Plastique

Poly needed a blog of her own but I've got a few other things to log as well as the delightful 'Translucence'.

Hot Fuzz

Went to see 'Hot Fuzz' at the Ritzy in Brixton at the weekend and, like 'Shaun of the Dead', it's laugh-out-loud funny. Mainly at the rude bits but it would be churlish to accuse it of schoolboy humour when it tickled my funny-bone so well. It also has it's own exciting web presence for the addict.

I didn't feel it was as immediate as 'Shaun', with Simon Pegg playing it a bit too straight in the first half of the film, but the second half more than makes up for it. Violence and mayhem rule - in a comic way, of course. I loved the shoot-out at the supermarket where the entire riot-clad police force (oops, not supposed to call them 'force') was held at bay by two men behind the cold meat counter and when the supermarket secretary was wallopped round the head with a sign by the token police-woman (oops, police officer, don't want to be sexist) who then says, 'everyone likes to see some girl on girl action'.... Is my inner school-boy appearing?

Timothy Dalton was excellent as the ultra-smarmy supermarket manager (how hateful are people like that?) and Nick Frost was endearing in his childlike adoration of the big-city cop Nickerless Angel (sic). The cast was stellar in a sort of '70s British way with real, proper Actors (capital A) doing their cameos to a T.

A good film? O yes! Go and see it!

'Know IT All for Parents' by Childnet

I went to a 'charity do' this evening to support Childnet International and its soft launch of the new version of 'Know IT All for Parents', a CD resource I commissioned last year to let parents know the basics about computers and the Internet. I don't usually do 'dos' - if I wanted to schmooze with industry I'd be in industry. But Childnet is doing good stuff and one of our ministers was speaking at it, so I thought I'd go and I'm pleased I did. It's an excellent product.

The CD includes a lot of material about safe uses of the Internet, most of it is in video format and is translated into various languages and British Sign Language. Some of the new material to be available from April is done by kids - or 'young people' as I must remember to call them - and they were the focus of tonight. Simon Mayo interviewed the kids on stage this evening and let them have their say about their involvement in the CD and this went down really well. They were very fluent and obviously well-practiced but that shouldn't detract from the power of having kids up there telling us about the Internet.

One of our ministers was also speaking at the event, Parmjit Dhanda MP, and he came across very well indeed, telling the audience about his father's first emails and the importance of being safe online. Unfortunately he was called back to the House for a vote so he had to cut his speech back but his attendance was appreciated by the people there (or at least the ones I spoke to afterwards). He's very tall so he better not go to any Maximo Park gigs!

'Therapy' by James Whild Lea

My 'Therapy' CD finally arrived at the weekend (my previous version was downloaded from Jim's website but I wanted the physical version with the lyrics booklet). It really is an excellent album but marketing it to existing SLADE fans isn't going to take it very far and it deserves a much wider audience. 'Dead Rock UK' and 'Big Family' should be singles.

I was listening to Suzi Quatro's latest album, 'Back To The Drive', on the way home this evening and I couldn't help but think about Jim's album - it's good but it's not promoted so it stays within the same (relatively) small community, just as Suzi's did. I don't know what the answer is but it's part of my duty as a SLADE fan to want Jim's music to be heard and for him to be successful.