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Showing posts with label uk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label uk. Show all posts

Jun 30, 2023

How Old Is This Guy?

BBC Two (1981)
This is the last day that I'm going to be able to make this reference, so I've got to take advantage of it.

Feb 25, 2023

A Close Shave



Jack The Clipper
4 Toynbee Street, London
This goes on the list of places that I'll need to stop if I ever get back to London.  The theme of the shop goes deeper than the "clipper" rhyme; one of the prime suspects for the true identity of Jack The Ripper was a Whitechapel barber named Aaron Kosminski.  You can learn more about the branding of the shop from Architonic (photo source: Viv Lynch).

Feb 2, 2023

Green Comet Over Stonehenge



Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
StonehengeWiltshire, England (2023)
Thousands of photos are taken of Stonehenge every day, but it's probably not too often that the stone monument isn't the oldest thing in the picture.  This incredible photo of C/2022 E3 (ZTF), better known as the Green Comet, was taken on the night of January 31st by Josh Dury.  The comet's path hasn't brought it this close to Earth since the Ice Age, approximately 50,000 years ago.

Dec 24, 2022

Christmas Eve In The Drunk Tank


Fairytale Of New York
The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl (1987)
Fairytale Of New York is one of the most well-known and loved Christmas songs ever recorded, but I didn't even know it existed until eight years ago.  I've never heard it on the radio or on television in the United States, but we spent the holidays in London back in 2014 and I heard it at least a dozen times while we were there.  It's not at all a typical Christmas song, which is why I have fallen in love with it and played it every year since I first heard it.

Sep 29, 2022

Into The Flood Again...



Two of my favorite rock albums ever recorded were released on the same day and are both turning thirty years old today.  I've listened to each of them from front to back countless times throughout middle school and high school, and in the years that followed.

When I was a kid, I used to roll my eyes when my family would tell me that time flies as you get older, but I'll be damned if it isn't true.  Although both of these albums remind me of when I was in high school, they don't feel old to me, but they are.  Hell, The White Album was only 24 years old when Core and Dirt were released, and The Beatles felt like ancient history to me at the time.  Now, I'm writing about two records that I bought when I was a teenager that were released 30 years ago and I'm thinking that they don't seem old.  Dude... time doesn't just fly... it's on a nuclear powered rocket sled, and you don't know that you're riding it until you've got the miles behind you to show how fast you're going.
Stone Temple Pilots (1992)
I was 12 years old when the debut album by Stone Temple Pilots was released.  At the time, I was living in South Florida with my dad, stepmom, and stepsister.  My stepsister, Steph, got me into a lot of hair metal and grunge rock mostly by making mixtapes for me from her collection.  If memory serves, the first Stone Temple Pilots song that she included on one of these mixtapes was Crackerman, but it's been 30 years so I can't say for sure.  I heard a few more songs on MTV and she ended up bootlegging the entire album for me by the end of the year.  When I got my first CD player, this was one of the first albums that I bought, and I still have that same copy to this day.  I can't even imagine how many miles that thing has traveled and how many times I've played it over the years, but both have got to be in the thousands by this point.


My favorite song from this album is Plush, but my favorite version isn't the one that appears on this record.  An acoustic version of the song that was recorded on Headbangers Ball in 1992 was included as the b-side on a few of their singles (including Crackerman).  That's the one that I sing along to in the car when I'm alone, but in the the years since, ScottishTeeVee has shared a 1993 recording from a television show called The Beat that aired on the ITV network at 2:00 am in the United Kingdom.  This clip includes an interview with Scott Weiland and Dean DeLeo that was recorded on a Soho Square park bench in London.  About halfway through the interview, they perform an acoustic version of Plush that is so pure and unrefined that it's become my favorite recording of the song.
Although they were released on the same day, I didn't discover the second studio album by Alice In Chains until I moved back to Pennsylvania in the mid 90's.  It was actually their follow-up EP, Jar Of Flies, that served as my introduction to the band.  It quickly became one of my favorite albums, which inspired me to go back and check out their previous work.  Dirt sticks out in my head because I found the disc without the case or liner notes at a pawn shop when I was a teenager.  I remember that I harvested a CD case from one of the sampler discs that was given away at Gallery Of Sound and printing up a black and white cover from my old dot matrix printer.  It looked like hell, but at least I knew what the album was when it was sitting on the shelf.


Every track on this album is a classic, but my favorite is the final song on the album.  It's called Would? and I originally discovered it on the soundtrack for the 1992 film Singles, which is a movie that I've still never seen to this day despite listening to the soundtrack thousands of times since I was a teenager.  The song was written by Jerry Cantrell as a tribute to his friend, Andrew Wood, who died of a heroin overdose in 1990 at just 24 years old.

Aug 12, 2022

He Built A Snowman For Us



Raymond Briggs
1934 - 2022
The artist and author who taught generations of children about friendship, love, and loss in his 1978 picture book, The Snowman, has died.  He was 88 years old.


Although Mr. Briggs has been adamant in his insistence that The Snowman is not a Christmas story, he allowed his work to be turned into a short animated film that has become a Christmas tradition in homes across the world.  This is how I first became acquainted with his work, but in the years that followed, I've come to appreciate what he meant to share with the world with his book.



Thank you, Mr. Briggs.  

Jun 26, 2022

Every Child In The World Will Know His Name



Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
J.K. Rowling (1997)
Although I don't always agree with its author, I will always be grateful for the stories that she gave to the world.  The first of those stories, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was first published 25 years ago today.

Jun 3, 2022

Live At The Rainbow


Exodus
Bob Marley & The Wailers (1977)
It was 45 years ago today that Bob Marley & The Wailers released their ninth studio album, Exodus.  The band performed at London's Rainbow Theatre the next day in what would be the final show of the Exodus tour, which abruptly ended after 15 shows due to a serious injury suffered by Bob Marley at a football game.

The concert was professionally recorded, with 35mm prints of the show screened at theaters all over the world.  This poster is an advertisement of one of these screenings which took place in Paris.


In June 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the full concert was shared by the official Bob Marley YouTube Channel to raise money through the Spotify Covid-19 Music Relief Project to help support those in the music community who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.  I'm not sure if donations are still being accepted two years later, but the concert is still available to stream and enjoy.

Apr 6, 2022

Arcades Of Southwest England



Joyland Amusements
Cary Parade - Torquay, Devon, UK
I've never been to an arcade in England, but from the look of this photo from the early 1980's, they weren't much different from the ones that we had here in the states.  The three games in the foreground are Amidar, Berzerk, and a game that I'm not familiar with, King Kong (source: Stephen WilbrahamTorquay In Pictures).

Nov 9, 2021

A Dark Valentine To London



Last Night In Soho
Universal Pictures (2021)
This movie covers a lot of ground, and it does so beautifully.  It begins as a coming-of-age story about a young woman who has overcome trauma to leave the countryside to go to London and chase her dreams.  That narrative continues to be told throughout the film, but it gets folded into a world that is part-ghost story, part-detective murder/mystery novel, part-science fiction time travel, and part-psychological horror, all set to an incredible soundtrack with one of the greatest cities in the world as its stage.


The title of this film is from the 1968 psychedelic pop song of the same name by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich.  It was the group's final song to reach the Top 10 in the UK.  Director Allison Anders called it "the greatest title music for a movie that’s never been made" in a conversation with Quentin Tarantino.  He passed this thought on to Edgar Wright, who re-titled the film he was working on and thanked both directors in his credits for the idea.  I think it's the perfect fit.



I'm not going to pretend that I know how to write a movie review that's good enough to compel total strangers to go out and buy a ticket, so I'll just close by saying this.  If anything about this film, whether it's the poster, or the director, or the performers, or the music, or any trailers you may have seen have grabbed your attention in any way, and if you find yourself on the fence when it comes to Last Night In Soho, please allow this entry to be a gentle nudge that pushes you on the side of going to see this movie in theaters.

Oct 15, 2021

The Most Fun You'll Ever Have With Bodily Dismemberment



The Evil Dead
Prince Charles Cinema (1983)
The iconic Sam Raimi horror classic premiered at the Redford Theater in Detroit 40 years ago today.  This beautiful marquee is from two years later when The Evil Dead was showing at the Prince Charles Cinema in London.

Jun 23, 2021

And If A Double Decker Bus Crashes Into Us...



The Queen Is Dead
The Smiths (1986)
Few records have had the impact of the third studio album from The SmithsThe Queen Is Dead was released in the UK on June 16th, 1986 and made its way to the US one week later, which was 35 years ago today.  In 2013, it was named by NME as the greatest album of all time, with the magazine remarking that it's better than anything The Beatles ever did.



Every song on this album is a work of art, but my favorite is There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.  It was co-written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr, and it's one of the most beautifully dark and honest love songs I've ever heard.  It wasn't released as a single until five years after The Smiths broke up, and it stands today as an anthem of the genre and for a generation that grew up in the 80's and 90's that may be understood a little better in 2021, but who weren't understood at all when it really mattered.

Jun 15, 2021

Voices, Another Sound. Can You Hear Me Now?



Forty years ago today, one of my favorite bands released their self-titled debut album.  It included Girls On Film and Planet Earth, both of which cracked the UK Top 20 for Duran Duran.  This advertisement from NME promoted their 11 show Faster Than Light tour in support of the album.

Jan 22, 2021

This Picture Has Never Been Seen Before



Airborne Photographic Exposure Calculator - Mark 5
Science Museum Group
This is a tool that was used on reconnaissance aircraft missions to help them to take clear photographs of the target.  What makes it special to me, however, is the fact that I am the first person to see it on the web.




When you have over a quarter million photos on your website, there are going to be quite a few that get overlooked.  With that in mind, the Science Museum Group has set up this portal that will load a photo from their archive that has zero page views.  Click on this link, then click on the Object Number at the top of the page to see a photo of a museum artifact that has never been seen since it was uploaded to their archive.

Jan 19, 2021

Say Goodbye To The Circus


Nellie The Elephant
Toy Dolls (1983)
In honor of tomorrow's eviction of a certain clown who shall remain nameless, I present to you this cover of a 1956 children's song that was performed in the early 80's by British punk band, Toy DollsClick here to listen.

Lyrics:
To Bombay
A travelling circus came
They brought an intelligent elephant
And Nellie was her name
One dark night
She slipped her iron chain, and off she ran
To Hindustan and was never seen again 
Oooooooooooooooooohhhh...
Nellie the elephant pack her trunk and
Said goodbye to the circus
Off she road with a trumpety trump
Trump trump trump
Nellie the elephant packed her trunk
And trundled off to the jungle
Off she road with a trumpety trump
Trump trump trump 
Night by night she danced to the circus band
When Nellie was leading the big parade she looked
So proud and grand
No more tricks for Nellie to perform
They taught her how to take a bow and she took
The crowd by storm 
Oooooooooooooooooohhhh... 
Nellie the elephant packed her trunk and
Said goodbye to the circus
Off she road with a trumpety trump
Trump trump trump
Nellie the elephant packed her trunk
And trundled off to the jungle
Off she road with a trumpety trump
Trump trump trump 
The head of the herd was calling far far away
They meet one night in silver light
On the road to Mandalay 
Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh... 
Nellie the elephant packed her trunk and
Said goodbye to the circus
Off she road with a trumpety trump
Trump trump trump
Nellie the elephant packed her trunk
And trundled of to the jungle
Off she road with a trumpety trump
Trump trump trump

Dec 12, 2020

Pizza On Earth, Goodwill Towards Pan



Christmas Pizza
Pizza Hut UK (2020)
For a limited time this holiday season, Pizza Hut in the UK is offering a Christmas Pizza.  It's made with rotisserie chicken, crispy bacon, sage and onion stuffing, and it has a red wine gravy base.  Unfortunately, it's not available in the United States, but we did get this festive box that holds three medium pizzas.


Aug 22, 2020

Britpop Gives Me A Sense Of Enormous Well-Being


Parklife
Blur (1994)
The song that introduced the world to Britpop was released as a single 26 years ago today.  It's the fourth track off of the album of the same name which came out in the Spring of 1994.  The music video is virtually guaranteed to put you in a good mood.  If that doesn't work, be sure to sleep in and get up whenever you want, or until you're rudely awakened by the dustmen.