lost lonely battered ball on stagnant suffolk stream

greetings

just pretty much, or more or less, look you see, what it says as the title. once more i have, on my travels, stopped to consider something that i presume to assume normal, well balanced people not in need of any help would ignore, or glance at and pass by. this does not seem, appear or indeed feel to be the way i go about such matters. 

recently, then, i found myself in suffolk. which part? all of it. due to just following rudimentary address details and postcodes sadly no, i do not know the specifics. but i do know i had reason to stop by, or beside, what was clearly a body of water. i glanced over the edge of the bank, then, to see what i could see. 

mostly, then, i observed stagnant water. if that is the correct term. although in real terms false, the water simply did not seem to move. so far as i am aware, there is always some form of "movement" on the go, even in those still waters what the saying states run deep. no ripples or obvious signs of movement, then, and no discarded debris or similar flowed along. 

which leads one (or me) on to the ball i saw. clearly a football, if not all that clear in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, but there it was. and is, in a picture below, somewhere. or above if you have somehow mastered reading this upside down. 

exactly what i was hoping to capture, or present, with some animated "gif" stuff is, alas, a bit of a mystery. i mean, if the water was stagnant and the ball not moving, what was the point, i wonder, of trying to do a bit of video? as you can see, i countered that by waving my phone, which has a camera welded on it, about some, so as to give a sense of movement. kind of. 

the ball was unmistakably a football. quite the classic one used by schoolchildren, for a number of the leather (or what have you) panels had come off of it. perhaps the distressed, battered state of it was why it had been discarded. my suspicion is no, for as it was inflated, it was still perfectly viable to have a kickaround (or kickabout) with it. i am fairly sure this ended up here as a matter of being considered irretrievable, and thus abandoned. 

no idea why my mind should wander, or i end up affected so, when i see such things. well, maybe i do. perhaps one day i shall learn to not see such things, or not stare too long. i cannot help but feel a sense of sadness, a child somewhere upset having lost this ball. sure, one could say "just a ball", and in this modern world everything can be replaced, or dispensed. look at the ease with which i am of the latter. but for many, i would think (hope), sentiment exists. a sentiment of sorrow, a feeling of loss. there are things i have lost over the years, recent and far, far away, that i feel so of. 

right, probably quite (or more than) enough of a confession for one post, even if some just dismiss as trivial, or irrelevant. undoubtedly, should i see anything else of interest, or causing pause, yes, i will post here. what else would i do with such thoughts. 

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

anniversary of errors

howdy pop pickers

and, indeed, a warm welcome to factual error spotters. this post, as brief as it may be, has something for each of you, look you see. 

today, as you would not need me to point out, is the birthday of the second most famous drummer ever to be called Roger Taylor. i speak, of course, of the one out of Duran Duran. and absolutely no disrespect is meant by the secondary status, for who could claim to have the same name and profession as any member out of Queen and somehow be more famous? 

such certainly confused the Daily Mirror this time last year. as one of them "throwback" things, here you go, an image of their published "birthday celebration" thing from this very day (April 26) just last year (2021). 

yes, it would certainly seem they just went right ahead and did a google, probably "Roger Taylor drummer", and published the first picture that popped up. hence the Roger Taylor out of Queen, rather than Duran Duran, appearing on the page. also, they claim that he, Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, was not a member of the band between 1986 and 1994. in truth he was absent from 1985 all the way up to 2001. but, still, they got his name, vocation and the band he was in right, i guess. 

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

new coasters

hello there

off the bat, or right up front, no, i didn't particularly need any new coasters. presently i have more than i could ever wish to use at any one time, look you see. so yes, this is perhaps (or possibly) yet another example of bourgeois indulgence. which seems to happen a lot. 

my travels, of late, and almost always predominantly of verk related concern, have taken me all over. actually, and this is no brag or pretentious superiority claim, often i find i lose track of where i have been, or when. but, whilst fresh in the memory, i can confirm that i have, recently, returned to Felixstowe. and, for those in the know, yes i did indeed go past the Orwell Hotel, no i did not go in, and yes that is probably where part of my liver (and some other organs) died at the hands of some rather impressive home made Welsh whisky (or similar), free as it was of the constraints of such nonsense as legal allowed alcohol level conent. 

but i am not writing to speak of another time, another place. despite that, based on the above alone, quite clearly being the (far) more interesting subject. instead, then, to sort of loop back to the opening paragraph bit, whilst there i picked up some new coasters. two to be precise, but just the one pictured at first and just below this very sentence. or paragraph. 

sure, that's only 1 (one) of the two (2) i bought, but as you can clearly see, thanks to the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, the artistic theme (picture on it) of the coaster is the magic of the puffin. as puffins are indeed quite class, well, my purchase was secured. for two when i discovered they were only £2.50 each. believe it or not a bargain price for coasters in this day and age, but i confess, or admit, seemingly expensive when you don't actually require (or need) coasters momentarily. 

for some reason it might be that one or two (or more) of you might not have a preference for seeing things in Commodore 64 mode. leaving aside how absurd such a notion is, and showing acceptance, sure, then, here you go, the two (or both) of them in a so-called "standard" format. or type of picture. 

does, or is it the case that, Felixstowe has any particular affinity (or special link) with puffins? i have absolutely no idea, and am not really inclined to investigate. probably, maybe. it is most decidedly so that puffins are (as stated) quite class, so maybe the artists involved in creating these were simply inspired by the magnificent creatures. 

indeed, it would be fair comment to say yes, a lot of my own interests in puffins stems from the wonderful film Four Lions. oh, how i wish that "puffin party" chatroom website thing was really real. so far as i am aware it was a vague parody of something called 'club penguin' but, in keeping with the thematic drive of the motion picture (the absurdity of how, generally, stupid terrorists are) it highlighted how "the internet" was a simplistic way for devious ways to talk in front of an audience the size of the world population what could access all that online stuff. strange that no one launched a puffin party for real after the film, for marketing was done, but likely it would have been more trouble than worth. 

a particularly good friend of mine is very keen to come over and see the above. i mentioned, in conversation, that i had bought some puffin coasters. her reaction was of love for puffins, especially when they had a mouth full of fish. quite, or rather, fortunate that one of my coasters features such a spectacle. 

up to now, alas, no, unfortunately i have not used either of these coasters. well at least not in the conventional (or intended) sense. sure, i have picked them up, looked at them and observed how class they are, but so far i have yet to rest a cup (or mug) on one. perhaps i shall do so shortly. 

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

persists in saying yes

heya

rather unexpectedly, this is another sort of prelude post (here) to a not really standard form of cigarette. no, not that sort of alternative cigarette, look you see. but, all the same, a kind (or form) of such that isn't them what get mass produced and traditionally sold in packs of twenty. 

one, as in i, has to tread carefully, i suppose. for some reason it has become the "thing" to refer to people from a huge chunk of the world as "asian", rather than of their country (as in place of birth). pretty sure this is down to that loud, vociferous minority on twatter and what have you somehow being able to dictate what the majority must do. 

so, anyway, mindful of that, i met a quite lovely gentleman off of india. the reasons for meeting are not of concern here, and thus will remain a private concern. on parting, though, he did give me a quite lovely gift. 

gifts, to be correct, for they were separate things. as you can see above, in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode (of course), the gift(s) came in the form of what i believe are traditional, hand rolled cigarettes. wrapped in a leaf, which i would believe (or assume) is a tobacco one, but i am not able to say as fact. 

in total i was given five (5), but my associate, colleague or if you like chum took me up on the offer of one of them. which was kind of strange, as they are not traditionally of the smoker persuasion. that's all fine, and the four i have are better than the amount i had before, which is none. 

up to now, no, i have not smoked one of these. this is not due to any level of measured success in me either quitting or cutting down considerably (smoking is very silly, please note), i just have not gotten around to it. 

for scale, or comparison, there you go, one of them quite lovely Marlboro Gold cigarettes next to the gifted ones. not all that radical a difference in length, just the lack of a filter. also, if my eyes are seeing right, the hand rolled ones are somewhat thinner. 

certainly, or for sure, there is some trepidation in lighting one of these up, for i have no direct idea what's actually in them. but then, the same is true of regular, if you like conventional cigarettes. perhaps one day soon i shall light one up, then. 

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

 

bit more driving video

hello there

it was a little while ago, either some months or a few seconds from now if you click here, that i shared some video from my perspective in the passenger seat of a conventional (but not common) vehicle. given that a few people had a look at it, for some reason i thought some more might be of interest. well, that and no, presently i don't have much else of interest to throw on here. 

that i am publishing this on a Monday, too, is also of some consequence. but let me leave that aspect to your own ears. 

no, i am not entirely certain where this was. all down to displacement, really, for these days i am never sure of where, exactly, i am. probably that there London (innit) since i was not driving, for i drove there once and decided it was disagreeable. rather have someone else drive you about, that's my advice for or concerning the place. 

right, that video for you then, if you are interested but for some reason have not scrolled down as such as yet. just a few seconds, ten or maybe Nigel Tufnel, but still hopefully enjoyable for those of you what like this sort of thing. no, not that sort of thing. 

anyway, no, that's that for this. nothing else of interest really comes to mind to speak of this, except to say oh yes, that is indeed some most bangin' vibes on the stereo. 

more as and when there's something of interest. 

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

et isn't all that bad a game

hi there

my understanding is that several acres of (mixed quality) internet real estate has already been taken up with words on the subject of the (in)famous Atari cartridge game based on the motion picture ET The Extra-Terrestrial. indeed, it is also so that at least 1 (one) documentary has been produced on this very subject, look you see. the one thing what all such instances tend to have in common is labelling the game the "worst ever", and concluding that it is the game which "destroyed" Atari. 

far be it from me to add too much more on this subject. also, i am very much each to their own, what someone considers to be the "worst" of anything probably is from their perspective. having had a go at the game, well, i have a slightly different take on it. 

to the facts, then, or "facts". in and around 1982 it was so that video games - arcade machines and at home the Atari system - were big money. also, ET was on its way to being, for quite some time, the biggest money making, most popular motion picture of all time. i would argue that 40 (!!) years on it remains an undiminished masterpiece. so, adding that all together, a home video game based on ET was one big, large and hefty demographic of a potential market. what could go wrong? 

lots of things, as it happens. whereas no, i don't think the game is all "that" bad, it really, really wasn't a masterpiece of a game, generally attributed to the "rush job" done to get it out as fast as possible. other factors were very much in play, mind. arcade games got better and better in terms of the quality of sound and visuals on (in) them, the Atari at home was limited to the constraints of 4kb of space for a game in a cartridge that the console would be capable of playing. computers, such as the Commodore 64, were coming in to the market, offering vastly superior gaming experiences. 

generally the view (or consensus) is that Atari blew all of their money on the ET game being a success, and then it "failed" and so the company went, effectively, bust. whilst the game sold around a million copies, the expectations or requirements were for it to sell a lot more, even expanding how many people bought consoles just to get this game. not a bad gamble, considering that this was effectively the only legal way to have some ET visual entertainment at home, what with Spielberg infamously blocking efforts to release it on home video or let TV broadcast it. 

yes, as per the one documentary dedicated to it and several others where referenced, it is true that Atari dumped many, many copies of ET in a landfill in New Mexico. but, also, lots of other cartridges and accessories. the official stance was that they "cleared out warehouses". a much more entertaining and funnier story is, of course, that Atari buried just loads and loads of ET games. 

what, exactly, then, is so bad about this ET game? the above picture, and one below, pretty much shows you. it's them four (4) diamond shape things, look you. they are holes in the ground, and once you fall in one you have to use ET's special levitation power to hover back out. usually getting out of a hole is followed immediately by you falling right back in to it, and then needing to levitate (or fly) out of it. which is then repeated again and again, until you get really lucky and somehow land on a pixel that lets you stay above ground. 

on a superficial level, one might suggest (or say) that surely, then, one playing the game needs to use rather deft joystick skills and simply avoid the holes. alas, no. in order to complete the game, one has to go into specific holes to collect parts of the telephone thing what ET, in game and film, uses to phone home. which does, pretty much, get frustrating and tedious, although maybe not so fast or quick as you might think. 

up to now know, i haven't finished the game. in some instances i have managed to get one or two bits of the phone thing. also i've managed to get some of them sweets, or "candy" and feed it to that kid what was in the film, Elliott or whatever. either i lack the patience to persevere and continue with it to a conclusion, or yeah, it's just too frustrating and tedious to do. 

i would not go so far, as i have made fairly clear, to say this is a great, or even good, game. but also no, the game is not quite so bad as reputation, myth or legend would have it. applying the standards of other Atari games, this one at least offered different from the usual to do. 

should i recall it right, the decision to purchase an Atari game cartridge was one made along the lines of a financial commitment akin to buying a car, or a new house. if in 1982 you'd gone no, let me remain homeless, i shall use the money for the ET game instead, then it's very likely you would be a trifle miffed with how that worked out. but still, not the worst game i've ever played. 

just what, exactly, was the worst game what i ever played? likely something on the ZX Spectrum, but also there were a few poor Commodore 64 ones. and quite a few other band Atari ones. maybe that shall be a subject for a post on another day. 

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

chased by fire in (two) different languages

helo yno

more, then, from my recent(ish) adventures in Wales, look you see. and, as you might well have guessed, all to do with what to do (or not do) when some fire is chasing after you. 

but please, make you no mistake. indeed, i do appreciate that all that health and safety stuff is kindly vaguely important, and one should pay attention to instructions at a time of disaster or distress. yet this can become quite complex, if not a trifle difficult, when trying to work out such in a language one is not as familiar with as they perhaps should be. 

an assumption i am making here, mostly on the basis of common sense, is that this is telling one, with one being a patron of my lodgings, what to do in the case of a fire. yes, my presentation of it in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode does make it somewhat clearer. mostly, i think, the message is "run away from it", or at least move away at a reasonable pace. the basics, though, seem to be to use the stairs, rather than the lift. or "elevator" if American. 

this is all noble, important, valuable and potentially life saving information, of course. however, the location of these signs left me somewhat baffled. if they are quite serious about one not using the lifts in case of a fire (or similar), why is it these signs only appear in the lifts, or just above the control button panel thing for them? like, you've escaped the fire, and get confronted with a "no, not this way"sign. that's a little harsh, i would probably just go ahead and use the lift anyway. i have seen Die Hard a couple of times now and have every confidence i can handle it. 

further, that picture does look a bit like when one of the barrels goes on fire in level one of Donkey Kong. i am quite a wizard at that level. and the second one, actually. it gets a bit tricky on the third. 

i have no way of knowing if the English bit is a like for like translation of the Welsh. well, yes, sure i do, if i type it up in one of them "translator" things, or ask someone who is bilingual. this strikes me as being rather too much effort, so i shall not do so. you would think, or trust (at least), that "get away from the fire" is one of them universal things.

no, i am not going to mention that the Welsh have a natural fear of, or affinity with, fire because of the whole dragon mythology, thanks. someone else has surely done so. if not, by all means pretend that i have just done so, then. 

right, let me get on with things of stuff what are not getting caught by fire.

byddwch yn wych i'ch gilydd !!!!!!!!!!!!!

watching several films

heya

and phew, this might well be a lengthy post. or not, look you see. chance has intervened and i have had both the time and the inclination to watch some movies, or if you like films, of late. several, as it happens, although it might be fair to assume you worked that out from the title. 

no idea at all if my comments or insights are of any value on the subject of these films. probably not, as it happens. also, not really "insights" but opinions. there is a difference. be wary of anyone claiming they can share insights into something; invariably it shall be merely an opinion what they have elected to elevate to something more authoritative sounding. 

there's a picture of some of this several, then. presented, yes, of course, in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. to the delight of some and the sadness of others, any comments on the films shall be presented with "just" a regular pic, a screen shot off of a trailer or something. no, i am not abandoning the joys of Commodore 64 mode, i simply could not be bothered. 

right, here we go, then. in no particular order at all, so no indication of what order i watched or any preference. should such a thing really be required, yeah, a *** SPOILER WARNING *** thing now exists for you going forward. or forwards, if that's a more better way of saying it. 

of all the films i have watched (recently), it was just The Batman that i didn't do so in the comfort of home, or if you like my lodgings in place of exile. this one is a (fairly) current big cinema release thing. up to now my sons, the boys, have been to see it three (3) times, with me going the once. and just once at the cinema will be quite sufficient for me, as it is rather long. 

what is it? it's a Batman film. no, really. as in just Batman. in a very welcome and refreshing change there is no p!ssing about telling the backstory all again. also, for just about the whole film Batman is Batman, doing Batman stuff. so no sort of usual Bruce Wayne soap opera. in a move likely to appease the more hardcore / dedicated comic book / graphic novel and indeed video game fans, this one goes all the way back to the origins or roots, so Batman (or Bats, if you will) does actual detective stuff in this one. but yes, a modern setting to it all. 

any good? rather. exceptionally well cast, in particular the titular role. not sure it needed to be nearly 3 (three) hours long, but also couldn't identify a section of the film to cut, or felt like it lagged. should one accept that The Dark Knight was one of the greatest films ever, never mind Batman one, then this comes reasonably close to being second best ever Batman film. the box office suggests i need not bother doing so, but yes, recommended. 

exactly how i came to know that there was such a film as The Limehouse Golem, and then saw it, is a curious tale. a good friend said they were watching it, missed a bit, got lost and asked if i could get the tape of it. presuming that the tape was the disc, then yes. it sounded interesting, and was based on a novel off of that Peter Ackroyd who Bowie was a fan of, so i gave it a watch. 

plot? not sure i followed it all properly, to be honest, which is kind of what happened when i tried to read a novel by this bloke. best i can do is suggest that it is vaguely similar to the (in)famous case of Jack The Ripper, but fiction, with a heavy and (sadly) historically accurate level of antisemitism in it, and some other historical figures featuring. a detective, played by Bill Nighy, seems railroaded into the impossible task of solving the case of a serial killer lurking the Limehouse region of London (innit).

getting down to simplistic bones, and mindful of spoiler warnings being given (at least one), it's a twisty turning "whodunnit" thing with the twist being, in this day and age, one that can kind of be spotted from some distance prior to reveal. quite gruesome with the visuals this film is. whereas not bad, it does suffer a bit from the excellent Bill Nighy playing a "straight and serious" role for a change. like many others, i half expected witty retorts or similar comedy moments all the time. 

on to my usual sort of trash viewing, then, and one that i hadn't ever got around to seeing but certainly wished to. a film of many names, this one, but Inglorious B@st@rds is the best known of them, and certainly the one which Quentin Tarantino elected to borrow and alter for his own WW2 film. 

whilst aware of the film i just really hadn't had the time or opportunity to watch all these years. and there it was, sat in a charity shop, ready to be bought as part of buy one get one free, or 3 discs for a pound or similar. looking at the other titles on the shelf available, it just seemed, or even felt, that now was the time to finally give it a go. 

a kind of taped together vague plot, of sorts, which did seem to borrow (very) heavily off of The Dirty Dozen, only the budget (and script) appeared not to stretch to a gang of 12. effectively, a group of American soldiers are, towards the end of WW2, arrested by their own side for a variety of misdemeanours. by chance the escape, then do a naughty, then elect to try and redeem themselves by undertaking a dangerous, important and all but impossible mission. 

this was, on the whole, ruthless fun, and not just because of a scene featuring nude ladies with powerful machine guns. but yes, that bit was nice. you can't really say this is "so bad it's good" as it is not so bad at all, even here in a dubbed back into English (Italian, originally, i believe) form. the movie seeks only to be an entertaining ninety minutes, and this it excels in doing. had this been available at my local video shop close to 40 (!!) years ago, it would have been one i rented again and again right up until the point i worked out how to connect to video machines together to remove the need for repeat rentals. 

back to the realm of super hero blockbusters, and one does have to wonder if films what are not super hero ones have any chance of being big money these days, with Spider-Man No Way Home. this is the third and presumably final of the current trilogy what Sony have made, blessed as it is with the deal allowing for them to borrow people off of Disney Marvel films. 

do i need to do a plot? essentially all Marvel super hero films for the last, what, 10 to 15 years, have done the same thing, which is copy The Blues Brothers. a hero who has fallen from grace must redeem themselves, they do so by "getting the band back together", triumph but then pay a price. the only one of them to deviate from this was probably Black Panther, which did a remarkably good job of pilfering the story for The Lion King instead. 

nonetheless, or all the same, this is hugely enjoyable and most agreeable. a particularly pleasing aspect was to see just how much time on-screen one of my all time favourite actors, Alfred Molina, was given to reprise his "Dr Octopus" role. excellent stuff. well, to be fair, as usual all of the cast (even the surprise ones who are probably no longer a surprise) were boss. it's very good, but also likely highly disposable. rather like the more recent Star Wars films, the sheer volume of these films means that few get the chance to be copy & paste instant entertainment to be immediately disposed, leaving no legacy of truly iconic moments. hey ho, enjoy it whilst it lasts. 

another Robert Pattinson film on this list then, in the form of The Rover. yet no, he is not the "star" or lead actor in this one, that's the magnificent Guy Pearce. to confess, yes, i did stumble upon this film when looking at other ones what this Robert Pattinson bloke had done, after watching The Lighthouse, reading up and discovering that (or so it is claimed) a 'signature move' of his in films is to have at least one (1) scene of him furiously masturbating for no apparent plot related reason. 

no, it is not so that any such scene of such nature appears in this film. at least not that i noticed, maybe it was implied. what does it feature, then? in terms of the plot? well, we are once again in that not too distant future, if not post apocalypse then post breakdown of the world we know society. being set in Australia (g'day) it of course invites comparisons to the realm of Mad Max, yet features more resigned apathy rather than it does people cutting holes in the back of their trousers and adopting outrageous hairstyles. 

essentially, then, the quasi plot exists to sort of showcase the kind of Talking Heads (band, not play) quote of as the world fell apart nobody paid much attention. the car of Guy Pearce gets stolen, and so off he goes to get it back, by any means necessary. which is often quite violent. he effectively takes Robert Pattinson "hostage", as he is of the gang what stole his car and can lead him to them, and his wheels. 

ultimately it's a very good, if not quite "excellent" film, which appears to exists mostly to showcase acting talents. the point made by the film, that of no one seems to care of the world going to sh!t, is hardly a new one and is likely to be ignored by most anyway. much if not most of what went on, be it themes or scenes, were unsettling viewing, so it's not exactly a tape to rent for a fun Saturday night. certainly worth a watch, if for no reason other than to sit baffled that Guy Pearce doesn't get more a grade roles, as he is truly exceptional. 

marketing types certainly earned their coins with the selection of trailers on the tape (disc) of The Rover, for on that they had the trailer for a film i had not heard of before, The Homesman. it looked really, really good, so i found the tape (disc) of it and watched it. 

plot? it's a western, and out in the west a lady farmer (Hillary Swank) is successful but apparently unable to get married, with the accusation of being too plain. in seeking some sort of meaning from life, she undertakes to take three "crazy" ladies back to the east of America, a daunting and dangerous journey. on the way she saves a gent (Tommy Lee Jones, who also directed) from execution to come along with her, as a "homesman" for the epic journey. 

very little is "wrong" with this film. beautifully filmed, superbly acted and a quite engrossing story. and yet, well, it doesn't feel quite like it works as it should. disjointed, i think, is the best way of putting it. much needed comic relief scenes tend to come, for instance, far too abruptly on the back of truly harrowing, upsetting moments in the film. certainly still worth watching, for it is so that Tommy Lee Jones has called in, for what i believe was his directorial debut, some chums in the form of John Lithgow, Meryl Streep and James Spader to deliver significant, excellent sort of cameo performances. 

last for now, then, was me getting around to watching this John Wick film. yes, i know there are three (3) of them, no i had not seen any, and just this first one for now, since it was sat on the shelf in a charity shop. i believe i got this the same time as Inglorious B@st@rds above. 

do i even need to bother with the plot on this one? if so, Keanu Reeves out of Bill & Ted is some sort of ultra uber successfully retired hitman, who feels obliged to come out of retirement when the idiot, halfwit son (interestingly played by the idiot, halfwit son of Keith Allen) of a big mobster type elects to kill his dog and steal his car, if not quite in that order and not quite so simplistic. effectively, then, what 'plot' exists does so to give an excuse for ninety or so minutes of fast paced action and violence. 

it wasn't bad, i suppose. not great, not the best action film ever, but pacy enough to keep it well away from being the worst. just a film thrown together to provide entertainment for a fairly large audience, which is why movies ultimately exist as a business rather than an art form. sure, i may well end up having a look at the next two (2) films, and i believe another is being considered. any such viewing of them, however, will be by chance if circumstance allows, rather than me going right ahead and full tilt out of my way to try and find them.  yes, probably (or mostly) it was a complete lack of any quality nudity which held back any view of this being anything but an average film. nice though it is to watch, on screen and in a fictional way, any offspring of Keith Allen get killed. 

so that's that for this lot, then. blimey, compared to how many i usually get to see these days, that's a fair few films watched in the last few weeks. and, for a change, me not just going to the comfort zone of watching things what i had seen before and knew i would enjoy. oh yeah, now that i think, i did put the blu ray of For Your Eyes Only on recently too. considering that is a Sir Roger era James Bond film, my review is of course that it was excellent, anyway. 

right, anyway, let me get on with things of stuff. many thanks indeed to the dozen or so people what still drop by and read all of this, as ever boss and nice one if any of the above was of remote interest, even if only in passing!! 

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

my squedgehog

hello there

it is quite hard to believe that, at time of this being published (or "appearing on the internet"), the motion picture adaptation of Fight Club has existed for some 23 years. that's quite enough of a period for someone to have been born, lived an enriched, full tilt life and died, arguably early. and yet here we are, look you see. despite the teachings of Tyler Durden, warning of the dangers of consumerism and the consequences of gathering things you don't need, this is me discussing my quite class new squedgehog. 

a not unreasonable question at this stage, from you, would be what, precisely, is a squedgehog. well, broadly, it's a sort of squeezy toy in the ostensible shape of a hedgehog. yes, i suppose "squeezy" as in one of them sort of "stress ball" things. here, anyway, have a look. 

certainly, that is a look in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, but a picture not in this format is below. by all means scroll away if you are in a rush. 

how, or why, did i come to become a custodian of a squedgehog? impulse, i suppose. whilst buying some dinner (lunch, if posh) off of Tesco, them vending machines they have with toys in them caught my eye, a squedgehog sounded excellent, so in went a £1 coin and out came the below.

this is what they call a "50mm" capsule toy, presumably as some size element (length or diameter) is 5cm. no, i am not measuring it, i am not interested. also, the wholesalers sell these in bags of 100, i discovered when doing some research into the world (or realm) of the squedgehog. certainly i have considered registering with the wholesaler so as to obtain more of these. but no i did not, as they probably have some "minimum order" and there's only so many of them (squedgehogs) i need. 

sure, if i had a (considerably) wider social circle than i do, then yes, it would make sense to order whatever the minimum order is. however, if the minimum order is just as low as ten (10) bags, that is, to be fair, one thousand squedgehogs i would have to give out. which is a lot. 

here, or there, you go, then. above is a bit of that "animated gif" business of my squedgehog for your viewing pleasure. exactly how much pleasure you extract from that is, well, up to you. i would think seen it once, seen it enough, but by all means feel free to keep staring at it. 

overall, then, sure i am happy with this acquisition. or purchase, if you like. sure, yes, mostly now it will just sit on a shelf, or in a drawer maybe, doing nothing, but i would say that i momentarily got full value for my £1 off of it. 

much of what could be said about a squidgy, squeezy hedgehog has, i believe, already been written in this post. perhaps someone with a better grasp of how to use their education would be able to muse more, but that is clearly not me. 

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

impromptu prompted gig attendance

howdy pop pickers

well, that was somewhat unexpected. i had what i believed to be my first gig of the year all lined up, look you see, but alas it got postponed due to "illness". no doubt this was down to the vagaries of the quite modern plague we have had kicking about, but no one said so. of course not, for it would be rude. whereas that one has been rescheduled (or if you like rearranged), off i went to a different one, first, then. and not necessarily one i chose to go, or was particularly aware of. 

how do i best word this? basically, or in essence, when friends and verk colleagues have asked how it came to be i went to a gig, my standard, stock answer was "my Dad made me go". this perplexes some, for here i am, on the (sort of) cusp of 50, with said Dad over on the other side of the world. exactly how is it that he can wield such power? those who ask have not met him. dear friends who have met him do tend to refer to him, lovingly, admiringly and with respect, as a sort of The Godfather figure, only more powerful and indeed more scary. 

so yes, then, at quite short notice (i got told to go approximately but nearly exactly seven days before i went) off i went to see my first gig of this year, Andy Fairweather Low with his band, the Low Riders. 

a not entirely unreasonable question from a certain demographic of my readers here - say, the majority of you under 50 - would be who he? well, most famously he was in (or out of) a band in the 60s called Amen Corner. in turn they were best known (arguably) for two specific songs, Bend Me Shape Me and their biggest hit, If Paradise Is Half As Nice. since then, Andy Fairweather Low has had a most decent career, both as a solo artist and, if you will, "guitarist for hire". of the latter, undoubtedly the most famous such appearance was on the celebrated, almost genre creating Unplugged album off of Eric Clapton and them what did MTV when MTV did music. 

indeed i did, as i am coming to be quite used to, go to this gig on my own. alone, if you will. well, with such short notice for it and me being on my travels for most (if not all) of the time before it, i didn't quite see how i could find time to explain to someone who he was and invite them along on the off chance they may say yes. the gig was all of a few minutes (less than thirty, at the least) walk from my lodgings in my place of exile, so to me it was just being off for an evening stroll with a musical diversion. sure it would have been nice to have someone with me, but one can only play the hand dealt. besides, ideally, the gentleman who insisted i attend would have been the only companion i can think of what would have made the night all the more better. 

certainly i attracted some peculiar looks from my fellow audience members, or if you will other patrons of the venue. maybe this was due to me being alone, or apparently being the only one interested in going outside for a cigarette, but most likely as i was (by some distance) the youngest member of the audience. by about ten years, at a guess. no, i am not used to being the junior in a social setting. 

the above picture is from the first set (of two), which i am reasonably confident you can work out was an acoustic one. it was 45 to 50 minutes or so, and kind of a sensible way to get things on the go. some lovely songs were played, and Andy (if i am now on first name terms with him) was quite eloquent in engaging with us, the audience. 

once that was done, and we had a very cigarette and drink friendly interval (twenty minutes or so, give or take), on we went to an electric set, or if you will a rock and roll concert. duration was probably a good hour or so, i wasn't really counting. 

damn, if Andy isn't an excellent guitar player. few things in life can be as enjoyable as a surprise experience of seeing a 73 (soon 74) year old go absolutely full tilt jimi hendrix with a guitar. well, except he didn't play with his teeth or set it on fire. at least i did not observe such. 

yes, i did some video of it. also yes, some sharing below. i did take quite a bit of video whilst there, immediately forwarding it on to Dad (the concert venue having wifi was most useful), since, after all, it was his wish to have been there and his instruction for me to be there. 

here we go, then, from the latter stages of the rock set, with Tequila. 

some of you will no doubt have noted (if you played the whole clip) that at the end there it's clearly and unmistakably the start of Peter Gunn Theme, much beloved ever since it's frequent use in The Blues Brothers. there is a space / size / time limit on doing video to send my messages, but i did my best to start recording again as soon as possible. 

which means that a considerable chunk of the rest of Peter Gunn is here, below, for your entertainment. 

my review of this one, leaving aside the surreal nature in which i ended up at it in the first instance, was that it was a really, really good, fun and enjoyable gig. that Andy is ferociously talented is something i say only to show what stating the obvious. he is also a funny, witty and charming gent, with lots of good tales to tell and forever ready to be self-deprecating on doing all this at his age.

if you've popped by here on a search for details on if it's worth going to see Andy Fairweather Low, and the superb Low Riders, on tour, well, i think the answer is above. absolutely yes it is, i very much enjoyed the night out. even, or despite, me doing so on quite short notice. 

for clarity, yes, indeed the "big two" off of Amen Corner do get a play. also some excellent tunes off his entire career, which i may well go and invest in tapes (or discs) of. 

not so that my next, at this stage second, gig of the year will be the one that i had reasonably expected to be the first of it. another one has turned up, but more on that as and when it happens and after i have been in attendance. well, assuming you come back to read of it. 

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

film alphabet answers

hello 

a little while ago (just a few days, look you see) i shared an image or two of a rather smart thing what i purchased in a charity shop. it was, is, as can be seen here (and below) an a-z alphabet, presented in all artsy images of iconic films off of the 60s. well, mostly iconic films. 

in that post i promised, for the sake of conjuring up some form (or other) of an interactive element to this blog of mine, to reveal the answers to all the letters. for anyone interested, then, they shall appear below. yes, in the form of a picture of the back of the print, what lists them all. 

but first, to act as kind of a "spoiler" buffer, a hopefully (more) better look at the print itself. 

yes, for anyone at all interested, i remain very happy with this purchase. all the more so, in fact, as the more i look, the more excellent it seems. indeed, as i think i (maybe) mentioned in the other, original post, getting a 70s, 80s and 90s variation of this would be quite class. very class. 

so, anyway, those answers. presented with an impressive sense of when to use capital letters and what's one or two words, even when measured against the standards set on this blog. 

hope you guessed loads (if not all) correct, and had some fun! 

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

southend sketchers shoe shopping

hi there

each of us, i suppose, have our own little rituals. for me, when we have a year that is quasi-bi-binary in nature, such as 2022, look you see, i quite like to purchase quality footwear from a place renowned for having a massive, or lengthy, pier. so this is what i did, or gone done. 

circumstances (verk) took me not only to southend (on sea) but also a place there (southend) what was very close to one of them sports direct shop. you know, that shop owned by that nice, honest mike ashley bloke, what everyone (more or less) says good things of. as it happened that i could very well have done with some new shoes, i engaged in the ritual, or if you would tradition, outlined in the first paragraph, or the bit above this chunk of text. 

it is so, or written, that sports direct are one of the few retailers what carry shoes my size that actually let you purchase in a shop, and not order off online. for that i have little interest, as there is likely to be disappointment in buying such and finding they fit not. so, i was delighted to find that southend had a few pairs in my size to try. and, for one, purchase. 

some sketchers sport ones, then, as you can (well) see in the above, presented in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. and indeed, a brand departure for me here. as far as i can recall, or remember, i have not owned a pair of these 'sketchers' before. in this instance, i got them for they were the most comfortable and best fit. no, they were not the cheapest i had to choose from. 

a close call, or under (some consideration) were a pair of them addidas ones. yes, they were indeed a quite cheaper option (by about £2) and a not bad fit. however, they were black with a white "trim", or tread, what we at school called 'gaylord' shoes (whatever that means), so no. further i considered some not badly priced ones off of nike, but they were a bit too tight a fit. so, sketchers, then. 

overall i would think, or suggest, these shoes were somewhere between an essential and an indulgent, partially bourgeois purchase. the pair i was wearing most frequently were in a state best described as serviceable, but i do tend to walk a bit, and also the tread was starting to go. so, something i needed to get eventually, within the near future, but not immediately. if that is of interest. 

how, now that i have purchased them and worn them (for a couple of weeks or so), do i feel all this is going? not bad. they are, indeed, very comfortable. unsure, though, on how long they shall last with this memory foam business on the go. whereas it does provide a good fit, the whole thing feels a little squishy, and at times it feels like my feet are far closer to the surface of the earth than i would expect with footwear on. a bit like wearing them canvas "deck" shoes, i suppose. 

my decision to take a stroll and inspect the shoes on offer at sports direct was, as it happens, a very easy one to make. the lodgings in which i found myself presented some challenges. apparently the main thing to do in southend is drink and disgrace yourself. on one evening i, when entering the hotel, was greeted by a gentleman drinking wine directly from a bottle, declaring love for some unspecified suitor, whilst surrounded by luggage. discreet enquires established that this gentleman was a patron of the hotel, but has been requested to leave due to his wine trick. an encounter with a gentleman laid prostate and partially asleep in said doorway, surrounded by empty bottles and apparently undertaking an act of nature to relieve his kidneys, bladder, liver et al of said refreshments, gave me all the motivation required to rather take a stroll to sports direct. 

did the sports direct of southend meet the standards (low or high is up to you) of all other branches, or if you will chapters, of this score across our nation fair? mostly. one does tend to get the sense when one engages in conversation with staff at sports direct that it (decidedly) so they have deliberately sought to be employed in circumstances likely to wrench, crush and destroy whatever soul or spirit they have, all for the greater enrichment of that (as previously mentioned) nice mike ashley. 

well, i suppose i'd best get on wearing these (rather smart) trainers, then. and doing some walking around in them. no, i would not think it likely i shall be doing any running or exercise stuff in them, that's not really my bag, baby. 

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

ha ha ha he he he i'm the laughing gnome and you can't catch me

howdy pop pickers

well, the things that one forgets. recently i got an email off of the Bowie Estate. yes, i like to think these all come direct from Iman, look you see, but probably not, no. surprisingly this mail was not an offer, or invitation, to spend a lot of money on some other things they had randomly decided to write "Bowie" on, but instead a follow up to their poor efforts to make amends for an ill-advised campaign from a little while ago. 

oh, yes. we are, dear reader, if you are still reading, back in the realm (or world) of all that Brilliant Live Adventures stuff. you remember, that "limited edition" release of some varying quality recordings of Bowie live in the 90s. an expert campaign in alienating and annoying fans, whilst making opportunistic types selling copies fairly rich. 

all of them sold out (eventually), with a hefty chunk of the "limited edition" discs ending up in the hands of people who bought them purely to sell them on for a tidy (as in large) profit. i was fortunate to get the first five from the Bowie site, with the sixth (reluctantly) obtained off of a seller not looking to get too large a profit. to try and address the distress this caused, last year (nearly a year ago) they asked us, the fans, for an "expression of interest" in buying them if they made more copies available. this was followed by absolute silence, until now. 

so, some eight (8) months after asking us to express interest in giving them money, they have remembered to kind of get in touch, indicating that they might let people buy them in another 8 (eight) or so months. lovely stuff. 

for those interested, here you go, an overview of all six (6) volumes. one is brilliant, one is worthwhile as it has Strangers When We Meet on it, the other four, well, if they were never ever released then the world would seem just the same, quite the same. 

let us not get too excited waiting for more information about all of this. 

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