REMember

I recently heard this band for the first time, although I'm certain they've been around for some time now. However, I guess everything's new in a relative way, to different people at different times. Corky and The Juice Pigs write and perform fantastic songs, they're very funny (in my opinion) and do excellent parodies of famous groups. Here's one of my faves for y'all to enjoy.

A Gentle Sunday

It's a typical wintery, Sunday afternoon - cold, windy but with clear blue skies, perhaps a dash of wispy cloud here and there. This image needs a song to complement it, and here's a candidate for the position :)

Are you in my tree?

This song sums up my mood today. No matter how many times I listen to it I never get tired of it. and, between you and me, I'm still not sure what it's all about - but as I think I disagree...

Please countermand me!

Rich in intelligence, sparkling in wit, eloquent with words. Who could it be? Well, it's Messrs Fry and Laurie.

The post-modern nightmare

To begin let us enjoy a wonderfully delicious, musical hors 'd'oeuvre to whet our appetite for the main meat of the discussion.

Ah, the post-modern nightmare. What is it and where is it in evidence? Well, it's far more insidious than you may think; we can see it in supermarkets (or malls to our Trans-Atlantic cousins) to local government offices, hotels to educational institutions and from the smallest cities to the largest metropolis'. Its apparent purpose is to keep us in a state of confusion and helplessness, bound to ask for help from an authority which is itself nowhere to be found.

Let us cast our minds away to find an example that many of us will have experienced. Ever been in a supermarket and, for some unexplained reason, they've changed the location of the cereal/fruit/snacks/toiletries aisle? But... whuh..weren't they here last week?! Why am I now looking at half-price DVDs when I should be undressing fatty snacks with my eyes? Perhaps I'll just find an assistant to point me in the right direction. Nope no sign, oh hang on!, there's one. You don't know you say? Yes, yes I know they've changed the location, sigh. Ad infinitum.

I've recently started University and you'd think that the institution would be organised and efficient, right? Sadly friends, no. The different blocks there are given letters, so you have A-block, B-block, etc. Easy-peasy. A few years ago they gave them names as well so you have Ely, Taff and Crawshay but bizarrely these names do not correspond to the letters of the block, so Ely is D-block, Crawshay is A-block and so on with no semblance of order. On top of this the buildings themselves are a veritable labyrinth where I have to leave bread crumb trails just to find my way out again. In fact, I'm sure that somewhere within the dusty corners of these buildings the bodies of former students who trusted in the logic of the architects and planners are wasting away into oblivion, perhaps even laying slain by the fabled Minotaur. Remaining true to form, when you seek out authority it is no easy task, and when it is found you'll more than likely be given useless directions, forwarded to another department and perhaps shot a patronising glance which makes you feel like you did after you'd peed your pants as a child - puzzled, helpless and a tad humiliated.

In all the places where the post-modern nightmare has taken hold you'll see hordes of puzzled and confused faces, all looking for the way and forgetting why they were there in the first place. Romero's films spring to mind here, he was on to something and was way ahead of his time with his 'Dead' series.

So, what's the moral? If there is one then perhaps it's just to be aware of what goes on around you. For, like propaganda, if you recognise the nature of the beast for what it is then it will cease to have its desired effect, i.e. to make you stop thinking, to give-up, to submit. Most important of all, maintain your sense of humour about it all :)

Rage Against The Machine you say? Well, why the devil not sir! Now, if I could just find it...

The Ferret

With fiery feet a ferret rides
Through murky subways in your mind;
Upon a lemon-liquid plane
And past the misty quantum vein.
It’s colourless but shiny red;
It’s odourless yet smells of bread.
Unbreakable but you can bend it -
The strawberry-coloured milky-ferret.

On searing planes of mustard ice
Or crunchy clouds in paradise.
By babbling boglets ‘pon the heath
Or cosmic contours, resting ‘neath.
It’s seen the word and heard the light;
It’s tasted moonbeams, touched the night.
So on-the-ball it doesn’t get it -
The strawberry-coloured milky-ferret.

You’ll seek it in the glacial fog
But only find a cat-like dog.
You’ll hunt for it in lofty depths
And see a wolf-like lioness.
To reproduce and multiply
It takes the form of platypii.
So down-to-earth it’s esoteric -
The strawberry-coloured milky-ferret.

The ferret digs with lazy zeal
And burrows like a sonic seal.
It builds a tree within your heart
To keep the earth and sky apart.
It makes you smell the future days;
It coats your past with honey glaze.
Distorting life so you can bear it -
The strawberry-coloured milky-ferret.

With gloating eyes it now resides
In glitt’ring grottos in your mind;
Upon a solid-gaseous plane
Beyond the misty quantum vein.
Now colourless - once vibrant blue;
Now odourless - once honeydew.
Eroding life to be poetic -
The strawberry-coloured milky-ferret.

States of mind

Let's follow-on from the previous post in a roundabout way. Is the metaphorical glass half-full or half-empty? The boys from Liverpool shed some light on the question in a way perhaps only a Brit could - using rain as an analogy.

Incidentally, in my opinion the mark of an excellent band or artist can sometimes be gauged by the strength of their B-sides. In the case of The Beatles - and this song in particular - this excellence is self-evident.