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, May 26, 2004

five years.

jesus, time flies...
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:30 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

things that are far better than they should be, no. 31818: talking heads remix albums.
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:01 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, May 24, 2004

i'd like, very much, to write about the scissor sisters.

of course, i have before. and i will again.

but i'm liking them very much right now.

over the weekend, i spent the best part of a tenner on magazines [including time out. i felt dirty for betraying the cheaper, far superior city life...] for maybe ten pages of writing about them. nice pictures, too, i suppose.

what'd i learn?

the babbydaddy and jake's strange relationship, and that they're digging todd rundgren. the latter is currently serving as my excuse [not that i need one] for whipping out a wizard, a true star, and demonstrating perfectly one reason why i love them so.

no band in [my] memory has drawn together so many of my favourite music.

and i kind of don't like that.

much like i kind of don't like them exploding overground.

great stuff should be kept to the elite.

ie, me...
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:44 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, May 22, 2004

ok, some parts of my prediction were right.

the goal times not too far off, and ruud did get the second.

but fuck it, that doesn't matter. because we won.

so huzzah!

the jimmy davis tribute was my second most moving experience of the day for me.

number one being a [lovely]phone call from my [lovely] sister in [possibly lovely] malasia, the first time i've heard her voice since she left.

it is shaping up, feeding animals in the park notwithstanding, to be a perfect day...

- posted by aa.logan @ 5:30 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, May 21, 2004

the cup final is, quite obviously, looming large in my mind.

maybe it's self-delusion, but the old-school romanticism of the FA is causing so much exitement.

i mean, i'm making my third trans-pennine trip in as many days to see it.

it should be great.

a three-one win.

giggs to get the opener, with ruud netting the second before half time.

they'll pull one back at the hour mark, before scholes pops up in the 75th the seal our victory.

it's hardly worth watching, really...
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:05 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

pop! are playing in sheffield tonight.

fierce girl in manchester.

and i'll be in attendance at neither.

instead, i'll be at the [very pricey] politics ball.

i'm not really complaining, but i doubt i'll make almighty...
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:30 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

link to an article for no real reason, beyond the fact that kurt vonnegut is one of the best things ever...
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:00 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, May 20, 2004

now i can get carried away.

good god, even we can beat the 'ning.
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:41 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

don't leave me hanging on the telephone.

waiting for calls is fucking shite.

as is still not having next years house sorted...
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:37 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

i've seemingly stopped getting spam in my aol inbox.

i fear that i may be missing it.

which is odd.
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:58 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

there is a purple or mauve powder in the Commons....

bring on spartacus mills.

granted, it was a pretty serious breech of security, so such flippancy is probably out of place. but fact is, some powder paint+politicans= over-reaction.

nice to see politics in action unfolding before my eyes, mind.
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:59 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, May 17, 2004

shit.

exams just over a week away.

cause enough for concern.

but exams just over a week away, and my history of ideology notes go bye-bye.

fuck.

etc.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:09 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, May 16, 2004

the 03/04 premiership season is over then

my reflections?

all in all, a bit of a shitshow, really
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:26 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

i can now declare this the second annual ontheturn eurovision review.

which is more than a little pathetic, perhaps.

but here it is.

what fun.

no, really. it was.

how odd that watered-down ska revival revival revival was so popular.

my vote went to macedonia, for the record. but less for the song, more for looking a bit like prince. which is, of course, A Good Thing. that and the ribbons out of coat/lots of arms bits.

if youse want more detailed commentry, you can whistle for it.

or head off to lowculture for their [inevitably] fabulous review...
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:04 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, May 15, 2004

so, ontheturn is a year old.

in keeping with the spirit of my original entry, i am more than a little pissed.

i'm surprised, to be honest that this has lasted as long as it has.

originally intended as a way to keep my [lovely] sister informed of how the shitty situation with the cunts i used to live with was going without spending money on texts, this, my forth attempt at blogging [the far too angst-y previous attempts are, thankfully, lost down the back of the internet] developed into something more.

yes, it helped me [no exageration here] maintain my sanity, but it has also developed into a place to vent my spleen, and also serves as a [surprisingly useful] record of what i did, and when. which is nice.

to mark this [not very] momentous occasion, i had intended to list 366 [one for every day this has been running] Reasons To Be Cheerful. but at 170-odd, i was beginning to both flag and struggle.

so, in the end, just some thank-yous, to massage my sense of self-importance.

ta to all who have read this mess.

especially to those who have deigned to contact me.

thanks to all those whose own blogs have inspired mine.

but, most of all, cheers to everyone who, unwittingly or not, has contributed in whatever way to ontheturn by interacting with me in some form. even if you are a cunt.

in general, and in all categories, you know who you are...

- posted by aa.logan @ 3:50 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, May 14, 2004

having no credit on one's own phone is a pisser.

ones credit card not working prevent one from topping up is more so.

especially when one [fuck it, i am] is trying to co-ordinate a night out.

the local shops not stocking the relevant vouchers only compounds the situation.

but spending one's return bus fare from town on ravonettes remix cds makes it all worthwhile.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:13 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

sweet jesus! moment of the week.

john cooper-clarke was fucking nico, apparently.

this nugget was in the public domain, but passed me by until this morning.

i damn near dropped my toast.

whatever next?

- posted by aa.logan @ 11:02 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, May 13, 2004

how about a world party on the day you came to be?
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:12 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

two posts in quick sucsession.

sorry.

but now is the time for highbrow thought.

or just putting off work/looking for somewhere to live like a fool.

expanding on one of my seminars this afternoon*, and in keeping with my long-standing anger at media distortion.

all of this [admitedly awful] hoo-ha in iraqi prisons though.

the actions [even if those actions in question was being stupid enough to take pictures, regardless of them following orders or not] of a literal handful having potential to shift the policy and direction of the world's only bona-fide superpower on a major issue.

which, in a peverse way, kind of makes one feel good about oneself.

maybe i'm not that insignificant afterall.

if the teeth come off the smallest cog, the biggest machine can gring to a halt; we all have our own parts to play in this ever-shrinking world. who can tell what the ramifications of our actions will be.

which is, as i say, rather uplifting, no?

*see, youse get the benefits of being in such a rareified academic environment, without the fees, reading lists, early starts or having to walk up conduit road. lucky bleeders...
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:12 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

it has been a fine old week for soaps, no?

over in classic corrie, we've had three fantastic [and memorable] storylines.

doug living in a camper van [comedy]

percy's proposal to olive [poignant]

and, the greates soap comedy scene....ever, reg and maureen in the leaky waterbed, which was even better than i remembered it being.

real-time corrie has been delightful too, of course. the ted thai bride scam is full of potential, the revamped underworld is right classy [but a missed oppertunity to bring angie back in, if you ask me. but then again, every episode is a missed oppertunity to do that...], the worrying realisation that i might actually be les [not literally, of course.], chesney getting out of the dishes because he is thinking, and of course the todd/karl scandal. great stuff.

hell, even the last week of eastenders was tolerable. largely down to the glory that is janine, of course.

after almost one month going cold turkey from it, hollyoaks has it's claws back in me.

am i alone in wanting toby to knock off izzy from beyond the grave?

the british soap awards were also watched [by me].

inbetween mangling syntax, of course.

the ashley/claire will they/won't they episode [1st march, or there abouts] really was the best episode of any soap in the last year. therefore, was robbed.

as was bombhead for comedy performance, chesney for performance by a young 'un [if nothing else, an 8 year-old's acceptance speech would have been class...].

but the biggest travesty was charlie stubbs [bill ward, of course] not winning the coveted 'sexiest male'.

nigel who?

the public, once more proove their idiocy and lack of taste.

cunts.
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:43 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

i'm trying not to get too over-exited about the flames continuing progress.

but who'd have thought how much a little sucsess could reignite my interest in hockey...

me? a glory fan? who'd have thought that either. truly, we live in enlightening times.

elsewhere, last night i think i may have impressed the generally irritating in-pub dj [yes, i am aware that ontheturn is rapidly turning into a disck-jockey fetish site...] by requesting he bang on police and theives.

hair gel is fantastic, too i've discovered.
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:48 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, May 10, 2004

ralf little in a tracksuit probably isn't the best excuse for watching two pints of lager and a packet of crisps.

anyone care to provide me with a better [more socially acceptable*] one?

*of course, watching two pints... is far from socially acceptable. but that's beside the point.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:20 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

'exiting' new project ahoy.

i am rather looking forward to the upcoming euro 2004 tornament.

but i am aware that the majority of my massive readership, don't give a tinker's cuss about football.

the majority of youse probably didn't get the 'massive' reference, for example.

which is why, to spare the uninterested from boredom, i'm going to be running a seperate, limited-edition blog for the tornament.

twat! liquid football. or, as every-one [ie no-one]is calling it for short, T!LF.

the title of which, obviously paraphrases some alan partridge commentry.

i toyed with football. bloody hell., but since that [as i'm sure you're delighted to hear] ontheturn will still be the depository for my united reflections, the name wouldn't be quite right.

sorry for the dull housekeeping.

twat! liquid football is nothing to do with liquidfootball.the twat makes all the difference. a statement that is true in most fields, of course.

neither am i jumping on any bandwagon. honest. kopstar is a beast of a very different nature.

but twat! liquid football will be up and running soon...
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:42 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

ok, so t'other day i slag off the politics department.

and just to proove me wrong, perhaps, they willingly reallocated modules. just like that.

from contempary african politics to post-industrial utopians at the stroke of a pen.

while i'd kind of gotten used to, and was kind of looking forward to the african module, envisioning being able to pass off laying down listening to youssou n'dour for hours as 'study' and buying up the back catalogue of khaled as an academic aide, i'm more than chuffed that i'm back on my first choice.

if nothing else, i'm guessing its more fun to feel pretentious than it is to feel worthy.
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:58 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, May 09, 2004

claire from out of corrie. just about the only person on the planet who could wear a shirt emblazoned with an image of blue tits without it coming off as innuendo...
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:43 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

worrying developments

perhaps encouraged by my happy experiences on his patented punk rock kareoke earlier in the week, i foun dmyself listening to steve lamaq on the radio to-day.

bad enough, no?

but whilst listening to said programme, i found myself rather enjoying a number by [whisper it] radiohead.

oh dear.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:55 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

reflections on the week-end [slight return].

i've already praised last nights superstar dj, bussed in special from london.

the thing unmentioned so far, however, was the refreshing nature of barely recognising a soul.

one of the bad things about having a routine such as mine is that after a while, you recognise every fucker in a given club. and, when one considers the fact that the same folk go to the same clubs, the situation is exacerbated somewhat.

so as i say, not knowing the faces of anyone beside my companion for the night and a [literal] handful of others, was rather fun. perhaps even a tad liberating. so, even if the music had been shite, the night would have been worth it. but it wasn't, so i kind of win twice over.

of course, my schedule for next week is achingly familar. once again, all mouth....

and now, the rapture.

the first time i've seen an act so unaware of their music, a fact to be rectified at the first possible oppertunity.

they were fucking fantastic.

really very good.

but i'll start, as is my wont, with a [slight] complaint.

i wasn't exactly expecting them to look like the scissor sisters, but i do expect a fancy-dan, uber hep set of nu new-wave new yorkers to clad themselves in something a touch fancier than jeans and t-shirts. hell, even the [also very good] support act and seeming full-time jam plagarists saw fit to don burton shirts [presumably because they thought it funny to turn rebellion into money.....sorry].

but, scruffy look aside, on-stage a polished performance. not-quite freaky dancin' from the alto saxophonist/cowbeller [best, but sadly only i've seen since the zutons/goldfrapp respectively], guitar used like shoulder-mounted rifle, warmly entering the crowd and more stuff than i can remember now.

musically reminiscent [obviously] of the mondays and 'heads, but also evocotive at times of rock n roll suicide.

again, one cannot entuse too much, 'twas that good.

how i wish i wasn't too young/not born for baggy/ new wave first time[s] round. but god bless such revivalism....
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:30 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, May 08, 2004

i really don't want to make it three dj-centric posts on the trot.

but proper disc jockeys as opposed to folk who just play records are fantastic.

last night, we had a lovely segue between the bongos from rock the casbah into the hardest button to button. genius.
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:41 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, May 05, 2004

again with the dj-ing firsts.

i may have spent over a year slagging off dempseys.

and rightly so.

but last night, unbidden and unexpected, they bang on filthy/gorgeous.

which redeems the establishment somewhat.

not enough, mind....
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:04 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

in all the iggy hoo-ha, i neglected to mention the biggest kick i got out of a simple thing.

patrick wolf being played by someone not me.

something i'm sure happens, but have never actually heard.

patrick wolf being played on a big old pa during an afternoon of drunkeness and debauchery was equally rare.

but it happened.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:42 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

new adventures in kareoke.

apologies for the shit opening line.

but until last night, i hadn't realised how much fun it is.

and in particular, the indie wet dream that is steve lamaq's punk rock kareoke.

the former mr evening-session endorsed varation is the traditional screen with lyrics scrolling. but instead of cheap midi versions of popular hits, you're acompanied by a rather fine live band. on the proper stage. you know, the one used for gigs. in front of a [not really] capacity crowd.

which is, quite obviously, even for non-extroverts such as myself, fucking fantastic.

ok, but aside from the adulation [i never thought i'd enjoy being repeadedly shaken by the hand and called a 'legend' by drunken folk], the very best thing about my kareoke [of any sort] debut was the fact that for those few minutes, i got to be iggy.

which, on stage, let me tell you, is much more fun than in front of the 'kick it' dvd single. which is fun, too, admittedly.

my performance, although lacking in any true vocal ability [my pre-bar singing was described as akin to 'a drunk old irishman'. which i eventually learned, is apparently a bad thing] was enthusiastic.

largely, i kind of shouted. i ad-libbed to. adding got knows how many extra rounds of 'la la las' and 'he rides and he rides'. as well as a liberal helping of obscenities. although i chickened out of, in metallic ko style, of begining it with '1-2- fuck you pricks', as i felt i needed the audience on my side....

but part of being iggy, as we all know is the onstage self-mutilation.

sadly, the only drinking vessels in the club were made of plastic. not that they were allowed on stage [how very rock and roll....]

so, short of glassing myself, i took the only avenue open to me, and repeatedly twatted my head with the microphone.

sadly, the bruising isn't in the lattice pattern of the mic head. hopefully it'll go away soon though.

IT WAS GREAT. AND MORE THAN WORTH IT. ['it' in this case being unsightly discolouration and a fucking sore head...]

so not just because of all the cheap booze i drank earlier in the day, the fact i was sat in the sun drinking cheap booze nor the fact that i was in pleasant company, in the sun and drinking cheap booze, i had a fucking fantastic day.

crappy photos are even knocking about.....

but i am the passenger.

i ride, and i ride.

etc.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:04 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, May 03, 2004

in another attempt to put off working in the wee small hours last night, i stumbled across rush on channel four.

acording to my other listings magazine that is available, it is/was 'a compilation of the vee-tv drama'.

according to me, it was the most subtle drama i've seen in fucking ages.

with a largely deaf cast, at least half of the dialogue was signed, but oddly this was no problem. i don't mean in terms of understanding, it was subtitled, but in terms of acting, everything was conveyed convincingly. i knew when folk were angry.

alas, i know little about the programme. beyond the fact that if ever anything deserved a prime-time slot.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:21 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

like the self-indulgant and frustrated [is there any other kind?] columnist that i quite clearly want to be, my musings of the past few days follow.

-0-

out on the tiles friday night notwithstanding, i've been living in a self-imposed exile of sorts. which, short of someone getting all clockwork orange on my arse and strapping me down in front of a screen and showing me vision of a degree-less future, is just about the only way i'll get stuff finished before the latest round of looming deadlines.

but the lonliness, although not quite killing me, is a touch difficult to live with. hence my desire, every three hours or so, to send off yet another batch of pointless text messages. until i get at least one reply, i find it difficult to continue analyising the changing conception of the notion of equality throughout liberal thought.

why this is, i'm not too sure. am i that existentially insecure that i need confirmation from others that i'm still alive?

or just that neurotic that i need reassuring [scarily frequentally] that i still have friends.....

-0-

crime fiction isn't the new rock n roll. [although one of the best descriptions i ever read of tom waits' music was in a rebus book- the delivery may be affected and pure theatrics, but the lyrics are as heartfelt as possible. or words to the effect.]

but it would seem that publishers are no more averse to repackaging parts of a writer's back catalogue that predate their breakthrough to look like 'new' material any more than record labels are to banging out whatever licesnced product they have with new photos on it. or those fucking 'special editions' i'm so susceptable too....

from the library t'other day, i got out a lovely new paperback by joe r. lansdale, the front of which proudly proclaimed 'authour of 'the bottoms'. and fair enough, i suppose it is.

but the thing about mr. lansdale is, aside from his [fantastic] lenoard pine/ hap collins series [second only to spenser/hawk in terms of PI/hard man pairings, in my book] and the sub-to-kill-a-mockingbird-but-still-rather-good-nonetheless-standalone-novel 'the bottoms' he churns out crap.

including the book i got out, the frankly predictable, staid and formulaic 'cold in july'.

and this isn't the authour's fault. hell, it isn't nescicarilly the publishers fault, but i feel rather cheated. i don't expect a book, first published in '89 to bear the title of the authours most recent work.

i don't mind reisuues, hell in some circumstances even welcome them- where else, for example, would i get my hands on good condition copies of the start of the 84th precinct series, say. and i'm always more than willing to delve into a writer's earlier works.

but this book was shite. and since i was looking forward to reading it, i'm subsequentally rather pissed off....

+0+

i am [sadly] not turning into brian eno.

but i am, of late, as i am prone to, from time to time, noticing that most music sticks to a very basic formula, and even with the possibilities that synthisized sounds have opened up, most music sticks to simple forms and traditional instrumentation.

on a more/less [you decide] pretentious level, i've also been noticing more and more that music is made up of notes.

which is not as obvious and daft as that first sounds. honest.

but even the most complex and avant-garde piece [of which, trust me, i'm familiar with many] is made up of individual noises.

again, this may seem stupifingly obvious, and perhaps it is. but i've been properly hearing music again.

which is fucking great. and going some way to reversing my semi-permanent jaded state of mind too....

+0+

and thats all.

for now.

- posted by aa.logan @ 10:22 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, April 30, 2004

i could write about how great the beta band were last night.

i could write about how much i am [genuinely] looking forward to tomorrow's eu expansion.

but i can't really be arsed to do either.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:54 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, April 29, 2004

first off, the politics department, in terms of staff, are wonderful.

i mean, taunting noted academics about the play-offs on grand staircases is mighty fun.

but in terms of organisation, they are, to be frank, utter cunts.

would it be that hard to e-mail us, say, the exam timetables? or perhaps even information on next year's module allocation?

no?

well why the fuck don't they?

indeed, when it comes to allocation, why not give everyone at least one of their two module preferences?

a rant that is of little interest to those outside my academic circle, mind, but summat i needed to vent about....
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:25 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Reason To Be Cheerfull, Part Three- calgary leading their play-off series against detroit, 2-1.

the flames being in the post-season is reason enough.

in the second round, more so.

but leading the all-stars to be....
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:39 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

writers block,of sorts.

in case you were wondering...
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:04 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, April 26, 2004

not sour grapes.

i honestly don't give a flying fuck about what happened at white hart lane today
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:18 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, April 24, 2004

meeting the sports minister at a poorly-attended labour youth meeting is one thing.

neglecting to ask his opinion on the bigot ron saga is quite another.

unforgivable, all the same...
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:32 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

errata-an apology

simon davies, reviewer of second coming, quoted a few days back, got a fair few first team matches.

he even scored the opener in our 4-0 thrashing of galatasary.

god bless the pride of all europe dvd...
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:39 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, April 23, 2004

someone may or may not have thrown a bottle at me last night.

the fact i can't remember for sure worries me more than the fact that someone took against me so [or not].
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:04 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, April 22, 2004

better on big ron than i ever could be
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:11 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

i have a gmail account, something, that, for some reason, makes me rather proud.

somehow [ie by going shopping. lots] i have more to take back to sheffield than i brought from there just three weeks ago. which is a bit of a pain. for a start, i'm having to leave behind four pairs of trousers, three pairs of shoes and a bottle of gin. all of which i'm obviously going to want the moment i get back to the steel city.

i can't be doing with this two-city living.

the sooner i'm living in manchester full-time, the better.

apologies to the good people of sheffield.
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:38 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

big ron go bye-bye?

odd feelings aroused, once more.

first of all, i'd like it acknowledged that him and clive form the world's greatest commentry duo

this has been a genuine shock.

i fucking love ron.

his cv not only includes us, but also kettering, wednesday and athletico madrid- clubs which i have great affection for.

but him and racism have an odd history.

indeed, as do him and off-mike comments ['he looks a right twat, that totti']

he was a pioneer when it comes to signing black players- notably 'the 3 degrees' at the baggies.

but several black players have complained at the treatment he got off them- notably the great remi moses.

the fact that hes slipped up is sad.

as is that he still has such attitudes.

ah well.

ron, you've blown it.

room 101 has all kind of ironic element tonight...
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:18 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

lots has been weighing on my mind, recently.

bomb plots on the arndale and all that, for starters.

back on march 12, i wrote about the odd feelings that proximity [however vague] to bloodshed stirred.

granted, nothing [thankfully] happened to The Finest City On Earth, but of couse, it does prompt one to think.

i have, after all, been known to frequent all of the speculated targets. the takeaway sealed off is one that has experienced my custom- indeed, i almost went there friday night. ok, these apply to many, many others, too but there is certainly an odd frisson.

to say that nowhere is safe is fucking daft. no-where is, but nowhere ever has been. manchester is no stranger to terrorism, and, further to that- sudden death pays geography no heed. everyday could be one's last.

but none of that is reason to get too maudlin. but one just can't help thinking about these things. when the police report bigger and bigger quantities of drugs siezed in raids, all it means is that larger and larger amounts of narcotics are being traffiked. so yes, that the police seemingly destroyed a cell over the weekend is great news, but it does leavew one wondering about what else is out there........
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:09 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

a worrying thought.

are the scissor sisters to 2004 what gay dad were to 1999?

think about it....

aside from the fact that followed each from back in the day, and love[d] each passionately, both are more than a little retrospective in their sound, got as much positive media coverage as negative, both give outspoken, good interviews, and both were seen [in some quarters] as over-hyped novelty nonsense.

i really don't want the 'sisters to implode and limp on horribly a la transmission. i couldn't take that kind of dissapointment twice.

while i'm at it, if phixx don't get to release an album, i'll cry....
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:39 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, April 20, 2004

musicology, or an advanced phd in body moving then.

don't be put off by the inexplicably cheap packaging. ok, the pictures of prince are nice, and a half-gatefold digipack has a certain appeal, but the package as a whole, and especially the album title looks like it was written on windows '95. this after the lovely album art and design for rave un2 the joy fantastic. but a minor gripe.

like all 'return to form' album reviews [see those of bowie's post-tin machine output for examples], the media have been doing down those that immediatly precede it. but whilst i didn't like n.e.w.s., this isn't that radically different to much of his post-emancipation output. there are no excesses of his previous genre pieces, granted, but any of the tracks from musicology wouldn't be all that out of place on, say, chaos and disorder.

none of this is intended to do musicology down, mind.

not least becuse i fucking love it. the title track remains the stand out, but illusion, coma, pimp & circumstance and cinnamon girl are exquisite slices of sexfunk. prince is probably up on the same level of my personal panthenon as iggy pop, and, much as i'll love everything mr osterberg records, i'll love all of TAKATAFKAP's output. so i'm hardly objective.

musicology, then, is another fine prince album in a long string of fine prince albums.
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:11 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

more on the weekend/ my drinking habits.

despite me having a fine old time, i was hardly knocking them back.

and compared with my companions, i was exceptionally sober.

yet still on both friday and saturday nights i hallucinated. or at the very least thought odd.

friday, i was convinced that earlier in the night i'd met a lass with a telekinetic denim skirt, which she let me use to 'conduct' the dancefloor.

saturday, as i lay in bed, entwined with a friend, the notion that i was sleeping in an authentic portugese farmer position entered my head. since i never have done such a thing, i can't say how they do sleep*, but i can say that at around half four it made complete sense to me....

maybe i need to be on the wagon proper once more.

*anyone who does, please feel free to drop me a line.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:52 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, April 19, 2004

musicology the album is as good as musicology the song.

more detail tomorrow, i'm sure.
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:08 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

told you so
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:36 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

one of those sub-con-air-define-irony-deadpan-delivery-things

watching this morning this morning.

looking for work, waiting for a phonecall about prospective employment.

seeing the very factory i was convincied i'd end up working at as the centepiece of an item with fern's husband.

ok, not irony per se, but if i had a better command of the english language it might have been.
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:38 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

no job [yet]

that i'm pissed off about this probably means i really wanted one after all.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:40 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, April 18, 2004

in two minds

the bastard agency couldn't offer us concrete work for tomorrow on friday, and don't want us to go in on the off chance on monday, preferring me to telephone them.

but do i want a job after all?

ok, i need the money, and i like exercising and getting paid for it. or rather
warehouse labouring.

but i'm a lazy twat too.

with an essay to write, and invitations to socialise in sheffield.....

the hassle of starting a new job is always a pain too. new people, for a start.

for just a week, is it worth it?

i just don't know what to do with myself.
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:16 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

yesterday i failed to express adequately how fantastic peaches was.

something i regret.

since it was the best non-symbollic [ie bowie/joe] gig i've attended.

not least because it was part of a rather nifty weekend, one outcome of which is my determination to no longer put up with sub-standard nightclubs any longer.

a lack of sleep prevents any insight forming.
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:13 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, April 17, 2004

way back in november, i made the claim that i wanted to be a chick on speed.

truth be told, i'd now rather be peaches.

man alive, what a glorious gig.

from the top then.

i only caught the very end of the first support act, m.a.s.s. or summat. seemingly a woman screaming incoherantly, so no great loss.

but support act the second, berliners kissogram had all the new-wave electro tricks down pat.

smart suits, floppy fringes, deadpan expressions, spasmodic dancing the lot.

not to mention a 'cover' of i wanna be your dog. but with different lyrics.

afterwards, i declared that i could leave then, satisfied.

but obviously, i didn't.

peaches was everything i expected, and more.

her dancers put the piss-poor efforts at fairy to shame.

she cycled through all the guitar-god stylistic cliches with enough vim and detachment.

climbing the amp stacks, three costume changes, metalic ko'd and enough lavicious and lewd behaviour to get executed in medieval england. sorted.

the iggy 'duet' worked where i thought it wouldn't.

ok, so we missed the second encore and her performance of gay bar in order to meet a friend who was waiting for us in such an institution and growing impatient at our being late. ah well.

such was my post-peaches buzz, that even my night in essential [featuring god-awful dance versions of total eclipse of the heart for fuck's sake. after peaches, i want sleaze] dampened my spirits all that much.

what a sucssesful night.
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:48 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, April 16, 2004

for all those wondering what really happened to chris casper, reviewer of take that t'other day/all those years ago?

a [slightly] sad story, really

but i'm not altogether sure about the ethics of suing for injuries sustained in the course of a football match.

then again, i'm unsure about the ethics of suing folk in general....
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:46 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

odd realisation-

i used to be in mcfly.

no, really.

not the mcfly, i'm clearly too old/shit.

but going through some old papers yesterday, i found manuscripts i'd written for my various art rock and/or comedy music endevours.

things i'd clean forgotten about. like my [still unfinished] concept symphony, portrait of ann.

but i'd also forgotten my membership of the loose musical collective [translates as me and few few mates arsing around with microphones, poorly played instruments and basic sound manipulation software], often known as the all-new chicago hot five, but renaming ourselves every week or so.

including, in tribute to our back to the future fixation, mcfly, for a fortnight or so.

not a genuine claim to fame, per se, but being able to say that 'i was in mcfly back in the day', without lying is rather cool.

or at least i think it is.
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:27 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, April 15, 2004

i bought the a*teens debut album the other day.

it did nothing for me.

if revamped abba cover versions fail to move me, what hope have i got?

but i'm also all but invisible to train conductors. which saves ££££'s

and my semi-permanant existential crisis has become vague exasperation.

overall then, i'm in [spiritual] credit.
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:28 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

shit.

david byrne at the bridgewater hall tonight.

sold out.

why wasn't i informed sooner?

bollocks.

scissor sisters [back to back], yeah yeah yeahs, david byrne and peaches in ten-odd days would have been too much to take perhaps, mind.

on the plus side, i got the '97 home united shirt [eric's last/ the one beckham scored from the halfway line in] and a classy early-90s [bandai sponsored] puma athletico madrid shirt were purchased for less than a tenner. which doesn't quite make up for missing my favourite quirky new wave new yorker, but helps soften the blow somewhat.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:56 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

its still just wednesday, but i'm already inordinatley looking forward to this weekends festivities.

ok, anticipating peaches is no bad thing. neither is looking forward to having some of my favourite components of my collective assembled in The Finest City On Earth for it, i suppose.

but anticipating a night in essential [not through choice, mind] with this level of exitement?

sick.
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:14 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

from manchester united magazine, volume 3, issue 4 [april '95] p.4

red hot sounds-extra!

second coming, stone roses.

reviewed by simon davies.

"i was quite surprised when i heard this. their first album was brilliant and somehow i don't think second coming is in the same league. i did consider myself to be a 'roses fan, but i just can't get into this one- and believe me, i've tried! not worth wainting five years for"

red hot rating one flame [presumably out of five]

everything changes, take that

reviewed by chris casper

"i'm not take that's biggest fan, although david beckham loves them! obviously they're very popular and i've seen them on tv and they seem pretty good live. i would probably go to one of their concerts with a group of mates, but you won't find me putting their cds on at home"

red hot rating three flames

best of new order

reviewd by gary neville

"respect to them, but new order aren't my cup of tea. i'm more into mor stuff like tina turner, certainly not rave or anything heavy. something i can relax to... new order don't really fit the bill"

red hot rating two flames

all cds available from virgin megastores nationwide, apparentley.

this amused me in so many ways.

for the record- the simon davies is a welsh midfielder, but not the same one who now turns out for spurs and the principality. he didn't make it with us, i'm not sure if he even made the first team.

chris casper was a defender, and like simon, yet another of fergie's fledglings [mk II] who got lost somewhere on the way. he may well have played in our fa cup loss to york before going ending up at blackpool. but that could just as well be john o'kane. regardless, is he au fait with beckham's current musical tastes?

gary neville obviously has no taste. but is the only one of the three reviewers to do anything on the pitch. coincidence, perhaps.

but maybe my inherant impeccable taste in all fields is why i was never going to become a professional sportsman.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:04 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

as is now probably very clear, i've added a comments facility.

which is cripplingly egotistic, i know.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:50 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

four months away from holby city, and i have, quite literally, lost the plot.

no kath, a new nurse and an anethesist in a wheelchair?

what the fuck?
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:35 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

gig exitement and dissapointment.

i treat these two imposters the same.

to-night, i'm missing both the yeah yeah yeahs and goldie looking chain, largley down to poor planning, and, truth be told, i could get to either if i could be arsed making the effort.

but aside from the fact that my peaches clock is ticking, the fact i have beta band and rufus wainright tickets counters this dissapointment.

and this years move line-up has been announced. they'll never equal bowie, strummer and new order, but madness, the cure pixies and morrisey is rather impressive. i doubt i'll have problems finding folk to go with either....
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:22 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, April 12, 2004

the historic episode[s] of corrie. a long time coming, granted. but dissapointing as fuck.

aside from the obvious flaws in any bar/club-based outing [too bright, too quiet- the music was louder through todd's phone than on the dancefloor and too empty], the otherwise exellent scriptwriters really fucked up- leaden dialogue delivered badly. and the casting department? twats. ex-hollyoaksites and queer as folkers don't good actors make. nor do they tend to be sympathetic characters.

and speaking of which, todd- what a twat. karl isn't any better, himself being a cunt.*

ok, todd is going through a tough time, granted. but tina/sarah-lou deserves better than being messed around like she is. but karl? man alive, even if you think they're confused or not, never move in on somebody who is spoken for. in all the whoo-ha about the first corrie gay storyline, this [arguably] negative sterotyping has been ignored.

but i'm not wanting to get political. nor am i wanting to come across as one of those who think soaps are real. even though i clearly am. just there has been such a build-up, and that was of such a high standard.

an alternative view, inserted here for no real reason- tina/sarah lou will be well shot of todd. lad, steps, horrible hi-nrg covers and old kylie songs do not count as 'great tunes', you fool.

to dismiss almost a years worth of build-up on the basis of [direct] build-up on the basis of just one hours viewing would be a touch daft. but fuck it, i feel cheated. however, the mya dog-killing? story almost made up for any shortcomings elsewhere.

*given my [at times] somewhat convoluted personal life, this is an odd sentance to type. but it's my own fault, i suppose.
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:30 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

my [lovely] sister discovered this wonderful site by accident on her travels.

http://ontheturn.blogpsot.com

what a happy coincidence.
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:23 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

i have, i realise, been churning out far more self-indulgant, introspective and over-comma'd tosh than usual of late.

sorry.

- posted by aa.logan @ 9:54 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, April 11, 2004

further musing over the last week has led me to believe that i am rather jaded.

at just twenty-one, i've arguably had too much too young.

wandering some fantastically spanish streets in palma t'other day i just couldn't work up any entuhsiasm. since i theoretically love that kind of thing, it got me thinking.

seeing a single sketch by picasso, would, a few years back, have given me immense pleasure.

a moderatly large exhibition of such things would have sent me into cries of rapture.

on thursday, i spent less than quarter of an hour in such a thing.

i've not gone off pablo [who never got called an asshole], but i've seen so much of his work, i just thought 'i've seen better in the prado, moma or wherever', and however nice it was tracing the evolution of some of his portraits, i just got no satisfaction from it.

the only continent i haven't visited is antartica, but i can honestly say there is no part of the world left that i have a burning desire to visit.

bombay sapphire is no longer a treat, now the norm. this may be more to do with my increased affluence in recent years, but i'm still young enough to [socially] get away with drinking rotgut.

and sex? i'm even beginning to get bored with that.

being jaded is crap.

ergo, i'm going to try and take full advantage of life's simple pleasures.

new me starts now.

honest.
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:21 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, April 10, 2004

so much to write

so, whilst i was away, football decides to go all funny old game and even bloody hell for a while.

first up, the fa cup.

before the match, i honestly believed that i'd rather have won nothing than just that [not, of course, that we've lifted it for the tenth time yet].

dispatching the arse so well and in such a fun way [airport pub or no, its been fucking ages since i've seen a match in a red environ] disabused me of such notions.

bear in mind that their match with chelski in europe was, a week ago, on a knife edge. it's us who stopped them getting a treble, the only thing, surey that they were the equals, let alone betters of the class of '99.

and as my dad has pointed out, winning the cup does mean something, and if that is our sole trophy this season, we'll still be better off than most other team's supporters.

so, yes, that was all nice.

as the champions league turned out being.

real, out. to lowly monaco.

the seemingly unstoppable [in the first leg] ac dispatched by an unbelievable result from deportivo.

and no arsenal, of course.

all the teams in the semis could and indeed can win it.

y'know, like a proper cup competition once more.

but most of the [certicied] ontheturn readers don't give a tinker's cuss about football, so i'll stop there.

i spent the past week in majorca.

stopping in a rather magnificent hacienda.

luxury is, surely, looking out of a ground floor window at night and seeing nothing but one's grounds [albeit rented ones].

but the isolation i noticed most of all was being cut off from communication devices.

i never thought of myself as having a particular close relationship with my mobile, so i choose to leave it behind.

missing the physical presence in my pocket aside, the first few days were, to be frank [and somewhat hyperbollic] hellish.

i like exchanging pointless texts.

i like reccieving drunken phone calls.

and because of this, perhaps i like myself less.

[finally] reading microserfs rammed this home.

normally after finishing a coupland [normally, for the record in a single sitting] out comes the phone to 'discuss'the book via text with a friend.

not this time. and, despite me thinking it to be coupland's best work, as a consequence i think i enjoyed it less. i have an inclination to write further at a later date. maybe i will, maybe i won't.

ah well.

still with microserfs, sort of, i also missed the internet somewhat.

and in particular the ability to abuse and waste such a fantastic invention, churning out this self-indulgant tosh.

a discovery that, yet again, i am somewhat disturbed by.

but ontheturn is something i enjoy writing, apparently.

in my head i'm much more erudite, coherant and interesting, mind....

especially after od'ing on the corrie omnibus, which saw charlie go from the sublime ['more loved up than a busload of happy mondays' fans] to the riddiculous [that tuxedo and horrible hair- it made me wonder what i see in him. but hark at me, once more turning into a 14-year-old girl...]

and tina/sarah-lou's entuhsiasm for going to a gay bar was disturbing. they are, generally hatefull, desperate places. or maybe thats just my self-loathing showing.

- posted by aa.logan @ 5:21 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

holiday, over.

words later.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:55 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, April 03, 2004

ok, i can't be arsed giving marvin the tribute he deserves.

so rather than a half-arsed memorial, i'll just say that here, my dear is the most heart-wrenchingly personal album, ever recorded. buy it.

the tabloid format of the times is unsettlingly shite.

and i'm off on my holidays tomorrow.

majorca for a week.

with my mam and dad.

which should be great.

but no ontheturn. probably.

but no back-to-back scissor sisters, something i'm yet to get over.

or no fairy tonight, nor leeds tomorrow. so its not all bad, i suppose....

[as an aside, why on earth do i persist in frequenting clubs i can't fucking stand? it makes no sense]
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:02 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, April 02, 2004

so then, the super furry animals.

the octagon isn't normally one of my favourite venues, on accounts of it being octangular.

in fact, it's not even my favourite oddly-shaped venue in a sheffield- an honour bestowed on the leadmill instead.

but for tonights [last nights now] gig, near perfect.

due to circumstance, i was the furthest back i've ever been at a gig. circumstance being my dodgy knee, my compaion's reluctance to go near the front and the fact that we were all knackered.

so we were in front of the mixing deck, and if one takes into account the fact that the stage protudes, consequentally in the dead centre of the venue.

which, when considering the gig was in surround sound, was rather fun.

i'm now deaf from both the front and back.

but man alive, was it worth it.

the furries really are an execptional band, an opinion cemented by tonights gig, which was the best of many.

what other band can equal the heart-wrenching beauty of run! christian Run! musically [especially the gentle sonic orgasm that is the instrumental break] and tie it to such a dark lyric? [ok, maybe love and the flaming lips, but thats not the point]

what other band can rock out with the likes of calimero and phantom power?

what other band can do both, and have neither feel out of place?

the set was notable for visiting all albums, but sadly [and my only complaint about the gig] no ice hockey hair.

the original [ie ny skyscraper exploding] video of juxtapose with u has returned to the backdrop.

the schwartzniger 'mindfuck' ending of the man don't give a fuck has left the set, replaced with a return to the stage after the customary [and headache-inducing] techno freakout dressed in yeti costumes from golden retriver for a bit of spinal-tap posturing.

and the [apparant] live debuet of their goldie looking chain collaboration, motherfokka, which sadly didn't feature GLC in person, but instead the south wales collective 'shrunk down to the size of tiny jewels and played by computers'. and a fine work it is, lots of acceptable meatal riffing, 'motherfokka' being streched out into an unimaginable number of sylabels and a beredpowerrangerhelmetted gruff chucking crisps into the crowd. not quite wayne coyne's hulk hands, but cool all the same.

and clocking in at just under two hours, value for money too.
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:27 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, April 01, 2004

god, i'm tired.

but after burning the midnight oil all week, my last essay [for now] is in. not that there wasn't high drama- it hadn't saved to disc when i first went to print it. which meant scaling conduit road twice in a half hour

in all, i'll be glad to see the back of this week.

to-day is the anniversary of marvin gaye's death.

i would write a tribute, but i can't be arsed right now. there will be one tomorrow, mind.

i will discuss prince, however.

musicology, his upcoming single is rather fantastic, no?

especially after the dissapointment of news.

surely under the [sadly true] impression that most people haven't heard one of his songs in years, prince seems to have decided to release about three at once.

i don't mean this literally, although he does feature snippits of several hits towards the end. rather , musicology changes tact, pace and direction so many times it feels like a whole album. in three-odd minuetes.

which is, obviously, fucking great.

hopefully it'll get proper distribution...
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:33 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, March 31, 2004

i may share my knee condition with ruud van nistlerooy.

much as the thought of him being injured pains [and worries] me, i do get a little kick out of this.

which is admitedly rather sick.
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:05 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

yesterday afternoon, i possibly made some rash descisions.

said descisions are potentially life-altering.

i had to made my module [and consequentally dissatation] choices for next year today.

factors shaping my [limited choices] included my desire to keep wednesdays as a day off so i can go out drinking on tuesdays with wild abandon, and a desire to limit my contact with certain members of the faculty.

yet again, i'm forced to take a big chunk of political analysis, which is something of a shame, since i fucking hate it.

as to my two free choices?

firstly i plumped, not that there was any doubt, for more Labour party history. all along i've dug british politics the best- it is, after, if nothing else the most familar to me.

but my second choice was harder to make, torn between contempary african politics, and something poncey that includes the reading of brave new world, i eventually decided to break out the huxley.

both choices i'm questioning on and off since, mind- especially since we are expected to make informed descisions on the basis of a few brief [and vague] paragraphs. which is a touch worrying.

especially given that my reserve choices were picked pretty much at random.

but then again, this degree is only three years of my life down the pan if i screw up. and a massive debt building up too, of course.

i am left wondering, yet again, why i so blithley opted to enter further education....
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:12 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, March 29, 2004

on bad cover versions.

first up, i'm no purist. no song is sacrosanct, all back catalogues are ripe for plundering- i have no axe to grind.

saturday night, i heard a fair few bad cover versions, as well as some that were mighty pleasant.

but one really rankled.

i'm no fan of the original baker street, but can see it has it's merits.

not least of all, the slurpy sax break.

on stage when this song was performed was a woman reasonably competant on the clarinet proving [piss-poor, admittedly] backing vocals. just before the bakers steet performers were on stage, we'd just had the pleasure of a very tight, very big big band. they had a seven strong saxophone section. and the ensamble on prior to the big band featured two saxophonists. giving us a bare miniumum of ten saxaphone-capable musicians in the building.

and did this rendition feature any of them?

did it fuck. which leaves me wondering what the point of it all was...

but the truly bad cover is something to revel in.

in a completley non-ironic way, of course.

the best [worst] covers are perhaps versions of famous song by someone with a distinctive style.

which is a really badly written sentance, granted.

so just think of bowie singing god only knows from his not-as-bad-as-people-say-but-by-no-means-worthy-of-his-talent album, tonight, and you'll get the picture.

the beach boys song is known [and loved] by so many, including myself.

i also number [and stronger] amongst those who love david's vocal stylings.

in theory then, i should fucking love it. but ass so often in the case it ends up as much [much] less than the sum of its parts, nothing more than a sick parody.

and because of this, i can't help but love it.

despite such obvious shortcomings, one gets twisted, and guilty pleasure from such hideous musical car-crashes. kind of like the appeal of electroclash, but more primal, i suppose.

so i shall quietly rejoyce in the irristable appeal of the bad cover version for a while longer yet.
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:49 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

i have no idea why i keep on allowing my life to become so motherfucking complicated, but i do.

aside from that, football.

i still haven't given up on this season, deep down.

hell, i'm still waiting on real all failing drugs tests from our match last season and getting disqualified from the champions league, and fifa forcing us to reply the semi. and of course final.

but i do admit that it'll take one hell of a capitualtion from the arse for us to retain the title.

but the most disturbing thing from to-days match was that i found mark lawrenson both entertaining and insightful on five live. it pains me to say this, but the man clearly knows what hes talking about.

which is odd, because i'd never noticed before.
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:23 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, March 27, 2004

time flies, no?

its the easter holidays [and my holidays proper] in less than a week.

academia almost over, again.

shit.

despite a promising [albeit late] start to my essays, i've ground to a creative halt.

time is clearly not on my side.
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:46 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, March 26, 2004

taken from this week's holy moly mailout-

A nice story to leave you with on a Friday - 'Coma Girl' by Joe Strummer is about his daughter who would fall fast asleep anywhere.

which is, as they say, nice.

shes a friend of a friend too, apparently.
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:13 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

once more, i fear that the tv schedulers are out just to piss me off.

last night it was the six feet under/nypd blue axis vs. basquait.

in the end, i plumped for the fantastically-soundtracked basquait, a choice that i, in some respects, regret.

but first, as seems to be my preoccupation this week, the sondtrack.

it gets gods knows how many bonus points for being put together by john cale, which are doubled by the fact that it includes no velvet underground, something i'm going to attribute to the film being made during one of his spats with reed, rather than false modesty- cale's version of hallejuah plays out over the end credits.

the use of tom traubert's blues for the scene detailling jean-michelle's reaction to warhol's death was fantastic, but any use of that song probably would be. the track off of bone machine was nice to hear too.

but back to the film itself, or rather those it depicted.

the too-talented bastards. i am, at most mediocre.

the mere thought of talented folk like bowie can [painfully] remind me of this.

so bowie pretending to be warhol unsurprisingly set off a negative reaction in me.

once more i realise that i'm never going to amount to much- i'm untalented, devoid of any great academic ability and just decidedly average.

granted, not many folk stand up to comparison with such collosuses [collosi?], but it is a harsh reality.

but, then again [and as ever] fuck it .
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:49 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, March 25, 2004

attending a talk on the future of the european union by [the very nice] nick clegg mep today, a most rare thing occoured.

i found myself agreeing absolutly and wholeheartedly with everything he said.

by [fully supportive] views on the eu eloquently and articulately expressed- and totally obscenity-free, too.

how i wish i had a copy of him to carry round in my pocket.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:56 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

a close personal friend of mine was, yesterday afternoon,jettisoned.

asked to provide the obligatory support, i [of course] sacrificed both academia and footballers wives to go drinking and doing the dumper down.

which, as we all know, is great fun.

but i very nearly screwed up- it was fast approching closing time before i trotted out the [fully accurate in this case, for the record] evergreen "you were too good for them" cliche.

oops. maybe i'm loosing my touch.
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:04 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

last night, i declined to go and see [the fantastic] sugababes.

the gig wasn't last night, of course. but we decided not to try and get tickets.

for the first time ever, i declined to attend an event because i couldn't afford the tickets.

which probably explains my current fiscal situation.

i shouldn't be surprised, but i am.
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:12 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

as a politics student, i have become more than used to deflecting the inevitable 'so you want to be the next tony blair?' questions.

in fact, i've only met two politics students with bona-fide political aspirations- a card-carrying hypocrite [is there any other kind?] of a tory, and a [wonderful] lass who is going to be a delegate at this year's labour conference.

but, even though the big old student elections have [thankfully] passed, we [the student body] are still yet to elect members of the various [impotent and irrelevant] comitteees.

several close personal friends are standing, which is worrying in itself.

but the fact that i am kind of considering it too is reason to loose sleep, surely....
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:16 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

poncing around the campus with a hefty pile of academic texts tucked under one's arm makes one feel rather academic oneself.

as does writing about 'one' and 'oneself'.

but neither helps me start an essay.

fuck.
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:00 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, March 22, 2004

in yet another fit of unbridled self-indulgance, i'm going to write about a four-year old film shown on telly last night that i only saw the first fourty minutes of.

i'd have liked to have seen more, especially as 'stella street: the movie' was, by and large, a pile of unmitigated shite.

so, the 2000 'shaft'.

i'm no great fan of the original shaft, lets get that clear from the start. but for what it is, it's fine. stylised, so arguably dated, perhaps. but that shaft is one bad mother [shut your mouth], which wins lots of respect. shaft in africa is nice and daft, mind.

it does, however, have one of the all-time great blaxploitation soundtracks [which are, for the record:1- the harder they come, 2- superfly, 3- shaft, 4- black cesar, 5- short eyes], and consequentally one of the all-time great film sountracks [1- lawrence of arabia, 2- back to the future, 3-the harder they come, 4- superfly, 5-shaft].

and on said album cover, issac hayes looks significantly cooler than richard rowndtree, what with his sunglasses, shaved head and goatee as opposed to 'fro and handlebar- but that could just be my late 20th century honky eyes decieving me. either way, it's nice to see that mr. l. jackson closer resembles ike in all his glory.

the [deservedly] most famous piece from the score is, of course, the oscar-winning 'theme from shaft', and in particular the percussion and toles' & pitts' flickering guitars.

cool doesn't even begin to describe it. not even ice-cold.

so any film that gets to feature it has it's cool content upped immeasurably.

samuel l. calmly twating someone in the face is cool.

then repeating the action to piss off his boss is doubly so.

but to do so with hayes' finest moment playing is just unbelievably stylish.

ditto jackson declaring that he can 'dig it'.

even when working for the man [the bad kind, not the velvet underground type- who is, i suppose also bad. but in a different way. god, i sound like the worst type of white liberal. its all irony, honest.....] john shaft manages to be hep- a fact helped, in no small measure, i believe, by the score.

and because of this, shaft 2000 could not possibly be bad. but, as i say, not that i've seen all of it.

if nothing else, toni collette and christian bale together again? how can anything that reminds me of velvet goldmine be bad?

folk bang on about the intrinsic need to strut when hearing stayin' alive. but surely theme from shaft evokes a much more primal, and much hepper reaction in more people? how can you hear it and not walk taller?

how to end this piece?

i've no earthly....
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:22 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

albums that i wish i'd heard sooner [part 116384]- songs in a minor, alisha keys.

i 'aquired' a copy of this in the summer, but just consigned it to my big box of stuff 'i'll listen to later'. which could have happened to any one of us. but was still a stupid mistake.

calling up stevie, and curtis and issac and the ilk, but sung by a woman. fanfuckingtastic.

the lead singles, falling and that one about finding a woman's worth are fantastic, but they aren't the album highlights.

which sayus something about the quality.

so much wasted time.

i now need the diary of..

better late than never, i suppose.
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:18 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, March 21, 2004

in alistair campbell's ongoing quest to finest the greatest sportsman..........ever in the times yesterday, they covered the 'minority' sports of basketball and [ice] hockey.

good, you may think.

but no.

each sport had a shortlist of one mr air jordan, michael jordan himself and gretzky.

i'm in no way qualified to comment on basketball, but in giving most of the article space over to an inteview with sir bobby [ours, not the geordie one] mr spin made something of a mistake.

he didn't fucking mention mario.

not once.

which is rather odd, on accounts of him being a far superior player. and thats not me being crazy- though i have on occasion argued [with conviction] that theo fluery pisses all over them both.

but mario lemiuex is arguably the uber[sports]man. not only does he have a better average points haul than the gretz, but he was [though, sadly, no longer is] a much more complete and rounded player. and whilst gretzky coasted surrounded by the likes of messier, kurri and fuhr, mario had to get through half of his career before being joined by the likes of francis and jagr. quite literally now, mario is the pens, but this goes back way before he bought them. perhaps the very definition of a franchise player in fact.

and all this is before we discuss the fact the lemiuex's career was cut short, and eventually curtailled by chronic injuries and, most of all the small matter of a bout of cancer. all of which he pulled through.

it is an inversion of mathmatical convention, perhaps, but 66 > 99.

still on a media tip, culturally significant as it [regretably] may be, why the fuck does the end of sex and the city get page three coverage in said august publication?

thinkpieces too. and they didn't even bother to let caitlin moran write them....
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:49 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

on a sartoral note, when do [horizontal] stripes become hoops?

is it judged by width or number?
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:53 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, March 20, 2004

odd things going on in my ears, yet again.

this morning, i found nico too shrill to listen to.

i'm not quite sure what that means, but i am more than a little concerned.

but speaking of shrill [god, if ever a thing was crudely tacked on, this is] last night's corrie continued to mine their rich vein of form.

karen is surely some kind of supreme being.

not content with holding tracey hostage and generally being shrill [see? crude] in a fight, she proceded to tell the vicar at the christening [miles, apparently] that "you best sort out your door policy coz shes [being tracy, of course] well from the dark side". classy.

when eillen asked bruce willis' age, was i the only one who shouted out 49?

i was?

it wouldn't be so bad, i suppose, were i not watching on my todd........
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:32 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

a slightly dissapointing night [perfect, but perhaps a few inches shorter than i'd like. well, that and not interested in me] can be countered by the smallest things.

in the case of to-day, a postcard from cambodia, a paltry five days old.
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:59 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, March 19, 2004

again with some pointless nostalgia.

last night's rock profile.

take that were rather good, weren't they?

would that i could've appreciated them back in the day.

once more, i worry about the state of my musical taste.

i mean i've listened to the new phixx single at least twice a day since getting it. and on wednesday, rachel steven's album all the way through as preperation for going out.

good god, like radiation i've been slowly corrupted.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:19 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, March 18, 2004

man alive, i'd kind of forgotten lou reed's genius.

sadly, he has kind of done the same too.

one thing i doubt i'll ever forget is the death of lisa duckworth. which was repeated on granada plus to-day.

back in september, i wrongly said she was killed by don brennan, and straight away, my lovely sister [now in vietnam] put me straight, reminding us that it was a random bloke.

but the smashed bottle of red wine on the cobbles is, i believe, an image that will live with us both for years. granted, it wasn't our first corrie death [that'd be ted sullivan], but it was the first violent, sudden one- not five minutes before, she was talking up her new life with des in withington, and being glared at by vera. and poor baby tommy....

the episode was also notable for curly professing his true feelings [once more] for [the best character ever] angie, and possibly trying to seduce her in a ham-fisted fashion with a bottle of red wine. interesting lisa parellels aside, it made me wish i had a drink that reacted that way with my system. aside from whiskey. but turns me into a lairy cunt, which isn't quite the same, really....

i fucking love corrie.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:44 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

t'other day, i read ontheturn in a pub, on a mobile.

which is incredibly egotistic, granted.

and probably a little pathetic too.

but i was proud.
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:48 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

again with the irrational anger.

cha cha slide.

when i was six i didn't like doing the actions, let alone being told how to dance.

should i let this happen now?

should i fuck.

and neither should you.

armed dancefloor revolution begins here........
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:07 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

the point of getting up early to try and do some work is undermined somewhat by the fact that there was yet another power cut.

prisoner of technology, me.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:53 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, March 15, 2004

and don't even think i'm going to mention the derby.

i wouldn't even know where to begin even if i could bring myself to.

i'll leave it as fuckfuckfuckfuck [fuck].
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:27 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

i hate going on about my drinking, but i feel compelled to.

i am, i realise, knocking far too much of it back.

take saturday night for example.

a pint of blackthorn [a bad sign in itself], bottle wine, gin and tonic [double] x2, a bottle of summat blue, double vodka x2 and then nemerous/several shots of cheap crap. approximatly.

which i think is more than is reccomended for one week, let alone one night. and the most worrying thing is that saturday was in no way an isolated incident.

i just seem incapable of drinking in moderation- i don't stop until a] i'm chucked out or b] i run out of money. which, once again, worries me.

so i'm going to try stopping.

for good.

again.
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:51 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, March 14, 2004

the fact that the glorious liza tarbuck is back on telly should be a good thing.

the fact that she's on in competition with corrie isn't.

yesterday, i was rather proud of my restraint- not going what looks like the worst club night in the world. however, my pride is tempered by the fact that i still went out [but thankfully not there], cavorting [and worst of all spending money] until the wee small hours.

i had myself a dead good [if confusing in places] time, yes.

but its not helping me keep my overdraft small.

nor is it much benefit to my sluggish academic endevours.

bollocks.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:58 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, March 13, 2004

i hear that ciaran is set to be the next rovers landlord.

and shock/horror he's going to want to try and modernise it to bring in yuppies.

christ alive, i love corrie like a child, but why on earth do the scriptwriters inflinct this frankly riddiculous story on us every three years or so?

also, since when did dead baby macdonald become catherine instead of katie?
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:30 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, March 12, 2004

ok, serious now.

when i left the house yesterday morning, news of the atocha bombing was just breaking, with a death toll 'just' in the tens. when i returned home, it was pushing 200, shocking in itself.

but the whole thing [combined with a few other events, granted] continued to re-enforce the whole fragility of human life thing. such a destructive, essentially random event is almost too much to bear consideration. it was a while ago when i was last in that station, but i did think, however irrationally, that 'it could have been me'; truth be told a did a simmilar thing with the world trade centre. selfish, perhaps, but i believe natural all the same.

aside from questions of responsibility for this terrible act, spain is a 'safe' country; granted it does have a history of terrorist acts, but these have historically been [again, this is a relative term] small-scale. which [and once more with a selfish vibe] makes more worry about my sister's welfare in cambodia [not a 'safe' country. after all, if such things can happen on this [and i use the next term guardedly, and not without a degree of sarcasm/irony] civilised continent, who can say what can occour on the other side of the world?

but such fretting is pointless.

finally, and not wanting to be glib, but the people of madrid are better suited, in one important respect, to 'deal' with this event than those of any other city on earth. they have picasso's guernica. i'm not sure if art really can sooth the soul, but as an expression of disbelief at destruction, no other human endevour comes close.

proxima estacion: esperanza
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:19 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, March 11, 2004

tonight barca and celtic clash. who the fuck should i want to win?

and, as an extension, who should i be rooting for in the champions league? not the arse, not chelski and certainly not real. a dillema i'd rather not face, truth be told.

further to that, i'd much rather not be a hater. but what with being hated, i have little choice. what a nasty vicious circle.
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:29 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

define procrastination: reading opera reviews rather than working.

man alive, i'm in a bad way.

working can't be that unpleasant, but still i'd rather 'learn' about puccini's lost works.

democratic transition is interesting, i'm sure.

so why the fuck can't i read about it?

shit.
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:35 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

neville [g] points out last night was a taste of our own medicine.

whatever helps you get through the night, gary.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:22 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

well, that a a bit of a pisser, wasn't it?

i felt it was coming, which is why i spent the last five minutes of the match hiding in the bogs. when i heard a big old cheer go up, for one brief moment i thought we'd made it through. then i remembered that the rest of the world are clearly bastards.

we weren't very good. we heven't been very good for much of the season. so that we're down and out shouldn't be that much of a surprise. but it was.

folk were telling me 'there's always next season', which i suppose there is.

but we really need to sort ourselves out.

a defender.

and a midfielder or two.

and no more off-pitch shenannigans please....
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:05 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

what with buying super furry animals and rapture [the] tickets to-day, you'd have thought i'dve used up all my gig expectation juices.

but no.

peaches next month tours. and plays manchester.

sorted.
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:49 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, March 08, 2004

my psyche, has, perhaps, undergone a radical shift. or perhaps something far less dramatic has happened.

but the strange truth is, i've just listened to "heroes", and i've just rather enjoyed it.

i'm talking the full album, not the song.

until to-day, i've never really warmed to it, prerfing it only to never let me down and the tin machine episodes of bowie's back catalogue, finding it for reasons that i can't quite articulate too cold, too odd and distant [in a bad way].

but for the first time [after god knows how many playings] i found myself 'getting' it. somehow, and for whatever reason, it clicks with me.

i can't see why i didn't like it before- it is in two distinct halves, one more conventional than t'other, but that is par for the course for bowie/eno collaborations. granted, it is cold, but since when has that been a bad thing?

and so forth. [and so on]

i don't see it challenging lodger, mind.
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:38 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

see, after bitching about the NHS yesterday, it was probably inevitable that they'd be great to-day.

at last, i know whats wrong with me knees. and thankfully, it's not [or probably not, if i'm being honest] my ligaments. which obviously makes me happy.

rather, something in the joint has burst, apparently. i wasn't paying all that much attention to what he was saying, so i'm still unsure of what exactly is wrong.

but i do know that it should be sorted in a few weeks. but that is should rather than will.

all i've got to do is wear supports on each knee and wait. but the bastard things are that uncomfortable i'd prefer callipers. but who cares. diagnosis is more cathartic than i'd expected.

now i know what's wrong, the pain isn't so bad.

but that could be the anti-inflamatory drugs and re-enforced elastic cutting off my circulation talking, mind.....

i was asked the most stupid question asked by a doctor ever, mind.

not 'do you kneel down often?', but [with my address written in front of him, too] ' do you walk up many hills?'. for fucks sake, i live in sheffield. in crookes in sheffield. i live at the top of crookes in sheffield. i need crampons to get from on side of the house to t'other...................
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:38 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, March 07, 2004

i think, on reflection, that the world would be a better place were it not for the intricacies of human interaction.

is leaving things unsaid preferable to regretting saying them?

cornball cliche, perhaps.

but a real problem all the same.

fuck.

and apologies for the angst-y tone.

for the record, however, my dillemma was over getting inside information on other people's lives [or not of course], nothing directly to with my own. something that i felt needed clearing up.
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:36 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

the nhs is a glorious institution, don't get me wrong.

over the past few weeks i have had a fair few dealings with it, and given that i've been taking out, it seems a tad churlish to complain.

but [and there always is a but], the inconsistancy of treatment is a bit of a pisser.

having to explain my problems each time from scratch every appointment, to different doctors who all seem to have different ideas for the best course of action makes me feel like i'm making absolutley no progress

god help me if [when] i have to deal with more than one department. it's not enough to make me even consider going private [not that i could afford to, but thats an incidental], but i can really see the appeal of swift treatment.
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:48 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, March 06, 2004

the single of the wonderful toxic features an instrumental version.

which makes me wish i had music manipulation software.

because a dub version [version] would be fucking amazing.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:46 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

and once more with an anniversary.

last night was roughly the one-year anniversary of my first visiting [the deplorable] fairy likuid.

on that occasion, i was around a litre bottle of jamesons to the wrong side of sober.

every trip since then, i've either been far to pissed or no-where near pissed enough to enjoy myself their.

what with it's dodgy PA, strange clientelle [of which i am admittedly a part of], stupid 'entertainment' and oversized venue, fairy almost inevitably leaves me questioning the point of going out on the town, dancing badly to bad music on an empty dancefloor and drinking over-priced booze.

and, as i'm sure you're all aware, an existential crisis can really hinder your chances of having a good night out.
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:40 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, March 04, 2004

sport, again.

and chelsea-centric, if not a little behind the pace [like marcel desailly. ha! satire].

being pipped to robben is not, in itself, that disasterous.

after all, he can't be the only best young left-sided midfielder in europe....

the fact that chelsea have gazumped us is more than a little galling, and, when combined with our ronaldinho failure possibly says bad things about the board, and their attitude. i hope it's not a backlash against fergie's supposed transfer irregularities/ problems with cubic expression.

ah well, no point crying over spilt milk......

commentry, part two

bates to wednesday?

the old cunt is a right cunt, but the old cunt is a rich cunt.

sacrifice morals for survival and the possibility to return to their former level?

why the fuck not....
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:29 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

at a rough guess, to-day is the five-year anniversary of manchester storm's superleague triumph, or at least being presented with the trophy [at home vs. the steelers, as opposed to away to cardiff whilst i was watching soylent green].

as an anniversary, it is probably worth marking, especially as it was kind of overshadowed by the treble [and rightly so].

back in the day, perhaps even as recently as a year ago, i could name the entire squad. a little before that, i could recall every player to play for the storm.

that i knew then, and have forgotten now is quite sad, really. in every possible sense.

but thanks go out to-
kurt klienendorst, darryl lipsey, frank pietrangelo, blair scott, brad rubachuck, stefan ketola, kevin hoffman, rob robinson, dave morrison, timo kahunanen, mike morin, pierre allard, jon weaver, kris miller, troy numier, jeff tomlinson, kelly askew, rick brebant, darren hurley, jeff jablonski, marko sten richard uniake and collum cavilla.

i actually remembered the majority of these without resorting to the internet hockey database, which is possibly impressive.

but they all made me very happy indeed
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:18 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

there are few things in all of creation as glorious as the 3.48 of life on mars?, are there?
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:28 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

the past week, i've taken to drinking again.

once more, i'm going to stop. and i mean it.

i think i had a good time.

but i probably made a twat of myself.*

but worst of all, i executed several knee drops, which considering my condition, was as stupid as they were classy [ie very].

ow

*i can now finally say i don't think i made that much of a twat of myself. god, waiting for replys to one's 'i'm sorry if i made a twat of myself' messages is hell....
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:53 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

however much one may not really have been looking forward to going out on the tiles, finding your intended destination shut for no apparent reason is a bit of a pisser. bastard fucking dabble at the leadmill.

and last nights corrie?

the best episode[s] in ages [that is to say since the macdonald-macdonald wedding]. i hate to admit it, but ashley and claire damn near [ie actually did] have me in tears.
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:48 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, February 29, 2004

rolling one's bed a foot or so into the middle of the room may seem odd, but it does mean that both the pc, most cds and the hi-fi are all within arms reach.

and when it hurts to walk, this is rather good.

and all of that is on top of the bonuses of feeling all connected and multimedia.
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:14 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

i am, under most circumstances, averse to posting links for the hell of it.

but these are rather good.

he could even be a disc-jockey i regularly shout abuse at. or he could just share his nom-du-turntable. to be frank, who cares.
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:37 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, February 28, 2004

we could blame our [disasterous] capitulation to-day on fielding a weak side.

or general defensive frailties.

it could equally well be attributed to the non-awarding-of-cast-iron-penalties.

but to do any of the above would be ultimatley futile.

we're not very good at the moment.

which is a bit of a pisser.
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:47 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

so, the bbc's making your mind up was mean to produce a credible and serious eurovision contender, was it?

so why the fuck did a fame-acadamy-reject-who-isn't-the-delightful-barry win?

jesus wept.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:31 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

this is being typed in a bed rolled over to the PC desk, with a packet of frozen peas strapped to my now noticiably swolen knee.

it looks like i'm going to have to cancel my plans for tomorrow night.

doctor, will i ever dance again?

and more pertinantly, what with the easter holidays looming am i going to have to take early retirement from warehouse and factory work? aside from an unwillingness to seek work where i have to deal with [and consequentally be polite to] the general public, my big fear now is being skint.

perhaps my descision not to work over christmas will come back and bite me on my [impoverished] arse.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:07 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, February 27, 2004

ok, so snow aside, the firey furnaces.

i hate, believe it or not, being negative and/or critical. but i fear i may have to be.

not bad, overall, but better in the studio, i fear.

ms firey furnaces' fringe and blouse was somewhat reminsant of karen carpenter, but the simmilarities ended there. singing, sadly flat, however enthusiastic.

mr firey furnaces had a bit of terry hall about him, but that is only mentioned so as not to let him feel left out.

a nice tight band, let down by the drumming.

and tropical ice-land was rendered too guitar-y for my liking.

the blueskins in support were great, mind. oddly fammilar sounding re-fried southern boogie.

but hell, why am i complaining?

only £3.50, and were it not for leaving early with leg agony, it would have been a great night.

see, positivsm is much more fun....
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:51 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

under most circumtances, leaving a nightclub to find the whole city empty and covered with a blanket of virgin snowwould be generally be regarded as unbelievably ace.

however, when one has left said nightclub early because one's knee is playing up, one's opinion can radically differ.

especially if one is without one's umbrella [although the choice between using it to keep falling snow off or to use as a cane would, admitedly, be a hard one to make].

and if one has to walk home the longer, though less steep way home on accounts of one's dodgy knee, it is concievable that one's mood can worsen.

tropical ice-land my arse.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:02 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, February 26, 2004

i normally avoid such sweeping political statements, but george bush is an inexcusable twat of the first order who wants shooting.

prince, on the other hand, is fucking great.

wanting all five major labels to share his next album and release it on the same day?

genius cannot entirley be pissed away, obviously.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:55 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

what an unmitigated pile of shite we were last night.

i hate to admit such a thing, but it looks like the season is over. and its not yet march. jesus.

fucking rio.
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:40 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, February 25, 2004

at times, i suppose i am a crazy fool.

at times, i envision myself as some kind of freedom fighter, engaged in running urban guerilla warfare.

largely this consists of shouting abuse at dee-jays when they play can't get blue monday out of my head. one day, my brethren will reap the rewards of my struggle and we can come to expect the unadulterated factory classic as standard.

but until then, we'll have to live in sumner-free nightclubs and endure the pain.
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:11 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

after even having busted references fly over my aquaintances head last night, imagine my joy at finding someone to sing ian dury songs with whilst sitting at the bar.
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:56 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

me and the wagon?

sadly seperated.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:46 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, February 24, 2004

peaches with paul morley on sunday, chicks on speed with andrew collins to-day and alison goldfrapp with miranda sawyer tomorrow, is it any wonder that i *heart* 6 music?

elsewhere- n.e.r.d.'s new single.

how nice it is to hear the one nation under a groove vibe being resurrected. at least i think it is. another case of mixed feelings, i'm afraid. see, it's nice to hear musical roots being excavated, but without the full credit? it'd be all very well pharrell bigging up clinton et al in an interview, but unless a caveat is added to the tail end of all performances of the song it's essentially pointless. i want everyone to know the genius of funkadellic on the back of n.e.r.d., see. or maybe, once more, i'm getting alll het up over nothing
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:34 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

here i am, in a seat of learning attempting to come up with a basis for a questionaire on some highbrow political issue [since when did a politics degree have to include statistcs? bastards], and all i can think of asking the general public is their opinions on the artist formerlly known as the artist formerlly known as prince. i'm not quite yet back in the academic stride, clearly.

i have, a single pint execpted, been on the wagon for three weeks now.

oddly, i have rather enjoyed it- not only has money been saved [in theory], and i get to feel morally superioir to pretty much everyone but once i have gotten used to sobriety it has, actually, been quite fun.

i may even consider extending my period of temperance beyond the end of the month.

on the other hand, i'm out on the town tonight.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:35 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, February 23, 2004

more pop musing.

little things matter, no? arguably the best thing about kelis' glorious milkshake is the [minimally applied] cow bell. take it away, and it'd be less than half the song.

against all expectations, love revolution is a corker. i hate myself for digging this. i mean it's phixx for fuck's sake. i attempt to live my life as an urban sophisticate, oozing taste, class and sophistication. and then i find myself singing this to myself all day.......

friday saw christmas day 1992 in classic coronation street land.

in itself, this would be a cause for celebration, but the christmas dinner in the rovers was mythical in it's quality.

bet, rita, raquel, phyliss, and denise sitting in the back room, getting drunk and playing charades.

class.

reg holdsworth isn't the only one who'd do anything for an invite.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:18 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

apologies for yesterdays ramblings.

but as a testament to the mind-dulling qualities of ibruprofen and nurofen combined, i'm going to leave it there.

somewhat belatedly, i got myself round to seeing some brits footage.

and, sweet jesus, it was every bit as bad as i'd been led to believe.

even if one discounts the travesty of the nominations [no girls aloud? what the fuck?] and the unpalletable not-going-to-get-mentioned-for-fear-of-messing-up-the-adverts-up-top winners, the 'special performances' were abysmal.

much has been written about the beyonce/ andre 3000 'duet', so i'll contribute no further, saving my ire for busted.

my feelings on busted are well documented here on ontheturn [although i'm now seeing them as closer to the buzzcocks, however much this would piss pete shelley off. busted's interpretation of orgasm addict would be something that [in the past certainly] i anticipate hotly], but their rendition of teenage kicks offended me much.

i'm no punk purist, everything is fair game for a cover version. it's just that shakey and co's signiture tune is such a piece of perfection, the only way to cover it is either with a readical departure or with complete reverance and no variation.

how not to do it is by scuzzing the sound up a bit, delivering the vocals in god-awful faux-american faux-punk accents [only james was tolerable here] and messing about with what is one of the finest guitar breaks ever comitted to record.

not to mention neglecting to jump at any point in the song.

my faith is being [quite sorely tested].
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:40 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, February 22, 2004

once more [with feeling] fuck.

thursday, not only does la machina die once more, but my knee [right] gives in.

which kind of hampered my plans- no thursday night zutons, nor friday night climax.

so i was [understandably, i feel] pissed off. especially since i couldn't fill the void with the internet. or cm4.

friday day wasn't bad, mind.

very music for torching, actually.

a trip to the haunted media symposium at the site, followed by elephant.

art installations have the potential to leave me cold, and impressive as this one sounded on paper, i had my doubts. but, as is often the case, i was pleasantly surprised. the backwards music thingy was quality, especially ozzy's apparent plea for euthanasia by bootsy , as was the webcast from the haunted house.

video footage of a seance seemed somewhat pointless, but then maybe i'm a philistine [my companion for the afternoon perhaps thought so- i seem to go though galleries and the like faster than the rest of humanity. but this is all an [even more] irrelevant aside]].

elephant, non-linear as it was, was flawless. my preconceptions have never been so challenged in a film before, and i found myself questioning my reactions more than i'm entirely comfortable doing. quality.

then saturday i wake up with a dodgy neck, sore knees [left too, now] and back.

old before my time.

apologies for inflicting this drivel on youse.

i'm floating on painkillers......
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:28 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

so, the scissor sisters were as glorious as they come.

before i enthuse, however, i do feel bound to knock.

del marquis was great, but far too low in the mix. ana's dress dissapointed me. and however oddly it would've sat with the rest of the gig, i'd very much like to heard return to oz.

but they are, overall, minor gripes.

because the gig was, as i said, glorious.

charismatic, tight and fun. and such fine, soaring, blistering guitar work.

mansun, chicks on speed and now the 'sisters. is there a single band who have boiler-suit clad on-stage members who are bad?

dancing down the front, with my collective scattered.

art-rock-disco-funk-new-york-camp-[in-a-good-way]-pop rocks my spot.

the support, syntax were surprisingly good. and lead singer man wore a nice coat. which sadly paled in comparison to jake shear's mini leather/fox skin jacket. but it wouldn't do to upstage the headliners, i suppose.
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:55 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, February 17, 2004

to-day, i shall mostly be eagerly anticipating to-nights scissor sisters gig.

that and working out where to get my hair cut.

hop back over the pennines to see tony?

down the road for cheap-but-of-a-quality-mistaken-for-amataur [apparently] denise?

into town for expensive-but-good-despite-dismissing-denise-and-being-refitted-t'other-day-to-look-'trendy' name i can't remember?

it was perhaps easier when i had a mane....
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:02 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, February 15, 2004

when slow was released last year, it was pretty much in direct competition with me against the music.

and, were you to ask, i'd declare slow to be the hands-down winner [however, were one to make the same enquiry of the disc-jockeys at various dive bars that i frequent, they'd sadly disagree. seriously- have i got to cross the pennines in order to hear slow in licsenced premises?]

toxic now seems to be in direct competition with red blooded woman, and i'm finding comparative opinions difficult to form.

see, at first listen, toxic pisses all over every other song ever released. the strings, surf guitars, vocals and the rest that make up this number are perfect, and compliment each other perfectly. but every time i hear it, i find myself digging it less and less. it just seems too fussy, too busy and perhaps a little forced. of course, i could be horribly wrong- the best indicator is obviously how well it dates, and don't get me wrong, i still like toxic, but it's not the masterpiece i initially thought it to be.

which is a shame.

on t'other hand, red blooded woman is a much more simple and conventional [like a] record. both, strangely make lyrical references to 'getting high'. and i like red blooded woman a lot [even to the point of considering purchasing 'body language'. presumably whilst in disguise and under cover of darkness, mind. i have a reputation to protect]. sadly, there is not much i can write about the song.

perhaps the respective videos summarise the songs the best- both feature numerous costume changes, but whilst kylie's are fluid, britneys are stilted and seem cobbled together, and occour for no good reason. despite being weaker than the sum of their parts, both video and song for toxic edge ahead of 'woman.

and that's what i think about that.
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:04 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

continuing with the football theme.

tunisia winning the cup of nations is both good and bad.

bad because i've been a long-standing fan of morrocco. and their national side.

good because i don't have to regret not banging a tenner on them to win the whole thing at the start....
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:07 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, February 14, 2004

football, football, football.

united win the derby, making me very happy, diving scousers aside. ronaldo seems to have settled in too [at last] which fills me with hope too.

and i make my hillsbourough debut, as the [according to the crowd at least] god-awful blind balding dickhead of a referee awards wednesday a penalty to beat hartlepool 1-0.

either years of the drums at the storm shelter have rendered me more tolerant that i'd have thought or they were being dead quiet, but not even the wednesday band pissed me off.

stadium technology has come on in leaps and bounds since it was in it's hayday, but hillsbourough is still a pleasant, airy stadium.

and alan quinn is an impressivly nifty player.

all of which meant i had a dead good time.

enough to make me a [part-time] wednesdayite? i'm not altogether sure. but i don't want to see them play blackpool in a fortnight....
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:20 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, February 13, 2004

this is big audio dynamite and twenty mothers, six quid the pair?

i fucking love shopping in hillsbourough.....

however, fourteen quid to watch second division football does seem a tad steep.

i'm still looking forward to the match, mind.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:01 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

not only do we have carmel getting progressivly crazier, and the arrival of denise and fiona in classic corrie, but liz and andy return to the regular editions [and not just for a convoluted way of getting ken and diedrie to the wedding].

and steve's explaination to steve of the tracey situation just sent me over the edge into ecstacy.....

corrie?

i'm lovin' it.

[sorry]
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:51 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

the lyceum is a rather grand theatre, and despite being up in the ceiling, one with decent views.

suddenly last summer was well worth the hour queue and paltry pound ticket price.

solid cast, solid performance.

elaborate set, but simple staging.

and further awakened by desire to be studying literature
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:07 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, February 12, 2004

i need to know some new people.

my head is full of useless shite, which i feel the need to share.

but also, i want [need] to know new things.

i need to meet someone who can [and will] culturally educate me.

aside from that, odds are i'm going to miss wire in the blood tonight.

which is something of a shame.

on accounts of me really liking val macdermid [or at least her brannigan/wire in the blood and stand-alone books. not her other series, the protaganist of which escapes me].

and, unlike my mam, thinking robson green is well cast as tony wotsit.

ah well. either the theatre or keane will be more than adequate replacements.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:19 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

one of the reasons i decided to give the bottle a rest was that i was becoming painfully aware that i was just having the same conversations over and over.

i did not consider the fact that whilst i may be trying to breath some variety into future conversations, no-one else would be. and enduring the same shit over and over again sober is rather trying.

as a consequence [combined with general fatigue] i had a dead shitty time last night.

and feel the need to shae.

i'll be less pissed off soon, honest.
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:03 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

spent four days on a beautiful island where i met a white french rastafarian who called himslef 'rasta' and me 'sista', had my leg grabbed by a monkey, listened to a group of Thais at kareoke whilst eating my tea, saw two deadly snakes, walked for 8 km up grade 1 slopes, had deep conversations with an israeli, a belgian, 2 swedes, 2 Nords and 2 brazillians, all in English and watched my friend mistakenly set fire to a cushion whilst under the influence of the powers of rum.

sounds like shes having a good time, no?

lucky cow.
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:42 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, February 09, 2004

what with being theatrical on saturday, and digital-free t'other week, i came late to both angels in america and the cup of african nations. what i did catch of both yesterday was fucking fantastic.

the [biggest] shock of several was, of course, the elimination of cameroon. that it was to nigeria, should be no great shock, but they were looking strong. morocco's qualification was most pleasant, not least because i'm a fan of their style of play. the wonderful hadji scoring was a nice touch....

angels in america. brave. visionary. well written and perfectly acted. i now really want to see the rest of this epic. to dispose shameless as the best telly of the year, it must be good.
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:56 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, February 08, 2004

first, fuck!

la machina is broken. bollocks.

aside from technological meltdown, i've been dead cultural like.

after over a year in sheffield, i finally make it to the cruicible.

to see the cruicible.

which was mighty good.

but the actual theatre first.

nice. big, too. with clear views and legroom. which obviously earns it extra bonus points. classy and sophisticated, i like it.

but the other cruicible?

strong performances, stark set. long, but not dragging.

again, good.
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:14 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, February 07, 2004

despite it being done down in some quarters, i enjoyed big fish.

not groundbreaking, but just nice.

which is quite like
javine's appearance at frouk last night was.

my debut apperance at frouk itself last night was otherwise rather disturbing.

i have never seen so many women in a nightclub in my life.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:30 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, February 05, 2004

in anticipation of going to see big fish tonight, i finally got round to purchasing a copy of burton's the melancholy death of oyster boy.

as ever, another thing i wish i'd experienced sooner.

but for once, only i am to blame.

i'm sorely tempted to ride roughshod over copywright law and transcribe it all here.

but i won't.

not least because the pictures add so much to it.
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:37 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

catching the half-time scores in last night's fa cup replays, i had a feeling that, despite being three goals and one man down, city were in with a chance of coming back. and they did.

i'm not laying claims to any great clairvoyant ability; the numbers of times when my 'feeling' is proven wrong far outweigh my 'sucsessful' predictions.

but those blue idiots who are painting it as the comeback of all time?

where were they on may 26, 1999?

so they beat spurs. in an fa cup match. so fucking what.

we are sure to trounce them.

or at least i hope so. i really do- going out of the cup is bad enough, but to so either to the eventual finalists or city would be unbearable.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:35 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, February 04, 2004

i don't think that my expectations of hollyoaks are too high, but the past few episodes have been abject shite.

they seem to have got two [particularily annoying] scripts- "ben killed myhusband"/"somebody's got to make her see" which crosses over with jake dean's "no money, listen up everyone" tirades- and repeated them [in different sets] for the last few weeks, and it is really beginning to drag.

were the writers not making up for lost time with the max and ob comedy storylines i'd seriously consider giving it all up....
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:36 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, February 03, 2004

i've said this before, and doubtless i'll say it again at some point, but i'm going on the wagon.

drinking is both pointless and wrong.

til the end of the month, at least.

hopefully.
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:07 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

this is the fourth week of shameless, yet oddly the first time its mentioned here.

really dead good doesn't even begin to describe it.

but it is, isn't it?

it leaves one with that nice warm feeling.

and it is the first programme that, upon hearing the next episode was being shown right after on e4 has me hitting 205 at the speed of life. and then watching the same episode again the following week.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:40 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, February 02, 2004

i was eagerly anticipating the scissor sisters album.

thankfully, expectations have been exceeded.

from the sub-for your pleasure band photo, to the falsetto vocals, shimmering angular taught guitars and synths, the odd mix of glam and funk, as well as the melancoly vien, no album released recently has been so in line with my tastes and musical appetites.

album of the year?

perhaps.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:55 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

the demise of atomic kitten can only be described as untimly in the sense that it took it's bloody time in coming about.

aside from anything else, it hopefully means that one day in the not-to-distant-future, i'll be able to listen to smash hits! radio without running screaming to change the station every five songs as they get played.

sadly, this is still i pipe dream.

shit, i still have to be prepared to leave a dance floor when the needle hits the long-defunct steps.

on the plus side, i get to listen to the in-no-way-pretentious paul morley presenting 6music's in-no-way-pretentious freak zone.

lysurgic acid, anyone?
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:18 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, February 01, 2004

i am, in all probability, the biggest sports fan amongst my aquaintances.

for the past fourteen or so months, however, that passion has been concentrated, and is lavished almost exclusivley at united.

this has not always been the case. a fact that i was reminded of on thursday night.

watching tony wilson's frankly bizzare sport exchange and seeing rick brebant discussing the potential future of ice hockey in britain stirred strange emotions.

because, if nothing else i don't really give a tinkers' cuss. when did our love die?

i used to live and breath the sport. hell, i even tried learning to skate. seeing a live nhl game was, at the time, one of those now i can die happy things. the obscene amounts i paid for my card collection. the essential reson for my obscenly long trip to prague. hardly missing a manchester storm home game, regardless of financial and social cost. the late-night nhl sessions. the wealth of useless and obscure facts.

and now?

i couldn't tell anyone a single thing. most of these must, i suppose, be pinned on the collapse of the storm and isl. but the fact that i can no longer even be arsed checking my rootblaster.cz daily score update suggests something else is also at work.

but what?

fucked if i know.
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:21 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

kay on corrie?

good.

but getting close to being far too knowing.....

in barca, was anyone else expecting him to exclaim garlic bread?

no?

just me then.
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:47 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, January 31, 2004

gentle reader, you may well be expecting a precis of peter kays [second] coronation street appearance.

were that to be the case, you could whistle for it.

because i didn't watch it.

not for any moral reasons- i don't find the populism offensive [far from it], nor do i dislave mr. kay [again, far from it].

but i had something better to do, and have no video recorder. don't get me wrong, my plans for tomorrow are based almost entirly around the omnibus.

but what better to do than watch the most eagerly anticipated episode of corrie in years?

the royal exchange's production of the rise and fall of little voice, thats what.

the combination of me, the 'exchange and cartwright isn't the happiest- i'm still to forgive all parties involved for inflicting prize night on me, but the fact that i'm such a fan of the horrock's vehichle meant i was able to put my prejudices aside and activly want to see the play.

the fact that there are not one, but two ex-landlords of the rovers in the cast helped sway my opinion, obviously, asnd because of them i justified my missing of kay's corrie. that i was spat at [or at least in the general direction of] by roy barraclouch and that denise welch [also holby city alumni, don't forget] was rummaging through laundry literally inches away from my shoulder [god bless theatre in the round] further vindicated my descision.

it was, the best theatrical experience i've had in years. a great script, set [including actual pyrotechnics, for i believe the first time] and, above all, cast.

the corrie folk did great. denise welch was glorious.

maybe it was memories of the film but ray did slip dangerously close to stella street caine territory, her out of early doors essentially reprised her role from that as sadie-but neither of which are Bad Things.

but her playing LV, emma lowndes was fucking great.

go and see it....
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:48 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, January 29, 2004

after all the drama of yesterday, i can heartilly reccomend the combination of wine/book/and spiritualized: the complete works [volumes one and two] as a fine way of relaxing.

somewhat after the fact, but i can also report that walking down the [deserted] road, covered in freshly landed virgin snow listening to the flaming lips' transmissions from the satalite heart of an evening is one of the best things an individual can do in public.

i am, all things considered, perhaps a bad influence on my dad. despite being off work since october, he had neglected to watch daytime tv.

yesterday i made him watch lorraine kelly. and trisha. and, perhaps worst of all, introduced him to cash in the attic. my bad influence spreads after the sun sets- both of us are [unashamedly] enjoying iacgmooh [i'm pro-jennie/razor/jordan, for the record]. the sooner i get myself back over to sheffield, the better. for both our sakes....
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:59 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

not venting my spleen.

nor regurgitiating popular culture.

neither am i getting het up over nothing.

rather, just sad.

this morning, my sister left for south-east asia.

this morning, my sister left for south-east asia for six-and-a-half motherfucking months.

i'm really going to miss her.

i'm really going to worry about her.

its bad enough when shes out working late. but not only will i not know where she is, or what shes doing, there is no chance of me going over to help her out.

not that she is going to get into any 'scrapes'. oh no. positive thinking all the way.

aside from the worry, what i'll miss most is just being able to speak to her.

standing in the airport, surrounded by nice young builders, wearing rigger boots and everything, but unable to appreciate them as one is trying not to cry is absolutly no fun.

roll on august.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:33 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, January 25, 2004

my member of parliament, the right honorable mr. kaufman is fucking great.

on monday, i half heartedly sign a pre-prepared letter and adress it to him, regarding student top-up fees.

on thursday, in the post i get a letter from him explaining, in detail, his stance on the issue. and copies of his e-mail correspondance with relevant parties, and newspaper clippings on the subject and the official explaination and breakdown of the bill.

all that, and the man wearssuch nice shoes.

if only all politicians were as dedicated.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:04 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, January 24, 2004

ontheturn has, for the past while, been pretty shitty.

more so than normal.

sorry.

i'm going to try and rectify this.
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:54 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, January 23, 2004

on fergie's transefer policy

with the signing of saha, fergie's activities in the transfer market have come under scruitiny.

not the dodgy allegations, rather folk questioning his reputation as a shrewd operater.

which is clearly bollocks.

no-one can play the market as well as him.

there are the well-thumbed examples of eric and schmichel. but also ole, silvestre and sharp- players bought for a pittance, who go on to become first-team mainstays.

ruud, dwight, cole, keane and pally were all expensive, but all worth it, many times over.

ok, veron may have been an expensive 'mistake', but he was purchased at the peak of the market. and fuck it, we can afford him. the same with rio, if we'd have waited six months, he would have been dirt cheap, but missed drugs teast aside, hes been a good buy.

diego comes in for stick. but hes only a young lad, whose been unbelievably close to scoring so often. and look how long it's take angel to setlle in at the villa.

this summers purchases have been questioned, and wrongly. howard has been, and will continue to be, spot on. t'other three are young- ronaldo only arrived now and for so much because of an apparent chelski bid.

and now saha.

premiership proven.

available for europe.

and hungry.

a good purchase.

i hope.
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:13 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

to a list that includes goldfrapp, ian rankin and gin and tonic, please add nypd blue.

this list being one of things that i'm sure other people knew i'd like but neglected to reccomend, leaving me to discover them independantly.

bastards.

does it hurt to share?
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:52 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, January 22, 2004

there are, probably, better things to do with one's first genuine day off in ages than reading old corrie synopsis after synopsis.

but right now, i can't think of any.
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:44 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

doc hollwood vs. casualties of war?

a difficult choice, to be sure.

- posted by aa.logan @ 2:23 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

like some want war to be, exams are over.

for me at least.

decadance a go-go.
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:59 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

as ever, i got overexited by nothing in particular.

but sheffield central library has rearranged their books!

whereas before, the whole fiction collection was filed alphabetically, now they have finally sorted them by genre.

thank fuck. its just that much easier.

well, i found it exiting...
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:34 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, January 20, 2004

never remembered to be mentioned until now.

but the accuracy of the sharwoods hoi sin sauce adverts is remarkable.

not the explosion of carl douglas and subsequent evacution bit, but the rest is spot-on.

hark at me praising the accurate portrayal of jar-stored foodstuff storage working practice in adverts.

bored much?
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:11 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

sir matt busby.

1909-1994.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:09 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

the sense of liberation one gets from turning ones mobile off for a few hours, even if no phone call is expected is wonderful.

and all the better for being so unexpected
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:43 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, January 19, 2004

it gets worse.....

wisdom teeth pain now
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:11 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

i didn't want to mention saturdays abject performance.

i did hope it'd prompt a lovely new signing.

which it seems to have done.

i hope he can do a job for us.

and deep down, i believe i can.

when ole comes back, it'll mean, if nothing else, we will hit the magical four-striker mark.

huzzah!
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:39 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

on reflection, my jig around the cashpoint this morning upon discovering i'd reccieved my latest student loan installment was perhaps ill-advised.

celebrating going another grand into debt probably isn't all that wise.

but what can you do?

i blindly entered studentdom without really considering the ramifications of loans.

too late to back out now. and fuck it, i'm enjoying myself.

somehow relatedly, i neglected to purchase a copy of speakerboxx/the love below.

see, i was being financially prudent.

this normally manifeists itself, in terms of music buying at least, in my not purchasing full price albums that i really want, but am perfectly happy to make random purchases on the basis that they're cheaper.

i was the recipiant of a few tracks from it, which were/are glorious [thanks, by the way], but still neglected to make the purchase

but i aqquired [not bought] a copy t'other day.

fucking fantastic.

deep sex funk.

had i not already decreed my albums of the [last] year......
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:16 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, January 18, 2004

is native dictatorship preferable to colonial rule?

how can the nation-state be less significant in an era when there are more nation-states than ever before?

has state sovereignty ever really existed?

if only i knew........
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:27 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

at nine am sharp tomorrow, i believe that i should be sitting an exam on the international political economy, which is obviously as fun as it sounds.

however, the bastard university are yet to confirm this, or tell me where it actually is.

i'm all for independant learning, but this does take the piss somewhat.....

an update- i now know. thank fuck for my friends
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:37 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

nip/tuck. very carl haisen, ergo very good. he must be getting royalties, surely....

on the whole, my editorial policy is steadfastly anti-london.

but watching BBC four last night, i was prompted to consider changing that.

gigs the union chapel?

chance would be a fine thing......
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:13 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, January 17, 2004

ontheturn just doesn't know what to do with himself.

after wednesday, i'm not needed academically until february nine.

it would then, be perfectly sensible to seek employment in the intervening period back in manchester to remedy my somewhat perilous financial state.

but a couple of weeks dossing in the steel city could be fun too.

and i am, at heart, a lazy fucker.

sensible, responsible and mature versus natural idleness.

on the face of it, such an easy choice to make....
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:55 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, January 16, 2004

for no reason other than the fact that i feel like it and because i can, to-day is the first in an [irregular] series of writings praising my favourite series of crime fiction.

how exiting.

and up first is ed mcbain's 87th precinct series.

which is genius.

certainly the longest running series i've ever read, it began in the mid-50s with cop-hater. the nice thing is, most of the characters are still in the series. the fictional city of isola has moved into the 21st century, but the characters have not aged at the same rate, which on face value would be disconcerting, but in actuality really isn't. but is probably badly phrased. its a twisted form of 'real-time'.

officially, the books do not have a single 'hero', being more concerned with the dectectives of a single division as a whole. in reality, steve carella, he of the deaf/mute wife and 'almost oriental eyes' leads the series and dominates most of the books.

certainly, much comfort is drawn from the familiarity of the characters, and mcbain makes the most of this, describing the police and other recurring characters with almost exactly the same turn of phrase in all the books-
carella's aforementioned eyes, 'fat' ollie weekes' w.c. fields delusions and meyer's premature baldness to name but three.

most of the books are just [very well written] standard police procudurals, with several crimes running through them, sometimes overlapping but as often not. the fictional setting, a cousin of new york at the very least is as richly painted as you'd expect for a series running for a half-century [fuck! that long...]

in the deaf man, mcbain has created one of the most bizzare adversaries in modern detective fiction, but keeps him [just about] credible. an uber thief type, who either is, or pretends to be deaf, the deafman is just about the only criminal that they don't bring to account.

over the years the style of the books has changed somewhat- linguistic changes reflect the changing attitudes of society; of course technology has changed the way the actual policework works and thenature of the crimes commited has changed dully as society has 'declined'.

fact is, the many, many books of the 87th precinct series, even the ill-advised matthew hope crossovers, are amongst the best-written pulp around.

so there.
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:14 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, January 15, 2004

last post for today, honest.

but my shoulder is now hurting when i inhale.

fuck.

pain is bad.

to the doctors tomorrow for exam-excusing note perhaps....
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:28 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

blogging like crazy.

my shoulder [right] is giving me right gyp.

i feel the need to share this.

aside from my aches, i was listening to the wonderful liz kershaw yesterday.

and her guest was a delightful icelandic musician, EBERG.

his website is very nicely designed, and is all the better for having free downloadable mp3s of his sweet goldfrappish slightly demented music.

go there.
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:53 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

on trousers.

i was discussing, amongst proper weighty issues, sartoral matters.

my coffee-shop companion was advocating both the flare and the boot cut in a pair of trousers.

siding with joe rather than shaun, i adopted the position 'like trousers, like brain'- loose fit leading to loose thought. and looking a right scruffy bastard.

such a puritanical approach to trousers may partially explain some of my trouble in buying them to fit. the baggy trouser [de-der-da-de] is more likely to come in my size.

so do i drop my idealogy for the sake of convienient shopping, or do soldier on, with badly clad but stylistically acceptable legs?

the fact i'm skint does, i suppose, make it a bit of a moot point the time being, granted.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 6:59 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

fundamentally, i suppose, everything is about context.

see, my slough of despondancy has prompted me to get all philosophical, like.

which [coupled with that demitri martin thing on telly last night] has led me to this position.

how very heavy.

it is all very well looking at ones life and acchievements [the unexamined life and all that..] but until the viewpoint is expanded to include others you really are fucked [no man is an island and all that]

all this home-spun bollocks is a reason as good as any for the general population to pray that i cheer up sharpish. but it all sounds so clear and groundbreaking in my head.

how i curse inability to write articulatly.
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:45 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

mixing your drinks is bad.

how many time do i have to teach myself this lesson before it sinks in?
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:12 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

butt wants to leave?

where is his fucking loyalty to the club?

right......

of course, i'd rather if he stayed; provided he doesn't try to shoot he is a quality player. and as a local lad and one of the fledglings he really is a united player.

but fergie has gone a little defensive-midfielder crazy of late, and shifting phil forward was perhaps just taking the piss.

but if the lad wants to leave, you can hardly blame him. perhaps even respect his desire to play regular.

and he could do a job for anyone- i know hes been linked with 'lesser' clubs, but chelski could do with him.
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:34 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, January 12, 2004

when, in the dim and distant past, i envisioned myself at university, i saw myself in somewhat rarified environs, engaging from time to time in sophisticated chit-chat about intellectual issues.

instead, i find myself sitting on a bed with friends eating co-op plain chocolate brandy liquers and giggling like schoolgirls, discussing god knows what, rather than the pressing issues facing china as a result of the process of globalisation.

which was much more fun than my prediction of yesteryear ever could have been.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:19 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, January 11, 2004

nil-nil?

bollocks.
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:01 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

on loyalty.

on 606 today, liam miller, and footballers in general came in for a bit of stick. not that 606 is exactly a bastion of rationality, but it pissed me off a fair bit.

football, ever since it became professional, and perhaps even before then, is a business. clubs are, in actuality, companies. while under contract, players are essentially assests.

the [our] lad miller has pissed off a fair few celtic fans by agreeing to leave the club for nowt.

granted, they do have the beginnings of a point-it was, after all, celtic who nutured his talent, so could make a claim for recompense. but the fact is, the rules of the game state that once a player passes a certain age, the club have no such right.

and liam is 23 next month. shit, we've had no problem in paying such fees in the past- look ay nardiello and bellion.

celtic have had miller since he was sixteen, paying his wages all along. if they didn't get best use out of him, tough shit.

if liam was one of those players who failed to graduate from the youth programme, the club would just let him go at the end of his contract. it works both ways. liam owes celtic nothing, just like celtic owe liam nothing. same as any other employer and employee.

loyalty just doesn't come into it .
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:06 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, January 10, 2004

so, lost in translation.

so when i last saw him in a new film [charlie's angels] he was good, but bill murray is now clearly back. subtle, dry and measured. with the sharpest comedic timing around. as ever, much of his performance is in his silences.

it took about quarter of an hour for me to realise that this film was a comedy. or rather a comedy in a simmilar vein to beckett or pinter. but not quite as bleak; there is after all the possibility of redemption, and no dark family secrets are revealled.

the finest example of the mid-life crisis genre i've seen in a good long while.
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:17 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, January 09, 2004

about to enter a slough of despondancy perhaps.

oh dear.

that this is the first friday night in god knows how long that i'm a] at home and b] sober may go some way to explaining the state of my bank balance, if not that of my mind.

amongst other things, i'm a tad pissed off with the way i have been treated by certain individuals over the past few months. largely, i deserved better.

how very angsty.
- posted by aa.logan @ 10:22 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, January 08, 2004

57 years ago to-day, david jones breathed his first.

this is/was a Very Good Thing.

because if he hadn't, there would have been no david bowie.

and a world without bowie is just to horrible to contemplate.
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:32 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, January 07, 2004

being 2p short to purchase ones daily shopping is mighty humiliating.

especially if all of ones purchases were marked reduced to clear.

i think i'll never live down the shame.
- posted by aa.logan @ 7:18 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

moving from one city to another is less stressful and tiring than one would think. but more so than i expected/remembered.

i'm going to be unpacking til easter, i swear......
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:29 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

so angry, i could spit.

motherfucking national lottery direct debit adverts.

pay by direct debit?

yes. all the years numbers sorted out, giving you the chance to look after your newborn baby better/ steal a few precious extra seconds with your fella.

and when you win, camelot just send a cheque direct to your account.

fucking hell......
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:06 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, January 05, 2004

see, charlie stubbs presents me with a dilemma.

he is the best new coronation street character in ages.

he pisses off mike, he pisses off ken.

he really is great.

but ripping off jack and vera?

bang out......
- posted by aa.logan @ 9:54 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Sunday, January 04, 2004

somewhat belatedly, this is this last in the festive period ontheturn obituaries.

curtis mayfield never made grandiose claims to being soul brother number one or some such, though he would have been well within his rights to do so. his recorded output didn't match jb's, but in terms of influence he arguably equaled brown, and indisputably was more influential than most of his peers.

starting out with the impressions, curtis incorporated social concerns and commentary into pop. but most importantly, that pop was damn fine. the impressions had massive followings in america, amongst british mods, and, significantly in jamacia's nascent reggae scene. the impressions were by no means the only soul trio, nor the only with a male falsetto lead. but it was them, more than any other american act who influenced the [then] wailing wailers. no curtis, no bob. fuck, if he'd have retired upon breaking up the impressions, curtis could have rested on his laurels as it were. but he didn't.

solo curtis, despite legal and financial wrangles [as ever], knocked out the [quality] quality music at a fair old rate- curtis, roots, live, superfly, future shock and new world order would all hold their own in any 'best of ever' lists. a wonderful songwriter, pissing all over the much vaunted smokey robinson.

such fine songcraft, such fine vocals, and, most underrated of all, his unsurpassed skill as a guitarist- so subtle. curtis was the consumate all-round soul artist. a label boss, songwriter, producer and talent scout too. but with new world order he recorded not only one of the best albums of the 90s, but also the greatest comeback album ever, if not least because since 1990 he was paralised from the neck down.

in being of [but not from] chicago, curtis could never really have become part of the motown or atlantic stables. that he does get lumped in with the generic musical label of 'motown soul' annoys me on so many levels. but that is, as ever, irrelevant. both a yankee and of the south, curtis seemed to straddle all ends of the black american musical spectrum. that he was so heavilly sampled and championed by the hip-hop community, and himself towards the end embraced [the more positive] aspects of them bears testament to this.

curtis mayfield was innovative, sweet voiced and fine fingered; as well as a songwriter without equal. a massive influence, way beyond the expected sphere. a complete musician. a complete soul man. and the first musical death that moved me, not least because of his positivity.

uplifting, and life affirming. but above all conscious

curtis mayfield, 1942-1999
- posted by aa.logan @ 8:56 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

celtic are, i can now boldly suggest, champions elect.

11 points clear and playing the better football.

its their title to lose...
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:08 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Saturday, January 03, 2004

the internet is, i am sure all will agree is fucking marvelous.

no random praise of the world wide web, this.

but rather an excuse to sing the praises of being ahead of the game.

i have been aware of the scissor sisters and even their music for a good long while, thanks to that there tinternet.

and then they hit the wonderful 6music.

so when i saw their appearance at the leadmill listed when i saw the buzzcocks, i was rather exited, but on accounts of being skint, neglected to buy a ticket.

now they are pofiled in the times, and according to which look likely to hit number one with comfortably numb. so i am rather paranoid that they have sold out.

they probably haven't, but i'm still nervous.....
- posted by aa.logan @ 12:29 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Friday, January 02, 2004

2004 is the first year in [my] living memory that i enter without friends called either james or paul.

i am, of course, open to applications for these [sought after] positions.....

[apologies if i do have friends with those names who i have forgotten all about. but i doubt it]
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:27 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Thursday, January 01, 2004

reading yet more shortlists must be damn boring. so on with the ceremony........

the time has come.

the recipiants of the first annual ontheturn awards are-

album of the year-the hour of the two lights, terry hall and mushtaq.
2-lycanthropy, patrick wolf
3-x-factor volume 1, richard x
4-streetcore, joe strummer and the mescaleros
5- want [one], rufus wainwright

2003 was a damn fine year for albums in my book. however, this top 5 doesn't really sum up the years output. how odd.

single of the year-sweet dreams [my LA-ex], rachel stevens
2-cry me a river, justin timberlake
3-strict machine, goldfrapp
4-slow, kylie
5-seven nation army, the white stripes

a good year for singles too. granted, the top three are essentially one song. disposable pop has never been so revolutionary.

video of the year-strict machine, goldfrapp
2-hold on me, phixx
3-mixed-up world, sophie ellis-bextor
4-golden retriver, super furry animals
5-leave right now, will young

strict machine's video is perhaps the best to emerge in years, nice and demented. hold on me is as much fun as the song suggests. oily too. mixed-up world is incredibly fun. both golden retriver videos manage to bounce like the song. and the one-shot glory of leave right now is intentionally hilarious if nowt else.

gig of the year- the flaming lips, manchester academy. support- british sea power, badly drawn boy
2-chicks on speed [w/ anat ben david], sheffield fusion
3-love- forever changes tour, manchester academy
4-radio one: one big weekend, heaton park
5-goldfrapp, sheffield octagon

perhaps the hardest to award. the first time i saw the 'lips just edges it. a wonderful spectacle, great music too. the 'bonus' slot from damon gough made it all the better. i've had more fun at the COS gig than perhaps any other, despite being completly unfamiliar with their back catalogue. only £3.50 too, which helped. love was just a long time coming. a family affair too. and very surprisingly good. one big weekend was free. one big weekend was aqualung. and the coral, and badly drawn boy. and the white stripes. and we won the league during it. maybe it should be higher, despite feeder and the sterophonics. and i've already reviewed goldfrapp live....

reissue/compilation of the year-sound+vision , david bowie
2-popart, pet shop boys
3-once in a lifetime, talking heads
4-compilations off of friends, too numerous to mention. or remember
5-that 'starman' one of bowie covers off of uncut back in february

sound+vision is both a compilation and a reissue. and dead good. the pet shop boys have never sounded as clear as they do on popart. which is a good thing. the [new] talking heads box has a dvd. and dvd is good. as are friends and the various music i've reccieved off them. and the bowie covers were [almost all] surprisingly good.....

best album of previous years, 'discovered' this one-dare, the human league
2-felt mountain, goldfrapp
3-grace, jeff buckley
4-essesnce of giraffe, barth
5-busted, busted

perhaps the most myopic of categories, all in this top five have been aquired since september. how did i forget zaierka? or scott walker sings jaques brel? fuck...

film of the year-pirates of the caribbean: the curse of the black pearl
2-city of god
3-lord of the rings: return of the king
4-far from heaven
5-finding nemo

i had no great hopes for potc:cotbp. it was much better than it had any right to be. for fucks sake, it was refreshing to see depp acting again. for the surprise then, if nothing else, this was the best film i've seen this year. todd haynes delivered the goods again with far from heaven, despite straying so far from his usual style. city of god is still exiting after repeated viewings. nice to see sweeps of history.

telly of the year-coronation street, itv1/granada+
2-early doors, bbc2
3-the second coming, itv1
4-state of play, bbc1
5-six feet under, c4/e4

i returned to corrie at the start of the year after nearly 12 months away, my longest stint without weatherfield in a good long while. i missed all the hillman hoo-ha, but thats no bad thing. add the 'classic' stuff into the mix, and 2003 was the year of the street. early doors equalled the royle family, and bettered the rest of the years new comedic output. the second coming saw a magnificent christopher ecclestone performance of a magnificent russel t. davies script. state of play was fast. and had john simm. and six feet under maintained standards. had i not given it up, holby city would have been up there. and simon and miquita off of popworld deserve regonition for making me get up at nine am pretty much every sunday in 2003.

radio of the year-fi glover, radio 5
2-football first [in europe], talksport
3-wake up to wogan, radio 2
4-liz kershaw, 6music
5-simon mayo, radio 5

fi was great. fi left. making the output of radio 5 have at least 6 times worse. gabrielle marcotti and the rest made it acceptable for me to listen to [the otherwise evil] talksport. wogan wogans, still. digital radio is great, so is 6music. and liz is the pick of the hosts. great music, great talking too.

match of the year- manchester united fc vs. real madrid cf, champions league 2002/3, old trafford
2-manchester united vs manchester city, premiership 03/04, old trafford
3- england vs australia, rugby union world cup 2003 final

despite not winning overall, the second leg against real was a fantastic performance. wathing it in spain was fun too. the most recent derby win felt long overdue. and the world cup final wasn't a great match in itself, but what it stood for made all the difference.

player of the year-john o'shea, manchester united

ok, so he hasn't come back this season at the same level as last, but he has been rebuilding form in recent matches. but the fact is frequently when he was overlapping with him going forward, i have tended to get him and giggs mixed up. solid at the back, too.

signing of the year-tim howard, manchester united from metrostars joint roman abramovich, chelsea from russia

tim has been colossal, and potentially why we will get ourselves another treble this season. and roman is why i'm now scared of not just arsenal, real and munich but chelsea too. a real revolution in football

website of the year-lowculture
2-popjustice
3-football365
4+5- all personal sites that i read or at least check daily. there are probably more....

with the execption of f365, all of these sites have only come into my life in the last 12 months. and all the new ones have, to varying degrees, altered my tastes and the ways in which i consume popular culture. which sounds poncy, but isnt.

dissapointment of the year-manchester phoenix and ice hockey in general

the first year in ages that saw me with no ice hockey involvment. because, to be frank, i just couldn't be arsed with the sport anymore.

best waste of time-championship manager 4 and the popjustice messageboards

both really helped me get through my shitty start to the year. and despite both i managed to do alright academically. the pj forums are the friendliest i've ever visited. which is a shame, because my interest in it is waning. unlike my championship managing...

twat of the year [real]-the cunts i used to live with

anti-twat of the year [real]-my friends. family too, of course..

both pretty self-explainitory really.

twat of the year [famous]-so many to choose from...

anti-twat of the year [famous]- again, pass.

nice to look at, but serves no useful purpose [famous]-barry out of fame academy.

how i miss him....

worst single of the year-bring it own, alistair griffin.

shit. from a 'celebrity' who serves no useful purpose, but isn't even nice to look at

worst video of the year-i just don't know what to do with myself, the white stripes

i'd rather not watch poll dancing, ta very much. further to that, all their other ones are so damn good. hence, the dissapointment again.

worst gig of the year-david bowie, reality tour, men arena, manchester

because i wasn't there

worst film of the year-bringin down the house

i'm not sure if it got its cinematic debut last year, but i saw it in the university on the big screen, so it counts. shite, steve martin or not. perhaps even more so because of him.

worst telly of the year-masters and servants, c4 [just]

so much bad stuff broadcast last year, but this was one too far. at this rate, by 2105, the entire population will be taking it in turns to live in the neighbours houses under their rules. with hilarious results.

worst radio of the year-radio 4 plays. all of them

real pretentious shite

worst match of the year-real madrid cf vs manchester united fc, champions league 2002/3, santiago de bernabau

we lost. and effectivly were put out of the tornament in this the first leg, so shite.

worst signing of the year-juan sebastian veron chelsea from manchester united.

we make a loss, they get an overrated showpony. we win in this deal. just about.

and so the epic is over.

hardly worth it really......
- posted by aa.logan @ 2:26 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Wednesday, December 31, 2003

due to technical ineptitude, ontheturn has, until now, been unable to include permanent links.

truth be told, it doesn't now. but ontheturn has branched out, adding a new blog, dedicated solely to links.

and, were that not enough, an introductary piece has been added to yet another blog.

self-important? perhaps. but i wanted to. and that is, ultimatley, all that matters.

links to both can be found in that there sidebar....
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:52 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

despite me being rather proud of bowie for turning down a knighthood, i am equally pround of tony hand for getting an mbe for [aptly, i suppose] services to ice hockey.
- posted by aa.logan @ 4:23 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

tomorrow sees the january transfer window opening [bye-bye fabien...]

i fucking love this. i equally love the NHL trade deadline day. transfer speculation is my bread and butter.

it is just so exiting. is 'x' going to sign for 'y'? and if he isn't, why have the papers been saying he will join them for the last three months? and where the fuck did the bid from 'q' come from? and at that, price, why the hell didn't we put in a bid?

all the speculation is like championship manager come to life, and consequentally so much fun. mid-december, much like the few weeks in the summer prior to the season beginning seems to give tabloid journalists liscence to make up [more] stories.

so, arjen von roben, rafael van der vaart, phillip mexes, olivier kapo, kezman, jermaine defoe, mark viduka, alan smith [yes please], gareth southgate, louis saha and so many, many more, this one is for you.
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:28 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Tuesday, December 30, 2003

the bbc using don king to advertise the fa cup?

bang out.

giving that thouroughly unpleasant individual my fucking money angries up the blood somewhat.
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:50 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

writing these end-of-year things is a tad time-consuming.

reading them is perhaps a tad boring.

but fuck you[se] all.

i'm going to continue with it.

but not just now.

but one of those odd things is that if you see one person you haven't seen in ages, you'll see another.

and if one of them looks crap, whereas they used to look good, one's ego reccieves a fucking massive boost.

so thanks for not cutting your hair s****, it makes me feel damn good about myself, even if it makes you look like shit.
- posted by aa.logan @ 5:39 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

while i'm at it- the first annual ontheturn video of the year nominees are-

strict machine-goldfrapp, hold on me-phixx, the hardest button to button-the white stripes, jump-girls aloud, slow-kylie, being nobody-liberty x, golden retriver-super furry animals, pass that dutch-missy elliot, leave right now-will young, maybe-emma bunton, mixed-up world-sophie ellis-bextor, year 3000-busted, beautiful-christina aguillaria

and some others that i forgot.
- posted by aa.logan @ 3:31 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

first annual ontheturn single of the year nominees

cry me a river-justin timberlake

back in the day, ontheturn [foolishly] lambasted the ubiquitous media spread of JT [but i'm lovin' it is, frankly, bollocks, no?]. this song is quite clearly why it happened. fucking genius. when i first heard the title i was a tad dissapointed it wasn't the old sarah vaughn [?] number, but this effort suitably fills the name. monks! stoppy-starty bits! cod-falsetto! personal feud carried out in the media! other great stuff!

sweet dreams [my LA ex]-rachel stevens

as we all know this was intended for britney in retaliation for cry me a river. but she turned it down. which is good, as it means ms. stevens got herself a bit of a solo career. another classy tune, deceptivly simple, and once it was released everywhere. but i'm not bored with it yet.....

strict machine-goldfrapp

or donna summer rides again. perhaps the song that sweet dreams tried to be, but not necessarily a better song. the combination of the low, rumbling synths, plus alison's vocal and the intermittant whipcracks make a remarkable single. yet more dancefloor gold.

hey ya-outkast

or clinton and prince ride together. potentially horrible and unwieldy, the most left-field chart hit of the year. and certainly deserving of more being written about it. but i can no longer be arsed.

all the things she said-tATu

one of the problems with end-of-year retrospectivness is that it tends to occour at the end of a year. which means stuff released early on tends to get lost and forgotten in the rush for the new. how anyone could forget faux-lesbian schoolgirls with quality tunes like this is beyond me.

remember me-british sea power

getting a chorus containing the word incrament in the top 40 is no mean feat. sadly, a tune i've had precious few oppertunities to enjoy on the dancefloor.

we don't play guitars-chicks on speed feat. peaches

this was a single, apparently. if it wasn't, it should have been. peaches forgetting [or seeming to forget] how to spell her name. a glorious statement of intent. i pray for a girls aloud [feat. busted] cover of this.

seven nation army-the white stripes

quality. quality. quality. i'd be erudite, but there is fuck all to add to that really.

no good advice-girls aloud

the first of their three singles of 2003, and set a standard that sadly couldn't be met. yet another [hopefully timeless] floor-filler, and fantastic to sing along to. especially when you split the vocals amongst a group of you. bollocks to grammar, too.

move your feet-junior senior

more nonsense, more good. sadly, however, this track doesn't look like its going to last. i can't for the life of me remember when i last heard it on a night on the tiles. of its time, then, apparently. but still glorious.

coma girl-joe strummer and the mescaleroes

typical mescaleroes fare, perhaps. but that is not to do it down in any way, shape or form. single with the most instant emotional impact of the year if nothing else.

hole in the head-sugababes

yet another ever-so-slightly leftfield chart triumph. very insiduous. very hypnotic. very good. very short summary. fuck it.

slow-kylie

some folk hated this from the off. some warmed to it. others went off it. i still love it as much as i did when i first heard it. wonderfully fresh. also, a nice number to dance to. one can, thankfully move slow and catch ones breath after a fast number to this. and the potential to mishear lyrics.....

drugs-simple kid

kind of like superstition sung by neil young. kind of very good.

fight test [part 1]-the flaming lips

cat-stevens ripping off, perhaps. the second-best single off the second-best album of 2002. this year has, perhaps been the year of the flaming lips for me, despite them not releasing nothing new and despite me discovering them last year, so perhaps a default choice again. but this somehow manages to be both a pro- and anti- war song, making it more than fair.

superstar-jamelia

last, but not least, yet another song that is perfect for dancing to. and dead good anyway. [is it obvious that i can no longer be arsed writing?]

unless i've forgotten some they are the contenders. winner announced january one. probably.

honourable mentions to- crazy in love, miracles, new killer star, train, twist, life got cold, jump, silence is easy, the hardest button to button, crrepin' and crawlin', that great love sound, molly's chambers, hold on me,get busy, finest dreams, being nobody, bill maccai, flip reverse, gay bar, golden retriver, ban marriage, beautiful, crashed the wedding, hollywood and probably some more......
- posted by aa.logan @ 1:31 AM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, December 29, 2003

unrelatedly- bob monkhouse, RIP.

unlike some, i am moved by his death.

he was old, yes, and very probably in severe pain, so a blessing i suppose.

but he was, even in his most recent [non-wipeout] stuff, as sharp and funny as a man half his age.

a comedy genius.
- posted by aa.logan @ 11:55 PM (0) comments

Comments: Post a Comment

ok, so the ontheturn album of the year nominees are [and in no particular order]-

reality-david bowie.

like streetcore, this is kind of a default nomination- a bowie album must be amongst my favourites for any year. but, that said, i do sincerly believe that reality is a truly fantastic album.

the reviews compared it favourably with heathen, as the heathen reviews did with ....hours, and the ...hours with earthling. [and so forth....]. in many respects, reality is heathen 2- a continuation with the same [gabriels-free] band, and visconti, thankfully, still producing. the singles, new killer star and never get old are wonderful ambassadors for the album, which still contains the off-kilter never get old.

bowie or not, reality is fucking fantastic, and deserving on its own mertits to be considered for album of the year. but is it?

streetcore-joe strummer and the mescalaeros

right, more than reality this album had to be considered simply because of what it is. and i've written about it lots, so will do less now.

but still.... dead or not, a complete album, full of growers. and, again, and deserving on its own mertits to be considered for album of the year.

fatherfucker-peaches

an album purchased, as so many of mine are, without actually hearing anything by the artist before. but now i can confidently state that peaches is fucking fantastic. i'm the kinda, kick it [with iggy] and back it up are perhaps the stand-outtracks on an album that features the diy-vibe of both punk and hip-hop, managing to be both agressive and sensuous. or perhaps, just downright sexual.

the decline of british sea power-british sea power, oddly.

perhaps the best packaged album of the year, if nothing else. featuring two fantastic singles- carrion, and the superior remember me, this found it's groove and stuck with it, making the album unmistakably BSP. hands-down winner if there was a debut of the year category. but there isn't. so it isn't.

magic and medicine-the corral

arguably, their debut could be up for this- i didn't hear it until february. but i'll be strict, and anyway, this is a fine album itself. sub-beefheartian guitars, domehow discordant harmonies and, above all, great fucking tunes. bill macai is far and away the albums best track, but a brave choice for a single. but that is, i fear, by the by.

x-factor, volume 1-richard x

city life listed this as one of their albums of the year, but one with a very short shelf-life. i beg to differ. a potential all-time classic, truth be told. each track a potential top-ten hit