Jason's in the house

Hello boys and girls. I've recently had my eyes opened to a quite interesting trend in alt-country, that of house gigs. They are exactly what you'd imagine them to be- gigs in someone's house. Like guerilla gigs, but more civilised and less shouty. Last Saturday I saw Jason Ringenburg, of Jason and the Scorchers fame, perform in someone's living room in Mossley Hill. A fairly average-sized living room. He was great, as is his current album "Empire Builders", which unsurprisingly he was flogging on the night. Armed with his acoustic guitar, a cowboy hat and a Wildhearts t-shirt (that got me hot), he knocked out a wide selection of tunes from his 20-year career, including some scorchers material and plenty from the new album, most of which deal with the sticky subject of American liberal guilt- the problems of facing a world seething at the Bush regime without denying one's own identity. Unashamed Southern gent, unrelenting left winger, Ringenburg's wicked sense of humour shines on tunes such as "Rebel flag in Germany". This composition relates Jason's own experience of spying a confederate flag from a train in central Germany, and debating whether to hide under the seat, or maybe pretend to be Canadian, in case anyone thinks he hung it. The song concludes with the line, "Hell I don't even want to see that flag in Tennessee".

UK alt-country singer Quiet Loner did a set as well, about as Americana as you can get while still sounding British! Good lyrics, good tunes...playing the pilgrim on the 28th... somewhat compromised by some prick in the audience who wouldn't shut up all the way through, even when asked to... why oh why etc... a rant for another time, I think.

Is this the real life?

Nicked this from The Part that Stares, I'm sure she nicked it from somewhere else though.


Choose a band/artist and answer only in song TITLES by that band
1.) Artist: Queen
2.) Are you male or female: Killer Queen
3.) Describe yourself: Death on two legs
4.) How do you feel about yourself: Doing all right
5.) How do some people feel about you: You're my best friend
6.) Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend: All dead, all dead
7.) Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend: Flick of the wrist
8.) Describe where you want to be: Brighton Rock
9.) Describe what you want to be: Cool cat
10.) Describe how you live: Stone cold crazy
11.) Describe how you love: Good old-fashioned lover boy
12.) Share a few words of wisdom: Don't lose your head

7 up the Arsenal

Oh, how I love Everton... they take a very similar approach to football as I took to studying for my A levels back in the day... fuck it, I only need three Cs, I'll have another go on the megadrive. Fuck it, we're already gonna finish fourth, let's lose seven nil.

Robert Pollard's Relaxation of the asshole arrived today... showed it my dad, he doesn't seem to dig the concept.

We're having a laugh!

CHAMPIONSLEAGUECHAMPIONSLEAGUECHAMPIONSLEAGUECHAMPIONSLEAGUECHAMPIONSLEAGUECHAMPIONSLEEEE- AGUE!

Too overome to write properly just yet.

Watt's up

I haven't talked about the election or Mike Watt yet... two birds, one stone.

Labour won, which is good. I think it's also quite good that they lost a bit of their majority... not that I would want any of the other parties to come to power. But hopefully Blair realises how lucky he is to have gotten away with dragging us into one illegal war... and knows he won't get away with something like that again. That's all I'm saying on the matter.

Mike Watt was good... he played the whole first part of his new album as if it were one song... good stuff, although I'm not familiar with the material yet. It was fairly surreal, seeing someone who's basically a living legend playing a Liverpool shithole for six quid... it wasn't even full. Apparently he'd recently had an offer to play bass in the MC5- wonder if he regrets knocking it back? Anyway, it was good to see Stearno, Gribsy and the other reprobates. I've been out of things too long...

Oh yeah, and the FA have ruled that only the top four teams will be in next year's champions league, so justice has been done. We may not be in it, but at least the red shite can't fuck up Europe for us again, unless they finish above us fair and square.

I knew it!

Your Kinsey Number is 1.0

Predominantly Heterosexual, Incidentally Homosexual

What's Your Kinsey Number?

More Great Quizzes from Quiz Diva

Beating the superpower with the stupid stick

In the pub on Friday night I struck up a conversation with a charming Greek-Cypriot girl. She had studied in the USA and told me the following story which, as you might expect, filled me with delight.

Whilst at the university in California, she got talking to an intelligent, educated American girl who asked where she was from. Knowing that nobody in the US had heard of Cyprus, she told her she was from Greece. The American's response to this was utter shock and amazement, as she said "Greece? You mean it really exists? I thought it was just a mythological country!"

I hope that my European, Asian and South American fanbase will join me in sniggering at this further evidence that Americans are really, really stupid. And to any readers from the US- Greece is located in Southeast Europe. It borders, among other countries, Bulgaria, Albania and Turkey. Its hot summer temperatures, beautiful beaches and many islands attract thousands of visitors each year. But it's no mere tourist destination, oh no! Things that Greece has given to the world include democracy, the theatre, and homosexuality. Greece are also the current football champions of Europe.

I'm not zenophobic... I love them little pebbly gardens.