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    <title>The Skinny :: Blog :: The Skinny Blog</title>
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    <description>Latest The Skinny Blog blog posts from The Skinny, Scotland's leading culture and listings magazine</description>
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      <title>The Skinny :: Blog :: The Skinny Blog</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blogs/2-the-skinny-blog</link>
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    <item>
      <title>National Review: Day One</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/379-national-review-day-one</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[It&rsquo;s a tough job serving two muses, especially when they&rsquo;ve both been denied funding from the Arts Council of Olympus for three thousand years. And they rarely agree on anything: one is all artifice, surface and humour; the other is abstract, intellectual and serious.&nbsp; I am split between cabaret and live art, and the clamour for my attention is exhausting me.
Fortunately, The ...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-03-18T15:22:59+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Gareth K Vile</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/379-national-review-day-one</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>St Deluxe at SXSW: Part I - Westbound and Down</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/378-st-deluxe-at-sxsw-part-i---westbound-and-down</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Our first day in Austin has been a rollercoaster to say the least. We were lucky enough to be given a place to stay thanks to the SXSW housing program. The people that are putting us up for the duration come to meet us at the airport; they give us a ride to this co-op building shared by 20 college students, half of which are back home visiting family and friends for spring break.
We got oursel...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-03-18T14:58:38+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Martin Kirwan</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/378-st-deluxe-at-sxsw-part-i---westbound-and-down</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Four Deaths and a stone circle</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/375-four-deaths-and-a-stone-circle</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Since my understanding of life is that wisdom is the gradual recognition of how utterly fucked I am, and that a series of traumas have taught me the moments of innocence that doomed to me to heart-break and, eventually, cynicism, it is no surprise that I am entranced by the doomy contours of Live Art and experimental theatre. Via Negativa, with promotional photographs that featured performers s...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-03-12T08:58:08+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Gareth Vile</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/375-four-deaths-and-a-stone-circle</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Death of 6 Music</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/373-the-death-of-6-music</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[&ldquo;The problem with 6 Music is&hellip; It&rsquo;s not a station that makes much sense from a value for money point of view&rdquo; said the BBC&rsquo;s Director General Mark Thompson earlier this week, as he announced live on television the planned closure of the 6 music radio station, a station that, according to its own website &ldquo;brings together the cutting edge music of today.&rdquo;...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-03-04T11:25:39+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>R. J. Gallagher</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/373-the-death-of-6-music</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>TV Blog: The best (and worst) of the week's telly </title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/371-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[I&rsquo;m one of those people who tried really hard to hate Skins, (Thursdays, 10pm, E4) the teen drama that arrived in a hail of sex, drugs &amp; vomit in 2007 and which is currently airing its 4th series. My hostility stemmed from the experiences of my teenage years being so far removed from the hedonism onscreen; while the Skins cast are out clubbing and shagging every night, me and my frien...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-03-03T14:56:22+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Chris Lindsay</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/371-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>On theatre blogging</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/370-on-theatre-blogging</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[I am feeling a little out of step with the world this week. It might just be the absinthe, or the continued evolution of a romantic sensibility I can&rsquo;t quite name, but I have been worried by my response to plays that have been receiving positive reviews.&nbsp; My usual misanthropy, which reflects itself in the fascination I hold for my own behaviour while other critics are paying attentio...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-03-03T14:50:07+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Gareth Vile</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/370-on-theatre-blogging</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Girls Girls Glas(s)</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/369-girls-girls-glass</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[If, as Luther Blisset suggests in Death of Hermeneutics, performance is merely the mirror in which the reviewer sees themselves, I am not sure that I like the unshaven, dishevelled reflection that is staring back. I woke up with this morning with helium-filled balloons on my ceiling, an unidentifiable liquid in a glass by my head and a memory of sitting on the floor in the GFT bar, surrounded b...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-02-23T10:20:54+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Gareth Vile</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/369-girls-girls-glass</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Ballet and The National Review of Live Art</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/368-ballet-and-the-national-review-of-live-art</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Back in the early twentieth century, a conflux of anarchic aesthetes and free thinkers challenged the foundations of western high art. Dada, the surrealists, even the early cinematographers challenged realism, while contemporary choreographers threw off the restrictions of ballet, seeking a new expressiveness.
By the end of the twentieth century, ballet had taken a firm revenge on its wayward ...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-02-18T10:39:05+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Gareth Vile</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/368-ballet-and-the-national-review-of-live-art</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Performing the VD weekend blues</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/367-performing-the-vd-weekend-blues</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[I kicked off the VD blues with The Zeros Keep Going, a timely meditation on the social impact of hardcore pornography. Rather like the public debate, the two sides of the argument - the porn industry and the feminist objectors - never managed to speak on common ground. The bursts of feminist rage struck against the pale faces of Viagra addicted macho thugs and na&iuml;ve glamour girls. Featurin...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-02-18T09:58:35+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Gareth Vile</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/367-performing-the-vd-weekend-blues</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Speed dating, absinthe and theatre</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/366-speed-dating-absinthe-and-theatre</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[An evening of speed dating turned out to be an excellent rehearsal for&nbsp;Etiquette. Part of The Arches&rsquo; off site programme, Etiquette sits two strangers opposite one another, and instructs them in their conversation, through a pre-recorded script. Like speed dating, it forces an immediate and false intimacy, the structure of the experience guiding the man and woman through a series of ...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-02-11T13:47:32+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Gareth Vile</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/366-speed-dating-absinthe-and-theatre</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>TV Blog: The best (and worst) of the week's telly</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/365-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Duff! Duff! Duff-duff-duff-duff-duff-duff! Is there any other TV theme as instantly recognisable as the EastEnders drum roll? When something plays in your living room several times a week it&rsquo;s no wonder it sounds inherently wrong when messed with - like when classic rock &lsquo;n&rsquo; roll numbers are murdered as Europop (I&rsquo;m looking at you DJ &Ouml;tzi). While it&rsquo;s not just...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-02-10T15:00:36+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Chris Lindsay</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/365-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A performance-themed Valentine's Day</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/364-a-performance-themed-valentines-day</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Given that my idea of an appropriate first date is either some demonic clowning from Al Seed or a quick burst of Sarah Kane&rsquo;s Crave (sample line: &ldquo;What ties me to you is guilt&rdquo;), it is no surprise that I&rsquo;ll be spending this Valentine&rsquo;s Day with a bottle of absinthe, bitter memories and an audio book of Paradise Lost.
In the meantime, more well-adjusted people migh...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-02-08T20:40:26+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Gareth Vile</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/364-a-performance-themed-valentines-day</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Skinny Take: Chasing the zeitgeist</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/360-a-skinny-take-chasing-the-zeitgeist</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[When the legendary CBGB&rsquo;s club in New York was closed down in 2006 because owner Hilly Kristal could no longer afford to pay its rent, there was a bitter taste left in the mouths of all concerned.&nbsp; A club that nurtured the talents of so many great artists &ndash; from Blondie to The Ramones &ndash; tossed aside by a landlord who chose to condemn rather than save a cultural Mecca in t...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-02-05T17:00:52+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>R. J. Gallagher</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/360-a-skinny-take-chasing-the-zeitgeist</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Skinny Take: One nation under CCTV</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/357-a-skinny-take-one-nation-under-cctv</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[In 1921 Yevgeny Zamyatin wrote a book in which he envisaged a country dominated by buildings and streets made only from glass; the reasons for this of course being pragmatic &ndash; if everything is glass, then nothing can be hidden.&nbsp; Similar to Foucault&rsquo;s concept of panopticism, the authorities in Zamyatin&rsquo;s novel believe that discipline (or conformity) can be achieved through...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-01-26T10:13:05+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>R. J. Gallagher</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/357-a-skinny-take-one-nation-under-cctv</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>TV Blog: The best (and worst) of the week's telly </title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/356-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[I intentionally held off reviewing the launch of series two of Being Human (Sunday, BBC3) last week. Partly because the world went bonkers for Glee but partly to wait and see how the second episode panned out, given that the first instalment was something of a let down, feeling out of step with the tone of the first year. Instead of reacting with a vitriolic OMG! bEING HUmaN IZ OVER!!1! review,...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-01-24T22:34:44+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Chris Lindsay</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/356-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>TV Blog: The best (and worst) of the week's telly </title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/355-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[I&rsquo;ve always been conflicted when it comes to musicals. The I&rsquo;m-a-cynical-mediatype-don&rsquo;t-cha-know in me rails against all things sentimental yet my soppy side still believes that all life&rsquo;s problems would disappear if only we could give voice to our hopes and fears through spontaneous yet perfectly choreographed song and dance routines. That E4&rsquo;s latest US import G...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-01-18T11:37:19+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Chris Lindsay</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/355-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Skinny Take: The danger is everywhere</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/352-a-skinny-take-the-danger-is-everywhere</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Once in a generation anything up to 20,000 curlers and spectators convene at Scotland&rsquo;s only Lake &ndash; near a tiny Trossachs village called Port of Menteith &ndash; armed to the teeth with ice skates, large rocks and warm clothing.&nbsp; Motivated by the desire to have a bit of fun amidst the otherwise grim sub-zero temperatures, revelers can experience what will for many be a once in ...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2010-01-10T20:17:53+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>R. J. Gallagher</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/352-a-skinny-take-the-danger-is-everywhere</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>TV Blog: The best (and worst) of the week's telly </title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/348-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Christmas 2009 has belonged to David Tennant. With appearances in Hamlet, Alan Carr, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI, CBeebies, Radio 2, Radio 4, 5 Live, the man has been on our airwaves this yuletide more often than Santa. I&rsquo;d deem the media blitz to promote his final episodes of Doctor Who: The End of Time (Part One shown on Christmas Day, with Part Two following on 1 Jan) excessive if the...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2009-12-31T20:31:39+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Chris Lindsay</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/348-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Skinny Take: A good day for substance</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/347-a-skinny-take-a-good-day-for-substance</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Imagine the odds you could have got  a few months ago on Rage Against The Machine&rsquo;s "Killing In The Name"  being at the top of the charts this Christmas day. Such a notion  would have seemed so far fetched at the time you&rsquo;d have likely  been laughed out of Ladbrokes to baffled shouts of &ldquo;rage against the  what?!&rdquo;
But a married couple from Essex had  a different idea. Ha...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2009-12-23T19:46:10+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>R. J. Gallagher</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/347-a-skinny-take-a-good-day-for-substance</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>TV Blog: The best (and worst) of the week's telly</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/345-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[It would be unfair to say that all good British satire in the last fifteen years has been produced by Armando Iannucci. There is at least 3% untouched by him. Such is the quality of output from the producer/writer behind The Day Today, Alan Partridge and The Saturday Night Armistice, that you need to pay attention when I say that recent series of The Thick of It (BBC2, Saturday) is his best wor...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2009-12-17T19:13:37+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Chris Lindsay</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/345-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Skinny Take: What&#8217;s in a name?</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/343-a-skinny-take-whats-in-a-name</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[The mainstream art world is a world that exists so detached from everyday reality it is sometimes beyond comprehension. It is a world of strange rules, extreme pretence and six-figure-sums; a world populated and dominated by a small clique of elites who socialize in members only clubs where even the cheapest bottle of wine costs more than the wage most people earn in a week.
To peer behind the...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2009-12-11T22:16:55+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>R. J. Gallagher</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/343-a-skinny-take-whats-in-a-name</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>TV Blog: The best (and worst) of the week's telly</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/342-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[I had high hopes for Small Island (BBC1, Sunday), the adaptation of Andrea Levy's novel about the relationship between Londoners and Jamaican soldiers during and after World War II. Its broadcast is a timely reminder of the contribution made by non-white people to Britain&rsquo;s war effort, especially in the light of the BNP&rsquo;s recent usurping of imagery from that era. Though illuminating...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2009-12-09T10:25:43+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Chris Lindsay</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/342-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Burnsong Winners' Concert, Scottish Parliament, 30 November</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/340-burnsong-winners-concert-scottish-parliament-30-november</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[The great thing about the Burnsong songwriting competition is the nature of the prize. There's a chance to gig at Parliament, some exposure too, but most of all, there's the chance to spend a week in a beautifully located house with all the other winners, being intensively coached in other forms and styles of writing, and cross-collaborating on new songs.
&nbsp;
The value of this experience i...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2009-12-04T16:50:08+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Rupert Thomson</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/340-burnsong-winners-concert-scottish-parliament-30-november</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>TV Blog: The best (and worst) of the week's telly</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/339-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[It&rsquo;s what we Brits do best; take a successful American idea and anglicise it by removing the glamour. E4&rsquo;s latest naughty young &lsquo;uns drama Misfits (Wednesday, 10pm) takes this trend to new heights; transporting the American-as-apple-pie genre of Super Heroes to a rough estate and making it&rsquo;s characters a group of young offenders. Yup &ndash; it&rsquo;s Heroes with ASBOs;...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2009-12-01T11:58:13+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>Chris Lindsay</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/339-tv-blog-the-best-and-worst-of-the-weeks-telly</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Skinny Take: Feminism revisited</title>
      <link>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/337-a-skinny-take-feminism-revisited</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Page Three is forty years old and Sarah Maple is not happy.&nbsp; The 24 year old artist, who gained attention after winning Channel Four&rsquo;s &lsquo;New Sensations&rsquo; competition in 2007, went on a guerrilla style mission ala Banksy last week to protest against what she describes as &ldquo;too much sex in advertising&rdquo; in an era of &ldquo;post-feminism&rdquo;.
Maple and a team of ...]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>2009-11-26T16:24:40+00:00</pubDate>
      <author>R. J. Gallagher</author>
      <guid>http://www.theskinny.co.uk/blog/2-the-skinny-blog/337-a-skinny-take-feminism-revisited</guid>
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