Messages

LOVE that woman's bones, I do!
And she's one hell of a great fingerpicking guitarist too - have a shufty at her playing "coat of many colours" solo on an acoustic. And I thoroughly recommend her album "The Grass Is Blue", where she returned to her bluegrass roots.
A total saint, in my opinion.

It irks me tremendously that they won't kill him off, and to be honest I've found my enthusiasm levels for Dredd tend to wane a lot compared to days of old now I realise he's unlikely to be killed off. If End Of Days didn't do it, what could?

And yet, the IP could easily continue with Rico, making for far fresher stories - imagine a Dredd who's battling inner turmoil every so often that he may actually be the bad guy, his bloodline etc. And yet you could just keep firing out standard wacky stories of the week.

As soon  as Tharg seemed to abandon the "aging wearily" stories, a lot of the sense of the character being "real" left.

[Slaine - The Horned God]

Happy to report that Slaine - The Horned God works incredibly well as an adaptation. Setting it in Slaine's native Ireland with an Irish cast is a wonderful idea, and just about everybody concerned sounds committed to bringing it to life.

Any issues are generally the same as the original text - endless exposition at the beginning, bringing the reader/listener up to date with previous adventures. It's generally made clear what's occurring, though, and it's begging for a visual version. I've not read the comic for a couple of years (since the first hachette volume), but I reckon you could enjoy this without having read the source material. RECOMMENDED.

Reckon I'll give Brink a wide berth, judging by the comments here...Halo Jones or America next for me, as soon as my next Audible credit rolls around...

[The Pit]

Just listened to The Pit in its entirety.

Difficult to express a feeling on it. For a start, it's nowhere near as gritty as I'd have liked it to be - there are several instances where the actors don't sound like they're REACTING to one another, just moving through their lines. It's difficult though, when you've read the story as much as I have, you need to realise that this is a different take - an adaptation - and you've got to have an open mind. In fact, the only really sore point for me was Ed Winchester doing what can only be described as a comedy tough guy voice for Guthrie.

The rest of the cast do a fine job, Fiennes in particular as Dredd puts a more relaxed and nuanced spin on Dredd. In fact, the whole thing reminded me of The Pit as directed by Kevin Costner. Half the time I could picture Dredd as Costner in a bent - up cowboy hat behind the wheel of a 4x4, going about his business.

There are times when the sound effects take over and it's difficult to tell what's going on if you've not read the story already - the Grot Pot part in particular is guilt here.

Overall though, I enjoyed it. It was refreshing to hear a Dredd that's not got a Batman Begins style overly gruff voice, and it filled in a couple of hours as a I went about my daily walk.

I'd recommend it, but keep an open mind.

Slaine tomorrow, will report back when I've heard it all.

I find that the trick is to watch what's being presented in front of you, not what's already in your mind.

[The Out]

1- The Out - by a mile, this kept me going through the darkness.
2- Hook Jaw - odd, but fun
3- Survival Geeks - I warmed to it in the end.

An odd year in the prog for me, but I'm bloody glad it was there throughout. Styrofoam cups to all the droids!

Honourable Mention: Damage Report. It's the little things that often count the most.

[2164]

Third - 2164 - Classic Will Simpson Dredd!

Second - 2169 - Iconic Dredd from Cliff Robinson, reminds me of classic eighties covers.

First - 2211 - Wanted to frame it and put it up on the pub wall above my prog zone, the second it landed. Just lovely.

Excellent work, that Droid!
Here's to many more years of top - notch art, Paul.
Thanks from a grateful Squaxx....

WOW. Now THAT is how you do an ending!
And then there's that post credit scene.....

Haven't felt like that since 10 year old me saw Return Of The Jedi. Punched the air.
Blimey.

Gutted for you there, dweezil, but I think they're rescheduling?
Last time I saw 'em was (I think) on the Backspacer tour in Manchester with Gomez supporting. One of the best gigs I've ever seen! Stone Gossards amp caught fire halfway through. Eddie lit a joint on it and blissfully smoked throughout the chaos of roadies with fire extinguishers while the band played on. Nonchalant sod.

[The Wildhearts - 30 Year Itch]

The Wildhearts - 30 Year Itch is the best live album since No Sleep Til Hammersmith to my ears, an absolute belter.

Other than that, Pearl Jam - Gigaton got me through summer lockdown. Album of the year for me.

I rolled my eyes at the thought of yet ANOTHER regened prog, but d'you know what? I enjoyed every single story in this prog, and got a feeling of a "classic" prog from it (you know, those ones you read as a kid, between, say prog 180 - 370 or so), and that's not something I can say for my usual weekly prog.
Even Anderson was a straight read, mercifully bullshit free.
Cheers, Joko. I'm actually looking forward to the next one.

[Johnny Alpha.]

Johnny Alpha. Hands down my favourite comic book character of all time.
Nobody else even comes close.
Except, maybe, Groo The Wanderer.

If I remember rightly, it's called the Tolkien edit, if it's still available. Been a couple of years since I saw it, the picture quality wasn't too good, but its a really good movie. Definitely recommended if there's a decent version out there somewhere....

Kick it hard between the legs, Bell, me old son.
(Not mentioning you've only ever made two posts, both asking the same thing)