Happy New Year from The Glass Walking-Stick

#HappyNewYear2020 everyone!

It's a magical world. Let's keep it that way.

Frankenstein by Bernie Wrightson

One of the late, great Bernie Wrightson's original art pieces for his Frankenstein series of plates has sold recently for $1,000,000. Please click on the picture above to see it in all its insanely-detailed Gothic glory. The selling price is a testament to the regard in which people hold the work and the man, a sadly missed master of the sequential art form. It really is a beautiful piece of work and must surely be the jewel in the crown of some lucky person's collection...

But... I was hoping someone might have bought it for me for my birthday ( for 'tis today )...
Oh, well...

On today's To-Do List - Let's Kick Out the Tories!

His Master's Voice silenced

My local HMV, in Gloucester's King's Walk, is on the verge of closing ( originally scheduled to close 19/01 but now delayed by a week ) so I got myself down there for probably the last time yesterday and picked up the musical beauties you can see above.

HMV was the last "record shop" standing in Gloucester after the demise of Virgin, Fopp and Our Price ( who remembers them? ) as well as a few indie shops that never lasted long. ( Well, we've still got a CEX but their stock is mostly games and DVDs with only a very few, second-hand CDs. ) It was only a matter of time, of course, with the onslaught from the internet destroying many high street shops over the last decade or so. The HMV chain itself had been in a similarly precarious position about six years ago but was streamlined and pulled through. But now I suspect this may be the last time, to misquote the Rolling Stones.

The closing of this store ( and possibly others, I'm not quite sure ) is a shame for old school collectors of music and movies. Sure, you can buy just about anything on the net, and certainly at a better price, but nothing beats wandering around a record shop, discovering interesting new stuff, spotting old favourites, getting advice from the staff, meeting up with friends... it's an experience that seems to be on the brink of extinction. For my final haul of music I went for a few faves I previously only owned on vinyl ( Metallica, Anthrax, Stevie Wonder... and who ever thought they'd be mentioned in the same breath? ), some albums I've always meant to buy but never got round to ( Small Faces, Kinks, Vangelis, NWA ), and a couple of jazz albums as a kind of mystery purchase ( Herbie Hancock and John Coltrane. ) Certain musical genres like Blues, Jazz and Folk will definitely be hard to find without actual record shops around to feature them. You won't find them in Tesco, that's for sure.

So, farewell then, HMV Gloucester, you'll be missed.

Soundtrack: Blade Runner Soundtrack by Vangelis

Farewell to The Man

As you probably know, Stan "The Man" Lee, aka Stanley Martin Lieber, has sadly passed away at the great age of 95. Stan was of course the prime mover behind the Marvel Age of Comics and had a huge impact on my life ( and millions of others ) with his story-telling, editing and publishing skills.
I really need to get my head around this before I can write a proper post but, for now, let me just say:

"Thank you Stan for all the years of wonderful stories and characters. Excelsior!"

( to be continued... )

Stanley Martin Lieber, 28th December 1922 - 12th November 2018

Remembrance Sunday 11 / 11 / 2018

Today was, of course, Armistice Day  -  the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, and also a time to remember all wars and conflicts, and the men and women ( and animals ) who served... those who came back and those who didn't.

This morning Sarah, James and I went to a service at Gloucester's war memorial, where hundreds turned out to mark this solemn and momentous occasion. Although the weather was showery it managed to stay dry for the service and the sun even shone while the Lord's Prayer was being read and the two minute's silence was observed. After the service the assembled service men and women marched through the centre of the City...

Although I don't have any direct connection with the forces, I was thinking today of my grandfather, Private Harry Reginald Barton, who fought in the First World War. Harry was a farmer's boy who joined the Gloucester Regiment ( the "Glorious Glosters" ) at the age of 19 ( James' age! ) and was wounded in the leg while in service. I never knew him  -  he died in 1960, six years before I was born  -  and know very little of his time during the War, but I often think of what it must have been like for such a young man in that terrible, terrible conflict. Today we can only imagine the horrors those ( mostly ) young people suffered... but we must always remember...

In the early evening we went to the nearby village of Slimbridge to see a remarkable art installation by local sculptor, Jackie Lantelli. She's fashioned life-size figures of soldiers out of wire and placed them in Slimbridge churchyard. Each of these "ghost soldiers" stands before a gravestone or plaque remembering those of the parish who gave their lives in conflicts, most in WWI.

This was a beautiful tribute to the fallen and was incredibly moving.

"Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them."

The People's Walk For Wildlife 2018

Last weekend Sarah and I, along with around 10,000 others, headed for that there London town to take part in the People's Walk For Wildlife. This was an event organised by the naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham to highlight the plight of the UK's environment and wildlife.

We all gathered at Reformer's Tree in Hyde Park in the pouring rain  -  typically, it had been a beautiful, sunny week and only rained at the weekend. But did the weather, er, dampen our spirits? No! ( Well, not too much. ) Here's Sarah sheltering under a tree with her mascot Tufty. He didn't mind the rain...
 Whilst waiting for the actual walk to begin there were talks from various naturalists, including Chris Packham and, crucially, many young people like the activist and blogger "Birdgirl" who represent the younger generation who need to be involved in any environmental movement. Even Billy Bragg turned up! Billy sang a few songs ( including one with the notorious non-singer Chris Packham ) and it was great to see him there  -  I've been a fan of his since buying his first mini-album "Life's A Riot With Spy vs Spy" waaay back in 1983, and I haven't seen him play live for probably 30 years, so it was about time! Below are Chris and Billy doing an altered version of Between The Wars, here calling for an end to this country's "war on wildlife"...

There were all sorts of people at the walk: environmental groups, families, couples, hunt saboteurs, young and old, people from all walks of life, many waving banners or wearing costumes. The biggest problem with this gathering was the lack of ethnic minorities. This was something that Chris highlighted, saying that we need to engage everyone to get the message across. It's obviously an uphill struggle and the more people from all backgrounds and cultures involved the better.

At around 1pm we headed off en masse out of Hyde Park and down Park Lane. As we walked through central London we played birdsong which we'd downloaded to our phones and it was a strange but wonderful thing to hear this lovely sound reverberating around the hotels, shops and office blocks. During my lifetime we've lost 44 million birds in this country due to destruction of habitats which is a truly frightening statistic...

As we walked down Pall Mall, through Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square, the rain eased off slightly  -  which was good  -  and we got loads of attention from the public  -  which was great! The walk ended at Richmond Terrace where we stopped to hear some more speeches and to see Chris and his young "ministers" deliver their People's Manifesto For Wildlife to Number 10 Downing Street.

( The photo above isn't mine. I "borrowed" it from the environmental campaigner Mark Avery  -  please see his website here for more. I thought it was a great pic which shows the sheer amount of people involved far better than my photos. )

Apparently the Secretary of State for the Environment, the odious Michael Gove, had been invited to speak to the crowd. He had originally agreed but, at the last minute and to the surprise of no one, said he wasn't available. Chris and his friends delivered the Manifesto to Gove's office... but, a week later, he still hasn't acknowledged receipt of the document. This is obviously disappointing, especially during the week of the Conservative party conference, when a positive mention from Mr Gove for the Manifesto could have been very useful. Anyway, this positive, peaceful and inspiring event was hopefully just the start of something big, as people came together to try and make the world a better place for our wildlife and for ourselves...

RIP Stephen Hawking

A sad day for the universe. One of the greatest men of our time, the physicist and visionary Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76.

Such a brave, unique and inspiring person. His loss will leave another black hole in the cosmos...

New Doctor Who logo

The new logo for the new era of Doctor Who has just been revealed and I have to say I kinda like it. I was never too keen on the most recent logo, even though it certainly improved when that daft Tardis "ident" was quietly dropped...

This newest version of the logo ( how many times can I type "logo" in one post? ) is simple and elegant and the colour scheme is strangely similar to the Eccleston / Tennant "taxi cab" iteration.

The 2018 take on the logo ( I really couldn't avoid typing that word again ) appropriately suggests time or space flight with that streak running through the letters, with the final "O" also looking like a side-on view of a ringed planet to me. Yeah, I really do like the whole style of this.

The new show still seems a long way off but maybe this snippet of information is the start of some long-awaited info on Series 11. The new production team are understandably keen to concentrate on making the show and not giving too much away too soon... but, being the sad Whovian that I am, I'll take what I can get. I suppose it could always be worse...

Outrage indeed...

More ( possibly ) true tales from the Trumpocalypse

Wow! I wish I was from a shithole country too. Or maybe I am...?

( A book shop called Rough Draft in Kingston, NY via Michele Filgate on Twitter )

Chuck Mosley

Very sad today to hear of the passing of former Faith No More vocalist Chuck Mosley. He was one of the most memorable front men I've ever seen, a ball of energy and passion. Faith No More at the Bristol Bierkeller back in the late '80s was one of my all-time top 10 gigs. And here's a link to one of my old Favourite Gig Fridays posts about that self-same night.
Strangely enough, in the last couple of days I've been playing FNM's fantastic second album Introduce Yourself on repeat in my car, thinking about what an idiosyncratic, compelling vocalist he was, not realising he had passed away. RIP Chuck...

New Doctor, new look

The 13th Doctor

...is Jodie Whittaker. ( But you all know that, right?, because I'm probably the last person in the world to post about the subject... )
I think she's a great choice  -  she was fantastic in Broadchurch and also has experience in fighting aliens after appearing in Attack The Block. For a long time I was in two minds about a female Doctor ( Would it just be stunt casting? Is it too gimmicky for a mainstream audience? ) but I now believe it's an idea whose time has come and Whittaker is certainly a good enough actor to pull it off.
She had the following to say on her casting as Doctor Number 13:

"It feels completely overwhelming, as a feminist, as a woman, as an actor, as a human, as someone who wants to continually push themselves and challenge themselves, and not be boxed in by what you’re told you can and can’t be. It feels incredible... I want to tell the fans not to be scared by my gender. Because this is a really exciting time, and Doctor Who represents everything that’s exciting about change. The fans have lived through so many changes, and this is only a new, different one, not a fearful one."

And incoming showrunner Chris Chibnall added:

“After months of lists, conversations, auditions, recalls, and a lot of secret-keeping, we’re excited to welcome Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. I always knew I wanted the Thirteenth Doctor to be a woman and we're thrilled to have secured our number one choice. Her audition for The Doctor simply blew us all away. Jodie is an in-demand, funny, inspiring, super-smart force of nature and will bring loads of wit, strength and warmth to the role. The Thirteenth Doctor is on her way.”

It's indeed an exciting time for Doctor Who and I can't wait to see the new Doctor in action...