Bzangy Groink

Year: 2014

  • Albums Of The Year 2014

    This year, I had to cull this top forty from 108 albums I bought. Can you imagine how fucking painful that was? I had to leave out a lot of music that found a place in my heart. So, anything, everything you see below is worthy of owning, doesn’t matter if it’s number 40 or…

  • Transphobic Nonsense

    Please DO NOT post your transphobic bullshit on the comments section of my song, thank you. Really, of all the songs in the world, you’re going to pick this one to post your utter ignorance on?? Where a man is singing the words, “I could never be your woman?” REALLY? Get the fuck out!

  • Black Mirror White Christmas

    Sooo… overall, I enjoyed the Brooker special. It was a nice dollop of horror in the festive season, a bit of a high-tech Tales Of The Unexpected. Or perhaps an update of one of my fave classic Brit horror films, Dead Of Night. I can’t fault the acting, direction, mise-en-scene, all wonderful. The only problem…

  • On Crimbo Representation

    Christmas card shopping for my family yesterday… … can I get that Mum card. Nope white Mum character. Can I get that Dad or sis card? Nope. Same thing. Niece, nehpew? Nope, nope. Guess I’ll just get the ones with bears on as usual as at least they’re a kind of brown? Or with no…

  • Gotham – LoveCraft (S1E10)

    Absolutely loving Gotham. Lil Bruce (David Mazouz) and Selina (Camren Bicondova) on the run, the cinematography, the precision mise-en-scene, the random bit of Gang Of Four in the soundtrack. This show is building up layer upon layer of history, adding so much detail to the DC characters it plays like aces. The ensemble cast is…

  • USA State Of Torture And Terror, World Does Not Care

    Imagine if a news story broke that North Korea had a huge network of secret bases all around the world. And that they were kidnapping innocent people to these bases, some of them children and then torturing them there. Wouldn’t it seem like fantasy? Some bizarre spy film bullshit? If the story was proved true,…

  • On The US, Bonapartism, Fascism, Revolution

    femmeviva replied to your post “Fuck, they waterboarded one man 183 times. 183 times. And left…” Yes it is. Our president has had emergency powers since the end of the war, and we didn’t let the Jews land their boat during the war. Kind of late, but yes, the government which I live under is…

  • Time Lapse (2014)

    Saw Time Lapse last week – wonderful film about time travel, paranoia, jealousy, free will, money, morality. It’s one of my fave films of 2014! No spoilers here but I recommend it if you like quirky, tense dramas where SF is used to expose the human condition.

  • Obama Ignores US Torture, Terrorism

    The UN and human rights groups have called for the prosecution of US officials involved in what a Senate report called the “brutal” CIA interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects. A top UN human rights envoy said there had been a “clear policy orchestrated at a high level”. The CIA has defended its actions in the years after the 9/11…

  • Grand Jury Whitewashes Murder Of Mike Brown

    The bourgeois press reporting of the Grand Jury’s endorsement of racist murderer Darren Wilson is beyond belief. I expected (Fox)Newsbeat to be bad but they outdid even their craven standards. The uninformed listener would assume it’s just some rioting and looting after a black criminal was sadly killed by a white police officer. NONE of the facts…

  • Hmmm… Seems Familiar…

    Soo… watching The Strain and here’s laughing boy Eldritch Palmer: And I thought… “Where do I know that name from?” DOH! I feel thick now. 😛

  • Film Feels

    So, I was going to post a load of Powell & Pressburger films up, giffing them or whatever. But I got stuck at A Canterbury Tale because the film has such an emotional effect on me.  It’s of an England I never experienced as I hadn’t been born (in India) yet. But there are so…

  • US Police Spend $3 Billion On Payouts To Victims Of Police

    Ilove to watch cop shows but (apart from Gotham), we must never forget that these are all FANTASY SHOWS. The real police are a bunch of homophobic, sexist, racist, Klan-loving criminals. As corrupt and venal as they are prejudiced and murderous. They’re just another gang. (Source: iwriteaboutfeminism)

  • Major Crimes

    I loved The Closer. It was brilliant in every dimension. I was worried that Major Crimes would be a dilution, an over-extension. Nope. My dash is full of so much telly that’s, frankly, not that great. A lot of that is driven by the fact the stars are sexy, young things. Fair enough, there’s a place for boybands, there’s…

  • Flawless (2007)

    Just watched 2007 crime caper ‘Flawless,’ starring Demi Moore and Michael Caine ~ loved it! The ’60s feel is lovely and it serves a tight screenplay that’s ably fleshed-out my Moore and Caine. Give it a go if you’ve not seen it! (Oh, and bonus baby Natalie Dormer too!)

  • The Malala The Bourgeois Media Doesn’t Want You To Hear

    In March 2013, Malala sent a message to the 32nd congress of Pakistani Marxists (the biggest of such meetings in the country’s history). Her statement read: “First of all I’d like to thank The Struggle and the IMT [International Marxist Tendency] for giving me a chance to speak last year at their Summer Marxist School…

  • Britain Needs A Payrise Demo 18/10/14

    On Saturday, I staggered out of bed after not very much sleep at all (DJing the night before, innit?) and then joined up to 100,000 people marching in London on the TUC-lead Britain Needs A Payrise demo. People are currently facing the biggest squeeze on their incomes since Victorian times, and wages have fallen in…

  • HDIF Playlist 17/10/14

    On Friday, the lovely chap above, Ian, had me guest DJ at HDIF again and, as ever, I had a whaaale of a time. It’s the first time I’ve DJed in The Buffalo Bar and I love the venue, it’s got a wonderful vibe and it was soon packed with shimmying indie peeps. There’s a…

  • TUC March This Saturday!

    This Saturday, I’ll be marching in the CND bit of this massive demonstrations. What are we marching about? Here: Come down, make your voices heard! Remember – there’s always money for war so don’t believe the government lies about the coffers being empty. If we can afford to bomb Arab civilians, we can afford decent…

  • Destination Star Trek 3

    This weekend just gone, 3-5 October, I had the wonderful good fortune to be able to go to Destination Star Trek 3 at the Excel Centre, London. I arrived a bit before my mate and fellow Trekkie, Matt and I quickly got changed into my Voyager costume. Once we’d got ready, we hit the main…

  • Stop The War

    Stop UK military intervention in Iraq and Syria If you live in the UK, use this handy tool from Stop The War to lobby your MP against yet another war in the Middle East.

  • Switching From iOS To Android, Audi To Nissan ~ I Pulled A Garfinkel

    A couple of years ago, I px-ed my Volvo S40 for an Audi TT. Initially, I’d been looking at family saloons but then I realised my brain was stuck in the mode of thinking I was still part of a couple, maybe we’d be having kids sometime. It was only a couple of years since…

  • Fuck The Police

    Doubts cast on witness’s account of black man killed by police in Walmart theguardian.com Alleged to have threatened customers, John Crawford, 22, was talking on his phone while holding an unloaded BB gun Read the whole story. Heartbreaking. Basically, if you are a black American, the police do not see you as a human being. You…

  • GoTenna Networking

    A gadget for text messaging without cell service sees a spike in interest from the pro-privacy crypto and Bitcoin communities — even though that wasn’t its creators’ intention. (Source: cnet.com) I can’t help but feel that de-centralised, ad hoc networking like this is one possible alternate future. Including, of course, the internet of things, everything alive,…

  • Homeland

    Currently bingewatching ‘Homeland’ and it’s… CIA – “NO, CARRIE! YOU CANNOT BE TRUSTED! YOU’RE OFF THE MISSION!” *Carrie sprints after target wearing ‘I AM CIA’ t-shirt, overhears amazing intel* CIA – “DAMMIT, CARRIE, YOU’RE UNORTHODOX BUT YOU GET RESULTS. BUT, NO, YOU’RE OFF THE MISSION! DO NOT, WE REPEAT, DO NOT ENGAGE TARGET!” *Carrie pops…

  • I Wanna Be Your Ex

  • Radio.com Interview

    Lovely interview with Dan Weiss of Radio.com which you can read by clicking here. I had a blast chatting with him and, as usual, acted like a total gobshite.

  • White Town – I Wanna Be Your Ex

    Yaaaay! Above you can see my NEW SINGLE! It’s called ‘I Wanna Be Your Ex’ and it’s now available for download from iTunes US iTunes UK The song is, as ever, about more than one thing. A lot of it is about my frustration with conventional relationships, both sexual and non-sexual and how annoyed I…

  • Lee Thompson Young

    I only just found out that Lee Thompson Young, pictured above, committed suicide last August. I was watching the season 5 premiere of Rizzoli & Isles and when they had the scene at the end where Frost dies in the crash, I thought ‘That’s a shame, he must have got a better offer or a…

  • DJs Complaining

    I think I’ve found my fave new Twitter – DJs Complaining. Almost beats First World Problems.

  • Drone Creeps Out Vancouver Man

    Drone was “a couple of feet away from my patio, camera pointed right at me.” (Source: arstechnica.com) THE FUTURE IS CREEPY. Still, could have been worse ~ could have been a government drone like the ones Obomber uses to murder Pakistani children. Over 3,000 innocents murdered by the USA…. no wonder they’re supporting Israel’s razing of…

  • Amnesty Accuses Police Of Violating Human Rights In Ferguson

    Amnesty International traditionally sends observers to war zones and countries with authoritarian regimes. Now, in a first for the human rights organisation, it has deployed staff to cover an event within the US itself. A team of 15 has gone to Ferguson, Missouri, to monitor claims of police violations during the protests which erupted following…

  • Wheezer

    The past month I’ve been wheezing and short of breath, relying on old inhalers to settle me enough to get to sleep. I thought it was just a reaction to dust from when I was tidying attic stuff. I’ve been feeling run down and haven’t been able to do my normal gym routine or emowalks!…

  • FoxNewsBeat

    No reports about the police harassment, about officers who have removed their identifiers, about police pointing weapons at peaceful protestors.

  • Yet Another Racist UKIP MEP

    Comments made by a UKIP MEP about a Thai constituent have been described as outrageous by the woman’s husband. South East MEP Janice Atkinson described Fa Munday, a UKIP-supporting mobile food seller in Ramsgate, Kent, as a “ting tong from somewhere”. Her comments were recorded by BBC South East Today following an interview. (Source: bbc.co.uk) The…

  • House Of Cards

    So, in the past week, I’ve bingewatched both seasons of House Of Cards and I remain in awe of the whole programme. This is peerless television.  I loved the original UK series it’s based on. Ian Richardson created the perfect oily Tory: completely selfish, psychopathically amoral and apparently genetically incapable of honesty. I’ve met Tory ministers with…

  • CIA Smears Snowden

    There’s just one problem with a recent NPR segment on a new “big data” report that blames Snowden for “changed terrorist behavior.” The main source for the story receives funding from the CIA. (Source: NPR ‘laundering CIA talking points’ in linking Snowden to ‘changed terrorist behaviour’) Sooo… “independent” report claiming that Snowden has endangered the US…

  • GAZA9 – 150,000 March In London To Defend Gaza

    Today, I woke all bleary after four hours’ sleep and caught the train to London to take part in the national demo called by Stop The War in defence of the Palestinians being slaughtered in Gaza by Israel. So far, nearly 2,000 civilians have been killed by the Israelis, over 400 being children. Meanwhile, 66…

  • Exodus Whitewashing

    I’ve just read this article : You Probably Shouldn’t Go See Ridley Scott’s Pretty Racist ‘Exodus’ Movie Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods And Kings movie is racist as shit. And it’s disgusting, lazy and a movie that people shouldn’t… Again, this is what I mean about the one-way street of cultural appropriation: the whitewashing of so many…

  • Falling Skies

    Falling Skies Season 4 cements this series’ position as one of my favourite ever SF TV series. Beautifully written and acted, FS has always maintained the right mixture of drama, romance, mystery and, of course, massive alien spaceships and ravenous bugbeasts. It’s also refreshing as so many SF series are now aimed very firmly at…

  • Grace Chatto

    So, it appears that I’m crushing like neutronium on Grace Chatto from Clean Bandit. She is soooo beautiful and talented and pretty and wow and I appear to be fourteen again.

  • On Straight Edge And Real Love

    One of the many shitty sayings I hear sxe kids saying is this: “If you’re not now, you never were.” Depending on how you count it, I’ve been straight edge for thirty-two (last time I was drunk) or eight years (last time I had caffeine). I actively avoid any psychoactive substances. I tried smoking once…

  • More Dreams About My Ex

    I dreamt about my ex-wife again last night. In the dream, we were working together on something, I think we were pulling a lawnmower along the ground outside. It was enormously heavy but we could just about move it, together. It stank of petrol and there were rusty bits on the handle, fuck knows why…

  • Racist Gear

    Top Gear’s Burma Special in which Jeremy Clarkson used a racial slur broke broadcasting rules, Ofcom has said. The show featured a segment showing the hosts looking at a bridge they had built on the River Kwai as a local man walked across it. Clarkson remarked: “That is a proud moment. But there’s a slope…

  • Indietracks 2014

    Indietracks 2014 was this weekend and, even though I’m straight edge, I’m still recovering from the mad swirl of it all. Firstly, it was DAMN HOT. GODDAMMNNN HOT. I honestly thought I’d pass out at some points in the shed! A contrast to last year’s downpours. Then there was the bewildering array of music:  too…

  • Israel Massacres 185 Children With US and UK Governments’ Approval

    The overwhelming majority of those killed are Palestinians – at least 798 have died since 8 July, including about 185 children and 93 women, Gaza’s health ministry says. The UN says around 73% of the Palestinian dead are civilians. (Source: Gaza crisis: Toll of operations in Gaza) Although the BBC frames it as ‘800 on both…

  • Police Let Murderers Roam Free, Spy On Families Of Victims Instead

    A mother campaigning for an inquiry into her son’s death in 1997 says she has been told she was spied on by undercover Scotland Yard officers. Student Ricky Reel was 20 when he vanished during a night out in London, shortly after he and his friends had been racially abused by two white men. His…

  • Columbo – Murder By The Book (1971)

    I’m currently watching the first ever appearance of Peter Falk as Columbo, 1971’s ‘Murder By The Book.’ Written by Steven Bochco and directed by Steven Spielberg, it’s a masterclass both of ’70s US television and of the delicate pacing and character-study that’s been lost in contemporary TV. Jack Cassidy, playing the murderer Ken Franklin, is perfect.…

  • On Cultural Appropriation

    I don’t fall into an intense rage when I see white girls wearing mehndi. Or, for that matter, when white people wear pyjamas, use the word ‘thug’ or the numeral for zero, Indian things that have been so absorbed into Western culture that their roots are forgotten. As long as they’re not doing it in…

  • The Edge Of Tomorrow (2014)

    I’ve just got back from watching ‘Edge Of Tomorrow’ in splendid IMAX 3D at Notts Cineworld and my brain is still buzzing, sorting through the plethora of ideas, references, jokes and downright weird bits in the film. AS USUAL – SPOILERS! DO NOT READ BELOW THIS LINE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM! Based…