Aaron Copland was the quintessential American composer. He incorporated disparate elements and themes inherent in Classical, Jazz and Folk music and wove them into a cohesive whole - and this is what marks him as one of the truly great composers of the twentieth century. He wrote a wide range of music and was equally at ease with both large scale and more modest works - of which this; cleverly synchronised with black and white and colour stock images from the last hundred years, is a typically beautiful piece.

J G Ballard - Obituary

Unquestionably, James Graham Ballard was one of the most important writers of this or any other generation. In the wake of his passing, many writers and other artists have felt compelled to write about him and about his work - more significantly about how his writing influenced and inspired them to take risks with their own art and their own notions about what art is/could be. It will be interesting to see how history records his achievements because, like Philip K Dick, Ballard seemed to have an uncannily prior knowledge of the future - at any rate, its predilections, its obsessions, its preoccupation with irrelevance. It would be easy to dismiss much of what Ballard wrote; especially the earlier magazine work/novels, as genre fiction. This is a mistake and, worse, inexcusably lazy - Ballard's greatest achievement is as an eminently readable novelist supremely in control of his characters and the superbly drawn situations they cannot help finding themselves in. The future is ours, but it was Ballard's first.

Fantastic things begin...

We at Twatbubble towers are huge fans of the genius that is Doris Day. Incredibly, it's 50 years since the release of this wonderful film and it showcases Day's talent for comedy just as much as 'Love me or leave me,' did her dramatic prowess. Doris remains, to this day, the all-time female box office star - a wonderful dancer, a fine actress and one of the most memorable interpreters of the modern song-book - she is, quite simply, magic.

Happy Easter...

Number nine in the award winning series features the greatest Doo Wop recording of all time - and number 31 in esteemed specialist ephemera magazine SandalShine's all time 350 greatest ever things 2.

Your guide to the real world

Yes, you fucking can see Armando Iannucci's 'In the Loop,' from the 17th of April. Yes, you fucking can expect to see some of the best, and, in some cases, unexpected, comedy performances of this or any other year. Yes, you fucking can expect it to be every bit as ambitious and irreverant and incisive as the ambitious and irreverant and still and always incisive The Thick of it. Make a difference to your comedy year and go and see this marvellous film.

Three's not a crowd

Young man with a horn is one of the first bigger budget Hollywood films to look at the world of Jazz music. Directed by Casablanca director Michael Curtiz it features a number of great performances - Lauren Bacall, especially, in a defining role. Kirk Douglas plays the part of the young man with the horn - Bix Beiderbecke (Hoagy Carmichael and, briefly, Louis Armstrong, both feature in the film along with other musicians - Harry James dubbed the musical parts for Douglas.) The film also features Doris Day at her inimitable best.

The way I water walk...

This was stolen from Rachael Wadham's MySpace site It's interesting from many different perspectives not least in the self-serving behaviours of the presenter and his audience.

Pick this up on south of south street...

Kingly Books is a site dedicated to books, film and the graphic arts. A closer look at its archive - and the wealth of material for perusal - will inform and engage both devotees and the casual observer alike. Their fiction imprint, Kingly Reprieve, is to be applauded for re-publishing two classic fiction titles from the early 1930's/40's. Fans of Hard boiled detective fiction will love Sam Fuller's cynical take on the tabloid newspaper industry of his day. It's a thrilling read - reminiscent of Nathanael West's similarly barbed and excoriating 'Miss Lonelyhearts,' its characters, both individually and collectively, exemplify the amorality and, indeed, brutality employed with impunity by those determined to get just one more story...