dots and spaces

May and June Banner

Frankie is the star of this month's banner, which will have to double up for last months. Frankie appears courtesy of Neil and Suze. Not to be confused with Frankee, who is a bit pants, and I can't believe is still number 1. Anyway, escape is imminent, off to Brittany for the long weekend, these bank holidays are great.

Dieselbug CD

DB have a new CD, with plenty of new tracks. The boys have been working in the studio, and the songs are more fully fledged than before. There's still plenty of tinkering, and I prefer the stuff that sounds more low-fi and scuzzy. The album has bags of character, it doesn't sound like anyone else, and in this day of recycled ideas and photocopy influences, this is a refreshing change. For more info go to the site - if you ever get a chance to see this lot live, then it shouldn't be missed. Artwork above by dots and spaces.

Petacchi takes number 5

Latest update from the Giro d'italia - The long awaited fight between Petacchi and Cipollini hasn't really surfaced yet. When Petacchi won the first of the five stages he's won, Cipo pulled up, claiming he'd been blocked, and then pulled out a few stages later after a crash. Currently, Cunego leads from his lieutentant Simoni, who looks favourite to win overall, and go on to challenge Lance in the Tour later in July. Tension is definatly hotting up, there are so many riders coming to the front, including Ullrich, Hamilton and Vinokorov. There don't seem to be many great links to the Giro, here we go - BBC sport cycling, Official site, Cycling News, any others, please let me know.

News from Sakhalinsk

JLC sent me this photo of a bear print on the pipeline. I'll put some more photos up, so that you can get idea of how cold it is. He's back for a few weeks of sunshine and heat and we'll be over to catch up soon.

Omlet make an Eglu

The was a great article this week called Dairy of an Urban Chicken Keeper. In it, the writer test drives an Eglu, which is the award winning chicken coop pictured above. The design is witty and clever, it looks like an old imac and shares the same colours. Omlet will provide you with the Eglu, some chickens, a bag of feed and lots of advice to help you start the good life. At the moment, our garden isn't big enough, and I wonder how many people will have trouble when they want to go on holiday, pet passports just don't stretch to chickens, nor will they take them into kennels, maybe a kind neighbour will water your plants and feed the chickens. Anyway, it caught my eye, and I think this is the kind of blog which should mention the Pixies and Chickens in the same page.

Record of the Week

This long awaited little gem arrived just the other day. I've been a life-long Pixies fan, they're the only band I've ever actively stalked, getting Black Francis, Kim Deal and Joey Santiago to sign my ticket stub after thier gig in Portsmouth. I don't remember seeing Dave Lovering, he must have sneaked past me into the van. I saw them a couple of times, back in the early '90's and really looking forward to seeing them next month at Brixton Academy. The 'best of Pixies has most of the greats, but there's a few missing - I would have loved to see Tony's theme and Motorway to Roswell, which I think is a great, no River euphrates either, but we could be here all night. The DVD is ok...the documentary is very interesting, but really, the videos are pretty rubbish - Pixies just don't work visually, except for Vaughan Oliver cover art. The video for Dig for Fire had me in stitches. Anyway, the rest of this package is glorious, Pixies are (go on..I'll say it) the Greatest Band that Ever Lived.

Suze has a sweet tooth and she's a dentist. She recommends A quarter of...

Stephen Malkmus and Jicks

Following the breakup of Pavement, SM has re-invented himself, up to a point as a singer songwriter with prog leanings, putting together a tight little outfit called Jicks. The first record,featured some great songs, but felt like a chance to tie up loose ends, finish songs he'd begun with Pavement, and find a new direction. This he's done with Pig Lib which is a fantastic, sprawling, solo-strewn patchwork of songs. He sounds like he's having a great time, so I thought I'd give it a mention, along with an entry in the typelist.

Six Nails in Man's Skull

No, its not the name of my new favourite heavy metal band, but a tragic tail of Whoa! This is not for weak hearted. We were discussing it today, and it occured to me that the man had become a kind of human Kerplunk. Thanks to Si for the link.

The Circus of Disemboweled Plush Toys, it gives me a nice warm feeling to link to this.