joke

Why is coffee better than a woman?

Because a coffee looks good in the morning!

Way To Blue - Songs of Nick Drake

In January in Glasgow there is a folk festival called Celtic Connections and last week I went to a concert celebrating the music of Nick Drake - it was really good. There was a house band, including Danny Thompson who originally played bass on a lot of Nick's tracks, a string section and a selection of guest vocalists. Sadly I was not invited to sing. Belle and Sebastian's lead singer was there (Stuart Murdoch), Lisa Hannigan (she collaborated with Damian Rice but has now gone solo), Teddy Thompson (son of legendary folk artist Richard Thompson who I saw last year in concert), a folk singer called Vashti Bunyan (she has a lovely voice but on the night she seemed quite nervous and struggled a bit), South African poet Warren Crystal (great voice! she should give up poetry and focus on singing) and a few others who I had never heard of before. They did quite modern and individual interpretations of Nick's songs, my favourites being Parasite, At The Chime Of The City Clock, Poor Boy, Pink Moon, Black Eyed Dog and Voices. For the encore all the vocalists came onto the stage and did a beautiful version of Voices. It was quite moving, seeing them all together, bringing Nick's wonderful music alive. At the interval Joe Boyd, who produced Nick's three studio albums, introduced the musicians and singers and also just paid tribute to Nick and his music. Robert Kirby, who had arranged the strings for Five Leaves Left and Byrter Layter, died in October so he was given a round of applause. My favorite vocalist was Lisa Hannigan. Move over Rachel McAdams! Lisa is now my current crush! She's got a great voice but is also very beautiful, sexy and down to earth. Check her out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPwk4S5nU9s (gorgeous song by a gorgeous girl)

The Road reviewed

The Road is another successful film adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy book (the other being No Country For Old Men). It is set in a post apocalyptic and desolate America, and centres on the journey of a father and son walking the road south to the coast where they hope to find a warmer climate and better life. Along the way they struggle to survive and keep that hope alive. The film, like life, is a hard slog: intense, dark and bleak but unable to overwhelm the love between father and son, called simply Man and Boy. This relationship is portrayed in a tender and very moving way, thanks largely to a brilliant joint performance by Viggo Mortensen as Man and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Boy. I will be surprised if they are not both nominated for an Oscar. Man is a loving and devoted father, outside that relationship he is pragmatic and cautious which is understandable in the circumstances. It's a fine line to tread, between survival and protection of a loved one and doing all that necessary to achieve that. Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Charlize Theron provide an impressive supporting cast but Mortensen and Smit-McPhee are the powerful anchor of the film. They make the bleak and hard slog worthwhile. The film is about the truimph of the human spirit in terrible conditions, the courage to perserve humanity in oneself but the most telling theme is really about the most important thing in this life, namely the love that exists in a relationship. The fact that the landscape is so bleak and harsh, and the struggles of Man and Boy so painful and hard, only highlights the importance of this gift more powerfully. 8/10.

2009 Lists

I stole this idea from a friend. I've nothing much else to write about.

Best films of 2009:

1) Sherlock Homes
2) Inglorious Basterds
3) District 9

Best books (that I've read this year):

1) A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
2) Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
3) Birds Without Wings by Louis De Bernieres
4) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
5) Persuasion by Jane Austen

Best gigs of 2009:

1) Ray LaMontagne
2) Richard Thompson
3) Tom Paxton
4) Bruce Springsteen
5) Half Man Half Biscuit

Best ciders of 2009:

1) Gaymears
2) Bulmers
3) Magners

Biggest crush on a girl of 2009:

1) Rachel McAdams
2) Rachel McAdams
3) Rachel McAdams

New Years Resolutions:

1) Marry Rachel McAdams
2) (failing that) Date Rachel McAdams
3) (failing that) Befriend Rachel McAdams
4) (failing that) Stalk Rachel McAdams
5) (failing that) Ignore the restraining order from Rachel McAdams