I was standing by the counter in the world's best known chain of "restaurants" waiting for my fries to cook, and a man with a pronounced French accent walked in. He asked for a "Royale Cheese". The two ladies behind the counter looked at him blankly. He asked again. Same response. So then he said "Big Mac". I intervened.
"You mean a big cheeseburger, right?"
"Yes"
"(to staff) He wants a Quarter Pounder With Cheese."
"Why do they have different names in different countries?"
"If you ever see Pulp Fiction in English..."
"Ah yes! I know what you mean."
So that's how Quentin Tarantino and I got a Frenchman the burger he really wanted.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
More music!
Stand By Me and Message in a Bottle are up on the music page. I screwed something up exporting them though, and they're a bit too fast and high. Personally I think I might prefer it as it is. See what you think. Click the music link to the right.
Edit: The files themselves aren't the problem - right click on the line in the flash player and choose download file, and it will give you the MP3 at the proper speed. Not sure why it's not playing like that in the flash player, but I'll try to fix it later in the week.
Edit: The files themselves aren't the problem - right click on the line in the flash player and choose download file, and it will give you the MP3 at the proper speed. Not sure why it's not playing like that in the flash player, but I'll try to fix it later in the week.
Monday, October 13, 2008
A Freudian analysis of Paul and Michelle's wedding
Superego: Everyone had a really good weekend, and I'm pleased that whatever I contributed to the day helped that to happen.
Ego: I had a really good weekend. And I was pretty good when the speeches came round.
Id: I want to have another really good weekend.
Matt: When I have a few hours I'll actually write what happened, pop a few photos up and tell you all about it. But it was pretty good - excellent organisation by both Bride and Groom, great attitude from all present, and an abundant supply of drink came together to ensure that. And Paul and Michelle will be touching down in New Zealand at some point in the next 12 hours or so.
Ego: I had a really good weekend. And I was pretty good when the speeches came round.
Id: I want to have another really good weekend.
Matt: When I have a few hours I'll actually write what happened, pop a few photos up and tell you all about it. But it was pretty good - excellent organisation by both Bride and Groom, great attitude from all present, and an abundant supply of drink came together to ensure that. And Paul and Michelle will be touching down in New Zealand at some point in the next 12 hours or so.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Art Garfunkel
I sometimes maintain that Art Garfunkel was my second favourite member of Simon and Garfunkel. This is now no longer true. It's a technicality, but until Paul Simon plays me a live show, I don't think I can make a comparison. And Art is a good lad.
His show consisted of about 50% Paul Simon tunes (from the time of their collaboration and afterwards). There were songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Randy Newman and a couple of others. And even one dong that Art co-wrote, as he's discovering himself as a lyricist now. But everyone was there to hear that voice singing those songs.
It was a lot like seeing Paul McCartney, or the Wailers. It's an astounding show, but it's so difficult to treat it as an isolated thing. You can't help but think how it would be if there was one other person there. John Lennon was missing in 2004 at Glastonbury. Bob Marley was missing in 2006 at the Rise Festival. And there was a space in the harmonies, that, whether for this reason or another, Art's capable backing band didn't fill, where Paul Simon should have been singing, for a number of songs.
He's older now, and his voice fails sometimes on the high notes. It's uncertain, it shakes. Falsetto, I would say, is a young man's game. But when he sang Bridge Over Troubled Waters, every ounce of the man in his twenties who recorded the song was there, on stage, and it was the one point in the evening where I really didn't mind that the man who wrote the song wasn't around.
All said, he has a back catalogue it's difficult not to be envious of. And he has an odd, but assured, stage manner that is as engagin as it is confusing. Poetry readings, and little stories expose a man with a childlike fascination with the world, which is odd when one reaches 66. But as he said, he has had a lucky life, and has a lot to be happy about.
Hearing that voice sing those songs is a privilege. Hearing it sing other songs was a pleasure. I would recommend Art Garfunkel's solo show to any avid S&G fan, but don't go expecting the tight harmonies from the records (in fact don't even expect that from any reunion tour that emerges in the future) and don' go expecting a young man's voice. But you will hear all the qualities that made him famous, and that supported Paul Simon's excellent songwriting to make them both the phenomenon that they were, long ago.
This is as close as I'll get to seeing the two of them perform together. In a year or two, when he returns to London, I'll go and see his old partner, and then I'll know. And I'll try, but probably fail, to consider him on his own, and not as one half of my favourite sixties act. but until he proves otherwise, to me, directly, Art is my favourite half. So I'd like a Paul Simon tour soon please.
His show consisted of about 50% Paul Simon tunes (from the time of their collaboration and afterwards). There were songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Randy Newman and a couple of others. And even one dong that Art co-wrote, as he's discovering himself as a lyricist now. But everyone was there to hear that voice singing those songs.
It was a lot like seeing Paul McCartney, or the Wailers. It's an astounding show, but it's so difficult to treat it as an isolated thing. You can't help but think how it would be if there was one other person there. John Lennon was missing in 2004 at Glastonbury. Bob Marley was missing in 2006 at the Rise Festival. And there was a space in the harmonies, that, whether for this reason or another, Art's capable backing band didn't fill, where Paul Simon should have been singing, for a number of songs.
He's older now, and his voice fails sometimes on the high notes. It's uncertain, it shakes. Falsetto, I would say, is a young man's game. But when he sang Bridge Over Troubled Waters, every ounce of the man in his twenties who recorded the song was there, on stage, and it was the one point in the evening where I really didn't mind that the man who wrote the song wasn't around.
All said, he has a back catalogue it's difficult not to be envious of. And he has an odd, but assured, stage manner that is as engagin as it is confusing. Poetry readings, and little stories expose a man with a childlike fascination with the world, which is odd when one reaches 66. But as he said, he has had a lucky life, and has a lot to be happy about.
Hearing that voice sing those songs is a privilege. Hearing it sing other songs was a pleasure. I would recommend Art Garfunkel's solo show to any avid S&G fan, but don't go expecting the tight harmonies from the records (in fact don't even expect that from any reunion tour that emerges in the future) and don' go expecting a young man's voice. But you will hear all the qualities that made him famous, and that supported Paul Simon's excellent songwriting to make them both the phenomenon that they were, long ago.
This is as close as I'll get to seeing the two of them perform together. In a year or two, when he returns to London, I'll go and see his old partner, and then I'll know. And I'll try, but probably fail, to consider him on his own, and not as one half of my favourite sixties act. but until he proves otherwise, to me, directly, Art is my favourite half. So I'd like a Paul Simon tour soon please.
Mobile blogging test
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Redesign
Following a friend's redesign I thought I'd try one of my own. I didn't realise it but until this post I had precisely 404 posts on this blog. If I was just a little geekier, I'd try to make a joke out of that.
I've brought the blog to the front page (long overdue) and I've found new flash jukebox functionality, and a nice map that tracks where I've taken photos. Have a poke around, and if you're frustrated by the new format when you're trying to find something specific, just click through to the old site via the links page.
I've brought the blog to the front page (long overdue) and I've found new flash jukebox functionality, and a nice map that tracks where I've taken photos. Have a poke around, and if you're frustrated by the new format when you're trying to find something specific, just click through to the old site via the links page.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Stevie Wonder
Last night at the O2. And he played a beauty. He wrote all the songs. I mean ALL of them. Not just the ones he played last night, but actually all of them. I'm not a huge fan, but I'm definitely won over after last night. That is all.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)