http://www.bracestower.co.uk ...sifting through the detritus Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:17:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Over the last couple of years, I've been using proper professional equipment to make music. It's certainly more reliable, but recently, I decided to regress and try out some music using some really crappy gear. Toy instruments. I've acquired a fair bit over the years through boot sales and charity ... http://www.bracestower.co.uk/2010/02/my-first-band/ Years ago, I used to work in a public library on a council estate. One of our regular library users used to bring us in his short stories - I guess he thought we'd be interested, what with all the books around us and that. His stories brought us immense ... http://www.bracestower.co.uk/2009/11/dhw-aka-dave-a-new-low-in-creative-writing/ Just discovered in a Dusseldorf car boot sale is this rare pilot for the uncommissioned Kraftwerk sitcom, "Ralf and Florian". http://www.bracestower.co.uk/2009/08/ralf-and-florian-the-kraftwerk-sitcom/ I presume that Big Wheel is some fifties variation on Big Cheese. Whatever, this chimp looks AWESOME in his top hat and er...monkey suit. http://www.bracestower.co.uk/2009/08/big-wheel/ This appears to be the same horse used by the Murdering Dutch Cowboy Monkey Here though, his simian owner is in a more romantic mood, wooing a teddy bear, dangling provocatively out of a garden window. http://www.bracestower.co.uk/2009/08/chimp-horse/ Blimey. I've just received a STACK of dressed-up-chimp postcards, all from the same set as above. Most of them will be making their way onto this blog in the near future. They all have trite captions on, dreamed up by some bored copywriter at the postcard company. Personally I would have ... http://www.bracestower.co.uk/2009/08/monkey-boxer/ Readers of a certain age may remember the Brooke Bond Chimps depicted here, but it was the message on the back of the postcard I liked... Norman is obviously on holiday in Bognor (see postmark), although the weather's been a bit poo and probably not as nice as the continent where ... http://www.bracestower.co.uk/2009/08/tea-party/ One day, all call centres will be run by robots. Until then, they'll have to make do with the monkeys they currently employ. http://www.bracestower.co.uk/2009/08/phone-home/ You may well have seen the very amusing 4play interview with Raygun - the kind of traditional glam-rock-with-wooshy-synths band middle-class A&R men loved to sign in the 90s (see also: Gay Dad). I won't post the original here as it's not hard to find, but the singer's jaw-dropping pretensions and ... http://www.bracestower.co.uk/2009/08/raygun-alternative-4play-promo/ The first in an occasional series. The Dragons are left speechless by a virtuoso performance of a Dusty Springfield song. Unfortunately, no one is willing to break the ensuing silence... http://www.bracestower.co.uk/2009/08/awkward-silences-dragons-den/