Disjecta

Here's a house in Miyazaki, Japan, designed for a family of four. Few Westerners would buy this house. You see lots of houses like this throughout Japan Here's a picture I took in 2010, somewhere in rural Japan, of a Nissan Cube outside a cuboid house: And here are 2 pics of the wonderful NissanContinue reading "Why the Nissan Cube tanked in the West"

Standard-issue Loyalist (British) community graffiti in Belfast - a "Taig" is a racist term for an Irish nationalist, or Irish Catholic. "RA" is just short for "IRA".. Obviously, the blokes who spray this stuff on to public property are small fry, not overly-endowed with grey matter. Interestingly though, in Unherd (an English online political journal),Continue reading "A modern attitude to Bloody Sunday"

I've always loved trash-punk. (I always resist terms like "grindcore", given the tendency too many of that genre have towards bombast.) Very few records or bands measure up to the requisite blend of speed, brevity, chaos and silliness. For much of my life, in that genre, one song reigned supreme, for me; namely 1985's Wipe-out"Continue reading "Melt-Banana"

As with Trump's toadies, as with Putin's advisers, Britain's Brexiters by and large are appointed on two criteria: 1 Belief in the True Cause of Hard Brexit or that Ukraine Does Not Exist (real or fake belief, either is fine, the important thing is to craw-thump daily about it, and, every time you fuck up,Continue reading "Leaving the solar system"

Curious as to why half of rural Ireland was going to see Garth Brooks (or "Gareth Brooks", as he tends to be called in Ireland), I listened to 20 of his songs last weekend, for research purposes. He does seem like a very nice, down to earth bloke.  Bizarrely, in today’s judgemental world, this seemsContinue reading "Garth Brooks – why he packs ’em in"

Flicks? I love out-of-date slang. I also know that "film" is pronounced "filmmm". Not the way I say it, i.e., "filim". However, leaving out the second spoken 'i' turns you into a ponty-mouthed prck. My top 10 pieces of music runs into hundreds. It's a never-ending minor personal clusterfuck of rampant musical infidelities. By contrast,Continue reading "Flicks"

They regularly do chord changes for the last chorus At a gig, the lead singer always says "HELLO [name of city]" in a hearty voice Their fast songs are slow Their drums sound like fresh eggs being dropped on a tiled floor They are pretty, look healthy, and are well-groomed They wear designer clothes TheirContinue reading "How you know a band is crap:"

"In the late 1970s and 80s rock concerts were almost still exclusively youth events - anyone over 30 would have been regarded as a "weirdo" - and violence was commonplace. "There were riots all the time at gigs," recalls Peter Hook, former bass player with New Order and before that Joy Division." (From <article>.)  IContinue reading "A jolly day out"

So much for cutting red tape lol - Brexiters now proposing <number plates for bicycles>. Presumably, all cyclists will now need to be fitted with compulsory speedometers, or people will be required to carry expensive GPS trackers on their handlebars.  Otherwise, how would you now what speed you were doing?  If you're using an app,Continue reading "More Brexit freedoms on the way"