I HAD TOO MUCH TO DREAM LAST NIGHT (FANBOY CONVENTION EDITION)

I am at a fantastically luxurious resort hotel which is hosting a convention (and offering special packages) for fans of a particularly popular book + film. I don’t remember the name, just that it was supposed to be a cross between 50 Shades Of Grey and a detective story. The film is famous for having lots of deleted sex scenes that are notoriously explicit.

There are lots of free lunch buffets located around the resort, and coupon booklets for lots of special offers, all of them related to the film. Also, the film is available on VOD in all the hotel rooms, complete with the deleted scenes, which you can actually place anywhere you want in the film and as many times as you want.

I am there with KT – neither of us are fans of the film or the book, we just got a good deal on a vacation package. KT is impressed with the hotel itself, and calls the concierge to ask if they have any birthday specials (as she thinks it would be great to come back when it’s my birthday).

The concierge promptly sends up a team of about 20+ people to meet us and explain their facilities. However, the discussion is dominated by a buffoon who keeps making jokes about how the only birthday specials they offer is following you around playing practical jokes on you and yelling “April Fools!” KT’s face goes very sour and stern, and the longer he goes on, the more obviously irritated she is becoming. Finally the guy in charge dismisses everyone and apologizes for the buffoon’s behavior.

Later, it is revealed there is a business angle to all this: I’m supposed to be researching all this, talking to fans of the book/film, then reporting my findings in a video interview. I meet the woman who works for the client that has hired me to do all this. We set up for the interview, and when the woman starts playing some “appropriate” background music, we get sidetracked after I ask her how they will handle the licensing issues for the music, since this is supposed to be going on YouTube. As an assistant tries to explain how that works, the woman tries to distract me from the issue by changing her clothes in front of me.

“I’m married, by the way,” I say.

“So am I,” she responds. “Are you sure you’ve watched the film?”

And then I woke up.

Not yr fan,

This is dF

LISTEN TO IT #80: I’LL SUCK YR BLOOD

After the general hype over the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ last album, It’s Blitz, their new album doesn’t seem to have generated that much excitement. 

I could be wrong about that – it’s not always easy to tell from all the way out here in Hong Kong. But I can also see why that’s the case – It’s Blitz was a dazzling reinvention of the band’s sound, but there’s also only so many directions you can go from there. Consequently, Mosquito revisits a lot of old ground for the band. This is not really a bad thing, but it does feel a bit underwhelming.

Certainly at first listen there aren’t really any songs that immediately electrify in the same way as “Zero” or “Heads Will Roll”. Then again, It’s Blitz didn’t have a guest appearance from Dr Octagon.

And some of these songs do have the potential to grow on me over time.

Anyway, here’s the first single, with a typically mind-boggling video.

And a gospel choir.

Also, for fun, here’s the title track and it’s rather nasty video.

I plead and I pray,

This is dF