Today at 11pm the UK
leaves the European Union something that I’m still shocked is actually
happening. It flies in the face of the way the world works but there you go.
All I wanted to do today in this post is re-iterate what I said back in 2016
during the referendum which is that, while by no means perfect, the EU as an
organisation is far more interested in people and need than our own government
– whichever party is in power – has ever been. They understand better the
social and economic disparities that exist and they are prepared- and able- to
do something about it. As I said back in 2016 the EU basically saved Liverpool
from the Tories idea of “managed decline” which is political shorthand for
abandoning a place. No government should ever chose to write off swathes of the
country and even though the actual policy was never officially taken up it was
essentially followed simply by lack of investment or initiatives.
A blog about new and old culture + photo posts and more. Also visit my alt blog : thiswayupzinealt.blogspot.com / Website: www.johnconnorswriter.com / Instagram: johnconnors100 / X (aka Twitter) @JohnConnors100
31/01/2020
29/01/2020
The Other Side of the Coin
It says
something about this country that there is more fuss about the grammar printed on
the commemorative Brexit fifty pence coin than there is about the existence of
the coin itself. What is slightly more interesting however is that this
relatively low denomination was chosen to mark the occasion. The way Leavers go
on you’d think nothing less than a £2 coin would be sufficiently prestigious.
Or perhaps we should re-work all our currency to include the message, sans
Oxford comma and all? The ultimate irony is that coins themselves are on the
way out so what we have is a symbolic if fairly meaningless gesture on a low
value coin in a format that is fading out.
27/01/2020
Good Omens review
A 1990 collab
by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman Good
Omens has been described as un-filmable and had resisted previous efforts
to do so. Apparently due to a dying wish from Pratchett, Gaiman himself wrote
this miniseries adaptation which first appeared last May on Amazon, was then
released to buy and is now showing on BBC2. If, like me, you never read the
book, then it is an unexpected delight for the most part. Fronted by two superb
performances and packed with quirky takes on familiar imagery plus sparkling
dialogue it is a dense but enjoyable story.
Spoilers past
this point
24/01/2020
Top of the Pops 17 Jan 1985
Reviewed by Chris
Arnsby. Gary Davies: "Hi. How you doing? Welcome to Top of the Pops.
Hope you're warm. Hope you're well. We've got a very busy show for you tonight,
haven't we, Pete?" Peter Powell: "We have indeed. To start us a Dutch
duo called The Limit, who've got a record which is at 19 going up 18 places.
And it's called Saaaay Yeah!
[19] The Limit: Say Yeah. There are four people in
The Limit. Maybe the technical term for four people is a Dutch duo, like a
Baker's dozen, in which case I bow to Peter Powell's superior knowledge of
numerical terms.
Peter Powell turns in a very low energy introduction that,
and his inability to count to four, might be because he is distracted by
microphone problems. Literally as the show starts he's fumbling discretely with
the cable running out of his back trouser pocket, and behind him an
unfashionably dressed middle-aged (gasp) man tries to sneak out of the secret
DJ exit by the neon Top of the Pops logo. I'm guessing this chap is part
of the studio sound crew; maybe it's Bob Foley the appropriately named Sound
Supervisor, or Technical Co-ordinator Ray Hider. The Limit is a Dutch duo of
three men and one women. The men are all weedy looking fashion disasters with
bad hair. The lead singer needs to do something about his straggly neckline. (John- The singer is Gwen Guthrie who will have a hit in 1986 called `Nothing Going on but the Rent`)
15/01/2020
1917 review
This is an
awesome, powerful and very exciting film which its trailers can’t really encapsulate
simply because of the way it works. Shot to look like one continuous take 1917 brings the audience into trenches,
across No Man’s Land and beyond in an immersive narrative following two
soldiers on a vital mission. The thing is after a few minutes you start to
forget the camera trickery because it feels like you are there. OK we don’t have
the stench and the risk and the mud but as a cinematic experience of another
time and place this film comes closer than most.
Some – but not all -Spoilers beyond this
point
13/01/2020
Top of the Pops 3 Jan 1985
Reviewed by Chris
Arnsby. Richard Skinner: "Just when you thought the party season was
over we've got another reason to celebrate. Top of the Pops is 21 years old
today and we're going into a new year with a brand-new shape to the
programme." John Peel: "Yes, we'll tell you more about that later on
but we've got a great start to this programme. This is Police Officer, Smiley
Culture."
[34] Smiley Culture: Police Officer. "A
brand-new shape to the programme". That sounds bad. It reminds me of
reading "Exciting News for all Readers Inside!" on the front of a
comic. The news was always that my favourite comic was merging with a bigger
selling rival, and none of the strips I liked would survive the transition. (John- Plus the price was going up) Starlord
we hardly knew ye; looks like you were finally caught by the satanic forces of
the INSTERSELLAR FEDERATION.
Richard Skinner makes a big deal of the 21st
anniversary. No one else does. Unlike last year there are no archive clips or
old DJs. Michael Hurll normally takes any excuse for a party; in 1982 Top of
the Pops marked 15 years of Radio 1, in 1983 it was the 1000th
edition, in 1984 we had the 20th anniversary and the Bank Holiday live train
special. Maybe everyone's just partied out. 1984 started with Frankie Goes to
Hollywood. 1985 starts with Smiley Culture. It's not really my type of song but
I've got to admire its prominent placing, use of the word ganja straight after
the 6.30 regional news programmes (It's the North, Scotland Now, South
Today, Lake District in Focus, Up the West-East, East Anglia the Hard Way,
Wales Kept Where It Belongs, No Sex Please We're the Midlands, and so on),
and the backing line-up of brass playing rozzers makes for a memorable image.
10/01/2020
Kedgeree?
Imagine for a
moment you’re staying in an enormous country house with its minarets, pillars and
polished floors. Rooms are the size of tennis courts and the foyer is dominated
by a grand richly carpeted staircase. Its breakfast and your host asks if you’d
like “Kedgeree”. “Er no thanks, just coffee and toast, mate” “Oh but cook has
spent the last two hours making it” (Incidentally nobody knows the name of `cook`) “Have you got any porridge?” “No but we
have got kedgeree!” “Bacon? “ “Kedgeree!” There’s an edge to their voice now
making it clear that this is all they have! So you acquiesce and moments later
the sound of the approaching squeeeky wheeled Kedgeree Wagon is audible…
04/01/2020
Space 1999 - Collision Course & Death's Other Dominion
Collision Course
We enter the action right away as the Alphans prepare to blow up an asteroid that would otherwise collide with them. Worryingly the Alphans go-to solution for most problems appears to be to break out the nuclear charges which have a rather neat B&Q look about them. During the mission Alan Carter’s Eagle malfunctions and at first it looks as if he doesn’t make it back before the blast. However for reasons that are not initially clear John Koenig goes out on a limb to find him only to uncover a second and more serious collision course. A massive planet it headed right for them. And this makes Prentis Hancock, already simmering, even more irritated.
We enter the action right away as the Alphans prepare to blow up an asteroid that would otherwise collide with them. Worryingly the Alphans go-to solution for most problems appears to be to break out the nuclear charges which have a rather neat B&Q look about them. During the mission Alan Carter’s Eagle malfunctions and at first it looks as if he doesn’t make it back before the blast. However for reasons that are not initially clear John Koenig goes out on a limb to find him only to uncover a second and more serious collision course. A massive planet it headed right for them. And this makes Prentis Hancock, already simmering, even more irritated.
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