~ One maze, per day. Some of these really are beautiful.

~ Agility for cats! I will believe it when I see it done under competition conditions.

~ Margaret Atwood writes about “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

From the old linklog:

~ Meet Mr Chicken – the bloke who designs the signs for most fry chicken shops in the country (originally via P’Ahston).

~ Swells’ biography of Thom Yorke

~ “How To Build A Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later” by Philip K. Dick. Bless him, the nutter.

There is a plot, of sorts: Pogner of Nuremburg declares that his daughter Eva will marry whoever wins the Master Singers competition, and (beyond having a preferred candidate) she doesn’t seem to mind abiding by this. From this we can conclude that there’s some sort of inherited mentalism in the family. Eva hopes that the knight Walther will win and indeed he has the invaluable support of the song-writin’ wisdom-spoutin’ loud-hammerin’ cobbler Sachs, but the clear favourite is the irritating town clark and general fussbudget Beckmesser. Both love and musical stardom are to be gained in this high-stakes singathon~! It’s Wagner though, ayit, and as such loooong. We were going for just over five hours and three quarters, although that did include two intervals that were thirty-five minutes each. For some reason. I’m very much a child of my times when it comes to attention span, but I think I held up pretty well and I certainly enjoyed it. The other typical facet of “it’s Wagner though, ayit” was mercifully avoided, with Beckmesser not being made in any way stereotypically Jewish (not that I expect that this does actually happen much, nowadays).

We were due to have the vaunted Bryn Terfel amongst the singists, but he pulled out. I have gathered since then that this is apparently not uncommon, and should probably have been expected. The cast we did have were strong, although I would liked a bit more volume from them in general (from up in the cheap seats they were all melting into the orchestra at times). I particularly liked Toby Spence’s insouciant reading of David, and Wolfgang Koch deeming to emphasise the reflective aspects of Sachs. The ROH chorus made for the (collective) hero of the night, though, bringing great power and doing a fantastic job of the ‘riot’ bit at the end of the second act.
There are a couple more accounts here and here for the detail that I’m not capable of supplying, but rest assured that I enjoyed myself. There’s loads of Wagner at Symphony Hall this year, too, so it won’t be the last time.

~ ”How To Look At Billboards” by Howard Gossage – something good that I read ages ago and have recently blundered across again.

~ I quite like this timeline of “Doctor Who” – yes, I very obviously am that sad, why even bother asking? (via D-Log).

~ There exists such a thing as “The Apostrophe Preservation Society” (via the Tindal Street Press Twitter).

~ This is probably of very limited interested for anyone who isn’t from Sandwell, but I was initially surprised that the new Wetherspoons that they’ve opened in Oldbury (in what used to be the library) was called “The Court Of Requests”. Here’s the why-fore (with more photos here); the building was originally a debtors court and prison(!), and then a police station prior to becoming the library. I knew none of this. (As an aside, what sort of strange world do we live in where a town can have the lovely Victorian building be the chain pub and the ‘orrible blue/purple plastic thing be the library. “Arse-backwards” is the phrase that comes hurtling to mind).

And, from the old linklog:

~ The day that John Robb (of Goldblade/writing/etc fame) went to Congress.

~ A 45 minute interview with Noam Chomsky about linguistics, from 1977 – it’s very hard to imagine anything like this appearing on the telly nowadays (N.B. – I remember this being good from when I saw it a few years ago, but I haven’t re-watched it recently to confirm).

~ “The Meaning Of Briff” – Douglas Adams & John Lloyd’s “The Meaning Of Liff” (using the names of towns as words for concepts that previously didn’t have one) done with Birmingham and Black Country places.

~ Drinkify matches the band you’re listening to with a cocktail (via Kottke).

~ I really liked this article (that is partly) about Douglas Adams’ plotting (via Andrew Hickey).

~ Annotations for the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack (via Waxy).

Diggin ‘em up from the olden days:

~ Winders – Black Country Windows (this originally came around attached to emails, if I remember rightly, but I think it was put on Scribd by the good people at B:INS).

~ 9 corporate attempts at ‘edgy’ that failed hilariously

~ Tom Ewing’s “A Million Hearts” from 2002 – “To talk about pop the way the investors do – to say that these records are valuable, and that these are less so – is to see pop as a kind of linguaphone course in Taste. A rich and enjoyable course to be sure, one that takes a lifetime, but still a process of learning. To talk about pop the way the wastrels do is to see pop as a journey without a map – a drift, along which you stumble on remarkable beauties, which thrill you and maybe change you but which you always pass by. The way almost all of us see pop is a mixture of both, maybe”.

~ Birmingham appears at no. 19 on the New York Times list of the best places to visit in 2012 – Mancunians of a certain stripe (i.e. not most of them, we are talking about the insane ones) will splutter into their Boddingtons and complain at length about how this cannot be (via CIB).

~ How the potato changed the world (via Kottke)

~ The graffiti of the ancients (via Bookslut).

And some from the old linklog:

~ Get around online licensing agreements with your cat (originally via Bounder).

~ “My Gran Is On Twitter” (originally via P’Ashton).

~ The “Cheer Up The Chatbot” game – Have a little play and see if you can do it before reading the ‘about’ page (originally via Waxy).

“Poultry Movies, Dogsongs, And Other Witty Tweet Jokes” Ed. Margaret Rowe
“Angel Pavement” by J.B. Priestley (started in 2010)
“Notes From The Underground” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
“The Rest Is Noise – Listening To The Twentieth Century” by Alex Ross (started in 2010)
“The Gambler” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
“Bloody Revolution – A Journey Into UK MMA” by Mick Bower
“Maskerade” by Terry Pratchett (re-read)
“Lord Jim” by Joseph Conrad
“Madame Bovary” by Gustave Flaubert
“Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats” by T.S. Elliot
“The Magic Toyshop” by Angela Carter
“The Golden Notebook” by Doris Lessing
“The News Where You Are” by Catherine O’Flynn
“The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents” by Terry Pratchett
“Notes On A Scandal” by Zoë Heller
“Brief Interviews With Hideous Men” by David Foster Wallace
“The MMA Encyclopedia” by Jonathan Snowdon and Kendall Shields
“How To Write A Sentence And How To Read One” by Stanley Fish
“On Boxing” by Joyce Carol Oates
“Republic” by Plato
“How To Live With A Calculating Cat” by Eric Gurney
“My Name Is Red” by Orhan Pamuk
“Consider Phlebas” by Iain M. Banks (re-read)
“Screen Burn” by Charlie Brooker
“Brick Lane” by Monica Ali
“The Name Of The Rose” by Umberto Eco
“There’s No Such Place As Far Away” by Richard Bach
“Half A Life” by V.S. Naipaul
“Faking It” by Nigel Planer
“Stardust” by Neil Gaiman
“A History Of God” by Karen Armstrong
“A Room With A View” by E.M. Forster
“The Pleasure Of Finding Things Out” by Richard Feynman
“The Road” by Cormac McCarthy
“Telling Tales – A History Of Literary Hoaxes” by Melissa Katsoulis
“Earth Abides” by George R. Stewart
“A Hat Full Of Sky” by Terry Pratchett
“American Psycho” by Brett Easton Ellis

Still reading/crossing over the two years: “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman and Michel De Montaigne’s complete essays.

4/7/11 – Benjamin Britten’s “Peter Grimes” – The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London (Andrew Davis/The Royal Opera)

5/11/11 – Tarik O’Regan’s “Heart Of Darkness” – The Linbury Studio Theatre @ The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London (Oliver Gooch/Opera East & ROH2)

16/11/11 – Leos Janacek’s “Katya Kabanova” – The Hippodrome, Birmingham (Lothar Koenigs/Welsh National Opera)

18/11/11 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” – The Hippodrome, Birmingham (Lothar Koenigs/Welsh National Opera)

19/11/11 – Gioachino Rossini’s “The Barber Of Seville” – The Hippodrome, Birmingham (Simon Phillipo/Welsh National Opera)

Hey Collossus/Stinky Wizzleteat – The Wagon & Horses, Digbeth, Birmingham – 21/1/11

Ani DiFranco/Jim Moray – The Glee Club, Birmingham – 24/1/11

Fickle Twin/Thawed Out – The Wagon & Horses, Digbeth, Birmingham – 28/1/11

Skunk Anansie – The Academy, Birmingham – 4/2/11

Kayo Dot/Jeremiah Cymerman/Bilbao Syndrome – The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 16/2/11

Janelle Monáe/Cockandbullkid – The Institute, Digbeth, Birmingham – 25/2/11

Gary U.S. Bonds/Ben E. King – The Jam House, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham – 16/3/11

(Flatpack Festival) Pram – The Hippodrome (Patrick Centre), Birmingham – 23/3/11

Modified Toy Orchestra/Epic 45/Shady Bard/Poppy Tibbetts – Ikon Eastside, Digbeth, Birmingham – 7/4/11

GZA – The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 20/4/11

Aloe Blacc/Maya Jupiter – The Institute (The Library), Digbeth, Birmingham – 26/4/11

Anna Calvi/Grouplove – Academy 2, Birmingham – 11/5/11

Mark Radcliffe – The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton – 15/5/11

Earthtone9/The Ocean/Maybeshewill – Academy 3, Birmingham – 17/5/11

Carina Round/Dan Whitehouse/Vijay Kishore – The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 8/6/11

Wu-Tang Clan/Yelawolf – The Institute, Digbeth, Birmingham – 13/6/11

Battles/Young Montana – The Institute (The Library), Digbeth, Birmingham – 27/6/11

(Strike rally) ?/? – Victoria Square, Birmingham – 30/6/11

Judas Priest – Civic Hall, Wolverhampton – 21/7/11

Goodnight Lenin/The Travelling Band – The MAC (outside amphitheatre), Edgbaston, Birmingham – 23/7/11
Drunk In Hell/Diet Pills/Stinky Wizzleteat/Fickle Twin/Crash Night – The Wagon And Horses (outside), Digbeth, Birmingham – 19/8/11

(The Flyover Show) Akala/Goldie’s Band/Baba Israel/Soweto Kinch/Jonzi D/Ghetts/Julian Joseph/Jay Phelps/Try My Angle/Why G – Hockley Flyover, Hockley, Birmingham – 20/8/11

(Moseley Folk Festival) Badly Drawn Boy/Boat To Row/Gruff Rhys/Malpas/Villagers/Dreaming Spires/Crystal Fighters/The Mariner’s Children/9 Bach – Moseley Park, Moseley, Birmingham – 2/9/11

(Moseley Folk Festival) Billy Bragg/John Presley/Stornoway/The Carrivick Sisters/Scott Matthews/Mr Plow/Jim Moray/David Campbell/The Old Dance School/Skinny Lister/Eliza Carthy – Moseley Park, Moseley, Bimingham – 4/9/11

Public Enemy – The Institute, Digbeth, Birmingham – 5/9/11

(Bearwood Shuffle) Little Liam – Lightwoods Park, Bearwood – 18/9/11

Sweet Williams/History Of The Hawk – The Station, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 30/9/11

Michelle Shocked/Pete O’Toole/The Sweater Set – The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 16/10/11

(Supersonic Festival) Part Chimp/A.P.P.A.T. – The Custard Factory, Digbeth, Birmingham – 21/10/11

(Supersonic Festival) Electric Wizard/Pharoah Overlord/Lucky Dragons/Bardo Pond/Teeth Of The Sea/Nathan Bell/Berg Sans Nipple – The Custard Factory, Digbeth, Birmingham – 22/10/11

(Supersonic Festival) Drunk In Hell/Envy/Silver Apples /Tony Conrad/Cut Hands/Iconaclass/Barn Owl/Drumeyes/Selfless/Alexander Tucker/Pekko Kappi/Ore – The Custard Factory, Digbeth, Birmingham – 23/10/11

Wire/Talk Normal – The Institute (The Temple), Digbeth, Birmingham – 15/11/11

Beverley Knight/Omar/Electric Empire – The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton – 22/11/11

Goodnight Lenin/Paul Murphy – Birmingham Cathedral, Birmingham – 3/12/11

Machine Head/Bring Me The Horizon/Devildriver/Darkest Hour – NIA, Birmingham – 4/12/11

The Destroyers/The Mike Fletcher Big Band – The Town Hall, Birmingham – 10/12/11

The Destroyers (17)/Layla & The Good Lads – The Prince Of Wales (beer garden), Moseley, Birmingham – 22/12/11

On the occasional occasion where I actually wrote something, the links are above. There’s been a mostly-written Supersonic post knocking around for months now, which I do plan on finishing at some point. If I manage it, I’ll edit the link in above.

23/1/11 – “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller (The Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

18/2/11 – “The Rememberers” by Kenny Baraka (Birmingham Repertory Theatre/Apples And Snakes) @ A.E. Harris Building, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham

1/3/11 – “The Cleansing Of Constance Brown” by the Stan’s Café collective (Stan’s Cafe) @ A.E. Harris Building, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham

20/3/11 – “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” by Tennessee Williams (The Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

23/3/11 – “Maskerade” by Terry Pratchett/adapted by Stephen Churcher (Crescent Youth Theatre Seniors) @ The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

17/4/11 – “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare (Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

5/6/11 – “Arcadia” by Tom Stoppard (Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

17/7/11 – “An Ideal Husband” by Oscar Wilde (Crescent Theatre Company) @ the grounds of Harvington Hall, near Kidderminster

Oh and if you count a comedian within this sort of bracket then I went to see Mark Thomas’ “Extreme Rambling: Walking The Wall” at The Slade Rooms in Wolverhampton on 24/8/11.

Opera will definitely be going in a separate list.

~ Dexys Midnight Runners doing “Merry Xmas Everybody” – I didn’t know that they had this one in their repertoire (via We Love Bearwood).

~ HTTP status cats (via…?).

~ Ineractive YouTube singing Christmas Hedgehogs (via Chris Unitt).

And some from the old linklog:

~ All of Charlie Brooker’s “Nathan Barley” bits from “TV Go Home” in one place (originally via Bounder).

~ Half Map Half Biscuit – a map of places named in Half Man Half Biscuit songs (originally via Pete Ashton).

~ Roger Ebert’s “Perform A Concert In Words” – an absolutely gorgeous essay about good writing.