Alas, no time to write a 2005 Pop Culture review, though a short/snappy Top 5 for Xfm here.
Must briefly add an honourbale mention to Artic Monkeys. OK, there's been all the hype of, "Wow, band does it single-handedly on the internet" etc. and yes, some of that is correct, though MySpace etc. plus the internet as a distribution platform is by no means a sudden phenomena.
For me, it's the video for "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" with such an all round tight performance by the band. Lead singer, Alex emanates energy like an eqaully focused & fired up Paul Weller in his Jam days i.e. 'Eton Rifles' and/or 'That's Entertainment'; a hot band and obvious one to watch for 2006.
Keep Xfm as your soundtrack to seeing in the New Year with a 2-hour exclusive James Hyman/Audio Shrapnel mix featuring the aforementioned Artic Monkeys alongisde Franz Ferdinand, Gorillaz, Nirvana, Tiga, Soulwax, Kaiser Chiefs, Pendulum, Rolling Stones, Madonna, Bloc Party and even Bros (!!)
Full Mix tracklisting here and MP3 snippet here.
I bid you all a very happy holidays & best wishes for 2006, leaving you with this 'cracker' from Modern Toss:
for a good cause, taking place Friday 3 March 2006 with Celeb squiggles auctioned off on ebay.
Here's my, er, abstract, er Picasso homage, er, effort (!):
Earlier this year, around May Bank Holiday, I noticed a slight lump in my groin area. Fearing (gulp!), the big 'C', I called my doctor who recommended me to a specialist and after some pants down & coughing confirmed a Hernia, advising an operation sooner rather than later. So, last Thursday, the time came to visit hospital and get it sorted.
I had felt more queasy a couple of weeks ago when the date was being booked and they were going into details about where you have to be, stop eating/drinking at this time etc.
So I arrive, disrobe, have 2 nurses shave me down South (!) and wait, the vibe a bit Death Row, probably because of the recent Arnie 'terminating' Death Row's Tookie Williams news still fresh in my mind.
As I was wheeled into the 'theatre' (to perform?!!!), the mood changed to feeling like a well-looked after piece of human-cattle as I was gently branded with a black 'L' on my hand and 'X' on my left groin so Dr. O.J.A. Gilmore knew where to make the correct incision(s). The calm/cool anaethitist told me that I'd be out in seconds; after a euphoric nervous giggle I was.
When I awoke, I couldn't remember anything, no 'near-death' experiences that some claim though I was very evangelical to the nurse next to me, praising & blessing her repeatedly, then given some morphine to ease the pain. Back upstairs, Kate was there, greeted by me mumbling, "Hot Dog!". Sore pain as expected but relaxing nevertheless.
Obviously hospitals (& funerals) tend to give you a mortality check, possibly why I picked up on this mad site, 'MyDeath.Net' whilst browsing thru the current Dazed & Confused. While you're there, worth also checking 'Death Clock' too which guestimates how long you've got left to live!!!
Friday AM, I left after a night of spontaneous blood pressure tests, painkillers, an early morning briefing from the surgeon's assistant and a Physio explaining exercises I needed to do to aid speedy recovery.
Being positive, I'm now resting & relaxing at home in bed, reading loads of magazines/newspapers and now experiencing what it feels like to soon be a very old man with top speed about 2 miles per hour. Hopefully, with some help, I may very well make it to Pacha on Monday for my DJ date!!!
Oh, and if you want to send a get well soon/xmas ting; thanks in advance (!!)
As the e-mail came in the inbox, I thought it was a Viagra-style spam thing but no, a bit of a delightful Dave Gorman moment.
(Jamie's message below and her blog reply to this here).
-----Original Message-----
From: Jamie Hyman
Sent: 14 December 2005 17:55
To: James Hyman
Found you during a self-google, because on some other sites, you are referred to as "Jamie Hyman." I couldn't resist contacting another one, also in radio.
My broadcasting career is a little different, though. I'm a radio news reporter for WIOD out of Miami.
Also, I'm a woman.
Do you get crap from listeners about your name? I hear about it all the time, but that's part of the reason I chose not to change it - I figured no one would ever forget it. And they don't. I worked in the Florida Keys for five years, and to this day, if I go back and visit, I'm greeted with shouts of "Jamie Hyman!"
Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself. Feel free to email back with more about you - I am curious.
All the best,
Jamie Hyman
Great ad, makes you proud (!) to be living in the ebay era. Phenomenal concept/success story - the bay is banging!!!
Just picked up issue 2 and glad that 'Dirty Found' mag didn't go belly up after one issue as many uber-cool niche zines often sadly do. If you haven't seen this, fair enough, you have to dig but find it for a right riveting read.
Basically 'Dirty Found', like sister publication 'Found' publishes material that readers have randomly or maybe intentionally found and sent in - photos, objects, letters, faxes, notes, post-its etc. If 'Found' is 'PG, 'Dirty Found' is obviously rated 'R'!!
It reminds me of 'PostSecret' - both perverse print, both superbly simple, original journals that puzzle, scare, disturb, amuse and amaze.
Dragon's Den? Probably. It's brutal, dramatic and grips me every time I catch it. X-Factor does much of the same though even with the democracy of the public voting, X-Factor veers more towards that whole glitz & glamour side of entertainment whereas 'Dragon's Den' is just cold & hard hitting as you watch entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas/products to the 5 Dragons (potential investors) who can suddenly turn nice or nasty in a split second.
I think 'Dragon's Den' just pips BBC's 'The Apprentice', even though a close old skool friend of mine, James Max was in the latter and nearly won. Main reason why is the fast turnover of pitches as compared to 'The Apprentice' drawing out 1 task per week.
As a viewer, I'm enthralled by Dragon Den's weekly 1-hour rollercoasting ride with added excitement from smart, succint, unassuming, presenter Evan Davis plus tight editing that all combine to hook you into constant uncertainty of whether the pitch you're watching will go sweet or sour.
You can really feel the pain some of those pitching go thru e.g this Yorkshire man, on an eco-mission to save the world with his flushing loo device that saved water; the fiery dragons weren't having any of it; no time for them to watch their dropped off friends swirling away down the khazi!!!
This is Reality TV really keeping it real instead of all that mindless tosh from all those other Reality TV shows I could mention.
From Hip-Hop Connection Magazine:
....with DNA11.Com. Bit of a luxury, vanity gift but if you're into it, send off a little spit via their kit, then DNA11 run your saliva thru their gene-machines and print a custom rendered canvas of your genetic make-up, guaranteed to be a unique 1 of a kind piece of art.
I'm just waiting for a new wave of ebay frenzy when, having had all these kind of "Buy your Britney/Madonna/Elvis etc. Pop-Art Prints here", you'll soon get offers to bid on a Bono DNA painting to hang in your living room, though how and to what lengths will celeb-stalkers go to nab celebs' spit!!!?? If someone can trail Britney to catch a fart and flog it, I guess this and anything's possible, truss!!
I also remember reading somewhere that J. Craig Venter, the former CEO of Celera (that first decoded the human genome), will map your genes and burn a copy onto a CD for about $500,000!!! So basically you can find out which diseases you're prone to get and vice-versa thus helping yourself find cures/treatments early on etc.
Following my 'Cassette Boyeeeeee!!!' blog coupled with nearing the end of the massive task of having all my CDs catelogued, having ditched loads of vinyl in the process, I had to laugh at this letter from The Wire back in October; Sven Logg - we salute you!
Do check Thurston Moore's excellent book on the culture of cassette & art of the mix-tape; reminds me of 2 films that play the whole 'mix-tape' thing subtly yet so well, 'Virgin Suicides' and Warp Film's awesome 'Movern Callar'.
It's Sir Elton's left hand I'm worried about; it appears to be resting on an un-circumcised willy-sofa; concern/comments to 'Attitude' magazine, whose exclusive interview is a fantastic read - congats all round!
Whilst I've got my 'Queer Eye' as a straight guy on (!), love this snippet out of new Q magazine from an interview with deserved-so Mercury Prize Winner 2005, Antony & The Johnsons:
Finally, though it's nearly the end of the year, No Bra's "Munchausen" is possibly my favourite tune of the year. Really? Yes, f*cking REALLY!!!! The Studio 54/Euro/Hoxton-esque camp catchphrase "Really" repeated over bananas better-than you banter & stomping techno is the bomb. Susanne & Dale aka "No Bra" have hit a zeitgeist hard; if I'm not retorting "Really" back to Craig or Lez, I'm picking up on someone else saying it all innocently as I smile.
When I spoke to Susanne the other day about getting an Xfm No Bra/Munchausen jingle, he (!) reckoned people would be bored of the record in about 6 months. Really?! HELL NO! Man, I've heard Usher's "Yeah" about a million times and Lil' John & Luda still kick ballistics. Susanne also warned me about the imminent gutter pop video to accompany the track; can't wait!!
From The Times, Tuesday November 29th; it's all gone a bit nut-nut!
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