Senses working overtime #196

1 Captain Marvel

Are you really pleased that this is ready to set all sorts of records? Me too. 

See what I did there?

2 Bruce Willis

An under-appreciated talent? There is a case for that, but we've recently watched him play a brutal revenge seeking surgeon (hahahaha) in 2018's Death Wish on Netflix and, really Bruce? Really?

3 The Speaker

A superhero movie? Erm, nope. Although...

It's the way the Europeans and Yanks are styling John Bercow, the Speaker in the House of Commons, that is interesting here. 

4 Rituals and routines

Interesting article - as someone who has had his routines and rituals completely disrupted lately, I can freely attest that discombobulation is the result. This edition of JFTT is coming to you from Sunday! Yikes!

Here's a taste from the article:

As Maria Popova, founder of Brain Pickings writes, though very different in practice, routine and ritual seem to be two sides of the same coin-

While routine aims to make the chaos of everyday life more containable and controllable, ritual aims to imbue the mundane with an element of the magical. The structure of routine comforts us, and the specialness of ritual vitalizes us.

5 Star Wars Episode IX
Excitement is building. What do we know so far?

Overtime Noddy Holder

Having just finished his autobiography (Who's Crazee Now?) I figured it was time to celebrate with one of my fav Slade songs.

Senses working overtime #195

1 Breathe

My mum was a keen promoter of deep breathing. It's important, okay.

2 Jorma Kaukonen

Hoyle's ordered me a copy of this autobiography by Hot Tuna/ Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. Hard to put down this week!

3 Ten Years After

One of my favourite bands? Not in this case - a Facebook challenge - compare ID photos from 2009 and 2019, that may have other side effects.

4 Mary Oliver
Rest in peace.

Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?

Mary's question is a really good one.

5 John Wick 3
Loved the first two! Looking forward to this one, three, too.




Overtime Jorma Kaukonen
His version of the Rev Gary Davis song has been in my head all week.

Senses working overtime #194

1 Affective presence

Explained.

2 New movies 

New year equals new expectations for some about to drop movies.

3 Ian Hunter

Of Mott the Hoople - recently, I managed to track down a copy of Diary of a Rock 'n' Roll Star from Hoyles on Charing Cross Rd. It was expensive at nearly 20 quid but, having finished it, I can tell you it's worth it (I notice it's cheaper on Amazon but I love the Foyles experience).

4 The Dharma of Star Wars

Now onto this which I found in the Star Wars corner at the aforementioned Foyles - yes, they have a whole corner of books devoted to Star Wars. This one is a geat blend of Buddhism and the Jedi tao. Be mindful of the living force!

5 Art Pepper



This has been a constant companion this week after I bought an album at Ray's Jazz - yes - in Foyles! You don't get that experience from Amazon d'ya!!

Overtime Red Garland
Thanks to a Jamie Cullum's BBC Radio 2 programme, I've recently discovered the joy of Red Garland on piano. Enjoy!

Senses working overtime #193

1 Vinyl revival

The market for DVDs has been destroyed by streaming services like Netflix (guilty as charged - I rarely buy DVDs these days).

But...vinyl continues to grow as a format as this Guardian article reports: However, it wasn’t all bad news for physical formats. The continuing vinyl revival generated LP sales of 4.2m – up 1.6% on 2017. Some 12,000 albums were released on vinyl and the most-purchased was the Arctic Monkeys’ Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, which became the fastest-selling LP in more than 25 years, shifting 24,500 copies in seven days after its release in May. 

2 Men Without Women

I moved onto this collection of 7 short stories by Haruki Murakami, this week. He's more hit and miss over the short format - that's the nature of the beast really, but there are some classic Murakami moments in this collection - and it's a cheaply priced entry level book at Waterstones.

3 Roger Daltrey

After enjoying his autobiography I've kept my eye out for his solo albums. His latest, As Long As I Have You, has just been released (it's good too). Since then I've found Daltrey, Ride a Rock Horse and McVicar - all on vinyl. 

All have value but taking a punt on the McVicar soundtrack has paid off handsomely. What a great album! I'd forgotten that Free Me was on there.

4 Lee Child

Picked this up for under 10 quid before Christmas - the latest Jack Reacher thriller. Lee Child never disappoints and this is a great book to read on holiday - although they usually take me a day or so - easy to read, absorbing and addictive!

5 Christmas is football!

Always a frenzy of activity over the festive period - notably Liverpool lost their 100% winning record and Man City lost three games! Loads of drama to follow on MOTD.

As to my teams - Rochdale are solid in the lower reaches of League One and the gunners wobbled. But we still beat Spurs 4-2!!

January transfer window is always interesting. We need some defenders please.

Overtime Steve Coogan
I'm a fan. Here's a Guardian article on him that's worth reading.

Senses working overtime #192

1 Slice of heaven

A celebration of my favourite format runs through my sensual highlights this week.

First up - love this image that came my Pinterest way. Mmm - smell that fresh vinyl!

2 But first, the bad news
Here's more proof that 2018 was a crap year for the high street

Amid the dire news about HMV, I'm hoping the flagship Oxford Street store hangs in there a bit longer.

Even so, it doesn't look good for the old girl. Still - maybe there's a bright side?

3 Record Collector

The latest edition had a story about albums being 70 years old in 2018. I enjoyed the piece which names 70 crucially influential albums (one per year with runners up) but noticed my interest levels dropped significantly from the 1980s onwards. 

4 Silver Lining

Isn't that a beautiful sight!

Back to the future/ back to vinyl: from places like Chaldon Books and Records and Flashback Records - there are still plenty of vinyl stockists out there. 

5 Even Sainsburys 

Yes - you know it's a movement when supermarkets like Sainsburys stock vinyl. 

Overtime In the wee small hours (1955)

Found a copy of this (one of the 70 listed in that Record Collector atricle) in a local charity shop yesterday. First part of a 10 inch brace of releases before the album came out. Probably worth a bit more than the 5 quid I paid for it.

According to wikipedia: In the Wee Small Hours was issued as two 10-inch LP discs, and also as one 12-inch record LP, making it one of the first of its kind in the pop field. It was also issued as four four–song 45-rpm EP discs sold in cardboard sleeves with the same cover as the LPs, not in paper covers like 45-rpm singles.

It's in good condition given it's a couple of years older than me - cover's a bit worn but plays well. Like me.

Senses working overtime #191

1 Merry Christmas everybody
The last set of jewels before the big day. Have a great festive season. See you on the other side!

2 This Is My Song

This peek into a recording studio and real people recording amazing stuff (like grandad/grandson duo pictured) was on the BBC this week and got me all misty eyed. Catch the next episode!

3 Springsteen on Broadway

I was watching this on Netfix while the Light Of my Life was having a bath. When she came out, she joined me and amazingly, for 2 plus hours, we were both glued to the performance (she's not really a music fan so there is no greater testimony to Bruce's electric delivery of his life story than that).

4 Roger Daltrey

Roger is hilarious! He manages to explain his upbringing succinctly, while remaining brilliantly funny. His humorous and recurring mentions of Pete's nose (as an example) are brimming with a honest love for the man - a trick that is tough to pull off.


5 Second best Christmas song of all time!



Overtime Christmas, baby please come home! 
The best Christmas song of all time!! Darlene Love!!!

Senses working overtime #190

1 Another work-heavy week

That means the interweb piles up unread and unacknowledged. Instead a steady diet of Brexit catastrophe on the BBC nightly news has been the order of the day.

2 Pointless

This precedes the BBC 6 o'clock and we've become addicted. Zander and Richard are a great comedy duo!

3 The Tattooist of Auschwitz

by Heather Morris has been my current book. Truthfully, I haven't had much of an opportunity for sustained reading so I've dipped into it over the week. Hopefully I'll be able to get into it more next week. Given it's the last week of the term that's unlikely but I live in hope.

4 Alan Parsons Project

I picked up a couple of APP records from Chaldon Books and Records a few weeks ago and these have been steady support this week. Specifically Pyramid and Tales of Mystery and Imagination.

5 Sexist advertising to be banned!

The Guardian ran this news item during the week about sexual stereotypes used to sell products, with some vintage ads that made me wonder what kind of world I'm living in these days. 

Overtime Endgames
There are a couple of Marvel products to look forward to: Captain Marvel and the latest of The Avengers mega movies.