eighteen now

howdy pop pickers

so once again it's so that there's been a re-issue of one of them Now That's What I Call Music sets. in this instance, as the title suggests, it's number 18, look you see. no, i had no idea it was due to come out, and yes there was something of a sigh when i saw it on the shelf (Morrisons, i believe) for there was every sense of resignation about me purchasing it. 

from what i recall these re-issues, or in several cases released on CD for the first time ever, all started with them issuing (and this was the first official instance of it) the first one as a sort of quasi commemorative thing when volume 100 came out. they appeared surprised that the re-issue of the set, featuring actual, proper decent music, very nearly outsold the new release. on they have gone to issue all of the early ones, then, and not without controversy, since they have omitted certain tracks and used the wrong versions of others. 

my intention was to stop buying them at volume 6, with 4 being my all time favourite and the sixth one being the last one that i remembered in any fond or positive way. but they kept coming out, and so then i was certainly only going to get them up to 10, and definitely stop once the sets had finished off the last bit of the 80s. and yet here i am with Now 18, which covers (roughly) summer to autumn of 1990. 

as it turns out this set has been mostly a pleasant surprise. my memories of the early 90s music scene are of it all being somewhat dire, with it only really picking up (and then some) 93 onwards. so finding a reasonable amount of high quality tunes here was a delightful revelation. 

best of what's on here? no, i can't be bothered to check what's been omitted on this one. quite tricky to pick the single best single on here, but in a refreshing change it's likely that it will reside on tape (or disc) two. on that one you find both So Hard off of Pet Shop Boys and a remixed, jazzed up Close To Me off of The Cure. in respect of the latter, cannot for the life of me recall why this got reissued in 1990. 

going back over to tape (disc) one and there's some singles many would, from personal preference, suggest are even better. like, for instance, Sacrifice off of a pre-knighthood Elton John, Nothing Compares 2 U off of Sinead O'Connor, There She Goes off of The La's and It Must Have Been Love off of Roxette. and then back on tape (disc) two there's Tom's Diner off of Suzanne Vega and DNA. i believe i am correct in thinking that's the very same diner that featured in Seinfeld, and also this was the song used to perfect (or test) the creation of the mp3 format. 

how much rubbish is on it? not as much as you might think, or i feared. the two worst songs, ones off of MC Hammer and Jimmy Somerville, are right at the end of tape (disc) two and so very, very easy to avoid. something called Megamix off of Technotronic is easy to skip, and one can always pop outside for a cigarette or make use of the bathroom whilst Anniversary Waltz by Status Quo plays. 

easily the most absurd thing here is the "remix" of Englishman In New York off of that [text removed on legal advice] Sting, which is effectively just the original and they have had Ben Liebrand throw some out of place drum samples and what have you over it. for fun there's also Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini off of someone called Bombalurina and, most importantly, the much loved Timmy Mallett. it's a lovely reminder of a time when fun and novelty records had a lot of talent and effort invested in them, rather than have some complete and utter [text removed on legal advice] simply shout "sausage rolls" over a record. 

other highlights include one from Betty Boo, who for modern readers was a lot like that Meghan Trainer (or whatever) on the go these days, doing fun, infectious pop tunes. also Kylie with Step Back In Time, which is another top pop tune. 

not really sure how many of these "re-issues" they can possibly keep doing. at £8 a go i will, probably, end up getting what they care to release. once they get into the 20s, however, they are in a territory where one can with some ease pick up the original issues (very) cheap at charity shops or flea markets. 

right, well, i would (reasonably) expect the next vibes related post to be when this new album off of The Cure turns up. a few weeks to go before that, though, so you never know. 

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

here i am, not quite dying

hello there

my wish was to commence this with a greeting in belgian. the reason for this shall make sense as we go, if you keep reading, look you see. alas, the more widely used variant of dutch flemish translated as "hallo daar" and that just didn't seem appropriate.  

few, if any, will believe this, but i did not intend to write quite so many bits on cigarettes here as i apparently have done over the last few months. indeed it is so that smoking is not clever, quite likely as bad for you as they make out, don't start, quit, etc. leaving that aside, i do indeed smoke (sorry), and when some new (to me) cigarettes come along, well, what else would i write of? 

in this instance, i had an ambassadorial like (or esque) visitor off of that there belgium recently. they were so kind as to enquire as to if there was any item of belgian provenance that they could bring over me, and i said yes, very much so, some of them far (or rather considerably) more better and reasonable priced cigarettes what they have over there. 

and so it was that i got to experience, or try (or if you will smoke) some cigarettes called Next, or to be specific Next Original, as you can see in the above image. not sure if they are specific (or even unique) to belgium, but so far as i am aware it's a brand i had not heard of before. yes, probably, being presented with (or facing) some new cigarettes should likely have prompted me to quit instead, but no.

how are they? really, really good. on lighting one up, the first one (at least), i was rather taken by the full, rich sense of a smack they gave me. perhaps they are allowed to use all sorts of smart stuff in the making of them over there, or maybe they use a different (likely better) blend of tobacco. whatever is behind the improved taste, my goodness it works.

pictured above is some warning that i cannot understand, along with the price. yes, indeed, these cost a mere €7.50, which is around £6.50 in actual, proper, real money. this translates (at the moment) as roughly half the cost of legally purchased cigarettes here in the UK. cheers for that. soon these shall seem even cheaper, for our recently elected, demented, train driver loving government shall no doubt quite soon push the taxes up even higher. as they have already set out an ambitious plan to kill as many of the disabled, the elderly and children as they possibly can this winter i do wonder why they don't encourage smoking too, since death is what they patently do. 

just a quick throwback to the last thing i wrote on cigarettes in case you missed it, or have some interest in such things. once again, for those who berate all things "brexit", pretty much  all Cameron and his cronies needed to do was to make an unbreakable pledge to reduce the price of cigarettes to the same as one finds across the EU and he would have likely bribed enough of us to vote for what he wanted. no, he elected to simply threaten us instead. 

obviously i cannot disclose too much about why, exactly, i held a meeting with a (kind of) ambassador from belgium, but no harm can come from sharing the official press release picture. more of a "G2" sort of meeting rather than a full tilt "G7" one, i suppose, but note this does not mean that i presently recognise belgium as an actual, proper country. 

to tie in with all that "Brexit" and "EU" business, a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one was to see familiar warning images on the packets of Next cigarettes. some of you shall recall that, at the absolute height of their pettiness, the EU declared it "illegal" for the UK to use their cigarette warning pictures after "Brexit" was complete, with a tacit threat of war if we continued to use them. more on this subject can be found here, and overall i suppose it's nice we declined to fight to use them. 

indeed it may very well be so that i do go to belgium, irrespective of whether it's a proper country or not. were it so that i was to go then i would probably expect to be purchasing a few more of these cigarettes, what with them being very pleasing and sensibly priced. likely i shall do other things whilst there, but that's not important right now. 

so far as i am aware it shall be just the regular, (ahem) independently procured cigarettes that i shall be using for the remainder of the year that is 2024. unless something like death happens, or i consider it a good idea to quit. one is just as likely or plausible as much as the other. 

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

the substance

greetings

blimey, a fifth (5th) cinema trip it was this year, then. that is, i think, more times than what i have been to the cinema in the last five, possibly ten years, look you see. all down, i guess, to the convenience of being able to walk to one. that and the price being agreeable. 

in this instance i went to see, as i think i alluded to hoping to when seeing the trailer before Alien Romulus, one called The Substance. much like that film i feared that i might have missed the opportunity to see it at a cinema, but also merrily such fear was incorrect.

for those in both a rush and keen to avoid 'spoilers', i am delighted to say overall it's a really, really good film, if not for the squeamish. the unusual pacing makes it feel needlessly long in all the wrong places, but overall worth the investment of your time. not really sure if all them awards, like the Oscars, are actually still valid, but if they are i would expect Demi Moore to be a very serious contender for recognition. horror films have not done that well with awards, at least not since the magnificence of the silence of the lambs demanded recognition, but she truly is breathtakingly brilliant here. 

a splendid *** SPOILER WARNING ***  is now in place for the remainder of this post. not just for details of the film but also there's the obligatory, needless and indulgent selfie at the end. 

plot? essentially (or effectively) a spin on Wilde's The Picture Of Dorain Gray, but with an obviously modern setting and of course a rather more hetero slant than that particular writer would have considered. in the film, acclaimed actress and tv celebrity Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is greeted on her 50th birthday with news that her tv show has been cancelled, with that information being delivered by the sleazy producer (a very much on form Dennis Quaid). after a mishap (which is some brilliant shock cinema) she is offered the chance to try "The Substance", a mysterious process which allows her to "be" a better, younger self on a seven day cycle. she gives it a go, and does indeed give birth (ahem) to Sue (Margaret Qualley), with them being under strict instructions to switch roles (as it were) every seven days.......

you can probably guess how that switching goes. well, if it was all smooth and as planned then there would not be much of a story, would there? 

to answer the question anyone would have of me of any film i watched, mindful of my main interests in selecting a film, oh goodness me yes, there's lots of nudies here. more than i was expecting, really. this was very welcome indeed, but not the only reason i was taken with the film. as i mentioned before, Demi Moore is exceptional here. essentially, or at heart, this is a "shock gore" film, but with superbly written parts which are, on the whole, performed superbly. 

flaws in the film? pacing, really. it runs for somewhere north of two hours and it really, really has no need to in terms of the material. in no way am i inclined to say i somehow "know" better than those who make films, but at times it does feel like certain aspects of the story are needlessly drawn out, and then you get some bits that are fascinating yet feel weirdly rushed and condensed. dear me, writing that gives me the sense that i might be writing an actual, proper review. 

going into the film knowing nothing other than the trailer made it look f*****g scary (which it was) meant i knew nothing of the development or making. it was with some sadness, then, that after seeing it i learned that Ray Liotta was originally to play the Dennis Quaid character. Quaid is outstanding and delivers an amazing performance, it's just sad to be reminded that another great is no longer with us. 

just to be clear, when i say gory i really mean gory. no, not (so much) the selfie above, but the film itself, The Substance. at times i was inclined to momentarily look away, to be honest. but of course soon returned focus. i was not alone in the cinema taking this approach. perhaps i am finally getting too old for such things, but then again isn't it lovely after all these years of watching gratuitous depravity they can still make films which make me squeamish.

seeing an unexpected number of films released this year shall make it a bit of a challenge when i come to determining which was "best". i suspect, up to now, Civil War remains at the top, but this would be a very close second. yes, mostly (to say it once again) for just how extraordinary a performance Demi Moore delivers in the film. 

do i have plans for yet more cinema visits? oddly the trailer for a new one with Hugh Grant, i think it's called Heretic, looked quite class if a little contrived. if chance permits, i shall go see it. and oh, by the way, indeed it was that rather good Ealing Project cinema where i went and saw this one. 

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

car wash returns

hello there

indeed it has been quite some time since i have, perhaps inexplicably, documented my making use of a car wash facility. this is with good reason, look you see, but let me save that particular text for later, so as to pad this out somewhat. 

once again i am baffled as to why anyone would wish to look at a post of this nature. for whatever reason, however, these posts (on car wash stuff) seem to get a lot of "hits". so far as i am aware i write this, the whole blog, for my own amusement, but if passing strangers find some of it interesting then so much the better. 

yes, as you can (most probably) determine anyway, i went with the "thermal" camera approach for it. i do indeed very much miss the great days of Commodore 64 mode, but it just doesn't work on whatever version of whatever phone i have. so many times in this peculiar century technological advances appear to take us backwards and limit rather than go forward and expand. Orwell would indeed have much more to write of than he ever feared. 

as to why there's been no car wash updates of late (or for a bit), mostly it struck me as unwise to do so. there's a bit of a story here with much of it, alas, i can't really divulge. perhaps it would be prudent to say that them what are responsible for my vehicle being in tip top condition have an as yet unexplained score to settle with me. which is why for three (or so) months i had a (vaguely legal) temporary side mirror in place; the sort that is mostly tape based and unlikely to fare well in a car wash. 

some video for those of you what like that sort of thing, then. yes, that's the video above. i went with VHS mode because why not. actually i think there's a way to do video with both the thermal and, if we are honest, mostly disappointing psychedelic app things i have. up to now i haven't really been inclined to experiment with either, although now i think the thermal one might make some quite class videos. 

how did it feel? i mean, going and using a car wash after so long? not as exciting as you may presume. it's a necessary thing i suppose, and it was a bit of an irk in life not to have been able to use one for a while. satisfactory, mostly, would be the answer. that said it didn't clean up my vehicle quite so much as i would have expected for the fee (just south of £5), but as it was not for me to pay then i cannot complain too much about it. 

there's the big floppy wet brush thing going past what is the passenger side of the vehicle for those living in countries where they drive on the proper side of the road. undoubtedly our friends in America, Germany and that lot in France will be confused. yes, that is a collection of cassette tape shaped air fresh things what i have on the go. no idea what they smell like, or if they actually enhance the scent of the vehicle, i just think they look good. 

now that i have armed and fully operational mirrors all around, or at the least ones which (the evidence to hand suggests) can survive a car wash, yes, i will be going to one again. quite likely sooner than the unexpected time between the two most recent visits. perhaps i shall use a different facility next time, see if that doesn't do a better job. 

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

on the stereo

howdy pop pickers

well, two (2) new albums up for a look at here. no, not just one, nor as many as three or any number what is higher. yes, normally i would do this sort of thing on an individual basis, as in a post for each. alas, i have something of a temperature, look you see, and doubt much that i could concentrate for a prolonged period. also, it kind of makes sense to pair these up, very much equally to how it kind of does not make any sense at all to do so. 

there would be little (or no) value in me trying to do proper "reviews" anyway. for a start i am not sure i am any good at such, but mostly in this era of disposable i would take as a given that anyone who wished to hear these albums has already done so. going on the basis that nobody i know is particularly interested in anything that i think about anything, maybe a decade or so from now a stranger shall stumble on this, read it and go "oh". or something. 

between the end of August and mid September i came to own the tapes (discs) of Wild God off of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, along with The Death Of Slim Shady off of Eminem. for those who know me, whether they care to confess to that or not, the latter would indeed be a surprise, as i have never been overtly keen on him. well, things change, and not just because of my current three quarter life crisis, although the way i feel momentarily it might be ambitious to say that i am as early in the journey as 75% done. let's not worry about that. 

despite there being no formal (or decent, central) source of music news no more it was so that i was vaguely aware of Eminem releasing a new album. i think my thoughts were mostly along the lines of oh, right, another return from retirement, then. again, i really don't follow him much, but have some notion in mind that he retired, returned and then retired again. this cycle he has done at least once. 

how i became aware of the details of the release is down to a colleague and, if i may, good friend. they were considerably more interested in whatever Eminem did than i was. it was so, though, that he was curious as to just how fast i would work out which song he (Eminem, not colleague/friend) had sampled or otherwise utilised for the lead "single", Houdini. yes, it took barely a few seconds to observe (or rather hear) that it was Abracadabra off of Steve Miller Band. listening on, though, i was delighted to hear that it was both a really good song and really really f*****g funny. 

i am a custodian of a copy of the tape (disc) of The Death Of Slim Shady thanks to my colleague and friend. he was so taken that i was so impressed with that one tune he insisted on getting it for me. and yes he bought a copy for himself, despite being of the era where streaming is "the norm". 

mostly, or for the most part, i've not paid all that much attention to whatever Eminem has done over the years as little really resonated with me. oh, fear not, i have every confidence that he's coped ever so well with me not being too bothered. certainly i can appreciate the talent and understand what he's saying, it's just not been "me". this one is somewhat different, though. often i have written of how i don't care much for this century and don't understand it. apparently Mr Eminem considers quite a lot of what's going on with this century entirely f*****g stupid, and so off he goes to "dis" it, or antagonise it as much as he can. well worth supporting, especially as the "death" would mostly seem to be as much to do with retiring a persona as it is, encouraging if not daring, to get the world to "cancel" him. 

as far as i am concerned this album is free flowing genius. not for everyone, of course. i am guessing i have missed out on something (or simply forgotten controversies) but Christopher Reeve and people what are shorter than average (referred to on the album as "midgets") appear not to fare well. still, he appears to have an inexplicable fondness for Tobey Maguire, which is nice. 

up above you can see the initial chart position for the return of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with the album Wild God. that's quite impressive, considering that the long planned release date for the record turned out to be the week what Oasis (or related divorce lawyers) announced a reunion. so yes, three of the four placed above were taken by, via streaming and an anniversary re-re-release, Oasis tapes. circumstantially and for someone who is peculiarly niche in appeal, that's impressive. 

of all the records known to be coming out in 2024 it would be extremely fair to say that this was the one i was most excited about. if it is so that people over 50 remain allowed to get excited. looking forward to then, or anticipated greatly. whilst my much vaunted "album of the year" is not a given for it, the record has certainly not disappointed and has definitely delivered. 

hard to believe, what with the vagaries of time, that it's now three (3) years since i got to see Nick Cave live and in concert. there is a great temptation to go and see his (at time of writing) imminent tour in support of this album, but mostly (and yes possibly irrationally) i fear the disappointment of the experience not being the same. sometimes it is better to clutch to what was than risk reaching for what might be. 

do i have anything to say of the actual tape (disc) of Wild God? well, here's where i am intimidated, but not in a bad way. just what words can i use as a description of the genius words flowing from Nick Cave? it's all one would expect from an album he deemed essential to gift to the world, yet all at once a fresh revelation. darkly witty and macabre, as sacred as it is profane, immersive as in one experiences it rather than just "listens" and, ultimately, beautiful. 

my suspicion would be that all who(m) wish to hear from Nick Cave bought this new recording the week, if not the day, it was released. should you be reading this many years from now, in some sort of perverse society where the genius of Nick Cave is not spoken of daily, then do seek this out. 

so far 2024 has been really, really good for new vibes, man. that's excellent, and that's also without me troubling myself with whatever it is a Beyonce, a Swifty, an Ed Sheridan (or whatever) or a Coldplay actually do. from memory i don't think i have heard as many good "new" albums in one year since that strange era of 2016. more is yet to come, with The Cure having a "long awaited" record soon. not sure how excited i am about that, but still. oh, of course i like them, but also i don't think i have really been too taken with any record of theirs since the masterpiece that remains Disintegration. 

highly unlikely any of this has been of much practical use, but all the same, hopefully one or two of you found something of interest. thanks, as ever, for reading. or just looking at the pictures. 

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

neither recent nor american

yeehaa folks

blimey, October already. we are thus truly in the realms of the business end of this year, then, what with months now measured in double digit figures. low double digit, look you see, but low all the same. for those what do all finance and business stuff, a life i am now (relatively) free of, indeed you may refer to it now being the "final" or "4th" quarter of the year. actual year, of course, and not "fiscal", which for some obscure reason works different. yes, indeed, i am sure our governments and other forms of grown ups know precisely what they are doing with that. 

anyway, the business end of October (see what i did there) brings with it Halloween. no, not the film of that name, but the date it is marked. my plan was to post this on the day (or close enough), but what the heck, let's get this cleared up here and now. or on the day if that is when you read this. 

every year, without fail, a whole load of people here (England, or the wider UK) decide to spout off about how ridiculous it is that "we" go ahead and "do" Halloween. fair enough view if you don't particularly care for it all. usually, though, their argument stems not from any personal contempt or disdain, but from the belief that it is "only recently" we have (for want of a better term) celebrated all things Halloween, and then only because of the proliferation of American influence on our world. neither of these arguments are true, and thus not particularly valid. depending, i suppose, on how flexible one wishes to be on "recent". 

up there above these words is a picture of myself (at the back) with my rother and sister. this shall be from the late 70s or, at the latest, 1980. it cannot be 1981, for we would all have been resplendent in summer attire for the season of October in Australia (g'day). you in all likelihood do not need me to point this out, but indeed we are wearing (quite dapper) Halloween hats. doing all of that "trick or treat" stuff, and spooky things, was very much a thing before "recent", thanks. 

i would presume (or suppose) the idea of Halloween somehow being an "American" thing is because of just how big a deal our friends across the pond make of it. being secular means they don't particularly do "the biggies" we do (Easter and Christmas) on a national level, and so they make a fuss over other dates, such as Halloween, their Independence Day, Thanksgiving and that Superbowl thing. indeed they even refer to Halloween as a "holiday", despite them not getting what we call a public holiday for it.

we do (sadly) have many things here which are a direct and overt influence from America. many of them are ones which we could do with getting rid of. not an exhaustive list, but the idea of having someone celebrated for incompetence in charge of government is one we would be wise to drop. then there's those calling to "defund" various things, which don't work the same as they do in America. my personal pet hate is how people now refer to "seasons" of a tv show, when for decades we managed rather fine with (correctly) calling them "series". squirty can cheese, stabbings and all sorts of things like that are matters which would probably have been left on the other side of Atlantic. if anything, though, it's them what borrowed Halloween off of us, with them (admittedly) jazzing it up a lot.

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

pager

ahlaan bik

yes i do, believe it or not, appreciate that this should perhaps not be the main thing to take away from recent news. equally it is true that i can stand accused of being "inappropriate" here, look you see. such allegations are not new and also not entirely denied. but all the same, i was rather fascinated to note in the news the return of the pager, if not (quite) for the intended use. 

when had i last considered, or thought of, a pager? not for a few decades, i would think. once the mobile phone became profligate the device so treasured by those wishing to appear important became as redundant as it did obsolete.  yes, it has been fun explaining the basic idea behind a pager to those of the generation of this century. 

for those of you baffled (or just curious) as to what a pager was (or "is"), well it was like a sort of radio or whatever thing, long before we had constant communication, where you could alert someone of presumed importance when they were required urgently. 80s and (very) early 90s films were littered with doctors, lawyers and such that had them, with a bleep on their device (often attached to their belt) saw them rushing off to a payphone to get the message someone had left. 

thank you for the picture

as far as i am aware the only people i knew what ever had a pager were Spiros and his brother. no, i am not sure what level of importance they felt they had to need one, but have one they did. from what i can remember i left the odd "f*** off" or similar message for Spiros to call and hear, whereas i treated his brother to aspects (or elements) of really, really bad songs that were on the radio. don't think i ever saw anyone actually get a pager "bleep" and need to rush off for an emergency or what have you, which speaks volumes of any limited social circle that i have held. 

how likely are we to see a revival of the pager? not at all. if anything it will be that the most recent news events will simply see all existing pager technology (or use) banned, because them in power just love to ban things as it's a way of showing they are "doing stuff" and an easy flex of control. quite a shame, really, as it's been a lovely reminder of a time when we did not feel obliged to be in touch and contactable at all times for anything, with sufficient means existing to reach someone in the instance of an unfortunate, extreme emergency. 

still, it would be nice if this heralded a return of other now obsolete forms of communication. 

thank you for the picture

realistically, if not essentially, we should be embracing the simplicity, the efficiency, the accuracy and the relative privacy of the fax machine. as i have commented on before, though, the world is trying to get rid of them all. no one has ever caused mayhem by pressing "reply to all" on a fax, and nor has anyone ever accidentally sent esoteric pictures to their mother via a fax machine. deliberately, perhaps, but this is not important right now. indeed it was quite class to phone someone from a fax machine and hear their distress as they just heard a whole load of electronic waffle.  

no, i never did have a pager myself. despite the obvious risks to them, yes it is (reasonably) tempting to maybe get one now. as far as i am aware you can't actually get them off of any provider here in the UK these days, and it might look suspicious if i started going around making enquiries. 

the only "legacy" form of communication we  appear to retain is the written, posted letter. even then it's very much the case that Royal Mail and/or the Post Office here in England are trying their absolute best to stop people using that too. perhaps not, but we may come to regret letting go of perfectly fine means of correspondence for "better" technology. 

תהיו מצויינים אחד לשני!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cinema again

greetings

well, how about that. i have made a 4th (fourth) visit to a cinema this year. yes, the very same cinema in each instance, look you see. i would not care to call such a number of visits "unprecedented" entire, but it does somewhat feel like it's the most i have been to one in one singular year so far this century. depending on where i am and what comes along who knows, a fifth is not out of the question. 

but, presumably, you are not interested in the above. quite (as in very) likely you have no interest in anything here, which would prompt the question why read. on the off chance it's to see what i watched and if it was any good, that would be Alien Romulus and yes, it was really good. 

for those who absolutely feel that such should always exist, please note there's a ***WARNING*** in place for the rest of this post. not just for "spoilers" but also a selfie. yes, of moi. 

plot? well, it's an Alien film, so yes, humans (once again) manage to (knowingly or otherwise) let an alien loose amongst them and all mayhem breaks loose. in this instance we find a group of people mining on a planet on behalf of the Weyland-Yutani group, technically "employed" but apparently unable to leave, except via death. unexpectedly a (seemingly) disused space station comes into the oribit of this planet. so, off they go to it to "borrow" cryo chambers which shall enable them to fly considerable distance to unemployment or, if you will, freedom. except the space station is perhaps not as disused or empty as it appeared..........

should some elements of that description sound "a bit" (or a lot) like the original Alien film, well, yes, i got that sense. especially when a "cameo" of sorts happened. to be honest a lot of the first 20 or so minutes of the film felt somewhat pedestrian, until it became clear it more or less existed just to set a premise that made the film not a totes remake. familiar enough to be comfortable and thus avoid any needlessly length set ups of what an alien is, yet more or less its own thing when it gets to the business end. 

once more it was off to the Ealing Project, then. lovely cinema. my hope was to have gone on a Tuesday, as they do a (quasi) half price thing. alas, a Thursday (i think) it was, and i discovered they were having a "September sale", with all tickets £6 (plus booking fee). perhaps i should have shared this somewhat earlier in the month. anyway, i believe a "regular" diet coke zero thing (they did not have regular, or "full fat" as it is now bewilderingly called) and modest (small) popcorn was just south of £9. i could get a specific number, but that would mean looking at my bank account and i have no wish to trouble myself with such things this side of payday. 

in respect (or regards) of how full the (early evening) screening i went to was, it was not. whilst i didn't sit and count i believe there was only another half dozen or so people in. doubtful that this could count as any sort of gauge for "box office", as it was a good three to four weeks after the film was released. so far as i am aware it has been a success, but then more and more are waiting for "streaming" services to show them the films they want to gone done see. 

and that, in this instance, is a great pity. just as Civil War really benefitted from the full tilt cinema sound system, Alien Romulus created one hell of a terrifying, claustrophobic experience on the big screen. at home i imagine this will simply seem "exciting", no matter how good the set up this is. over the course of this last year i have kindly been reminded of just how formidable the cinematic experience really is. well, when one sees "proper" films, and not all just these generic "expanded universe" comic book or superhero ones, all of which seem to be made with a sense of being for home viewing anyway. 

to give some sort of abstract "ranking", this one (Alien Romulus) sits right behind Alien and Aliens, and above Prometheus which to my surprise has aged rather well. indeed Alien 3 in any version shall always remain bottom (or worst); even below any Alien vs Predator complaints. should you be looking for a sort of recommendation, oh yes, see it if you can if you have not already. 

just the one disappointment - they had a trailer for Gladiator 2. it looks absolutely f*****g awful, and it would seem the trailer gives you any twists and all of the ending. should have gone with the Nick Cave idea for it. that said, The Substance with Demi Moore looks boss, hopefully i can see that at the cinema too. 

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

ode to the next butterfly on a wheel

hello there

it is quite remarkable how our glorious, celebrated new leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has managed to upset so many people in such a short space of time. already, look you see, he has told pensioners they are likely to freeze over winter, drivers (and as a knock on anyone who uses public transport) that they shall pay a lot more for fuel and anyone stupid enough to be employed can expect significant tax increases. up to now they only people he appears to have pleased are those employed in some capacity or another in the railway industry, giving them all of their ludicrous demands knowing (presumably) that quite soon they shall just ask for even more. 

where next for Sir Keir to attack? cigarettes, or more specifically smokers, of course. we, for i am one of them (sorry) are always a rather easy, soft target. no one is saying that smoking is in any way "good" or should be encouraged, but the last couple of years has seen a demented onslaught against smokers, as if we are responsible for all ills in society. 

new legislation is, apparently, on its way to yet further limit where people may not smoke. being fair is to say some of this makes sense, but not all. fascinatingly for justification he has said that smoking causes "80,000 deaths a year". leaving aside the convenient round number, he doesn't clarify if smoking was the only thing which caused any of the deaths. or if this is a bit like the new plague (covid), where there was instances of people being run over and killed being classed as a "covid death" as they happened to be infected at the time. 

should the "leaked" information about the brave new smoking bans be accurate, it appears that it will be made illegal to smoke anywhere near hospitals (or let us say any clinic or medical facility), playgrounds and  outside sports stadiums. leaving aside that fervent anti-smokers will say all are good ideas for bans, it's not quite so clear cut. here, consider this for the three (3) listed. 

medical facilities - does seem to make sense, as no good health benefits come from smoking. one would not, for instance, be expected to be allowed to smoke inside one. but outside? what about those people who(m) have received bad, upsetting news (themselves or friends or relatives) and feel the need to have a cigarette as a coping mechanism? providing no smoking areas at all is a little harsh, and strikes me as being very much against the current trend for being supportive of mental health issues. you would wish to give someone bad news and not let them use a coping mechanism? 

playgrounds - actually agree 100% here. even without the health side (and "second hand smoke" is dubious but still a bad smell) there's the example it sets, normalising it for children. i am loathe to do any sort of "what about" comment, but i do hope that they also ban parents from just staring blankly at phones at playgrounds too, for that also sets a bad example. 

outside sports stadiums - now this is just plain f*****g stupid. inside, sure, you have that ban and it makes sense if for no reason other than limiting fire risks. but outside? well, how far away does one have to be to be considered outside the stadium but not outside it? just who will police anywhere between 20,000 and 80,000 people leaving a stadium, checking they are not smoking? also, what if it's not being used for sport? do they really think no one at the Oasis concerts in 2025 will smoke?

for the latter one it does feel like a move to a dangerous, dodgy area. most, if not all, sports stadiums are in public spaces, surrounded by public paths and roads. on which it is perfectly legal to smoke. here, then, starts a move in direction to trying to ban smoking in all public places. do be careful. 

generally i don't like it when someone says "the authorities" are "taking away liberties" as normally it will be something morally dubious that they are defending with liberties. as things stand, however, smoking remains legal, and moving to ban it in public "for health reasons" really does open the door for them to ban other things which they shall claim "causes X deaths a year" and is "putting a strain on the health services". 

just what shall they try and stop you doing in public next? so far as i am aware there are laws about consuming alcohol in public, or at least about being intoxicated. yet "obesity" is apparently another matter destroying the health service. will people protest when they ban drinking anything but water in public places? or how about eating takeaway food? if it feels preposterous reading that be assured it certainly does writing it too, but give people the ability to take away things "for your own good" does not and will not stop at only the things you don't like anyway. 

there can be little doubt (at all) that the imminent first budget of the brave new Labour government will smack even more taxes on cigarettes. i really am not at all sure what they hope this will achieve. my guess is that it will simply send more people in the direction of the less official, more affordable way of obtaining cigarettes. currently the price of cigarettes (here in the UK) is north of £15. most independent sellers trade for easily half of that, in many instances one third. for some reason it makes revenue sense to sell me zero cigarettes at £16 (or so a packet) than as many as i would like for £8. and believe me they are going without the revenue, i am not going without the cigarettes. 

yes, true, buying cigarettes on the (ahem) independent market probably means indirectly (or even directly, for all i care) some unsavoury, extremist organisations, such as Al Qaeda or Isis, people smuggling gangs, the SNP, the IRA (provisional or real), drug dealers and similar. well, so what. it is not like the government is going to reduce "legal" cigarette costs to sway people away from it, quite the opposite. put them at a sensibly punitive price and we can talk. if these gangs can somehow import the cigarettes and sell them for profit at between £5 and £7 a packet that's one heck of a statement about the legal pricing. i am sure some shall disagree. 

people also tend to disagree with another observation what i have. Brexit could probably (or at least reasonably possibly) have been avoided if two referendums had equal treatment. when the SNP got their way and had a referendum on breaking up the union (not "independence" which was just a much more trendy way to brand it) then PM Cameron bribed Scotland mercilessly to vote to remain. for Brexit he went considerably less carrot and more stick, threatening us with all sorts of misery if we did not comply with his wishes. had we also been bribed, say a cast iron guarantee that cigarette prices would have been brought in line with the cheaper prices in the EU, he may well have bought enough votes. we shall never know. 

oh, no, i did not forget that there's also plans to ban smoking in "beer gardens" and outside eating and drinking places. vaguely amusing, this, as we all got kicked out by the indoor ban in the first instance. quite odd how "ban smoking outside pubs" is only a thing in summer. never mind what weather us smokers comply with going outside in. 

again, i am not keen on "what about", but alcohol. the number of deaths caused by cigarette smoking drivers each year is, i bet, less (or "fewer") than drink drivers. is it that most hospitals and A&E centres get overwhelmed on weekends by people doing things whilst smoking cigarettes or whilst or after drinking alcohol? wonder which is putting more "strain" on the NHS? no, i am not saying it should be a cigarette free for all as it isn't as bad as drinking, more that drinking shall be next. 

let us be clear, the conservative government had to be removed, for they were an absolute disgrace by any measurement. it's just disappointing that we have stood by and watched similarly bad, or potentially worse, take its place. we are the damned. 

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

what's the story moaning groaning

howdy pop pickers

mostly, or for the most part, this is all going to be taken as one big whine. with their being at least partial truth in such there's nothing i could say or do to alter that interpretation. yet also there's nothing i would do in a way to influence such, look you see. take all of this, as with anything here, as you will. 

so, at the time of writing, let's cast our memories, thoughts and what have you back to that wild day which was the last of August 2024. for some it will be the penultimate too. i speak, of course, of the day when ostensibly tickets went on sale for the much vaunted Oasis reunion. yes i tried, no i did not get. there you go, that's why some shall interpret this as being a whine, and that's precisely why i called this post what i did. had i wished for all poor, poor, pitiful me, i dare say i would have gone with, for an immediate example, something like stop crying your heart out. or even please don't put your life in the hands of a rock and roll band. but i didn't. 

actually, it feels oddly (weirdly) satisfactory to be one of the ones with a story of failure to get tickets to tell. disappointing, for sure, especially with the reason (that i shall not disclose) which i had to even try, but hey. considering the significantly huge number of people who(m) also did not get tickets, for a rare instance i actually feel like "part of the crowd", if not a functional member of society. and sincerely, truly, to those who bought tickets with an intention to actually attend (and not just sell them) may it be so that you get one of the best gigs / nights of your life. 

the story of my failure shall be limited to this one (1) paragraph, and the remainder of the images. no, hang on, it will be that for the story of my failure to get tickets. the broader tale of my general failure would take a lot more and no one will be interested. moving on, i didn't get a "ballot" success email thing for the "pre-sale" the night before and then i rather foolishly (if not optimistically) decided to login to the ticket websites about half an hour before sales went "live". so i (takes breath) found myself in a queue to be in the queue to get on the website to join the queue for the queue that was waiting for the queue to buy tickets. obviously i wandered around and did stuff (laundry, bought a Simon & Garfunkel tape, etc) whilst this all went on. by the time it was my turn to try and buy tickets, some 8 or so hours later, i got hit with some "suspension" on suspicion of being a robot. oh how i f****g wish i was a robot, for then i could be reprogrammed to be actually decent a life. so no, no tickets for me. 

what's the purpose of this post, then? perhaps not entirely catharsis, but that would be part of it. a means, if you will, for anyone who happens on this to consider how both missing out on Oasis tickets is not the end of the world, and how missing out on Oasis tickets may well be a good thing. just take the parts of the below you like. 

Oasis are an absolutely f*****g terrible live band

kind of. indeed the musical performances are note perfect, but that's the protblem. Noel spends the gig staring at his guitar, making sure it all sounds exactly like on the record. so why not just listen to the record, then. granted Liam is one of the purest, greatest rock and roll frontmen in history, but certainly not the greatest and all for everything about him except live. his presence, performance and occasional incidental swagger is all of note, but he simply lacks that special "charisma". essentially, seen one Oasis gig, seen every Oasis gig. and yes, even if just on video. what makes an Oasis gig "legendary" or "awful" has f*** all to do with them and everything to do with the vibe of the audience. which leads very nicely to.......

You don't have to endure the Oasis crowd

once more let me wheel out that "hell is other people" line. The Stone Roses were beautiful man, bringing one generation together under the same groove. Happy Mondays and Primal Scream brought together those stoned immaculate, all goofed and trollied and cabbaged and on the same trip, the arching anthems of Oasis were a massive giant magnet for what we used to call "lager louts". i suspect the crowds at each gig shall be far from pleasant. 

going, as far as i can, venue by venue, Heaton Park was the one to absolutely avoid. this shall be filled with people around my age who(m) think they can still party like they did in the mid to late 90s. some shall (to be fair) be able to do so, many will crash and burn. if you were fortunate enough to get tickets for Heaton Park, enjoy all the blokes urinating everywhere (including on you), spewing and puking (again on you), throwing punches around, passing out and slurring Wonderwall. 

i was quite excited by the idea of going to Wembley, as that's the one loads of Japanese tourists will be at and they are awesome. however, it will also be no picnic. possibly less throwing up, etc, because down there in London (innit) they all drink shandy. the drug of choice is (heavily stepped on) coke, as observed with the wonderful @r$e flare man at the football. probably a lack of the exciting urination and violence Heaton Park will have, but still, thousands of coked up chavs. 

not quite sure on the rest. the Irish proudly brand themselves as "always being up for the craic", which from what i gather they take as a licence for many hundreds of barbarian like thugs turning up, crashing the gig as they have "every right" to be there "because Ireland" and causing all sorts of mayhem. Scotland will do Scotland. in the late 90s i, at the insistence of some Welsh people, had a "proper Welsh drink". there is circumstantial yet compelling evidence that the life i knew ceased on having that, and everything since has been some weird metaphorical afterlife. 

this is not a one off, last chance to see Oasis

perhaps i am being overtly romantic, but one gets the sense of Oasis being the be all and end all for Liam, it is his passion, it is what he wants and he would do it all for free. not so with Noel. his immense enthusiasm for money is well known and he has not been shy to comment on how he likes to make sure he always gets the money. fair play, good luck to him. leaving aside his well documented immediate need for money, its not like he will straight away lose the taste for it. quite likely that this is it, Oasis are back on for the foreseeable, so long as they avoid Paris. if nothing else you can pretty much expect another tour in 2027 (!) for Be Here Now celebrations. 

for those that missed out on Oasis Live 25 (as it is branded), those weekends just get some mates around with a few cans, put the tapes on, singalong and know that you can likely go see them in 26, 27 or whenever. i wouldn't suggest it, but if you all crush together, charge yourselves £20 each for a drink, making sure you watered it down, and spend some time peeing, puking and punching each other then you will replicate the gigs, only with better sound. 

much of the audience is expected to be "younger", as in too young to have been to (or endure) an Oasis concert before. some rather laughable "gatekeeping" has been happening around this, with dull boring old f***s around my age suggesting they shouldn't be going. roam free, younglings, enjoy it all. i am so sorry that your generation has failed to produce any interesting or decent rock stars, you are very welcome to embrace ours. just try to not spend it all watching through your phone as you video it. 

unlikely that the support acts will be decent

back in the 90s when Oasis did "events" they had a wealth of great bands to give support. from what i remember you had the likes of the Manics, Prodigy, think a Shaun Ryder band and maybe at some stage Primal Scream too. if the best possible support act being named is The Courteeners, well, oh dear. won't be at all surprised to learn Inhaler (who are actually really good) are a support band, as they have been for Noel before. purely on merit and not because Noel wants to keep in with Bono. i am going to hop i am wrong but i do think support acts will be quite cheap to book bands of little interest who(m) will very much be all "it's an honour to play on the same bill" in the hope of getting some exposure and praying they don't get too many p!ss bottles thrown at them. for the latter, well, would be wonderful if they booked that Ed Sheridan (or whatever). 

quite a few rumours floating around, with the suggestion (or idea) that Blossoms will play at the Manchester gigs. which could be quite good if they do that The Smiths thing with Rick Astley. apparently, going on Liam's inability to comprehend that a journalist who covers the Manic Street Preachers frequently isn't actually a member of the band, no Manics at any dates. 

oh but it will be televised

when it was all announced, this reunion and tour, the advert made a claim that it "will not be televised". that was presumed to rule out Glastonbury or all other televised festivals where they would have to sign off on not getting all them lovely royalties. skip forward a week (or so) and there's a billboard in America, apparently "asking them to come" and tour the States. with an official (ie not likely to be used without permission) image of them and the tell-tale "Amazon music" text at the bottom of it.

it's all a bit like that time the SNP funded that sign saying the EU "will" be leaving a light on for Scotland, really. no, not the part where the EU would absolutely not wish to have to bail out yet another economic basket case, the "misleading" part about who(m) did the advert. highly unlikely it was done without the band's say so. expect a nice tie-in with Amazon, then, be it a "live stream" of some of the gigs which they will fob off as "demand driven", or some documentary or concert film via their services at some point or other.

and yes it is all being filmed, in this era of disclosure (on everything except actual ticket prices) they have had to put on the tickets a clear message that some of the concerts are being recorded, presumably visual and audio. 

avoiding nightmare hidden costs and the adventure of getting to gigs

let it not be said that Noel is the only one seeing these gigs as £££££££££££££££££££. just a few days into his glorious leadership and Sir Keir has made it clear he will punish everyone except train drivers. so you can expect (next July and August) all the train drivers to go on strike again (assuming the current one doesn't just carry on) until they are paid as much as Oasis are. unlikely that Sir Keir will be able to give them the money, as by then all cigarette tax revenue will be gone as he will have forced everyone to buy illegally smuggled in ones, no one will drive cars due to the fuel duty increases and there shall be no income tax revenue, with most of the population quitting work as meagre benefits will be more money than heavily taxed salaries. so, if you have a ticket for Oasis anywhere next year, maybe consider thinking about starting to walk to it now. 

should you make it to the venue itself, bravo, but also find a park to sleep in. one where the council hasn't put spikes on the seats. as reported nearly all hotels near all the venues have been booked by those anticipating getting tickets. famously people who had booked hotels before the great Reformation era of Oasis was announced found that their bookings were cancelled, which has spoiled a wedding or two. we have to understand that people getting rich from Noel Gallagher getting richer is a priority in the world. 

everyone who(m) was fortunate enough to get a ticket at "face value" price, or was prepared to pay the special, exciting "surge" price out of fear of missing out, is going to be spending five to ten times that amount (and then some) to find out listening to a tape, disc, lp or "stream" of Don't Look Back In Anger is superior to hearing Noel being muffled out by thousands shouting along. 

right, that will do. pick out the parts you like in the above and ignore the rest. anyone upset by any of this then mostly that's a you problem, but really don't let anything i or anyone says stop you from being what you will. dig what you dig, man. 

be (mostly) excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you can't beat a bit of bully

now then

a quite unexpected return to the world of Bullseye, then. make no mistake, this is a subject which shall always remain close to my heart. it's just that apparently it's a bit problematic and controversial, look you see. just north of a year ago, or at least then from now, someone went to the time and trouble of reporting a number of my posts on the subject of Bullseye, having them flagged as "inappropriate". best i proceed with caution.

that could be somewhat (or even slightly) tricky, as i am to speak (well, write) of the subject in respect of a most decidedly if not adult then certainly over eighteen (18) theme. removing any needless sentiment of suspense or excitement for you is to tell you this in part pertains to a beer what has been branded with the beloved Bullseye expanded universe stuff. 

it is simply not so that i go around looking for Bullseye related items, no matter what you may think. nor would it be accurate to say i seek out beer (or other forms of alcohol), for i seldom drink. yes i do have the occasional pint or two, but only when i know i have at least a day clear to recover, and also when i can go and do so (drink) with chums like Eddie Baby and Butch. vessels for drinking from, like this tankard, true, i have a penchant for purchasing, and actually this was the only bit i really wished for. 

how did i find, or in a non-Lewinsky/Clinto way come, across this? just browsing for some rudimentary (and potentially dangerous) equipment for a project one of my (known) children is working on. quite exciting stuff really, but legally wise to not mention so much. anyway, with it being late August, or it may well have been (very) early September, the shops have Christmas gifts on display, and this was sat there amongst such. an instant purchase, of course. mostly for Bullseye but partially as i have always wished to own one of these types of glasses what's called on the label a tankard. 

provenance and cost? it was £6 off of B&M to give the answer to a question you didn't ask in reverse. no idea if that's a good or bad price, really. for me it was a price (well) worth paying just for it featuring Bully out of Bullseye on it. yes it would have been even better if it featured one of the wearing a shirt yet clearly braless ladies off of the animated version of the credits for the show, but you probably aren't allowed to do that sort of thing no more.

should you (for some reason) wish to read one of my (many) posts on the subject of Bullseye yet are a little bit afraid on the link above which links to the 'controversial' ones, well, here you go. as far as i am aware this one has yet to be complained about. it's had several "new" readers too, i suspect people just looking for something to complain about. 

can i provide you with a review, or some sort of reflective description, of the beer? not at this stage no, for i have yet to drink it. likely that i will, especially as the expiry date is only May (possibly June) of next year, which as of now is 2025. for type of beer it says it is a "premium lager", and is 3.4% strength, whatever that actually means. i know i was out once with Eddie Baby and Butch and drank a pub dry of some beer what was north of 5% in strength and i was completely f****d by it, so i dare say that yes i will proceed with some degree of caution. 

yes, indeed (of course) i would love some sort of Bullseye related cigarette or smoking item. we are not allowed such things in this brave new world, though. quite right. just look at how many times people smoke three, maybe even four cigarettes and then drive a car, ploughing in to people and often killing them. every weekend our overstretched (not badly managed) NHS hospitals are inundated with people who(m) have spent an evening recklessly smoking cigarettes and started fights, or had a few cigarettes and then done some improvised DIY. just as well nothing like those things ever happen when people drink beer or other forms of alcohol. 

be super smashing great to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

like a portrait in flesh

howdy pop pickers

well, a bit tricky to know how to classify this one. indeed this will all feature things what i have a proclivity for, but then there's a different, modern day dimension to it all, look you see. certainly this is as confusing as my opening paragraphs tend to be, but if you read on then it might make some sense. also it might not make any sense. 

it would be a truth universally acknowledged to state that me going off and purchasing some new music tapes (discs) is neither a surprise nor a new thing. less ("fewer") so, perhaps for me to do this when i have never even heard of the bands (or artists) in question, and not knowingly heard any of their music. what would compel me to make such "blind" purchases? actually deaf, not blind, for seeing is the key here. so yes, then, all of the albums in question featured (on the cover) nudies of the female variety. in all instances the artists who had gone done made the records, so far as i can tell. 

my main challenge here was taking some images to add for this which (kind of) showed the album artwork and yet (somehow) made this all reasonably safe for all to look at. i gave some consideration to using an image of Larry Grayson to "censor" things with, which i have gone done on previous posts, but i could not be bothered. let me hope the wonders of thermal and psychedelic mode on my phone camera thing has worked some wonders. 

no, i am not going to sit here and pretend that these albums all "just happened" to feature nudies. i see little sense in pretending or denying that i really rather like observing female nudies, it has always been very pleasing. this is not to say that i go around constantly (or perpetually) seeking out such, but yes it is all lovely when such sights come along. here's where the possibly most relevant aspect of this post comes along. whatever you may think i didn't sit there typing in "nude album covers" on a search engine. rather it was these albums found me off of internet adverts. 

this sequence of tapes (discs) with a common trend across album covers being bought all commenced with an advert off of HMV. such adverts pop up on my "facebook feed", for i have a pretty decent track record of clicking links to vibes and buying them i guess. anyway, in this instance HMV were having a sale, and the cover for If I Can't Have Love I Want Power off of Halsey caught my eye, since there was clearly one breast of female nature exposed on the cover. for a price of (just) south of £4 it seemed interesting enough to buy. 

upon receiving the album (via the miracle of postal services) and admiring the cover for a bit i looked at the notes. it turned out that this album was produced by some of the chaps out of Nine Inch Nails. had i been aware of such that (genuinely) would have been a selling point anyway, since i rather like the way Trent Reznor makes things sound. but yes, the cover is very nice indeed, sorry that i cannot show it off in full here for you. also having guest artists such as Lindsey Buckingham, Mike Garson and, to a lesser extent, Dave Grohl appearing on it makes me wonder how i missed the album on its initial release. 

not sure if there is any (or much) value in me trying to do a "review", as i would imagine much more better written ones are out there for your perusal. but, if it is of the slightest interest, happy days, as i really, really like this album. as in i played it through three or four times on getting it, and it's had a few spins over the last couple of months or so. 

how very interesting that, not long after clicking on the social media (facebook) link for that album, an advert for another tape (disc) featuring (female) nudies should appear for my (ahem) consideration. just a co-incidence? like, what when you have been talking about something with friends and all of a sudden you get adverts on websites (and apps) related to the subject of speaks? yeah. indeed this is the aspect which is likely to be of more interest than my proclivity for eroticism. 

so, the second (2nd) tape (disc) i bought purely for the somewhat provocative cover was Origin Of The Alimonies off of someone called Liturgy. indeed, in my ignorance, i wasn't immediately aware which was the name of the artist and which was the name of the album. pretty sure i have them the right way around now, apologies if not. whereas Halsey was on sale (i believe south of £5) it was not so for Liturgy. this once cost me slightly south of £15, but i was curious enough to buy. 

quite an interesting album, it is. not necessarily something i would have pursued in itself, but all the same a curious obsession with the female form in a natural state has opened a door to a different type of vibes experience. despite their being follow along lyrics in the book it is, to my ears, a fascinating instrumental work. a google search suggest Liturgy is something called "death metal" or "black metal". that may well be, i found it more of an esoteric jazz odyssey. of course i am far too thick to understand all of the overriding concept of the piece, but the atmospherics of the sound make it a most intriguing listen. rather good to have on as i read or write things, like for instance this. 

did i all of a sudden get any more adverts on facebook featuring (female) nudies on the cover. yes, indeed, of course i did. the next one to come along (so to speak) was End Of Everything by the rather curiously named Mega Bog. a slightly different sort of nudies, i suppose, as this was full tilt full on naked, presented in the form of a painting of the artist sans clothing or such garments. no, i did not really bother to look up or find out what sort of music it was, i just went why not and ordered. 

wise move, as wow. this is likely (probably) my favourite find of the four tapes (discs) in this sequence. and that's not to say any of them are bad. i am loathe to make comparisons to other artists, but for a feel, or if you will vibe, of End Of Everything, what struck me was a kind of quintessential sound of The Cure, or perhaps the more daring, artistic driven works of Depeche Mode that are found on the albums to the side of their more (devastatingly brilliant) accessible singles which draw people in. of all the releases bought for nudies on the cover this is the one i would say "go and buy" to anyone without the slightest hesitation. 

fourth, and so far final, one to get advertised to me (facebook again) was (is) Death By Rock and Roll off of The Pretty Reckless. as a clear indication that "they", them what do the advertising and that, have clocked my likelihood of purchasing nudies, they presented an advert which showed the cover, the disc and the fold out booklet, with the latter being the business end one (nude picture on it).

by no means it it a bad album, it's just a bit (or somewhat) curated for popular sensibilities. there's absolutely nothing wrong with artists trying to make a living, but at times it feels rather, well, contrived to be successful rather than being what the artist had in their heart. shout out, however, to one particular song on the tape (disc), 25. it starts with a quasi hint of the classic James Bond theme and very much comes across as one of the best Bond themes we (sadly) never got. 

and that seems to be it. for now. yes, indeed, facebook does keep showing me adverts for music, because that's clearly a "click rate conversion" or what have you box i tick. up to now, though, whilst some of the records (or tapes) advertised feature "raunchy" or "suggestive" covers, no others have had nudies (female) on them, so my bank account has not been troubled. quite likely this shall change. 

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