Bolt of Blue

France is for romantics.

I wasn’t sure I’d post anything about Michael Jackson’s passing… I was never really a fan. Of course, there’s no denying the impact he had on popular culture. I find the whole situation very sad but not surprising. Here’s an interesting blog response from John Taylor…

A Blog from John
June 26th, 2009

Oliver Hunt from Manchester asked why there was nothing on our website about MJ. You’re absolutely right Oliver, there ought to be.

But let’s see, what can one say that hasn’t already been said, over and over and over… So Madonna has been in tears? Really.. I’ve not been in tears, but it has been an extremely sad 24 hours.

I was glad we were in rehearsals today for the summer shows and were all able to process our feelings with each other. When I heard the news my first call was Nick, then Roger.

To say he was the greatest entertainer of his generation…Well yes, perhaps he was. He made one of my favourite albums, ‘Off The Wall’, and ‘Thriller’ is pretty fucking amazing and even ‘Bad’ had a renaissance with me a month or so ago.

It’s all terribly sad. The rumours, and the court appearances. It’s been sad and depressing and frustrating for years now. I’ve been so sick of the jokes for years, but this morning? Not for me thanks.

It was a surprise to get the news, but maybe less surprising than if he had turned up at the 02 and rocked the house, played all the songs we wanted to hear and left London in one piece.

His music and his legend will live on. His life is an inspiration to us all but also a caution. I’m very very sorry he’s not with us anymore, but for my Madonna tears I’ll probably have to wait until ‘Rock With You’ catches me unawares one evening, alone on a motorway somewhere.. By then I’ll be really missing him.

This news excites me for several reasons:

1. Duran Duran working with Geldof again. Always a good thing.
2. Milla Jovovich singing again. YES! Her solo work is extremely underrated.
3. Beds are Burning is a song I loved growing up and has aged well.
4. Raising awareness about climate change. Again, always a good thing.

Here’s some round-ups to follow the ongoing situation in Iran:

• Huffington Post – daily live blogging by Nico Pitney
• niacINsight – live blogging
• LA Times coverage
• The Guardian coverage
• Citizen Tube – blog covering YouTube postings

If you know of others, please share. There’s also a big protest rally happening tomorrow in Westwood. Find out details on Facebook.

Blur reunion madness started with last Saturday’s show to 150 people at the East Anglian Railway Museum… the scene of one of their first public performances ever. Videos are now popping up:

Lots more here. They followed that up by playing a last minute surprise gig at Rough Trade records last night in London. 11 more shows between now and July 12 including their 2 sold out shows at Hyde Park. Lots of speculation they’ll announce more European and US tour dates soon. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!

I’ve slowly started posting photos from my recent trip to France last month. It was an incredible adventure that now feels far away… as though it happened years ago instead of merely weeks.

I’ve posted a set of over 100 photos from the first day. I tried to edit. We took over 300 that day! I don’t even know how many we took throughout the trip.

The above is one gem from that marvelous first day… the weather was gorgeous and we stumbled upon this incredible château right on the side of the highway. We came around a bend and pulled over when we saw the turnout. I hadn’t seen it as I was concentrating on driving. I didn’t know where Château de Montpoupon (saying this outloud is really fun) was as I got out of the car and asked my husband, “Where’s this alleged château?”

Turning around, I was met with a beautiful and magical sight. One of many experienced during this trip that I’ll be sharing.

A peek into the world of AFOLs.

Went and saw Star Trek last night.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single episode of the original series… and while I’ve seen some of the early movies, I don’t completely remember them except for the parts that really freaked me out as a kid.

I had to ask Remi if the Russian kid was someone important… Chekov? Who? It was only after the movie that I remembered Walter Koenig’s face. So yes, I’m not anything close to a Star Trek fan. Heck, I was one of those girls who watched the Next Generation for a while because of Wil freaking Wheaton.

That said, I LOVED this movie. It was a bit over the top with every single second being this epic moment with epic music… but I really really enjoyed it. And I guess I’m a total SAP that I cried within the first 5 minutes. This movie was all about Spock. The new and the old. I didn’t know Leonard Nimoy would be in this and he was one word: AWESOME. As was Zachary Quinto.

While I knew Winona Ryder played Spock’s mom, I didn’t know Eric Bana was playing the bad guy Nero until the credits. I totally didn’t recognize him. It took way too long for Simon Pegg to arrive on screen as Scotty and really liven things up. I loved him. Both John Cho and Anton Yelchin were also great fun.

Oh, I also loved seeing my friend Bryan as an extra in the end scene where Kirk is given his medal… way to stand out there cadet!