I wanted to do a “top 5″ list of my favorite clips from cult British comedy, The Mighty Boosh, when I realized most of my favorite clips were character driven. So then I was going to make a “top 5 characters from The Mighty Boosh” list when I realized all my favorite characters were played by Noel Fielding. So then I was going to make a “top 5 reasons why Noel Fielding is a comic genius” list when I realized this wasn’t fair to the equally as talented Julian Barratt. Oh well. So here is my generically titled list of clips from The Mighty Boosh.
5. Vince Noir
The hair obsessed, electro loving, self proclaimed King of the Mods; featured here in a delightful ode to the wiles of the tundra in all his androgynous glory.
4. Charlie
You’re in for a Hubba Bubba nightmare!
3. Tony Harrison/The Moon
This may be considered cheating, but number 3 is a tie between shaman Tony Harrison and The Moon, both played by Fielding and both conveniently located within this clip. 2 x the hilarity! Needless to say, he knows nothing of the crunch.
2. Old Gregg
Probably the most well known of the Boosh character, Old Gregg is a scaly man-fish with a mangina. Some say he’s half man, half fish. Others say it’s more of a 70/30 split, but whatever the percentage, he’s one fishy bastard!
1. The Hitcher
A Cockney nutjob who curates the zoo for animal offenders, featuring the Nazi Turtle and the Ku Klux Goose. It might seem a controversial decision to list The Hitcher at number 1 over Old Gregg, but he is my favorite Boosh character on any given day. It was a close call. You love it, you slag!
My interview with author Steve Erickson is now live over at ChuckPalahniuk.net
From the intro:
I know many of you are already familiar with author Steve Erickson. In fact, it was on the forums here and at Cult sister-site, The Velvet, that I was first introduced to his work.I read The Sea Came At Midnight and screamed for more like a hungry child. Erickson fills the void, writing the type of mind-bending, genre-less fiction that simultaneously challenges and excites. Less than a year and 10 books later, his is one of the first names mentioned when I’m asked about my favorite authors.
Which is why I was thrilled when, so soon after my initial binge, I discovered Erickson had a new novel,Zeroville, due in November from Europa Editions.Not wanting to wait that long to read it, I selfishly hatched a scheme to score myself an advance reader’s copy.I’d masquerade as a journalist and interview him for The Cult!The second the idea crossed my mind I realized how cool that would actually be and suddenly it was about much more than scoring a free book.
Zeroville is a more straightforward effort for Erickson, narratively, but it is also one of his flat out best, so there is no reason for longtime fans to fear.It is the story of Vikar Jerome, a film obsessed ex-seminarian come to LA, fresh off the bus like Axl Rose in Welcome To The Jungle.The story begins in 1969 and spans the entirety of film history itself.Zeroville is a who’s who of film references and is truly a treat for anyone who loves the movies.Erickson, who is also a film critique for Los Angeles magazine, really knows his shit, and it is evident on every page.
Zeroville will be published by Europa Editions on November 9th, but is already available from Amazon.
TOUR DATES:
Nov 2, 7.30 pm at Skylight Books in Los Angeles
Nov 7, 7pm at The Booksmith on Haight in San Francisco
Nov 8, 7 pm, at Black Oak Books in Berkeley
Nov 18, 6pm at the Hammer Museum on Wilshire Blvd in West Los Angeles
Canadian director Vincenzo Natali (candybarcandybarcandybar) is set to helm the horror flick Splice, a cautionary tale set in the fun filled world of genetic engineering. When two rock star geneticists introduce human DNA into the new species they have created, the result is a sexy animal/human hybrid that could threaten our race’s very existence. I didn’t like this idea when it was called Species, although I did like it when it was called The Fly (courtesy of fellow Canuck, David Cronenberg.) What do you mean, Jeff Goldblum isn’t sexy?
But that’s not really the point, is it? If you were confronted by Sil or Brundle-Fly or this PYT right here, and you knew you were going to die anyway, wouldn’t you want to go out in style? I first raised this question one night while watching Robert Rodriguez’s The Faculty. There’s this scene where an alien masquerading as a naked high school chick is trying to lure a horny teenage boy out of hiding. He’s gonna die anyway, so why wouldn’t he just succumb to the alien love?
Hell, there’s a chance you might even survive a situation like that, as evidenced by Evil Aliens, which contains the most outrageous love scene ever, complete with crazy alien female ejaculation. And, like in that movie, there’s a chance the bloodthirsty female alien could become pregnant and fall for you, and want to raise your child together. It’s worth the risk. Take a chance… on LOVE.
With Fix Your Face, Dillinger Escape Plan devastated my balls. Here was a song so intense, it vibrated my man-bits back to the future where they are probably kissing their own mother and changing the past as we speak. But it was worth it. I was content to live out the rest of my life as a eunuch. And then Black Bubble Gum leaked.
Here is a song so disappointing, so un-Dillinger, it molded the loose skin left by my vacated testicles into a makeshift vagina (think those fuzzy alien creatures from The Muppets.) The band seems to be continuing its efforts to include some more “commercially viable” material on each record, a trend that began on Miss Machine with songs like Unretrofied. And let me tell you, this song is Unretrofied times gay. Now before some of you go and get upset, I don’t mean that as a slur. I actually had visions of muscle bound sailors with bristly mustaches while listening to it.
According to a blog on their MySpace, guitarist Ben Weinman broke his foot while filming a video for this song. This song?!?!? What, did he trip over a feather boa? I don’t get it.
Wha?!?! New Radiohead album in 10 days? I was skeptical at first, especially since THIS recent hoax, but it looks to be legit. Emails were sent out via W.A.S.T.E. and the band has posted the info on Dead Air Space. Were you sent here by the devil? No, good sir, I’m on the level. So far I have only seen this reported on Pitchfork (perpetuaters of aforementioned hoax, hence my skepticism) and various blogs that have picked up the story. Both fan sites At Ease and Green Plastic seem to be dead, possibly from head explosion/server overload since the news.
The album is called In Rainbows ( worst title ever) and is being offered directly through the band itself. Radiohead has been without a record label since 2003’s Hail To The Thief fulfilled their contract with Capitol Records. Seems like they are going with the “stick it to the man/we want all the money for ourselves” route, at least for now. Hey, when you are the biggest band in the world, I guess you can do that.
The album will be available in two formats; an exorbitantly priced “discbox” for the serious collector, or the more affordable digital download for the workingman. Despite the £40 price tag (over $80, American), the discbox is still pretty sweet. But not as sweet as the price of the download, which is up to the buyer. That’s right, it’s up to you.
Why wear out my poor little digits when the discbox details and track listing are being reprinted everywhere and their mother? Order that shit and get all the pertinent info HERE.
*UPDATE: The story seems to be proliferating since I started typing. Green Plastic is now back online and Rolling Stone is reporting a traditional album release sometime in 2008.
