inxs - listen like thieves

g'day pop pickers

well, the days of getting albums on their day of release appear to be long over. so too, i suppose, has been me (or moi) rushing to write of them as soon as possible after that day here, look you see. in this instance, though, it will be somewhere just south of the 40th anniversary of the day of release for this album, although yes admittedly it is a version of it released this year (2025). so, as the title gives every indication of this being about, eventually i got around to picking up the Listen Like Thieves record off of INXS. 

on learning that a 40th anniversary edition was coming out (i think via facebook ads, which seems to be the default way i get music news now, for better or worse) i was rather enthusiastically eager to get it. for a change this is not just for my pathological whim to purchase as many tapes (discs) as i can, but rather more likely out of if not nostalgia then straightforward sentimental hygiene. i knew that this album was home to one INXS song in particular, What You Need. which remains, to my knowledge, the biggest format music video i have ever seen. 

memories cloud and get confused, of course, but i can distinctly recall being a bit baffled, or surprised perhaps, at seeing a promo video for What You Need before films at the cinema in 1985. can't even find the specific (not pacific) version they showed now either; all i can find on "you tube" is some garish very heavily mid-80s MTV video for it. anyway, 12 (or so) year old me was somewhat ultimately impressed that a band - and one i had not heard of - were having a video shown before a film, innocently thinking it was a kind of honour rather than something paid for. considering i went to the cinema a lot in 1985 - for a start i saw A View To A Kill 4 times - i saw this video a lot. but no, it didn't occur to me to purchase either the single or the subsequent album. 

it isn't so that many other who(m) may have seen the same video did either, for on initial release, and how is it that 1985 is 40 years ago, the album (in the UK at least) only got to 48 in the charts. quite odd, then, and respectful of just how big INXS went on to be, that someone somewhere has decided to commemorate an arbitrary anniversary of this album. but, my word, it's a jolly good thing they did, for it really is a class record. 

this album is a full tilt expression of exuberance. it's a record that the tape of should have been in many, many car stereos in summer, being played at the correct volume and spreading the spirit of sun, fun, life and loving it all. the expansive, atmospheric sonic landscape of the music is beautifully blessed on all but one of the tracks by the vocals of Michael Hutchence, a man who clearly knew he had a great rock and roll voice and was willing to be relatively patient for the world waking up to this. 

and yet a fair review, both right now in retrospect and, on reading up on reaction at the time, of this particular album is "nearly". what one is hearing here is a band so, so close to kicking down the door and screaming "we know what you like and we've got it". certainly that moment did happen, about two or so years after this, when no one could ignore (nor deny) the genius of Kick. 

reviews and such are there to be disagreed with, and there's one i saw of Listen Like Thieves which i would take to task. it suggests that all the lifting here is done by the opening three (3) tracks, being What You Need, Kiss The Dirt and the titular Listen Like Thieves (not necessarily in that order), with the remainder of the record not reaching the same level. not really true. as an album this has a wonderful, flowing structure and there really isn't a moment where you think "this was added to pad out the running length". maybe, ok, there's no specific moment, like on Kick with New Sensation or Devil Inside, where you go "how do i make this even louder", but then you should have it on at the correct volume anyway. 

usually the "bonus material" with re-issues like this are kind of nice but not essential. here they are extremely nice and if not exactly essential then at least of a nature likely to get more than one cursory play. i wish more "classic albums" would follow this pattern, if for no reason other than for the sake of completeness. you get (appreciating it's difficult to see the text in the picture) the 12" mixes of the two main singles plus the b-sides. the latter is often left out of releases like this. rounding this out is a set it seems the BBC gone done recorded of them live and in concert. it's not a bad live recording, sounding every now and then like it has had a bit of a "cosmetic touch up" in the studio, but yeah, the remixes and the b-sides are the win. 

right now i've got Kiss The Dirt on again. from what i recall i believe (or think) i first heard this one when it was included on the Need You Tonight 12", which i shall still have somewhere. oh i really do like the bass line on this one. and on all the other songs. and Michael's vocals. 

going on what i can find online this re-release has not improved the highest chart position for the album. at least not unless there's some special "re-release" chart which i didn't find. oh well. with some luck, though, there's people out there who shall chance on the album, give it a play and, i trust, very much like what they hear. 

be fair dinkum to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

joe cole derby league 2024 - 2025

ow do

so another football season is, with mercy, over. it has been a surprisingly turgid season, look you see, but then again also one punctuated by some moments of unexpected and impressive results. few, for instance, could have foreseen Liverpool's winning the title, Newcastle claiming the league cup with style and the frankly effortless way in which Arsenal swept aside Real Madrid. 

but results (or achievements) in any season are, of course, just distractions from the big one. it remains, most decidedly so, that the most desired, the most hotly contested title (sadly with no formal trophy) of any football season is to be crowned "winners" of the Joe Cole derby games. 

it is, of course, so that only four (4) clubs can actually win this particular title. they are the four teams which the legendary, celebrated Joe Cole represented with distinction. quite a few football sides, or rather the fans of them, like to make an awful lot of noise about how they are "big clubs", be it historically or presently. all well and good, and there's nothing wrong with taking pride in your team. but, that said, when you talk about a prestige club, an elite team, then you can't really call yourself that if Joe Cole has not worn your colours. 

how is it that Joe Cole has become such a monumental (if not pivotal) figure in the sport? mostly it's been foisted on us by a range of broadcasters, employing him to comment on matches of fluctuating importance, as if the public at large look at football and the only thing which comes to mind is the pertinence of the question "but what does Joe Cole think". 

let us not delay the matter any further. you want to know who rule supreme in the Joe Cole derby league this season (2024 - 2025) and here are the final standings. please note only FA Premier League games count, although throwing in the FA Cup games which were also Joe Cole derby matches would not have made all that much of a difference. 

bravo, then, Liverpool, who went and gone done won one of the most closely contested seasons ever for this particular honour. it was quite literally that one draw they managed which ensured they got to claim all the bragging rights one possibly could for being the "best team that Joe Cole represented". 

the big surprise here is, of course, that Chelsea have finished second. and a really, really close to Liverpool second too. famously Chelsea have had a couple of (by their recent standards) lean years, with few expecting them to push quite so hard for the Joe Cole trophy. some praise is due for their "do or do not" attitude here, with not a single draw in a Joe Cole derby match. 

of particular disappointment is the lack of challenge from Aston Villa. they are very much a team in the ascendancy presently, and to be honest they were my pick to be the Joe Cole team of the year this season. you would have to take it as a given that the pressure to perform in the Champions League meant something had to give, and so the focus drifted away from all things Joe Cole. with their prestige or elite (whichever you prefer) credentials cemented, maybe the 25-26 season will see them be crowned Joe Cole derby winners. 

right there above are all the results from all of the Premier League fixtured which are classified officially as being Joe Cole derby matches. you are very welcome to check i have the maths right for goals for and against, etc. pretty sure i have. 

disgrace is the only way to describe West Ham, alas. a favourite thing of all fans of every other team but West Ham is to have reason to say "careful what you wish for" to the Hammers fan base. oddly this season it has been that virtually every weekend has given some cause (if not excuse) to piously say it in their direction. from a safe distance, of course, for their firm are quite hard. considering the incumbent manager of West Ham also managed another team what Joe Cole represented, perhaps the 25-26 season will see the team give greater importance to at least having a go next time out. 

should for some reason you wish to see the results of previous Joe Cole derby leagues then i have reasonably good news for you, as this can be achieved by clicking here and indeed here. and with that, there's not much else one can say except to congratulate Liverpool on winning the double, with them claiming the "big one" and the Premier League title. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sunset fresh off of lynx under review

hello there

improbably this is, indeed, the second month in a row what i have gone done a post on some product or other off of lynx. this is entirely accidental, look you see, but also i cannot guarantee there won't be one next month. especially, as it happens, when aware of a simply dreadful rebranding they have done of what is, or perhaps was, their only truly decent product. 

but that shall be then, or maybe if and when, this is now. and right now, as the title suggests, this is all concerning a relatively (at time of writing) new fragrance what lynx (or axe in some parts of the world, unless they have "streamlined" and call it lynx everywhere) has gone done made. 

how is it that i came to encounter this new scent, fragrance or (if we are honest) monstrosity from lynx? recently i was away for a night, so as to enjoy the delights of Primal Scream live and in concert. for such trips i take my boss yet modest (as in small) sized Bowie bag what has a sort of Japanese style to it. taking one of them "roll on" deodorants instead of a fully fledged ozone-f****r aerosol can saves space to the extent that i do not need to make a choice between socks or boxer shorts. when shopping for one, quite aware that they usually reserve only their very worst fragrances for roll on products, i spotted this one and figured it could be no worse than the other roll on offerings. the traditional aerosol variation i bought was later, just to see if it really was that bad. 

giving a description of a scent in words is always quite tricky, for it relies on evoking memories of such in you, dear reader. but, go on, i shall give it a go. 

starting off where i did is, of course, with the roll on variation. what does it smell like? imagine, if you will, that you have bought a packet of discounted mince, one which was cheap anyway and was just moments if not minutes away from its expiry date. take that packet to the kind of beach where undesirables dwell, playing tinny, sh!tty music through a cheap bluetooth speaker and using disposable barbecue things, making certain all have a time as miserable as their own existence. bury that mince, facing the sun of course, in the sand. once the noxious gases have inflated the package to the point of bursting, take it out, mix it up with some putrid, repugnant eggs and fry it in a pan which has a dab of oil made from liquefied excrement of unknown provenance. that's not far off. 

oddly the spray on version has a discernibly different scent. which does make me wonder why, exactly, both have the same name, but let me not question the logic of lynx. this spray on one is slightly less worse than the roll on, but in the same sense as, say, it was only the one testicle a vicious dog ripped off rather than both of them. essentially it's like they took a delicate cherry blossom scent, mixed it with a touch of a confrontational rose fragrance then smothered all of that with bleach, disinfectant and all sorts of chemically unsound detergents to make the perfect thing to try and disguise the smell in a particularly rough brothel or similar house of ill repute. anyone you attract whilst wearing this is going to be (most decidedly) someone you would not wish to attract. 

them what make these things, these scents, lynx (or possibly axe) are clearly demented. surely it would be less ("fewer") effort to make a decent smelling one than spend all that time delivering these hideous things? even the name is odd. generally sunset comes at the end of a day, where's the fresh? maybe what it was they wished to do was to call it Sunset Now, so as to honour the band Heaven 17. anyone who knowingly and willingly makes this kind of smell is going to be a textbook fan of that band, believe you me. perhaps some licensing issue stopped them calling it that.  

yes, once again, as with all posts of this nature, i am (very much) aware than in no way am i the intended demographic, or market, for the products of lynx. these things are all meant for feral teenagers, to be worn to as to attract other feral teenagers for breeding purposes. my teenage days are long since gone and beyond the music, no, i wish not for them back. it's just that all other deodorants on the market here have a weird obsession with a musky sort of musk smell. lynx do too, just not as bad. which is saying something. 

unless it is so that my recent plight gets the upper hand and i fall then there is indeed every chance i shall experiment further with the vile stench that shall be the next good idea what lynx (axe) has. by the way, no, i did not try any of their "boutique" or "luxury" range from a year or so ago, as the price they asked for them was ridiculous, even by their usual standards. i cannot see it being so, but if any of this has been of some help to you, nice one!

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

three films

greetings

well, this is all pretty much what it says on the box. or, if you will, what it says in the title, look you see. i have of late watched 3 (three) films, and so have opted to add some comments here. no, actually, i have seen a few more than that, but all of these were gone done released this year (2025), so it in some way or other kind of makes sense (in a roundabout way) to clump them all together in one post. 

sadly, or alas, it also makes a degree of sense to have the three (3) of them together as they were not too good. underwhelming when not plain disappointing is an apt review of each of them, really. which means yes, you probably could skip reading of what i have to say (write) on each, as the crux of it is right there for you. on the off chance you are wondering which three films have such a review, well, thanks to my deft skills on ms paint here's an image of the posters for them. 

many thanks indeed to those of you still reading at least this bit after having observed my overview and, presumably, had a gander at the picture. for clarification, the three (3) films are Mickey 17, Death Of A Unicorn and Black Bag. the first 66% of which are ones i did wish to go to the cinema to see, but no more is it that i verk in that there London (innit) and there's no cinema near me what shows films such as this in walking distance. nearest closest would be a prohibitively expensive public transport route which would leave me with over a mile walk to get to it. should Warner, Paramount or what have you gift me a car then i guess i can resume going to the cinema to see their offerings, but for now the delights (or joys) of home video entertainment it is. 

they, the films, are shown in the order what i gone done watched them, and that seems like a sensible enough way to write of them. so, then, i start with Mickey 17, which i was disappointed not to have seen at the cinema. from late last year (2024) to early this (2025) i saw the trailer for it on other films watched at the movies, and it looked amazing. at least the first trailer they released did; the second one for it had me thinking maybe it wasn't going to be that great.

alas, the second trailer was (it turns out) a warning that should have been heeded. never, ever have i experienced such a disproportionate dynamic of excellent trailer to truly sh!t film as was the case with Mickey 17. just rubbish. i came close to switching off the video with about half an hour or so to go, and found myself wondering (as i watched) if i wouldn't at all have walked out on it had i made it to the cinema to see it. 

how or why is it so bad? i believe there was that mythical "studio interference" here, but it's likely they salvaged it. the film is quite close to being an incoherent mess, and the big problem is that it just doesn't know what sort of film it wants to be. no, actually, my thoughts on watching was that they, them what made it, simply didn't have the courage to stick with a genre, message, statement or sentiment. quite a jumbled up mixed bag in which nothing works. 

at times Mickey 17 wants to be a black comedy, at times it wants to be some metaphorical thing on why people risk their lives to flee one place for another, at times it wants to be a (reasonably) straight emotional drama, sometimes it just wants to be a pastiche of various politicians and/or religious leaders. not one of these gets done with any success. you soon get bored of trying to work out which president, politician or evangelist Mark Ruffalo is trying to do a parody of. normally at the very worst usually you can count on Robert Pattinson at least being watchable, but here your heart goes out to him, for he seems all to aware what he signed up for is not what he's having to do. truly an insipid, monumental waste of time, resources and everything. 

the idea of Death Of A Unicorn amused me greatly. quite the quirky premise it had, which is "what if  a car hist an animal, but the animal turns out to be a mythical creature". again, for this is part of that 66% i mentioned, this was one what i saw the trailer for and was keen to see it at the cinema. glad, as it turns out, that i did not, for that premise was clearly the only idea they had. as in it seems the idea was people would be so taken with the concept that they would not care no story beyond the premise was given any sort of thought or attention. 

even allowing for the suspension of disbelief one would apply when watching a film (particularly in this genre) it's just ridiculous. hey, let's have a car hit a unicorn. fine. but in some woods near a wealthy and dying head of a pharmaceutical company? and have it that the blood of the unicorn magically heals him? just a bit too contrived. to be fair they seem aware of this as they go along, electing to just cover it with a few scenes that (ahem) pay (a poor) homage to Aliens and Jurassic Shed. 

oddly there's a redeeming feature to the film in two of the cast. the young lass in it, and the young lad, actually have decently written parts and are played well. for the main cast, however, not so much. it is so that Paul Rudd plays the exact same character he does in everything, that droopy, downbeat one that constantly looks like a puppy what has had its @r$e belted for some indiscretion. still, he is more tolerable in this than the other two proponents of it, the mildly bearable Chris Pratt and the totally, hopelessly f*****g awful Vince Vaughan. as for Richard E Grant, well, he's just embarrassingly bad, you want to cringe when he is on. things like Withnail & I and How To Get Ahead In Advertising feel a long way back. even Hudson Hawk. 

leave all the curiosity you have about Death Of A Unicorn as unresolved. no good can come from watching the movie itself, surely you can find better ways of spending one hundred minutes. 

i knew nothing about Black Bag except (possibly) hearing the title in passing, and so never really had any wish (or interest) in watching it. then a good friend asked for my opinion on it, which was their way of telling me to watch it and report back. so, i did. rather dull. 

my friend asked me to watch (it turns out) as the plot premise (or blurb) felt, to them, somewhat misleading. it very much is. the plot sounds quite class, with it involving a "spy catcher" possibly needing to catch his very own wife (also in the business), leading to a decision on which he loves more, her or his country. poster looks exciting, and everything suggested it would be a taunt, reasonably tense thriller. no, it is not this. 

quite early on there's a dinner scene (pictured here somewhere) that goes on and on and f*****g on. you start to think, or fear, that the entire film will be just the characters having a conversation. with mercy it moves on, but not to too much better. at the great risk of spoilers, the film is hugely flawed as it frequently contradicts its own logic - at once we are expected to believe that some of the characters are gifted, intelligent and good at their job, yet we are also supposed to accept they would fall for a really obvious ploy or trap. it just doesn't work. 

can't say i have seen all that many Michael Fassbender films, but here it seems like his brief was "do something a bit like a 60s Michael Caine, but more wooden" in Black Bag. there is indeed a school of thought that every acting job Michael Fassbender gets comes with the brief "act like X but wooden". poor Cate Blanchett here only seems to do things when someone remembers they hired her so they might as well get her to do a bit. admirably the rest of the cast do a superb job presenting accurately just how intolerable and full of themselves most Londoners are. quite an immediately forgettable film, and not one you should rush to see just to forget. 

right, that's that. may it be so i see a decent film in the not too distant future, then. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just remember the days as long as the time that you keep

howzit

a particularly sad aspect of the demise of newspapers (and their end of days hovers, look you see) is no longer keeping cuttings or articles from them. it's all well and good everything being a free for all on the internet, but as i have said frequently we are tactile creatures. we keep hold of things because the sense, or to be honest feel, of them is as much part of the experience as the memories and what have you. 

this is all the more true with special announcements. sure, now, one can instantly use all sorts of internet stuff (apps, social media, what have you) to tell we, the people something of importance. whilst this is absolutely amazing, it adds to the rather disposable nature of the world. there's no sense of age or the importance of it no more. for example, you could be reading this one hundred or so years after i actually gone wrote it, but on a screen (or whatever you have in the future) it may well as have been written just moments before you read these very words. 

putting an announcement of some consequence in a newspaper was quite a thing. not as free and cheap as the internet to do, of course, but not that expensive. in an era before communicating with everyone everywhere all at once if you had something to say then you either phoned or sent letters to all the people you knew, or you popped a notice in the newspaper. 

weirdly it feels like it felt more personal to see an announcement in a newspaper rather than picking up on it off of some general email or social media post. yet i am aware that it has been some time since i gone done bought a newspaper as such. sure, i picked up those free ones when in that there London, and every now and then i am obliged to buy one to get a book at a lower price off of Tesco. for the latter usually the newspaper goes, unread, directly into recycling. 

indeed i am quite aware of the "irony" (more like hypocrisy) of me writing this on the internet, or what have you. still, with senses being eroded all the time in this peculiar century i don't understand and really don't care for, feel all that you can feel whilst you can.

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

greetings from a dead man

hello there

sorry for the somewhat (if not rather) dramatic title. likely the best, or most apt, phrase i could have used for this was a lyric i elected to use late last year (2024), which if you wish you can consider by clicking here, look you see. apologies also to those of you who recognise the literary quote used instead, and no, the quality of writing is unlikely to be anywhere as close. but, still. 

please note i neither profess nor claim to be "expert" in any of what you will read, if indeed you opt to continue reading. i am also very mindful of not wishing to preach to anyone, i am not going to get all holier than thou, evangelical (or even esoteric) about it all. just my account, for writing here would seem to be my catharsis in this world. take from all of this what you will, be it information, something to read on one of the few ad free websites left (unless they are sneaking them on and not giving me a cut) or what have you. 

where to begin is a question which normally (quite naturally) suggests at the beginning as an answer. it is, in this instance, not clear where it all commences. let me start at what feels the "business end" of it. for a change i am only going to add pictures later, so excuse me if the images that eventually get added don't quite match the text. as if they do usually. here we go.......

tuesday

a quite normal day, from what i can remember. things at verk were (without checking my diary) all pretty straightforward, nothing out of the ordinary. early evening, though, things went if not totes or completely f****d then a bit to shit. i had quite a dizzy spell. really strange one. was just sat watching the tele, and the whole world started tilting on its side, from left to right (if that is relevant). except not entirely, it got a few degrees, then seemed to repeat, again and again, all at a speed of many hundreds of miles per hour (or what have you). try to imagine (since DVDs and Blu Rays just pause) a visual thing of where a CD "sticks" and you just have a split second of the disc stuttering. 

the sensation passed after, well, i don't know how long. didn't feel like it was particularly long, perhaps just under a minute or so. in each instance. as in yes, this happened to me once or twice. once when i elected to step outside for a cigarette (sorry), which was in my mind likely to fix everything, and i sort of had to put a hand out and lean (or what have you) on a pillar or wall. ultimately i elected for a reasonably early night, took an anadin and went to bed. 

wednesday - sunday afternoon/early evening

on waking the morning after (the night before) i felt fine, and continued to do so as i went about al usual things of stuff. yes, when i was in control of a vehicle not long after morning rituals, including of course breakfast, i did wonder about the wisdom of doing so if another dizzy spell (for that is all i can think of to call it) hit. but everything felt fine. at this stage i must declare that i did indeed tell a good friend about what happened and they did urge me to consult medical advice as soon as possible. since it had all gone away, no, i did not. but i did (vaguely) promise them i would if it happened again. 

remaining time in this particular sub-headed section was fairly routine. i did verk stuff, which included a lovely day in Newcastle (why aye man), strolled around the market on saturday, listened to some quality music, took the train to see the boys and what not. a perfectly reasonable thing to say was as the days progressed the memory of the incident (or episode) soon ebbed away, fading from memory like it had never actually even happened. yes, an "ignore it and it will go away" thing. 

sunday evening

ha ha, no. this was when it all went right proper f****d, to be honest. once again i was just sat watching television (i do not believe anything more exciting than snooker) and it all kicked off again. except rather, or if you will very, different. the dizziness as i described it was back, but seemingly faster, and far more prolonged. like it was not ever going to stop spinning. 

i was getting to the kind of stage that could be compared to Sir Roger Moore in Moonraker, or if you prefer James Bond In Space, where he is in the "g-force" machine. my feeling was that i was going to go unconscious in a matter of moments, or otherwise pass out, or maybe (just maybe) since i am not sure what it is going to feel like, pass away, as in be demised. Monty Python parrot time. with all this considered and my mind not being able to grasp or focus on a single thing, i had a really, really good idea that standing up would mend this and make it all better.

as it happens, no. well, yes, i did (somehow) stand up, but was soon down again. with speed. did manage to knock over one of my ludicrous piles of tapes (discs, what have you) on the way down, but with mercy did not collide with any glass cabinets or anything either sharp or going to deliver a knock out blow. kind of laid there for a bit, then when it was clear i was going to be ill (nausea, or what have you) i somehow found the resolve to get to the bathroom to do so. i have no memory at all of how i did that, i just did. once there it was (brace yourself) an experience like i have not had before, for it was violent, relentless and like all within my body would soon be out. managed to get some water on my face, in particular my ridiculous (at least presently) beard, to make sure any of that last bit remained on me, and then made my way to bed. no, not entirely certain (forgive the theatrics or dramatics) that once i closed my eye that they would open again. cannot ever recall being quite so scared, yet my prevailing sense was calm, to be accepting of it. 

monday morning

yes it was indeed that eyes opened again. i woke up fairly early, pretty sure that i had slept throughout the night with no incident. the world was not all dizzy and spinning, but it most decidedly was not seeming all stable. i laid for a bit, wondering just what the f*** was going on. memories of the night before came to mind. i could somehow recall doing two key tests during it all, namely raising my arms straight above my head and placing my chin (or, yes, chins, if you don't like me and are of a disposition to be mean) on my chest. presumably this told me no, it was not a heart attack, it was not a stroke, and i can only guess that was why i elected "not to cause a fuss", not to call any medical professional and not to try and draw the attention of anyone to my plight. 

with the above in mind, and a vague memory of a vague promise, i decided that yes, i was going to need some sort of medical attention here. since i was reasonably functional, and what i at least hoped was the worst of it had passed, no i did not call the emergency number (999 here in the UK) straight away. recalling there was such, i managed to log in to the NHS "app" on my phone, discovering there are quite a few security layers on it. i did their "test" or questionnaire thing, describing my symptoms (or if you will plight) as best i could, so as to let the machine determine if i needed immediate medical assistance or if i could pop down to a doctor when i felt up to it. the big red letters at the end of this test informed me that i was to call 999 for an ambulance now. 

hopefully this is not too boring so far, for there is a while to go. but also yes, there was at least one cigarette (sorry) between that test answer and me actually calling. 

on calling 999 i got asked some more questions off of the operator. this was fine, i was not in panic mode. as is famously known our health service really has gone to sh!t, but i would not want them rushing an ambulance to me if others were in a worse state. wouldn't call this anything noble on my behalf, more the fear of guilt if something really bad happened to someone when the people who could assist were p!ssing about with me. i explained the tests i gone done, they had me look in the mirror to check i had not changed colour, or my face had collapsed. also had me check for marks on my body which are associated with meningitis. they asked if any part of my skin was unusually cold, and the answer was yes, my back was absolutely freezing. i was told an ambulance was on the way. 

presuming, or imagining, that the ambulance would not be there any time soon i did a couple of things. first off was to call my direct (verk) boss, intending to advise there was an issue and i would not be in today, or likely the week. got voicemail, and can half recall leaving a mostly incoherent message. not long after that i could remember that i had made an appointment with someone in respect of a verk related matter, which obviously i would not be able to honour. but of course, under the rules of the English way of doing things this seemed to be the very worst thing for me right then, so i sent a text message to three (3) colleagues, asking if one of them couldn't at all pick it up on my behalf, mentioning in passing that there had been a "bit of an incident" and the ambulance was on the way. 

merrily the ambulance arrived a good deal quicker (or faster) than i had anticipated, and soon there were three (3) lady paramedics in my bedroom as my (verk) phone went ballistic with concerned people wishing to have speaks with me and see what was going on. i did manage to have speaks with one or two, but it seemed more appropriate to let the paramedics do their thing. 

i have absolutely no concept of how long the paramedics were with me. certainly felt a while, but then time was distorted if not displaced. lots of questions, lots of tests is what i recall. they were quickly satisfied that no, it was neither stroke nor heart attack. presumably that particular bill due for smoking waits for another time. surprisingly the majority of the tests (taking as a given that they did not have a chest x-ray machine with them) were fine, although i do remember them saying (and me being a bit baffled by what the relevance was) that i had an "unusually high" blood sugar level. indeed, anyone still reading this will then now know the ending. 

they did all them heart and blood pressure and pulse (apparently i have one) tests. some of them, and i would think the heart ones, involved numerous white discs with blue tags being attached. quite a few, actually. every time i thought i had found and removed them all, no, a little while later i found another one. kindly the one paramedic warned me that they can be a bit painful to remove, and yes they did smart a bit (unless, in the words of my sister, it was just me being a usual big fanny). mindful of finding them over the course of the day and how they did indeed sting a bit when removed i was rather reluctant about searching for stray ones south of the belt, so to speak. 

ultimately the considered and learned opinion of the paramedics was that i was, in some way, f****d, with that being my choice of phrase, but they could not say in what precise way. this is quite fair, they are there to immediately save lives, and whatever was going on was not (alas, for some) immediately likely to be fatal. so, they arranged a reasonably (fairly) urgent doctor appointment. 

off i went to the doctor, then. a few questions, some tests (and a comment about needing to address a build up of ear wax) and the conclusion, or diagnosis, that it was vertigo. indeed i have had the rather splendid U2 song of same name in my head ever since, and oddly no, i do not believe i have seen the famous Hitchcock film which also has the same name. pills were duly prescribed, but an appointment was made for the day after the next day (or if you like wednesday) for some blood tests. 

did i, or have i, had any further dizzy spells? or incidents of vertigo, as the current thinking (which i do not question) is that is what it is (perhaps was)? yes. on that monday afternoon, as i attempted to make toast, and then later on tuesday evening. since then, nothing, and long may it stay so. 

blimey that's a fair chunk what i gone done wrote and we are not even at the business end yet. well, we on the presumption of you, the people, still reading. perhaps i should have broken this all up into two posts, but then paragraphs exist for a reason. 

so, blood tests on the wednesday. i don't actually have too much to say on this one, as it was a fairly brief appointment. with all the will in the world there are only so many things which can be revealed instantly once blood has been drawn and "tested", however (i know not) that happens. so sure enough a nice nurse took some of my blood (possibly very nearly an armful) and wished me well for the remainder of the day, saying that the test results would likely be two or three days. 

quite a surprise, then, when i got a call (not unreasonably so but still) from my local medical practitioner place, advising me that i needed to be seen as a matter of urgency and i was due there at such and such a time that day. oh. right. proper f****d, then. my logic here would be that thing where Tom Hagen needed a drink before seeing Vito Corleone to tell him the tragic news of Sonny. if they were not going to tell me on the phone it must be rather serious. 

the first, and rather abrupt, question i got off of the (perfectly lovely) nurse was of why, exactly, i had not been treating my diabetes at all. after that sank in, i said because so far as i was aware i did not have diabetes (or was not diabetic), and that i had not been tested or checked for it. which led to a silence. people i have told this to get quite cross, but it would seem a doctor appointment i went to, that i cannot recall at all, a very Nigel Tufnell number of years ago indicated that i was indeed diabetic. no one mentioned this. i mean, i would certainly like to think i would have taken note. well, what's done is done, forward not backward, as the saying goes. doesn't it? 

little margin was given to absorb this as i was presented with the course of action required. the most immediate concern, the first battle which must be won, is to dramatically reduce my blood sugar level. it is, or was (hopefully past tense is correct) somewhat slightly yet noticeably over 100. yes i asked if that was bad and i was told it was bad, very bad. i am, then, on some hardcore pills to get that down. also my diet has changed somewhat to help this out. 

it turned out that this was not the only thing what the blood tests found was an issue, or was busted, or to continue a trend quite f****d. whereas i have always been of a view that anyone wishing to impersonate me has my hopes that they shall do a (considerably) better job, perhaps it would be ill advised to give the details of other diagnosis. but, as things stand, for now i am on medication for in excess of the two (2) matters already mentioned here. fair bit more. 

one thing i have always been aware of is that people who are on extensive, long term medication really do not like being so. when i speak to them, or have spoken, that's the part of whatever is wrong that gets them down, or plays on their mind. up to now (and yes this is early days, i appreciate) this hasn't really bothered me so much. i mean, sure, i am making all sorts of charts, notes and stickers for boxes so i know what to take when and if i have taken what i needed to when. the only bit kind of getting me down is the constant blood testing. 

for now (and i really hope this is short term) i am needing to do one of them blood test things, which i believe measure glucose, about 8 (eight) times a day. it's not really the pin prick and blood thing that's the issue, i think it's forever being on my mind that's the problem. remembering to do one before i eat breakfast, needing to do one two (2) hours after food and then also before meals, and before bedtime. appreciating in the grand scheme (etc) it's not all that much of an ask, still, it remains the one thing that i find rather troublesome. 

having thought about it, and me thinking prior to writing is another indicator of this new world, i suspect it is the recording of numbers. your blood sugar / glucose level is not supposed to be an absolute or constant, but i now keep thinking it is. so whilst getting it usually (mostly) within the range i am supposed to, i fret when it seems on the low or the high end of the range. this, too, shall pass. 

bearing in mind it is early days i am surprised how easily i have taken to the other dynamics of this new world (or life) i am in. the diet changes have actually been enjoyable. no way, i would have said, if someone told me that tea (dinner, posh) would be a chicken stir fry with a pear as pudding. never really took to apples, and bananas are a bit iffy. also the packet of pears i saw in the shop had a koala on it, so i figured they must be quite class. already i have got myself down to zero sugar in tea (!!) although one half of a teaspoon of sugar is certainly still going in coffee. for now. 

cigarettes? cigarettes. i had  been clutching to the notion that not one of the 5 (five) medical professionals what i saw during this week of interest had said, you know, quit. the sixth, however, did indeed advise me that this would (very much) be a conversation at my next appointment. oh. being fair my family and friends most enthusiastic about putting forward the idea of me quitting as a very good idea have, momentarily, said no, do not stop. well, cut down a lot, but not cease. one battle at a time, as mentioned. i think if i "just quit" (cold turkey) right now, with all this, well, physically and, perhaps of greater relevance psychologically, there would be a bit of resistance. yet i am aware that this is coming. 

now where do i go with all this? well, not all this, but this bit, writing it up in what i suppose is my quasi or de facto diary. if not dairy. a pause for this particular story, then, for i still have about a month or so (give or take) to fight the battle of blood sugar. once again i am not here to preach or what have you, take entirely from this what you will. some shall be happy i am here to write this, others will understandably be disappointed with the same. long have i known it so, long have i accepted that one really cannot please all. 

more shall follow as and when it happens, for what else would i write of. ultimately, i suppose, as i go ahead and meander to a conclusion here, i am on reflection glad to be here, and yes have been, on an emotional level at the sheer volume of care and concern spread my way. i feel it, i appreciate it and only now do i realise just how much i need it. perhaps i am not the cold, heartless soul i have been conditioned to accept as moi is. or something like that. 

just hope there's enough pictures and what have you (one bad video clip) for those of you who only really come here for that sort of thing.

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

money

welcome

this, improbably, is the third post what i have gone done on the coming together of the realms of money and David "Derek" Bowie. at least i think it's just the third, look you see. yes, i did a quick check but really the emphasis there is quick. in this instance, though, it's not actual, real money one can use. not unless, at the least, you find someone really, really thick.

some context then, so as if to pretend that i do proper writing or even think about structuring these all proper. every now and then (likely as often as you think) i shall while away a few moments searching on that great virtual car boot sale of the internet, looking for things not really random. certainly i shall always search Split Enz, on the off chance an item turns up, but usually it will be for Bowie. heaven forbid a reasonably priced item from (or of) him passes me by. this would very much include items that i do not have and, say, tapes (or discs) that i have several copies of but hey, who's counting. 

in a quite recent search (oddly not the most recent, but the last one at time of writing to result in a purchase) the above were presented to me. no, not in the classy VHS mode image you see, that's one i took. for purposes of clarification that's a set of two (2) USA bank notes, ostensibly to the value of (does best Dr Evil voice) one million dollars each. but not "legal tender" as such, for as you can see the notes are resplendent with images and text pertaining to David Bowie. 

how much does it cost to get two million (ahem) cash with Bowie on it? north of £2, but yet south of £2.50. yes, as in no, i cannot recall the precise (or exact) cost, but enough of a "throwaway" value to go sure, why would i not order these. turned up quite quickly too, and overall i would say i got the novelty factor value out of them, whatever it was i paid. 

of course i was going to upload an image of each side of the notes in thermal mode for you, and there it is above. beyond appearance, a bit of information (or if you like advertising) on the website said that these would have a "real money feel". quite interestingly (maybe) they do indeed. whereas i am not an expert it does happen to be so that i'd bought some "fun" bank notes before (i believe Darth Vader ones) and they were little more than colour photocopy things. 

my other posts on Bowie related money? as in not how much i have spent on his stuff, but money what has his image on? entirely possible more interesting than this post, they are. the first one was just, at time of writing, north of ten years ago, and concerned the Brixton Bowie Bank Note. click on the coloured text and off you go. no, have no idea if that remains valid or "legal tender" in the place, and believe you me i am in no rush to return there to find out. after that came some Bowie £5 Coin (click the text), which caused disproportionate hysteria when it came out. oh so many rushed to declare that it was a "worthless investment", i suspect anyone else who(m) bought it did so because, like me, they just thought it was a nice thing to have in the collection. 

generally no, i am not that keen on Labyrinth, outside of fond memories of seeing it at the cinema with my brother and a good friend. that said it is quite the iconic look, even for the loftier standards what Bowie has for such, so i get why it is on the note. absolutely no issues with the other images used. 

just what is it that i plan to do with these two (2) notes? there's every chance that i might one day bump into someone who is selling something i want that costs US$2,000,000 and for some reason they would happily accept these. until then, i think they shall just reside on the tape (CD) stand i have reserved mostly for Bowie recordings, with (perhaps) the occasional glance. 

let it be said that i shall be really, really surprised if there's another (4th) instance of Bowie related money things turning up on here. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lobot

greetings

and so it is, once more (as happens every year, look you see) Star Wars day. this of course stems from the rather peculiar way in which Americans state the date, meaning "May 4th" gets spoken as "may the fourth be with you", which  sounds a bit like a phrase popular in the Darth Vader film series. so far as i am aware that line is uttered at least once in each of the good Star Wars films and in Last Jedi too. probably not, now i think, Solo, as that was predominantly jedi and space religion free. also wasn't much good. 

well, with it being what it is (the day) i figured, mostly with nothing else particularly better to write of right now, i might as well pay homage to the best, greatest and most important character in all of the films and what have you of Star Wars. and that, of course, is Lobot. 

granted, no, Lobot is not the first name what would come to mind if someone asked you to name a character from Star Wars. unless it was someone asking me, and i would probably say him. it is not all that often people engage in conversation with me, though, and when they do it's normally considerably less ("fewer") things like "who was in Star Wars", more "why are you still here". but still, he is the best, greatest and most important character in Star Wars, for i read this to be true on the internet, so it must be true. reading it in the previous paragraph here, i feel, counts. 

it is of course very much so that Star Wars has been hugely influential on culture, society and what have you for the last, what 48 years (at time of writing) or so. yes, there are those (called "fanboys") who by certain standards may take it all a little too seriously, but still, overall, how truly amazing that a fairly simple (yet visually dazzling) swashbuckling tale of good vs evil captured the minds of so many. it is at heart brilliant escapism, and little wonder it means so much to so many. the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, some might say. 

exactly how is Lobot the best, greatest and most important character out of Star Wars? well, on a practical level it is so that quite a few of the main characters - the fake orphan, the bin, the gay robot, the entitled adopted princess, the criminal people smuggler and his dog would all be dead if it were not for his intervention. had he not gone done what he gone done (granted, prompted by Lando, but still) then we never would have got the third film with that massive slug and them cute cannibalistic teddy bear sex cases. 

more than this, though, is the influence of Lobot on the "real word". people went to go and see The Empire Strikes Back and people liked what they saw this Lobot dude was doing. it's probably going to far to say that Lobot made the world of business administration sexy, but he certainly made it sexier. 

the image above is probably my all time favourite one off of Star Wars as it has the four best characters out of all of it in it. yes, sure, Lobot is the best, but still, Lando is quite class, as are Vader and Boba. what would have been class is a film (or two) of the four of them, just hanging around discussing the trials and tribulations of administration, as well as the odd bit of choking people to death and blowing stuff up. disintegrations, even. 

how did Lobot make business administration seem quite sexy affect the world? within a year or so of the film Empire Strikes Back getting released applications to study things like an MBA and Public Administration degrees shot up by over one thousand percent, probably. many people were inspired to set up quite class business ventures that they could be administrators of, like how Lobot was the administrator for Cloud City, or Bespin, or whatever it was actually called. with particular emphasis on his really, really smart flared trousers. 

yes, there are some that would suggest Lando is slightly more important, as his decision to all of a sudden not f*** over his friend Han was kind of essential to all them characters surviving. however, he only had the idea not to f*** over the people smuggler. it took Lobot to make sure what got done got undone, which is basically what an administrator is there for. also that headset thing is class. 

hope you are all enjoying whatever it is you do to celebrate Star Wars day, if you do indeed celebrate it. i would expect a lot of it is just saying "may the fourth be with you" to people. maybe even watch a film or two. well, presumably just the one what has Lobot in it. 

live long and prosper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

primal scream

howdy pop pickers

ok, let's start with the "blimey is it May already, where does the time go" comments. no, i am not entirely sure, look you see, if it is that the days, weeks, months, years all drift away so very quickly as you get older, or it just feels so on the basis of what you do with that time. 

but, anyway, Primal Scream. plus support. 

indeed this was the third gig of the year (2025) for me, and to be honest it's set a very high benchmark for being the "best". which is f*****g saying something when one considers, all factors considered, just what an amazing night KillerStar at the 100 Club was. rather than worry too much about what's the best of any particular thing, though, i'd rather be thankful for so many spectacular life incidents. 

this was, perhaps surprisingly, the first time i had got the chance to see the band. not sure why i missed out on them over the years, probably just a timing thing. for anyone of a certain age, as in you were there when "one generation under the same groove" was very much a thing (late 80s to early 90s) it would be so that this band, and the Screamadelica album in particular were likely present in the soundtrack to those far more relaxed days and times. there i go with time again. 

mostly this tour was in support of the recent, if you like "comeback" album off of the band, Come Ahead. i did indeed get it when it came out, especially as it granted me access to "pre sale" tickets for this tour. and, at the time, i was not too keen on what i heard. in (glorious) retrospect i was somewhat unduly harsh on the album, if not plain wrong. having played it a few times in the days leading up to the gig i was surprised to find it a damned lot (more) better than i had taken it as being. maybe i was not in the right state, or frame, of mind for it when it landed. still, being honest, my main hope was that the gig would feature more of their classic tunes, less ("fewer") of things all new. 

usually at gigs these days i don't spend all that much time checking out the support act. an obvious exception would be the last gig i went to, Ocean Colour Scene, when the superb Kula Shaker were on first, delivering a quite brilliant set. i have come to see support act time as being time to wait outside having a cigarette or two (sorry), or maybe do business at the bar. mostly the former, really, since - and this is no bad thing - smoking inside gig venues is now a no-no. 

go on then, i thought (or thought i), let me have a bit of a listen to Dylan John Thomas. he was, after all, off of Bobby Gillespie's home town, so i took it as a given that he had rather been picked by the band to be the support act, rather than the record label / tour booking agents shoving them on, or as is the case with the imminent Oasis thing, the absolute cheapest acts that are vaguely recognisable being picked. 

rather glad i did check him (or them, for it was a band) out. yes, certainly that is a bit of really poor quality video for you, the shoddy nature of it telling you all you need to know how bad this Samsung A14 thing is. i do feel a bit bad not recording any of his own stuff (a rock sound with a distinct influence of reggae / ska, to my ears), but i was so taken by the audacious nature of this cover of Big Love from Fleetwood Mac i elected to try and record some of it. 

were there any hitches or glitches with me and this gig? oh goodness me yes. sadly, too. as would be normal (or the new normal) for me and gigs in Newcastle, my dear friend, the legendary g-man, was to go with me. alas, his employers elected to f*** him right over at the last minute, so verk obligations meant he couldn't get there. a great shame, and yes of course as you do for a mate i have lied a great deal to him, telling him it was sh!t and he was better off missing it. 

by chance, or fate, a good use for his ticket happened. about ten (or so) minutes before Primal Scream were due on stage three lads turned up. of them two had tickets, one claimed to have but their phone had died (again, like many others, i miss the days of having a proper ticket) and the ticket office couldn't do much for him. i immediately offered the extra ticket i (very regrettably) had to them, which they took up. yes, they offered to pay for it, offered drinks, something from the merch (none of the t-shirts are my size, ever) but i declined, saying rather someone have a top night than the ticket go to waste. 

quite a lot of the opening number, which i believe was Don't Fight It, Feel It (when based on some reviews i had expected Ready To Go Home, the finest moment of the new tape), saw me just kind of stood there, staring at the majestic figure of Bobby Gillespie, thinking (and perhaps saying) "f***, that's actual f*****g Bobby Gillespie i am f*****g seeing". even after a couple of pints (perhaps 4 or so but who here is counting) it did take a bit for reality to sink in. 

knowing full well that my phone is utterly useless for video, and truly just wanting to enjoy the gig because who knows when (or if) i will get the chance to see Primal Scream again, no, i did not record all that much. what i did record did (of course) come out quite bad. but for those of you who insist, or for some reason really, really like poor quality video, here's some of Movin On Up for you. 

yeah, just maybe rather pick up a copy of Screamadelica if (for some strange reason) you don't already have it and play it proper. for those of you who have a provenance thing, by the way, this was all at Newcastle City Hall (or O2 academy, i think they refer to it as now) on 19 April (2025). the last show of the tour, no less, and the place is one of the best venues what i have ever been to. 

overall, or on the whole, this was (and my friend g-man, or anyone else that planned to go but did not may well wish to stop reading now) one of the best gigs i have been to. yes, i know in the grand scheme of things i may not have been to all that many (i have good friends, for instance, who have seen the Manics over ten times more than the four times what i gone done), but still. 

here you had (and i believe this is the right term) a perfect storm. there was the band, in particular of course the iconic singer, in absolute bang on form, an audience emotionally invested in the music what they were there for (no "i am here and i only know Wonderwall" types), a brilliant venue (the sound inside is exceptional) and a considered, excellent and if you will "balanced" set. i didn't even notice that i didn't have a cigarette for the two hour duration. 

main highlights? honestly there was no "down" time. as fluent and fluid a set as you could wish for, with the "classics" easily blending in with the new. sure, one or two people elected to head to the bar on hearing a more recent song start, but that sort of thing happens at virtually every gig. flawless, i think, is the best way to describe the songs selected and the running (or batting) order. sure, what's likely my favourite of all time Primal Scream song, Burning Wheel, didn't get played, and no they didn't decided to go and play all 11 (or so minutes) of Trainspotting, but i kind of assumed they would not. 

certainly i read some reviews before going. most were decidedly honest, if in part brutal. there were suggestions of Bobby Gillespie "mumbling rather than singing", and a high level of apathy, if not outright boredom, in the audience with the Come Ahead songs. neither of these things were true of the gig i was at. as point of fact, at the end, random strangers approached me (and several others) expressing what an incredible gig it was. far be it from me to suggest they had taken any sort of self prescribed medication to take themselves back to the early 90s. 

go on then, one more bit if (poor quality) video. here you go with Rocks, which was the final number of a three song encore. at the time the song got a bit slated for being a "Stones rip off", but my how us fans have ignored that and it's well established as a rock classic. you might have thought they would consider opening gigs with this one, but undoubtedly it was determined to do so would be "a bit naff" and far too an obvious thing. careful now, for Bobby unleashes a few swear words. ones that you can make out reasonably clearly even with the limitations of this phone of mine.

easily the biggest surprise of the night for me (since i can write only of my experience) was the crowd reaction to Country Girl. difficult competition and impossible to gauge accurately, but to my eyes and ears it was so this one that really got the crowd all pumped up. pumped up even more than the rest of the set, which (believe me) is saying something. make no mistake, it's a fairly good song, but i always classed it as a sort of whimsical, throwaway thing, likely produced to ensure some radio play and grab attention for the band and album (Riot City Blues) at the time. going purely on the crowd reaction on the night you would believe it to be their best, greatest and most important song, ever. 

perhaps the moment which shall live in my mind the longest was Loaded. i am taking it as something of a given they haven't played it all that often on tour, going on how Bobby Gillespie elected to introduce it with the words "surprise mother f*****s". what followed when the song kicked in was extraordinary. take the idea, if you will, of the end of the (actually not bad) film adaptation of Perfume, where the scentless apprentice (spoiler warning here) wafts his ultimate scent and a massive orgy spontaneously commences. in that moment at the gig when Bobby raised his hand with customary defiance everyone in the gig was immediately transported to a huge warehouse rave, say 91 or 92, absolutely ripped to the t!ts on ecstasy or similar for the next six to ten minutes. weaving such magic is what makes Bobby Gillespie who he is, and blessed be us for being able to experience it. 

let me be fair here - the band, this current incarnation of Primal Scream, are also excellent. they, as we, though surely know that the focus will always be on Bobby. it is true that the musicians flourish and strive on songs like Loaded and of course Come Together, and Movin On Up is constructed on a perfect, frantic gospel fuelled sound, but everyone there - in audience and on stage - is in a "wow" state of awe and admiration of this audacious force of nature. 

blimey, it's almost as if i am doing an actual, proper review here. moving on, then, and i was thrilled that they did another favourite of mine (which i shall slightly censor here) in $wast!ka Eyes. i didn't really think  a live rendition of the song could match up to the polished perfection of the studio take, and to be fair it perhaps didn't, but still. also, unexpectedly, Medication got a play, which was most brilliant to hear. 

i would suggest that i have made it (reasonably) clear that this was one excellent gig. so, rather than saying that again, my favourite Bobby Gillespie stories. first, and best, was that time the band pulled out of appearing on Top Of The Pops at the (more or less) last minute. why? it turned out they were going to be flown in to Luton airport, and they (as in Bobby) decided that Luton airport "wasn't rock n roll enough". from memory they got a quasi "ban" off the BBC for a couple of years for that one. then there was that time (early 90s) that Dave Gahan was going slightly off the rails during a tour in America. legend has it that they opted to rush in Primal Scream to join them on the tour, for some reason assuming, or outright believing, that Bobby Gillespie would have a "calming influence". oh. 

right, that's that. for this post, not gigs. unless something dramatic happens. just a further 2 (two) gigs are lined up as things stand, with both (oddly) also going to be in (why aye man) Newcastle. this is particularly pleasing, for it is an excellent city with a focus mostly on having a good time all the time. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!