Friday, August 24, 2007

The Nation

I saw this interesting article on The Nation in which they interview 50 American veterans of the present Iraq war about what it is like on the ground. True, they did source a lot of their blokes from anti-war veterans groups, but first of all those make a lot of sense and second, their stories are unbelievably believable.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Alden Pyle

Bush citing The Quiet American as an argument for staying in Iraq is one of the strangest things I've ever heard in one of his speeches. I can only assume that neither he nor his speech-writers have read it, because the attempt at turn-around just doesn't make sense. The Alden Pyle character is the type of naive, reckless, good-intentioned American personified by many neoconservatives today. The specific quote Bush uses about "better motives" applies perfectly to this administration. His attempt to reference that book and its message is just plain bizarre.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Tony Law

We caught comedian Tony Law last night at The Old Rope and he was really hilarious. I'd actualy never heard of him, but we intend to catch his proper show, Revenge of the Dog of Time, at the Gilded Balloon.

I really like the idea of the Old Rope too. Some of the performances don't work, but that's part of the deal - it's a chance for performers to try out new material, and you get a glimpse of the process that's pretty fascinating to me.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Festival Tips

If anyone has seen something at the festival and highly recommends it, leave details in the comments. I'd be curious to see what others have discovered out there.

So far I've seen Amsterdam Comedy Collective, which I recommend, if only for starring comedian (I think his name is Leeuw). Best Western by Rich Hall was good but pretty dark humour. I don't recommend Belly of a Drunk Piano. It was meant to be a tribute to Tom Waits but was more like someone apeing him.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Rove Resigns

Karl Rove will quit at the end of August.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Giles Wareing

I had somehow missed noticing until today that Tim Dowling has a novel out. He's one of my favourite Guardian writers and is brilliant and funny, so it could be great.