#Caturday…

Should have got it at 4, but I was getting nowhere and so I took a hit which ended up sorting it. Wordle 1,673 5/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛ ⬛⬛⬛🟨🟨 ⬛🟨🟨⬛🟨 🟩⬛⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Happy Birthday to two absolute horror legends, John Carpenter and Caroline Munro.

Fifty years of the Damned!

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this is a pretty good list...but I'd still swap the Dylan album for "Budokan".

Happy Ernest Thesiger’s birthday to those who celebrate!

this is as good an explanation as you could wish for!

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I don’t want to worry anyone but Digging for Britain has just said that the largest UK archaeological dig is currently taking place a stone’s throw from where MR James set A Warning to the Curious.

#NowPlaying Vivaldi, "Masques" (Bénos-Djian / Café Zimmermann). This just appears to have dropped on Qobuz and it's a nice little round-up of familiar and less-familiar pieces. Nice to have.

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#NowPlaying Palestrina on RAI 3 to round off the evening.

Just to say if you're any sort of Hawkfan, then you need to be listening to @hawkbinge.bsky.social . Join Andy, Matt and (occasionally) @joebankswriter.bsky.social as they journey through half a century and more of Hawkwind History!

A tricky one. #Wordle 1,669 5/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ 🟨🟩⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟨⬛🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Repost this with your home river...

Ten fave live albums. Thin Lizzy : Live and Dangerous Hawkwind : Space Ritual Hawkwind : Live Chronicles Jethro Tull : Bursting Out The Who : Live at Leeds Genesis : Seconds Out Bob Dylan : Budokan Motorhead : No Sleep 'til Hammersmith BB King : Live at the Regal BOC : Some Enchanted Evening

#NowPlaying Christa singing the Wesendonck Lieder to see out the evening...

Seemed likely there was still another vowel to be found, so used my backup word at line 2. That just left one solution at 3. #Wordle 1,668 3/6 ⬛🟨🟨⬛🟨 ⬛⬛⬛🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

#NowPlaying Hawkwind, "Road to Utopia". Because sometimes you don't want a 90 minute space-rock epic or a concept album about the Albino Prince of Ruins. Sometimes you just want a Mariachi-style arrangement of "Quark, Strangeness and Charm".

Post a picture of the venue where you saw your first concert and name the band or artist. Bauhaus, Swansea Top Rank (since demolished), 1983. "Burning from the Inside" tour.

The most interesting thing you’ll read all day…

Strangeness and Charm…#Wordle 1,667 5/6 ⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨 ⬛🟨🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

When these evil people have passed from this earth - and they will - we will still remember her.

Damn. RIP, Nauls.

#NowPlaying It's a chilly day out, so what better than a bit of Sibelius from Esa-Pekka Salonen?

Extreme floppiness! #Caturday

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Friday afternoon comes to an end with a proper listen to the @hawkbinge.bsky.social Master Playlist. More than a little bit different to the usual 'best of' playlists, and it's a cracking listen!

I only ever associated "Life with the Lyons" with the John Lennon album of (almost) the same name. But the original series had quite a history and also forms a fascinating little chapter of the Hammer story...

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Oh, I really hope this is true...(you might need to google this if you're not from Wales).

Let me see, updated manuscript needs to be back with my editor on Monday; and Microsoft Word wants to update... No. Not today, thank you...

I was once accused of being sponsored by Philip Morris, as Nathan smokes in the first three books. Nope, I never got a penny. Seriously, though, if a writer says that a character drives a BMW it's just for a bit of colour. Nobody's getting paid for it!

#NowPlaying "Hammer, the Studio that Dripped Blood". Two disc set of Hammer soundtrack goodness. Disc 1 dedicated to James Bernard, Disc 2 features Nascimbene, Martelli, Frankel and the like. Don Banks is kind of noticeable by his absence, but you can't have everything. And that cover is a delight.

Justin John Doherty has literally written the book on Don't Look Now, and a beautiful thing it is. Here he joins @www.johnbleasdale.com for Writers on Film...

RIP Terry... www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

A 2 is nice, of course, but it doesn’t feel earned. #Wordle 1,664 2/6 🟨🟨🟨⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

10 drummers, you say? Why not? Ginger Baker Art Blakey Phil Collins Neil Peart Michi dei Rossi Jaki Liebezeit Mo Tucker Ringo Starr Clive Bunker Nicko McBrain

A good day's work editing, which I always enjoy more than writing. Nearly there now!!!

Satisfactory 4 but drove me nuts getting there…#Wordle 1,663 4/6 ⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛ ⬛🟩🟨🟨⬛ 🟨🟩⬛🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

#NowPlaying Genesis, "Nursery Cryme". If the first two albums were the preliminary sketches, this is where the band properly emerges. Crucially, it's the first Hackett/Collins album. I'm not sure anything quite lives up to the opening "The Musical Box" but the good stuff here is very good indeed.

Snowed in Venice for about five minutes earlier today. No photos, as it was a bit (*) underwhelming. (* very)

They’re running out of words, aren’t they? #Wordle 1,662 6/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨🟩⬛🟩⬛ ⬛🟩⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

#NowPlaying Easing into the week with a little more from Herbie the K and the BPO, this time with Mozart 40 & 41.

A bit lucky! #Wordle 1,661 3/6 ⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

#NowPlaying A Strozzi Sunday!

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Balls can and will be thrown. #Caturday

#Letterboxd stats for 2025. Joseph Losey, Michael Ripper, come up and collect your awards!