This week I was mostly...

This week I was mostly loving the internet and all the delights contained therein. This new found love for the information super highway was brought on by the lovely people at Scanwiches - "Scans of sandwiches for education and delight." It does exactly what it says on the tin. So strangely awesome, it's hard not to just sit there and stare at them. That's right I sit alone in my darkened room staring at pictures of sandwiches. Don't judge me.....

This week I was mostly listening to music from ye olden days, the late 80's and early 90's that is. Well you cant sit and stare at scans of sandwiches without a soundtrack. I have mainly been enjoying the tweely lovely pop of Ireland's own, The Would Be's and as a contrast the dark and moody post-punk of The Chameleons. Both bands were responsible in their own ways for helping to lead me out of the velvet garden of Gothdom. They were my musical methadone if you will. Finding new music and turning away from the faux doom and introversion of The Fields of The Nephilim, The Sisters of mercy, Christian Death et al was step one of the de-gothification programme. It's a 666 step programme.

Like any alcoholic you are never really cured of your gothness and sometimes you have to fight really hard the urge to dress from head to toe in black velvet whilst slapping the girlfriend's lippy on over your lips and whole lip area a la Fat Bob Smith. But I fight that urge because being a goth is so crap it's not true, still better than being a hippy or a mod but still crap all the same. And imagine the horror of being served by a goth waiter, "You want some dead cow, oh the waste of life.....I'm really a vampire that's why I work at night." Hmpf, on body wants that. My name is Manuel and I am a recovering goth, it's been fifteen years since my last act of gothness.

The Chameleons - Monkeyland.

This week I was mostly poking my uneducated nose into Leftovers. Not the remains of diners dinners you understand, although I am no stranger to the half eaten steak - wipe it, bless it, eat it and scrape the rest into the bin. No, I refer to course to the "small arts focused magazine" based in Manchester. I wondered at first how small the art was, were we talking stamp sized art but soon realised I had just read it wrong. Sake. The current issue features a fantastically silly, and I mean that in the nicest way, story by Natalie Doris Irvine on her weekly flights onboard a "spaceship." Heh. There are also illustrations by Belfast's answer to Del Boy and massive beard aficionado, Ryan Darragh. It's a lovely little read and I recommend it to everybody who likes yer art in a smal and compact format.

Get your noses into some Leftovers, whether it be the half eaten food of strangers or a small arts magazine, and have a lovely weekend.

Ta Ta.....