what's the time

spooky greetings

well, no. i wasn't, as it happens, looking for a wall clock as such, look you see. but, well, now i have one, and am aware that yes, i very much did want one in my life. no, not just any wall clock, but quite specifically this one. 

some background, of sorts, then. when out and about on my travels across the land i am (quite) partial to taking a break and having a look around charity shops. mostly, true, this is in pursuance of more tapes (discs) to play as i drive about for verk. rather rare for me to look at anything but such, but in rare instances, every now and then, something catches my eye. 

i saw this clock from a vague distance, and went "hey, that looks a bit like what i think it is, but no, surely such a thing would not be sat here, donated for sale for a good cause". on getting closer, yes, as it turns out, someone had donated a wall clock which featured a face in the style (pattern) of the world famous, if you will iconic, carpet pattern off of The Shining. 

deciding pretty much instantly, then, that yes, this would be mine, i enquired as to the cost or price of this fine item. the staff said they were not at all sure if it worked or not, but if i wished to take ownership then the price was £1. knowing full well that if it didn't work then it would be going on the wall anyway, with a rather specific time on display, i happily bought it. great for whatever cause i supported, for i have forgotten, but excellent stuff for me. 

yes, indeed it does work, and would (thus far) appear to be keeping the correct time. but of course, for fun and as requested in one of them social media groups dedicated to Kubrick, here it is, more or less set at the time which would represent a quite specific number associated with the motion picture. 

as it happens, by co-incidence, i have also recently re-watched this film, for the first time in many years. perhaps for the first time this century, as it happens. no doubt my musings or considerations on it, after all these years, shall feature in one of them "mega" posts on things what i have watched. 

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

viz needs saving (maybe)

hello

a pure and simple plea on behalf of some company, look you see, so that i may cling on to the ideals, the petulance and the sense of years gone by. it would appear that one of my most beloved and cherished things. being as it is The Viz, are in a spot of bother. this is something in which they are far from alone in respect of, be it in the wider sense of the world or magazines in general. but still, probably (perhaps) the world is somewhat better with The Viz in it. 

the last two, possibly three (3) editions of The Viz have featured full page adverts off of The Viz, suggesting to people (presumably businesses) that they might quite like to advertise in their publication. please. as in, with their usual humour, they are saying that with no new advertisers coming in, things are looking grim. which, i believe, is quite true of most actual, really published magazines these days. such is the world we have created, better or worse. 

it costs me nothing to push their plight here, and so here i am trying to spread their appeal. 

once it was indeed so that The Viz was home to plentiful adverts. they had a "cheapskates parade" for smaller ads, normally or nominally dominated by people wishing to sell "legal highs", guides on how to beat fruit machines and some particularly niche sexual services. also, though, they used to have some pretty decent full page ads, be it for a new album, film or computer game. that's disappeared i suppose. likely through a mix of "online" advertising being seen to be the way, or The Viz not being quite so trendy and a thing to appear in. 

years ago the advertisers actually put some effort it, creating ads quite specifically for The Viz and their readership. from memory i recall Sega, in particular, doing ads in The Viz which were a trifle risque for such a big company (and certainly at the time). but then i am not even sure Sega are still a thing any more. 

what shall i do if The Viz fails to attract some advertisers, and ceases to be? be rather sad, i would imagine, or expect. it is, after all, something i have been purchasing and reading for somewhere north of 35 years now, i think. it still pains me that all of a sudden Mad stopped publishing when i was in SA, and that is well north of a decade ago. not a lot i can do expect highlight their cause here, and of course keep handing over coins of money to them, as and when they publish stuff. 

something of a hmn or hang on, though. dare i say it, but perhaps it is a case that all things must end. i am reluctant to go full tilt and say it has run out of steam, but the most recent edition (at the time of this going "live"), being edition 320, was rubbish. as in it featured an extraordinary lack of amusing or funny things, and many of their "dull", more recent characters which i suspect i am far from alone in skipping over. ultimately, had i taken the £3.95 cover cost in coins, placed them (carefully) on some railway track and, presuming no strikes, watched a train absolutely pancake them, that would have likely been better value for money. 

maybe, though, a new coming of advertisers will inspire The Viz to do partially decent, mostly funny editions once again. hopefully. it's got to be worth a go. 

nothing much more i can do, then, except throw this out here. so, if you are reading this, and have access to a reasonable, moderate advertising budget, give The Viz a shout. actually, call if somehow in these days you have a not inconsiderable sum of money and wish to take out a vanity ad, for some reason. 

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

you had to sneak into my room just to read my diary

howdy pop pickers

well, yes. another gig, look you see, so another excuse (or reason) to place here pictures and, indeed, video (yes we've got a video) from it. but, also, no "ordinary" gig. if any gig (or concert) is ever ordinary. this instance saw me tick off (yet) another from the list of those artists i wish(ed) to see, for it was no less and really not more than Morrissey. 

an entirely unexpected chance to see him too. kind of. this was no tour postponed for plague reasons, yet also it didn't (immediately) seem to be a tour undertaken to promote a new record. it has turned out that the latter is kind of the case, but we shall get to that. well, yes if you read on. very much an added bonus was that, after years of wishing to see Moz but being unable to mostly via distance (early on, age, of course), there he was doing a gig within walking distance from my lodgings in place of exile. 

tickets for this "were" easy, at least for moi. on the day they went on sale i was fortunate enough to make a late start to verk, so purchased them with little fuss. just as well that i did, for the venue, with a capacity of around three thousand (3000) reported them all sold out within the hour. my assumption was that the venue seemed a trifle small for Morrissey, but then it is also a venue which once offered a stage for The Rolling Stones and (not at the same time) The Beatles. also, Morrissey has played smaller venues in this area. difficult to know his precise audience, but we shall get to that. 

my sixth (6th) gig of the year, then. or 7th if one includes a comedy show. certainly just the six ones which featured predominantly music. and yes, this one happened a mere 8 (eight) days after i went to bear witness to Ian Brown. quite a but like last year, i suppose, when i saw the Manics and then Nick Cave within about 3 or 4 days of each other. 

i would say, overall, there were two excellent and amazing things of being able to go to a Moz gig. the first of these is, of course, that i actually got to see him. i have been fortunate that, over the years, it is so that i have just about seen all of my "idols" that it has been possible to. certainly not all of them, but perhaps i may get a future chance. second would be in a picture, later. 

sadly this may all become a moaning sounding blog post (and who knows maybe all my posts are), but there are one or two "gripes". an airing of the grievances then. first of these would be of a nature of how short this gig was. less than 90 minutes, i think, is what it clocked in at. whereas no, didn't expect him to do three or four hours, well, a regular gig would be around 20 songs, or just north of the 100 minute mark. true, the length of a gig, like an album, is no real measure of quality, but it did feel like he took a decision to deliberately cut this one down. 

yet, though, quality over quantity, perhaps. above is a video (of poor quality) of the opening tune, which was that classic off of The Smiths, How Soon Is Now. certain artists what went on to be solo after being in a big band - Ian Brown, for instance - flat refuse to do songs from then. well, not Moz, who in fairness did write all the lyrics, so presumably is quite Noel Gallagher of them all. indeed a couple of Smiths songs featured, but this was the most well known. along the way we got Frankly Mr Shankly, and one i can't recall, and Sweet And Tender Hooligan as a surprise encore. 

the other thing what was excellent about the gig, aside from being able to (at last) say that I saw Morrissey live and in concert? my companion. i asked James if he would like to go, since it was close to his home (my former), and he immediately said yes. no, he wasn't really aware of the musician and did not do too much research into him, but had "heard of him" and was curious. so, with his consent, a recent rare picture of him, with me, before the gig. 

fair to say that he has not become a big massive Morrissey fan on the basis of the concert. but, at the least, he did say that he enjoyed the experience. and the smart tea (dinner, if posh) that we went to beforehand. with, i believe, particular emphasis on the cocktails. 

not unreasonably, then, the set was dominated by works of the solo career of Morrissey, rather than too many tracks from a band he was in north of 35 (!) years ago. and quite a solo career catalogue to choose from. indeed we got songs such as Irish Blood, English Heart, We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful, Every Day Is Like Sunday and, as illustrated below by video, one of my favourites and a kind of recent one (think nearly 20 years old now?) First Of The Gang To Die. 

unexpectedly we did not get to see or hear a performance of Suedehead, his first big solo hit. this feels like a huge, massive disappointment, as i was of the understanding that it was a staple of each set. but then also no The More You Ignore Me, no You're The One For Me Fatty and probably a few dozen others. certainly there are "only" so many songs you can do in a regular gig, and perhaps he gets bored about doing ones again and again. but, you know, still. largely my biggest disappointment was no performance of easily my top tune by him, being The Last Of The Famous International Playboys. oh well. i would say maybe some other time, but there will be no such thing. 

his (Morrissey's) lurch quite some way to the "right" of mainstream politics has been well documented. a somewhat unexpected path, but there he is on it. the assumption i had made was that whatever fans he had left were like me, either just shrugging at this and moving on so long as the music was good, or being apologist and rational, saying that speaking his mind was what made him who we was, and now disagreeing with chunks of what he says is no reason to abandon him. 

i confess to being somewhat naive with this thought process. what i did not allow for in my thinking, or for that matter anticipate, was that this more to the right Morrissey might actually attract new fans; ones inclined to be of a quite right wing frame of mind. oh. no, i didn't expect a Morrissey audience to be all animal loving vegetarian hippies, but also i didn't quite expect a significant number of rather strong political views leaning to the right of the spectrum.  

quite a few others, presumably, did not expect this. i was certainly not keeping count, but it did feel like this gig had a good many more "walk outs" than was the case with the "controversial" tape gig of Ian Brown the week before. true, i have heard "reports" of some behaviour, and saw some of it myself, but maybe i should not pass on hearsay. 

easily the most baffling part of the gig (other than it seemingly being cut short) was the amount of people who appeared not to give a flying f*** about being there. leaving aside the two f*****g idiots near us who started headbutting and punching each other (such happens when people who can't handle a drink do so anyway) there was a staggering number of people just hanging at the bar, drinking away. no real issue with people who want to do that, but not sure why they would wish to purchase a not cheap concert ticket to engage in that. surely the money for the ticket may have been better used at a pub, if that's all you wanted? 

maybe it's just me, and i am possibly getting on the a bit old side for gigs, at least in the sense of going and standing as i do. or, maybe not. by all accounts there were "incidents" in the seated areas too. it would be a cheap shot to list artists that i would expect to have a "rowdy" audience, and one that i will not take. just surprised that a Morrissey one would. 

back to the songs and there were, oddly, some "new" ones. he has a new album, but it has not been released as such as yet as he has failed to secure a deal with a record label prepared to release it. some of this, one would think, would be due to his penchant for arguing and fighting with such labels. as in that time he went on tour wearing a t-shirt saying "F*** Attack Records" whilst signed to them. but, also, the one new song, Bonfire Of Teenagers, is going to court even more trouble than would be usual or within tolerance for a Morrissey record. 

he, Morrissey, is unconditionally Manchester. it was inevitable, perhaps, that at some stage he would address the Manchester Arena bombing. this i get. i am not sure in doing so his attacking those who in a spontaneous move began singing Don't Look Back In Anger, or the artists who performed it after the event, is all that wise. that he has always spoken his mind and been prepared to accept consequences for that was always the appeal, as was touching subjects few others dare. in the past he has made some comments and statements (probably f*****g dozens) i have disagreed with. but, this one. seemingly mocking the way the people of his home city chose to stand together, to mourn, to stand defiant, to be as one voice in response, feels - for the first time ever - like he has crossed a line. it was family and friends of the victims singing it, Moz, not just pop stars you (likely) don't care for. 

let me end on a relative high note, sort of, then. one more song what he did that i was very delighted to see and hear him do is an all time favourite. from what i recall this gem got relegated to a b-side, which is odd as it is one of the most intriguing, brilliant things from him, ever. some prolonged footage from the gig of Jack The Ripper, then. 

rather than just follow the standard lines of the infamous killer, then, Morrissey goes full tilt subversive, trying to understand the psyche and character. casting Jack The Ripper as someone alienated, unable to connect with love, driven to madness by it, is very much a Morrissey interpretation. provocative, a little out of the ordinary, potentially dangerous and likely to cause debate. exactly why i have been a fan of him for so very long. 

quite a lot of the comments he made as the gig went on were of a nature suggesting that he "wouldn't be around" for very long. not sure if he meant that just to our gig, or in a wider sense. rumours have always circulated of health struggles, but here he was in fine voice and seemed fine. but, who knows. yet what i do know is, all things being equal, if a chance came up to see him again, no, i would not take it. let this be a lesson, then. glad to have seen him, but if his gigs now really are just a magnet for lager louts and those seeking affirmation in their political outlook, let me just stick to the tapes, thanks. 

any more gigs for me this year (2022)? none planned, as it happens. should i make it over to 2023, then yes, i do have some lined up. if something really smart looking turns up then yeah, but i would think all concerts likely to happen will have already been announced. probably not, then, no.

don't look back in anger, i heard him say. 

deferring retirement

greetings

it feels, or seems, like quite a while since i discussed my plight with being defrauded, or otherwise conned, out of my pension. this is a matter in which i am far from alone, look you see. like many, many wonderful people i, too, have placed most of my retirement hopes in this oddly named "lottery" fund. the payouts on investment look spectacular, but getting paid out from it appears rather elusive. 

recently it was so that i got one of them 'extra' policies off of this lottery pension fund, the so-called "lucky dip" one. this i procured from my usual policy having 2 (two) numbers "correct". due to an excess of cash, which they haven't normally seemed keen on sharing, the fund administrators allocated me a provisional payout of a whole (entire) £5 as well as another "lucky dip" policy. 

a lack of imagination struck me as i collected this pension stipend. with nothing much better coming to mind to do with the £5 i decided to "re-invest" the amount in that promising to be lucrative, offers to be instantly paying form of pension investment. yes, scracthcards, or "scratchies". 

generally, or usually, i would not pay too much attention to these things. my understanding is that they are highly addictive as a form of securing a pension, with many being lured in, only for disappointment to follow. considering that i am known, in some circles, as a smoker (sorry) it is perhaps fair to contest that i have one of them "addictive personalities", so it is likely best i do, mostly, leave these alone. but, you know, impulse and all that. 

how did this all work out? well, no, i am not retired at time of writing, so perhaps not as well as i had expected. but, been here before with this form of pension. so as to increase my chances of actually getting a pension in this instance, i did indeed diversify. it seemed sensible to split the £5 equally over one £3 and then two £1 pension schemes, or "cards". from what i recall this is called "hedge funding", although it quite possibly is not. you would have to ask Spiros, if you can somehow get him out of whichever gentlemen's public restroom facility he is currently making short term friendships in. 

one important aspect of doing these "scratchcards" is of course scratching off the silver cover on the portfolio. doing so reveals whether or not your retirement policy has matured. an unusual way to conduct such business, but here we are. for this i decided to use my most recent "lucky" coin. that's one of the old types of pound (sterling) coins that you can't use any more. recently, then, i appear to have gotten all f****d over by a charity shop in Brentwood (of all places) what slipped me this in my change. oh, well, i have enabled some laundering, i suppose, or just made an extra donation. 

what was my payout? here we delve into the world of quantum fiscal terms, by way of a quadratic equation or to. try to keep up. i invested the £5 which i was not expecting into different funds, and the return across all three (3) was £2. depending on how you look at this - perspective, etc - i ended up either £3 down in real terms or £2 up in actual terms. 

so, back to verk, presumably.

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

statues

hello there

it has, apparently, come to pass that once a year (give or take) i present, here, a statue off of a football stadium from somewhere or other in England. just England, look you see, for i have not taken a trip to any other aspect of the wider United Kingdom where i would see such. one never knows if such sights loom in my future, though. 

for now, though, not just a statue in the singular, but statues. as in multiple. more than two, certainly, but not quite so many or as much as four (4). recently i was in the fine city of Newcastle, so as to bear witness to Ian Brown (and his tape) in concert. the morning after the night before saw me of sufficient state to undertake a walk to the hallowed football ground of the city, and the weather was, at the least, agreeable to do so. at first, at the least. 

above one can see two of the three on display at St James Park. ostensibly these are the ones which greet one when heading to the ground from the general area of the city centre. but, yes, also, you could indeed head from one of the other directions and not see them as such at first. that i have spent so much time on this point gives every (reasonable) indication that yes, no i don't have all of that much to say, just let the pictures do their thing. and video. 

make no mistake, and readers of a regular nature here shall need no caution, that these images are not intended to be the finest or greatest quality possible. i have every confidence of others taking more better quality images and showing them off. rather it is so that these are my own experiences, recorded here on this blog for what else is it what i would do. 

with no particular preference of order given to them, a closer look starts above with Sir Bobby Robson. in a sport which has provided many, many fine ambassadors, full worthy of praise and respect beyond the borders of a football ground, every now and then there's one which transcends, who is admired far and wide. quite a few would rush to place Sir Bobby at the top of such a list, if it were requested. 

just what puts Sir Bobby into such a category? entire books, as well as documentaries and what have you, have been dedicated to this subject. in short, for i doubt many come here for deep insights, he was a remarkably warm, well spoken and clearly kind gentleman, undertaking all he did with dignity and respect. perhaps he is held so dear as those who saw and heard him wished that they, and all within the world we created, could present such an account of themselves to the world. 

yes, we here do indeed have a video of each statue. on one side taking some video of an immobile structure such as a statue (generally) is seems slightly silly, but also no. whereas once again i qualify this by saying the quality is perhaps not the greatest, i would assume this gives one an idea of what it looks like entire, or most of it, rather than just the one image. 

selecting a "club legend" to put up a statue of could be as complex a decision as it is a straightforward one, i suspect. ticking of the criteria for a great of a particular side is straightforward enough. but, i would speculate, one would also need to consider that they (without going into negatives) shall remain seen as a fine ambassador for both sport and club for the years to come, and shall also be full worthy of the respect of fans from rival clubs visiting the ground. 

quite a safe choice to make with Alan Shearer in those terms, even if circumstantial evidence, momentarily, indicates a pigeon or similar bird momentarily disagreed. from what i recall, and no i am not going ahead and researching this, he is the one who has scored the most goals for Newcastle United in all of recorded history of such things. and a record so high it is unlikely to be broken. 

the oddity, or curious, thing about these two (2) statues greeting visitors to St James Park is that they are club, and indeed to a wide degree national, icons (heroes, perhaps), but for Newcastle United they didn't actually "win" any trophies as such. unless i am mistaken. yes, winning things is lovely, and many may dismiss this as a cliche, or excuse, but often it's how you play and represent the club rather than what you win which makes a local hero. everything of the relationship between Newcastle and Shearer was that watching him smash goal after goal was reward in itself. 

the general myth, or idea, out there is that Newcastle fans in some way feel "entitled" to success and believe they have been "unfairly" denied trophies. whereas i don't, for theoretically at least they are local rivals, spend all that much time in conversation with geordies on this subject, i cannot say that i have ever encountered this view. certainly (for sure) their present tres nouveau riche status means that a level of trophy success is an expectation in the short future, it has always struck me that the club thrives on playing the best possible football, not resorting to means to simply "win". i could be quite mistaken in this view, but i really don't feel like i am. 

on to the third statue, then, around the other side of the ground it be. which was quite a walk, and yes the weather commenced to turn some as i went to find it. but well worth it to see perhaps the most beloved and treasured of Newcastle icons, the one they with affection call Wor Jackie. 

long before my time and era, of course, but one hears and learns of club legends such as Jackie Milburn the moment they take even a passing interest in the subject of club football across the UK. so treasured is this player that, infamously, a certain former prime minister found himself in a bit of silly bother concerning (false) claims that he claimed to have seen him play. for those that actually did, well, by all accounts it was quite a thing to have been able to do. 

video below of this Wor Jackie statue, but for now a moment to pause and consider the future of my doing football statues here. where next? i have no idea. perhaps, having done three (3) in one go, next year shall see me not see one. but then perhaps my travels will allow for more. sadly it would seem to be the case that no value can come from going to Fulham to see the statute no longer there. 

right, well, i trust (actually, rather, hope) that has given a decent glimpse of the statutes of Newcastle United for anyone interested. yes, once again, i have no doubt much more better quality images, and videos, are out there on the net, but here we are. 

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

oh is that why

heya

recently, out of boredom or just curiosity, i was reading a fairly old periodical. magazine, if you will, although in a digital format. online, look you see. not sure if you've tried this "internet" thing, dear reader, but yeah, give it a go, some fascinating stuff on it. 

anyway, i was reading away (or browsing), admiring the quality photography which accompanied some text or other, and then i noted an advert. bearing in mind that this was from 38 years ago, or 1984 to clarify we now stand, at time of publication, in 2022, it seemed to suggest why one particular problem exists today. a problem in the UK, if nowhere else. 

oh. so is that perhaps why, then. let me explain. a constant predicament, if not frustration, for me (and i suspect many others) is that very nearly (nigh on) all deodorants, or "body sprays" available for sale in the united kingdom tend to have a "musk" scent. this is either of a quite slight, very strong or flat out full tilt one hundred percent nature. is this all down to a self fulfilling prophecy thing, i now wonder. we, or rather a company operating and speaking on our behalf apparently hawked a musk smell as being very much "it" to the americans, so they have reciprocated by selling it back. 

meanwhile, yes, of course, my reading of publications from a more enlightened time led to me seeing those things that we cannot see no more. except that you would not rule out the incumbent, if not present, uk government undoing. which might be the one good thing they could or would do. anyway, of course i speak of a time when grown up people were allowed to make their own decisions, and so no it was simply not so that cigarette advertising was banned, or particularly conditional. 

i think, to cover myself including that, i have to say that smoking is very silly and probably quite bad for you, so you are encouraged to either not take up the hobby, no matter how enjoyable it or, or otherwise seek to quit, no matter how difficult that is. 

the world is far duller now that we don't have class adverts like this one. imagine the days of excess when one would take a bunch of cowboys up a mountain (or hill) via helicopter and take a picture of them, for reasons no further than art and selling some fags to we, the people. 

with adverts like this no longer allowed it does make the choice of cigarettes for people, such as moi, all the more difficult. rather than considering which ones have the smartest adverts, one is now compelled, if not obliged, to make a choice of cigarettes only on the basis of which are the cheapest, or which ones are available via independent importers what, in a deft and useful way, bypass needless taxes. 

unless i am quite mistaken that advert above, which was facing page top left to the one for the musk business, is for a karaoke machine (kind of) prior to such things being widespread. widespread in what one may call "western" culture, at the least. not sure when, exactly, they became the thing to do in a proper sense in the place of origin (japan), but i don't rightly remember them being an actual thing in early to mid 80s. perhaps they were, and i just wasn't paying attention. 

can, or could, adverts for fags (cigarettes, americans and not what you are thinking) ever be misleading? surprisingly yes, it seems. here, have a look at this one. being mindful, of course, that smoking is quite dangerous, bad for you, etc. 

yeah. that seems to imply, if not overtly state, that players fags (not what you think, americans) are some gateway to a luxury, mostly agreeable, enjoyable stylish life. no, not really, not really, no. depending on which shop you go to, players are popular purely by being the cheapest available in this era of high taxes. they are, mostly, f*****g awful things, enjoyed only by salty sea dog types, as i have mentioned in previous reviews. can't be bothered to find a link to such, sorry. 

just noticed the fellow advertising that musk aftershave looks a bit like one of the actors, for want of a better word, in Big Splash, a film that Spiros is a big, big fan of. let me forward it on to him and see if it is him, although from what i recall it wasn't his face that Spiros was interested in. 

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

tape

who is and who isn't 

so, this is going live on my blog about two (2) weeks after the event, and likely a week or so after the entire matter has drawn to a close. the entire matter would be the Ian Brown tour of this year (2022), and the bit before references my attendance at one of the nights, look you see. 

as is customary, i went to see Ian Brown in a year what can be constructed only from using a 2s and 0s in Newcastle. previously this was 2002 (referenced here), and now we are here in 2022. to make a far from intended unusual pattern, i have ended up seeing him once every ten years, then. but, when a year can be made up from using 2s, 0s and 1s it is of course essential that one see him in Manchester, and further in what used to be his day job. oh so very much about that one written, here and here for a start, feel free to look at the rest if you wish. 

how was this third (3rd) witnessing of Ian Brown do a variation of his thing? interesting. those in the know shall know that there was some controversy around this tour. indeed i will get to that. but, up front, i would defy anyone to find evidence of any gig, alone or in a certain band, that Ian Brown has done which got reviewed or discussed as being ordinary and straightforward. for various reasons there is always a story when this man takes to the stage. 

oh, if you think the above picture, as well as the ones to follow, are not of the greatest quality, well, just you wait and see how poor the obligatory video (yes, we have got a video) clips are. 

for what reason was Ian Brown out on the road, touring? well, presumably money, and also that's what musicians, or if you like singers, kind of do. as in do when not recording or, in certain cases, not engaging in the indulgences offered by the rock and roll lifestyle. to be honest, yes, i had feared that he was out on the road to "promote" or "share" his views on certain matters, such as (and by that i mean quite specifically) a certain recent plague and subsequent vaccination drives. no, though, pretty much this appeared (based on artwork and set design) a rather belated tour to promote Ripples, being as it is his most recent solo album and his first of such nature since the wheels (once again) fell off of The Stone Roses. as they do. 

there is a particular emphasis on solo, then. as much of the media has picked up on, be it of a social nature or the actual fourth estate (the press), Ian Brown, in a surprise move, decided to go and tour, which is to say do gigs, with no traditional musicians as such. just Ian Brown and a tape deck, then. no, actually a lad with a laptop plugged into the sound system. oh. 

go on then, before i continue, a short bit of video of Ian Brown, accompanied by a tape (for it is easier to call it such), doing Be There. 

my reaction to the news of how the gig would go, and this information came to me some three or so days before i was due to see him, was very much "what the f***". it didn't immediately strike me as being a very good idea, which was a sentiment perhaps enhanced by the largely negative comments which accompanied the reports. but there was never any danger, any question of me not attending. this is Ian Brown. i am biased. yes, whatever i paid for the gig tickets would be money i would pay to stand there and just watch him standing there staring at us. further, and this could well be me just rationalising it all in my mind (where else, i wonder), but i figured no, i am going to see him anyway, and not really the session musicians he may (or as it turned out may not) have hired to go on tour. 

and how did that all work out? surprisingly well. no, not as good as seeing a band live. lost were the dynamics, the spontaneity and the improvisation one would usually get at a gig. yet, or but, also gone were missed notes, false cues, etc. which are also an important part of a gig. the very, very, very last thing i would ever suspect or expect of an Ian Brown gig (mindful of his infamous live singing track record) would be for him to seek it to be a precision run thing. maybe this is him being subversive, perhaps all of it is one big, gigantic statement concerning where he is in relation to a certain band that he used to be in. 

progressing, or moving on, then, the gig itself. but yeah i may mention tapes again at some stage. i have every confidence the support act were or was decent. they certainly sounded it. unfortunately, or wisely, my friend and i (yes will get there) decided that it was probably a wise idea to just head to the bar, and indeed the bathroom at Newcastle City Hall than it was to go and see what the support was like. so far as i am aware this is the first time i have "skipped" the support band at a gig. well, of course, sometimes i've seen (and heard) them but not paid attention, but was at least in the venue.  

the setlist, widely circulated from the three (3) gigs of this tour he gone done before i saw him this time around, was of course predictably "set in stone" (ahem) due to the technical nature of how everything was to be performed. and quite a satisfactory set, too. a particular emphasis was placed on the faster beat, higher tempo tunes off of the Ian Brown solo discography. high energy, if you will, if not quite in the realm of rave. one happy exception to this was Shadow Of  A Saint, which he did, as it is one of my all time top tunes by him. sadly, though, it meant another classic, Whispers, didn't make it on. 

with it being ostensibly a tour for the Ripples album, there was of course a fair few from that record. the most interesting aspect of that, for me, was hearing a (fairly) big crowd singalong to the tunes. as history shall forever testify, it was an album release adversely affected. when it got released HMV were in one of their "going bust" spells, so had no copies on the shelf. absolutely none of the supermarkets had it in. some independent stores had it, but only "to order", as in (as i found as i tried) you could not walk in and purchase a copy. not much (that i was aware of) radio play happened with the tunes, and i don't believe Ian Brown turned up or out for any interviews or television appearances. and then, as we know, there was the world in lockdown. so, after three years of listening to the record isolated from any idea of how others took to it, it was boss to hear such enthusiasm for some quality vibes at large. 

of late it is so that i have, by default or design, been to a few gigs on my own. which is a strange sounding thing to do, granted, but i have no quarrel with it. but no, no solo voyage or outing this time. as it was up in that there Newcastle place, i went along (as was the case with the Manics last year) with my good friend g-man. 

you certainly can have apologies for yet another picture of moi appearing in one of my posts, on my blog, again this month if it upsets you. but, don't concentrate on my looks (or lack thereof), rather just dig the smart Reni Hats (bucket hats) we have on. indeed they are more Stone Roses than Ian Brown, but there you have it. of course not, no, these were not bought off of the official merchandise store. whereas in the venue itself one could buy a Reni Hat (bucket hat in proper terms) with Ian Brown  on them for £20, an entrepreneurial chap just a bit down the road was flogging these for £10 a pop. 

concert merchandise has, on that note, apparently gone to sh!t. once you could get some really cool, unique shirts and things. now, not so much. my understanding is, in this brave new modern world, one of the few ways in which musicians can actually make money is off of gigs (especially when you don't have the cost of a band) and the merchandise at shows. the shirts and things on sale at the Manics last year were poor, well overpriced with little design, small sizes and that uber thin material. same here, really. and they (or Ian) were (was) asking £30 a pop for a t-shirt. make one my size, and of decent material, and perhaps with something other than the artists' name on it, and the money is right here to pay more than that for one, thanks. 

back to the gig, though. what was lovely and nice was to hear just how many excellent tunes Ian Brown as a solo concern has given unto us, the fans. sure, he has not done a record i didn't like, but to get a good cross-section over 20 tunes and ninety minutes rammed that home. and yes, of course, we got his very first solo single, and one of his biggest hits, My Star. here you go with a snippet from the end, which is and is not the song. well, just play.  

indeed there was, at the time, a suggestion (as in blatant accusation) of Ian "borrowing" a lot of the music for My Star from Dear Prudence off of The Beatles (from The White Album). not for the first time, then, Ian "nodded" to this in a live performance. should you be of a mind to do so, and let us be honest many shall, read into it what you will that Ian sang four (4) lines of a song off of The Beatles, and 0 (zero) lines off of songs off of The Stone Roses. 

easily the most unexpected thing, for me, was the level of conversation Ian had with us, the crowd. after about twenty minutes he had spoken to us more than i had experienced him doing so in 2002 or 2012. not a bad thing, as such. also, the clear sign of him smiling, laughing and looking very relaxed. comfortable with himself, and what he was doing, if you like. full tilt loaded with confidence and arrogance, of course, but still. 

relating, or tying, that in with the performance of My Star, one lengthy "speech" he gave was how he was warned, when playing in China, against saying anything anti-Chinese, he asked if was all right for him to do a song about how America is filling space with nuclear weapons, and got a thumbs up. this, and a blink (or go to the bar) and you will miss it change to a lyric of another song to make it be a warning about "trusting scientists", was about as controversial as it got from him. except the bit about not having a band. 

but the rest of the songs? and, perhaps most importantly (this is Ian Brown, after all), how was the vocal performance? for the latter, quite likely the "best" i have heard him. sure, eventually his voice started to go towards the "classical" Ian Brown live performances we know and love, but for the first three or four songs he was ace, in top form. often he went off to drink some lemon and honey, so not sure if the performances have been taking the strain. with this set up, he is singing (or talking) for a lot more than he would with a band to just play on. distinctively him, though. 

oh yeah, the other songs what he gone done. easily the biggest "highlight" beyond the well known classics for me beyond Shadow Of A Saint was the performance of Marathon Man. i am not always aware of all Ian Brown songs all the time (regrettably), so it was kind of an out of the blue reminder of what a top tune it is. might as well list all of the songs, but Black Roses off of Ripples, Time Is My Everything, Dolphins Were Monkeys and Longsight M13 were ones i would add to a list of the stand out, or outstanding moments. for more of the "took me by surprise" stuff, i did go "wow" at the crowd reaction to Golden Gaze and Stellify. both top tunes, to be sure, but not ones i would have immediately placed on a list of "hope he does live". i mean, Stellify was always a top tune, and yes, after this live outing, i do have a new, more better appreciation for Golden Gaze. shout out for the person in the audience what had the Golden Greats artwork on the back of their hoodie and held it up for the duration of that tune. 

did he do F.E.A.R.? of course he did. arguably this is the song that "most" would hold up has his finest achievement as a single, coming as it does off of what i would argue is his greatest solo album, Music Of The Spheres. not to be confused (at all) with the recent Coldplay album of same name. how about a bit of video (yes, we've got a video) of a section towards the end of the tune. where Ian does not do the usual self-censor, so be warned, despite poor quality, you may hear Mr Brown use a rude, naughty word in the clip. 

and that, the performance of F.E.A.R., was that. no encore, as is standard. quite a bit of a longer cheers everyone, thanks for coming, goodnight than would be usual for him, which ties in with the relaxed vibe he was transmitting. an unexpected and inexplicably tight, precise 90 minute show closed. 

yes, is the answer. we, at this gig, did have "a few" seemingly or apparently walk out of the gig. it could be they did so for not "digging the vibe" of the tape show. maybe they just went to the bar or bathroom and did not come back to their original spot, or perhaps they were off to catch the last train home, before such went on strike. had i not booked in at a hotel then i, too, would have had to leave early for such a means of returning to my place of exile. whilst Stone Roses gigs were just about always (there was the odd incident) one generation under the same groove, for some reason an edge of tension always exists at an Ian Brown gig. no fights (that i noted) as such, but certainly (mostly empty) plastic pint pots were getting thrown around towards the end. 

ultimately, i am glad that i went. sticking with my pattern, not sure he or i shall still be doing whatever it is we do in 2032, but i could certainly be tempted by seeing him again. or, maybe not. a partial lament was that i was not all giddy with anticipation, excitement and what have you at the prospect of seeing him again, not even when he was just moments from being onstage. maybe this is me getting old, it could be that now seeing him, in one form or another, live more times than i have any other artist is that i have paid homage in enough instances for this existence of mine. 

the whole "no band", tape (laptop) for music stuff? well, i am an unapologetic acolyte, so anything i say in defence of the approach is going to sound like me simply being an apologist. his response was to simply say "haters hate, lovers love". a school of thought says that pretty much anything Ian Brown does is going to attract detractors and criticism, for it always has so. may it always be true that this is so, for it means he's still just doing his thing. 

however, that said, it is far from being a unique, and subsequently new, idea. granted it is of no real direct comparison at all, but let us not forget some 40 (!) years ago, one of the most celebrated performances in music history was David Byrne walking on to a stage, pressing play on a tape and doing Psycho Killer that way. more recently we have had that Ed Sheridan (or whatever), noted corrupter of charts and someone who is frequently asked about his "inspiration" for songs, turn up and play gigs with some backing tape that he controls by pedals, or something. i don't know or care. and let us not forget countless instances, involving the biggest names one can name in music, of lip-sync or if you will miming. none of it, arguably, matters if the people there enjoy the experience. which i did. 

right, then. phew, perhaps. that's likely more than i expected to write of it all, but it is done now. many thanks as ever for taking the time to read, or skim through and check out the (poor) pics and (even more poor) videos. dig what you dig. 

who is and who isn't

cuts10-01 timer set on and off

heya

one of those unusual posts of mine, which means done in the vague hope of helping someone out. basically, then, if you are on a two rate electricity supply and for some reason need to set or re-set (i don't think reset is right) the timer for off peak and on peak, it would appear to be more difficult and needlessly complex than you would think. so, some help, look you see. 

this is all specifically for the british general (bg) cuts10-01 timer, found on a consumer unit (fuse box for people of a certain age or upbringing) where a contactor is included. the contactor is the mechanism which switches an electric supply between "peak" and "off peak". i have this for my lodgings in place of exile has no gas, and so i rely on a storage tank thing for hot water. heating it during off peak hours is a great deal cheaper, and doing it then presumably puts less strain on the national grid. 

right, then. it was so that recently one of them fancy electrical safety checks was gone done on my place of present residence. during this it was decided to replace an aspect (an rcd) of the consumer unit (fuse box), which was fine. but this meant that the power supply had to be off, and thus the timer reset. this was a matter i discovered when i noted, whilst attempting a shower, i had no hot water. oh. 

not a problem, i thought (or rather assumed), i shall just look up the instructions on how one programs it, get it set up and have hot water, be it for showering, or doing dishes. this is (at time of writing) 2022, after all. surely the device itself would be straightforward and easy to use, and there would be a huge great abundance of information on the internet. no, and very much no. 

first off, then, i established what exactly i needed instructions for. this was the CUTS10 - 01 timer off of British General, to give a full name in the hope that anyone frantically searching finds this. doing a google or similar for this, with words like "instructions" and "how to set timer" drew mixed results. most of the results, as point of fact, were for people trying to sell me a new one of this bit of equipment. a lovely thing to do, but not really helpful. 

lots of the "instructions" links were for how to install the actual device, rather than how to use is. oh. right, well, very useful, i imagine, but also presently as much use as the sales offers i was getting for the thing. ultimately, or eventually, i found a "user manual" of sorts. if you have found this whilst looking yourself, let me help you out, here is the link to what seems to be the one and only version of the instructions to be online momentarily. 

if you are reading this after looking at the instructions, well, them instructions are not the greatest, are they? as is common for such things these days, it looks like (or appears that) the text has been translated into many languages before being finally translated into a variation of english. not good. 

yes, i tried (endeavoured) to follow the instructions. the important thing about the timer is that it be set to switch on at a certain point, and then off. for clarification, i only want the contactor to switch on during off peak times, which then activates the only off peak only thing switched on in my place, which is the hot water storage tank. a glimpse of the instructions below, which is optimistically entitled programming the switching time. 

unsure if you can make it out in the above picture, but it sets out how you switch the timer to go to being on. i followed these, with success, but got to a point where i said no, hold on, this is not telling me how i set it to switch off. which is to say if i followed these instructions as presented, at one point of time set the off peak would go "on", and then simply remain on. which would mean running expensive off peak stuff during on peak billing times. not good. 

eventually i worked it out. perhaps i am thick, or slow, but if you don't know something then you simply don't know it until someone shows you or teaches you. whilst the instructions make much fuss of how excellent the timer is, for it can store "up to" 44 programmes, what it does not tell you is that you have to do a minimum of two (2) programmes, one which tells the timer when to switch on and one to switch off again. oh. yes, i did an experiment during (very much) on peak times for a minute or so, and this is how it works. 

let me clarify somewhat then. to set the timer for "on", be it for select days or just the one, follow the instructions as set out (here, once again). of importance is to repeat this for a new programme, but setting it to go off. and this is what the instructions miss out. on the part where it says "Select On by pressing + or -", on this new program set it to the "off" time. ensure that you select the corresponding days to your "on" selection, otherwise it shall go on one day and just stay on. 

hopefully this helps, at the least, one person who wrestled with it a bit like i did. let my plight be the easier learning for someone. and oh my word yes, it is f*****g stupid that in this day and age someone goes and makes a "timer" that isn't really a timer, since on and off is not one programme. that's an on switch or an off switch, by definition. 

as to when "off peak" and "on peak" times actually happen in the UK, but of course this is not equal over the entire nation. why would it be easy and simple when they can make it complex? please do not take this as a standard, but generally off peak runs from midnight to seven (7) am. however, variations see the start time sometimes commence 30 (thirty) minutes before or after midnight. check with your energy supplier, if you can get through to them. playing safe i have just set mine to run from 1am to 5:30am, and this would appear to give me as much hot water as i can use. 

oh, yeah, it is highly unlikely that this timer thing will automatically switch time when we adjust clocks, because why would it be designed to do anything to help? best i have a look at when the clocks change, which i think is towards the end of october, and go adjust the settings then. again. 

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

moondust will cover you

greeting cinemagoers, howdy pop pickers

how very strange that i have not written of the subject of David Bowie for a while. feels like a few months and no, i am not going to check on that, look you see. i suppose there has not been all that much to say, except to complain about what they have, or rather have not, done in celebration of the 50th anniversary of albums of such stature as Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust. 

what they have gone done release, of course, is a new "film", and i am still not sure what to call it, exactly, called Moonage Daydream. certainly and surely it got released as September (2022) drew to an end, and that is when i saw it. just two (2) days after day of release, if you like, but it is only now i have managed to find the means to steal time to write of it. 

and is it any good? yes. for those in a rush, yes it is. beautiful is the word i find myself using to describe it. even though it is a struggle to describe what it is. something of an abstract work of art, which is all the same so very precise. perhaps allow me to waffle on, see if that makes it make any sense. 

the easiest, and most straightforward, thing to do is to make quite clear what Moonage Daydream is not. it certainly isn't a "biopic", and nor is it really a documentary, or if you will "rockumentary". overall, i suppose, it tells "a story" of David Bowie. linear, mostly, is the narrative. but it does not seek to go into the how, why, what immediately came next, what inspired this, why he did that. 

somewhere north of 90% of the footage here is (obviously) archive footage of Bowie. certainly there are bits of "previously unseen" or "rare" film, but perhaps (as in absolutely) nowhere near as much as the marketing people would have you believe. for sound, arguably the most important aspect here, it's an astonishing mix of Bowie's music, with some different edits and demos mixing in with rather well known tunes. for a narration, extremely north of 90% of that is Bowie himself, with soundbites and clips taken from here and there narrating "a story". the only variation is an occasional instance of hearing, and seeing, an interviewer posing a question, and a lovely borrow of the most famous line Rutger Hauer ever said in any film. you don't need me to tell you what that line is. 

fairly obvious to state that i had absolutely nothing to lose seeing this, as in a worst case i would witness and i would listen to two hours and fifteen minutes of David Bowie. which is likely what i would have done at home that sunday afternoon anyway, only without spending seriously inflated amounts on a drink and m and ms. but still, beautiful. yet flaws.

pictured above is a scene from the Ricochet documentary, available "online" and on the Serious Moonlight DVD. it is a documentary following David around the 'far east' (if that is what one calls Japan these days) on the tour of the same name of DVD in 1983. apparently him what made Moonage Daydream was a really, really big fan of this documentary (it isn't bad), in particular the scenes where we get to watch Bowie go up and down various Japanese escalators. i am assuming there is some symbolic reason this footage appears so often in Moonage Daydream, but by the 4th, maybe fifth, time i had seen it i felt that the point was being killed. 

let me continue with some views that are not precisely positive, but also i don't feel are entirely negative. quite a few have taken to the web to complain (moan) about certain songs, albums or what have you being included in the movie (or film, or motion picture, or work of art). as far as i am aware it did not set out to do such. but when the film is bookended (as in it starts and ends with) by Bowie musings on the subject of time, i was left a bit confused as to not a single note of his song Time appearing. the director totes had access to Aladdin Sane so must know of it. 

on the subject of online musings / reviews / moans / groans (which this, fair comment, could be), the most surprising one i saw was someone complaining that "Angie Bowie has been airbrushed out", and that Bowie's children do not feature. ahem. i wasn't keeping count, but Angie (in video and in photos) appeared probably more than Iman. for his children, in his life Bowie was always careful that no images of him with them would be in the public domain. so far as i am aware the only pictures ever to come out of such a nature were released by Duncan Jones (or Joe Jones, or Zowie Bowie) from the premiere of one of his films. again, this is not "Life of David Bowie". it's a work of art, celebrating his art. 

yeah, go on then, a selfie of me (moi) as a selfie would be, in the cinema, come to the show tonight, pray to the light machine. indeed, in my time of exile, i did go see it alone. well, that felt apt. also i knew full well that at least at some parts i would get all emotional and there would be tears. very much this was indeed the case. rather pleasing to see a reasonably significant number of people there watching it to, mind. for a film that one could argue has "niche" appeal, around over 20 of us had decided to share space and watch this on a sunday afternoon. 

moving away from anything likely to be "negative" and on to the sheer beauty of this. from the start it immediately hones in on any passion, love, devotion or whatever you may wish to call it for the subject matter, triggering joy and emotion at seeing Bowie in all his glory. a significant chunk of the first, say, ten or fifteen minutes is an avalanche of an onslaught to the senses used in watching a film quick cuts, sound manipulation, loads of flashing lights, all making you go "ooooh".

did i have a favourite element, or part? not really, not really, no, all of it was appreciated and embraced, just a few bits more than others. i wasn't really that fussed about footage previously unseen from gigs that have been marketed as "legendary", but still, interesting to see. certainly it seems there is an even bigger treasure trove of footage that i was aware of. mostly, then, the bits where it was doing "mix and mash", cutting footage in such a way that it suited the musical choice, and of course vice versa. 

if it is still on at a cinema as and when you are reading this, and to go slightly not overtly positive once more, a tip for you. should you, at around an hour in, feel the need to go to the bathroom (or for a cigarette), then do it when you start seeing footage (like the above) from The Man Who Fell To Earth. i get that it was an important thing, but really? out of character with the rest of the motion picture (or work of art that Moonage Daydream is), we seem to get what felt like 8 - 10 minutes of a montage of footage from it. halving that might have let for some other key works to get a brief look in. no, there is absolutely no mention of Tin Machine, but i didn't expect it. 

considerable thought, and effort, has gone (mostly) into what "soundbite" and/or piece of music accompanies the footage. perhaps that is stating the obvious, but with a bit of awareness that feels rather more pertinent than you might think. at one stage, when addressing "pop hit superstar 80s" Bowie, there's a comment from someone about him "settling for mainstream pop" and not being daring, or something to that effect. that plays over a very brief glimpse of the Loving The Alien video, a song which i would suggest features some of the bravest, boldest things he ever recorded. 

glimpses of what one might call "David Bowie in private" are given. the subject of his hobbies comes up, and thus an exceptionally rare glimpse of his paintings and sculptures are showcased. i am not art critic, but it was fascinating to see what his mind compelled him to produce away from music. but, mostly, this, Moonage Daydream is an artistic expression of his main art, and a tacit yet overt look at how it impacted people, what it did for them. us. me. 

just another still from Ricochet there for you. including only two (2) from it feels like i am short changing all of you in giving an idea of what the experience of Moonage Daydream is like. well, like for quite a few moments. 

ultimately, i think, Moonage Daydream is a bit of a "mirror" for fans. let me try and word this correctly. it wasn't that people loved what David Bowie did, it is that he was loved, held in affection, and valued because of what he did. he was a great big giant magnet for people who felt isolated, displaced, in some way not feeling like they belonged. he said oh no, love, you're not alone. he beckoned us to give us his hands, because we're wonderful. he told us we could be safer, that we could be us, even if just for one day. none of his background, biography or inspirations really mattered in the face of that. something felt by millions over the decades, around the world, was something he felt. he had the gifts and skills to, but most importantly he had the courage and compassion, to simply stand up, expose his sense of it, and sing it to the world. we did tune in. 

watching Moonage Daydream to see what got "left out" is a pretty pointless experience. rather appreciate, indulge or plain embrace the sense and sentiment selected here. i have absolutely no idea how someone not quite so devoted to the subject matter would take to this film, but it must surely be worth giving it a go. 

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

elephant of donington

hello there

pretty much what it says right there in the title. well, kind of, look you see. no, so far as i am aware, there are not real, life sized (or "proper") elephants wandering around donington as such. but there is a service station there, with one of them vending machine arrays what fascinates me so. 

on one of my most recent expeditions, being travels for verk related concerns, i was blessed enough to be able to (once more) stop off at donington to make use of their services. whereas for the most part i have come to accept my continued acceptance is merely forfeit of payment for sins presumed or real, every now and then momentarily it feels like some great reward dawns, presumably in exchange for some good deed i did somewhere. being able to visit donington falls within the explicit remit of the latter. 

routine and regular readers of this blog shall be well aware of my proclivity to engage in transactions, financial rather than the broader fiscal in nature, with select vending machines on offer at service stations. mostly, indeed exclusively, this is so when what is on offer in return for my money is an effigy, or other such representation, of a hedgehog. adventures of this nature can be further explored here, and indeed here. yes, the frequency with which i indulge this appears to become ever more frequent. 

before considering my latest acquisition, more on the subject of donington services. and this is indeed due to how the pictures (of which there are many) have been added. from what i recall it was so that last year donington won the prestigious "best service station of the year" award, and i have no reason at all to doubt that those who determine this will do so again this year. it would be no act of folly to do so. 

any questions about why it is so magnificent are likely answered in the image above. but, for clarity, so far as i can determine, it is the closest one can get to stopping off near castle donington, the fabled and cherished land where monsters of rock once happened, without actually going over to castle donington itself. yes, certainly, i would wish to visit the place directly. but to do so simply is not practical when well within the midst of several hours of driving. it is sufficient for me to be reasonably close to where legends once tread the grounds to perform their art. 

my main reason, or motivation, for stopping off at donington services was for a comfort break. to make use of the facilities. spend a penny, so to speak. or go for a p!ss if you prefer a more direct approach to such subjects. but also taking a break is prudent and wise when driving for long spells, and it also a kind of contractual obligation for me. whilst doing some of that i, of course, had a look at the vending machines, so as to see if they had any further predominantly plastic based tributes to the magnificent splendor of the hedgehog. 

not directly, so to speak, or not of a guaranteed nature. i would like to think the majority of you reading this know exactly what tribute to what animal (or creature) i got, but let us go through the motions. 

donington services has about four (4) of them vending machine things, but none (zero) are dedicated purely to effigies of hedgehogs. the closest i could find was, as pictured above, one offering squishy animals. it was a random factor or game of chance as to which animal in squishy form you might end up with, in exchange for £1 in the form of a (new) one pound coin, but as you can see there was the suggestion of every chance of getting a hedgehog. 

elephant was what i got, then. oh. well, it's not bad, as you can see, above, with it presented in an animated variation of the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. yeah, the green things in the background are the casing (or shell) what it came in, out of the vending machine. 

certainly i of course wished for a hedgehog, but no, i am not displeased or distressed by that which i have ended up with. elephants are, of course, rather smart. in a very specific, pertaining to actual, real elephants, and of course things like the album Elephant off of White Stripes. once upon a time i could also do a really smart elephant impression, but i believe doing it now would get me arrested for lewd behaviour. 

it feels like a fair bit of time since i have thrown one of them "selfie" things on here, so there's one above, featuring, as is the nature (if not definition) of such a thing, moi. yes, i am looking all reflective, pondering and what have you, enjoying the last throes of summer whilst in, or rather on, the hallowed and celebrated grounds of donington. 

just about everything to do with the picture and paragraph above says yes, i have not a great deal to say on the subject of my latest squishy animal related toy. except, yes, a non-Commodore 64 mode image for those interested. 

hmn. quite like the purple (lilac?) colour of the elephant. not sure on the decidedly, if not distinctly, overtly priapic nature of the trunk, mind. i reasonably believe, or assume, these toys, if they are such, are mostly intended for children, and not people on long, boring drives looking for a slight distraction to break the monotony of it. 

for those of you who have read this far, or simply scrolled down to the end, something of a bonus. quite a while ago i found this video on the internet, but have not really had reason to add it on here. to be honest it remains so, since there is no direct reason to add it here. but then it does have an elephant in it, so here you are, yes, we have got a video.  

also has Commodore 64 in it, too. which is just an added plus if you were only interested in elephant videos. 

right, that's just about that for this. not sure, at this stage, if me purchasing these things off of service stations shall become any more frequent, or in some way come to replace my weirdly popular updates on using car wash facilities. if you keep looking at this site and read future (as well as past) posts, you will find out, truthfully. 

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