Let it lie

“You wouldn’t let it lie!” was a catchphrase made famous in the 1990s by the comic duo Reeves and Mortimer. I heard a rap on the radio this morning which used a sample from Bach’s Air on the G-string as background to the awful lyrics. The Bach tune is a classic composition which found fame in the 1980s as the chilled out theme tune to the Hamlet cigar ads on TV. You don’t see cigar ads on TV any more, which is probably a good thing, but what irritates me is that contemporary manufactured music constantly ruins classic tunes by using them as samples. The cinematic industry is committing a similar felony by making totally unnecessary remakes of classic films. What was the point of the recent remakes of The Wicker Man or Alfie? Two gems of cinema which were a product of their time and starring actors of the day in their element. I haven’t seen either of the remade versions, nor do I intend to. For the sake of future generations who want to appreciate good cinema and music this defilement by cashing in on the success of the original has got to stop. Here endeth my rant for the day.


The one that got away
I was alerted to this quite amazing clip on YouTube recently. Although it’s quite long at 8 minutes, it’s worth watching in its entirety. It must be a one in a million event, a bizarre chain of events – Although apparently shot by an amateur, it must be every wildlife film-maker’s dream.