Alabama Shakes #2

Stevie

Latitude with Attitude

So folks, the Latitude line-up has been released, alongside tickets going on sale, and I must say it looks damn tasty. Not only am I excited by the headliners - Bon Iver and Paul 'the Modfather' Weller - but there's loads of other acts that are making me salivate.

Plenty of bands, like Alabama Shakes (previously featured on Subtle Tea), Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Buena Vista Social Club are making appearances, along with SBTRKT, Simple Minds, Michael Kiwanuka and Daryl Hall of that dynamic duo Hall and Oates. Even sexy Coxy's out of this world band, The Infinite Monkey Cage, will be treating festival-goers to some 'hard rock' interrupted by mini lectures about how much energy the sun emits using ridiculous apparatus. Who said Physics wasn't cool.

There are also some bloody excellent comedians doing their bit to contribute to the good old English festival experience. Tim Minchin, Reggie D Hunter, Jack Dee and Rich Hall are just a few fighting their corner in The Comedy Arena, and there's even a slot for that tall teacher from the Inbetweeners, Greg Davies (recently seen sporting an ill-fitted shirt on the BBC's Live At The Apollo). Rich Hall is also having a 'hoedown' in the Cabaret Arena, guaranteed to be a larf and a harf.

And yet, there's more. For those literary souls, There's Poetry and Literary Arenas, featuring guests such as Iain Banks (The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road), Benjamin Zephaniah (Refugee Boy), Mark Haddon (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time) and even an appearance from superstar teacher/rapper/spoken poet Mark Grist, who you may remember tearing apart a 17 year old student in this rather fetching video.

You can check out the full line up here.

In other news, a huge fox was shot by a farmer in Aberdeenshire last night. Take a look at this. WHAT THE FOX.

RIP Davy Jones

Bust A Move!

Paws for Thought..

Today is International Polar Bear Day. Was anyone aware of this? Anyone at all? I love it when days like this happen, when you have International Tea Appreciation Day or International Hug a Ukrainian Day or International Speak Like A Pirate Day. I hug my only Ukrainian friend every time I see her (thanks to this marvellous day) and I regularly count my blessings that I have such a tasty hot beverage to enjoy on a daily basis. So thank you, whoever you aaarrrrr out there who makes these strange holidays. You really enrich my life.

Anyway, I am taking this bloody excellent opportunity to talk about this animal, not only because it seems fitting to talk about it today (because its International Polar Bear Day, did I mention that?) but also because David Attenborough's Frozen Planet series made me a little obsessive. Imagine Dave reading these following facts to you and I've basically got nothing to do to keep your interest.. so do it. (Some of these will also be great to bring up at the pub and make you look really cool and educated. I'd look at it as an investment into your pub chat.)

1. They look white, but those badass mudda's are BLACK. They're skin is black so they can absorb any heat that radiates from the sun, and their outer fur is transparent and reflect light just like snow and ice does, making them all look white.
2. They can sniff out seals and other meaty meals from over a mile away, and spend the majority of their lives living on the edge of the sea ice so they have much more opportunity to seal the deal on dinner.. 
3. Apparently, their success at hunting for food shows that they are just as intelligent as apes, and have been witnessed stacking plastic piping in a heap as part of a game.
4. The posture of a polar bear and it's resemblance to a human when skinned is said to have contributed to the Inuit folklore that bears are really just humans that dress as polar bears when they leave they're homes.. I'll let you make your own decision on this one.
5. The most famous polar bear (in my view) is that one called Noah from 'Noah's Island', the kid's TV programme about a bunch of animals on a floating island. (Sacha was always my favourite though.. used to love this programme. The opening title gives me goosebumps. Top telly!) There was also Knut, that baby polar bear in Berlin Zoo that died last year.. What a Knutter.

For a charming set of photographs from the Guardian, click here, and for further information and cute pictures these fantastic brutes, go to the Polar Bears International website.

My Baby's Got Sauce