Dave rattles on.

Over the holidays I stumbled across this pair of New Yorkers bangin out some fucking beautiful punk rock, the best I'd had the good fortune to hear in a long time. Besides bein probably the cutest couple in town, an the most earnestly joyous performers I've seen on any screen on the Intertubes, they lay down some bloody good tunes, the best of which can be found on YouTube, at this address:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yg-CgIwaHs



"Yea Yeah" to my ears speaks volumes about these crazy cats, and the catchiness of the song coupled with the barely co-ordinated spazzin out proves an essential law of rock: No matter how complex your time signature or chord progression might be, the truth remains that two twats with drums, keyboards and barrelloads of soul can and will blow you out the fuckin water.

On other matters, I arrived back in (Old) York the day, pumped to the gills with anticipation of havin in my possession a PS2, an housemates with a fuckin dance mat, did you ever. Also, Monday the 15th will see the last meetin between me and Joyce for manys a long year, in all likelihood. I'll miss the bastard, to be honest with you. Ulysses is probably the best work of fiction I'll ever set eyes upon, and encounterin some of the foremost thinkers on the subject last term is a memory I'll treasure.

Last, but by no means least, I gotta spill my guts about this dude, Neil Gaiman, and his outstandin graphic novel series, The Sandman. I've never been a big fan of comic books, and I always considered "graphic novel" to be the token of a genre strugglin to be taken seriously. After readin through the ten volumes and then some concernin this uniquely rich universe Gaiman has created, I recognised my brute ignorance. Between some fabulously engaging characters, a gloriously broad story arc containin a degree of care and intimacy I never thought possible, a truly original take on religion, history, fiction and all things in between, your man has made a series of graphic novels that are, above all, fun to read. Incredible, is what it is. That said, the collections are a little pricey, and while neither the sex nor the violence are excessive, they are there, which might put some folks off. Fair enough. But to dismiss The Sandman would be to dismiss one of the few occasions where graphic art and literature meet, and dream up something fantastic.

That's about it! Thanks for readin, hope you're suitably enlightened.

Dave.