Sunday 18 April 2010

Cul-cher, Cul-cher - All Weekend It's Cul-cher

It's been a cultural weekend here in sunny Badsville. First of all the marvellous Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the Barrowlands Ballroom. It was one of the best gigs I've ever been to. Apart from anything else, the band seemed to be enjoying it themselves - they were on for two hours, and even ended up taking requests at the end. Sorry - I can't do a poncy gig review - just take my word for it, it was bloody brilliant. We started off at the edge of the mosh pit, but by the end of the gig we were somehow in the middle of it. I was minging when we came out. BRMC played most of the new album, plus my favourites of their earlier stuff, including this one, my all time favourite. When I go into work having been listening to that one on my ipod, my colleagues all say "Oh, no, watch out, she's been listening to those Motorcycle boys again." For anyone who's never heard BRMC before, this might give the wrong impression, but my Mum likes them (yes, dear reader, my Mum will not read my books(that's her, making a sour face at it), due to all the swearing and nastiness, but she likes dirty, sleazy rock music. She is also a big fan of The Cramps and does the psychobilly chicken strut to I Ain't Nuthin' But A Gorehound (although she does call it the 'turkey trot', but you can't have everything, I suppose).

On Saturday we went to see a great independent Scottish film called Crying With Laughter. It's about a stand up comedian called Joey Frisk who has a problem with drugs and alcohol, an ex-wife who thinks he's a waster, and a landlord who's about to evict him. Joey gets his own back on his landlord as part of his stand-up comedy routine by threatening to kill him in front of an audience. When the police turn up to arrest him the next day for GBH, Joey has no memory of the night before. To add to the mystery, Frank - one of Joey's old school friends, although Joey doesn't remember him very well - has contacted him out of the blue, and wants to arrange some sort of reunion. The film starts out lightly and gets gradually darker and more sinister. Stephen McCole, who plays the lead character, is brilliant. Crying With Laughter won a BAFTA and rightly so - if you get a chance to see it, do so.

Gleeful moment of the weekend - I went to Waterstones in Sauchiehall Street to buy some childrens' books to take to Alaska with me and while I was in there, I nipped up to the crime section for a wee browse. And look! Look! I didn't even feel slightly embarrassed grabbing my iPhone and taking this photo. Actually, it was all I could do to stop myself grabbing a passer-by and asking them to take one of my shiny, beaming, football-shaped face (that's soccer, dear American reader) next to the shelf.

And now, on to the proper news. First of all, Alexander McCall Smith reveals that he sent his first manuscript to a publisher when he was eight.

Congratulations to Craig Russell, who sells two new Glasgow thrillers to Quercus, and to Aly Monroe who has signed a contract for two new Peter Cotton books. Excellent news.

Canada.com reviews Philip Kerr's IF THE DEAD RISE NOT. And The Scotsman reviews Lin Anderson's FINAL CUT.

Christopher Brookmyre is appearing at the Ayr Festival in September.

Interviews with the lovely Ray Banks are always good fun, and this one with the charming Byker Books guys is no exception.

More on the Irvine Welsh film, The Magnificent Eleven.

The Independent on Sunday asks if you can judge a book by its cover. And, on the subject of covers, Karen over at Eurocrime remarks on the number of angels on covers these days.

12 comments:

  1. Not wishing to be accused of bursting your bubble, but, waterstones in Argyll St didn't have any "old dogs" on Saturday morning. I guess the kinder way to phrase that would be "wow Argyll St had sold out by Saturday!"

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  2. LOL - thanks Pete! Probably more realistically, Waterstones Argyll Street didn't order any :o) And don't worry about bursting my bubble. I am a veritable Pollyanna :o)

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  3. I thought I'd be reading Old Dogs within a few days but the ash and airport closings have delayed Amazon UK shipments. So disappointing.

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  4. Donna - I don't blame you for taking that picture! I'm actually looking forward to diving into Old Dogs, myself...

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  5. Barbara - if I make it to Alaska I'll drop copies off as I fly over :o)

    Margot - hope you enjoy it!

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  6. i want a cool mum like that ;)

    glad to hear brmc were good. gonna see them in a couple of days.

    i´ll be checking out 'old dogs'. sounds like something i´d love.

    cheers,
    paula

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  7. Paula - thanks for your comment! I've seen BRMC a couple of times now and this was the best yet. Let me know how it goes. The new album's great. I love Beat The Devil's Tattoo, River Styx and Evol especially. You'll have a great time. I wish I could guarantee the same with OLD DOGS but if you do read it I hope you enjoy it!

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  8. I read Old Dogs again. It did not get any better for the second reading

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  9. Thanks Dad - you always know how to make me feel good!

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  10. Cul-cher!! This um...oldish...woman listened to that great clip you had on the blog, of the RBMC's doing your favourite song. Wow! Great song! Love it! and while it was playing my husband came in and asked 'is your computer acting up now?' and I said no, this is Donna's favourite song, and it does rock! He said 'oh' and left the room. :-) I am going to have to look for some of their work over here in the cornfields and if can't find it, will ask you to drop one from the plane as you fly over. :-) Good photo of your mum and your book. :-) and LOVED seeing your book on the bookstore shelves! I bet you were beaming! And yes, should have had someone take a photo! :-) Or start carring a nice camera tripod and learn to do one yourself. :-) The film sounds wonderful also. Great cul-cher blog!
    Bobbie

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  11. sorry, my error before. it is BRMC, had initials wrong, duhhhhh!! can i blame it on being a hick? am listening now! Cul-cher here!

    Bobbie

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  12. Bobbie- I'm laughing at Larry just saying "Oh"! That's the reaction i get a lot to my musical tastes :o) Glad you enjoyed them. They have quite a lot of clips on youtube and if they still have it up, you can listen to their new album at their website.

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