Tag: review

Posted on

Dune

I went to the cinema to see a film, a good one this time. It was dark as I approached the cinema along the wharf road but I could see lights flickering off the wavelet tops all the way close to the sea wall so I know the tide was in. How far I couldn’t quite tell but whenever I looked I saw streetlight reflections. This was Rochester cinema, which isn’t in Rochester, and my second trip this week although I suspect not my final trip this week.

After watching a film I rate it on IMDB and then tweet the result just so this communication looks quite good with an embedded tweet. I mean, you could head over to Twitter to see what I thought but now you are here, why would you?

This film was gorgeous. I already knew the story pretty well as I’ve watched the previous films and read a couple of the books. I’m sure that my friend, JH in Cornwall, gave me a copy of most of the books although I can’t remember how far through them I’ve read. I’m tempted to start again but I have too many unread books on my Kindle device thingy.

I wasn’t sure at first whether to rate this film as an 8 or 10. My reasons are that I don’t think I will pay to see this film again but I suspect that I will probably watch it again before the next film comes out. So, it gets a ten out of ten which is frankly what it deserves.

The whole look of this film is just absolutely gorgeous and the scale and vision is impressive. I guess it could be argued that given CGI and the skill of animators it is possible to make anything in a film these days but just to have the ideas of creating such things is still impressive to me. I really enjoyed this film and will one day make my kids sit through it all [ha ha]. I’m not sure they’ll be happy with the ending but I was very satisfied with it all.

When I entered the cinema I had to check which screen I was in as there were two teenage girls in the row behind me and I wondered what they were doing there. Dune isn’t really a teenage girl film I thought at first but then I told myself off and reminded my brain not to be too judgey about other people upon appearance. However, at the end of the film the two girls were not in the theatre so maybe they hated it, maybe they had to leave, maybe they just didn’t realise the film was over two hours long. I don’t know.

This is comms#1983 and so let’s see what things happened in the year I started secondary school:

  • ARPANET moves to the TCP/IP protocol.
  • Seatbelts become mandatory in UK for front row seats only.
  • Air Canada Flight 143 glides in to land in Gimli, Manitoba.
  • GPS is declassified for public use.
  • Kill ‘Em All is released.
Posted on

The Addams Family 2

I went to watch the film Addams Family 2. I can tell you the tide was low on the approach to the cinema, all of the mud bank was showing. What I don’t understand is that as we left the entertainment park the tide was pretty high so maybe there was some sort of time bulge or something while I was inside. The film didn’t feel too much of an eternity. I rated the film on IMDB and tweeted the result. This communication deals with the rating system.

Whilst I didn’t hate this film I also didn’t care for any of it. I don’t think I’ve seen Addams Family the first animated one and I very much doubt that I will try now. Maybe I’ll go back and watch Addams Family Values from 1993, I’m not sure, but it would be interesting to see my kids’ reactions to this one. For me the best part of this film was the trailers and adverts as I read some of my book about the development of the U2 and I was on the chapter about converting the plane to be carrier based. It was far more interesting than the rest of the film. Maybe my problem is that I’ve seen many films and seen many plots and nowadays there’s nothing new. idk.

This is communication number 1981 and recent tradition requires me to now write a list of a few things that happened in that year. I’m quite excited as we are in the region of time where I have consciousness and so these things will become more relevant to me.

  • The Indonesian passenger ship Tamponas 2 catches fire and capsizes in the Java Sea, killing 580 people.
  • The Brixton race riots.
  • AIDS first recognised.
  • Liverpool race riots.
  • Slavery is abolished in Mauritania.
  • The Church Of England votes to allow women to holy orders.
Posted on

Nachtmahr – Electrowerkz

Last night Smith and I went out! Out! To see a band! Well, two bands really but it was out and my first time in London since February 2020 when we saw Aesthetic Perfection. We got the train in and booked into our hotel room – proper full on night out! After getting changed we headed to Electrowerkz, which was quite close to the hotel and entered. I had forgotten my photo ID and the security people were very good at sorting that out as I had photos of all my ID on my phone, they accepted me fortunately.

Electrowerkz Welcome
Electrowerkz Welcome

I loved this touch of some old CRT showing a logo as we walked up the steps. It added to the feel of the place. We didn’t see the first two bands as we were drinking and chatting to the merchandise people. I think I bought some dog tags, but I have no idea where I put them, I’ll have to have a look shortly. I liked the few changes that had been made to the building and ambiance, the main floor looked really good.

Before The Crowds - Electrowerkz
Before The Crowds – Electrowerkz

Reaper is a band/person we had wanted to see for a long time as a couple of his albums are really good. A nice split between industrial and EBM. I enjoyed his set although I think there could have been some other songs added to make it greater but I guess you have to trust the artist and the things they want to play might not be what I want to hear.

Reaper - X-Junkie
Reaper – X-Junkie

I really enjoyed the Reaper set. It was about this time that I started to appreciate the new sound system in the room. I could hear all the nuance in the songs, which I knew quite well anyway, and this was a surprise as normally my hearing dies quite quickly into a gig and I can’t tell what’s going on apart from noise.

Nachtmahr - Electrowerkz
Nachtmahr – Electrowerkz

Nachtmahr were brilliant. They played a great set and the crowd really liked it. I don’t think this makes a top ten of gigs, but it’s definitely in the top half. I had a great time and danced quite a bit – I think the alcohol helped a lot with that. Overall this was a good gig. A couple of great bands and really good fun. Brilliant!

This is communication number 1977 and so in keeping with recent tradition I list below some events of that year:

  • Jimmy Carter pardons Vietnam draft dodgers.
  • The rings of Uranus are discovered.
  • Optical Fibre is used to transmit phone calls for the first time.
  • 165 Killed in a fire in Kentucky.
  • Never Mind The Bollocks is released by the Sex Pistols.
Posted on

The Last Duel

I went to the cinema to watch The Last Duel. It wasn’t on at a suitable time at my local cinema so I went to Ashford – even then I couldn’t book online and I had to just turn up and pay there because the Ashford cinema is in a different “booking category” to Rochester and the online website won’t let you pay the difference, you have to do it in person. So, I have no idea what the tide looked like as I drove to the cinema. I can tell you the M20 to junction 9 is as boring as ever and it feels like it takes ages but I think it’s only fifteen miles.

After I saw this film I rated it on the IMDB website. If, while watching a film, I’m starting to think what score I would give it, then the film isn’t holding my attention. It didn’t take long for me to wonder where on my scale of film scoring this film stood. I then shared this score in Twitter because it gives me something nice to embed right now:

This film was as boring as shit. I really didn’t enjoy it and I did consider leaving, but there was a person at the end of my row and I had driven more than normal to get here. Most of the characters were assholes and the only nice character was the lead female who, because of when the film is set, has all her rights fucked over.

So, this is a film in FOUR chapters. We get to see the same scenes over and over and I really didn’t like this aspect. No doubt someone will tell me how clever it was and how the mood really changed from one chapter to the next, but mostly, it was boring and while the differences were there they were over emphasised and could have been more subtle. Three times we got this whole story. Then the final chapter concerned the start of the film because, tension or something.

The first chapter seemed to be all castles and horses and battles and there were dates up on the screen but who is able to follow those and really piece together a time line? I don’t think a film should have dates, you should be able to make the film understandable without those things. Maybe just one at the beginning so we know what era of misogyny we are dealing with. Now, there might be a stroke of genius in the overall “feel” of each chapter but it wasn’t stark enough for me. The first chapter was horses and battles and boring as fuck. The second chapter was wine and fucking and the third was oppression of women. If the film was design with clear artistic differences between those three then they failed as I felt only the first chapter had a different taste.

I did wonder how many times can you have horses galloping up to castles and I got bored. Were we meant to recognise the different castles and the local politics of the time? I hated some aspects of this film. It’s also hard to recognise French named places when the cast constantly talk in American English but switch to French accents when pronouncing names, I could be being generous there, but I wasn’t “ready” for the French and it took me ages to finally get what they were saying.

How long would it take to bleed out from a femoral artery wound?? Not long and that’s what the final scene had for me. Do they not do first aid?

This film could have been so easily made to actually say something. It could have pushed the parallels between the legal system then and what happens now. It could have highlighted the plight of rape victims in modern times and it could have made so much more for women’s rights of the past and today, but it didn’t.

I just read something about Jean De Carrouges life and it turns out that he went to Scotland to garner support from the Scots to attack the North Of England. The film does not make this clear in the slightest and I left the film under the impression that he was fighting the Scots from the north of England. A small point, but actually quite a difference.

Anyway, all those irritations aside, the main character in this resided at Carrouges in France and this excited me as, when I finally understood the name, was somewhere I had been. I went on holiday near there in around August 2008 or so. I had a look around the chateaux in the village. The chateaux was built by Jean De Carrouges, the main chappy in this film. I don’t think I was aware of that side of the story when I visited it. Why would I be. It doesn’t seem that a duel from 700 years ago would interest the locals. I hope they get a reasonable source of income from the fame produced by this film.

Carrouges Chateaux
Carrouges Chateaux

There was an art exhibition on in the Chateaux while I visited and I remember liking it a lot. I can also remember that the day was chuffing hot.

Art in the Carrouges Chateaux
Art in the Carrouges Chateaux

This is Comms#1974 [+- 1] and so here are some things that happened in that year of the mostly common calendar used in business and governments around the world:

  • 174 die in a fire in Sao Paolo.
  • The F-16 Viper flies for first time.
  • India becomes the sixth nation to have and operate nuclear weapons.
  • The IRA bomb Westminster Hall.
  • Ceefax is started.
  • The Arecibo message is sent towards Messier 13.
Posted on

Ultra Payloaded – Satellite Party

I think I got to hear about this album from a television show I watched in Australia, something like that. It’s a side project of the singer for Jane’s Addiction and as such, this is an OK album. I enjoy the songs when they pop up on a shuffle but I don’t think it’s an album I would normally reach for unless it’s summer time and maybe I’m outside in the garden, it’s got that kind of feel to it.

This is the first of the “U” albums and it’s a quite exclusive club. Definitely not as many as “T”, thank goodness. We’ll be at the end of the list soon I guess unless the “W”s have a surprise for us.

This should be communication number 1973 because all the other communications before this one have been building up to number 2000. That’s why I started added year-information-stuff. But now there’s a controversy. WordPress thinks this is number 1972 and not 1973 and I really am unsure why.

I get a “posts” count at the top of my WordPress page and have been using that to figure out the particular comms# but systems have gone wrong somehow. Now I don’t want to repeat a load of information and maybe I should make the content dynamic somehow but I’m going to stick with the system I have been using and hope WordPress catches up with me soon. Maybe this is my “millennium bug”.

Here are some things that happened in 1973:

  • The UK joins the EEC, fore-runner of the EU.
  • US dollar is devalued by 10%.
  • Dark Side Of The Moon is released.
  • Tu-144 crashes.
  • Sydney Opera house is formally opened.
Posted on

Tummy – Wat Tyler

Gosh, it has taken a while to get to this point but this is the last of the “T” albums. Once I complete all the albums alphabetically it’ll be time to go back to the beginning and start reviewing all the EBM, aggrotech, albums that I have. Sorry about that but I don’t think there is an end to this portion of this site. If you think these are boring just wait for my list of airports I have used in the Round The World Trip in X-Plane!!

I saw Wat Tyler at a gig in the Square in Harlow way back when I had more hair than now. They were funny and I bought this CD at the merch table. This album is the perfect mix of well written songs and joke songs which make me laugh. I love it.

Here are some of the highlights:

  • Justify Your Book – is it just me or is the singer’s voice remarkably sexy here?
  • It Makes Me Belch – heavy riff and shouty vocals with a great hook into the chorus.
  • Hops And Barley – such an amazing wholesome song.
  • Coming Home – a lovely sea shanty from before sea shanties being popular.
  • Perry Groves – apparently a song about soccer.
  • The Definitive Love Song – a bit of a Freebird rip off with spoken lyrics to make you laugh.
  • Dodgepotterydo – a song with the lyrics of Rolf Harris songs sung to the tune of “Stairway To Heaven”.
  • James Whale – sung to the tune of “I just called to say I love you” but with a chorus of “James Whale you’re a fucking cunt, you’re a fucking cunt”. If you aren’t sure who James Whale is then think Piers Morgan but slightly less offensive.
  • Ruder Girl – If I can find the lyrics I will put them at the end of this communication.
  • God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – you will love this.
  • Wet Wet Wet (The Fucking Bed) – hilarious.
  • The Little People Make Lurve – a classic operatic story of elves and dwarves and shit.

Gosh, we’ve reached the 1970s in terms of communications and here are some things that happened that year:

  • Unix time epoch.
  • The USA invades Cambodia.
  • Tu-144 exceeds Mach 2.
  • Stonewall Riot.
Posted on

No Time To Die

Well, I did it, I went to see what is hoped to be a massive film at the cinema. I booked a midday viewing because that way I still get the rest of my day to do what I want – if that makes sense. I don’t really like getting home from the cinema too late and then going straight to bed, I like having a couple of hours before I have to end the day. I guess there’s a certain routine built in there.

The weather wasn’t that great as I drove to the cinema. It had been raining for an hour or so and it continued to do this for most of the day. I didn’t really mind, rain is a good thing, you just need to be dressed in the right gear. The tide was somewhere around two thirds, a little of the mud bank was visible at the higher parts but nothing else.

After the film I rated it on IMDB and then tweeted the result because I like embedding the tweets on this site. The history of tweets is one reason I haven’t deleted my twitter account. Anyway, there’s a communication written years ago about the rating system. This film trouble me a little because I didn’t think it was worth a six out of ten but I also didn’t think about leaving, I was just bored with some of the scenes.

Well, what did I think of this film? Did I enjoy it? Did it do what I want a Bond film to do? All these are very good questions, but I’m not sure if I’m going to answer them in here. So, shall we start at the beginning? Britannia crumbling to dust in the opening credits made me chuckle a little I suppose, I wonder if that’s what the world thinks of the UK, I mean they aren’t wrong. So, I guess I should do some general bits before I go into spoilers.

I think I liked the film. I don’t want to see it again and there are plenty of problematic aspects to it. I have found Bond films hard to follow for the last six years and I think that’s because I try to think too much about the plot and the what/where/whys of characters and vehicles. There is a lot in this film that I genuinely think doesn’t make sense once you get more than one layer down.

I don’t know why all the baddies have to have facial scarring of some kind. It has always been so. The chap with the scar is the killer. It’s bullshit. I also didn’t understand any of the motivations in the film, why was the bad chap doing what he does? It was really weird. Oh, and the ultimate plot being to kill most of the world with a plague amused me massively.

I wonder if I’m old and decrepit because at times I couldn’t understand what was being said. I would have liked some subtitles I think. It was the odd sentence here and there and while they ultimately don’t matter I wonder if the audio mix was a little off at times?

There be SPOILERS from now on.

How many concussions can you get before you are no good. I quite liked the fact that we saw Bond get hurt but the recovery was short as ever and there were no lasting effects. The film borrowed sound detailing from games when a grenade explodes we get the muffled ringing sounds as though we are hearing things from Bond’s point of view.

God damn they killed Felix. I liked Felix.

I really liked the glider/submarine that drops from the C17. Mind you, Q only puts on his oxygen mask after the doors are open and I think that’s a little late, he would have passed out. Oh, it takes more than a few hours to get a C17 around the world to near Japan.

I hated this film for making me feels when they played “All The Time In The World”, but that’s not a Bond thing, it’s the fact that the chosen music is fucking excellent.

I liked the ending.

I did not like that “James Bond Will Return”.

“M” would be arrested and put on trial for treason. MI6 only do as they are told by the politicians. It’s why the whole thing is fucked as the forces and spy agencies do what they are told to do. Hate the decision makers and not the doers.

I think Bond should have punched, shot, killed M.

I was bothered about the size of the ammunition holders in the DB5. I think they would unbalance the car a shit-load.

Spectre had a bomb waiting for all time at Vesper’s grave?? What?

This film seemed slightly too long, but I think that’s what the fans want. I am not a fan. I think I agree with Jase when he says he likes the really shitty Bond movies of the late 70s and early 80s when it was all so silly.

This is comms#1969 and so here are some things that happened in that year:

  • First flight of 747.
  • Concorde first flies.
  • The Harrier enters service with the RAF.
  • Humans land on the moon for the first time.
  • Probes are sent to Venus.
  • My Lai massacre.
Posted on

Troublegum – Therapy?

Opening lines:

“I’m gonna get drunk, Come round and fuck you up
I’m gonna get drunk, Come round and fuck you up”

This album has the speed and power of a classic punk album but with a little more subtlety. The melodies are great and I do enjoy playing this. While I might not know what the songs are called when they are played I definitely know the songs and this album gets played or at least not-skipped when it comes up in a shuffle. Heavy riffs with disturbing lyrics, you can’t get better than that I guess. This is well worth getting.

The song Nowhere is super single material, very well crafted.

This is communication number 1967 and curating events that happened in certain years seemed a good idea at the time but I do find it irritating now. But, I want to get to the point where I am making up shit for the future, that’s my dream, that’s my nightmare. These shitty few pages are going to make me the Nostradamus of the future, I best get good at being vague as shit.

  • Apollo 1 fire.
  • North Sea Gas starts pumping.
  • China tests its first H-Bomb.
  • First cash machine in world.
  • Race Riots in USA.
Posted on

TRON: Legacy – Daft Punk

I got this because I quite liked the music in the film Tron: Legacy. Also because I’m aware of Daft Punk and don’t really mind their stuff. I haven’t played it that often and so pretty much I have no views on this album.

This is communication number 1966 and here are some things that happened that year:

  • SR-71 goes into service.
  • Plenty of racism in USA. Also evident in UK but less noticed.
  • A B-52 crashes and drops three hydrogen bombs on Spain. They don’t go off.
  • Hovercraft service starts across the Channel.
  • An XB-70 crashes.
  • Aberfan disaster where 144 are killed.
Posted on

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Well, I went to the cinema. It had been a while and I was starting to miss it. More importantly I was panicking because I thought I might miss Dune and the local cinema is showing it once a day, but it turns out they are only showing the David Lynch version so I haven’t missed the extravaganza. I went to see Ten Rings. On the way I noted that the tide was pretty low and discussed this with one of the children. I think they get mildly embarrassed or something when I explain what I’m doing noticing silly stuff.

After the film I tweeted my rating of the film, giving away what I thought of it. Although actually I think my position on the film is a little more nuanced.

I couldn’t leave the cinema as my children were with me, and if they weren’t I would probably have stuck it out. But, it wasn’t a good film. It was another Marvel film and mostly dull. We were the only people in the theatre and so spent our time checking out the view from different seats and generally having fun in the boring bits.

I will say this: this film is the biggest waste of Ben Fucking Kingsley I’ve ever seen. I hope he either fan-boy his way into the film or got fucktons of money.

Comms#1965, here’s what happened in that year:

  • The Gambia becomes independent from the UK.
  • 400+ killed in Chile after an earthquake causes dam failures.
  • What the fuck -the US launch a test nuclear reactor into low earth orbit.
  • 274 killed in a mining accident in India.
  • A 70mph speed limit is imposed on British roads.
Posted on

Trial By Fire: Live In Leningrad – Yngwie Malmsteen

I bought this album on music cassette form in Saffron Walden in the run up to some Christmas sometime. I knew of Yngwie Malmsteen as he was kind of infamous in my sixth form. A number of people had seen him in concert and so I got this. I think he was the first super-speedy, how does he do that, kind of guitarists I had heard about. There are plenty more but there’s a certain melody to his playing. I have and continue to listen to this album regularly.

Now, here’s the thing. When I played this album a while ago I was trying to come up with ways to describe the differences in the songs. You, know , to be able to do a track listing and description of each. Now, the rub is, they all sound quite similar. Same pace, beat, style. I don’t mean to diminish how good this album is because I really do enjoy it. I like every song. If I had to choose a favourite then I would go for “Heaven Tonight”, it’s a lovely romantic song.

All I can say is that Yngwie can play very well. I enjoy this stuff. He was pretty good when I saw him in Shepherds Bush however many years ago.

Comms#1963 so here are some things that happened that year as curated by me:

  • George Wallace becomes Alabama Governor, what a cunt.
  • Valentina Tereshkova is first woman in space.
  • Kenya gains independence from the UK.
  • Sam Cooke and his band are arrested after trying to register at a “whites only” motel in Louisiana.
Posted on

Tres Hombres – ZZ Top

I have played this album precisely three times in its entity. I was given this by Shredder as a recommended thing to listen to. He was not wrong. I have played this album when I drove some pupils to Canterbury for a school visit – you want something you think most people will appreciate when driving others around. I have so much obnoxious music that it’s hard sometimes to find something suitable. I played this album over my Sonos system when building a climbing frame for the kids and then finally I played it the other day in preparation for this communication.

This is a brilliant album full of dirty, gritty, blues inspired songs that all sound great. It has a real down low feel to it whilst not being obnoxious. I do like it. I think it’s an album I will go for more often when I need something decent in the background.

This album is not anything like you would expect if all you know about ZZ Top is their songs from the eighties. It’s actually way better and I even like their rock stuff.

This is communication number 1957 so here are some things that happened then in the year of our lord:

  • The first frisbee
  • A hydrogen bomb accidentally falls from a bomber near Albuquerque.
  • A hurricane killed 400 people in Louisiana.
  • The Wolfenden Report was published in the UK recommending the legalisation of gay sex between consenting adults.
  • Gordon Gould invents the LASER.
Posted on

Trebuchet – George Hrab

I like this album. I don’t really like the production of the album and I know that’s a personal thing and Hrab is the person who is in charge of the whole thing. George Hrab has a podcast, or used to, called Geologic which I have spent some time listening to. He’s a science communicator and skeptic along with being a talented musician and song writer.

All the songs on this album are extremely well written. They cover lots of ideas from the skeptical community and make me smile whenever I listen to this album. Some ideas of the titles on this record:

  • God Is Not Great
  • Everything Alive Will Die Someday
  • When I Was Your Age
  • Death From The Skies – highly recommended
  • Small Comfort

This album has a lovely style and a great message to push to the listeners. I enjoy it. It’s not metal and that’s fine.

This is communication number 1954 and so here are some things that happened that year:

  • Eisenhower warns against his country’s intervention in Vietnam.
  • The first subway line in Toronto.
  • The Boeing 707 is released.
  • Food rationing ends in the UK.
  • Lord Of The Flies is published by a writer who worked previously as a teacher at MGS.
Posted on

Trainspotting – Various Artists

There must be something about movie soundtracks when they are done well because I have a few. I’ve even got the Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs soundtracks somewhere but I’m not sure they are on my Sonos system, I’ll have to look into that. The slightly bigger issue is that my PC does not have an optical drive. I’d have to break out my laptop from 2008 to rip the files onto the system, that’s easy enough even though I’ll have to chuck some coal in the fire.

This album is a great collection of songs used in the film Trainspotting. I think I would say they are all rather middle of the road, gentle paced songs. I don’t think there’s a bad song on there.

I do have some words to say about Born Slippy. This isn’t really anything about the song but more an anecdote about terrible behaviour by me. I was at a wedding reception/evening do, you know, the kind of thing where you aren’t good enough to be at the ceremony but you are allowed the food. I think it was at the Weald Of Kent golf club building thing. It was somewhere there, I don’t entirely remember for alcohol reasons. I might have had some drink because it’s a wedding. The DJ person put Born Slippy on and I danced a stupid dance but they cut the song halfway through before all the drumming bits. I recall having a bit of a go and made them play the whole song. I think it was just me on the dance floor but when the music moves you . . . .

This is communication number 1952 and so here are some things that happened that year of the common era:

  • Rioters target British and upper-class Egyptian businesses, it’s almost as if the class struggle and recognition for fair wages and rights has been eternal.
  • The B-52 flies for the first time.
  • The Roman Catholic church bans the books of Andre Gide.
  • The Great Smog of London.
Posted on

Free Guy

I took a trip to the cinema to celebrate the final day of freedom from work and I watched Free Guy. Before I let you know about this film there are certain aspects of the format that are required.

The tide as I drove into the cinema estate/area thing was very low. I could see the final edge of the mud banks and the boats moored close by were definitely below road level. I rated this film on IMDB and there’s a communication dealing with the rating system here. Now, I wasn’t sure how to rate this. I was border line between a 6 and an 8. This is the difference between me probably watching the film again and me not bothered about watching it again. I settled on a 6/10 for reasons given below but mostly because I’m in the middle on seeing this film again.

So, I really enjoyed this film. I laughed out loud and I loved all the contemporary references even though I didn’t recognise any of the YouTubers at least I was aware that popular Tubers exist. I will say that I think the trailer did a slight misjustice to the film and it didn’t pan out the way that I expected at all. I was expecting to be kind of bored but the film kept my attention and it worked. If you like computer games then I think you’ll love this film. I like computer games and I thought the film was really good.

Now for the – why is this a 6/10 and not 8 bit. As I left the cinema I wondered whether I would go and see this film again or download it to see if I can spot all the clever references that I know they put into it. My kids were trying to persuade me that it was worth an 8 and I would agree with them. I think the film is an 8/10 but the system I developed can’t be messed with and as I’m not that fussed about seeing the film again, it gets 6 stars from me.

This is communication number 1948 and so here are some things that happened in that year. I guess I should be planning what to do with communication number 2000 and also what do I do when I get past the current year IRL?

  • Railways are nationalized in the UK
  • The US Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violates the constitution. I want to point out that “In God We Trust” is nowhere to be seen yet.
  • The first motor race at Goodwood Circuit.
  • The Casimir effect is predicted.
Posted on

Top Gun [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] – Various Artists

I genuinely am unsure where to start with this one. I first saw Top Gun in Eastbourne [I think] on a cadet camp in 1986. We were meant to be going rock climbing and abseiling but the weather was poor so we went to the cinema instead. We were based at Crowborough training camp for this camp. We were a good bunch of cadets and for me there are a few things that are foremost when I try to remember the camp. I remember seeing Top Gun. I remember watching Alien in the girls’ block, it was the only place with a TV, and then after the film I shit bricks running down to where we were billeted because I was scared and it was foggy. We played this album over and over in our billet along with the Status Quo song “You’re In The Army Now”, oh and The Final Countdown, which I was convinced was part of this album for a long time. On a navigation exercise our little troop was going through quite tough gorse stuff and Chaz Randall tried running. I think he made it a few steps and then just crashed into the ground, it was hilarious. Our troop or flight was Nick, Lisa, Charles, Gummy and me. There’s a photograph somewhere, I might try and find it.

So, this isn’t about the film, which [upon adult reflection] is a heap of shit apart from the first 4’06”. This communication should be about the music and so here we go:

  • Danger Zone – a brilliant song made even better with all the references in Archer.
  • Mighty Wings – cuts after the snaps of the snare!!!

Now here’s a problem. I was going to write these reviews of the songs as they played on my system but Sonos has just informed me that the files are corrupted and can’t be played. So, I just checked my phone. Same thing there. Fuck! It could be that only some songs from this album are corrupted and I reckon I could fix them easy enough. But, how do you check all six thousand or so songs on the NAS Drive just in case you want to listen to that particular song? Double Fuck. This has probably opened a can of worms and hours at the computer as I try to check all the music I have. I’m not even sure I have a CD of this, so maybe I bought it from iTunes? If that’s the case it’s easy. If not then the quickest and simplest thing to do is to download the songs from iTunes. I’ll be back shortly.

Haha, shortly! I had though I’d be able to find where I’d purchased this in iTunes and just press the download button. You would think that is how this works, but oh no. It turns out that in the past I’ve “hidden” the downloads for this album and so I had to go through menu options that aren’t obvious to then show which ARTISTS I had hidden before. Now, as you are aware this is a compilation album and so I had to download the songs one-by-one under the headings of the artist. There wasn’t a compilation album download option. Jesus H, this is a pain. How very frustrating almost everything iTunes is. Well, the album is sorted and on the NAS drive so it’s playing right now.

  • Mighty Wings – It’s a great 80s tune, a mixture of pop and a hint of rock there. It’s great.
  • Playing With The Boys – As long as we recognise the masses of macho-homo-erotica included in the film and when this song is playing – so this is a pretty good song for singing along with. Wholly 80s. Much like the entire album.
  • Lead Me On – Gosh, is there a bad song on this album?? This is fantastic 80s pop stuff. Maybe the entire album should represent the 80s at a Decade Of Music competition.
  • Take My Breath Away – The worst song on the album?? Smushy trash, but the hopes and dreams of so many teenage boys during the 80s.
  • Hot Summer Nights – a solid 80s track. Rolls along a little more than the others, a slightly more level headed verse with a great chorus. Oh, and guitars!
  • Heaven In Your Eyes – This beats Take My Breath Away in poorness. I’m just not a ballad fan. Still, it’s a good song to belt out now and then.
  • Through The Fire – A menacing start leading to a mostly normal rock verse and then . . . . a chorus with 80s themes that will take you back to the disaster years [Piper Alpha, Chernobyl and Herald Of Free Enterprise].
  • Destination Unknown – Look I don’t know how the song selectors did it but this album is full of cracking songs to sing along with. This song falls a little flat for me but it’s part of this album and so has a place in my heart.
  • Top Gun Anthem – I dare you to try and play this song and NOT get goosebumps [no pun intended]. The opening of the film [remember the first 4’06” has this song ticking along in the background and it’s fucking great. However, if you fancy getting too much riffage then the main theme of this song can get to you when they perform the key change.

This album is a must for everyone who remembers the 80s. Don’t be giving me that shit about not remembering the 80s because you were out of it on drugs. We all love this album.

This is communication number 1947 and so here are some things that happened in that year of the common era:

  • -67C is recorded in Snag, Yukon.
  • A large loss of civilian lives in Taiwan as there is civil disorder.
  • The Texas City Disaster kills at least 581.
  • The Doomsday Clock is introduced.
  • A bug was found in the Harvard Mark II, a literal moth and the first computer bug.
Posted on

Tooth And Nail – Dokken

My relationship with Dokken has mostly been down to an album I bought when I was about seventeen, it’s called Beast From The East. I also had the album Back For The Attack in my collection for ages. This particular album is a much later addition to the collection and bought because I really liked the dynamic shift from the live album to the studio version when I got Back For The Attack. I am not sure I’ve played this one in its entirety. It’s on now and the opening song is a short sketch to get us to the title song. After that it’s a mixture of songs that appear on the live album and songs that don’t. It’s classic cock-rock. I do like it. I don’t think there are any particular surprises here, you know, songs that make you go WTF? It’s a solid album.

This is communication 1946 and I’m hoping I might be able to find more “interesting” stuff in the Wikipedia entries than just death and destruction. Mind you, I get to chose what I write within and I think I’ve been focussing on human rights and natural disasters!

  • Project Diana is successful.
  • The republicans filibuster a bill for equal rights for workers.
  • Women vote for the first time in Japan and Italy.
  • The Philippines is granted independence from the USA.
  • A fire at a hotel in Atlanta kills 199.
Posted on

To The Capsules – Senser

I like all music by Senser but most of it just happens to play in a shuffle when driving. The first album by them Stacked Up is very hard to beat and because I’ve listened to that one for around thirty years the newer stuff just gets lost in brain-fog. That’s not to say it’s not worth listening to, I think I’m just saying that I’m an old dog and most new music is like new tricks [are?].

This is communication number 1945, here are some things that happened that year:

  • The US executes a US soldier for desertion.
  • Hildesheim is pretty much destroyed in an air raid.
  • Arthur C Clarke puts forward idea of geosynchronous satellite orbits.

Reading through the Wikipedia pages over the last few communications has been pretty fucking depressing. I know I’ve been trying to put things in these lists that are a little different. I don’t want to focus on the things that people probably know, I want to put things that you might read and go “huh?”. I’d like to think that the years following 1945 will be less depressing but I suspect that I’ll still be reading about plenty of murder and killing of people by governments around the world. Jesus, humans are fucking terrible and horrible most of the time.

Posted on

Too Fast For Love – Mötley Crüe

This album is pure cock-rock and I love it. It’s got a very raw early 80s metal sound and isn’t too polished like their later albums. Way back when, there was a controversy about Nikki Sixx appearing in Kerrang! magazine where they thought they had proof that he had been replaced by someone else. I think what makes this album good is that it was self-recorded.

  • Live Wire – great opening fast song.
  • Come On And Dance – the opening riff is heavy as fuck. I love it. The cow bell makes me laugh every time.
  • Public Enemy #1 – has some great heavy riffs but overall is a good rock song. Excellent for singing along.
  • Merry-Go-Round – every Crue album has one shit song, almost by definition. This is the one for this album.
  • Take Me To The Top – a good jogging song. Decent plonky bass and excellent sliding harmonics work from Mick Mars. Good chugging guitars too.
  • Piece of Your Action – Slower paced but not terrible. I do have a thing for lead guitars and just bass with no rhythm guitars added. Speeds up halfway through, goes mental.
  • Starry Eyes – A good start but then goes all soppy and I’m not sure I like it!
  • Too Fast For Love – quality song. Excellent riffage and good start-stop stuff. A classic of its time.
  • On With The Show – A good sing along as well. You can imagine this going down well live. Doesn’t quite hit the spot for me but I can see how it is a good song.

This is communication number 1943 so here are some things that happened that year, avoiding all the obvious shit:

  • Shoe rationing goes into effect in the USA.
  • The Paricutin volcano starts to appear in a field in Mexico.
  • A race riot in Detroit kills 34.
  • 2-3 million die in the Bengal Famine.
Posted on

This Is What We Are – Fuckshovel

I bought this album because Smith and I were due to see this band at some festival somewhere at some time. I haven’t seen this band. I seem to remember the album being OK. Nothing special but also not terrible.

This is communication number 1938, here are some things that happened in that year:

  • Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
  • The Yellow River flood kills at least 400,000.
  • “I have in my hand a piece of paper”.
  • LSD is first synthesised.
  • Nuclear fission of uranium discovered.
Privacy Policy Proudly powered by WordPress