Don’t just question authority – speak with it too

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SCNIBV87wV4

A funny yet eye-opening clip from Taylor Mali on youtube about the current trend rendering young people unable to speak with conviction and authority. It’s a problem many of us face; society states that every belief, opinion and lifestyle choice is as valid as the next, and so in expressing an opinion it’s important to not sound intolerant or, worse, like a dinosaur.

The opinions of others are to be respected, but there’s nothing wrong with having an opinion and stating it without worrying about offending or, worse again, being ‘uncool’.

Pirates and towers and glow sticks, oh my

Tankus the Henge lead singer Jaz Delorean has done well for himself considering his great-grandfather was a ne’er-do-well buccaneer. At least, that’s the story he tells. Apparently the family patriarch Polycarpus, one of the last Greek pirates and an all-round scallywag, was a loathed plunderer whose body was never found. All that was left of him was his ship, called Tankus the Henge. To this day nobody knows what the name means.

Tankus groupies claim to have heard differing versions of how the band got such a unique name. “It’s not my responsibility what others choose to pass around,” Delorean jokes, when I reveal my scepticism, having being told no two people hear the same tale.

How the band came to be named isn’t important. The very fact their name has a quirky story attached to it, whichever version you hear, is symptomatic of what this band is about – a sense of fun, the exotic, with a not-too-subtle presence of eccentricity. Seeing the band play in Leicester, at a bar called The Shed, it’s clear this eccentricity doesn’t play second fiddle, so to speak, to the music. The songs are unique and memorable. Delorean orchestrates the gig like a circus ringleader, with a top hat perched on his head, creating an act they promise will ‘astonish, enchant and bewilder’. The audience seem to feel all three of these emotions when a machine shooting out fake snow covers the Shed with its slippery substance; though considering a snow-less winter wonderland lay outside, the pretend version was a nice enough substitute.

Such theatrics can rather detract from what should be the focus of a gig – the music. Tankus released their debut EP, entitled Smiling Makes the Day Go Quicker in December 2007. Megan Cooley worked with Delorean at Thorpe Park, Surrey: “Their music is so much fun, I can’t define it. I saw them live a lot before I heard the recording of Smiling – it was really good, but they’re something else live. They’ve got so much energy.”

The band consists of singer Delorean, dreadlocked guitarist Chris Owen, charismatic drummer George Bird, and the calmly focused bass player Mason (just Mason, apparently). Delorean’s story goes that the band formed when he fell out of the sky into the foundations of a tower Bird’s dad was building. Bird rescued him from the cement, and after saving his life they found Mason floating along the Thames, having fallen off his sail boat near the Tower Bridge, and saved him too.

Much like the name of the band, the true genesis is clearly unimportant. Though for what it’s worth, Delorean attended the prestigious BRIT School in London, which has also produced musical talents Amy Winehouse and Imogen Heap.

Anyone going to a typical Tankus the Henge show for the first time might question if they’ve been slipped acid As well as the ever-present top hat and fake snow, their audiences are thrown glow sticks to do with what they like and every Tankus gig is attended by the customary groupies, who have come to be called ‘orange people’ thanks to the orange t-shirts they sport. These are a dedicated lot, many of them knowing the unsigned band from their respective home towns. Steph Jones has followed the band since before she started dating Delorean. She says it’s impossible to not like them. She tells the story of how their first single on iTunes, Smiling Makes the Day Go Quicker, came into existence: “It was made up at work [Thorpe Park] on a really dull day. Jaz made up the chorus line to cheer everyone up, and got everyone singing it.”

Jones says the band have been courted by a few people for a record deal. They are certainly gaining attention and recognition. BBC Berkshire claim they are ‘almost the Beatles’, and XFM have said they ‘are going to be huge’. BBC Berkshire’s demo Session judging panel voted their single Smiling… above two other acts in their category in November 2007 on their website. The band call themselves ‘a blast from the future’, but have been favourably compared with Pink Floyd.

A name synonymous with mystery or adventure, depending what you believe. A story of the beginning that’s not even remotely grounded in truth An act with their own sound, and a show that’s a little too dependent on unnecessary theatrics. All these quirks comprise Tankus the Henge, but what’s clear is that they thrive on entertaining the audience, whether it’s during an orange-shirt filled gig or just telling stories to an interviewer about pirates, towers and sail boats.

RIP Heath Ledger

I don’t intend to fill this blog with celebrity gossip, but it seems appropriate to mention briefly my sadness at the passing of a young, talented actor with everything to live for. It’s especially sad that his two-year-old daughter (with actress Michelle Williams) will have to grow up without her father.

To put you off meat for the rest of your life

It might be among the last great taboos of cinema but cannibalism has had some great moments on celluloid. The moment Sweeney Todd cottons on to Mrs Lovett’s idea for a tasty new meat-pie filling in Tim Burton’s macabre musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, it’s immediately clear that Hannibal-the-cannibal Lector has a rival for the creepiest man-eater on film.

On all counts of the macabre the film is a success. Johnny Depp gleefully succumbs to the thrill of the kill, deciding to slaughter as many expendable customers as he can. This is all for the sake of practicing the art of throat-slashing before his chance to exact revenge on the judge responsible for the ruination of his family, played to snarly perfection, as usual, by Alan Rickman.

His twisted relationship with Mrs Lovett, the meat-pie maker in the shop below, is just as gruesome, as she savours whatever scrap of attention he sends her way along with the bodies of his victims. Helena Bonham-Carter, long-time partner of director Burton, sings adoringly to the man she hopes to save from his haunted past; she is reminiscent of evil accomplices such as Myra Hindley, or the doting women who send love-letters to jailed serial killers. But she also brings humour to the film, providing most of the quips that stop the doom and gloom from becoming too gloomy.

The gloom doesn’t simply hide behind the humour though. In fact, the whole film is, naturally, a bit gore-heavy. Maybe it’s old-fashioned to think so, but the horror of throat-slitting can be shown just as well without the act being shown in full, close-up detail. And no matter how many ‘this-is-the-closest-shave-you-shall-ever-have’ puns there are, the nauseating sight of Mrs Lovett turning the wheels of the meat-churner will put to rest any doubts about the necessity of the film’s 18 Certificate.

So while all aspects of the macabre are in place – gore, a high body count, grey-soaked cinematography that contrasts with cartoon-red blood – the film fails to be a compelling musical. Burton made the decision to eliminate songs, or parts of songs, from the original Stephen Sondheim score that he considered to be too theatrical. That decision adds to the sombre tone of the film, but consequently there are no memorable or interesting songs. With repeated viewings some might stick, but a musical with no sing-along tunes is a bit of a charade. Why bother at all?

Sweeney Todd will be too grim for many people, with good reason. But it’s very well acted; in particular the character of young Toby, taken in by Mrs Lovett, who grows to love her like a mother and can see the true Sweeney Todd in ways that she can’t. There’s also never a dull moment as we see the genesis of Todd’s moral breakdown, the exacting of his revenge, the love story between a young sailor and Todd’s daughter, and the legend’s inevitable conclusion. But if there was ever a film to promote vegetarianism as a lifestyle, this could be it.

Speak carefully

In any democracy, the right to free speech MUST to be greater than the right to not be offended.

Canadian columnist Mark Steyn is being investigated by the Canadian Human Rights Commission for supposed anti-Islamic remarks in his book America Alone, which he quoted in an article he wrote for the magazine Maclean’s in 2006. Law students are claiming the article offended them. If you follow the link below to Steyn’s website it explains that his article is not being called libelous or false. Just plain old offensive.

I’m offended that free speech is being attacked so montrously. Who can I sue?

He hasn’t called for violence to Muslims, he hasn’t said Muslims are evil; he has been merely critical of certain facets of the religion, and the actions of certain believers in the name of Allah.

The right to hold an opinion must be protected.

Even in Canada.

To read Steyn’s reaction to the witch-hunt:

ttp://www.steynonline.com/content/blogcategory/15/100/

To support the free-thinking, free-speaking opponents of this ridiculous farce:

http://www.freemarksteyn.com/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20660013040

It’s her human right, right?

I can’t help but wonder what it is that makes Hillary think she is so entitled to be the next Pres. It’s precisely why I find her so off-putting.