instrument of darkness

hello there

my, my, that's a pretty dramatic title for this post. also likely wildly (and widely) inaccurate, look you see. but a title is usually required, and i had no idea what to call this post. actually i did, but impulsive vacuum cleaner purchase just didn't sound sexy. 

exactly how does one (specifically, i suppose, me) end up buying a vacuum cleaner on impulse? usually this would be a well thought out, indeed considered investment. being fair i had thought about getting a new one, every now and then. my once present now previous one was one of them "stick" things. it was kind of all right for storing in the confines of my place of exile, but that was the only plus. charging it up took ages, then the battery didn't last long, and ultimately the sucking end wasn't too great. 

as it happened, or happens, i was left with little choice one day but to, for the purposes of verk, park in the car park of one of them big massive retail shops. i am not sure if i can say it was a branch of B&M, so i will leave it anonymous. since i was very glad of being able to park somewhere i felt obliged to go and buy something off of them. my intention was to get, i don't know, a packet of biscuits or similar, but then i saw the above vacuum cleaner (obviously not psychedelic in the shop), recalled how i had given consideration to getting a proper one, note the reasonably (as in south of £50) price and went, sure, why not, go on then. 

this, then, as you can (weirdly) quite clearly see in the above (and below) picture(s), is the celebrated Atlas 2 vacuum cleaner off of Russell Hobbs. it is entirely possible it's them what made my kettle of choice too. hang on. no, someone called Morphy Richards (or something) made that. think she used to do a tele show, lawyer or tv star or something. anyway, where was i? 

vacuum is, of course, one of the most complex words in the english language. many believe it should be spelt vaccuum, or vaccume, or vacuume. but, it isn't. my main argument with it is that "uu" bit. surely the spelling should be "vacwm", since "w" is famously called (or defined as) "double u". quite silly to have a letter what is literally double u and then use uu in a word. perhaps that is just me. 

how does this vacuum (vacwm) cleaner perform? splendidly. after a couple (give or take) of years with that stick one, this is revolutionary. the sucking power (750W, whatever that means) is at least, and i mean as a minimum, five (5) times the power of what i had. unleashing this was like switching on that cern thing, that hadron collider thing. no, not a f*****g clue what a hadron is or why one would wish to go ahead and collide them, but still. 

oh, yes, it does a reasonably good job (as far as i can tell) of cleaning up the carpets. the box gives every indication that it will be smart on "hard floors" too, but i like to use the power mop thing what i bought on them. who doesn't.

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

not quite heaven seventeen

howdy pop pickers

well, i have quite a few posts to do on the vibes, like. by that i mean, of course, music, look you see. sat here with me is a formidable level of Suede reissues (across many discs), plus the new one off of James, and the Manics 20th anniversary of Lifeblood. but, for now, it's back to those reissues that i keep suggesting i may cease (stop) buying. indeed, the Now That's What I Call Music ones. which has reached up to a reissue of 17 (seventeen) and yes, i pretty much bought on autopilot if not instinct. 

provenance of my copy? this is likely to be the most interesting thing here. by chance i was at the once and now restored "flagship" HMV store on Oxford Street, London (innit). i was not aware it was due out, but saw it and, well, refer above. cost was £7.99, which is about standard. strangely, had i gone to the Fopp store down the road from there (where i did indeed end up later in the week) i could have got it for a flat (or straight) £8. i will let you know if the 1p saved comes in handy.

the period, or time, covered by this reissue (or re-release) is the end of 1989 and the start, or if you will commencement, of 1990. a time i recall of some quite decent albums, if not really good singles as such. much of what's left on this variant of the release screams that it was so the golden age of the charts being overloaded with great songs was very much gone. 

at a glance (when i was in HMV) there wasn't anything immediately exciting about this one. the problem which has plagued these reissues, the one of missing songs, is here more than it has ever been, with tape (disc) one reduced to 13 songs and tape (disc) two seeming to have all 16 originally on the release. nope, no idea what's missing or why, i cannot be bothered to look it up. also, likely that different, or incorrect, mixes of the songs featured have been used. 

of what features there's a mere four (4) really, truly outstanding moments in music. in order of how they feature on Now 17, these (or they) are Step On off of Happy Mondays, Loaded off of Primal Scream, This Is How It Feels off of Inspiral Carpets and, the sole one off tape (disc) two, Killer off of Adamski and Seal. rest of the songs go from all right to average to absolute sh!t. 

disc (not tape) two features some particular lows. one of the worst is some absolutely rancid cover of Another Day In Paradise that i had no idea existed. the most confusing song on here is most likely the baffling Stronger Than That off of Cliff Richard (don't think he was Sir at the time). unless i am mistaken it sounds like a Stock, Aitken and Waterman production, except styled to cash in on the burgeoning rave scene on the go at the time. getting ripped to the t!ts on E and having Cliff do a rave anthem are not things what should ever have been mixed. 

it's generally easier and more fun to pick on bad things, so here we go. there's an awful Technotronic song on it, which reflect the bizarre way in which Bronx or Brooklyn accents at the time were considered "cool". somehow it was so that f*****g D-Mob were still a thing, and who the f*** bought this in enough of a volume for them to get on a "best of" compilation? for modern readers not sure what a D-Mob is, think N-Dubz but without the visible talent of a Dappy. yes, that bad. quite a surprise to see things like Jesus Jones and House Of Love still existed by this point in history. 

grasping for positives and the Strawberry Fields Forever cover off of Candy Flip was all right, but for some reason i thought that was an 88 tune. there's decent enough songs off of Erasure and Tina Turner, but both had done considerably (more) better songs around this time. adding Faith No More was a nice touch, and going on the one included by them here it seems Quireboys were not as bad as i might have said if asked without hearing this one. 

both the price what they sell these sets at and the completist in me says i shall likely purchase Now 18 as and when they release it. not sure that is a good thing.

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

white chocolate digestives

greetings

again, or if you prefer yet again, look you see, another one of them posts where (mostly) all you would really need to know is in the title. except for the pictures. whatever it is i have to write on the subject too, i suppose, but i would suspect most just look at the pictures. 

so, as you may well have ascertained, i have (recently) bought some biscuits. not just any old kind no, but as it happens the packet which was on special when i went to a shop. this so happened to be a variation on digestives. ones which had white chocolate on them.

whereas my purchase decision was made purely on price, a happy rationalising of it all incident was that i considered it to be quite some time since i had eaten any digestives. provenance was Sainsbury's, but actually no, i cannot recall the exact price. think it was just north of £1. doubt i would have paid, at a max, more than £1.50; chances are i would have looked for cheaper offers. 

unexpectedly, or oddly, there are a couple of points of potential interest with these biscuits. not that i have any conclusive or fully thought out comments in regards of them, but still. from what i recall there was some sort of fuss over the name of the biscuits. apparently it was, in the eyes of someone with perhaps too much free time on their hands, misleading to call them "digestives" as they do not in any way help or benefit the digestive system of the person eating them. it had never occurred to me that this is why the biscuits had the name they do, and no, that was not a consideration when either buying or eating them in my life. 

for the second of a couple of possible (potentially) interesting things, this business of "white chocolate". i would consider this a kind of pedantic thing but, apparently, such (white chocolate) isn't really chocolate as such. this i am sure i have mentioned before, but from what i gather the stuff we buy that is white chocolate doesn't have any of the stuff in it what makes chocolate. cocoa, i assume. what else they could call it is something that i do not know, hence we call it what we do. 

oh, some sort of review? they were quite good. well, the packet of them got polished off fairly quickly, put it that way. digestive biscuits turned out to be just as i recalled, which is reasonably tasty and a most enjoyable companion piece to a cup of tea. would say nice cup of tea but i used them tea bags what they have in hotel rooms, which isn't always the best. 

in respect of the white chocolate (or whatever) element, well, it was good, but rather thinly spread over the one side. they could have added more, yet it remains difficult to see how they could have put any less on, or "fewer" since people like to use that word instead so as to sound educated. 

no, i didn't discuss these biscuits with Spiros. the last time the subject of covered digestives came up in conversation with him (and believe me this was unsolicited information) he spoke with some fondness of how he ate some, in all male company, which had a sort of quasi white covering but, believe you me, it was not white chocolate. 

how likely am i to get these again? quite, if i am feeling peckish and they happen to be on a decent sale or special offer price again. 

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

qpr lighter

heya

every now and then i do a post here where, in effect, it (being the content, look you see) is all right there in the title. this, i believe, is such an instance. or perhaps not, for the images (pictures) are not in the title. let me try and pad some words out around the visuals, then. 

recently it was so that i was, and this was quite unexpectedly, at the hallowed ground of Queens Park Rangers. yes, the celebrated Loftus Road stadium. why or how are things that i care not to discuss, thank you. but, all the same, i was there. and yes, as you have likely guessed, i ended up in their shop.

indeed i did buy a lighter there, as the title gives every indication. i would usually call it a cigarette lighter, for that is what it is so far as i am aware, but people do tend to use them for lighting all sorts of different things now. not me, but still. 

what can i tell you about this lighter? not much. overall, to be honest, it's a bit of a let down. for starters it cost £1.99, where you can get a pack of three or four for £1 in other shops. i suppose in this instance one is paying a premium for having "Queens Park Rangers" written on it, along with the logo or emblem or club badge (you decide which is applicable). for some i suppose there's a level of prestige to this, yet it doesn't really register as such with me. 

an unusual aspect of this lighter is that it is one which isn't refillable. once the gas (or whatever) in it has been used, or the flint knacks, that's it, off to the bin with it. not really Greta friendly, that. perhaps it is a marketing ploy. there's bound to be some "ultra" QPR fan who(m) will only use things what have Queens Park Rangers written on them, and the club has clocked they can keep selling this person lighters if they don't make them refillable. 

for a philosophical approach, is this really a "QPR lighter"? by that i mean does simply writing Queens Park Rangers on a lighter make it such? would it not remain a lighter if it was free of anything being written or printed on it? as a non-QPR fan, and someone that has no association with the club, i have been able to use it, so i am confused by the possessive slant on it. there that took up some space. 

up to now i have not done my usual at least once a year thing of presenting images of a statue outside of a football stadium. indeed i still have not, but this rather impressive mural, or perhaps collage, found at the ground of QPR might cover me with this for the year (2024). looking at the above one becomes aware of just how many true greats of the game have graced the fabled hooped shirt of this club. 

to the best of my knowledge QPR are one of the "neutral" clubs to be found in that there London (innit), which is to say they have no vicious or violent relationship with any other club based there. it would be unfairly disparaging to say they are innocuous, but as far as i can tell they just get supported by people who wish to watch some decent football rather than throw bricks or bottles about. for that sort of thing you really need to go to Chelsea, who all appear to loathe, or West Ham or Millwall. of course the increasingly more needlessly violent one is Jewish Spurs vs Muslim Arsenal, a fixture getting to be even more sectarian than the messy Rangers v Celtic games up in the parish to the north. should one wish to go and watch a game of football in London and not get glassed, probably QPR or Fulham is the best one to go to. Brentford too, maybe. 

have i been using my QPR lighter? yes, but first, indeed it does look rather smarter than it actually is with that thermal mode camera app i have. up to now i have just used it conventionally, which is to say as a means to light a cigarette (sorry). at no stage have i gone around announcing to people that i was using a genuine, bona fide Queens Park Rangers lighter to do so. perhaps i will, if i ever get the sense that saying such will impress or interest someone near. 

can't say this for certain, but i would certainly be surprised if i ever end up owning another football branded lighter in whatever term remains of my life. rather a surprise in this day and age of smoking frowned upon as it is to have even found this one. yes, that last sentence was really poorly constructed but i shall trust you worked out what i was trying to say.

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

ladybird intruder

greetings

pretty much all you need to know of this is right there in the title, i suppose. but then again this is an incident which allowed me to dabble with that new psychedelic effect on my camera phone thing, look you see. who knows, if you have a look maybe you will like it. or not. 

so, i was sat one afternoon, doing something close to nothing. actually can't recall. likely just typing up a post for here, or maybe watching a video (disc) or what have you. to my surprise i heard the unmistakable flutter of an at the time undefined insect wings near my left ear. glancing down saw me see that a ladybird had taken up residence on the lower aspect of my left shoulder. or thereabouts, you know, for it is not so that biology is a strength of mine. 

that is what i believe to be the ladybird in question, although obviously (and clearly) not on my shoulder. where it is, if it is the same one, i shall get to later. you too, if you read on. and yes the above image is very much taken with that psychedelic thing i now have installed. quite class, i hope you agree, or maybe it is just me. 

having no wish to harm the ladybird (this is getting back to the story) i got up steadily and slowing, stepping outside to sort of "shake it off" and let it make its merry way in the world. as far as i could tell, or ascertain, i had indeed shaken it off. then, when i went inside my place of exile, what should i see on the wall but a ladybird. 

either this is a different (or if you will, second) ladybird, or the original lone intruder had simply hopped on to another part of me, hopping off when back inside. don't see how the latter could have happened, as i saw it the moment i walked in. so perhaps it never actually left, and hopped off as i was heading out. giving which happened any further thought or consideration is likely to hurt my brain, so if you don't mind i shall leave you to speculate over it, if not wrestle with it. 

do people still call them ladybirds? i have the most peculiar feeling that i have written of this before, but i suspect some call them "ladybugs". by virtue of the fact that they would appear to reproduce, since i don't think we are surrounded by immortals, i presume there is such a thing as a ladybug boy. yes, i came rather close to writing "ladyboybird" there, which has a different meaning. well, ladybird is what i was always led to believe as being the name, so shall stick with it. 

another psychedelic mode image of the ladybird for you above, then. indeed i have been experimenting, which has seen me discover all sorts of quite class settings. one can adjust the type of psychedelic image you take, and the psychedelic intensity of it. still no Commodore 64 mode, but i would expect me to have some fun with this. 

what was the eventual fate of the ladybird or, i concede possibly, ladybirds? no clue. after taking these pictures i elected to let it get on with whatever it wished to. perhaps it is still lurking around my lodgings in my place of exile, or maybe it has since flown off. good luck to it, whichever. 

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

psychedelic thermal

hello there

in a reasonably recent post (one done, and not one to come, look you see) it was so that a kind of sneak preview of some new picture formats was provided. this was, unexpectedly, done as part of some comments or other (review, if you like) of a record off of Kaiser Chiefs. one that i did not expect to ever purchase or hear, but now is not time for such distractions. 

not entirely sure if you, who(m)ever you may be, are missing the greater good and glory of images presented in Commodore 64 mode.to recap (if needed) they went and gone done some sort of update to my phone of choice and now that "app" doesn't work. with me thus far being unable to find any sort of similar one i had been experimenting with a VHS mode thing. but now i have found others.

yes, the above image is indeed David Bowie, as featured for March (2024) on my seemingly not entirely official calendar. this image was captured using one (of many) of the variations of a thing i installed called "thermal scanner" or something. no, it doesn't take actual thermal images, for i suspect such would cost a lot. but, all the same, it claims a thermal "style". 

the thermal one is but 1 of 2 what i gone bought. with actual money. i confess that one got purchased first as my imagination stretched only so far as getting one that was "thermal" or "infra red", so as to give a kind of quasi Predator feel to things. cost for the full, advert free variation of it was just a little north of £2, which seemed reasonable and felt agreeable. and then, for just north of £3, i observed that they also did one which was labelled (or called) "psychedelic".

perhaps i should have given some warning that a selfie was to appear, for i know some of you care not to actually see me, but go ahead and get over yourselves. this image (of moi) above is indeed presented in the psychedelic mode off of the other app. oh, i quite like this one. 

why is it i insist, or if you will persist, on (or in) taking images in less than straightforward as it is modes? not really sure. just an effort to make it all a bit more interesting, i suppose. believe me i have no pretence nor claim to be all "arty", i just like the idea of seeing things a little less ordinary. don't think i would go as far as saying there's an intention, or proclivity, to subvert. sometimes one just accidentally creates an image more interesting to look at. 

like, for instance, the one above. featured here (in another of the thermal modes) is my rather smart Hannibal Lecter figurine or statute, whichever name for it you would so prefer. provenance of it is indeed that i found it on my New Zealand odyssey, a journey i believe i have mentioned on this blog before. yes, i quite like how that one has come out, so to speak.

as it happens, or indeed actually, i could not decide between a few of the different types of thermal style pics i took of Bowie to use here. well, the same image (off of the calendar) of him. that i am using as an excuse to put another one here; one which may well appeal to fans of purple. 

oh. as in whoops, or oops. now that i have had a look it seems i have only added one (1) picture in that psychedelic mode. right, well, i have every confidence, assuming i steal further time in this world to do so, more images in that format will follow. 

for now, then, more (since it is all i have here) in that thermal format. 

quite the statement on my impulsive, compulsive spending habits is made by the above. the central focus is, of course, on the rather large (if not quite life size) Scooby Doo out of (ahem) Scooby Doo what i bought upon seeing. i felt it inappropriate to leave it in the shop, and happily the price was just south of £15. yes, i do seem to wave some big money around here. anyway, Scooby is sat on a star design cushion that i had no need for but had a discount voucher, and one can also see that smart log shaped cushion that i also had no need for, but hey, log lady out of Twin Peaks immediately came to mind, so there it is. 

up to now i would say i am reasonably happy with these two (2) app things. yet i do yearn for my most beloved Commodore 64 one. maybe with the movement of time such feelings will fade, but at this moment it feels like they will not. oh, well. 

since a major motivation of "thermal" mode was the inspiration of Predator, well, best to end this post on one set up in have in one aspect of my kitchen. i think i have shared an image of the above before, although just as a regular picture. to clarify, that is indeed an alien out of Alien(s) and a predator out of Predator(s). right in the middle (ish) is the skull of The King, Elvis Presley which i bought one year instead of actual Christmas decorations. 

right, time (i suppose) for me to go and do other things. which, yes, may well involve me taking more images in thermal or psychedelic mode. not actually sure if it does video (or "gif") format, but maybe i will go and experiment down the car wash. 

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

all over battersea some hope and some despair

now then

just a bit more observational stuff off of my travels, look you see. and indeed it was to that there London i was once more at. certainly it is (very much) so that i am there more than what i would have imagined, but generally they have some quite class vibes shops, so there you go. 

anywhere in London (innit) that i do not particularly care to go? oh, yes. once there was a time when i wondered why a moan (or groan) from them affable London cabbies was how they don't go "south of the river", as in crossing the Thames in a downward direction. having spent some considerable, if not formidable, time driving there, i get their disdain. it's horrible how the roads and that work. 

yet it was to be that i was required to be there, down south of the river, if even only just. which is how and why i can bring you some pictures (and video, no less) of the celebrated battersea power station. as far as i am aware it is quite celebrated, at the least. 

indeed the above image is in VHS mode, as is (so as to warn) the bit of video just below. how much more time i shall spend with VHS mode is up for debate, since i have now installed "thermal" and an absolutely mental "psychedelic" set off "apps" on to my phone what has a camera welded to it. 

oddly battersea power station does not do what it says on the box. at least no more. yes, indeed it was a power station at some stage, but got disused or closed down. i have little or no doubt there was good reason for this, but i am not looking it up. they also probably wished to demolish it too, but no, it stands still (as you can see) and has been repurposed. i think it's like some sort of shopping centre or similar now, and it looks like either (probably quite expensive) apartments (flats) or offices above. 

why is driving south of the river so bad? lots of reasons. for a start there are many, many needless sets of traffic lights. also about a million speed bumps designed to totes knack the underneath of any sort of vehicle. the pretty much universal 20mph speed limit across the area you can almost live with, yet it seems excessive that it applies in areas with no residential areas or footpaths. one completely f***s their back, legs, knees, feet and what have you driving there. 

there's that promised if not suggested video for you, then. yes, in VHS mode. not sure if you can make it out, but on the far right (location, not political ideology) one can see the elevator thing coming out of the chimney stack. if that's the right word for it. yes, it has some sort of tourist attraction element to it, but no i have no idea how much it would cost to go up (and presumably down) the viewing deck elevator (or lift) thing. 

strangely i do have a reasonable idea of some of the costs involved in living in a flat (or if you like it posh apartment) in the area all these pictures (and video) were taken. a fairly standard one shall set you back, at time of writing, about £500,000 excluding purchase fees. which is indeed one half of one million pounds. to rent is anywhere between £2,500 and £3,000 a month. in either (or both) instances, that will exclude utilities, council tax, "service fees" (which are both a London thing and frightfully expensive) and anything else they can think of to bill or charge you for. no, i shalll not be moving there any time soon, thanks. 

my experience of the place (battersea) says that you would have to be completely f****d in the head to wish to reside there. it's rather close to the American Embassy for a start. this can only be of benefit to one if you have a wish to shout "Yankee go home" at people who are probably both armed and allowed to shoot anyone they consider a "threat". nearest shop to the place i could find was a Waitrose. if you think the cost of buying or renting a place there is expensive just you wait until you discover how much a bottle of milk costs. 

by my usual standards that's not too bad a picture, above, is it? reasonably clear and you can actually make out what it is.

nearly forgot, yes, this building (structure, if you like) was indeed used prominently in (or for) the artwork (cover) of the album Animals off of Pink Floyd.

right, i find myself with nothing left to say on this particular subject.

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

yet here we are

howdy pop pickers

oh, right. well, here we are, look you see. in what i suspect might (or may) be a first, here's a review, or comments, on an album that i had only the vaguest sense of existing (believe i saw an ad in passing), no intention of buying and, as would follow, no real wish to hear or comment on. yet, as the title says, here we are. 

which album is it that i write of? so far as i can ascertain the actual title is Kaiser Chief's Easy Eighth Album by (ahem) Kaiser Chiefs. perhaps, or maybe, it's just called Easy Eighth Album. no idea why they decided on making the name so needlessly complex, but i am no rock and roll star. or wannabe rock and roll star. 

indeed, as can be seen quite clearly above, i have fiddled with my VHS app some and have now mastered the art of getting some boss static / tracking lines to appear, making it look quite class. or as good as it can, yes, i am really missing Commodore 64 mode. but another interesting sort of replacement is coming up (or down) below just now. 

provenance and reason for actually getting this record, then? in conversation recently Dad mentioned that he had heard some songs from it (or off of it) and quite liked it. by chance (and not long after) i was in one of my preferred vibes retailers. it just so happened that they had been donated several copies of this tape (disc) to be sold south of one half of the retail price as means of contributing funds towards a good cause. under such circumstances it was a pretty straightforward purchase choice. 

so, is the album (record, tape, disc) any good? actually it's pretty decent. gets about business with little in the way of messing about, as it happens. the ten (10) tracks come to a combined running length which is less or shorter ("fewer") that thirty minutes, so yes indeed you can play the whole album twice in an hour. doing such (playing it twice) is no bad thing at all. 

behold, then, for above is the first image i have used off of my new "thermal" camera thing off of my phone. of course no, it is not an "actual" thermal camera, just takes pictures in that style or format. hope you enjoy the new direction, and yes i shall fiddle with some of the settings for future, rather than previous, posts.

there aren't really any "stand out" tracks on this Easy Eighth Album as they all fly by so quick. it is, however, a most enjoyable thirty (ish) minutes, so no, there are no bad tunes at all. generally such short songs would suggest a kind of edgy, punchy, punk thrash sound, but more of a sense of 90s tunes with 80s production values are the case. 

no, i have absolutely no idea how this record compares to their previous (i assume) 7 albums. whereas i am aware that there's an  expectation for me to fawn over them as they are of Yorkshire, it's like they have done things what i am aware of, yes they are pretty good but also no, they've never really been a band i felt a need to latch on to. good luck to them, mind. 

could be that this is accidentally (an unintentionally) damning by implication, but the aspect of the album what impressed me the most was a note in the booklet what said that the cover art was done, or designed by, Jim Moir. this i shall take as being Vic Reeves. nice one. 

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

very disappointing

hello there

well, if you have visited here for a review of the documentary about London's (in)famous Scala cinema, there you go, it's in the title. anyone wishing for more is of course very welcome to read on, but for a slightly expanded shorter version one would be wise to simply listen to the mythology and urban legends of the place rather than watch this documentary. and it brings me no pleasure to say so, look you see. 

provenance of my (signed by someone or other; actually i think two people have) copy? that there fopp shop in London (innit). whilst purchasing some other items (The Holy Mountain and a few other things) i noted it on the counter. my immediate thought was "oh, that's the cinema what got closed down for holding a screening of A Clockwork Orange in the early 90s". the bloke on the counter, obviously keen to upsell but also quite passionate about it, explained how the initial run of signed copies sold out and it really was worth watching. so, despite the eye watering price for a singular single fancy video (disc) of just south of £18 (!!!!) yeah, i took an expensive chance. 

it might be that this echoes the actual cinema history itself. but it starts of really, really well and then soon becomes a boring, tiresome and very self indulgent drag. when i say starts well, it truly does. you get interesting snippets from interesting people like Mark Moore and a brief insight into how they managed to get away with screening films that were deemed not suitable for a more mainstream release. essentially, if interested, it was via being a "club" rather than open to the public sort of cinema. 

mostly, and again this is at the start, one gets a sense of how incredible it all must have been, being able to taste the forbidden fruits of cinema in a seedy yet vibrant part of London (innit). essentially it presents itself, or the Scala, as being at the heart of the kind of London many (if not all) would love to be part of. 

sadly this gives way to the London (innit) that few, if any, wish to be part of. with any actual details of the cinema, in terms of how it ran, being if not skimped over then simply ignored, you get the sense that it was a place which desperately wanted to remain all inclusive yet became depressingly exclusive. it's fairly clear that by the mid 80s onwards if you were not part of "the regular crowd" then you were most decidedly not welcome there. 

one moves from the wonders of Mark Moore and to an extent him what played the roadie in Wayne's World 2 to statements issued by people quite full of themselves, all aloof and indulged with a firm sense of self-importance. interestingly, or by chance, when you start to sense "hang on, these people are rather snooty, full of themselves and most condescending" who should appear on screen but the self anointed, even if he isn't aware of it, kind of such types, James O'Brien? 

yes, i did recall right. the fall out - mostly legal costs - of taking the decision to hold an illicit and not as secret as they thought screening of A Clockwork Orange brought the place down. one must remember the film was, contrary to popular belief, "banned" in the UK; rather it was withdrawn from release by Warner at the request of Stanley Kubrick. they (the owners of Scala) got done for copyright breach, and from what i could work out in court they openly admitted procuring a copy to screen via less than legal means. showing just how full of themselves they were the defence appeared to be "we wanted to show it, it's not a big issue". how self indulgent do you have to be to on the one hand claim to love cinema then on the other flagrantly ignore the expressed wishes of one of cinema's most gifted artists purely for self interest? 

at a guess the only people who are ever going to really enjoy this documentary are those people who feature in it, or were some of the select (and if i am honest lucky) few who were considered part of the Scala crowd. we. as a world and a society, actually need a Scala again. everything is now just the touch of a button (or screen) away, the idea of rare and obscure films that can only be seen in certain places fades with every minute we move forward. but, sadly, this documentary ultimately screams that the world is better off without such.

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

un fin de l'homme

bonjour

well, first and foremost this is kind of the dawn of a new era. perhaps not all that exciting for anyone reading this, but let it be known that this would be the first post what i gone done on my shiny new computer thing. look you see. many thanks to my good chum Mark for the sensational effort to arrange it for me. 

right, to business. if i can work out how to add pictures on this new system. hang on, yes i can. still getting used to the wireless keyboard (and mouse) i picked up for it, so bear with. where was i? oh, yes. not much really, just that a particularly, by my usual standards, posh bottle of what i would refer to as aftershave is nearly finished, which is why the title is what it is. 

presented above, in VHS mode, then, is the first and quite probably last bottle of L'Homme off of Versace that i will buy. indeed it was bought when on a most attractive special price offer, albeit one that was slightly higher than i would usually pay for an aftershave for myself. as and when Christmas comes around, which is generally annually, it would be so that i know which type of aftershave the boys want as it shall (invariably) turn out to be the most expensive one. 

oddly i would appear to have some sort of "brand loyalty" to Versace. normally, and once again i am not at all sure anyone is particularly interested, i would use their Blue Jean when on my travels and their one called The Dreamer when at lodgings in my place of exile. undoubtedly i have discussed this before, but yes, Blue Jean selected due to Blue Jean off of Bowie. but also it comes in a nice metal tin container so doesn't get damaged from station to station. 

do you all still want some sort of warning if a picture of me (moi) is imminent? if so then be warned as such is closer than you may think. 

i took the above picture earlier this year, rather than later in it. early (ish) January to be slightly precise, when i went on a stroll around that there London (innit) prior to spending many (several) hours in planes to reach New Zealand. no, i did not call in and make a purchase. funds at that stage were reserved purely for the odyssey.

how is it that i became some sort of Versace loyalist? i think it was when i saw an advert in some leaflet or similar off of a shop, offering Blue Jean at what struck me as a most agreeable price. sure the name drew me in (see above) and happily the scent was agreeable. expanding my range to have some of The Dreamer from time to time was mostly based on the special offer price. 

to be honest, to give a kind of sort of review, i am not certain that i would purchase this one, L'Homme, again. granted, yes, Sprios thinks it's marvellous that i own something so explicitly homoerotic, but in truth i wasn't all that keen on the smell. which is kind of an important part of an aftershave. rather too grapefruity for me, overall, i think. 

not sure if you can make it out in the above, for VHS mode is no Commodore 64 mode, but i believe residing in the bottle is just enough for one (1) final use. likely it shall be gone long by the time anyone visits and reads this. if indeed they do so. rather nice to have had it, for the experience and what have you, but no, probably not again. 

my suspicion is that i am lonely if not alone in calling this form of product "aftershave". i believe these days the generation at the forefront call it a fragrance, or even maybe still a cologne. well, whatever you prefer to call it, assume that is what i called it here. 

yes, there is every chance that one day i may (might) move away from the Versace experience. there's that one what they use Bowie music to advertise, which is indeed as good a selling point as any for me. also they sell it in bottles (or containers) shaped like a robot. the answer to why i have not bought any of it yet, with two very strong selling points, resides in the fact that even on special it is north of £50. i am not sure i am that bothered about how i smell or how others find me to smell. 

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

haxit, or if you will poxit

greetings

here in the UK, or perhaps just aspects of England, we are quite close to some local, or if you will provincial, elections. this is at the least true of the time what this went "live", look you see. generally, or strictly speaking, little attention is paid to these elections. unusual, then, for there to be 2 (two) elections which are being watched with some great attention. 

first off is, of course, the London Mayoral Election. it is generally assumed, or taken as a given, that the people of London will wisely opt (or actually directly elect) to rid themselves of the scourge of Sadiq Khan, the man who appears to hate the place with some venom and has done all he can to cripple this fine city. as soon as he is banished to that same place of obscurity as the likes of John Bercow the better. if London contrives to put him back in power, well, good luck with that decay, gridlock and senseless stabbings. 

a lesser documented, or reported on, election is that which is to take place in (or on) Hayling Island. granted, or true, this is not an official or recognised election, but rather a "poll" arranged by some dedicated people in the place determined to make clear that they are nothing to do with Portsmouth, 

thank you Colin Babb

the struggle, or if you will plight, of those residents of Hayling Island troubled by their seemingly perpetual association with Portsmouth is well documented. i need hardly refresh the collective memory here, but they are tired of being viewed as just a town or suburb of the place. now, it would seem, is the time for many of them to say enough is enough, it is their time to see Hayling Island respected for what it is, and not simply what Portsmouth would like to prescribe. 

by some good fortune, i was fortunate enough to (recently) speak to Andrew, the architect of the Hayling Island recognition campaign. i asked if he felt there were any similarities, indeed parallels to, say, the much celebrated Brexit, or Scotland's current attempt to masquerade breaking away from the United Kingdom as the far more trendy, popular sounding quest for "independence". 

on giving the question some consideration, he gave what some may well consider a rather insightful answer. as it happens i did not consider it such, but anyway. for a start Andrew was keen to point out there wasn't much in the way of comparison to Scotland, especially as Hayling Island has an economic plan somewhat more robust and sturdy than the vague idea of Europe buying several billion euros worth of salmon every year. overall, he said that the idea was to be positive, and make Hayling Island "much more progressive", which sounded reasonable. right up until he finished the sentence with the two words "like Hartlepool". 

thank you Andrew Curtis

much of the conversation which followed that is not something that i care to recall. for the benefit of fair coverage (if this is such), Andrew spoke at length in respect of his admiration for Hartlepool, highlighting in particular what he called that "great story with the canoe" and his aspiration to own property there. when i asked which area of Hartlepool in particular he was keen to invest in he stuttered an answer along the lines of "anywhere". suspecting, or sensing something amiss, i asked when he had last been there. he said that he had not actually been, and then told me he needed to leave to speak to a surveyor or something. 

indeed a more aggressive faction of the Hayling Island Is Not Portsmouth movement exists. there is, for example, the notorious international flytipper Bertie Fettlebottom. he has taken up a residency in the place, although apparently of no fixed address. 

chance did indeed permit for me to speak to Mr Fettlebottom. or, rather, Field Marshall Fettlebottom, as he informed me this was his formal ranking in the Provisional Real Hayling Island Republican Army. informed me, i hasten to add, as we were sat on a rather windswept bench and as he drank with some enthusiasm from an unspecified brand two litre bottle of cider. 

thank you Claire Wilkinson

quite a lot of my conversation with the Field Marshall was marred by his ad hoc telling seagulls to, forgive me, "f*** off", and indeed wrestling the occasional one for the trophy of a discarded tray of chips. when he did have chance to focus on the subject he mostly referred to Andrew, and those of a similar ilk, as being "gutless f***s". for him the struggle seems to be less about being progressive, more about causing mayhem. he assured me a "red dawn" was coming, tapping the side of his nose with a forefinger as he did so. 

when asked exactly what he meant by such talk, he stated that "we can't be part of Portsmouth if that bridge is gone, can we?". by this i assumed he was referring to what is seen as the one bridge which links Hayling Island to Portsmouth. i asked him what he meant by that and he said that he could not possibly comment further. reluctantly i agreed to give him £2 in order to get more cider, at which poin he revealed it was his intention to blow up the bridge and immediately declare himself Supreme Emperor of Hayling Island, but so far he had discovered there was "not nearly as much gunpowder as you might think" in the cheap illegally imported Chinese fireworks and bangers on sale at various shops in the area. 

despite no scientific or conclusive research being done, i am not convinced that the ad hoc poll being arranged by Andrew - a poll which he has opted to cast votes on behalf of residents in - is being all that closely watched by the people of Hayling Island. from what i could see there's not much in the way of an appetite for change, or a will to disrupt the way things are. in this i could be wrong, all of us must simply wait and watch what develops there. 

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