Lemmy: The Movie...

Myself and the Missus watched Lemmy: The Movie on BBC4 at the weekend.

For those who missed it check out the BBC iPlayer as it's a hugely entertaining two-hour profile of the Motorhead and former Hawkwind frontman.

Chief Foo Fighter Dave Grohl and a host of other rock and metal stars joined in to pay tribute to the godfather of heavy metal, who was either sat down with a Jack Daniels in his hand talking about his colourful career or meandering about doing 'normal' Lemmy things like talking about his collection of Nazi memorabilia or driving a tank.

It's a brilliant film and Lemmy is thoroughly engaging and actually quite sweet. He also has the best line:
'You can't have everything... Where would you put it?'

Genius.

Guilfest...

Myself and the Missus plus our Friends From The North and their We-Get-Him-If-They-Die Kid headed off to Guildford's annual music festival Guilfest at the weekend.

The Missus is currently sporting a chronically injured shoulder and my broken toe remains a bit broken so the two of us hobbled around the various stages and various food and beer stands and still had a ball.

Last year I took the We-Get-Him-If-They-Die Kid to his first thrash grunge metal gig at Guilfest when we saw the excellent Japanese Voyeurs. This year he decided he wanted to see Chipmunk and Ziggy Marley, prompting the joke:
Q. How does Ziggy Marley like his donuts?
A. With jammin' but not as much jammin' as his father.

Highlights of the day, though, were fab pies from Pie Society (see what they did there?) and a set by Hugh Cornwell playing both Stranglers favourites and his own solo stuff.

We also saw a band called Joana And The Wolf, fronted by London-based Lithuanian Joana Glaza (above), who was a bit Kate Bush, Patti Smith, Bjork and PJ Harvey all rolled into one. Her band, The Wolf, were also very tight and the set veered between haunting etherealness and kicking guitar-heavy tunes. Well worth a look on YouTube and they also have three singles on iTunes.

We also saw Erasure, who were so-so, and Public Image Limited, who were pretty fab. John Lydon apparently helped install a septic tank in Guildford when he was 15.

James Blunt was also headlining on one of the other stages. I headed home a little early as my injury was playing up and I went to the loo before doing so. I was toying with the idea of having a shit but decided on a piss instead. It was there I heard James Blunt.

Much as I like Blunt when I've seen him interviewed on chat shows I find his music awful and it was almost like my bowel was offering judgement: he's isnt really shit, just a bit piss-poor.

Black Belt Grading: The Result...

I have passed my grading and on 31 July I will be presented with my black belt.

I was a bit teary when I found out. It's been a long journey and, throw in some injury frustrations, and sometimes it's been a tough one too. But I am delighted. I am also relieved. I am also a bit worried that I now have to be a black belt and maintaining those standards will be hard work. In fact I'm pretty sure I'll feel like a total fraud for the first six months.

I initially decided to celebrate this personal milestone by buying something I've lusted after for quite a while. It's a Paul Hanwei Zatoichi sword (above). But then I realised it would just sit on a wall as a beautiful thing. And the Missus said it was quite close to owning a gun or buying a fighting dog so I thought better of it.

So instead I celebrated with a Chinese takeaway, a bottle of beer and a bad Steven Seagal movie. I am not very rock and roll. My hellraising days are probably done... on the plus side my black belt ones are just starting.

Hacked Off...

It's been many years since I decided I would make a conscious effort to never fund anything associated with Rupert Murdoch.

I'd rarely bought any of his papers anyway but I think it was about the time of the NOTW paedophile campaign, headed by then NOTW editor Rebekah Wade (now Brooks), that I decided I should make a conscious effort. From what I could see this dangerous campaign launched a lynch mob mentality and created such a climate of hatred that a paediatrician was attacked when some thicko couldn't tell the difference between a sex offender and a medical professional.

I appreciate the fact I won't have Sky in the house or buy The Sun or The News Of The World or The Times, etc, probably doesn't make too much of a difference to the News Corp coffers, but it's me exercising my power as a consumer not to add to Murdoch's profits. And it may be a pointless gesture but I'd still rather be pissing against the Murdoch wind that buying into it.

So it genuinely impressed me the other day to see the Milly Dowler phone hacking scandal so disgust a group of people that they've set up a campaign on Twitter designed to hit News Corp where it hurts and encourage advertisers not to spend money on News Corp titles. Ford cars have already dropped their adverts and other companies are said to be reviewing their policies in the wake of the scandal.

And there's more... the Murdoch bid to buy outright control of Sky could now be in jeopardy because their is a clause about being a 'fit and proper' body when buying a major media company and the behaviour of senior NOTW executive clearly casts doubt on their suitability.

The sad thing in this, obviously, is it's taken sideshow events surrounding the murder of a schoolgirl to stir people into action and that her family are now being forced to relive the horror of it all yet again.

When The Sun screamed the headline The Truth across its front page in 1989 then proceeded to accuse Liverpool fans of looting dead bodies at the Hillsborough disaster, the paper suffered a circulation decline in Liverpool that it never recovered from.

I hope the rest of the country follows this example and makes News Corp and the NOTW and its sister titles such as The Sun pay not only for its criminal activities but for its arrogance in thinking it is above the law.

Go people power! Hit them where it hurts...