Dennis Perrin (Free subscription) | yesterday
Other than Black Sabbath, and to a degree Metallica, I've never really dug heavy metal. By the time of the big hair arena Eighties, the genre seemed like a sad, obvious joke, as Spinal Tap showed. I shared John Lydon's sneer about flapping your flares to an audience of groveling idiots, and so never heard of or listened to Anvil, Canadian head bangers who appeared with Bon Jovi, Scorpions, and Whitesnake....
Diggingalot (Free subscription) | yesterday
A rich, rich weekend: catching up with some excellent friends and hearing their story, watching a favourite film ( Spinal Tap since you ask- hence the picture ) after years of quoting it to each other, late night funeral visits, preaching in…
Word Magazine blogs (Free subscription) | yesterday
Here is my evidence. I was at a family campout summer event over the weekend with about 300 other people. This is an annual fundraising event hosted by a family who have a huge rural property just north of Auckland, New Zealand. It's good fun. Now the local primary school's music teacher is an accomplished drummer and his very good band treated us to various rock standards (e.g. Sweet Home Alabama,...
FreakyTrigger (Free subscription) | 22/11/2009
Spinal Tap does not go up to eleven. Crank could be cranked up a bit. Even a film like Transformers with its non-stop explosions and destruction does not come close to the new holder of this title. Enter the little movie that could, Tulpan from Khazakstan. Initially you would not peg this tale of nomadic [...]
CycleDog (Free subscription) | 21/11/2009
Some of you may remember the Crank Index piece from a couple of months ago. In it, I proposed an index consisting of the following points, to be used whenever we encounter anti-cyclist comments in blogs, newspaper articles, web forums, and the like. Here are all eleven: (1)Bicyclists need tags, licenses, and insurance. (2) All bicyclists are scofflaws. They run red lights and stop signs all the time!...
The Poop (Free subscription) | 21/11/2009
I was searching on YouTube...
Stereogum (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
The little-documentary-that-could The Story Of Anvil , about the band that was like a "real life Spinal Tap" right down to having a drummer named Robb Reiner, stole everyone's heart this past year. Except for people whose hearts are made of stone. Or metal. Well if your heart was made of \m/ metal then it probably stole your heart, too. But if your heart is made of Oscar-material precious...
taxmanblog (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Kind of resembles the last Obama foreign policy trip.....
Best Movies 2008 (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles is holding a one-night event with the Austin Texas-based Mondo tomorrow night, Friday, November 20th 2009 from 7pm - 10pm You've seen the incredible posters and t-shirts they sell over at Mondotees.com before - I know I have a few of those posters hanging in my place - and now you can see them in person here in LA. The show will be a literal cinema-inspired art explosion...
taxmanblog (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
This bit reminds me of the Senate health bill which comes in at 2074 pages. I can hear Harry Reid say in a British accent that their health care is better because it's bigger.....
EclipseMagazine.com (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Sticking with the LEGO theme, the official TV spot for “LEGO Rock Band” hit the networks today, and it tips its hat to Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” one of the 45 songs included in the game. Like other iterations of the “Rock Band” franchise, “LEGO Rock Band” puts the power of rock into the hands [...]
Rock and Roll Daily (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic There’s the old adage, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old.” Looks like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is older than we thought: two of the year’s best and most rocking documentaries, It Might Get Loud and Anvil! The Story of Anvil were both left off the 15-film short list [...]
Film Experience Blog (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Each year the Academy's documentary branch finds a new way to enrage film fans everywhere. This year's big casualty: Anvil! The Story of Anvil , the blissfully reviewed heavy metal documentary ( my review ). That unforgettable music doc's Oscar snub is unsurprising but in a way it only strengthens the movie, adding yet one more pitiable chord of try-try-try never succeed to the engrossing story --...
Show Tracker (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Fred Willard, better known for his zany improvisational skills with roles in films such as "Best in Show," "A Mighty Wind" and "For Your Consideration," is the latest guest star to join the family on ABC's hit comedy "Modern Family."...
Entropical Paradise (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
It pains me to admit that, in this particular case, she has a point. And it's not on the top of her head. Sarah Palin has declared that Newsweek's cover, featuring her with elbows akimbo in her running shorts is "sexist." Especially in light of the fact that the picture was taken for the August issue of "Runner's World." In this context, the apparel and the pose still land just...
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