A random review I found when looking for something else that needs a home...

A Drink with Shane MacGowan aims to give an insight into the life and times noted hell-raiser Shane MacGowan, former Pogues lead singer and a man who has known many a bar floor up close and personally.

Whilst the title is unimaginative, it’s oddly apt. Editor and co-author Victoria Mary Clarke has left the text of four years worth of conversations with MacGowan unedited to the point of incomprehensibility, leaving the book as the literary equivalent of being lambasted by that pissed bloke in the bar who is so drunk he can’t speak but wants to tell you what an amazing and exciting life he has had
Clarke, who has been dating MacGowan for 15 years, described herself prior to the publication of this book as an angel-channeller and tarot reader. Frankly if this book is anything to go by she shouldn’t throw the cards and crystal ball away just yet.

Rather than letting the amiable Shane speak alone, Clarke has used a pretentious conceit to top and tail their conversations. Leaving no adverb unturned, she insists on using psuedo-stage directions ending with increasingly bizarre descriptions. Gems include descriptions like ‘Shane snorts acrimoniously and takes a swig acerbically,’ and one imagines she has RSI from flicking through her thesaurus, using ‘outragedly’, ‘beatifically’, ‘soporifically’, and ‘assiduously’ before plumbing new depths to describe ‘a pint of Guiness awaiting a valued customer, proudly.’ Jarring interruptions to the flow like this made the book unreadable. Tragically.

The heavy handed and pretentious use of the material is a shame, as there is much in here of interest, even if one doubts how much of it has basis in fact.

Bearing in mind that thanks to years of drink and drug abuse Shane MacGowan can’t even remember the words to his own songs when he plays in concert nowadays, his powers of recall are suspiciously incredible, and a cynic would attribute his dramatic and descriptive accounts to a hefty dollop of blarney. This doesn’t mean they aren’t entertaining.

According to Shane his reprobate status was established early, with him smoking, gambling and drinking 2 bottles of Guinness a night at the admirably early age of five. His tortured genius started early, "when I was three, I was writing IRA stories; when I was six, I had read Venus In Furs".

But MacGowan shows he’s a lot more than a not-pretty face – giving articulate and intelligent insights on subjects from De Valera, Reggae, Steve Buscemi, as well as, unsurprisingly, a guide to drink and drugs which would teach the average pharmacist something.

Shame the writing style means reading the thing is akin to searching through dog shit with your bare hands to find a piece of jewellery swallowed by Fido...

What kind of pirate am I? You decide!
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"Life... is like a box of chocolates. A cheap, thoughtless, perfunctory gift that nobody ever asks for. Unreturnable, because all you get back is another box of chocolates. You're stuck with this undefinable whipped-mint crap that you mindlessly wolf down when there's nothing else left to eat. Sure, once in a while, there's a peanut butter cup, or an English toffee. But they're gone too fast, the taste is fleeting. So you end up with nothing but broken bits, filled with hardened jelly and teeth-crunching nuts, and if you're desperate enough to eat those, all you've got left is a... is an empty box... filled with useless, brown paper wrappers."

Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
X-Files

You'd think from this my new year has been poo and my life is being sucked down the loo, but apart from a few niggling problems I'm doing rather splendidly thank you very much.

But I love that quote (from back when the X-Files was in its funky groove) and rediscovered it tonight and don't want to lose it again, so here it is. Enjoy it and all its cynical sentiments - I may feel them a couple of times a day (when I start making jokes about noose weaving) but at least it isn't terminal :)

Oh yeah, happy new year. Apologies if you didn't get a card (I bought a box of 50 and wrote, erm, four) - but I was being a bit pants this Christmas.

Snaffled from Seifer and a way to kick start this blog for the first time in eons (I've been a bit busy lately).

(A) First, recommend to me:
1. a movie:
2. a book:
3. a musical artist, song, or album:

(B) I want everyone who reads this to ask me three questions, no more, no less. Ask me anything you want.

(C) Then I want you to go to your journal, copy and paste this allowing your friends to ask you anything.

The problem with working as a reporter on a paper is often advertisers.

Anyone who's listened to me bitching about having to write four Christmas features a week (since the beginning of October) to fill ad features which people aren't buying know that sometimes writers get sucked into doing stuff because it's advertising driven. Plus if you listen to our ad department people mainly buy the paper to see the property listing / buy a used car / see who's died rather than reading any, you know, *news*.

And of course that's before you factor in any kind of editorial line that might piss of your advertisers or readers. Now the editorial team of Crawford, Texas, the niftily titled 'The Loan Star Iconoclast' have an even bigger problem. It's the home town of Bush, but the editorial line has been decided and they've come out in support of Kerry because they say his policies will do more to help the people of the community.

No probs eh? It's America, land of the first amendment, freedom of speech, up there even before the right to carry guns until they're prised from cold dead hands.

Uh uh. Not in the Republican heartland. The shops and population of Bush's home town have refused to sell or buy the local paper. Advertisers are dropping out and in the middle of it the editorial team is standing firm.

So, after a fit of decluttering ebaying (and the appearance of a nice hefty paypal balance) I have sent the lovely people of the Iconoclast the princely sum of £12 - a six month international subscription to the paper. I think their stance, and response to the whole brouhaha that has followed shows that despite the bad reputation us hacks have as a whole among the world at large (thanks mainly to soaps which show us as money grubbing fedora wearing types gorramit!) there are still people who'll stand up for freedom of speech no matter what. We're all constantly being compared with the hacks of lore who will do anything to sell papers and have no interest in truth or integrity - but these guys are doing their bit to buck the trend.

And let's face it, who doesn't want to know the results of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo? It's an ideal Christmas gift for the person who has everything... ;)

Now I promise I'll stop posting about the American elections like the politics geek I am. Well, maybe I will after a week on Tuesday ;)

In every four-year term there is a chosen one. He alone will face the American public, the United Nations, and the forces of darkness. He is the President.

I have long thought Joss Whedon was a god.

This just proves it to be true.

As well as being a fab director, great writer, and an all-round intelligent and funny guy (as well as the creator of the best TV sci fi show ever - Firefly, go buy it, go watch it now!) Joss is taking part in a major fundraiser for Kerry/Edwards 2004, with Whedon fans coast to coast hosting smaller shindigs which will have a phone link up to the main LA party.

And what's more, he's bringing a host of fanatstic actors from his show including Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Amber Benson, J. August Richards, Tom Lenk, Danny Strong, and Adam Busch.

This rocks, although I'm faintly depressed we'll never get anything similar here (which party would they support as the better choice??! :/). Still, if Kerry gets in it's *got* to be better for the world than having Forrest Gump the Pretzel Prez with his finger over the nuclear button...

Joss Whedon explains: (magpied from a series of message boards)

Hi, guys. What's up?

And now that I'm back in the system, let me get stumpy on y'all. In case nobody said, I'm doing a little country wide phone gala this Sunday to beat the bushes (amazingly enough, that was totally unintentional. My very SUBCONSCIOUS is a punster!)for Kerry supporters in these cucial last weeks. If you're interested:

highstakes2004.com

provides the info. We'll be talking, I'll inevitably be punning, I will be deadly serious on the subject of politics but not in that how-can-I-edge-away-from-this-guy-who's-still-talking-at-the-party way. There'll be Buffy talk, Serenity talk, shrubbery, and I'll give stuff away! (Not plot stuff, signed stuff.) (and not shrubbery.)

End of stumpy! Let's dish on the stars! Isn't that Marc Blucas DREAMY?!?!

....

Like I said, there CUCIAL last weeks. These last weeks are CUCIAL. Simply cucial. I mean it. We're down to the wyre and ebery vot koontz.

I didn't ever actually learn to type. Is that okay?

....

Hey guys. I wanted to post on the thread about the fund-raiser, but it's long gone. So I'll post on the X-Men thread instead.

The truth about the X-Men [JW is rumoured to be directing it] is...

...much less important than this election. Much less important than putting someone in the White House who knows the difference between leading and bullying. I'm here to confirm that I will be doing the phone-party on Saunday and I'm urging any and everyone to attend one or even host one. (Highstakes2004.com.) I plan to be incredibly funny and insightful, or mention some people who have been in the past. We can talk about politics, we can talk about Buffy, we can talk about car maintenence (though I'll mostly just listen at that point) and I will once and for all tell you all what IS going on with the X-Men. And then we can talk about politics some more.

So many people are acting like there's little difference between Kerry and Bush and that is not the case. If you're for Bush I doubt I can sway you but if you're one of those people grumbling about politicians all being the same I'm begging you to look hard at the facts and at the smirking face of the man who is doing more damage to this country than any president in my lifetime. We cannot let apathy decide our fate. I'm sounding all soapbox-y but I am truly afraid for our economic infrastucture, our dwindling natural reserves and most of all our place in the world. We need to act.

Uh, and it'll be... fun...

It will. Insane Phone Posse, and for a great cause. Get in. I'll stay on the phone as long as anyone will listen. Let freedom ring, unless it's on vibrate. Can we pretend I didn't say that?

www.highstakes2004.com.

....

Actually, after careful consideration, we'll probably have it on Sunday instead of Saunday. More people that actually exist will probably show up. The party on Hmnoortzday sucked large.

Dragged myself into work despite feeling ill (and having been off yesterday and ill the last four days). Really wish I hadn't, but had a notebook full of stories which (because of the vagaries of my shorthand) couldn't be palmed off on anyone else.

A long, drawn out, difficult day. With one moment that made me laugh (and made me realise I don't have as much presence of mind as some people!):

A woman came in saying she had been accosted by a flasher. She rang the police and hasn't heard anything back and was complaining bitterly about the fact they weren't interested in her 'evidence'.

I asked her what her evidence was. It turns out she got out her camera phone and took a photo of the man's bits.

It made me laugh till I wheezed. She's coming in tomorrow to show me the pics (that's right. Plural). It makes you wonder what the whole incident was like...!