Metafilter has an interesting thread on MetaFilter discussing Rupert Sheldrake – a biologist turned either New Age advocate or snake oil salesman depending on who you believe.His theories of Morphic Resonance and The Extended Mind seem nice on a gut level but unfortunately none of his experiments have been confirmed by anyone else.
Inertia strikes again. Not only had I not been to a gig in ages, I go to two in a week and don’t bother reviewing them. I’m feeling lazy so I’ll only tackle the first one for the moment.
On the 25th of September I went to see The Broken Family Band at the Arts Cinema in Cambridge. It’s the first time a concert’s been played there and I have to admit it was quite strange standing in a fairly well-lit bar-type atmosphere watching a band.
First up was Candidate (which through some strange quirk of acoustics I thought were called Pieces of Eight) which seemed pretty good quite jolly and acoustic. A conversation about Badgers set up what was to happen later on.
The main band themselves were on good form, singing a mixture of new and old stuff and they really seemed to enjoy themselves. Because of the badgers, it became an ad hoc cheer after each song (well for two of us, at least) and when we got a little rowdy it ended up confusing the band. So much to that “I Don’t Have the Time (Too Mess Around)” was changed to refer almost exclusively to badgers.
Elbow review in a day or two, followed by Frank Black and the Catholics.
Ta Ta.
This is why I never want to be a teacher. Not only does one have to fight against kids’ general apathy, but there’s little or no support from the management. Teachers, as well as many public servents, certainly aren’t paid enough.
Looks like Brudnell Groove have changed their name to Big Strides since they want a name people can spell before forking out on a self produced album. The web site isn’t finished yet, but should be up soon. Let’s hope that the music hasn’t changed along with the name.
Brudenell Groove are a pretty decent unsigned band from London. They’ve several mp3s on their site so you can check out their funk, rock stylings and decide for yourselves. I particularly like Suicidal for its strangely upbeat tune. Hopefully they’ll leave London and come up to Cambridge some time.
[Via Chasing Parked Cars and B3ta]
This is an interesting story about the seedy underbelly of the Cambridge punting scene.
It’ll make me think twice about using Scudamores again.
The Spiders is an online comic by Patrick Farley based in an alternate universe where the Afghan War was fought using mind-altering drugs and robotic technology. At first it seems like the usual war-time nonsense but as you get deeper in it raises some thought provoking points. The first three and a half parts have been finished and the author’s working on the final episode as we speak. Enjoy.I approached last night’s gig with much trepidation; The Polyphonic Spree could either have been very good or absolutely terrible but before going onto them I have to describe the first band we saw.
Mull Historical Society, a Scottish band, were really happy and chirpy. Even though the lead singer’s mike was plagued by feedback problems for the first couple of songs, he just carried on with the keyboardist’s one and made light of the roadies running about the stage. They put on a very happy, rocky, almost 80’s sounding set which left me feeling uplifted and happy that I went to the gig regardless of how The Polyphonic Spree were.
A bit of a break later while more setup was going on The Polyphonic Spree came onto the stage. If you don’t know anything about the band, just imagine twenty five Texans in robes singing, jumping, playing instruments, and just being infectiously happy. Every song was just a glorious multi-layered mix of Pink Floyd, the Flaming Lips, and a gospel choir. Backed by videos of some of their bigger gigs, the dream sequence from the Big Lebowski, and Disney’s Robin Hood they weren’t so much a band as an experience. And as if all that wasn’t enough to sate, they did an encore in their spiffing Glastonbury red robes, finishing with some beautiful harping to make us sleepy. Wonderful.
I don’t know if it’s real or not, but Turning Tables, a blog written by a US soldier stationed in Baghdad, needs to be read by anyone who thinks that war is the solution to all the world’s problems.
When renting in Cambridge there comes a time when the owner wants to move back into the house and this brings the soul-destroying task of finding somewhere new to live. It’s amazing just what homeowners are trying to get away with in this town. I ended up looking at five houses and only two were habitable.The worst was a four bedroom in town which held seven people (not including two children). The window faced a wall and with a double bed in the room there was maybe a postage stamp area to walk around in. £200 a month? No thanks.
Another one seemed okay, if a bit grotty, but it happened to be in Arbury which is supposed to be a dangerous area. It’s not the nicest place in the world, but not a patch on the heroin-sodden Liberties where I grew up.
Finally settled on a place off Mill Road. A nice attic double room with enough space for me to sprawl and feel comfortable. Now it’s the task of moving the material possessions I’ve managed to accumulate over the past year up three flights of stairs.
Stress.