Is it this easy?

Love music, hate racism

Love Music, Hate Racism.
Fuck the BNP.

Militant atmosphere in Victoria Park for the Rock Against Racism concert. Inspiring to hear passionate and committed people stand up and be counted. And good tunes too from mix of newbies and oldies. Standouts for me were Jimmy Pursey (Sham 69) covering The Clash's White Riot' and 'Dancing in the dark' performed by the all-stars who stepped in to replace Baby Shambles. It could have gone horribly wrong but it was so bad it was good. Long live the guilty pleasures in life.

Evening wrapped up by The Good, The Bad and The Queen. Never paid tehm too much attention before but realised that yet again Damon Albarn is a VERY clever man. Stunning ensemble rendition of 'Ghost town' closed the event.

Happy Go Lucky

Endearing feel-good film (with a subtle dark undercurrent) that effectively avoids being TOO 'happy go lucky'. I really enjoyed this film, it had all the qualities that good Brit films posess - intelligent script, underplayed acting and realistic, sensitive settings. And being set in London it was fun to play the 'I know that place' game. Walked out of cinema feeling lifted and energised and fleet of foot with a spring in my step. But maybe that was the impact of the incense stall by Brixton tube?

Sterling performance from Sally Hawkins as the main protagonist and a delicously dark piece of acting by Eddie Marsan as an unhinged driving instructor.

Dutch Uncle

Yet another entertaining night hosted by teh good folk at Dutch Uncle.
This month's opening was for Petra Bonner who produces lovely work like this:

Specifically for the night, Petra had painstakingly drawn here trademark lines and swirls in chalk on the freshly paint black walls. It looked great and showed how a little imagination can transform a space. Continuing the black-and-white theme, the well stocked bar provided the packed room with white russians and guinness all night long.

Rocking, can't wait for the next one. Good work Petra, Dan, Helen, Mickey and Jo!

Great idea, shame about the play

I sat on a balcony last night and looked through the evening gloom of Hammersmith into the windows of people's lives. Not my regular saturday night pastime nor one I would repeat for this occured at the Lyric Theatre during a performance of 'Contains Violence', a play that promised much but delivered not a great deal.

Armed with binoculars and headphones we sat outside and watched and listened to the actors performing in the building opposite. It was a good begining, all very intriguing. But it quickly became apparent that the story was so garbled and fragmented that it verged dangerously close to artistic indulgence and misadventure. The cause was not helped by the weather - it was a freezing night, and by the end of the show the audience were wishing it to end.

Not a wasted night because if nothing else it was something different but just a shame that such an innovative peice of theatre was let down by an impenetrable script.

Shanghai shots

Mega city five? no, Shanghai.
Epic photographs by Horst and Daniel Zielske

The Arsenal

Ian Wright illustration at Arsenal Museum © Miles Donovan

I wanted to write about the many and varied websites/blogs that cover all things Arsenal. I wanted to write about how match opinions are shared, transfer rumors spread and football banter exchanged. And so, following another eventful night of football I'm going to attempt to showcase a selection of sites that show the folklore, the history, the pride that Gooners have in their team.

Redaction - Interesting arrival on the scene, I like it's militant stance. Useful away game PDFs to download.

Arseblog - Highly entertaining, engaging, the number 1 Arsenal blog. And quite often the number 1 sports blog at the bloggies. Lots of banter, not afraid to cuse the C-word where appropriate, eg Ashley Cole, John Terry. Often for great comedy effect. Seems to have a thing about Gingers but hey-ho no one is perfect. Many a smile created on the religously updated daily Arseblog and a weekly chortle thanks to the imaginatively titled 'Arsecast'

Goodplaya - intelligent, balanced analysis from a seemingly intelligent, balanced gooner.

Arsenal-land - slick site, not as insightful as it used to be. Good forum, this was my introduction to the online Arsenal world.

We are the herd - Passion, commitment, community. Found this whilst reading up on the legendary Dainton Connell, king of the North Bank. Forum dealing with Arsenal's Firm, tales of battles of yesteryear.

All examples of a spirit best summed up in the final paragraphs of this post by Arseblogger: "Let’s stand behind our team. We are the Arsenal."

Sketchbooks

Begun to archive my old sketchbooks. Started with my New Zealand book; Australia, Berlin, New England, Pacific Coast, Israel, Barelona, Dublin to follow. Got me thinking about getting away from the UK and drawing/painting again, or at least getting back to those happy days of relaxation, freedom, and anonymity.