Aguirre: The Wrath Of God

A Hard Day's Night

The Sorcerers

The Rise And Rise Of Michael Rimmer

Verve - A Storm In Heaven

BUY>> 21. 06. 93

Sketch Sunday

And Now For Something Completely Different

George R.R. Martin - Dying Of The Light

Dirk t'Larien....

A Chronicle Of Doom....

Last visit of the year to Ice Station Zebra (or should that be 'Nice Station Zebra', as it was decidedly cosy following on from the spanking new 'heating wurks'?) to see Agent Johnny before 'X-Mass' (for the X-Men). Still no sign of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Archives being returned from deep storage however - presumably they've been removed ter a secure Government facility fer further analysis - but that certainly wasn't causing Our Man In Pester Wails to lose any sleep.... er, judging by his bleary 'bedhead' when he (finally) answered the [CENSORED] door. One clipping of his toenails later (some things you just can't unsee) and the swill wiz good ter go! With the 'one-eyed-god' restin' up - having evidently seen more than enough front line action last week - there wiz nothing for our Agents to do but to krank open the swill and transport themselves back to August 1968 via Two From The Vault. (Truth be told, the Christmas TV schedules have seriously muscled in on Agent Johnny's daytime fillum action.)....

It was in the middle of this afternoon of contented chuntering - Johnny wiz on especially great form, explaining at one point the beginnings of his Radio Free Cleghorn comic strip - that it suddenly struck Agent Rob how very strange this situation is. He found himself thinking, as Agent Johnny popped to Shunker 5 for the 'unexpected bonus' of a 'Perry White', how he's actually sitting in the front room of one of the world's very last genuine Underground/Outsider comic artists - nothing contrived or artificial here, just a strangely pure trajectory followed unselfconsciously - looking round at all the posters, postcards and flyers pinned to the wall, all the surrounding years of accumulated books, comics, tpbs, magazines and records, this quite fascinating mind that has, over a lifetime, made sense and shaped everything around into an outward extension of itself....

How did that happen, these unlikely paths crossing over 10 years ago? Life. So this is life, all our little lives, our homes, the people and things you can reach out and touch as you pass through. That's all we are and, unless you become that mad person ranting in the street (Agent Rob, next year), it's as much as you can realistically expect and affect in this day and age, sending light out into the darkness. So Agent Rob - who quite often seriously pre-dreads these visits, never quite knowing what Agent Johnny he's going to get and in what exact state - relaxed for once and cherished the moment, knowing it, knowing like all the others, it will soon vanish into the nothing of memory. Keep these things close and remember them fondly when the bombs start to fall. Dark Star crashing....

Or maybe Agent Rob wiz dreaming, both our Agents drifting off to sleep as the daylight dwindled, the room temperature having reached peak 'auld man dozing'. Rousing himself around 4 o'clock it wiz the final hour fer Rob to take his leave from the front and head into town and pitch up at Deadhead Comics. A few pints later (and at least a half bottle of port earlier to help Agent Austin's Christmas spirits) and the time had come to spill out into the darkness and attempt to negotiate the impending holidays confusion at Waverley Railway Station while stewed somewhat silly. I'll leave you with Deadhead's Christmas message, "stop sending f*cking video links to my f*cking phone!"....

Sounds: Two From The Vault by Grateful Dead: Memory Span by The Lines: Kuff Dam and Tart Tart by Happy Mondays: Sea Within A Sea by The Horrors and the concluding tracks of Blows Agianst The Empire by Paul Kantner, Grace Slick & Jefferson Starship....

Grateful Dead - Dark Star Live 1968

The Hunt For The Wilderpeople

The American Analog Set - Promise Of Love

BUY>> 17. 06. 03

Sketch Sunday

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

John Cleese - So Anyway...

John Marwood Cleese....

The Magic Christian

Bob Dylan - Live 1966

1966

Sketch Sunday

Fawlty Towers - Series 1

Eat That Question: Frank Zappa In His Own Words

Adam Roberts - Yellow Blue Tibia

Konstantin Andreiovich Skvorecky....

Robin And Marian

Bark Psychosis - Game Over

BUY>> 97

Sketch Sunday

The Man Who Would Be King

You Only Live Twice

Kon Tiki

Alexander Spence - Oar

19. 05. 69

Sketch Sunday

Horror Express

Ernest Cline - Ready Player One

Parzival....

The Harder They Come

Gimme Danger

The Orb - COW. CH/LL OUT, WORLD

BUY>> 14. 10. 16

Sketch Sunday

A Chronicle Of Doom....

The Lady From Shanghai vs. The (a)Gent From Edinburgh.... 'Thor'sday' saw Agent Rob make a (cold) snap-enough decision to visit Agent Johnny only to be surprised by a somewhat sparser than expected Ice Station - about 25% of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Archives have been removed and put into storage to allow essential 'heating wurks' to be carried out - and a very chatty John G. (which, considering Agent Rob wiz unable to find More4+1 on Freeview, meant he'd blundered in a good 40 minutes into The Lady From Shanghai). Our Man In Pester Wails was, however, unperturbed by this interruption - seems he'd been too busy readin' The Shadow and had in fact missed the beginning of the fillum himself - and was quite happy to chunter contentedly over the top of the final hour and twenty minutes....

Naturally the swill was 'kranked' open immediately upon arrival and, having watched the concluding ten minutes of Aces High efter wur Lady it wiz decided the 'one-eyed-god' be laid to rest fer the duration of the afternoon, calling upon Agent Rob's 'music box' ter soundtrack the ever-dwindling of time.... The unfortunate passing of Robert Vaughn ("oh, f*ck") - though perhaps this will see a welcome return of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to our 'tell-aye' screens - the writings of Brian Aldiss and Cordwainer Smith and The Avengers (UK) and their featuring in a vintage T.V. Comic Annual  - Our Man had two recently purchased editions - were all topics fer discussion. But these dead couldn't stay grateful forever, and soon it wiz time fer Agent Rob to gulp down his third pint and depart fer the city to see Agent Austin, where he wiz pretty sure there was a copy of Alec: The Years Have Pants awaitin' at Deadhead Comics....

Sights: The Lady From Shanghai....

Sounds: Blows Against The Empire by Paul Kantner, Grace Slick and Jefferson Starship: Memory Span by The Lines: Sea Within A Sea by The Horrors and Good Morning Little Schoolgirl and Dark Star (Two from Two From The Vault) by Grateful Dead....

The Lines - Uneasy Affair

A Fistful Of Dollars

Alasdair Gray - 1982, Janine

Jock McLeish....

Alien: Resurrection

The Horrors - Skying

BUY>> 11. 07. 11

Sketch Sunday

Alien 3

Withnail and I