A little question that is vexing me because I can’t quite square up the facts.

I think I do believe that in general attention spans are getting shorter, with everything vying for our attention these days, and 10 second tiktok videos (ask your kids) all the rage.

So why are TV shows so long? And how do all these people with apparently short attention spans find the time to watch them?

I’ve lost count of how many different series of Star Wars there are, and now we also have extended seasons of Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones all over the place.

I’m a bit averse to it, truth be told. I think the art of telling a concise story with a beginning and an end is being lost, and the assumption seems to be that more is always better. The current show I’m watching (finally) is Breaking Bad and to be honest it’s so slow it’s quite tortuous. I’m on the second last season so I’ll stick to the end, but then I need to decide whether to also watch the spin off movie and the spin off Better Call Saul series (which is now far longer » Continue Reading.

I’m having one of those days where everything confuses me and I am struggling to comment on any thread here because I don’t really know what I think about anything. I don’t mind the Queen, I’m not sure what I feel about vitamin supplements and i still don’t really know how to spell Django Reinhardt properly without looking it up.

So I’m just going off on a completely different tangent and reminding you all that Close To The Edge by Yes was released 50 years ago today.

It’s rather good, innit?

The revelation that Revolver is being released in a ‘Dolby Atmos’ mix has made me question just what that actually means. I’m getting a distinct whiff of snake oil.

I get that if you have a surround system (ie speakers all round your room) then you are going to get a surround experience.

But if you play through headphones… eh? How is that a surround experience? You don’t suddenly grow more ears, do you? The sound is still coming out from two sound sources, so isn’t it still just… stereo….?

I’ve attached a link to a YouTube demo of Dolby Atmos sound, but without a proper a/b test to compare to equivalent non-Dolby Atmos sound I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be hearing. Yes there are whizzes and objects flying around me, but that’s possible to do with a stereo mix anyway… And the fact I’m listening on headphones makes it by definition a stereo mix… Doesn’t it?

What am I not getting?

Applying for a sideways secondment at work so I was dusting off the old CV (last updated in 2914 folks) and it occurred to me that my email address is a bit old fashioned. I still use a hotmail.com address, since about 1998 or sonething, although I was sensible enough to go with my full name, no bells or whistles or numbers or crazy nicknames or anything. It’s now tangled up in all my logins, from facebook to this place, so would be hard to untangle now.

So I’ll keep using it, although I’ve only just realised that to anyone under 30 (40??) a hotmail email address probably looks as ridiculous as yahoo or MySpace. That email address on my cv, along with my total lack of presence on LinkedIn, is probably the biggest thing scuppering my chances of rising to the top of the corporate world, the digital dog eat digital dog place.

I always feel the need to end my afterword posts with a question, just to maintain the illusion I actually have point to make. So here it is.

What’s your online giveaway that you are vintage and not hip to the millennial newness? Does anyone » Continue Reading.

Inspired by a throwaway comment by Hedgey on the Who thread, here’s a wee game.

I’ll name three acts I like (somewhat in the same sphere, not totally disparate, just to give a fighting chance). And you have to name three acts you think I also like based on my taste.

Then anyone else can have a go as well.

Otherwise, just ignore and let this thread go to tumbleweed. Who knows. 🙂

My three: – Tom Waits (late period) – Bob Dylan (early period) – Ralph McTell

What do you think of The Who?

I like them, but they are hard to love.

They were one of the top tier singles acts in the peak ’64-’68 UK pop period. But realistically, for every earth-shaking hit (My Generation, I Can See For Miles) there is at least one equal and opposite mis-step (Happy Jack, Boris the Spider). I don’t see them as consistent as the Kinks or the Stones in that period, for example.

Tommy in 1969 was a line in the sand, a grand statement of the intention to move from pop to rock. Not just rock, but overblown, progressive, theatrical rock. I like it and still listen to it from time to time, but it’s hampered by too many patchy filler songs and outright Freudian weirdness, making it an uneasy listen.

Live at Leeds was another line in the sand, an attempt to show they could rock just as hard as Zeppelin and the rising heavy bands. It’s the album of theirs I dip into the most (the full length version, not the original single LP), but despite it being a great performance it feels stylistically like they are all over the place, neither blues nor » Continue Reading.

Not that I usually follow this. But I thought it worth mentioning as Alan Garner is on the longlist this year for Treacle Walker. 87 years old! A great man and a great book. Go Alan!

https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/2022

(Arthur with his usual cutting edge commentary on current events).

Believe it or not, I’m actually fairly well read and fairly knowledgeable about musical. For some reason, my natural instinct on THIS place is to talk about the gaps in my knowledge, the big things I haven’t read and haven’t listened to.

Well, here’s another one. Only 130 years or so behind the curve, I’ve just read Tess for the first time. Admittedly there are some long, boring bits where you just want to strangle the girl for not having the gumption to stand up for herself, but as on overall experience it has blown me away.

The evocation of a rural landscape, and the dying of a farming culture, is fantastic. Plot-wise, I had no idea of the twists and turns that awaited our heroine, and the story was immensely moving, especially in the forbidding, poignant, spectral closing chapters. I love how the title turns out to be ironic, which I wasn’t expecting.

Although I realise it’s 130 years old and so it’s silly to talk of plot spoilers, I still don’t want to say any more in case there are others like me who genuinely don’t » Continue Reading.

“David Crosby called “unkind schmuck” for criticising fan’s artwork” – NME headline, see link.

This is gold, and probably right up the Afterword street. Have a look at the artwork in question and let us all know what you think.

I’ll wait until others have posted their view before I chip in. I’m much too nice to give my honest opinion that it looks like something a five year old would draw… OOOOOPS!

https://www.nme.com/news/music/david-crosby-called-unkind-schmuck-for-criticising-fans-artwork-3272408

Stolen from a reddit thread I saw, so I can’t take credit for the question, but I like it so thought I would post it here.

Of course, many of you might want to answer ‘it doesn’t matter because taste is subjective and I don’t care what people think about my taste’, but then you would be a spoilsport and probably lying to yourself because you secretly believe in your own good taste.

I will have a think about my answer. This is a big question. It’s not just ‘my favourite song’, but is kind of ‘the song I am happy for people to think of as demonstrative of my taste in music’.

Just had to share this. I’d never heard of this film before, and when I first saw this 20 second clip I assumed it was a modern computer animated thing. It’s astonishing, so beautifully done, and I was amazed it was a genuine shot, years before Goodfellas or Hitchcock, or even Citizen Kane.

And as a bonus, spot the lesbian couple on table three!

I was going to wait until the monthly Blogger Takeover thing to post about what I have been listening to this month, but I couldn’t wait. I’m going through a particularly fertile period of discovering old-but-new-to-me music and I’ve decided (a mere 50 years too late) that Supper’s Ready by Genesis could be the Greatest Song of All Time. Where has this masterpiece been all my life??

I have so much to say about this song, but equally I find it hard to organise my thoughts and articulate them. I know I know I know that at its heart it’s overblown prog nonsense at its deadliest, but that over-the-topness is the thing that makes it great.

I always think of Spielberg’s response to (I think) George Lucas expressing doubt about the ridiculous scene in Jaws where the shark jumps on to the boat. Spielberg said (from memory) something like, if I can keep the audience with me for 90 minutes until that point, they’ll buy anything. And that’s what Supper’s Ready is like, a bit: it draws you in, it keeps you with it, so when it gets to the truly overblown ridiculous stuff towards the end (even ignoring » Continue Reading.

Who watched this?

For anyone who doesn’t know, Derry Girls is a Channel Four sitcom about teenagers growing up in ’90s Northern Ireland. There have been three series and the last ever episode was on last night.

While generally funny and scabrous, it always managed to bring a touch of seriousness into the mix, and felt emotionally and politically “true” despite sometimes getting into slapstick territory on the surface. I think most comedy fans would agree it’s been one of the best sitcoms in years.

I thought the final episode last night was terrific, and it was a great idea to tie it into the Good Friday Agreement referendum. It acted as a very nice education piece, as well as keeping the jokes flying throughout. It’s been the right decision to draw the line there (if for nothing else to quit before the cast start getting too old looking): I generally like comedies that are brave enough to end on a high rather than drag things out for years to diminishing returns (Only Fools and Horses being a rare exception for me).

So, it’s a standing ovation from me. With the cap now closed on three perfect series, 19 episodes » Continue Reading.

I can’t believe this is actually happening. A one off special. Glory be!

In the five years its been off air I think my fondness for Detectorists has grown with every rewatch.

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/6853/new-detectorists-special/

Old Word blog stalwarts like myself will remember my CLASSIC thread “Yes vs Pink Floyd” which ran for years and gathered OVER A HUNDRED COMMENTS of WITTY and INTERESTING points!!

In the spirit of that magnificent thread, I would like to ask a simple question: who is better, Tangerine Dream or Kraftwerk?

My own answer in the comments.

See link

https://www.loudersound.com/news/pink-floyd-to-release-brand-new-single-hey-hey-rise-up

My mother in law is just back from a two week holiday in Seville. One night she saw what she described as a fantastic musician, some guy playing amazing flamenco guitar with all sorts of fancy backing tracks. I am sure that fired up by the holiday atmosphere and the wine it must have been a good night, and she made a point of telling me all about this guy, as she knows me as “the music lover”.

“I bought a CD from him, so I will lend you it, I’m sure you will love it!”, she told me, ominously.

She dropped off the CD the other morning with a handwritten note to me. I won’t tell you the musician’s name because that would be rude. Not that I think any of us will have ever heard of him. I’m sure he’s a very nice guy and he seems to be making a pleasant living from his music, so more power to him and I don’t want to mock him.

And, as expected, the music is… well, nothing special. Nicely played, inoffensive, but bland. I only got about half way through. Muzak, in other words. 2am Ceefax music.

The next » Continue Reading.

Anyone watching this? I’m enjoying it.

It’s a four episode reality show currently on the BBC and the last episode is next week. Martin Kemp and Lady Leshurr (me neither) assemble and manage rival bands to play the Isle of Wight Festival. The gimmick is that all the members have to be over 64 years old. It’s a test to see if old rockers are up to it.

The participants are all likable and have interesting life stories to tell, most of them still clinging in their advanced years to the addictive lure of rock and roll from their youth, but just never having gotten that lucky break into proper success.

Some of it is painful – you realise how essential the poise and energy of youth is to rock performance. These guys REALLY have to work hard to even sound like a passable pub rock act. And it’s so difficult and hearbreaking to watch when some of them have to be cut from the lineup for not coming up to scratch. But for all that it’s such a feelgood vibe that you are willing them to succeed all the way, which makes it totally compelling.

I found myself a » Continue Reading.

Curious about people’s views on this.

I’ve been down a bit of a reading rabbit hole recently where reading Alan Garner’s later (adult) books has led me to revisit his earlier (children’s) books, which has then led me into other children’s fantasy fiction like Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander and Ursula K LeGuin. I only realised last night while reading in public (poolside at my son’s swimming lessons reading Elidor) that I felt self-conscious. That big Puffin on the spine of the book probably looks ridiculous in the hands of a grown man.

Do you get self-conscious reading children’s books? Especially in public? Or do you avoid it BECAUSE you feel self-conscious? Or do you think adults should avoid children’s fiction as a rule? Is there maybe a line you shouldn’t cross (ie, Harry Potter is okay but Roald Dahl is a step too far)?

Personally, I think many children’s books have an admirable brevity and directness that adult books could do with a bit more of. Many of these books I am reading now were ones I bypassed when I was younger, so I’m justified in getting to them now. Plus i think the line is blurred between the two » Continue Reading.

Reading a couple of posts on here recently, I found myself peering curiously at a few of you folks’ avatars. You know, those little icon/picture/profile pic things that appear at the top of any comment you make.

Anyway, it set me wondering what some of them are, and if there are any obscure in-jokes I’m missing.

So here’s the chance to explain your avatar.

Mine: It’s actor Charles Martin Smith. In this case from the movie The Untouchables. No particular reason. A few years ago I made the decision that whenever I joined any kind of social media platform I would use Charles Martin Smith, as I quite like the guy. So if you ever see someone using Charles Martin Smith on any social media platform out there, there’s a good chance it’s me.

Just thought I should post this here as I haven’t seen anyone mention it and I know there are a lot of Unthanks fans on here.

Please don’t ask me for specific details as I don’t know! I’ve been too busy to read up on it. The Unthanks are doing some sort of three-day online workshop singing/discussion course of some kind over this weekend (21-23 January). I don’t know what’s really involved but it’s FREE (or, donations optional, rather….) which is probably the main point.

I’ve signed up anyway, but I’m doubtful if I’ll have the time for it this weekend. Anyway, the link is there for anyone who is interested.

https://www.unthankstour.com/