BISH'S BEAT: PUBLIC ENEMIES!

Public Enemies and more at Bish's Beat.BISH'S BEAT: PUBLIC ENEMIES!

Katie Schwartz: Plotzarella from the brilliance

Big laffs from K_K_Katie's blog.Katie Schwartz: Plotzarella from the brilliance

Friday's Forgotten Books: Suckers - Anne Billson

Friday’s Forgotten Books Suckers by Anne Billson. Anne Billson is a John Carpenter and Charles Willeford fan from Southport who writes brilliantly on film for The Guardian, GQ and oodles of other journals. She is the author of Spoilers – a fantastic and essential collection of film reviews. As well as being the best film writer since Pauline Kael she’s also a gem of a storyteller. Her first novel, Suckers, was one the most refreshing and downright entertaining British novels of the nineties and was shortlisted for Granta's 'Best Young British Novelists' list in 1993. ‘Bleeding London Dry’ was Suckers’ fab tag line and, indeed, the London of Suckers,was the Cool Britannia of the eighties, drowning in bright young things. Whole communities were being chewed up and spat out as chic Docklands tower blocks. The narrator, Dora Vale, is a 'creative consultant' - a typically vapid eighties job description –who visits the headquarters of the uber-voguish Bellini magazine only to discover that it only does its business at night... No less than Salma Rushdie described it as a satire on the eighties greed is good culture and he wasn’t far wrong but more than that it’s fun. A Molotov cocktail of Ealing Comedy, Hammer and even American Psycho, it’s the best way to spend your time in the company of yuppies- watch them suffer!

Silents and Talkies

Silents and Talkies is a rather nice blog with some tasty paintings. The Girl Behind the Pencils is Kate Gabrielle. ' Pencil sketches, paintings and pen and ink drawings of scenes and stills from the golden age of cinema, accompanied by my own thoughts and musings. ' http://silentsandtalkies.blogspot.com/

Dino...

Want to email somebody a link to this photo?

Want to email somebody a link to this photo?

"how lucky can one guy be? I kissed her and she kissed me"...

In the early eighties, after Coronet Blue and Halcyon Days, I was in a band called Oceans 11. The second picture,by the way,is by the American artist Glenn Barr, who I think is rather fab...here is the only recording around of Halcyon Days: Halcyon Days

Sisyphus Revisited by Cullen Gallagher

Cullen Gallagher of PULP SERENADE fame has a great story at Six Sentences today. It's here: Six Sentences: Sisyphus Revisited

Shots: Quantrill talks to Hurley.

Shots magazine has a great interview with Portsmouth writer Graham Hurley by Hull Crime Scene's Nick Quantrill. Check it out here: http://www.shotsmag.co.uk/interviews/2009/g_hurley/g_hurley.htm AHOY THERE!

Six Sentences: The Cypher by Joseph Grant

Another great six by Joe Grant, here: Six Sentences: The Cypher

The Night Editor: Mann and Cooper and Man Of The West (1958)

A Wild West Connection in Jake Hinkson's smashing The Night Editor here:The Night Editor: Mann and Cooper and Man Of The West (1958)

My Town Monday meets Wild West Monday...sorta...

Cowboy Builders. 'Help us catch the cowboys' . IF you live in Hartlepool and have had any building or roofing work done in the last year, then Hartlepool Council’s Trading Standards team would like to hear from you. They are asking people to let them see any documentation – such as estimates, guarantees, receipts and details of the cooling-off period – received from the builder or roofer, so that the team can check that the tradesman is complying with all the trading and consumer rules. Michael Welsh, the Council’s Principal Trading Standards Officer, said: “According to national statistics, the largest area of consumer complaints relates to home improvements, and there are some ‘fly-by-night’ tradesmen. “There are cases of people not being given the proper paperwork, tradesmen not being traceable if there are any problems with the finished work, and in some cases, vulnerable customers being pressured into agreeing to work which is often not needed. “We certainly have no issue with the many decent and law-abiding builders and roofers who work in Hartlepool. “However, by carrying out these paperwork checks we aim to find any rogue traders who are operating outside the law, such as those who don’t provide the customer with the proper documentation advising them of the cooling-off period.” The Trading Standards team is also trying to contact all the roofers or builders in the Hartlepool area directly so that they can check the documentation they give to customers. Michael Welsh added: “We would also like to hear from anyone who has had a bad experience with a builder or roofer so that we can investigate those cases, and we would welcome information from builders and roofers who know anything about any rogue tradesmen operating in the area.”