November 2004 Archives

I was just going over to Plasticbag's to steal their comment disclaimer for u2log.com when lo and behold, Tom writes:

"U2log.com - one of the first and best single-subject magazine-style weblogs. I'm not a great fan of U2, but it's still an impressive site - and more importantly was created way before Gawker media and the current fad for commercial webloggery. I wonder if it makes any money..."

Finally, someone recognises U2log.com. I always feel it's been ignored by web pundits -- probably because they find its subject matter distasteful. I think I entered the site into the Webbies twice without being short listed while the much younger and more derivative Whedonesque got in without problems.

Do we make any money? No, we don't. We don't make any 'big' money. We make pocket money. Enough for me to buy my many editors a Christmas gift. Enough to pay for bandwidth over-usuage. We're probably in the Top 5 U2 fansites, but nowhere near the largest. We get 5000 to 7000 (front)page hits per day and just had our busiest day last week at 23000 page hits.

We started this site as a joke, just some old IRC friends mucking about. Our style reflected this. We were irreverent, with a Brit/Aussie type humour - unlike any other U2 sites. Always taking the mickey out of the band. These days we're rather professional, with press accreditation and access to big events, old skool reporting and what have you, but we're still doing it because we're obsessive about documenting the band and still in love with the music.

Bad news: stricken with flu, not up to much. Vegetating. Good news: Work contract being drawn up. As per December 1st, after two years of temping, I am a fully employed citizen again. I'd holler whoo-hoo if my throat wasn't as dry as the Sahara and making me retch.

Have upgraded MT. Testing, testing.

's Not officially confirmed yet, but something cool is going down on December 15...

I had to change around all my holiday plans for December and guess what... it fit right in with the schedule at work, so I was given that whole week off.

Yes, people, I'm making another trip to Ireland.

And now we're Sci-Fi.com's Site of the Week.

And a mention on the BBC Cult site.

I really need to think about getting my own server.

All hell has broken loose. U2 are playing NYC from the back of a truck.

U2log.com stats: "Based on the number of visitors of 19132 today so far, today your site may have 21631 page views."

Update: 23002 in total for today.
Update II: And on the same (global) day, Joss Whedon decides to pay another visit to Whedonesque to drop another kind of bomb.

Me sad, says he.

Delayed shock, the loss of someone who should still be a friend, the confrontation with mortality. I know how he feels.

All I have is words and the words are not my own.

Write his name on paper. Put it in the ground or a pot. Plant a vegetable or tree. When you see or eat the plant, he will be beside, or inside you.

This I offer. Send and receive. Sealed with a X.

I can see him now, in Eden, with a shovel and an apple tree. Digging a hole. In the rain. Cap on, trousers hanging off the bony hips. Wellies. Puts a smile on my face. And I can't lose that.

A very wise, famous man once wrote to me: I am he and he is she and we are all together. We're all in this together. Long distance be damned.

Michael Koubi was the chief interrogator of Shin Bet, Israel's security service.

This interview with him in New Scientist (more on his 'methods') gives me the creeps, but his thoughts on language are relevant to understanding people in general and the art of interviewing in particular.

Especially interesting to me since his ideas support the theories I have on why the interview I mentioned recently failed.

Because we didn't have enough to do, a new feature on U2log.com. On // transit we pay our respects to consumerism and pimp our favourites. This way we let our readers know we're not quite monomaniacs. And I just love the idea of inflicting Coil on the great unwashed.

So, that linkdump thing (see below). It's fucking ugly, innit? In fact, compared to U2log.com, this whole site is now just an inch short of fugly. What do I want for Christmas? Time.

• Slyck News - Top 10 Suprnova.org Alternatives
  (categories: p2p)
• Rattlebag interview with John Balance, October 22, 2004
  (categories: music)
• Photoshop for Photographers
  (categories: photography photoshop)
• Foxtrot: There's Too Much Blood in My Alcohol (must buy this)
  (categories: music)
• Boing Boing: John Balance, RIP
  Nothing in the mainstream press yet
  (categories: music)
• Rufus Wainwright, Want Two preview
  (categories: music)
• Phranc
  (categories: music)
• A Million Love Songs: Jimmy Somerville, Dark Sky
  (categories: music)
• Coil's Sleazy: The Stylus Interview Series
  (categories: music)
• mvdbase.com - Peter Christopherson Videography
  (categories: music)
• Craigslist comes to Amsterdam
  (categories: web)
• Technorati: Sorted by Most Recent 43 posts matching "john balance"
  (categories: music)
• THE GANG OF FOUR are to reform for a UK tour.
  (categories: music)
• Fake Rock'n'Roll: The Mission Is Renewed: An interview with Peter Christopherson
  (categories: music)

It appears that John Balance (a.k.a. Geff Rushton, of Coil, Psychic TV) died in an accident at home on Saturday.

I did not know John Balance in person, but we exchanged some letters over a decade ago. He was kind and helpful. I'm saddened by his death because I loved his music and have just had to inform a friend who did know and love him well. Those days, as John wrote to me, those golden daze are over.

Time to listen to some Coil magic.

Coil - official homepage
Threshold House
VirginPrunes.com in memoriam
Coil live at Paradiso, 2001
Fortean Times interview with John Balance
Psychic TV

• BLEEP - Digital Downloads from Warp Records
  (categories: music)
• Tweakfactor.com: Firefox Tweak Guide - Page 1 - Get your tweak on!
  (categories: Firefox)
• GmailUsers.com
  (categories: gmail)
• The Paris Review - Interviews
  (categories: culture literature)
• Simple podcasting.
  (categories: broadcasting ipod podcasting)
• Dead Can Dance reform to tour
• Frackers:" The New York Times knows nothing about The Netherlands"
  (categories: holland)
• PopCult Magazine: It's Cool!
  pop-culture
• Metafilter thread: German paper's list of things that are better in America
  humour usa
• Bloc Party live session, streaming
  (categories: music)
• NYLPM ol Dirty Bastard and John Balance, RIP
  (categories: music)

Am trying to get this: "post to an MT blog from delicious" to work, but no luck so far. *thinks*

Finally!

The new U2log.com has gone live.

All MT 3.1, CSS, xHTML (though external links break validation), dynamic publishing, etc etc. And we're using Flickr for our 'Caption it' feature.

So, we're ready for the new album (which the design is based on) and tour. What's next?

"The musical genius of S Club 7 lives on!"
-- Top of the Pops presenter, 2004.

As the man said, god help us all.

Irish music magazine Hot Press are doing the Top 100 Greatest Irish albums poll and have shortlisted a number of albums. The list includes the Virgin Prunes' ... If I Die, I Die, but criminally ignores Gavin Friday's beguiling solo works: 'Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves' (Island Records, 1989), 'Adam 'n' Eve' (Island Records, 1992) and 'Shag Tobacco' (Island Records, 1995).

I am mobilising all GF fans to add Shag Tobacco as their personal choice in the poll. And now I'm asking you, faithful readers of prolific.org, to do the same. You can pick 4 other albums from the list, or add them too. It would be lovely if you could throw a vote towards '...If I Die, I Die'.

Voting requires membership to the site, but you can get a special day pass just to vote.

Thank you, it means a lot to me. Drop a note in the comment box when you've voted and I'll raffle a Gavin Friday album among you.

Studio Brussels are using some of my photos on their site. They did not ask permission to do so, even when it was specifically stated the copyright was mine and all use required my express permission. When I called them on it, they apologised and I let them continue using the pictures. I'm not that difficult.

Last night, the veteran DJ of the programme using the pictures vented his frustration with the people ON them during his show. Very loosely translated it came down to this: 'I saw them play live back in the 80s and they were uninspired and pretentious' ⁽¹⁾, 'They were drunk when I interviewed them' ⁽²⁾, 'Their DJ set sucked, Fleetwood Mac was about the most exciting thing they played.' ⁽³⁾, 'You only need to buy one of their albums to know what they're like.' ⁽⁴⁾.

This DJ had not prepared his questions very well ('Did you ever sell your soul to the devil?'), he mispronounced the band's name and got the name of their record company wrong as well. He fucked up. Consequently the interview was a bit of a trainwreck. He was eaten alive by two charismatic artists having a laugh. On stage, in front of 250 of their fans in Ancienne Belgique. Ouch. Even heavily edited, the interview sounded painful on radio. You know you have a problem when the fans' questions get a better response from the artists.

I felt sorry for him at the time, though I could not understand why he hadn't prepared properly. Now I wonder why he took the job in the first place. If you don't like an artist, why put yourself in that position?

I have asked Studio Brussels to remove my pictures from their site a.s.a.p. as I do not want my work to be associated with this level of frankly unprofessional behaviour.

Footnotes:
1. More pretentious than The Fall, who they were supporting-uh?
2. No, they weren't. We did, however, get hammered afterwards.
3. I heard Fischerspooner, Joy Division, Brel, T Rex, Mingus...
4. Mr DJ, you fight like a girl.

I still have to write about my weekend in Brussels with those two mad Irish bastards and one London gent. Rest assured I'm working on it, scribbling down my impressions in a notebook on my way to and from work. Cause I'm an 'amateur'.

I spent hours going through the stylesheet of an upcoming redesign at U2log.com, trying to figure out why the links in the right hand column weren't clickable.

Finally did a search and found out that it was caused by a negative value margin-top of a header in the left hand column.

Come ON!

Earlier today I did a quick check on Usenet to see if the new U2 album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, had 'arrived' so to say, and lo and behold, it had just been uploaded to abs.mp3.etc.

My first impression of How to dismantle an atomic bomb is very favourable. There are fewer duds on it than on All that you can't leave behind, and I really liked that album. So it bodes well.

I'll be updating this post as I get to know these songs better.

1. Vertigo. It's annoying me that U2 feel the need to compete with young contenders in such an overt way. Sure, get fired up in the studio, but why engage in this 'my dick is bigger than your dick' kind of posturing? Vertigo is this album's Elevation - the opening song and single in which U2 re-establish their punk rock roots. I actually like Vertigo a lot better than the pompous Elevation and it sounds good on the radio. But with no hook or great lyric to rememember, as a single it's rather forgettable. Love the start of it, though. Update: Lyrically, I wager this is about stage fright, about finding god in the connection between performer and audience. A song about lift off. (***)
2. Miracle drug. I don't quite understand this one lyrically, so I'm having trouble remembering it musically. It references Bono's AIDS related work in Africa as well as matters of the heart at home and I don't quite see what the connection is. Perhaps it's quite simply about his choice to forsake family life for a good part of the year to help people elsewhere. A grower, quite possibly. (***)
3. Sometimes you can't make it on your own . Words can't describe the beauty of this tune, originally written for Bono's father. It's gorgeous, I cried. For anyone that's loved and lost, fought and made up with a parent, a partner, a friend, it doesn't matter -- this will hit home. (*****)
4. Love and peace or else . The song starts with a rumble reminiscent of Until the end of the world and then the glamrock choir sets in. A noisy, likeable tune that favours rhythm over blues. Its novelty wears off soon, as it's not quite God Part II or Daddy's gonna pay. Nick Cave would have captured that swamp & bible sound better. (***)
5. City of Blinding Light. Big music makes a comeback. This tune was first mentioned to us under the title 'Skyhawk' and had been put forward for the Spiderman II movie - but U2 decided they needed another year in the studio with another set of producers. Since then it apparently got re-titled 'Firefly' (Joss Whedon wouldn't have liked that.) and it finally comes to us with yet another name. It doesn't matter what it's called, really, as this is one people will remember regardless. Vintage U2 grandeur with a touch of sean-nos meandering, a driving beat and, god help me, I hear a bit of the Simple Minds in it. (*****)
6. All because of you. What. were. they. thinking.? I like my U2 rolling more than rocking, and this awful ditty is what I'd label cock rock. Oh and Bono, man, you're out of tune. (*)
7. A man and a woman. An extraordinary, sophisticated song that doesn't sound anything like U2, but it gets under my skin and I like it there. Blue eyed soul, it reminds me of the solo work Tim Booth did with Angelo Badelamenti, the album Booth and the Bad Angel. Lyrically, musically, I'll never get enough of this one. Update: Did ye catch the nod to Gavin Friday in this one? (*****)
8. Crumbs from your table. Another song that seems inspired by Bono's DATA work. It's the new Walk On, but musically as well as thematically more complex. Update: Who is Bono talking to in this song? A pretty girl? Or the pretty girl that was the USA? (****)
9. One step closer. I'm sure this song will grow on me, like Grace never did, and I'm sure these will be the notes we will hear as we make our way out of the venue when U2 start playing live. It's a hymn, it's about death and it's hopeful. Classic U2, really. (*****)
10. Original of the species. Written for or about Bono's daughter Eve (hence the title) this is another tune that confuses me a little lyrically as Bono blurs the line between child and woman child. And... well, let's not go there. Update: A sweeter, more innocent companion song to Last night on earth? (****)
11. Yahweh. First mentioned to me as one to look out for a year and a half ago, I must say it's turned out a little disappointing. Musically, I think it's in Wild Horses and Walk On territory, but it's not strong enough for an album closer. And I do hate the way Bono pronounces Yahweh very, very much. (****)

Update: My god, these songs stick in the mind! Fragments keep bubbling up and I'm singing them to myself on my way to work.

The spoils today:

• U2: Vertigo CDS I, CDS II, DVD single
  
• Bloc Party: Helicopter CDS
  
• Bloc Party: Banquet E.P.
  
• Television: Marquee Moon CD (Rhino, re-issue)
  
• Interpol: The Black EP
  
• The Human League: Travelogue CD
  
• F.F. Coppola: Apocalypse Now Redux DVD
  

This is for those Dutch politicians claiming four more years of the Bush administration is a victory for its policy on the 'war on terrorism'.

Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh was murdered in the vicinity of Oosterpark in Amsterdam this morning.

He was shot and stabbed several times. A note was pinned on Van Gogh's body.

The killer was apprehended by Dutch police after a shoot out in Oosterpark. He is a 26 year old man of both Dutch and Moroccan nationality.

Van Gogh, controversial and outspoken, was working on a film on Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, who was murdered two years ago.

BBC: Gunman kills Dutch film director
ABC: Dutch Filmmaker Theo van Gogh Murdered
Reuters: Controversial Dutch Filmmaker Shot Dead

On a personal note, the murder, the shoot out and arrest of the killer took place some 500 meters from my home.

America, it's hard to love. It's harder to be loved. Don't take the easy way out and let us adore you once more.

prolific.org endorses John Kerry, for today at least.