#Chris Hogg

[underthecitysky]

I listened to Chris Shaw’s emergency Eggpod ep recorded on a high after seeing Let it Be at the London screening which included joyful, exuberant reactions from other attendees. Then I watched and maybe Chris primed me, but I found it oddly emotional?? As in I was smiling w tears in my eyes a few times just grateful for them and newly restored footage of THEM being them.

I really liked Chris’ point that we don’t need context for any of it because any Beatles fan has all the context from Get Back; the two are symbiotic and really, in that respect it’s steeped in context.

It looked and sounded amazing. I had watched a grainy version once and though, having already seen Get Back, I didn’t find it particularly depressing (it felt more like grainy bonus footage), I didn’t feel a need to return to it. Evidenced by the fact that it took me nearly three hours to make it to the end, I found much to linger over and so many worthwhile little details.

Also PJ deliberately not using any angles from LIB, makes it feel special because often these are the best angles and reactions. And there’s so much music and complete (or more complete) versions of songs! I appreciate the longer interludes which, although they may be edited, can feel more like observing a genuine interaction or performance than some of the hyper, fast cut sequences in GB.

I love Get Back obviously (it changed the course of my life lol) but I love having this too. I made the mistake of reading of some of the bummer, cynical takes on Facebook and idk I much more prefer Chris Shaw’s approach of being joyful about any bonus content we’re lucky enough to get.

Get Back 🤝 Let It Be

💐 for MLH

[claudia1829things]

"BLEAK HOUSE" (1985) Review

"BLEAK HOUSE" (1985) Review

In less than I year, I have developed this fascination with the works of Charles Dickens. How did this come about? I do not know. I have seen previous Dickens movie and television adaptations in the past. But ever since last year, I have been viewing these adaptations with a vengeance. And one of them turned out to be "BLEAK HOUSE", the 1985 adaptation of Dickens' 1852-53 novel.

Adapted by Arthur Hopcraft, this eight-episode miniseries conveyed the affects of Jarndyce v Jardyce, a long-running legal probate case involving the existence of more than one will. The heirs and their descendants have been waiting decades for the court to determine the legal will, for the sake of a large inheritance. Among those affected by the Jarndyce v Jardyce case are:

*John Jarndyce - a wealthy English landowner, who happens to be the proprietor of the estate, Bleak House. Jarndyce had inherited it from his uncle Tom Jarndyce, who had went mad waiting for a verdict on the case before committing suicide. *Richard Carstones - Tom Jarndyce's grandson and John Jarndyce's cousin, who also became one of the latter's legal wards, and a potential beneficiary of the Jarndyce v Jardyce case. *Ada Clare - Tom Jarndyce's granddaughter and Mr. Jarndyce's cousin, who also became one of his legal wards, and a potential beneficiary of the Jarndyce v Jardyce case. She and Richard, also cousins, became romantically involved. *Esther Summerson - one of the novel's main characters and orphan, who became Mr. Jarndyce's ward following the death of her previous guardian, Miss Barbury, who had also been her biological aunt. She joined the Bleak House household as Ada's companion and Mr. Jarndyce's housekeeper after he became the guardian of Richard and Ada. *Honoria, Lady Dedlock - the wife of baronet Sir Leicester Dedlock and a beneficiary of the Jarndyce v Jardyce case. She is also the younger sister of Miss Barbury and Esther's illegitimate mother. *Captain John Hawdon aka Nemo - a former British Army officer, who became an impoverished law writer and drug addict. He is also Lady Dedlock's former lover and Esther's illegitimate father. His penmanship on one of the Jarndyce v Jardyce affidavit attracts Lady Dedlock's attention. *Mr. Bill Tulkinghorn - Sir Leicester's ruthless lawyer, who noticed Lady Dedlock's reaction to the affidavit. This leads him to investigate her past and possible connection to Hawdon aka "Nemo". *Miss Flite - An elderly woman living in London, whose family had been destroyed by a long-running Chancery case similar to Jarndyce v Jarndyce. This has led her to develop an obsessive fascination with Chancery cases, especially the main one featured in this story. She quickly befriended Esther, Richard, Ada and Mr. Jarndyce.

As one can see, these characters represented plot arcs that connect to the Jarndyce v Jarndyce case. As one of the beneficiaries of the Jarndyce case, Richard becomes obsessed with the verdict. He seemed more interested in depending upon the Jarndyce verdict to provide him with an income rather than pursue a profession. This obsession eventually led to a clash between and Mr. Jarndyce, who has tried to warn him not to get involved with the case. Another clash formed between Lady Dedlock and Mr. Tulkinghorn, due to his determination to find proof of her past with Nemo and the conception of their child. A clash that proved to create even more damaging for a good number of people, than the one between Mr. Jarndyce and Richard. In the midst of all this stood Esther, who served as an emotional blanket for several characters - especially the inhabitants at Bleak House, a potential romantic figure for three men (ironic for a woman who was not supposed to be a great beauty), and the center of the Lady Dedlock-Nemo scandal.

For years, 1985's "BLEAK HOUSE" had been viewed as the superior adaptation of Dickens' novel. The first novel aired back in 1959. But a third television adaptation that aired in 2005 had managed to overshadow this second adaptation's reputation. But this is not about comparing the three adaptations. I am focusing only the 1985 miniseries. If I might be blunt, I believe screenwriter Arthur Hopcraft and director Ross Devenish created one of the better Charles Dickens I have personally seen. Granted, one might use the source material - the 1952-53 novel - as the reason behind the miniseries' top quality. But I have seen my share of poor adaptations of excellent source material . . . and excellent adaptations of poor or mediocre novels and plays. And I would find this excuse too simply to swallow. Hopcraft and Devenish could have easily created a poor or mediocre adaptation of the novel. Fortunately, I believe they had managed to avoid the latter.

With eight episodes, Hopcraft and Devenish did an excellent job in conveying Dickens' exploration into the chaos of the legal landscape in 19th century Britain, especially cases involving the Chancery courts. One might consider the longevity of Jarndyce v Jarndyce rather exaggerated. However, I speak from personal experience that an extended length of time in such a case is more than possible. But what I thought the effect of Jarndyce v Jarndyce and similar cases in Dickens' story seemed very interesting. In Richard Carstone's case, I suspect his own hubris and upbringing had allowed the case to have such a toxic effect upon him. He had been raised as a gentleman. Which meant he was not expected to work for a living. But since he did not possess a fortune or an estate - like Mr. Jarndyce - Richard never lost hope that the court would rule the Jarndyce v Jarndyce case in his favor, allowing him to inherit a great deal of money. Although it took another case to send Miss Flyte mentally around the bend, I found it interesting that her obsession with Chancery cases led her to attach her interest to the Jarndyce case beneficiaries.

The Jarndyce case also produce a group of leeches in the forms of attorneys like Mr. Tulkinghorn and his obsession with assuming control over the Dedlocks and Mr. Vholes, who had sucked a great deal of money from Richard in exchange for his legal services. The series also featured the vicious moneylender Mr. Smallweed, who helped Mr. Tulkinghorn in the latter's campaign against Lady Dedlock; and Mr. Jarndyce's "friend", Harold Skimpole, who had not only encouraged Richard to pursue a greater interest in the Jarndyce case, but also had accepted a "commission" from Vholes to recruit the young man as a client. Would I regard William Guppy as a leech? Sometimes. I had noticed that one particular story arc was missing - namely the story arc regarding the philanthropist Mrs. Jellyby, her daughter and Esther's friend, Caddy and the Turveydrop family. This did not bother me, for I have never been a fan of that particular arc.

However, I also noticed that "BLEAK HOUSE" featured a few moments in which important plot points had been revealed through dialogue or shown after the fact. Audiences never saw Skimpole convince Richard to hire Mr. Vholes. Instead, Mr. Jarndyce had revealed this incident after it happened. The whole scenario regarding Dr. Allan Woodcock being a survivor of a shipwreck was handled as a past event revealed by the good doctor himself. Hopcraft's script never stretched it out in the same manner as Dickens' novel or the 2005 miniseries. Audiences never saw George Rouncewell's release from jail, for which he had been incarcerated for murder. Instead, Episode Seven began with George in jail and later, near the end, found him serving as Sir Leicester's valet without any information on how that came about.

"BLEAK HOUSE" featured a few other writing and direction decisions by Hopcraft and Devenish that I found . . . well, questionable. Why did the pair solely focused on Lady Dedlock in the series' penultimate episode and Richard and the Jarndyce v Jarndyce case in the final one? Would it have been so difficult for them to switch back and forth between the two arcs in those final episodes? I found Inspector Bucket's resolution to the story's murder mystery rather rushed. I would have liked to see Bucket eliminate suspects before solving the case. In Bucket's final scene with the killer, Hopcraft left out that moment from the novel when the latter had the last scathing word on British society, leaving the police detective speechless. This erasure dimmed the impact of Dickens' message and made the killer even more of a caricature. I had some issues with how Devenish directed certain performances. How can I put this? I found them a bit theatrical.

I have one last issue - namely Kenneth MacMillan's cinematography. I realize that in "BLEAK HOUSE", fog represented institutional oppression and human confusion and misery in society. Unfortunately, I feel that MacMillan may have been heavy-handed in utilizing this symbol in the series. It is bad enough that photography featured a fuzzy element that seemed popular in many period productions in the 1970s. But thanks to MacMillan's use of fog in the story, there were many moment in which I could barely see a damn thing. And I found that irritating.

Aside from a few quibbles, I had no real issues with the performances featured in "BLEAK HOUSE". One of those quibbles proved to be the performances for some of the secondary cast members. How can I say this? The exaggerated and wooden performances for some of the cast members brought back memories of some of the minor actors' bad performances in 1982 miniseries, "THE BLUE AND THE GRAY". I must admit that I did not care for Pamela Merrick's portrayal of Lady Dedlock's French maid, Madame Hortense. Her performance bordered and then surpassed the lines of caricature - as some British actors/actresses tend to do. Charlie Drake's portrayal of the moneylender Smallweed tend to waver between a pretty solid performance and pure caricature. Although there were moments when I found her portrayal of the eccentric Miss Flyte a bit hammy, I must admit that Sylvia Coleridge gave a well-done performance. Chris Pitt's performance as Jo, the crossing sweeper boy struck me as very poignant. Yet, at the same time, he seemed so passive that at times, I found it difficult to believe he had survived on the streets on his own, for so long. Jonathan Moore, whom I had remembered from the 1988 television movie, "JACK THE RIPPER"; did an excellent job of conveying the ambitious and self-interested nature of law clerk William Guppy. However, his portrayal of Guppy seemed to lack the character's comedic nature. Denholm Elliot gave a very interesting performance as Esther, Richard and Ada's guardian, John Jarndyce. On one level, I found his portrayal of the kind-hearted Mr. Jarndyce as first-rate. Excellent. But there were moments, including the character's famous quote following Jo's death, when Elliott's Mr. Jarndyce seemed to resemble one of those "angry young men" characters from a John Osbourne play. I found those moments very odd.

However, there were performances that did not leave me scratching my head. Colin Jeavons and Anne Reid gave very competent performances as the grasping solicitor Mr. Vholes and George Rouncewell's close friend Mrs. Bagnet, respectively. Ironically, Jeavons had portrayed Richard Carstone in the 1959 adaptation of "Bleak House" and Reid had portrayed Mrs. Rouncewell in the 2005 television adaptation. Both Suzanne Burden and Lucy Hornak gave solid performances as Esther Summerson and Ada Clare. And yet, both actresses managed to rise to the occasion with some brilliant moments. Burden's moment came, following Esther's realization that she had survived the smallpox. As for Hornak, she gave an excellent performance during Ada's soliloquy about her love's growing obsession with the Jarndyce case. Brian Deacon gave a passionate performance as Dr. Allan Woodcourt, the penniless doctor in love with Esther. Ian Hogg gave a very solid, yet commanding performance as Inspector Bucket. I really enjoyed Sam Kelly's warm portrayal of the law-stationer, Mr. Snagsby. Bernard Hepton gave one of the most colorful performances of his career as the alcoholic rag and bone shopkeeper, Krook. Dave King gave a very solid performance as the loyal, yet intimidating and conservative former Army sergeant George Rouncewell. I found George Sewell's performance as Sergeant Rouncewell's older brother, the wealthy Mr. Rouncewell not only entertaining, but very memorable. I thought Robin Bailey did an excellent job portrayed the haughty and proud Sir Leicester Dedlock.

But there were four performances that really impressed me. One came from Philip Franks, who did an excellent job of conveying Richard Carstone's emotional journey from John Jarndyce's warm and friendly young man, to the more embittered one, obsessed with the Jarndyce case. T.P. McKenna gave a delicious performance as Mr. Jarndyce's self-involved friend, Harold Skimpole, who proved to be quite the emotional (and financial) vampire. I thought Peter Vaughan was superb as the Dedlocks' sinister lawyer, Mr. Tulkinghorn. I was amazed by how Vaughn managed to combine the character's dedication to protecting his client Sir Leicester and his penchant for assuming control over others. If I had voted for the best performance featured in "BLEAK HOUSE", I would choose Diana Rigg's portrayal of the tragic Honoria, Lady Dedlock. I believe the actress gave a brilliant performance as the mysterious, yet complicated baronet's wife, whose cool demeanor hid a great deal of emotions and a personal secret. I am shocked and amazed that neither she, Vaughn, McKenna or Franks had ever received any accolades for their performances.

In fact, I am surprised that "BLEAK HOUSE" had only received BAFTA nominations (and won three) . . . and they were in the technical/arts category, aside for the Best Drama Series/Serial. No Primetime Emmy nominations, whatsoever. Was this eight-part miniseries the best adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1852-53 novel? I cannot answer that question. Granted, it had its flaws. But what television or movie production did not? But I cannot deny that "BLEAK HOUSE" was a first-rate miniseries that deserved more accolades than it had received, thanks to Arthur Hopcraft's screenplay, Ross Devenish's direction and an excellent cast led by Suzanne Burden, Denholm Elliott and Diana Rigg.

[thecannibalroyal]

I don't post regularly anymore but I want to change that, especially now that I'm hyperfixating on like six/seven British actors and I've made some gifs and art I'd love to post!

If anyone here loves Edward Hogg, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Jason Flemyng, Rhys Ifans, Bill Nighy, Anna Chancellor, Darren Boyd and/or Oliver Chris, please interact! (There's also like a million other British actors I love too 🙈)

[thedoctorwhocompanion]

“No Other Show”: A Doctor Who Family Gathering

“No Other Show”: A #DoctorWho Family Gathering

[sunnyie-eve]

2 | Pick on

Series: Unexpected

Paring: (Matt Sturniolo x OFC Brock!) (Chris Sturniolo x OFC Brock!)

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: none

| MASTERLIST |

~

"Colby..." Dani watches him walking towards a door, "How old are you?" She asks as he walks face into the door, "You're not dead."

"It's Jim Hogg's room." Chris reads the name above the door.

"Who's that?"

"I dunno... It says his name on the top." Chris points out for him so they all laugh.

"We got a Big D. We got a Jim Hogg." Nick names then men they have come across.

Matt find the knocker on the wall and plays with it while his brothers tell him to stop, "I've never seen a knocker on a wall." Dani looks at it as he keeps playing with it.

"I like playing with knockers." Sam says making Dani look at him.

"Really?"

"If it takes a lot of effort to get into somewhere, I don't think that's somewhere I need to be." Nick says about the door and the knocker.

"We have a bad reputation of breaking into places." Sam turns the camera to himself.

"Ooh, Nick look it. So many men over there." Chris points out the hall of paintings.

"You need to stop with this immediately."

"Let's rate them one through ten." He adds.

"Is this a pick on Nick video?" Dani laughs as they all make their way over.

"Exactly!" He shouts, "And I don't want their ghosts to be made at me like in an hour."

Nick picks Dan Moody as the most attractive one and they agree he's the best in the wall before they make fun of Beauford Jester's name.

Colby goes to ask do the brothers have roles and they say Matt does the laundry and drives. Nick is the leader and Chris is just there, so Nick says he the creative one.

"Let's tell them about what happened last night." Sam passes the camera over to Colby, "We were standing right in the middle of this area. And our guide screams and looks over to the left, and she saw for the first time ever, someone waving at her. And I look by this little light and a full on shadow passes the light."

"I might have left out I saw the exact same thing she saw last night." Dani tells the group.

"Don't do that stuff." Chris looks at her so she laughs as they head for the elevator.

"I hate the elevators." Matt speaks up.

"Wait, what?" He catches Sam off, "You hate the elevator?"

"Yes,"

"We have maybe a little... Ritual to do in the elevator tonight." He tells the three.

"You can count me out." Dani says hearing that for the first time.

"You know what, we can sit out together." Chris pats Dani on the shoulder as she stood next to him, "I hate those two words together."

"Me and Chris have been stuck in an elevator before for like an hour and a half." Matt tells the group, "It traumatized me a little bit."

"I'd cry." Dani shakes her head at the thought as the all pile into the elevator.

"Is this the one we're doing the ritual?" Colby asks Sam.

"No. We can't talk about the ritual."

"Did you just feel the elevator drop like three inches?" Matt asks the group.

"I did." Dani looks at him, "What's the weight limit of this thing?"

"We all just fall to our death." He jokes a bit.

Arriving in the lobby they get with their tour guide, who explains how Driskill was a big cigar guy, so they'll smell it in the hotel. Matt says things are adding up because when they first arrived Dani had the smell follow her around.

They then move to where Audrey saw the person last night talking about her experience, so Dani tells her she saw them too but didn't know how to react so she frozen in place.

"I don't know if I would freeze or run." Chris nods his head before Audrey takes them by the vault and talks about the ghosts that are normally around there.

Heading towards the elevators to go up to the fifth floor Sam asks if there was an specific haunting with them to which they conduct a lot of mischief. Dani looks over at Matt to see the look on his face, "Matt's gonna take the stairs." She chuckles as the all get into the elevator.

"I'm just gonna stand here." Nick stands closely in front of Dani since it was packed tight as she was tightly between Matt and Colby.

"It's okay." She rubs his back with a smile.

"I wonder if we all just sing Kumbaya right now?" Maddy says as they wait to go up but the door just opens again.

"Did we just pressed five and went to one?" Sam asks.

"It didn't even go up, Sam." Dani looks over at him.

"I hate elevators." Matt reminds everyone.

"I think I might join you on that." Dani turns her head to look at him to her left as she rests her arms on Nick.

They press five again but the doors just open again without moving.

"What the f..." Sam says.

"What's happening?" Colby asks.

"I'm about to say F this." Dani looks at the doors so Nick turns around to rub her shoulder.

"Lily are you fucking with us?" Audrey asks stepping out to ask.

"Dani, I might take you up on those stairs." Matt moves his head to look at her so she nods hers agreeing. "If I get stuck in this elevator." He looks over at the camera now.

"You see me though, I'm pressing five." Audrey says but it just opens again.

"Maybe we give her a minute to breathe." Nick says.

Sam looks over at Matt and Dani telling them to stand on the other side to see if anyone of was fucking with them so the step out and watch the doors close.

"We're just gonna leave my sister alone with him?" Colby asks before the doors open again and they them him no onw is messing with it. "You just said these malfunction." Colby tells Audrey.

"We need to try it alone." Sam suggests.

"Dani?" Colby turns around to look at her.

"Fuck you," She makes the triples laugh so Sam tries it alone.

Once it works Audrey tells the group about Samantha being their most known ghosts. She was just about four when she passed playing with her balls by stairs and fell down them. On the fifth floor they were taken to Samantha's painting.

"She doesn't look four in that." Colby stares at it, " She looks about eight."

"Really? I thought she looked four." Audrey looks at it more.

"It's probably the getup." Nick speaks up, "She had a fancy getup on." He says so they agree with him.

"She looks 1894 not 2024." Audrey says.

"That's a lot of hair for a four year old." Colby adds making Dani look at him.

"Dude, I had a shit ton of hair at four."

"You forgot how Dani looked?" Sam laughs so everyone smiles at Colby.

"He didn't care." Chris laughs now.

"He was non observant." Nick joins in making fun of Colby.

"Trust me he never payed attention to me when he was supposed to." Dani crosses her arms eyeing down Colby, "I ended up with a Dora bob and micro bangs just like my dolls. Scissors were off limits for me."

"Chris would've been the one to give her scissors." Nick laughs and so does Matt.

"Honestly, I probably would've found her a buzzer." Chris smiles.

"Thank god I didn't know y'all." Dani laughs as they make their way to the room now.

[tvrded]

*holding giant Chris chan cup* yeah so he wrote a book called Hogg which is preeetty flippin bleeped up

[dustedmagazine]

Ian Mathers’ 2023: J'suis fatiguée tu sais pas c'que j'suis fatiguée

a picture of Mandy, Indiana by Chris Hogge

It has been, if you’ll pardon the language, a stupid fucking year (or maybe it’s just, as Yo La Tengo correctly diagnosed, this stupid world). On any number of levels: for me, personally; in terms of international politics (although “stupid” is treating multiple ongoing genocides with a bit too much flippancy); the endless buffoonery of local politics; the people we’ve lost, even as the now pretty totally unchecked global progress of COVID thrashes peoples’ immune systems if not taking them out itself; and all of this means I barely have any energy these days to worry about our imminent environmental collapse (remember?). It’s been a grind, but as always music is one of the things that make life worthwhile, despite it all.

Even musically, I felt a bit adrift at times in 2023; one of my longstanding methods of music discovery, the esteemed group review site The Singles Jukebox, called it quits in 2022. And except for one last round of our traditional year-end Amnesty picks (where each writer gets to pick one song for coverage with none of the normal criteria for selection), that very much appeared to be that. And then a stray Discord comment late this year led to getting the band back together, and starting in late November the Jukebox has made a pretty amazing (temporary!) return. As always, that led to me encountering a ton of stuff I simply never would have heard of otherwise (and some new discoveries even slipped onto the lists below, just one more reason the practice most places have of running year end stuff early December makes me wince). It didn’t shift my existing favourites from 2023 much, nor did I expect it to, but it did make me feel like I had more context on the year as a whole, across more places and scenes and genres than I did before (but still incomplete, always incomplete).

This in turn feels tied to a change in my year-end list methodology. At this point I feel like I’m never going to settle on a consistent format forever and ever amen; different years pull different things out of me (both in terms of listening and in terms of sharing), and there’s also a bit of a pendulum-swing effect. For the past two years I’ve gone expansive, 40+ records, various other lists to get more things in. This was me chafing at (entirely self-imposed!) restrictions from years past, and it gave me a sense of freedom, even relief. I still stand by those lists (as much as I stand by any part of my past self). But this year looking at my account of what I’d listened to, realizing my shortlist was around 50 LPs and that if I was applying the kind of criteria I’d used recently I could easily include them all… I could feel myself wanting to go in the other direction. It took me a lot longer than I expected to pare that shortlist down to 20 albums (still an arbitrary number!), and I found the process oddly satisfying. Trying to decide what made those last couple of spots had me thinking harder about what I currently value and what my year has been like (and what my differing experiences with all these pieces of music were like) than I’d had to in a while.

Those longer lists have virtues this one doesn’t, of course; I have an even keener than normal feeling of leaving things out, of failing to adequately represent myself or music or… something. So while it’s true every year that there are records I loved that I don’t represent in any list, I feel the need to re-emphasize that truth here, specifically. Sometimes what made the cut over the days I spent putting this together surprised me; there are albums I wrote positive things about that I fully expected to be here that are hovering just out of sight in the 21-25 range. Some of them are represented in the accompanying list of songs that either don’t have albums or just stood out from their surroundings (and as last year I’ve tried to track down music videos, a form I still love, for all of those). From past experience, some of those standouts will wind up representing albums that, if I’d gotten more time with them this year, could have made it onto the main list. I also couldn’t let go of one of my secondary lists; I just really love EPs, and I wish more people made them (even if one of the entrants this year is long enough I’d normally consider it an album, if not for the band themselves dubbing it an EP).

As always these lists are alphabetical instead of ranked (and where I wrote about them, I’ve linked to it here); as I said, just narrowing them down was hard enough. I have no idea how to assess the relative merits of (say) L’Rain’s playfully, kaleidoscopically deep I Killed Your Dog versus a.s.o.’s self-titled, lush trip hop throwback versus the Drin’s gnomic, garage-bound bad vibes. They’re all great. But I did have two that felt like albums of my year, in different ways. The first of the National’s two 2023 records, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, was already a favourite when some of the personal stuff I alluded to above made me profoundly grateful that they’d put out this record, about mental health and the ends of things and mixed feelings, in this particular year (and then they put out a second record, which is not here because nobody gets to double dip, but it’s also good). I had a less specifically autobiographical resonance with Mandy, Indiana’s incredible debut i’ve seen a way but it did blow me away on purely sonic grounds in a way few bands have in the last decade or so. The greatness of that record to me is in more than just how stunningly different it felt the first few times I played it (although that was an experience I loved); as I said when I made their “Pinking Shears” my Amnesty pick for the Jukebox this year, it felt like a second miracle when the album did cohere into a set of songs that they wound up being some of my favourite songs of the year. Despite all the other ways I’ve been tired in 2023, it’s never been with music, and artists like the following (and the prospect of whatever I’ll encounter next year) are the reason why.

20 LPS

a.s.o. — a.s.o. (Low Lying Records)

ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT — “Darling the Dawn” (Constellation)

Avalon Emerson — & the Charm (Another Dove)

Brìghde Chaimbeul — Carry Them With Us (tak:til)

Carly Rae Jepsen — The Loveliest Time (Interscope)

Chappell Roan — The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (Island)

The Drin — Today My Friend You Drunk the Venom (Feel It)

Eluvium — (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality (Temporary Residence Limited)

Ghost Marrow — earth + death (The Garotte)

The Hives — The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (Disques Hives)

L’Rain — I Killed Your Dog (Mexican Summer)

Ladytron — Time’s Arrow (Cooking Vinyl)

Mandy, Indiana — i’ve seen a way (Fire Talk)

Mute Duo — Migrant Flocks (American Dreams)

The National — First Two Pages of Frankenstein (4AD)

Pearly Drops — A Little Disaster (Cascine)

Spanish Love Songs — No Joy (Pure Noise)

Tacoma Park — Tacoma Park (Self Released)

Tørrfall — Tørrfall (De Pene Inngang)

Yo La Tengo — This Stupid World (Matador)

5 EPS

Babygirl — Be Still My Heart (Sandlot)

Death of Heather — Forever (Big Romantic)

hkmori — forever (Self Released)

Tara Clerkin Trio — On the Turning Ground (World of Echo)

Weaklung — We Bring About Our Own Demise (Self Released)

20 MORE SONGS

100 gecs — “Hollywood Baby”

Blur — “Barbaric”

boygenius — “Not Strong Enough”

Caroline Polachek — “Dang”

Dua Lipa — “Houdini”

Eslabon Armado y Peso Pluma — "Ella Baila Sola"

Jiraya Uai & MC Tarapi — “Hoje Tem Rodeio, Baile De Favela”

Kesha — “Eat the Acid”

Lexie Liu — “delulu”

Maria BC — “Mercury”

Mitski — “My Love Mine All Mine”

Olivia Rodrigo — “bad idea right?”

Picastro — “Earthseed”

Raye ft. 070 Shake — “Escapism.”

Sho Madjozi — “Chale”

Tinashe — “Needs”

Tyla — “Water”

Troye Sivan — “Rush”

Victoria Monét — “On My Mama”

Water From Your Eyes — “Barley”

[freakingoutthesquares]

Beginner's Fuck Words: Chris Roberts, Photographer: Phil Ward Taken from Melody Maker, 19 March 1994 Transcription: Acrylic Afternoons

For some, it was dark and grubby. For others, Blakean and euphoric. The loss of virginity is an event (or not) which most recall as imperfect but momentous, or at least crap but interesting.

Bob Mortimer cites an overwhelming sense of "I am about to do it, I am doing it, I have done it." Jo Brand remembers her head banging against the base of the toilet. "She was very into the Bay City Rollers," sighs Terry Hall (though not of Jo Brand), "which put me off a bit. But not enough." Jarvis Cocker didn't tell anyone about it for five years, fearing the secret might lose its magic.

We know all this because Pulp, right now Britain's most stimulating pop group, have made a half-hour film interviewing various surprisingly candid quasi-names (Justine Frischman, John Peel, Pam Hogg, Alison Steadman, etc) about their sexual awakening. The film premiered at the ICA last week and is a funny and touching - as the phrase goes - catalyst for discussion and irreverent nostalgia.

It also ties in (sort of) with Pulp's new single, "Do You Remember The First Time?", which revisits the bravado of "Lipgloss" and "Razzmatazz" and is in every way irresistible. After years of bruised suburban sonatas, Pulp - suddenly hailed across the media as sex gods and glam messiahs - are ready to be defiled by popular acclaim.

Talk about sex? Pulp have already done that more times than the average women's glossy. Yet when you ask Pulp if they sometimes think everything's been done before, guitarist/violinist Russell says, "The ancient Greeks were saying that as well, weren't they?" and mainman Jarvis says, "That would be a very defeatist attitude. Even if every experience in life has been had by someone before, it's not been had by you. Unless you believe in reincarnation, which I'm not that bothered about myself." 

"We tried to make an accessible film," begins bassist Steve. "The tone of it's light, watchable, funny. We've discouraged the tabloids - there are enough quotes to bury everyone on it, taken out of context, so we've been quite careful there."

"As it stands," adds Jarvis, "anyone could watch it, even people who might find our music distasteful. I'm not obsessed with sex, don't get me wrong. It's just that so often it gets written about in an idealised way or a 'Carry On' nudge-nudge way. Then again, I don't think it would be so great if it was more open, like I imagine Norway to be, where they discuss it over the breakfast table."

"There is a lot to be said for English restraint," muses Russell. "The fact that something is forbidden makes it more exciting.

"Ah, but that's when you get your suspenders on and your orange in your mouth," interrupts Jarvis. There is some confusion.

"No, not you personally Russell; I mean that bloke. They only do that cos you have to lock yourself away in private. If it wasn't 'bad' they wouldn't be drawn to that twisted sexuality."

"There's a frisson to the whole thing," continues Russell. "So when you do break it down it seems to mean something and it's not just something you do as a matter of course. I was on a train once with this German girl and she just got changed in front of me, and, well, it didn't turn me on... I felt really insulted by it, to tell you the truth. I thought: I'm a man..."

"Maybe she was trying to tell you something," suggests Jarvis.

"No, well, she wasn't, that was the thing. It was..." Russell tails off.

Was this in England or in Germany?

"It was in the former Yugoslavia."

What comes across repeatedly in the filmed interviews is the sense of relief everyone felt from adolescent peer pressure to have "done it".

"We found quite a difference between men and women," observes Jarvis, "in that men would be more inclined to brag off about it, the thing that 'I've pulled'. Whereas a girl wouldn't run around school going 'I've had a shag'. I'm not saying that's right. I think it probably isn't, but..."

I'm certain it isn't. Women talk in much earthier terms.

"I don't know," considers keyboardist Candida. "I think women want the romantic thing more than men do. But that doesn't mean they get it. I mean, yes, women talking about men can be really... joky."

"Men talk about women on a superficial level," says Steve. "They don't say: but does she love you?"

"There's all this laddishness, which is nonsense," says Russell. "And lads know it's nonsense but it's fun, like talking about cars and football."

Candida tells a story.

"My cousin was showing me round her house last night, and there's a boy living there, and on his wall he had five pictures of cars. I've never seen that before. No pictures of women or anything. Just cars."

"I always know when my girlfriend and her friend are talking about men in the kitchen," says Russell. "You hear the noise of geese cackling."

"A lot of men do think differently to before," reflects Candida. "That comedienne Jo Brand, she's all right, but she can be just too nasty to men sometimes, I think. It's just as bad as some awful big fat boozy men going on about women. Which you don't get any more on telly. But you do get a lot of women on telly being horrible about men."

"It just sets up a 'versus' situation again, doesn't it?" says Jarvis. "You're either on one side or the other. Still. It wouldn't do for us all to be the same, would it?"

"Good God no!" we all chime.

Pulp recently finished recording what they regard as their "first album proper" with producer to the stars Ed Buller.

"For the entirety of the Eighties we had to have a whip-round to spend 15 hours in the back of a cold transit van to play to 12 people", chuckles Russell. "Don't let anyone romanticise it, it's a load of rubbish, best off out of it."

"You'd get up in the morning," remembers drummer Nick, "feeling like you'd been shat out of a horse. Or something."

Jarvis surprises me by claiming The Velvet Underground are a bigger influence on him than Barry White, and he never records while naked.

"It's usually me, but not me as I would go down to the shops. But still me."

Pulp are enjoying their long overdue lift-off.

"It's a bit sad if you get too blasé about things; cynicism cuts down your opportunities. It's the same with sex, of course. I mean you have to have a certain degree of excitement just to... get it on."

Bang a gong. Let's.

[anotherkindofmindpod]

love the pod! i think you guys would absolutely KILL an interview with michael lindsay hogg, have you ever reached out? i feel like he should be next on the docket after your incredibly iconic interview with may pang! 🩷amazing work🩷

Aww, thank you so much, Anon! It's funny you should mention May, because we have a little surprise coming tomorrow! 😍 As far as MLH goes, I understand he comes with a speaking fee (that AKOM can't afford). Fortunately ,Chris Shaw at IamtheEggpod did an excellent interview with him recently. That said, thank you for the suggestion and if there are any other interviews you'd like to hear on AKOM, please let us know! We love to hear all your requests and ideas. Thanks and take care (and keep your eyes peeled tomorrow!) ❤️

[nonfilms]

2022 (the year of “Soylent Green”) began with festival cancellations and general malaise, but ended with an outpouring of great cinema. Here are the favorite films we were lucky enough to catch (mostly) in-person. Seek these out at your local theater or at your earliest convenience. 1. The Novelist’s Film (Hong Sangsoo) 2. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras) 3. The Civil Dead (Clay Tatum) 4. The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg) 5. Butterfly in the Sky (Bradford Thomason, Brett Whitcomb) 6. Return to Seoul (Davy Chou) 7. The Super 8 Years (Annie Ernaux, David Ernaux-Briot) 8. Crimes of the Future (David Cronenberg) 9. Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt) 10. Ghost Amber (Tim Grabham) 11. The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh) 12. Learn to Swim (Thyrone Tommy) 13. Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook) 14. Vortex (Gaspar Noé) 15. Actual People (Kit Zauhar) 16. Aftersun (Charlotte Wells) 17. Funny Pages (Owen Kline) 18. Tár (Todd Field) 19. Cane Fire (Anthony Banua-Simon) 20. Quantum Cowboys (Geoff Marslett) 21. Happer’s Comet (Tyler Taormina) 22. Sr. (Chris Smith) 23. Fire of Love (Sara Dosa) 24. The Tsugua Diaries (Maureen Fazendeiro, Miguel Gomes) 25. Neptune Frost (Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman) 26. Descendant (Margaret Brown) 27. The Cathedral (Ricky D'Ambrose) 28. Eternal Spring (Jason Loftus) 29. Sam Now (Reed Harkness) 

[thecrimecrypt]

Crimes That Shook Britain (North East)

John Darwin In March 2002, John Darwin, 51, paddled out to sea in his canoe near his Hartlepool home. He never returned Coastguard rescue teams and police searched for him, but all they found was Darwin's paddle.

Several weeks later, the wreckage of his canoe washed up on a beach. With no body found by April 2003, John Darwin was declared dead. His widow Anne and their two sons grieved. Until December 2007 - when Darwin walked into a police station, claiming to have amnesia.

John Darwin was reunited with his sons and Anne, who'd moved to Panama, was delighted. Only, a pjoto emerged of Anne and John in Panama, together in 2006. The couple had actually faked John's death to claim his £250,000 life insurance.

Both Darwins were jailed for over six years - him for obtaining cash by deception, her for deception and money laundering.

Michael Atherton New Year's Day 2012 - taxi driver Michael Atherton, 42, shot dead his partner Susan McGoldrick, 47, her sister Alison Turnbull, 44, and niece Tanya Turnbull, 24, at his home in Peterlee. He then turned the gun on himself.

His stepdaughter survived after fleeing via a window. It emerged Atherton had a history of domestic violence. He blamed Alison for his arrest in 2008, after a row. When he discovered Susan had gone out with her sister that night, he said there'd be trouble if he saw Alison at his home. He said he'd stay in a hotel.

Yet the women arrived home before he'd left. A row erupted and Atherton got his gun from the car.

Mary Bell On 25 May 1968, the day before her 11th birthday, Mary Bell strangled Martin Brown, 4. His body was found in a derelict house in Newcastle.

Two months later, Mary enlisted a 13-year-old friend to help strangle Brian Howe, 3. His mutilated body was found on waste ground. When detectives questioned local children, Mary and her friend acted strangely, their stories changing. Officers soon realised Mary was a killer.

The friend was acquitted and gave evidence against Mary. The court heard Mary committed the crimes 'for the pleasure and excitement of killing'. Mary Bell was convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. She was sentenced to life in detention, released aged 23, and given a new identity.

Raoul Moat Two days after being released from prison on 3 July 2010, Raoul Moat, 37, from Newcastle, went on the rampage with a sawn-off shotgun.

First he shot his ex Samantha Stobbart and her new partner Chris Brown. While on the run in Rothbury, Moat shot police officer David Rathboand in the face. Brown was killed, Stobbart injured and PC Rathboand blinded.

Police deployed armed officers in one of Britain's biggest manhunts. In a letter left with a friend, Moat declared war on officers, saying that he wouldn't stop 'until I am dead'. On 9 July, police tracked Moat to the river Coquet, leading to a stand-off. Police negotiated, but Moat shot himself the next morning.

Sadly, David Rathboand later took his own life.

Billy Dunlop - Double Jeopardy Pizza delivery girl Julie Hogg, 22, disappeared in November 1989. Eighty days later, her mother Ann found her decomposing, partially mutilated body behind a bath panel in Ann's Billingham home.

Julie's ex Billy Dunlop was charged with murder, yet juries at two trials failed to reach a verdict. He was cleared. The double jeopardy law (which meant Dunlop could not be tried again) meant he thought he'd got away with murder for 17 years.

Ann fought for double jeopardy laws to be scrapped and, in 2003. MPs backed changes allowing serious cases with compelling new evidence to be reopened. Dunlop pleaded guilty to murder in 2006, was jailed for life.

Gary Vinter = Freed to Kill Again Gary Vinter killed colleague Carl Edon, 22, in a railway workers' cabin in 1995. Vinter stabbed him 37 times, puncturing every organ. He was jailed for life, but released in 2006, after serving 10 years.

In July 2006, he married Anne White. But Vinter was recalled to prison after a New Year pub brawl. Released again in early 2008, he separated from Anne after attacking her at their home in Eston, Middlesbrough. That February, Vinter bundled his estranged wife into a car.

After holding her hostage at his mother's house, he stabbed Anne to death. He was jailed for life. In 2011, Vinter attacked Roy Whiting - killer of schoolgirl Sarah Payne - in jail.

In 2016, he received a third life sentence for trying to murder fellow 'life' Lee Newell behind bars.

[manitat]

VA, The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project: The Task Has Overwhelmed Us

01 Mother Of Earth (feat. Dave Gahan) 02 La La Los Angeles (feat. The Coathangers) 03 Yellow Eyes (feat. Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis) 04 Debbie By The Christmas Tree (feat. The Amber Lights) 05 Go Tell The Mountain (feat. Mark Lanegan, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis) 06 Going Down The Red River (feat. Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind) 07 The Stranger In Our Town (feat. Peter Hayes, Leah Shapiro & Humanist) 08 Secret Fires (feat. Suzie Stapleton & Duke Garwood) 09 Tiger Girl (feat. Hugo Race) 10 On The Other Side (feat. Nick Cave & Debbie Harry) 11 Idiot Waltz (feat. Cypress Grove) 12 Tiger Girl (feat. The Amber Lights) 13 From Death To Texas (feat. Alejandro Escovedo) 14 Vodou (feat. Mark Stewart) 15 Time Drains Away (feat. Lydia Lunch, Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch) 16 Lucky Jim (feat. Chris Eckman & Chantal Acda) 17 I Was Ashamed (feat. Pam Hogg, Warren Ellis & Youth) 18 Bad America (feat. Sendelica, Wonder & Dynamax Roberts) 19 Desire By Blue River (feat. Cypress Grove)

[edgessunflower]

Recent fic masterlist pt 8

[news365timesindia]

[ad_1] Pakistan lost the first Test by an innings and 47 runs in Multan. (PC: X.com) From the unimaginable to the inevitable, Pakistan etched their name into the record books for the wrong reasons. They became the first team in Test history to lose by an innings after posting over 550 runs in the first innings. England sealed one of their most remarkable victories, winning the first Test by an innings and 47 runs on Day 5 in Multan. The match seemed to be heading for a draw after England declared their first innings at 823/7, with Harry Brook (317) and Joe Root (262) providing the bulk of the runs on a flat pitch. The Test took a dramatic turn in favour of the tourists when Pakistan suffered a batting collapse late on the fourth day. While the conditions remained relatively flat, England’s pacers exploited the new ball in the third session on Day 4, making the pitch appear unplayable at times, as cracks opened up and the bounce became unpredictable. Fatigue from spending 150 overs in the field caught up with the Pakistan batters, reducing them to 82/6 before a late rescue effort from Agha Salman and Aamer Jamal offered some hope. With Abrar Ahmed hospitalised, England needed just three wickets to secure victory and might have done so earlier had they not dropped four catches on Day 4. Salman and Jamal scored valiant half-centuries, but the task proved too great. England’s ever-reliable Jack Leach spun his side to what had seemed an improbable win, taking the final three wickets to seal the match. England’s rapid scoring rate opened the door for a result, and full credit goes to their bowlers for capitalising on the opportunity. Chris Woakes led the charge, with valuable support from the less experienced Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse. Pakistan’s struggles at home continue, as they set yet another unwanted record. What should have been a straightforward task of surviving the final four sessions on a batter-friendly pitch turned into a familiar story of collapse. Following a recent series defeat against Bangladesh, the hosts once again crumbled under pressure. This crushing defeat further damages Pakistan’s already faltering Test record, stretching their losing streak to six consecutive matches. With Pakistan cricket at its lowest point, criticism was inevitable after such a result. Here are some of the top reactions. “It’s a question of positive cricket from England or lack of endurance by Pakistan to describe today’s result. A team with a great cricketing history lacking a victory in the last 10 Test matches on home soil is not what we need to see,” Brad Hogg on X. “I’m sure bowlers will be questioning the quality of this track because they bend their back and nothing has happened,” Ramiz Raja said on a local TV channel. “You start questioning why such a surface was provided and why are we playing on such a surface at home.” “Pakistan Cricket is a gift that keeps giving,” wrote Aakash Chopra on X. “Babar Azam needs rest,” Basit Ali said on his YouTube channel. “He should be the one saying, ‘I need to rest’. It’s been 18 innings without a significant performance. Any other player would have been dropped after three games, like Fawad Alam. This is the harsh reality.” “220 runs in the third innings depending on the kind of lead you have can also be a good score,” Shan Masood on the 3rd innings collapse. “The trick is for us to learn from England, they found ways to get 20 wickets, and you can’t win without that. Yes, we have the 2nd innings to improve on but the most important thing is to learn how to pick up 20 wickets.” “I wasn’t upset with the surface here,” said Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie. “It’s pretty much what we expected and what we thought was going to be the best opportunity to play well in the game. If you look at our first innings, we put up a score of 550 and that part was fine. No one was saying anything about the surface then. It was only when we didn’t get our plans right and execute our skills with the ball that everyone started to talk about the surface.

The post Cricket Fraternity Gets Vocal as Pakistan Suffer Record Defeat Against England appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports. [ad_2] Source link

[news365times]

[ad_1] Pakistan lost the first Test by an innings and 47 runs in Multan. (PC: X.com) From the unimaginable to the inevitable, Pakistan etched their name into the record books for the wrong reasons. They became the first team in Test history to lose by an innings after posting over 550 runs in the first innings. England sealed one of their most remarkable victories, winning the first Test by an innings and 47 runs on Day 5 in Multan. The match seemed to be heading for a draw after England declared their first innings at 823/7, with Harry Brook (317) and Joe Root (262) providing the bulk of the runs on a flat pitch. The Test took a dramatic turn in favour of the tourists when Pakistan suffered a batting collapse late on the fourth day. While the conditions remained relatively flat, England’s pacers exploited the new ball in the third session on Day 4, making the pitch appear unplayable at times, as cracks opened up and the bounce became unpredictable. Fatigue from spending 150 overs in the field caught up with the Pakistan batters, reducing them to 82/6 before a late rescue effort from Agha Salman and Aamer Jamal offered some hope. With Abrar Ahmed hospitalised, England needed just three wickets to secure victory and might have done so earlier had they not dropped four catches on Day 4. Salman and Jamal scored valiant half-centuries, but the task proved too great. England’s ever-reliable Jack Leach spun his side to what had seemed an improbable win, taking the final three wickets to seal the match. England’s rapid scoring rate opened the door for a result, and full credit goes to their bowlers for capitalising on the opportunity. Chris Woakes led the charge, with valuable support from the less experienced Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse. Pakistan’s struggles at home continue, as they set yet another unwanted record. What should have been a straightforward task of surviving the final four sessions on a batter-friendly pitch turned into a familiar story of collapse. Following a recent series defeat against Bangladesh, the hosts once again crumbled under pressure. This crushing defeat further damages Pakistan’s already faltering Test record, stretching their losing streak to six consecutive matches. With Pakistan cricket at its lowest point, criticism was inevitable after such a result. Here are some of the top reactions. “It’s a question of positive cricket from England or lack of endurance by Pakistan to describe today’s result. A team with a great cricketing history lacking a victory in the last 10 Test matches on home soil is not what we need to see,” Brad Hogg on X. “I’m sure bowlers will be questioning the quality of this track because they bend their back and nothing has happened,” Ramiz Raja said on a local TV channel. “You start questioning why such a surface was provided and why are we playing on such a surface at home.” “Pakistan Cricket is a gift that keeps giving,” wrote Aakash Chopra on X. “Babar Azam needs rest,” Basit Ali said on his YouTube channel. “He should be the one saying, ‘I need to rest’. It’s been 18 innings without a significant performance. Any other player would have been dropped after three games, like Fawad Alam. This is the harsh reality.” “220 runs in the third innings depending on the kind of lead you have can also be a good score,” Shan Masood on the 3rd innings collapse. “The trick is for us to learn from England, they found ways to get 20 wickets, and you can’t win without that. Yes, we have the 2nd innings to improve on but the most important thing is to learn how to pick up 20 wickets.” “I wasn’t upset with the surface here,” said Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie. “It’s pretty much what we expected and what we thought was going to be the best opportunity to play well in the game. If you look at our first innings, we put up a score of 550 and that part was fine. No one was saying anything about the surface then. It was only when we didn’t get our plans right and execute our skills with the ball that everyone started to talk about the surface.

The post Cricket Fraternity Gets Vocal as Pakistan Suffer Record Defeat Against England appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports. [ad_2] Source link

[livsunit4fashionporfolio]

BODY BEAUTIFUL - Exhibition

This exhibition focuses around how today's fashion industry is beginning to challenge society 'norms' of ideal beauty standards on the catwalk, in advertising, editorial and behind the camera.

It showcases how recent seasons have been the most racially diverse, size diverse and gender-inclusive fashion shows in history. In this exhibition, it shows examples from fashion creatives who embrace inclusivity and body positivity, exploring themes such as size, gender, age, race and disability. Learning how the industry is calling out the existing practise of beauty standards, and why becoming more inclusive behind the scenes will make sure that there is a genuine reappraisal of pre-existing ideals of beauty.

The exhibition highlights pivotal catwalk and advertising looks from designers including Max Mara, Ashish, Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier and Pam Hogg. Additionally, work from catwalk photographer Chris Moore is displayed as well as, hearing from key influencers in the industry, e.g. models, stylists, editors, educators and more.

In this video the collaborators that made the Body Beautiful Exhibition come together talk about how fashion is for everyone and nobody should feel excluded in the fashion industry. Additionally, they talk about how this exhibition is to challenge pre-existing representation in the fashion industry.

This video is an introduction from the curator of the Body Beautiful Exhibition, she talks about the reason behind why it is so important that we defeat the stereotypes in the fashion industry.