urban cookie collective

hello there

it would be lovely to say that the endeavours documented here are an aspect of some billy-ho, go for it, just f*****g do it, "yolo" grasp of life, look you see. probably not, though. most likely this is all quite symptomatic of me loosening a flailing grasp of sanity, or being full tilt business end of midlife crisis. quite possible it is all that mythical "male menopause" kicking off, too. 

so yes, then, i endeavoured (or attempted) to have a go at some baking. nothing too flash or complex or even close to sophisticated, true, but all the same a challenge to moi, what had not really gone done this sort of thing before. yet i probably have, but just cannot recall. 

gooey chocolate chip cookies were to be my project then, or if you like what was on the menu. why did i go for these for a voyage into the world of baking? mostly due to the mix packet being on sale for all of 99p, which i believe you will find is (just) a penny south of £1. also, yes, they looked particularly nice, and nothing from a rudimentary glance at the instructions for creation looked overtly beyond whatever latent, untapped talent i had. 

of course, it was not just this mix packet alone one (moi) required to make these cookies. no, far from it. well, not that far. all that was required was a mixing bowl, some butter, a "wooden mixing instrument" since it's not fashionable to say spoon, and water. rather surprisingly two (2) items there caused some controversy, of sorts, with those i discussed my baking adventure with, but we shall get to that. if you keep reading we will, of course, if not i shall just ramble on as ever. 

procuring a mixing bowl was, as it turns out, considerably more difficult than i had bargained for. my visits to find one took me to two (2) stored renowned for selling items what are pertaining to baking and that, yet they were bereft of such an item. how odd. anyway, as you can see, yes, i found one. not for the first time and (possibly) not for the last, it was Poundland to the rescue, who had them on sale for, yes, as you may well expect, a pound. 

the first controversy (as such) is right there in the above picture. yes, the butter. no, the controversy is most decidedly not related at all to any 'Brando variation' use of butter, thanks. i was rather keen to follow the instructions precise, this being a first time and all. the packet said softened not melted butter, so i left the requisite amount of butter (50g) out of the fridge to sort of soften naturally, at whatever ambient room temperature my lodgings offered. 

my sister, at this point, interjected. she said that it is a good deal easier if you just melt the butter in the, or a, microwave. no, i said (protested, even), the instructions said that it should be softened, and even has that it should not be melted in (brackets). to this my sister (perhaps not unfairly) suggested, as in directly stated, that i was being a big fanny, and that one does not really get all that much more softened than when something is in a melted state. 

indeed, a bit of "mixing" action there for you, all of course in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. quite a challenge, that mixing bit. especially when done "old school" with a wooden spoon like they said to, or implied. my goodness, mercy upon me, for i don't rightly know if my right wrist has ever had to do so vigorous, up and down rapid movements whilst clutching an ostensibly round shaft which might not be the biggest of its kind yet nonetheless serves its purpose. 

during this somewhat lengthy mixing procedure, which took (considerably) longer than the ten or so minutes "preparation" time the instructions suggested, i did indeed become aware of how it would have been a lot easier if the butter was all the more softer than it was. had, for instance, the butter been melted, as was suggested, then perhaps it would have gone more in accordance with the packet implied timeline. but then, well, for all i know, the mix would not come out right, the dough ball would not be constructed as required. microwaving the butter is certainly on the option list for the next time i decide to make some of these cookies, and yes i have further packs of the mix. two. 

anyone remotely interested enough to be reading this probably deserves some form of acknowledgment, if we assume (or take as a given) that an award is not within my remit to give. there you go, then, for as you may well have already clocked, above is some video of me doing mixing. well, partial mixing, for it is difficult to hold the (comparatively inexpensive) mixing bowl steady and mix when one feels a need to be filming it all. the soundtrack is just a little plus. 

with respect to the other 'controversy' of sorts, well, once again i felt obliged, or it best, to follow the instructions on the packet. so, or thus, i added the amount of water it said to. at this point a friend who i for some reason was keeping updated with this interjected, saying that i should have used milk. but the packet said to use water, i wove as a flag of defiant defence. further suggestions of being a big fanny about it all were, predictably, forthcoming. should it be so that milk rather than water speeds up the whole mixing bit, and no i am not buying one of them electric mixer things (a whisk i could possibly do business on), then maybe next time. on the list, etc. 

eventually, then, the mixing all got done, or done as much as it was going to be done. whilst i did take a picture of the ball of mixed (gooey) chocolate chip cookie dough, i would care not to share it here. as far as i am concerned it looked ok, but also i acknowledge it may conjure up vague images of something else, a matter which maybe someone like Morrissey would make oblique lyrical references to. instead, then, the dough all split and ready to bake. 

but, also no. here i did indeed decide to deviate from the instructions. on the packet it said split it into eight (8) balls (or what have you), so as to make the 8 (eight) cookies the pack was intended to. at last in this whole endeavour i decided to embrace 'yolo', to say "f*** it", to not be a big fanny about it all. an ambition i share with my (to date, so far as i am aware) youngest offspring is to one day make the ultimate uber mega cookie. small steps are required to see if it is feasible. with this in mind, i made six like they said, and put the remainder (presumably two) together, so as to make a larger one. 

true, i give it to you, this wasn't really making a mega cookie as such, rather just (although using the word just sounds unduly harsh) a 'double cookie' of sorts. i acknowledge that. from his own planning in regards of creating the ultimate cookie, William believes an issue would be that the bigger the overall diameter (and consequentially radius), the more likely the result is uneven. as in, hard, over baked outer elements, offset with undercooked inner aspects. having a go at increasing the size in increments seems wiser, then, so as to find the optimum a mega one could be. next time, then, the dough of three (3) measured balls will be as one, to see what happens. 

off into the oven they went, then, as (presumably) you can see in the above. time for me to stand aside with my efforts and labour, leaving the miracle of the (reasonably) modern wonders of oven technology to wave their magic in, around and across my wares. indeed it was quite tricky to get that image with a reduced level of stuff of things reflected, but i think you can focus just on what is in the oven. 

just what does one do whilst the business end of baking these cookies is underway? to each their own. i seem to recall that opening the oven whilst baking is underway in some what undermines it all, as in that i can remember getting knacked off Mum, Gran (both) and probably at least 1 (one) former, likely the most recent of such, (considerably) better half for oven door opening whilst baking was on the go or underway. but maybe i was getting knacked for general nuisance interference, or being there. 

vaguely getting back to the kind of point in the last paragraph (the one above), i decided the best way to ensure i did not fiddle, so as to avoid getting knacked off myself, was to take a stroll outside, smoking a cigarette (sorry) whilst the oven got on doing whatever it does (bake). 

again, yes, i returned to the packet for guidance. it said that the cookies (gooey and of chocolate chip) should take about 10 to twelve minutes to bake, or alternatively one would know they were done for they would go the shade which is described best as also being the title of a boss song off of The Stranglers, the precise name of which escapes me for the moment. i waited for such time to pass, then, and also sung a random tune when i decided to be brave (if not bold) and check on them. which is what you can see moments of happening in, yes, the video above. 

did i enjoy all this baking business? yes. i mean, it was all right. gave a sense of achievement, even if by way of being informed of such. further, it was also something to do with a relatively free evening, for no tasks were of want and not a soul was requisite of my companionship. baked for fun, to fill the moments, and of course to eat.

behold, for above is the vaguely completed cooked cookies (chocolate chip and gooey). on the pack, and yes i do like instructions, it said to leave them to "cool" on the baking tray / sheet for ten minutes, then to take them off of this and let them cool on some other platform (which i took as meaning a plate) for another 10 minutes. so, i did that. 

how did they turn out? not bad, actually, not bad at all. so far as i can ascertain they were baked properly, for no ill affects came from me consuming them. probably should have given one or two to others to test and taste, but no, i ate them all. interestingly, the mega (double) one was a great success, so will certainly try even bigger ones next time. using an entire packet to make just one mega cookie is, of course, the ultimate aim. 

whilst i may well do more cookies, i don't think it likely that i shall further document such an adventure in this way. telling some stories just once is enough, and that has been the case here, so far as i am concerned. but yet, or and still, if i decide to bake or meddle with other substance, then yes, i could see me recording the adventure here. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the other side of midnight

achtung, baby

it is far removed from a stretch of the imagination, look you see, to suggest that if one mentions England vs West Germany at Wembley in 1966, the thoughts of most are drawn to a certain World Cup Final. true, yes, that is in all likelihood the most famous football match between the two sides at that venue. but, as it happens, not the only one of that year. 

by chance, default, design, accident or fluke, it was so that these (or them) two sides played each other a mere five, give or take, months before that celebrated match. on 23 February 23 1966, making or if you prefer marking the date of this being published as the 56th anniversary of so, England played the nation, and indeed team, known as West Germany at that there Wembley in a friendly. 

we, in the modern era, tend to think of international friendlies as a recent invention, created just to upset football managers and players, who seem to think actually playing matches is not what football should be all about. not so, for they have always existed. probably. i mean, no i am not researching it or looking the matter up, but they existed as far back as 1966, at the least. 

although, that said, the match was called a "warm up" rather than a friendly. this is perhaps down to the fact that the game was not quite so ruthlessly marketed then as is now. or just the words what the journalist used in the other clipping below. 

the score in this match? well, i suspect several of you may not have known this match even happened, or existed, i suppose. so, i am reasonably (quite) reluctant to give away spoilers. but then yes, indeed it was that England also won this one, albeit via a considerably less dramatic 1-0 score. here you go, some video of the match, taped off of (West) Germany, no less. 

fact fans delight there, then, as yes, German tele got the goal scorer wrong. well, they did assuming that the name 'Hunt' flashes up to indicate who they believed scored. rather it was so that one Nobby Stiles scored, and so far as i am aware this was his first ever international goal. 

how about a little bit more (quite blurry, sorry) press coverage in advance of the match? sure, as in certainly. if you are able to read the below, and once again apologies for quality, there is a somewhat interesting notion contained in the text. no, not the bit about a particular dictator having a hissy fit, although yes that is as quite class as it is amusing. 

rather a considered "hmn" to that one, then. would England ever consider following the (West) German model? i mean, English clubs forming some sort of breakaway "super" league, so as to earn huge amounts of coins of money whilst passing the idea off as being to "improve" and of delivering a better game to the fans? an interesting idea. who knows, maybe one day English clubs will operate in such a manner.

right, anyway, as ever thanks for reading, and splendid stuff if this instance of me putting something on here proved to be of some marginal interest. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

kubrick books

hi hi hi there

well, Kubrick books plus, look you see. a bit, i suppose, like moloko+, but then again also rather not quite the same thing. let me move on, i think. 

recently i took what isn't even a chance, or the slightest form of gamble. a publishing concern called taschen out of germany has, for a bit, offered some books (+) on the subject of select Kubrick films. to be precise, three - 2001, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon. quite a smart opportunity came about to get two of them. well, all three, but i kind of forgot the third one, alas. but two out of three ain't bad, or so the song goes. 

yes, then, i picked up the books (+) which are dedicated to Kubrick's most iconic films, which is to say the two what are not Barry Lyndon. no, i am not going to say his best two films, or greatest or most important ones. perhaps they are. for a man who made such striking images in all of his artistic endeavours, i feel i stick my neck out far enough just stating that these two are the more iconic of them. but yes, images off of Dr Strangelove, and to an extent The Shining, come to mind. so, moving on. 

so, what's all this then? i mean, yes, they are books, but what this is (+) part i reference? to go back to the start, each book is of vinyl record size, which is a whopping 12" by 12", or around 30cm x 30cm for all you metric types. each also features 96 pages, and is of course dedicated to the subject of the title, which would be them two films off of Kubrick. actually, no, will get back to the (+) bit, but first more details on the books. 

in themselves, the books are staggering. beautiful in terms of the carefully, uniquely crafted images what Kubrick delivered, featuring well known ("iconic") images and a fair bit of unseen stuff, be it behind the scenes shots or, as highlighted (kind of) in the above, aspects of scenes which never went and gone made it into the final versions of the movies. by no means would i claim to be expert, but i had thought (or assumed) that i was aware of all bits filmed (or planned) that never made it into either of these motion pictures. not true, the parts of each film shown in the pages above were ones i had absolutely no idea of existence until getting these. 

ok, righty-right, the plus (+) parts. with each one gets a (paper based) reproduction of the original poster for the cinema release of each in the cinema (USA versions) and a "digitally remastered" copy of each motion picture on DVD. it is hard to believe that it is within the lifetime of this blog that such, the latter, has gone from being what would have been a huge selling point to an obsolete inclusion. 

these DVDs were not things what i particularly needed, but here they are. i, as you may expect, have both already on DVD, then again on that blu-ray thing. still, i put them in to my player so as to make the animated things you see here, in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, for any of you what might like that sort of thing. also, rather than being excess stock, it seems that these discs were in some way pressed just for these books, so have 'exclusive' or 'unique' (so far as i am aware) artwork on them, as you can see in a picture just now. 

how or why was i persuaded to eventually, ultimately buy these two, which i increasingly wish i had gone right ahead and made three? well, i believe the initial price was £30. they were tempting when i saw them (or at least the Clockwork Orange one was) for £20, and then £15. and then, as part of some recent sale (end of year or start of year or what have you), them over at taschen elected to sell them for all of £5 each, so autopilot went on and here we are. sadly they are presently back up to the first, higher price mentioned, but good luck if you can get them for the kind of (limited) coins i did. 

perhaps the only real 'down' side, or negative, to these two (2) books is the storage of the DVD. whereas the posters (image below) fold up and slide into the front cover of each volume, the DVD is on the inner cover, held in place with a kind of round, circular sponge number, vaguely the size of the central hole on the DVD. or in the disc, whichever is correct. having taken the discs off (for purposes mentioned and visible here) it was quite a struggle to get them back on, really. the lovely, stylish general sense of perfect aesthetics oddly get let down here; a pocket or envelope for the disc would have been considerably wiser. no matter. 

absolutely it is true that i have uploaded far, far too many images and animated things to go with whatever text i could consider to write here. in truth there is little much i can say other than i got these brilliant books for an astonishing price. whilst i consider what else to write, here, below is one of them animated things off of the 2001 trailer. 

the covers state that both (well, all three, but i have two) books were produced with the Stanley Kubrick Estate, which broadly translates as his family. and my, what generous access they have given. i seem to recall a documentary somewhere called 'The Kubrick Boxes', noting how he kept all of the meticulous work he engaged in for a film, whether he made the film or not. 

fairly obviously is that all the unreleased scene stills and behind the scenes shots come from his family, or if you will in official terms the Stanley Kubrick Estate. these are, as i have already gushed, incredible enough, but also we get comments, notes and annotations he made along the way, be it about how the stories for films developed, or filming notes. considering he had a reputation as perfectionist (see many tales of multiple takes of seemingly minor scenes), it's quite surprising to see just how "fluid" an approach he took to changing or altering what was going to be in the film, sometimes as late as a few minutes before filming. perhaps the most famous instance of this, or at least well known, was the inclusion of Singin' In The Rain during A Clockwork Orange, but further examples are on offer here. 

both of the folders (very) carefully folded out and laid across, taking up just about all of my (double) bed, then, for you to inspect. perhaps i should have put a CD or something on there for scale, but take my word for it they are rather large. delicate too, being a thick(ish) paper. maybe i should get them framed, although they do no harm being safely folded and placed in the pocket in the books. 

other than the notes, the books contain a great deal of what one may call correspondence from Stanley Kubrick. this comes in the form of interviews, but also letters to friends, film critics, newspapers and those he was working with on motion pictures. for the former it is all too easy to forget that he used to do such, frequently. which makes me kind of regret not getting the Barry Lyndon one a bit more, now that i think, for that was probably (likely) the last time he did general interviews or what have you. unless he stopped entire after the controversy surrounding A Clockwork Orange. 

getting a book (+) for each of Kubrick's films would be as splendid as it would be welcome. from an iconic or well known perspective, sure, these two make the most sense. as does the Barry Lyndon one, what with the visual beauty of the film lending itself so easily to such a publication. whereas there might not be all that much on some of his films (the really early ones), surely there exists a fair bit of stuff hidden away regarding, say, his remarkable adaptation of Lolita in the face of the prevailing morality governing cinema at the time. also, it would be nice to read of Kubrick's intentions and insights for The Shining and his final (generally misunderstood) masterpiece, Eyes Wide Shut. 

now that i think, though, there is a massive (and prohibitively expensive) book called The Stanley Kubrick Archives which no doubt covers the rest. oh. well, perhaps one day when i am big i shall be able to afford such a splendid volume and see. 

phew, i have then just about managed to put some decent (in size) and (partially) coherent words around all these images and animated things. well, i would like to think so, at the least. a reasonable assumption would be that any general internet user happening to look at this would be doing so for an idea of if they are worthwhile purchases (yes) or to see what's inside (kind of shown). 

in conclusion, or to conclude, then, yes i do appreciate that some of you may prefer looking at what i put here under the influence of mind altering substances, legal or otherwise. for you, then, sure, in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, a bit of the "beyond the infinite" sequence in animated form. what can i say, trip away. 

let me head off and do other stuff of things, then. which may well involve a gazing at and consideration of these splendid publications. also possibly watch one, or both, of these films in full again. the last time i can recall watching 2001 was, of course, on New Year's Day, 2001. if not then, well, then when. 

should by some chance any of this has been of practical use, or just general interest, then so much the better. but, thanks, as ever, for reading or having a gander anyhow. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

steely resolve is falling from me

howdy pop pickers

so yes, then, this post is something of a double triumph, look you see. once again i am having debatable degrees of success in not writing of Bowie at least once a month. also, i am, on the day today, writing of a particular song what i have written at length about before. like, for instance, here, two (2) years ago from the date on which this is published. 

do i have anything of reasonable (or slight) interest that i could possibly say further on the subject of the song strangers when we meet? unlikely. but, or and yet, still, an awful lot of life has happened since i last wrote of it, two years ago. in fairness, or to be fair, quite an extraordinary amount of life has happened since i first heard the song, falling in love with it instantly, in late 1993. wow. nearly 30 years, then. and yet it remains sounding so fresh, so new on each play. 

well, that much (the latter parts of the previous paragraph) remains true of the first version of it, the original off of the extraordinary, incredible buddha of suburbia album. easily one of his finest and most accomplished albums (allowing for all having favourites), yet bewilderingly not considered or classified in full as an actual Bowie album. strange, the world we have made. the re-recorded version, for the record 1.Outside and then issued as a single, isn't bad at all. i just prefer the original. for me the original has a significantly better, more hypnotic tempo, and the vocal what Bowie does on that remains, for me, the personification of a perfect Bowie vocal. others may disagree, but this is just me. 

for those reading this who have for some reason never (ever) heard the tune, wish to do so but are not inclined to immediately leave this site, here you go, a video. alas, sadly, or maybe, it's just the short single edit, off of top of the pops when that remained a (valuable) thing. rather seek out the version i love so, but for now, press play if you wish. 

it is with just some sense of steely resolve i write more of this subject, then. essentially a blog is supposed, or so i am told, to be all of the writer going "me, me, me". given the chance to speak to a theoretical global audience, then, what i would do with such a forum, or if you would stage, would be to state that strangers when we meet off of Bowie is an excellent song, full worth the time of just south of five minutes to hear in its original variation, no matter what who or where you are. 

oddly, though, or i suppose, is that in the last two (2) years it is so that another version has come into my collection. this one is of course the live one, for it featured on one of the six ill-advised, poorly done brilliant live adventures (ahem) series. just played that version again now, and whereas it is by no means bad, well, let me rather put the original on again, thanks. 

parts of my day (today), then, shall most certainly be spent listening to this fine tune, considering how excellent it is. yeah, as i would imagine (or assume) is reasonably clear from the above, it will be the original version what gets a spin. but, well, why not the other versions too. sure, it is tempting to just put it on repeat and drift away, perhaps one day. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

considerations of a single dried teardrop on a costa rican banana

hello there

it would not be true to state or even suggest that i have some sort of quarrel or issue with fruit. whereas i do not eat much in the way of fruit direct, look you see, the existence of such neither upsets nor, as is trendy, offends me. most fruits, i shall have the record reflect, are ones i find splendid when presented as a preserve or pure jam. 

bar the occasional instance of a strawberry once in a while (when served eating somewhere posh), it is that there is but one fruit i would tend to eat "straight" and by choice. which is, as you may well have ascertained or guessed from the title, the banana. or a banana, however one should word it. 

a strong case, or argument, exists that i should jolly well eat more fruit than i do. it is so, however, that i seem to have a bit of a 'psychological' issue with it. for some reason the texture of most fruits, when they connect with my tongue, mouth and what have you, cause a deeply unpleasant sensation. strange, in light of this, that for some reason i find a banana most agreeable. 

recently, then, i purchased a packet (or bunch, if you will) of bananas, with the intention of eating them. some of these i already have consumed, but yet some remain. on procuring these, i could not but help notice one of them had a clear spot which could only be a liquid which had dried on the surface of the skin. actually, more than one, but there was just the one which struck me so. no, i shall not identify which one, let me let you gaze upon them and see what you shall see. but probably not in the above image, which is of course in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. 

perhaps this is symptomatic of circumstance giving me too much time to imagine, or maybe lingering within remains fragments of the more poetic i once was. all the same, in any of those directions, this one marking really struck me. yes, true, also, it could just be me being more melancholy and hormonal than expected, should the male menopause be a thing. but still, here we are. 

with some immediacy my mind accepted the mark as that left by a single tear shed in proximity of the banana, and there it fell, leaving a stain or mark. stain is probably more apt, or if you like poetic, i suppose. that is a word which both poetry and pottery types rather like, after all.  

exactly how did the tear come to fall here? what was the casual causal reason for the tear in the first place? so many more questions. my initial thought, formed quite quickly in a moment of distraction which in all likelihood saw me momentarily block an aisle in a supermarket, was that the tear fell from an eye of the farmer in costa rica who grew (or nurtured) these bananas. it is not extraordinary to think in terms of the relationship between seed and sower; sadness surely follows the inevitable parting of the ways. a natural sadness may form when the farmer knows of his labour heading for lands unknown. 

this in itself prompts a question, interesting or not. do these farmers, or such orchard keepers (whatever may the correct term for growing bananas be) know where their crops are destined to go in this shared yet remote world of ours? i know a little close to nothing of costa rica. of what interest is it to the farmer where the bananas end up, i speculate. does the concern end with income alone? possibly. 

for what i do know of costa rica, or am at least aware, well, it is to proceed with some caution when speaking of the place. as i recall matters, the nation is the sole reason for just one, singular episode of my most beloved show, Seinfeld being if not quite banned then at least suppressed or withdrawn. so let it be, let me not speculate too much, then. 

yes, i am perfectly aware this marking may have come from all manner of ways. as i understand it bananas do "sweat" when packaged, with that quasi precipitation and the natural consequence thereof likely to be the most plausible explanation for the marking which affects me so. but still my inclination is to go for if not the more poetic reasoning then the more romantic. should that be a form of confession, or an admission of some longing left bereft, so be it. 

certainly, every chance exists i may well see (or observe) other markings, and that it could be they draw a similar (if not the same) reaction. should this come to be, on the basis that i continue to write of such things here, sure, i may well comment more on this sort of thing. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and it's very far away but it's growing day by day

turn it in, geezers and dolly birds

well, that sentiment above, or however it is that they actually do greet people in that there london (innit), for this is all of that place. not all of the place, look you see, but this is certainly about a rather famous section of it. yeah, a near mythical road called the m25. 

i say near mythical, for that sounds quite class. also, probably true. somewhere just south of 14% of the entire population of the united kingdom encounter it on a (fairly) frequent basis, but that's purely because that is what london (innit) accounts for in terms of the population. and yet a considerably higher, very significant percentage of the population knows all about this road, the so-called m25. whether they wish to or not, for how f****d or what a mess it is always dominates national radio bulletins concerning traffic incidents and accidents. 

just what is the m25? sometimes, mostly amongst trendy types, it is called the "london (innit) orbital", for it is a kind of massive oblongish circular in intent road around the business end of london (i am not putting innit after each instance, innit), the idea being to "alleviate" (or whatever) traffic going across london. the idea, i suppose, or imagine, is that one gets on this beast of a ring (but not perfect circle) road and departs off at points of it what gets to them to the bits of london that for some reason they wish to visit. 

absolutely nothing of the wretched sounding thing ever suggested to me it would be smart to go on it. i mean, when it is on the traffic news (and it always is), there's always something what went f****d with it. nothing sounds normal of it. for a start, there appears to be two (2) of the b@stards in operation, or full effect. one goes clockwise, the other, as you may guess, anti-clockwise. in other, proper parts of the country, we get along just fine with driving on road system that have one option for direction? 

but, of course, i did indeed (for purposes of verk) end up experiencing this cursed road. my first reaction was wow, this is massive, followed by wow, that's an awful lot of cars they have down here. cars which it seems have drivers what care not for the conventions of speed limits, or rules, or laws, or decent driving. quite a bit like Mad Max i suppose, only nowhere near as cool, and certainly no one wearing trousers what they have their @rse hanging out of. that i saw, at least. mostly i was concentrating on not getting killed off of the lunatics driving on it. 

the novelty factor of driving on it wore off very, very quickly indeed. how quick? extremely. so much so that after a day or so, i went f*** this, and commanded (or charged) a younger colleague to rather drive me around it in, since they seemed to enjoy it all far more than i evidently did. 

such an arrangement turned out to be mostly agreeable, with me considering how surely it must be the case that usually passengers survive car wrecks, or don't get too knacked in them. probably not, but anyway, all the same, it meant that i could, quite safely (comparatively) make the above video for you. if for some reason you were wondering what it is like on that road they always mention in traffic news, let the above give you a glimpse, if not taste. 

unfortunately there is every chance, or likelihood, that i shall once more have to suffer the experience of being on this road once again. well, maybe. i mean not right now, at time of writing, for i have all that plague stuff. perhaps the plague shall yet still take me as another meaningless statistic, meaning that it is no further earthly road i must travel. but, also not. 

mostly, then, with what time i have left, when the next radio traffic news bulletin update thing mentions that the m25 is broken, i can just go "well, i am not f*****g surprised the way the absolute mental b@stards down there drive on the f*****g thing". or similar, with like for like casual profanity and obscenity being included to illustrate, if not emphasise the sentiment. mostly, though, if you, too, have heard of this m25 and are curious to see what it is all about, well don't. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

billy dee williams

how pop pickers

well, this may or may not be interesting. once again, look you see, it is so that i find myself listening to vibes what were gone done by someone more renowned for being an iconic actor than any form of musician or singer. as the title gives you every indication of, yes, in this instance it is the music of no less than the first (and best) person to play the character widely regarded as the second best one in all of that Star Wars business, or at least the first three (3) films, the great billy dee williams. 

so, then, for clarity, this is all about the studio album recording off of billy dee williams, with the george cory ensemble, called let's misbehave. unlike other adventures in albums what actors gone done, this one stems from an improbable era when billy dee williams was an actor, true, but not the superstar, household name, fan favourite he would be. i am reticent, no reluctant, to say that this record was made in some sort of "pre-fame" days, but certainly it is true that he wasn't so well known when he did this. 

for the sake of completeness, or some inexplicable interest, other instances of me exploring the vibes gone done by actors include (and i select just two favourites here) the magic of peter wyngarde (here) and, but of course, the odyssey that is william shatner (click at own risk). yeah, sure i have a, say, thirty seconds to mars disc somewhere, and arguably bowie started as an actor, but let me distract no more. 

in truth i cannot recall how, or when, i learned of the man who would become lando calrissian gone done some songs. this was all recent, but my vague memory system does appear shot. on looking up the record, i found a website was selling it for (just) south of £5, which seemed reasonable. but, i didn't buy it, thinking do i really want or need this. and then the website sent me a discount for 5% (yes, five), which took about 20p (twenty pence, for americans a bit like "cents" but in actual, real money) off the price, so went yeah, go on then, f*** it. 

and how is the record? not that bad, really. it's thirty minutes (or so) of ten (10) songs what apparently come from or off of broadway. which i assume means out of broadway shows, as such being recorded in the quite early 60s, no "modern" broadway classics. in truth, and most of my broadway tune knowledge would be limited to ones what barbs has gone done, i think i'd only ever heard of one of the songs before. maybe two, but likely just one. 

rather unlike the efforts of wyngarde and shatner referenced above, and indeed as about as far removed from the realm of shatner as you like, this is of course meant, and intended, as an actual, proper, real musical album. significantly different, it most certainly is, from my usual listening tastes, but you know what, it's a rather pleasant listen. just a record to put on gently in the background, let it play its breezy, somewhat whimsical way over you, and relax for half an hour stuff. 

that above is, of course for the purposes of display here in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, a bit of the unexpected bonus with the disc. on the CD is a "multimedia" element, a five minute or so long "interview" with billy dee williams. filmed in the early 2000s at a guess, when someone discovered the album and set about a digital release. not really the single most exciting interview on earth. for those interested, he says that basically he does not see (or regard) himself as a singer as such, and then proceeds to list all the times what he has indeed been a singer. 

but also no, billy dee williams does give a fair assessment of his talents, really. listening to this record now is somewhat tempered by the fact that you know exactly who you are listening to, and so what you are hearing is a very or quite familiar voice. difficult, then, to be objective. if one were to try and be as reasonable and fair as possible, you'd say on the basis of this recording that billy dee had a competent singing range, serviceable enough for any role that required for him to sing, rather than relied on it. 

if everything has worked like what it should have, and i have not had complaints on video failing here for a bit, then you can indeed hear some of the magic of billy dee williams singing above. well, played on my current stag (i am contemplating a new one) and recorded on my phone. not the best conduit to hear it all then, but if you are pressed for time and are here now, there you go. 

whilst having done no research, i do believe that this record is it for the musical career of billy dee williams. from what i recall, though, if you go on that you tube thing you can find moments where he gone done a song or two with people, possibly diana ross or maybe it was donna summer in one clip. no, pretty sure diana. you would think at some point they would have had a quite class idea to have lando calrissian sing in Star Wars, but i don't think it ever got done. 

despite any sort of limitations on what time i may have left (or perhaps because of them, who knows) i shall not be too surprised if i encounter another actor based vibes trip of discovery at some stage. certainly i hope it to be so. whereas it's unlikely i will play this particular record frequently, i am all the same glad to have taken a chance on it, and the three or four times it's been played up to now have been, by and large, satisfactory. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

largely disappointing reading

hello reader

well, alas, the title of this post more or less (with emphasis on more) tells it like it is. once again i have not read just one, but not so many as three or five, books, look you see. custom or tradition has it that now i comment on such here, or "review", if you like. my expectation would be that this shall be briefer than usual; perhaps because as i write i am struck by plague but mostly as there is little to say of each. or either. strangely, then. this may be the most useful post of this nature what i ever gone done. 

so, then, a look at the two (2) novels (for i seldom do non-fiction) which i most recently, at time of writing, read, followed by non-spoiler nature comments. at first. 

going from left to right (i think) in the above, then, and The Pandemic Plot is a recent (one more has come out since, at least) 'Ben Hope' adventure off of, well, the only person what writes them (in any official way), Scott Mariani. yes, the title relates (kind of) to what you may think, and it is easily the worst one of the series. even more worse than the one what features someone building a "laser" to cut the planet on which we live in half, whatever that was called. next, or later (ha ha ha see what i did) is one called Later off of Stephen King. it's a fairly pedestrian crime novel, published by some firm what appears to specialise in "pulp fiction" throwbacks, and of course has a horror spin. not so bad, as such, but also really, really far away from any sort of better than good status. 

ok, so yes, right, from here on out one of them fancy, la-de-dah, oh so very important *** SPOILER WARNING *** things shall be in place. this is particularly true of the Scott Mariani one. read on, then, if such things do not worry you so much, or you would have no real intention of reading either novel anyway. if the latter is somehow true, that means you are reading just to read what i gone done wrote, so thank you very much indeed, cheers. 

this particular bout of reading adventures started, or if you like commenced, with The Pandemic Plot, then. i selected this one as the most most recent one by same author was out, so i kind of pick that one up then go and read the one which has been sat there for a bit. 

provenance of my copy? a lack of any sort of sticker screams Tesco, so there possibly. or it might have been a gift from the boys to celebrate some day, be it father's, birth or christmas. indeed it is bad of me to forget, but it seems my memories are getting ever more wonky. 

i suppose i have to do the plot, then. right. let me see what bits i remember. sure, there's a prologue bit. after that Ben Hope is chilling, or doing Ben Hope things, when wouldn't you know he gets a frantic call. this time it is his (biological) son, again, who has gone and gotten himself arrested for murder (possibly yet again) in what seems like an open and shut case. so of course Ben rushes off to try and get it all sorted out, and uncovers a sinister plot and dark secret on which a multi-billion dollar (or whatever currency) business is built. yes of course they are prepared to kill to keep it that way, but they hadn't banked on facing the supreme killer, Ben Hope, etc, etc........

allowing for the fact that these Ben Hope novels are meant purely as "old fashioned" boys own tales of great and exciting adventure, this is.......poor. some of the novels in this series have been really, really very good indeed, whereas a few have been rather rubbish. this most certainly is in the latter. 

oh, certainly, it is so that the use of the word "pandemic" in the title gives you every clue as to what's going on here. either by chance or by being "rushed" out, make no mistake - the basic themes and rudimentary plot of this novel (or series of chapters taped together) conveniently seem to catch on to the present day "pandemic" of the new plague. well, why not, i suppose, books are written and published to make money. 

cashing in on coronavirus is hardly a new or rare phenomenon. look, if you will, at various government deals and contracts, and some other stuff. but i did find this one page in the novel, towards the end (and i have provided ample spoiler warnings) just a little too much on the brazen cash in front. 

no one is to blame but me for reading this, of course. once i clocked the title i kind of knew it was likely to be utter trash, as well as disappointing. and indeed it was. yet i feel myself "trapped" in the series, intent on reading all ones what get published. the "adventure" parts are predictable and can probably easily see a volume or two skipped, but then i would miss out on the soap opera elements of the life of Ben Hope in these books. i would be afraid of missing out on something. 

earlier, following on, i did confess to having the next Ben Hope adventure sat here, ready to read. normally him what does them puts out two a year, i would wager the next one shall sit waiting to be read until i get the next one. why i feel the need to have one in "reserve" is a mystery to me, and a matter i would expect absolutely no one to waste time pondering. 

on, then, to a Stephen King book which is not a traditional or what you may call "classic" Stephen King novel, but then also very much is all him. even if he appears to have done it, like, rather totes quick. it's called (as mentioned earlier) Later, and is a "hard case crime" publication. he has done a couple of these before. one of them, Joyland, i have sat here but never read. 

it wasn't so long, or all that long, ago when i bought this, and it was certainly Tesco. from what i remember £3 or £3.50 is what the price was, be it as a standard or due to their "club card" offer. 

to the plot, and i shall try to keep it brief, bearing in mind this novel is not so far north of 200 pages in itself. effectively, or basically, it's a young kid, Jamie (i think) who has the inexplicable, unaccounted for ability to speak to dead people for a short time (usually) after they have become dead. he has twigged that the dead must answer all questions posed of them, and further must answer them truthfully. which is kind of scary, really all rather spooky and totes some sort of ability that someone or other might have a less than ethical, or legal, use for. 

referring to this novel as The Sixth Sense Meets The Exorcist Meets Scarface Meets The Evil Dead Via A Lesbian Police Officer feels a little unfair, but also astonishingly accurate. although for Scarface you could pretty much drop in any sort of crime film/novel, i guess. it's really, really hard to be critical of Stephen King for going ahead and doing a colour by numbers, let us use all of the cliches going novel, when it was he, over the last, what, half a century or so, went and created quite a lot of the things we now view as a cliche. that and, whereas some distance from even his most average, let alone best, he manages to pass it off as a reasonably entertaining read. brief, too. 

going on his prolific workrate in terms of published novels, i have every confidence, or suspicion, that Stephen King spent no more than one (1) weekend writing Later, if that. which is fine, i suppose. doing something not meant to be horror no doubt appealed to him, but of course it is he, and so a horror edge is (or was) required to it all. there are many (many) worse novels one could read than this, but also there are quite a lot of better, specifically Stephen King ones, that you could read instead. i am not as well versed in all this "pulp" or trash fiction as you may think, but yeah, go on, maybe i shall dig out that copy of Joyland i have and read it, eventually. and some of the others listed in the back of this book sound quite interesting, to be honest. 

so, anyway, that's that for another two books, read (i think) over the end of 2021 and the start of this present year, 2022. one, or i, can but hope that considerably better, more enjoyable reading is to be had by moi going forward. since we cannot, so far as i am aware, go back. 

for whatever reason you stopped by and read, many thanks for doing so. on the off chance any of this was useful, or slightly interesting, nice one. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

value of ronnie

greetings

let me, up front, make something as reasonably clear as possible. i quite like ronnie wood. no, hang on. rather let me say i don't have any particular issue or quarrel with ronnie wood. there, that would be a more better way of describing my stance, look you see. by all means, though, take all of this which follows as some sort of attack or slur on him, but it isn't really, entirely, intended so. don't hate the player, hate the game, and all that. 

it has struck me that recently, or over the last two or three years, i have spent more on ronnie wood related things than i had any reasonable intention of. yes, i did indeed purchase (or get gifted) some Stones recordings, but only one of them, the CD single Living In A Ghost Town, featured him in any sort of prominent way. life is a little too complex as it is to make it more difficult by means of actively avoiding ronnie wood purchases, but in fairness it is true that, on a day to day basis, well, it's hardly a consideration you have to weigh up. 

of what i have spent in regards of ronnie wood, well, an interesting sort of valuation dynamic has presented itself. interesting, at the least, by the standards of other things what i have put here claiming them as interesting. surely, certainly i shall go through these items, but illustration of point first. 

that is indeed, presented in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, a postcard of a stamp what Royal Mail issued, celebrating ronnie wood. next to it is, of course, a or the autobiography of ronnie wood, what he decided to call "ronnie". 

yes. i confess, yes. of my own free will did i come to take ownership of these, as in i, myself, directly, paid coins of money to take ownership. for matters of provenance, which appears to be slightly important to some, the postcard came off of Royal Mail, who are honouring / cashing in on the rolling stones with some commemorative yet perfectly legal to use stamps. as for the story of ronnie wood by ronnie wood, purchased off of HMV in conjunction with another concern. 

going with the stamps first, despite them being the more recent purchase (within the last two weeks, as point of fact, at least at time of writing), them, Royal Mail, have issued some stamps to "honour 60 years of the rolling stones as a live act". instead of, one presumes, a dead one? i believe they meant performing, or doing gigs. of course i purchased some, because it's the stones, man, and also i still do what one or two may call formal correspondence. i love sending letters, and would probably like to receive too but no one appears to write to me. 

certainly all of the stamps pertain to them, the stones, as a "live act". by this, the images are of them doing a gig, or some form of promotion for a gig. what's interesting is how often, exactly, each member of the rolling stones - past, present or hired long term - features. yes, i decided to count. here's how many times you can see each stone across the stamps (and postcards) - 

sir mick jagger - 6

keith richards - 7

bill wyman - 0

charlie watts - 4

darryl jones - 0

brian jones - 0

mick taylor - 0

ronnie wood - 6

so, in world of Royal Mail, ronnie wood is "as popular" (or important) as sir mick, and second only to keith richards (or "keith richard", if American). this strikes me as being a somewhat unusual ranking of the favourite, or most important, member(s) of the band. not once in my travels, allowing for the fact that i have never met he himself or any of his family, have i ever encountered someone what says, or believes in, "think stones, think ronnie". 

whatever point this is vaguely making, then, is illustrated in the picture above. for HMV it is so that the life of ronnie wood by ronnie wood is valued at 99p, whereas a stamp of ronnie wood is valued by Royal Mail at £1.70. that's a differential of some (as in exactly) 71p. surely it is so that some form of statement is being made by this. i have no idea what it says, but a statement all the same. 

at some stage i shall, indeed, use the stamp and postcard of ronnie wood. i believe i know who shall be getting it, but that is not to be discussed here. with regards to the book, i confess to not having read it all, but do pick it up and read extracts from time to time. one particularly interesting bit was when he started waving the album cover for black and blue off of the stones around, for there is a small picture of him on the cover, and so he uses that to show who he is. or used to. 

no, i have thought about it and no, nothing further to add to this. for now. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

don't come to the house tonight

heya

for many a year - several, look you see - a popular saying was of how the only absolute certainties in life are death and taxes. true, undoubtedly, such is that they are certainties, but i am increasingly of the view that they do not stand so alone in being the "only" ones. as we carve our way through this ridiculous new century / millennium in which it is all going wrong, further certainties seem to be added. entirely random examples, unrelated to any particular plight of mine (honest) to add would be Hartlepool issuing a parking ticket to every vehicle which ever existed, Colchester turning every road they can find into a bus only lane, and London being a cycle only place. 

one more certainty is, alas, that no matter what we do, no matter what we do, everyone is going to get a taste of this new plague. coronavirus, or covid, of course, since (apparently) i am not really allowed to call it lung aids or similar. yes, vaccines, masks, washing hands, keeping distance, etc. but no virus yet has truly respected such to its own extinction. 

so yes, then. by the logic of the above, it would be surely so that i, moi, triple jabbed with whatever this vaccine is, taking as much care as possible, also stand to get knacked off of the plague at some stage. and here we are, then, at such a stage.

i appear to recall that someone somewhere published a comment that one should not post negative, or positive, or what have you plague tests on "social media", due to "fraud". well, despite my unfortunate and decidedly unsolicited status as a social media influencer, i do not consider my confessions here to be of a "social media" nature. also, not sure what fraud can be done with an image presented in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode? 

none of which, of course, seems particularly important (or relevant) momentarily. as i have a tendency, if not proclivity, to write these in advance, my most earnest hope would be that this is all a thing of the past by the time you read this. how wonderful it would be, too if, such were not to return. 

perhaps i shall one day write the full story (or tale) of my plight with the plague, but not right now. just hope that, indeed, truly, science is correct and i am immortal and thus shall be here to speak of it. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

until the end of the world

hi

something of a constant, or perennial (if that means the same thing) for life here in England is that question concerning the so-called "great north-south divide". this is a matter which tends to dominate thinking in our area of the United Kingdom, or even the British Isles entire, look you see. no idea if a similar debate is wrestled with in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales, but i would presume they have better things to consider. 

it is a divide regularly considered to be less geographical, more state of mind. we, in the north, do things proper, and refer to things by their proper name, whilst that bunch of shandy drinking softies in the south, alas, do not. this is absolute fact, of course, but just where does this divide commence? 

for, or as, a frame of reference, the actual, geographical centre of England happens, or is to be found somewhere in the middle of a field in Leicestershire. which is in the "midlands", hence the name Midlands. yet there are those which say the state of mind divide, the true line between north and south in England, happens at a place called the Watford Gap. so, i went there. 

no, i did not go there specifically, for to do so would be silly. it was (just) so that my now natural course of travel meant that i could go see it, and so i did. happy accident, if you will. kind of. 

with respect to this place representing the so-called, as in for many (if not most) actual north-south divide, it's about forty (40) miles south of the centre. this divide point, one has to bear in mind, is believed to have been originally or initially set by them lot down south (or "dahn sarf" in their language, let me not be accused of some ism or ist). either that's generous of them, giving us in the north so much extra, or a sign of them being immediately insular, wishing their "bubble" to be as small as possible. you determine which is most likely. 

the main thing about this Watford Gap is, now that i have seen it, i understand a lot more things. all is clear, even. after just a few moments in the place it became very clear why so many visiting it from the north believe the south is going to be precisely as bad as they had been warned, or feared. comparatively, or by the same margin, them what are travelling from the south to an actual, proper place in England (the north) see this place, go "no", and turn around to go back to from whence they came. from what i recall legend has it that Harry Redknapp once considered being employed off of Newcastle (why aye man, pet, etc), but mysteriously on the drive north decided "no, too far" and turned around, heading back south. i now suspect the mystery in that legend is the Watford Gap. 

being fair, strictly speaking it is not that service stations on motorways are meant to be tourist spots, or places of interest. certainly, to be sure, various oddballs (and i do not exclude myself from this group) view them exactly so, but still. functional, is what they are supposed to be. a place to get fuel, use the facilities (go for a p!ss), get an astonishingly overpriced coffee or bankrupt yourself by ordering food there, that is what they exist for. yet this one has, for many generations, been spoken of as the "true" place of the north-south divide. maybe this is what them "no man's land" places in wars all look like. 

rarely have i ever set foot in a place which aspires so much to achieve desolation and despair, and exceeds in achieving it. well, maybe not. some places come close. the inane road system in Colchester, a certain hotel in Ipswich and virtually anywhere what traffic wardens do sneak attacks in Hartlepool evoke similar feelings, but the Watford Gap is something else. no, dreams do not go there to die. it is rather that long dead dreams, previously considered discarded, are dug up and dumped there to serve as warning to all for no specific reason beyond misery. 

could it be that simply getting rid of this Watford Gap be key to finally ending England's class war? would removing it entire free us of this north-south divide business? that strikes me as a little harsh, or draconian, even. neatening it up wouldn't be a bad idea. also putting a disclaimer up, noting to anyone visiting that it, in itself, is not a fair or true reflection of the north or south, it just exists as its own, less than merry thing. besides, it is a handy place to go for a mildly uncomfortable comfort break (p!ss), and also a place you are absolutely guaranteed to be able to buy vastly overpriced petrol off of. 

yes, i do understand that sociologists, scientists and what not have spent years wrestling with the issue of the north-south divide. politicians certainly have not, bar abstract references. my realistic view is that i doubt my observations will add much to the understanding, but then again maybe some of them clever types what do the research and that have not considered how Watford Gap is of neither side of the fence it apparently is. just as well i have drawn attention to it, then. 

perhaps some of you wish to explore, discover or research this "north-south divide" business for yourself, yet cannot visit the Watford Gap directly. or are far too intelligent or clever to. other ways to test this artificial yet real barrier exist. the easiest, when not sure if you are in the north or the south, can be done by going into a pub and ordering a "pint of fizzy, squire", or perhaps even a shandy. should this request see you get your f*****g head kicked in, be it by fellow patrons or maybe the landlord, you are in the north. if what happens is you hear "certainly, sir" and get served one of them, well, welcome to the south, enjoy it, ching ching. 

maybe is, as a word, the best possible answer (or at least most correct) to any question concerning if i shall do any further research into this topic, or subject. being of the north it is not a matter i am particularly interested in, for it is so i am from the better bit of this line or divide. however, should any stray observations come my way, yes, likely i will share them here. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sometimes i feel like, oh, the whole human race

hello there

i have considered the idea that someone, somewhere, might be interested in how i smell. after some pondering, weighing up the potential reasons for this, i have opted to conclude that no, look you see, surely no one would give the slightest flying f*** how i smell. of what interest could it be?

and yet still, here we are. for some reason i remain steadfast and dedicated to regular, frequent updates here, and thus need to have a thing or two to write of. with little much (of anything) else coming to mind, the subject here is my current choice of aftershave, then. or 'eau de toilette' as such is apparently called within this wretched century which i neither understand nor feel i belong. 

for those still interested (and presumably you are if you are reading), then, it is for several reasons, or at least one or two, that i find myself using something called blue jeans off of versace. 

how, and why, did i come to be a "versace man", if that even is a thing? and yes, Spiros says it is. well, in the midst of the upheaval and era of change that was my 2021, one decision i made was to trim / shave my beard a good deal more than usual. mostly this was down to my top of head hair going grey or gray, yet the beard (and moustache) was all white. even by my usual level of acceptance of looking ridiculous, this was a bit too much of a peculiar appearance. being resigned to shaving on a fairly frequent basis meant that i would need an aftershave thing for, well, after shaving. 

that was when i discovered the odd world i found myself in has apparently ditched the term aftershave in favour of the suspiciously frenchie sounding "eau de toilette", or however one spells it, i am really not that interested. presumably some marketing boffin came up with the change, altering the decent proper name for it to something "trendy". also, if people don't feel limited to using it after shaving, then they can sense a freedom to use it more frequently, and presumably need to buy more. says he displaying three (3) bottles of it. well, tins of bottles of it. 

needing an aftershave, or whatever, is one thing, but what door led me to versace? it's a name i have actually heard of, and thus i was quite surprised by the modest pricing of this one. whilst most of them branded, designer name aftershave eau de lavatory things cost well north of £50 (or thereabouts) this in comparison was a modest, round £15 on special. so yeah, price. 

some may not be inclined to believe this, but i genuinely did not cotton on to, or clock, the fairly obvious Bowie link to an aftershave (or what have you) called blue jean(s). once i did, of course, that was it, this scent is me for life. well, so long as the price remains modest and agreeable, and also it does happen to smell pretty good, too. 

my review of how it smells? not sure how to describe it, but reasonably pleasant. this must be so, for even at a modest price i would not spend further on something which was displeasing. oh, as for why i presently appear to have three bottles (tubes) of it, well, simple. in terms of what you can see, one has about 25% left in it, one is a full tilt new replacement for that when it runs out, and the other is completely empty but it is such a lovely tin and bottle (not pictured) that i am struggling to bring myself to discard it in the waste disposals means of the world (put it in the bin). no doubt i shall address the latter issue, or quarrel, at some stage. 

right, if you for some reason had an interest in my choice of aftershave, there you go. matter all cleared up now so may your mind be at rest.

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!