Crikey, I wonder what it would take for Terry to give a one star review ... please log in to view this image
At least if I'm forced to watch Strictly, there's someone to root for. please log in to view this image
Yeah, you really need 3 weeks to do it justice. When I was in my early twenties, I had four consecutive transatlantic holidays - two to Canada and two to the US - and each was 3 weeks long. Nowadays we can't seem to find the time - or the money. We only had 8 nights in San Francisco this time round, and that's just too short to justify the travelling time, really. Had a great time, though. Your NY/Chicago trip mirrors one of my trips in the 70s when we spent a week in NY followed by two weeks in Chicago staying with cousins of one of my pals. Chicago was great. Some reflections on San Francisco... Easy to get around because it's small (less than 50 sq.miles) and the public transport is pretty good - the only times we used cabs were to and from the airport. A surprising number of English people around (I'm not one for wearing football colours, but my head burns easily so I wore a fairly subtle QPR baseball cap that I'd bought with my club points, and was gratified to get a 'Superhoops!' shout from a passer-by in Golden Gate Park). No correlation, but also a surprisingly large number of homeless people on the streets, which was troubling. It's also legal to walk around naked apparently, and one guy in particular takes advantage of this. We saw this same chap on two different days strolling stark bollock naked around Fisherman's Wharf. The food we encountered was good without being great and was generally pretty expensive. Best value, unsurprisingly, was in Chinatown. One definite recommendation I would make is to take the 'Hippie Bus' tour. I'd normally run a mile from bus tours, but my wife booked this and it was great fun. Just a driver/tour-guide and 5 passengers in a psychedelically decorated 70s VW van. It takes you round all the notable places, and the intimacy of the group means you can have a conversation with the guide and ask questions easily. You get your picture taken a lot too.
Still worth doing though, even if a bit short. Definitely on the list. It’s a lot easier flying to the east coast/Chicago in terms of time and jet lag. This will be my fifth and my wife’s third time to Chicago in 4 years, I absolutely love it, and am lucky that I can tag a couple of days there on to work trips, if I get the flight routing right. I’m growing to like tours. The architecture boat tour on the Chicago River is so good I’ve done it twice, had a truly memorable tapas, wine and history tour in Barcelona (6 in the group),and will probably do the Circle Line boat trip around Manhattan in a few weeks.
Just watched the Polish film ‘Hatred’ about the chaos that erupted between ethnic Poles and Ukrainians during world war 2. Truly a horrifying film that shows the utter carnage and disgusting acts of murder carried out by both sides. A warning of what nationalism can manifest itself into. Along with ‘Come and See’, one of the best war films ever made (IMHO).
Check out Savage Continent, book by Keith Lowe, which describes the truly horrific actions that continued almost everywhere across Europe after the war had ended, while millions of people were migrating all over the place. A forgotten bit of history that has been quietly swept under the carpet.
That looks a really good book mate. As you say, a real piece of forgotten history as many think that when the war ended, everyone in Europe shook hands and went about their peaceful business, when in fact it unleashed a wave of nationalist violence from all sides,in which innocent men, women and children were the victims.
Watched a couple of films on the return flight which couldn't have been more different from one another. Beast, a very good psychological drama set on Jersey with a brilliant central performance from Jessie Buckley, and The Disaster Artist, the true-life story of Tommy Wiseau, a failed actor who, after constant rejection, decides to make his own movie. The film Wiesau made (with all his own money) is The Room, which has become widely considered to be 'the worst film ever made'. The Disaster Artist (produced by, directed by and starring James Franco) was enjoyable and funny, but I now really want to see The Room (produced by, directed by and starring Tommy Wiesau), which developed a cult following. The awfulness of the original as portrayed in this movie is barely believable, but at the end they show re-created scenes alongside scenes from The Room and they are uncannily accurate.
Thought you'd be interested, John Maclean from The Beta Band was on Radio6 yesterday, and they are re-releasing on limited vinyl (and other formats) The Three EPs to mark the 20th anniversary of it's original release, today. The Beta Band’s Three EPs Getting 20th Anniversary Reissue | Pitchfork https://pitchfork.com/news/the-beta-bands-three-eps-getting-20th-anniversary-reissue/
Loved The Disaster Artist - thought I'd posted it on here before (wasn't there a thread about films a few months back?). Excellent performances throughout, nnd from the clips I've seen on YouTube of The Room very accurate, but boy does The Room look awful
That looks interesting, thanks for thinking of me. I will have to dig a bit to see what's been tweaked as I have the albums, the best of and the Regal Years boxset already. John Maclean also directed a film (think it's some sort of Western but set in New Zealand or something odd but I could be way off) that I keep meaning to look up for the sake of interest. I did listen to the 3 EPs a few weeks ago (while cleaning a carpet) and was singing some very strange noises along to Monolith! While on the Review Thread, I recently got the latest Interpol album. I don't normally get albums straight away (save them for Christmas and Birthday lists) but Interpol are a band I make an exception for. It is very accessible compared to most of their releases and has a slightly raw edge due to the production style of the Flaming Lips regular producer David Friedman. Highly recommended.
Went to see Courtney Barnett a couple of months ago with her latest album - very good live show. The collaberation with Kurt Vile was a brilliant album, their voices compliment each other perfectly...
His interview is in here, with some tracks too - you'll need to skim through to get to it.... BBC Radio 6 Music - Radcliffe and Maconie, John Maclean of The Beta Band https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000br4 He talks about the film, and says he based some of it on his experiences as a young Scot travelling America as a "car mover" (? - think that's what he described it as - he was given a car and had to deliver it several states away, done this work for about six months over there) - he's also working on more scripts. Saw Interpol at the TRNSMT festival this summer in Glasgow, the new album is very good.
