My films of the 2020s so far --
Bugonia
The Promised Land
I Swear
Mad Heidi
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Anora
CODA
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
American Fiction
The Beasts
We need substance, not gimmicks.
Interesting that it was hosted by Manchester this time instead of London. But it was not riveting, except for the performance by Rosalía & Björk.
I am going to watch the Brit Awards for the first time in years. Since the 1990s it has been tepid but I will give it another chance tonight.
My favourite B-movies:
Mad Heidi
The Room
Troll 2
Pride And Prejudice And Zombies
Hard Ticket To Hawaii
Birdemic
Congratulations to the Green Party on their stunning victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
I really like Stronger Together by Tori Amos; it sounds like Kate Bush in her 1980s prime. It's even better than her cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit, lol.
Many of the films on these lists are free to watch on the Sky Live application.
More films I like:
Das Boot
Inglourious Basterds
Adaptation
T2
Vanya On 42nd Street
Dreams
Drowning By Numbers
Gran Torino
War And Peace
My Beautiful Laundrette
People often compliment me about my clothes and enquire about where I got them. The answer is that I simply buy a lot of my apparel from ebay. I search for items I need, list them from low to high in price and then scroll down until I find something I like for under £20.
Bugonia has my favourite ending to any film I have ever seen.
My films of the 2020s so far --
Bugonia
The Promised Land
Mad Heidi
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Anora
The Zone Of Interest
CODA
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
American Fiction
The Beasts
The only dating application I use now is Hinge. All the others are useless.
The 56kbps dial up telephone modem internet connection I used in 2001 was faster than the 150mbps fibre optic broadband connection I am using today in 2026.
The film Whiplash is about pushing musicians to greatness, even if the tutor goes a bit too far, lol.
Sadly all people did was massage their egos, and they never became more than an inferior imitation when they should have been developing their own original sound.
Only very rarely do they sign to a major label or large independent. All I am saying is that you need fair criticism to find and push this select few. For example, in the 2000s I saw a band that was too pretentious and imitated Joy Division, but could have been a fairly decent indie rock band!
I admire your temperance. Some artists are more umbrageous when I give them my honest opinion and accuse me of being rude, but I'm only trying to help them. And I agree, it depends – a lot of unsigned artists disband after several months, whereas others continue for years and become local legends.
And then sometimes, occasionally, people are too harsh. 'You were shit'. Which isn't helpful either, lol. This is why we need music critics, because if it was left to the public then they would give everything 5/5 or 1/5, when in fact the vast majority of music is either 2/5, 3/5 or 4/5.
It's based on my own personal observations. I have seen it so often, people giving their polite reviews to unsigned artists after they have just been on stage. They were 'amazing', 'incredible', 'fantastic' etc. But these are just empty, undeserved superlatives that do not help them to evolve.
In music, friends and family are always supportive towards an artist and lavish them with gushing praise regardless of their ability. This is harmful and wrong. Fair, positive criticism brings the best out of an artist, helps them to improve and encourages them to reach their full potential.
He did, somewhat...
Shaun Keaveny has lost his form on The Rock Show this year. Let's hope he recovers it tonight (Radio 2, 11pm).
'The difficulty lies not in the new ideas but in escaping the old ones'
– John Maynard Keynes
To anyone who finds it idealistic I would simply counter that there is an historical precedent for every idea listed and many were implemented by Clement Attlee and the post-war Labour government. So please do not be incredulous and try to embrace it where you can.
Pages 7 and 8 –
Pages 4 to 6 –
This is a concise summary of my political opinions. I have worked on it incrementally for many years and would like to share it. The ideology is moderate, democratic socialism which then prefigures a golden era of culture and science. Pages 1 to 3 –
