Time for a Sulk

The Savage Nomads were supporting Sulk at a gig at The Garage.

It was nice to see them playing so tightly together.

Cole's stage presence has improved immeasurably and his singing also seems to have got better.

Low points

The friend I was with commented that the band should work on their image, personally it doesn't bother me, but it seemed to concern her.

And I was frustrated by the sound quality of the venue.

Brand new

They have a new song: 40 degree day.

The pulsing rhythm works well under a contrasting high pitch vocal.

A new favourite I think.

Sloppy seconds?

They were followed by the headliner, whose opening bars instantly left me bored and uninspired.

I was anticipating a bit of a painful experience as they waded through trying to be Suede, The Stone Roses and The Charatans when the originals were clearly so much better.

Turn around

It got better, but it wasn't until Sidewinder that they really came into their own and presented some original and surprisingly very good songs.

I think the The Savage Nomads win for being the least derivative, but Sulk could come into their own a bit more when they stop aping their idols.

More things to cheer you up

I've got really into this guy, Philip DeFranco.

He updates me on news that might not have otherwise come my way.

He also makes bad news seem much less bad.

Great for a Friday.

He rants with panache and you'll love his BAMF (Bad Ass* Mother Fucker) of the day feature.

*Well he is an American, they don't understand the importance of not talking about donkeys.

No, I don't want your number...

I got a little bit of unwanted attention walking to my yoga class.

"Hey there baby girl."

I kept on walking.

"What you're not going to even talk to me."

Only in my mind

Internally: "No, you jerk, you appear to have mistaken me with an infant.

Trust me, they drool more."

It put me in mind of the 90s classic No Scrubs.

More than the money

This TLC goldmine has been criticized for being too materialistic.

However, I think that it is just this sort of encounter to which they are referring.

I really don't care if this was a secret millionaire or the owner of The Times, it was the manner of his approach that annoyed me.

I'm a grown woman

I am not a child.

I am not a cute play thing.

I have a name and I like to be treated with respect.

Do you remember this guy?

It's nice to have an American president that engenders respect.

I mean, do you remember this guy:

George Bush

Things are getting better.

But that's mainly because they've been so awful.

Obama is a long way from being perfect, but at least he has a brain.

Progress, people.

American sarcasm

An awesome friend of mine passed this link my way:

Filibuster over Drones

I haven't laughed this much in a while.

I will be watching more of The Daily Show from this point on.

Wadjda

Wadjda is a delicate story by Haifaa Al Mansour (a female Saudi director) about a girl that is trying to buy a bike in Saudi Arabia.

The film explores the difficulties of living in a devout society through the eyes of a young girl.

The girl's dilemma

Wadjda (Waad Mohammed) is a bit of a tomboy.

She wants to buy a bike so she can race Abdullah (Abdullrahman Al Gohani) in a different tribe to her.

However, her mother won't buy her the bike because a woman riding is a practice that is frowned upon.

A chance

A school competition offers SR1,000 for a perfect recitation of the Qu'ran.

Thus, so it is that the less than devout Wadjda enters a competition to recite verses from the Qu'ran. 

Surprisingly light

I first thought because of the subject matter that this film would be painfully depressing.

In fact it is surprisingly heart warming and funny, yet still manages to tackle some difficult subjects about faith and femininity and the ending has a similar mix of dark and light.

I would recommend this film to anyone.

Education is the key

I think about education a lot.

And I encountered this online.

What Michael Gove is doing at the moment is ruining our education system.

Where have all the creative brains gone?

The ones that are going to inspire the next generation.

Because it's always the next generation coming that counts.

How inspirational are they going to be if they've been tested to death?

John Stuart Mill had a break down in his early years because of intensive schooling.

He went on to write On Liberty, maybe we should be focusing on the liberty of our young people.

Do you know What the f&%k is this?

What the f&%k is this? was on at The Oxford Arms for the Camden Fringe last night.

The concept is simple, what the f&%k is this is the only words used through the entire performance by Richard Tyrone-Jones, in his pants.

It was a giggle, although a bit drawn out in places. 

A bit risqué

Lots of swearing, naturally, and I'm sorry, but I had to avert my eyes from the porn.

I'm not into male dominatrix stuff.

And I wasn't sure about the race categorization even with the spoofing.

Joining in

There was some great audience participation and endless anarchy and mayhem.

Stay away from the front row if you don’t want to be drawn in.

Verdict

You will laugh.

You may even cringe.

But it's guaranteed to cheer you up.