Rigid Digits

We saw the enduringly popular and timeless beat combo Stiff Little Fingers last night. It's nearly 30 years since we first caught Jake Burns and the band in the same location (Cambridge), although this time not at the cavernous Corn Exchange. It was good to see original bassist Ali McMordie back in the team.

In return for a fine gig, I will plug Jake's solo album, released in the UK next week!

Rubbing it in

With all the brouhaha in the courts at the moment, it is worth recalling the original review of The Da Vinci Code by Peter Millar of The Times:

This is without doubt, the silliest, most inaccurate, ill-informed, stereotype-driven, cloth-eared, cardboard-cutout-populated piece of pulp fiction that I have read. And that’s saying something.

It would be bad enough that Brown has gone into New Age overdrive by trying to draw together the Grail, Mary Magdalene, the Knights Templar, the Priory of Sion, Rosicrucianism, Fibonacci numbers, the Isis cult and the Age of Aquarius. But he’s done it so sloppily.

Wish I'd said that.

Gram story

An excellent BBC Radio program about another one of my personal demi-gods, Gram Parsons, can be listened to here.

Don't you love the way Bob Harris pronounces the word "record"? Rekkid!

Scripted by Sid Griffin, veteran of The Long Ryders - you can download Sid's latest rekkid from eMusic. I hear that Sid's definitive Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel TV documentary may be released on DVD this year.