Distractions

Early February, 2011, and these at the things that have been distracting me from the task at hand this week:

Listening

Computer and Blues – The Streets

I’ve got a lot of time for Mike Skinner. When I first moved to the UK his first two albums, Original Pirate Material and A Grand Don’t Come For Free, were like anthropological guides to the strange new environment I was living in in North London. Kebab shop fights. Chavs in Burberry. Misplaced texts with unforeseen circumstances. That was the world around me.

The new album is not like those albums. It’s the last album he’ll record as The Streets and as a reviewer on Amazon noted, it has a warm and vaguely wistful feel that makes it feel like an end of an era. There isn’t an immediately apparent thread holding it all together – like the missing grand in AGDCFF – just a collection of random observations.

Until Sunday, you can pick up the MP3 version of the album from Amazon for only £3.99. I’m loathe to suggest anyone buy music on my recommendation. It’s such a personal thing. (My wife chanted ‘Boring! Boring! Boring!’ through the band’s performance of ‘Going Through Hell’ on Alan Carr’s show. But then she likes Take That.) But if you liked his earlier stuff I don’t think you can go wrong at that price.

Oh, and if you have a moment, check out his unreleased song about Swine Flu. It’s a favourite with me and Daisy – she likes howling the ‘Nooooo!’ part. I’ve got to say I do too. (You’ll find it here >>)

Reading
Driving Like Crazy – P.J. O’Rourke

P.J. O’Rourke’s book Holidays in Hell was hugely influential one me. A funny travel book about hell holes, written in a way that made you want to jump on the first plane to the said hell hole. Well, that’s the effect it had on me anyway.

O’Rourke is a crotchety old right winger. But his writing is so good and his observations are so spot on that you don’t have to agree with his political views to enjoy his books. In fact, I think it’s more fun if you don’t.

Anyways, I picked up a copy of his new book, Driving Like Crazy. Subtitled ’30 Years of Vehicular Hell-Bending’, it’s a collection O’Rourke’s best auto-related journalism from the past thirty years as well as some unpublished pieces to boot.

The writing is top-rate, as usual, but to be honest, it’s probably one for the fans. One of the things I did like about it were the postscripts he has written for some of the earlier pieces, giving a bit more background to the stories and his ‘younger self.’ It’s something Paul Theroux tried with Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, where he retraced his steps from The Great Railway Bazaar. Didn’t really work for him though. Admitting that you made up parts of one of the best travel books ever is never a good way to endear yourself to readers.

So, again, if you’re a fan of P.J. O’Rourke, you’ll enjoy Driving Like Crazy. If you’ve ever wondered what all the fuss is about, track down a copy of Holidays in Hell instead. You can get a second-hand copy on Amazon for 1p, which is just ludicrous.

Watching
Life

Since getting a Blu-Ray player last year I’ve been watching a lot of wildlife documentaries. I think the format was specifically designed for slow motion footage of frogs jumping out of ponds and catching insects with their long sticky tongues.

When you watch a lot of wildlife documentaries one thing becomes pretty apparent. No one can hold a candle to the guys on the BBC Natural History Team. They’re a class act. You can see your license fee pounds being burnt on each and every scene.

I started with the series Planet Earth (Amazon are flogging the Blu-Ray Version for a ridiculously cheap £15.93!). Now I’ve moved on to Life. (It’s a bit more expensive at £15.99!) They get a little repetitive at times. But I challenge you to watch an episode and come away without learning something new. Did you know that dolphins in Florida Bay catch fish using mud rings? I didn’t.

Next on my shopping list is the BBC’s new series, Human Planet. I caught an episode about treehouse people in New Guinea that was pretty cool. John Hurt doesn’t have the same gravitas as a narrator as Sir David Attenborough, but I’m sure there’ll be some stunning slow motion, HD footage – probably involving a tongue – that’ll win me over.