Good Night

Good Morning

In Town Again

A dull overcast day and bloody windy too. Gusts up to 50  mph! Mind you, I did pop into town to post some items off and then to do the third Spoons visit of the five I am doing for SM.
Today I had the steak and kidney pudding and nothing after and just one beer - Abbott Ale.




I am cutting down on the beer drinking although of recent I have not had that much except for the day of the lunch club when I downed five!

So after the midday meal in town, I decided to come back home and read as well as listen to some music.

Meanwhile. I am getting quite excited about a large box my brother is sending me which will arrive on Wednesday.

My mind is wondering what it is. 

Wire Tappers

Occasionally Wire has an attached CD to the magazine. These Tappers are often beautifully designed cardboard sleeves that house the CD. I only have seven at the moment as they come out with the mag every three months. I had some before but due to moving property and other circumstances, I have lost them. However, these are my four current favourite designs.

Name Thy Storm, Net Radio And Other Stuff

So far this week we had Strom George that came over from Ireland and now we are in the midst of Storm Hannah - but ffs - when did we start personalising storms? They are just bloody storms.


The weather looks more relaxed come Monday and dry as I will be heading to Hastings that day and then Hythe on the way back. I have a supermarket cafe visit and the last charity shop visit to do this month.

Music wise, it is nice to use Mixcloud and check the grooves the DJ's have been playing on 1BTN - A Brighton based cool groove music radio station.

Check this one out -

https://www.mixcloud.com/1btn/turn-on-tune-in-11032019/?utm_campaign=notification_new_upload&utm_medium=email&utm_source=notification&utm_content=html


I will do another music post later on.

When Having One Just Isn't Enough

LOL!!!!!!!!

The Day Late Friday Five

As it is St. Patrick's Day tomorrow how about a bit o' the Irish today?


1. Are you Irish?
2. Do you like Guinness?
3. Do you know what the symbol of Ireland is?
4. Have you ever watched Father Ted?
5. Do you believe in leprechauns?

Six Slices Of Saturday Grooves

More grooves to get ya moving -


Web Web - King Of Forbidden Lands

Freddie Hubbard - Povo

Ivan Conti - Bacurau

Asha Puthli - Space Talk

John Cameron - Liquid Sunshine

Steve Cobby Ft. Danielle Moore - Lefthanded Books

Enjoy

Book 25 - Joe Haldeman "The Forever War"

Joe Haldeman "The Forever War" (Gollancz)




"This was not just a separation. Even if the war was over and we left for Earth only a few minutes apart, in different ships, the geometry of the collapsar jump would pile up years between us. When the second one arrived on Earth, his partner would probably be a half-century older; more probably dead."

Deservedly acknowledged as a classic, this tells the story of a physicist drafted into the military when humanity's first contact with aliens turns violent. Haldeman, a veteran himself, is able to make the training regime and the military culture eminently believable.


"The Forever War" essentially is nothing more than a part-time biography of a soldier living through a war. What makes it special is that said war isn't your typical planetary conflict, but rather fought in the vast expanse of space. Even though faster than light flight was discovered, most of the travel still has to be done at relativistic velocities, thus ensuring that the soldiers on the first campaign returned a generation after they had launched to fight, after only one subjective engagement.

What is perhaps surprising is how little actual fighting there is in the book. (The protagonist even misses out on one of the few battles that do occur, getting shot down before reaching the battlefield and waking up in hospital.) This book isn't about the war, it's about what happens to the people in it.

The most significant effect is from time dilation. Travelling huge distances at relativistic speeds, the soldiers keep returning to Earth way out of their time. We see some fascinating snapshots of how society might evolve, and then watch our heroes try to come to terms with the changes.

The lead characters struggle to hold on to each other, their senses of self, and their connections to the rest of humanity. It's a striking premise, excellently executed.

A solid piece of speculative hard science fiction.

Book 26 - Deborah Curtis "Touching From A Distance"

Deborah Curtis "Touching From A Distance" (Faber & Faber)



Deborah Curtis presents a brief biography of the man she married and gives the reader a glimpse at the very human side of her husband Ian Curtis., lead singer of Joy Division. Deborah presents the good and the bad and some may not want to think of an idol like Ian Curtis behaving the way he did. This is a frustrating and sad story like many that deal with suicide. There aren’t really any answers to why here and I didn’t expect them. One does get a sense that Ian’s epilepsy and numerous prescriptions may have played a strong hand in much of his turmoil and subsequent decision.

This book feels like a great sigh, like Deborah Curtis felt a weight off of her after she told her story. Though readers not familiar with Joy Division and others in music at that time in Manchester may be a bit lost with all of the names and places mentioned, I think this story can hold up without that knowledge.


In fact, I just started listening to Joy Division again after many years of not listening to them. I often go through periods of genre listening. I suppose what sparked a renewed interest in Joy Division and Post-Punk was my recent re-evaluation of The Slits and meeting Viv Albertine recently.

Ian’s lyrics and unfinished writings as well as Joy Division gig lists and discography are provided. This book inspired the film Control (2007).