books and beanie

hi there

i have not, look you see, completed reading two books as such as yet since the last ones, so there are to be no book reviews as such this month. sorry for that. for those of you who, however, for some reason fly past this blog only for book related material, here you go, this post is mostly for you.

but first, however, an urgent appeal from Spiros about his beanie.

*** URGENT APPEAL FROM SPIROS ABOUT HIS BEANIE ***

on the afternoon of Friday 30 October, Year of our Lord 2015,Spiros was travelling on the District Line of London's celebrated, fabled and much treasured underground. he left his black beanie on a chair by mistake. when he saw it, as the door closed with him on the platform, he saw a generously fed lady of colour sitting down on top of it. despite this, he would like it back.

what does the beanie look like? black. when Spiros had it on, according to Spiros, it made him look like an absolutely massive black penis. which is probably why he wants it returned. anyway, if you happen to have it, leave a message here in the comments section (click the title to get to the comments section) and we shall try and connect you.

righty-ho, books.

i note with interest that John Grisham remains committed to being prolific, as his ratio of novels is one a year; more than that if you include random Theodore Boone adventures "dropping" on us from time to time. his latest is out in hardback form.

i am going to go right ahead and speculate that this is one of his "lazy" ones, and possibly his laziest ever. why? because it is called Rogue Lawyer.

there is no easy way to say this, so here you go. it's the case that all of John Grisham's legal thriller books feature a lawyer who has gone rogue. if they didn't deviate from the norm - be it break the law for gain, to bring down evil or to ensure justice - they would just be going on, in a rather dull way, about probate and property and other such rubbish.

will i be getting the novel to read all the same? surely, yes, of course. i am not sure whether to wait for the paperback or to read it on the e-reader; all i know for certain is that i am having nothing at all to do with the hardback copy, thanks - too expensive and too cumbersome to read.

otherwise, in the world of books (although you should be out looking for the beanie of Spiros), i found this image on one of those "post and share" website things. credit to the original poster, whoever that was.

that's a shop display from the 60s, featuring some very interesting and exciting trashy, pulp fiction like titles of novels. i would like to read a few of them, i would. most, you would suspect, are out of print now, and have been for years, but this will not stop me looking about for The Lustful Ape.

whereas there are a few proper novels shown, now that i see Crime & Punishment, for the most part i would imagine these are the 60s version of "direct to dvd" films that star a Busey which we know and love in the 21st Century. i think one of my favourite parts of the above is that most of the novels would appear to be printed on blue, or at the least blue lined, paper. that would surely make reading all the more exciting.

anyway, please let me know what you know about the beanie of Spiros.



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

Paul Daniels has abducted Sooty and absconded to Aotearoa

hello there


yes, look you see, or actually no, depending on how you look at it. i cannot as comprehensively prove the primary legal aspects of the statement i have made above in this here title for this here blog post, but i am confident that it's a very reasonable conclusion to make from the visual evidence which i have obtained.

i am not saying it as absolute fact that Paul Daniels for some reason stole all the Sooty characters and did a runner to New Zealand, right, but if he did then my sister has, ipso facto or de facto (i am not one of them twats that throw latin terms around to pretend i know the law, so sorry i like, totes don't know which is right), made me an accessory if not an accomplice by sending me these images.

do i worry about the legal implications of making such suggestions, no matter how well founded and understandable those suggestions are based on the images? not really. if i am guilty of taking the name of Paul Daniels and speaking in a way that is ill or would displease him, the threat of libel, slander or defamation cases are the very least of my worries, believe you me. this is Paul Daniels, after all. as in, you know, the Paul Daniels. the greatest warlock ever to walk the planet, although yes i suppose he does mostly levitate all over, such are his powers of sorcery and magic. his powers are immense, and if i have displeased him, i will know his retribution in a way that no court would impose.

actually, it's most likely that Paul Daniels is so powerful a conjurer that he knows what each and everyone one of us will do before we know we shall do it ourselves. ergo, he knew i would write this and yet did not strike me down with vengeance and fury as his allies, so he must thus approve of my words here.

yes, that is Debbie McGee with him, here's one of them class "portrait" style images of them off of New Zealand TV to distract you form the statements above.

a lovely couple if there ever was one, might i say, and it is marvellous how Debbie assisted in enabling his powers of magic to be all the more immense. well, powers of magic and hosting class gameshows like Every Second Counts; which i hope they start showing on the tele now that they seem to have stopped showing Bullseye on weekends. 

an image of  Sooty, Sweep, Sue, His Eminence Paul Danies and Debbie all together? it is decidedly so.

for what reason is it that Paul Daniels, or Sooty for that matter, are in New Zealand? i have no idea. in her rush to get these images to me, my sister neglected to tell me this. i think the answer is that its just an amazing, awesome thing, and one should not question why so much as they should enjoy.

it's a bit, i suppose, like that episode of Beavis & Butthead where they say how cool it would be if there was a 4th Beastie Boy whilst they watched a Beastie Boys video. they never elaborated why it would be cool and, when you think, there's no need to - it just would be. 

perhaps that it's just that someone in New Zealand decided to do a sort of "best of British" thing, but did not wish to overwhelm the population by showing them Paul Daniels and Sooty on separate instances. by combining the two, you would think, all minds would have been entirely blown by the very best that the motherland has to offer, and anyone that was going to feint or faint at the site or sight of it could just get on with it, and them that needed medical attention could get it all at once.

it's a big day for Aotearoa tomorrow, and their neighbours. i think i am right in saying that whoever wins becomes the first side to win it three times. also, if it just so happens to be New Zealand, they will be the first team to successfully defend the title. a tough one for me, the neutral, for i love so much about both countries contesting the game. i guess i can just be happy to watch a hopefully great match, and trust that the winner takes the trophy conclusively and without controversy.

so, anyway, will we ever know why Paul Daniels was in New Zealand with Sooty? unlikely. he answers to no one, least of all not peasant mortals like us. he does what it is that he wishes to, and we must accept that. happily, it looks like he enjoyed whatever it was, and did not strike anyone down with spears of lightning which he conjured up to display his displeasure.

many thanks for sending the pictures along, sis! if you bump into Paul as he floats around the land where you are, please bow, pass on my respects, and assure him that i was bowing when i put forward that humble request.




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

vibes

hello there


today i did that which forces have conspired to make all but impossible in 2015. i, look you see, purchased an actual new CD single what was recorded and released this year. this month, as point of fact.

indeed that is the new Bond theme, Writing's On The Wall, by someone called Sam Smith. don't worry so much about the U2 disc in the background; it's the 18 collection featuring a very badly thought out selection of singles that i had not bothered with but figured what the heck as part of the 2 for £5 deal.

have i seen this new Bond film, Spectre? no, but i believe it's good. i shall settle down and watch it on a shiny disc when it comes out in early 2016. do i at least like the theme? not particularly. i mean, i hated it at first, but after a couple of listens it sort of grew on me. no, i do not have a f*****g clue who or what Sam Smith is, but i do know my (considerably) better half likes who or whatever he is, and she suggested that it would be wise for me to get this. so i did.

 from what i can work out this Writing's On The Wall has been a big-ish hit, joining Duran Duran's A View To A Kill and Adele's Skyfall as one of the biggest selling Bond themes of all time. charts are not so simple any more, though - things like "streaming" and "on demand services" mean that technically songs "sell" all the time, just for no money. the result is a song can now stay in the Top 40 for a year or so.

speaking of Adele, i believe her new song, something of a misguided tribute to Lionel Richie's Hello (presumably written in minutes to cash in on his Glastonbury glory), is "selling" something called "downloads" at a rate of 50,000 a day. as these "downloads" seem to sell for 99p per track, that;s £49,500 a day the lady is "earning", although she will only get a fraction of it.

not bad, but for most of October and some of November 1995, Oasis (mostly Noel) was earning £4million a week off of the sales of the Wonderwall single. times have changed some.

speaking of everyone's favourite middle of the road, decidedly in it for the money alone musician, i see that Noel Gallagher has clocked that mentioning The Stone Roses is a gateway to getting his name in the newspapers. well, that and guesting with U2.

i didn't see it myself, but the NME are reliably informing everyone that Noel said that The Stone Roses were "blooming", which has been taken as a massive hint that they will be "doing something" soon, possibly involving new music. exactly why Noel would know this is baffling, since he's merely intimated that he didn't like the idea of them reforming since they did in 2011; a view that i am sure is unconnected to the fact that they requested Liam and not him do a support slot for them.

would i like some new music off of The Stone Roses? yeah. i mean, the Heaton Park gig was amazing, and it was incredible to be there, to be part of it. but now, 3 years later, i am missing Ian Brown's solo music, i am missing Mani being in Primal Scream, i am missing John Squire issuing a reunion denial every year and, most importantly, i am missing wondering what Reni is up to.

another look at the Sam Smith CD single off of the Spectre theme? of course.

what's on the CD? the title track itself and an instrumental, or if you like version without singing, version of it. i don't remember, but i think that's kind of what was on the Adele Skyfall CD single that i also bought, and was certainly the case with the awesome (i like it) Jack White Another Way To Die 7" single i bought.

yes, i have bought a lot of Bond themes over the years. kind of. i bought GoldenEye, but none of the others off of the poofy Pierce Brosnan ones.

last year, i think, the only CD single i purchased was the Do They Know It's Christmas one. they are, as far as i am aware, the only two singles which have had any sort of release or been easily available in shops over the course of the last two years. it is safe, i think, to say that the CD single is not, alas, making a comeback.

nice one if any or all of this music news was of any interest to you!



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

movies you may have missed

hello there

does anyone at all know why movies, or for that matter movie, look you see, now comes up as an incorrect or misspelt world? movies has for decades been a commonly accepted term to refer to films of the motion picture variety. who is it in charge of spelling on the internet and what is their issue?

anyway, over the course of the last five or so months we, as in my (considerably) better half and i, have managed to watch precisely two movies of our own choosing. in the case of the most recent we were required to stay up until 1am to do so, but no matter. i figured a review of both might be of some use to someone, so here you go.

what two movies did we watch? these.

these were not two movies widely spoken of as being either "must see" or as being ones that broke box office records. i figured, then, giving them a bit of air here might allow those interested and doing a google to see if they were worthwhile or not.

a quick, spoiler-free review of both? it is decidedly so. Dracula Untold is rather good despite essentially covering the same ground dozens of Dracula films have over the decades, and Child 44 is an as good as it could have been adaptation of a novel, but ultimately proves that the story was best told as a novel in the first instance. and Tom Hardy's Russian accent is nowhere near as annoying or distracting as reported.

and yes, weirdly, we somehow ended up electing to watch two films that feature minor "power house" supporting performances from Charles Dance. who has, let it be said, got totes better as an actor since those halcyon days of Last Action Hero. 

righty-ho, as i will be giving some information over for those who read the book Child 44 i must insist on you paying attention to this *** POSSIBLE MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING *** what i have put here. and with that, on we go.

it has been a few months since we watched Dracula Untold, so bear with me.

plot? instead of allowing his young son to be drafted into fighting a war on behalf of the Turkish, crown prince Vlad decides to allow his whole country be put at risk of death and destruction off of the Turks instead. as you do, for what is a position of power if not a position to abuse. anyway, sensing the end of days, he heads off to a cave to cut a deal for invincible power with a mystery monster.

is it any good? yes. basically it's yet another go at an "origins" story of Dracula, and that's still not been bettered at being done than when Francis Ford Coppola gave 8 or so minutes to telling it at the start of his version of this. but that doesn't mean it''s bad.

i am, for instance, quite happy to confirm for you that Luke Evans, he of the title role, is hands down the single best ever Welsh Dracula. unless Richard Burton or Tom Jones has played the part at some stage and i somehow missed out on it. actually, i might have a look around and see if either did, as that would be quite smart in either case.

whereas it's not bad, there's obviously not much of a jot of anything new here, and it's not ever mindbogglingly awesome as it retells that which has been told before. it's a kind of a functional film, then - does a job of entertaining without overwhelming, and has the obligatory ending to suggest that it was intended to be the first of a series of films with the same actors and characters. well, those that survived, at the least.

as you can see, it's got a 15 certificate. despite horror origins and moments, by no means would i call this a horror film - a few jumps and frights, sure, but mostly it's all action. and then you've got the problem that if you want a vampire film that's action not horror, we live in a world where the movie Blade exists. except Wesley Snipes is not Welsh, i suppose.

i picked up Dracula Untold as part of a 2 for £10 deal at HMV. meaning i spent £5, or if you like a fiver, on it. i would say that's on the button. if the movie comes your way cheap, or free via TV or whatever, then it's not a waste of your time.

there were high hopes for the movie adaptation of Child 44 to do well and be brilliant, but it was a box office disaster by all accounts; buried for the most part by reviews that concentrated almost exclusively on Tom Hardy's somewhat heavy but not all that bad Russian accent. this is something of a shame, for whilst it is no overlooked masterpiece that should have won lots of awards, it's certainly not that bad.

plot? a hero of the Soviet army (Hardy) from World War II becomes a prominent figure in what i think is supposed to be the police arm of the KGB. a sequence of events, however, sees him become demoted and an outcast. then he stumbles on connections between the murders of children across the Soviet Union; murders the authorities say do not exist because there is no murder in a Communist heaven. with the help of a senior officer (Oldman) he risks his life to investigate, and in so doing discovered that virtually nothing of his life is how he believed it to be. and if that sounds in any way, shape or form like the 90's Stephen Rea film Citizen X, that would be a yes, it does, just as the novel felt like it "owed" a fair bit to that movie. and, indeed, the real life disturbing events which inspired that particular film.

there's a lot more to it than that. an awful lot more in the book, but this is the film. so the question would be does the film work for you if you've not read the novel? according to my (considerably) better half, the answer to that is "kind of". she says there were parts that didn't make sense initially, and you had to wait for a few moments into scenes to clock what was going on, only then being able to make sense of something which happened minutes before - kind of distracting you from the current action. as i watched it there were times when i felt like i was watching "selected dramatisation" of parts of the novel, made exclusively for the benefit of those who had read it.

as for the lead cast, Noomi Rapace is perfect for the part. i can't decide whether or not Tom Hardy is a sublime genius actor or just a ham-fisted hack, for he seems to be both at once. Gary Oldman in yet another "bit part for the money" role is better than he has been for a while - i really think he should have been in the lead role, but he seems not to want to do lead acting anymore.

for those who have read the novel and are interested, here come the major differences between book and film. i am going to try and change the colour to black to hide away serious spoilers, so you will need to drag your mouse over to read.

* Leo Demidov's origins have changed. he is an orphan. yes, that has radical bearing on the family relations from the novel, in particular at the conclusion. 

* the chase and arrest of Brodsky is simpler and more action orientated 

* i seem to remember a scene with Raisa, Vasili and a knife. if i remember right, well, no matter, it has gone. 

* Raisa's big reveal of the truth is poorly done

* the epic, brilliant train carriage escape from the book is made a lot simpler and faster

other than that, in a condensed way it pretty much covers the important elements of the novel. it just doesn't present them as well as was the case in book form.

would i suggest or recommend that you seek out Child 44? it's north of two hours of not easy watching, but it's not a waste of that time. if nothing else it's a reminder for those of us who remember when he cared in the 80s and 90s that Gaz Oldman can be quite good, still.

so, there you go. two films which i doubt will blow you away or have you saying "that was, like, totes the best thing i have ever seen", but all the same two movies that i doubt anyone would lament giving the time involved to watch them.

if the above has assisted or contributed to you decided to either avoid or have a go at one or both of these movies, nice one.



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

reminiscing of the way we were

hi there

a rare instance of nostalgia this evening, look you see. actually i suppose nostalgia is not all that rare for me; certainly not in respect of the car vibes. but anyway. tonight was a night that we had a power cut.

yes, indeed. we had hoped to have left going without electricity due to system failures behind us back in South Africa, but believe it or not they happen all around the world. it's just that, as you will hopefully see, they tend to get handled a little bit differently here.

but first, a picture. here's our kitchen at around 6pm, in an image taken with the flash most decidedly off.

yes, it is most decidedly dark. the clocks have changed here, so darkness starts to fall upon us not much longer after 4pm of an afternoon.

i contacted the relevant people who deal with all this electricity stuff. they answered the phone within a couple of rings, apologised for not answering it immediately, advised me of the fact that people were working on the situation and gave me what turned out to be an exceptionally accurate time by which they would have the power back on. i was also treated to highly apologetic text messages and given constant updates.

a video of the darkness and the sounds of house alarms going off due to the power failure? sure.

i am reminded of the time we went three days without electricity in Johannesburg. in that incident it took me a day to reach someone on the phone due to them having a "training incident", and then a further day to convince someone that yes, there was indeed a power blackout. i shall not forget the words "eish, are you sure" in a hurry, and i dare say the speaker of them will not forget my response.

i do rather like the approach here to accepting there's a problem, saying sorry, then getting on with fixing it. i do wish the same were true of family and friends still in South Africa, but alas i fear they are at the mercy of the entirely incompetent Eskom for many years to come.

the above scene pictured with the flash on the blueberry camera most decidedly on? sure.

anyway, now that we have power, i am off to eat something cooked. i hope.



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

Spiros and the special bus towards sex

hello there

i would say that i got an exciting message off of Spiros today. however, to do so would, look you see, in some way imply or otherwise indicate that such a thing as a message from Spiros that was not exciting could be possible. it isn't, frankly. the life he leads is one bereft of any change or prospect of things being dull, ordinary or melancholy.

there are, of course, variations and degrees to what it is that he sends that cause the excitement - it is not, after all, simply the case that every message he sends features him starting a fight with a taxi driver after he has spent a day on the cider. well, ok, mostly yes it is, but today was different.

today was a day that Spiros got on a bus. it was not any normal, standard or well maintained bus, such being the kind TfL are known for, but rather it was the special bus that usually members of the public are not permitted to be on.

what was the bus? it was the hush hush, top secret Silk Road bus that Spiros got on. if you are asking if he was brave enough to take a picture, the answer is, like, totes yes.

as is rather well known, Londoners have too much pride to add graffiti to buses themselves, and when wandering tourists do it TfL usually burn the bus and issue a new one straight away. that this one escaped such a fate means that they have deliberately left these numbers on. Spiros said there were 8 or 9 different numbers, all offering different services; the kind which are normally only available on that whole "dark web" thing. this bus, then, must be intended for the exclusive use of guests of TfL that wish to engage in vices.

Spiros was quite excited about the prospect of calling all the numbers that he saw for the services listed, but these two caused him much merriment. as it turned out, being able to contact both what seems to be a gay boy (presumably a very happy chap) and a dealer (presumably of the art variety) as he travelled to a very specific public restroom allowed him to "time manage" and "multi task" his day. nice one, man.

do i suggest you call either or both of those numbers? absolutely not, but if you did, i would imagine letting them known that you know Spiros will see you obtain favourable terms.

anyway, more later. whatever you are doing, i can only hope your day was as much fun and had as much "win" as the one Spiros had dans le bus.



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

episode vii : mission to moscow posters

hi there

yes, look you see, i know - for a film i am seemingly not too bothered or excited about, there's been a lot of posts about this whole Star Wars business. it is not like i advertise or in any other form make money off of this site (although it would be nice), so it can't be that i am referencing it as "click bait". ultimately, of course, i will welcome any new Star Wars film - the trick, perhaps, is that i am not jumping up and down with excitement to see it as soon as possible.

Disney are, as i am sure you are aware, keen to get as many coins of money as possible off of their ownership of Star Wars. last night, for instance, i became aware of the fact that their licensing campaign has stretched as far as accepting payment to have the brand name feature on batteries, no less. although the idea of batteries with Star Wars written on them is pretty cool.

Poundland, that shop i rather like where everything costs £1, have not hesitated to jump on this ship sailing towards total commercialisation. they are presently offering four different posters featuring promotion of the new movie; i got the two better ones for the boys.

indeed that is the two "classic" robots, or if you like droids, off of the original six films, joined with the new, ball or perhaps sphere based one, BB88 or something. quite an exciting menage a trois or whatever the term is for all them people who really, really like robots.

am i looking forward to the story or plot element of the film that features these three robots? not really. the effeminate gold one is clumsy and thick for something that can speak six million languages, the walking dustbin just whistles and i imagine the new ball one rolls around a bit. if the big baddie uses the walking bin, R2 something, to gain info or knowledge about Darth Vader, that would be smart, but otherwise these three will probably be the poor effort at comic relief in the film.

meanwhile, away from all that Star Wars shenanigans, it sometimes feels like we've dived from a less than warm summer and into a testing natured cold winter. autumn happened, or is happening, between the two, which means brown leaves being discarded off of trees.

indeed, the sight of the site like the one above is one that i longed to see in my many years of exile. the American one looks smart, granted, but for me autumn has only truly ever been proper here at home in England. it just kinds of gives me a happy, nostalgic, overtly sentimental sense when i see this. why? sometimes it's best not to question, just to be and do.

but hey, you want more smart, snazzy Star Wars stuff that's centred on promoting all of this Episode VII : Mission To Moscow business. here we go, then, with a sort of montage poster of what is presumed to be the "big bad" off of the new film, a character that a Royal Mail stamp assures me is called Kylo Ren.

is this character going to be any good? hmn. you'd kind of hope so, but there's always the chance that he shall turn out to be distinctly underused, a la Darth Maul, or somewhat annoying, a la Jar Jar Binks.

what with time being a prime commodity and the cost of the venture looking eye watering, i very much doubt i will be seeing this at the cinema. the disc release shall no doubt "happen" in early 2016, that will be most agreeable for having a gander. but, you say, won't i have been hit with spoilers from all over by such a time? in all likelihood yes, but it's not like it is going to be all that much of a mystery as to what the plot and story is.

live long and prosper, then.



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

versace eros

hello there

no, you are not wrong. that title is, as point of fact, correct for this post versace is, look you see, one of several companies that i would gladly consider becoming a sort of quasi brand ambassador for if the money was right (i.e. if any money was on offer). as there is none that i am aware of, however, i am free to post as honest and as earnest a review as i care to on the subject of this new fragrance.

fragrance reviews are hardly that strange or alien a concept on this blog, anyway. one just has to consult the research i've engaged in with regards to brands of lynx that have been on special. although i would yield that the step from lynx being sold for less than £2 towards versace is something of a "game changer". that said, this versace eros stuff cost me nothing but a few moments of time. and no, you cheeky thing, no i most certainly did not shoplift it.

for reasons best known, if not exclusive to them, versace took towards the internet to offer free, as in gratis, samples of their fragrance, eros. as it was but the work of a moment to provide them with this information, that's exactly what i did. a mere two to three weeks after i did that, the above arrived in the post.

as you can see, it's come in some fancy branded envelope, and looks somewhat shiny, presumably with the intention of being attractive enough to lure you into wanting it in your life. that's kind of the point of branding, packaging and advertising.

what was, prior to today, my experience, understanding and knowledge of versace? exceptionally limited, dear reader. i do know that my dear friend Chris quite likes whatever it is he or she, whoever versace is, does, so i guess they must be decent in some capacity. beyond that, i think Madonna mentioned them in a particularly mediocre song, i am all but certain the Pet Shop Boys did in that Absolutely Fabulous song they did, and it was world news when someone called versace got killed, owing exclusively to the fact that Elton John and Princess Diana were most upset about it, and what upset them two was something that dictated news agendas in the 90s.

yeah, that is indeed a Commodore 64 mode image of the versace mail, with scan lines on.

what are my thoughts and experiences of versace now, considering i do for what is most likely the first time theoretically own a versace item? in truth, i am not really that taken with it all. i think the idea of this whole versace (pronounced vizaghe, by the way - if you've been doing it any other way, well, you were wrong) business - and it is a business - is to be less about the product, more about a particular way of life. evidently a way of life i am either not part of or simply have not been invited to yet.

a video of me spraying the versace eros, so that i may sample the wares? i cannot imagine why you would want to see that, but sure. the ambient noises you may well hear on the below come to you courtesy of the Jurassic World blu ray, by the way.

yeah, that is indeed a rather cheap, somewhat tatty and certainly poorly made plastic cannister that versace issue their eros samples in. i suspect that the use of plastic echoes how much confidence versace has in this eros product, which is not a lot. fancy, classy perfume and aftershave makers do, of course, always issue samples in splendid, post class containers. i can only take it as being the case that they want people when they think of versace to "think cheap".

that's really weird, man, as i thought that versace was supposed to be some sort of expensive, exclusive type of brand? well, there you go, something else i have learned from this experience. 

another thing what i have learned is that versace eros is bloody horrible, and if this is what versace think people should smell like, well then maybe versace should rather just stick to whatever the hell it is they normally do and not engage in any more scent samples.

my (considerably) better half and i had a sniff of this, and were both of the impression that it's quite rancid and repulsive. anyone that was attracted to you via you wearing this would not be someone that you would wish to have attracted to you.

how does it smell? the best i can do for you is to say that, to my imagination, it smells of how i would suspect the very cheap, out of date disinfectant that they use in child employing Apple factories in off the grid China smells, only worse.

i have no doubt at all that versace will be disappointed to learn that their efforts have failed, unless of course it is in fact the case that people find the above scent attractive. and perhaps they do, i suppose, considering how well Apple sell their products - those sales simply cannot be on the actual functionality of their devices, for there are not that many stupid people on the planet, so maybe there's something to the scent. most importantly, though, this was all of great disappointment to me.

as those poor, suffering regular readers of this blog shall be all too aware, i am always keen, if not eager, to explore ways in which my massive sexuality may be further enhanced and accentuated. i took it as a given that some versace would do this, but not to be, alas.

well, there you have it. if you try some of the eros of versace, i really do hope that you get on with it a lot better than i do. may it make you smell as you wish, and allow you to attract who you want.




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

mysteries of the episode seven : mission to moscow trailer

hi there

so, that trailer that everyone's excited about. you know, the one for the new Star Wars film, Episode VII : Mission To Moscow, or whatever. whilst it isn't a bad trailer as such, my view on it would be one of it being rather subdued and not as exciting as it could be. don't get me wrong, i'm as keen for more Star Wars as anyone (except them really rabid fans); i'm just not convinced that there's either any more story to tell, or any value in simply telling the same story once again for what would be the seventh time.

there were a few things of interest, look you see, in this new trailer, though. to that end, then, i have grabbed a few images to have a gander at and muse about, or on, or over, or whatever the right tense or phrase is supposed to be.

first off, the apparent hamfisted way they have sought to make sure that Darth Vader has some sort of presence in the film, even if it's only in the form of a 35 year old decapitated mask hat thing.

the bit about this which is, to me, exciting, is that someone will have had to go to Endor to go and fetch it. that means battling with them Ewok things to get it. the Ewoks, lest we forget, are somewhat primitive. as in the first reaction an Ewok had to Princess Leia was to sexually assault her, and their (admittedly understandable) first reaction to that illegal immigrant smuggler Han Solo was to cook him alive and eat him. well, we presume eat him, Luke got all gaylord nancy boy about it and stopped them.

if we get to see some scenes of someone running around and totally twatting Ewoks in order to get this helmet, i'm ready to say that this will be the best Star Wars ever.

speaking of the nancy boy farmer that pretended he was an orphan (presumably to score sympathy off the babes, and indeed to claim Tattooine's version of benefits falsely), everyone seems certain that this is the Luke right here, manhandling R2.

it probably is. but, also, if there's a baddie obsessed with all things Vader of Darth, would it not make sense that he would get hold of the only living droid not to have had its memory blanked that was there when Obi-Wan twatted Darth Vader to learn as much as he could of the Vader of Darth, and use the robot bin to go and find whatever it is that it wanted to find? that does, after all, look like the volcano planet where Darth Vader got a proper lamping.

in terms of the baddie, or the "big bad" in Mission To Moscow, that would almost certainly seem to be this Kylo Ren character. a character that will turn out to be related to that girl off of the trailer if George Lucas was allowed any input at all into the films. 

going on this snippet from the trailer, however, it seems that he will be a pretty crap baddie.

yeah, that's him turning around to do one of them vulcan death chokes on someone or other as he and his platoon march onwards. so he lets the enemy, whoever that is, sneak up on him, does he? that's pretty lame, and i can only imagine he is going to be the easiest baddie to beat since, probably, the homoerotic, chubby Bennett off of Commando.

now that i look, maybe the droid and possibly Luke scene is at the same battle as that above picture.

otherwise, the plot is looking fairly linear. some sort of new Empire of Evil rises, there's a rebellion against it, the rebellion gets twatted, some kids recall the legend of the Jedi, decide to seek out an ageing illegal immigrant smuggler, his pet and an adopted princess of a planet she stood and watched get all blown up, and off they go to find their "only hope" in the form of Luke. the internet is full of fans who have put forward far, far worse ideas for films.

the last question, then, would be who dies? most are expecting Han Solo to be dead by the end of this film. Harrison Ford has, by all accounts, been obsessed with giving Han an onscreen death since the second film.

if that's the case, obviously he doesn't die in this scene, unless he can come back like one of them "force ghost" things. so why is Leia so upset?

some say it's possibly because the illegal immigrant's pet gets killed, or maybe one of them kids or even one of the robots. in all likelihood, however, she is just upset because she has to go and look for her @ssh0le brother, the one that spent more time that you would expect a sibling would in trying to sleep with her.

i think the film gets released in 6 or 7 weeks, and i am sure we will all know everything about it then. me? i will probably just wait for the disc to get released early in 2016, in truth. i mean, the film looks like it might be ok, but nothing to rush and see.


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

the cowboy look revival

hi there

well, there you go. we all knew this was coming, look you see, or at least those that knew of the controversies of my cowboy look knew that it would return once i had the brown boots back in order to do the look. for everyone else i suppose the terms revival, or return, are somewhat redundant here, but let it go, just go with it man.

today felt like as good a day as any to unleash the cowboy look once more. sure, granted, a lack of black jeans and an abundance of blue jeans being available this morning might have contributed some, but no matter, the look has been here today. and here you go.

this was all quite exciting for me as it was, strangely, the first time that i have stepped out into society whilst dressed in my sensational cowboy look this side of the equator. my experimentation with the image had, up until today, been limited to all south of that imaginary line. now is the time for the north to experience it.

there have, of course, been differences beyond which side of the equator i was on when i have strutted my stuff in this look. on previous occasions i had the look in place when i went to places such as Pretoria, where i engaged in certain matters with the police clearance certificate place, and indeed the British Embassy, or whatever it is they call it now. also, the morally bankrupt wastelands of Sandton got to taste the look, thanks to that whole Gautrain thing.

a full gander at the cowboy look? sure, why not. here's one of them rare things in this world for you, a picture of me that i actually really rather like. you might too.
 

yes. it's a little bit dark and shady, and you can't really see the cowboy look too proper in it. there's very much something of a Colonel Kurtz off of Apocalypse Now to this, or maybe that bit in Altered States when William Hurt was in the doorway with the music of The Doors playing. anyway, i like it. and yeah, my (considerably) better half took another of me in a bit more light, hold on.

if not in the likes of Pretoria and Sandton, where then did my cowboy look get its first showing off here today? at that whole harvest assembly thing i mentioned in a post earlier in the week. here, with this picture you can play "where's William" if you like, although i would imagine he is easy enough to spot.

what's a harvest assembly all about? it's marking the end of the harvest season here in the northern hemisphere, giving thanks for the bumper crops that may feed us through winter and sharing the produce with those less fortunate in the community. also, sharing flowers, as per the brief interlude picture in my classy, sensational look at the world of assembling ikea furniture, posted less than 24 hours ago.  which you can access by scrolling around this site and looking or by clicking here if in a rush.

i know the above is entirely at odds with the impression many around the world have of how harvest works in the UK. in most countries around the world, the understanding of how harvest works here is based exclusively on the documentary The Wicker Man, which means people believe that (*** MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD ***) we secure our crops by getting Dracula to lure virgin police officers to come to the village of their own free will, or if you like volition, and then burning them. this approach, regrettably, was more or less abandoned in the 70s.

anyway, that clearer look at my revived cowboy style.

yeah, the darker, keep him in the shadows one is much better, is it not?

beyond the harvest festival i went, and took my cowboy look into the village proper. what was the result? it seemed to neither harm nor enhance my transactions at the post office, the place where they sell bread and that, the chippie or the library. a success, then.

i know that most of you will want to admire these images in peace, or perhaps go and find something (anything) of more interest on the net, so i shall leave this here. and why not.




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

the ikea experience

hello there


this is one of them consumer action group sort of posts, look you see, written in the earnest but possibly pointless hope that the comments will be of passing use to anyone considering buying stuff similar to what i have. or, in this instance, similar to what my (considerably) better half purchased and i mostly put together.

under the intense yet eco-friendly spotlight today is the wonders of ikea flat pack furniture. it would seem that this is the furnishings of choice in England these days, which is weird. when i left England for my jolly adventure in the Africa of the South, ikea had just come in and was mostly dismissed as a novelty, dumped on the geordies of newcastle with good reason.

the concept of ikea, for those that do not know, is you basically purchase some high quality furniture that has a substantial warranty on it (they don't want their broken products out there in the world, that's dedication to brand management), with the trick being that you have to build it yourself.

as we required some new furnishings for our new home, my (considerably) better half took to the ikea site on the basis that they offered damned good prices and were prepared to name a delivery date and stick to it. here we go, then, with a rundown on what we got and what issues i experienced (if any) in assembly.

dining table and bench - yes, i know you can see a chair or two too, be patient.
if i had built the table first, right, i can promise you that this blog would feature an awful lot of swearing about the swedish in general and ikea in particular. as i've mentioned before, anyone who says they hate ikea and will not have them again has, you can be sure, had to assemble one of their tables.

the dining table is magnificent, but a nightmare to assemble. which is weird, as theoretically it is the most basic design. the parts that come with it, in particular the corner metal support things, are sharp, lethal affairs that i cut my fingers on. the bolts rarely align correctly, and the instructions might as well be picture of Bennie and Bjorn. if you want a very, very smart looking dining table off of ikea, i suggest you bung them the £20 or so that they apparently charge to build it for you.

a sort of similar story with the bench - wonderful idea, should be a pretty basic design, but the bolts and screws are not a pleasant experience. be sure to have a long necked screwdriver at the ready. 

dining table chairs, or if you like chairs that are to be used as dining table chairs and i do not really care what the swedes had in mind for them
my (considerably) better half elected to do all four of these, quite possibly on the basis of all the swearing i did about the table the day before she did them.

these were a doddle, apparently. the first one took her 14 minutes to make; by the fourth one it took her around 10 minutes.

you would think the intention is to varnish them, or at the least add a cushion, but in honesty they are smart as they are. they can handle the challenge of my weight and size of arse, at the least, and it's a comfy sit.

for the benefit of those that do not know me too good, when it comes to DIY and all that sort of thing i am most usually banned from doing it. i wouldn't say that i am the worst in the world for building and assembling, but i do have a distinct lack of confidence, and in fairness one or two slight mishaps in my history of having a go at this. the idea, then, of building all this ikea stuff was an interesting one. in a worst case, i figured i had access to a massive drill, a hammer, some nails, a saw and the telephone numbers of people that could probably sort it all.

hey ho, all done now, so onwards to the next, which happens to be the first that we built.

 

fancy desk with backing whiteboard, shelves and a cabinet and that

my (considerably) better half invested in two of these, one each for the boys, and we soon clocked that it would make life easier to do the rest of the stuff in peace if we sorted the desks for the boys out first. so we did.

quite, in light of the above, a confidence boosting experience. it's this sort of thing that people love about ikea, i imagine - it's a fairly complex, multiple feature item, but the design and assembly instructions make it an absolute breeze to put together.

some slight drilling is required into the wood in order to put the holes where you want them to screw the whiteboard and back shelf section to the desk. that's if you go for the optional extra of that. i would imagine that a life in which i was expected to just assemble these desks all day, every day would be a most pleasant and happy life indeed.

a quick break from the world of ikea for a bit of a gander at some flowers? surely.

  

these were purchased for a harvest assembly tomorrow. in total they cost me 50p less than what Spiros spends every week on three lame daisies that a bloke steals from a memorial left by a lamppost or kebab shop, shoves in a brown box and delivers with a crappy poem and some poor lifestyle advice.

but hey, back to the world of ikea for you.

some sort of clothes hanging device that's a bit like a wardrobe, only without sides, a top, a bottom, doors or easy access to a magical land where lions and sh!t talk to you.
i have absolutely no idea what is involved in this as my (considerably) better half did it all. i am not convinced that it is supposed to wobble by design as much as it would seem to by default, but far be it from me to question her skill and prowess at following the instructions to build.

yes, indeed them are some of the blue jeans i bought so that i may perfect my cowboy look. it is a cowboy look that may well, look you see, return tomorrow. well, it's all that harvest assembly business, so why not mark the occasion, whatever it actually is (sounds like it might be Neil Young related) by bringing about a revival of one of the most controversial fashion statements i ever made.

would i suggest or recommend that you, dear reader considering some smart stuff off of ikea, get one of these? yes, if you need something to hang clothes on or from and the idea of a wardrobe, like, totes offends you, doll. it's quite nifty and handy, and i am learning to live with the rocking and the swaying as i select a pair of strides of a morning.

super massive couch that's way too big for our lounge (it's funny what happens when you measure after you order) with a gaylord, nancy boy French sounding bit on the end of it, a chez longue or something like that
the idea of building something this massive filled me with fear and dread, dear reader. i mean, look at it.

yes, Dad, that's that Tigger toy on it, and no the cat is not real.

as it turned out, this was by far the easiest and simplest of the ikea items what i built to build. it was mostly all hinges and that; from what i remember the requirement from me was to put in 6 or 8 bolts and screw in the legs. i think it took longer to force the cushions into the covers than it did to build the actual frame.

it weighs a lot, mind, and does need some turning and tilting to assemble. heed the bit in the instructions where it says you need a second person with you to get the job done.

much of the above applies to the below, which shall make sense when you see the image.

smart fancy armchair
as per the couch, in truth. as i just said. this was an absolute breeze to put together. i think 10 minutes in total, and that's including allowing William to have a go at screwing the legs in.

so, that's my ikea experience. for now, at the least. there has been some talk of bedside tables off of them, and possibly drawers so that i may house my extensive wardrobe all the better.

my thoughts and feelings? mostly genius, brilliant stuff, but whoever the swedes left in charge of table design and parts is an utter nutter that likes the idea of people hurting themselves. maybe it's an Abba thing, or anger that the nation cannot claim a-Ha as their own and get away with it now that people can look up Norway on the internet.

as i said fairly close to the start, and well done you for reading this far, hopefully this is all of some sort of use to someone somewhere!




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

star wars stamps

hi there


yeah, i know. everything that is internet which is Star Wars today has all been about that trailer; a trailer which isn't all that great but is a trailer all the same. i'll get around to doing something or other about that if the mood takes me, look you see, but for now my classy Star Wars stamps arrived off of Royal Mail.

well, when i say mine, my (considerably) better half was the protagonist in this instance. there is one set in particular that i was going to buy, but she quite liked the idea of having them all. to that end, then, here's the 12 character stamps.

yeah, sorry about the quality off of my blueberry camera phone thing, but it's not like you can't swing past the Royal Mail site and seem them in super duper high quality. or, you know, if you are in the UK, just buy some for yourself.

12 character stamps, then - 9 from the "classic" trilogy, with brief hints of characters from the "prequel" trilogy in the corner, and three from the new film. nope, there is no Lando Calrissian stamp, you are not seeing wrong. Lando continues to get f****d over, then. people forget that if it were not for him, everyone would be dead and the Emperor would be ruling whatever it was he ruled over still. but noooo, everyone makes a big deal over the nancy biy farmhand that pretended to be an orphan and his mate the illegal immigrant smuggler. i am sure that's not just because they happen to be white.

anyway, the spaceships of Star Wars are also celebrated in stamp form. although they have seriously missed a trick in not making a smart round one of the Death Star.

the spaceships were, weirdly, the dullest part of Star Wars. none of them are as smart or as inspiring as that one with the disc on it off of Star Trek, and the x-wing looks crap compared to them smart ones they flew about in in Battlestar Galactica. makes sense, especially as Battlestar Galactica had a better theme to it, and more members of the cast off of The A Team too.

is it normal to promote or advertise films via stamps? not really, at least not here in England. it would not be a shock to learn that such a thing was standard in America. in England it was always the case that the only living person that could be on a stamp was the reigning  monarch, i am not sure when they changed that or why. they certainly have not changed it to the extent that a Jar Jar Binks is allowed on a stamp, at the least, or one of them annoying, cannibalistic Ewok things.

will i be using any of the Star Wars stamps for my correspondence? yes. not the two sets above; for they have been bought on the instruction of my (considerably) better half to be kept safe. these smart 12 Boba Fett ones, however, are ones i bought to use as and when i feel the recipient of my musings is worthy of getting one of them in the post.

some people say that those of us who like Boba Fett are twats, and totally misunderstand Star Wars, as he is hardly in the films. an interesting observation. it's worth noting that, in the grand scheme of things, the T-Rex had barely a couple of minutes in Jurassic Park, Hannibal Lecter was in the silence of the lambs for less than 15 minutes, and Don Corleone was in The Godfather for something like 20 minutes. and yet all three prove to be, without question, the most memorable characters or vintage animal things in the respective movies.

Disney are clearly seeking to licence, sell and merchandise their new Star Wars toy absolutely anywhere they can. if this allows me to do things like send letters with Boba Fett on them as a means of paying for postage, no argument from me.

i trust these images have been of some interest or use to someone, and in the true spirit of the Cylon code off of Star Wars in which Neo was the chosen one, live long and prosper.



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

day of release variations

hi there

whilst they have shifted album releases to Thursdays and Fridays due to the change in the cycle of when they calculate the charts, it is reassuring to know that Monday remains, look you see, as the day of preference for when they release things on DVD, Blu Ray and any other format that i cannot be bothered to think of at the moment. with that in mind, off i went to HMV today for one of those mentioned formats to pick up a film on its day of release.

yep, the "long awaited" 4th instalment of the Jurassic Park films, in this instance Jurassic World, or if you like Jurassic Park IV : Citizens On Patrol. or maybe A New Hope is apt, for they are looking to launch a class new franchise off of the back of this.

that is indeed a very smart HMV bag that the disc came in. i can hear you saying "it b@stard wants to be, looking at the price of the disc", but the law is the law, i did indeed have to pay 5p for the honour and prestige of owning this bag.

is Jurassic World any good? yes. there's been a few moans, groans and complaints, but ultimately it set out to be a two hour film of twatting about with dinosaurs, and if you have no expectations higher than that, then it's great fun that you cannot imagine anyone could have done better. 

a brief pause, ladies and gents, for the benefit of Spiros. Spiros doesn't care for things like blu ray or Jurassic anything, so here is a discarded packet of Richmond menthol outside of the Bongo to jeep his interest up.

if i went up to Spiros, right, and said "hey, Spiros, what do you think of Jurassic World, the new, exciting, crazy ass dinosaur movie?", he would ask me if it was something that would get him drunk. if i chose to answer this in an honest way, which is to say now, then he would just growl a bit, complain about how i have wasted his time, and then punch me in the face, quite hard as it happens due to all his class training in the ways of the kung fu and karate and all that smart stuff. there you go, Spiros, happy viewing. for the rest of us, back to Jurassic World.

i did indeed, and i would not say happily, pay £19.99 (plus 5p) for the privilege and honour of owning the blu ray. considering many say that the optical disc, or if you like physical format, is dying if not dead, they sure have released this movie in many formats. the options available to me were the standard DVD for £9.99, the standard blu ray for £14.99, the waste of time 3D blu ray and normal, proper blu ray for £17.99, or the HMV exclusive steelbook waste of time 3d blu ray and normal, proper blu ray for £19.99. i really quite liked the steelbook, so that's what won.

a look at the reverse side of the bag? it is reverse, dear reader, as i have no clue at all which side is the front and which is the back.

considering the idea of the 5p charge for bags was to discourage people from using them, it is quite strange that HMV have elected to make some that are likely to be collectors items and, if anything, see them sell more bags than they would normally have given away. what a peculiar world. still, a nice touch that they did this; oh how i wish there was any music decent enough for HMV to promote in a similar way.

for those interested, in terms of extras, the DVD makes a lot of noise about how it features a deleted scene, whereas all blu ray editions say that they feature deleted scenes. it is most annoying that film collectors that don't happen to have blu ray get diddled over on the DVD releases these days. hey ho.

anyway, things to do, and that's two updates this evening, look you see.



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

first walkman

hello there


yes. i do know that, look you see, and i appreciate what you are thinking 'walkman' is a brand name, and one that is trademarked by them off of Sony. the correct term for a non-Sony personal cassette player is, as point of fact, a personal cassette player. but everyone knows it as a walkman, and Sony should thus be proud that their brand has become a byword. if not, well, they are welcome to suck basically anything i have that they can access without causing me distress until they get over it.

and, after that laboured introduction, onwards we go. today i bought a walkman (see above), but not my first ever walkman. no, that's one we will get to on the travels through this blog. today i bought young William his first ever walkman (except for a basic mp3 player that he has been making do with).

why did i purchase this for him? because he has been after one for close to a year. why, in the year 2015, would he want a walkman, especially when he already has a serviceable mp3 player? that's a question that needs no answer if you happened to have seen Guardians Of The Galaxy. and if for some reason you have not seen it, see it - it's a wonderful, brilliant adventure film; very much a new Star Wars for a new generation. so much so, in fact, that this is maybe why i am not that excited about Episode VII : Mission To Moscow.

what William actually wanted was one of Daddy's "music thingies", for he knows that i have two. this was something i would have been delighted to give him. my efforts in this regard, alas, have failed. i spent every spare hour, and some that i did not have to spare, going through all the boxes of all our stuff. i found several items of great interest - my blu ray collection, for instance, and as point of fact a whole stack of tapes - but sadly not one single one of the two walman thingies, or if you like walkmen, that i have. weirdly, one is an actual, genuine walkman, for it is a Sony one with the word "walkman" emblazoned on it. so off i went, then, to purchase a walkman for him during lunch off of verk today.

where did i get this Bush portable cassette recorded / walkman from, and how much did it cost? Argos, for £9.99 coins of money, reduced from £14.99. did i select this one for him because it was the best one they had or the cheapest? neither case; it was bought for it was the only one they had listed as being available.

this has, of course, brought back all sorts of enthusiasm and memories for the first walkman i had. it was a very big and boxy thing, sort of metallic blue and silver. Mum & Dad got it for me in 1981 or 1982, for reasons i can only guess at of being related to birthday or christmas motivations.

first and favourite tapes? one of the first i had, and this i played on a "ghetto blaster" on the plane from England to Australia with massive headphones on, was one of them storybooks of one of the better Star Wars motion pictures, Empire Strikes Back. first music would probably have been the tape of the album of Prince Charming by Adam And The Ants. the fondest memory i have of my first tapes, however, is a tape that my Dad made me on his smart stereo of Queen's rightly celebrated Greatest Hits album.

that was a tape that was made of tougher stuff than you or i. it once, when we were staying in a hotel whilst moving from Sydney to Brisbane (as i am sure we all did at some point), the tape fell several storeys off a balcony and onto a rather menacing air conditioning system. an employee of the hotel (thank you) climbed out of a close by window and retrieved it for me; it was slightly cracked but i could still play it. let's see you do that with one of your fancy Apple iGalaxy Tablet things.

onwards to the now, then, and what tape was it that William was so very keen to play on his shiny brand new walkman? i would wager that if you have been paying attention, you can guess, but if not or you simply cannot be bothered, here you go.

yep, my first use proper of my newly reinstated stag was to convert the Guardians Of The Galaxy CD into the tape format that it was always intended to be in.

a video of me playing the first CD on the stag as i taped? why not.

oddly, i could have bought the soundtrack on tape for £5.99 off of HMV, but i didn't know it was to be available for one week only, so gave it a miss. now, of course, people are selling it on eBay for ten times that cost. hey ho, my taping skills shall suffice. 

but isn't hope taping killing music and, in brackets at the bottom as if to suggest the record labels were not sure of this claim, illegal? probably. somewhere on this blog is a copy of the NME from 1980 or 1981, in which the record labels said that home taping was costing them "about a billion dollars a year" and that the music industry would cease to exist by the mid-80s. we all know how that worked out.

so, what does William think of the experience now that he has a walkman with the tape he so desperately wanted for it? it was with interest that he observed that, on both the tape and CD, the songs are not in the right order, which is to say they are different from the sequence in which they appear in the film.

also, he has now accepted as fact that skipping backwards and forwards between songs on a walkman is not, as point of fact, as easy as it is to do on an mp3 player. Mummy and Daddy have been trying to caution him in this respect, but it did not bring an end to his determination to have one of these fine, fine machines. none, i should point out, of these observations have in any way, shape or form stopped or ended his enthusiasm for having the means to listen to music in the exact same way that Star Lord off of Guardians Of The Galaxy does.

do i get all nostalgic for tape? no, not really. i mean, i really do miss the romance and the challenge of making the perfect mix tape, and indeed the fact that you had to actually listen to the music as it recorded. but, if we are honest, Apple got it spot on with the iPod - the only success they had that i would say was well earned. mp3 may very well be a crap format to listen to music to when compared to vinyl or CD, but my word it is convenient when you are out and about.

just for a last picture for now on this subject, here, look, you see the running length of the CD for the soundtrack off of Guardians Of The Galaxy?

yeah, right. whoever made this made it with their mind on how long you had on one side of a blank 90 minute tape, and made it fit accordingly. nice one. and yes, William has on the go a 90 minute tape with this soundtrack recorded on both sides. it seemed to make life easier.

both of our children have a wonderful passion for music, even if for the most part it's the rubbish they make today. in that regard, my (considerably) better half and i must surely have done something right as parents, and we remain very happy to support them exploring whatever music does it for them.

if this blog post has brought back for you some memories of your first tape, your first CD mix, or the first time someone handed you a 64GB memory stick with a whole load of music that they had illegally downloaded for you, so much the better.



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