tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8155676960793542372024-03-18T23:46:31.247+00:00New AmusementsMumbling into the ambivalent ears of the world since 2005Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.comBlogger1485125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-64663621946164852972024-03-18T07:20:00.037+00:002024-03-18T07:20:00.251+00:00The hold that she had<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>She didn't live in a meadow by a pond - she lived in a first-floor flat, not far from The Cross Keys, but that's far less poetic. Notwithstanding that, she certainly touched me for a moment, an impossibly high number of years ago. I have often thought of the Jonbar point she and I pivoted around, a quarter of a century or so ago, and the cost of my naïve misunderstanding. What might have been? We shall never know. Probably best not to even think about it, not if I want to sleep at nights.</p>
<p>What I do know is that today is her birthday. She doesn't read this blog, or even know of its existence, which is all that enables me to write the previous paragraph, and post this song. Happy birthday.</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-89762920570268146582024-03-15T07:15:00.044+00:002024-03-15T07:15:00.134+00:00The Cavalier years<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>If I've got this right (and that's by no means certain, given the challenges of scheduling posts months in advance), this evening will see <a href="https://www.comicrelief.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Comic Relief</a> on the Beeb. Now, I know you're not allowed to say this, because it's all for charidee, but not all the comedy on offer this evening will be that funny. So here's a 15-minute CR special from 1988, can you believe, that still is. Stephen Fry's King Charles is particularly enjoyable...</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><cite>Cromwell: The moment has arrived. Are you ready to meet your maker?<br />King Charles: Well, I'm always absolutely fascinated to meet people from all walks of life but, er, yes, particularly manufacturing industry.</cite></p>
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<p>It's just snappy, quotable line after snappy, quotable line...</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><cite>"...your family's record in the department of cunning planning is about as impressive as Stumpy Oleg McNoleg's personal best in the Market Harborough marathon..."</cite></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><cite><cite>"...I'm a busy man and I can't be bothered to punch you at the moment. Here is my fist. Kindly run towards it as fast as you can."</cite></p>
<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a>They don't make them like this any more, sadly.</p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-56907956782658602062024-03-12T07:25:00.018+00:002024-03-12T07:25:00.144+00:00Amazing<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>On this day in 1969, Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman. The BBC's news coverage of the day reported that "hundreds of people gathered outside the Marylebone Register Office to catch a glimpse of the couple as they arrived" and that "a dozen policemen were on hand to fend off enthusiastic teenagers, many of whom were distraught that the last remaining bachelor Beatle was tying the knot". Apparently the ceremony was delayed because the best man, Paul's brother Mike, was late - he had been travelling from Birmingham where he had been performing with his band, The Scaffold, the night before, and his train was delayed. Plus ça change, right?</p>
<p>Paul and Linda's marriage certainly endured, unlike so many others in showbusiness. And he wrote this ...</p>
<blockquote style="text-align:center;"><cite>Baby, I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time<br />And maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you<br />Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pulled me out of time<br />You hung me on a line<br />Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you</cite></blockquote>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a>What an absolute cracker, still. But blimey, Paul, you're making the rest of us look bad - a bunch of flowers from the 24-hr garage doesn't really measure up, does it?</p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-34171857791523076292024-03-07T07:30:00.003+00:002024-03-07T07:30:00.132+00:00Karaoke time<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>Do you have a karaoke stand-by? Something you can manage a passable rendition of, should a microphone be forcefully pressed into your reluctant hand? I once, drunkenly, attempted <i>Roxanne</i> by The Police but that was a mistake - Sting's voice is very high in the chorus. REM, Bowie and Morrissey have provided me with safer ground, at various times. One thing's for sure, I have never been drunk enough to attempt Daltrey vocal gymnastics like this:</p>
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<p>Ah. There's nothing I don't love about that clip. Anyway, here's how <i>Baba O'Riley</i> should be performed live - a track which remains a career highpoint for The Who, in my humble.</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-65491565023995058742024-03-03T07:57:00.013+00:002024-03-03T07:57:00.145+00:00Places to go, people to see<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>If all goes to plan, by the time this post goes live this will be the state of my travel map. At a meagre 31 countries it's getting there, but there's still so far to go. Lucky international travel is so cheap these days, eh? Oh, hang on, it's ruinously expensive. Sigh.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Travel map" style="border:0;" width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIIfVH4G1jVowEfQGJOMPm5bk8pbOWjELwCIPzgdyAf_5exDPv-hyXm3my7KSqkoWSgGxBQQ5rWDQ19X0NMpMO0A-gT7nPQTBTkEEtlUCxzejUN2fUwtjuRnsECBouqbBy_xqx_UpED6dgGsOnLr7moCc_IwJ9ItK8cojhZdvp8Lt9pBaQVFFVYfFx-ew/s1600/amCharts.png"/></a></div>
<p>Of the many countries I haven't been to and you have, which would you most recommend, and why?<a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-7883894072373631312024-02-28T07:58:00.000+00:002024-02-28T07:58:00.132+00:00Elevation<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>I've written many times before about the fine margins that often separate a song, or a band, from being great or being also-rans. But what elevates a song, and makes it special? Can it just be one thing?</p>
<p>Ian McCulloch and, by extension Echo and the Bunnymen, grew out of a fertile late-70s Liverpool scene that gave us plenty that made it (Julian Cope and Pete Wylie being two further examples) and plenty that didn't (... er, the fact that I don't have examples illustrates how they have been forgotten). So how thin is the dividing line between being good and being great? Between being transient and lingering in the memory?</p>
<p>Example, you say?</p>
<p>Well, there was a fair amount of guitar-led indie jangle in 1984, much of it confined to the Recycle Bin of the mental hard drive. But <i>Seven Seas</i> doesn't just linger on, it still sounds fantastic. Why? What elevates it? Well, there are some lovely guitar motifs running through it, it has a catchy melody and the artfully odd lyrics help (we've all kissed a tortoise shell, right?) But what really elevates this song, for me, not just above most of the guitar-led indie jangle of the day but also above other Bunnymen output is Ian's understated vocal ululation at the end of each verse (for example, at about 39 seconds in, below).</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a>1984 was a good year for music, and this is right up there with the best of it all. Probably my favourite Bunnymen track too. What's yours?</p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-79714844000889580452024-02-22T07:30:00.033+00:002024-02-22T07:30:00.305+00:00I wasn't really sure what was going on<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>Mother of god, this blog is nineteen years old today. Cue an obvious song. The impact of this, and the accompanying video, on the teenage me is hard to overstate - when this came out, it looked and sounded so completely new and fresh. I even taped the video off the TV (probably <i>Top of the Pops</i>), so I could watch and rewatch it on grainy VHS. It was just so <i>different</i>. Ironic, then, that I post it to celebrate the birthday of something that is basically the same, week in, week out. Whatever. Paul Hardcastle's <i>19</i> might have dated a bit, but the video remains powerful.</p>
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<p>Unlike this blog, <i>19</i> was a global smash, as shown by Wikipedia below. It even did well in the US, despite the subject matter. Or maybe because of.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Global chart positions for '19' by Paul Hardcastle" style="border:0;" width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBpuIFDlUHLzjpZR6LCbAh2RNGvQG6PIwpY7UvRshmao-Qgo0yZPL61AC8mYd_pygVB5sjDI7TnzPzH3o6hhYaIk_dqNEL0FHDpO3c1oS4x8EJ_iayHvKZOSOFbKC4dgTJ_8CKjvvN662lao-HjIQx_7_QcYjwkirIA_CmiDV1HkEP8r9TQ1cuBne2xc/s1165/19.png"/></a></div>
<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-21617477606945440492024-02-20T07:30:00.007+00:002024-02-20T07:30:00.134+00:00Not so little now<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>Like I need an excuse for a spot of Gene...</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-91638140993039556562024-02-14T07:11:00.008+00:002024-02-14T07:11:00.210+00:00Waving flags. Probably a white one.<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>Sea Power are playing quite near to me, tonight. They're touring to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the album <i>Do You Like Rock Music?</i> which, you might recall, I like so much it's on the <a href="https://newamusements.blogspot.com/p/every-home-should-have-one.html">Every Home Should Have One masterlist</a>. So naturally I'm going to the gig, right?</p>
<p>Well, I might be, I might not. Because February 14th is not a great date for telling your significant other that you're off out to a gig on your own. "Don't wait up, see you in the morning," all of that ...</p>
<p>So in case I don't make it, this is <i>Waving Flags</i> from that album I boringly drone on about so very often. Put your arm around someone you love and enjoy.</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-39254394068654322892024-02-12T07:52:00.077+00:002024-02-13T13:12:24.345+00:00First, last<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>I wrote <a href="https://newamusements.blogspot.com/2012/10/clandestine-classic-xxx-pink-glove-peel.html">once before</a> (twelve years ago, somehow) about my love of Pulp's album <i>His'n'Hers</i>. It may be an unfashionable view but I prefer it to <i>Different Class</i>, good though that also is. With <i>His'n'Hers</i>, Pulp were getting there but still not massive; they still felt like they belonged to "us" rather than "them". Take the song below, <i>Do You Remember The First Time?</i>, extracted from the album as a single and released in March 1994, whereupon it peaked at number 33 in the chart. A career best for the band, to that point, but hardly setting the world alight, which seems crazy in retrospect: were there really <a href="https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19940327/7501/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">32 better songs</a> being bought at the time? I'll save you a click, <i>Doop</i> by Doop was #1 that week, which tells you all you need to know (sorry but I'm not linking to that on principle).</p>
<p>Pulp even had a cracking video, though it seems slightly odd now to see Jarvis without glasses.</p>
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<p>Fun fact, that (the song, not the video) was produced by Ed Buller, perhaps most famous, at that point, for his knob-twiddling activities with Suede. Anyway, fourteen months after the magnificence of the above, Britpop anthem (© every lazy music journalist, 90s club-night promoter and compilation compiler, ever since) <a href="https://youtu.be/yuTMWgOduFM" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Common People</a> soared to #2 in the charts, and something changed (see what I did there?) But I still remember the first time...</p>
<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a>P.S. Another fun fact: Pulp, like The Who, never had a number one single: <i>Common People</i> was held off the top spot by that anodyne cover of <i>Unchained Melody</i> by Robson & Jerome, for crying out loud; almost as hard to believe, double A-side <a href="https://youtu.be/yuTMWgOduFM" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Sorted For E'z and Wizz</a>/<a href="https://youtu.be/S0DRch3YLh0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Mis-shapes</a> entered the chart at #2 but was held off by Simply Red's <i>Fairground</i>. Chart injustices to rival Joe Dolce...)</p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-70020141808842671682024-02-09T07:40:00.008+00:002024-02-09T10:01:03.507+00:00Blue Friday: Fuel to Fire<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>As I write this, way back in the comparative safety of December '23, series two of the equal parts gripping and annoying drama <i>Vigil</i> is being heavily trailed on BBC1. All of which reminds me of this track, <i>Fuel to Fire</i>, by Agnes Obel, which was used in series one. I don't know anything about Agnes that can't be gleaned from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Obel" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">her Wikipedia entry</a>. However, I do know that this track is atmospheric, borderline haunting, and sticks in the mind, especially the simple piano motif throughout the verses. Good video too.</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-75132070462872019462024-02-07T16:30:00.003+00:002024-02-07T17:33:39.945+00:00It's too bad we gotta get old<p>Sadly, but inevitably, I guess, I'm breaking my own sabbatical for another (somewhat belated) RIP post. He might have been in <i>Predator</i> and, for Amusements Minor's generation, <i>The Mandalorian</i> but for me Carl Weathers will always be Apollo Creed. As such, he fills an important part in my personal film-watching history (<i>Rocky</i> was on ITV4 again last night, for the n-hundredth time, so I watched it, for the n-hundredth time). He also provided me with much quotable dialogue, particularly useful in banter with my good friend Tim, for whom the Rocky films are also important.</p>
<p>Here's the closing scene from <i>Rocky III</i>. Yes, it's in a toss-up with <i>V</i> for the worst film in the franchise, but it does have this nice scene, at least. You want to ring the bell, Carl? "Ding, ding..."</p>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><small><i>Only one of these men looked like a credible heavyweight boxer...</i></small><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD-xTmqXLkP-6-VP4z2A6Sn4Ng2DP7NJoOlq1fTQGuBWCI_Ii6YutlX_cghil9qlZJY6I6YuDPoUQgY0d85ikLmBsITYhn14NqWXCAww1s_wMwM-fIvJml3i6hiyS-yeJ5oS_NsRs8w4GKUWHTCk9Rx8EnZIFjQ-HIBKe6RFb1mYavmdet9l5Q5Mm8DN0/s1600/187283858.webp" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Only one of these men looked like a credible heavyweight boxer" style="border:0;" width="600" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD-xTmqXLkP-6-VP4z2A6Sn4Ng2DP7NJoOlq1fTQGuBWCI_Ii6YutlX_cghil9qlZJY6I6YuDPoUQgY0d85ikLmBsITYhn14NqWXCAww1s_wMwM-fIvJml3i6hiyS-yeJ5oS_NsRs8w4GKUWHTCk9Rx8EnZIFjQ-HIBKe6RFb1mYavmdet9l5Q5Mm8DN0/s600/187283858.webp"/></a></div>
<p>Here's a proper <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/feb/06/carl-weathers-obituary" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">obit for Carl</a>. Just keep punching, Apollo.<a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-61811780650425618732024-02-05T07:24:00.001+00:002024-02-05T07:24:00.133+00:00Mariachi Brown<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>This has been languishing in my YouTube Watch Later list for at least seven years, if not more. It's not going to do either of us any good, is it, just sitting there, so I'd better post it and we can all move on. Here's Mariachi Mexteca (now known as The Mariachis) featuring Hugh Cornwell in their cover of my favourite Stranglers song.</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-32285475661107313752024-01-31T07:24:00.003+00:002024-01-31T07:24:00.244+00:00Happy birthday, Debi...<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>I'm sort of permanently enamoured of Minnie Driver, whose 54th birthday it is today. "Debi" was her character in <i>Grosse Pointe Blank</i>, as you will know if you'd read my post about <a href="https://newamusements.blogspot.com/2022/08/about-carfest.html">when I met Minnie</a> at CarFest '22.</p>
<p>No songs today (although Minnie has had a recording career too), just posting this so I can watch and listen to Minnie talk films. Sigh...</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-69391853126454941742024-01-25T07:51:00.002+00:002024-01-25T17:55:13.548+00:00How we used to live<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>A mid-programme selection of television adverts from ITV and the long hot summer of 1976.</p>
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<p>Lots to enjoy here: the deadpan pay-off from the Birds Eye voiceover; the Smash robots; Bernard Cribbins voicing a prototype Busby for BT; Lorraine Chase on a Campari ad ("Nice 'ere, innit?"); the Bilko-esque Corona fizzical; an of-its-time slice of 70s machismo for Yorkie; and a hot-off-the press ad for cold Guinness, reacting to the (then) unprecedented heatwave.</p>
<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a>A simpler time, and better for it, I think.</p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-87285964382873912512024-01-17T07:28:00.003+00:002024-01-17T07:28:00.188+00:00Yes It Is<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>In 1976, EMI re-released all The Beatles UK singles. They had matching green front covers, and release-appropriate photographs on the back, much like these:</p>
<p align="center"><img style="border: 0; margin: 0 2px; " alt="Ticket To Ride 1976 re-relase - back" width="300" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="599" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sAZ__w789hu18Gcuv7bRpktjh-akihmWqAJIyAoSf3CXaIlrDUbicyMUSQ6x8BXm3PcwWg5OaJ8MSggNuTdhDq60NLcn1rBtXuNZ8V6wO0MKHw0XIcAlkoIL-pskm8dJ_ZWTOKDELPUnKBqZSBQsMxZsXESMUpIbVLGr5NJo8zQQIzODU4Ga8gTDD-s/s400/ttrf.jpg"/><img style="border: 0; margin: 0 2px; " alt="Ticket To Ride 1976 re-relase - front" height="300" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="588" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6WOrjkjl_I95YYy4mtkwdudBjwkSV2Ra4pC6I67tS2B3GtQcSPGlHvWQT4WJADGLvXiZAdAnnKhbhKWYqew50sE7j3Shc8cLrCxf0mDT1AQBAdHhDhSj1Beeo-Va0AAn9LqP2raijtYDrIzlnSUFd2IpRuRWxP998co8ABwMn5zGkw0H_-tx37_C82dY/s400/ttrb.jpg"/></p>
<p>I can't remember the who, when or how but at some point somebody bought me two of these. They quickly became especially important to me, in part because I had very few records of my own back then. I had <i>I Want To Hold Your Hand</i> b/w <i>This Boy</i> and <i>Ticket To Ride</i> b/w <i>Yes It Is</i> (above). I'm not going to write about the A-sides, because there can't be many people in the known universe who aren't already familiar with them. But I hope this explains why <i>This Boy</i> and <i>Yes It Is</i> are, for me, every bit as familiar, engrained, and beloved.</p>
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<p>So why am I posting about a sexagenarian song now, in 2024, rather than at any other point in this blog's longish and undistinguished history? Well, brace yourselves for a tenuous link, because today is Susanna Hoff's 65th (?!) birthday, giving me all the excuse I need to post a live radio rendition of <i>Yes It Is</i> by The Bangles, itself now twelve years old.</p>
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<p>Happy birthday, Susanna <i>(obligatory sigh, etc...)</i><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-78019519382907363892024-01-11T07:57:00.008+00:002024-01-11T07:57:00.157+00:00Crazy? Ditto.<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>I heard <i>Crazy Again</i> by Gossip on 6 Music over the Christmas period. Whisper it quietly but I rather like it.</p>
<p>Yes, I know it is not my usual bag by any means. And yes, I know I have struggled a bit to warm to Beth Ditto in the past, partly because the music press got very excited about her but for what I thought were the wrong reasons, possibly even disingenuous reasons. But enough of my miserable old man schtick. This song: the simple, repeated guitar line on top of this really worms its way into your ear, I think. And there's a bit in the middle where some of the percussion sounds a bit like an <a href="https://youtu.be/IHjIXdXSYno" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Eighties Ariston advert</a>. I approve.</p>
<p>The video is rather good too, and funny ("This weather really sucks dick..."). Though I should probably add that, unless you work somewhere very laid back, it might be considered NSFW in a few places.</p>
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<p>I'm not going to post <a href="https://youtu.be/8pGN-YYiqXI" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Silver Lady</a> or <a href="https://youtu.be/YY8APrYU2Gs" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Don't Give Up On Us</a> (both UK chart-toppers, don't forget) because that was the sort of nonsense girls like my sister were into, and I was a boy, into cars and American cop shows and wearing your jeans in the bath so they'd allegedly shrink to fit like S&H's (really). So instead, here's the iconic S&H title sequence. <a href="https://youtu.be/rqajVHN7hfc" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Series 1</a> had different music, and was clearly going for a slightly grittier, Serpico-lite feel. The TV audiences of the day didn't want Serpico though, lite or otherwise, so the show got less edgy and more commercial; here's the re-edited Series 2 title sequence with the music that everyone remembers best. He hurt his back, you know, jumping off that wall onto the roof of his car (43s in).</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a>RIP Hutch. May your heaven be filled with go-go dancers in leopard-print bikinis that you can look at until your best mate blows on your cheek. Maybe go easy on clambering in and out of swimming pools fully clothed. Right, now back to the sabbatical. I wrote 1,100 words of fiction yesterday, you know?</p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-4005966983979860942024-01-01T07:53:00.025+00:002024-01-01T07:53:00.182+00:00Monday long song: Pure & Easy<h6 style="color: grey; font-style: italic; ">Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.</h6>
<p>The November issue of <i>Uncut</i> magazine had a big article on The Who, specifically on the forthcoming deluxe edition re-issue of <i>Who's Next</i> coupled with tracks from the troubled and much mythologised <i>Lifehouse</i> project. Excitingly, for Who fans everywhere, the magazine's cover mount CD had ten Who tracks, handpicked from that deluxe edition. It's been in my car, doing sterling service, ever since. But here's the thing - I say "handpicked" as a throwaway description, but I wonder if the tracks were handpicked by Mr Townshend? He certainly has lead vocal duties on six of the ten tracks, in part because some of them are his home studio demos, and Roger wouldn't have been around. But if you'd just landed from another planet, and this disc was your first exposure to The Who, you'd be forgiven for wondering who the nuclear-powered guest vocalist was on the incendiary live rendition of <i>Won't Get Fooled Again</i>.</p>
<p>Anyway, this is Pete's home demo of <i>Pure & Easy</i>, and in the accompanying magazine <a href="https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/pete-townshend-introduces-our-free-the-who-cd-143751/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">article</a> he describes it thus:</p>
<blockquote>For <i>Tommy</i>, the founding song was <i>'Amazing Journey'</i>, which told the whole back story, the under story, of it. And <i>'Pure And Easy'</i> did the same for <i>Lifehouse</i>, which is why it’s such a shame it was left off <i>Who's Next</i>. It was easy to write and it was a pleasure to write. It’s very simple, just three chords, basically. I wrote it on piano.</blockquote>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-52490745492172118672023-12-28T07:01:00.001+00:002023-12-28T07:01:00.142+00:00Sabbatical<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="The Terminator needs a vacation" style="display: block; padding: 0 0 5px 5px; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right; border: 0; " data-original-height="170" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqUFv_Wiim88yHLZgGMpsA3TWYwSNklgBwkcdPcFR8XBQJX59rsIBUGUVbFM8lYjHYW87JBcRHoiRssLamPTbsneZR0U8TUM9YYU7_PEPThzeSD3jNfe-d8Lp_4f11DEIPTGvfsYO0gmrKLbiT9z0brVD3bEKP1LsI8K3_3y9jS_YqjFHdjmfM-X_W1QA/s1600/q1qr3if56g791.png"/></div>I'm taking a break - a sabbatical, if you will. Not from actual work, more's the pity, but from here. Don't worry, if any of you were; I've put in a bit of a shift lately, writing enough scheduled posts to keep New Amusements ticking over for 2024. That's not to say I definitely won't write anything new during the year, far from it, it just means that I've hopefully removed the pressure I often put on myself to blog something (which has sometimes meant I've blogged <i>anything</i>, with very little quality control). And <b>I will still read and reply to all comments</b>. I've just bought myself twelve months without having to think of what to write, that's all.</p>
<p>I'm also hoping that reclaiming the free time that I would normally spend blogging might actually give me some headspace and impetus to get back to fiction-writing. Please feel free to kick my arse if, in twelve months, I'm still not back on that particular horse.</p>
<p>The other observation I need to make here is how much in awe I am of people who blog every day. I know I've been doing this for quite a long time, coming up on nineteen years, but I've never been prolific. Scheduling 50-odd posts for 2024 has really taken it out of me, despite the fact that some of the posts are - spoiler alert - quite brief. How some do it every day, and at length, I don't know. Cap well and truly doffed.</p>
<p>I should probably write a disclaimer too. The trouble with scheduling posts in advance, especially up to a year in advance, is that things change - events conspire to render what you've written either wrong, out-dated*, even offensive. What if I blog about Person X and am critical of them, schedule the post for a future date, and then they go and die the day before publication? That's not going to age well, is it? Although I'm not sure how something can age in advance, but that's a question of semantics, I guess. So go easy on me, basically, if future posts are somehow wrong or insensitive or something else bad. Maybe I should go through them all and add a "Written and scheduled in December '23" footnote.</p>
<p>Anyway, bottom line, I'm still here and hopefully nobody will notice the difference. And I'll still be reading, and commenting on, all the usual blogs.</p>
<p><i>New Years Resolution</i> by Camera Obscura seems an appropriate way to sign off with, especially given the opening lines. Happy new year, everyone. Have a good one.</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a>* Some would say everything I've ever written on this blog is out-dated ... and they'd probably have a point.</p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-260422033427250132023-12-25T07:34:00.002+00:002023-12-25T07:34:00.134+00:00Christmasland ...<p>"... a religio-retail festival like none other."</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a>Merry Christmas, you filthy animals...</p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-60788505093727237522023-12-24T07:55:00.027+00:002023-12-24T07:55:00.131+00:00Sunday shorts: Prelude 12/21<p>Time to blow the dust off the Sunday Shorts series. This is <i>Prelude 12/21</i> by Californian rock outfit AFI (short for A Fire Inside, so I'm told). It's not my usual bag and I know nothing about him/them, I just heard it used as backing music on an old TV programme and thought, "I've got a Christmas blog post with your name on." Appropriately enough for the season, it comes from a 2006 album entitled <i>December Underground</i>...</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a></p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-29370119291334338552023-12-22T07:58:00.015+00:002023-12-22T07:58:00.133+00:00Blue Friday: It's Christmas and I'm Crying <p>I don't do the Christmas indie advent calendars any more, because they're a lot of effort for very little reward (though the old ones are still all <a href="https://newamusements.blogspot.com/2021/12/humbug.html">here</a> if you need alt.festive music). But if I had done a calendar for this year, <i>It's Christmas and I'm Crying</i> by Du Blonde would have been on it. It's terrific, even if it does leave you scratching your head thinking, hmm, those melodies are familiar, what does that sound like? Well, I'll save you the head-scratch - the verse evokes a bit of <i>All The Young Dudes</i> by Mott the Hoople, and the pre-chorus brings <i>Basket Case</i> by Green Day to mind. My mind, at least. There's even a tiny bit of <i>Dear Prudence</i> by The Beatles in the middle eight. It's the chord changes, you see. But everyone's a product of their influences, and there's nothing new under the sun, so let's not hold any of those references against Newcastle's Beth Jeans Houghton, aka Du Blonde, for this is rather good, I reckon. Besides, there are only so many ways of arranging a finite number of chords. And notwithstanding the melodic appropriation, this has some great lyrics. Listen carefully.</p>
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<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a>And in case you think I made a typo, yes, it is Beth Jean<b>s</b>, not Beth Jean. I know, I know...</p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-8910231837673383542023-12-18T07:18:00.014+00:002024-01-09T11:33:02.583+00:00That Was The Year That Was: 2023<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a title="SSDY" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRbjukxVTSbVB7Slp0b80SGu663uZvnHF1A8COJdLrj7BS10wZNUso-kf2Zwpt0kcQ_rggeXH25ONg6Hqqm8ZhECrkHnpRyLje7hbjqcLOT8AH_qTjBwcrHQyC3xXFmw1qmwINTN_f7K0-2l0rC7KxKIthMOROKtjFfzNLKjW2pFgy40-ZOOr35MBD=s800" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline; padding: 0 10px 10px 0 ; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="SSDY" border="0" width="120" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRbjukxVTSbVB7Slp0b80SGu663uZvnHF1A8COJdLrj7BS10wZNUso-kf2Zwpt0kcQ_rggeXH25ONg6Hqqm8ZhECrkHnpRyLje7hbjqcLOT8AH_qTjBwcrHQyC3xXFmw1qmwINTN_f7K0-2l0rC7KxKIthMOROKtjFfzNLKjW2pFgy40-ZOOr35MBD=s320"/></a></div>This is the thirteenth time I've recapped a year like this (for completists, here are <a href="https://newamusements.blogspot.com/search/label/That%20was%20the%20year%20that%20was">the others</a>); I nearly didn't bother, on the grounds that I consume so little new material, and no-one cares about my opinion. So I was going to give it a swerve...</p>
<p>...but then had an attackers of blogger's guilt. So here we are ... if "here" is realising that what I "consume" these days is, more than ever, driven by my notional roles of father and partner than by my own individual, personal taste. Especially what I watch, as will become apparent.</p>
<p>Aside from updating twelfth to thirteenth, those opening paragraphs are an exact copy'n'paste of last year's post. Which probably tells you all you need to know about my enthusiasm for this end of year recap. Basically, I have had very few highlights in my cultural life this year, so what to write? But enough prevarication; let's crack on with this load of old balls and see how little new stuff I've tried this year (and that line is also lifted from last year).</p>
<p><b>Best album</b></p>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3tf5HBT" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="display: block; padding: 0 0 0 5px ; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="Blur, Ballad of Darren" style="border:0;" height="80" width="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4hn8VEslOhHQmREckTL35IOMx7ccP2jIwnRJ10ICmmdqSN_g22tD-z-TOugo6VD8_xAp47OaQoUpzX-2KhtazivzsF-po8SaXJWZMMflE9egyqp3UBJoS9oOoKvN740yd8RbUxGT1Ab53cV-k-tB_AG1ob5S3W504IbEcgCmflXKsTLulsEOgyCiaZU/s1600/bbod.jpg"/></a></div>Turns out I've bought very few original albums this year. Lots of compilations, best ofs and retrospectives, but not many of all new material. Consequently <b><a href="https://amzn.to/3tf5HBT" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Ballad of Darren</a> by Blur</b> wins almost by default, whereas it perhaps wouldn't have won in other years. Don't get me wrong, it <i>is</i> good, borderline great. But it probably isn't essential. If I was Q magazine (remember that?) it would garner a four star review, not five. That said, it does reward repeated listens, and is definitely worth your time, as long as you're not still expecting <i>Popscene</i>.</p>
<p><b>Best song</b></p>
<p>I've got a bit more to say here, at least. What about <a href="https://newamusements.blogspot.com/2023/06/ive-got-these-slings-ive-got-these.html">Bending Hectic</a> by The Smile for starters? Then there's <a href="https://newamusements.blogspot.com/2023/04/new-to-na-bc-camplight.html">The Last Rotation of Earth</a> by BC Camplight, which has been living rent-free in my head since I heard it, and I absolutely love the brilliance of <a href="https://newamusements.blogspot.com/2023/07/cant-stop-cant-rewind.html">Expert in a Dying Field</a> by The Beths. In other years The Beths would have prevailed, but this year saw Dublin's <b>Fontaines DC</b> cover Nick Drake's <b><a href="https://newamusements.blogspot.com/2023/03/where-spring-is-sprung.html">Cello Song</a></b>, and I'm not sure a new song has hit me more so far this decade. I called it as early as March, and this remains my song of a year. A worthy winner - play it loud!</p>
<p><b>Best gig</b></p>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3tf5HBT" style="display: block; padding: 0 10px 0 0 ; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="Pulp at Latitude 2023" style="border:0;" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxij61mH-4Jt0IZndrhRSc6PuoWtLr_KLOHVMfnE6_RLgM9GAm6FXhpZ2SPkXeFQUG7et4SftSysGJx9cHwINcvmpn1F1fTT-AEhz-xxO5rsskbd9F5HzjT_J-NRMazWZXD533qC_K6grob0VjoLEDORCi8ia8lwUVA-KBCPm9u_BqQ2-7uazG4jKM5XQ/s1600/DSC04086.JPG"/></a></div>It's been another quiet year, gig-wise. There have been the usual suspects, of course: <a href="https://www.scopitones.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Wedding Present</a> (for the last time with Mel on bass), <a href="https://www.fromthejamofficial.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">From The Jam</a> (with excellent company from my oldest friends), <a href="https://www.thesmyths.net/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Smyths</a> (as close as you're going to get without a time machine) - all reliably excellent, of course. <a href="https://sleeper.band/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Sleeper</a> nearly stole in and took the crown this year, for their wonderful intimate <a href="https://newamusements.blogspot.com/2023/04/what-do-i-do-now.html">acoustic gig at the Arts Centre</a>, though I accept my judgement may be coloured by still being smitten with Louise (<i>obligatory sigh</i>) after all these years. But it's a tie between <a href="https://pulpofficial.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><b>Pulp</b></a>, who were simply brilliant at <a href="https://newamusements.blogspot.com/2023/07/a-latitude-encore.html">Latitude</a> (and, crucially, shared with the rest of the Amusements clan) and <a href="https://www.suede.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><b>Suede</b></a>, who were <a href="https://newamusements.blogspot.com/2023/03/it-was-thirty-years-ago-today.html">far better than anyone has any right to expect</a> after thirty years. So yes, another bunch of old people from my youth, basically.</p>
<p><b>Best book</b></p>
<p>I've read a few books this year, but not many of them are new for 2023. In fact, I think crime procedural <a href="https://amzn.to/3RkPm6Q" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Holly</a> by Stephen King is the only book published this year that I've read so far. So that ought to win but it won't, good though it was. I also got a surprising amount out of <a href="https://amzn.to/3RIlUsT" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Before & Laughter</a> by Jimmy Carr; I'm not his biggest fan but there are genuine nuggets of life advice to he had here, delivered in an accessible and funny manner. However, the nod this year must go to <b><a href="https://amzn.to/47SZJpi" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Ministry for the Future</a> by Kim Stanley Robinson</b>, even though the subject matter - climate catastrophe - meant that I had to read it in small doses, over the course of a year, for my own mental health. The first chapter in particular hits as hard as any opening I think I've ever read.</p>
<p><b>Best film</b></p>
<p>I am once more somewhat embarrassed by the paucity of new films I've been to see this year, partly because Amusements Minor is now at an age when he wants to go to the cinema with his mates instead of me. That said, I very much enjoyed Spielberg autobiog <a href="https://amzn.to/3RoBrMN" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Fabelmans</a> at the start of the year. <a href="https://amzn.to/3RUaYY1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Barbie</a> pleasantly surprised me, and I got a lot out of <a href="https://amzn.to/48KTm7x" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Oppenheimer</a> too. However, the best film I've sat amongst spilled popcorn for this year, by a short nose from <a href="https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Se%C3%B1or_Spielbergo" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Señor Spielbergo</a> and <i>Oppenheimer</i>, is Justine Triet's <a href="https://amzn.to/48h1OuZ" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><b>Anatomy of a Fall</b></a>. I don't know if it's that foreign language films make you work harder, and therefore appreciate what you get out of them more, or whether this really is a great film but, whatever, it kept me very focused for all of its two and a half hours, plus stimluated plenty of discussion with Mrs Amusements afterwards.</p>
<p><b>Best television</b></p>
<p>Even if not up to the dazzling standards of earlier series, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00049t9" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Ghosts</a> has continued to be a joy - there's a Christmas Day finale coming too, so get your Button House fix whilst you still can, would be my advice. In terms of documentaries, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001sh6c" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Louis Theroux's recent BBC1 interview with Pete Doherty</a> was a captivating watch, for fans of both, and the Ronnie O'Sullivan behind-the-scenes film <a href="https://amzn.to/3Tl0C5L" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Edge of Everything</a> on Amazon Prime was a real eye-opener - I defy anyone not to be moved at the end at Ronnie's emotion. Definitely worth a watch. However, my TV choice this year is <a href="https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/series/only-murders-in-the-building/2EfP45PYWY5s" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><b>Only Murders In The Building</b></a> on Disney+; no other show has given me as much satisfaction and all manner of laughs, from knowing "that's clever" chuckles to tea-spurting laugh out loud roars. Steve Martin is as good as he has ever been, his chemistry with Martin Short elevates their every shared scene, and Selena Gomez is a revelation. Very highly recommended indeed.</p>
<p><b>Best sport</b></p>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkYIQki-4D8lHfSgz5PbDPhyPSiBZOFQ38725jjVMxoyY9GCSOV-8jGi2KQVpQY9fqZ5NQPVfaqV6r5cERQCTBUVgmanQE_gVpilxumR318RpqeUvVGtX7mgtMlMe_HXFfCpcwmeU_9JW67S9ANc0ldokVQn1vMO_vrNDWtrmy70fBkGHOvM-NclSMxI/s1600/skynews-australia-world-cup-final_6256929-714827927.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right; padding: 0 0 10px 10px"><img alt="Mary Earps' World Cup Final penalty save" style="border:0;" height="144" width="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkYIQki-4D8lHfSgz5PbDPhyPSiBZOFQ38725jjVMxoyY9GCSOV-8jGi2KQVpQY9fqZ5NQPVfaqV6r5cERQCTBUVgmanQE_gVpilxumR318RpqeUvVGtX7mgtMlMe_HXFfCpcwmeU_9JW67S9ANc0ldokVQn1vMO_vrNDWtrmy70fBkGHOvM-NclSMxI/s1600/skynews-australia-world-cup-final_6256929-714827927.jpg"/></a></div>In a year that has been pretty mundane in terms of sport, it is hard to look beyond the superbly victorious <a href="https://www.rydercup.com/team-europe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">European Ryder Cup team</a>, but I'm going to because once more <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU1OwC_o0FQ" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">the Lionesses</a></b> gave us all something to get excited about; yes, they fell at the final hurdle against Spain, but that was still as close as England have come to winning a World Cup in my lifetime. And sure, they've just missed out on Nations League qualification by the most heartbreaking of slender margins, but let's not forget they did beat Brazil to win the Finalissima at the start of the year too. Aside from that, I must also mention <a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/players/319125/katie-boulter" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Katie Boulter</a>, who was next level at the recent Billie Jean Cup qualifier against Sweden and continues to look our best hope on court, at least until <a href="https://www.wtatennis.com/players/328366/emma-raducanu" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Emma Raducanu</a> can get herself back on track.</p>
<p><b>Person of the year</b></p>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhZnYM9Sar8WXp1eUgPQ7a-8TBsZRG8XyNqShQPdQE8H2FrLn2QWtWgDDuRFleSjRCJ2kbPuSKWPXb8T_Rvx-qHqSnDAP66dwxs4tbDoqgw9aIwqMUKamDoMr720uYhFZFQSqpoOwouKeyKEJ6f2Lnd9TrF7VuuoEdbVhRjBrqauJQjrBeLbnuRb7yPY/s1600/1_Chris-Packham-Is-It-Time-to-Break-the-Law.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left; padding: 0 10px 0 0;"><img alt="Chris Packham" style="border:0;" height="136" width="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhZnYM9Sar8WXp1eUgPQ7a-8TBsZRG8XyNqShQPdQE8H2FrLn2QWtWgDDuRFleSjRCJ2kbPuSKWPXb8T_Rvx-qHqSnDAP66dwxs4tbDoqgw9aIwqMUKamDoMr720uYhFZFQSqpoOwouKeyKEJ6f2Lnd9TrF7VuuoEdbVhRjBrqauJQjrBeLbnuRb7yPY/s1600/1_Chris-Packham-Is-It-Time-to-Break-the-Law.jpg"/></a></div>Well, it's <b>Chris Packham</b>, obviously. Quite apart from his televisual impact on the natural world, through <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qgm3" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Springwatch</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0079t1p" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Autumnwatch</a> and this year's outstanding five-parter <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0fpwhhm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Earth</a>, he also gave us the illuminating documentary <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bbnh47" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Inside Our Autistic Minds</a>, asked difficult questions in <a href="https://www.channel4.com/programmes/chris-packham-is-it-time-to-break-the-law" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Is It Time To Break The Law?</a> and even found time to pop up on <a href="https://www.channel4.com/programmes/celebrity-gogglebox" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Celebrity Gogglebox</a> for <a href="https://www.standuptocancer.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Stand Up To Cancer</a>, alongside his step-daughter Megan McCubbin. And all the while, he was fighting an exhaustive and intrusive legal battle against Country Squire Magazine for defamation - he stood up to be counted on this, and won, at some personal if not financial cost. That he continues to be a publicly active activist, despite arson attacks on his property and having dead badgers nailed to his front gate, tells you all you need to know about the man. The natural heir to Attenborough, and there's no higher praise than that in my book.</p>
<p><b>Tool of the year</b></p>
<p>I need a bigger toolbox ... although most of last year's candidates are still here. Johnson, Sunak, Patel, Braverman ("As thick as pig-shit, basically" - Mark Watson), Rees-Mogg, Shapps, Hancock, Dorries, Cleverly (a new entry, and proof of all the flaws in nominative determinism). We need shot of them all from public life, from public service, because they do us all a <i>dis</i>-service, to say the least. Further afield? Man-child Putin, throwing missiles and young Russians onto the bonfire of his own vanity, the seemingly inevitable comeback from Trump, the dollar-enabled kid-in-a-candy-store that is Elon Musk, the batrachoidal puddle of bigotry that is Farage and all those who conspire to keep him in the news, the perma-tanned barrel-scraping and down-dumbed miasma of reality television, those who are famous for being famous, anyone who applauds themselves on television, oh Jesus, I could go on. I'm not going to pick one person... I'm just begging, hoping beyond hope that 2024 is better. 2023 hasn't been, to the extent that, aside from a few tweaks and updates, I have basically just copied and pasted this paragraph from last year.</p>
<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a>Well, blogger's guilt, I hope that was worth it. But reader ... how was it for you?</p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815567696079354237.post-31332212663818501182023-12-17T07:41:00.014+00:002023-12-17T07:41:00.189+00:00Great moments in music video history #10: Wild Boys<p>Duran Duran were just about the biggest band around when <i>Wild Boys</i> came out, a scarcely believable 39 years ago, and they had a video budget to match. They perhaps hit the peak of video excess with this four minutes of ... well, everything, frankly.</p>
<p>At the time, the red-tops were full of "Le Bon almosts drowns on video set" stories, as I recall. Simon has sought to distance himself from the story in recent years, calling it an urban myth. But the video's choreographer, Arlene Philips of Strictly fame no less, remembers it slightly differently. As you may recall, Le Bon was strapped to the sail of a windmill which rotated and dunked his head underwater whilst he was singing. What can I say, it was the Eighties. Urban myth the near-drowning may be, but Arlene is <a href="https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/arlene-phillips-remembers-the-day-simon-223559" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">quoted</a> as saying, "The windmill stopped when he was under the water and he couldn't breathe. He was stuck there and they had to send divers in to rescue him. It was awful, waiting to see if he was OK. I'll never forget it. It was an amazing video, though. <i>Wild Boys</i> was just the most fabulous, mad video ever."</p>
<p>Of course he didn't nearly drown, and I'm sure he wouldn't have downplayed it if he had. But it does give me all the excuse I need to play this gloriously OTT slice of nostalgia, and dedicate it to The Man Of Cheese, a big Duran fan back in the day - happy birthday, mate.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe class="BLOG_video_class" allowfullscreen="" youtube-src-id="M43wsiNBwmo" width="600" height="498" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/M43wsiNBwmo?modestbranding"></iframe></div>
<p><a title="Tip the author" target="_blank" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L4S56DH82MMM2" ><img alt="Tip the author" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRmA_nRzm1ohTZEGCcS-ZCZKJph6x5OsZ6TIyv86xnUL1qEhG6ZYnGMd7l-2jk5Afe0VNWFfMVK8RBSwxVua4whOBQKQ_Go6DFzstEOkFg7YwSLYei5rZhQiHeK05mstT4XRzWhhA8P8qfcRNVqM47fQfv4suS8_YblZSY0iAw43RLVXR0ucNU6DA/s400/tipjar.png" style="padding: 1px 0 0 1px; float: right; border: 0; "/></a>And P.S. - if you don't sing the intro to this but with a lyric change any time anybody ever mentions the phrase "wild boar" then I'm afraid we need to have words...</p>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05267504526414194713noreply@blogger.com2