Mention the Lord of the Rings just once more
And I'll more than likely kill you
"Moorcock, Moorcock, Michael, Moorcock" you fervently moan.
Is this a wok that you've shoved down my throat,
Or are you just pleased to see me?
Brian Moore's head looks uncannily like London Planetarium.

I've been faffing about on the guitar and occasionally video recording it over the past few weeks. And I'm sure everyone wants to see me slaughteringsinging a few classics.

So here's a roundup of my Youtube vids:

Weird Al - "Good Enough For Now" cover

Bob Marley - "Redemption Song" cover

Carter USM - "Do Re Me (So Far So Good) cover

The Verve - "Drugs Don't Work" cover

Nick Cave - "The Mercy Seat" cover


EDIT: And as an extra special bonus my Tom Waits meets Nick Cave styled version of "The Curse of Millhaven".

If people hadn't noticed from my Twitter feed, I'm having a play around on Blip.fm at the moment, where you can become a DJ! or rather just post a public playlist that people can listen to. Which sounds less impressive.

But if anyone wants to see my selections, check out my page here.

Been quiet the last couple of days finishing off deadline. As I was sick earlier in the week we got a bit of leeway with out printers and I was able to send the files off for our magazine this morning. In one respect this meant I had more time (yay!) but bad in another because I had to work on a Saturday (hiss!) but it did give me a chance to whack on some tunes of my choice as I worked.

And today it was the turn of Tom Lehrer. A man for whom the phrase "before his time" must have been invented. He was 81 this month and recording in the '50s and '60s. I'm quite proud that his breakthrough came in Great Britain where Princess Margaret listed herself as a fan and he got airplay for song which... well, you can see why they weren't mainstream in that era US. Take, for example, this little ditty, The Masochism Tango:


Even by modern sensibilities, it's not the kind of thing you'll find John Barrowman slaughtering on Saturday night TV.

Of course, his most famous hit is probably The Element Song, which is almost entirely harmless. But there there's also Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, which Dr. Demento covered. But not a patch on the original.


That's the song I ended up singing at a meal with my dad when we were on holiday last. It's a song he'd sometimes mention in the same breath as Spike Jones and it transpires a friend of his had a bunch of Tom Lehrer on 78s that they'd listen to after night school. The fact that my dad loves the song as much as I do says a lot about where I get my rather black sense of humour from.

The fact that he finds the song about Oedipus Rex as funny as I do shows how timeless this stuff is. And undoubtedly beyond its years.


That was recorded in 1959. Which is pretty incredible considering public taboos at the time. (And hey, despite what Jeph Loeb's Ultimates might tell you, incest is till frowned on generally).

And then there's the satire stuff like the Cold War prompted We Will All Go Together When We Go. Or The Vatican Rag or National Brotherhood Week or Pollution or So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III) all with hidden barbs beneath the silly surface.

Oh well, since one of my friend's fond of calling me Agnes, we can end on the bright and happy note of I Got It from Agnes.

You know, Lily Allen at the Grand Ole Opry singing about her boyfriend's failure to provide satisfaction ("And I lie here in the wet patch in the middle of the bed, I'm feeling pretty damn hard done by, I spent ages giving head") just continues to crack me up. I love this girl.

Over on Twitter, Doctor Who/Torchwood/Primeval writer James Moran set this question:

"What's your favourite/weirdest cover version? I'm always looking for new ones, I seem to be obsessed with them."

And so he's set up a collaborative playlist where people can add songs.

( Here's the full list so far. )
So I'm repeating the question - what covers would YOU add to the list? Are there any on there you don't know? I'm realising that I have hundreds of the bloody things and most of that list is either stuff I would have added or stuff that I did have.

Any others? I'm always on the lookout too.

I leave you with the new song from Jim Bob from the later Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine - The Man Behind the Counter of the Science Fiction Superstore.



Worryingly catchy.

Now, I was going to do a proper Livejournal update today, since I haven't in a few days, until it occurred to me that I have absolutely nothing to talk about. It's been quiet. Blessedly so.

I could point you to the clip of In Bruges I posted to Youtube, which is one of the highlights of the movie for me, but they've done that copyright claim thing so anyone in the US can't see it. Mind you, if you're outside the US, you should be fine.

Or I could point you to Albuquerque: THE MOVIE which takes Weird Al's masterwork and takes it to another level.

Hey, maybe I could mention that I've been reading Russell T. Davis' A Writer's Tale that I picked up at a bargain price and has, so far, been a really interesting read. I'm not sure that I think the thought processes that go into his work on Doctor Who always yield the results he and the viewers may wish for, but the correspondence in the book makes for a fascinating insight into the processes that go towards making the show. Plenty of stuff I wasn't aware of, such as his hand in rewriting practically every script, Dennis Hopper and his own neurosis. Worth picking up if you're a Doctor Who fan or a writer in general.

Hey, what about the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Superbowl spot, which may excite some people? If they like shit exploding and Dr. Crushy McWheelbot.

Or I could point out Jake Shimabukuro's version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Played on a ukulele. Which rocks my socks.

But none of that stuff would even remotely touch on me personally. Just stuff I'm into at the moment. Maybe that's what I'll be using Twitter for. The odd little thoughts that fly around my brain. Because I've not really done anything otherwise worth reporting over the past few days.

And other the hellmonth that was January, it's been bliss.

Lily Allen's always struck me musically as the bastard love child of Ian Dury and Kirsty MacColl, so it's no wonder I love her so much. And small wonder I love her latest song, The Fear, with its hilariously camp video and Saint Etienne circa 1992 stylings.

And how can I not love a song with the lyric "But it doesn’t matter cause I’m packing plastic and that’s what makes my life so fucking fantastic"?

This day in 1959, a small plane carrying The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Buddy Holly, and Richie Valens crashed near Mason City, Iowa, while en-route to a show in Fargo, North Dakota.

Also, in 1998 the tail of a U.S. marine tactical surveillance jet on a training mission severed a tram cable at a ski resort near Trento in northern Italy, sending 20 skiers nearly 300 feet to their deaths.

I'm not going near a plane today.

But speaking of flying, an airline related news story to kick off today's random links dump:

Passenger arrested with two live pigeons in his pants.

Top 50 movie deaths. Can' t agree with everything here (especially the top slot, whilst Major Kong and Tim Messenger languish in lower spots), but it makes for a good read.

100 iPhone wallpapers.

Christian Bale may have picked up a godawful transatlantic accent, but he still swears like a Brit.

Girl dies after swallowing three ecstacy tablets to evade police search. Guess who's to blame?

"Hang on lads, I've got a great idea . . .

And speaking of The Italian Job... boffins have got their heads together to try and work out how that literal cliffhanger could have been resolved.

First zombies in Texas and now flesh eating dinosaurs in Indiana.