The Bots Master: rap, robots, lazers and copious high fiving. I remember watching this as a kid! Oh yeah.

“I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me.”

Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood is finally going to grace cinema screens world wide. The Norwegian Wood film (IMDB) is directed by Anh Hung Tran, stars Babel’s Rinko Kiuchi as Naoko and Ken’ichi Matsuyama as Wanatabe. Can’t lie, nor breathe, I am super excited for this. Murakami is my favourite author (yes, ever), and NW one of my favourite books.

Short trailer huh? It’s such a tease but from such a tiny glimpse, and the film stills, I think justice will be done.

Alongside the eponymous Beatles song (a licensing coup!), the soundtrack will also feature original music written by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood based on a composition called “Dogwood” which he recently wrote for the BBC Concert Orchestra.

I think the use of the word SWOON is totally legitimate on this occasion.

Visit the official movie site: norway-mori.com

Sofia Coppola’s work is always exquisite, no matter what she turns her hand to. Somewhere is her fourth feature. I’m really looking forward to seeing this film. Show not tell… Did you notice there are only 15 words of dialogue in the trailer?

The song in the background is ‘I’ll Try Anything Once’ by (dreamboat) Julian Casablancas, which is a demo version of ‘You Only Live Once’ by The Strokes.

Sally Mann is an American photographer best known for her Immediate Family series. Spanning 1984–94, Immediate Family captured her children as they grew up and explored the countryside surrounding their Virginia home. In later years she turned her focus towards the land itself, with a series that investigated the deep south and key locations in the American Civil War.

More recently What Remains (2000-04), has brought people and the land together in the frame, albeit in an unconventional way. Mann has photographed decomposing bodies at a Tennessee research facility. At first glance the works appear to be simple abstracted textures, but look closer and you’ll recognise traces of the human form. Death and decay, rendered palatable.

Mann’s beautiful images are given an extra ghostly quality from the dust and scratches that arise through the use of antique cameras and the wet-plate collodion process.

A photographic negative is made by coating a glass plate with collodion to form an emulsion. Then the plate is sensitised in a silver nitrate solution and exposed to light while still wet. This gives the photographer only about five minutes to make the exposure. All aspects of the preparation and developing process for the wet-plate collodion print are complicated, delicate and tactile.

Mann’s first solo UK exhibition -  The Family and the Land: Sally Mann -  is now showing at The Photographers’ Gallery in London. It’s on till 19 September 2010. Highly reccomended if you’re in the neighbourhood.

Recent uncomfortably good reading. If I was to loosely group them, they all have a theme of ‘mild eroticism’ – just like pudding wobbling in a bowl…

1. The Bird Room: A Novel by Chris Killen. I bought this book because I was looking for something contemporary and British; plus a few of the blogs I read keep yammering on about Killen’s literary prowess. Exuberant isn’t the word I’d use to describe The Bird Room. ‘Sexy’ and terse, perhaps. A recent interview with Killen can be found here – as you’ll see he comes from the Tao Lin school of irony.

2. No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories by Miranda July. As expected from July, there’s a lot of awkward moments, but I felt like I could relate to the characters. Everyone is adrift from normality sometimes, and who hasn’t fancied HRH Prince William? (And he did have more hair circa 2007).  For the most part the stories are deft and satisfying – I definitely recommend this as bed time reading. Curious to try before you buy? Enjoy The Shared Patio free of charge.

3. Unlimited Dream Company by J.G. Ballard. Blake, a young man who has failed at being a medical student, Jesuit novice and pornographic writer, becomes obsessed with the idea of flying. He steals a plane and crashes into suburban London, which is transformed into a lush paradise. The exotic triumphs over the every day, inhibitions are shed, and dreams take over. Unlimited Dream Company is another fantastic novel from Ballard’s extensive dystopian back catalog.

Despite the fact he was married at least thrice and mostly sounds like a old womanizing trout, Hugh Grosvenor – 2nd Duke of Westminster, was one of the biggest romantics ever. In 1925, he was introduced to Coco Chanel after a party in Monte Carlo and passionately pursued her. It is said that once he hid a huge uncut emerald at the bottom of a crate of vegetables for her. Another story says that he showed up at Chanel’s apartment with an enormous bouquet of flowers and was only recognized after Coco’s assistant tried to hand “the delivery boy” a tip.

His most extravagant display of affection?

The dear Duke had her entwined initials placed on lampposts on the Grosvenor estate in Central London.  (This story is denied by the Grosvenor estate even today, but the lampposts still stand, whispering the truth.)  He was Chanel’s lover until 1930, however marriage was not on the cards for Gabrielle. She apparently declined, reasoning: “There have been several Duchesses of Westminster. There is only one Chanel.”

Near the top of the list entitled “Things I Love About Berlin” is the street art. Chalk, paste-ups, posters, stickers, paint, even knitted cozies adorn every wall, pavement and inch of accessible space.

It’s so inspiring; from both big names (Blu, Yoox, Ms Van) to angry men just scratching around painting the number ‘6′ on everything.

Junky by William S Burroughs is an interesting tale, traipsing around New York and imbibing anything he could get his mitts on. It was good to read John Wyndam’s The Chrysalids in the Amsterdam sunshine, however I wish I had read it ten years ago though (its perfect for a dreamy teenager). I finally finished the last few pages of On the Road by Jack Kerouac, the initial inspiration for the Book Club For Drunks.

My current read? Time Must Have a Stop by Aldous Huxely. I bought this in a Berlin market yesterday for 3 euros, and was given a free idea (“Like a fortune cookie, but no cookie!”) from the seller. It made me very happy…

As you can imagine I was swooning all over the place when presented with a fistful of colourful papers to choose from. This one called me, it roughly says: “One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”  – André Gide

An apt metaphor for all 4 books, and my trip.

How do you like the new The National album? It’s been growing on me. This video makes Bloodbuzz Ohio even more mellifluous. As Jess said in an email, “Sweet beard, excellent tailoring, feeding ducks. Fin!”

I love the radio. It’s travel without the physical movement! It’s people who are awake, buzzy and can keep you company through those long insomnia powered nights. It’s Sunday mornings lying in bed, with no pressure to get up. It’s driving to Omaha alone to see my parents, with tinny voiced strangers introducing me to to my new favourite bands. Here are two local stations and a few others I’ve been tuning into:

95bfm from Auckland, New Zealand

“95bFM offers listeners a shelter from the harshness of mainstream (crap) radio. The ads are fuckin’ funny and the attitude is real. It’s the voice of the little guy or gal and the loudhailer of people who simply love good music. Give it a go. And not just once.” Like star-crossed lovers, students and radio come together at the b, creating a fusion of music, intellect and good times. Without 95bfm or a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, life would not be worth getting up for. I love Charlotte Ryan’s magazine style slot, Morning Glory, and always tune into the Sunday afternoon Jazz Show.

East Village Radio from New York, USA

My heart skipped a beat when I was roaming around 1st and 2nd streets of NYC. I had spotted through a street-front windowthe HQ of East Village Radio, and no surprises, one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen was spinning records. “East Village Radio (EVR) delivers non-stop free streaming music and entertainment live from the streets of New York City. Featuring new and already world-renowned DJs, EVR presents indie, hip-hop, reggae, soul, techno, funk, pop, talk, politics, comedy and more to listeners from the Bowery to Brazil.”

PBS from Melbourne, Australia

For 25 years, PBS-FM has been a beacon of independent, freeform, passionate, real and unpretentious radio. “PBS is a champion of specialist and under-represented music and is proudly non-corporate, anti-fashion and wanker-free. We create real radio and promote progressive and under-represented music.” I love Melbourne, and it makes me so happy to have a little bit of its culture available on tap.

48fm from Liege, Belgium

Broadcasting in French, 48fm is Leige’s local student radio – I stumbled it across while searching Public Radio Fan, a database of streaming stations. Once in a while I like to tune in to 48fm t0 remind myself there’s a whole ‘nother universe out there (the programming schedule is here).

BBC Radio 1 from the UK

A notbale beginning: Radio 1 was launched at 7:00am on 30 September 1967 as a direct response to the popularity of offshore pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, which had been outlawed by Act of Parliament. It’s the best new music, Essential mixes and entertainment. You probably know how good it is already, righhhht? If not, time to find out why the Brits are so damn cool.

Base FM from Auckland, New Zealand

“BASE FM is a collective of DJs who began broadcasting in May 2004 straight outta Ponsonby/Grey Lynn, aiming to bring underground music to the community. No commercial bullshit hustle, no fake machismo muscle. The show schedule reads like a who’s who of Auckland’s hip hop, reggae, funk and soul scene, and the station’s run by a crew that cares.” My picks of the shows go to my friends, Jerm and Bridge who host The Young And The Restless, and Take It To The Bridge respectively. Both have exceptional taste in hip-hop funk and soul; and are both apparently possessed by puns on their name.

WFMU from Jersey, USA

The longest running free-format radio station in the States, WFMU considers itself as radio done right. “WFMU’s programming ranges from flat-out uncategorizable strangeness to rock and roll, experimental music, 78 RPM Records, jazz, psychedelia, hip-hop, electronica, hand-cranked wax cylinders, punk rock, gospel, exotica, R&B, radio improvisation, cooking instructions, classic radio airchecks, found sound, dopey call-in shows, interviews with obscure radio personalities and notable science-world luminaries, spoken word collages, Andrew Lloyd Webber soundtracks in languages other than English as well as Country and western music.” Check out the heavily played records page to find out what’s truly hot on a week by week basis – as as freeform station DJs aren’t beholden to rotating chart toppers.

What’s your dial set to? Do you have any local or international stations to recommend?