Want List – September 2008

Part visual reminder for me, part interesting look into what I fancy over the coming months….

September 2008:

October 2008:

November 2008:

December 2008?

sometime in 2009/ 2010?:

We The Robots – every single training course I’ve been on…

Yep, back to school with a training day.

We The Robots – well worth a click.

PROPAGANDA @ the FPI blog: Queen & Country

Latest Propaganda review at the FPI blog is online:

Queen & Country by Greg Rucka

That Petrol Emotion – Live in London 26th August 2008

Of all the bands I’ve loved there are possibly a group of 10 that I’d consider my all time favourites. And, like many of us of a certain age, a lot of these 10 are no longer together. There are a couple who I have no hope of ever seeing live for various reasons (Cabaret Voltaire, Ultra Vivid Scene, Propaganda) and there are some who I know will tour at some point (The Cure, Kraftwerk, Duran Duran, Steve Wynn). And then there are those that I had seen when they were together but figured they broke up so long ago that there was no hope for a reformation.

Well, first to confound expectations was Carter USM, who I’m off to see in November. Much excitement. But better was to come, as I find out from the That Petrol Emotion website that this wonderful band, this underachieving, never had the success they deserved band, were getting together and doing three secret gigs at London, Dundalk and The Electric Picnic festival. That Petrol Emotion were my first ever gig. It was amazing. As was every single time I’ve seen them since then. The news got even better when I realised they were playing in August – holiday time! Okay, so it was also the day after Molly’s birthday, but that was no problem – and suddenly the whole family is having a London trip.

(From sweetfoolthemouth’s photostream on Flickr)

They played the Boston Arms, Dirty Water Club in Tufnell Park. The place was sold out and full as it could get. Anticipation was high, very high, as most of us were fans from last time around and we’d all been waiting at least 14 years for this moment.

Band makes the stage at ten. And the years melt away, time goes backward, aching backs, weightgain, mortgages, children and stress are all at least temporarily forgot and we’re all back in our youth once more, dancing like idiots and having such a great time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many middle aged men smile quite so much as I did that night. And I should know, because I was one of them. Grinning ear to ear for a couple of hot, sweaty, frantic and wonderful hours.

And if the audience felt the years wash away, the band certainly did. That Petrol Emotion were always a great live band, always tight and powerful, but they were incredibly good this night. They nailed it from the first song and I think they had just as much fun up there as we did watching them.

(From rickenley’s photostream on Flickr)

So it was a spectacular, ecstatic, wonderful night watching one of the greatest live bands I’ve ever seen. The whole gig was just perfect. Thank you boys. But don’t leave it so long for the next gig eh?

The plan was to take a few pictures, but that didn’t happen, I was far too absorbed by the music to take photos. Luckily there were many people there and the footage is already out on Flickr (set 1, set 2, set 3, set 4). I imagine something will be up on You Tube pretty soon as well.

Bruton Family Holiday – London 2008,

This was the holiday that wasn’t really meant to be a holiday. Initially this year we’d only thought we’d be going away just once to Northumberland. But sometimes circumstances dictate otherwise. Instead we headed down to London for me to see That Petrol Emotion once more and Louise and Molly to go and see Grease at the theatre as a birthday treat.

(York Station. Molly in charge of camera.)

It was also the first trip with Molly’s new camera and she became principal photographer for the entire journey, with me only being allowed access to the camera when she was too busy having fun doing something else.

The majority of the photos from the trip are at Molly’s Flickr stream. And I’m on a very tight end of holiday schedule so it’s only the briefest of write ups about it all.

As I remember about the first time I went to London the thing that Molly enjoyed most was the Underground. Whether it was busy, empty, fast, slow, long trip or short – she just loved whizzing around London at will – especially the escalators:

(Molly outside St Paul’s – one of the few occasions I was allowed the camera)

The quick itinerary went as follows:

Tuesday – train down, check into Youth Hostel at St Pauls, off to Camden Market and Covent Garden for mooch. Then off to gig and theatre. All was enjoyed. More on the That Petrol Emotion Gig here.

Wednesday – tourist overload – Millenium Bridge, London Eye, Buckingham Palace & The Mall, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Parliament, Comic Shopping at Gosh (well, it wouldn’t be trip to London without it). Tea at Rain Forest Cafe. I’ll end up writing about Gosh somewhere else no doubt, but the whole day was a whirl of tubes, walking and doing all of the big tourist things. I’d recommend the London Eye to anyone, a great way to get an overview of London. Dinner was at the Rain Forest Cafe, not so much as a restaurant as one big excuse to sell children merchandise with a meal as a minor part of it. A rather upmarket version of the Happy Meal if you want to think of it that way. But very, very nice food and Molly picked well, getting herself a lovely Orang Utan from the shop.

Thursday – Houses of Parliament tour, Tate Modern, train home.
Unless you’re very, very against the idea of government and the opulance of Westminster, I’d definitely recommend signing up for the 75 minute tour during summer recess. Fascinating for all three of us.
Tate Modern was great, but not quite as wonderful as I was hoping, probably because there was nothing spectacular (indeed, nothing at all) on view in the Turbine Hall. So the visit was essentially a trip around the galleries. But just four public galleries took th ethree of us 2 hours (and that’s doing the quick tour with Molly pushing us on).

(Outside Tate Modern, almost art in it’s own right.)

(The outer wall of Tate Modern – by Blu from the recent Street Art exhibit)

An exhausting time, but very enjoyable indeed.

Cupboard full of love …..

Would you believe this is the cupboard of cuddly toys AFTER Molly had gone through it and removed a bin bag full?

PROPAGANDA @ the FPI weblog: review of Birthday Riots & Lost Girl by Nabiel Kanan

latest review over at the FPI blog.

A look at Nabiel Kanan’s Birthday Riots & Lost Girl.

Spirit The New Adventures #3 – Alan Moore & Daniel Torres

Recently I was putting together a series of articles about Uncollected comics. One of my favourite comics has never and probably will never be collected. But thankfully, down to the Interthingy and the blog Again With The Comics it’s all available online for your viewing pleasure.

It’s Alan Moore & Daniel Torres creating a 10 page Spirit story “Last Night I Dreamed Of Dr Cobra”. Under a typically gorgeous Brian Bolland cover we see the eternally youthful Denny Colt revisits Central City at some point in the far future and the pain and sadness of his loss becomes crystal clear. It’s a beautifully melancholic and incredibly moving tale and you’ll thank me (& Brian Hughes) for the chance to read it…..

PROPAGANDA @ the FPI weblog – Princess At Midnight by Andi Watson

The latest Propaganda review went up on the FPI website a while ago –

Andi Watson’s delightful Princess At Midnight. Lovely.

Sin City – Disney style

Comic mashups are in vogue it seems!

Joe at FPI caught these great Sin City featuring Disney princess characters done by Curt Rapala. How long before Disney start sending nasty letters I wonder?