Here’s a rarity for you, howabout mentioning a ‘zine? It’s not a review of sorts, as the latest issue of Punk Planet is probably beyond any of that, as it’s huge. You just don’t see it in the UK all that often. However, despite difficulties in tracking it down, I encourage anyone with even the remotest interest in printed words to find a copy of the latest issue wherever you can. #55 (May-June) is a special, dedicated to all kinds of printed matter this time around. What you get is a plethora of interviews with all sorts of people from different disciplines and backgrounds, each feature being accompanied by a sample of the interviewee’s writing. Of most notable interest to the general indie-rock afficionado is Everett True waxing lyrical about Careless Talk Costs Lives, but there’s a fantastic amount of many more interesting things.

I cannot stress enough how incredibly inspiring ths issue was.Go read it, go do something positive.

IRE: SUNNYVALE NOISE SUB-ELEMENT: They were distinctly fantastic, kids. Despite some, uh, interesting monitor issues, they really delivered the noisy/motorik/techno goods in spades. Not being able to hear yourself onstage has never sounded so good. It would appear that they’ve come on yet further leaps and bounds since AUDIOSCOPE02, and their newer aggressive stance distinctly suits them. The audience didn’t know what to think. Hurrah!

RE: SOUVARIS: *cringe*. Fucking “rock stars”…

In other news, The Daily Telegraph this Thursday covering Vincent Gallo‘s vow that he’d never work with a professional actress not called Chloe Sevigny again was fantastic – the best laugh I’ve had at my parents’ breakfast table in a fair wee while. Apparently he’s made a public apology for his new film Brown Bunny, and said that he never meant to make it so long, dull and self-indulgent. I was appalled – what happened to the asshole stance of old? Anyway, here’s hoping it wins something at Cannes…

Everyone knows the Oscars suck (especially this year), but on the 15th April they were the cause of one good thing happening to Region 1 DVDs. Miraculously enough, diskant’s favourite anime director HAYAO MIYAZAKI won this year’s “Best Animated Feature” category, with Spirited Away. This has spurred the usually evil Buena Vista Entertainment into capitalising on Miyazaki’s new-found fame (?) and releasing ‘special editions’ of three of his films – all of which have previously been a bugger to track down: Kiki’s Delivery Service, Castle In The Sky, and Spirited Away itself. Even better, despite having high-gloss English soundtracks with such amazing actors as Minnie Driver and Dawson out of Dawson’s Creek doing the dubbing, they’ve all got the original Japanese language versions too; unlike the shitty R1 version of Miyazaki’s best film My Neighbour Totoro (apparently this too will be rereleased by Buena Vista as a special edition in cooperation with Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli, once they’ve wrenched the rights to it away from those nasty cash hounds at Fox Entertainment. I’m not sure when though).

Also, I’d previously never rated Roger Avary much as a scriptwriter or director, but Rules Of Attraction is pretty much everything the adaptation of a Bret Easton Ellis novel I had hoped Mary Hannon’s disappointingly limp farce American Psycho would be.

You might have noticed things have been quiet around diskant towers again, for fairly obvious reasons. There’s little I feel I can say to make any kind of worthwhile point, but something was brought to my attention tonight:

16 May, 1918 – The U.S. Sedition Act

United States, Statutes at Large, Washington, D.C., 1918, Vol. XL, pp 553 ff. A portion of the amendment to Section 3 of the Espionage Act of June 15, 1917.SECTION 3.

Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports, or false statements, . . . or incite insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct . . . the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, or . . . shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States . . . or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully . . . urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production . . . or advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both.

To anyone in the United States of America opposing this ‘war’, you have my sympathy.

I don’t know what the weather is like near you, but hopefully you’re reading this a long way from the south-east of England. Yesterday, a journey that normally takes me barely the length of Lightning Bolt‘s Fleeing the Valley of Whirling Knives (about ten minutes for those of you not fortunate enough to have heard such a marvel) instead took me approximately 2.5 hours by car, and another 60 minutes on foot – once said vehicle had been abandoned in a nearby Bat-cave.

But no matter! For such times are to be treasured. Cooped up behind a windscreen bearing the brunt of 8 inches of snow that was being hand delivered by gales, I was able to curl up (as much as you can whilst behind the wheel of an automobile) with a remarkable book translated into English from Japanese a couple of years ago. It was called Asleep by one Banana Yoshimoto. Three short stories with thematic links of epiphanies that sleep can deliver and take away, it was a book I had picked up in my local library because it had a nice cover. It also reminded me of an old friend from Singapore who would insist on calling herself ‘Banana,’ because her first language was English. Though we always did our best to placate and cajole her at these times, all our efforts to assuage her ego would always be in vain – her confusion about her cultural identity had long ago created a vicious circle of self-loathing which we could never break. The sadder, more tender moments of this book frequently reminded me of her, and brought out some dusty nostalgia within me.

During this time, I was able to enjoy uninterrupted two Leonard Cohen albums, and a preview of Reynolds’ Love Songs, whilst yearning for a camera to record the finer moments of a day that surely won’t be repeated any day soon.

Eventually, cabin fever broke my spirit, and I soon found myself wandering home through the gridlock, listening to Spiderland, and helping out the odd driver suffering from that lethal combination of icy slopes and useless clutch control. Finally, about five minutes away from home, I threw myself into a ditch of deep unspoilt snow. Though my journey had left me largely dry and warm, it had to be done.This truly is the stuff Douglas Coupland short stories used to be made of. (Whilst in the library, I also picked up a copy of possibly his finest hour Girlfriend In A Coma, for the grand total of 20 pence. The first person to email me can have it, if they feel they’re suitably deserving.)