Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 519

Punk Dead: Official

Well, punk founder Malcolm McLaren's funeral was conducted on the kind of fine sunny day he would probably have hated, and saw him out in most excellent style. A lot of knackered old British creatives turned up for the event, including the carburettor-tossing Adam Ant, a bunch of rich artists and of course the one [...:]

In My Bad Books

I love reviewing books – you get to read a huge selection of terrific novels you'd never otherwise know about. I've discovered a large number of good new authors this way. Just lately, though, there seems to have been an equally large explosion of truly lousy writing. I mean stinking, reeking, Bulwer-Lytton level, semi-literate trash. [...:]

I Say!

Well, I'm mystified. I grew up reading American comics and knew most major US slang words (which have probably changed a lot by now) but I stumbled across an American site called The Best Of British, dedicated to British words, and found myself a bit lost. The following words are apparently all still in use [...:]

A Whitehall Whitewash?

The British Government made more requests for content removal from Google last year than any other country in Europe, according to figures released yesterday. Between July and December 2009, Google received 1,166 data requests from British government agencies, of which 59 were requests for content to be removed. Google complied with 76.3 per cent of [...:]

Neo-Thirties In St Martin's Lane

Adding to the confusion of building styles in central London, I was walking down St Martin's Lane yesterday and spotted this, which I'm fairly sure wasn't there before. It appears to be a new building in a 1930s style, like the Heals building – but has it been refurbished or is it brand new? I'm [...:]

Goth Morris At The London Wall

A morris dance is a form of English folk dance dating back to 1448, usually accompanied by music. It's based on rhythmic stepping and patterns by a group of dancers armed with sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells. It's very English and extremely silly. Last night I was at an event where it felt more sinister, [...:]

London Graffiti

I found this surprising little number in hot pink lurking in Rathbone Place off Oxford Street, next to a Victorian pub. Quite why the artist had decided on a submissive man and a woman with a riding crop to adorn an office hoarding, we won't know. But it pays to keep a camera on you [...:]

The Forgotten Stephen King

At a time when Stephen King was jump-starting a phenomenal publishing wave of horror novels, Michael McDowell was one of the few writers who deserved the same attention. While he never had King's way with a killer hook, he was the better stylist.

'I am a commercial writer and I'm proud of that,' said the [...:]

Re:View – Glorious 39

Romolo Garai's performance in Stephen Poliakoff's tale of appeasement at all costs at the outbreak of WW2 is almost enough to single-handedly pull this BBC production out of the fire. She plays 'Glorious', the adopted daughter of a high-born county family who – via Poliakoff's favourite device of a mysterious McGuffin, in this case a [...:]

Check Mate With A Right Hook

At the Dome, Tufnell Park, just up the road from me, Chess Boxing nights have really taken off. It's exactly what it sounds like, and for the best report see the Guardian's (sadly embed-protected) video piece…
INTERVIEWER; 'Do chess and boxing have any compatible elements?'
PUNTER: (Thinking) 'No.'
I'm looking forward to Ludo-Tightrope nights and of course, Poker-Speed [...:]