best.....

hello there

well then, another year (2022, look you see) just about over. at the time of writing, at the least. quite likely that it was all over with some time ago, depending on when you read this. or yet to dawn, if time travel has, at last, become a thing as was promised. 

time, then, for a vague, meaningless, based on nothing but what came to mind "review" of the year. all i have done is thought of a few things to pop here, so no research or methodology beyond option. which one could argue, in this odd way of life in this century i do not understand, has become the totes most important thing to base stuff on, anyhow. 

and so, in no particular or specific (pacific) order, 

.....prime minister of the year

here in the UK we've kind of grown accustomed to the idea of two (2) prime ministers a year being more often than not the case. rather unexpected, then, for 2022 to herald the era of having three to consider and decide which one was "best". on the news recently they had details of a poll what was gone done across conservative party members. whereas Boris was chosen as "best" or "most effective" by some distance, i think two thirds of the vote, it was with interest i saw that 4% of those asked said that Liz was. never trust polls. 

other than categorically stating that no, it was not Liz, i am not sure how to determine which of the remaining two was best. by virtue of the fact that no one has yet made any concerted effort to oust or bring him down, well, the "least worst" seems to be Rishi. good luck, fella. 

.....strike of the year

quite tough, this one, as there's lots of them to choose from and not sure if the world has seen any relative success (or failure) complete from them. the one i support "the most" is the postal strikers. despite the inconvenience, well, i am sick of Royal Mail and Post Office "pretending" to be two different things and blaming each other when things go wrong in a massive avoidance circle. also they do things like beg people not to send post, then complain that postal numbers are down. 

.....album of the year

when it came out i declared that, for me, Autofiction by Suede was the album of the year. this view has not changed at all. it's brilliant, and shall remain forever so. beyond that Liam Gallagher's was immense fun, Forenzics was niche and excellent, whilst the one off of Hugh Cornwell was a pleasant surprise. i am still not sure if i actually liked the Kasabian one. for a re-release or re-issue, the only one which comes to mind of note was Know Your Enemy off of Manics. strange one, as the two tape (disc) variation was class and decent value, the triple (three) disc set looked and felt like a complete and utter rip off. 

.....song of the year

don't think you can, with a straight face, call them "singles" any more. which is a shame, a passing of the ways, but so it goes. anyway, the one i believe i enjoyed the most - as in i would have bought the 12" the tape and the cd single if it existed - was Music For A Sushi Restaurant by that lad out of One Direction, a band i am now assuming are not getting back together. smart tune, that one is. close second would be Viper with Pussy Boy I'll Kill Ya, which is (for me) his best and most important record since the seminal You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack. most disappointing tune was easily Pretty Boy off of Noel Gallagher. that he recorded it, presumably played it back and still decided that it was worth releasing suggests he wants to just sit back, tour his greatest songs every 4 or so years and be happy with that. 

.....service station of the year

rather baffling to see (or rather hear) that Jeremy Vine had set up a "rival" award for this. he, however, went ahead and selected some station near (or around) Rugby, which of course is wrong. 

once again, then, Donington services gets the award for best service station of the year. why? not a bad question, since the food outlets are not the best and the location of it means it's far from the easiest to access, or even get in and out of. but, still, Donington, man. metal. 

worst service station, either in the UK or the world, is easily Blyth. terrible place. it's not so much that it is full of people loitering in all doorways, rather that it is so badly designed that there is nowhere else for anyone to be but blocking the way. bathrooms are a joke, with someone deciding the best place to put the hand dryer as being right by the entrance, so you can't use it without blocking people wishing to enter and spend a penny or, if Spiros, make a new friend. 

.....blog post of the year

not sure if "most read" translates as "best", but anyway, 24/12/21 - 24/12/22 shows that these are the ten most clicked on of what i gone done. 

absolutely no clue as to why a telephone box in, of all places, Portsmouth would be of interest. perhaps it is to do with Chuck Norris being on it, or maybe the vandal ('artist') what painted on it is somehow popular. really would not have a clue what my "best" would be. that said, delighted to see a fair bit of interest in the subject of the mythical, unlikely to actually exist 13th episode of Fawlty Towers. 

.....plague of the year

for the third (3rd) year running it simply has to be this covid, or coronavirus, or whatever the trendy marketing people are calling it now. at the least we haven't just stopped everything to enjoy it. having been infected with it, despite numerous "vaccinations", i can tell you it's really quite sh!t. despite being ostensibly clear of the disease - unless i got killed off it and the afterlife is weirdly like actuallife - every has just felt all slow motion ever since. 

.....gig of the year

my three-quarter life crisis appeared to have gone full tilt in 2022, for i ended up seeing no more and no less than 6 (six) gigs. unless i have missed one. rather tricky to pick one out as "best".

best singular moment off of a gig was most decidedly Simon & Oscar out of Ocean Colour Scene doing a sterling take on Traveller's Tune. not so much the performance but being with a huge audience all digging it and singing along. it has felt, for somewhere north of a quarter of a century, that it has affected me, meant so much, in an isolated, singular way. to have so many others celebrate it so was kind of like a life affirming experience; alone i may well be but no outcast. 

going on how i have wanted to see him for north of forty (40!!!) years, and the delays in the gig actually even happening, the award then goes to Adam Ant. an absolutely rip-roaring, brilliant set, leaving no one disappointed, least of all moi. for those with particularly niche tastes, to unexpectedly use that word again, then yes, certainly, the best predominantly taped based gig of the year was Ian Brown. 

.....book of the year

no idea how to do this one, as most of what i read in 2022 was, or shall have been, first published in 2021. even earlier (fewer) than that, possibly. basically i think all i read which was not that awful tripe by Peter Robinson was pretty good. other than the recently reviewed Anthony Horowitz one, i seem to recall novels off of John Connolly, Paula Hawkins and John Grisham being highly satisfactory this year. and that second one off of the tall one formerly off of Pointless, who has done ever so well for someone that started off as a backing dancer for Sonia. 

.....film of the year

i ended up going to a cinema no less (fewer) than 4 (four) times in 2022. and 50% of that was to go and see Top Gun Maverick, which is to say i went and saw it twice. that were a brilliant film, that were, as were the other things what i gone done saw at the cinema, Moonage Daydream and The Batman. in regards of the usual avalanche of Marvel films, Thor 4 was boss. and the film pictured above, The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent, is likely most probably the greatest film ever. so, a decent year for movies, helped by avoiding going and getting waterboarded off of James Cameron with whatever it is now he has decided to use (or squander) his talents on. 

home viewing in terms of "streaming" services and that there Disney+ do the business. probably the best series i saw was Pistol, which was incredible if not for all. the conclusion of Better Call Saul on the main rival service was also outstanding. and back to Disney, particularly Star Wars. i very much enjoyed Kenobi, and Andor was very good but extremely, and needlessly, s-l-o-w. 

.....monarch of the year

and this still feels, well, surreal, perhaps. we all knew, i suppose, no matter how much it seemed so, that we would not have HMQE2 forever. and now we have HMKC3(PO). there is no way that i can choose between them as "best". it just feels like it would have been amiss of me not to make a reference. 

right, that's that. undoubtedly there are other things what i could have speculated on the "best" of from the year gone by, but i have not. we had, for instance, a large number of world cups, but as only the cricket one would be worth mentioning it strikes me as futile to go to any effort here. let's see, if i, we, make it that far, what the year ahead has in store. 

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

rapid reading

hello reader

well, blimey. i had not expected, realistically, to finish reading another requisite two (2) novels before the fall of the year (2022, look you see), but i gone done so. and thus we are here, with me still inexplicably compelled to pass, or make, comment on each. 

to the usual, then. which is to say an image of the novels, some of them spoiler free comments, and then further musings which may well contain "spoilers" of sorts. fear not, for another warning shall be yours on the off chance you missed the subtle one here. 

from left to right, which just so happens to be the order in which i gone done read them, A Line To Kill off of Anthony Horowitz is one of the most entertaining novels what i have ever read. remembering that i rather like his novels, Finders Keepers off of Stephen King was a bit of an emergency read what turned out to be on that quite good to excellent line. 

as was promised (or written) earlier (rather than later), here you go - a lovely and clear *** SPOILER WARNING *** in respect of any words what may follow. unless somehow you have determined that one or two of such (spoilers) have already appeared. which might happen if you for some reason read these things backwards, or from the bottom if you will. 

commencing, or starting, where i did is to begin with the magnificent A Line To Kill off of Anthony Horowitz. this is the third (3rd) in a presumably ongoing series in which the author presents a, so far as i am aware, fictional(ised) version of himself as the narrator of travels with a detective who is either eccentric on enigmatic or neither or both. 

provenance of my copy? looking at the lack of any sticker for price (i would not peel such off) gives me every indication that i bought it off of Tesco, likely on sight and probably as part of some reduced deal. maybe it was cheaper if bought in conjunction with a newspaper, could be that it got some pence knocked off via being a "club member". which is a free thing to sign up for, and if they want to track the fact that i buy fags (not what you think, americans) and meal deals, well, good luck to them and i trust they shall use the information wisely.

as interesting, or perhaps as exciting, as all this clever talk of provenance is, what of the plot? leaving, if you will, aside some of the "meta" qualities of it all (also possibly post-post-postmodernism), rather straightforward really. our narrator, along with his detective chum (whose name escapes me) have been invited to a literary festival on a small(ish) and somewhat reclusive island. writer is of course eager to go; detective is suspiciously as keen, if not more so, to be there too. and then (as you may expect) the very first murder (ever) just so happens on the island whilst they are there. 

reading isn't really a race, or something that should be measured in time. take as long as one feels comfortable in reading. but, that said, i simply could not put this one down and read it within 3 days. so yes, then, this really really is a most wonderful, excellent read. full praise to the author, he has a most remarkable writing style, making me as a reader wish for nothing more than to keep on reading. 

with regards to this being, ostensibly, number 3 (three) in a series, a fair and reasonable question is do you need to read the previous ones? i only read the second, which i am pretty sure was The Sentence Is Death, and have survived just fine. but i would strongly suggest reading that one before this. so far as i can ascertain skipping the first was unfortunate, for it now has all sorts of "spoilers" in the next two, but no enjoyment or understanding felt missing. 

much of the same, strangely, is true with the second novel here, with it being Finder's Keepers off of Stephen King. nothing on the cover at all suggested that it was a sequel, perhaps because it is and it isn't, kind of. for those who prefer some precision in clarity, this novel does feature characters from a previous novel called Mr Mercedes, what i never (ever) read and had no issues here. 

this was an emergency read, then. as i was away on my verk travels i didn't have another book (novel) to hand to read after finishing the previous one somewhat quicker (or faster) than assumed. oh. i got this either from a charity shop, then, or a charity book sale at a supermarket. my short term memory appears to be totes f****d so i don't recall, sorry. likely the cost was a donation, be it 50p, £1 or a figure somewhere between those two. didn't look like anyone had actually gotten around to reading this copy before me. unless this is the one i bought and commented to the person selling that i wondered if i would get past page 40, for it was on that page someone had left an improvised bookmark. might be thinking of a different one. 

giving much of the plot is tricky, as i really would not wish to spoil this one. as much as, at times, it all tends to be a bit predictable. but in a good way. well, here goes. a criminal sort ends up (ahem) obtaining an unpublished manuscript by a celebrated writer. he ends up in prison before he can read it, but all the same had the good sense to hide it. and of course someone else finds it........

yes, certainly, some (as in many) of the twists and turns in this one are as inevitable as they are on the predictable side of the predictable scale. once again, for instance, we have Stephen King using his most favourite device of having children in peril and/or danger. well, it's worked for, what, close to fifty (!) years or so, and still does here. for those interested in further content, or ticking off a list, plenty of horrific stuff, some (predictable) suspense and only limited 'supernatural' stuff. 

a more direct(ish) sequel to this one exists, apparently. my understanding is that it is called, or named, End Of Watch. i would be interested in reading it, but let's see if i either find a copy, or if i even remember to have a look around for it.

well, that's that. two (2) very satisfactory reads, which one cannot ask all that much more from novels. not sure i shall be doing a "best" thing for this year, for i seem (perhaps momentarily) quite tired of writing. should i do so, well, perhaps from recency or just timing, i suspect the Anthony Horowitz one shall be my "favourite" or best of the year. yet the John Connolly one i read, and the John Grisham one, would feature. also that Paula Hawkins one. 

forever it shall be so that i have no clue if any of this has been of use or interest to anyone, but also as it shall eternally be many thanks for stopping by and reading. or just looking at the pictures.

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

southsea swans

hello there

well, the year (at time of writing) draws to a close. this may well not be the case for you, if you are reading it early on in a future year. rather than a previous one, look you see. anyway, whenever you are here, thanks for having a gander. 

my (extensive) travels this year took me to a place called, as you may well have ascertained from the title, Southsea. i was under the impression that this was "in" or within Portsmouth, but not so. not according to the locals, at least. they appeared very keen indeed to define themselves as their own thing. and why not. 

the place is indeed, as the name gives every indication, rather close to - actually "on" - the south coast. which is where you would find the sea. clever bit of naming, that. if someone got awarded, or paid, a substantial (or significant) amount of money for coming up with that name, good luck to them. 

yes, indeed they have swans down there. this is also a matter you in all likelihood worked out from the title. no, i was not aware that swans hung around, or swam (floated?) down on any coast, i had assumed it was so that they simply twatted about on inland bodies of water. 

lovely to see them, mind. in previous posts i have showcased some of the swans i have seen in northern, which is to say proper, parts of our county. whereas i am no expert in the subject, so far as i could tell or ascertain these swans looked quite similar to the ones i so frequently see in my place of exile. 

how about a nice, and possibly quite short, bit of video?

presuming that thing really is true, and that all swans in the UK are the "property" of the reigning monarch of said UK, then of course these fine creatures presently enjoy the protective custody of the incumbent HMKC3(PO). once again, as per all posts on this subject, no i am not looking it up. 

did i try and converse, or communicate, with these swans? no. they, you would think, interact with each other on their own terms (or in their own way), and so far as i know humans have not mastered this. anyway, what is it i would say? i have no messages or news from their counterparts in the north which they would not be aware of. besides, i know enough to be aware that swans are territorial, protective and very, very vicious. any attempt to "speak" to them would probably end with my arm, or some similar part of my body, being broken or facing an entirely unnatural direction.

and that's all i have to say here, more or less. how likely am i to return to this Southsea place, to once more see such swans? don't know. there was a smart tape (and other formats of music) shop there, so nice one if i make it that far again.

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

viddy well

hello there

in vaguely general terms, i suppose my view is that art should seek to challenge society, to question it, to spark comment, debate and even controversy. and of course reflect the era, or period, from whence it came,  look you see. but it shouldn't set out to deliberately harm or perverse it. that can happen by chance, an unexpected consequence of course. yeah, probably all too grown up and sophisticated a thing for me to be writing on. 

yet still there are those who choose to blame their folly, or their ills, on some form of art or another. for many years in the latter half of the previous (20th) century, blaming films for any crime done was seen as the thing to do. even if the people blaming the films had not actually seen them. 

but this was nothing quite new. sure, blaming films was. and music, for as i recall absolutely no one thought to shoot at the police until that nice but noticeably upset harmony enthusiasts group called NWA suggested it in passing in one song or another, the title of which escapes me. 

ninety five (95) years ago, then, a chap with one leg too few decided to blame his drinking on reading some Charles Dickens. alas, the magistrate was having none of it, not even in the face of a quite interesting philosophical question. it's like the courts just impose fines to keep the economy ticking over. 

my studies in literature, and beyond (but mostly literature) did indeed lead me to encounter the works of Dickens, and so i can certainly understand the wish to drink it all away. but, at least at the time of writing, i had (have) both my legs, so cannot say for certain he was right or wrong. most likely right, mind, most likely right. 

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

lucky 13, apparently

howdy pop pickers

and so yet another Now That's What I Call Music re-release. off of the 80s, look you see. whereas the first few were all "new to CD" in the present day, now Now are putting out sets on new discs what were released on disc at the time. yes, with tracks omitted, different (incorrect) versions, etc. the internet is full of people what have all the faults listed, so let's rather move on. 

that said, over the last few volumes (edition) i have become increasingly less (fewer, if you will) enthusiastic about them. it was only ever 4 that i wished for, as that is my all time favourite of all time. well, yes, 6 had some great moments, too. not all that much wrong with what else has come out, just rather that they tended not to reflect what i was into at that time. but, sure, i have gone ahead and purchased the latest, Now That's What I Call Music 13. 

generally speaking, when people describe the 80s as being like totes f*****g awesome, they refer to that truly inspired, golden era of 80 - 84, with 85 included at a push. most would say it went downhill a bit post-Live Aid. not so, really. for a start, one of the greatest albums ever, The Joshua Tree, was released in 87. and this set shows off that 88 was a pretty good year for tunes. 

from memory (which is dangerous of me) this set appears to cover "summer" and "autumn" of that year. a year when i was a bit directionless with vibes, in truth. one court case made it clear that Frankie were not getting back together, the Beastie Boys and Sigue Sigue Sputnik had vanished, and so mostly i was just discovering metal. no horse in the race, then, as in none of my firm favourites (not even Adam Ant, i think) were "active". so it was quite something to listen to this and go blimey, that summer had some solid, smart tunes as a soundtrack. 

disc (or tape) one starts off with three absolute mint bangers in the form of The Only Way Is Up, in particular the incredible Teardrops and then the phenomenal A Little Respect. track four is not bad either, with it being Harvest For The World. actually the wheels only ever fall off once on tape (disc) one at track five, with them twats Hue & Cry being included. 

it is once again me (moi) relying on memory, but what a delight to hear the cover of Kiss by Tom Jones and Art Of Noise. from what i recall, the Tom Jones version was first heard on The Last Resort With Jonathan Ross, where he gone done it with a proper, live band. presumably Art Of Noise caught it and decided to go full tilt. 

quite the oddity is the inclusion of two songs which were moderate (or on the larger size of moderate) at the time, but have lived on. they would be Don't Worry Be Happy and I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles). whereas they clocked some decent sales, it would be pushing it to say that anyone expected them to be treasured and regularly played on the radio 34 odd years later. 

not too much in the way of drivel, but then again my word there is some right sh!t here. difficult to say which is the worst, for it would be rather lazy to simply pick on them twats Hue & Cry again. easily the song i could live with out here is Wee Rule by Wee Papa Girl Rappers. it was f*****g horrible then and it has not aged well. close call between that and the truly dreadful We Call It Acieed, with the high pitch chanting of the final word of the title being piercing and presumably appealing only to complete toss pots and w@ankers who like to think they are cool making similar noises. 

yet the latter song mentioned there kind of marks a "turning point" of sorts on vibes. dance was very much on the way into the mainstream, represented here by the likes of Big Fun, Burn It Up and a couple of others. 

obviously one song has been omitted, worked out on the basis of an odd number of tracks. not sure which, but can't be bothered to look. lovely, though, to see that Girl You Know It's True off of the now surely infamous Milli Vanilli remains. yes, yes, it was a couple of models pretending to be a duo whilst anonymous types did the music. and can you blame them for that, since at the start of the decade the career of Christopher Cross got derailed because he "didn't look pretty enough" for MTV? it's a really decent, solid pop song. 

time has also been, surprisingly, kind to Brother Beyond, for now The Harder I Try off of them sounds remarkably fresh. no, i had little time for them at them, erm, time, dismissing them as i did as being just pin up poster boy Nathan and whoever else in the band. 

something of a likely unpopular view is that The Race off of Yello is, well, crap. i really, really loved that one tune off of them, Oh Yeah, but this one was all trumpet and that, nowhere near as good. 

big round of applause for who(m)ever did the outlay of tunes, what with a triple of I Want Your Love, I Don't Want Your Love and Love Is All That Matters coming in towards the business end of tape two. that's got to have been deliberate, that one. and well done with it. 

i have every confidence that 14 shall appear, in one variation or another, early on in 2023. blimey, where did this year go. not sure if it will reflect the vibes i was digging at the time, but yeah, no doubt i shall end up purchasing it. assuming i still be a thing. for now, though, nice one that this was unexpectedly boss. 

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

quest for prime

yo y'all

the absolute, wonderful and indeed overwhelming positive of this post is that it delivers the news that i need never ever set foot in a branch, or chapter, of Asda again. not that i have any particular quarrel or argument with this retailer, look you see. rather more that, like many others (and indeed the staff of this particular store) i have grown weary and tired of frequent trips ending in if not disappointment then a sense of wasting time. 

i speak, of course, of the mysteries and vagaries of this "prime" drink. and drink, i believe, is the safest term i have to describe it as accurate. so far as i am aware there's all sorts of particular branding of it, with it being marketed as for sports, or hydration, or something. this would be the drink devised, produced, promoted or endorsed (perhaps a combination thereof) by some of them kids what do the videos on that there internet what all the kids appear to watch. no, sorry, i can't quite recall their names, but i suspect it is so that their fame and fortune exceeds a level where they would need me to advocate them. 

of course it was so that my sons, or heirs if you will (time is a thing), very much wished to be "in" on all this craze. and rightly so, for following trends and being hip is what it is to be young in the world we crated. my regular, frequent trips to Asda stores, across the land, proved futile. happy days, for their mother managed to score some after several trips. 

from my side, or on my part, when the boys first asked for some to be obtained i had assumed (or if you like presumed) this would be as straightforward as going to a shop and purchasing it. not so. to begin with, inexplicably it is only Asda where one can get the stuff, at least at the intended price. yet they seldom had stock of it. the claim made was "logistical issues" prevented stock arriving. a look online at the great virtual car boot sale saw plenty of people selling it, often for north (!!) of £20 (!!!) a bottle. for something of an aside, what seemed like a conspiracy theory commenced in the face of this, suggesting that the staff of Asda were swiping it and doing the selling online. weirdly this proved to be at least partially accurate, and i believe several staff members have been dismissed for such. how stupid a way for one to lose their employment status. 

beyond that, in the face of such limitations the curious phenomenon of "the kids" forming queues at stores of Asda from the early hours of the morning duly commenced. sightings were made of the young hanging around from 6am, waiting for the store to open, hoping to be able to purchase this apparently rare and hard to get thing. unless, evidently, you are (or were) an employee of the shop. 

wow. i mean part of me thinks this is the Apple trick, which is to say deliberately creating an artificial shortage to stimulate demand and make sure it makes news, but this is likely just me thinking in the older terms i am aware of. like much of the elements of this century i simply don't understand what, exactly, it is these kids do with internet videos and what have you, but this is not a barrier to me appreciating and respecting what they have achieved. i am not really in their demographic, after all.

have i tried this stuff? yes, the boys very kindly (indeed graciously) allowed me one (1) sip. no, this wasn't really revelatory or life altering. my abiding memory, i suppose, was how "thick" the liquid is. a bit like drinks what we used to get freely in the 70s and 80s, until they reduced the content of certain elements in such. fragments of flat tizer to the taste of this particular variation, maybe. my conclusion, for what value such is, is that the appeal here is certainly the endorsement, the people behind it and the trend rather than the actual contents of the product. 

good luck to those still seeking this out, and a particular "shout out" to parents on a quest to get it for their own offspring. what shall be interesting to see is, as and when the drink experiences proliferation, and is more widely available, if the popularity (and demand) remains. each and every trend comes to an end, i write, recalling loom bands and fidget spinners in the most recent of times. 

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

portsmouth trolley parking

hello there

well, if it's an even numbered month then it must be time for another look at something what i saw down in the place known as Portsmouth. it is known as such for that is it's name, look you see. just what i saw, in this instance, would be pretty clear from the title, i expect. 

despite it being (quite) true that i am confused by many things, the popularity of posts about things from Portsmouth does baffle me. i mean, fair enough, yes, it's nice to see different aspects of our country, or indeed world for those reading outside of the UK, but still. part of me wishes to move away from writing of the place, yet also it would feel mean to do so if all that many of you are interested. 

for those of you wondering what, exactly, the above all pertains (or relates) to, here is one post i did off of the place, which happens to be the first of the region. the second, which you can find by clicking here, has been even more popular, but to be fair that (or this) one does have Chuck Norris in it. and now we have this one. 

there you go, then, in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 format, is a shopping trolley left by a parking sign in Portsmouth. which part of the place? don't remember. but the parking zone section is visible in the second image, for those who wish to do some research. i really would not bother if i were you, but i am not you, and you are to do with your life as you wish. 

strange, i agree, to see a trolley left not only so neatly parked, but also not made better use of. considering they do all them ships and that down there, i thought this trolley would have long ago been melted down and used to construct some smart battleship, or cruise liner for happier times. yet no, there it sits, parked up for presumably less than two hours, going on the sign. 

moving away from Portsmouth in general might not be so bad. once again, sure, yes, it seems like a nice enough place, and there's an absolute boss Tesco chapter right next to their football stadium. but it is a very, very long way away from home for moi, and the drive to and from is a bit much. but, you know, my verk is what it is, and if they wish to pay me to keep going, so be it. 

i am not entirely sure how the shopping trolley market works down in Portsmouth. whilst i presume they work on the same basis as everywhere else, which is that the supermarkets kindly provide them freely (or charge a nominal £1 fee) for you to do with them what you will, i don't recall seeing all that many scrapyards down there, if any. my exploration of the place was far from exhaustive, mind. likely that they do have one or two scrapyards down there, where these generously given away trolleys (trollies) can be exchanged for cash. 

but that said i have noticed one or two of the supermarkets putting up signs asking people to not take, or in some instances they use the word "steal", the trollies (trolleys), but to rather leave them where they are so that others may make certain use of them. fair enough, but then why put wheels on them if the plan or intention is for them to remain where they are? 

unsure if i am that one can say anything for certain (kind of), but i have a hunch, or suspicion, that further sights of Portsmouth will be presented here. oh, take it as a given that other trolley incidents will. actually, now that i think, i think this was off of Portsmouth, sorry if i saw it somewhere in London instead and got confused. 

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

emotion of conflict

now then

somewhat unexpectedly i, recently, found myself being in Scarborough. well, no, look you see, not entirely all that much of a surprise. normally, or usually, fate appears to dictate that i shall be there at least once every (calendar) year. with this year (2022) ebbing to closing time, however, i did suspect that maybe this time no, but as it happens, yes. 

whilst there i made a curious observation. of course i did, for it i had not then there would be no real point to this post. hang on, let me qualify that. sure, yes, true, i have made posts out of some rather dull observations. it may be so that this one is too, or not. 

conflict tends to generate a range of emotions, and those emotions can sometimes be conflicted themselves. in the proper sense, of course, and not like when that [text removed on legal advice] Chris Evans (not the proper USA one) interviewed Boy George and described him as being "quite conflicted" when referencing the time he went to prison. so yes, i saw a set of statements in Scarborough which suggests (strongly) at least one resident has conflicting emotions concerning a current conflict. 

indeed i have chosen to present the first statement in the format of the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. nothing too unusual there, but a handy bit of censorship, as it turns out. fear not, and take this as a first warning, the full thing is available for your viewing pleasure in a bit. 

the conflict in question, as you may (or may not) be able to work out from the image, is the one presently happening in Ukraine. actually, i think it's war, with Russia being the aggressor what invaded. but for some reason there's a reluctance to call it a war, or invasion, in a formal way. perhaps for fear of escalating something which already has escalated. the one lesson from history is that we never learn from our history. 

it has to be said that the sentiment expressed in the above (and to the left in the clearer picture right at the end) is not one usually expressed here in the UK. well, not too vocally. true, some have voiced concerns that maybe Ukraine is a right leaning nation politically, but are most certainly (totes) not the nazis what the bloke of Russia says. yet they are a nation under attack, and we do seem to be doing what we can to assist. much to the displeasure of who wrote that. 

but around the corner of the very same premises, or property (home) as the first thing is written, one finds this second statement. even in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode that is clearer, i think. and clearly much more closer to the wider view of support in it all. if rather negative. 

my guess, or assumption, is that two (2) different people wrote these two rather different statements, or if you will expressions of emotion. a question, though, would be which was written first, and who then decided to contradict. indeed i could have knocked upon the door and asked such of the resident, but going on the messages outside the place i would likely have just got my head kicked in. 

for those wanting to see what, exactly, was written on two different walls of the same place, very well, it is below. yet take heed, or be warned (again), it features vulgar language which is normally edited as and when it is required for use here. 

at one stage of that magnificent film Full Metal Jacket, Pvt Joker is quizzed on why exactly he wears a peace symbol on the same helmet on which he has written 'born to kill'. he discusses it all in reference to the duality of man. which, i suppose, is a way of considering the inner nature of conflicting emotions. certainly it was handled in the film in a more better way that on these walls. 

such negativity, really, is my abiding view, or sentiment, with respect to this. just saying "f***" both of the ostensible "sides" in this war (or conflict) doesn't create a balance of neutrality. but then i suppose it is rather unlikely that was the intention. should you not care for either side, keep out of it, don't get yourself all worked up by feeding on negative waves, man. 

may it be so that this war ends soon, and that no such further presentations of such statements are required to be made by anyone. but they will, probably and in all likelihood, simply move on to find something else to write "f***" about. 

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

hugh cornwell moments of madness

howdy pop pickers

well, an album release i almost kind of forgot about. no variation on day of release for the title, look you see, for this one turned up quite a bit after i had ordered it. oh, yeah, on the off chance that you missed the clue in the title, what i speak of here is the album Moments Of Madness that i think (sure i read this somewhere) is the 10th album from Hugh Cornwell as a solo concern. 

yes, indeed, that Hugh Cornwell out of The Stranglers. however, i suspect (or think) that his solo career has been on the go for quite nearly twice as long as he was in that legendary (brilliant) band. well, or and, why not. that is one hell of a band to have ended up being eternally associated with. 

in truth it took me somewhat by surprise to learn that he (Hugh) had now equalled the number of solo studio albums as he had done with The Stranglers. this would be down to a candid lack of interest on my behalf, really. going back (rather than forward) and the final album off of the original, or classic, line up of the band, 10, was so underwhelming (it was awful) i sort of took as a given than both parties were well advised to use the parting of the ways as a means to call it a day entire. 

quite wrong, was i, in this regard. i had no expectation or sense that i would ever be purchasing new music from either sides of the split, but here we are. last year saw the present variation of The Stranglers release a quite good album, and now Hugh has done the same. so yes, then, there is the review for anyone in a hurry but for some reason still reading, this is very much a decent album. 

confession time, mind. no, i probably (as in certainly) wouldn't have bought this record if not for the promise, back in April (of this year, but still), of a signed print of Hugh coming with it. applicable to the first one hundred (100) orders, it was, so order i did. this i thought would make a lovely surprise gift for a dear friend, and it certainly has done precisely that. i assumed no harm could come from listening to the album anyway, and indeed this is the case. actually, possibly regret only ever buying the one solo record from him in the past now, if only in a slight way. 

as to what makes this album good, well, a lot of it would be what made a lot of at least nine albums off of The Stranglers good - the lyrics, man. Hugh Cornwell is a formidably talented chap, with a remarkable turn of phrase. it is, in whatever sense is appropriate, reassuring to hear that same familiar voice coming up with wonderfully inventive, sharp songs to sing. 

this is consistent pretty much across the whole album, or if you like record. which is obviously a rather good thing indeed. except, well. not sure how to word this one, for i am (obviously) no Hugh. all of it feels good, but never really "wow, great" if that makes sense. there's not really any one particular standout, great, all the eggs are in this basket song. he has not come up with a "back in the spotlight" tune here, but i am not certain he would be. like, or unlike, Spinal Tap, i dare say he is comfortable with an audience in which his appeal has become more selective. 

one minor sense i got, and again i am not going to word this properly, is that a lot of songs are borne of Hugh considering a subject he might (and often does) be able to do a decent song of. rather than, say, a burning issue which compelled him to create art. a bit of a vice versa to what one would have expected of him when he was in a certain band, shall we say. 

examples of this are possibly (probably) the opening track, Coming Out Of The Wilderness, which is the contractually obliged for artists inevitable lockdown/plague song, and Too Much Trash, the subject of which i think you can determine (there's too much rubbish). by no means are they bad or weak songs, not at all. it's more that they have a sense of "this is the kind of thing i think i should write a song about" rather than "i want to express my feelings in song". subtle and academic difference, perhaps. 

favourite track for me, from this, is likely When I Was A Young Man. perhaps this appeals because he laments how sh!t it must be to be young in the present world, for none of it seems as vibrant or exciting as it was. probably, likely is vibrant and exciting, but not in a way that looks immediately obvious. this, yes, i am quite aware, resonates because i am simply getting old. closing track Heartbreak At Seven is another good one. were it so that i had to point out the least interesting song, well, i would suggest that one tune, Beware Of The Doll, might have made it on to the final album just to ensure it has a decent, album length running time. 

up to now i've played the album five or six (maybe seven) times, and have enjoyed it being on. but it is not growing on me, as such. very few albums this century, if we are honest, carry a sense of being on any permanent playlist. still, worth a spin. 

rather unlikely that any further "new" records will get bought or played this year. so far as i am aware there's no "new" ones coming out which appeal, but a few re-releases. and re-re-releases. 

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

next generation squedgehog

greetings

so, another service station (off of a motorway), another purchase off of a vending machine located at it. not that i buy any old thing from them. just hedgehog shaped items, look you see. 

indeed this is the third (3rd) such instance this year (2022) of me doing so. actually, no, technically the 4th, and yes i do seem to purchase non-hedgehog things, recalling the elephant of donington. forgive the error. whilst at it, also forgive the exact provenance of this particular purchase slipping from mind. as i recall this latest (i shall show it now) was bought at tibshelf services (not bad), but my short term memory appears to have gone went to f***. likely a sign of something wrong, but we go on. 

and there it is, presented of course in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. for what it is in this instance, it is the spherical, quasi egg like plastic container what i obtained from a service station somewhere on the M1 (UK variant), for the cost of £1. perhaps if at some point in her illustrious life Greta had thought to get one maybe she would see not all plastic is bad. actually, maybe her parent or parents (i will be f****d if i am looking up her history) refusing to purchase her one is the reason of motivation for her quest. that or it has all been a ruse to meet that lad what does the films; the one what was too thick to survive the boat sinking. 

perhaps the title of this post is somewhat (slightly) misleading, for it is not necessarily so that this is indeed a "next generation" of squedgehog. except, well, it clearly is. here, gander at the picture below, and you shall (possibly) see what i am making reference to.  

rather than being branded "next generation squedgehog", which would be quite class, it is called squishy hedgehog series 2 (two). oh. well, i am going to assume, or take it as a given, that it was a bit of re-branding or what have you off of them what make these. so far as i am aware i have not ever seen a squishy hedgehog series 1 (one) for sale, and believe me i have looked. it is entirely possible that them what make these felt they were selling nowhere near as many of them as they had hoped (which one might assume to be all of them) and concluded "squedgehog" was too ambiguous a term for the target demographic of people what buy stuff off of vending machines at service stations. makes sense when you recall exactly how many (mostly British) films have to be re-named for the American market. 

how does this one look? like this -

for some reason that picture has come out of a predominant orange shade. not, thankfully, the infamous Trump shade of orange, but still. likely my phone camera settings. in the "real world", whatever that is, it's rather more brown looking in colour, actually almost "natural hedgehog" colour. except yeah, it is a multicoloured affair, presumably to make it all look like more fun. indeed it is squishy, for one can squeeze it and then it (more or less) returns to the shape intended. 

i am led to believe that these false 3D, quasi panoramic, three hundred and sixty degree immersive type of image video things are popular on the internet. so, yeah, go on then, i have (kind of) done one of them for your pleasure. below. and in Commodore 64 mode. 

on the off chance anyone has (impressively) read this far and as is wondering just what the hell all of this is about, well, i suppose some links would help. my first adventure in buying a squedgehog is documented (if not in an exhaustive way) here, and on my word i cannot believe it was as far back as April, or maybe March and i only wrote of it then. next came a non-squishy but suitably impressive one called needle. looks like i procured that one in August and wrote of it in September. highly likely i was just filling the void left by anything else i had become used to observing with happiness that month.

certainly i have taken a picture of the three (3) together. and what a very revealing one it is too. looks like the magically word of "shrinkonomics", where what you get is reduced rather than the cost being increased, applies to the world of squishy hedgehogs, for the next generation of them are about, and no this i not a scientific measure, 50% smaller ("fewer") than the original.

no, i am not sure what that suspicious white powder residue before the original squedgehog is, but it is very unlikely that it is what you think. i am just not that interesting, really. probably some sugar off of some sweets, or whatever that stuff is - flour, i think - what one gets on certain pizzas. 

going on stats it would seem needle is the one you all prefer. at the time of writing this, the original squedgehog post has been looked at by 172 people, whereas a whopping 903 have elected to have a gander at needle. my best guess at why this might be is due to the flashing light thing what needle does. on the off chance i have that right, then you may well dig the below animated thing. 

extremely unlikely, i would think, that i shall be getting to purchase another of these this year. well, no, as in yes, i will be going past service stations and they may have them, but no, i wouldn't do another post on the subject this month, for there is only so much i can write on the subject. which you have likely worked out by now. so, if i do get one, i will write about it next month / year (2023). 

upon looking back, for looking forward would reveal nothing specific in this regard, being able to buy three hedgehog tributes and one elephant one off of service stations across the land is pretty impressive. certainly it is a good deal more than i thought would be achieved this year. what's a heaven for if it exceed man's grasp, etc. 

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

commodore car wash comeback

heya

well, i'll be. pretty sure that's an american saying, but it shall do for this. for regular readers this post shall come as a bit of a surprise, i suppose. it was just (at time of publication) three (3) months ago that such a thing as a car wash, documented (if at all) in any format, would be impossible. and yet here we are, with a most triumphant new one of this sort of post. 

exactly why should this not be possible? for those of you who cannot be bothered to look at the previous post (but here is a link anyway) it was so that during the august / september axis the whole, as in all, of the UK was going to either have to work out how to live without water, or die. no, not some mythical, landlocked place called the UK, but the actual, reasonably well known one; which is generally characterised as being if not an island then "island like" and certainly surrounded by water. 

how extremely fortunate for us, then, that something called "autumn" (or 'fall' if american) came along, with a lot less (fewer) hours of sunlight and a great deal of rain. just because this happens every single year doesn't mean the "experts" on the tele were wrong to say that we would soon be out of water and there was no way we would ever get any again. not as right as they could have been, sure, but let us not rush to judgement. i am sure they are worthy of the skills what they get paid for. anyway, look at them what do the post here, either Royal Mail or the Post Office. conveniently split into two companies, so that one can blame the other when something goes wrong. usually, the idea of "Christmas", and people using their services more at this time, takes them quite by surprise. every year. 

quite the opposite of "no water", actually. so much for them f*****g experts, as we've had that much rain large chunks of the country are flooded. i wish to make clear i do not make light of this, for outside of the inconvenience some have suffered a few have died as a result. but the point would be the panic button hit earlier in the year, when they said we would never ever have water again. 

oh. yes, i probably should make some comment (or other) about the car wash, which once again, and of course, is presented here in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. that animated pic above is quite class, really. sort of looks like a big massive furry monster, with disproportionate thin legs, is trying to attack me. or make friends, let us not be judgemental. 

a, or in, truth, though, is that i have written plenty over the years about the joys of a car wash, and how truly wonderful it is to document the experience. you are very welcome to browse the rest of this blog if you are of a mind to read about such, or simply enjoy the images. and animated things, like the one right below.  

driving about in these flood conditions is no fun, at all. one might think it could be quite class, that to go through puddles and make a big splash would be enjoyable. not so. goodness knows what the councils do with all the excessive money they rake in for very trivial fines they impose on drivers, but they don't appear keen to spend any of it on fixing potholes. when one sees a puddle in the road one has no clue as to how deep it may go. driving in (or through) one is likely to see you disappear, if not vanish. 

my understanding is that the worst of the floods have hit Scotland. having to experience it down in that there London (innit) was bad enough, thanks. the moment a slight bit of rain hits you become quite aware of just how badly designed, or planned, the place is. why oh why have they placed so many dips in roads. they serve no purpose but to gather large volumes of rain. pools, if you will. 

not, of course, that one does all that much driving when in a car, with the engine on, down in that there strange London (innit) place. gridlocked must be latin for London, i guess. and f*** knows where exactly is they are driving to. my best guess is that they, the locals (cockneys, or whatever), get curious if other boroughs are just as sh!t as the one they are in, so drive to have a look. yes, it probably is. 

quite why anyone feels obliged to drive in that there London (innit) is also a peculiar matter. they have a comprehensive public transport system, after all. as in on any given street in the place - night and day, note - they will have access to more buses in one (1) hour than most towns and villages in the rest of the country would get in one month. plus, the tube. and airports.

certainly not all of it is his fault - the folly of London - but one does wonder why the people of the place are prepared to let their ostensible, apparently in name only, Mayor Sadiq Khan perpetually cripple the city with his odd decisions. i mean, true, fair play, one or so years in which he held the office he did so as a quasi squatter when the plague was on, but they have had chance to get rid of him since. very little point moaning about the sorry state of the London lot in life and then voting the architect of most of it back in. 

rather unlikely, i would think, that i shall be doing another car wash thing this year. with this year being, of course, 2022. from what i remember of them odd numbered year car wash experiences are, on the whole, rather pleasant, so see you then. if we all make it that far. 

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

keep the flames burning

howdy pop pickers

just a bit of a "throwback" or what have you, look you see. at the time that this very thing you read now was first published it is so that i have documented evidence of where i was, and what i was doing. very handy, i suppose, if any figure of authority (such as the constabulary) wish to know. 

where was i, then? sitting in a car. or the car, i suppose, for my (former) (considerably) better half and i made shared use of one. as to what i was doing in the car, well, observing the time, noting with slight interest the temperature, and listening to the radio. fm, and Radio 2 off of the BBC, for precision. 

as for what, exactly, i was listening to - which song kept me sat in the car when my journey had ended, well. there's a video below (yes we've got a video) and certainly a clue for those with an eye for the finer details in the title. but, to remove suspense, or to save you scrolling (or playing the video), it was the boss song Love Train off of Holly Johnson. not his "debut" solo single as some incorrectly call it, but certainly his first solo single since the demise of Frankie Goes To Hollywood. 

even to this day, and may it be so that this remains true of every day that i have life, it is a song which shall see me cease doing whatever it is am doing and just listen. remember, reminisce, feel whatever level of mood i am in immediately raised, and know a good feeling. oh, sure, as an ardent, dedicated, determined Frankie fan i confess to and accept being biased, yet it is brilliant. 

so, the bit of video mentioned recently. not all of the song, mind, but a casual bit from whilst i sat, probably on the driveway, bopping away. scenes of me bopping away not included, but if there is enough demand, who knows. 

it was quite strange for Radio 2 to be playing this one, really. not that they don't play Holly (or, indeed, Frankie) from time to time. for some reason, though, when it's time for them to give a spin to a Holly tune, it's Americanos, being the follow up single to this, that gets selected. whereas no, it's not bad, i do get confused as to why that one seems slightly more popular with others than Love Train. then again we live in a world where one can play both, i suppose. 

honest recollections of hearing this song, Love Train, for the first time would be "what". as in asking what's this, then. my journey with Frankie, and thus Holly, was immense discovery. beyond the wild adventures offered by sex, violence, belief and love in the Frankie songs, there were so many references to history, art, literature and what have you that i went off reading further on them all. quickly, though, i came to accept that now Holly was to be happy, bouncy pop that you can dance to, that made you feel good. and embraced it. 

the ridiculous, generous levels of quality music we got in the 80s, even towards the end of that decade, is kind of highlighted by Love Train "only" getting to number four (4) in the singles chart. what did i do about this at the time? well, i bought the 7", the 12" and the CD single. and then 66% of my uncles at the time purchased me the 12", just in case. perhaps if i had bought the cassette single too then i could have helped it get a bit higher. 

frankly, though, unlike when that twat Phil Collins and then that twat Boris Gardner kept Frankie fron the number one spot in the years before, them three (3) singles which were above Love Train remain classics to this day. as do the 2 (two) below, which i included. when you are in an era, or period, in which The Living Years as a single does not reach number one, well. getting into the top five (5) was quite the achievement, comparatively. 

more video? surely. one month and one year after i caught that performance of Love Train on the radio, it just so happened that the (splendid) video for it turned up on the tele in that there New Zealand place. rather diligently my sister did go right ahead and video some of it for me. 

quite a fair bit of my time these days is spent "on the road", driving, for work rather than touring. in order to make this bearable i have ample tapes (discs) with me. one of them is the Blast album, which was very much a debut solo album from Holly, with him having only done singles prior to Frankie. yes, that did get to number one (1) in the charts. anyway, i found a copy of the album in a charity or pound shop, and so have it as i drive about. lately i have been playing it a fair bit. what a wonderful, joyous, uplifting album it is. 

right, time to go get things done. this has, to be honest, been as lovely a wander down some memories as hearing the song turns out to be. no, i am not going to write of them all, but keep them in heart and mind. should you have stumbled upon this for vaguely similar reasons, nice one. 

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