Him out of Ken Russell’s The Devils

Carrie Underhand, the Pillage People and a bunch of rappers no one has ever heard of are already boiled on.

Any last minute suggestions The Donald might approach?

Sounds innaresting

Amazing the bite that he and the boys have packed into just under three minutes.

Wish he’d hurry up and announce his European tour

Ordered a copy of Jason Isbell’s 10th anniversary Southland box from Amazon UK yesterday evening at 5 pm

Delivered to my door here in Roscommon at 1030 am this morning.

Didn’t even know he was booked to appear.

He and his new band the chrome Hearts will apparently be doing other outdoor gigs around the UK and Europe. this summer.

While hope he comes to Ireland, pray it isn’t Croke Park

Follow on to the “Best TV from the first Half of 2024” thread from earlier in the year so have done my best – probably not always successfully – to minimize duplication.

As in previous years, there’s no poll (feel free to start a dedicated TV vote if you wish) – just a overview of what I – and hopefully you – thought was worthwhile watching.

BEST OF THE BEST

An excellent year for TV in general and for Netflix which began the year on a high with the Aussie series BOY SWALLOWS UNIVERSE, a captivating twist on dysfunctional family dramas. With RIPLEY and BABY REINDEER continuing to keep the standard high, the streamer ended the year with the one-two punch of a couple of very more-ish thrillers, THE MADNESS and BLACK DOVES.

ITV also had a pretty good year starting off with MR BATES AND THE POST OFFICE and climaxing with Anna Maxwell Martin (Motherland, Line of Duty) as the off-kilter female protagonist of UNTIL I KILL YOU.

With the channel having emerged more or less unscathed from its attempted euthanasing by Mad Nad, C4 delivered more than its fair share of bangers, too. Chief » Continue Reading.

Joe Biden pardons Hunter and skedaddles to Africa leaving his aides to handle the flak

struck by an overwhelming desire to hear Joan Osborne and the Funk Brothers’ jaw-dropping cover of Jimmy Ruffin’s What Becomes of the Broien Hearted, I was amazed to find the whole concert is now up on YT

If you’ve not seen it, make yourself a pot of tea, take the phone off the proverbial hook and enjoy two hours of 13 of the finest musicians getting together to play some of the finest songs ever written one last time

50 years of Veedon Fleece

Damned with faint praise on release, VF has arguably gone on to establish itself as the richest and most satisfying of VTM’s peerless run of eight great albums from the late 60s mid-70s.

As it’s the only vinyl album I have ever managed to wear out not once but twice, I certainly think so.

Sinead O’Connor would seem to agree, hailing it as: “the record I always come back to again and again…It is far superior to Astral Weeks and I love Astral Weeks. This is the definitive Van album with the definitive Van song, “Who Was That Masked Man”…It’s the most obvious album he’s ever done about Ireland…Veedon Fleece is the only thing I listen to just before I go on stage.”[35] When asked in an interview in 2005 to name something she considered “a mind-altering work of art”, she answered: “Van Morrison’s Veedon Fleece.”

Recorded following his divorce from Janet Planet and the end of an exhausting Too Late to Stop Now Tour – VF marked a suitably inspiring end to the first phase of Mr. M’s career. It was also the start of a lengthy fairly fallow period that wouldn’t end » Continue Reading.

Satellite pix look positively apocalyptic. The warnings to those mad enough – or with no option other than – to stay, make it sound a million times worse..

While experienced more than my fair share of typhoons during my 25+ years in HK, can only remember one direct hit. Bad enough but nothing like what is going to happen to Florida in the next few hours.

Given the violent way the world’s weather has fluctuated theses last few years, seems like climate change has gone past the point where it might be reversed.

Glad I won’t be here in 20-odd years time

The band’s allowing Sony to use its image “likenesses” presumably leaves the way open for endless juke box musicals and franchise tours.

Wonder how – or even if – they’ll cover Syd’s role in the band’s history

The joy animals bring into our lives is one of the things that make our Lives worth living

Pls see link in next post

Following on from @Black_Celebration’s splendid Spangles and White Dog Poo thread, how about a discussion of the UK comics of our childhoods?

Nothing against the DC and Marvel titles, but once kids of our generation started reading more adolescent-focused titles like Spiderman, Batman, etc, the Beanos and Dandies tended to go the way of Puff the Magic Dragon when little Jackie Paper first “woke up sticky”.

Like probably everyone else here, I started out with those old DC Thomson warhorses the Beano and the Dandy, eventually working my way through Victor, briefly the Hotspur (too much bloody writing and not enough pictures), and later Valiant and Tiger. If my reading habits taught me one useful skill set it’s a rudimentary knowledge of German (Kamerad! Donner und Blitzen!, etc)

Always used to amuse me how aside from the big two (the Beano and Dandy) all the other titles generally ended up merging.

Presumably competing for the same share of our pocket money, fairly lightweight titles like Topper were simply krill for larger selling titles such as first Beezer and then the Beano.

Come the inevitable Saturday you’d head down to the newsagent only to find Topper’s masthead now only existed as » Continue Reading.

Surprised no one here has reviewed this.

Usual collection of beautifully written, played and sung songs from Mr L with the added attraction of some wonderfully Dick Daleish guitar stylings from long-time live collaborators, Los Straitjackets

Only minor quibble is that it’s such a sunny upbeat record that he really should have released it earlier in the summer

MODS – Pls feel free to delete if someone wishes to post a more detailed review