Dork Scratchings

Posted on September 7, 2010 by

King Dork by Frank Portman

I just finished reading King Dork by Frank Portman. Frank Portman is the lead singer and songwriter for a pop-punk band called The Mr. T Experience that I have never heard of and I’ve heard of a lot of bands (although not a lot of pop-punk bands, it seems).

The Mr. T Experience have released 10 studio albums over the past 25 years with titles like Milk Milk Lemonade and Revenge is Sweet, and So Are You.

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Posted in Books, King Dork, Music | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

He’s An X-Box. I’m More Atari.

Posted on September 2, 2010 by

I remember when.

I remember, I remember when I lost my mind…

It was the Summer of 2006 and “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley owned the world. It was a joyous piece of pop that seemed to spring out of nowhere. You know the original, but here’s one of my favourite cover versions by The Kooks for you to play while you’re reading.

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Posted in Music, Sweary Songs | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wolf Hall and the Man Booker Prize

Posted on August 29, 2010 by

In the past 41 years, 43 books have been awarded the Booker Prize, now called the Man Booker Prize. As of last night, I have read 27 of the 43 which is a pretty fair hit rate. Of the last 25 winners, I have read 21 (sorry, Barry Unsworth).

A selection of Bookers. How many have you read?

All that means is, I’m a sucker for awards. I’m the reason they give out literary awards. Statistics prove that I am more likely to buy a book by an author I have never read if it wins the Booker.

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Posted in Booker Prize, Books, Wolf Hall | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

It’s Only A Cat

Posted on August 25, 2010 by

I’m loving this story more than I should. It’s a terrible evil thing this woman has done. Clearly she is some kind of sociopath… and yet… every time I watch the video I chortle.

You’ll find better versions of this video online where it’s been edited down. Versions where you only see the evil act itself with none of the build-up, but this is the original and it’s glorious.

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Posted in As Good As it Gets, Jack Nicholson, Movies, That's Weird! | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Hey. What About Shlomo?

Posted on August 24, 2010 by

I appreciate this may not be everyone’s cup of cocoa. It’s an animated movie based on a little-known comic book. With zombies.

It’s not even an actual movie yet. David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club and the forthcoming remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is involved as producer and Paul Giamatti is on board as the voice of Franky. Continue reading →

Posted in Comic Books, Movies, Paul Giamatti, The Goon, The Goon | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

“The Reveal” Vs “The Trying Out”

Posted on August 22, 2010 by

When I was young, I would get presents. For birthdays and suchlike. In most instances there are two distinct phases of the present.

The first is “the reveal”. The present is a surprise. You don’t know what it’s going to be. There may be clues such as your relationship with the present-giver or the weight and shape of the present, but the excitement of this phase reaches its peak when the paper is ripped off and the nature of the present is revealed.

Who among us can forget the thrill of getting exactly what you wanted or the nauseating disappointment of not?

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Posted in That's Weird! | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Not Nemo No More

Posted on August 17, 2010 by

It was one of the key things you had to know about Weeds when it first started. The kid who plays the kid… the younger kid… he’s Nemo.

No longer NemoI’ve seen Finding Nemo, probably a dozen times. And I’ve seen every episode of Weeds up to and including the first episode of the sixth season which started this week on Showtime. I can promise you one thing. Young Alexander Gould who plays Shane Botwin is not Nemo, no more.

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