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.

Movie Haiku - Hidden (Caché)

www.sonyclassics.com/cache


Dir: Michael Haneke


Cast: Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, Maurice Benichou, Annie Girardot


Slow, silent puzzle

who's sending the tapes and why?

hear audience gasp


soulmining rating: ***

Terry Gilliam and Christopher Lee confirmed for BKKIFF

While I'm still waiting for the full programme of films to be announced, the BKKIFF have just confirmed a couple of mouth-watering special events for next month's festival.

The first is a masterclass with Terry Gilliam in which he will talk about his career as a film director, his involvement with Monty Python, as well as his early career as a cartoonist. There will also be an opportunity for members of the audience to ask their own questions.


The second event is a special screening of the classic 1974 Bond movie, The Man With The Golden Gun, which of course was partly filmed on the island of Phang Nga Bay in Southern Thailand. After the film, Scaramanga himself - the legendary Christopher Lee - will take part in a conversation and Q&A with the audience.

I think I have found two unmissable events for my diary!

More BKKIFF updates to follow...

Movie Haiku - Munich

www.uk.yahoo.com/munich


Dir: Steven Spielberg


Cast: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz


A return to form

as Spielberg gets serious

hunting terrorists


soulmining rating: ****

An open letter to Cameron Diaz

Dear Cameron,

It’s been a long time hasn’t it? Since we went our separate ways you’ve been an Angel, got yourself a celebrity boyfriend and moved to the Hollywood hills. And me? Well, I got my hair cut and finally threw away that horrible shirt.

It could have been so different for us.

It’s still not too late you know.

Frankly I’m concerned about Justin. Let’s be honest, he’s nothing more than a glorified dancer in boy band. And the idea of him being in that John Lydon biopic, well that’s just plain wrong. You really should come back to Brighton. You’re welcome to stay on our couch, I’m sure Stevie B won’t mind. The weather’s lovely at this time of year especially with all that bracing sea air. We could go down to the pier and then have a fish ‘n’ chip supper at Harry Ramsden’s. I’ll even let you be my +1 at the Concorde. Okay, you might miss some of your acting pals, but Brad’s been thinking of getting a place here and Cate only lives along the road. And the paparazzi aren’t so bad here, we never used to get too much hassle did we?

We really need to sort out your choice of films too. I mean, Charlie’s Angels was fun but that sequel… and The Sweetest Thing… and In Your Shoes? Whatever happened to those quirky indie movies like The Last Supper, A Life Less Ordinary and Very Bad Things? If you’d been working over here earlier you might have got the part as that cocky American girl in The Descent. I’m sure I could find you some decent scripts. Heck, one of my friends is a screenwriter, maybe I could ask him to write a role just for you in his next film. And there’s always British television – maybe you could take over from Billie Piper in Doctor Who? I’m sure you’d like it in Wales.

We had fun together. We should do so again soon. You know it makes sense.

Your good friend,

Soulmining

Bombay TV

I'm loving this Bombay TV website where you can make your own short films!

All you need to do is log on, pick your favourite film clip, add your own subtitles and away you go... it's that easy! And very funny too!

You can watch my action packed episode here and Darren's romantic comedy here!

The Poosday Drinks Project

Following on from a recent discussion in the pub, Kelly and I have been trading our respective offices' 'hot drinks' routines.

Kelly says: Wow, this is just like 24 but with hot beverages!

I am laughing so much I have tears in my eyes.

Three hot drinks in the first three hours... what's going to happen next?

Beep... beep... beep... beep!

(You can read the full unexpurgated transcript of our project on Kelly's blog here)

Movie Haiku - Memoirs Of A Geisha

www.thefilmfactory.co.uk/geisha


Dir: Rob Marshall


Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Ken Watanabe, Gong Li


Geishas do Showgirls

why are they speaking English?

who's throwing Revels?


soulmining rating: ***

Movie Haiku - Underworld: Evolution

www.entertheunderworld.com


Dir: Len Wiseman


Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Tony Curran, Derek Jacobi


First film shit so why?

more bangs, more blood, more leather

bad guy in blade too


soulmining rating: **

Three - My 2003 photo project is now online!

Three was part of the Brighton Festival Fringe 1 - 23 May 2004.

"A unique picture diary" - The Argus

One great thing about Blogger is that you can make retrospective posts, so I've decided to upload all the photos from my Three exhibition onto this site. If you look in my Archives section (left) you'll see that I've already posted all my photos from January - June 2003, and the remaining six months should appear over the next few days.

So, what was Three all about?

It all started back in December 2002 when I was sat at work having a conversation about modern art with Jim. We argued that pretty much anything could be considered art nowadays, so long as you're able to bullshit enough about it. This got me thinking. I'd long hardboured ideas of doing a photography based project but didn't know quite where to begin. I'd seen the movie Smoke years earlier in which Harvey Keitel's character takes the same picture outside his shop at the same time every morning. This quirky idea had lodged in my brain ever since. With a new year fast approaching this seemed the ideal opportunity to start such a project, as I liked the idea of working on something for an entire year. It was time to define some rules:

1. All photographs should be 6 x 4 horizontal shots.
2. All photographs should include me somewhere in them.
3. All photographs should be taken at 3pm.

There was just no way that I was going to be in the same place at the same time every day, so I needed to think of something different. I liked the idea of having these photographs at the same time every day, but soon decided if it was only me snapping away in my own little world then it wouldn't really add up to anything at all. I needed another constant - me. By putting myself into each photograph I would be documenting a whole year in my life, and by allowing the people around me to take these pictures there would be scope for many different interpretations - or so I hoped. The time of 3pm was chosen as this was a fairly sensible time of day to work with - too early and I might be asleep, too late and I knew I'd encounter too many problems. Plus, in the middle of the afternoon I'd more often than not be stuck at work. What better way to capture the year in the life of my workplace at the same time? So with the blessing of my boss I was ready to go.

The equipment I used was a Fuji Fotonex 200 APS camera which I'd owned for many years. I wanted to prove that you could do something like this very cheaply, so there was absolutely no point in splashing out on a brand new camera, especially with there being no guarantees that I'd even complete the project. Developing was also done as cheaply as possible, using mail order companies - until Truprint ruined that idea - and later, local high street retailers. The picture quality was never of paramount importance, for this project the idea itself was king.

These new Archives include all photographs taken during 2003 and I've added notes to each picture with my comments and memories of that particular shot. I hope you like them!

Hippo Eats Dwarf

Thanks to Kelly for sending me this newspaper article which made me smile this afternoon.

If you are a circus dwarf who works with a yawning hippopotamus then please take note.

Loin Musing

Yesterday I discovered the Internet Anagram Server.

My favourite anagrams of soulmining are... lions in mug... slug minion... guns in limo... and loin musing.

Movie Haiku - Jarhead

www.uip.co.uk/jarhead


Dir: Sam Mendes


Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx. Chris Cooper


Soldiers in the Gulf

doing nothing drives them mad

will he pull trigger?


soulmining rating: ****

More Snakes On More Planes On My Cat

Yes, I decided to combine the mighty talents of Stuff On My Cat and Snakes On A Plane to create these shots!

Don't worry, Lenny - Pepper the cat loved it and was purring and dribbling on his chair immediately after this photo shoot.

Snakes On A Plane On My Cat

Play It Cool in January

Another busy month for music, I've been listening to tons of stuff in recent weeks, in fact it's been quite hard to narrow my list down to just five CDs. But I have, and here they are:

• Hot Hot Heat - Elevator (Sire)
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Wichita)
• Bird - The Insides (Ice Cream)
• We Are Scientists - With Love And Squalor (Virgin)
• Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine (Epic)

1st Birthday

Yes, Feed The Pony is one year old today! This is the 360th post since I started blogging, so what insightful comments have I got for you on this momentous occasion? How about this little quotation that I found yesterday:

"If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet, what happens if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?" - Steven Wright

I feel another experiment coming on here... especially if that damned cat won't pose properly for Stuff On My Cat. Photo-shoot #2 was curtailed prematurely this afternoon after I toppled off the armchair that I was perched on. Ouch!

Listening Posts

I am now blogging from Newcastle. Without broadband access. Oh my, this is so slow, it's taken me nearly ten minutes just to log onto Blogger. And the PC has already crashed once while I was trying to post. At this rate I'll barely get this posted before midnight!

I went into the local Virgin Megastore while I was in the toon today and I have to say I was very impressed with their new listening post facilities. All you need to do is wave the CD of your choice underneath the barcode reader at the listening post and it will then play a short snippet of every track on that CD. It's fantastic! Let's hope they introduce this service to all of their stores in the near future.

That's all, I'm not going to risk writing any more tonight! My new Arcade Fire CD beckons... goodnight!

Masters Of Horror starts Friday on Bravo!

I've just realised that the Masters Of Horror series begins this week on Bravo at 11pm on Friday night. They're opening with Don Coscarelli's episode Incident On And Off A Mountain Road. If any of my friends are reading this (hi Troy, hi Gary - I'm thinking of you chaps here) and are able to record it for me then I'd be very grateful seeing as I'm going to be home with my folks and they've only four channels to choose from... thanks!

For more details check out Bravo or the official website here.

And you can read my review of Dario Argento's episode Jenifer here.

Movie Haiku - Match Point

www.iconmovies.co.uk/matchpoint


Dir: Woody Allen


Cast: Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Brian Cox


All change for Woody

being lucky important

in tense love affair


soulmining rating: ****

It's Lemon o'clock

Yes Stephen, it really works!

Clerks II - Open for business later this year!

Kevin Smith is one of my filmmaking idols and his debut feature Clerks is one of my all-time favourite films...

In August we finally get the chance to watch the further antics of Dante and Randall when the sequel is released in cinemas. And as of tonight, the teaser trailer for Clerks II is now available to view online!

Check it out at www.clerks2.com

And remember - just because they serve you doesn't mean they like you.

The free bar at our belated staff Christmas party proved to be a big success...

Bev & Cotton
Darren
Vic & Steve
John & Me
Dom














(Photos by Debbie Clare)

By the power of lemons!

Stephen turned up in Brighton unannounced yesterday so I ended up with a surprise Christmas present! Now, Stephen was the guy behind last year's Amazing Hair Growing Cat Soap so he'd already set himself a high standard to live up to... this year he's gone for the Lemon Clock. That's a clock powered by lemons.

Will the Lemon Clock actually work? Watch this space.

Making plans for Hong Kong

We had our belated staff Christmas party last night so I'm too tired to think straight or be creative today...

So, in a month's I'm going to be in Hong Kong which I'm quite excited about as I've never been there before. I've just booked a room at the Stanford Hillview hotel (left) in the Tsimshatsui area of Kowloon so I'm hoping that's going to be a good base for my five day stay.

If anyone has any good advice regarding things to do or places to visit while I'm there then please let me know!

EMB Top Ten Films of 2005

Arriving a few days after my own Best films of 2005 list comes the results of the Eat My Brains crew, polled from the whole team of contributors (including myself) involved in the website. I've supplied a few of the film summaries for the poll and you can view our selections here.

Oh, and just a reminder - don't forget to check out My Name Is Earl starring the wonderful Jason Lee over on C4 at 10pm this evening.

The Prodigy remake Intacto

Last night I was flicking around some of the music channels when I happened upon the latest video for Voodoo People (Pendulum Mix) by The Prodigy.

Seems like director Ron Scalpello has been watching Spanish thriller Intacto as the video plays homage to the film's most iconic scene of a group of people running blindfolded through a forest...

You can see the video for yourself by clicking here.

Love Is Stronger Than Death

Katherine Horton RIP.

I make no apologies for this more sombre post this morning. I'm not keeping any kind of diary this year, so therefore from now on my blog may well include some more personal entries in addition to the usual film and music stuff.

I was shocked to read about the murder of 21 year old student Katherine Horton on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand, this week. She was staying at New Huts on Lamai beach - the exact same place that my friends have stayed the last two times that they've been on the island.

It made me remember the backpacker Kirsty Jones who was murdered in Chiang Mai in 2000, at a guest house adjacent to the bookshop where my friend John lives and works.

It made me remember the terrorist bombing at the Sari Club in Bali which killed 202 innocent people - a club that I used to drink at regualrly when I was staying at Kuta beach.

And it made me remember the police shooting of John Mark Scott last year in the sleepy Northumbrian village of Stocksfield where my parents live.

So what's the point I'm trying to make here? There are so many atrocities and killings happening around the globe, yet most of the time they pass us by unnoticed unless they happen to someone we know or a place that we know intimately well. These events serve to remind me of our fragile existence in this world - and how precious life is.

Invisible Waves to open BKKIFF

Pen-Ek Ratanaruang & Christopher Doyle on set
(photo from www.twitchfilm.net)

BKKIFF have confirmed their first film screening by announcing that Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's Invisible Waves will open the festival on 17th February.

"The psycho-thriller, Invisible Waves stars Tadanobu Asano (Zatöichi, Ichi The Killer), as a hard-working chef living in Macau who inadvertently kills his girlfriend and is then consumed with guilt. To escape both his turmoil and possible arrest, he travels to Thailand only to discover that the troubles of his former life follow him. On the journey he befriends an attractive young woman (played by Gang Hy Jung who also starred in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and Oldboy), but he soon discovers that his supposed friends are not to be trusted and he is in serious danger. Not only does he have to battle his feelings of guilt, but also the more immediate threat to his life."

I'm a big fan of Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's previous films Last Life In The Universe and Monrak Transistor, and what with Christopher Doyle on board as cinematographer plus its intriguing cast, Invisible Waves sounds like it's going to be a must-see movie for me! The only drawback - my Press pass doesn't cover any gala screenings, so it looks like I'm going to have to do some serious blagging to get to see this one...

January Live

There's so little happening in January that I even forgot I was supposed to post this at the start of the month! I've just checked all the listings I can lay my hands on and these are the select few shows that have grabbed my attention:

04/01 - Daniel Kitson begins his new UK tour with two nights at the Komedia. I'll be there on Thursday!

21/01 - Another Komedia show, this time an evening of Words and Music with Skye, former vocalist with Morcheeba.

26/01 - It's a welcome return to Brighton for local lovelies The Pipettes who are headlining at the Concorde.

And that's about it. Aside from the female singer / songwriters which I've already mentioned recently, what else is there to look forward to this year? Well, it's early days, but the Concorde is getting off the mark with some potential good nights out, with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Wonderstuff, Graham Coxon and The Dresden Dolls all booked in for the coming months.

New Year Resolutions

I made a few resolutions last year (see my Reflections on 2005 post) but am finding it hard to think of any specific things I want to achieve this year, aside from perhaps the general healthier eating / being more self-confident kind of thing.

So maybe I'll just make the one resolution this year - to post something on this blog every day.

Hey, it's never going to beat 2003's 'Take my photograph at 3pm' idea, but at least it's something to aim for.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I've had a very drunken evening at home and welcomed in 2006 across the road, glass of wine in hand, watching the fireworks explode over the pier and talking to random strangers.

I hope all your dreams come true in 2006.