The Glasgow PodcART

Well, where to begin. There has been a lot of goings on since I last posted a blog so I will attempt to sum a lot of things up in a very short and concise manner. As many of you may, or may not know, I have taken a massive step back from frontline PodcART duties. In fact, PodcART looks vastly different today than it did when I wrote my last blog. Following on from Ally’s departure from the coal face I also had to move back, it was either that or kill some people and I am too old to go back to dealing with the police. Plus, loads of my school friends now seem to be working for the man and it would be embarrassing to be nicked by someone I used to laugh at in school, so rather than becoming a murderer I have left PodcART, well, I say left and that isn’t necessarily true. I will still be about, still doing things here and there, but the time was right to make a move. Truth be told, since I jumped things actually seem to be moving now so I wish I jumped a while ago. I wish Halina and the gang all the best in their endeavours. I am sure with me out of the way the gang will find their direction and get to wherever it is they want to go.

For my part I will now be concentrating on being more active with a number of projects I have had on the go for far too long. It really is time to get some shit finished rather than started! I may even get round to finishing some short stories and scripts. I also hope to finally start shooting my first film. I had hoped to start it back in January but it looks like it will now be closer to September. I don’t care, I just want the fucker shot and cut as I am already onto my next project and I haven’t filmed one frame of the current one. On that respect I should be contacting a lot of musicians over the next 6 weeks to sign people up to appear in the film. So far it’s looking like a Glasgow based musical homage to Kevin Smith. Why not? I still don’t have any proper funding in place but I don’t care, the time is now! This shit needs to happen.

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The brilliant people at Subtitled have had enough of me pestering them and they have agreed to let me spout nonsense for their website on a regular basis! Now I am over the moon about this, it really is an essential website for any cinephiles and I am delighted they regard my nonsense as publishable! My first review for Subtitled is the brilliant comedy, splatter-fest ‘The Machine Girl’, a riot of Japanese schoolgirl violence. I highly recommend the site, I promise if you love cinema there is much to admire.

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My mother and I travelled to Germany without much fuss. It’s hard to imagine what it must be like for my mum sometimes; Alzheimer’s is such a completely baffling condition. Simple acts like getting the shuttle bus to Edinburgh airport take on epic proportions of difficulty. The seemingly simple task of packing becomes a torturous obstacle, the mind prone to severe recriminations of doubt and confusion. Think about what it’s like when you leave the house and you worry about whether you have your keys, or if you left the cooker on. Then think about the fact there is a very real chance you did leave the cooker on, but you are blissfully unaware that your cooker is on. Then think about the fact that there will come a point where you will have no idea why you left the house in the first place, but that won’t matter cause eventually you will have no idea where you live. All these thoughts run through my mum’s head, it’s no wonder she finds it hard to concentrate. Still, my Mum is in no way maudlin about her fate. Sure she has dark moments and dark days, but for the most part she is treating the onset of her illness with the dark humour and good grace she has faced up to the many other hardships she has faced in her life. It is heartbreaking at times, but for the most part we laugh about it, what else can you do?

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The marathon is now only a couple of days away. If I am being brutally honest I am now looking at this run as a starting point for the rest of the year. I really have taken the piss with training for this marathon and I am in the worst shape I have been in for about 4 years! It’s fine though, I will be able to finish no problem; I reckon playing five a side football on Monday night with the boys from Creation Studios was verging on psychotic though! I haven’t played football for nearly 2 years; I am 35 years old and taking anti-inflammatory drugs in order to train for the run. Playing football was just stupid, but I really, really enjoyed it. I love a kick around and I miss playing football so much it’s actually silly. Grown men should not behave like this, but we do though don’t we?

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I want to say a massive, huge, thank you to the marvellous women of WPM. The first event at Creation last week was a HUGE success and it is all down to the hard work and inspirational efforts of Anneliese and Kirsten who are not only super organised and motivated, they are also insanely talented. I am almost finished editing the video of WPM1 for them and the snippets should be on the WPM website from next week. WPM2 is on the 6^th of JUNE!!!!!  With a line up including SOPHIE COOKE, CRAIG LAMONT, ADAM STAFFORD it is not to be missed.

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And finally,

It was my good friend RM Hubbert’s birthday this week and I want to wish him all the best. Hubby is one of the most talented and genuine people I have ever met. I have only known Hubby for a short while but he is another man who is a constant source of good conversation and professional inspiration. If you are not aware of the man then please go to his website. You can get his amazing album First And Last (read the review here) and you can also download his old band El Hombre Trajeado here.  I highly recommend you do both.

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Oh, one other thing!!

Ayetunes V’s Peenko was a brilliant night, there will be a couple of videos made up of footage from the night coming your way very, very soon!!!

Thank you to everyone who has already donated money for the alzheimer’s society. It is a hugely important cause. If you haven’t donated yet, you can do so here!!

www.justgiving.com/seanmccann