In the context of recent posts about The Beatles and Neil Young (and sort of Pink Floyd), let’s give this old Afterword chestnut another canter around the paddock before it’s sent to the glue factory!

Simply complete the following sentence in your own words on a postcard and pop it in the postbox! No address necessary!

“I think Van Morrison lost the plot after …”

“Originally aimed at women”, it says here.

Lady Rose Hanbury. Marchioness of Cholmondeley. It’s beyond me why she hasn’t been a topic here. It’s almost as if we’re all pretending she doesn’t exist, like climate change.

Anyone else you think has been strangely absent from the Forum? Unfairly ignored?

I’m currently digging a frankly incredible A.I.-assisted recreation of the Beach Boys’ “Smile”. Nearly all of the backing tracks (instrumentation) and most(?) of the vocals are extracted from the original recordings. I have a quantity of excellent “Smiles” completed with imagination and great skill from the original tapes, and I was trepidatious (oh very good) about the Monster Robot version. Link in the comments.

The great caveat here is that Dae Lims, whose skill and judgement is otherwise jaw-dropping, hasn’t quite given it the best possible shuffle, and has omitted “Good Vibrations”, because there was a who-cares Fan Theory a while back that it wouldn’t have been on the album (even though it was all over the sleeve design and even though OF COURSE IT WOULD BE). This hardly seems to be an issue when you’re taking extravagant liberties with authenticity by creating entirely new parts, so it’s a baffling lapse. Luckily, one commenter has put this to rights, and you should if you’re at all interested go through the encryption hoops to get his version, which is also at a higher bitrate than YewChewb allows. EDIT: Scrolling through the hundreds of comments (overwhelmingly and surprising positive) failed to find » Continue Reading.

Judge Lola Carmichael! Judge Carmichael is a multilayered female character of color who is a tenacious and profoundly sympathetic litigator turned judge. She is also a tough and capable woman who has a clear idea of who she is and what she wants to accomplish. However, like every other human being, she is flawed and vulnerable and has a hard time processing emotions. I feel I could honor Judge Lola Carmichael’s accomplishments with a detailed and authentic cosplay.

https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-judges-day

1 Kuoppa – Finnish pothole 2 Pholem bundle 3 Over the next several years, Hackensack will see an increase of approximately 4,000 residential units 4 Girdraulic fork 5 Palpable unease contemplating laundry chair

(*apart from the fact they all feature in this list)

In preparation for Dune Part Deux, I rewatched Dune Part Une. I lost patience with it on release, because I thought it was all style over substance, and the “low light” scenes – and a lot of them had me gurning at the screen and tilting it away from the light – drove me to mild distraction. Why not make it a Radio 4 production if you can’t see what’s happening during crucial moments? My irritation with the Dark Stuff is still there – it’s a stylistic affectation, nothing more. But I enjoyed what of the movie I could see a lot more the second time around, and I’m what the young people are calling “stoked” for the second part, which is already at the Eel Market. I only hope they find the light switch or a box of candles or something.

So – impenetrable darkness, “naturalistic” sound editing, over-loud music, and a general tendency to be over-long. These are characteristics of “modern” movie making. Give me a beautifully lit scene, with real lights, and well-placed mics making the dialogue easy to hear. And a great script, while you’re at it.

*shouts at clouds*

I’ve always thought a life in the Old West would have suited me. The movie version, not the real thing. I’d arrive back at the homestead after a hard day’s swogglin’ horns and pokin’ cows, to be greeted by my pretty blonde wife who is wearing a starched gingham frock which nicely accentuates her wholesome bosom. She sets the table with homely and nourishing vittles while I wash my face in the wooden pail set out on the porch for the purpose. I’d hang my six-gun on the back of the door, tousle little Junior’s head and wolf down some swell home cookin’ – “you pass Pa th’ biscuits, Junior!”. Later Mary-Beth an’ me. why, we’d set on the porch a spell, watch the sun go down over yonder butte, and I’d pluck my trusty guitar accompanied by the appreciative howls of distant coyotes.

Imagine for a moment there’s a better life for you – difficult, given how fortunate you are in this one – what, pray, might it be?