someone who's doing some things
This is kind of sad but also inevitable. Croydon has been hit hard since the pandemic and so many good places have gone. At the end of January 101 Records closed its doors for the last time.
It was the last record shop in the town but sadly could sustain itself no longer. I will miss it.
Sad news, Pamela Salem passed away last month. She played the character ‘Toos’ in the classic Doctor Who story ‘The Robots of Death’ with Tom Baker. Which is one of my favourites of all time. She then recently reprised the role in the Big Finish story ‘Robots’ with Nicola Walker.
I really can’t believe that this album is 25 years old now. That sounds ridiculous and makes me feel old all at the same time. I still love this album and now I feel the need to listen to it again, and maybe all of their work. That sounds like a really good to thing to do.
I decided to read this again after about a year. Once again I really enjoyed it. A singular book of poetry. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I decided to buy a novel by her. Currently that is in my very long list of books to read. I will get to it, eventually.
I have started watching Farscape several times and always lost interest. But it is one of those Science Fiction shows that I feel I should have watched all of the way through. So I am now going to do it justice. I have got well into season two now and I am actually enjoying it quite a lot, which is a big improvement on my previous attempts.
I plan to get through the whole thing and the movie at the end as well. When I do I’ll let you know my verdict.
I am a big fan of Shriekback. I love their music, but a huge part of that is the lyrics they write for their songs. I bought the first book of lyrics. Which was great to read. Now there is volume two and it arrived yesterday. With the first one I found some real gems. I hope to find some more in volume two.
Today I finished reading one of my favourite books of poetry, ‘Deluge’ by Charlotte Ansell. I think I’ve read this book about three times now, and each time I love it even more. My only complaint is that I would really like Charlotte Ansell to publish some more. I just can’t keep reading this book over and over.
For the time being I will satisfy myself by reading ‘After Rain’, which I think I have only read once so far.
So, please Charlotte, publish some more, I’m waiting.
I only learnt today that Yukihiro Takahashi passed away earlier this month. He was 70 years old. I have been a fan of his work for some decades and I still enjoy his music a great deal. I have to say that it actually hit me quite hard.
I first listened to his album “What? Me Worry”. An album made with Bill Nelson, another favourite artist of mine. I listened to that album over and over as a teenager. I loved it so much then, and I still do.
My first reaction to hearing this news was to find the albums of his that I don’t own as yet. There are a few. He had a prolific output. I expect that over the coming weeks and months I will be listening to a lot of his music again.
Back in the 80s I used to listen to John Peel’s show. It is where many of my musical tastes were formed and a lot of the artists I first heard on his show are people I still listen to now. But there are still one or two things that I have never found. One thing I have never found was a session on one of his shows. I can’t remember the name of the artist or the names of any of the tracks. You can see why this is a problem right?
All I know is that the session, if indeed it was a session, was all about a utopian world. It was futuristic kind of science fiction music. I recorded it, but on reel to reel, which is what I used to use back then. Of course now I no longer have access to that machine although I may still have the reels. But the reels might be solidified by now anyway.
I doubt that I will ever rediscover this music. Which is a shame. But every now and then I have a look for it. To date, always in vain.
I got an email today from Big Finish saying that there is going to be a new set of Space 1999 stories coming in May this year. Which is excellent news. I have really enjoyed the previous Space 1999 stories they made. I was a big fan of the original series and I’ve watched it many times over.
When it came back to audio with Big Finish I was so pleased that there would be new stories, and they’ve been really good too. My only complaint is that there haven’t been enough stories for my liking. At least there’s more coming and not too long to wait.
I am Ashley Elsdon 