Monthly Archives: July 2009

A Bit on the Side

Posted on by David Lloyd
Duckworth Lewis Method

Duckworth Lewis Method

If you’re in a band these days, it’s almost obligatory to slip away from the day job and start up a splinter group. Side projects, though, run the risk of sending out all the wrong signals: that you’re either a) a grimly average musician whose ambition outstrips your ability, or, b) the day job’s over, and it’s time for a divorce.

Or, to put it another way, for every Dead Weather there’s a Duckworth Lewis Method.

So, in the name of research, I trampled all over my itunes library to find ten great, or at least interesting, side projects. Many, I’d wager, are better from the mothership they slipped away from…

Ready for your Close-up?

Posted on by David Lloyd
The way we see it. (c) Shoot Liverpool

The way we see it. (c) Shoot Liverpool

Liverpool’s a city of photography. From the smoky street scenes of E Chambre Hardman, to Mike McCartney’s mop-top hysteria, we’ve always loved to freeze frame things in time. Which is why I’m looking forward to this year’s excellent Shoot Liverpool competition, on August 15.

One thing’s for sure. The winners will show far more inventiveness than some of the city’s commercial studios. What is it with modern portrait photography? There was a time when, having parted with the equivalent of a week in Centerparcs, a professional photographer would have the decency to supply you with  chairs.

These days, if he’s really contemporary, your artistic modern portrait photographer will have family members draped awkwardly over each other on the floor, limbs entwining, heads lolling; like they’ve just been flung out of a light aircraft.
Continue reading →

Posted in Art

How to Launch a City Magazine

Posted on by David Lloyd
The right way to do it. Seattle Magazine

The right way to do it. Seattle Magazine

The talk, recently, was of Trinity Mirror lining up their next magazine, rumoured to be called The Best of Liverpool, for launch. Now, maybe, it’s going into the Echo instead. That’s a shame. Cultural, vibrant cities need culturally vibrant magazines. And, despite Google Reader, News 24 and BBC online’s regional landgrab, great magazines still exert a powerful pull. But you have to give them time.

But why have so many Trinity titles been culled before they’ve really had a chance to soak into our consciousness? Quality? I don’t think so (and, yes, I might have an interest here) Commitment by their Sports Media Department? Definitely not. Revenue issues? Well, yes and no. To an extent, you reap what you sow.

The problem, maybe, is The Echo. Continue reading →

The Good Vodka Guide

Posted on by David Lloyd
Vodka. It's time for a Revolution (bar).

Vodka. It's time for a Revolution (bar).

Vodka. It’s the chicken of the drinks world. Cheap to produce, goes with anything, usually abused. Most of the time, it’s no more than an alcohol transportation system run by Ryanair. Tasteless, ruthless, effective.

But here’s the thing. While we’ve cottoned on that chickens taste better when they’re given a six part Channel 4 series with a celebrity chef, our vodka-rights record is shameful. Most of the bottles chained to the optics of our bars haven’t seen any love in their short, chemically-enhacned incubation.

How to Stop Thinking

Posted on by David Lloyd
Stillness is the way. Apparently.

Stillness is the way. Apparently.

Barry Long has a question: “May I speak to you of death, bereavement and dying, on a single CD?”

Well, no, Barry, if it’s all the same to you, you may not.

But, to be fair to Barry, who died in 2003, he’s probably better placed than most.

Not one to give up without a fight, he tries another tack: “Do you long to make real love? Over two CDs, I’ll teach you about the problem of sex.”

Continue reading →

Liverpool Lifestyle

Posted on by David Lloyd
Urban Intelligent seeks Town Gown Transition.

Urban Intelligent seeks Town Gown Transition.

I met an old school friend yesterday. I didn’t mean to. I’d ran out of Horlicks so made a mercy dash to the 24 hour Tesco. I caught him with a bottle of Absolut, a tube of Berroca and a four pack of reduced-to-clear blueberry muffins.

I’d not seen him for ten years. After an initial burst of awkward pleasantries he cut straight in with: ‘So, what are you driving these days?’. Continue reading →

Twisted Elegance

Posted on by David Lloyd
Stevie G. Not pictured: other discerning clientele

Stevie G. Not pictured: other discerning clientele

What makes me laugh most about the Steven Gerrard ‘You’ve Been Framed’ video is not the antics of the man himself. Hey, we’ve all wanted a bit of Phil Collins when we’re pissed, haven’t we? There’d have been no trail if he’d have asked for ‘Su-su-sudio’ so-so-sober, but after a few Cristals a bit of Collins action is almost de riguer.

Nah, it’s not that. It’s the meteor shower of Acrylic-nailed Alex wannabes that flutter around him screaming ‘He’s not worth it, Stevie, leave him lad!’, while their Diamonique-encrusted Tulip dresses glinted seductively into the CCTV. Continue reading →

Memories of the Future

Posted on by David Lloyd
Moon. Another space odyssey?

Moon. Another space odyssey?

While I’m really looking forward to seeing Moon, it irks that almost every review lazy namechecks 2o01: A Space Odyssey as the film’s visual, and spiritual inspiration. Maybe. But that’s really only first base. I’m guessing, though, it makes for easier shorthand than, say, Tarkovsky’s Solaris or Silent Running, both dealing with the isolation and mind-bending repercussions of floating in a tin can, miles above the world.

But then, I haven’t yet seen it, so maybe I should shut up.

Continue reading →

Life in the Slow Lane

Posted on by David Lloyd
A canal runs through it. Pier Head.

A canal runs through it. Pier Head.

How’s it possible to wake up to a view of the Liver Buildings in your new waterside home, smug in the knowledge that you’ve paid less than £30k for it? And smugger still knowing you’re not  in another massively over-hyped identikit city loft?

First rule? Don’t take property advice from footballers.

Steven Gerrard loves the  new Mann Island Development. You know the one. It’s black, shiny, scally and shaped like a big V sign to UNESCO. It’s not really, as it claims, ‘probably the world’s finest residential development’, it’s just a huge waiting room for future Jeremy Kyle guests. Wise investment? We’ll see.

Second rule – think outside the box.

The £20 million Leeds Liverpool canal extension is a triumph, connecting the city to the Mersey far more elegantly than any of the empty glass-and-steel towers ever could.

So I was a little bit jealous when a friend of mine recently did a very clever thing… Continue reading →

Faith No More?

Posted on by David Lloyd
Mary, mary quite contrary.

Mary, mary quite contrary.

Saturday morning. Hangover. A woman’s just knocked on my door, telling me that the reason there’s so much suffering in my life is because, 6,000 years ago, God decided to test us out, to see if we could be trusted to get on with running our affairs in a sensible manner. The ascent of man, to her, was no more than some really, really dull Big Brother task. And one that we failed. Or, more specifically, that I failed.

This woman had picked the wrong day to evangelize. Yesterday I’d fallen out with my cousin, who’s Jewish. She was debating whether to send her kids to a local faith school. In the end, that’s exactly what she decided to do. Now, she opted-in to the Jewish religion as an adult. Her choice. Fine. But her kids? Well, they’re five. Are they able to tussle with the complexities of theism while, at the same time, learning all the words to High School Musical 3, and eating caterpillars? Continue reading →