BKKIFF Day 5 - Tuesday

Bangkok Film Market

This is where I start to lose track of what day it is as every day seems to be spent in this airconditioned bubble and the only life I see outside is when I'm travelling back to my hotel in the evening. It's less intensive than the four day FrightFest event, but nevertheless there's a choice of seven different films screening at any one time, plus all the press activities and the BFM, so there's always something to be doing.

My first film of the day was Ahimsa: Stop To Run, a Thai comedy-drama which took an inventive look at karma. This was my first experience of Ultrascreen 1, one of the smaller cinemas in the venue; well, I say smaller... the auditorium and screen are the same size, but there's less seats - just six rows of six pairs of luxurious armchairs! In all my years of cinema going that is the most comfortable viewing experience I have ever had. Whats more, I was back in the same seat for my second movie, the Malaysian sports-comedy Goalposts & Lipsticks. I don't think I've ever seen a Malaysian film before but this was really well done and translated well, following the typical format of teen romance / sports movies. The director did a Q&A after the screening and said that the film had done so well that he's now been commissioned to develop a television series based on the movie.

In my break between screenings I discovered that tomorrow's showing of The Duelist is now going to be a Thai-dubbed print without English subtitles, so that caused me to rearrange my schedule somewhat. The rather frustrating thing is that no-one could confirm whether Saturday's screening would be the same print or the original Korean language with subtitles, so I'm just going to have to wait and see on that one. I also had another wander around the BFM where I bumped into Paul Spurrier, and I arranged a meeting with someone from Five Star Production to discuss The Art Of The Devil 2 which judging from its gory trailer could be an ideal candidate for this year's FrightFest event. I'll know more when I actually view the film tomorrow.

Ultrascreen 3

My final film of the day was an Austrian drama You Bet Your Life, obviously influenced by seminal seventies novel The Dice Man. For this screening I was in Ultrascreen 3, another of the luxury screens except this time there were only four rows of twelve seats, all of which reclined and came with their own little tables. I didn't get away from the Siam Paragon until nearly 11pm but the promise of free cocktails at an after-show party proved too tempting to resist, so I made my way over to the Q Bar on Sukhumvit Soi 11 and danced the night away until they closed at 1am.

BKKIFF Movie Haiku - You Bet Your Life

www.spieleleben.at


Dir: Antonin Svoboda


Cast: Georg Friedrich, Birgit Minichmayr, Andreas Patton, Gerti Drassi


The German dice man

gambles on love and money

banana blow job


soulmining rating: **

BKKIFF Movie Haiku - Goalposts & Lipsticks

www.redfilms.com.my/golgincu


Dir: Bernard Chauly


Cast: Nur Fazura, Sazzy Falak, Ashraf Sinclair, Rafidah Abdullah


She starts futsal team

wants to impress ex-boyfriend

overcomes all odds


soulmining rating: ***

BKKIFF Movie Haiku - Ahimsa: Stop To Run

www.ahimsastoptorun.com


Dir: Leo Kittikorn


Cast: Boriwat Youto, Teeradanai Suwanahorn, Tharanya Suttabusya, Prinya Ngamwongwarn


My name isn't Earl

his karma wears red tracksuit

foreseen things happen


soulmining rating: ****

BKKIFF Day 4 - Monday

Bangkok Film Market reception

I've decided to sacrifice the late nights in favour of early starts as that seems to be the only way to guarantee tickets for the screenings that I want to see. The box office system of issuing press tickets changed for the third day running but I managed to get what I wanted okay. That done I hooked up with Clare for a coffee as the Bangkok Film Market opened - where we spotted Roger Corman, one of the guest speakers - and then showed Clare where the video screening room is located. This gives you the opportunity to watch some of the festival films - and some other non-festival titles - on DVD at your leisure, should you miss the cinema screenings. We then watched last year's Tribeca winning film, Stolen Life, which was beautifully shot on DV but an ultimately depressing tale of a girl who's screwed over by her devious boyfriend.

I spent the next hour scouting out the BFM where most of the Thai distributors are promoting their slate of films. I had a brief chat with a lady from De Warrenne Pictures, producers of The Ghost Of Mae Nak who told me that the film should be out on DVD now, although I've yet to see it. I also chatted to one of the sales agents from GMM who produced the spooky Shutter, the highest grossing Thai movie of 2004 - and bemoaned their lack of English subtitles on their DVD releases (they're concerned about rampant piracy, apparently). The two directors of Shutter are now working on new horror project entitled Alone about the separation of siamese twins which should be ready to hit the festival circuit in 2007.

Then it was back into the cinema to see the surreal Japanese drama The Buried Forest starring Tadanobu Asano... I was expecting a visual fantasy but ninety minutes later I still had no idea what the film was about. Unfathomable. It was like a watching a dream unravel on the screen. After sitting through that ordeal some alcohol was looking like a very good idea, so I met up with Clare for a few beers and we then discovered the free Jameson's bar - although it's (supposedly) regulated to two thirty minute visits per day! There was also a big reception taking place in the main hall to celebrate the first day of the BFM and to highlight the Thai filmmakers, so we hung around that for a while and took full advantage of the free buffet.



Oliver Stone

My final event of the day was the Masterclass with Oliver Stone, again moderated by Variety's Steven Gados. It was fascinating to hear Oliver Stone talk about his work but sadly I felt that the interview was marred by focussing far too much on his politics rather than his movies. Still, it will be interesting to see what reception his latest film gets when it opens later this year. World Trade Centre stars Nicolas Cage, and covers 24 hours in the lives of the last two surviving firemen who were trapped in the ruins of the building and their respective families. He promises this to be a "human" story and avoids any of the conspiracy theories which surrounded the attack on 9/11.

BKKIFF Movie Haiku - The Buried Forest

www.umoregi.info


Dir: Kohei Oguri


Cast: Karen, Hiromitsu Tosaka, Tadanobu Asano, Tokie Hidari


Townsfolk find old logs

girls talk of camel and whale

surreal and plotless


soulmining rating: *

BKKIFF Movie Haiku - Stolen Life

www.arclightfilms.com.tw


Dir: Li Shao-hong


Cast: Zhou Xun, Wu Jun, Cain Ming, Su Xiao-ming


Naive college girl

scumbag boyfriend sells baby

buys very sharp knife


soulmining rating: ***

BKKIFF Day 3 - Sunday

The cast of 3 Friends

I wasn't due to be seeing any films until the middle of the afternoon so I took the opportunity to call up Paul Spurrier - director of P - who I knew was currently staying in Bangkok. By chance he was in a taxi minutes away, so he quickly alighted and we met up for lunch. It was really good to catch up on all the latest news surrounding P (it's currently on release in Spain, will be distributed by Anchor Bay in the UK, and may yet be submitted for a theatrical release here in Thailand) and news of his current projects - he's recently been working as DP on a Thai epic with the (English) working title End Of Empire which is currently being edited and he's keen to show me some footage from if it can be arranged while I'm here.

Over at BKKIFF the box office hiccups from the previous day seemed to have been sorted out and there was now a separate desk with pre-printed tickets available for collection. After interrogating one of the staff volunteers over the identity of some of the Thai celebrities who've been attending the festival I then caught my only film of the day, 3 Friends, a docu-drama starring the very lovely Napakpapah Nakprasit who I'd met on Friday night. She and the rest of the cast and crew turned up for a Q&A directly after the screening and I've now discovered that she's also one of the leads in Art Of The Devil 2 which I'm due to see later in the week.



Steven Gados interviews Christopher Lee

After a quick bite to eat it was straight back up to the main hall to listen to a conversation with Christopher Lee. I was due to be seeing a screening of The Man With The Golden Gun directly afterwards, however they'd scheduled a press conference immediately after the interview so I decided I'd much rather stay for that. So what did the great man have to say?

On directors - "My favourite director is Tim Burton and favourite actor, Johnny Depp. The greatest director I've ever worked with, one name stands out - Billy Wilder."

On Hammer films - "Hammer were responsible for me becoming a name and a face. I did 22 films in 18 years, some were very good and became classics, others weren't very good but people still remember them. It was rather like a family. They never paid me anything though; in the first one I was the lead and I got paid five hundred pounds!"

On James Bond - "I've no opinion on Daniel Craig until the film comes out. There's such a lot of rubbish that's been written about him. Pierce Brosnan was by far the best, the closest to the character that Fleming invented."

On The Lord Of The Rings - "The greatest work of fiction. How do I feel about Peter Jackson removing the death scene for Saruman? Inexplicable. How would I compare the two great sagas (Star Wars)? You can't. One happens on earth, albeit middle-earth, the other happens in galactic space."

On Asian films - "Asian films are taking a huge leap forward, there's some brilliant films from some wonderful directors and people in the West are being made aware of these through festivals."

BKKIFF Movie Haiku - 3 Friends

www.dedicate-ltd.com


Dir: Mingmongkol Sonakul


Cast: Napakpapah Nakprasit, Penporn Poonsaem, Jitraporn Panit, Miyauchi Yasuhiko


Photo shoot on beach

meet a man who checks water

real lives or fiction?


soulmining rating: ***

BKKIFF Day 2 - Saturday

Much to my surprise I was alive and awake nice and early the morning after the gala festivities so I managed to get to the Siam Paragon for its 10am opening. It was probably just as well as I was one of the first in line to pick up my Press tickets for the next two days (you can only get tickets one day in advance, subject to availability) and the Box Office clearly hadn't been briefed... honestly, if you thought the glitches at the last FrightFest event were frustrating believe me, it's even more chaotic here! My worry that they were actually issuing hand-written tickets for me rather than consigning a complimentary ticket off their computerised system proved all too real when my seat was double-booked at the Tsotsi screening later that day. I met up with a girl called Claire who runs a cinema in Falkirk as we were queuing and she offered to buy me breakfast so we headed down to the food court on the ground floor of the Paragon - this place is so massive you really never need to leave, except when it's time to go home and sleep!

The main event of the afternoon was the Masterclass with Terry Gilliam. He was a very witty speaker, talking about his Monty Python days, the cult following of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, his experience making Twelve Monkeys, and his unreserved contempt for the Weinstein brothers! Sadly the talk only lasted an hour... but I did manage to get his autograph afterwards. After a quick bite to eat - yes, I actually remembered food - it was off to see the gritty South African ghetto drama Tsotsi, which had a similar kind of feel to City Of God.



By happy coincidence a load of cool bands were playing the Bangkok 100 Rock Festival that night - Oasis, Franz Ferdinand, Ian Brown and dEUS - but tickets were expensive and it meant a journey out to Lakeside so in the end I decided not to bother and I settled for the bars off Sukhumvit Soi 23 to unwind instead.

BKKIFF Movie Haiku - Tsotsi

www.tsotsimovie.com


Dir: Gavin Hood


Cast: Presley Chweneyagae, Terry Pheto, Kenneth Nkosi, Mothusi Magano


Bad boy stabs on train

tries to look after baby

newspaper diapers


soulmining rating: ***

BKKIFF Opening Gala

Welcome to BKKIFF

My flight to Bangkok on Thursday got cancelled but I managed to get on another airline and eventually arrived in the city around 6:30pm, giving me just enough time to register at the BKKIFF HQ over at the Siam Paragon. Disorganised chaos awaited me... but I got my Press pass, that's the important thing!

Invisible Waves was the opening night film on Friday which I'd been told was an invite only affair, but after making some inquiries I managed to get into a special press screening in the afternoon. Sorted! The added bonus of catching the press screening was that I also caught a briefing about the Opening Gala, so I discovered we had access to the arrivals on the red carpet from 6pm onwards...

The Red Carpet

The invited guests and celebrities were escorted along the red carpet to the venue stopping for photos and interviews with the local media along the way. Needless to say I didn't know who the majority of the Thai guests were but still...

(Update - the lady immediately below on the left is Supaksorn Chaimongkol from Dangerous Flowers and the two gentlemen in the third photo are The Tin Mine's lead actor Pijaya Vachajitpan and director Jira Maligool)







The Invisible Waves party were amongst the early arrivals, with director Pen-ek Ratanaruang leading the way alongside actors Tadanobu Asano and Toon Hiranyasup with cinematographer Christopher Doyle and screenwriter Prabda Yoon.



Tadanobu Asano & Pen-ek Ratanaruang arrive



Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Christopher Doyle & Tadanobu Asano

The Gala Reception

Once most of the guests had arrived we were able to go up to the Gala reception for the opening ceremony and speeches.



The Invisible Waves team



Pen-ek Ratanaruang being interviewed for local TV

Whilst some guests disappeared for the film screening, others just hung around for the reception. It was a very informal affair and I was free to mingle - and take advantage of the free bar - as I liked...



Rufus Sewell



Terry Gilliam & Fred Schepisi

And of course I had to take the opportunity to chat to a couple of pretty ladies including Napakpapah Nakprasit, the lead actress from Maebia, Butterfly Man and 3 Friends and Siraphan Wattanajinda, the lead actress from Dear Dakanda.



Me & Napakpapah Nakprasit



Siraphan Wattanajinda & me

The After Show Party

I bumped into Joe Cummings, the Lonely Planet author, who happens to be good friends of Rudi & Albert up in Chiang Mai, so I got chatting to him for a long while and he tipped me off about the after show party taking place at the Bed Supper Club on Sukhumvit Soi 11.



The Bed Supper Club

I wasn't sure if it was another 'invite only' event but thought I may as well try and blag my way in anyway... and one quick flash of my Press pass quickly did the business!



Relaxing inside the Bed Supper Club

I got myself a beer and headed up to the balcony level in the chill-out area for a while. The club is split into two halves, with a dancefloor on the right hand side and a chill-out room on the left hand side - with two levels of beds lining each side and a bar area in the middle. Pretty cool!



Tadanobu Asano at the Bed Supper Club

It soon filled up with guests so I took the opportunity to wander around and managed to grab chats with Rufus Sewell, Tadanobu Asano and Pen-ek Ratanaruang before stumbling back to my hotel at around 1am.

BKKIFF Movie Haiku - Invisible Waves

www.invisiblewaves.com


Dir: Pen-ek Ratanaruang


Cast: Tadanobu Asano, Gang Hye-jung, Ken Mitsuishi, Eric Tsang


Kills wife of his boss

flees to Phuket on cruise ship

someone follows him


soulmining rating: ****

Nu's birthday party at Blue Sky Bar

Me, Aussie Pete's girlfriend, Bim & Nu

Walter, Justin & me

Sean, Dave, Albert & me

It was Nu's birthday yesterday - the owner of Blue Sky Bar - so we were all out celebrating last night.

Movie Haiku - Ghost Of Valentine

www.ghostofvalentine.com


Dir: Yuthlert Sippapak


Cast: Ploy Jindachoti, Pitisak Yaowananon, Kowit Wattanakul, Viyada Umarin


Used to be lovers

now she's a head with entrails

he takes a tumble


soulmining rating: **

Play It Cool in February

I haven't bought any new CDs since I came away on holiday, and I'm travelling with just a small selection of CDs... these are the ones that have been providing the soundtrack to my trip so far:

• Arcade Fire - Funeral (Rough Trade)
• Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll (Breastfed)
• Juliana Hatfield - Beautiful Creature (Zoe)
• Goldfrapp - Supernature (Mute)
• British Sea Power - Open Season (Rough Trade)

Lazy Days

Think About The Love concert at Thapae Gate

I'm really enjoying just goofing off and doing nothing here in Chiang Mai; it's a nice way to relax before I hit Bangkok at the end of the week. On Sunday evening there was a big outdoor concert at Thapae Gate which was being broadcast on one of the local television channels - no idea who was actually singing but I stayed and watched for a couple of songs.


Fon & me at the Happy Bar

I caught up with Roy and some of his friends at What's Up then spent the remainder of the evening watching the football over at the Happy Bar with Fon. Yesterday I went out to the Airport Plaza with Sean where we saw Dangerous Flowers at the cinema. Justin & Bim got back after their trip to Om Koi so I wanted to catch up with them, however yesterday happened to be a big Buddhist holiday so all of the bars were closed... nevertheless we were able to sit drinking Beer Chang all night at the Blue Sky Garden as it's a restaurant!

Today I shall be celebrating Valentine's Day by watching Ghost Of Valentine over at the Major Cineplex.

Btw, if you're expecting an email from me at the moment then I apologise but I have been unable to access my Lyocs account for the past couple of days.

Movie Haiku - Dangerous Flowers (Chai-Lai)

www.chailaimovie.com


Dir: Poj Arnon


Cast: Bongkot Kongmalai, Supaksorn Chaimongkol, Kessarin Ektawatkul, Petchai Wongkamlao


Petchai's Thai angels

silly sexy crime caper

cross-eyed girl gets laughs


soulmining rating: ***

Falling Rain

I'd forgotten the way that nights just snowball out of control here in Chiang Mai. On Friday we went to see Roy who I became good friends with when we worked together on the set of Sniper 3 a couple of years back. We found him at What's Up, the little bar that he owns and we enjoyed a few drinks together. Dave and the others then went off to The Brasserie to watch the live music but I was happy just hanging out having a quiet drink with Roy... inevitably a few hours later some more friends had turned up and I was on the back of Roy's motorbike headed for Atlantis, one of the big Thai nightclubs that specialises in the typical Euro-dance music which is so popular here - I swear they even played Crazy Frog. Then sometime between 3-4am we moved onto Sharky's, one of the late night bars in the city, and as I walked through the door I brushed past a pretty Thai girl and we both stopped dead and did a double-take... it was Fon.

Fon is probably my closest Thai friend, she's certainly the one girl I've spent the most time with during my last four trips to Chiang Mai. We never attempt to keep in touch when I'm away from Thailand, but we somehow always manage to find each other when I'm here, even though she left the whole bar scene a few years ago. The last time I was here she was working in one of the computer plazas in the city, but this year I just wasn't expecting to see her - Dave and Sean hadn't spotted her once in the three months they've been back, and we'd all assumed that she'd moved away. Which is actually what's happened; her mother died last year after a long illness and Fon decided to move back to her home town of Doi Tao. She's just back in Chiang Mai for a week staying with some of her old friends, so we were really lucky that we managed to bump into one another. Last night we went out for dinner and a couple of games of pool before she met up with her friends, and tonight we've arranged to go out for a few drinks.

Btw, was I drunk last night or did Chelsea really get hammered 3-0 by Middlesbrough?

I'm currently reading Private Dancer by Stephen Leather. If you ever wanted an all-too-accurate insight into the whole 'girlie bar' culture in Bangkok and understand why you should never get romantically involved with a bargirl here, then this is the book to read.

Back in Chiang Mai

Sean & me on the balcony at Veerachai Court

Yesterday we flew to Bangkok, only just making it onto the plane by the skin of our teeth (why didn't they warn us that the departure gate was miles away?), and were then lucky enough to book a connecting flight up to Chiang Mai - although we then got stuck on the plane for an hour while they had to make an emergency tyre change. We finally got into the city around 10:30pm and I got a room at Veerachai Court (where Dave is staying). With Justin still away in Om Koi, the one other person I wanted to track down straight away was my American buddy Sean, and one phonecall took care of that - so by 11:30pm I was in one of my regular bars enjoying my first ice cold Beer Chang with Sean, Dave and Ying (Dave's girlfriend).

It's great being back here in Chiang Mai; although things always change it still feels like a second home to me. And despite being the second largest city in Thailand it still has a village feel about the place. Last night alone I managed to bump into eight people I knew, and I bumped into another five just going out for breakfast this morning! Honestly, I think I know as many people living here as I do back home in Brighton! Anyway, this morning I checked out of Veerachai (too expensive for a short stay) and moved into Somwang guesthouse - literally seconds away from my favourite bars and restaurants. I made the journey by tuk-tuk and as we travelled half way around the old moat it dawned on me that my driver was hopelessly lost, so I ended up having to navigate for him through the narrow sois... most amusing! Anyway, it's now nearly 2pm, it's around 30 degrees outside (so Portia advises me) and Sean and I have an appointment for a traditional Thai massage to ease away those aches and pains...

Shek O Beach

Shek O beach, far away in time

I've been feeling ill today. It's like having a hangover without the pleasure of drinking the night before. Whether it's delayed jet-lag, dehydration or some dodgy noodles I don't know, but I've been walking around in a complete daze... Still, a trip to the beach soon perked me up. We caught the Star Ferry over to HK island again, then took a tram to the end of the line at Shau Kei Wan, then caught a bus to Shek O on the South-East side of the island. It was like being in another country! The beach was amazing, there can't have been more than twenty people on the whole stretch.



Hong Kong skyline

This evening we came down to the Avenue Of Stars on the waterfront to watch the symphony of lights across the harbour which was pretty impressive stuff! It's been a great few days here in HK.

Hong Kong Island

Star Ferry

We spent most of Tuesday over on Hong Kong Island. The first 'must-do' thing was catching the Star Ferry across the harbour.



View from Victoria Peak

We then took the furnicular railway up Victoria Peak for some absolutely spectacular views - and got chatting to some old fella who'd been taking photos around HK for the past fifty years.



Trams in Causeway Bay

In the afternoon we caught one of the old trams along to Causeway Bay and then ended up getting caught in HMV for quite a while!



Nathan Road

We found a great Cantonese restaurant in the evening and then wandered around more of the shops in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Kowloon. Have stocked up on plenty of cheap DVDs!

You want copy watch, Rolex?

Kimberley Road

So I met Dave at the airport on Monday afternoon and once he'd got settled in we had a pretty leisurely evening cruising Nathan Road and the Temple Street night market. One thing you soon notice walking along Nathan Road is the amount of people trying to flog you 'copy watches' or suits. We got asked twelve times this morning en route to the Star Ferry terminal!

Same Same But Different

Chungking Mansions

Getting to the hotel was a doddle. Thanks to Nikita's advice I immediately bought an Octopus card (which allows travel on 99% of HK's public transport) and then caught the Airport Express train to Kowloon, and a connecting free shuttle bus to Kimberley Road, just around the corner from the Stanford Hillview hotel - and boy, they weren't kidding about the 'hillview' part, it's a steep one! Check-in time was supposed to be 2pm so I was hoping to dump my bags and come back later, but it was fine, they let me check in straight away - so by 9:30am I was sat in my room drinking jasmine tea and watching the HK equivalent of Match Of The Day.

I spent the afternoon walking around the neighbouring streets off Nathan Road, getting my bearings, although discovering the large HMV store soon distracted me and I must have spent well over an hour looking at all the goodies inside. I made it back to the hotel around 5pm aiming for a little siesta... but the next thing I knew it was 11:30pm, so I sat up and watched the Chelsea vs. Liverpool match and then went back to sleep.

This morning I took full advantage of the hotel's buffet breakfast (orange juice, fresh fruit, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns, toast, waffles and maple syrup, washed down with endless cups of coffee... mmmm!) and have now discovered a decent internet place in the bowels of the infamous Chungking Mansions.

Now if only they could switch off the distorted rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star that is playing on an endless loop outside the door...

Aches On A Plane

Did dressing up smartly and acting politely get me an upgrade? No. The flight was packed. So packed that I couldn't even get an aisle seat and was forced to sit in one of those horrible seats right in the middle of the plane - for twelve long hours. I flew with Cathay Pacific, Airline of the Year 2005, and their service was impeccible and courteous, but I didn't feel they quite beat the service I've had with Emirates, and certainly the entertainment was a little lacking - I did get to watch Johnnie To's Election however. Still, that bright spark aside, it was one of the most uncomfortable long haul flights I've ever had to endure.

The good news is that I have made it to Hong Kong safely!

More details announced for BKKIFF

Here's the place where it's all going to be happening; it's the newly opened Siam Paragon - one of Asia's largest shopping and entertainment complexes, located adjacent to Siam Square in the heart of Bangkok. The festival's headquarters and Film Market will all be based in the Royal Paragon Hall convention venue, with film screenings happening at the Paragon Cinepolis which houses 15 separate movie theatres.

BKKIFF have now confirmed some more films to be shown during the festival, but apparently the final programme won't be confirmed until one week before the Opening Gala screening (Invisible Waves). The line up includes a number of Academy Award nominated films (Good Night, And Good Luck, Transamerica, Pride & Prejudice, Mrs. Henderson Presents and The Constant Gardener) alongside a wide variety of other international movies. Titles that have caught my eye so far include Chan-wook Park's Lady Vengeance, The Ghost Of Mae Nak from British director Mark Duffield, the gory looking Thai horror Art Of The Devil 2, Peter Chan's musical Perhaps Love, the Brian Jones biopic Stoned and Atom Egoyan's showbiz mystery Where The Truth Lies.

Tomorrow I fly out to Hong Kong (with Portia the weather pixie in tow), so I shall attempt to post from there in the next few days!

Jambusters!

It's another tale of office politics. As I have discovered to my cost (please refer to my Celebrations incident), hording food of any kind in your own personal drawer is just not the done thing here. Yet last week it came to light that our esteemed boss, Mr Cotton, was doing just that with a pot of special Frank Cooper's strawberry jam. Oh dear... the workers were not impressed.

The revolution was swift and decisive. On Saturday - in Cotton's absence - the pot of jam was liberated from its hiding place and consumed, a pot of Tesco's 'value' mixed fruits jam returned in its place. And then we emailed Cotton lots of photos depicting us all enjoying his special jam. Darren even made a couple of short films to celebrate which you can view here and here.

Firm but effective action I think you'll agree.

February Live

After the cold, dreary month that is January has now finally passed, it's time to dig out your glad-rags again and find some cool bands to go and see. And the good news is that February is shaping up to provide plenty of opportunities with a whole host of gigs and shows booking in around the city. It's sods law I'm going to be away for most of these, but here's my pick of the bunch for the month ahead anyway:

01/02 - Tonight we've got El Presidente on at the Komedia. I haven't quite made up my mind if I quite like them or not, but their in-store set at Oxford Street's HMV a few months ago was okay. And their drummer is very pretty.

03/02 - Here at the Dome we've got Belle & Sebastian's sold out show, with Brakes supporting. Meanwhile over at Brighton Centre they've got The Strokes - also sold out I'm afraid.

05/02 - Another couple of gigs to choose between: Jose Gonzalez (rumoured to be playing at the Dome later in the year - watch this space) is playing at the Concorde, whilst hotly-tipped band The Crimea are playing at the Freebutt.

08/02 - The surreal world of The Mighty Boosh takes over the Dome for the first of two sold out nights of their brand new comedy show. Absolutely gutted I'm missing this one!

09/02 - Following hot on the heels of Arcade Fire, are Clap Your Hands Say Yeah this year's next big thing? Well, their self-titled album sounds pretty good, and you can see them live here at the Concorde.

13/02 - Last time I saw James Blunt play in Brighton he was at the Concorde. Now, less than a year later, his Back To Bedlam album has become 2005's top seller and he's in the big league playing at Brighton Centre. Alternatively you'll find local up-and-comers The Kooks taking his place at the Concorde.

15/02 - With a new album The Comfort Of Strangers out this month, it's a welcome return to the Dome for the kooky Beth Orton.

16/02 - This month's hottest ticket is undoubtedly the NME Awards Tour at the Dome. The rather uninspiring Maximo Park are headlining with band-of-the-moment Arctic Monkeys supporting, and the excellent We Are Scientists and the frankly rather dodgy Mystery Jets making up the rest of the bill.

19/02 - Ex-JAMC frontman Jim Reid is doing a rare solo show at the Pressure Point if my sources are correct!

22/02 - Lou Rhodes (former vocalist with Lamb) is doing a solo performance down at the Concorde.

25/02 - My final tip for the month is yet another sold-out show from a local band as The Go! Team celebrate the success of their Ladyflash single with a gig at the Corn Exchange.