Blog: Inveresk Street Ingrate

Gig: The Life and Times of a Rock-star Fantasist by Simon Armitage (Viking 2008)

Gig: The Life and Times of a Rock-star Fantasist by Simon Armitage (Viking 2008) On The Road 9 A reading in a cinema complex in Sheffield for the Off the Shelf Festival, followed by a Q & A session on contemporary poetics and related literary topics: Me: OK, one last question. Man: In a fist fight between you and Jarvis Cocker, who'd win? Me: Er . . . I've never met him, but from the pictures I've seen I'd have [...]

Looper (2012)

Looper (2012) No text

Tattoo by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (Serpent's Tail 1976)

Tattoo by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (Serpent's Tail 1976) 'It's a metaphor. And a very appropriate one. What is a policeman if not a sociologist?' Inspector Israel agreed. He stepped into the footlights for his moment of fame. 'That's true. A sociologist and a psychologist.' 'You see? Well, a permissive society like ours is bound to cause some mental confusion in your compatriots. They suddenly find they have sex and politics within easy reach.' [...]

Smith by Leon Garfield (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1967)

Smith by Leon Garfield (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1967) He was called Smith and was twelve years old. Which, in itself, was a marvel; for it seemed as if the smallpox, the consumption, brain-fever, jail-fever and even the hangman's rope had given him a wide berth for fear of catching something. Or else they weren't quick enough. Smith had a turn of speed that was remarkable, and a neatness in nipping down an alley or vanishing in a court that had to be seen to be believed. Not that it was often seen, for Smith was rather a sooty [...]

Drive (2011)

Drive (2011) No text

Attack The Block (2011)

Attack The Block (2011) No text

Perrier's Bounty (2009)

Perrier's Bounty (2009) No text

Gold

Gold Via 'Sweet FA' over at Urban 75.

Gold

Gold Via 'Sweet FA' over at Urban 75.

Watching The Detectives (2007)

Watching The Detectives (2007) No text

Sideswipe By Charles Willeford (St. Martin's Press 1987)

Sideswipe By Charles Willeford (St. Martin's Press 1987) "It's a peculiar thing, old-timer, but a man your age can learn something from me, although it should be the other way 'round. First I'll tell you something about me, and then I'll tell you about you." "A man can always learn something new." Stanley filled his pipe. "There's an extra pipe if you want to smoke. I don't have no cigarettes." "I don't smoke." "Smoking is a comfort to a man sometimes. [...]

Snatch (2000)

Snatch (2000) No text

All the Sad Young Literary Men by Keith Gessen (Viking 2008)

All the Sad Young Literary Men by Keith Gessen (Viking 2008) I found the Mensheviks kind, intelligent, witty. But everything I saw convinced me that, face to face with the ruthlessness of history, they were wrong. - Victor Serge Mark's dissertation, in the end, was about Roman Sidorovich, 'the funny Menshevik." Lenin had called him that, menshevitskiy khakhmach , in 1911. Sidorovich was tickled, "I'd rather be menshevitskiy khakhmach " he said (to friends) "than bolshevitskiy palach ." I'd rather be the Menshevik funny-man than the Bolshevik hangman. Oops. They were [...]

All the Sad Young Literary Men by Keith Gessen (Viking 2008)

All the Sad Young Literary Men by Keith Gessen (Viking 2008) I found the Mensheviks kind, intelligent, witty. But everything I saw convinced me that, face to face with the ruthlessness of history, they were wrong. - Victor Serge Mark's dissertation, in the end, was about Roman Sidorovich, 'the funny Menshevik." Lenin had called him that, menshevitskiy khakhmach , in 1911. Sidorovich was tickled, "I'd rather be menshevitskiy khakhmach " he said (to friends) "than bolshevitskiy palach ." I'd rather be the Menshevik funny-man than the Bolshevik hangman. Oops. They were [...]

Snatch (2000)

Snatch (2000) No text

22 Dreams

March 26th 2011 Beating the Fascists: The Untold Story of Anti-Fascist Action by Sean Birchall March 28th 2012 Children of the Sun by Max Schaefer April 9th 2013 Bitter Blue by Cath Staincliffe I'm slacking. Must up the ante. eta: Just noticed that both the Birchall and the Schaefer books concern themselves with fascism.

Pack Men by Alan Bissett (Hachette Scotland 2011)

Pack Men by Alan Bissett (Hachette Scotland 2011) Let us blame nostalgia. I was born in 1984, two years before Graeme Souness took over Rangers and caused a sea-change in Scottish football. Rangers were thinking big and spending big, and the rest of the Scottish league trailed in their red, white and blue wake for well over a decade. I had a phase of Rangers-supporting, which lasted from about the ages of eleven to fifteen (until I grew out of it, y'know, like proper adults should ) coming just at the end of the Nine In A Row era, when Rangers won the league year-upon-year and the [...]

Musclebound by Liza Cody (The Mysterious Press 1997)

Musclebound by Liza Cody (The Mysterious Press 1997) I was going to have it out with the driver of the Carlton. I was going to pick him up by the armpits and say, "Oy, pus-bottom, watch where you're going." But by the time I got up off the floor and kicked the chain for tripping me up, I saw the driver wasn't in the Carlton no more. He'd gone inside the booth, and he'd left the driver's door open and his motor running. Which is exactly the same as saying, "C'Mon, Eva, here's a nice red Carlton all warm and ready to take you home." [...]

Bitter Blue by Cath Staincliffe (Allison and Busby 2003)

Bitter Blue by Cath Staincliffe (Allison and Busby 2003) I led my new client downstairs and into the room. It was cooler in there and I switched on the convector heater, hung up our coats and offered her a drink. 'Coffee would be nice.' Her manner softened a little. 'Just milk please.' 'I forgot to ask you on the phone, how did you hear about me?' It's useful to find out how clients arrive. 'Yellow Pages, you were the nearest to me.' [...]

She's Gone

She's Gone Nothing to see here. Move along . I'm afraid I wont be gloating over the death of someone in their eighties. Hated her government and all that she stood for . . . and she certainly doesn't merit a state funeral . . . but the bastards are still in charge.
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