Michael MacLennan

Stayover?

I'd like to do karate again, but I always feel a bit sheepish rejoining after a long absence, though I guess a year isn't too long to have been out. I also need to find a decent Shotokan club near the city centre, plus there is the big problem that I'm working night shifts at the moment, which makes going to lessons pretty difficult. Perhaps I'll just go into Kelvingrove dressed up in my outfit and wearing a bandana, and practise kata all day long while nonplussed kids and curious pensioners wonder aloud what the hell I'm doing. The beating that I subsequently give them will leave them in no doubt as to what happens when they openly mock me. That warning goes to all of you too. Yeah, you.

Mmm, my legs have just about recovered after doing the Edinburgh marathon on Sunday, so I can definitely recommend running as a way of losing weight. That was my second time doing that marathon and I managed to run it more than15min, in 3 hours 41 minutes, by sticking to the simple training schedule the organisers sent out in e-mail format. I've lost at least 2 and a half stone since I started running a couple of years ago, and feel a hell of a lot better for it, though I'd still like to get super-buff, so I'm doing gym work for the next few weeks until I go to Serbia to write about the EXIT music festival for The Herald. Got to impress those East European super-hot ladies! (Before they sell for to be tortured like in Hostel, but I guess those are the breaks...) Then I'm back running for the Loch Ness marathon in October, though I'm getting a bit bored of the jogging, might take up a team sport so it's more fun, a couple of friends are into handball so I might give that a go.

Any good, simple, FREE ones someone can recommend ASAP? Would be much appreciated? Usually use Sound Forge, but it's buggered right now...

It's not a remake, it's a different movie with some similarities (such as, err, a labyrinth), and it's going to be amazing. And the fact that it's Neil Labute remaking The Wicker Man gives me hope, though I'd hardly say the original is an untouchable classic. Some people get far too prissy about these things.

I love it, perfect timing given the weather, good to see Mike Patton doing something a little more straightforward that I can listen to in the streets without wanting to strangle old ladies...

I've said it before, but it's great stuff, get gigging soon, you crazy cat, you.

The album's great, was out here on Monday, great packaging as well, which always makes a difference on first impressions... obviously more accessible, but at the same time not quite what I was expecting, more hip hoppety than perhaps I expected, but in a really good way. I had no idea that there was a live band to perform the material, would be cool if there was to be a tour, though given how bust Patton is, that seems unlikely.

Yeah, saves on budget, let's not worry about how ridiculous it looks... also helps cover over the fact that they aren't that many people in the final scene, and is supposed to make it look more exciting. But doesn't. Basically, I agree with pretty much everything Al said. There's moments you can see that it could have been a far better movie, perhaps aspects of the script that Singer had in mind. I guess we'll never know.

The 'comic' moments were death, Vinnie Jones has no comic timing, and you were always waiting for some lame one-liner from Wolverine, they completely toned him down from the bad-ass he was in the second movie and made him a hokey character, as well as giving him very few decent action scenes. It reminded me of Moore-era Bond, and that's not in a complimentary way. In fact, none of the action scenes were great, and a lot of the effects weren't as good as they could have been. The movie was disappointing, even given that I expected it to be disappointing. The fact that characters like Angel just seemed to be bunged in for the sake of it gave it a very fractured feel, hard to care much about any of it. The death of Phoenix was bollocks as well. There were a couple of really nice moments, but they just reminded me of how average the rest of the movie was.

Son of a bitch! That's all I have to say.

I object.

And the axe. Don't forget the axe. The event restored my faith in democracy, and humanity in general. I could die today, and I'd die happy.

You're definitely not.

I can kind of understand his reasons for the post, but he probably didn't need to name any bands specifically, I don't see what it adds to the piece. Gives the recommended bands a bit of publicity I guess, but nothing they wouldn't get anyway if they are chosen, and it will raise expectations among some bands...

Done and done, nice to have something that simple for reference, you have no idea how complicated it is keeping track of gigs, even at this early stage...

Cheers, and thanks for the recommendations, I've been meaning to check out Huun Huur Tu for ages, and I've always loved Copy Haho. The only problem with those gigs is that I have to file copy a couple of weeks in advance, so it's already too late to recommend those, unfortunately. But let me know of anything else coming up whenever it does, and I'll try and soak it up like a big fluffy sponge. Stuff like Huun Huur Tu is definitely appreciated, want to keep things pretty eclectic and mix it up a bit. PS black_matter, what's your myspace page?

That was my plan, but we only do Thu-Sun, as it's recommending stuff for 'the weekend'. I have recommended the gig in Glasgow though, which is pretty cool to get in The Herald, hopefully a few interested people will read that, find out more about them and check out the Aberdeen show... not me though, I have to work night-shift on both dates, goddam it...

Hello, For those of you who don't know me by name, I'm Michael MacLennan, and as of tomorrow I'm going to be responsible for the pop and rock recommendations in The Herald's Thursday features section, Going Out. Here's the recommendations this week: Dresden Dolls Other recommendations Anyway, I'll be doing more of that every week, and living in Aberdeen for many years I'm looking to put Aberdeen gigs and Aberdeen bands in there. I've got a new myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/michaelmaclennan to do with my writing, so I'd be grateful for anyone who wants to inform me on what they're up to through the site, or just check out the articles I'm doing and massage my ego. I'll go before I start sounding too wanky...

If they play The Pot at the Carling Academy then, oh my, hmmmmmmmmm... what a song. can't say too much about the rest of the album as just been obsessively listening to that song, but I don't see the need for Tool to 'progress', having to make creative leaps and bounds from each album to the next just for the sake of it seems as pointless as making the same album over and over again. It should just be a natural process, so far I'd definitely say there's a difference between this and Lateralus, and if it's not so great as some expected, then that's understandable, but I for one love the directness of some of the new songs. I think if they'd taken another side-step it could have easily become purposely wanky and god knows, there's already enough bands doing that at the moment.