Goodnight, and Sleep Tight

When I was a lad, there was a local factory, known for its low standards, that offered work to even the most unlikely candidates. In those days it was the dole, or XXXXXX (they're still in business, and have foodstuffs in a supermarket near you.)

I always thought about XXXXXX whenever I read a theatre programme, and saw The Bill listed in an actor's credits.

Even the hammiest of thesps could guaranteed work on the police soap, turning up as victims or wrong'uns, often as both in the longer careers, but for not much longer.

Call me a snob, but I'm quite proud to admit I have never seen a single episode of The Bill, and therefore won't miss it, but I do feel for those struggling actors who are now having to turn even more to historical enactment roles within our more ill-conceived themed museum exhibits around the country.

Alex Chilton

I saw Chilton at Dingwalls in 1980, and I'd never seen anyone detune a guitar before, and I thought "I'm having some of that!"

Actually, I so wanted great things from him, and was ultimately disappointed. But that's smackheads for you.

Julian Temple: Detroit

If you didn't see it, go to BBC iPlayer and watch it.

Post - Industrial American heritage being reclaimed by the wilderness. A city too expensive to demolish that it is being left to collapse as a symbol of distopia.

A city with 47% illiteracy rates. That is: a city in a first world country with 47% illiteracy.

A hopeful ending though, as residents are returning to the land and are farming the wasteland.

Awesome.

Winchester