decimal video

heya

i am reasonably sure that the last time i gone done a post on some videos (discs) there was the speculative suggestion of me (moi) not doing quite so many all at once. and most probably the time before that, look you see. so there should be little, if any, surprise (or interest) that here's ten things of what i view as being ostensibly videos that i watched fairly recently. 

with regards to "format" video wars, not too much of a (mass) debate here. just the one (1) on the fancy video format (blu ray), the remainder (9) being regular video (DVD). the latter appears to be experiencing a partial "renaissance" of late, which is weird for a technology what doesn't feel all that old, and comes mostly from people clocking these discs offer a cheaper, higher quality experience than battling with the wonders of "streaming" services.

no particular order exists for the below videos (or what have you), with the potentially possible exception of the fancier video (blu ray) being first. i maybe should have at least presented them all in the order what they are pictured above, but didn't think to and i really can't be bothered messing with how i have got the images all added. just scroll mostly down (or up) to have a bit of a gander at any of the ones in the picture above which you are (for some reason) keen to see my brief thoughts on. 

whereas as much care as possible will be taken to avoid having them needlessly, all the same it is highly likely that one or two "spoilers" shall (and/or will) crop up in the remainder of this post. so you have, as the saying goes, been warned. 

every chance exists that my endurance of Take This Waltz will mark the end of me watching films purely because there is the promise of nudies in it. some things i saw on the internet made it clear that it would feature some most agreeable (and full tilt) nudies, which it did, but the price of that is one particularly nasty, vile film. 

the plot appears to be the endorsement of some really creepy, obnoxious stalker seducing his neighbour, disrupting her apparently "idyllic" lifestyle. she is, in the film, married to Seth Rogan, who i have a vague awareness of existing, who(m) plays some quasi-retarded, dim witted bloke labouring under the impression he has invented cooking chicken. no idea if any of that is standard for him, or if such pushed his acting abilities to the fore. it was really unpleasant to watch all of this being presented as some form of "romantic drama" with comedic moments thrown in. 

i would assume (or presume) that the intended demographic, or if you will market, for this film is the kind of person that really, really likes that tv show Friends. escapist entertainment, divorced from reality and works only if you flat refuse to (if not just avoid) scratch at the surface to look at the morally bankrupt premise. should you be tempted to watch this film, well, don't.

one of those "classics" that i had not (before now) actually gotten around to watching next, then, with the celebrated Marathon Man. as to why i had not seen it before, probably a mix of apprehension about just how brutal the widely known "torture" scene is, that it's not all the widely available a film and i probably just didn't think to seek it out. happy days, then, when i found the video (disc) down the market. 

let me go right ahead a state the obvious, or what is known, then - this film is indeed a masterpiece of cinema. brilliantly constructed, superbly acted and one of the most compelling, absorbing movies you will find to sit and watch. to address is, the (in)famous "is it safe" torture sequence is brutally difficult to sit through, disorientation because, like the tortured Hoffman, at that stage you have no idea what it is that is being asked if it is "safe". 

yes, trivia fans, the much celebrated "myth" of an exchange between two actors from this film. it famously brings together Laurence Olivier, arguably the greatest "classically trained" actor of them all, and Dustin Hoffman, who(m) is at least in the conversation for the top three "method" actors of his generation. the story is that Hoffman supposedly confided in Olivier that he had stayed up for three straight days and nights to prepare for a scene where he had been so for the same time. in response Olivier is supposed to have said "my dear boy, have you boy, have you ever considered just acting?".  whereas this exchange did happen, there is rather more to it. 

not all that long ago (here) i suggested that there were some films what naturally suggested they should be watched at certain times of the year. so yes, indeed, i did watch The Long Good Friday on the good friday of this year (2026, somehow). been quite some time since i saw it, and figured why not, especially as it is one of my brother's all time favourites. 

usually this one gets described as "the best British gangster film ever made" or of all time (or similar) and it's difficult, mindful of questions about just how useful such an accolade is, to disagree. one could suggest Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels challenges for the title, yet that one was intended more as a very funny comedy. a difference, i suppose, is that if in some preposterous circumstances i was forced to make a choice, well, in comparison i would fancy my chances more against anyone in Lock, Stock, whereas i would be very much accepting fate (and hoping for a quick death) if faced with the Bob Hoskins character from The Long Good Friday. 

once more i am not sure there's all that much i can say on this one that has not been said many, many times before. the intricate, clever plot (which they nearly ruined the twists of with the original title) hold up to this day, as do the devastating performances. quite fascinating, too, to see images of that there London (innit) from close to 50 (!) years ago, with particular emphasis on how back then sure they had traffic, but you could still actually drive about and park. 

bit of a change of pace, then, with A Very Buttery Collection, being a two video (or 2 disc) compilation of some of the finer episodes of South Park to feature Butters prominently. yes, the likes of Cartman, Randy Marsh and many others get lots of love, but Butters has always been a favourite. hard to call this set a "best of", since it does not feature the brilliant Lord Of The Rings one, or the double episode, best watched as a film Imaginationland, but all the same a most agreeable set of Butters related episodes. i am led to believe this set is relatively rare, although my recollection is getting it quite cheap years ago. 

highlights? there are only so many titles i can list here and keep it (kind of) family friendly, but of course the Paris Hilton one is here. i think that is the episode what turned me into a Butters disciple. also there's the one where Butters seeks (ahem) professional guidance on how to be a pimp, and the one where he displays his deft (and surprisingly deadly) tapdancing skills. 

i should, in all likelihood, spend more time than i do watching and re-watching South Park, for it is ludicrously funny. perhaps i shall seek out the video of the Lord Of The Rings episode. 

another instance of me getting around to watching a film what i had been aware of for north of 30 years but didn't bother with until i found it down the market, then, in the form (or shape) of The Presidio. well i am reasonably sure i hadn't seen it before, but the scene where (and there was a spoiler warning) Sean Connery batters the big bald guy with just his thumb felt familiar. 

just how the world, or perceptions, changes is right there in the cast. for audiences this century (which i am obliged to state is a century i do not understand) the idea of Mark Harmon as a police officer is perfectly natural. this is thanks to him, for some 20 or so years, brilliantly playing agent Gibbs in the excellent NCIS series. back in the 80s it was considered absolutely ridiculous casting, for he was known mostly as being the hunky love interest in some medical soap opera (St Elsewhere, i think) and as the party time teacher in the really funny Summer School. 

this film is textbook forgettable, to be honest. at 90 minutes it feels too long, with some of those minutes overtly (and obviously) padded out with two needless love scenes, both of which feature considerably more nudies of Mr Harmon than of Ms Ryan. enjoyment of the film in the DVD variation of video is all but impossible due to it being one of them "forced widescreen" presentations, where your tele is a lot more black bars at the top and bottom than it is picture. kudos, though, to Sean Connery for playing the role of an American military police officer with a highly convincing Scottish accent. 

it wasn't quite a straightforward a case of the recent passing of Chuck Norris inspiring me to have a watch of The Delta Force again. were i to pick a film for such a specific tribute then it would likely be the one i consider his finest, Code Of Silence, which i watched fairly recently. this is a close second, and i happened to spot the disc in a pile i had bought off of the market not so long ago. 

rather fond memories of the first time i saw this, which was at the cinema. the legend that is Boyley and i optimistically tried to buy tickets at the cinema, but the lady at the ticket office wanted proof that we were 18, which we could not provide because we certainly were not. with some disappointment we figured that we would have to go and see some PG rated alternate (i think, maybe, Jewel Of The Nile), but at the last moment the lady had a change of heart and let us get tickets for it. 

quite class, this film is. it is an "actual" proper film, too, with some respected and renowned actors delivering fine performances, a really good script and generally well made. sure, there's some amazing action sequences, but the film is not built solely around them. yes (or if you like "also sure") there is some bravado to it, with it being a little heavy handed in its "ignore the realities of all military action by America, we are really quite good at it, honest" stance, but, well, it is celebrating heroes. very much worth a watch, this one is, and yes the motorbikes that fire missiles are boss. 

yet another instance of me eventually watching a film that i had seen a trailer for hundreds of times over the years, then, with King Of New York. rather like Deadly Pursuit, i got to be so familiar with the pretty lengthy trailer that the idea of watching the actual film felt somewhat redundant. and once again it proved that i had missed out on a really decent film for all these years. 

no one, i think, is running around claiming this to be the "greatest gangster film" of all time, but it is very much above average for the genre. Christopher Walken is superb as the ruthless crime lord intent making lots of money but ensuring the community is enriched whilst doing so. there is much of interest here, be it the contradictory nature of the Walken character or the dubious approach the constabulary show in trying to bring his reign to an end. 

one frequent review i had seen over the years was that it was "very violent" and (goodness me) it certainly is. even by today's standards, where levels of violence are perpetually pushed to new limits in some films, this is graphic and intense and is most decidedly not for the easily disturbed or upset. that, in most instances, you feel pangs of sorrow for some of the ones what have harm befall them just serves to show how well made a film this one is. 

it would be entirely wrong to say that we, as kids, were "banned" or otherwise "not allowed" to watch The Black Hole by Mum and Dad back in, what 1982 or 1983. rather more likely they were just not that interested in it, or had seen some reviews indicating that it might not be suitable for (as we were then) a younger audience. can't even remember when, exactly, i finally saw it. don't recall renting it, so possibly saw it on the tele at some stage, maybe late 80s or early 90s. 

this came out when we were living in g'day, mate, fair dinkum Australia and i can remember it being very heavily advertised and/or marketed to us, the kids, at least by early 80s standards. every kids tv show appeared to have snippets of it, and there was the obligatory (which i think i had) sticker album on the go too. my brother and i were quite keen to see it, probably mostly for the two boss looking flying robots. we also made (as best we could), out of Lego, some of the smart double barrel gun things what the non-flying robots had. 

as for the film itself, pretty decent. sure the special effects are early 80s, but are (all the same) enjoyable in the way things "done for real" seem more pleasing on the eye than all this CGI stuff. there is no escaping, though, that at heart it really is a horror story, or if you will more sci-fright than sci-fi. how this one gets away with a "PG" certificate off of the BBFC is baffling, even with their slightly more lax views on things of stuff these days. 

when i noticed Frenzy on one of the stalls down the market i felt (oddly) compelled to give it another look. think it will be over 35 yet somewhere (slightly) south of 40 years since i saw it. all i could remember was it wasn't too bad, and could not quantify why i would have wished to watch it again.

so far as i am aware this was one of, if not the, last films to be made by Alfred Hitchcock, but no, it is not one of his more celebrated works. whilst it's not a bad film as such (if we are honest, well, with respect to the reputation of the director, it is textbook average) the main value in the present day is probably the extraordinary footage of early 70s London (innit). that and a rare chance for Bernard Cribbins to play a more serious, dramatic part than one would usually associate him with. does it rather well, too. 

the plot is the tale of a generally dislikeable (and unpleasant) chap who gets mistaken for a serial sex criminal stalking that there London (innit). which i suppose is a kind of interesting twist, as it asks the audience how much do you care for a miscarriage of justice when you really really don't like the person that is innocent. for the notoriously dark humour of Hitchcock, well, there's one prolonged really macabre scene in which (and you had a spoiler warning) the real killer attempts to retrieve evidence from a body he has elaborately disposed of. it actually felt, watching it again, that the film was probably built around how to get this scene in. as i said, not bad, but there's at (the very) least a dozen or so much more better films what he made. 

finally, for now (or this post), Kentucky Fried Movie. once more i had not seen this for years, and purchased on a whim (for a change) down the market. mostly, to be as truthful as ever, i seemed to recall the film at the least had some most agreeable nudies in it, particularly in a mock film trailer bit called something like Hot Catholic Schoolgirls In Trouble. 

oh, yes, that scene was (very much) in it and just as glorious as ever. the remainder of the film, which comprises of sketches and parodies, is "a bit hit and miss", which is to say 50 or so years later mostly it is all miss. quite sure some of the products being parodied were relevant back then, but don't make a lot of sense now. brief cameos by Bill Bixby and Donald Sutherland are not, one would argue, as much of a big deal as they likely seemed back then. 

mostly the issue here is that all of the parody stuff is overtly American-centric. yes, sure, it was made for that market, with an international release an afterthought, or done on the assumption that all American products were available around the world, because yee-haw, etc. so this is one of those films that would get called "dated" in a correct way. from memory the quasi-semi sequel (of sorts) from the 80s, Amazon Women On The Moon, went broader and more universal. i recall that one was really funny, perhaps i shall dig out the video (disc) and watch again to see if it is. 

phew, that's that lot, then. oddly (or as it happens) the next two (2) videos i will watch are known quantities, to me at the least. one of them is something that looks absolutely sh!t and strangely features that Seth Rogen again, with it being (i believe) considered one of the worst films ever made. i shall give it a go purely because Spiros said some bits were good. on top of that a relatively obscure film from the 80s cropped up in a sale, so i ordered it straight away. 

can't think that much (of any) of this will have been of all that much interest to anyone, but all the same hope so, and many thanks as ever for reading!

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

i only love my watch and my snakeskin shoes

hello there

perhaps i should have called this post ever decreasing circles. or circular(ish) shapes, look you see. it would be reasonably, by my standards, more ("less fewer") accurate. however, to do so would simply serve to attract he rather fanatical Richard Briers fan base to this blog. i have no quarrel with them and very much wish to retain that status. quite demented and brutal, they can get. the title chosen just kind of popped in there, and stuck. 

maintaining my apparent determination to place here the mundane and bland, then, is the news that i have purchased a couple of new belts. two, to be precise. so not just one, and not as many as three (3). appreciating that my current plight is an issue or problem is one many would wish to have i do seem to have a need for new belts more frequently than i ever dared dream possible. this comes from my reasonably well documented (across this blog) heath issues; a consequence of which has been rather rapid and certainly dramatic weight loss. 

despite such being an aspect of the English way of doing things i am bereft of any desire to wander around this world with a significant amount of my posterior, or backside (basically my @r$e) exposed to all and sundry. for some reason exposing such a (relatively) private part of the body is the done thing, with trousers being tailored with a precise "dip" at the back to enable such. maybe due to the somewhat international nature of my existence i really don't like doing this, so prefer a sturdy belt so as to avoid such displays. 

up to now, with a sense of economy and a proclivity to avoid waste, i have been getting a good friend who(m) is good at such things to drill holes (so to speak) in my existing belt collection. also William, one of my (known) children, added some to one. this tends to weaken the integrity of them, though, so every now and then i will purchase new, ever smaller ("fewer") size ones, so as to maintain a fairly consistent level of not revealing aspects of my anatomy which most would (surely) agree are best kept private. 

that said, no, on the instance of procuring (buying) these two (2) new belts it wasn't that i specifically set out to make such an acquisition. i was wandering around, mindful of how frequently i needed to pull up my trousers with the incumbent belt being a little loose, when i saw these on sale in the one shop. the pattern on one of them looked kind of cool, and so i went and gone done a transaction. 

what, exactly, can i write about belts? assuming (of course) that the primary purpose of this post is to do so, and not merely (or consequentially) brag about of flash and vogue i am buying things? not a lot, really. for the benefit of anyone who(m) has not heard it there is, of course, the "classic" belt joke. i am not sure it shall work in a written form, for it is best done verbally, but here goes - what did the 0 (zero, or nought) say to the 8 (eight)? nice belt. 

one fond (and on topic) memory i hope to forever retain comes from a family shopping trip. we were all at one of them department store things. i think i was looking at jeans or similar, when i was vaguely made aware of a shop assistant approaching someone behind me, speaking the words "can i help you sir". not long after this i heard Dad, in his distinctive voice, responding with the words "what can you tell me that i don't know about a belt". the shop assistant departed. 

for clarification, no, i am (certainly) not on them yuppie "weight loss" jabs. the weight is going away via a mixture of a (radically) changed diet and the medication i am on. at times this does get scary, especially when i look at pictures (selfies) from just a couple of years ago. really does feel like i am in danger of fading away, which (i appreciate) some out in the world would not consider bad. 

i am going to skip the usual linking to tales of my medical plight, for i would assume (or take as a given) that you are capable of searching this blog for such if interested. that said, for the more sartorial elements of this, here you go with a link to my sensational cowboy look, and an incident with another belt that did not go well. 

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

killerstar - the afterglow

howdy pop pickers

just what, exactly, does one (or specifically moi, look you see) do when they have a new tape (disc) which they really crave to love but just do not? no, to clarify, don't "hate", for there are places between extremes we as a world have forgotten, but all the same don't feel what you hoped. i suppose the answer as to what to do is to ramble on about the regrettable disappointment. 

here, then, is where i find myself with The Afterglow, being the second album off of KillerStar. quite an interestingly constructed band, but to save repetition (and to steal away things i could write here) more on that via these links to my posts on their debut album, live at 100 Club, and a 10" ep. whilst being aware of a second album was in the offing, for they previewed a couple of the songs (at least i think it was two) at the gig i went to, there was no huge weight or even wave of expectation surrounding it. 

initially my plan was to get this tape (disc) at another gig at the 100 Club by them, where they were going to be selling it a few weeks prior to the official release date. whereas i had a ticket i, alas, had to cancel going via a combination of my (reasonably well documented here) health plight, the astronomical cost of the trains to that there London (innit) and (of course) the extreme likelihood that the train i would have paid a fortune to be on getting cancelled. no matter, then, i just ordered it from or if you will via their internet stuff. delighted when it landed with a smart sticker (image below), but did note that they had managed to spell my name incorrectly. turns out this is not the only thing they got wrong, but more on that later. rather than earlier.

didn't go into this one "blind" (or deaf, i suppose) as i did with the first. for the first, well, if you follow the links, yes, there was enough good faith in the musicians involved to give it a try, which i shall forever be glad i did. knowing more or less what to expect from a second venture by the band didn't stand me in all that good stead when it turned out to be kind of more of the same, yet feeling somewhat flat (or in a way deflated) compared to the first. 

there are, i hasten to add, really good songs on here. from the 8 (eight) which comprise the album the standout (or simply outstanding) moments are Invincible, The Afterglow, bits of Proud and most of Rubicon. every now and then you can get away with one half of your album being really good. the greatest example is probably All That You Can't Leave Behind off of U2, with the first five songs being so mind-blowingly brilliant you more or less forget the remainder of it is filler. more often than not, though, you get Second Coming off of The Stone Roses. 

lyrically is where, disappointingly, The Afterglow is weakest. nearly all of it is contrived, fairly obvious rhyming couplets. worryingly what came to mind when listening was Blur's debut album, which always seemed to be an attempt to make the definitive collection of rhyming words ending "ay". unfortunately not a single song on here feels like it was written from some burning desire to express something. there is rather more of a sense that it was "this will work" or, worryingly, "this will do". possible, of course, that they just used lyrics as dressing for showcasing the vast musical talents on offer, yet this is a big step backwards from the debut. 

quite interesting to see a comment on the inner cover, that i have tried to get a picture of for you, declaring that no AI was used in making the album. at first this reminded me of Queen, who(m) famously had "no synthesisers were used in making this record" on all of their albums right up to the point where they did use them; i think Flash Gordon or the less ("fewer") celebrated Hot Space. it turns out, however, that they might have wished to use some AI at one point, since the songs appear on the disc in a totally different order from how they are listed on the cover and disc face. 

whilst not normally (or usually) engaging in "social media" things beyond good wishes to people at times that it is appropriate i did indeed ask the band about this on their facebook thing. mostly i was curious if i had a "one off" bad pressing or if it was a wider problem. no, as in yes, they were "aware" of the issue, and mentioned that replacement copies would be made available for free when they have fixed it, by which i take it as made more. baffling, taking as a given that someone must have noticed, even off just a test pressing, that this was allowed to come out like this, as surely it would have made more sense to delay the release and get fixed up. should it have been that the order of songs didn't really feel important then rather go full tilt Prince Black Album an don't list it. otherwise, releasing it like this kind of suggests the band "simply didn't care" about the issue, and if they don't care then why would they expect an audience to? 

musically is where the great strength, and indeed draw, of KillerStar is. whereas all of the musicians assembled are clearly a perfect mix of gifted and talented, it's the presence of Earl Slick and Mike Garson that alerted a few of us to the band. here, and once again i freely admit a lack of musical knowledge, is where it is all a bit of a let down. sure, if i made an album with them two on it i would absolutely highlight them, but it all feels so forced on this album. far too often you get either Mr Slick or Mr Garson "mixed up" way too loud and overt on songs, rather than allowing a natural point in songs for them to shine. it really comes across as eccentric showboating. 

how frequently am i going to play The Afterglow by KillerStar? well, at least once more if the replacement copy with the songs in the order intended comes along. otherwise, to reference two (2) of the other records mentioned, probably as much as all the songs after the first 5 (five) on All That You Can't Leave Behind, or slightly less ("fewer") frequently than Second Coming. right now my feelings about the band are not that far off of Inhaler - i appreciate the music, kind of like it, but really don't seem to get or grasp what the "point" is. 

so, two new released albums bought and played this year (2026) and it turns out the Morrissey one is the best thus far. not entirely sure what, if anything, is going to come along as the weeks and months go by. let me express the hope (or wish) that, if in some future rather than previous year KillerStar release a third album that it is one they do mean, and it all comes out as intended. 

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

more stuff about toilet paper decisions

greetings

i really, really did not have any intention of making quite so many posts on the subject of toilet paper. by that i do not mean to disparage or belittle a product which has become essential to the world we have created, look you see, but to be honest there is only a limited (finite) amount of stuff one can write of about it. well, since we are here, let me see what i can come up with. 

for those who read this blog fairly frequently there may be some surprise that this subject (or topic) has come up again so soon after the last post concerning this sort of thing. no, it is not the case that i have been on some wild campaign or crusade to use up all that i last purchased in record time, as circa 45% of the last quantity purchase remains unused or (if you will) ready for use. being quite mindful of how the ease of access to toilet paper can be snatched away from us all i did, however, elect to keep an eye out for it being on offer (at an agreeable price), taking it as a give than perhaps it is an item one would benefit from having too much of that too little ("fewer"). 

which all led to a frankly preposterous, somewhat obscene amount (volume, i suppose) of toilet paper being purchased. yes, as you can (more or less) see in the above picture, that's twenty four (24) rolls i got, all at once. two dozen, if you like. or a roll of toilet paper per hour for one complete day by the currently accepted means of measuring such. 

hopefully it is going (considerably) too far to suggest that i now have at my disposal enough toilet paper to keep me in relatively good stead for the remainder of my natural (or otherwise) life. a more realistic view to take would be that it is highly unlikely i shall need to purchase further for, at the very least, another year, be it in regards of a calendar one or twelve (12) months from today. up to now concepts of time have featured more (or further) than i had expected in all of this. 

cost, or the appearance of a good deal, was at the forefront of such an excessive seeming purchase. the price for these was, as you can more or less see in the above, £8.99. slightly smaller in the image is a breakdown of what the cost is per roll, which my calculator suggests is just north of 37p each. for a decent quality, and if we are to remain in the realm of honesty, essential item to have. 

appreciating the tone of this blog is generally light i would really not wish for these comments to be seen as flippant, or otherwise belittling certain things. much of modern life has taught us to, in a very real sense, "be prepared". when the infamous "lockdown" occurred, what, six years ago in the face of a brave new plague, for some reason it was toilet paper and pasta that people rushed to stockpile. whereas i think it most likely that any government trying to impose another lockdown will get told to f*** off, or or to otherwise go and f*** themselves, one can never really be sure as to what shortage shall happen next, or why. 

going for a rare instance of putting some interesting (if not quite useful) information here and it was so, of course, that toilet paper was one of the first things we, the people, eventually worked out was being used as a means of "shrinkflation". that is, for clarification, when manufacturers, nominally in a subtle way, began reducing the amount of quantity in certain items whilst retaining the same price, rather than putting prices up. toothpaste was a rather, if you will excuse the expression, big example of this. it took longer than you might think, though, and yes i believe i have (indeed) written this before, to clock that the toilet paper manufacturers were gradually increasing the diameter (and consequentially the radius) of the cardboard tube at the centre (heart, perhaps) of toilet rolls. 

using my quite smart Star Wars ruler, and the obligatory tape (actual) of The Joshua Tree off of U2 for scale, as you can kind of see in the above image the diameter of the cardboard rolls in this packet is all of 4.5cm. which i think means the radius is 2.25cm; although it has been some time since i have done that sort of mathematics. admittedly this information would be more useful (or interesting) if i had an historical or current roll for comparison but i, alas, do not. still, any future browser seeking details of what the diameter of a toilet roll cardboard tube was in 2026, there you go. 

mindful of the quasi challenge cushelle has posed to my purchase of andrex i did indeed go and check if the koala branded product had a counter offer to make on price. no, as the above picture shows, with it being that the price for the same quantity of their pack (24) set at £2.76 higher. as much affection as i have for koalas it is very simply so that hard cash (very much) talks. 

just as a conclusion i am somewhat baffled by the marketing of andrex, making it ludicrously clear that each and every roll features puppies. what sort of demographic is it that they are after who(m) would make their purchase based on what sort of animal will (or shall) be prominent on the paper when they go and make use of it in the way intended?

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

easter ritual

welcome

usually, or normally (generally at the very least), i endeavour to stick to a kind of etiquette (or "rule", look you see) of avoiding discussing politics, religion or money in polite company. whereas i appreciate, yes, i am of an age where i should have staunch, inflexible views which are to be expressed frequently, the notion of such holds no appeal. for this post, however, i am going to have to possibly doing a bit of bending with one of them, depending on how one differentiates between religion and faith. 

ever since i have been in my era of exile i have found a quasi-tradition has emerged. ritual, i suppose, hence the title of this post. for possibly obvious reasons i, on each annual (for it is once a year) instance of easter i, in one way or another, revisit The Last Temptation Of Christ. the pattern has been a sort of, or very much, rotation thing, where one year i will watch the film again and then the next play Peter Gabriel's soundtrack tape (disc). should it be of any interest, this year (2026) is the turn of the soundtrack. 

describing The Last Temptation Of Christ as the most controversial film "of all time" is going a bit too far, for such a (possibly pointless) accolade or title is going to be subjective. that said, off the top of my head something like Salo or Cannibal Holocaust could claim to be that with little debate. without doubt, though, it was highly controversial on release, and has vaguely retained a level of infamy if not notoriety. i have always been fascinated by this. no, it certainly is not a film for everyone, but i've never quite grasped the dismissal of it as "blasphemous". sure, i can fully appreciate - and have had experience of - people not being comfortable with how this telling of the (for want of a better word) story of Jesus in this way, but ultimately i find it is an affirming, positive presentation of faith. 

for those who have read this far and are at a loss when it comes to the controversy surrounding this film, well, apologies for my standard lack of structure here. in essence the film, based on a novel, presents the story of Jesus "as known" in a more layered, complex way. not sure that sound right. the film explores the dilemma, the debate, the inner turmoil and spiritual challenge of the man. what if Jesus was not at all accepting of his "fate", as would be the general depiction. is it not possible that he resisted, that he fought a destiny (or calling), and further was tempted to reject it all, to be "just" a man. the temptation to spurn it all is what is presented here, and it is laced with levels of sex and violence which had not been present in any serious film of this subject before. 

 

i did indeed get to see The Last Temptation Of Christ at a cinema. a very dear friend, also curious about the film, sneaked me in despite being about two (2) years below the then BBFC certificate of 18, which i note on my fancy video (blu ray) has been re-classified as a 15. we went to an independent cinema to see it, for as i recall (and please don't accept this as fact) most of the "big name" chain cinemas declined to screen it in the face of the controversy it was causing, at least here in the UK and outside of that there London (innit). an early brush with "fame" of sorts happened as a consequence, for after the film there was a news crew from a provincial radio station, asking people why they saw it and what they thought about it. can't remember what i said, to be honest. hard to imagine any film in this day and age provoking such interest, really. 

why have i been frequently drawn to this film for close to 40 years? mostly, i would think, because it's a compelling, damned good work of cinema. quite the struggle to get it made, as has been documented by much more better writers than me, and some curious casting decisions with the least of those not being Harvey Keitel giving a Brooklyn/Bronx hoodlum heavy portrayal as Judas. a very obvious draw is the astonishing portrayal of Jesus by Willem Dafoe. he makes a compelling teacher, preacher, orator and what have you, with his presentation of the inner turmoil, the challenge, the conflict being, to be as honest as i can, something i have always found inspiring. 

being as it is a year that i shall play the soundtrack tape (disc) this easter, some comments on that, then. i did find it interesting at the time, and still do (i suppose) that the soundtrack got released as Passion rather than feature the name of the film directly. my assumption was that this was done in the vague hope the music would not get dragged into the "controversy" of the film, which is kind of underlined by the liner notes featuring a statement from Peter Gabriel explaining why he elected to use the "working title" for the film instead of the eventual one. 

as has been showcased here frequently i may very well be passionate (sorry) and enthusiastic about music but not always the best when it comes to writing of it. yes, true, i am probably not all that good at writing of anything. i just find it rather uplifting music, enjoyable to listen to and just basically giving one a good sense of feeling having heard. undoubtedly this in some way stems from the eclectic mix of world musicians Gabriel brought together for the construction of it, but i am just nowhere near clever enough to explain the how or why of that. 

over the years i have indeed (and this sounds rather more dramatic than it is) held screenings of the film for friends curious about it all. this will have been the actual video (VHS) as well as the DVD when i upgraded it. possibly more screenings of this than (ahem) a certain Stanley Kubrick film i somehow managed to procure a video (actual) of whilst still withdrawn from release. no, probably not quite as cool or interesting as the tales of British musicians visiting New York and dropping by John Lennon's place to watch his (at the time new and rare) video of The Exorcist. 

mostly, as far as i can remember, friends were impressed with the film, yet not really sure they understood why it was all deemed so controversial. the film does treat the audience like adults in telling the story, after all. however, one exceptionally dear friend was possibly upset by it. it was a friend that did not hide their devout faith, who(m) wished to watch it to see if it was as "bad" as they had been told. whilst they didn't overtly state that they were upset, it was clear that they were not too happy when handing the disc (actual) back, with the comment being that they "didn't understand why anyone would want to tell the story in this way". 

so no, it is not that i shall ever rant or rave that The Last Temptation Of Christ is a film everyone and anyone must or should watch. far from it. very doubtful, i would think, that the initial controversy which greeted the film on release still lingers today, but that's not to say it will cause upset for some people. 

yes, certainly, i am indeed aware of another film with an easter related title. i would suggest that there's only so many times, however, one can watch Bob Hoskins as a quite cross, shouty swearing east end gangster, but who knows perhaps i will give it another play. 

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

thirteen bar bexley boogie

hello there

lost art, or perhaps rather media (for art is by definition subjective, look you see), is certainly not a new phenomenon. ever since the first variations of "humans" expressed themselves in a variety of formats so it has been lost, destroyed or supressed, be it for good and bad reason. in this brave new world often called, correctly, the "information age" it seems unlikely that anything of this nature would ever be "lost" again, yet so it is that such happens. 

defining "lost" is a requirement here. the most high profile "lost" art (or media) in the present day, which i would argue is the Beatles' Carnival Of Light song, is known to exist, with Sir Paul perpetually being thwarted in his efforts to get it released. on a similar note other "lost" music is likely right in front of us, and here i am thinking the near-mythical status afforded to Bowie's The Man Who Fell To Earth soundtrack, which was probably all just used for Low and "heroes".

of all the days of the year it is today that i can "reveal" some information on a supposed "lost" piece of media, being in the form of a song that few (if any) knew existed. the song in question is purported to be called Thirteen Bar Bexley Boogie, with a claim that it's a long lost and (as i have been requested to make clear) infamous number by  Chas & Dave. 

initially, which is to say on first learning about this, my thoughts were this probably wasn't a "lost" song at all. whenever they went into the studio Chas & Dave were, after all, prolific to a legendary level, with dozens of songs being crafted in every session. rather more likely, then, that this Thirteen Bar Bexley Boogie was just a remnant of such; a song they had gone done but either didn't feel was worth releasing or, as was the case with the Stones and some gems, they had simply forgotten about it. one only needs to consider the seemingly perpetual quest to correctly catalogue the tapes (actual) Prince left behind to understand this is a good deal more common than one may think. 

no, however. a series of messages, prosaic to the point of being sketchy, assured me that something very different was behind the why and the how it was so the world had never heard Thirteen Bar Bexley Boogie off of Chas & Dave. pressing for clarification (and more information) in this was a frustrating thing, with various ad hoc responses being ever more sketchy and prosaic. 

eventually - and i am prepared to admit i was close to the point of using certain profanities to the person messaging - there came an offer to meet and discuss it all further. despite, i confess, a level of disinterest in it all (i mean yes, i like Chas & Dave, but not obsessively so) i agreed to go and meet someone i was told was a "representative" of a concern called BFBA&R. an address was provided. 

having checked on the address given i was quite surprised to find that what i had assumed to be the offices of BFBA&R (which, admittedly, is a pretty good bit of branding) was rather close to Peckham Library. quite a legendary site, offering next to no parking and thus generating millions in parking fines each week, which would appear to be the main economic activity in that there London (innit) these days. 

on arrival it became clear fairy (or reasonably) quickly that Peckham Library was the place this in part reluctant meeting (of sorts) was going to be held. a vaguely familiar figure was lurking about outside. when they saw me they made all sorts of supposedly discreet yet overt "psst" noises and gestures, beckoning me over. taking as a given that "artists and repertoire" (or whatever the correct words are) was the last bit of the name, it soon became clear what BFB was for. yet again i found myself in the presence of the somewhat notorious Bertrand "Bertie" Fettlebottom. 

for those of you not all that familiar with this character, well, let me provide a brief background. with some links for those all really interested. other than being a "person of interest" in several instances of fly tipping and impersonating a resident of Silton, Fettlebottom has some questions to answer concerning the rise of gang culture in America, an attempted insurgence in Portsmouth and a bizarre attempt to sell a Spalding body of water to the United States. one cannot but help wonder why, exactly, he can't just settle for a normal, quiet life. 

we took seats in what passes for a secluded area of Peckham Library, mostly surrounded by people more bothered about how they were going to afford the parking fine they had obtained by being there than they were anything to do with Chas & Dave. still, Fettlebottom insisted on going all "hush hush" as and when someone was in earshot. curiosity got the better of me, so yes i did indeed ask why (exactly) we were meeting in Peckham Library. the frank, if not blunt, answer was that there had been something of a misunderstanding about his use of the wifi at Southwark Heritage Centre to visit what he described as being "perfectly legitimate" websites of a niche nature. 

moving on, and since i was there, i asked for more information about the supposedly "lost" recording of the song Thirteen Bar Bexley Boogie he had (somehow) procured. not lost, he said, but buried in an effort to supress it. all of this sounded most peculiar, for one could would not readily associate Chas & Dave as ever doing something all that controversial, depending on your stance on snooker. 

before any further (vague, and undoubtedly distressing) conversation could take place Fettlebottom rummaged around in his spacious tracksuit pants. ones that appeared to be secured by some old rope. just as i was on the verge of asking if he wouldn't care to do whatever he was doing rather more privately he produced a rudimentary "walkman" style cassette player. he made a "sssssh" motion despite my overt silence and pressed play. 

it was only to be a few seconds of the tape played before an employee of the library came over and remonstrated with Fettlebottom, advising him to turn it off at once or face being barred from the premises once (or yet) again. he made some part apologetic, part "whatever" gesture to the employee and turned the cassette player off. of what i heard it was (most decidedly) so that whilst a distinct boogie existed, it didn't strike me as being either "thirteen bar" or particularly "Bexley". 

not being too interested in how he reacted meant i had no hesitation in asking why, exactly, he had played me some of the song Turn That Noise Down rather than the supposed "lost" Chas & Dave song he claimed to be custodian of. this appeared to throw Fettlebottom somewhat, going on the largely silent and partially stunned moments which followed. eventually he muttered something or other about how it should be "obvious" that he wasn't going to go wandering around with such a valuable tape, and the point (if not purpose) of playing what he did was to prove that he was "serious about Chas & Dave". 

remaining steadfast and resolutely not interested i asked, for the sake of something to write here (if nothing else), for more details about the lost or quasi "banned" Thirteen Bar Bexley Boogie. unfortunately this appeared to wake him up, invigorating him some. and so i felt obliged to listen to what he had to say. 

long had been the dream, apparently, of the people of Bexley to be deemed, classified or declared as being a "Royal Borough". usually (normally) such a title is only awarded for a significant connection to the monarchy, be it that a coronation took place there or someone in the line of succession had been born there. as it was unlikely either of those would happen in a legitimately recognised way, stated Fettlebottom, there was an idea of swaying public opinion to force the issue.

with not much else better to do, and figuring i might as well get value for money for the inevitable parking ticket waiting, i asked how, exactly, a song by Chas & Dave might help that. he looked at me like i was a moron (which is not entirely unfounded), expressing some disbelief that i even had to enquire of such a thing. according to Fettlebottom one had to remember that for some considerable time, roughly stretching from their celebrated Christmas Cockney Knees Up 1981 special to the release of the era defining Snooker Loopy single, Chas & Dave had the public "in the palms of their hands", or whatever the expression is. the thinking was that with Chas & Dave celebrating the place the then reigning monarch, HMQE2 (except Scotland) would have no choice but to award Bexley their long desired Royal Borough status. 

many questions came to mind about this, most notably ones of why (exactly) Chas & Dave would have the slightest interest in this, and just who "prevented" the song from being released. unfortunately they had to go more unasked rather than unanswered, as once more the same employee from earlier approached us. it seems they had been on the phone to their colleagues at Southwark, on their advice had checked the "internet logs" (their words) and told Fettlebottom he could either leave immediately and pledge never to return or otherwise the police would be contacted. not too much thought went into his decision to gather up his cassette player and leave. 

i don't rightly know if Thirteen Bar Bexley Boogie off of Chas & Dave counts or qualifies as a work of lost art. this, mostly, is down to the lack of evidence it even exists. a rudimentary search for information which might link them to the place comes up blank, as does any suggestion of them caring whether one particular Borough was "Royal" or not. still, it's nice to think that out there somewhere is a recording of the two of them for future generations to discover. 

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

history never repeats

g'day

just a bit more of that there sentimental hygiene stuff in this post, look you see. it is tempting to say that here will be "photos from the past", but there is no such thing as ones (photos) from the future. at least so far as i am aware the mysteries of time travel have not permitted them to exist yet. anyway, moving on, and i shall try not to get too busy with the melodramatic melancholy. 

these pictures are from 43 (!) years ago at the time of publication. more or less but yet not quite to the day, say three or four off in that respect. it's all at an airport which i am pretty sure is Newcastle, although it might be Teesside. as for what's going on, well, it's when my family (and i, for clarification that is likely not needed) moved back to England from fair dinkum Australia. 

as far as i am aware that, as in the one sort of centrally middle in the above picture, is the plane we were on. or indeed, to be specific, in. i would imagine that this was a "domestic" flight one off of if not Heathrow then another London airport. quite the journey back then, with it being well over a day, or if you will twenty four (24) hours of flying. no, you didn't have your own tele screen thing back then either. from what i recall we didn't change planes but i can remember landing for refuelling.

whilst no personal tele thing with a range of films and what have you there was in-flight entertainment of sorts. there was one large screen (by the standards of the plane) in each section of the cabin, and basically you watched whatever they put on. no, i don't recall what films we had, but none of them felt particularly memorable. somewhat obviously they had to be purely family friendly films. to hear the film you had to use some really uncomfortable, muffled sound headphones. they also had some music selections playing on a loop, but i likely just had my walkman along with Queen and Adam Ant tapes. yes, in this instance, actual tapes. 

it is entirely possible that the people walking from the plane towards the building are indeed if not me then part of the family. this would make some kind of sense in regards of why the relatives waiting took a picture here. no, it wasn't all fancy "arm tunnels" and what have you then, you walked down some steps they wheeled to the plane and walked across. i suspect "security" is a lot of why such has now changed. probably for the better, mind. 

lots of things like memories have been lost with the passing of time, but all the same i can distinctly remember some of life in England prior to moving to Australia. highly doubtful that it would have occurred to my younger mind that there was a chance of never seeing England again. i really don't have any memories of being homesick as such, rather more of just a wonderful place that Australia appeared to be. 

quite a lot of the family (or a lot of relatives) turned up at the airport to greet us, then. welcome us, if you like, and of course assist in getting us all where we were going to live for a start. in a pattern that one could suggest defines my life i did not have an awareness of missing them all as much as they had apparently missed me. that sounds a lot harsher than intended, but then also i have no great defence to those who(m) state i am selfish incarnate. more it being that i have never understood the idea that someone might actually wish to have me in their life, or care for me. indeed, cue the poor, poor, pitiful me music. the sense i have is more that people feel compelled, or obliged to tolerate me, or would just rather avoid the inconvenience caused by me not being there. 

on taking custodianship of these pictures, scanning them and sharing with family i did (indeed) ask Dad why, exactly, after what must have been at least 30 (thirty) hours of travel across a disorientating level of time zones it was decided that we should all just hang at the airport and have a cup of tea. the answer i was given was that it "was the done thing". international travel is quite different these days, then. well yes, giving it some thought, after so many hours in planes it would make a degree of sense to just stop for a moment and have a cup of tea. not that us kids got tea. 

my best guess, going on the paper cups, is that us kids got given orange squash, which i guess gets called cordial these days, rather than tea. doubtful we would have got anything as exotic as any fizzy drinks back then. things were indeed a good deal more basic, although that sounds bad when it isn't meant to for it certainly was not. yes, that is me to the left, proudly wearing a Jets jumper underneath a rather smart looking bodywarmer. 

i have nothing but fond memories of those first months back in England. some of it will, undoubtedly, that i was treated as something bordering on celebrity. you didn't get all that many people moving to England back then, or at least not as far as the north. there was a curiosity factor of interest to me, which as many will state does wear off. also i found fascination, mostly in the fact that there was now a whole four (4) tv channels, and a fancy new coin in the shape of a 20p. confusion at some things, too. particularly music, for i was baffled that no one had heard of Split Enz or Mental As Anything when they were basically all one heard in Australia. still, good to find that Adam Ant was well known. football seemed to be the be all and end all of sporting interest, which took some getting used to since it was just cricket morning, noon and night in the land that was home for a while. 

having grown up in all different parts of the world my main regret is not growing up in one place. whatever value there is to me (moi) is very much, i appreciate, a conclusion of how i got this far, and not for me to say if that's good or bad, better or worse. maybe that's why i have a sense of dislocated disconnection all the time, having no anchor in standing still. none of this, i suppose, and having gone to the trouble of writing it, matters. all is transient. 

righty-ho, that would be more or less it, i think. yes, indeed i do have hundreds of photographs that i have scanned in, but not too sure all that many would be interesting. which, i appreciate, is me assuming that these ones even were. 

be fair dinkum to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

to the laundry again then

hello there

fans of the mundane, or the innately dull, have been in for a right proper treat on this blog so far this month so far. after the hedonistic joys of a documented trip to a car wash once more, here we go with a visit to the laundry, look you see. 

not, be warned, the most exciting laundry visit i have ever made. although (now that i think of it) i would be somewhat hard pressed to state which time was actually exciting. possibly an instance where i had a slight conversation with a lady, when (or where) the exchange was fairly limited to suggesting i had a good idea bringing a book with me. nothing much in the way of anything "informative" to add here either, what with the "economies of scale" (or whatever) about using a laundry featuring here. 

certainly it is going to be (most decidedly) so that i have far, far too many pictures and videos here to go with whatever writing i can come up with around them. for some reason i have it in my head that a vague notion of "text to visual" ratio is a thing. in this day and age it is probably that people are more interested in pics and vids than the written word, which does indeed make me wonder why bother. but still i do, for what else would i do. 

regular readers (or viewers) will be aware that my primary, if not quite sole, reason for going to a laundry is to get bedding washed and (indeed) dried. my modest lodgings in this era of exile afford no space to successfully hang out (up) big bed things like fitted sheets and duvet covers to get dry. this was indeed the purpose i went on this instance, but also from a "why not" perspective i did indeed do a couple of towels too, mixing it all up and making it exciting.

since the most recent car wash visit post, and apologies for all the links, featured (by accident) some VHS style images in "negative" mode i thought it best to do the same here. hence, as you may well have worked out, the image above being in "negative" mode. perhaps this gives a kind of quaint symmetry to the posts, it really is not for me to say. 

how much did i spend on this visit? all in, or the complete cost, was £9. for the sake of completeness, or auditing purposes, the breakdown of that is £5.50 for the smaller size washing machine, followed by £3.50 for 35 (thirty five) minutes of dryer use. at least i think that was it. might possibly have thrown an extra £1 in the dryer, making it a round, decimal friendly £10. 

a video clip for you above, then, although you have probably (more than likely) worked such out before you read this. that one is in that "poster size" filter, or whatever it is called, on the VHS camera thing. still not sure how it is the size of a poster, but what it does to the colours, and indeed the fuzzy picture, is quite funky. i kind of like it. 

yes, i am aware i could make the laundry visits marginally more economical via washing bedding, and towels, at home and then going to use the dryer alone. there are issues with doing so. first off i have no car or similar vehicle, so that would involve a walk somewhere just south of a mile with a bag full of wet linen. there is no appeal to this. after that you have the politics (or if you will social hierarchy) in place in the laundry, where people using the washing machines have preferential ("first dibs") use of the dryers. so i could possibly end up labouring along for a miserable walk with a bag full of wet bedding and find myself needing to wait some time to use a dryer. i think the £5.50 to use the washing machine there is the preferential option. 

really don't like the "psychedelic" camera filter thing i procured but, as you can see above, every now and then i feel obliged to use it. from what i recall i paid £2 or so for it, perhaps i should have tested it first. yes, by the way, indeed that is an image of one of the much vaunted, in demand dryer units down, or rather up, at the laundry. as in it is up hill from (and thus for) me. 

was anyone else using the laundry at the same time as moi? not at first, no. about ten or so minutes into my wash cycle another chap came in, also to use the washing machines and dryers. no particular conversation, except at one stage he sneezed so i said "bless you" and he replied "yes". mostly he appeared to be studying options in the horse racing section of a newspaper and filling in betting slips which he had brought with him. this account, i suppose, will be rather handy if he needs an alibi, or some sort of evidence that he was there. 

dryer video action for you above, courtesy of that "split screen" option on the VHS camera mode. which i do like more than the psychedelic one, but yet i still (very much) miss the greater good and glory of being able to do stuff in Commodore 64 mode. not the best video i have ever added here, i shall readily admit, but still there it is. if that even makes sense. 

of course i did take a novel along with me to read, for one cannot ever count on conversation being available. it strikes me as a nice, quiet time to get stuck into a novel, so it does, being at the laundry. just sat scrolling through whatever on a phone feels like a wasted opportunity. as for what i read, yes, i took along the recently procured Jeremy Vine novel. believe i am 25% or so into it and, well, i shall press on in the hope it gets (considerably) better. 

just a "regular" VHS mode image of the washing machine to round off this post. for some reason i thought someone out there might wish (or want) to compare it to the "negative" mode one. can't actually really guess at any idea why, but there's the option. 

probably is, of course, the answer as to if i shall be heading the way of the laundry at least once more during the year (2026) ahead. 

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