Bondtroversy!

Surprisingly, my review of Casino Royale has been picked up by a couple of websites interested in the fact that I was claiming to be an EON employee, and that I, well, didn't think much of Daniel Craig. I referred to him looking like Ray Stubbs. And Bongo, the bouncer from the Ink & Paint Club in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

So, to clear this up for the delightful people at alternative007 and danielcraigisnotbond.com, I only worked at EON for a fortnight, in a warehouse full of James Bond props, and it was really very cool. I got to see the suitcase from From Russia With Love. They were also chucking out a gold tie that Mr Chang wore in Die Another Day, and a pair of Adidas shelltoes that, I dunno, Toby Stephens wore at some point. Probably.*

I wore the Gold Tie in The Slush Pile, and then lost it somewhere. The Shelltoes I occasionally wear when I need a comfortable shoe.

I thought Casino Royale was mainly rubbish, apart from the parkour sequence, and still haven't seen Quantum of Solace, as I've heard it's cobblers.

I'm quite happy for Daniel Craig to be James Bond. Keeps him from making The Invasion II, eh, chums? Ho ho.



* I can't prove that Toby Stephens wore the shelltoes.

Buy some poetry, please.

If you were going to choose a money-making business plan, it probably wouldn't involve publishing poetry, but I'm particularly thankful that Salt Publishing continues to take the risk, as it means we get to read poetry by Pegabovine alum and bona fide genius Luke Kennard.

The financial crisis means that Salt is in a little difficulty. I here republish a note by Chris on how you can help. It's pretty straightforward.

JUST ONE BOOK

1. Please buy just one book, right now.

We don't mind from where, you can buy it from us or from Amazon, your local shop or megastore, online or offline. If you buy just one book now, you'll help to save Salt. Timing is absolutely everything here. We need cash now to stay afloat. If you love literature, help keep it alive. All it takes is just one book sale. Go to our online store (UK and International or USA) and help us keep going.

2. Share this note on your Facebook and MySpace profile.

Tell your friends. If we can spread the word about our cash crisis, we can hopefully find more sales and save our literary publishing. Remember it's just one book, that's all it takes to save us. Please do it now.

With my best wishes to everyone,
Chris Hamilton-Emery


I'd obviously recommend buying Luke's books. There are three:-

The Solex Brothers (Redux)
The Harbour Beyond The Movie
and the new one: The Migraine Hotel

Also, why not try Chris McCabe's Zeppelins or Melanie Challenger's Galatea?

New (Noo?) Noostar Performance

Hello -

A couple of weeks ago, I played the Noostar Comedy Night. The video of this performance has just gone up on the site - click here to see it.

The performance was hampered by two things. Initially, by my microphone not being on. You'll be pleased to know that this makes it into the video. More generally, though, by a creeping sense of illness that encroached on me throughout the evening. Hopefully, that won't be so noticeable.

I was glad to discover some people who had seen Saxon live in concert, though. Not technically German heavy metal, but when you're dealing with the mighty Saxon, it seems rude to split hairs.

TomCast - The Complete Saga of the Unoriginal Gangsta

File this under: Stuff you might have heard before. Tom Wateracre leads you by the hand through the complete recorded output of the Unoriginal Gangsta, encompassing his reworkings of Change Clothes by Jay-Z, Drop It Like It's Hot by Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams, and Shot Down by 50 Cent and DMX, before rounding things off with his own (Theme From) Unoriginal Gangsta. It's a thestival of thievery!





Direct download (right click, save target as):- http://wateracre.jellycast.com/files/audio/TOMCAST3.mp3
Raw feed:- http://wateracre.jellycast.com/podcast/feed/2