Went to see Elephant last night. I’d heard quite a bit about it and seen the trailer and I wasn’t entirely sure I was going to like it but I was intrigued enough to see it to find out.

Even having been warned that nothing really happens for much of the film it was still surprising how little does happen. Whole scenes consist of one character walking down endless empty corridors, others show the sky slowly darkening or pause to watch a character doing something entirely ordinary. But this does a great job of introducing us to all the characters and the locations, giving us the time to get to know them and the school and showing that all days begin as ordinary days. Their paths round the school interweave with each other so that we see the same scenes from different viewpoints. The languid pace and lack of action gives you plenty time to look around and see glimpses of other rooms or hear snatches of conversations and classes.

Some boys sitting behind us seemed bored to tears by this, obviously expecting action and gun-totin’ excitement and unwilling to put any more thought into things. Their continual interjections of stupid noises during the quiet bits, jeering at ugly people and their horrified disgust at the gay kiss only seemed to add an extra level, this being probably the only aspect of high school that wasn’t included in the film. Their confused disbelief as the credits rolled after the sudden ending was a sheer delight to behold.

There’s such a sense of incident throughout, all these little moments that had no real importance to the story but made you understand and care about these characters and hope they’re not going to die – ‘Ugly girl’ Michelle cringingly changing after gym class, Eli developing his film, John’s ass-slapping photo moment. Even the scenes where Alex is walking endlessly through corridor after corridor seemingly frustrated by the lack of people left to shoot. There’s just so much time to notice things and to think about them and consider things. It’s interesting as well how we get so little closure – you’re left with a lot of questions about who died and what happened afterwards. When one of the main characters is stood outside of it all, you half-expect something terrible to happen, that as a main character he needs to go through some life or death situation. But it’s not an easy film and it’s not out to give you answers.

So go see if you like thinking. Don’t go if you get bored easily.

Went to my first gig of 2004 on Thursday to see diskant friends Hookers Green No1 despite the pouring rain and general miserableness of a late January Glasgow evening. Although intending to be fashionably late, we were actually the first people to arrive downstairs which meant a nice sit down and some James Orr Complex on the speakers. Then the hordes of student TopShop hipsters arrived and things got going. The first band (no idea what they were called, sorry) were not very interesting at all with their mishmash of postrock and 90s indie and the stage presence of a band that practices ever Saturday afternoon in their mum’s garage followed by egg and chips.

Hookers Green, however, are no egg and chips band. Shuffling about onstage with their brass section they looked slightly surprised to be there, as if they’d just woken up to find themselves onstage. The recorded HG stuff has an air of woozy dreaminess but live the songs became much louder and faster which was both a good and a bad thing. When the dual drumming kicked in on one song it sounded brilliant but the trombone often got drowned out by the general clamour. I’d like to see them mid afternoon or at about 3am with time to slow things down and let the songs drag themselves out to whatever end. They have much promise, probably my Band To Look Out For in 2004. So, look out for them (and somebody release their damn record!)

I just want to draw your attention to some diskant updates including the long-awaited results of our best of 2003 poll of albums and films. Yes, it’s extremely out of date and no-one cares any more. I know this. It’s still interesting though. I particularly like the fact that I am diskant Overlord and yet I have heard only four of our top ten albums of the year. So, something new for everyone to discover, maybe. There’s also a super-exciting interview with US label Wantage USA and some new columns by Wil Forbis and Hugues Mouton. Enjoy!Snow Update: Rubbish snow is almost as bad as no snow.

Haha, well, that totally worked. WE HAVE SNOW. Undeniable proof that the Met Office read this blog. And, er, control the weather.

WHERE IS THE SNOW? I demand mass resignations at the Met Office if it doesn’t snow today. THe only thing worse than not getting snow is not getting snow when you have been promised it.

Today I was faced with a strange dilemma I never thought I would be faced with: what do you do when the NME gives your band a rave review? The NME! Enemy of the DIY indie kids, much slagged on this very website. Upon being told our record was reviewed, I presumed it would be a two line nothingmuch comparing us to twelve other bands and moaning that we weren’t The Strokes, but no! “obscure genius”, “transcendent”, “proves Pink wrong”! Having joined the band after this particular record was recorded and ready for release helps somewhat – I can take some of the credit or dissassociate myself to some extent. In fact, having done virtually nothing yet, I feel kind of guilty about the whole ‘band’ thing and end up treating all this attention as an enormous joke. Hopefully some actual hard work once the recording and gigs get going will cure me of this.

I must also say my first look at the NME in about a year has been…interesting. Who ARE these bands? When did they start printing glossy posters?! WHO ARE THESE BANDS? And who let ex-members of the Yummy Fur playing Summerlin’s guitar get to be famous (and can I shake them by the hand for it)? Disappointed to see The Rapture are nowhere near as stupid geeky looking as I had imagined. Bah.

Oh yeah, BUY OUR RECORD. In the shops today “my people” tell me. Hurhur.

Can I also say I only wear Rocket Dog shoes, should anyone from that company want to give me a sponsorship deal. My trainers are leaking and I live in the UK’s second wettest city. I’m a UK size 5, US 8.5. Thanks.

The IKEA Walkthrough

I’m not sure THIS was quite what I was expecting Nintendo’s secret new project to be (we had money on a genetically engineered live Pikachu, darn) but it certainly sounds intriguing: a palm-held two screen gaming gadget. My brain is unable to visualise what on earth this might look like so I’m looking forward to seeing some actual pictures, not least to see what Nintendo have done with the design. The idea of having a separate screen to look at different aspects of the game is a continuation of what they’ve been trying to do with the GBA-GC link up, something which hasn’t quite caught on yet. And that’s not surprisingly to us seeing as the two connective games we play have brought us Tingle and the lecherous, cucumber-obsessed Kapp’n. I am slightly afeared.

This article on BBC NEWS, GameCube fights to stay in the game, has had me gnashing my teeth. Few things annoy me more than Nintendo bashing and the general games industry’s willingness to write off Nintendo for supposedly making kids games (what does the look of a game have to do with gameplay, at which Nintendo excel?!). Having experienced the truly patronising attitude to Girl Gamer Buying Girls Console myself in GAME, it makes me seethe.

As pointed out further into the article, it’s not really surprising that Nintendo are failing to keep up in a sales battle between themselves, Microsoft and Sony. Although a big company, Nintendo are no megacorp and can’t throw money away on consoles knowing they can make it back on one of their millions of other products and markets.

I also really hate these console wars in general. In the good old days we had Nintendo vs Sega – basically doing the same things in slightly different ways. Now we have two new consoles who have stamped a truly western style on console gaming and pitching it perfectly at your average male gadget buyer who daydreams of killing people with fancy guns, ar 15 accessories and driving flash cars into walls. With Sega no longer making consoles, Nintendo are out there alone in the ‘cutesy but innovative’ area and people often seem to forget that the majority of games Nintendo produce are aimed at the Japanese market who prefer these types of games (RPGs, puzzle games, Pokemon etc). If they have to compete with the Playstation and the XBox it means putting the US/UK markets first and making those types of games their priority.

The consensus seems to be that Nintendo should bow out of the console market gracefully and concentrate on making games, much as Sega has done. This would be hugely damaging to gaming I think, not least because of the innovations Nintendo has brought to consoles – compare any Nintendo controller to its respective competitors. And let’s not forget the Gameboy which has killed off every competitor who dared to try and break into the market. The launch of the new Sony handheld should be very interesting and very key to Nintendo’s future.

I have great faith in Nintendo though – they’ve always got something new, innovative and truly inspiring up their sleeves and I’m sure they can find a way to keep their niche in the face of generic games. If the worst does happen, gaming would be a very, very dull place without Nintendo.

More literary stuff! Firstly, A FANZINE REVIEW!

This has been sitting on my desk for weeks and weeks now, for which I can only apologise. By shouting STUPID BROKEN INTERNET.

Anyway. THE BLOODING #2. I remember very much liking issue #1 which was one of a group of zines that seemed to spring up from nowhere and prove that zines weren’t dying after all. Issue #2 is also very good. It’s got interviews with 90 Day Men, This Ain’t Vegas, Don Caballero, OXES, Karate, State River Widening and Twofold plus profiles of local label Freakscene, online distro Glaive and some other bits and pieces. It’s one of those zines that’s perfect for a bus ride or boring waiting room; I happily read it cover to cover in one sitting and was interested, amused and intrigued in turn. Definitely one of the better zines around with their coverage of both the latest Southern heroes and the stuff going on around their doorstep and some good layouts and use of space. I advise you to get yourself a copy asap. Email the_blooding@hotmail.com for more information or just send £1.50 to The Blooding, 40 Silsoe House, 50 Park Village East, Camden Town, London, NW1 7QH.