my poor soul all bruised passivity

howdy pop pickers

nothing really, just a bit of general housekeeping. well, of sorts, look you see. as it all seems to be well and truly over now, i thought a look back at, rather than forward to, all of that Brilliant Live Adventures stuff from the Bowie Estate would be in order. quite a good deal of this shall be, i suspect, a bit of a whine and groan, since the releases did not really live up to the name (much), with the only two points of general success being making resellers very wealthy and actual fans quite cross. 

shall i try and get the majority of moans and groans out the way first? yes? ok. whatever good intentions there were in releasing these (certainly not financial for the Bowie Estate) pretty much went out of the window immediately. for some reason them what control his affairs think there is an unlimited market for belt buckles, wallets and - i kid you not - bar stools what have "Bowie" written on them. inexplicably, they somehow determined that there was a very limited, finite market for his music. other than some really, really interesting devout Labyrinth fans, i would suggest the majority of Bowie fans were, are, drawn in by the music, and not by his name looking good on things. although yes, in fairness (or to be fair) it does. 

faux pas after faux pas, then. these Brilliant Live Adventures were released randomly, and in limited numbers. all bar the third one (oh we shall get to that) were sold out long before the email alert came in saying it was available. you had to check daily to try and secure them, and i was successful with five of the six in this regard. many copies ended up, of course (welcome to the 21st century), in the hands of people trying to sell them for 3, 4 or more times the sale price. the mind boggles as what they might have thought would happen with this sort of thing, but it was the predictable which did.

making the above somewhat worse is the fact that, overall, exactly how "brilliant" these Brilliant Live Adventures turned out to be was highly debatable. indeed i am a Bowie fan, but no apologist, and do not go around saying all that he did was amazing. far from it. some more on this below. 

briefly it seemed the site were going to make a form of amends. not so long ago they put out an apology saying that they were (ahem) aware some fans had been frustrated by the release system, leaving them with incomplete sets. we were, what, 4 to 6 months ago, asked to make an "expression of interest" in purchasing some copies. all information regarding that apology has, at the time of writing, disappeared, with them now more interested in flogging a box set called Brilliant Adventures, covering the studio recordings of the 90s (excluding Tin Machine, alas), and an at last official release of Toy, with a hideous cover, that has been widely bootlegged for somewhere close to twenty years. 

undoubtedly a few more moans and groans about the whole mess of a release this turned out to be shall follow. but first, a couple of nice pictures of David, and then a look at each release. i shall try and give a decent rundown of them, but also link to my original thoughts or "review". 

warning signs were very much there, then, in the first release, Ovrez Le Chien. this was a recording of Bowie on what was likely his first tour "proper" since dispensing with obligations to do all the usual greatest hits with Sound & Vision, the demise of Tin Machine and two very, very good solo albums. it was a tour of his quasi-jazz odyssey Outside, mind. as with all of these i am going to say hit the link provided for more details, but the biggest issue with this average sounding gig is the hideous sound quality of the disc. everything about it suggests it's a polished up bootleg rather than something recorded with any intention of ever releasing. 

second came something much better in the form of No Trendy Rechauffe. quoting one of my all time favourite Bowie tunes in the title was an easy way to win me over. as was including the song quoted itself, Strangers When We Meet. quite close to approaching brilliant, in fairness, this release is. sound quality was miles (decibels?) better than the first, better set and a David clearly loving the love from his audience. 

oh, how the wheels came off with the third release. ideas of this being all "previously unreleased" went away with the release of LiveAndWell, the only volume not to sell out on the day it was announced. also not sell out for two (2) weeks. the bulk of the songs here were on the 'fan club only' (and so widely bootlegged) CD of the same name in the 90s, with others featuring on discs what came free with magazines and that. it's not as appalling as i suspected, but ultimately it's dominated by Earthling. 

fourth (4th) release was Look At The Moon!, a no less than 2 (two) CD set covering, more or less, all of his set off of the Phoenix Festival. again, at least this moved somewhere in the vicinity of being brilliant, for David at least sounded like he was having fun with the audience and loving the songs played. quite a bit of Earthling in the set, but balanced with songs that people may actually wish to hear. 

if you are wondering about any of the Brilliant Live Adventures being actually brilliant, wonder no more. yes, volume 5 (five), Something In The Air, is amazing. superb performances of an outstanding selection of songs, probably wasted on a French audience but still. this is so good it did not need to be a volume in a "limited edition" thing; it should have been put out as a proper release. however you can get your hands on this one, be it streaming, bootleg, not overpriced disc on ebay or if the Bowie Estate do decide to re-release them all, this is the one to get. 

a bit of an expectation existed that the sixth (and final) release might have been a nice CD & DVD of the infamous London Astoria 99 gig, what Bowie set up specifically to be filmed and recorded for released, but never did. instead, we got a half baked, this will do, not even bothered with a name Live At The Kit Kat, and not the proper one but one in New York. dire, really. Bowie sounds like he cannot get off the stage fast enough, all the songs here feature in much better performances on the fifth. 

my copy of the last one came off of ebay, more or less (as in south of 50p more) the same as what the website sold a "limited" number of copies for. i think ebay sellers have clocked that nobody is going to pay a fortune for these "rare" releases which can be streamed for me. there is a finite number of people who are like me and still prefer to have music you can hold. 

exactly how anyone, or someone (and it's vaguely interesting to imagine that Iman sits there and just has good ideas alone) can have full control of the Bowie Estate, access to his recordings and his fans and somehow manage to completely f*** both over and up. hey ho, what's done is done i suppose, but yes this does seem to have left a quite cross sense in some fans. let us hope that the Bowie Estate has taken away from this that there is a demand (well) in excess of 3,000 (three thousand) copies per release from here on out. 

do i regret falling into the "trap" of having to feel a need to have almost all of this set? it is, technically, incomplete, because they could f*** right off with the idea of me paying £20 for (i kid you not) a cardboard box to put them in. no, i don't feel bad, for i know that if i did not purchase them i would wander around bugged by a sense of wonder, a "fear of missing out". 

this i have been mentioning for a while, but in conclusion, i really do hope the Bowie Estate has its act rather more together. coming up are the "big ones", the 50th anniversaries of the likes of Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. also Pin Ups. please don't make a mess of them. 

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

stocking up on trolleys (trollies)

hello there

well, possibly a quite timely return to one of them subjects which is inexplicably popular here. yes, an instance of reports of any shopping trolley (or multiple of them), look you see. and yes it was quite deliberate of me to sidestep that great (or mass) debate concerning how to spell the being of more than one singular trolley as trolleys or trollies. the latter seems correct, but the former does not attract a red line of spelling disgrace. 

it's not so much that there aren't a great number of trollies (ys) out and about, i simply have not been paying attention, or taking pictures. however, i was prompted to engage in this art once more by, of course, my good friend Codename Magic. as an act of kindness he forwarded on a picture, which is indeed (as it would be) pictured below, but not immediately so. no. 

above is one i happened to see, my observation (and will to capture an image of) inspired by my chum. this one, presented of course in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, was in a slightly not so natural inside setting, for the only time they are meant to be inside is when used at the facility, usually a supermarket, what issued them. one hardly suspects any clarity is required, but indeed some enterprising soul, of male, female of fluid persuasion, has taken to re-purposing the trolley to be used in a way that they have seen fit to. which is shifting or possibly storing stuffs of things. 

so, to recap in terms of where we are in the world, with specific relation to the shopping trolley, i believe now we are at a time where the invisible war on the new plague has not been won or lost, rather just all - actually that' unfair, a significant number - are now bored. to this, the world (our our nation) is now "back open", so to speak. just that minor inconvenience, as has been widely reported, of shortages of things like food, petrol and so forth. yet trolleys (trollies) appear to be bountiful and profligate. 

to just about the point of boredom, i suspect, in previous posts on this subject i have given a broad overview of how important these tollies (trolleys) are to our economy. in brief, supermarkets give them away free, people take them to scrap yards, or at least ones which operate on a "cash is tax free" basis, sell them on, money flows. capitalism works, etc. 

right, so yes, above is the picture what Codename Magic sent on. as you can see, more or less, someone has taken not one, and also not as many as three (or five) but two (2) trolleys (whatever spelling) for further use. not sure if they intend to take them straight to a suitable purchaser, or if they are stored for some other purpose, quite possibly like the one i spotted. who knows, should the problems or issues concerning access to petrol prevail, then maybe someone shall work out how to make an effective steering device for them.

no, if this for some reason hasn't come up in conversation before, i neither collect nor trade in the trolley market at this time. i have little interest in doing so, really. perhaps one day this may change, but for now i am perfectly fine just observing them every now and then. and, for those of you who are for some reason interested in the first image (above) here not in Commodore 64 mode, well. 

unsure, but i think that is a bit of carpet and some rubbish, being sent off no doubt to be recycled in a reasonable and responsible way. or, for all i know, it's some new carpet and a (bin) bag full of tools with which someone proposes to fit it. not really my business. that i saw a gent who, in a professional capacity, was coming to shift a sofa what someone had discarded, i would speculate the former. 

bereft, i am, of anything further to say or add in respect of this subject. at the very least, momentarily so. let me leave you to enjoy these pictures with no further commentary, or indeed wish you well as you look at other corners of the internet. 

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

experiments with american food

yeehaa dudes

no, as it happens, i did not intend, anticipate or plan for quite so many cuisine themed posts for this month. it has just kind of come to be, look you see, as has been the case with accounts of gigs. yet, here we are. 

as is somewhat usual, i was out for a spot of (domestic) shopping, getting a few basics. whilst doing so, it was so my attention was drawn to one of them food things off of america that i had frequently heard of, but had neither seen nor (obviously) tried. this would be that "peanut butter and jelly" thing, what in television shows and films all the kids seem to always be eating. 

like, i guess, a lot of people here in the UK, i had always assumed that this "pbj" was what it said on the box. and by that i mean i, or to be bold we, used our understanding of it. the peanut butter part was easy to work out, but an assumption was made that "jelly" was the word used by our friends in america as the word "jam" proved to complex for them. evidently, i was wrong. no, not the first time. 

of course i should have recalled, or been aware, that our friends in america have a preference for food which has been processed to the gates of bablyon, had a look, mulled around a bit and gone through them. they are, after all, a nation that simple processed cheese is not enough for them, they have to hoy it in some sort of compressed squirty can too. 

my initial thinking of my assumed idea of a "pbj" sandwich was a perfectly reasonable one, which would be "eurgh" or "yuck" or similar. well, come on. peanut butter is smart, (proper) jam is smart, but the two together didn't seem so wise. but, yeah, "jelly" in this instance is not some pretend word for jam which americans embraced, and nor is it proper jelly, like what we have at parties. also, it is not a certain other kind of jelly, that i am not going to discuss here, but what Spiros says is cheating. 

care to have a look inside this jar, to see what all of the fuss is about? of course you do, or i imagine you would, for there would be little sense you still reading if not. 

quite an aesthetically pleasing presentation, in truth. indeed yes, that is William showcasing the jar. he, too, after hearing of all this "pbj" stuff on videos, was curious. i took the jar over for him to see and possibly try, but he recalled that he cares not for peanut butter at all. still, he wished to see. 

this stuff, i have to say, is pretty darned good. i mean, one bite and i could see why them kids off of documentaries like Goonies live on the stuff. a very, extreme sweet taste. the peanut butter is a smooth paste thing, and the "jelly" is also a paste thing, like grape. whereas i am no expert, i am pretty confident that somewhere north of 80% of the content of the whole thing is sugar. 

yeah, the above is, i am sure, not the most pleasing image of food ever to be shared on that there internet thing, but here we are. i just made it as best i thought to, assuming no butter would be required on it. 

how likely is it that i shall radically change my diet to incorporate frequent pbj sandwich festivals? not at all in truth, but it was kind of nice to get a random curiosity addressed.

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

friends for boris

greetings

it was just a little while ago (at time of writing) that i had a jolly good go at making some friends for a former prime minister. yes, sure, here is a link to it. sadly, or alas, i have no idea how that worked out, look you see. no, i don't particularly care how it did. 

with some interest i noted that the chat requests on that scrabble variation i like to play ceased just after i posted that one. perhaps the pirates, the bots or who(m)ever worked out that i was amusing myself with responses, and had no interest in joining whatever it is, exactly, that "google hangouts" is. 

the silence has, of course, been broken. hence this post. yes, another fake profile, or automated bot thing, and no i am not 100% sure what that is, is attempting to lure me into downloading something called google hangouts to "chat" with them. 

full well it is that i am aware (or have an awareness of) that i am either "chatting" with a machine, or no one, or what have you. indeed i could just block the messages, or utter a few casual obscenities, getting myself banned off of it and so on. but, as you can see, i quite like just writing whatever pops in as a response to these things. sure, for my own amusement, but maybe one or two reading this are touched by mirth on reading so. 

not sure if i mentioned this in the previous post, for i am not as brave as you and thus do not read what i write. but anyway, i seem to recall hearing that you can soon work out if you are chatting with a bot thing, or some computer, simply by asking two (2) questions in 1 (one) message. that is to say that you have two things with a "?" at the end. should i recall right, the AI things deployed cannot cope with a dual question. 

moving on, and assuming that i failed in efforts to get a former prime minister to sign up for some sort of scam friendship thing, i figured well, why not try the incumbent (at time of writing) one. 

he, boris, done an interview recently. i didn't see it, but headlines i saw in passing suggested that he believed a wide range of issues facing the nation which he ostensibly leads the government for were, i kind of quote, "not his problem". with that being the case, i figured he probably had lots of free time to chat to people. also, my understanding is that he really, really likes fanny, so yes, no doubt some lass inviting him to speak on some chat thing would hold appeal. 

precisely what is the deal with this "google hangouts", and random invitations from strangers to join it? not sure in an exact way. some basic research is that it is a means to solicit money, or to share and spread various obscenities and other forms of questionable material. undoubtedly, dear reader, if i did really install this thing and add people who suggested it, there would be some effort made to extract personal info off of me, like my bank stuff and that. so no, they can f*** off. 

one would have thought, even if it was one of them spam hacker bot things, they would have put in a form of code (or whatever) to work out when a patently false email address was given. although, that said, you would not put it past boris to actually have an account on this sort of thing. 

absolutely no idea if either of them email addresses are right, to be honest. one i grabbed off google, and the other i just kind of copied the template for the one what was given for jeremy corbyn's address. no, i was not trying to forward "jezza" for one of these, but yes was looking for an email for his more mature, sophisticated and rational thinking brother, piers. who has excellent hair, if nothing else. 

well, that's about that. i very much doubt the lure spam rubbish attempts shall stop any time soon, but i have every confidence that my amusement value at responding has a definitive shelf life. as and when further invitations to google hangouts, or other such rubbish, come my way, i shall certainly share any responses i send if i find them vaguely amusing. 

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

cave concert

howdy pop pickers

no, i am not really sure, look you see. exactly how, after not doing such (or so) for a number of years, i ended up at two (2) gigs (concerts) within 4 (four) days is, or was, a trifle unexpected. perhaps it was just how the dates fell, or me embracing some quasi "mid-life crisis" (no way do i have as many years left that equals those past). maybe it's just me getting on with things, with my new life in exile and grabbing what i can after the time of the invisible war against the new plague took such away from all. doesn't really matter, i suppose, it just now is. 

so, after a very much unexpected trip to go and see the Manic Street Preachers once more (details here), just a small number of days later i found myself seeing Nick Cave live. to be correct, mind, that would be Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, for it was their most recent (excellent) album Carnage what was being toured. hence, i suppose, and now that i think of it, it being called the Carnage Tour. makes sense. 

as it happens, i wouldn't have gone right ahead and called myself a Nick Cave "fan". but, before you set fire to me (or similar) and that, i of course mean "proper" fan. of course i was quite aware of him, and held a very healthy appreciation of his rather incredible work. just never been as much of a fan as to have had shelf after shelf of his recordings in the collection, which may well change now. 

enough of a fan, i am, i would suggest, to at the very least spend north of £40 on a concert ticket to go see him. not sure of the final figure, i do not recall, but it was ticket + "booking fee" + "admin fee" + coronavirus cancellation insurance. yes, about 50% of the four costs make some sort of realistic sense, the rest should surely be built in to one or the other, but what do i know. also, the concert, or if you will gig, just so happened to be within (reasonable) walking distance of my lodgings in my place of exile. had i not taken the chance to see Nick Cave, all of a ten minute (give or take) stroll from home, well, i do have friends around the world who would have broken restrictions and come over to punch me square in the face for such disrespect. 

wasn't really sure what to expect, if i am honest. i knew enough to know it would all be so very different from the Manics, especially as the venue was and is exceptionally strict on that "this is a seated performance" stuff. a truth is that i'd had that Carnage album on as i drove around for verk, pretty much on repeat. not to make sure i was familiar, or "force" myself to like it, but because it is one hell of an intriguing, captivating, brilliant album. many forms of art, for this generation onward, is quite inevitably going to be informed or inspired by things such as "lockdown", the whole invisible war against the new plague and all which has been triggered by it. at the least, in the way i hear it, how it speaks to me, what it say, for me, Carnage is a perfect work of art touched by such times and yet feels destined to be relevant no matter how far the distance we end up away from it all. 

one or two people i know, for i do have friends (highly valued), said that they knew of people what had been to see Nick Cave, and they expressed that he was amazing. i can confirm that this is, indeed, very much the case. should you have no wish to read beyond an understanding of whether a Nick Cave gig is something that is ace, yes, it absolutely f*****g is. 

the one (1) warning i got was that, apparently, Mr Cave was "known" to get a bit arsey with people if it were that they just sat and filmed or took pics with their phones. so, the footage above was taken with some care. not as much video as i took of the Manics, but i assure you all of the very same poor, why even bother quality. mostly, i just wished to enjoy the performance, but of course grab a couple of clips, like the one above, which of course is of his arrival. from what i could see, no he didn't get at all arsey with anyone over phones or pics or vids, but then so far as i was paying attention most, if not all, like me were just wanting to take in what is likely an one off experience. oh, i would absolutely go see him again, but i am uncertain if the chance shall ever be present once more. 

how, exactly, or generally, would i seek to describe Nick Cave, artist, here on my blog? only in the ways that i relate to his music, or see him. lyrically, i absolutely would not hesitate to utter the word poet, or even genius. he has a remarkable gift for a turn of phrase, to use words effectively. quite Bowie-esque in many respects, certainly in the use of religion, be it overt or in an allegorical way. in some parallel universe, or "multiverse" as they now call it, there is a variant of me which exists which Cave got to me first, and i devoutly followed him, then saw Bowie just as an aside. that sort of thing. 

in no way, shape or form am i going to claim an expertise on the subject of the man, and i would not for a moment claim to be able to give a decent overview. some of you reading this will no doubt know more of him than i ever could, and others interested are advised to go and seek out more. so, on i go with the gig, and some comments on the album, no doubt. 

above is one of the better (by comparison) clips i managed to capture, a few moments or seconds of the track which opens Carnage, the magnificent Hand Of God. what was powerful on record became extraordinary, intense and sheer genius with the in your face live performance. by this point i already knew i was lucky enough to be seeing (and hearing) something special, but cemented by this in particular, if you like. we all need milestones, i suppose. 

something more or less unexpected, knowing that the content of the music was to be pretty dark, heavy and in instances bleak and being advised that he could get "a bit @rsey" with audiences, was the banter between songs. or "bantz" as i believe the kids call it these days. Warren Ellis, co-artist of Carnage, had a whale of a time teasing about playing on one leg whilst seated (i believe at some Bad Seeds concerts he did a more conventional on one leg performance), and Cave appeared to have a quite comfortable awareness of some lightness being needed around some of the songs, in particular the considerably more personal moments of Ghosteen. 

during the odd quiet spell it was so that one or two braver souls in the audience shouted out the names of some Bad Seeds songs, in the hope that they would get played. i was rather pleased to be aware of knowing all the titles called out, really. one, The Mercy Seat, caused Nick to pause and answer. if by answer you understand it was "yeah, we could play that one.......but we're not gonna". 

of the many highlights (and i really could not fault or point out any weak moment in the whole thing), that there above is a bit of Balcony Man. my understanding of the origins of the song is that how he came to be known by neighbours during lockdown, for he sat on his balcony, occasionally having an off the cuff conversation with people if it amused him to do so. the footage, i believe, has some of his banter, or "bantz", with the audience. all i can say for certain is that, due to a particularly niche favourite film of his what featured a gent on a balcony, Spiros found me, ostensibly a man, sat on a balcony, listening to a bloke sing about a balcony man, as being very agreeable and slightly "meta". 

highlights beyond those clips? well, White Elephant was a real tour de force, if that's the correct phrase or expression. i did, as it happens, take some footage of that, but it is really poor, which is saying something considering that which i am prepared to show off here. of the better known, or "classic" material he has at his disposal, it was amazing to hear Into My Arms, and during one (of two) encore things we were fortunate enough to get Henry Lee. obviously no, PJ Harvey did not turn up to sing it, but one of the excellent trio of backing singers stood up and delivered an outstanding performance. a cover of Cosmic Dancer off of T-Rex also featured, which was boss.  

for those wondering or asking, no, i did not buy any "merch" or merchandise. a bit strange, as this would have been more or less a formality for (virtually) any gig i had ever been to. sadly, or alas, they appear to (ahem) have stopped making tour shirts my size over the last 20 (or so years). to be honest, i think all money what may have gone on a shirt (and the standard price, going on Nick Cave and indeed the Manics, for a tour t-shirt appears to be £20) went instead on actual concert tickets. 

but, en route to the Manics gig, i was told by someone who had been to an earlier, rather than later, Nick Cave gig that the show was excellent, and to watch out on the merchandise stall for an item which was marked as £295 (two hundred and ninety five). sadly it was not on display as such, but the price label, pictured above, was. ahem, yeah. i would, to be fair, expect a Bella Freud and Nick Cave designed jumper (or cardigan, or what have you) to be that much at its cheapest, really. 

yes, there was a temptation with one (1) merchandise item, a new Reni (or "bucket") hat, which had the name of the album Carnage on it, for £20. but no, i am still breaking in my one off of Bridlington, since i appear when transferring to my place of exile to have misplaced the other, much beloved one. as in the one what i saw Stone Roses in, close to (blimey) 10 (ten) years ago. 

a particularly disarming moment came during one of the encore sections, i believe (but please don't hold me to that) the second. Mr Cave thanked us for "risking our lives to come to a concert". no, he did not do it all late 80s Bono or Jim Kerr self righteous pious, and nor did he do it jokingly. the best way i can describe it was as in relief that such (a concert) was possible once more, tinged with the oblique absurdity where death is all of a sudden a realistic possibility at a concert, just from breathing.

from what i recall, and i think i got this right, that footage above is Mr Cave and band walking off for the final time, as in after the second encore. would the chance permit me to see him again, i am not sure it would be taken. believe me, this was brilliant, but i suspect no opportunity will come again. if it did, i wonder, how would i take it. rather, maybe, leave this all as one rather fortunate, unexpected and brilliant moment, laced with images and sounds that i shall recall forever. easily one of the greatest gigs i have ever seen. but yet "gigs" does not seem right. this was performance art of the highest quality. 

some of you may be wondering, referencing back to a bit of the above, how it all works. that's gigs, in this brave new world of the new plague, or if you will coronavirus, or covid as the popular name seems to be. well, there are indeed checks. most of us, from what i could ascertain, had this "covid passport" thing ready to display, off of the nhs "app" on phones. quick and fuss free. one or two had the card thing showing that they had been double vaccinated, but they had to show photo id to prove it was them. in a worst case, and this was at Nick Cave and the Manics, if you had nothing to show you were, as far as possible to prove, plague free, they had a section to the side where you could go do one of them things called a "lateral flow test". this gives you a quick, reasonably reliable result. no, at neither gig did i see anyone kick off about anti-vax, rights, burn 5g masts (whatever they are), etc. i suspect a rather different crowd gets attracted to the gigs what i went to. 

on, then, to the next gig or gigs, depending entirely on what plans turn out. no, it is not for me, here, to comment or speculate as to who i may see next and when. but yes, i suspect there is every chance that they, too, shall get written of here, for anyone interested, even if only in passing. 

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

kiwi footwear statement

g'day

i tend not to expect any feed back, or if you like retort, from things that i post here. sure, there is, i believe, some sort of comment section beneath each post, but it seems seldom used. my guess is anyone looking at all of this is happy to do just (or precisely) that, with no wish to comment further, look you see. 

but, that said, comments and what have you are usually welcome. i would say always, but then i believe that there are some what roam the internet just to go and write mean, rude or nasty things about certain matters and various people. such strikes me as a rather wanting way to spend time, but far be it from (or for) me to question how it works for others. 

some creativity was used, indeed (or as point of fact) deployed with a response to a recent post, though. well, i am not sure it was actually intended as such, but taken all the same. not so long ago i wrote of a recent (mildly) exciting shoe acquisition, the details of which can be found by means of clicking here. no response was expected, and even if it was, i did not believe such would be Grant showing off his shoes. 

yes, Grant enthusiasts, full well it is you may, should you be so inclined, for pictured here, somewhere around this text, is indeed a glimpse of the one you hold in such high esteem. proudly showing off his shoes, and so he should. and a bit of leg, i suppose, which is undoubtedly of even more interest to a certain faction of the world of Grant enthusiasts, who number a lot more than you might think. 

what do i make of, or think, of his choice of shoes? not sure that it matters, but since you asked, i would not (personally) be so bold as to pull of a rather stark, dynamic matching mix of blue and red. that it is all offset by some white is an interesting statement, even if i am not entirely sure what, exactly, is being said by it. 

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

britain bounces back

hello there

a little while ago - last month, look you see - i wrote with some sadness of how the entire nation was knacked. or something like that. kind of. look, it's not like i read what i write, but if you want to see what i wrote of such a stern subject, here is the link. yes, true, the "broken" side of it was all due to my preferred sort of chips not being available, but still, such is important. 

things, ever since that great chip shortage of as long ago as a month (give or take) have gotten ever so slightly worse. well, worse from a certain point of view. indeed, i have no wish to make light of such things as a shortage of proper drivers, energy costs and petrol running out, but still, with the latter on, well, i am not going to pretend i all of a sudden do not love Mad Max 2 dearly. so yes, the petrol shortage is a bit of an inconvenience, but if it means i can go off with an intricate haircut, marauding around seeking to take over an oil refinery whilst having my @rse hang out of a pair of trousers, well, every cloud and all that. 

but now is not the time to indulge such (wonderful) homoerotic laced fantasies about being in a mental gang of excitingly dressed petrol thieves. no. here the subject is chips, and it is a much loved type of chip what has returned. 

yes, presented in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, triple cooked beef dripping chips. off of Lidl, for the record. and they are a most splendid of thing. fondly is it that i recall my first encounter with them. not long after taking up residence in my place of exile, i went off shopping. rather than carrying on with what i had known, for the boys preferred them french (freedom, if american) fries, i was now ipso facto free to experiment. whereas i had little (no) understanding of what triple cooked or beef dripping might actually imply, i went all "yolo" on them. 

my first taste of one, cooked by moi, provoked a very "ooooooh" sound. no, not the sort of deep, sexually provocative "oooh" like when you say "ooooh Gary Davies on your radio", but that rather, and yes i suppose similar, eyebrow raising, higher pitched, cor blimey that is a lovely nice sensation sort of sound. lovely, they were. 

i did indeed go a bit like (forgive me, it is a while since i read it) like that father character in the celebrated novel Pride & Prejudice, where he got all excited about how "handsome" a letter was and he went off and showed it to all. so yes, i spoke to people fondly of these boss, mega ace chips. even cooked them for one or two, at times when people visited me. with striking similarity, different people said unto me that frozen chips were always rubbish or poor, then tried some of these utter b@stards and also made that "oooooh" sound described so eloquently above. 

going by somewhat standard frozen chips, and indeed Lidl, prices, yes, £1.09 for a less than one metric kg bag is a trifle steep. but you get what you pay for. Van Halen albums, for example, what feature David Lee Roth are always going to be priced higher than the horrid ones what that tw@t Hagar is on. my recollection is that when i first discovered them they were south of £1, but no matter. placing a prohibitive price on them stops me having an entire freezer full of them, and so in turn probably helps in preventing me from feasting on nothing else but these, which would totes sort out, as in knack, my arteries even faster than what cigarettes (sorry) probably shall. 

do i really believe that having these chips available once more in some way more or less makes up for all of the other ills in our brave new world? perhaps not entirely, no. or not at all. but, you know what, i like them, and it makes, for me, a better place in which i live. it's the little things one has to clutch to, i have come to accept. 

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

gel

heya

just one of them sporadic, random and whimsical posts on the off chance anyone is even remotely interested in my concerns for quasi hygiene but more style. i would not reasonably expect anyone to hold all that much fascination in such, look you see, but the abstract mechanisms of time have deftly defined how usually i should not be trusted to gauge what may or may not be popular. 

for no apparent reason, then, i find myself at one of those stages where i am all of a sudden quite interested in how my hair looks. normally, usually, just however it turns out after a shower and a rudimentary seeing to with a towel is what does me. but, every so often, i feel compelled to in some way "style" it, or have a go at making it loom somewhere approaching styled. 

this means, or requires, the use of certain things, or "product". i would really, really like to use one of them aerosol can hairspray things, because Sigue Sigue Sputnik were shown using one in a video (i believe Love Missile F1-11). but, despite every (marginal) effort to do so, i am simply not as cool as Sigue Sigue Sputnink, and anyway it looks rather a faff. so, gel it is, then. 

should it be so that you were wondering (or had any concerns about) what gel it is i am using, then there you go, the picture above shows the two (2) most recent ones used. and yes, of course, presented in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. such a view shall catch on, one day. 

whilst my finger is far removed from the pulse of what is hip and what is trendy, i am at the least aware of that "VO5" (no, no clue what it all stands for) is a well known brand for all that hair stuff. kind of, i guess. i mean, i have heard of it, so it must have some kind of reach as a name in the field. not vidal sassoon, or however you spell it, but still. anyhow, it was on special at some supermarket or other, so i got it. 

it was more or less satisfactory in giving my hair some sort of "style", or concept. more or less. not sure how, exactly, the "wet look" is supposed to appear. overall i was rather more bothered that it did what i wished, which was keep my hair in a sort of 'place' that i wished. brushed back, i suppose, as a quasi tribute to Bowie of Station To Station. this it did, bar an annoying streak or patch of my hair, to the left on my head, which always seems eager to stand up and not back. 

one or two of my contemporaries, being verk colleagues, had taken the time to complement me on the efforts made with respect to my hair. it was suggested that i keep it so, and also from time to time i have been awarded a new nickname with the appearance, "slick rick" no less. which is lovely, and i guess works on numerous levels that i am simply not intelligent enough to understand or fully comprehend. 

as it happens, the other gel pictured, 'shockwaves' by whoever makes it, is a favourite. not only does it hold my hair as i wish it, for a long time (as in i wake with it still styled, like i suppose how i imagine one of them "perm" things what were so popular with ladies in the 80s) and splendidly so. most importantly, this one, the shockwaves one, is slightly cheaper than the other. very much a plus is how either get manages to disguise, or distract from, the grey nature of my hair. 

not really much else to add on the subject, except an ardent fascination with the wording. all of these gel products appear to stress how they offer an "extreme" or "ultra" or "mega" ability to style and hold hair in place as desired. well, yeah, isn't that why they are purchased? i mean, just what sort of market is there out there for a gel which promotes itself as saying that it will not let you style your hair as you want, or hold it in place for particularly long? 

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

notes on books read in different places

hello reader

so yes, then, for regular readers (blessed be you) i have finished some more reading. not just one novel, of course, but also not as many as three (or five, look you see). just the regular two (2), which is the point where i tend to stop, pause and reflect and make some notes here. hence the title of this post, and to go further, indeed, i slightly "mixed up" a bit reading places. but, let me not give all the excitement all at once. 

to stick with tradition, or simply the way that i have always gone done this kind of post, yes, sure, a look at the books what i (most recently) read, followed by some spoiler free overview comments. which shall probably be sufficient for most, but further musings shall of course follow below. 

whilst there was never any doubt that i was going to read it, i had certain reservations about The Dirty South off of John Connolly, for it was a "prequel". it soon became clear, however, that this was to be one of the very best stories in the Charlie Parker "universe" or series. as for Taken, or if you will #taken, it is the most recent (possibly final) of the 'Max Wolfe' series of books off of Tony Parsons. it was a straightforward, you get what you pay for Tony Parsons read. 

ok, great, for those that wished for just a general idea (or indicator), there you go. should it be so that for some reason you are interested in anything else i have to say about the novels, many thanks, and please do continue. warning, of course, as *** SPOILERS *** lay ahead. these are novels what are set in a "series" or "expanded universe", so such is unavoidable. 

commencing where i did (of these two) means to begin with The Dirty South off of John Connolly. although i believe it exists in America (and other places) as The Reckoning. no, absolutely no idea why they would change their mind about calling it whatever wherever.

provenance of my copy? well, that familiar sticker says it all. Morrisons, for the price marked. alas, sadly, no not from by their cigarette counter as i used to, they don't have books there no more. just a regular shelf with regular shop stuff. since this was, or is, a John Connolly novel, it just got bought on sight, as in no preference as to where i got it. 

but what of the plot? well, it starts with protagonist Charlie Parker say in a somewhat reflective mood when he gets a phone call. the call comes from someone he had not thought of in years, and when he had presumed to never hear of again. it's a call which brings back, kind of, the first "case" Parker ever worked (sort of), after departing the police to seek an indiscriminate blend of justice and vengeance against whoever brutally murdered his (first) wife and (first) daughter. so yes, kind of a prequel, happening more or less before the first novel off of John Connolly, Every Dead Thing. 

to give more of this first case (of sorts) is something i am reluctant to do. why, after all, spoil the surprise and suspense of what was truly an excellent read. but, safe to say, this happens in that, for us around the world, near "mythical" south part of the USA, where it's all family, blood, intrigue, money, the impoverished and so on. yes, bits and parts play out like the "cliche" one has come to associate with novels, indeed films and TV shows, set in similar, but it doesn't stop it being good. great, in fact. 

seeing as the Charlie Parker story (saga) has being going from amazing strength to strength in the last few novels it was, initially, disappointing to discover a pause on the tale. i don't really care for interviews or notes, for if the novelist (or artist) can't convey it in the work itself, they have failed. well, whatever reason for a "prequel", it has indeed turned out to be a most excellent diversion. bring forth the continuation, though, but maybe (possibly) something in this throwback to the past will be reflected in a novel yet to come. indeed i do appreciate that the next Connolly novel, set more in the modern, is now out, but only as a hardback adventure. sure i was tempted, like i have been by the Paula Hawkins and the second off of tall one out of Pointless, but i just prefer reading paperbacks. 

for one can take a paperback pretty much anywhere and read with ease, to be sure. which is what happened when i got to read (and i shall use the Parsons variation of the title presentation) #taken. my recent adventures in the world of live music, as presented by Manic Street Preachers, saw me need to take a train ride. as it was a ride of over an hour, that length at least there and back, i took a book with, and so it was this. 

now, then, the provenance of this copy was a bit of the unexpected, and different. sure, it was either Tesco or Morrisons, but off of their charity donation shelf. i had missed it on initial publication. usually whenever a new Parsons of Tony novel arrives, whatever paper he is working for presently goes great guns to make sure it is plugged, flogged, what have you. that didn't happen here, and i never actually saw it on a shelf. fortunate, then, for me, that someone did see it on a shelf, bought it, read it and decided to kindly donate it to be sold again in such a way that it could raise funds for a good cause. the recommended donation was 50p (sterling), but i just placed a reasonably shiny £1 coin in the jar and thanked my good luck at getting to read this. well, if it is good luck to have done so. 

plot? it's another 'Max Wolfe' novel, the copper what "bends" the rules to get the job done, but it seems forever ok, as he is one of the "good guys" and so entitled to do so. right, so, a beautiful lady is abducted just outside her home. she just happens to be the daughter of a former no-nonsense old school copper. the present day coppers believe that the intended victim was her flatmate, who just happens to be the current girlfriend of a notorious old school East End "only killed their own sort" gangster. so, yeah, Tony had his full tilt cliche chart out when he was mapping all of this.

if one stops to think as they read this, alarm bells ring at how callous and disposable Parsons is with some relatively sensitive subjects and disturbing crimes. things that one might reasonably expect the constabulary to carry out a serious investigation of are just casually dropped in favour of the main case written of. but, maybe that's a point being made. also, the way in which certain (very) serious incidents that feature coppers in criminal acts appear to be presented as being quite all right to cover up and move on. usually with a "well, because" reason given. 

best, usually, with Parsons, not to stop and think. to be honest, his tabloid journalist quality of writing makes all of his stuff extremely easy to read and take in. one may be inclined to label it all as a kind of lazy form of reading, but that feels like a slur or insult. if what wants is a fast paced, exciting story that's straightforward to read and digest, this is it at its finest. 

looking at his web stuff and it seems that Parsons has moved away from further Max Wolfe novels, for the time being. perhaps he has been unable to sell off film or tv rights, and from novel one it always felt it was the novels existed for this reason. well, perhaps i shall have a gander at what he does next. if, of course, i manage to find it on a shelf anywhere. 

anyway, that would be all of that for these two, then. sorry if i have been scant on details, i had no wish to spoil the Connolly and everything of the Parsons one is what it says on the cover. 

yes, i certainly shall continue reading novels, and there is little chance of me reading something and not making a comment (or two) here not long after. 

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

and i'll never have that recipe again

hello there

it would simply not be true, it shall not do, to say that of the (very) limited skills that i have it is so that baking really features. sure, i am perfectly capable of cooking for sustenance and survival, look you see, yet this does not mean i have abilities to do much fancy. or, at the least, it did not. now, mind, i would suggest that i still do not, but am ebbing ever closer to so. 

on instances where i desire cake, or some other form of pudding ("dessert" for you posh types), generally i tend to go purchase one from someone what makes them for a living. the logic i apply here is that when i am desirous of some vibes, i rather go purchase an album what someone else has recorded, and same with films and discs or tapes. much easier to go see a professional, so to speak, than try and work out how to do it yourself. 

but then, on a shopping sojourn, i saw something called "pud in a mug". i think it implied, or suggested, that it was all very easy to do, but in truth all i saw was the price (49p a go) and was sold on them. this was a short while ago (rather than, say, a point in the future), yet i placed them to one side, momentarily, either forgetting them or waiting for an appropriate moment to awaken my primordial baking talents. 

that's just one of the ones i bought, presented in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, next to my Bowie Aladdin Sane mug, which i cannot recall if i showcased here before. probably did, yes. but, to get to the exciting, business end, indeed i purchased not just one, but two (2) types of these "pud in a mug" things. and two of each. why two and not three? for they only did two types. 

so, a very extra special occasion occurred, so it did. an extremely good friend was due to be in my vicinity around the time of their birthday, but alas not to be. things happen, things change, but there shall be another time, another place. no matter. so as to celebrate, i asked of them which it was they wished for me to have a ruddy (which is a polite way of saying f*****g) good go at making, and with tears of anticipated laughter in their eyes they said the sticky toffee one, rather than the other. which, for purposes of clarity, is a chocolate chip one. 

many, or some, or one or two of you, will be aware of a tele show (and that) what we do here in the UK. alas, the name of it escapes me, but it is some sort of British Baking thing, in a tent somewhere or other. presently they appear set on having absolutely everyone in the nation (entire) feature in it in some capacity or another, be it a competitor to "bake off", or host. true, the below video was filmed mostly for the birthday celebrant, but them what make whatever the show is called are welcome to consider my deft skills here, see if i am the sort of thing they want fronting the show. 

absolutely nothing but pride, that's what i take, or feel, in or of the above. stirring is not one of my greatest strengths, no matter what you may have heard, and to do it one handed (so to speak) whilst operating a taping of it (with a fiddly button) and narrating is nothing short of a triumph. and yes you can quote me on that, very much so. him off of the show, the one with a beard, doesn't do the camera does he? i am probably available a lot cheaper, too. 

for my usual sentimental hygiene, there are indeed fond memories i hold, or shall forever associate with the terms baking and pudding. of my children, for James it was always a delight when it was baking day at his first school, especially when he got to play the role of baker. to William, and his delight at juniors was always his birthday, for on your birthday you got double pudding at dinner (lunch, if posh). 

reason for selecting sticky toffee over chocolate chip was not offered, sought or solicited. sometimes an air of mystery is best, especially with something like the dark art of baking. in this era of information many are always keen to know all immediately, rather let some aspects of life remain alluded to rather than clarified and categorised. 

no, i had not a clue if my Bowie mug would get totally and utterly f****d by the baking process, or administration, so yes, i took the above picture as a memento, or keepsake, just in case it all went not quite so how i had hoped. but, looking at the picture, perhaps the flash setting on the camera what is welded to my phone was an extra not required, looks a tad bright. 

how about a nice bit of video of the baking process, or act, or art? sure, certainly. depending on how you define, or understand, baking. these are things what you do in a microwave. i am sure some would say that this means it is not "proper" baking, but that's up to them, really. be progressive, i say. anyway, it is not like i designed or built it all, i just went with instructions. 

considering i have never actually seen that show what they do baking (or whatever) in a tent, no, i have no idea if they also (assuming sound is in the above video) also sing a happy song as they do, well, as they do whatever it is they do on that show. 

yes, singing is something i find that i tend to do with various tasks. no specific set list or what have you, just whatever tune comes to mind. except when cooking or baking, of course. at such times it always feels rather appropriate to pay homage to Mr Sinatra, right up to the point where you remember that what you are doing is significantly Bowie orientated and quickly change your, well, tune. 

if i were (and i am not angling for it) invited on to that cooking or baking show, then yes, probably, i would do a little ditty or two as i did whatever it is one does on the thing. not sure how licensing and that works, and i suspect Iman or someone off of the Bowie Estate might object to my interpretation of some of his songs, but still. anyway, i am not expecting a call any time soon. mostly as they do not have my number, but also because, so far as i am aware, up to now the tall one off of Pointless has not done the show yet, and there appears to be a quest to get him to do every show ever. so i won't get the gig before he has given it a whirl, i expect. 

well, there you go, above is the finished product. proof is in the pudding, etc. admittedly no, my first go at this has not produced something as aesthetically pleasing as the packaging suggests. now that i look, it would seem that i got a little bit of powder on Bowie's nose, too. oh. 

quite a bit smaller than i had expected it to turn out, certainly, or perhaps i just used too large a mug for all of this. in fairness, or to be fair ("TBF" if in a rush) what the end product was looks very much like a 49p pudding. still, i was delighted with it, it was rather tasty, and my friend appreciated the effort. 

unsure if i shall showcase any further culinary skills (or lack thereof) here, but you never know, i may well do so, one day. 

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

the future fights the past

howdy pop pickers

well, yes. it has indeed been quite a (comparative) while since the most recent album off of the Manic Street Preachers (The Ultra Vivid Lament, look you see) got released. and somehow i have not gone done one of them 'day of release' posts, or commented on it. as if anyone were all that interested on my musings on such. by the time i got around to considering thinking of what to write, exactly, it was near enough as close enough to going off to see them live. so yes, then, some video here for you. which, from time to time, contains words intended for a mature and sophisticated audience. 

going to the start, then, for those (few) of you who haven't simply scrolled down to the video clips to check if they are any good), the album. the best way i can think of to describe my anticipation or expectation of it is that, simply, i wasn't all that ready for a new Manics album. it kind of caught me be surprise when it was announced, what with all that "lockdown" and the invisible war on the new plague last year. James Dean Bradfield going off and doing a solo record, the superb Even In Exile, and Nicky Wire recording one (yet to be released) led to a kind of tacit assumption that it would, maybe, be 2022 or beyond that a new album would come. yet, here we are. 

my reaction to the lead single, Orwellian, was not exactly overwhelmed. i was highly dubious of the title, which was direct even by Wire standards. on first hearing it, it kind of felt (to be honest) like someone had fed all Manics songs into one of them proverbial "super computer" things, and then a button got pressed to make some "ai" generic tune from it all. yet on repeat hearing (Radio 2 made it song of the week, and how the Manics became a Radio 2 staple is another story) it sank in, i got to hear the words a bit better, i could get it. no, not the greatest song what they have ever done (and good luck in trying to pick one for that title), but agreeable, and certainly full worthy of borrowing a line off of for, say, a blog post. 

the same, or similar, is true of the album entire, then. i am not sure who picks, or what process is followed, for naming albums in the band, but i think, in the sans Richey era, most of us would assume it's Nicky. and The Ultra Vivid Lament is an absolutely perfect title for this album. with me not being so great at articulating things, or writing and that, i shall probably have to go that "well you have to hear the record to get why" line on this. 

assuming i can't get away with leaving it at that, i suppose what i draw from the title is that at times this record is "coping" or living with the past in our oh so altered present, and in the same way there are things right now we have that are, in a ultra vivid way, right in our face that we know full well we shall regret, or if you will, lament. for the former, hear album opener (which i accidentally got to be in the audience for to hear the live debut) Still Snowing In Sapporo. as for the latter, very nearly just about all of the rest of the album, with particular emphasis on Don't Let The Night Divide Us. 

undoubtedly this shall now go all non non-linear, with random words coming to mind. but, yes, a lot of concert stuff then. like the picture above, which features the road crew getting the gear all nice and ready. from memory these unsung heroes were once called roadies, and that was a term of the highest honour and respect, but in this era of "ist" and "ism" accusations i have no idea if we can clutch to these most beloved terms no more. 

realistically, i did not, after the first such instance (ahem, here) ever expect to see the Manics live again. certainly, at the least, not in Newcastle again, and absolutely not ever did i imagine that i would do so without my (formerly) (considerably) better half. but, things change, things fall apart, here we are in a sort of quasi new world which many of us do not understand, and this i would freely admit. so, off i went. 

for some reason some of you might, possibly, wish to see footage of the band, and to clarify that yes, the Manic Street Preachers, taking to the stage, followed by the opening or starting bit of the starting or opening song what they gone done. which, in respect of the latter, would be Motorcycle Emptiness. which, oddly, was what they started with the first time we, i saw them. and yes they ended with the same one too, but hold on. 

wow. as good as nineteen (19) years between performances i saw, and some three decades since that song got released. not all of that, which we call for convenience, time feels really real. whole loads of life has happened in between, for me, for us fans, for the band. a headline on a recent article on the band, concerning the album, nonchalantly referred to them as "veterans" and for some reason that just did not feel right, yet, started in the 80s, ascension to fame commenced early 90s, here we are in the 20s. it must be true. 

i mean, yeah. outside of my own time (just), you had now lawyer friendly (so i shall be careful) John Lydon (when Johnny Rotten) labelling the likes of The Stones and Led Zeppelin "dinosaurs" for having the temerity to be still on the go after 10 or 15 years. at points in the 80s, when their careers had not even reach a 25th anniversary "milestone", there was an assumption that the Stones, former Beatles, and yes, even Bowie, were surely on the verge of retiring. quite a lot of this "modern life" of ours is all concerned with instantly available and immediately disposable. the latter, i think, may not be new. 

but still, you know, three decades (give or take) of glorious failure. from what i remember, the intention of the band was to release a debut double album, sell sixteen million copies, then spectacularly split up. phase one done, phase two not quite, phase three just seems impossible to contemplate. i very seldom give much attention to Billy Bragg, but every now and then he says something inspire. once, and i do not recall the context, he said of the Manics "when you look at them you know that they are that band for the rest of their lives". i believe, or would like to think, or shall interpret it, as meant and intended as praise and a very good thing indeed.  

contextual chart success fell upon The Ultra Vivid Lament, then, for it came to be the second album what the band has topped the album chart with (first was This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours). by a stroke of fate, fortune or all is as was written by elders in another time, in each instance of them getting to number one they were required to outsell an album off of Steps (whoever they are). due to all singles and all album charts being knacked by "streaming stats", it was so that the number of albums the Manics had to sell was in the twenty thousands to get the title. earlier this century (it is weird to write that) the band sold more copies of one album, Lifeblood, but that "only" charted at 13. the band as a result considered that album a "failure" and a "mistake they shall not repeat". strange what numbers mean something to some, then. and Lifeblood is a f*****g good album, not a mistake. 

so, mumble some more about the band in general, give further thoughts on the album, or just stand aside for some more concert footage. yes, the latter. and i just hope that you can forgive me, but clearly my phone was not the best to record stuff at a live gig off of, or on. 

yes, that was (and i hope you can hear it) final aspect of, or lyrical coda, of If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, a song which must feature in their top ten, fifteen, twenty or what have you. despite my blog title being a direct lyrical quote from a song off of the band, i really would be hard pressed to select a favourite lyric, or even state which was their best, greatest and most important. but, that said, what this line evokes or provokes has always resonated with me. no, not a clue as to why that may be so. just glad that it does. 

go back to the album for a bit? sure. in the build up to the release, a lot was made, or mentioned, or some sort of Abba (the band, not rhyme scheme. although......) influence on the record. nope, no idea, really. outside of the big, well known hits i cannot say i am all that familiar with them, so didn't get it. sure, every now and then a bit of piano here and there on a song sounded a bit like what you might get on an Abba song, but is one, i wonder, not just hearing that for they are told it is there? no matter, for above all, and overall, it is a Manics album, albeit a 21st century one. 

more amateur (moi) filmed footage? sure. an unexpected moment at the gig, and dare i say treat. in the sort of one off gigs (including a couple in support of NHS charities and workers) leading up to the tour proper (of this was the first night), James had done his usual solo acoustic spot. for this he had been doing From Despair To Where. the printed set list for this gig (and these are treasured collectors items for those that grab them) reflected it would be this. and yet, after some friendly, good spirited banter with the crowd (titles, and in some instances even chords, such as and from Sleepflower and Faster were to be heard), we got this instead. mindful that the below clip is meant for a mature, well informed, grown up audience. 

oh yes, hell yes, we got treated to what you can only assume or presume was an off the cuff, impromptu decision to do Stay Beautiful instead. not that i, or you would think the majority of people in, would have had any quarrel at all with Despair, but here we are. considering that the band had mentioned (to say issued warning would be too much, too strong) that there were some songs they knew were fan favourites that they weren't doing as they "didn't feel like that band at the moment" (or words to that effect), it was quite something we got so many songs off of the debut, Generation Terrorists. 

bands, or artists, doing "covers" is something of a contentious issue for some. there are acts what insist on doing their stuff and their stuff alone, likewise a certain clique of musical fans believe that only the person what done a song originally should ever sing it. or perform it. for me, or moi, well, why not, i say. it's not like we stop orchestras and what have you from doing Beethoven, or a Mozart or Bach (or indeed a combined Mach piece) just because him what wrote it isn't there. 

it can be quite smart, as i would like to think the video above, and video below show (allowing for the poor quality and shoddy camerawork), when a band you love decides to go full tilt and play a tune off of one of the bands what influenced them to be in a band in the first place. 

from what i can recall, this is their second dalliance with Guns n Roses. early on (and i am not expert, they may well have done others) they used to do It's So Easy (i think). one would certainly suggest the melodious sounds of Sweet Child O Mine is much more the pace they presently go, mind. 

enough video for now, then. back to the album of the moment, for which this post was always, in a kind of quasi ostensible way, a review of. i have little or no issue with it, just like i have not had with the majority of their records. just about the only Manics albums i don't revisit are Postcards From A Young Man, as i have not been curious to hear it again, and Gold Against The Soul, because i simply don't feel much of a connection with it. for the latter, i know, many more devout fans would say that i should be arrested and stripped of any "proper fan" status. condemn me, history shall love us all. 

there's no quarrel i have with any specific song on the record, but every now and then a line or two from each just feels "hmn". for instance, the song Complicated Illusions is, itself, quite brilliant, but the title sounds rather forced and contrived as a lyric. not far from this, Quest For Ancient Colour is one outstanding song, but for some inexplicable reason one early line in it, the main actor was me, just irks me a little and doesn't sound right. 

an idling "concern" i have is that across this and the previous three (i think) albums, being Resistance Is Futile, Futurology and Rewind The Film, there's a great big pile of excellent songs they gone done. yet, not just in terms of a setlist for a gig, none of them appear to have any design or ambition for longevity. it is almost like they are of the "classic" mindset that to tour they need an album out, and to some extent they might be seeing aspects of a new record as "product", to be used for a year or so doing gigs, then left on a shelf. but, let me make it clear, if they are doing that to any level, there is absolutely no drop off of quality at all. so, long may it go. 

yeah, that's how my deluxe, signed edition CD and tape landed. for the deluxe CD thing, if i were a collector what intended to (for some reason) leave it sealed i might have been annoyed at the sticker somehow being torn in transit, but it is in the bin now anyhow. indeed it is signed off of the band. they really, really, really like signing stuff, and i have simply lost track of how much signed stuff i have off of then. indeed i do worry that their hands must knack after any particular release. not going to lie, it was disappointing to see the tape in a (cheap) cardboard slip cover, rather than the "proper" cassette box like what we got for Resistance Is Futile and indeed Even In Exile, but a pure nostalgia purchase, so no real harm done. 

back on the chart performance (which does appear to remain important to Mr Wire, and possibly the rest of the band), after hitting the charts at 1 (one) it did drift to 14 or 15 the week after. and, by the time this gets published (or posted) it may even be all the way out of the top forty (40), with any chart presence maintained by these "streaming" devices or platforms or what have you. not at all sure how many new fans they attract, or how many would be drawn in by this album. hopefully some, you know, and there was a few people younger than me at the gig. but, ultimately, i think they are aware that for the most part, or the bulk, there is a locked in acolyte army of fans who shall support them now and until one of us stops being a thing. 

of gig, then, a bit more footage. and yes, if i remember it all correct (i cannot, oddly, preview the video as i write), there are some words here which are intended for a mature, informed audience. should that not be clear enough, this is Nicky giving a nod to his mate James, and then James giving every indication that he and the band were to perform a "proper f*****g 90s" song. which they did. 

sorry, yes, i know a few here may well prefer i had recorded (and included) songs in their entirety. but no, that's not me, really. mostly, dominantly, i wished to enjoy the gig, which i very much did. also, though, i was mindful of family, friends and so on (well, family, friends and a special friend) who either wished to be there but could not, or were curious. my ambition and aim was to capture some fragments for them, and i trust they have no objection to such being further shared here. 

a brief break in transmission, kind of, to give a shout out (if such is worth anything here) to the support band, Low Hummer. they are a boss six piece (sextuplet?) out of Hull, and (so far as i can recall) the greatest music thing i have heard off of Hull since Mick Ronson, or The Housemartins. i really liked them, and am going to seek out their debut album. sure, true, their best song might have been, in effect, Bowie's Fashion with different words, but what can i say, it worked. 

it starts and ends with you, then. as has become custom to close Manics gigs for 20 or so years (give or take), the evening of minstrel festivity is at an end when one hears A Design For Life. it became an anthem of sorts for the "second wave" of Manic existence, the song that many thought would not ever have been, for how were they ever going to recover - mostly personally, but to an extent lyrically - from the disappearance of Richey Edwards. well, they did. the band speak of this song being, when they wrote it, the moment they knew they could continue, the world embraced it, and wanted it to be. 

one thing that surprises a few is that A Design For Life, like parent album Everything Must Go, didn't make number one. indeed they have had a couple of number one singles (back when it was actually something and impressive to do so, based on sales), but this resides as one of a greater number of number two hits they have had. yet most would possibly call this their "biggest hit". most iconic is, depending who you ask, likely Motown Junk, which got as high as 94 (ninety four) in the singles chart. 

certainly it is so that some have mumbled, moaned and groaned about the chosen set list for this git. it is most decidedly so that many have done such for their set lists for north of twenty years. no complaints from me at all, but then i went perfectly content to hear whatever it was they fancied playing. yes, i do understand and "get" that many wish to hear a Faster or a Motown Junk, either for personal reasons or just because they are great songs. but i rather more get the band when they say they don't particularly see or "feel" themselves to be that band momentarily. 

in fairness, as a "gimme" for fans, it wasn't all that long ago that, for Faster and more, they did all of the magnificent Holy Bible album live on a tour. one would struggle to blame them for wishing to leave it alone for a while, and just do what they will instead. 

sort of kind of wrapping up the album, The Ultra Vivid Lament, and it is a solid Manic Street Preachers record. informed and reflective of the time it was recorded, without giving specific details, and so goes ahead and touches me and many other fans who have that thing inside what always gets touched by them. once, at the time of the rise of Pop Idol Stars With Talent or similar shows, they were vocal in saying "no, only we can do what we do". Nicky does believe the band remain "a bit too clever" for certain aspects of the music (and broader) press. long may they be manics, long may they preach. 

to the end, then, and the closure of A Design For Life, and the band exiting the stage. my very good friend with me was taken a bit by surprise that, as if on cue, when the band did the song and left, we knew to go, that it was the end. as in, no encore. at some stage, some tacit, unspoken agreement was reached between band and fan. they were never ones to wish to p!ss about with the vanity, the ego and the cliche of a stage managed encore for more. sending fans home with this song ringing in their ears just turned into a win-win way to say goodnight. 

will it ever be so that i see them for a third time? no idea. i don't rule it out, but absolutely nothing of this second instance of being there seeing them was something i had ever really contemplated. great that it was so, of course. we shall see. 

as for where next for the Manics, well, somewhere. perhaps Nicky shall contrive to release his recorded second solo album, then another Manics album in two or three years. in any instance of possibility, so long as they remain (reasonably) fit and well, i expect them to be back, if they ever really go away. 

many thanks for reading, and i hope the videos were kind of sort of ok!

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