tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62841872011-04-21T13:12:49.732-07:00Left, Right and Centre.JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1103150305771760582004-12-15T13:47:00.000-08:002004-12-15T14:39:40.113-08:00

New music... I'm going to make a prediction here. Bloc Party will be the band of 2005. Heres why: The music: Although they have released only three singles so far, the critics are already salivating over the prospect of the album. Their sound is spiky and angular, like Futureheads without the jump-cut chord changes, or Franz Ferdinand without the treble twang. The video for their July release

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1103072794990586582004-12-14T16:17:00.000-08:002004-12-15T13:46:19.776-08:00

This post at Martini Republic and this followup at Juan Cole's site have been doing the blogosphere rounds in the past day or so. The posts relate to the Iraqi blog Iraq the Model, and the US visit of two of the writers behind it. I don't intend to enter the fray on the merits of these postings; eric, harry's place and the rest have covered most of the relevant bases already. I'd prefer to

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1103068845067887222004-12-14T15:46:00.000-08:002004-12-14T16:00:45.066-08:00

A couple of Geography tests... "Dumb Yanks" click here. "Euro-weenies" click here. J Via Mick Hartley

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1098314221153756252004-10-20T15:28:00.000-07:002004-10-20T16:17:01.153-07:00

The Mona Lisa of Clark County The Guardian’s bemusing Clark County campaign has been running for a week. For those of you who didn’t catch the original article, they encouraged readers to write to unaffiliated voters in Clark County, Ohio, to persuade them to vote for Kerry. The Guardian gave this advice to those writing: “In formulating your letter, you will need to introduce yourself: no

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1094684652092463432004-09-08T15:10:00.000-07:002004-09-08T16:07:11.146-07:00

Chris Morris in charge at NASA?... The loss of the Genesis capsule has been a disappointing conclusion for all those in planetary science. Myself included; I spent a year at UCL studying Astrophysics, and still retain an interest in the fields developments . Designed to sift through micrograms of atoms during its two years orbiting the sun, it hoped to give scientists an understanding of how the

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com7259tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1094249540058985952004-09-03T14:35:00.000-07:002004-09-08T09:44:59.046-07:00

Beslan... I watched the storming of the school on Sky News and BBC 24 this afternoon. It seems the Russian's have learned nothing from the Moscow theatre siege. The Russian journo on the TV said no contingency plan existed, and apparently four different special forces outfits were involved in the assault. This particular detail boggled the mind of their ex SAS pundit: "They're not wearing the

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1094073008802284782004-09-01T13:20:00.000-07:002004-09-03T17:28:12.820-07:00

Moisturising etc... The growing number of men's cosmetics and grooming aids has left me confused. Thanks to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and Nivea ads making it clear that you won't score with a shiny (read greasy) face, it appears that the dishevelled male can forget about the ladies. Some of this advice is welcome. But a line must be drawn. A good haircut and cool garments is common sense

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1093655302303346792004-08-27T16:51:00.000-07:002004-08-28T08:25:10.153-07:00

War Games... Tomodachi over at Susurration is a bit of a war buff. Not of the Soldier of Fortune or Sealed Knot ilk, more as a student of history. Countless times he has saved me from ignorant statements with a reminder of the wider context. He also enjoys playing the armchair general when he's not otherwise engaged. So it was on his advice that i started playing Shogun: Total War, the prequel

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1093647295140246992004-08-27T14:51:00.000-07:002004-08-28T09:22:31.850-07:00

Balance of probability... I have a lot of respect for Naomi Klein. No Logo was a classic of its kind, a well researched and accessable polemic against global capitalisms excesses. I didn't agree with all of it's conclusions, but it was never less than thought provoking in it's analysis. However, her radar has been knocked off point recently. Like many commentators on Iraq, she has filtered the

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1093565729732571812004-08-26T16:59:00.000-07:002004-08-26T17:53:52.090-07:00

Music again... For anyone interested in some truly cutting edge sounds, check out the guys at Hotflush. I largely lost interest in listening to dance music (although i still write the stuff) after that wasp in a biscuit tin trance sound became popular and Daft Punk failed to release a new album. I still keep a few irons in the fire though, and the garage/breakbeat influenced Dubstep sound is

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1093564685695715342004-08-26T15:48:00.000-07:002004-08-27T19:03:37.646-07:00

Music... Last night was a late night. It found me watching music channels after midnight after a few beers. (Thats what passes for a late one when your unemployed with no car. And you live in a hamlet of approx 200 souls. And your parents are in and you don't have the code for the nasty channels ;) Anyway, i watched for an hour or so, flicking between MTV2 and VH2 according to the adverts (more

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1093204585030078652004-08-22T12:28:00.000-07:002004-08-23T05:59:24.693-07:00

Two out of five ain't bad... For the first time in a long time, The Guardian has two cogent commentaries in one day. I'll lead with the those; another contribution to the day's C&A lies skewered at the bottom of the page. Firstly, an entertaining piece on anti social behaviour from the reliable Max Hastings. The whole article is very good, but I especially enjoyed this: "The other afternoon, I

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1093202350748064052004-08-22T11:33:00.000-07:002004-08-23T06:09:22.460-07:00

Random thoughts pt1: advertising... Is astrologer Russell Grant a corpulent five foot six, or three foot six with short limbs? In his Sky TV ad, the resemblence to a Mini-Me with hair leaves one unsure. Maybe the windows behind him were set high up on the wall. ***************************************************** If the girl in the Evian magazine advert is so happy being naked, why doesn't

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1092835861388600702004-08-18T06:00:00.000-07:002004-08-18T06:31:01.386-07:00

Toynbee, again... Readers of this article may think i have a pathological dislike for Polly Toynbee. Not true. She can be irritating when she sinks to sneer quote journalism. But she remains a talented writer, and when she avoids playing to the gallery she produces this sort of thing. "There is a coherent non-Islamophobic position and Turkey holds the key. Here is a democratic Islamic society,

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1092786610793013122004-08-17T16:10:00.000-07:002004-08-18T15:07:21.670-07:00

Apportioning blame... Following on from Tomodachi's List, i have a few light-hearted observations on how to blame the US for pretty much everything. #1. The US is actually responsible for running guns/rigging elections etc. This situations pretty simple. No chicanery is required. Simply cite your findings and wait for the Indy guest column slots to come rolling in. #2. An EU member is

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1092783605210648692004-08-17T12:53:00.000-07:002004-08-28T15:30:15.943-07:00

Ethical consumers, GM and personal guilt... I've got a lot of time for Julian Baggini. His guest columns in the Guardian offer a freshness that eludes their more regular commentators. In this piece, he considers anti-globalisation/ethical consumers and their axiomatic thinking on multinational corporations and GM foods. "Ethical consumerism should be about using our purchasing power to make the

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1092699631018622042004-08-16T15:26:00.000-07:002004-08-18T04:05:38.373-07:00

Langan in Iraq... Sean Langan made the trip to Iraq earlier this year, and recorded this exemplary film. Concentrating on the Sunni triangle, it makes harrowing viewing. Langan meets Iraqi's, US troops and the Insurgent/Resistance fighters in Fallujah and Ramadi. Its repeated every couple of weeks or so on BBC4, so catch it if you can. IMO its worth a thousand Farenheit 9/11s; I don't see Mickey

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1092615933008897142004-08-15T16:20:00.000-07:002004-08-18T04:06:21.110-07:00

Classic moments pt1... Many times i take in a film, bored for the most part, and then a classic moment crops up. A line, a look or even an embarrassed silence, that redeems the previous mediocrity. Some films have one or two, others five, six or more. I want to pay tribute here, to some of the moments that have made me laugh out loud despite their superficially innocuous nature. These cinematic

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1092611741584679832004-08-15T15:48:00.000-07:002004-08-18T04:06:54.896-07:00

Bacon... I love bacon. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than that first bacon sarnie of the day, served with a cup of stewed tea. Seeing the rashers sizzle in the pan, then shrink to half their uncooked size as a white watery discharge seeps from the- Stop. Rewind. A what discharge!? This is the problem with the Uk's average rasher. The thin aneamic slices marketed as bacon in are

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1092532169120349032004-08-14T18:00:00.000-07:002004-08-18T04:10:06.453-07:00

Style... It's funny. I spent three years ostensibly studying Journalism and i came out knowing little more than when i started. I learned more reading this online recently than in all the time i spent in the library at Staffordshire University. At Staffs, we spent a huge amount of time deconstructing the media through various lenses (mostly Marxist in essence), and very little time actually

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1092531228243172962004-08-14T17:33:00.000-07:002004-08-18T04:10:57.780-07:00

Ad Hominem... What is it about political discourse in America? Prominent commentators view it as a chance for mud slinging (probably with gravel amongst the dirt), rather than Athenian debate. Exhibit #1: Ann Coulter. Ann's knickers are in a twist over the Swift Boat Veteran's (a group of soldiers serving under John Kerry in Vietnam) denial of airtime on her favourite bogeyman, the Liberal media

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1092528622567727912004-08-14T12:07:00.002-07:002004-08-18T04:08:56.726-07:00

Holy places... a quick post following on from Tomodachi's post concerning the panapoly of holy places in Iraq. Look at this. The concentration of Islamic and Jewish sites in the Temple Mount/Harem al-Sharif compound has to be the worst accident of history ever. Israel annexed the Temple Mount in 1967. They cannot give it up, because: "For religious Jews, the Mount is where redemption will

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1092449335906348342004-08-13T18:55:00.000-07:002004-08-18T04:11:43.413-07:00

T-shirt creation..... Following on from my pal Tomodachi over at Susurration (props on your normblog listing bro!) i'm going to enlighten you all on the best consumer product acquired in the last seven days. I now possess cheap T shirts and the transfer paper necessary to create my own designs. I'm sorry, but this rocks. For too long i've ponied up for terrible designs at Top Man, or pretty

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1092446677767728202004-08-13T17:31:00.001-07:002004-08-18T04:12:27.330-07:00

Toynbee and Wind farms pt2....... Apologies to all. that last post unlocked some bitter impulses, ones that could not be restrained. Let it all out, i say. My place, my rules. Wind farms. Hands up who likes them. come on, some of you are wavering. Aha! you at the back. you're not just scratching your neck. I can tell that you secretly adore: "the gentle turning of these silent white wings"

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1092443400841804082004-08-13T16:37:00.000-07:002004-08-18T04:14:41.530-07:00

Toynbee and Wind farms pt1...... First things first. I am not a fan of Polly Toynbee or her work. She typifies the hectoring, lecturing attitude endemic among monied left leaners. Her piece on living on the dole* begged the question: why not get a genuine poor person to write it? I hear they teach writing skills in comprehensives these days. Someone must have taken it in. With that in mind, the

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1091572285067106202004-08-03T15:25:00.000-07:002004-08-18T04:17:04.513-07:00

Open Wide... I meant to post some meaningful insight to kick off the new blogging. Still, i couldn't resist this piece from NBC San Diego. As i understood it, saline solutions were of limited use in Dentistry* http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/3577698/detail.html *Any dentists out there, feel free to correct me. But please tell me you use the ones in the baggies.

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6284187.post-1091570682655522692004-08-03T14:51:00.000-07:002004-08-13T19:14:54.970-07:00

On my return..... For want of better things to fill my days, I've decided to start blogging again. I must first point out that i am a more well-adjusted individual these days. Finishing my Journalism degree has given me a more mellow mindset, so i won't be indulging in as many rants as i used to. Of course, many things still piss me off: London Bus fares (£1 from Finsbury Park to Crouch End. You

JM Falcohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05841505617206943643noreply@blogger.com0