best.........

hello there

well, then. so here we are. it, this year, twenty twenty (2020) has reached an end, look you see. which makes it time for me to cast an eye back (rather than forward) over what i recall of it, highlighting aspects that i considered to be the "best". no, i do not believe my view on such is definitive, and i have every reason to suspect the many shall have no interest. but, as ever, my focus would be on those who are, for some concern, indeed curious about my thoughts. 

in no particular order (or form of preference) then, here are what i have momentarily determined to be highlights of the year. which yes, took some doing to work out. 

....album of the year (new)

quite a straightforward choice, this one, with Even In Exile by James Dean Bradfield out of Manic Street Preachers being one of the best albums to ever be released at any time in human history. 

by no means is this the first instance of the life of Victor Jara being celebrated (appropriately) in music, and i suspect it shall not be the last. this is, however, by some distance the most accessible and overt such encounter of it i can recall. the brilliance lies in the fact that the album stands up in its own right, for one need not have a great knowledge of Jara to appreciate the musical and lyrical brilliance. 

the only other album of new material what i can recall getting this year was I Am Not A Dog On A Chain by Morrissey, which was also very good, just not this good. apparently we were supposed to get a Duran Duran one too, but it never turned up (as was the case with Christmas With The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses once again), presumably delayed for plague reasons. oh, i also picked up Liam Gallagher's Unplugged MTV thing, but not sure what category that would fall in. it was all right, but that i nearly forgot to include it is a comment, i suppose. 

....fashion accessory of the year

it was very nearly the case that gloves won this one. early on in the invisible war against the plague, a plague which appeared to be transmitted in an "airborne" way, much of the world fought the fight by wearing facemasks. our much beloved UK government and their wise scientists decided that to do this amounted to being a big fanny about it, and instead said we should all wear gloves and wash hands. 

as it turned out, wearing a face mask was not to be a big fanny at all, and so after just a few (tens of) thousands of deaths, our great and wise government instructed we, the people, yes, we shall wear masks so as to fight the plague. 

face masks have become quite the fashion statement for 2020, then, with many people electing to wear them reusable ones, with fancy designs on. somewhat surprisingly i have been unable to find a face mask that features the ace moth covering the mouths of Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins on the poster for the silence of the lambs, so i just go with the disposable ones. 

....television thing of the year

easily the absolute worst thing to happen on television this year was when Virgin Radio bombarded absolutely every television station with adverts for that complete twat Chris Evans (the sh!t British one, not the talented American one) and his radio show, in the vague hope people might want to listen to it. i suppose this means the "best" thing was when they took the advert off, then. 

beyond that, should these "streaming" things count as tele (and they do get watched on television sets so yes, i guess), then easily one of the best things ever (see, 2020 is not all bad) to be presented in this format is The Adventures Of Buckethead And The Frog, which often gets called The Mandalorian. it started off brilliant and has just continued to get even more excellent. 

much like cinema (see below), television for the year was partially affected by the invisible war on the plague meaning people could not work together. this will have an even more massive effect on next year, as things due to be broadcast then should be getting filmed now. 

....album of the year (re-issue)

with the quality and interest in "new" music being both in terminal decline and of no financial success, much success (for the record labels, artists and us simple music fans) is achieved by revisiting classic albums and selling them again. as virtually every well known album has already been repackaged and resold six times sideways, now they are doing the same with rather less well known or celebrated ones. and this turns out to be a good thing. 

as a fan i was aware of Goats Head Soup by The Rolling Stones, but never really thought of it as either being an iconic or great album by them, in the ways, say Let It Bleed or Sticky Fingers is regarded. this got corrected with this exceptional reissue. listening to this album once more after many years was a revelation, and the extras were exceptionally generous when compared to other Stones issues. highly recommended if for some reason you don't have it. 

the worst re-issue of the year? sadly U2 with a 20th anniversary edition (no way is it that old?) of All That You Can't Leave Behind. make no mistake, there is nothing wrong with the album - far from it, the first six or seven songs along stand as some of their finest ever. it's just that they wanted a penny south of £15 for the album and a "highlights" live CD. meanwhile, online, or in places like Poundland, you can get the album and a 2 x DVD set of the whole concert which is abridged on CD and get change from £5. absolutely no motivation to purchase, then. 

....rural road of the year

quite hotly contested, this one, but ultimately there could be no doubting that the winner for this was Pluntrain Dale Lane, situated (or located) just outside of Pickering. believe me, your sat nav can and will find this place, and give every indication that it is perfectly fine to drive down it. 

i spent quite a lot of time on this road. why? to tell you that would spoil a lovely memoir (of sorts) of my time there, due to be published very early (as in the first week) of 2021. you are most welcome to read it as and when it "goes live", so to speak. 

for now, though, know that if you happen to be driving in that area and your sat nav suggests you drive down Pluntrain Dale Lane, my advice is that you do not do so, as lovely as it is. although if you have plenty of time on your hands (which i did not) it does allow you to meet some wonderful new people. 

....cinema visit of the year

a real simple and easy one for me, this, as i went to the movies just once this year. cinemas were one of the biggest things to get knacked by the invisible war on the plague, with them spending chunks of the year closed or with no new motion pictures to exhibit. to this they simply re-released certain classic or highly regarded films, which is how i, some 40 years after first doing so, once again got to see The Empire Strikes Back on the big screen. 

very easily the best of all them Star Wars films, as it is the only one which features all three (3) of the best and most important characters. in order - Lobot, Lando and Boba Fett. as i commented in my review, wonderful to see again, but familiarity with the film meant it felt like it all flew by me in moments. during the brief era of cinemas being open, the other 75% of my family (them who you like a good deal more than you like me) went and saw things like Dark Knight Trilogy and Jurassic Shed. also some of them Harry Potter ones, i think. 

of the films which were supposed to be released but (alas) did not get screened, i very much doubt i am alone in looking forward to eventually seeing the new James Bond one, No Time To Die i think. also, of course, Top Gun 2, but that might be just me and my unusual homoerotic volleyball fetish. 

....David Bowie release of the year

he was absent from "new" or "re-issue" consideration as, frankly, 2020 turned out to be silly season for the David Bowie Estate. below, in the greater glory of Commodore 64 mode, are the six (6) which i picked up. call me not a "proper fan" if you like, but this isn't even all of the Bowie releases for the year. missing are Tin Machine II, which i felt no need to buy an identical copy of, and yet another live recording from his 1974 American tour, of which i have two releases and see no reason for a third needing to be a thing. 

the easiest thing to do is look at the worst. which is the "complete" 2 CD soundtrack for Absolute Beginners. as outstanding as Bowie's theme is (presented here full length), other than the song from The Style Council the music is just as dire and dull as the film. it got bought purely for the brief Bowie bits. 

of the others, Metrobolist took an average album (The Man Who Sold The World) and remixed it so that it was a below average album. Is It Any Wonder? was some curious unreleased recordings which ultimately will not get played often. ChangesNowBowie was brilliant and has been played a few times. the first two (of six) Brilliant Live Adventures releases are mixed fortunes. whilst the first appears to be flawed by a poor recording, the second (which i have not reviewed here yet, early next year, promise) is truly, actually brilliant. 

my overall expenditure on David Bowie music for 2020 (especially if one includes volume three of Brilliant Live Adventures, which i have paid for but only get next year) is somewhere rather satisfactorily north of £100. it is with some cautious interest that i wait to see how much gets taken from me next year. 

....film of the year

i think that some of the films what i watched on NetFlix earlier in the year are classed as 2020 films. but, to be safe, i shall just go with my choice being one i know is recognised as a "proper" movie and was released in this very year. that's Bill & Ted Face The Music, then. 

by no means was Bill & Ted Face The Music brilliant or amazing, but also it doesn't collect the title of film of the year by default. the film was exceedingly funny in places (with particular emphasis on the parts featuring Death, the character not concept), and it did not disgrace the previous two films. indeed, yes, go on then, it was excellent. 

should they go ahead with the Oscars next year (and i suspect not), oddly by default it must surely be so that Bill & Ted Face The Music would fancy its chances of winning an award or two. Keanu for best actor is surely a formality, i expect. 

....Cinque Port of the year

let us (as always) be in the business of honesty here. should someone, as 2020 commenced, asked me if at the end i would be discussing the best Cinque Port of the year i would have said no. going further, if even as far as seven months into the year someone had asked me what a Cinque Port actually was, i would also have said no. but here we are. 

i ended up, then, visiting 3 of the 5 (which i believe you will find is 60%) of the official (or "proper") Cinque Ports, and several (cannot be bothered doing the maths) of the connected towns, called in a more official capacity "limbs". 

of the three (3) i visited, then, the one i spent the least amount of time in was Sandwich. it looked like it had an amazing coastline, but alas my memory of the place (and Deal) is limited to narrow, awkward roads, the problems with which were accentuated by terrible parking habits of the locals. Dover, meanwhile, was breathtakingly beautiful, filled with wonderful people and i would be thrilled to visit again. winner, or the "best", though, has to be Hythe, with specifically the Sandgate region highlighted, for reasons of fish and chips, as pictured above. i had the pleasure of dining at the same place twice, and in both instances was treated to fish and chips which were the finest what i have ever had outside of the Yorkshire area. which is saying something. 

and what of the "limbs", or if you will connected towns? should you permit me to place another selfie here, and yes i appreciate i am not the most aesthetically pleasing thing to see (but it would be nice if someone out there somewhere liked me), i shall be delighted to discuss. 

yes, that is me in Margate, no less. obviously when (for verk) i was presented with a list of areas i was required to visit, it was the chance to go to Margate which excited me the most. this is purely, or perhaps exclusively, due to the Chas & Dave connection. whereas it would be wrong to say the place disappointed, it was not as awesome as i had hoped. the place was extremely busy, i had no chance to try fish and chips (or jellied eels and whelks, whatever they are), and i saw no evidence of statues in the image of or buildings named after Chas & Dave. 

looking at the list of "limbs" and going from memory, Deal had road and parking issued which were exaggerated and amplified from the ones found in Sandwich. Folkestone was remarkable, and i there would be no hesitation from me if i were sent there once more. of them all that i can recall, though, Ramsgate offered agreeable parking, splendid views, a large number of postcards celebrating the place and very good fish and chips. basically, all Cinque Ports and all "limbs" thereof are, on the basis of my exposure, ace, and visiting any (or each) is a most splendid thing to do. 

...single (or song) of the year

rather let me not do my usual moan (and groan) about how the once sacred UK singles chart has been destroyed by the absolute clowns in charge of it who do not understand the value it held. instead, let me ignore all that and focus on what came out as ostensible "singles". 

in terms of actually buying singles, i do believe but one (1) was actually released this year that i bought. that was Living In A Ghost Town off of Rolling Stones. not bad at all, but not my choice for best of the year, even if it is the only one what i have a physical copy of. 

my choice, then, is Rain by Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga. although it feels like just about all the work of Ms Grande and Ms Gaga just says "rain on me" over it from time to time. it's just a really top tune, lyrically and with the smart dance rhythm. further, it seems to have had a physical release, with the cassette single and 7" going for silly prices on the car boot of the internet. honourable mentions to the two songs what that Harry lad out of One Direction did, with the one not having watermelon in the title being best but i cannot remember it. also Kylie's one, which i think was called Magic, but it is the one which appears to have a slight reference (musically) to the Hill Street Blues theme at the start. also, the cover of Stop Crying Your Heart Out what the BBC (mostly Radio 2) did for Children In Need. very good, and a massive shame it was not released in a physical format. 

any half arsed, almost decent songs / singles released in 2020? goodness me yes. sadly, and risking the wrath of my sister here, i have to name the Robbie Williams one, They Can't Cancel Christmas or something. i get the intention but it is just "cringe". as is the case with anyone who tried to reference all of this plague business this year, with Bon Jovi's effort being really, really bad. Liam Gallagher's All You're Dreaming Of also sadly falls into this category. like Noel last year (with Wandering Star) he seemed to be trying to do a Christmas single that one could get away with playing outside of Christmas. oddly, Noel's was the better one. Liam's is just a bit too simplistic by Liam standards (read into that what you will), and the one sided vinyl of it was ludicrously overpriced for what you get. i decided not to purchase but it does at least look lovely. 

....book of the year (what i read)

the clarification above (in brackets) is very much indeed for any pedantic types who would wish to admonish me for not choosing a text which was either first published or composed in this year. and to remind, once more, yes, 2020. 

good fortune, or the luck of selection, meant that the overwhelming majority of novels what i read during the course of the year (2020) were most agreeable. one or two duds, to be sure, but let us leave them behind. regular readers of my blog will have seen my (not just one, not as many as three but) two books a month (on average) review things, no doubt. there are a couple i could have comfortably selected, but i went with this. 

yes, the superb Cari Mora by Thomas Harris, whose return to published works took me rather by surprise. a welcome surprise, but surprise all the same. that Hannibal Lecter and the silence of the lambs were more prominent than the name of the novel did indeed cause me to be concerned, yes. however, all good. 

believe me, this is not a novel for everyone. whereas at heart (or essentially) it is a simplistic (yet devilishly clever) "heist" story, there are as many perverse and disturbing twists as you can imagine, and they beyond so, unless you are really, really totes f****d in the head. intense, creepy, thrilling and enthralling are perfect words to describe this novel. 

other good reads? that is, books i read during 2020, but were probably "first" published before? well, The Institute off of Stephen King was outstanding, and Holy Cow by Mulder out of X Files was tremendous fun. 

right, well, that is probably enough "best of" stuff for one post. unless i happen to think of something else, and even then i will have just edited it in somewhere. 

what else can i say but that i hope your 2021 is a good deal better than your 2020.........

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

plures tales futuri ex legenda

salve est

yes, it is surely that time once again, look you see. let me risk my immortal soul to once more evoke my special powers so that you may, if you dare read on, know what awaits in the future. rather than, say, read as i recount that which has already happened. 

it seems (or feels) that we, humans, have a general thirst to know that which shall come. not true of all, sure, but in most cases if you go up to someone and say "do you wonder what it is which will happen next", there is a strong likelihood that they will say that to know so would be agreeable. 

the group who wish not to know such, as in they prefer to avoid "spoilers" or similar, would be most wise to depart this post now. know not what you wish to avoid by reading no further. everyone else, carry on and see what my special powers reveal lies ahead in the year (2021) to come. 

so as to give a complete (and possibly accurate) picture as possible of what is ahead of us all i have indeed elected to use all of my powers. which involve my magic eight ball, my bitter lemon ball and the most recent addition to my skills, the deck of tarot cards. 

great risk does, of course, come with my revealing the tales of future legend below. i have no doubt (or every confidence) that those in the darkened halls of power know my ability, and would wish for it to be silenced. but, just as the same as why they never just killed Mulder out of X Files, to erase me would risk turning me into a martyr or inspire a crusade. for now they tolerate, but one day they shall tire of such, and i have every confidence that one day i will fall to the fate of a state sponsored assassination. 

whilst i am still able to spread such prophecy, then, behold the answers to the questions asked of the year which shall soon be here.

shall 2021 be as complete sh!t as 2020 has (mostly) been?

MAGIC 8 BALL : so it shall be

BITTER LEMON : no, you knob

will this Biden bloke make America great, ostensibly again? 

MAGIC 8 BALL : very likely

BITTER LEMON : ha ha as if

are we going to win the invisible war against the new plague?

MAGIC 8 BALL : looks like yes

BITTER LEMON : no sh*ts given

is the world heading for an economic meltdown? 

MAGIC 8 BALL : positvely

BITTER LEMON : bang on

how likely is it that Trump shall exit quietly with dignity?

MAGIC 8 BALL : so it shall be

BITTER LEMON : when pigs fly

shall Boris Johnson remain British Prime Minister?

MAGIC 8 BALL : unlikely

BITTER LEMON : no u knob

likelihood of a major armed conflict in the world?

MAGIC 8 BALL : the stars say no

BITTER LEMON : bang on

any chance of Christmas With The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses being recorded in 2021?

MAGIC 8 BALL : very likely

BITTER LEMON : bang on

is the "new normal" going to be like the normal we knew?

MAGIC 8 BALL : signs say no

BITTER LEMON : i don't care

will we finally get to see the new James Bond film?

MAGIC 8 BALL : focus and ask again

BITTER LEMON : bang on

for safety i decided to limit the number of questions asked of my oracles to a very Roman like decimal ten. this, to be honest, was more for my own safety, as seeing the future can be quite a drain. on a similar, and yet completely different, note, also it would be unfair for me to directly comment on the answers given, for you must divine your own response to the information. 

on the same basis, i posed five questions of the future to the tarot cards. it is better for me not to comment on the response from the deck as such, but rather to just present what it was that was revealed by the ceremony. 

the year 2021

the invisible war against the new plague

the United Kingdom

the United States of America

the fate of the world entire

once again i will leave it to your discretion (or interpretation) to take how you will what has been spoken of the year ahead, and how things shall go or be affected. sure, yes, absolutely a very big part of me declining to give my interpretation of such is that no payment whatsoever has been made to me to do so. 

would i ever consider possibly (ever so slightly) corrupting my special powers so that i may obtain economic gain or even sexual gratification from using them? oh, goodness me, yes, absolutely, of course i would. unfortunately i have no idea how to set about doing this, or am just too lazy. presumably i would have to set up in a tent or caravan somewhere, and advertise myself. also, come up with a catchy name. let me assume "gypsy lee" has been used by someone else, so i would need to consider another. if anyone has any ideas on how i can do this, let me know. 

right, well, having told you what is to come in the year ahead, i suppose there really would not be much else i can add here. so, enjoy the pictures and use the knowledge wisely.

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

cards

greetings

and it would indeed be, look you see, greetings cards (of sorts) that feature here. i am not sure that we here in England (or the wider UK) call such things by that name (it does have a sense of the Americans about it), and indeed i would say we would call Christmas cards nothing more or less than Christmas cards. 

there was something of a recurring theme in a couple (as in precisely, at time of writing, two) cards of Christmas which i was so fortunate as to have received this year. yes, i could express, in words, the theme which happened (twice), but surely it would be better to just illustrate it, or them. 

so yes, then, this happened. two very good friends, renowned for their generosity (and patience, which is a requisite to be tolerant of me in your life, i imagine) and known for no direct link to each other, opted to send me cards which have been lovingly beautified with images of David Bowie. 

what i found particularly pleasing about these cards (beyond, of course, the seasonal phrases of goodwill) was (is) that i rather like David Bowie. to be completely honest, i thought that was a private matter which i hardly mention, except maybe the odd comment to that effect here and there on this blog. quite wonderful that two chums should have picked up on this. 

perhaps i am briefly violating some copyright or other presenting the above two in non Commodore 64 mode, but it is just fleetingly so. anyway, i intend not to pirate for profit, but just to show off how truly splendid these cards are. 

my thanks again for these most sensational cards, friends! 

right, the pictures shall surely say anything (more) better than i could, so let me let you get on with it.

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

last christmas

ho ho ho

that introduction is of course meant in the festive way, look you see, and not in the manner of an independent businessman, resplendent in a purple hat with a feather on it and holding a cane what has a dagger concealed in it, addressing his exclusively female employees. for today (the day that this is published) is Christmas Eve, no less. 

as there is every exceedingly likely chance that there shall be nothing of interest or consequence to tell of this Christmas (being 2020), i figured that to try and evoke of what the season should be it would be best to look at the last. so yes, i have drawn on the celebrated words of Ridgley and Michael for the title of this post for that reason. a song which probably should have been a Christmas Number One, but was not, mostly due to Band Aid. actually exclusively due to Band Aid. 

be warned, dear reader, that there are some (two) images of me ahead. of the very limited number of people who read this stuff, i know it is only a small percentage that can tolerate actually seeing me. so, if for some reason you like the words but not the writer, you may well wish to skip all of this one. 

going all deep end with the prior warning then, there is me, or if you like moi, for you. no, i can assure you, one year later my appearance has not changed so much. maybe more grey, but nothing one would generally say is any sort of improvement.

i shall yield, or confess, that the above image does not immediately seem like i am engaged in any sort of traditional form of Christmas activity. and yet i very much am, to be sure. of the numerous things what William had requested in the shape (or form) of gifts that year (2019), one happened to be a splendid looking, as well as modestly priced, set of "walkie talkie" things. the packaging proclaimed that they had a two (2) mile range. it was a claim i was suspicious of, but all the same i was sent off to see just how far the range was. alas, i am no real expert in gauging distance, but i do believe it was some 600 to 700 (maybe 800) yards away that i got at they still worked. lots of houses and stuff in between seemed to stop them working, for radio waves appear not to care for concrete so much. 

speaking of William, and for that matter James, yes why not, a look at them opening up the gifts of the day that was the last Christmas we had. 

regular readers, in particular friends and family, shall no doubt have noted - now or just as they read this - that the boys have not featured too much over the course of the year this year (2020). this for the most part is because they have requested not to be featured so much, what with them now being of an age when all this social media stuff is off importance to their world. i have agreed to respect their wishes entire, but also said there are many dear friends and family members around the world who love them dearly and would wish to have visual confirmation that they are doing well. 

further, or also, this is 2020, the year in which as many of us as possible were "requested" (under threat of arrest or fine or both) to rather stay at home and not go out, so as that we may all win the invisible war against the new plague. so, it is not like we have done much during the course of the year that has involved doing anything interesting to take pictures of, let alone present updates. 

just another pic of the boys looking at presents, then. yes, that is James now wearing one of the ones what he got. also yes, William has read all of the books in that boxset over the year, some of them more than once. he is now what one may call well versed in the ways of Batman, then.

one other also yes would be, indeed, yes, in the background is the superb portrait of Bowie what my (at the time) (considerably) better half painted for me for the instance of my birthday 2016, marking her (then) care for me and my love of the man the world had just recently lost. 

but, you are probably far more interested in more tales of the walkie talkie thing, so here is a slightly smaller picture of me testing it. depending on what sort of device you are looking at this on (if anyone is looking), there should well be a splendid text wrap around thing on the go, a bit like one would find in newspapers or magazines or similar. 

what was i wearing when this picture was taken? i am not generally known for any particular level of sartorial elegance, if i am using that term correctly. unless i am quite mistaken, the shirt i have on is the pink one what Gran (no, the other one) really liked me wearing, so it seemed appropriate to wear it as a signature of memory, respect and missing. 

the jacket is, of course, my near legendary one, procured for me by Zama, from an independent, strictly cash only ad hoc retailer based at the back of Jozi's main taxi rank. despite the modest cost of this jacket (although i can recall receiving no change), Zama assured me that it was a legit Levi's one, and in no way a cheap knock off illicitly imported from China or similar. also, he gave me every assurance that it was perfect for the famous English winter periods, and was guaranteed to keep me warm. despite him never experiencing, or having any reference for, an English winter, or "proper" snow. 

so, right, anyway, that is that, i think. if for some reason you are online for purposes of reading this over actual Christmas, blessed be you for giving me but a moment of your time, and i trust you shall move on to further festivities.

merry christmas, one and all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well, why wouldn't you shove ronnie wood on the back of a lorry?

howdy pop pickers

one of those infrequent posts of looking back at a classical, or if you like golden, moment in rock history, look you see. with modern music being mostly generic and banal, and those who make it tending to strive to be dull, every now and then one needs a reminder that music was meant to be exciting, made by exciting people. people who, often, had exciting ideas. 

like that time, for instance (or example), that i write of here. yes, and present images and video of. back to 1975 this goes (i think), when the Rolling Stones had the jolly good (and exciting) idea of introducing Ronnie Wood as a new "member" of the band by having him perform on the back of a lorry. well, "truck" if you are an American, i think, and as this happened in America, fair enough. 

the story has been told a few times, and much better than i ever could recall it, but we are here now. it was so that in 75 the Stones needed to employ a new guitarist, what with Mick Taylor deciding nah, this is not for me. an entire album (Black & Blue) was recorded to find the best replacement, and so it was that Ronnie Wood was employed, mostly by all accounts because Keith Richards got on well with him.

in the interests of being rock stars doing rock things, the band elected to announce that Ronnie had been employed (and i am choosing my words carefully) via means of hiring a lorry ("flat bed truck") and playing songs on the back of it as it drove to a cafe where select journalists had been invited. this, i believe, was a throwback to the the way some of the blues acts Mick & Keith held so dear had done gigs from town to town. 

yes, it was that Ronnie Wood was employed as a guitarist for the Stones, rather than joining them. shrewd business types, the Ro££ing $tone$ are, and they never make the same mistake twice. when Mick Taylor was taken on, he was taken on as a full band member, and contractually his departure was rather costly for the band. as their was no appetite to have their fingers burned twice, Ronnie was taken on only as an employee, being granted full membership only many years later; 1989 i believe. 

some video of this often overlooked, or simply forgotten moment in rock history? certainly. i believe the source for this is the 25x5 documentary, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of the band. and indeed here we are, quite close to the 60th anniversary of them being an active, going concern. 

no less than Bono was, is, presumably, a fan of this moment in rock history. from what i remember, the video what U2 gone done for All Because Of You heavily "borrowed" from this idea. 

what do i "think" of Ronnie Wood? by some distance he is easily the 4th best guitarist ever to be in the Stones. if that sounds like a dig or a put down, it is not. the three who rank above him - Richards, Taylor and Jones - effectively changed the face, or rather the sound, of the world. ranking below Ronnie Wood is an absolute mountain of good, gifted and talented guitarists who simply lacked that factor that is needed to be in the Stones. Ronnie has it, also he seems to keep Keith company, which is lovely. 

another snatch of the video? yeah, go on then. 

perhaps i am just a dithering old f***, or am heading that way, but i do find it rather sad that whatever resembles or gets passed off as a "rock star" in the modern world would seem to lack the imagination or ability to do a stunt like this. it seems to me they are all just worried about managing a "social media presence", and "streaming stuff". whatever focus they had and still have on ensuring they get piles of money, the one thing always true of the Stones was that the music was, is the most important thing, and getting it out there in ways that attract attention has always been the goal. 

let me (and indeed you) take it as a given that whereas no band is particularly interesting enough to do this kind of thing no more, it is equally true that we are unlikely to see the Stones recreate this moment any time soon. but, also, never say never. 

anyway, that's probably just about that for this. the incident, or story, just came to mind. should it be so that i can recall any great (safe to publish here, mindful of Queen's Jazz album party) rock stories that have some decent images and/or video which i may (ahem) borrow to place here, i shall be sure to try and remember to post them. 

right, rock on! 

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

the trees were taller, then, when you were young

ho ho ho

that kind of greeting can only lead one to conclude that this is a Christmas related post, i suppose. and indeed this is such, look you see, for it is time to consider tree. 

assuming you are reading this at some stage around publication date, or at a future (as opposed to the past) similar time once we are free of the wretched ways of 2020, hopefully you are in the "spirit" of things. you know, the season of goodwill, of gifts and that. and, tree. 

behold, then, our tree, as proudly erect as possible, for the festive season this year. 

one thing i would like to think is enhanced by using the greater good of Commodore 64 format for the above is yes, indeed, keen eyed readers, this happens to be a new tree what we have. whereas i suspect my travels in this world are long past the halfway point, i would appear to have had something akin (or like) a midlife crisis this year, and have actually gone done spent coins of money this Christmas. i mean, yes, i would on gifts, cards and that, but now i seem to be purchasing ancillary matters.

for a recap, should for some reason you be interested and yet (wisely) cannot be bothered to seek any previous posts what i done, it is so that our Christmas tree for the previous six (6) editions has been the same. and that one was the most agreeable (as in cheapest) i could find for south of £10; bought on the understanding that it would "do for the one year" and it would be replaced in time for the next. 

what say we do a look at the new one, but not in Commodore 64 mode, as excellent and great (but of course) as Commodore 64 mode is? 

a select few of you might (perhaps) notice something also different (beyond tree) in the above. no, not whatever is going on being presented on the tele. yes, indeed, new curtains. this was indeed further expense from me, but a moment of necessity rather than an expression of opulent, bourgeois extravagance as such. for reasons best known to themselves (and yes i asked but they just stared at me then wandered off) our cats elected to rip the absolute f*** out of the previous ones. beyond mending, i went to the shop to get replacement ones, and they said that i could have absolutely any curtains i liked, so long as they were these silver velvet ones. 

so, anyway, the tree. provenance is a fine, fine thing, and yes, i can tell you that this was bought off of Tesco, for a princely sum which is neither north nor south of £15. rather annoyingly, i discovered basically the same sort of tree was indeed on offer at select Morrisons chapters (but not the one i went to at first) for a fee £7 south of what i paid, but hey ho. 

now then, one or two (several) of you for some reason like reading what i do here (thanks) but really have no wish to see images of me (very wise). if that is you, then you may want to do a very fast scroll past the next image, for it is i in it. 

my Christmas cash splash appears to truly know no boundary then, for yes, as is pictured above, i have indeed, at last, succumb to the society placed pressure of buying a "Christmas jumper". the years gone saw me avoid such, mostly as they appeared unavailable in my size but also it made little sense to purchase a usually limited worn item for a larger cost. but then, in a moment of weakness, i said to myself (or out loud, to puzzled and concerned strangers, presumably), oh, stop being such a f*****g grinch or grouch about it and just f*****g get one.

in respect of garment selection, not as much thought or consideration as you might think went into the selection and eventual (reluctant) purchase of this one, a jumper which in fairness celebrates the wonders of Only Fools & Horses. any tv show which mentions David Bowie in the title song is, of course, a good one. limitations on size availability (and this one is rather snug when i like such baggy) meant it was either this or a Coca Cola one. since i was paying £20 (!!!!!!!) for either, i decided rather to endorse a great, albeit London based, television show rather than give money to promote a big massive corporate. 

off to the south (at least of where i am presently) we go, then, and a look at how trees are over across the equator. and down a bit still. in terms of the time when i wrote this, but one of the family had sent me an image. should others follow i shall try to update, but for now, here is the Christmas tree of Mum and Dad. 

most splendid, and yes, i do believe the angel upon the tree is quite familiar to me. for clarification, we go with a star on top of ours, simply as that was what was in the box of decorations what we bought. 

do i not wish, want or long for having a "real" Christmas tree in the house each year? especially as i am ostensibly home and such are widely (if not freely) available? very much so. the scent which they protrude is, at least at first, splendid and allows one to reminisce. also, i am convinced the feeling of Christmas being less than what it was comes from a move away from real trees and towards the convenience of plastic. but, real trees are a nightmare, what with the pine pin things that fall off of them, the decay of a dying tree, and goodness knows what our cats would do to such. 

another gander south of the border, then, if you consider the equator to be a border (many do). it is so that my sister has overcome the complexities of a severe bout of "CBA" and has, kind of at the last minute, agreed to the erection of a tree in her family home. 

with nuance and elegance it combines the subtle double beauty of wishing (aspiring does not sound very festive) to attain design perfection and simply getting it done in a "this will do" way. so very few of us, if any, ever, shall reach her deft skill levels. 

one more look, or gander, at our tree in Commodore 64 mode? well, sure. although i think the correct wording would (maybe) be a different angle, since i guess you could take as many looks (or ganders) at the initial picture as you wished. language and grammar have never not been quite so good strong points of mine, to be sure. 

well, anyway, that's that for another year. my apologies for the overtly subtle drawing attention to the more commercial (fiscal) aspects of all things Christmas in this post. i imagine any communists reading this shall be most distraught by it all, but then they tend to be distraught by all. 

may all be well with you, both this Christmas and all times, all of the time!

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

fifty

hey there

not a lot really here, look you see. just a quick post to mark, or pay homage to, the fiftieth anniversary of the broadcast of what many consider to be the best, greatest and most important edition (or episode) ever of It's Tarbuck, ostensibly featuring Jimmy Tarbuck but widely watch because Kenny Lynch was in it.

this gem of an episode (near perfect, except Mike & Bernie Winters) was first shown in (or on) the evening of December 19, 1970. no, i wasn't around then and no i have not seen a repeat or it on video, but i am prepared to take the word of those who say that this was indeed the best, greatest and most important episode of it. 

for the sake of completeness, the second best, second greatest and second most important episode of the show, It's Tarbuck, was broadcast on December 26 1970, or if you like Boxing Day 1970.

you could argue, probably quite successfully, that this "second" best was actually the best, really. however, with Frankie Vaughan being more associated with erotica due to the rhyming slang of his name, and never substantiated rumours about Lulu and Sir Jimmy, i guess not to be. 

personally, i am still hoping that Having A Party, the seminal album recorded by Kenny Lynch and Jimmy Tarbuck, gets a CD release one of these days. maybe for next Christmas. 

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

disgraced trolley

hello there

yes, another post about shopping trolleys (trollies) in places where they would not usually be found. no, rather where they are not supposed to be found, look you see, for frequently i do see such.

actually, or as it happens, just the one trolley which i spotted on my travels in this instance. which means that we, after this paragraph, are free of me wondering (or pondering) if the correct spelling for the plural is trolleys or trollies. my belief is the latter, but one of them "spelling is f****d" red lines appears under it. 

this was the scene which confronted me (although not in a bold or stark way), then. a lone trolley, upside down, on a common green near some residential dwellings located in a region of fair to middling affluence. in respect of the latter, there are certainly less financially well off place but also a great number of more considered wealth. 

so far as i am aware, there are no recognised, official scrap yards all that close to where i saw this trolley.  as per previous posts on this subject, an awful lot of the recovery of our economy after all this new plague business is going to be based on scrap merchants accepting trolleys (trollies), drain covers and what have you in exchange for no paperwork required, tax free cash. one can only assume, then, that someone borrowed this trolley simply to make it easier to take some shopping home, and then just discarded it in a spot which they for some reason believed unobtrusive. 

i am not sure (no, i cannot be bothered to check) i have ever done that many images of trolleys (trollies) in the greater glory of Commodore 64 mode, so there you go, that one above is for those of you wondering what it would look like. wonder no more, my silent and invisible friends visiting here and reading this, wonder no more. 

do i every borrow or take a trolley from the stores who provide them (generously) for free? not beyond using it to shop with, and then load up the shopping from it and into the car. it has not struck me as a thing of interest to bring one home, really. having no concept of how much longer i have left (and let us not forget, according to science i am immortal, for i have not died as such as yet and so there is no scientific evidence to say i even can die, ever) i am not sure if now is the time to have one of them mid life crisis things one reads about. it would be nice if my imagination stretched to beyond taking a trolley as an act of mid life crisis, but i am quite boring i suppose. 

one of the more interesting points of observance with this trolley was not so much the trolley itself but, as you may have noticed in the first picture, the clear tyre tracks before it. i like to consider such things. were the tracks made by a vehicle, for instance, reversing on to the common ground grass to dump the trolley? or did someone have fun and decided to drive the car full tilt at the trolley to smack into it? maybe the two are unrelated except for being together. 

right, well, more trolley stuff as and when i see it, or when i have absolutely nothing else better to write about. 

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

fantastic fett fantasy fun

greetings

rather inexplicably, look you see, i feel compelled (for it is the way of the internet) to place one of them exciting looking *** SPOILER WARNING *** things here. it makes no sense to me, but fine - if for some reason you have not watched series ("season" if American) 2 of The Adventures Of Buckethead & The Frog (often abridged in title to The Mandalorian) yet for some reason have done one of them internet searches and ended up here, well, proceed at your own risk.

moving on, then, and i say absolutely nothing controversial or surprising when i state that all of this The Mandalorian business has been a huge,widely embraced and much loved Star Wars success via means of taking all of the aspects what the majority (rabid "fanboys" based in Momma's basement in Wisconsin exlcuded) of people loved of the original films and packaging it into a series. simple, effective, clear, linear good vs evil adventure stories. and my, how impressive. 

it has all been so very thoroughly enthralling and entertaining, watching Buckethead and his pet Frog meet interesting new characters (in particular the pig man off of Bespin and Apollo Creed out of Rocky) and familiar favourites (Ashoka Tano). and now they have ramped up the latter, for one recent episode early on had a certain spaceship fly in and land. 

yes, Slave I. as in, the ship of space what fans were first introduced to by seeing the original Buckethead, Boba Fett, twat around in during The Empire Strikes Back, and of course then saw the retrospective original Buckethead, Jango Fett, twat around in during Attack Of The Clones off of the prequel movies. 

who was flying it in this instance? requiring an all too easy given suspension of disbelief by the fans, none other than Boba Fett himself. his return was previously hinted at in the series, and so it is, here he is, back in action, and apparently quite alive, despite last being seen getting eaten off of a massive ground based space creature thing in Return Of The Jedi. a film which many, certainly in 1983, assumed was the "last ever" Star Wars film. 

so many questions prompted by his return. how did he survive getting eaten off of that creature? just how is it that he somehow lost his armour (to Jawas) yet Slave I remained his and undamaged? did he spend all of his time after surviving eating pies? and when did he become a dab hand at bringing people back to life with robot guts in the stomach installations? 

generally, and widely, the answer from we, the people, us, the fans who just want to enjoy it all, is very much as succinct as who f*****g cares? we have Boba Fett back, being an absolute badass as you can see above, uttering class one line quotes which reference previous films and just generally looking like one of the most aesthetically pleasing (allowing for pies being eaten) characters ever. 

being the third best and most important Star Wars character (after Lando and Lobot), there is a ludicrous weight of expectation around the character of Boba Fett. rather like Don Corleone in the first Godfather and very, very much like Hannibal Lecter in the silence of the lambs, a key to understanding his iconic presence is the limited screentime. like them two, what he could do, what he was capable of, was only ever really hinted at. and now, with Boba, we have him very much doing all of it, and then some. 

of course there are some who will raise an eyebrow (refer earlier comments about Momma's basement dwellers, but also more reasonable people) at his presentation here. sure, some actions, decisions and what have you seem not to be how we came to understand Boba Fett, in particular from The Empire Strikes Back where even Darth Vader seemed a bit scared of his ruthless, relentless ways. but, once more, the response to that is who f*****g cares, really. we get to see him smashing up stormtroopers in a way that was considerably more violent than i was expecting to see in an ostensibly fun for all the family show. i could sit and watch that all day, every day. 

with regards to how he went in the one episode he was in clearly as Boba (at time of writing), he basically used all of the tricks and tools we knew or suspected he had. possibly, then, he was tossed in as some sort of "fan service", showcasing all that he could do in a one off thing, as is maybe the case with Ashoka in the episode before. however, it does look like he is going to get something of a substantial, relevant to the plot role in the remainder of the series. after all (spoiler warning), they now need to go and find The Frog, since him off of Breaking Bad has him, and Boba Fett is known as the best person to search for stuff in this galaxy far, far away. 

for what reason that it has taken Disney, the financial custodians of Star Wars, to work out success comes from giving the fans what they want, is baffling. despite Rogue One being an overwhelming success, much of the "sequel" trilogy (despite having the ingredients to be amazing) spent far too long pandering to Momma's basement dwellers and "subverting expectations". the true low, i suppose, was Solo, where they seemed to blatantly have no interest in either what the fans wanted or how the fans knew and loved characters. except they got Lando right. 

anyway, at least now they would seem to have worked out how to get it right for the majority of fans, which is a win. one can actually feel excited about any new Star Wars stuff they announce, whereas after Last Jedi and Solo new projects were met with a groan. space cow milk, indeed.

quite a lovely touch, that was, in the above picture, giving Boba Fett some sort of Predator like thing on his arm guard stuff, showcasing his family history. kind of. and one gets every sense that this spear thing what current (or incumbent) Buckethead is holding shall be important. 

my apologies for not showing any images of The Frog off of this episode. he spent a fair bit of it doing all that transcendental meditation stuff, but yes, also did smack in the heads of a couple of stormtroopers too, which was lovely. 

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

a spitting sentry horned and tailed, waiting for you

howdy pop pickers

so (yet) another David Bowie release for the year that is the year 2020, look you see. i guess, then, that this particular year has not been all that much of a complete write off. or, maybe, has it.

in this particular instance the Bowie (re)release is the second time that an album of his has been given a "50th anniversary mix" by Tony Visconti. the first was Space Oddity, and as you can read here it turned out to be a very good idea to let exist. here it is The Man Who Sold The World to get the same. and i am not at all sure that this has been quite such a good idea. 

a decision was taken to rename The Man Who Sold The World as Metrobolist for this fifty year anniversary mix. the claim is that it was "always" going to be called that anyway, but was changed to The Man Who Sold The World at the last minute. well, if they (whoever they are) say so, i guess. fine. but for years we had heard and had been told that Bowie never particularly cared for his recording of the titular track, so it seems strange that he would have merrily used it as the name of the album entire, out of the blue, and at the last minute. still, a rose by any other name, etc. 

what worked with the new mix of Space Oddity was a slight fiddle with the tracks (introducing obscure gem Conversation Piece to the album proper was a wise move) and giving it all a fresh, crisp (hello, Faye) new sounding perspective. here, for as far as i can tell, the tracklisting (or order) remains as was the case on the original, and it is just that Visconti has "remixed" all but one tune. to be complete, the untouched one is After All, with the official claim being that it was "already perfect as it was" but the official statement also saying no one could, for some reason, find the original master tape for that song so they just had to use the most recent "remix" of it. 

quite a fair comment to make, i do believe, is that The Man Who Sold The World is not one of Bowie's albums one would call widely celebrated or hailed as one of his greatest. which is absolutely not to say it is a bad album, just he has done better. my general view on the record is that one of his all time greatest songs of all time, The Width Of A Circle, is on this album, and so are eight other songs which are not quite so good as that one. but yes, a shout out to those who do hold this album up as their favourite Bowie work. famously and memorably Kurt Cobain certainly did, and i have some mates who got into Bowie after hearing this album. 

the one really baffling question posed by this release, then, is who, exactly, is it aimed at. a certain element of the Bowie fan base exists which will of course just buy anything they care to release, and yes i suppose that is where i reside. but who else did they wish to lure? removing the rather well known original title and using one of the original alternate covers which does not feature Bowie on it kind of removes the more casual fan happening to stumble across it, i would think. or suspect. nope, no idea how sales of this have gone. 

once again i have to confess (or state) that i have no idea of the technical ways in which music is produced or made, or remixed, and so i do not, perhaps, have an awareness of the correct terms to use, or phrases to say. all i can do is offer my reaction to what i hear. what i heard here, then, on this Metrobolist album, was not all that good. 

maybe it is my familiarity with it, i know not, but something just sounded plain off with the first track, the previously (as opposed to later) mentioned The Width Of A Circle. i have no idea what Tony Visconti and his crew have done to the sound of it, but no longer does it sound like the audacious masterpiece it once did. is the song sounding all of a sudden strangely "out of balance" the right way to say it, i wonder. please forgive my ignorance in how to word it, but the song here does not sound as good as it does on the tape off of a library from the 70s which was where i first heard the song, nor anywhere near as good as it does on the early 90s CD release. 

for whatever flaws and faults there were (to the ears of some) in the original release, i am far from convinced that a viable solution or practical suggestion would have been to "make the songs sound a bit more tinny". yet this is the fate which befalls Running Gun Blues. never really a great song, in truth, but one that you could just let play. by my third listen to this new version of the album, i just had to skip this track, so mangled it has now become. 

is it all bad? not really. quite close but not a complete write off. a lovely touch, for instance, is accentuating (or making louder, clearer) the guitar riff and "zane, zane, zane" bit off the end of All The Madmen, which feels like a quasi tacit acknowledgement of Bowie borrowing it and shoving it on the end of the titular track of The Buddha Of Suburbia. also, the previous titular track off this record sounds quite suspiciously like it has had more extra work on it, to try and make it the standout, or outstanding, song on the record. 

so is this worth getting? frankly, no. if you want the album and for some reason don't have it, rather look around for any of the 90s CD issues of it. absurd prices are being asked in regards of the various different "limited edition" coloured vinyl releases of this, but that will be more to do with the rarity of them rather than the quality of the actual record. but again, let me say, there was really only so much scope to do something different with what was, should we be honest, a very average album. whereas i shall place the Space Oddity variation from time to time, i do not see Metrobolist moving off the shelf very often at all. 

what next? as much as Bowie liked him and considered him a friend across many years, on the basis of Metrobolist it will be rather f*****g brave of the custodians of the Bowie Estate to let Tony Visconti mess (or mix) with the next three albums which would be due 50th anniversary celebrations, as they are Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. actually, no. musically Hunky Dory is a little similar in tone to Space Oddity so that may work out. by that same logic, though, what Visconti has done to the rock sound of Man Who Sold The World is not something one would willingly wish to hear done to the rock sound of Ziggy. unless i am in some sort of minority on this. 

ultimately, or fundamentally, there is no such thing as "bad" Bowie. oh, but there are many cases where some Bowie is much better than other Bowie. 

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