The Snap Election: "The Real Reason They've Called It"

Dennis Skinner telling it like it is at today's PMQ's

So let's get this straight; Theresa's minions may be found guilty of fraud at the last election, which could (and should!) result in criminal charges. Yet she'll stand by them and expect them to stand for this election?! 

This is why this government MUST GO! They expect us to obey the rules and law, yet they clearly believe that they alone are above them. 

Spineless May is also refusing to take part in a televised election debate - perhaps because she knows she would be unable to stand up under the scrutiny. If she believes this snap election is about laying out her government's plan for the future of this country then she should accept to doing so on TV, live, where she can be questioned and challenged at length. Please sign this petition and this one demanding that she does so.

Wordless Wednesday: Election Apathy

RIP Clifton James

The legendary and unmistakable American character actor Clifton James has died of complications from diabetes at the age of 96.

James, who starred as the redneck Sheriff JW Pepper in Roger Moore's first two Bond films, Live and Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun, passed away yesterday at his childhood home in Gladstone, Oregon. Before becoming an actor, James served in the South Pacific during WWII where he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze star and two Purple Hearts.

So popular was James' turn in the chaotic and comedic boat chase sequence in Live and Let Die that he was asked to reprise his character for the subsequent film, this time involving a car chase in Thailand and an uneasy alliance with the devil-may-care James Bond. Alongside Eunice Gayson, Richard Kiel, Robbie Coltrane, and Giancarlo Giannini, James remains one of a select number of actors who returned for a second entry as the same character in the series and the redneck sheriff became a role he made his own; appearing as similar comic relief law enforcement characters in Silver Streak in 1976 and Superman II in 1980, as well as a sheriff in an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard and The A Team. But Pepper wasn't his first sheriff; he had previously played Sheriff Butch Lovemaiden in the 1969 Steve McQueen film The Reivers. 

James also appeared in films such as Juggernaut, The Untouchables, Eight Men Out, Bonfire of the Vanities, Lone Star, Sunshine State, The Last Detail, Rancho Deluxe, Cool Hand Luke, Invitation to a Gunfighter, The Chase, The Laughing Policeman, and Whoops Apocalypse. His final film credit was in 2006's Raising Flagg, but he was attached to an adaptation of David Weber's novel Old Soldiers, the production of which was halted last year due to the deaths of several of the older cast members.

RIP.

Happy Easter

Silent Sunday: Statement of Fact

Out On Blue Six: Elbow

Hands up who was surprised to see Elbow's Guy Garvey pop up in Car Share this week as a Triumph motorbike enthusiast and amateur mechanic?

It doesn't seem like it's a one-off guest spot either, as trails for next week's episode also include him. Here he is however, on more familiar ground with the band's latest single.

End Transmission

Lost In France (2016)

The music industry is full of holy grail moments. A significant, chance meeting that launches a band that goes on to change the world, a landmark album, a legendary gig or the promise of what might have been.  It doesn’t matter what band, singer or record label you worship, all of them have these moments woven into their story that are subsequently revered and heavily mythologised by us, the music lovers.

Filmmaker Niall McCann’s movie Lost In France is the story of just such a moment; the Glaswegian record label Chemikal Underground’s 1997 trip to Mauron in France for a festival of Scottish indie music that featured the likes of Mogwai, Arab Strap, Bis, and The Delgados. Eighteen years later, McCann chooses this allegedly seminal moment to hang his film, a biopic and nostalgia-fest tribute to Chemikal Underground and all it achieved, upon. 

It's out on DVD, April 24th.

See my full review at The Geek Show