PATRICIA MCDAID,
1 966-2004
On 24 June. I said goodbye to my partner Patricia McDaid. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago. and then about 1 1 months ago the cancer returned in the form of a brain tumour. One of the first things she did when she discovered that the cancer was back was take out a 12-month subscription to The List as an act of defiance. She was going be around in a year's time and she wasn't going stop doing things. Ironically, The List arrived in the morning of her funeral along with the first hefty batch of sympathy cards. It was a weird/nice/sad reminder of her defiance. She always referred to it as a leaving do. not a funeral. She had organised everything, it was a great party and we raised a lot of money for Marie Curie. Trish had worked in the arts in Glasgow for many years. lastly at the Arches Theatre before she stopped to become a mum. She was known to many. I know you don't normally run death notices. but it would be good if you could publish this email. she would have liked it.
Paul Cameron
Glasgow
KICK IN THE ROCKS Re: The Baltic Rocks (496) In his travel article ‘The Baltic Rocks'. Tim Abrahams links the beauty of the individual in Riga with the growth of the sex industry. Unfortunately. beauty is not a w0rd that can be associated with this exploitative ‘industry'.
Sam Hardie
Edinburgh
BOWIE FOOEY
Look. I know David Bowie is no longer the creative force he once was. but the chance of seeing him play at T in the Park was one of the reasons I tried to get a ticket. Luckily. it turns out, I was too late. I can‘t argue with the quality of the rest of the line-up at this year's
2 THE LIST 8—22 Jul 2004
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festival. but if you were the organiser of T in the Park and your headline act cancelled. WOuldn‘t you try to find a replacement? Surely there are any number of ageing rockers who'll otherwise be spending their weekend weeding the garden. Like Morrissey. Paul McCartney. even the Cure for God's sake. They’ve all appeared at other festivals this summer. But not to offer up any alternative at all? That's bloody complacent and I wouldn't be surprised if half the audience ask for a refund. Andy Dunning
By email
In its defence. T in the Park has in fact added in the Charlatans to the bill: they 'll be on stage just before the Darkness. who have replaced Bowie as the headline act. See our full T in the Park line-up on page 7 6.
BLANK SLATER
Is there any truth in the rumour that Christian Slater will be playing a lead role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest at the Edinburgh Festival? A few weeks ago. the papers were full of the stOry. but I haven't heard any more. Is it. dare I say. a case of a Festival promoter opening his/her mouth rather prematurely to drum up ticket sales. in the knowledge that the chances of landing Slater are slim? Or do you think that contract negotiations are really going down to the wire?
Paula McAllister
By email
WRITER’S WOODBLOCK
Re: Alex Garland (497)
I read Brian Donaldson‘s lukewarm review of the new Alex Garland book and. having enjoyed The Beach so much. I decided to go out and buy it anyway. And at first glance. it was very tempting to agree with Donaldson's judgement: it feels like a slight book. But having read it. I can‘t get the thing out of my mind. I keep going back and flicking
Malik‘s second album three stars. His description of the album suggests it should have had a much better score. I can't help wondering how useful these reductive star ratings really are: don't you think readers of The List are intelligent enough to be able to work out for themselves how to rate an album. a book or a film? Ditch the star system! Ben Griffiths
Edinburgh
through the pages to look at Mr Garland Senior's woodblock images. Maybe it's not another Beach. but I think Brian should look again at the book and see if a slower read makes him change his mind. Jennie Walmsley
By email
MALIK CONTENT Re: Joseph Malik (497)
I can't believe that your reviewer only gave Joseph
LETTER OF THE FORTNIGHT
BRITS INVADE GERMANY Re: Photo of British soldier in film pages (497) On page 29 of the last issue of the otherwise excellent List magazine. you printed a photograph to accompany the preview of The Sorrow and the Pity. Marcel Ophtils' landmark film about France under Nazi occupation in World War II. Unfortunately the photo is of a 19708 British Army soldier; I'm no expert but you can clearly see that he carries an FLN service rifle. wears a soft beret with regimental badge. a camouflage patterned jacket and bulletproof vest. He also carries a truncheon under his right arm. suggesting this was taken in Northern Ireland in the 708. Contrast this photo with the one of the Wehrmacht troops and gendarme on page 37: they are unmistakeably different uniforms and eras. Given that faked photos discrediting the British army have appeared in the UK press recently. can you asswe your readers this is a wholly mistaken substitution; or was it in fact a veiled political statement? Perhaps by juxtaposing a film review about ‘the horrors of occupation by a foreign power . . .' during World War II. with a photo of a British soldier during the Troubles. one of your staff could have been expressing strongly pro-Irish republican views. If so. may we be informed of any such bias? C Brown Glasgow Paul Dale, The List's film editor, replies: It's a delicious conspiracy theory, but no veiled political statement was actually intended. When looking for images of the film I had to go to a website dedicated to the provision of high resolution images, and look in the British Film lnstitute's Marcel OphU/s' folder which suppOIted the NFT's recent retrospective of the great man '3 work. By mistake lpicked up an image in the file that turned out to be from a later film A Sense of Loss ( 7972) about the Nod/fern Ireland struggle. Hence the period costume change. So mea Culpa: I hold up my hands. Apologies all round.
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