Wednesday 31 August 2022

Bonus CarFest post: Foxy Lady

One more picture from CarFest that I forgot to post yesterday:

Film fans of a certain age may recognise this as the Mirth Mobile from Wayne's World, or at least an AMC Pacer of the right vintage, given a paint job. The drivers took this round the track as Wayne and Garth, complete with wigs and hats, blasting Foxy Lady by The Jimi Hendrix Experience from the speaker you can see mounted below the number plate. Obviously Amusements Minor has never seen Wayne's World, so I tried to explain; I may even have performed a low-key re-enactment of Garth's dance, but the boy died of embarrassment, so I stopped. I should have just shown him this:

Two things: one, this track still absolutely burns, 55 years after release. And two, Tia Carrere: schwing!

Tuesday 30 August 2022

About CarFest

I didn't go to my nearest big festival, Latitude, this year, not even for a day. Nothing on the line-up equated to the expense of a ticket, for me. Instead, the whole Amusements clan decamped to CarFest South instead, and not for a day but for the whole shebang. The Chris Evans-powered festival has grown over the years, and is now a similar size to Latitude, and for the first time was adding prominent book and wellbeing content, billing itself as "seven festivals in one". The obvious preconception for CarFest is that you probably need to have an interest in cars to enjoy it, and watching various exotic, historic and unusual four-wheeled vehicles parade around the track is certainly a focus. But there's a lot more fun to be had, I would say. It also turned out to be the most family-friendly large festival I've ever been to, which might persuade people put off by the petrolhead content. But anyway... in the style of my old Latitude diaries, here's a very brief précis of what we got up to. All photos can be embiggened with a click.

Thursday:

  • The campsite opens a day early to allow people to arrive and pitch at leisure if they wish. We did, and got an excellent pitch for our tent right on the perimeter, close to the car park, far from the noise of the main arena, close enough without being too close to the loos. Perfect, in other words.
  • Drove into nearby Overton for dinner in a pleasant Italian restaurant, then back to the festival site for...
  • Silent Disco : The Big Early. A little stage was set up between the camping area and the entrance to the arenas proper, and a silent disco filled a happy hour. There were three channels of music to choose from, so we donned headsets and got stuck in. Of course this wasn't really a silent disco, since most people were singing along. The headsets had LED lighting, colour-coded to the channel of choice, so you could tell from a cursory glance of the field how popular each channel was by the colour of the listener's headphones. All three channels ended with Bohemian Rhapsody, leading to the biggest and most enjoyable singalong of the lot.

Friday:

  • Show 1 : The Track. Yes, we started with the obvious, it being the CarFest USP. Lots of exotic and historic cars whizzing round a purpose built track. I know this sort of thing isn't for everyone, so I won't include too many pictures, but here are a couple: a lovely Audi Quattro rally car and my personal favourite from the event, a sumptuous Aston Martin DBS.
  • Audi Quattro, CarFest South, 2022 Aston Martin DBS, CarFest South, 2022
  • Esther Rantzen in conversation with Adrian Mills : StarFest stage. Caught the tail-end of this, which seemed to be mostly anecdotes about That's Life, although conversation also turned to Childline and Silverline, and how hard it was to fundraise for charities that focus on the elderly. But we only really went along to be early and ensure a good seat for the next session, which was...
  • Rob Brydon and Philip Glenister in conversation with Linda Barker : StarFest stage. A slightly odd pairing, and an even odder choice of host (yes, it was that Linda Barker who used to be one of the designers on Changing Rooms) but Rob Brydon can't help but be entertaining, and this was a very enjoyable way to pass three quarters of an hour. Then we headed back to the tent for an early tea, via the Cinch paddock to have a look at some more exotic cars, in good time for our return to the action, specifically...
  • Philip Glenister, Rob Brydon and Linda Barker, CarFest South, 2022
  • James Blunt : Main stage. No, I know. Not my usual cup of tea, but worth a listen, as it turned out. Big CarFest learning - everyone (except us) took folding chairs and, as soon as the gates opened, charged to the Main stage, set up their chairs and claimed their patch for the day. In other words, we were sat a long way back. Blunt ran through his hits, we all recognised more than we expected, and even Amusements Minor proclaimed to like one or two.
  • Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Kitchen Disco : Main stage. The breeze picked up a bit during Sophie's set, which played havoc with the sound for those of us sat a long way from the stage. But again, we all recognised more of her back-catalogue than we were expecting, which was nice. Sophie threw in a few covers too, in a nod to the "kitchen disco" she made her own during lockdown, and proved that she can probably do Madonna better than Madonna... Another big CarFest learning - the Main stage actually has two adjacent stages, so there is no waiting around between acts. One act literally follows directly on from the next, which is brilliant. When later asked about this, Chris Evans said the inspiration for it was DJing, and having two decks. Why don't all festivals do this? Anyway, here's a photo of the lovely Sophie E-B.
  • Sophie Ellis-Bextor, CarFest South, 2022
  • Faithless : Main stage. After a bit of a wander, since none of us fancied Tom Walker, it was back to the Main stage for the biggest musical surprise of the whole festival, the surprise being just how much I enjoyed the Faithless set. I was expecting Insomnia and God Is A DJ but I found myself recognising a lot more besides, even if I couldn't name the tracks. I guess I hadn't realised Faithless had been so prolific. Whatever, I found myself enjoying this way more than I had expected. Amazing light show too. Ironically, we headed to bed after set-closer Insomnia... but none of us had any trouble sleeping.

Saturday:

  • Chris Evans : everywhere. Saturday began at 8.30am with Chris Evans leading a convoy of golf buggies around the campsite, horns tooting, Virgin radio blaring, waking everyone up. Whatever you think of the bloke, you've got to admire his energy levels - he was involved in so many aspects of the whole festival, popping up at different stages throughout the weekend, plus introducing all the acts on the Main stage, plus driving some of his own exotic cars around the track, plus, plus, plus...
  • Show 2 : The Track. Started the day with a leisurely breakfast at the tent, before heading to the arenas and then going our separate ways for a bit, Mrs Amusements to the SpaFest stage and Inspiration Hub for some wellbeing sessions, Amusements Minor and I to play crazy golf and then take in another session of dream cars blatting around the track. Particularly impressive was the sight of ex-Formula 1 world champion Jody Scheckter barrelling around the track in a 6.3-litre V8 bi-turbo Mercedes AMG, proving that a fast car is one thing but a fast driver is something else altogether.
  • The Joy Journal for Grown-Ups - Laura Brand in conversation with Russell Brand : StarFest stage. Ostensibly there to talk about her new book, Laura found herself in conversation with ... her husband. Who, inevitably, upstaged her somewhat. There was a huge crowd for this, and we couldn't get very close to see much, but we could hear just fine. Russell, not always everyone's cup of tea, was on fine form.
  • Minnie Driver signing : Waterstone's. Mrs Amusements re-appeared and spirited the boy off somewhere, leaving me free to wander. I found myself in the pop-up on-site Waterstone's, and noticed a sign advertising an imminent appearance by Minnie Driver. I quickly purchased her memoir and got in the queue. What do you say to someone famous at a book signing? Especially someone you've liked for thirty years? Well, I was quite near the front of the queue, so I didn't have long to think. Everyone ahead of me had post-it notes with their name on, stuck to the signing page, but I didn't, so I figured that would be my route in to saying more than just "hello" and "thanks". "Hi," said a fresh-faced and smiley Minnie. "Hello," I managed, proffering my copy of her book, open at the obligatory page. "It's to Martin," I said, "but could you sign it to Martin Blank, in an admittedly quite obvious reference to Grosse Point Blank?" "Aaah," said Minnie, "I see. Then I should probably sign it like this." Whereupon she signed it twice, once as Minnie and then, in brackets, as Debi, her character in GPB. "That's perfect," I said, "thank you." Minnie smiled some more, and that was my meeting with her over (if you can even call that meeting). And in case I didn't love her enough already, she was wearing a Nora Ephron t-shirt. And more was to come.
  • Minnie Driver and Russell Brand in conversation with Chris Evan : StarFest Xtra. Each day, the last StarFest session would be someone in conversation with Chris Evans, not at the StarFest stage but sat on hay-bales in front of the Main stage. This was billed as Minnie Driver but Russell Brand sort of added himself to the bill. I got a great seat for this, and enjoyed nearly an hour of chat - this is what Chris does best, I think. Minnie talked more about her memoir, and Chris even got her to talk about her break-up from Matt Damon, without either of them mentioning the words "Matt" or "Damon". This led to quite an exchange between Russell and Chris, in which the former anticipated a Katy Perry question and pre-emptively replied by bringing up Billie Piper! All of which was made more interesting by the sudden and expected arrival, and addition to the hay-bales, of Russell's wife, Laura. This session was supposed to end at 3.45pm so that Chris could do an interview with Formula 1 driver Lando Norris on the big screen, but a quick audience vote led to that being cancelled and having an extra ten minutes of Minnie and Russell. A real highlight.
  • Chris Evans interviewing Minnie Driver and Russell Brand, CarFest South, 2022
  • Jack Savoretti : Main stage. After a bit of R&R back at the tent, and a bolognese-based dinner poorly cooked by yours truly, we headed back down to the Main stage to take in some of Jack Savoretti. The gravel-throated crooner wasn't really to any of our tastes though, and we listened well enough whilst wandering around the paddock some more, taking in a close-up of some of the cars we'd seen on the track earlier in the day. He's alright, Savoretti, I suppose, but I can't imagine myself ever buying a record of his. Sorry Jack.
  • Judge Jules : Main stage. We needed hot chocolate (or tea, in my case) to get through this. As unexpectedly brilliant as Faithless had been the day before, Judge Jules was, perhaps expectedly (by me, anyway), nothing to write home about. Lots of people seemed to go for their supper during his set. Many families, small kids in tow, just packed up completely. He let off a few fireworks near the end, at least.
  • The Kaiser Chiefs : Main stage. No packing up for us though, the Amusements crew are clearly made of sterner stuff and we made it through to the evening's headliners, though only after I'd played Amusements Minor a couple of tracks on YouTube to maintain his interest. To be honest, the Kaisers were alright, but not much more. Sure, Ricky is an animated and engaging front man but so many of the songs just sound very ... similar. I Predict A Riot and Ruby aside, everything just seemed to merge together. Somewhere, in a field in Hampshire, is a giant tent containing all the chords The Kaiser Chiefs didn't use. Anyway, here's a picture of them in action, taken at the full extent of my old camera's zoom.
The Kaiser Chiefs, CarFest South, 2022

Sunday:

  • The day began in two strands again, as Mrs Amusements took herself off to the Inspiration hub for some more wellbeing sessions whilst the boy and I played crazy golf again (I topped the leaderboard, nine holes in sixteen shots) and did some paintball target-shooting. It's that kind of festival. Then we had a relatively early lunch, because I was very keen to get to...
  • Paula Radcliffe, Steve Cram, Victoria Pendleton and Matty Lee in conversation with Vassos Alexander : StarFest stage. This was very, very popular, drawing one of the largest non-music crowds of the entire festival. And rightly so, considering the sporting achievements of those on-stage. Matty Lee, in case you were wondering, was Tom Daly's dive partner when they won gold at last year's Olympics. Perhaps the recent nature of his acheivement warranted his inclusion with the others, all of whom have been retired for some time. Anyway, as a keen amateur cyclist, I was particularly keen to see and hear Victoria Pendleton, though Crammie was perhaps the most relaxed, natural speaker. Really interesting to hear a difference of opinion from the panel about what sets them, as the elite, apart from us, as amateurs. Nothing, was one view, we could all do if sufficiently motivated. Not so, said Cram, identifying that ultra competitiveness is important, and that you either have that or you don't. I tend to agree. Anyway, my photos of this were spoiled by the couple who, having chosen to sit near the front but behind a family with a push-chair, then stood up throughout. When someone tapped the man on the shoulder and asked him to sit down, he shrugged and said, "Then I wouldn't be able to see," pointing to the pushchair. What a bell-end. So these are the best pictures I managed - sorry Matty.
  • Vassos Alexander interviewing Paula Radcliffe and Steve Cram, CarFest South, 2022 Victoria Pendleton, CarFest South, 2022
  • Rob Brydon and Jimmy Carr in conversation with Chris Evans : StarFest Xtra. Another chat-show performance from Chris on the hay-bales in front of the main stage, this time with Rob Brydon who, with his family, had been at the entire festival, and car-enthusiast Jimmy Carr. This was another very funny and very popular session that, as the previous day's had, ran over time, but nobody was complaining. As you can see from the photograph below, Chris had to drape a hastily-provided sweatshirt over his lap, for fear of exposing himself, as he was wearing quite loose and short running shorts, having taken part in the CarFest fun-run earlier in the day.
  • Chris Evans interviewing Rob Brydon and Jimmy Carr, CarFest South, 2022
  • Natalie Imbruglia : Main stage. The rest of Team Amusements went off to find the F1 simulator, whilst I stayed at the Main stage to watch what turned out, for me, to be the absolute musical highlight of the whole festival. There's a temptation to think that, just because Natalie made her name in Neighbours, that she was just another soap-star who jumped on the Minogue/Donovan bandwagon. But by god, she can really sing! Okay, so some of the new material might be a little too MOR for my taste generally, but she has enough of a recognisable back-catalogue for the set to be very entertaining. And as she bounced around the stage in what could be described as an over-emphasised jog as much as a dance, it was easy to cast my mind back to the late 90s and remember that she actually established a bit of street-cred for herself back then, far removed from the SAW-beginnings of her soap-mates. I went into this thinking, okay, it'll be nice to hear Torn live, but came away feeling that Natalie was the highpoint of the weekend's musical offerings. Here she is.
Natalie Imbruglia, CarFest South, 2022 Natalie Imbruglia, CarFest South, 2022

And that's where we left it. We didn't hang around for The Horne Section, or Sunday headliner Paloma Faith, because we were all knackered and I had a long drive to do. What do I think of CarFest, then? Well, I think it still needs to strengthen its programme a little, if it is truly going to bill itself as "seven festivals in one", but it does have something for everyone, plus exotic cars the likes of which you'd never see elsewhere. As I mentioned earlier, it's the most family-friendly festival I've ever been too: I saw no "casualties" of over-indulgence anywhere, there were hardly any herbal aromas floating over the Main stage crowd to explain to the boy, and there were plenty of things we could all see or do together. Even the camping field was pretty quiet from about midnight on. It might not have the strongest music programme but yes, I'd recommend it, and the consensus amongst the family was a solid eight out of ten... which is probably a shade higher than I would have rated my day at Latitude last year. Make of that what you will.

Saturday 27 August 2022

Great moments in music video history #7: Just

I was reminded of this video recently by a post at the always-excellent No Badger Required, which described the video thus (I hope it's okay to quote verbatim):

"You of course will all recall the marvellous video to ‘Just’. A man can be seen lying on the ground in a street (actually shot behind Liverpool Street Station in London town). Slowly a bunch of people start talking to the man who lying on the pavement. Subtitles appear on the screen displaying the conversation that is taking place between the chap on the ground and the people around him. He refuses to tell them why he is lying on the ground. Meanwhile the band watch the proceedings out of a nearby window.

Eventually the man does explain, but cheekily the subtitles vanish at the same time, but what we do know is that all the other people all suddenly lie down on the ground with the original man and we never find out what was said and the band have never revealed it, in a Guardian interview about six years later, a journalist actually asked them and Thom Yorke said that if he told him “We would all have to lie down on the floor” with a smile and so the debate raged on (the real answer is of course that Piers Morgan was just around the corner, giving away free tickets for his telly programme and most people would rather be pretend to be dead that be on that)."
[Source]

I can't describe it any better (or even as well) as that. What's your theory on what makes everyone lie down?

Tuesday 23 August 2022

More new to NA: The Mountain Goats

Another fortuitous Bandcamp find, this is Training Montage by The Mountain Goats, from their new album Bleed Out:

Listen to the lyrics and it's pretty clear what sort of training montage the band have in mind...

Monday 22 August 2022

Monday long song: The Return of the Giant Hogweed

I was listening to Radcliffe and Maconie's excellent 6 Music show over the weekend and they played a show ident of some deliciously smooth Radio 4-esque voice (Charlotte Green, maybe) saying, "Radcliffe and Maconie - immune to all your herbicidal batterings." This made me smile, a lot, because it's a reference to this slice of eccentric brilliance from Gabriel-era Genesis.

Sunday 21 August 2022

Sunday shorts: Pop Art Poem

Technically this is six or seven seconds too long to qualify as a Sunday Short, but sod it, my gaff, my rules.

I remember the first time I heard this so vivdly. It was given away as a bright yellow cover-mounted flexi-disc with the short-lived Flexipop magazine back in February 1981. My brother bought that (I wonder if he still has it?) and played it repeatedly on the big old wood-veneer music centre that sat in one corner of the living room. Me, not yet eleven, was gobsmacked. I taped it, of course (home taping didn't kill music after all), together with the second track (a rough demo of Boy About Town) and in the years that followed I put it on so many mix-tapes, whenever and wherever I had a gap to fill at the end of a side that was too short for a "normal" song. I think I also liked having a rare track to hand, maybe something that my mates hadn't heard.

Of course Pop Art Poem would eventually surface on mop-up collection Extras in April 1992, and then my rarity trump card was gone. To me, though, this still sounds great.

Saturday 20 August 2022

Great moments in music video history #6: Sun Hits The Sky

When this was released, keyboardist and brother-of-Gaz Rob Coombes hadn't officially joined the band, though he had been recording with them. The first half of the video for Sun Hits The Sky sees Rob travelling across a parched landscape in a Messerschmitt bubble car, hoping to arrive at the desert where the band are playing in time for his keyboard solo. Will he make it, viewers? What tension!

As an aside, I've been re-evaluating my thoughts on Supergrass lately. Back in the day, they didn't quite hit the mark for me... but I'm starting to think I gave them short shrift.

Anyway, here's the video.

Friday 19 August 2022

Too new to be named

You've probably seen this before, being the articulate, well-read, well-versed consumers of all things pop-cultural that you are. But I'm going to post it anyway, because I love it. This is the first TV appearance anywhere, ever, for R.E.M. on Letterman, all the way back in October 1983.

They run through Radio Free Europe first, then, after a brief interview by Dave in which Peter and Mike do all the answering whilst Michael sits out of shot, they run through a new song, as yet untitled. "Too new to be named," quips Dave. It turns out to be So. Central Rain and is so new that Peter fluffs a chord change about 70 seconds into it.

Anyway, the picture quality isn't great but I love this. The sound has been cleaned up, at least. I think what I like most about the clip though is the interview section in the middle. Peter and Mike seem bright and alert, quick to answer, innocent and keen ... at this stage they have not already been asked every question you can possibly imagine a thousand times over. Oh to be young and excited and looking forwards...

Thursday 18 August 2022

Twenty-two in '22: I, Partridge

I've set myself modest reading targets in each of the last three years and failed every time (I managed 17 books in '19, 11 in '20 and 18 in '21), so I'm determined to read twenty two books in 2022. I'll review them all here.

I, Partridge by Alan Partridge

9/22: I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan by Alan Partridge

The blurb:

Journalist, presenter, broadcaster, husband, father, vigorous all-rounder: Alan Partridge. Star of action blockbuster Alpha Papa; a man with a fascinating past and an amazing future.

Gregarious and popular, yet Alan’s never happier than when relaxing in his own five-bedroom, south-built house with three acres of land and access to a private stream. But who is this mysterious enigma?

Alan Gordon Partridge is the best – and best-loved – radio presenter in the region. Born into a changing world of rationing, Teddy Boys, apes in space and the launch of ITV, Alan’s broadcasting career began as chief DJ of Radio Smile at St. Luke’s Hospital in Norwich. After replacing Peter Flint as the presenter of Scout About, he entered the top 8 of BBC sports presenters.

But Alan’s big break came with his primetime BBC chat show Knowing Me, Knowing You. Sadly, the show battled against poor scheduling, having been put up against News at Ten, then in its heyday. Due to declining ratings, a single catastrophic hitch (the killing of a guest on air) and the dumbing down of network TV, Alan’s show was cancelled. Not to be dissuaded, he embraced this opportunity to wind up his production company, leave London and fulfil a lifelong ambition to return to his roots in local radio.

Now single, Alan is an intensely private man but he opens up, for the second time, in this candid, entertaining, often deeply emotional – and of course compelling – memoir, written entirely in his own words. (Alan quickly dispelled the idea of using a ghost writer. With a grade B English Language O-Level, he knew he was up to the task.)

He speaks touchingly about his tragic Toblerone addiction, and the painful moment when unsold copies of his first autobiography, Bouncing Back, were pulped like ‘word porridge’. He reveals all about his relationship with his ex-Ukrainian girlfriend, Sonja, with whom he had sex at least twice a day, and the truth about the thick people who make key decisions at the BBC.

A literary tour de force, I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan charts the incredible journey of one of our greatest broadcasters.

The review: first things first, this isn't actually written by Alan Partridge, what with him being - spoiler alert - a fictional construct. Rather, this has been penned by long-time Partridge writers Neil and Rob Gibbons, with Armando Iannucci and Steve Coogan. So you're in safe hands.

Next, of course, is the fact that this is a parody of a memoir, in the same way that Partridge himself is a parody of ... well, so many failed media types, and latterly/inadvertently Richard Madeley. The book is basically a comedic pastiche of awful celebrity memoirs, the sort that flood the shelves of Waterstone's and W H Smith in the run-up to Christmas. And the writing is good enough that it works on that level, as you would expect from these authors. But - and it's a reasonably sized but - it only really works if the reader is sufficiently well versed in Alan's backstory.

This is because, as you would imagine, Alan is a terrifically unreliable narrator. There is much humour to be had, then, from Alan's self-serving recollections of events with the version of those same events that you are already familiar with from On The Hour, The Day Today, KMKY, I'm Alan Partridge, and so on. The comedy comes, not from the events themselves, but from Alan's after-the-event reinterpretations that, coincidentally always paint him in a good light ... needless to say, in his version Alan nearly always has the last laugh.

Another fine source of humour is delivered by Alan's repeated attempts to show how little certain past events have upset or stayed with him, only for the subtext to reveal otherwise.

I would say it's all here but it isn't: the events of Alpha Papa are not covered (despite what the blurb suggests), and it's not up-to-date enough to cover This Time either. That said, pretty much everything else that has seen Coogan as Partridge, on radio or TV, gets woven neatly into the story; there's a fine line to be trodden here between touching on past output and rehashing too much, so I'm pleased to report that the authors get the balance pretty much bang on throughout.

Of course, riffing on past output is both the book's greatest strength and biggest weakness. Fans will delight in the details, congratulate themselves on picking up references and laugh again as favourite moments from Alan's past get the memoir treatment. However, if you are not a consumer of all things Partridge, well, you're going to struggle a bit, aren't you? For you, it's just made-up nonsense about a made-up person.

The bottom line: a well-constructed and genuinely funny read for existing Partridge aficionados, but understandably unlikely to win over any new fans.

Since everything online is rated these days: ★★★★☆☆

Wednesday 17 August 2022

Rain

Finally, enough rain to top up the water butts, if not to get excited about. Here's an of-its-time (1991) nearly-hit from Rain: Lemonstone Desired.

Next, a song superficially about rain, from contemporaries of Rain (although this was from some time later): When It Rains by The Real People.

And I've posted it before but finally, Rain - a song that would be many bands' highpoint but that this lot could throw out as a B-side.

Enjoy the rain. Avoid areas that flood. And at the risk of, ahem, raining on anyone's parade, remember this year's messed-up weather, the hot and the wet, is all down to anthropogenic climate change.

You just don't like people

A wee while ago, after I had offered up a harsh but (in my view) justified opinion of someone, Mrs Amusements, perhaps feeling that I had been unkind, frustratedly declared, "Well, you just don't like people."

This stung a bit, at the time, but on reflection I think she may be right. I have always been colossally intolerant; indeed, The Man Of Cheese and I used to light-heartedly call ourselves The Intolerance Twins. But I think it goes beyond that; maybe I am just not very nice.

Yesterday I was not very nice, and to someone who deserves all the niceness in the world. To compound it all, I'm now going to upset the blogosphere by embedding a track by SPM. I would say sorry but, as I think we have already established, I'm not very nice.

Tuesday 16 August 2022

Film '82: The Thing

Saw this on Twitter and it made me smile, and marvel at the talent of people. Obviously I retweeted it, but I'm not what you'd call an influencer, and I don't have a great number of engaged followers. Whatever. I thought I'd post it here, only in part so I can always find it again...

Saturday 13 August 2022

Great moments in music video history #5: Come Into My World

This is from 2002, around the time I used to refer to Kylie as "the future wife". As well as delusional, this didn't go down too well with my partner at the time, now ex. Anyway, here are multiple Kylies - just what we need in these unbearably hot and indescribably grim days.

It's not just Kylie that multiplies, of course. Half the fun of this video is seeing everything in the background replicate too. As such it bears repeat viewing - that's what I told the ex anyway...

Friday 12 August 2022

Blue Friday: Benson, Arizona

From the title sequence of John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon's budget debut, Dark Star:

A million suns shine down but I see only one
When I think I'm over you I find I've just begun
The years move faster than the days, there's no warmth in the light
How I miss those desert skies, your cool touch in the night...

Wednesday 10 August 2022

...and away

Fundació Joan Miró

I've been away. I'm back for a while, maybe not for long. So here's a time-based photograph from my spell away.

Police Municipale building