Blogwatch: bumper edition

This week's must-read musings are those of Ian Penman on Western fundamentalism in the light / wake of the invasion of Iraq:

"Imagine a MUSLIM country...which has a Hollywood which spends X billion on just passing trivial movies, bits of fluff, but bits of fluff which are THROUGH AND THROUGH propagandistic ... full of GUNPLAY and GOOD GUYS VS BAD GUYS and siege mentality but in which you, your country, your 'values' impossibly, always win . . .

How would we feel if we were being bombarded with such films/culture day in day out, along with attendant publicity. . . which is a polite way of saying NO ESCAPE (there being Hollywood PRs who make the American military look like sulking choreographers at a Judy Garland convention...]

... and you begin to think that the YOU-S in its creepy unspoken DON'T FUCKING PROTEST HERE PINKO essence is increasingly nearer a kind of totalitarian or fundamentalist state... and make no mistake they ARE FUNDAMENTALIST these people. . ."

Elsewhere, people seem to have been telepathically stealing my prospective postings. Graham has posted about his enjoyment of 'Donnie Darko', "whatever the hell it was all about" - my assessment EXACTLY, when I saw the film a couple of weeks back. He also raves about Michael Azerrad's excellent book 'Our Band Could Be Your Life', which I read not too long ago and thoroughly enjoyed.

Meanwhile, The Yes / No Interlude has been detailing the experience of a non-fitness-freak visiting the gym - almost PRECISELY the same as mine on Saturday, when I was lured / dragged along to one such palace of expensive personal torture. Initially perspiring through fear of displaying pathetic physical inadequacy in a very public setting, I ended up perspiring through sheer unfitness. The realisation is dawning, though, that doing exercise might not be a choice but a necessity in the near future. Urgh.

And, as if that wasn't enough pre-emptive plagiarism, Alex writes about his wife calling him "a 'born critic' the other day. I have to concede that she's right - I am Mr Negativity. I can write paragraph after paragraph about how pish something is, but find it impossible to describe a positive experience. Calexico were great - exciting, fun, entertaining, intelligent.... but I can only squeeze out one sentence to that effect." That is EXACTLY my problem too. I know JUST what you mean, Alex, when you say "the vocabulary of negative criticism is so much more delicious."

Other things to have caught my eye: Matthew is revelling in the greatness that is the radio work of Chris Morris and Steve Coogan, while Kevin confesses that Faith No More's Angel Dust album represents a serious musical yardstick for him - and how could it not, featuring such songs as 'Crack Hitler' and 'Jizzlobber'?

And finally... Dead Kenny has been to see ex 'Coronation Street' actress Tracy Shaw prancing around in the nip, in David Hare's play 'The Blue Room'. Excellent to hear that she's made a full recovery after having her head staved in by crowbar-wielding maniac Richard Hillman.