I love you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you.

Elmore Leonard is widely touted as the grand master of crime novel writers. A fan since ’96, my favorite is still my first. Freaky Deaky. Laced with sharp, witty language, wildly vivid characters and dark humor, many of the titles have been produced as movies.  Jackie Brown, Get Shorty and Out Of Sight are the best of the batch. Now if someone could only hook Leonard up with Michael Mann or the Coen brothers.

I am currently reading The Hot Kid. This, Leonard’s 40th novel, is set during the depression. It starts out in 1921 with 15 year-old Carl Webster buying an ice cream cone at his local drug store. Carl witnesses infamous outlaw Emmett Long gun down a police officer in cold blood, stopping to talk to the boy on his way out. Cut to seven years later and young Carl is now a US Marshall on the trail of Emmett Long. Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson and Bonnie and Clyde are all on the loose. Hold on to your britches for a wild mix of outlaws, bootleggers, US Marshalls, gun-molls, working-girls, Klansmen and gangsters impersonating federal agents. Another grand masterpiece from Mr. Leonard.

Guinness 1 – 0 Chang Beer

(Phil Lynott 1 – 0 Marouane Fellaini)

Phil Scolari: ‘Wooden-Leg’ led Brazil to the World Cup, took Portugal to the Euro ’04 Finals and won three titles with Palmeiras.

Gene Hackman: Starred in The French Connection,  Superman II, The Conversation, Get Shorty and The Royal Tenenbaums.

Scolari 0 – 1 Hackman

I was recently at London’s Design Museum to see the Alan Aldridge exhibition, The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes. (Great show but the bastards wouldn’t let us take photos). There were 20ft reproductions of book covers I hadn’t seen since the age of 8 or 9. It turns out that Mr Aldridge was the art director at Penguin Books – hence a huge influence in my early days. I ran out that evening and picked up the book by the same name. What a life this man has had. He gives an account of an impromptu drawing battle with Salvador Dali. And then there is the story of old Alan dancing with Princess Margaret at Kensington Palace. All this and some insane illustration, graphic desgn and animation. The back cover contains a great quote from Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason: “Who needs drugs when Alan is available to translate music into visual imagery?”.  Word.

My dad used to (and still does) punish this album around the house when friends came by. Long before Ace and De La looped ’em up, I remember a smokey living room with the drums and bass from ‘The Message’ or ‘Bra’ and rumbling through my bones. Some of the lesser-known  tracks are quality. Wikipedia had some explanation that CYMANDE (pronounced see – MAHN – deh) was derived from calypso meaning peace and love. I dunno about all that. I trust my pops’ word that the name was actually patois for ‘See Man There.’ In the words of the band themselves, “Only Babylon an’ dem coulda never know fi mi name.”

My man Denis sent me a clip of this BBC 3 comedy called IDEAL set in Manchester. He said it “…might be good.”  Whoa. I had never seen anything like it. Dark, super-sharp and funny as f@%#! And the topper is that they’re four seasons deep.

MOZ: Below average DJ – turn weed-dealer. “Nicely, nicely. Vincent Pricely.”
NICKY: Moz’s fiery, Welsh girlfriend with a mean left. “Watch it, you’re already on a yellow card!”
PC:  Police Constable Phillip Collins. Moz’s best friend and supplier.
PSYCHO PAUL: Phillips screw-driver-wielding dealer-turned-kidnapper. Serious previous offenses.
CARTOONHEAD: Neighbor and hit-man for hire. Wears a permanent mouse mask.
STEMROACH: Neighborhood boss. Shot through the troat, he talks with voice-box amplifier.

Nuff said