Great article here as Mike Leigh and David Thewlis talk about the fights and frolics which went into the making of Naked, one of the best, and most under-rated films ever created. It also reveals that thankfully, at long long last, it is finally about to made available on DVD in the UK.

From Half Man Half Biscuit’s new album….

George Orwell’s diaries, starting from 1938, are now being serialised in blog style here. They will follow exactly seventy years after when they were first written. Orwell clearly attached a lot of importance to the diary form (ie. think of what it meant to Winston Smith…..), and this is a lovely little idea.

Roger Dobson left this comment which deserves to be reposted in full: “Readers of Tom Wootton’s essay about Arthur Machen in Spike Magazine may be interested to hear that a thriving literary society exists to honour Machen and his works, The Friends of Arthur (www.machensoc.demon.co.uk). The society publishes a journal, Faunus, and a regular newsletter, [...]

Great analysis of the boy Burroughs, his writing and politics by Roobin over at Lenin’s Tomb. You don’t have to be a Trotskyist (which I’m not) to find this highly illuminating and interesting.

An exhibition  at the National Portrait Gallery of his portraits has led to renewed interest in the media for Mr Wyndham Lewis recently. Since my initial curiosity I have grown into a great interest in the man and his work, having hugely enjoyed Tarr, Blast!, and various of his artwork.
I probably won’t be able to make it [...]

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr John Cooper Clarke.

Here is a great BBC4 adaptation of Ballard’s short story “The Enormous Space” I first saw a few years back. Its very impressive, well worth an hour of your time if you’re at all into JG.
These are well worth your time too of course.

Irvine Welsh’s new novel Crime is out in about a month’s time.
 Here he is reading from his last, Bedroom Secrets of the Masterchefs
And of course, don’t forget Spike’s whole dedicated independent Welsh state…. 

I’ve got a lot on at the moment and am about to go on holiday, and so I don’t know what reviews are going to get done or not. Regardless of what gets done though, I must remark on three excellent new albums, CSI: Ambleside by Half Man Half Biscuit, Imperial Wax Solvent by The Fall, and “couples” [...]