I've spent some time today, in between cursing Skyrim for making my GPU crash out and installing the original Fresh Supply version of Blood, watching the charming little new comedy "Small Prophets". It's weird and magical in all the good ways, solidly relatable cast and Svankmajer-ish puppets.

So apparently this is a thing now. Discovered this afternoon in local branch of b&m Bargains. No, they don't capitalize it, I know that's weird.

Bit of Forteana and a generous helping of Red Dwarf? This is, as the kids probably used to say around the year 2000, absolutely my jam.

youtu.be/F6glgQZmVes?... Some gorgeous music from the 1987 Hong Kong classic, Tsui Hark's A Chinese Ghost Story. I do not say this lightly, but the first two movies of this trilogy are the greatest horror/comedy/romance/martial arts films ever made. #HKCinema🇭🇰 #ChineseGhostStory

Naturally, Akira also sparked something of my own interest in the Japanese animation industry, and I first saw it as nature intended. A second-generation VHS copy of the Streamline dub, gifted by a school friend for my 13th birthday.

Some truly excellent noir-ish thriller drama here, that twists and turns like a twisty-turny thing. And they never actually come out and tell you it was Prince Andrew fucking all these women and cutting their heads off, the viewer is left to draw their own conclusions.

@cheapshow.bsky.social @e-loud.bsky.social @britishcrisps.bsky.social Fuck me running, lads. Despite the BBQ label, there's nary a hint of smoke to these curls. No, what you get is a delicious spicy hint of sweetness from molasses powder before the cheese rolls on into town. Love 'em!

@britishcrisps.bsky.social @cheapshow.bsky.social Very pickle-forward, and a subtle hint of greasy beef under a mild blanket of ketchup and mustard. Cheesy aftertaste, decently oily crisps delivering good earthy fried-spud crunch. Yeah they're alright, I guess. #SnackPalace

A wondrous bounty of treats and goodies to make their merry way into my domain in the next week or thereabouts, with some glorious new highlight products that I will showcase. Welcome to the #SnackPalace

SUPERNATURAL: DORABELLA (1977) Atmospheric BBC anthology in which prospective members of an exclusive club tell horror stories to gain membership, while failed applicants are killed. Here, a young man falls prey to vampires in Eastern Europe...

Some sleek n' sexy Italian chocolates with the old-fashioned liqueur choc style of sugar crust and liquid filling. A filling of pure espresso coffee that, combined with the packaging aesthetic, transports you right into a 1970s Italian movie.

@ashens.bsky.social archived photo at 1:08 into this episode. If this had been a full voiced Stuart Ashen cameo, your early-warning system would have sounded thusly: HMER NER NER, NER NER NER, NER NER NER NER.

@scarredforlife.bsky.social @bobfischer.bsky.social Today in Blackpool's CEX, I found an absolute corker from just slightly before my time. youtu.be/aPnYcyaLDFM?... A Network DVD selling for only a tenner, too! #TalesOfUnease

Popped open one of these cheeky little stubby bad boys once they arrived. The initial very strong sweetness upon first huff reminds me a great deal of Brother's toffee-apple cider, flavour is not-too-tart pineapple followed by a decent throat-burn from all the rum. Definitely love these!

I recently inherited an old 1981 card game called Dragonmaster that features superb art by Bob Pepper (1938-2019). High quality scans of the deck below. Not sci-fi but seems like an artist @70sscifiart.bsky.social might know more about? #dragonmaster #cardgame #bobpepper

Something very tantalizing discovered on Amazon last night, friends. Tiny cans of pineapple rum punch! I've bought us a case of 12 for quite a reasonable sum, and will be taking delivery on Thursday, as we might be going out on a little trip tomorrow afternoon.

Starting to have some fun with the Story mode fights of Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves. There's some fightin' guys that are certainly in my personal #BoyStable, absolutely Gato, Dong-Hwan and Joe Higashi.

An interesting experiment to have with a pizza for dinner this evening. This'll be the first time I've ever tried one of the particular brand in question, so if it's nice I'll be looking forward to trying others in the line.

@cheapshow.bsky.social Oh fucking FUCKING HELL. I'm tapping out of this shit. Ray has gone bye-bye, Egon. How 'bout you?

@e-loud.bsky.social @cheapshow.bsky.social I regret to inform you (via Markie Devo) that some spoff-gremlins from the depths of Grotpants dungeon have infested the brains of Nissin USA's LTO flavour department.

Since everything that ruined Twitter is still going on, and it might even become banned in the UK, I have made the very easy decision to deactivate that old account until further notice. So from now on, I'll just be here and occasionally around the Ashens Discord channel.

Oh friends, the #SnackPalace is gonna be stocked pretty good when Wednesday comes! Got some of these on the way, plus a couple bags of Brooklyn Pita garlic-parmesan crunchy chips.

Thankfully, this podcast contains 0.0% of Miles Jupp waffling about his fucking comedy awards or the man whose hands he shits directly into.

Will it run Quake? No.

youtu.be/TxKC5Mi6mjM?... Dear friends, please join me in celebrating my first-ever purchase and snapping together of the tiny tiny bastard-fiddly ball joints on a lovely bit of plastic tat, the Blokees Galaxy Version Saint Seiya blind-boxed figure!

@oswreview.bsky.social @v1-osw.bsky.social Is this all just a massive co-winky-dink? youtu.be/Ha2OcL_0gtM?... Well, now you know how to open a review of that Stranger Things RAW spesh on Netflix tonight.

@cheapshow.bsky.social @e-loud.bsky.social Fuck me, lads. The seasoning on these crunchy "Fire Tots" (half the length of a Wotsit/Cheeto, but girthier!) is violently 🌶️⚠️ Nice vinegar-cayenne balance in the hot sauce flavour, could just do with a blue cheese to smooth out the burn at the end.

Something really special came through the post for me today, dear friends. Two 650ml cans, direct from Juicy Jeremy's Sody-Pop Shoppe, of Brooklyn-style Chocolate Egg Cream soda. Sort of a fizzy milky chocolate, made with really good chocolate syrup.

Stupid ban. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq5y2vzlyldo Won’t achieve its aims. It will reduce the money available to UK broadcasters to create content. Banning similar ads around kids shows didn’t reduce the junk food market, just meant that there’s very minimal UK production of kids TV now.

FAO @cheapshow.bsky.social Another of Uncle Grumbly's early projects discovered?

Non-context music-based spoilers for the #StrangerThings grand finale:

Thanks to my dearest old chum, Tim, for the gift of a beloved #VideoNasty classic on Blu-ray. Some good old-fashioned pure gore, sickness and grot to enjoy in 2026.

Kenner's product line for the first half of 1990? Sign me the fuck up, baby! Squeeze the last profitability out of the Real Ghostbusters (and instantly re-use some of the moulds and tooling for that Police Academy toyline, while you're at it!)

Arrow's UHD BluRay set of Ninja Turtles finally gives these movies a bunch of special features! www.youtube.com/watch?v=te9k...

Rather a fascinating little selection of extra treats & goodies to supplement the traditional Christmas haul. A decent mix of old favourites and new interesting things from those nice people at American Fizz.

Put together another set of shelves to house my collection of various physical media in my bedroom. Don't need the brackets that fix it into a wall alcove, got all my stuff moved and stored neatly in my own personal filing system. No messing.

@cheapshow.bsky.social @e-loud.bsky.social Blessings of the season be upon ye, gentlemen. This morn, I found myself gifted with the pleasingly Fortean "Atlas Of Paranormal Places" and #SauceReport 1 bottle Encona original West Indian hot pepper, 1 bottle Tingly Ted's "Xtra Tingly"

The pride of my Christmas haul this year, along with Blu-rays of The Last Starfighter and the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trilogy. Those lapels are just crying out for some snazzy pin badges, patches and other customizations!

"The plastic pieces of this game can be deadly if you eat it." "And a kiss can be deadly if you mean it..." Upsetting Kenner toy designers and McDonald's ad execs alike, here comes the LxB to vomit stagnant sewer-water all over Tim Burton's dream of mainstream acceptance.

Oh friends, the #SnackPalace is well and truly enshrining these gorgeous hand-cooked kettle-style crisps. A burst of sweet black garlic pops on the tongue at first bite, slowly mellowing into nutty brown-butter and the distinctly pungent, but not unpleasant cheesiness of Camembert.

Time for me to have some festive fun with a viewing of the one '80s movie that nobody argues isn't a Christmas film. That's right, Gremlins! And I just also would like to say that Ghostbusters 2 is a Christmas movie as well.

I'm sorry to have to go right back to the Kids In The Hall well so early, but these really reminded me of the sketch about Junior Vice-President Ray, the "Girl Drink Drunk" youtu.be/nx3EzCi_dOc?...

A very interesting variation on the usual shandy/radler concept, something that could certainly work with Christmas dinner. 🍻

The #1 movie when you were ten years old is how 2026 is going to go...

Interestingly, Pynner-on-the-Wibble is directly on the opposite end of the country from Spofforth. It's a straight line from one to the other, perhaps even the longest ley-line in the British Isles.

Well, that was a pleasant surprise to cross off my list of interesting fast-food items to try! Yes, Wendy's chili is made of cut-up bits of the burgers that have been on the grill a bit too long and no, in the UK you can't ask for extra packets of hot spicy chili oil. Loved it, though!

@cheapshow.bsky.social Got an advance look at what McD's is putting out for the special post-Christmas menu. Looks to be mostly hassle-free versions of the experimental hacks that everyone makes, probably because half of everyone's points on the app are expiring?

Mass market paperbacks were always my favourite format. Made the idea and the feel of a book so exciting - a compact self-contained world you could carry round in your pocket. Genuinely sad they’re going. Trade paperbacks are just the ‘cheap’ version of a hardback. Not their own thing at all.

www.tumblr.com/let-fans-be-... Here's the first of a series of Tumblr posts delving into my experiences with the great Gothic supernatural soap-opera Dark Shadows. @annodracula.bsky.social @julietlandau.bsky.social @allisonpregler.bsky.social @cheapshow.bsky.social

I mean, you can instantly tell by my header that I absolutely love this show and everything connected with it. #DungeonsNDragons