Month: February 2011

IN PRAISE OF WASPS

by stuwho

In Praise Of … Wasps

Wasps get a bad press.  Well, apart from this article, they most certainly do

I am, apparently, one of those rare individuals who can let a wasp land on my hand or leg and not immediately turn into an arm-flapping, whirling dervish, with murderous intent and screaming exhortations of mayhem.

Over the years, I’ve occasionally been stung by wasps, and it was really no more painful than a cat’s scratch or a lover’s bite … but, the impending threat offered by these tiny, black and yellow punks of the insect world seem to turn the average person in to a frantic and furious, fear-filled psychopath.

I like to refer to this highly irrational form of mental instability as:  “Wasperger’s Syndrome”

Wasps fill a niche in the food-chain and control a plethora of other creepy-crawlies who’d over-run our existence if it wasn’t for the murderous ministrations of these wee biological jump-jets.

And … Wasps don’t crap on you.

Now, that statement might seem redundant, but as I sat here, in my garden, on a, sunny, barbeque-beckoning afternoon, I observed a passing wasp release a tiny crap, while in mid-flight.

Astonished? You betcha!

I’ve been around for decades and I’ve never been crapped on by a wasp.  How considerate is that?

I’ve been shat on by seagulls, starlings, blackbirds and thrush.  I’ve waded through dog-poop, cat-poop, and even my own kids’ poop … but in all my years, a wasp has NEVER fouled my existence.

That’s astonishing

Wasps are cool … and, as a bonus, they also sting kids

We, as adults, are no longer happy about the prospect of a kid being skelped … and that is as it should be … so, it’s nice to know that payback is still there, in the prospect of our wee pal, the lowly wasp.

Stu Who?

OPIUM & OIL – Sparrahawk

by stuwho
Khris Sparrahawk sent me a copy of a fine new version of  the band’s song,
OPIUM & OIL
and so, whilst ensconced with my feet up, due to exceptional arsebastardness, for the past few days, I produced this wee vid for the track
I rather like this
Hope you do too

CAPITALISLAM

by stuwho
My mate Jim Brady, of Nanobot fame, has suggested a modification to my Capitalislam graphic, which allies the worst of both world’s, politically and socially, for the future.

The modification is as cluttered, and impractical as the concept – But I’m sure someone will see it as being practical, … and profitable … ???


SUSAN BOYLE – THE MOVIE

by stuwho
Glenn Close is to play reality TV star Susan Boyle in a forthcoming biopic of the Scottish singer’s life, according to the Sun.
The newspaper says Close has agreed to take the role despite Boyle’s preference for her compatriot Elaine C Smith, best known for playing Rab C Nesbitt’s long-suffering wife in the BBC sitcom that shares his name.
Hmm???
I personally feel that Elaine C Smith’s co-star Gregor Fisher might be better suited?

Dead Island

by stuwho
Savalas – my son, Kahl, and his partners – have produced a bit of a viral trailer, and the latest award winning film … all in the same week
BE WARNED  – IT’S VERY EXPLICITLY VIOLENT
1. Dead Island – Trailer –
It has set the internet on fire! – Stats within 48 hours of the trailer going live!
The companies involved have probably launched one of the most successful trailers in the history of games!  Savalas wrote the music and the trailer simply sounds stunning!
1.953.531 twitter posts
2.700.000 YouTube Video Views
1.650.000 IGN Video views
3.000.000 IGN article views
80.000 (in less than 8 hours) 9.8 video rating – one of the highest EVER rated trailers on gametrailers
4 most watched video on YouTube (16th and 17th)
1 trending topic on Twitter for over 29 hours (this is an eternity)
1 rated game content on YouTube
3 commented content on YouTube
9 MOST SEARCHED FOR TERM ON GOOGLE!!!
Forbes New York Post – article and Los Angeles Times – article
2. NEDS – TRAILER

Best film at the evening standards awards
Golden Shell for best film @ San Sebastian

ART FOR ART’S SAKE

by stuwho
JIM BRADY (Nanobot’s guitarist, and all-round good-guy) was saying:
“I’ve been saying for years there should be statue of Alex Harvey in Glasgow. Maybe replace that one of Donald Dewar at the top of Buchanan St?”
Alex Harvey (5 February 1935 – 4 February 1982) was a Scottish rock and roll recording artist.   With his Sensational Alex Harvey Band, he built a strong reputation as a live performer during the 1970s glam rock era. The band was renowned for its eclecticism and energetic live performance, Harvey for his charismatic persona and daredevil stage antics.
I’d just been having the same conversation elsewhere, concerning the need for a statue for Matt McGinn … Glaswegian poet, folk singer/comedian/humourist  and social activist
Both McGinn and Harvey were real culural icons, and part of a rich legacy of “workingclass-heroes” whose legacy is regularly ignored by the “city-fathers”, here in Glasgow, whilst they regularly celebrate political tumshies like Dewar, as he was part of their self-aggrandizing, self-serving, elitist wee clique
John MacLean, James Maxton, Keir Hardie, Mary Balfour … all ignored
And the statuary of George Square, in a Labour controlled council for decades, shows no recognition of The George Square Riot in 1919, and it’s huge social relevance within Glasgow’s history
I know that in a time of economic hardship, arguing for more civic art is probably a bit imprudent … but if they’re wasting money on Neon Waves and aluminium mermaids at a cost of £millions, here in my hometown of Cumbernauld, they could maybe instead show some respect for the artists, and heroes, who moulded our social & cultural heritage
“In 1997 Ross Birrell tackled this head-on with a performance in one of the shrines of Scottish labour history – George Square:
…Working-Class Hero…took place in George Square. I acquired a makeshift plinth and attached a plaque which read: “Ross Birrell, Working-Class Hero, (b. 1969)”. The performance was a response to a number of things but it was in the main motivated by the desire to signal the presence of an absence: in particular the “Battle of George Square” in 1919 when the Red Flag was hoisted upon the municipal flag-pole and the army were called in to dispel any threat of a repeat of the Soviet revolution in Russia.
The lack of any commemorative plaque or statue to this event and the eradication of the working-class, in general, from any public monuments except war memorials, seemed to me to be rather curious in a City which had been dominated by the Labour Party since before I was born. However, acknowledging that we live in a post-ideological landscape with defined lack of faith in politicians, I did not believe that the solution to this cultural and civic contradiction lay in petitioning for a sculpture of John MacLean to “redress-the-balance” of cultural colonialism.
Apart from my belief that to erect a permanent sculpture would be to replicate an official culture I had come to mistrust, I felt if people really wanted to publicly commemorate this event there would be a statue to MacLean or Maxton in George Square or Glasgow Green by now, complete with bird-shit and optional graffiti. In short, we get the public art we deserve.
That there was no real desire for a monument to a “working-class hero” was a symptom, I understood, of the declining knowledge of or interest in, the historical working-class movements in Glasgow (due mainly to an absence from the history curriculum in secondary schools) combined with a popular “New Labour” denial of its cultural relevance. “
http://francismckee.org/treasury.htm
Plus … I met Donald Dewar whilst recording a show at Scottish television, and had a HUGE argument with him over nurses’ pay … what a two-faced, hypocritical creep he was!!
That statue in Buchanan St pure gets oan ma tits!!
I’d prefer a staue of The Broons