Two Kings

Just a very quick post to remember two great, inspirational men...

Firstly, today is the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's  "I have a dream" speech, one of the pivotal moments in the US civil rights movement and, indeed, in world history. Doctor King delivered this historic speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, before a quarter of a million onlookers, and his dignity and eloquence still ring out today, down the decades, with his message of unity and tolerance.

 The other King being remembered is the late Jack Kirby, King Of Comics, who would have been 96 today. Anyone who's been following this 'ere blog for any length of time would know that I've been a fan of Jack's wonderful storytelling all my life and I've posted a fair few Kirby images here over the years. So... here are a few more...

Peace...

Random musings on a Bank Holiday Monday morning

Just a few stray thoughts while I'm having a quiet chill-out morning, ahead of hopefully having a long walk and possibly a picnic this afternoon. ( All dependant on the mercurial British weather, of course... )

I found the above photo of Matt Smith's original 11th Doctor costume fittings here.  Before reaching Smith's favoured bow tie / tweed jacket combo a few different looks were considered. Check out the link for a few more. I'd heard that the BBC were pushing Smith towards a piratical kind of look  -  his pained facial expressions hilariously show his feelings about that. The above look is quite cool, although probably too cool for the "hipster boffin" that is the 11th Doctor, and too similar to David Tennant's style. It will be interesting to see how Peter Capaldi's new look turns out. I just hope he isn't stuck with one "costume" because that can get boring very quickly and the way Matt Smith's outfit subtly changed over three years shows how it can be done well.

Although I can't see the Beeb going for the above look...

Speaking of Mr. Hendrix, I recently saw a musician mate of mine ( well, technically, he's a drummer ha ha ) talking on Facebook about how much he HATED ( the capital letters are his ) Jimi Hendrix... and these guys too...

Each to their own, of course, but I find it quite staggering for someone who loves music ( even a Punk drummer ) to not be able to find something of value in the above artists' music. To a lot of people, I suppose, Hendrix was just seen as the purveyor of noodling, lengthy solos and jams, biting and humping his guitar while wearing outrageous clothes and hats. In reality, he was far, far more than that. A supreme musician ( possibly really a blues or jazz alchemist forced into a rock 'n' roll role ) who was capable of moments of pure beauty and tenderness amongst all the noisy excess, with an unfailingly idiosyncratic, poetic song-writing style. You can read more of my thoughts ( should you wish to ) on James Marshall Hendrix here...

With the Beatles ( see what I did there? ) the problem is often the perceived "nice boy" image that puts people off... as opposed to those nasty, exciting rock 'n' roll rebels the Rolling Stones. Of course, that perception is fundamentally bollocks. The Beatles were genuine working-class rock 'n' rollers who had served their tough apprenticeship in the rough dives of Hamburg, while the Stones were, with the exception of Cheltenham-born Brian Jones, relatively posh, middle-class kids posing as hard men. The Beatles' image had originally been softened by Brian Epstein to gain mainstream acceptance and it seemed to colour people's judgement of the band ever since. Talking of colour...

 As for their music, well...
The Beatles' musical journey took them from the clunky Mersey Beat of Love Me Do, through the scorching rock 'n' roll of I Saw Her Standing There and the game-changing jangle of Ticket To Ride, on through the acid-drenched likes of Strawberry Fields Forever and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, to finish up with the sheer beauty of Abbey Road's "Long Medley"... all in 8 (!!) years. The Stones, in the same time period, went from blues and country rock to, er, blues and country rock...
Anyway, rant over... but if anyone says they HATE the Fab Four it makes me wonder if they've ever really listened to them :-(

On a totally different subject, here's me and my wonderful friend Kevin at the 2013 Frocester Beer Festival a couple of days ago. ( As ever I'm managing to look awkward in front of a camera, and Kev's looking perfectly natural. How does he do it? ) I'd never been to a beer festival before ( well, I tried to get into Frocester with some mates when we were about 17 but we got turned away... ) so it was a whole new experience for me. Kev's had some tough times lately so I went along to give him some support and we had a great afternoon, followed by a good meal in the evening. As I don't really drink nowadays, that pint glass in my hand was really just for show. I walked around for about four hours with the same half-pint sloshing around in the glass... but I would have looked odd without any beer :-)
Alcohol is one of the things ( like coffee, sugary foods, cake etc. ) that I just don't seem to want since I finished my radiotherapy. My dietician told me that I'd basically de-toxed my system during the month or so when I didn't eat anything ( and lost 3 stone in weight! ) and may never want those things again. But, who knows? Maybe next year I may fancy a pint or two and go back to Frocester to do it properly. Watch this space...

Back in the (un)real world of TV, James and I watched the first episode of the Stephen King-adapting Under The Dome last night and were very impressed. Although I couldn't watch it without thinking of The Simpsons Movie,  I found the show's pilot to be gripping stuff, effectively introducing characters and mysteries and laying bare the unpleasant side of a seemingly normal American small town. The arrival of the unseen dome was skilfully handled with some excellent special effects and convincing, realistic reactions from the characters. Definitely one to watch...

Th-Th-That's all for now, folks. Time to get off my arse and do something :-)

Soundtrack: Marquee Moon by Television

Okay... now, that's scary...

Recent Gigs Part One: Kids In Glass Houses / Chloe Howl

After seeing the massive Springsteen concert at Coventry's Ricoh Arena, it's been good to go to a couple of smaller, more intimate gigs recently. Back on the 20th of July Sarah, James and I went to Summer Sound Festival, the second year of this annual free gig in Gloucester Park. There had been bands playing all afternoon but we didn't get there until the evening and only managed to see headliners Kids In Glass Houses and support Chloe Howl.

Chloe Howl is the latest contender for the Lily Allen / Kate Nash / stroppy Londoner crown, although better than that sounds. She's a bouncing, pint-sized, flame-haired vixen on stage with a sly glint in her eye and a nice line in acerbic lyrics. Her band punched out some cool '80s-influenced pop, inviting comparisons to a less retro La Roux, with even a cheeky nod to New Order on breakthrough single No Strings. She's definitely someone to watch out for and her recent Radio One airplay should do her some good. And, as James said to me, "she's cute, so that helps..."

I was vaguely aware of headliners Kids In Glass Houses from seeing a couple of their videos on Kerrang TV but didn't know quite what to expect. They turned out to be a great live band  -  very enthusiastic and energetic, with some fine, upbeat, melodic rock songs. They had the whole crowd
( including us! ) bouncing up and down to anthems like Give Me What I Want and Matters At All, while singer Aled dived into the crowd at one point but managed to keep singing as he was buffeted around and eventually manhandled back onto the stage. I'll definitely have to see this band again  -  great fun. For an outdoor gig the sound was very crisp and clear, the lovely Summery weather ensuring the music wasn't blown away by any meteorological interference.

 And here are Sarah and James with Sam, Jacqui and Glenn  -  just after the gig, and just before heading to the fair to get a burger :-)
Next gig review: Everything Everything at Gloucester Guildhall

Soundtrack: No Strings / Rumour / I Wish I Could Tell You by Chloe Howl

Peter Capaldi is the Twelfth Doctor

So it is him after all...

After my post this morning, in which I praised Peter Capaldi's acting abilities, but doubted he'd really be cast as the next Doctor, the BBC only went and announced tonight that he will indeed be playing the latest incarnation of our favourite Time Lord. Both Sarah and I were overjoyed at this fantastic, and brave, piece of casting. I say "brave" because this is a reversal of the recent trend of younger and younger actors taking on the role. Peter Capaldi is ( amazingly ) actually the same age as William Hartnell was when he originated the role way back in 1963. I didn't necessarily have a problem with young actors in the role, and definitely felt that Matt Smith was totally convincing as a 900-year old alien in a 20-something body. But the return to an older-looking Doctor seems like a challenge to all the fanboy/girl hysteria that has grown up around the last two incumbents of the part. I'm sure the show will both lose and gain viewers over this issue... even though it really shouldn't be an issue. The main thing is that the future of the show is yet again in the hands of a highly talented, charismatic actor who will no doubt do great things. I just hope he'll be up to all that running...
:-)

The Regeneration Game

Tonight the BBC will be announcing The Name Of The Doctor...

Sorry, that's already been done. What I mean is, they'll be announcing the name of the actor who will be picking up the sonic screwdriver of the Twelfth Doctor. There's been much feverish speculation about this actor's identity recently with all sorts of names being thrown around. The media ( bless 'em! ) seem to have finally outgrown their ridiculous suggestions of recent years: the likes of Eddie Izzard, Alan Davies and Joanna Lumley are not being mentioned any more. Instead the newspapers, TV news, and internet sites like Doctor Who News and Kasterborous are now touting credible names like Anthony Head, Rory Kinnear, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andrew Scott and Eddie Redmayne. All fine actors who would, I'm sure, be perfect as the latest Tardis incumbent. Apparently, Ejiofor was under consideration the last time around and I think he would be an amazing choice. But my gut feeling is the demographic-chasing, cost-cutting BBC will likely cast someone young, photogenic and less experienced... therefore cheaper. On the other hand...

....a recent, surprising,  front-runner ( getting good odds from William Hill in the last few days if that means anything ) is the hugely experienced and accomplished Peter Capaldi. This possibility is probably on a par with the Daily Mail's assertion that Bill Nighy definitely had the Ninth Doctor role in the bag... the day before Christopher Eccleston was announced as #9. But I would love it to be true as I'm a big fan of the man...


Here's Capaldi as the monstrous Malcolm Tucker from the Beeb's The Thick Of It with another potential Twelfth, Rory Kinnear.Coincidentally, we had a mini Capaldi-fest the other night when we watched him reprising the Tucker role in the fantastic In The Loop and then spun back in time to see him play the ghostly Rory in the '90s TV version of Iain Banks' The Crow Road . Two contrasting roles, two excellent performances.


As I said, although I would love to see Peter Capaldi take on the role of Doc 12, I can't see it happening. Come on, BBC... prove me wrong...

BTW there's a lovely post about a personal reaction to regenerating Doctors over at Mike Jackson's ever-wonderful Skylarking... check it out...

Soundtrack: loadsa classic Motown from Stevie, Diana, Marvin, Martha, Smokie etc.