Normal Service will Resume Shortly

17 months without an update!?!?!

I'm going to start this up again very soon. off to have a g0od think

#3: The post I couldn't think of an apt title for.

I like films which feel like they were made with me in mind. Films with my sense of humour, my interests and I would like to imagine a bit of intelligence to them. But like most people I will generally sit through most things, and usually enjoy them.

But sometimes a film comes along that ticks all my boxes and so much more. A film which rattles around my head for days after. These films say something to me. They speak to me in volumes that transcend two hours of entertainment and a few quotes to throw around with your mates. It’s as if they weren’t simply made with me in mind, but made for me especially.

These are films like High Fidelity, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and L'Appartement. There’s this feeling as if someone’s opened the curtains of your worried, isolated little life and shown you the view. It’s the comfort of someone being in the same boat. It’s like the filmmakers have nudged you in the ribs and said “it’s alright, we all feel like that.” I felt this feeling again last night through the credits of “The Good Night”

Everyone gets it. Have you ever been listening to a song, really thought about the lyrics and thought “WOW”? Ever got to the last page of a novel then turned straight back to chapter 1? That’s what I get out of these films. Your stomach drops like when you drive over a steep hill. It doesn’t even have to have a happy ending. In fact that’s rarely the case. It’s that point when you think “I’ve done that! I’ve been like that! That’s me!” and the world opens up. Suddenly it’s all just an inside joke and your just happy to be in on it at last.

A Friend once summed it up perfectly when we were talking about reading High Fidelity: “It’s as if Hornby’s taken everything crap about being a bloke – all the insecurities, paranoia and going a bit mental, wrapped it up with a big red bow and gives it to you when you’re at your absolute lowest, saying “Yeah, I know. Its shit isn’t it!”

These are my chick flicks. If I want a Bridget Jones moment I’ll bloody well have one! Mine just happens to involve John Cusack and the rules to a killer mixtape.

The Tony Chestnut adventure...

Pop Quiz... You want to interview someone, but they are unreachable. No phone, internet, anything. You even suspect they're "of no fixed address." what do you do?

Tony Chestnut (or how he refers to himself, pointing to each appendage - Toe, Knee, Chest, Nut) is the self styled peoples poet of Liverpool. You won't find him in open mic or revue nights, nor on a soap box or speakers corner. Tony's chosen forum is the pub. His medium the napkin.

Anyone familiar with South Liverpool may know whom I am referring to. Tony will wander into a bar or cafe, survey his stage and then set about making his living. For just a couple of quid or a pint you give him a topic, a few challenge words to rhyme, and ten minutes later He'll return with a beer mat covered in his undecipherable prose. You get to keep your poem, but the real value is Tony's virgin performance of his work to you and your mates.



with another successful recital under his belt, Tony then pinches one of your fags and moves onto the next table, and the next sonnet of his ouvre!

So far I've managed to find an exhibition that featured one of his back-of-a-postcard Odes last year. I emailed the gallery owner asking for a contact, suspecting he isn't the easiest person to get a hold of. the reply...

"No he isn't, bar hanging around in the streets of Liverpool and eventually bumping into him. is the preferred method."

So, with a pitch due Monday and a fantastically eccentric poet hiding from me 200 miles away I've set about phoning all the pubs, wine bars and vegan cafe's I've encountered the "People's Poet" in the past, leaving a phone number and email address.


"Hi, This is a bit random but I'm a journalist trying to track down one of your regulars."

"Err, go on then."

"His names Tony Chestnut, he's a poet"

"Scruffy head? Dirty coat?"

"That's him."

"Sorry Luv, we don't let him in anymore."



If I can pull this off I'm as much of a Legend as oddball Tony!

Tony Chestnut







On another note, Stephen Frys blog about pimping out firefox has led me to the discovery of ScriptFire , a really useful add-on which puts a box at the bottom of Firefox, where you can register your Blog's URL, write a post and send it to your blog. I havent been anywhere near blogspot to write this. It also makes HTML alot easier if your a bit thick like me.

...Another excuse

Hi There!

I’m Phil. I’m 22, and I’m a supposed Journalism student at Sunderland University. It’s great!

Now, down to the meat and potatoes. I’ve spent weeks trying to come up with a decent topic I can write about regularly without getting bored of it. I get bored a lot. I feel sorry for my lecturers sometimes. It must be like trying to teach a dog to sit when all the dog wants to do is chew something. There I’ll be, sitting like the best of ‘em but then all of a sudden a brightly coloured ball bounces into sight and I’m off. Only in my case it’s very rarely an actual ball. It’s been Djing, working bars, and recently painting. I’ve been at University for FOUR BLOODY YEARS!

So we’ve deduced I’m a 22 year old dog who likes colouring in! So that’s my topic. Everything I do instead of what I’m supposed to. My procrastinations and deviations.

My most recent obsession has been design. I’ll spend hours on Photoshop and Indesign, just teaching myself things. I spent a stupid amount of money on airbrushes to make t-shirts and canvases, and the landlord’s definitely keeping his bond, along with some pretty good stencils on his walls.

I’ll also be doing a bit on Music, Film and TV. Hey, let’s just generalise and call it a popular culture blog.

I keep all my design stuff here

And if like me you spend most of the day on Facebook