"Do I feel lucky?" Indeed Agent Rob certainly does, being one of the fortunate few who managed to Escape From UK earlier this year for a bit of glorious sightseeing stateside, managing to swipe a few days on the streets of San Francisco, pounding the very same sidewalks that Harry Callahan and Frank Bullitt called their own to bring you yet another 'Summer Blogbuster' in the vein of JAWS, Indiana Jones and, er, Chungking Express....
Greyhoundog day.... Yes please!
It seems only fair to start at the beginning with the bus trip from Reno HQ to San Francisco on a Greyhound bus - I mean, c'mon, why the cliche not? - a journey that just so happened to mosey on through Sacramento and Philip K Dick's old SF stomping ground of Berkeley, California then (over) Oakland (Bay Bridge) giving a first glorious glimpse of Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge....
"I am the law!" (er, wrong character....)
Setting up camp in Bush Street (around about Chinatown) proved to be the perfect location to simply get out and wander about this very walkable city (and very tasty too, with Chinese, Japanese and Vietnameseslap-ups around the chops). But like Harry and Frank themselves this is gonna be a blog of few words - we all know a picture is worth a thousand and, in Agent Rob's decidedly lower (quality) case, probably much much more than that - so without further ado let's hit those dirty roads....
San Francisco City Hall
First up we have San Francisco City Hall (at 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place) and the surrounding Civic Center Plaza. Maybe best to avoid the decidedly dodgy UN Plaza / Market Street / Tenderloin area to the East, mind - at first Rob thought the nearby assembled throng was tourists before realising it's a key congregation site (for sore eyes) of the city's numerous homeless....
Eh, that was then....
....like this is now....
Civic Centre Plaza(1971 style)
Civic Centre Plaza (minus water feature)
Still hangin' in a Sunshine State....
Saints Peter and Paul Church
Next stop is Saints Peter and Paul Church (at 666 Filbert Street / Washington Square off Columbus Avenue) where that scallywag Scorpio took aim at a Catholic Priest....
Bank of America Building
Our final stop is in fact Harry's first, the Bank of America Building (at 555 California Street) which he scales to get a better view of the swimming pool where Scorpio's first victim is bob bob bobbing along....
Mt. Davidson Memorial Cross
Those with more time on their feet may wish to visit the Mt. Davidson Memorial Cross (at 2-280 Dalewood Way / Myra Way) to complete their stroll around the most easily spotted Dirty Harry landmarks....
"You couldnae tell us the way to San Jose, mate?"
With so much attention lavished on old Harry it was inevitable that young Frank's locations would inevitably suffer (from a lack of proper pre-research and later inability to match up photos to actual street names). Still, a completely comprehensive guide is here and there's no doubt Rob got the gist of the famous car chase, making sure to race around Mason Street, Taylor Street, Chestnut Street - the sign of which definitely appears in The Enforcer, Detective Callahan's third outing, - Filbert Street and Columbus Avenue....
Grace Cathedral Episcopal Church, 1051 Taylor Street
That'll definitely be, er, Chestnut Street, um, at Columbus Avenue
Chestnut Street, again at Columbus Avenue (and Taylor Street)
Filbert Street (towards Colt Tower)
Filbert Street (towards Colt Tower) 1968
Taylor Street
Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, 1 Nob Hill, 1968
Top of the Mark (Hopkins Hotel)
Taylor Street, er, again....
Mason Street?
Mason Street?
Taylor Street, er, again again....
Of course, the Clint connections just keep on coming, with Alcatraz Island having pride(?) of place to your right in San Francisco Bay. (Those with suitably stern stomachs might fancy a trip doon the watter for a visit.) Then again, over to your left is the Golden Gate Bridge, guest star of far too many films to mention (so Rob'll settle for recent firm film fave Rise of the Planet of the Apes)....
Alcatraz
Murky Harry
Golden Gate Bridge
Unfinished monkey business....
Woah! It's "The Big One"!
Well, here's hoping this blog made your day, as there we have it (for now, as there'll no doubt be some subtle tweaks in the coming weeks) until the planned/under wraps sequel arrives on the small screen worldwide early November. So what are you waiting for, bookmark your tickets now....
It's nowhere near 365 daze since Agent Rob last slipped inside Agent Johnny's hoose, but with the world de- and revolving at an astonishing rate it sure felt like it! Still, with a nifty new table for 'ze comic drawing' installed John Stark page production has taken a sudden (and somewhat heartwarming) spike....
Not that that was enough to stop feet being duly propped up in front of the 'one-eyed-god''fer to watch'The Phantom Planet, vintagecreaks and all (whether that wiz the aged fillum or indeed our nakt agents) while supping on a welcome bottle of 0,0% Karmi, admitting the days of wild 'View to a Swills' are long since gone and quietly chuntering about San Francisco - all will be blogsplained! - (the origins of) Sinbad The Sailor, Soylent Green, MARVEL movies, Infinity Magazine, The Shape of Things to Come (film) by H. G. Wells and Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius series of books....
Calvin Who?
Of course, there was further cause for a 'swillebration' given that the (most esteemed, authoritative, trusted and respected) Comics Journal gave Agent Johnny's astounding 1980's and 2000's collections the critical once over, concluding with (as Agent Rob has always known) "You can call that what you want, but I call it genius...." Praise be indeed! And that was that, Agent Rob brought back to earth with a bang, returning to Glasgog on a train jammed with Calvin Harris and Mrs Brown's Boys fans en route and en masse to their respective respites from the ravages of reality....
As we all stumble on into April, fools with but little spring in our steps, then what better time to retire from reality and slip inside Agent Johnny's house for a few hours of gentle chuntering while propped before the 'one-eyed-god' as it beams (courtesy of the Horror Channel) bountiful binges of The Prisoner into our bleary and beleaguered minds....
Na na na na na na nah thanks, I'm good....
As Patrick McGoohan gleefully glared his way through episode after episode - the man surely has the most Jack 'King' Kirby face made flesh of all time - random topics of conversation included Blakes 7, The Batman (or, indeed, 'The Batmeh'), Infinity Magazine and, wait for it!, a new comic script for Agent Rob'fer to draw'....
....lies what indeed....
Soon enough it was time for Rob to dearly depart and head for the train to carry him beyond this horizon, and so leave 'Our Man in Slateford' to his solitary overheated television and his plentiful undercooked ideas....
Welcome back for a second helping of the (Braw) best of 2021, effectively the Boxing Day to Part 1's Christmas.... Hmm, though that really just makes it sound like any old reheated leftovers which, much like Xmas telly, is merely the first week reshuffled around and repeated ad infinitum to pad out week two. Without getting too nostalgic for (Radio and TV) times gone by, isn't it strange how we live in a era when there's infinitely more channels and somehow less choice as opposed to when there were far less (only 4!) channels but seemingly more viewing choice over the 'restive festive'. It truly is smaller on the outside....
100 Mountains - Summit Up
One of the year's top albums was in fact collated/compiled by Rob himself, who knuckled down and put his idle hands to work sifting through “ex-brains behind The Orb” (his words) Kris“don't call me Thrash!”Weston's substantial online “graveyard” (his words again) of semi-aborted works in perpetual progress. The end result was 100 Mountains – Summit Up, a sprawling, absorbing and oddly affecting (and somewhat chilly and unsettled) ambient trip. Currently AWOL there is a glimmer of hope Kris'll return (momentarily) to the interfray as this encouraging holding picture attests....
FFWD▸▸ (The Orb & Robert Fripp) - Orbert FFWD Demo 1993
As if that wasn't enough Rob was lucky enough to unearth a rare live run through of The Orb's masterful (never released and eventually morphed into FFWD) track Hidden In Heaven, a truly towering 27:27 of similarly emotive ambience (perhaps slightly overloaded with DRAP's samples du jour, although they do help conjure some sort of timeless nostalgic charm) that still has the power to drop jaws nearly 30 years later. The past has never sounded so futuristic. If you fancy some of that in a more stripped back symphonic style then you need look no further than the equally impressive Orbert (as leaked by the above Mr. Weston himself), the glacial demo that was eventually (to its detriment) chipped into several pieces for what became the FFWD album....
Dr. LXP kept busy too, teaming up with sometime Ultraworld adventurer Andy Falconer to release Sedibus – The Heavens, thus helping to keep The Orb“brand” (Kris again!) cash cowing on into the twenty twenties....
Following on from all that unhealthy orbsessing there really was nothing more cheer-worthy – tinnitus inducing in volume surely? - than Mogwai scoring their first ever #1 album and SAY award with their mighty As The Love Continues. And in their 25th(!) year together to boot....
'D'you think the end of the world is comin'?' (YES!)
….although it was really fellow post-rock titans Godspeed You! Black Emperor who truly stole Rob's thunder with their perpetual “end times” (circa 1997 to right NOW!) soundtrack....
Time surrounds me like an ocean
My memories like waves
Is life just dying in slow motion
Or getting stronger everyday?
Elsewhere The War on Drugs followed their rousing Live Drugs album with the excellent I Don't Live Here Any More, again up to their usual epic-grower standards (and maybe their finest long player yet), while American Music Club cast their woozy magic, FIEND (AKA former Fannie and Young Teamster Brendan O'Hare) impressed with the post-everything ambition of his Caledonian Trilogy, Weathertalk and Landing hit Bandcamp heights, Lift To Experience stunned with their ten commanding The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads, Pieter Nooten and Michael Brook got all sleek and seductive with Sleeps With The Fishes, The Bug Vs Earth dragged us across their vast Concrete Desert, Mugstar practiced a beguiling form of post-space rock on the marvellous Magnetic Seasons, The Charlatans got all pensive on their uneven '92 downer missive Between 10th and 11th and (finally) Tonstarrtbandht transformed from troublesome noiseniks into shimmering alt-indie troubadours on the rather pretty Petunia, all these albums turning musical itches into gently sweet spots....
Tonstartssbandht - What Has Happened (Official Video)
To counter this (mostly) 'miserable but uplifting' sonic self-indulgence a plethora of Polish popsters saved the 'dzien' with Patrick The Pan, Oxford Drama, Muchy and Bluszcz dishing out the good vibes and serving up quality albums, while slightly more challenging, though no less tasty, sounds came to the table courtesy of Trupa Trupa. If you ever fancy a quick overview of the top of the Polish alt-pops then listen no further than the annual Meskie Granie festival/event....
A shame then to say goodbye to musician voyager Richard H Kirk in 2021. Known to many as a member of seminal Sheffield electro industrialists Cabaret Voltaire, but really beloved to Agent Rob for his duo of 90's ambi-electronic-cum-techno albums on WARP Records....
Richard H. Kirk - Oneski
There's no doubt that John Williams (author of the sleeper classic Stoner) scored an absolute bullseye with his book Buffalo Crossing in 2021, making it Rob's book of the year by a wide open country mile. Think green young Boston academic ups sticks for the wild west where he funds a grizzled hunting party (with a Miller at the head, no less) in their search for a once-glimpsed plain awash with dozy buffalo, in an immersive and atmospheric Moby Dick-cum-JAWS tale of man versus (human and mother) nature. Absorbing stuff....
Indeed Masterwork science fiction took something of a back seat in 2021's rocket, with Cryptozoic!, Cities In Flight and More Than Human all really failing to launch, with only the old school stiff upper Brit sci-fi of The Andromeda Anthology and the proto1984-isms of WE reaching orbit. However, the slightly more up to date sci-futures of Richard Morgan's (just alright) Altered Carbon, David Mitchell's stylistic, structural and imaginative triumph that is Cloud Atlas, and the triple-whammy of Tade Thompson's vastly rewarding Rosewater trilogy were proof indeed that there's still life (but not as we know it!) in the shaggy old sf dog tale yet....
In its stead Rob enjoyed the likes of William Boyd's slow-burn Trio, Cormac McCarthy's burnt world of The Road, Margaret Atwood's bra burning The Handmaid's Tale, the world really is burning woe of Jeff VanderMeer's Hummingbird Salamander and David Morell's fiery First Blood, an excellent companion piece to the film and a truly bruising book in its own right.... the same could be said for the soap burn of Chuck Palahniuk's still fearsome Fight Club too!
As well as this there was time to absorb a decent clutch of music and film (auto)biographys from the likes of Tim 'One Two Another' Burgess, John 'So Anyway...' Cleese, Will 'Playing the Bass with Three Left Hands' Carruthers, Martin 'Facing The Other Way: The Story of 4AD' Aston and Peter 'Easy Riders, Raging Bulls' Biskind, a vicious, searing book, proof that, film geeks like Spielberg and Lucas aside, every feted male US actor/director of the 70's was a colossal #metoo consumed by an insatiable and quite repulsive appetite for sex and drugs....
As the nights grew long and dark, the wind chillier then what better time to to take a first step into the vast (nether)world of horror supremo Stephen King, Agent Rob subjecting himself to the jaw (and temperature) dropping 'Salem's Lot, a huge(ly) impressive novel in both scope and vision. It's not just the (pulling) power of the excellent writing, so much as the vivid scenes of terror piling up (much like the unfortunate vampiric victims) in the mind.... Yep, suddenly that gloomy lane on the walk to work doesn't look quite so inviting, shortcut or no, nor does staring into dark spaces or out dark windows less something should peer back from the blackness. Hell, even the hike in energy prices couldn't stop Rob from keeping Braw Towers lit up like a Christmas tree just, y'know, in case. Next stop the Overlook Hotel....
And here's Rob's written quote of the year, culled from the leery Humminbird Salamander,
"A few years later, businesses hawking wares would have changed. The old ones washed away by the shock of realization: the physical laws of the universe didn't give a f*ck about them. Wouldn't protect them just because they existed and sold things."
How pertinent is that post COP-26/everything?!
Doomsday Clock - flat as a pancake!
It was the comic everyone was tocking about simply because it ticked them off.... Yep, it could only be DC Comics' Doomsday Clock - or 'DC' for short, ho, er, hum, and about as clever as it gets – which certainly succeeds as an exceptional(ly drawn) exercise in mangling two lucrative IPs together for purely commercial purposes. As a satisfying comic, however, it lurked not only in the towering shadow of its timeless predecessor but also in that cast by HBO's television series sequel, making for an uneven and, as the superheroes/properties piled up and up, uninvolving read....
(It's really the sort of project that DC should have handed to someone fearless like Grant Morrison – his own Pax Americanawas as good a response/rebuke to the original Watchmen as any – who would at the very least have done his damnedest to outdo Alan 'The Original Writer' Moore at every twist and turn (of the page) rather than kowtowing to the paymasters and farting out focus group approved fluff....)
Aside from sinking this titanic undertaking there was still precious time to be found to enjoy scribble and scratch master Paul Pope's 100% and Heavy Liquid trades, while Neil Gaiman's Eternals and the Attack On Titan manga stirred little interest Rob-side....
Pole-side, on the other hand, there was a treat in the spiky shape of the third omnibus (of five) of underground/overground comic strip Jez Jerzy, collecting books (Toms) #7, #8 and #0 of everyone's favourite rebellious hedgehog (though this leaves only Tom #9 to pad out the remaining two volumes)....
And just for the heck of it here's a few lovely Polish sub-underground illustrations courtesy of Edward Lutczyn (from Wanda Chotomska's 1985 book of children's rhymes, Remanent)....
All of which brings us neatly round (up) to this....
If, looking forward, 2022 is going to be remembered for anything – as, let's (try to) face it, it's proving completely and utterly forgettable already! - then what could be better than Dave Alexander's wonderful MacBam Brothers collection turning 10 years old! (Indeed, this here blog will be 10 years old in a matter of days – good on us!) Why not grab a copy now before LULU put their (and our) prices up early March (or simply sit back and enjoy our FREEBraw Books Sampler PDF available to download >>here....)
With Braw Towers all but silent in 2021 - no single scratch of pen on paper, no squeaky squirl(?) of the scanner, no fortunate flash of inspiration (just the pitter patter of tiny feet) - you'd be forgiven for thinking it's all over (which it is in a sense, given this blog is a testament to what Agent Rob was doing when he should have been drawing, this hollow man increasingly haunted by comics that might have been....). However, as he prepares to embark on his 68th revolution about the sun there's (suddenly) no shortage of ideas from Agent Johnny which has helped to (re)fuel the creative/publishing fireto some extent. So maybe 2022 will be the year that Braw finally gets it (ie, a new comic) together....
Old Bill boldly goes....
As ever it's time to wrap up this gift of a blog that just keeps on giving with Agent Rob's pick of the year. Naturally there's a flag to be waved for Indiana Jones in Glasgow city centre, a huge shout for 'Shatner in space', and no doubt that not only anything small and Dudley Moore-shaped was in the running, but also a few choice cuts courtesy of Derek and Clive. The Charlatans also hit a home run with their nostalgic yet somehow optimistic video for their recently unearthed/belated 30th anniversary year track C'mon C'mon (as well as errant original guitarist Jon Baker music-making a return as Central-Audio-Thrill). But first past the post (or should that be 'Pole'?) had to be the glorious video for Mrozu's Zlota, which was all of these things and more, the five minute holiday we all truly yearned for in 2021 (and a cracking toe-tapper of a tune to boot)....
Agent Rob, the man who (really, truly, madly) fell to earth....
Covid 19 + COP26 = FLOP21, the year that sucked from end to end, a gruelling, endless, featureless grind, 12 months of tedious 'long collarbone', a bone-breaking, rib-cracking, lung-puncturing, physio-requiring 365 days that saw Agent Rob tumble into middle age with a resounding bang! Still, one can only overcome, and as per years gone by you can expect (mostly) glowing reviews peppered with the occasional brisk/bitter dismissal of huge creative endeavours – here's looking at you, The Blandalorian! - that are obviously infinitely better than anything a failed Agent could ever hope to achieve. (But, y'know, that's the internet for you, so half-decent writing and sub-par punning it is - you get what you don't pay for.) So read on to see what provided last year's escapism (from what exactly, our laughably comfortable Western lives, pandemic or no, or our guilt, our shame in knowing that our entire lifetime is a vast cultural, climate and consumer disaster?). Anyway, that's more than enough off-putting 'blah blah blah' from Rob, so on with the show....
Dud 'n' Pete....
Firstly the last thing Agent Rob expected in mid-2021 was to get pulled into the comedy orbit of not only Peter Cook but also Dudley Moore (with whom Rob was admittedly quite suddenly smitten, this club-footed, working class piano prodigy) all courtesy of a chance charity purchase of William Cook's thoroughly engrossing and highly recommended One Leg Too Few. This prompted a swift delve into their somewhat sprawling back catalogue, given much of their highly influential 60's TV output (audio aside) is lost/destroyed and much of what followed, bearing in mind the duo had no Pythonesque budding business acumen to call upon, scattered to the four (sheets to the) winds. Still, there's plenty enough floating around to delight, from Moore's solo venture 30 is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia to The Wrong Box, to Cook's solo venture The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer, to the mighty Bedazzled (of course!), to Cook looking every inch the proto Gallagher/Ashcroft rock star in the deliciously vulgar The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, to the howling and beleaguered The Hound of the Baskervilles, to the (drunken) debauchery of Derek and Clive, Agent Rob really only drawing the line north of Arthur and Get The Horn. Well, what are you waiting for, jump right in....
Dune know whattah mean, yeah, yeah....
The only big screen (ad)venture Rob undertook (late) this year was to go forth and see the new Dune, a self-consciously epic and FX laden tale full of dusty visuals and precious little story of interest, the cast of dull characters sleepwalking through the dry plot with no one really doing any acting (except for Jason Momoa.... who, to be honest, really just plays himself). If it wasn't for an exceptional amount of obligatory 'bangy noises' around the mid-point there's no doubt Rob'd have left the desert for good and gone off to visit the sandman instead....
There's no doubt that Film Four takes the acting gong yet again this year, (still) serving up a tremendous all round All 4 variety of striking and immersive world cinema – Blade of the Immortal, Savage, Woman at War, Fire Will Come, Border, Why Don't You Just Die! – and (perhaps) lesser-known contemporary indie (often American) gems hiding in the left-field - My Friend Dahmer, American Woman, American Animals, Come To Daddy, The Old Man and The Gun, A Bigger Splash, Youth, Snowpiercer, Anthropoid – as well as the usual treat of seldom and oft-seen older-ish joys – Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Master and Commander, How To Get Ahead In Advertising (AKA Withnail 2), The Riddle of the Sands, When Eight Bells Toll, Track of the Cat, The Ladykillers, The Straight Story, Fantastic Voyage, Escape From New York, Pi – and those irrepressible cult classics such as Wim Wenders' absorbing cinematic trio of The American Friend, Wings of Desire and Paris, Texas....
Talking Pictures TV also managed to unearth plenty of vintage rarities and oddities - Villain, Tom Jones, The Dead of Night, To The Devil a Daughter, The Night of The Demon, The Assassination Bureau, Black Sunday, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Personal Services, Foul Play (Dudley Moore debuts!), Brighton Rock, The Quiller Memorandum, Bank Holiday, This Sporting Life, Vampire Circus, The Earth Dies Screaming and (of course!) The Man Who Fell To Earth – while TCM offered up the likes of The Thing, Performance, Point Blank, Rosemary's Baby, Play Misty For Me, Shampoo, Frankenstein, The King of Comedy, No Country For Old Men, The Big Sleep, Dirty Harry and ITV4 stuck to its six guns, blasting out a regular (and reliable) dose of manly action every evening, ie. pretty much anything on celluloid Clint Eastwood's squinted near as well as Copland, Death Wish, The Nice Guys, Airplane! and The Fugitive....
Jodie Whittaker's Doctor Who returned for (who honestly gives a) FLUX, which found the entire yawniverse under threat from some galactic mess that, given world leaders were (supposedly) discussing the very fate of the ground we walk on (most of the time!) at COP26, was off to a shaky enough start. Things improved over the course – expect to see Vinder, Bel and Karvanista spinning off via Big Finish very soon – once Chris Chibnall slowed the story down following a brain-busting opening episode and began (trying his best) to tie all the disparate story threads together.... only to climax with another head-scratching final episode that struggled to get the Timelord back on track. Still, all credit to him for trying to think outside the (blue) box (and serving up a decent NYE special with Eve of the Daleks). Here's to Braw favourite June Sarpong hopefully picking up the sonic screwdriver for the show's 60th anniversary in 2023....
Here's Looking Glass at you, kid....
Well 'Swash me Solomons!' if there wasn't a digital pandemic of reality television streaming from our screens in 2021 (with much more to come!), from (overly) familiar panel shows – even the horrible, hateful Never Mind The Buzzcocks was dredged up! - to makeovers, to bakeovers, to walkovers.... from celebrity castles to insanity islands and unreal housewives to the glut of formula homespun hobby competitions+tiresome comedian du jour (though at least no one's had a go at actual comic book comics yet!)....
Thankfully there was an antidote, of which there's no denying that HBO's (Whathefu-didIjust?!) Watchmen was Rob's telly event of the year, a take-no-prisoners plot tease tour-de-force that made the DC comic sequel look (well, read) like a children's book by comparison. More on that next time....
Brooke-Taylor, Cleese, MacDonald, Chapman and Feldman
There were other televisual treats in the shape of the sinking ships of The Terror, the stately stiff upper drama of The Night Manager (from another Braw fave Suzanna Bier) the 'equal not a prequel' laughs of At Last The 1948 Show and the sharp-suited writing of MAD MEN (thanks, MISSING!)....
A shame as it is then to sharpen the stakes, but by contrast the third series of What We Do In The Shadows completely missed the mark, descending into mirthless and cacophonous shouting matches nearly every episode, thereby (grave) robbing it of much of its humour and charm. With a fourth series in development Rob has to admit it's more likely better the sun came up on this undead delight. Who's to say if the similarly themed and agreeably quirky Wellington Paranormal will suffer the same lifeless fate.... And the less said about Fargo's forgettable fourth season (from painfully slow burn to complete and utter fizzle) the better....
The Book of Boba Fett. Bedtime viewing.... Yawn....
Di$ney continued to give the (vocal) majority of Star Wars fans exactly what they wanted with the second series of The Mandalorian, making use of no new creative juices whatsoever - Baby Yoda was eventually saddled with the clunky and dull name of Grogu - deriving all their big buzz and excitement from simply digging up and teasing well-established/worn characters while plopping them into the same old familiar environments (and thus once more hiding the absolute paucity of fresh ideas on show). Of course, fans are slave-one-ishly looking backward to new seasons of The Book of Boba Fett, '(bl)Andor, Asoka and Obi Wank Enobi, where - would you believe it?! - he'll likely take on Darth Vader once again in what will be a dream come true for people with absolutely no imagination universe-wide....
With Glasgow's MISSING Records but a stone's throw from Rob's (UnderGroundhog) day job there was plenty of 'physical' media on offer over the course of the year('s worth of careful browsing). Whether that's some lovely/laughably affordable Kris Kristofferson, Monty Python or Pete 'n' Dud vinyl or the gold to be mined in their 3 DVDS for £1 section....
....which managed an exceptionally healthy yield of the wonderful one-two world cinema punch of Manon Des Sources and Jean De Florette, The Edukators, Arthur, The Getaway, Derek and Clive Get The Horn, Last Days, Made In Britain and MAD MEN amongst others, all looking spanking on Sony's highly recommended/affordable one-two home cinema punch Blu-Ray/DVD BDPS range....
FOPP in Union Street was also open (some of the time) and able to cater for more recent DVD nourishment, including the near-perfect Parasite, the Jerry-baiting Jo Jo Rabbit, the fine The Farewell and the delightfully boozy and poignant Another Round (which, truth be told, wasn't nearly as good as the Mads Mikkelsen starring Riders of Justice, a hardy revenge tale that had a clear enough head to walk a fine, steady line between silly and serious, making it the actual hard act to swallow as far as Rob's concerned)....
And, seeing as everybody likes a happy ending (other than the happy fact that this blog is ending!) then take heart that Rob's vintage VHS/DVD combo, earmarked for the dump alongside countless redundant cables, chargers and BT hubs, was duly packed up and shipped to VideOdyssey in Liverpool after a workmate spotted this story. There, try and keep that happy thought in your head until Part 2, where we'll delve into music, books and comics....
