Can't effing wait: The Four-Year Plan

I now know what it feels like to have be a life-long fan of a comic book and to learn that there is to be a film made of your favourite ever character. To say I'm excited about seeing (damning) QPR expose feature-length documentary The Four-Year Plan is a severe understatement. I'm as hopelessly pumped as David Cameron was just before he decided to intervene in Libya. Here's hoping the negative publicity generated by the film will finally force Flabbio and Bernie to sell up and go back to the pit-stops forever.

Rocket-powered thriller

The US reviews for The Devil's Double are now in. Here's a selection of choice quotes:

"The dual aspect of Mr. Cooper's performance is immensely enjoyable, and the film, directed by Lee Tamahori — from Michael Thomas's adaptation of an autobiographical book by Mr. Yahia — leaves no doubt about Uday's vileness. Its star creates a new pinup for the gallery of human perversion, a coke-snorting psychopath with a piping voice who fairly vibrates with delight at the depth of his own depravity."
-The Wall Street Journal

"The film’s evocations of the traditions of Scarface and The Sopranos are neither accidental nor inappropriate. The Husseins did resemble a classic Hollywood crime family — or at least that is how they appear in the 1980s and ’90s, when the movie takes place."

- The New York Times

"The life story of Latif Yahia, body double to Saddam Hussein's diabolically unhinged son Uday, makes for slick action-movie fodder in The Devil's Double, a rocket-powered thriller rife with scenery chewing and fast-and-loose revisionism that could, by dint of sheer sensationalism, break the Iraq movie curse and rack up some serious B.O. around the world. More Scarface than House of Saddam, director Lee Tamahori's gangster-style treatment veritably blisters with tension as reluctant decoy Latif comes to fill the void of Uday's nonexistent conscience, playing front-row witness to the tyrant's insatiable cruelty."
- Variety

"An urgent desire to take a long shower is an appropriate response to watching The Devil’s Double, so unsavory is the experience of being immersed in the world of Saddam Hussein’s Caligula-like son Uday and his double, Latif Yahia."
-The Hollywood Reporter

Via Metacritic

Tags

I'm not really the type to keep the tags attached to my Moschino jeans or New Era snapback. But I am a fan of a nicely designed tag. Here are two of my personal faves:

Ralph Lauren Beacon shirt

Oi Polloi is selling a Ralph Lauren shirt which it describes as a 'campfire in shirt form.' Whaddya reckon? Not bad if you're a 7 foot Navajo I say but less good if you're looking for interview clobber.

Oscar for Coops

The brainiacs over at Yahoo blog omg! are predicted Coops will bag Oscar for his lead role in The Devil's Double. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Danner postman shoes

These heavy-duty, wonderfully dorky postman shoes are ace. They're very similar to pair of chunky Trickers I own and love.


Via High Snobiety

Life Story - Tennessee Williams

Daily Dish flagged up this great poem over the weekend. Read to the end as it has a tough punch.

Life Story
BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
After you've been to bed together for the first time,
without the advantage or disadvantage of any prior acquaintance,
the other party very often says to you,
Tell me about yourself, I want to know all about you,
what's your story? And you think maybe they really and truly do

sincerely want to know your life story, and so you light up
a cigarette and begin to tell it to them, the two of you
lying together in completely relaxed positions
like a pair of rag dolls a bored child dropped on a bed.

You tell them your story, or as much of your story
as time or a fair degree of prudence allows, and they say,
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
each time a little more faintly, until the oh
is just an audible breath, and then of course

there's some interruption. Slow room service comes up
with a bowl of melting ice cubes, or one of you rises to pee
and gaze at himself with the mild astonishment in the bathroom mirror.
And then, the first thing you know, before you've had time
to pick up where you left off with your enthralling life story,
they're telling you their life story, exactly as they'd intended to all along,

and you're saying, Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
each time a little more faintly, the vowel at last becoming
no more than an audible sigh,
as the elevator, halfway down the corridor and a turn to the left,
draws one last, long, deep breath of exhaustion
and stops breathing forever. Then?

Well, one of you falls asleep
and the other one does likewise with a lighted cigarette in his mouth,
and that's how people burn to death in hotel rooms.

Video Games - Lana Del Ray

I'm told this music genre is called Hollywood sadcore. Get sad:

Inside a twisted mind: Anders Breivik's diaries

You definitely don't need me to tell you that Norwegian massacre suspect Anders Breivik is one helluva sick puppy.



For those odd bods not wholly convinced that someone who dresses as a cop, asks kids to gather round and then ruthlessly guns them down is not a total scumbag, may I direct you to his rambling, raging 1,500 page manifesto.

Breivik spent three years composing his 2083 - A European Declaration of Independence manifesto. Alongside endless attacks on multiculturalism, it includes diary entries which give an idea of his loner lifestyle. Here are a few lowlights:

That night, after dark, I loaded in everything in the van. Still need to strap it properly in place though. Tested gear. Exhausted!!! Good workout though. I'm drinking 4 x protein shakes per day now to maximize muscle generation.

This house is infested with beetles. Just now I was about to reach for a chocolate in my goodie bag and a beetle had crawled in ... After that I started killing every little insect in view. And I'm up to 18 just in the last hour.

I have a more or less perfect body at the moment and I'm as happy as I have ever been. My morale is at an all time high and I'm generally happy with how things are progressing. I may create an ideological Knights Templar Youtube movie this winter. I have some time to invest while I wait for my chemicals to arrive.

Photo credit: Breivik's manifesto (which was posted shortly before he embarked on his bombing and shooting mission.

Yuketan Antler Moc

C D Moorby at his new and natty men's style blog Stitched and Stitched has a great post about the Yuketan Antler Moccasin. Here's how Moorby describes the shoe, which turned heads at Pitti Uomo, and will be in (hardly any) shops next year:

A classic and traditional shoe style – lovingly made in beautiful leather – is given a real twist with the addition of Antlers to the lacing. Like a bone right through the nose of the shoe. It’s heritage punk through and through ... The main feature of this shoe ... is of course the Antler ornament. For this, Yuki Matsuda drilled holes in wild Maine deer antler tips which were taken from the Maine forest. Male bucks shed their antlers and a lucky explorer can sometimes find a nice sized antler 'shed' which serve as decoration for rustic Maine hunting lodges. The Antler ornament on Yuketen Antler Mocs is strictly decorative. However, the style appeals to outdoor enthusiasts and stylish moccasin lovers alike.

Post Overalls Mattalini shacket*

I dig this shirt-meets-jacket (shacket?) from Post Overalls. Sort of thing a Japanese architect wears to the beach (that's not a diss BTW).


*coinage

Latif Yahia, AKA the Devil's Double, still can't sleep.

Latif Yahia, the Iraqi man who, against his will, served at Uday Hussein's body double, has written a piece for Newsweek about his experiences. You can read it here. Here's the juiciest bit:
"I escaped Iraq in the early 1990s. But I spent five years afterward in counseling and psychological treatment, dealing with the things I saw: torture and kidnapping of girls, rape, and all these things. Once I tried to commit suicide by taking tablets; another time I tried to hang myself. I was so depressed. I was taking a lot of Valium to calm down. Even now I don’t get to sleep until 5 or 6 in the morning. I always have nightmares. When you live in the West, you don’t see things like torture."
My pop's screenplay for The Devil's Double is based on Yahia's book.

Our Legacy shirts

On a recent trip to Paris with wifey HanPicked, I bought a lovely 1950's selvedge stripe Our Legacy shirt from an ace shop called French Trotters. It really is the nicest shirt I own and I get a bit sad when it's in the wash.


Scandi firm Our Legacy have just dropped their autumn/winter line. Here's the pick of the litter ... a forties style 'pyjama' shirt:

Quote of the day: Michele Bachmann's love for celery

"I will tell you my favorite food of all time is celery. Honest to God my favorite food is celery. Straight up celery. I will personally consume the entire stalk of celery. At the Thanksgiving table I have the plate of celery in front of me"

- US Presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann.

Via Daily Dish

Money. Sex. Power. It's not enough.

Here are the three new posters for The Devil's Double.

British public life

"It used to be said that the Russian tsarist system was autocracy, tempered by assassination. British public life feels similar: we don't do thoughtful, deliberate, progressive change. We do long periods of complacency, followed by explosions of outrage."

- Jackie Ashley in The Guardian

Backheel PK

I am s t a g g e r e d that the keeper didn't attack the peno taker after this blatant piss-take. The sheer cheek of it.

Via TC-G Fezbuk

Red hot in Russia: 'Krokodil'

The latest craze in Russia is homemade drugs. Shudder. According to Al Jazeera, about 100,000 people are thought to be making and using substances made from legal and easily available ingredients. One of the drugs, called 'Krokodil' (or crocodile), named after the scaly-looking sores it causes, is made from a combination of headache pills, petrol, paint thinner, hydrochloric acid, iodine and red phosphorous scraped from the strike strips of matchboxes. Would you take a drug that's chief side effect is your body falling off? Let ArchBlog know.

Mt. Rainier Design Mtn Parka

I love, love, love this Mt. Rainier Design kelly green mountain parka. Perfect for the English 'summer.'



Here's an ickle blurb:
Inspired by the great North West, Mt. Rainier Design has recently been licensed by a Japanese company with a passion for mountaineering and authentic product. Specializing in 60/40 fabric, Mt. Rainier Design has replicated some of the most classic items from the company's rich history. The Mountain Parka is an absolute classic when it comes to traditional North West outerwear. The 4 pocket front styling on the front is not only functional, but a perfected design. This spring version has a sleeve pocket, and a large back pocket as well. Featuring adjustable snaps, pulls and a lightweight lining, the jacket is probably the best of its kind.

Please be careful out there ... Bum Driller with 'anaconda-like whopper' on rampage

CRIKEY: "At first, I thought he was being a bully until he told me that he fancied downloading his sperms in my butt"

Fierce owl crest

I've always had a soft spot for Oldham Athletic AFC. Proper narthern athletic football club. I like them even more now they've got a bad-tempered owl on their new crest ...

Return of the long-legged Borneo Rainbow Toad

One of The World's Top Ten Most Wanted Lost Frogs (per Conservation International) has been found alive and well after 90 years in hiding. Yes peeps, the long-legged Borneo Rainbow Toad has shown up a tree in Malaysia. And not only is it impossibly rare, it is also the best-looking toad I have ever clapped eyes on.

"The Sambas Stream Toad, or Bornean Rainbow Toad as it’s also called (Ansonia latidisca) was previously known from only three individuals, and was last seen in 1924 - the same year Vladimir Lenin died, and Greece declared itself a republic. Prior to the rediscovery, only illustrations of the mysterious and long-legged toad existed, after collection by European explorers in the 1920s." Read more here.

Here's the Most Wanted poster - keep your eyes peeled.


Toad photo credit: Indraneil Das

QPR headed for Derby-esque humiliation in the premiership?

Things are looking mighty grim for QPR as the clock ticks down to the opening game of the season, Bolton at Loftus Road on August 13. Neil Warnock has been handed a laughable transfer budget of £1.25 million to beef up a workmanlike squad which is nowhere near premiership standard. To make matters worse, King Taarabt has spent most of the summer throwing his toys out of the pram, isn't going on the pre-season tour of Cornwall and looks set for a move to megabucks PSG. The whole sitch is desperately depressing for loyal fans who'd hoped QPR would spend a few quid in the summer and at least be competitive in the Prem. The truth is until someone (hopefully the Mittals) buys out Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, QPR will remain a badly-run club lurching from crisis to crisis.

I spose it doesn't matter given football isn't what it used to be (see below) ...

Green suede shoes

Anyone after a pair of half-price green suede chukka boots should make tracks to the Oliver Spencer webstore ...

Afghanistan footy kit

I've not purchased a football top for quite a few years. This is partly because a I possess a semi-rational fear that if I am wearing one and someone lights me with a zippo (!), I will go up in flames in 2 seconds flat. Maximum. That and football tops generally make one look like a prize clown. However, my head has been turned by Hummel's long-sleeved number for the Afghan national team. It's reasonably good looking and, politically, so right on it hurts.

Snap it up for £50 at Subside.

NOTW shuttering: Stroke of an evil genius?

The real reason Murdoch has shuttered The News of the World remains unclear. There are a bunch of possible motives. Here's probably the juiciest explanation:

Liquidation: The stroke of an evil genius. Alison Frankel, a law reporter at Reuters, suggested that the shuttering offers News Corp. the opportunity to destroy records relevant to the phone hacking scandal in advance of a more aggressive investigation by Scotland Yard: “According to British media law star Mark Stephens of Finers Stephens Innocent (whom The Times of London has dubbed “Mr Media”), Rupert Murdoch’s soon-to-be shuttered tabloid may not be obliged to retain documents that could be relevant to civil and criminal claims against the newspaper – even in cases that are already underway. That could mean that dozens of sports, media, and political celebrities who claim News of the World hacked into their telephone accounts won’t be able to find out exactly what the tabloid knew and how it got the information. News of the World is to be liquidated, Stephens told Reuters, it ‘is a stroke of genius -perhaps evil genius.’ Under British law, Stephens explained, all of the assets of the shuttered newspaper, including its records, will be transferred to a professional liquidator (such as a global accounting firm). The liquidator’s obligation is to maximize the estate’s assets and minimize its liabilities.”

The wonderful Adam Curtis has weighed in on Rupert Murdoch. It's a telling account of how Murdoch came to loathe the 'decadent elites' after they rejected him. Make a cup of (English) tea and have a read here. Without wanting to give away the conclusion, I will reveal it ends with this:

Pentagon takes drugs, communicates with 'clockwork elves' and wants you to live in a pod

I get a lot of my nooze from this guy, Alex Jones. He's so on the £$€.
Some foolish haters say he is a conspiracy theorist and a little on the paranoid side. Quite frankly, that's plain ridiculous.
The truth is that he is the only guy brave enough to shine a light on what "lunatic elites" like the Pentagon, CIA and FBI is really up to. For instance, did you know that the government invented DMT, LSD and PCP which they take so they can communicate with "clockwork elves" who are telling them "how to get eternal life." Oh yeah, and the feds want us to all live in pods?

Major Lazor to headline Notting Hill Carnival

'I'm Poland'

There's something so touching about this snippet from The Daily Telegraph:

Robert Wladyslaw Parzelski flew from London to Sao Paulo on June 17 but did not have a return flight or any money for accomodation and a friend he was expecting to meet did not turn up.
He got through customs and then simply decided to stay where he was, sleeping on a concrete bench.
Unable to speak any Portuguese, Parzelski simply responded: "I'm Poland" when staff at the airport asked how he was.
The 44-year-old electrician was then labelled 'the German' by workers who could not understand him but gathered food, cigarettes and even vodka for him.
Eventually a 70-year-old Polish doctor living in Sao Paulo was summoned to talk to Parzelski, who claimed he had been sent to Brazil to collect two telephone handsets.
Parzelski was ordered to leave Brazil on Tuesday after 18 days and boarded a plane to Switzerland before returning to Britain.
His story echoes that of the central character in the 2004 Spielberg film, played by Tom Hanks, who was refused entry to the US but could not go back to his fictional homeland due to a revolution.
However, Hanks' character enjoyed somewhat better fortune when a romance with a beautiful air hostess played by Catherine Zeta-Jones ensued.

Walls I Scream

In the dark days before people only communicated via social meedjah networks, people actually wrote on their own (brick) wall to let their friends know their status.

Ride and die

Real bikers not only wear black. They also never stop. Even to light their pipe. Far out!


Via Prog Porn (see my blogroll)

Equatorial Guinea defender gets a big let-off

Has a 'ref' ever failed to spot a more blatant peno?

Norse Projects Roman shirt

I'm a totes sucker for olive green shirt. Not that I ever wanted to sign up to the forces. Hideout has just posted some picks of the Norse Projects High Summer clobber they've just got in. I like the olive green shirt best. Did I mention I like olive green shirts.

And here's my all-time olive green fave:

Buttery biscuit base

Given Masterchef's strangely hip and always naff dance music soundtrack has always intrigued me more than the food, I spose I have to post this viral vid ...