emissary and messenger

hello there

oh. so it is true, look you see. a certain delivery company in the UK - one that tends to fill customers with dread when, at the last moment, it is revealed that they shall be "delivering" whatever they have ordered  - actually do something what i had heard about but never experienced. until now. and yet all went well. 

it is not my place to name and shame this company. let it be said that it is the one what takes its name from a deity out of greek mythology. of the many things, aspect and roles ascribed to this olympiad (and many would highlight his association with thieves), presumably the company in questions elected to embrace this name for his assignment as the "messenger of the gods". well, if you are going to start something, don't p!ss about i suppose, name yourself as the strongest and best and try to do that. 

whilst i cannot quote a specific number of instances, it has been the case that i have been the benefactor of their services on several occasions. rather on auto-pilot i groaned upon the discovery of this, for their reputation for failed deliveries, and indeed damaged or "missing" items, is now an established part of the English way of doing things. and yet on each instance of them delivering something to me it has been flawless and perfect, all fully tracked and always landing within the impressive two hour window they advise me of. 

but, then again, i have always been home when they have delivered (mostly by default rather than design, but still). on instances when no one is around to accept an item, they have been known to leave said item in a "safe" place and email you a picture. i had heard legends of these images, but here above is the one they sent me. this was in relation to a parcel recently received (obviously), with the item being a secret thing that i care not to disclose the details of. rather unusual it was, as point of fact, to get this picture, considering it was seen to be collected by me by the happy go lucky driver delivery dude who left it on the doorstep, knocked and then "socially distanced" to make sure i got it, as per the prescribed methods and ways of the invisible war on the new plague. 

no, i have no clue as to what aspect of our home the above picture represents. if, indeed, it is any part of such at all. conceivably it might be a really blurred close up of a glass pane on the door, i suppose. just as well it was, then, that i was home when delivery was (successfully) attempted, for know not do i where i would seek it out if i were not. 

for enthusiasts of such things, the item in question arrived (safe and sound and in fine condition) some 48 hours after i ordered it and just north of 24 hours after the company i purchased it off handed it over to Herm.... to the company named after some greek fellow. putting that it context, it took Royal Mail precisely one (1) week to deliver the most most recent of Bowie releases this year (although one shall be more recent by the time this is published), that Metrobolist (or whatever) 50th (!) anniversary release of The Man Who Sold The World, and that was posted first class.  yes, with some good luck and life, review of that to follow.

absolutely no idea (as ever or usual) who may be interested in this sort of thing, but many thanks indeed for having a read. 

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

understanding what brilliant might mean

howdy pop pickers

yes, indeed, this is another post pertaining (or relating to) David Bowie, look you see. it is so that the Bowie Estate has worked out a way to extract yet more money from me. sure, in fairness, that is not all that difficult for them to do, just wave some music with his name on it at me. but not, as they are trying, a water bottle with his name on, which they want £50 for. fifty, that is not a typo.

i had really rather assumed that the year was done with Bowie releases, to be honest. so far we have had, after all, Is It Any Wonder? and ChangesNowBowie, as well as (yet) another live thing from the 1974 tour that was a record store day release. further, soon (hopefully before this is published), the 50th anniversary release thingie for The Man Who Sold The World (renamed Metrobolist or something, certainly begins with an M) is out / due. yes, this is overlooking the Absolute Beginners soundtrack, too, which i felt obliged to pick up. 

quite the surprise, then, when the Bowie Estate (via the official site) announced that they were releasing a series of, get this, six (6) live albums, entitled the Brilliant Live Adventures series, covering concerts from 1995 to 1999. starting with one from 1995. 

that is indeed a most excellent cover for this first of the "brilliant" live "adventures", made even more better thanks to the greater glory of Commodore 64 mode. it is a really, really good thing that this album, Ouvrez Le Chien (which James tells me means something along the lines of out the dog, and his French is a lot better than mine), has such a splendid cover, for that is just about the best thing going for it. a Bowie fan i am, yes, devout so, but that does not mean i am going to praise any tosh. buy it, sure. 

want to address some of the controversies around this release, and the whole concept, first? sure. it is most decidedly so that we, the fans, have come well and truly used to needless attempts at being completely f****d over by the Bowie Estate, simply for being fans and, you know, wishing to buy music. generally i overlook these as (mostly) i have been able to get the releases i wish for. many have not. in this instance, they really did a number on collectors who are more avid and devout than me. 

for some inexplicable reason they decided to sell - separately - a cardboard box in which one can house all the cds or lps as and when they have been lucky or fortunate enough to buy them all. these boxes, selling somewhere north of £15 (for an empty cardboard box), were "strictly limited" in availability but not, alas, limited in how many one person could buy. oh yes, indeed, the more entrepreneurial types bought as many as they could, and the last i saw they (empty cardboard boxes) are exchanging hands on the great car boot of the internet for north of £200 (two hundred). 

also, once again it is that the Bowie Estate have elected to make these CD (and vinyl) releases a strictly limited edition number. this first volume is already sold out on the UK / EU store (so far as i am aware one could only purchase there), but is available on the USA store. so, they underestimate the demand for Bowie recordings in the UK (and Europe) but overestimate the demand in the States. oh, if only they had, say, some 50 or so years of sales data to work out who may want what. 

right, with those complaints and grievances aside (for now), time to get on to the problems and issues with this album, along with where relevant (not too often) highlight good aspects of it. for context, then, this was recorded on Bowie's first solo tour for some five years, specifically a gig in Texas in October 1995. which was 25 years ago, blimey. 

one important thing to note was that the solo tour prior to this, the Sound+Vision "greatest hits" thing, was yes, mostly, a lucrative way of topping up the bank account, but artistically Bowie "freeing" himself from any obligation to play "the hits" ever again. he made it abundantly clear that on any future sets after the greatest hits tour was done, the songs would be his choice. that might involve some well known bit hits or, as is predominantly the case with this gig, it might well not. 

nice picture on the back, too, but yes i prefer the cover one. anyway, it is a bit harsh to say this is a set bereft of hits or well known songs. for a start, there is the small matter of a massive number one single there, being as it is in the form of Under Pressure. also, The Heart's Filthy Lesson was a reasonable hit, and if i remember right Breaking Glass got a single release (and film named after it) too. oh, yes, i know that there is a song on that setlist which has or had indeed become extremely well known, but we shall get to that. or, i will, you will if you stick with reading this. obviously.

bearing in mind that the tour was in support of the 1.Outside (to use most of the full title) album, this is a set dominated by songs from it. not necessarily the best songs from that convoluted, overtly too long concept album, but some of them are. six songs on the disc are, to be precise. if vast swathes of the full record were pretty much incoherent and (possibly deliberately) inaccessible, then it makes somewhat less sense to have sporadically plucked some of the songs from it and play them in isolation, not to mention out of sequence. should that be possible with a "non-linear hyper diary" or whatever he called it. 

still, out there somewhere is someone who really, really likes 1.Outside, possibly rating it as the only Bowie record which counts. bonus if they managed to get a copy of this, and all the better if their most favourite songs are the ones plucked to be performed. the slightly less good news for such a person is the overall sound quality here. which is not very good. not quite bootleg levels as such, but very much heading in that area. 

with no musical ability or talent whatsoever, i am unfamiliar with the right phrasing or terminology to describe this. but, i would like to think, i know what i hear. huge chunks of this sound of the calibre and quality of a badly designed, ill advised FM broadcast. much of the album has assumed, or taken as a given, that what anyone wishing to buy this recording was interested in the most was the drumming. it is mixed, or placed, right at the forefront, with all else sounding muffled. across huge chunks of the album it is so that whenever is Bowie is singing - and let me suggest that this is predominantly what people who bought this record would wish to hear - someone went "oh, f***, David is using the microphone, quick, throw a blanket over the recording equipment". i am sure they had good reason to do this, yet i cannot comprehend what that might have been. 

interestingly, or perhaps suspiciously, the one vocal not to be blighted in this way at all is the final track, a superb performance of Teenage Wildlife. also, on that one, the recording equipment is blissfully moved away from just the drums. on the sleeve it says this was produced by David Bowie. either he prepared it for release and thought better of it, or had every intention of it sounding exactly like it does and wanted anyone listening to have the abiding memory being of how excellent Teenage Wildlife is. 

a surprising and yet not at all surprising inclusion in the set is, of course, The Man Who Sold The World. this was a song Bowie was known never ever to be happy with his recordings of, yet he knew it was strong material. at one stage it was even hurled at Lulu to try and make it the song it seemed to be to him. ultimately, of course, it got widespread attention, fame and adoration via Nirvana's MTV Unplugged take on the song. which turned out, or has come to be seen, as Kurt Cobain's swansong moment. 

most of us, i would think, took Bowie's decision to all of a sudden start performing the song as some sort of part acknowledgement, part tribute, part, oh yeah i had forgotten about that one thing. now, i am not certain. listening to it here again, it seems Bowie quite deliberately (maybe his subversion fetish) removed the distinct guitar solo bits, making it quite different from the Nirvana revival. also, it has come to light that Bowie told Dave Grohl, the drummer out of Nirvana and the self-styled "nicest guy in rock", to f*** off. perhaps it was rather more "that is my song, thank you, i am taking it back". 

to my ears, in looking at another track, the version of Under Pressure here is "different" to the one which appeared on the Hallo Spaceboy single. although that is listed as also being recorded in 1995. yes, the one on the single is much much better quality. so either there is a better quality recording of this gig which (at least once) existed, or a better concert recording lurks. 

going on the title of these, i am not really certain that this album is "brilliant". for qualification, i have played it through some 8 or 10 times, possibly just to extract some value. whether it is an adventure or not, i suppose, is down to the listener. should you be a fan who failed to secure a physical copy, well sorry, i know what a gap in a collection feels like. but this is neither dazzling nor essential.

just where next for these Brilliant Live Adventures? there is a limited pool for the next five. on the plus side, from what i recall as the 1.Outside tour progressed into 1996, the song selection was less that album, more some real gems of a set list. but on the negative, or down, there shall no doubt be at least one release related to the Earthling tour. perhaps the celebrated London Astoria 1999 gig, arranged purely to record and release, will finally get an official issue, then. it is possible some sort of "remastered" or "expanded" version of Vh1 Storytellers could be included, but they have only recently issued the as-is version on vinyl. we shall find out, i guess. 

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

know that hmv knew music once

heya

just a touch of nostalgia, look you see, in a dual format i suppose. i took it upon myself to wander and to browse hmv recently; just before the most recent lockdown. whereas i had no intention of purchasing anything as such, to do so would have been a most splendid thing. 

to eliminate any false (and needless) sense of suspense or drama, no i did not buy anything. an outcome which, alas, has been far too frequent the case with my most increasingly infrequent visits. unsure if there shall be further, frankly. maybe i just own already all the decent albums what one can get off of a shop, perhaps no great albums which have a conventional retail release are likely to be created. 

ostensibly, then, HMV still operates as a store which was known as the home of music. there above is the window display, and indeed music is advertised. no clue what the bottom two albums are, but above are more easy to identify. the one is Cliff, or Sir Cliff, which probably has a built in target market and will be quite handy for random Christmas gifts. as much of a fan of U2 as i am, also featured is the utterly pointless All That You Can't Leave Behind anniversary edition. the two disc reissue consists of the album and a "highlights" live CD, for £14.99. for context, you can go into most branches of Poundland and get the album for £1, whereas the 2 DVD set of the full concert they offer CD highlights of can be bought online for £2 or £3. i am not sure i see the value in paying for a slightly different booklet with slightly different pictures of Larry the drummer and whoever. 

as for the remainder of this section of window, as you can (kind of) make out it features many things not specifically music related, but all the same pertaining to "pop culture". with particular emphasis, of course, on the frog out of The Adventures Of Buckethead And The Frog, or 'Baby Yoda' as he (or she, or it, or whatever) is most commonly referred to. this serves as a hint as what one shall find inside. 

diversification is, of course, a good thing for any business, and makes sense. however, to walk into HMV and find some music shoved on the end of a large aisle filled with sweets was, in truth, depressions. yes, this is what we have become, i suppose, turning our back on the sheer beauty of physical format music, instead opting for illicit downloads and "streaming". you can't touch, feel, hold or own a stream, you can't bond with it. but i am a dying breed. 

in addition to the sweets they also had a whole stack of seemingly unsold "blind box" things full of "merch". these were on offer for £9.99, with an indication that the contents were worth "at least" £25 on amazon. well, maybe. but then again anyone can register to sell things on amazon, and list those items at any price which takes their fancy, so that's not much of an indicator of actual value. surely, i was kind of tempted, but ultimately no i did not buy one as it might well have been "merch" for something i had not the slightest interest in. 

some consideration was given to a purchase. by, or rather at, the time of my visit to HMV, the order i had placed online for the four (4) CD version of Flaunt It off of Sigue Sigue Sputnik was two weeks overdue. whereas i was in no rush to hear it, i was getting a trifle miffed. it seemed wise to investigate just buying it in a music shop and cancelling the (seemingly) forever delayed online order. sadly, or alas, HMV had opted to charge £10 more for it in the shop that the online price. no thanks, waited and it did indeed turn up within the week. yes, some sort of post of comments on it all, eventually. 

whereas i have no official confirmation or experience of such directly, i am imagining or assuming that someone somewhere has decided that HMV is "non essential" and taken it as a given that they are now closed under the new lockdown thing. or maybe they have just started selling sweets as a "food product" so as to be allowed to remain trading. chances of me returning seem, alas, sadly slim. 

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

conventional commodore car wash

hello there

well, pretty much what the title says, look you see. after the moment of madness i recently had (which in fairness you could ascribe to it being all we know of how 2020 has gone) which saw me present a car wash adventure in the mode of a zx spectrum, back we are on a proper format. and by proper, yes, i mean Commodore 64 mode. 

no, i have absolutely no idea of how many posts of this nature i have done. certainly more than one, but i seem bereft of appetite to go and count them. but, to warn you up front, i am not sure that the quality of these images is of the high standard of previous efforts. image, i should say, for there is just one, and then some of them splendid animated GIF things. 

that's the whirly wooly whoopy sort of brush thing doing whatever it does to the passenger side of my vehicle. well, passenger side for countries where they drive on the proper side of the road. what you are looking at would be the driver side of the car in America, and other places where they don't drive on the correct side of the road. i think, in passing, that France are quite guilty of this. 

a bit of a cheeky glimpse of the wing mirror, or whatever it is called too. yes, folded in. we get knacked off of verk if we knack the wing mirrors (or any part of any vehicle), so i do my bit and try to look after it all. not just the stereo, but mostly. 

up above is the first (of two) of the animated things from this car wash, then. yes, that is the flippy floppy brush thing going over the windscreen. quite blue, that. also quite a lot of the brush thing. i am assuming that the blue tint is the colour of the brush blended with all that lovely soapy water. 

indeed we are, and were, at the time of writing and the time of these images being taken, under some new splendid "lockdown" measures. these are all part of the glorious invisible war against the new plague. mostly, though, it is a lockdown which isn't really a lockdown, as only bar staff, vicars, nightclub bouncers and HMV staff are not allowed to go to verk. rabbis and priests too, i suppose. the important thing here is, and i dare say this was established early on, that car wash facilities are not banned or legally closed down. 

further animated (GIF) splendidry above, then, with the second sweep of the brush thing over the windscreen. note how at some points it is quite dark, yet at others it does that odd blue shade again, although featuring a gentle hint of a smear of purple. 

overall, this car wash (in many respects like this post) felt a good deal shorter than the ones i remembered. perhaps this is just any sense of time i have drifting away, or maybe it is another subtle case of shrinkonomics, or however you spell that. you know, the thing where they maintain a constant price but just reduce the amount you get for it. 

will there be another car wash adventure to report on for the remainder of this wretched year? maybe, but also possibly not. the days drift for us all, and one never knows right now when they may wake up and be told that they are not to leave their home. we shall see. just rather enjoy this one. 

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

and a bit more reading

hey there

i am not at all sure if it is a lack of time or motivation, or indeed both, look you see, which sees my level of reading drift away momentarily. well, everything drifts away, eventually, i suppose, but such speak is a bit too clever for me. 

so, i have not read just one, and not as many as three (or more) but two novels since i last did a post of this very nature. time, then, enough to have a look at what i read, along with a brief overview. should you, reading this, be interested. which i shall assume you kind of are. 

going on the order they are above, which is handy for it is also the order in which i read them, The Guest List by Lucy Foley is (presumably unintentionally) preposterous and silly with some outlandish and outrageous contrived bits, but was rather entertaining reading. Holy Cow by Mulder out of X Files is (presumably very much intended to be) preposterous and silly and is enormous fun to read. 

right, then, a closer look (if interest remains) at each (or both) of the two novels. whereas every care and consideration shall be taken with this, for sensitive types then yes, please note a *** SPOILER WARNING *** of sorts should generally considered to be in place from here on out, or after this paragraph. should that mean you depart now, know both are well worth a read, in particular the one off of Mulder out of X Files. 

there is something of a traditional, or classical (maybe) feel to the provenance of my copy of The Guest List. a novel which i am starting off with since that is what i read first. i picked this up at, or off of, Tesco, when they had it as their "book of the week" thing, meaning it probably cost me £3.50 but also it may have been 50p south of that, as their pricing tends to fluctuate. 

plot? a fancy wedding is being held on a quasi mystical island off the coast of Ireland (but yes, of course, marketing types have ensured anything to do with Ireland is "quasi mystical"). the wedding is between a lady who is a sensationally successful publisher and a handsome, rugged chap who is a Bear Grylls style "reality" TV star. no, it doesn't ever mention (and i did put a spoiler warning in) if he has a weird obsession with drinking his own urine like Bear has, but let us assume yes. but of course it is so that the bride, groom, families and guests bring a great deal more baggage to the island with them than just their luggage. tensions and dramas shall of course come to the fore as a consequence of this, but will it all spill over to deliver a tragic moment of justice or a justified moment of tragedy? well, there would not be much of a novel if not........

at face, or surface, level, this novel is pure tosh, or trash, or whatever the word is. some of the twists, connections and developments are just so outlandish and contrived that one tends to giggle at the farcical fact that someone somewhere said "yes, publish that". all of these are, however, a necessary evil to deliver a splendid read. working out who, exactly, does what to who requires such things. of greater impact (for me at least) were the thoughts and comments from some of the narrators (it is all told from the perspective of several people). i found a great many number of thoughts and feelings expressed in the text resonated some, and all too easy to identify with. when a book hooks you in such a way you tend to wriggle in uncomfortable resistance but eventually accept fate. 

i am not as familiar as i could be with the works of Agatha Christie, so cannot say whether the comparison made on the cover of The Guest List is valid. maybe it is, but i am not quite so sure her works were famed for being as equally contrived and obvious in their "twists". perhaps someone shall come along to me one day and say yes, the comparison is accurate, or no it is not. leaving that aside, kind of yes, all the same, i would recommend this novel, mostly for the characterisation reasons listed above but also it is genuinely intriguing and somewhat compelling reading. 

now, i do not rightly know or recall how it was that i came to learn of a novel written by Mulder out of X Files, or how i had not known such existed prior to such discovery. having previously read, endured and at times punished myself with fictional works by some so-called "celebrity" novelists, such as Hugh Laurie, Steve Martin, Morrissey and David McCallum, i had kind of sworn of any further ones, but the plot of this one intrigued me. 

plot? basically it is the tale of a cow who wishes to escape to a better life. that's it, no more, so no spoilers. 

how about provenance? well, internet, and yes, that great big car boot sale of the web. purchased from Germany or similar, no less, for about £3 or even south of that. and thankfully it did indeed turn up in an English language format. also, indeed, it is a hardback book, a format i would not normally purchase as it is just more comfortable to read a paperback, but it seemed this was the only variation which one could find the book in. so, there you go. consider it default, a Hobson's Choice, or a symbol of my devotion and loyalty to Mulder out of X Files. 

this was simply wonderful good fun. sure, all of it is probably also some sort of metaphor, or parable, or post-modernist social commentary, but never mind, it is just really wacky and funny. you read it in your mind hearing the voice of Mulder out of X Files narrating it, even if the ostensible narrator is a lady cow of the lady variety, but i believe all cows and lady ones and the boys are bulls, or something. 

maybe this did get greenlit as a sort of quasi vanity project for Mulder out of X Files, i don't know, but what i am aware of is that this is genuine fun light reading. whereas i have said next to nothing of the book itself, i wholeheartedly endorse it as a particularly agreeable, lighthearted work of sheer escapism, if you will excuse the pay on words. 

right, good, well, anyway, that's that. yes, no i had not noticed both books what i read here had predominantly white covers until i lined them up for a picture. 

certainly i have another book by my bedside, but as with a lot of things my enthusiasm for reading appears a bit presently in decline, or on the wane. oh. hey ho, should i make it that far then as and when i have read that one and another, surely i shall post comments here for anyone interested. 

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

flash bulbs purple irises the camera can't see

hello there

well, blimey. gosh. it is now, look you see, somewhere north of three years that i have been giving a somewhat annual update on a lightbulb i bought, once. for the sake of those who wish to consider such things in sequence, here you go, links to the 2017, 2018 and indeed 2019 posts on what is the 2020 version (or edition) now. 

for the sake of clarification, somewhere north of one thousand five hundred people have, for some reason, elected to read the 2017 edition. interest waned somewhat after that, and by the 2019 episode it was so that south of one hundred have had a look. so, for those interested, let's boogie.

here, then, in the greater glory of Commodore 64 mode, is the bulb i bought a few years ago (can't be specific sorry, not sure how long i had had it in the first post), armed, fully operational, and more or less doing what one would expect a light bulb to do. even if it does it so only in a rudimentary way.

quite good value, i would argue. once again to recap, this fancy, "antique" or vintage or retro style looking bulb of light cost me all of £1 from Poundland. there were warnings from some, due to the cost and provenance, that it might not last very long, and also that it might blow up or catch fire or do something like that. neither, that i am aware of at the least, have occurred. 

i have repeatedly mentioned the good value this bulb has proven to be, then. with a focus on longevity, value for money is now surely no longer a question. that it has not (yet) caught fire or otherwise blown up is also, to me, advantageous. 

for performance, though, as a practical light bulb, i must confess, confirm or say again (if it is so that i have spoken such before) that it is a bit sh!t. yes, sure, it may look fancy, even aesthetically pleasing in a way that led me to purchase it, but for providing some decent light, alas it does not. 

one wouldn't have thought that there was much, if any, interest in one of them animated sort of gif like things, even in Commodore 64 mode, of a lightbulb. however, i have been wrong in regards of such matters before, so there you go above, let yourself be transfixed, transformed and hypnotised by it should such be your way. 

the light emitted from this bulb generally evokes thoughts of light omitted. quite subdued, faded, dim and, well, not bright, it is, to be sure. i am quite sure this would be wonderful if what i wanted of it was some sort of mood inspiring sense of feel, but i'd rather lay in bed and read a book. to do so with this bulb means positioning myself at quite a funny angle; one that offers little comfort but all the same enables me to see the words printed on the pages. 

yes, i perhaps (probably) should have discarded this bulb early on, just as soon as i found that it really was not fit for the purpose which i selected it for. but i am maybe cheap, or tight, find it difficult to discard things (although sometimes not) and seldom seem ready to admit defeat. so, here we are. 

many, or one or two, of you for some reason prefer images not to be in Commodore 64 mode. that strikes me as a really weird way to look at the world, but not my call, so above is a "regular" picture of the bulb, very much in action. 

but yes, if course i still recommend or otherwise endorse this bulb. sure, it is not that good at providing light, but it is cheap, looks (kind of) stylish, has significant longevity and does not blow up or catch fire. don't get distracted by the negatives so much. 

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

the filth and the fury

hello there

it is so that there are a great many things about Morrissey which i am aware of but have not ever given all that much thought to. sometimes it is just better to appreciate what is placed in front of you at face value, look you see, than to worry about the specifics. 

of the numerous elements and issues which i am aware held or indeed hold a level of fascination for the one called (in a most endearing way) Moz but that i tend not to trouble myself with there features Sandie Shaw. now i have nothing against Ms Shaw at all, let me make that clear. but i did not appear to have the compulsive appreciation of her, ever, that Morrissey did. 

despite not really caring for what Moz thinks of who or what, so long as the quality music continues to flow, he - and his interest in Sandie Shaw - came very much to mind when i stumbled upon this cover for a 1972 edition of the much celebrated, partially vaunted TV Times magazine. that it would be Morrissey who comes to mind on seeing such a picture does, possibly, speak in some volume about my brain or mind functionality i suppose, and yes, maybe i should seek help or assistance. 

whereas it is so that Morrissey, or the Moz if you like, is famously celebrated for his self declaration of celibacy (as well as various vegan vegetarian concerns, etc), it struck me that a rather impressionable, teenage (by my calculations 13) Morrissey might have had the pleasure of seeing this particular cover, maybe in the family home. it is possible that such a sight could have left a lasting impression on the teenage chap. certainly. when i was of a similar age i can recall seeing somewhat similar images, and still they slip into my mind from time to time. i would totes have made a record with them too, if i could have. or something like that.

this particular edition of TV Times seems to have been a particularly provocative one, in truth. somewhere around here, sorry i cannot be specific as the formatting would appear to change depending on what sort of device you look at this on, is an advertisement for a shower which featured in the magazine. a pretty overt and direct in nature advert. 

not entirely sure how Morrissey reacted to this advert, but there was some trouble in October 2020 with a shower poster quite similar to this. and yes, if you click on the month and date you should be taken to the BBC story of it all, with a look at the poster which is perhaps less provocative than the one i have bravely added here. 

my basic (rudimentary) understanding of such things is that, in 1972, showers were not "normal" or common to life in the UK. whereas most, some or a few homes had baths, the metal tin bath set up in the lounge or kitchen was the usual for many. i have no idea when showers became quite the norm as part of life in the UK, but undoubtedly motivating factors such as this particular advertisement shall have helped seal enthusiasm and support for such.

do i (we) have a shower in our home? yes, indeed, they are quite widespread in the UK now, due to saving resources such as water, etc, and space considerations. no, i don't reallt look anywhere near as good as the person presented in this image when i shower. but yes, i probably do sing a happy tune or two whilst i do my business. 

any idea if Morrissey has a shower, and if so if it was influenced by this advert? not really. there is that one CD of his, i think it was a CD & DVD Greatest Hits collection, that on the cover featured him in a bath, so maybe he is quite anti-showers for some reason. it's quite difficult to tell with him really. normally it's safe to assume that if you think of any subject (or topic) there is a strong chance that he has some sort of stance or other against it. this would appear to be his way.

i have every confidence that a significant, indeed dominant, number of people looking at this post have less interest in what i am writing here, more in observing the two images, so let me not write too much more. 

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

hiding out in treetops, shouting out rude names

hey there

all right, i shall confess the obvious, look you see. so dislocated am i from so-called "popular" culture, or if you like the modern norms and conventions, i no longer know or understand what is and what is not a negative term. this may well be, then, all of something which is (that would baffle me) in fact meant as a positive thing, but i suspect (hope) not. 

the practice of calling people "names" in a derogatory way has probably existed since the most rudimentary forms of communication commenced between us all. often terms used for name calling can be witty, inventive and entertaining, but mostly there is a tendency to resort to crass vulgarity, or indeed plain obscenity. for the latter, such is what is on display here. 

i say name calling, but i suppose in this instance it is name labelling, or vandalising. graffiti, even. whatever the right term is when someone desecrates the premises of another with some statement of insult. 

every now and then (not often, but still) the greater glory of Commodore 64 mode is most useful for some immediate, possibly accidental but all the same welcome (in a pragmatic way) censorship. a much clearer image of the above is on display below, but for an initial, or in the first instance, glance, you should not be too shocked at what you see, for it would take some effort to work it out. that or being good at filling, within your mind, the blank parts which your eyes do not initially detect.

for some reason it is so that, over the course of about two, no more than three weeks, i have seen the exact same slur or slight placed on the property of someone. the slur is very close to the word slur, for it is the "s(lut)" word, and i do hope that "s" word is not a term already taken, used or otherwise culturally appropriated. a distance of some ten to twelve miles stands between the properties in question, and i am unaware of any link between the two places, outside of a presumed shortfall in affluence and an increased propensity to lack respect for buildings and similar structures. 

quite an old fashioned term, it strikes me as being. that's the "s(lut)" word. with that sort of thing (erotica, and what have you) so profligate in the modern world of technology (i believe you can find lots of it on an "internet") and general claims that the current generation are more interested in staring at screens than actually engaging in that sort of thing, i was above all surprised to see the term in use. which makes me wonder if the kids of today have taken it to mean something else, now. probably not, no. 

 

my initial glance did not see the words in the above straight away. this could well be due to my age, and the muscles in my eyes seeping so that focus is not instant. however, i detected enough to know something was written there, and eventually could work out that, like one of them "magic image" pictures, hidden away on this wall was the "s(lut)" word. presumably it is so that someone, no doubt an uncouth gent, believes the person at the address, presumably a lady, to be, in his questionable estimation, such. 

commonly the "s(lut)" word is defined as being a derogatory term for a lady who has had several, mostly short term, encounters of a that sort of thing (sexual) nature. it is not a textbook definition of such a person, but rather a kind of damnation, a passing judgement name dished out by those who presume themselves to be the bastions of morality in society. my experience (limited) or knowledge of the use of this term by some men is quite paradoxical, for it seems gents inclined to use this word do so against ladies who will not do that sort of thing with them. an accusation based on wishful thinking, perhaps, rather than factually correct declaration.

the non Commodore 64 mode image of the first picture? surely, it is below, but be warned, then, since warnings for everything at all seem to be the way of the world at the moment. 

a mercy it is, i consider, that i just do not get the mentality or thinking to go ahead and do something such as this. sure, certainly, i have several flaws (and many more) and have fallen out with some, to extents of dislike or hate. generally, i find it best to ignore them. not do something like this, not even in the hope that it has some presumed (and perverse) sense of catharsis to it. but, then, who am i to throw stones, maybe somewhere to someone i have done far greater damage that one could do with a cheap tin of paint and a basic comprehension of how to spell simple words. 

how lovely it would be to write here that all should cease doing stuff like the above, and rather heed, or pay attention to, the sign off i would (usually) put on posts here. but no, alas, that is not how we work as humans, that is not how the world we have made works. and we let it go on, probably because we have nothing else better to do, or someone else should do something better. 

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

no sense of destination

howdy pop pickers


and so once more, look you see. if today is November 5th, then i am merrily going about whatever it is i do with my life (assuming i am still around; this is written in advance), listening to Tin Machine whilst recalling how fortunate i was to be able to see them in concert.

there is possibly not a great deal more i can say on the subject that i have not said before. except, and i would confess this is long overdue, to give a "shout out" to the person who went with me. if they are out there in the universe still and for some reason have stumbled on this, hi, hope all is groovy.

everything and anything i have said about Tin Machine before is, in all fairness, worth saying again and again. however, instead, here's a still from the bootleg video of the very gig i was at. my great thanks again to the kind soul who passed on this bootleg.

indeed, that is the rather splendid, or at the very least in better condition than mine, chest of Hunt Sales in the background, just behind that David fellow.

which song were they doing at the point i took that still? since you ask, it was during Baby Universal. that was one of two singles from Tin Machine II, with the other (the first, as i recall) being You Belong In Rock N Roll. both excellent tracks off of an excellent album.

how about a nice bit of video from the gig i was at then? of course, yes, good idea. in this instance, then, why not - behold the performance of Baby Universal, from quite late on in the set.

my obligatory apologies for the somewhat poor quality of the video clip. the bootleg was, well, a bootleg to begin with - the mind boggles as to how someone got away with smuggling in an early 90s size camcorder at the Newcastle Mayfair. i have also had to compress it a bit to meet the size limitations of video place on this blog. but, hopefully it gives you an idea of what it was like, if for some reason you were looking for such a sense.

oh, yes, absolutely, in those crowd noises you can probably hear me shouting and screaming and doing my version of singing along. although much of my memory is of being stood in a stunned silence, not quite understanding how it was possible to be so close to the band.

well, anyway, probably a quite similar post to this shall be done for this time next year. should i be around, if i remember and on the assumption i shall have something to say.




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

buckethead and the frog

heya

yes, indeed, look you see, i am aware that the new series (or if American "season") of The Adventures Of Buckethead And The Frog is now "streaming" on that Disney thing. it is the precise reason why i purchased or invested in the service, after all. 

the first episode was quite good in that it did what any Star Wars thing should do. which would be stick very much to the basics, no matter how repetitive it gets, of what works, what fans love about it all, and what they, we, want. simple, straightforward good vs evil with the quasi or ostensible hero winning no matter what the odds. 

i thoroughly enjoyed this first episode of the second spell of this show, often called The Mandalorian but i prefer my name. frankly, it is more accurate. and yet, all the time watching it, i was thinking well, this is quite class, but this is also the same formula for a story followed in the majority of episodes in the debut series ("season") of the show. let it be always so.

yet they may well (possibly) find a way to knack it, depending on where all this goes. and by all this i mean the last shot of the episode, so yes, a spoiler warning of sorts is in place for the image below. 

so, as was widely reported anyhow, Temuera Morrison out of New Zealand is in it. the question would be who is he playing. in the whole Star Wars universe, he of course played Jango (father of Boba) Fett in Attack Of The Clones, and as he was the "blueprint" for all clones, his likeness was used in the very excellent Clone Wars cartoon (animated if you want to be grown up) series for the clones. 

a long held "fanboy" wish, be it mild or fanatical, is that the rather weak death of Boba Fett in Return Of The Jedi was undone in some way. going on how old the Clone Troopers were when last seen (Star Wars Rebels i think) and the location of this first episode (Tatooine or however you spell it), seems likely that the wish shall be granted. 

will that work out well? not sure, but as the whole concept has been ace so far, let's see.

live long and prosper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what can make good all the bad that's been done

hi there

to sound a cliche, albeit a true one, one should not rush to wish too much of their time away. but, that said, it is quite likely that many of us, look you see, look forward to this year (2020) being no more. for micro, macro, personal, societal, local and global reasons, not all that much of it has been so good. oh dear. better luck with the next one. 

should it be so that the "business end" of something relates to a conclusion of it, then here we are in november, very much within sight, if not touching distance, of the business end. and so, as a standard or indeed a given for you who prefers to just use images of my calendars than have your own, here is a gander at the calendars we have up for the month this month. 

for a bit of a change, should i be remembering the last few (monthly) posts what i have done of this, a look at the most splendid calendar of New Zealand off of Mum & Dad in New Zealand. Tunnel Beach in Dunedin, then, which looks most lovely. 

many reading this will be surprised (pleasantly so, i trust) at seeing such an aspect of Dunedin. rugby union fans would associate the place purely with the house of pain, for that was and maybe is how the rugby stadium there is known. to survive playing a match there is (or was) considered to be the greatest test any player could face. 

any notable, or interesting, dates in the month that is this month which is november? certainly. here are just a few things relating to such for your consideration.

1 - it was on this day in 1896 that National Geographic clocked how one could sell lots and lots of magazines. this was achieved by featuring images of semi (top half) naked ladies. 

3 - something of a musical day in history, for Bond theme composer John Barry, Lulu and the principal advocate of ant music for sex people, Adam Ant, all were born on this very date.

5 - not sure if i have ever mentioned this, but Tin Machine, fronted by David Bowie, played a gig on this night at the Newcastle Mayfair in 1991. i believe it was quite good. 

7 - raindrops keep falling on my head day, for it is believed that on this day in 1908 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were killed in Bolivia. that's the real two of them, and not Robert and Paul. 

8 - a very, very happy birthday indeed to Sinan Güler, widely considered to be Turkey's best, greatest and most important ever basketball player, born this day in 1983

thanks for picture use

9 - Sir Jimmy's funeral was held on this day in 2011. as you can read here. there are some who now consider such reverence, sadness and commemoration as being expressed rather hastily. 

11 - today is 11/11, even in the silly way what our friends in American write the date, so today is Nigel Tufnel day.

12 - seminal surprise hit film They Call Me Bruce(?) was released on this day (in the USA) in 1982. class film it was, remember renting it more than once off of petrol station at Marton Shops.

14 - today is world diabetes day, which i shall take as meaning it is a day on which international awareness of the disease or condition is raised, rather than it being people are encouraged to contract or develop it.

17 - an unsuspecting and presumably quite optimistic audience were subjected to the Star Wars Holiday Special on this day in 1978, in America at least. i saw it some years later in Australia, and now everyone who wishes to can, thanks to the magic of home taping and the wizardry of the internet. 

20 - it was so that Microsoft Windows 1.0 was unleashed on the world on this day in 1985. 

22 - on this day in 1963 two of the finest writers in the English language, Aldous Huxley and CS Lewis, passed away. their deaths, however, were not all that widely reported. instead, most world press coverage concentrated on an incident which culminated in the following question being asked - "but, other than that, what did you think of Dallas, Mrs Kennedy?" strangely, a significant date for authors to die it seems, for Anthony Burgess passed away on this date in 1993.

24 - happy birthday to Dwight Schultz, better known as Howlin' Mad Murdock out of A Team, born this day in 1947. today is a good day to say "ain't getting on no plane, Murdock" at every opportunity possible. 

29 - the greatest ever Christmas song ever, Cashing In On Christmas by Bad News, entered the charts on this day in 1987. it entered at 81, stayed there for a week, and then fell out of the chart. which meant it outsold Peel Sessions by New Order, which only made 95 before falling out of the chart. 

30 - a nice day for a, with a rebel yell, happy birthday to Billy Idol. i always get the sense that he was embraced and loved as the personification of British rock eccentricity more around the world than at home, but also i'd think he has a decent fan base here too. 

but, as ever, rather grab hold of the dates (and of course memories) which mean something to you rather than just things of relevance to the world at large. except of course the Bad News one. 

yes, of course, in the greater glory of Commodore 64 mode, here's a look at the Star Wars calendar, off of Poundland, what is up in the kitchen. 

another shift to the dark side of it all with this one, then, with Darth Vader and some of them stormtrooper characters with him for good measure. i presume the latter are there for stylish effect, for there is no circumstances in which i could see Vader not being able to handle something better himself, what with all that force stuff. 

no, i have not selected (or picked up) calendars for the year what will in theory be 2021. i am not convinced it is a worthwhile investment, to be honest. we shall see. 

right then, good look and may fortune be yours for the month ahead!

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