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In Praise of William Elliott Whitmore

February 3, 2012

For no particular reason, today's post is an old interview with William Elliott Whitmore, one of my favourite songwriters. It was written for the "new bands" section of Mojo and published around the time of the release of Whitmore's third LP, The Song of the Blackbird (sleeve above) in 2006. His blog is minimal to the point of abstraction - he's published ten posts in a shade under three years, and the longest is 70 words, but, just like his records, the pared-down basics he chooses to share are worth their weight in gold. If you don't know his stuff, and it sounds like it might be up your street, please give him a try. His kind of honest, open and unadulterated excellence is a rare kind of treasure. ... more »

posted: 03/02/2012 | comments »

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No News Today

February 2, 2012

The viewing gallery of the aquarium in Atlanta, September 14, 2010

I've not really got anything I have a burning desire to write about today, but here's an old picture. ... more »

posted: 02/02/2012 | comments »

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Today's Big News

February 1, 2012

A Gazelle flown by the Empire Test Pilots School, photographed by Jez B on September 29, 2011: used under Creative Commons license; click on the photo for larger versions from Jez's Flickr stream

The Harry Redknapp trial maintains its status as a gift that keeps giving, Anonymous have hacked the BNP (sorta), and - at least, at the time of writing - Newcastle are beating Blackburn. But the biggest news of the day, for me at least, is that I flew a helicopter. ... more »

posted: 01/02/2012 | comments »

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In Haste...

January 31, 2012

An apology, date and location unknown (or, at any rate, forgotten)

Haven't had a chance to do a proper piece for the site today, but here's something well worth reading: ... more »

posted: 31/01/2012 | comments »

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Why Every Journalist Should Go and See 'The Artist'

January 30, 2012

Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo in Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist. Photo courtesy of Entertainment Film Distributors

It's not exactly groundbreaking to hail The Artist as a great film. With three Golden Globes already in the bag and ten Oscar nominations to go with almost universal critical acclaim, saying you think it's pretty good isn't exactly controversial. I expected to be impressed, but was shocked by how profoundly moving I found the film when I went to see it at the weekend. In large part this is down to how immaculately crafted a piece of cinema it is, but what sealed the deal was that, in what seemed to be an unavoidably obvious subtext, The Artist turned out to be a film about me. ... more »

posted: 30/01/2012 | comments »

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The Strange Story of Britain's Joint Strike Fighter

January 29, 2012

The cockpit of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter: photo - Lockheed Martin

In November, I had the chance to travel to Texas and Maryland to see the factory where Lockheed Martin are assembling the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and to meet some of the British team who are testing the aircraft as part of the 700-strong US Navy and Marine Corps Integrated Test Force at Patuxent River Naval Air Station. A piece written from this access is published today, in the Live section of the Mail on Sunday. ... more »

posted: 29/01/2012 | comments »