Friday, 2 August 2013

Heavy Metal Junior: A Portrait Of Pre-Teen Rebellion

Hatred are a heavy metal band from Scotland. And they’re all under 14 years old.

This hilarious film follows the band as they prepare for their first ever live performance.
In the weeks before their show, their bassist quits, and they have to write some original songs to perform.
One of the best parts of the film was watching their manager (the drummer’s father) show them some showbiz moves of his own.
Along the way, we get some insight into band dynamics that wouldn’t seem out of place in a film like This Is Spinal Tap, except with parents as stand-ins for managers and girlfriends
(Thanx Alan!)

Thursday, 1 August 2013

David Peace: Red or Dead

(Review)

Now The War

Edward Snowden leaves Moscow airport

Snowden's Russian Papers

Via

The problem with the sick, obsessive superpower revealed to us by Edward Snowden is that it cannot bring itself to utter the one line it absolutely must utter before it can move on: “My name is America and I’m a dataholic.” For American spies, Big Data is like crack cocaine: just a few doses – and you can forget about mending your way and kicking the habit. Yes, there’s an initial illusion of grandeur and narcissistic omnipotence – just look at us, we could prevent another 9/11! – but a clearer, unmediated brain would surely notice that one’s judgment has been severely impaired. Prevent another 9/11? When two kids with extensive presence on social media can blow up a marathon in Boston? Really? All this data, all this sacrifice– and for what..?