Mates of State

You can't beat late night MTV2 browsing for finding music you haven't heard before. Or can you? Anyway, here's my last music recommendation of the year, Mates of State. 'Fraud in the 80s' is the song here, from their latest album.

Bright lights big city

Another successful jaunt into the centre of Manchester last Friday...


Dutton and Jimbo wonder where the beer is.


"I was waiting thirty minutes to get served Ben."


The girls living it up.


The lads living it up.


Back in familiar territory at the Scot for last orders.

50 forgotten films

The Observer has printed a list of 50 great films that have been overlooked for one reason or another. Included in the round-up is David Lynch's weird and wonderful Twin Peaks prequel, Fire Walk With Me. The list is here.

Mod of the year

Modding is the art of turning your computer case into something unique that doesn't look much like a computer case at all. Over at bit-tech.net there's a Mod of the Year competition here, with 12 weird and wonderful entries to choose from.

The Drugs Don't Work

According to a new scientific study by Dr Harry Witchel, a physiology and music expert, The Verve's 1997 hit The Drugs Don't Work is the saddest song. Ever. More here.

Pan's Labyrinth

I finally got around to seeing Pan's Labyrinth on Friday night with the help of Iain "I need no sleep" Playle. Over at Rotten Tomatoes here it's got an unbelievable 100% rating and while it is very good, it isn't quite that good. It's not so much a fantasy story as a war story with a little bit of fantasy around the edges - the fantasy creatures are great (though there should be more of them), the acting from the Captain and the little girl Ofelia is fantastic and it was a lot scarier and more gruesome than I expected. If you like weird foreign films with subtitles, symbolic and allegorical overtones and lots of shooting then go and see it.

More cowbell

One of the classic Saturday Night Live skits starring Will Ferrell.