for quing and country

ow do

indeed this is, ostensibly, (yet) another post on cigarettes, look you see. of course that would be ones procured in such a way as to be "tax efficient" in doing so with the (frankly) absurd extra, extra extra tax which got placed on such here in the UK within the last few years. an extra tax which has spectacularly backfired on our most beloved government, as indeed it has in fair dinkum Australia, although at least our friends down under have acknowledged their folly. 

but first, of course, the usual "disclaimer" or what have you. no idea why i bother with such, but every now and then someone takes the time to complain about my posts, no matter how (reasonably) suitable for all i try and keep them. so yes, smoking is quite bad for your health, and you should not take up doing so or if you do then seek help to quit. which is in relation to smoking cigarettes, of course, for in this day and age one seems to get lots and lots of support for smoking cannabis, heroin or similar. 

having not quit myself (sorry) i, relatively recently, went off to procure some "independently imported and distributed cigarettes". for some exciting mathematics (or "math" if American) on what that means exactly, go ahead and click here. doing so might make some of this make more sense, if only in the slightest way of slight. anyway, my preferred broker of choice did not, alas, have the ones which i like at the moment, but suggested i try one called sovereign. or, to give a full name, sovereign black, which the claim on is that they are off of Benson & Hedges. 

unknown types (or brands) of cigarettes on the more "independent" market, which could also be referred to as the common sense one or the "illegal" one, are something of a risk. whereas one may chance on some really good ones, like the smart top gun ones (no i am not linking), there is also a possibility of getting rather rough, kind of do the job ones like manchester. mostly wishing, needing or just (if we are being honest) craving cigarettes, i consented to purchase them to give them a go. 

rather glad i did, as it happens, for these sovereign black are quite decent. not (of course) decent as in how my beloved Marlboro Red are very decent, but all the same. they don't have the rough, salty sea dog nature of some "legal" or otherwise cigarettes, and on the whole are a most smooth smoke. yes, still quite bad for your health. let it not be said that i disregard all warnings, though, for i do take heed of the one above (and it is lovely that the "independent" ones still have warnings) and i do all which is possible for me to do to avoid smoking on those instances when i am pregant. 

calling someone a "considerate" smoker is a bit peculiar, however i (and sadly not too many others but some all the same) do try to keep away from people when indulging. it is not a pleasant smell or what have you for others, i know, although there are those drama queens what cough away when within a mile or so of any smoker. that said, there was a strange incident when someone followed me all across a park when i went to a designated smoking area and made a big fuss of me smoking, asking me to refrain from "blowing it" in his direction. as politely as possible i suggested that perhaps he should have not followed me all the way to a designated smoking area. he left. 

oh yes, the title of this post. just north of four (4) years since HMQEII passed away and such still trips up people when it comes to singing the national anthem. not that it gets sung all that much, i suppose. anyway, it feels like instinct kicks in, we haven't quite grasped that HMKC3(PO) is the monarch, so one can clearly hear "god save the qu...ing" being sung. natural, i guess, as for the majority of us we have only ever known it to be a queen. no, it's not really all that relevant to this, however with it being september and the cigarettes being called sovereign, well. 

a peculiar thing to do with the "colour" branding of cigarettes is that it doesn't make much sense. which this probably won't do either, but anyway. ever since they made them get rid of terms like "lights", in case someone assumed that meant a "safer" (or what have you) cigarette, colours have been the go. for a while, then "gold" has been the colour used for "lighter" cigarettes, "blue" for somewhere in between and of course "red" for full tilt strong strength. 

my thinking is that the "scale" used gives every indication (or suggestion) of lighter colour = lighter strength or taste of cigarette. one would (reasonably) assume, if such was true, that "black" would thus be the uber strong strength ones, mindful of the "none more black" interpretation of Spinal Tap. not so, or this is not the case. for some reason "black" cigarettes are the lightest on the go, as i discovered with a slight sense of disappointment with Marlboro Premium Black some time ago. sovereign black are indeed on the lighter side of light for cigarette taste, strength or whatever. pleasant, mind. 

token selfie (of course of moi) enjoying (or killing myself) with a sovereign black above then. yes, this is once again (for regular readers) using the new "8 bit" camera app what i purchased for somewhere south of £1. not sure i like it all that much, but as it would appear to obscure any overt idea that it is a picture of me then i would imagine some quite like that. 

black branding should not (of course) mean that you take black cigarettes to be "weak" or in any way lighter. a long held ambition of mine is to try some Russian (as in off of Russia) cigarettes one day. i believe (or so i have been told) that the tobacco used is if not "none more black" then "pastel black", and that they are really, really, totes uber strong strength strong. you would think that with an entire world full of opportunities and possibilities that i might have somewhat more intelligent (or interesting) ambitions, but no i do not. 

no, nothing much else to add here. to be honest i ran out of things to say after putting (thus far) they are quite good, really, but since i had all these pictures i thought why not pad it out some. 

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

empire

hello there

risking some repetition of sorts, here. as in yes, this is all to do with me finding another old film magazine on my travels, look you see. well, when i say repetition i think this is "only" the third time i have done such in around 22 years (!) of doing this. the only other instances, unless i have missed one or two (or more), would be here and then here. 

quite the slight difference with this one, however, as it is a 90s one. specifically, if you like, at the time of writing a more or less exactly 30 (thirty) year old magazine. and it's also arguably an edition of one which could consider itself "the best" film magazine what ever existed, for it is (indeed) a copy of Empire what i found. for provenance i likely bought this at the time, but this copy was found at a charity stall at a service station on my travels a couple of years ago. deliberate indeed was my decision to only showcase it here close on a decimal numbered anniversary. 

somehow Empire remains a going concern, as in it being a published, physical edition magazine offered for sale. not bought it in years (likely not since the early 2000s) and am not likely to either any time soon. other than being not particularly interested in "film news" these days, well, from what i can tell from the cover of it when i see it now it has (alas) seem to have become pretty much a promo tool for various "streaming" services. 

frequent readers of this blog (thank you) will not be surprised at why, of the half a dozen or so copies they had on offer, i selected this one. yes, indeed, my proclivity to (mostly) review films on the basis of quality nudies in them saw me drawn to this. also, though, this would have been (when i picked up this edition) around when i saw The Substance, in which cover star Demi Moore was breathtakingly brilliant. i would hope that influenced my thinking. 

like (i imagine) a good many people i have discovered, flicking through this, that i have simply lost the patience (or interest) in reading magazines. probably newspapers too. whereas i still (very much) read novels it is quite extraordinary how "the internet" (or the "information age" as i suppose it is called) has changed us. the seemingly constant, perhaps incessant, flow of fast and compressed information has taken away from engaging with quality journalism. it is entirely possible that the generation of now know not what it is they shall miss with this, for they never had it. 

one of the "big" things film magazines like Empire did was bring you "advance news" on films. stories, rumours and reports on who(m) was doing what. maybe i should have done a "proper" picture, or one of them scan things, of the below, but we are here now. you shall just have to read my account below. 

blimey. essentially what that article is all about (or relates to) is that James Cameron, who at the time was making Titanic (that was a surprise and no one had any idea how huge a film it would be), intended for his next film to feature 0% actors, 100% computer generated actors. quite a statement of intent, since at the time i think the only "entirely computer created" film was Toy Story. obviously the comments in the article from acting unions and what have you are against the idea. the point of interest for me with this is that he damned nearly did it, since the one after Titanic, being Avatar, was made with quite negligible "actual" actor presence. 

any other "coming soon" news in the edition? nothing quite so exciting (or vaguely close to accurate) as the above. there's a picture of Harrison Ford punching Brad Pitt (in the face) off the set of whatever it was that IRA based mess of a film was, and a reference to the apparently exciting idea of broadcasting preview screenings of Evita (yes, the Madonna one) via satellite. otherwise, just something on Eric Cantona making a film (if not acting) debut, plus a bit on the decline of (ahem) "romantic" scenes in summer blockbuster movies. 

  

the articles in Empire were (maybe still are) always good, being quirky, interesting and a times causing a degree of (mass) debate on (in) the readers letters page. in this edition, as pictured above, is an article on fifty (50) films which "should not have been made". doesn't go as far as stating "the fifty worst films ever made", for none of the post-Guttenberg Police Academy ones feature. 

no, i am not listing them all here. one or two (or more) "debatable" choices, since i quite liked Cocktail, the David Lynch Dune, The Doors, Electric Dreams (although i need to watch it again), Problem Child 2 (odd they don't pick on the first too), the 80s Supergirl, Showgirls (for obvious reasons) and, for that matter, Zardoz. should my brother ever stumble on this edition and read that, according to them, that the film The Boys In Blue, starring (Tommy) Cannon and (Bobby) Ball, should not have been made, he would probably set fire to the magazine, track down the writers and set fire to them, set fire to the printing press that produced such heresy, etc. he does tend to take the defence of his favourites seriously. 

pretty sure that 1996 was the last "golden era" for cigarette adverts. when Bliar came into power in 1997, aptly on May Day from what i recall, banning cigarette adverts (with the exception of on Formula One for a while) was one of his first acts. i don't rightly know, or recall, if i ever tried the "Marlboro Medium" on offer here. must be (obviously) before they stopped them using variations of strength as part of the brand name, hence Marlboro Lights becoming Marlboro Gold. likely i gave them a go, but for the most part it would have been Marlboro Red all day every day then (sorry). 

speaking (or writing) of adverts and the magazine is one lengthy reminder about just how big, and presumably lucrative, the home video market was in the mid 90s. believe it more or less was for at least another ten or so years, likely right up to "the internet" being fast enough to pirate things and the rise of DVD recording technology. with this edition being before DVD was a thing. 

exactly how big the market was in illustrated by Woolworths (don't look for it, it isn't there any more) doing a full page advert to sell the video of Judge Dredd. yes, the Sylvester Stallone one, which wasn't particularly bad, just not brilliant and hardly a success. not including a picture of that here (unless someone asks nicely and then i will edit it in later), but there's one other film that gets advertised quite a lot in this edition. 

merry days, for HMV remains a thing (all the other shops advertising have long since ceased to be), and the point of the above here is them advertising Crimson Tide. although describing Pulp Fiction as an action film doesn't feel right. there are at least three (3), possibly 4 (four) adverts from different shops encouraging one to purchase the video of Crimson Tide off of them. really don't remember all that much about the film, to be honest, except it featured some quality Gene Hackman shouting. from what i recall the "big deal" with it was that Quentin Tarantino acted as a "secret" (except everyone knew it) script doctor for it, adjusting some of the dialogue. hence the appearance of abstract 70s cultural references every now and then in a film i think was something to do with a submarine threatening to fire a nuclear missile at someone or other. 

by the way, if you ever end up with the sell thru video (actual) version of Die Hard With A Vengeance in the above advert immediately destroy it. the mid to late 90s was the BBFC being their most keen to needlessly throw their weight around. video releases routinely got extra edits from the cinema versions which they invariably demanded cuts be made to. in respect of this version of Die Hard 3, there is some clumsy, awful "language" censorship, with the soundtrack going silent to remove what the BBFC felt was just a few too many rude (or naughty) words. 

to tie in some of the above with the below and one of my favourite articles ever in Empire pertained (or related) to when the BBFC "refused" to give Reservoir Dogs a certificate for video release. in response, and remember this was all before "internet" or being able to "order online", readers wrote in with the ways and means by which they had "imported" a copy of the video. this went on to the extent that Empire ran a quasi competition to determine the "best" way someone had got their hands on a video of it, with the kicker that no less than Quentin Tarantino, who(m) thought it was "cool" that fans were going to such lengths, judging the best means. no, can't recall the winning method or any sort of prize. 

on to the "small" ads, then, above. which are also "classifieds", yet Empire referred to it as the emporium. again, getting obscure, rare or unusual stuff was not easy pre-internet. whilst i do appreciate how easy it is to pretty much get anything you like (legal or otherwise) these days, indeed it is true that i do miss the days of "mail order". never any reason to have doubts you would get what you wished for and quite quick too, since back then we had a reliable, decent postal service. 

getting film soundtracks, relatively rare videos, rental copies of films and what have you was lovely to be able to do off of this. more importantly, though, since these were not "mainstream" (or actual) shops as such, well. once you built up a relationship with sellers here, this was the way you got the videos which were "banned" or withdrawn from release in the UK. a partial list would be, remembering this as being the 90s, Clockwork Orange, Straw Dogs, The Exorcist and what have you. probably (ahem) some erotica ones too. 

as to why someone would wish to buy a "rental" copy of a video (which cost 4x or so more than the sell thru new), well, quality. rental tapes used better quality video (actual), heavier and slightly thicker than was used on sell thru. the reason is that rental tapes would likely be played hundreds of times and so needed to be resilient, whilst no one expected anyone to play a sell thru tape more than ten or a dozen times. playback of sell thru tapes noticeably deteriorates if you watch it that many times. 

last picture (unless i get requests to add more) and why would one take up any of the many offers to go and buy the video of Crimson Tide when you could get it as a gift if you took out a subscription to the magazine? maybe i should watch the film again, for i really don't remember it being full worthy of all the fuss that was seemingly made at the time. well, the time it came out to buy on video. 

the advert to the right is an interesting one, offering as it does "internet access". again, this was 1996, with most still regarding the "internet" as a novelty, or a passing trend that had no practical future. not sure that was accurate. likely around this time a few magazines and newspapers started to have what we would today call an "online presence", whether they were or were not (possibly the former, maybe the latter) aware that "internet" would come to deliver a near fatal blow to them. specifically for a film magazine like Empire i can remember one late 90s (and early 2000s) web "thing" that seemed to provide fast news. for fun i did a google and yes, it is still going, even looking like i recall. 

right, that shall (more or less) do for another sentimental hygiene trip into the way it all was. once upon a time, then, you could walk into a newsagents with £5 (a fiver), buy this decent magazine, a packet of Marlboro (sorry) and get a few coins change. further, you could then get on an affordable, reliable train, go somewhere knowing you would be on time, reading the magazine but likely not being allowed to smoke on it. 

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

heal thyself

greetings

whereas no, not really, not really, no, i don't expect anyone to be all that interested in my plight, it does feel somewhat amiss of me to not give vague traces of conclusions to tales that i start here. and so, to that end, or to this extent, some updates on my most recent of medical exploits. essentially this is a follow on to this post, look you see. don't say you weren't warned (if not guided). i can totes relate to someone having no interest at all in this, so if it is you i randomly and unknowingly relate to then i wish you well in finding something (considerably) more better to read. 

speaking of warnings, guidance and the like, note that this post does feature a significant level of indulgent, excessive and gratuitous selfies. as if there is (really) any other form of such. yes, i did beautify the previous post with some "not bad" so-called "AI" generated images of hedgehogs and koalas, but i simply could not be bothered to do so here. 

above is an image (or if you like picture) of the things of medical stuff i need to apply to my somewhat still gaping wound. for what, exactly, that wound is, well, you kind of do need to go and read of the incident in the link provided. only if interested, of course. yes, i am indeed amused that the aseptic pack has written (printed) on it "for professional use only", when i am not. 

to get to the stage of changing the dressing (or what have you) by myself i have made three (3) visits to oddly different medical practitioners. nurses, if you like. well, nurses if you don't like too, for that is what their vocation is. hey don't get upset with me, i didn't build this world, i just live in it. 

likely this shall lack the accidentally coherent, at the least chronological sense of the original post, but to go back a few steps (or what have you) from the image above, in the first instance i returned to the hospital where the "surgical procedure" was carried out. eventually, despite their efforts to be as inefficient as possible. would you like some video what i have added narration to? good. 

exactly how little of a f*** anyone responsible for people gives about patients to this particular hospital is wonderfully illustrated there, is it not? there is indeed a (partial) car park on the side of the road where one can find the hospital, but generally it is perpetually full. having no means for people to safely cross the road from a car park to a hospital is a whole new level of insanity, one that (for instance) Joseph Heller could only wish he had thought of as fiction. 

circumstantially i had to return to this hospital in the first instance. they were the ones that reluctantly did the procedure my doctor said was required, and thus they had a notion of interest in making sure it had not gone "wrong" or what have you. more on that appointment in a bit, but the peculiarly familiar nurse appeared happy with how (after some 4 or 5 days) it looked. she, in a quasi giddy way, said i needed to get it changed "every 3 to 4 days" or something like that, which i initially interpreted as "weekly". i was asked if i would like to arrange to return to that hospital for this to be done and i used a somewhat diplomatically worded version of "f*** no, no f*****g way" to decline. this was not an issue, apparently, and it would be fine for my "regular" clinic to do it. 

warnings were issued, the first selfie is coming up. or down, i suppose, since it is below. for some reason i thought it would be a (really) good idea to take a picture of it all sans bandage, as in the gaping wound itself. then i thought it might be appropriate to censor it, and that's why such a thing as images of Larry Grayson pulling that face thing exist. 

how is the gaping wound, or traces of the surgical procedure? of significant size and slight depth i suppose, yet perhaps not to the excess which the size of the Larry Grayson image implies. from what i can tell it is "closing up" or what have you, which i suppose is a sign of it being on the mend. 

exactly what size is this gap (or gaping wound) in my arm? well, for a perspective that all can related to, no i cannot Videodrome it. should for some reason you have no idea what that means, well, it means that the gaping would is not large enough for me to insert a (VHS) video into. probably not even a Betamax. likely best i could do is (ahem) copy Videodrome onto a micro sd thing (or very small usb memory stick) and shove that in, but it's unlikely to make me full tilt James Woods. 

going back (briefly) to the return to the well run hospital, then, when they initially changed the dressing and did some rudimentary checks that it was (vaguely) all right. 

notice how there was absolutely no one else waiting when i arrived? a bit spooky (or unusual), to be sure, but what's more interesting is that somehow, although i was the only one actually there, i was still only the fourth (4th) patient (or what have you) they called for. as per my other post, no this is not some form of entitled "but i was here first" whine. if there's a serious medical issue then of course preference should be given. however, in this instance, no emergencies as such, they just seemed keen to see if anyone else turned up before going "oh go on then" and checking out my arm. 

for further dressing (or bandage) changes i was referred to my usual medical practitioner, then. alas they could not assist, for the nurse what does that sort of thing (not that sort of thing) was away. not to worry, they were most helpful in finding another clinic what was (is) within walking distance of my lodgings in this era of exile, and they were delighted to see me. 

quite lovely people there. although their first (entirely reasonable) question for me was of what did i think i was playing at only booking an appointment every week when i was told it needed doing every two to three (2 to 3) days. indeed yes i apologised and they made the requisite bookings. 

yes, another selfie (on a cloudy day) above for you to do what you will with. as you may well have noticed the plaster (or dressing) is in the "diamond" arrangement. one of the nurses said to alternate between diamond and square so as to not keep sticking to the same patches of skin. well, that's what i can remember of the advice. 

really not much else to add, except to say that the nurses were (most) delighted with my efforts in cleaning the wound, applying gel and placing the dressing (plaster) on it. i was told that i would be very welcome to come in and have them do it, but i could clearly hold my own (so to speak) with it all, so just do it myself. with the clarification that if something looked busted, such as it going all red or discoloured or the rash returning, i was to go to the doctor at once. fair enough. 

that's that, then. if something interesting (or unusual) happens further (rather than earlier) with this jolly incident i shall be sure to document it. otherwise, well, those (few) interested can likely take it more or less as a given that it is on the mend. 

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

mike d - thank you

howdy pop pickers

well, yes, that should be mike d d5, look you see, since it is and is not a solo album off of mike d, but one gone done with the collaborative band i am (reliably) led to believe is called d5. moving on from that and the new tape (disc) is called thank you, and yes, it is that mike d, as in the one out of beastie boys. 

a reasonable amount of "if" will feature here. further some (alas) unavoidable beastie boys references, though i do hope this does not spark a revival of the tiresome accusations of me "not being a proper fan" of intergalactic no matter what i do. 

for those in a rush, yes, the album is quite decent. due to the genre (or style) or what have you it might, oddly, appeal to that "younger generation" i keep hearing of and possibly attract an audience that has absolutely no idea what a beastie boy is. 

quite the schrödinger thing here, really, for it is and is not "member of beastie boys does a beastie boys album as a solo thing". sure, the familiar and (this really feels like the wrong word) comfortable sound of the beasties resonates, but this album is no prisoner of the past. difficult to put an exact genre on it, as was the case with the beasties. for the sake of simplicity (or ease) the beasties got called "rap hip hop", but then that was qualified with also "trip hop" (whatever that is), funk and an acknowledgment of them never ever really leaving their rock / punk roots. essentially the beasties put together just whatever they believed to sound really, really f*****g good, and mostly that's what happens here. 

had someone handed me this tape (disc) without any knowledge of provenance then it's rather unlikely i would have clocked it was the mike d, and i (likely) would have thought some of it sounds quite class but not for moi as such. yet i am aware of the provenance (hence the purchase) and that's all probably why i have been more receptive of it. make no mistake, the "music free for all" now possible is brilliant, it's class that anyone can make music. but i do yearn for the days of filter, when "cream rose to the top" and you were led to class bands via either aggressive marketing, things like NME giving them coverage or simply mates chatting. 

define the sound of the tape (disc)? sure. kind of. best i can do for you it is a hedonistic go at what the future might sound like, if you were in the late 70s / early 80s and imagining what that faraway year of 2000 might have for vibes. lots of smart snare snapes, awesome "ping ping bing wacca wacca" bass that i love so much, cool undefined random sounds and layered with sometimes distorted, occasionally coherent lyrics. actually Secrets Pts I & II is on now, and i really, really did the "bidibop" noises on it man, funky. 

low points on the album? not really that much margin for such with a taunt, wise (just) south of 40 minutes play time. i confess (be ready with the "not a proper fan" comments) that a sigh escaped not long after Back To Start (ahem) started, since lyrics referencing the board game monopoly are not exactly a new thing or "cutting edge". decent enough song, mind, but i got distracted by the lack of creativity with the lyrics. such is seriously not the way of the beasties, together or alone i would have thought. 

stating the obvious (which i am totes going to do) is to say that i simply don't have enough years left on this planet to play thank you anywhere near as many times i have what i consider the holy trinity of beastie boys records. which are paul's boutique, ill communication and hello nasty. not that there's anything wrong with the other two. the thing is, though, with what time i have left (a bit, i hope, even if some do not), i would imagine (at the least) paul's boutique will get played more frequently than this one. no, it isn't getting discarded by the end of the month like so many new albums of late have had such fate, but still. that said the bouncy bouncy uber funky bass on Make It Stop has just kicked in and, yeah, man, i am really digging this one. 

exactly where does this sit in my if not pivotal then certainly irrelevant "album of the year" considerations and deliberations? well, from memory (which is not to be trusted) i think the only "new" tapes (discs) i have picked up this year have been the ho hum Morrissey one, and then two (2) goes at hearing a proper version of the second KillerStar album. so likely quite high, especially as i have no grand ideas of the new Kasabian one being all that groundbreaking. oh, yes, there was the Stones one too. 

if you are wishing to seek out the album, here is a link to mike d's official website thing. rather smart it is too, being some sort of 90s web throwback. you may well note (or observe) that a tape (actual) version of thank you is available. normally i would purchase such because "why not", yet here there is a pretty big "why not" at it being priced north of £20. 

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

car wash return

hello there

well, what can i say, there's been a recent revival of some regular types of post here of late. bit of a throwback thing, look you see, although it (very much) is a case of that being by default rather than design. no one, i would imagine, would accuse me of things like planning or structure. 

yes, indeed it has been (quite) some time since i used a car wash. this was not for want of trying. on instances when i had visited such a facility i found it to be unavailable, if not (strictly speaking) out of service in any real terms. the one i can recall most was when i went to use one at a petrol station and they happened to be getting a fuel delivery at that time. i asked if i could use the car wash (politely) and was told no, because "the delivery driver gets upset" when people do so whilst he is there. 

above is what i presume to assume to be the "gameboy" mode on this new "8 bit" camera thing i have. no, it does not claim it is "gameboy", as more than likely (probably) that might incur some legal repose. still, that shades of green thing says what it is. for clarification that's the big floppy wet soapy brush going over the windscreen. 

i have recently taken command of a (relatively) new vehicle off of verk. getting it to a car wash as soon as possible was very much a priority, since they had kindly elected (or opted) to deliver it to me in a somewhat distressed state, covered (substantially) in "bird droppings". presumably this all happened whilst it was in transit to moi. how do i know such? because i know exactly where verk stores vans, and the place is famous for the unusual phenomenon of birds flying upside down in the vicinity of it as the entire area is simply not even worth sh!tt!ng on. 

some VHS style for you now, with the image above and the video (actual) below. that is of course of all that wonderful lukewarm, foaming bubbly water coating the windscreen. it is pretty much (more or less) all that i can capture of the experience, as they discourage you from getting out of your vehicle whilst the great big car wash machinery does its thing. one can only presume (or assume) that if they did get out, all that would happen is that you would get extremely wet, a bit knacked (physically) off of the machine and a bit knacked (verbal rebuke) off of the proprietor. 

did i enjoy being back at the car wash? yes, i suppose so. as far as one can, really. i mean i am assuming people far more concerned about their vehicles take great (understandable) pride in it being all clean and pristine. me, moi, not so much. it's not mine, it belongs to verk. to be honest i have little attachment, especially as it does not have a tape (or compact disc) deck, and besides if it breaks i just have to pick up the phone and (after a wait) tell them it is broken and ask if i please may have another. 

of (really) vague interest might be that this was the first time (like, totes ever) that i had used this particular car wash facility. by default it is now, i think, the one which is nearest closest to my lodgings in this era of exile. well, closest that the fuel card verk supplies with the vehicle is accepted. if there was an expectation for me to pay for it to get washed and claim the cost back then it would happen even more less ("fewer") than it does now. 

how did the car wash go? negligible, really. i went for the most expensive wash option (which you would think, since i do not pay for it, i would do as standard) and it got much of the bird droppings of. exactly how much? a substantial amount. still traces (and marks) of it remain. this is something i would imagine that i could just wipe off myself, but not really, not really, no. easier just to take it back and let the machine have another go. possible i will do so in the next week or so. 

that above is the big wet soapy floppy brush going past the driver (right hand) side of my vehicle. no, i am not doing that all "proper side" thing again. indeed the image you see was taken with this new 8-bit camera app thing. not bad, i suppose, just not really the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. 

exactly how much was the "expensive" car wash thing? to be honest as it is not my money i really don't look, but think it was just south of £7. sure, i could go to one of the many car wash things we have all up and down the country, where gangs of economic migrants have been given visas for their skills at washing cars, but for some reason they are all (or mostly) cash only, so no. 

final bit of video (as far as this post goes) above, then. it's an extended look at all the lukewarm (or possibly just cold) soapy water spread all over the windscreen. 

right, that's just about it for the car wash. except (possibly) to say after this wash experience i returned to that lovely, well managed, efficient hospital i spent (quite) some time in getting a minor medical matter sorted out, eventually. yes, there is a link, and here it is. confusingly for a good while, say 5 or 10 or so minutes, i was the only person in the waiting room, yet somehow i was still only the 4th (or 5th) person they called in. go figure. 

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

shabby chic distressed trolley bonanza

heya

pretty much does what it says on the box, this. or rather (pedantic fans) what it states in the title, look you see. on my travels through this world it was so that, recently, i saw another abandoned trolley. well, two of them (2) for precision, but such leads to that whole "trolley" vs "trollies" debate on spelling. 

yet i dare say it is of value that i saw 2 (two) in this instance, for it allows for something of a compare and contrast the fortunes of each. or the fate, if you will. what kind of life, or existence, each has had up to the precise moment i saw them is all rather stark. 

indeed it was a lovely sunny summer day, with a most welcome cool breeze. what better scene to grace such a climate, one may ask, than the sight of the site of two (2) trollies/trolleys. as it is most probably likely you do not need me to point out, one (to the left) would seem to be in more or less the condition that the manufacturers' specification would intend. not so much so with the one to the right. 

exactly what happened to the one on the right is potentially a puzzle. my immediate (or if you will initial) thought is that someone has had a go and burning it, or otherwise killing it with fire. absolutely no idea how one could get so upset by a trolley that they would wish to incur such a cruel fate on it, but there we have it. this is of course if that is indeed fire damage. i am presently of a mind to not rule out it being all rusty. yet there is no body of water relatively near, and i am struggling to consider any reason, good or otherwise, why someone would fish out a rusty trolley from a body of water and then deposit it some distance away. quite likely i am overthinking this one. 

absolutely no value could be gained from some video of two (2) abandoned trollies (trolleys), yet this is what i have added above. well, why not. of course this is in VHS mode, and that "split screen" variation of it, since i don't think i have used it for a bit. 

from a marketing perspective it is so that the knacked trolley on display here would, by interior designer types, get described as being "shabby chic" or (perhaps) even "distressed. quite murky it is in the ambivalent world in which they dwell. i do find it fascinating, yet a little wrong, that some people would be fine trying to sell all busted stuff like this with an "artistic" description. also, to be fair, a streak of despair that there are indeed people who(m) would be stupid enough to part money for such. 

these trolleys (trollies) were indeed on a path. or "pavement", if American. rather fascinating that our friends in America would say "pavement" rather than "path", considering all their efforts in removing perfectly valid vowels from words (judgement, colour, honour, etc) so as to "simplify" their rather curious variation of the language. anyway, moving on, and yes indeed some people did walk past these. of course it was perfect the English way of doing things as they did, either simply pretending they were not there or giving a slight "tut". nothing, that i observed, as extreme as shaking their head at it all. 

more observations as and when i make them, i suppose. very unlikely that they will (at all) be more interesting than this, which i appreciate is quite the statement. 

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

koala keyrings

g'day

yet another instance of me purchasing something koala related, look you see. there is (really) nothing new here as such, then, just koala stuff. it makes my world a happier place, so i see no real reason to offer apologies for this. 

so i was, as would be usual, strolling around the market one weekend when i spotted a rather rudimentary tin (or similar) filled with keyrings for sale. oddly i felt a (vague) need to get a new keyring, for i returned a "security key" thing for the one verk vehicle i had, leaving my keys for my lodgings in this era of exile feeling somewhat "light" or what have you. 

delight was fair dinkum mine, then, when i saw not not just one, yet also not as many as three (so two, then) keyrings featuring koalas.

and there above you can see them (very much) in action. well, so to speak in action, as it were, for it is not really so that keyrings do all that much in such a regard. oh, they are important things and serve a valuable purpose, but seldom does this involve any movement or motion. 

indeed they (the koala keyrings) have joined other ones i am presently using. the KFC one was a gift off of my sister, ostensibly for my birthday, presented when i was in NZ. the rhino with my occasional name carved into it is from my African adventures. exactly how interested could anyone possibly be in whatever keyrings i have. 

very mindful of this being on the second (2nd) time i have showcased it in a post and, well, i am not all that convinced this new "8 bit" camera thing is any good. the cost of it was 73p, by the way. for a start it really isn't as class as the greater good and glory of the Commodore 64 mode one. well, it shall just have to do, for i cannot find an exact C64 camera app. 

using "regular" pictures means that you can see that the one keyring, also resplendent with a kookaburra and random pink balloon, commemorates the 200th "birthday" of Australia. so that dates it at around, more or less (or if you will approximately) January 26 1988. the idea of a country (or nation) having a birthday is an interesting one, for they were not "born" as such, and existed long before anyone functional elected to give them a name. from what i recall this "birthday" for Australia is simply the date the first load of prisoners turned up to serve time at the penal colony established there. were it so that one still got sent to Australia for stealing some bread, well, it would be tempting. like, how much was bread worth and how rare was it back then? 

quite a lovely (or interesting) touch on the other keyring is the "made in china" sticker on it still. also, i suppose, it's handy that they clarify that they are (indeed) Australian koalas. would be terrible to think they were koalas from any of the many other countries where they are native. not sure on the date provenance of this, but there's no reason to think anything but also circa 88. 

for more (partially) interesting insights into things that i purchase purely because a koala is involved you might well wish to click here. doing so will reveal the wonders of a paperclip thing what i went and gone done bought. 

how would i rate (if not review) these keyrings? it's been a week or so since i became their custodian, and up to now they have very much done all that i have asked of them. 

be fair dinkum to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!