Thursday, March 27, 2008

Rural Retreat


Tomorrow I'll be heading off here for a week (not the plynth or those buildings - but this town), so while I'm away why not have a dig round on my other blog if you haven't yet.

There's goodies like - mini mixes, mashups, rare tracks, remixes and interviews.

See you in a few days..

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Working Titles


Things I don't own and probably never will, but have the names ready - just in case....

Pet rat - Snapper
Pet cat - Ezekiel
Pet dog - Banjo
A racehorse - Babacombe Lad
Chintzy tea room/holiday cottage/guest house - The Spinney

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Sweet Tooth

With Easter approaching I'm in a let's go choco' mood - so it seems appropriate to post a list of 'Sweets I Miss' and 'Sweets I Can't Believe Are Still Going'.

Sugar Sugar - Sweets I genuinely miss

Midnight Mint
Why hasn't this tasty treat been revived yet? Dark chocolate and melty minty ice cream. Gorgeous. (See also - Lord Toffinghams Lolly and that fist sized dark chocolate heart on stick thing)

Maynards Milk Gums
Not the loose milk bottle shaped ones weighed out from a jar , but the crinkle wrapped pocket size packet - even the little speckles and dimples were tasty .

Buttersnap
Yes there's 'Dime', 'Daim' or whatever it is, but it's not as creamy crunchy as the ''snap'.

Glees
'Skittles' - are nearly there but, to quote Roy Walker 'it's good but it's not right'.

Toffee and Mallow eggs
Just so scrummy.

Bar Six
An obscure classic, similar to Terry's 'Waifa'.

Fry's Five Centre advert



Alan Hawkshaw - The Night Rider (better known as the "all because the lady loves" Milk Tray music)


Shout About Pepsi - Denny Wright and The Hustlers




What Are You Still Doing Here? - Sweets Still Hanging On In There

Tunnocks (any variation)
Unchanged and unstoppable. Like the sort of thing Private Pike would have had in his lunch box .( Fancy a Virtual Tour of Tunnocks Towers? Then just click here)


Anglo Bubbly
And 25 for just one earth pound - amazing.

Parma Violets
Not only are they still going, but they've even gone all outsize too.

Lovehearts
They've updated them you know, with things like 'Fax Me' and 'Email Me', but hadn't got up to speed with Facebook or Text speak last time I had a pack.

Have a peep here and here for more tuck shop treats.

Scans taken from Robert Opie' 1970s Srapbook a great book, but the tacky clipart cover ( which none of his other 'scrapbooks'have ) does it a huge disservice

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Buzzbox

Hurrah - The Harold Lloyd 9 DVD Box Set (I'm never sure if it's 'box' or 'boxed') has arrived. Disc 1 is out of the way, and after only watching the iconic clock hanging epsidode in scraps, bits and bobs - to see the full stretch of 'Safety Last' is nail bitingly, neck tighteningly tense.

Here's a Clip from 'An Eastern Westerner' set to the John Spencer Blues Explosion ( a band I've always swerved, but actually like the sound of after hearing this)



I'm also on a bit of a Monty Python buzz at the mo', I picked the 'Python Personal Best' Box Set (I'm never sure if....) for eight earth pounds, via 'new or used' on Amazon. Which is good, but missing a few classics 'Spanish Inquisition', not much 'Gumby' and an edited version of 'Argument room' - edited to the point of 'Argument Room' not being in it..but the Terry Gilliam disc - one solid hour of surrealist animation - makes it worth grabbing at any price. Here's another DIY soundtrack where....

Star Trek Meets Monty Python

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Straight Talking

Am I missing something? Twenty three people complain about one burlesque meets biblical advert for hair straighteners (which I still haven't seen) and suddenly it's like the Blitz, with the 'Straightgate' exploding cluster bomb style across the news and being reported with all the fuss and faff of Chicken Little claiming the sky's falling down.

It's twenty three people - out of a UK total of sixty million , one of them being the Archdeacon of Liverpool - someone whose job description is to wag his finger about such hairesy.

That's Twenty three people- the same headcount as players on a football pitch(including the referee), an empty looking bus load of biddies and less than the average class size - I've stood in bigger ques. Full marks to the good people at 'ghd' and their creative team on achieving saturation on a scale way beyond budget. I'd never heard of the 'ghd IV styler' before all this . I may even go and buy one now.

Lynsey De Paul - Storm In A Teacup



(a song I never get tired of and which ties in with this, that and the other)

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Electronic Tagging


I've been tagged by Cocktails

The script is....

Get the book you're reading.
Turn to page 123.
Skip the first 5 sentences.
Post the next three.

This extract is taken from my current read - see above

"are you a piano player?" and he said, "no... you got one of my T -
shirts on, I designed that" I got the T - shirt from Let It Rock .
Tony James

So I'm passing the baton to BLTP and Feedback Report
(If you hear any popping sounds that'll be resolutions 4 and 5 on my 2008 list )

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down


When was the last time you fell over in public?

Mine was last Friday. But this was no slight slip that could be stopped with a steadying hand, or by dropping down into a one kneed proposal pose. No,no, no. This was a dignity free, slapstick acrobatic, both legs up in the air, bowling ball roll (sideways too).

I’d only bent down to pick up a shoe, flung from the baby buggy of the woman walking in front of me, but a medley of slippery soles, being a touch off balance with a bundle of boxes from Post Office and a robust forward thrust as I bent down to grab the shoe had me upended and rolling and tumbling like a wheel from a cartoon car crash. And, in front of a packed gallery of three - yes three - heaving bus stops. I even heard an offstage gasp from the old couple behind me.

Knowing how much entertainment gold there is in watching someone have a wobbler, how do you recover from a trauma like this? There’s only one way. Reach for your mobile phone, and role play receiving a call (or making a blame and claim call) at the precise moment you’ve recovered with a flourish and are back on steady legs. You can even lend a bit of weighty embellishment to the performance by frowning like a champ and giving the phone a few theatrical “what’s happened to the reception ?” glares until you’re safely out of sight.

'The Man Trap' - A Public Information Film on the perils of polished floors.



Freeze framed at the hand to mouth reaction moment, as any later would see Mum and daughter fold like falling trees, giggling themselves silly as Dad goes bouncing down the hall like Tigger.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Stress Down Friday


This.... is Mr Ernest Ranglin- you may not know the name, but I guarantee you will have heard his playing at some point - Ernest is Jamaica's King of the Strings and has lent his laid back guitar style to tracks by Prince Buster, Jimmy Cliff, The Skatellites and most famously.. Millie's 'My Boy Lollipop'. This tune is taken from one of his more recent recordings 'Below The Bassline' where his sunshine shuffling style is set to an acoustic Jazz/Reggae infusion.

Before the phrase " Jazz/Reggae infusion " has you reaching for the remote, hang on for a just one mo'... this really is worth a spin and I guarantee ' Below The Bassline' is the perfect soundtrack for sipping on a sunblushed summers evening .

Ernest Ranglin - 54-46 Was My Number.mp3





If you fancy something more uptown, uptempo - why not see what's shaking on Planet Mondo.

If you're after something more downtown, downtempo - why not try a mellow melter from Johnny Adams.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Mondo Bizzaro

Lawks and lummee!! What in the name of Harry H Houdini is a popping here then?
Lungbusting, levitation, ramping up the camp and meringue bouffants all round - that's what.

The amount of 'Elnett' used (David going for the 'flyaway' type) to keep those silky superstructures in place must surely have shot the first holes in the ozone layer.

David Copperfield and Bonny Tyler - Holding Out For a Hero



Almost as brain quaking as Uri Geller's appearance in Daredevil, or Batman riffing on the The Beatles 'Paul is dead' rumor.

I'd love to see some joker overdub this clip with...


Cliff Adams - The Night Rider (better known as the "all because the lady loves" Milk Tray music)



Actually all you need to do is turn the Youtube sound down, press play on both clips at the same time and you're there - works a treat.