This Is Hardcore – Pulp (2002).
No, this is hardcore:
Broken bricks or stone which, consolidated, are used as a base under floors and patios.
“Hey, I went to college once, but all they found were rats in my head.”
With apologies to Mrs 6000
Category: sheffield
Rewind the film
It was already a good year for music and then there was the new Pet Shop Boys album and then there was confirmation of a new Arctic Monkeys album and then last week, the Manic Street Preachers dropped this into the mix, so to speak:
Great song. Wonderful video.
Eagle-eared listeners will recognise the dulcet club singer vocals of Sheffield’s own Richard Hawley on there and the good news is that this is the title track (but not the first single) from the new album, due for release on 16th September.
Do I Wanna Know?
The new Arctic Monkeys offering: commanding bassline, hefty drums, deep lyrics; perfectly delivered.
Wow. This is good.
Clever, clever video, too.
Hometown glory, done right.
Temporary condition
This rather bold statement:
from here.
There are other interesting images on that post as well. Namely the two shots of the placard on (I think) Fargate in Sheffield, featuring words from the Bible.
It reminded me of going to the football as a kid and seeing the old man in the fluorescent orange waistcoat* on John Street with a placard. Every game, without fail, he’d be there, standing in the middle of the (closed) road outside turnstile 33. On one side of his sign was: “CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS” and on the other, more ominously ahead of any important match: “THE END IS NIGH”.
I suppose that “Nigh” (like “Temporary”) is a subjective measure of time: we’re 30+ years on and “The End” has yet to come.
Still, I guess that when it does, he’ll be able to claim that he was right all along.
* I didn’t think this memory could be right, but having looked it up, TIL that amazingly, hi-vis jackets have been around since the 1960’s.
Dambusters anniversary
Yesterday marked the 70th anniversary of Operation Chastise – better known as the Dambusters raid – on the Ruhr Valley in German Industrial heartland. A bit like Maitland, but with fewer taxis.
A new type of weapon, the bouncing bomb, was designed and tested by Barnes Wallis specifically for the mission.
Two of the dams were breached while another sustained only minor damage. In the valley, 1,600 people drowned.
The raid was carried out by 133 airmen in 19 Lancaster bombers who formed the RAF’s 617 squadron. Fifty-six men and eight aircraft did not return.
The bomb in question was tested on the Derwent dam in Derbyshire, just down the road from my hometown of Sheffield. And yesterday, to commemorate the anniversary, there was a flypast over the dam wall (which you may remember from this flickr set) in front of huge crowds.
Notably, there’s a lot less water in there than last July. And a whole lot more World War II bomber over it too.
There’s video too – click here.
All in all, the Dambusters Raid was a huge boost to the British morale at what was obviously a hugely difficult time. The effects of the actual bombing on the German war effort were soon overcome, but the bravery of those young airmen deserves to be remembered – even now, 70 years on.