THE HOBBLEDEHOY's avatarTHE HOBBLEDEHOY

Michael Stevenson, aka Dai Bando, Johnny Foreigner, Monsieur Pas De Merde, is a blogger of French and British culture. His blogs "Pas De Merde" and "The Hobbledehoy" have been called "marvelous" by some, and "meh" by others.

The Unthanks win best album at Folk Awards – BBC News

by

Folk duo The Unthanks win album of the year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, while Joan Armatrading receives a lifetime achievement prize.

The Unthanks have won album of the year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for the ambitious, melancholy Mount The Air.

The record, which received a host of five star reviews, is notable for its 10-minute title track, which marries a traditional Dorset folk song with Miles Davis-inspired trumpet figures.

The band closed the ceremony, at London’s Royal Albert Hall, by playing the song, complete with clog dancing.

Source: The Unthanks win best album at Folk Awards – BBC News

Kathy Burke meets Joe Strummer in Little Crackers’ Better Than Christmas

by

By Johnny Foreigner

I knew actress Kathy Burke mainly for her brilliant performance in the 1997 film Nil By Mouth, when she played a battered woman terrorized by her brutish husband (played with equal brilliance by actor Ray Winstone.) As comedienne, Bates also played “Magda” on  AbFab, and delivered a hilarious line in Sid and Nancy – “John got beaten up by fascists.” (wonderful!)

When I came across this great short biopic from 2010 about a young London schoolgirl (Ami Metcalf portraying a teenaged Kathy Burke) meeting her rock n’ roll hero Joe Strummer – it left me wanting to see the rest of the series. IMDB describes Little Crackers as “a series of short comedy-dramas with a Christmas theme, written by British artists recalling moments from their childhoods.”

Read more

Ivor Cutler “A Saucer” and other poems

by

“John Peel has a show on Number One [Radio 1] on which he plays the latest gramophone records,” says Ivor Cutler “He put one of my records on, and a few days later there was a cloud of envelopes coming in. But some people like Cutler, and some people don’t. […] One man called in and said ‘Hey! Get rid of that guy! He’s driving me nuts and his voice is making my wife’s hair stand on end!'”

Scottish poet, humorist and songwriter Ivor Cutler performs his touching, absurd short poems in a gentle Scottish burr. He recorded a total of 21 Peel sessions between 1969 and 1991. ‘I gained a whole new audience thanks to Peel,’ said Cutler. ‘Much to the amazement of my older fans, who find themselves among 16-to-35s in theatres, and wonder where they come from.’ – Keeping It Peel

 

Glasgow Surprises | Rick Steves’ Travel Blog

by


In recent years, I’ve really been enjoying what I consider the “second cities” of Europe. The Chicagos of Europe don’t get a free ride, and they lack the blockbuster attractions and charming sights that bring everyone to the big-league cultural capitals.

READ FULL STORY at: Glasgow Surprises | Rick Steves’ Travel Blog