Buttocks Brown

I went to see 28 Weeks Later last weekend. Didn't have much a plot and relied more on scares and gore than the first one. There was also a hilariously contrived scene involving the new Wembley Stadium. Decent entertainment for 90 minutes though. 6/10. Before that, I watched Shane Meadows' latest effort, This Is England. I thought that Dead Man's Shoes was great and was looking forward to this. It was almost as good. Set around the time of the Falklands it follows a young boy's flirtation with skinead culture. Definitely worth seeing. 8/10.

I've been to 2 gigs on the first 2 days of Triptych. Do I get a coconut? Anyway, Cat Power at the Ferry on Tuesday. Great to finally see her but she wasn't in the greatest of moods and was predictably loopy, stopping in the middle of songs or changing the words to 'I caaaaaan't concentrate tooooonight'. At one point she was doing a song on the piano and abruptly stopped to say 'I'm having real problems, I've got an ear infection, I can't hear the piano properly'. She then said 'Maybe you can hear what I'm talking about' and then put her ear to the microphone. Bonkers! She played for nearly 2 hours and, although I know quite a lot of her material, only recognised about 5 songs. CSS at the Barrowlands last night was just amazing. The best gig I've been to for a long time. It was electric from start to finish and the place was buzzing afterwards. Lovefoxx has to be one of the best frontpersons around. I love that band!

You should have stuck in at school and gone to university.

Nick Hornby - Long Way Down. No idea why I bought it in the first place. Maybe because it was 3 quid. 5/10. David Peace - The Damned United. Brian Clough's 44 day tenure at Elland Road from Clough's point of view. Brilliant. 9/10. Andrew O'Hagan - Be Near Me. English, Oxford-educated Catholic priest is placed in an Ayrshire parish on the west coast of Scotland. He finds that he has to deal with sectarianism, xenophobia and his own loneliness. Great read. 8/10.

Wasn't sure where to post this but I thought that it should be brought to the attention of the masses. Oh yes. NME story.

Not together! Now that would be some gig! They are on consecutive nights at the Renfrew Ferry and Barras, respectively.

I was at AF on Monday as well. Was quite a surreal moment to see Win Butler stumble past during the final song! Really good gig though they didn't play my favourite song (Laika) and it has to be said that some of the new stuff is a bit weak. Next up I've got BRMC, then Cat Power and CSS at Triptych.

I've got an excellent week coming up. Decemberists on Sunday and then Noisettes on Thursday.

Little Miss Sunshine - fupping brilliant. Once I'd finished watching it I wanted to watch it again. Unfortunately, it was well past my bed-time. 10/10.

Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football by Jonathan Wilson is excellent. I've had my eye on it for awhile but it only became available on paperback before Christmas. Similar to Simon Kuper's book but focussed on the ex-Communist countries. The chapter on the Balkans and, in particular, Arkan's links between Red Star and the war was fascinating. Have also worked my way through David Mitchell's first two books (Ghostwritten & #9 Dream). I can recommend them. He lived in Japan for many years and you can see the similarities to Haruki Murakami. Slightly surreal and of a similar style. Ghostwritten is 9 interlinked stories set in different parts of the world (London, Mongolia, Japan, Ireland......). #9 Dream is set in Tokyo and is about a young man who is trying to find his father. Sounds pretty straightforward but there's a lot more to it than that. Next up for me to read Cloud Atlas, which succeeded in winning Richard and Judy's book of the year and has sold a shedload since. If you want some credibility win the Booker but if you want to make a load of cash win R&J's book of the year! Mitchell will no doubt do both. He's still in his 30s so it's heartening to think that he'll be coming up with great books for decades. Hopefully. If you haven't read it, Jaws by Peter Benchley is an excellent page turner. Biggest difference from the film was probably Hooper copping off with Brody's wife.

Haven't been to any for a few months but will be going to see Arcade Fire, Noisettes, CSS and Charlotte Hatherley.

Jaws is one of my favourites of all time. Superb movie. I've watched a couple of others recently. The first was The Wind That Shakes The Barley (Ken Loach) and was set in Ireland around the time of the Easter Rising. Cillian Murphy and his brother are part of a guerilla group fighting for Ireland's independence. The brothers views polarise when Michael Collins' agreed to the Irish Free State rather than full independence. 7/10 The other, which I'd been looking to see for a while was Hidden. It's a French film with Juliette Binoche. Her and her husband start receiving videos in the post, which show recordings of their house i.e. they're under surveillance. The movie follows the husband's attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery and the effect it has on the rest of his life. 8/10

Moby. What a whiney, self-righteous airbag. I bet that he still wets the bed.

I've heard that they now send tickets out very late to prevent people selling them on ebay. You might not get until 48 hours before.

The Walkmen - Louisiana

I read that a few months ago and really enjoyed it. I thought that Imlach actually did pretty well for himself after he finished. He managed to stay in the game whereas a lot of others would have gone back to a trade. You're right, 1958 was a shambles and so was awarding caps only if you'd played in home internationals. The SFA reversed that this year and I think that the book played a large part in that. I may have just spoiled the ending for you.

I gave James Kelman another chance and picked up his 'You Have To Be Careful In The Land Of The Free' for £3. I've chucked it after 150 pages. Now onto John Fante; Wait Until Spring, Bandini

They're doing two nights apparently. I've got a ticket for the Sunday but they're selling out quickly. They've added another gig on the following night (their last ever gig) but I don't think that tickets for that have gone on sale yet.

The last two I've read were 'Hound of the Baskervilles' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and 'The People on the Street: A Writer's View of Israel' by Linda Grant. The first is obviously a classic Sherlock Holmes whodunnit. Don't usually read stuff like that but I saw it for 2 quid and thought I'd give it a go. Enjoyed it very much. The second is by Linda Grant whose parents were immigrant Jews living in England. She goes to Israel to write this book and meets a cross-section of society from your average Israeli to a man whose son was killed by a suicide bomber and Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip. Really interesting stuff though unfortunately she doesn't see the Middle East crisis being resolved any time soon. Just started reading 'No Wonder I Take A Drink' by Laura Marney. Only read the first couple of chapters but it's a good start and very funny. She's an up and coming Scottish writer and I think that this was her first novel. The follow up was called 'Nobody Loves A Ginger Baby'.

Fckin' 'ell. Sleater Kinney - Entertain

Sleater Kinney - You're No Rock n' Roll Fun

Pogues - Waxie's Dargle

Kooks - Eddie's Gun

I just flicked over and then flicked back. What is wrong with their lead singer? Too many nights on the lash maybe? He's got red blotches all over his face. Looks bloody awful.

McLusky - To Hell With Good Intentions