tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360719783436519912024-03-18T02:48:04.084-07:00Curiouser and CuriouserMalachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comBlogger1051125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-31682242904221054072024-01-27T04:35:00.001-08:002024-01-27T04:35:46.445-08:00The Hand Of Fear.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28AD9gAHdW7ZZojyNTtk8LboDENutXU6YCsuijeRAvRMw0ZTx8jg0F7mod-JbdllKAgsmqYIcbBFqDX8nd4Hc65dt3D8KC08FOZI_ptge0wzLZ71qSoqEyS6rJSrJfNUbH9Egx0KgeG5-VpXFXQy1jnp4wfDcL5LVCM9wTRCoFFoJ0nu4tnj0FfKs11P9/s2560/sarah%20%231.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28AD9gAHdW7ZZojyNTtk8LboDENutXU6YCsuijeRAvRMw0ZTx8jg0F7mod-JbdllKAgsmqYIcbBFqDX8nd4Hc65dt3D8KC08FOZI_ptge0wzLZ71qSoqEyS6rJSrJfNUbH9Egx0KgeG5-VpXFXQy1jnp4wfDcL5LVCM9wTRCoFFoJ0nu4tnj0FfKs11P9/s400/sarah%20%231.jpg"/></a></div>
The lovely Lisa in her Sarah Jane Smith costume from the classic, and unforgettable, Doctor Who and The Hand Of Fear. I remember the night Elizabeth Sladen walked out of our lives, with Sarah jane Smith walking out of the Tardis. I had no idea that years later the best was yet to come. The return of Sarah Jane feels a little bitter sweet now, with the wonderful Elizabeth Sladen no longer with us. Yet that body of work and the love that drove it will always be with us. Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-52130548684309622024-01-27T04:35:00.000-08:002024-01-27T04:35:13.078-08:00From My Sketchbook.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo3DcnYzN9RAZzhD2cg3WvdHwE3Hr7ME8JfRdjgEEdCGSdOBFdgSwh6tWN9pMC8sY1xCV5tSIAo6nVEYqnxIPlXfss6dNLPGNDrx743NX23opG-822Pr0kPhRe00EE7HJaerlEPJwbjukwRd7CkCIAVT-S4HGPElA54BT_gTbW84ryh8O-Keg2mdFctmTN/s2560/SKETCH%230.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo3DcnYzN9RAZzhD2cg3WvdHwE3Hr7ME8JfRdjgEEdCGSdOBFdgSwh6tWN9pMC8sY1xCV5tSIAo6nVEYqnxIPlXfss6dNLPGNDrx743NX23opG-822Pr0kPhRe00EE7HJaerlEPJwbjukwRd7CkCIAVT-S4HGPElA54BT_gTbW84ryh8O-Keg2mdFctmTN/s400/SKETCH%230.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagjz73alR_xdNXolW_FV49BCtBOY0F0f8dM9ts_VQD-zRQnH61r2E7RtmSmEEH5ZGGjwdoDPARZX68lLRVFw_s92ZzbXJpLzlXq8yS6XwshZUITPpZbBvrQKaRO33GXPsxL3OaBsYNdA-GYYaEfvm68TNKr7zqChX9nSaWWfWqn4wvsK1v3cfEvaErqs_/s2560/SKETCH%20%231.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagjz73alR_xdNXolW_FV49BCtBOY0F0f8dM9ts_VQD-zRQnH61r2E7RtmSmEEH5ZGGjwdoDPARZX68lLRVFw_s92ZzbXJpLzlXq8yS6XwshZUITPpZbBvrQKaRO33GXPsxL3OaBsYNdA-GYYaEfvm68TNKr7zqChX9nSaWWfWqn4wvsK1v3cfEvaErqs_/s400/SKETCH%20%231.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5zK_gKImGYnQsyIIbxC4xDy5Q5rikPXzXrr3mubEaUJfVsbCcSXuIYwddtTqSO_0wSRrlpf-_6A70zhKO9IbTMm_py4t8bCOEAsA1EkU9XhDESLIegNMDE84HvIJtlimRGLHejZ0DGVAJxld0IwJTtGGxDEUUjsuJgQJPYfroP7UBk-fdYXzEdKBKsLe/s2560/SKETCH%232.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5zK_gKImGYnQsyIIbxC4xDy5Q5rikPXzXrr3mubEaUJfVsbCcSXuIYwddtTqSO_0wSRrlpf-_6A70zhKO9IbTMm_py4t8bCOEAsA1EkU9XhDESLIegNMDE84HvIJtlimRGLHejZ0DGVAJxld0IwJTtGGxDEUUjsuJgQJPYfroP7UBk-fdYXzEdKBKsLe/s400/SKETCH%232.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-N0Dh5inyq2rtOc7LNn6pAeWHkrIf9VW0rutJ-ljCn-Shb6ruh0UJyoLooYFBMfKPAiRedmaFQ2ot7zloENWmkU-wAUVYqO8_1Y1Ly_kO35DW5AzcIoGutAzdYEB2-l9sYeMP144Y-9eo9w7HO6dAtHEYX6884AV8sGV50Cz4WmxcZZukPWYIjF_RELPN/s2560/SKETCH%233.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-N0Dh5inyq2rtOc7LNn6pAeWHkrIf9VW0rutJ-ljCn-Shb6ruh0UJyoLooYFBMfKPAiRedmaFQ2ot7zloENWmkU-wAUVYqO8_1Y1Ly_kO35DW5AzcIoGutAzdYEB2-l9sYeMP144Y-9eo9w7HO6dAtHEYX6884AV8sGV50Cz4WmxcZZukPWYIjF_RELPN/s400/SKETCH%233.jpg"/></a></div>Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-40160023459440141512024-01-27T04:34:00.002-08:002024-01-27T04:34:45.390-08:00The Smoky God.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBOmvmlBYg4qP2WVapK__QFge1gkFyFmdUnmvPwaQp9pExTxwmBBcAOIm9cwW6nbKE5mNAidTazJlAjYQYGWEe4wN1XezpveXDr8-dyKJL7ZjnRTqHcMW_VHJkgxgYdI1cXa52cBhzBbyXua7W21ZzzvEI7ybK6kj7B8NWCn_DTDw8Awx6ls6HnI5lut95/s1920/smoky%231.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBOmvmlBYg4qP2WVapK__QFge1gkFyFmdUnmvPwaQp9pExTxwmBBcAOIm9cwW6nbKE5mNAidTazJlAjYQYGWEe4wN1XezpveXDr8-dyKJL7ZjnRTqHcMW_VHJkgxgYdI1cXa52cBhzBbyXua7W21ZzzvEI7ybK6kj7B8NWCn_DTDw8Awx6ls6HnI5lut95/s400/smoky%231.jpg"/></a></div>
Found this interesting looking book on a recent book haul. Did not know what to expect as I read the title wrong, thinking it was called The Smokey God, which for some reason seemed to make more sense to me. Anyway, when I read the flyleaf explaining what the book was about I half expected the map of a lost continent to fall from behind the dust cover or Kenneth Moore to show up and ask me to accompany him on a trip to the centre of the earth. Neither actually happened.Could this be a true story? Probably not. But then again it could be. Although it does read as a little bit bonkers. But what story of adventures of ien in extremis does not sound a little bonkers. I remember5 being gripped by a biography of Sir Enerst Shackleton with his men in an icy hell actually living the meaning of the word ENDURANCe and I could not help thinking he, and they, were all a little bit potty to put themselves through such terrifying experiences. Mind you, I have always liked reading about the adventures of others not actually having them myself.
A lot of pulp storytelling has not aged gracefully, or tastefully, but I try not to project modernity into less enlightened times. there are tropes which cause more than just an eyeroll 9Might not sound like much of an action but with the right eyebrows it can be devastating.) You just have to look at some of the interior sketches to see where I am coming from with that obsevation. Overall though, its the kind of adventurous journal i really enjoy, which I did with this one. It may not quite be Shangri-La but it is a lost horizon of sorts. It was a fast read and one I enjoyed. I am something of a Jules Verne armchair adventurer. Should I ever reach the North Pole it will be in a cardigan and carpet slippers, using gin as fuel for adventure.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JTGJtr1bux2Jfe2i2-b7Cm3oH9ZlM_TDQiRzou4ggLpbkj_CRkp9E_uIr7mU30XrZyhFV4y-PFVc8WMFO0SeWWudujULIaSx37kdnuGAl-SkfCtllHM5oZG_XWBL9sXPlslsN_Mjr-3Yjpi-m2Hl1wqDuYI6xbgD6zlSfi4s6gaYrm2xc89ZypgvGmzq/s2560/smoky%232.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JTGJtr1bux2Jfe2i2-b7Cm3oH9ZlM_TDQiRzou4ggLpbkj_CRkp9E_uIr7mU30XrZyhFV4y-PFVc8WMFO0SeWWudujULIaSx37kdnuGAl-SkfCtllHM5oZG_XWBL9sXPlslsN_Mjr-3Yjpi-m2Hl1wqDuYI6xbgD6zlSfi4s6gaYrm2xc89ZypgvGmzq/s400/smoky%232.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUZSYHDAmJFhREVhnlOc831X2nniDSkmXD3eAkfZ3MEHwDy2NX9MnOwoNiT-ZSv0FYHGPDzGb_YfEKb1pXDklU8O3bX9Vmk2_unfG11CxaXGEa0Z-eMSD86MT8CB7qZ5y1seB-LB-4lrsbk0XpEapyrvOIXj7I2WzwdKNLwyKt82lIbFsUBXhQTeERIBxw/s2560/smoky%233.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUZSYHDAmJFhREVhnlOc831X2nniDSkmXD3eAkfZ3MEHwDy2NX9MnOwoNiT-ZSv0FYHGPDzGb_YfEKb1pXDklU8O3bX9Vmk2_unfG11CxaXGEa0Z-eMSD86MT8CB7qZ5y1seB-LB-4lrsbk0XpEapyrvOIXj7I2WzwdKNLwyKt82lIbFsUBXhQTeERIBxw/s400/smoky%233.jpg"/></a></div>Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-16525674059529460262024-01-27T04:34:00.001-08:002024-01-27T04:34:29.692-08:00Dr Yon Sin; The Mystery Of The Dragon's Shadow.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirml9ckoUUSpAFcJV4F14p1ZsA9PcNiDES8BARbasjWuFcJ2UmwQDQP4yBW2mZIm5Do1oZr8wBNl1SHYfVHSU0jVSJ6M5H2ZkLA-nTtmVn4fpkjQo6p4jKeY62qCKxWVp2adqjp1uj2C_u-G3IiV5hzQoiS0CCiwlxIaJme8BTwKq0yv2VLI5XaXCl1zR8/s362/syn.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirml9ckoUUSpAFcJV4F14p1ZsA9PcNiDES8BARbasjWuFcJ2UmwQDQP4yBW2mZIm5Do1oZr8wBNl1SHYfVHSU0jVSJ6M5H2ZkLA-nTtmVn4fpkjQo6p4jKeY62qCKxWVp2adqjp1uj2C_u-G3IiV5hzQoiS0CCiwlxIaJme8BTwKq0yv2VLI5XaXCl1zR8/s400/syn.jpg"/></a></div>
I found a couple of old pulp mystery and adventure reprints in an amazing collec tion of old science fiction and pulp adventure books in the Oxfam bookstore in Ann street Belfast. A collection of a lifetime genorously donated to the charity after the passing of the collector, his family hoping the charity would be well served by her loved ones years of collecting. From the most obscure science fiction to hard boiled pulp, this was a collection worth sharing. These two pulps were the first thing that jumped out at me. The lurid covers doing their job, hooking my imagination with first glance.Two pulpy anthologies which would no doubt strike most viewers as Sax Rohmer Fu Manchu knock offs, but I was more than willing to discover with the reading if that was indeed the case. Modernity oft scoffs at such notions and most would quite rightly also scoff along, but I try to see history as the way it was rather what we hoped it would be, acknowledging the fault rather than erazing it. How else might we learn for the world that is to come and how we chose to navigate it.
The adventure begins in a fog shrouded part of er, Washington.This capitol city having its own East End Of Londoninspired Chinatown. Yet is strongly suggested this part of town is a crime ridden Gotham of a place. i warmed to how much the two male leads warmed to each other, even in the heat of adventure they clearly only have eyes for each other. Its charmingly benign, no subtext, just comradely affection. Men can be like that. So can badgers I suppose. its all unintentional off course, Doc Savages men are written in this way and Monk and Ham only ever fought together and never fell in love. Pulp tropes perhaps but their origins began somewhere. There is also a beautiful maiden to be rescued from a life of crime, which is in itself a pulpy trope. With a good person being black mailed into criminality by wicked ones holding their family hostage. The illustrations within this reprint echo all these tropes, if thats how you care to think of them. Some of them verge on racey. (More tea, Vicar?)
It was thrilling glimpse into a world of publishing which has passed.
One that barrels along at a rocketing pace.
A two mug of tea read.Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-49118203700027500902024-01-27T04:34:00.000-08:002024-01-27T04:34:13.319-08:00Marmalade And All That Jazz.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQpd9in7dEDabWV8ilQe32GSBjESS5N04iWQqlySzvWIelO_MQg-9tCUAt0qk0pQXH1RiWqAUT51ILS0xMUj1DUgEiir_PDZRTDmmz-UVfssDeCCQgHcDbBYQEfJ8BwY4yxbw6xtBfofscRgR7pLojUIKATTPPn2FxfsuIqG2Rg6yF81bdh93ZecYr0QC/s2560/meta%232.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQpd9in7dEDabWV8ilQe32GSBjESS5N04iWQqlySzvWIelO_MQg-9tCUAt0qk0pQXH1RiWqAUT51ILS0xMUj1DUgEiir_PDZRTDmmz-UVfssDeCCQgHcDbBYQEfJ8BwY4yxbw6xtBfofscRgR7pLojUIKATTPPn2FxfsuIqG2Rg6yF81bdh93ZecYr0QC/s400/meta%232.jpg"/></a></div>
Good old Paddington. Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-57127797870953456622024-01-27T04:33:00.002-08:002024-01-27T04:33:40.877-08:00A Midsummer Tempest.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYry4MH6qY_96p39_d63TVLYDY0pLS7wSuzlTcwvmtaswfasUqlnn2Qc3jbu5JCrcmmaIOXZhF2AMr8XvQ1R6qedw5ci91G7AY2smKgtJBTGwFQlUvFnF-lKHdp4OIm8nNNYwwGfE3ODb4RqBLVHUvd08j6DM_pAdZ5jAsFiycPaS4ALiqESMi0Xz2GRY/s600/temp.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="401" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYry4MH6qY_96p39_d63TVLYDY0pLS7wSuzlTcwvmtaswfasUqlnn2Qc3jbu5JCrcmmaIOXZhF2AMr8XvQ1R6qedw5ci91G7AY2smKgtJBTGwFQlUvFnF-lKHdp4OIm8nNNYwwGfE3ODb4RqBLVHUvd08j6DM_pAdZ5jAsFiycPaS4ALiqESMi0Xz2GRY/s400/temp.jpg"/></a></div>
Its been fifty years since this book by Poul Anderson first saw print. Five decades and counting yet I only stumbled across it last week during a book trawl in a nearby Oxfam Books.It was the title that grabbed me to begin with, also the almost school library artwork adorning the cover. A midsummer tempest tells a story set in a world where William Shakespeare was a historian, not a playwright, where everything he wrote was a historical fact. Set in 17th century England, to begin with, we follow Prince Rupert as he fights the Puritans, in defense of King Charles. Its a multiverse of sorts, where well known characters in the works of William Shakespeare were historical beings, their life stories the stuff of daily life. The stuff of reality in a way. And such stuff are dreams built upon.Prince Rupert and his followers rail against the joyless Puritans, a plague on those who would sieve all the joys of this world, always sure their way is the right way. So some events ring with the truth of plausibility and history although perhaps not always in that order. For the truth is that in this version of reality the forc es of magic are as potent as the forces of science. The world of Faerie, of Titania and Oberon and their magical legions are as real as any combatants in the war for human minds and souls. Its period stuff, written in an era which is now itself period. And oh boy, how well it is written. It is set out like a stage play, with settings appropriately setting the place, necessary directions in a tale that moves between fictional worlds as much as real world locations. Events differ as then world unfolds at a different pace, with the enlightenment moving at a more influential speed. Its so beautifully written it feels almost musical. I cannot stress how much this wrong footed me as I was swept up in its Shakespearian cadences. The characters are so well formed, some based on real people , some an amalgram of others. Rich and very,very human.Truly a wee treat of a book. Feel fortunate to have come across it.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgERngdon62YgDDXX-ClDecLsDz4CBtLjkPjHrl4eDCjDyQqxEvQ-Ezpp-lMUKzuAD65-H_dzC-_TqxdkFaR2co1SE_-V79cF1ZOfKuGaJxjdXgFkYPoNeAf90hGKw1ryBYZOFYWK_CIwSzAfe8zXAO_1JIleKkgemfDV1gtlPzD57cofrctK8-0e0JKSg4/s1500/temp%232.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1112" data-original-width="1500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgERngdon62YgDDXX-ClDecLsDz4CBtLjkPjHrl4eDCjDyQqxEvQ-Ezpp-lMUKzuAD65-H_dzC-_TqxdkFaR2co1SE_-V79cF1ZOfKuGaJxjdXgFkYPoNeAf90hGKw1ryBYZOFYWK_CIwSzAfe8zXAO_1JIleKkgemfDV1gtlPzD57cofrctK8-0e0JKSg4/s400/temp%232.jpg"/></a></div>Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-12778436145354856192024-01-27T04:33:00.001-08:002024-01-27T04:33:17.683-08:00Look Its Greyfriars Bobby.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQLZ5tzkprVNdNBsaYMMJEzdX4bAKMzRkMkpo8FT7pNuGI9-ZALrjIV0hpYnfMpsvefnGpG2fHV2sO8r5mDFDHnC2wczlBACopw23-HUJ09Shwm7xBXonCyh7pdfZjj99R3jl43jQUfc7YckSPPxG7k5QKZrFQf0Da4K3fsfmKX05IeTnRnOh4kntIxQs/s2560/grey%231.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQLZ5tzkprVNdNBsaYMMJEzdX4bAKMzRkMkpo8FT7pNuGI9-ZALrjIV0hpYnfMpsvefnGpG2fHV2sO8r5mDFDHnC2wczlBACopw23-HUJ09Shwm7xBXonCyh7pdfZjj99R3jl43jQUfc7YckSPPxG7k5QKZrFQf0Da4K3fsfmKX05IeTnRnOh4kntIxQs/s400/grey%231.jpg"/></a></div>Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-77622881762363518522024-01-27T04:33:00.000-08:002024-01-27T04:33:03.228-08:00When In Arkham.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAhNm_QaZH6uibKTGF0OYz-xWGzGhzX7kpwSBBB_2gz3C0Kue6aG_-3DFWE_AUizT-s21peQdHYGoILcAun9OVRb25-BLH_LAY-nDuONRiWLvHIHoTE87PWx7v6aVSPvxM1MZgfXMgHHTYfihWHuHrYYw58QdCEEXSJ24TsmBoy1UJKYLT1eKGTfzlezK/s2560/wall.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAhNm_QaZH6uibKTGF0OYz-xWGzGhzX7kpwSBBB_2gz3C0Kue6aG_-3DFWE_AUizT-s21peQdHYGoILcAun9OVRb25-BLH_LAY-nDuONRiWLvHIHoTE87PWx7v6aVSPvxM1MZgfXMgHHTYfihWHuHrYYw58QdCEEXSJ24TsmBoy1UJKYLT1eKGTfzlezK/s400/wall.jpg"/></a></div>
My Living room wall. Yes, its a room for living in.Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-90826631561428831042024-01-27T04:32:00.001-08:002024-01-27T04:32:46.562-08:00Leaves.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijIUBLyeJC2SBQXwz9ZuFNno854jKjV-Om441YEXUNwb5K3PmS6nrAZ40u6Hv3R0fSvSTF3WqMZd6FdJSc7_UL6RmAgICAtXo35Jw4B7ccQoF6etGtTD5Rr8cdhKHHDRmzL5ZppVjno-AdOqqhVuRwSBcFS0e5MDia-o7Oy2GMhdBlbaAFX3AwMQ8II0w6/s2560/leaves.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijIUBLyeJC2SBQXwz9ZuFNno854jKjV-Om441YEXUNwb5K3PmS6nrAZ40u6Hv3R0fSvSTF3WqMZd6FdJSc7_UL6RmAgICAtXo35Jw4B7ccQoF6etGtTD5Rr8cdhKHHDRmzL5ZppVjno-AdOqqhVuRwSBcFS0e5MDia-o7Oy2GMhdBlbaAFX3AwMQ8II0w6/s400/leaves.jpg"/></a></div>
(From my sketch book.)
The council do not seem to have collected the fallen leaves so much this year. They gathered, dried, blew around and are now turning to slippy messes. One feels seasonably melancholy. Until one falls on ones hoop. It feels like the debris of twenty three, seasons come and go, we pop up and think none of it would make sense without us to see it. is that hubris or just self-awareness? Either way, its slippery.Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-38450513360646153352024-01-27T04:32:00.000-08:002024-01-27T04:32:29.027-08:00The Metatemporal Detective<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6T1MRwaiuQgOLwTR7NvX9aj_va3KzNgCizNzpixGD1PnUVagDnDUh_SALwVtrfhOFj4m98fjteM34tpg0d4Mycr2mDF1mE3cXLCLBUvRHYGD4K0oR9tpkoycqVribwUQUlsYECVB2P8Ztf_t75nw9Dbt9hxo1EWjZrS6ebjauCzGfPIUYe5pDqw3aO5sW/s2560/meta.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6T1MRwaiuQgOLwTR7NvX9aj_va3KzNgCizNzpixGD1PnUVagDnDUh_SALwVtrfhOFj4m98fjteM34tpg0d4Mycr2mDF1mE3cXLCLBUvRHYGD4K0oR9tpkoycqVribwUQUlsYECVB2P8Ztf_t75nw9Dbt9hxo1EWjZrS6ebjauCzGfPIUYe5pDqw3aO5sW/s400/meta.jpg"/></a></div>
The Multiverse unfolds in this thrilling collection of pulpy detective yarns, eleven great stories with glorious titles, such as "The Case Of The Nazi Canary" and The Pleasure Garden Of Felipe Sagitatarius". They might be short stories but they bulge with a creative heft. More of a Moorcockverse than a multiverse, a much overused description in the current shared cultural zeitgeist. There are familiar situations and pulp tropes that lean in a swarthier direction than might first appear, more British pulp than American. I do not suggest that in an adversorial fashion, merely pointing out the tonal differences. Its all good after all, the observation is not intended as a qualification of quality. What would I know,after all.
Genres ripple with Overton Windows, the unspoken and the outspoken, the obvious brushing shoulders with the not so obvious. With the unfathomably talented Michael Moorcock setting the tone rather than following someone elses.
His avatar Seaton Begg, crosses into worlds where scientific progress has taken different paths, and proceeded at different rates, creating societies that mirror each other in cracked actor stylee. In some there are electric cars, Oh how sci-fi, (as if that could ever happen in the real world."It will never happen, they will never catch on-" Coppernicus Magillicutty, 1666) in others there are airships filling the sky in retro steampunk fashion. The Court Of The Faerie Queene persists, illuminating and alchemically enriching. Empires that gloriously fell in our world, remain stubbornly intact. There are familiar faces from his own extended multiverse, as much as our own pantheon of riches. Elric of Melnibone reappears in the dastardly form Count Zenith. As does Una Persson and Lady Rose of Von Bek ( A character I am not too familiar with. But that will come in time. )The adventures in this book ripple out in kalidiscopic waves. Resulting in a colourful collection of densely formed tales which feel just perfect for these dark months. The dark months which can feel endless in this part of Northern Ireland. Life on the slow path, eh? Might as well make it as artistically fulfilled as it is possible for ape descendants to enjoy.
I'm felling pretty Metatemporal myself tonight.Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-43029999377765100532024-01-21T07:46:00.000-08:002024-01-21T07:46:10.555-08:00Happy Ninetieth birthday Tom Baker.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVd5MaLeMAz3aOv1Lp0_rJYmtcEGhinIWVMFjWLVz9ZVfiPsfS4MbFV-c7Ib7FmhUADA-6BSgnRwF5LB_9MRP5bWWxRUMydyS3plbnaWUlqtpF0hnyO7paYBtAlYLXmsv9uu40wjCM-0LOuvUsnbj16V_Scy-8Ah4gkeC60ncf_v40mJfI-nglVaQ6tHJn/s1462/Tom-Baker-x-Radio-Times01-11-2344-1a090c6.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1462" data-original-width="975" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVd5MaLeMAz3aOv1Lp0_rJYmtcEGhinIWVMFjWLVz9ZVfiPsfS4MbFV-c7Ib7FmhUADA-6BSgnRwF5LB_9MRP5bWWxRUMydyS3plbnaWUlqtpF0hnyO7paYBtAlYLXmsv9uu40wjCM-0LOuvUsnbj16V_Scy-8Ah4gkeC60ncf_v40mJfI-nglVaQ6tHJn/s400/Tom-Baker-x-Radio-Times01-11-2344-1a090c6.jpg"/></a></div>
The Doctor walks in eternity and so does Tom's iteration of Our Hero. Happy Birthday to the greatest time-Lord of them all.Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-37693669338953958692024-01-04T08:34:00.000-08:002024-01-04T08:34:52.513-08:00Very Merry Ncutti.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzi9RMd99Yvco1ZLJyNA4ZqTlfxn_Y2aNyfKvImbT0lMEzgm07Xa3H-6Uiqr43nckYFv2wUr4SW_YWaZ5PsrIKK_PD2q9512gtHzVIsUr62rttVCX2XKbOisprPNSqpQ5j7sy0SuuhkzZDVkDp3HJ3bd9vqOOE5d-sy4JVnaNRyiIJMI8yh7SFDmk3SvdI/s713/ncutti.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="713" data-original-width="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzi9RMd99Yvco1ZLJyNA4ZqTlfxn_Y2aNyfKvImbT0lMEzgm07Xa3H-6Uiqr43nckYFv2wUr4SW_YWaZ5PsrIKK_PD2q9512gtHzVIsUr62rttVCX2XKbOisprPNSqpQ5j7sy0SuuhkzZDVkDp3HJ3bd9vqOOE5d-sy4JVnaNRyiIJMI8yh7SFDmk3SvdI/s400/ncutti.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2s9n_diSqmy6hAJF2HCTfho7GmrHg7Kp4CW78xks2jVo_HhyphenhyphenYPDRU5i0bb9bdOQ92OPnd2heywr9c2h9CJye91vaeZxh7LkpLhoIAF7Yg4qo70G-EKfhfdWje27rtp7ptMtV9zO_69g8fKMZnhdI0irSL2vR1drECTHmcQ-fZ0Sx_0i2oTlA9hqB7Rjp/s1600/ncutti%232.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2s9n_diSqmy6hAJF2HCTfho7GmrHg7Kp4CW78xks2jVo_HhyphenhyphenYPDRU5i0bb9bdOQ92OPnd2heywr9c2h9CJye91vaeZxh7LkpLhoIAF7Yg4qo70G-EKfhfdWje27rtp7ptMtV9zO_69g8fKMZnhdI0irSL2vR1drECTHmcQ-fZ0Sx_0i2oTlA9hqB7Rjp/s400/ncutti%232.jpg"/></a></div>
The Church On Ruby Road is on Christmas Day, signalling the return of a beautiful yuletide-centric ( Very Christmassey in other words.)tradition and also truly signalling the beginning proper of a whole new era of Doctor Who. Something new built out of something old.I have always been traveling in Tom Baker's Tardis, so to speak, so everything we have got since has just been delicous gravy to me and this year it looks like we are about to get a double helping of sauce. Ugh, Not sure why I went all foodieholic there but eating is also something I really enjoy.
Got a chance to read an interview with Ncutti Gatwa and I was very impressed with what this smart young man had to say. His personal insights were right on the money, beautifully explaining why the character of the Doctor has such a broad appeal. Particularly to those who grow feeling socially awkward, those who spend their time being chased by the pack rather than running with it. I am not one to get emotional reading interviews but one of the things he had to say really connected on a personal level. A terrifically understated reasoning about a very complex set of emotional variables. One of those life lessons you can tell he lived through rather than got out of a book. Bravo Ncutti, you got a wise old head on those young shoulders.
Russel T Davis really gets to work with some of the most talented and unique individuals. And what a fine fellow Ncutti seems to be. Bursting with energy and a warm vulnerability. I was wondering how Russel T Davis finds them as he has a way of wringing career bests from the people he works with. I suspect they seek him out given his remarkable presence in the world of television and creative writing in general.He is a writer and producer whos always on top of his game. He is like a jolly Welsh Wizard, a Gandalf figure constantly changing and evolving his fellowship. Taking us all with him on his adventures.
Off course, it could all be talk, a good actor can make us believe anything (Really! Its a special ability a few individuals possess.) but my sense of it is he is all that he appears to be, inside and out. And boy is he out!
A beautiful human being who is about to materialise in our living rooms.
Light a wee candle to guide him home.
Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-75831307948702202522023-12-13T02:42:00.000-08:002023-12-13T02:42:17.762-08:00The Giggle.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5UPeFMGAraW_Hy7TqL7Qv9m5I2X9qrrUhU5WYas4DsvOktczgOPMEW9eOXBr9GNUDHmtn38ZV5SdQc_UflpTrvSLbgVRIn9D7QidbJuZJqA3LL6L1-svpupdE1D0ivPp5jWbfqfNQTYwxuPRZWVJNdZRVFq0x4ENihT-ceUrVquVAW57XIWlNR_BYOT7/s1920/giggle.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1331" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5UPeFMGAraW_Hy7TqL7Qv9m5I2X9qrrUhU5WYas4DsvOktczgOPMEW9eOXBr9GNUDHmtn38ZV5SdQc_UflpTrvSLbgVRIn9D7QidbJuZJqA3LL6L1-svpupdE1D0ivPp5jWbfqfNQTYwxuPRZWVJNdZRVFq0x4ENihT-ceUrVquVAW57XIWlNR_BYOT7/s400/giggle.jpg"/></a></div>
Dreaded this mini-season of Doctor Who coming to a close. True, it was three more episodes than I expected to see but I was so wrapped up in them I wanted every Saturday night to be like this. As it was, for oh so many years. Thats the thing about magical joy bringing eras, you dont always know you are in one. So here we are, the episode where we expected to see The Doctor/Donna pairing be torn ascunder once more.
Only it was'nt. Joy to the world, our hero did not have to die to make room for the next iteration, he got to live. He got to walk away in his own shoes, with his own feet.
Actually, that last line might not make much sense if you are not a long term fan. It has context, a bit wibbly wobbly context, but context all the same. See the End Of Time part one and you will understand what I am referring to; One of the saddest lines delivered by The Doctor in the history of the traveler.
The Giggle begins in London 1925 in one of the most striking toy shops I ever laid eyeballs on. Honestly, the level of design in this show is just lovely. I once looked around an old toyshop in Spain many years ago and got a similar vibe. It is there we meet stooky Bill and a carefully woven trap is set. I entered the room at my house where I watch television and from the opening to the end I never sat down once. I did not even really notice I was standing in front of the telly the whole time. I was well beyond the edge of the seat. Fast paced, exciting, a thrill ride in great company with some old faces and some new ones. The Doctor has never seemed more heroic and yet vulnerable, worn down by lifetimes of emotional trauma, unresolved, always building, crushing him down, carrying a painful weight that only his very best friend, Donna, could see him struggling with. And how beautifully portrayed by the gifted David Tennent. The "This old face" question having an unexpectedly poignant payoff. Fortunately, just waiting in the wings, or perhaps next to The Doctor's kidneys, is Ncutti Gatwa. And I use the present tense with precision, he is The Doctor now. Helping save the day in his underpants! Its more than a giggle, its a belly laugh from deep down!
He hit the ground running, perfectly formed and ready for adventure. I am glad that almost the first words he hears are Mel's, telling him how beautiful he is, in character from the first words.
And his race is just beginning.
Run you clever boy!Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-44025106000576175642023-12-03T04:41:00.000-08:002023-12-03T04:41:53.413-08:00Wild Blue Yonder.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ3rieSu2-dXH0nMcCuaUi0woMWubmOML4jO0-6qMBhOZvtULbhEtvpXfD_uZGkjROHKfM_aHtSEmTBma7StWKzmq0xm9f32knrL6a4Eq6V-El9E86_Ktr1rFlS3BGu_455qMHsbfKrO0wQ_NbNOSGPH1y_jM7KIGXSXwqBTa29BPfHWrSJHX616sDOJO-/s1920/WILD%231.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ3rieSu2-dXH0nMcCuaUi0woMWubmOML4jO0-6qMBhOZvtULbhEtvpXfD_uZGkjROHKfM_aHtSEmTBma7StWKzmq0xm9f32knrL6a4Eq6V-El9E86_Ktr1rFlS3BGu_455qMHsbfKrO0wQ_NbNOSGPH1y_jM7KIGXSXwqBTa29BPfHWrSJHX616sDOJO-/s400/WILD%231.jpg"/></a></div>
Well, that was a wild ride for half six on a saturday evening, on a dark December day in twenty twenty three.From its delightful opening with Sir Issac Newton, who was lucky to get away with just an apple landing on his head after the way both Donna and The Doctor were gushing over him, to a slowly, literally, unfolding nightmare in space. The elasticity of this lovely shows format being stretched from a field in England in 1666 to the very edges of existance and the terrible nothing that might wait there. The chemistry between the two leads was Alchemical, with a precisely used capital A. Russel T Davis script was one of his best ever and thats a pretty high bar as it is. And as for the appearence of Bernard Cribbens at the end, it quite unmanned me. Whatever that means anymore. That lovely old face of his and that voice. Oh Wilfred Mott, we love you.
Two episodes in and one to go.
It hurts and it makes me want to sing.
Count yer blessings, you really would not want to hear the results.
This current iteration of Doctor Who; A thing of beauty and a joy forever.
Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-86600205946396500122023-11-28T08:30:00.000-08:002023-11-28T08:30:54.047-08:00The Star Beast.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgm05NuNQTyxKthivv4u_JpKBbWvGlXpv3oB4ssPOihGaOZ_ijiwgXkQDq7-nsIFLHhsPhOmWZTINVn4wzSOeu6_vmTX9jGu4vo7rlbegoC219-ySnlZxhzpyzHLx9LjnOov8GZYOSbb44vakVcOP-Z-OpDVWahNEKR9RUHx3C5J3Rv5wAV7z3hWQvhPBw/s4000/IMG_20231126_155244_016.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgm05NuNQTyxKthivv4u_JpKBbWvGlXpv3oB4ssPOihGaOZ_ijiwgXkQDq7-nsIFLHhsPhOmWZTINVn4wzSOeu6_vmTX9jGu4vo7rlbegoC219-ySnlZxhzpyzHLx9LjnOov8GZYOSbb44vakVcOP-Z-OpDVWahNEKR9RUHx3C5J3Rv5wAV7z3hWQvhPBw/s400/IMG_20231126_155244_016.jpg"/></a></div>
"Knock,Knock."
"Whos There"
"Its Me."
"Me Who?"
"You Know Who."
And by jingo, we do. A New Doctor with a familiar face. A lovely familiar old face. And hes not alone. Some old friends have reappeared to join him, to help him, and him to help them. The heroes journey begins once more. Well, you know how it goes. There is even a new Rose. Whos also got a lovely face and a heroic journey of her own to go on.
And The Star Beast gets the on screen outing it already seemed to have in the theatre of my mind. Thats how powerful the old Doctor Who Weekly stories were. They may have been told in a different medium, a sister medium, so to speak, but their power persists after decades. Blooming well hats off to Pat Mills, John Wagner and Dave Gibbons. Absolute Genius, each one. And thanks to Russel T Davis millions got to discover this too.
As before The Doctor and Doctor charisma leapt off the television screen. How on Earth do they manage to go from making you laugh to making you cry in just moments? Its some power certain actors possess. Its unearthly. An unearthly charm?
Dark Saturday nights with Doctor Who.
What a beautiful thing.Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-30554211699206822132023-11-21T06:10:00.000-08:002023-11-21T06:10:39.133-08:00Radio Times.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94ygIHw0HG3aZEEYv-wmgbcgmmes1LnIbTxIwRhUAHCpJBuCE4PLjnIGMgvJhsCUlQ360i2MP0DLV0N0ijMeTRvTF52no4aV9TVdQVe8SLAtqqjDgwx0ZsoiIU-3BNSZ85WQkdgrumUqvEAfzp3ABJeOsb3Deg81i9w3AUYPUTBkwbCaJEvhaCAmWYb48/s1306/doctor-who-60th-radio-times-cover-6720325.webp" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1306" data-original-width="975" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94ygIHw0HG3aZEEYv-wmgbcgmmes1LnIbTxIwRhUAHCpJBuCE4PLjnIGMgvJhsCUlQ360i2MP0DLV0N0ijMeTRvTF52no4aV9TVdQVe8SLAtqqjDgwx0ZsoiIU-3BNSZ85WQkdgrumUqvEAfzp3ABJeOsb3Deg81i9w3AUYPUTBkwbCaJEvhaCAmWYb48/s400/doctor-who-60th-radio-times-cover-6720325.webp"/></a></div>
In Time Honoured( Er, should that be Timey -Whimey..?)tradition the Radio Times forewarns us that it is not just some wishfullfilment by Doctor Who fans hungry for new Who, it is on its way onto television once more, beamed directly into your home. Back where it belongs on a Saturday night. Its real, its happening, and it is almost here. I read my issue of the Radio Times this morning and as excited as I am by all the new stuff, it is the interview with Tom Baker which really surprised and engaged me. Eighty Nine years of age and he still surprises, amuses and baffles. It was the most incredible alchemy which came together to give Tom Baker and the role he is most readily identified with. Although his best role is actually being Tom Baker himself:
The Philosopher's Funny Bone.Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-55691601452622676602023-11-15T02:23:00.000-08:002023-11-15T02:23:43.205-08:00Fishing For Friends.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhip5pQZYGglkFUAal_TZ3bWhtFbiLCA-vudhWflhnJJnqiGRBa0TCw-xmqshfKKrodpoYISXSl4-H4R9rdp4-GGwMKaP_WKWRUv87pTMun6PJtqjeA0zMj5egu0gf0WarW9QR_eBMt65rm0bCpuIqfWnwhR12qS58BCQfnA-9y6EFa4o1O57Ti1RJChi_h/s940/colin%231.webp" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="940" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhip5pQZYGglkFUAal_TZ3bWhtFbiLCA-vudhWflhnJJnqiGRBa0TCw-xmqshfKKrodpoYISXSl4-H4R9rdp4-GGwMKaP_WKWRUv87pTMun6PJtqjeA0zMj5egu0gf0WarW9QR_eBMt65rm0bCpuIqfWnwhR12qS58BCQfnA-9y6EFa4o1O57Ti1RJChi_h/s400/colin%231.webp"/></a></div>
While checking the latest Doctor Who news I came across this lovely old pic of Colin Baker which I found quite touching. For all his bombast and bravado he looks like a lonely wee boy in his best clothes, which nobody ever compliments him for, fishing from an impressive stoneworked bridging. Fishing above a dirty stream with no fish but filled with tyres, shopping trolleys and the tossed away detritus of a society that does not appreciate how good its got it. Yet only Perry and Mel gave him a chance to demonstrate something other than misjudged brusqueness.It was Big Finish which really gave Colin Baker the chance to shine, which he did, brightly.Paired with the loveable Maggie Stables as Evelyn the two chums proved themselves one of the very best Tardis teams. Honestly, give them a listen.
Sweet is not a word I use an awful lot. I have heard it misapplied so many times I think I subconciously avoid using it. Yet I would apply it with regard to the above picture. Sweet, loud,brave and colourful and desperately wanting to find a friend.
Silly Doctor. Look about you.Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-9590038003523779862023-11-12T03:43:00.001-08:002023-11-12T03:43:22.816-08:00Revenge Of The Cybermen Vinyl.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHIv5_8b1CruRyqOB1C09u26ZeGvmERVoSwi6_1IAIlR3GjVRUFgha4d57P0xC8knEfPfYKWXa59q2225lQOwfG05gjo81RVgycivl34sjUedsO_9ummQZ7BOy-AgZik-AJrKir1erSroHAby0PIrGn1bQB-jemTd9E_-RHe09DvctuN06ByHxroGa8S_/s600/CYBER%231.webp" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHIv5_8b1CruRyqOB1C09u26ZeGvmERVoSwi6_1IAIlR3GjVRUFgha4d57P0xC8knEfPfYKWXa59q2225lQOwfG05gjo81RVgycivl34sjUedsO_9ummQZ7BOy-AgZik-AJrKir1erSroHAby0PIrGn1bQB-jemTd9E_-RHe09DvctuN06ByHxroGa8S_/s400/CYBER%231.webp"/></a></div>
Oh my word, look at this. The Tardis dream team in a date with destiny. As The Cybermen come looking for revenge; on everyone. Although it has been pointed out to me that The Cybermen would never act out a sense of 2revenge." Being emotionless killing machines, or rather intent on aborbing life forms to be like them. The original assimilators, so to speak. Well, it was the seventies and it had been a few years since they last appeared to wreck havok. Its a fantastically atmospheric story and was helped to be so by this very soundtrack by Carey Blyton.
In space no one can hear you Boop Doop.Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-22927886950941857492023-11-12T03:43:00.000-08:002023-11-12T03:43:06.621-08:00Once Upon A Timelord.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidyBU4QGCJwETB0AbsJCSRk1AxsoqrA8n685p6IH6_4xKHdy5s8Joq-V-pSJk7F1DVFqbb-IOlghzu65-0L6NVYcIL6qKQlbz11sH8z3sXw1PuaRQaJ6Uwke1S3kpeH3MgjvhuKjRnRXLJC_tdJjAMBTvOI4jQj5igw2TatYHgmKDrpiGL5yx_Td3CoYsC/s500/WHO%231.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidyBU4QGCJwETB0AbsJCSRk1AxsoqrA8n685p6IH6_4xKHdy5s8Joq-V-pSJk7F1DVFqbb-IOlghzu65-0L6NVYcIL6qKQlbz11sH8z3sXw1PuaRQaJ6Uwke1S3kpeH3MgjvhuKjRnRXLJC_tdJjAMBTvOI4jQj5igw2TatYHgmKDrpiGL5yx_Td3CoYsC/s400/WHO%231.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFN5O2QKHLZJd2_D-RDjTrfHSJmGcZXHELVJEzoOBHKnlKIewZNf_OaYhvtQw1vP65LP85ccVbu_ePKhJK7WIEum_OS5ACdyFrISqv3HAnZd1jOAx7y8EtUui6s2mz6qxwmCCaykvXTtWS1E4pNfB9JyzBzB_uX0J_CJGh-nXAIelcDkhQjeNa1XnY6X73/s532/WHO%232.webp" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFN5O2QKHLZJd2_D-RDjTrfHSJmGcZXHELVJEzoOBHKnlKIewZNf_OaYhvtQw1vP65LP85ccVbu_ePKhJK7WIEum_OS5ACdyFrISqv3HAnZd1jOAx7y8EtUui6s2mz6qxwmCCaykvXTtWS1E4pNfB9JyzBzB_uX0J_CJGh-nXAIelcDkhQjeNa1XnY6X73/s400/WHO%232.webp"/></a></div>
It seemed such a long time ago when I first saw this advertised as coming soon from Titan Books and by Jingo they got there in the end. So much good stuff beginning to pour in from the Whoniverse in this very special anniversary year.Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-61650658626479004372023-11-12T03:42:00.003-08:002023-11-12T03:42:47.260-08:00Doctor Who Warriors Gate<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-wZOCkLHSIEGrpj2etSkz2-IqpT1V_hDcOA6bulL-6mQUipXsQ7A8I4aArdCV8fcPJszbsY_dYhPUPbT3ZuOTAPgWJr0KCniD6JVO5YwHLQNpidFGGw-NgzgINAwLraqdmG9EsqmbYoER9eUhTnew8mx3DL2Z43qAPAPG2qlcyXaw_QuQ7m1K109Up8D/s1500/warrior%20%231.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="927" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-wZOCkLHSIEGrpj2etSkz2-IqpT1V_hDcOA6bulL-6mQUipXsQ7A8I4aArdCV8fcPJszbsY_dYhPUPbT3ZuOTAPgWJr0KCniD6JVO5YwHLQNpidFGGw-NgzgINAwLraqdmG9EsqmbYoER9eUhTnew8mx3DL2Z43qAPAPG2qlcyXaw_QuQ7m1K109Up8D/s400/warrior%20%231.jpg"/></a></div>
Warrior's Gate was a four part Doctor Who story originally transmitted on the BBC in 1981. In the decades that have passed since it remains a story that is much misunderstood and often dismissed, I believe, for that very reason.Yet it remains a joy to rediscover, reading this re-ssued novelization by its original writer. Strangely, or maybe not so strangely, the story remains as elusive as before. Given the differences between what we read in this book and what we watch on video, DVD or Blueray. It remains a mystery play, an inverted rossetta stone that does not explain but swarthily describes. A conundrum wrapped up in a BBC budjet.
It is the third story in a loose trilogy that is remembered as The E-Space Trilogy. Three stories set in a pocket universe, each one with its own weird tone. This last season with the great man himself in the title role has a melancholy tone that permeates all its episodes. One not seen again in the show for many years. Although I feel Peter Capaldi's last three stories come close with a sense of an ending prolonged. Sad and melancholy as our ancient traveler approaches change and transition.
Anyway, in this story the current Tardis team find themselves in a strange location where space appears to be contracting upon itself. "Ugh/" I hear you grunt. This is a half hour children's programme transmitted on a Saturday early evening, mostly following an afternoon of sport and proceeding a family oriented light entertainment show. Yet this season we were treated to solid holographic tech, , charged vacumn emboitments and block transfer computation. Televisual science based adventuring. I shall take an easier path and not so much talk about what Warrior's gate is about but rather how watching Warrior's Gate affected me.
Presenting the notion that it is less of a memory and more of a recreated series of impressions, imitating what I think a memory is. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__YSOtZx2mbZM9PVRpotzaBFBL3I__1rgguo8_Cvc7wUGECi4xV9-ZBXxgX333kv86qNXPX8YEriCiOeGtCwo6hLyBGp7cpyFhdmop_sz7x0XKDqEG-Pv_4aDA-7pXML6bqU517_1BbjRxyvoE4u8EAuooPdSBc3ewPOHB9sfAqhPYu3bNSBmnj57Otym/s1200/warrior%232.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__YSOtZx2mbZM9PVRpotzaBFBL3I__1rgguo8_Cvc7wUGECi4xV9-ZBXxgX333kv86qNXPX8YEriCiOeGtCwo6hLyBGp7cpyFhdmop_sz7x0XKDqEG-Pv_4aDA-7pXML6bqU517_1BbjRxyvoE4u8EAuooPdSBc3ewPOHB9sfAqhPYu3bNSBmnj57Otym/s400/warrior%232.jpg"/></a></div>
Dont be put off, bear with me,please.I remember being confused by the story, not understanding the weird science of it all, until I reasoned (If that is the right word to use in these circumstances) that if I can accept a space ship that is bigger on the inside why cant i accept a journey to and from an place can get shorter as you make it. Plus, if The Doctor and Romanna had a grip on what was going on then why should I not just relax into the exciting shennanigans involving a race of time traveling lion people being persecuted as slaves when in their own past they were as bad, if not even worse,than the people who misused them. It was all such a long time ago I thought I misremembered how confusing it was at the time, until I watched it again recently while also rereading Stephen Gallagher's novelization of his own original script. First time around he used the psueudonym John Lydecker, for some business reason or other. Probaly his agent suggesting Doctor Who was percieved as down market. Not recognising the genius thing it was.Doctor Who being the very definition of genius.
Probably.
There are two further treats, two short stories expanding on the events within State Of Decay, another novelization to begin with, a story called The Kairos Ring. Adapted from a story that was performed by Lalla Ward for BBC Audio. Followed by an eighth Doctor story that plays foot loose and fancy free with continuity but what's new about that. It's all gravy, yum,yum.
class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTWRiJOIE3DfKulnTXr8oRRJ6_BmSfgkmYwjVTpxWmKu_hX8Ogs7XzDEopEDovIH6ui__ejBJ5RoToqv3GebzSrYMbtBvkZQExd_8FWA5iEmVlxJuvLebEPOZzD1oXx8cp1msi2Qva00M_bazGx1x-QmyOYg__3w4NRbaYfnb3RtCfGsSWTXpl00yak8vn/s500/warrior%20%234.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTWRiJOIE3DfKulnTXr8oRRJ6_BmSfgkmYwjVTpxWmKu_hX8Ogs7XzDEopEDovIH6ui__ejBJ5RoToqv3GebzSrYMbtBvkZQExd_8FWA5iEmVlxJuvLebEPOZzD1oXx8cp1msi2Qva00M_bazGx1x-QmyOYg__3w4NRbaYfnb3RtCfGsSWTXpl00yak8vn/s400/warrior%20%234.jpg"/></a></div>Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-7469913637387138302023-11-12T03:42:00.002-08:002023-11-12T03:42:33.774-08:00Haunted Dixie.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1a7o9dkxnXX-PmsxHDFU9PTyF8f5FoXiKfF9OJJdp-jbLU6LXRig1_wBkmpm8yeUkRFoV3D447qbaHepukd0iXrRDvocKExPqmSJxAyKNHBXk3Yt45No7OOF66fagDq_02kPa73eqxDprfclhg4xbII5khmZ0eGQNAOrlstGUEI6TL9nFcrtErmtEQknp/s1000/dixie%231.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="684" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1a7o9dkxnXX-PmsxHDFU9PTyF8f5FoXiKfF9OJJdp-jbLU6LXRig1_wBkmpm8yeUkRFoV3D447qbaHepukd0iXrRDvocKExPqmSJxAyKNHBXk3Yt45No7OOF66fagDq_02kPa73eqxDprfclhg4xbII5khmZ0eGQNAOrlstGUEI6TL9nFcrtErmtEQknp/s400/dixie%231.jpg"/></a></div>
Now this is what I call Southern Gothic.And not the kind you find in Castleblayney, Monaghan.Haunted Dixie is what it promises on the cover and Haunted Dixie is exactly what it delivers.Fourteen stories, fouteen slices of American Gothic, whittled from the social and historical fabric of the different states and what a tattered ghostly flag it is that snaps in a supernatural breeze. The scent of magnolia dances in that breeze and what strange fruit is borne. From North Carolina to southern Carolina, from Florida to Tennessee , bend in the wind and allow yourself to be carried along.gifts from writers who may be familiar to you and others who may be obscure, perhaps not known at all.I am too thinly read to offer an estimate on presumed familiarity. The tone of the tales vary, uncomfortable back roads of narrative take us along moss strewn lost pathways to troubled times and troubled people. There is a casuality to an inverted social brutality that almost overwhelms proceedings. Prepare to have modern sensebilities rattled.
Some of the stories are steeped in a troubling fog of lived perceptions and words are used that have all but disapeared from use in this day and age. Yet their ghosts,the shades of their use, haunt some of the tales, way beyond the intended stories intentions to unsettle, to scare. The undoubted prejudices of distant erasw a part of southern American history and have the power to still frighten in a way supernatural beings or events simply cannot. The Southern soil these stories spring from is rich and fertile in storytelling terms. Lots of Goblin roots best left unpulled. Some of these stories have been waiting years to be rediscovered and read again. Yet there is a warning for the curious and a suggestion to leave things as you find them, warts n'all.
You surely will recognise some of the contributors in this well ordered anthology, the custodians of this Southern archive have done their job well and made choices which insure a shudder before bedtime; Orson Scoot Card, Alan Dean Foster, Robert Bloch and Ambrose Bierce among the more familiar names. With Elizabeth Spencer, Manly Wade wellman, Eugene K Jones and others perhaps being authors you may be less familiar with. But the old plantation has been dusted and well lit and all are welcome.There is enough in here to satisfy even the most jaded tastes. You have only to push open the creaking gate on the book cover to enter the splendour of a Souther Gothic Ball of a type they just do not have anymore. Allow yourself to drift dreaming into a world of haunted bayous, the crumbling elegance of old plantation mansions, tasting the heady wine of bygone days, through a skewed perspective of a lost era of American social history. Soak it up, breath in its musky aura, then move along, let it fade away, as ghosts do when real life reminds us of our imperatives.
Poor Haunted Dixie, we hardly knew ye.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyKbXhx7o1XME_r1s37wjdyU9wMWr0xVTG-y7lsJao1TiWZinq-B3k1TW9dhoEyh2R90T6NTbC9XEkYUlZPkO3bxfFgCk8vPCIJ9xud2Ns0FLgAquJoMaqPdm1GhNQ_3LCplL_iSermJOLrBoCM8ueq0tfrU__U_TFfAsNLpHbOSnlAKB-Jl09Kfbgktd/s1000/dixie%232.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="678" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyKbXhx7o1XME_r1s37wjdyU9wMWr0xVTG-y7lsJao1TiWZinq-B3k1TW9dhoEyh2R90T6NTbC9XEkYUlZPkO3bxfFgCk8vPCIJ9xud2Ns0FLgAquJoMaqPdm1GhNQ_3LCplL_iSermJOLrBoCM8ueq0tfrU__U_TFfAsNLpHbOSnlAKB-Jl09Kfbgktd/s400/dixie%232.jpg"/></a></div>Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-32852818129773944732023-11-12T03:42:00.001-08:002023-11-12T03:42:20.802-08:00Planet Of The Ood. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9U6sHm3U8H6Axnm_mmEWf5lhTfiWh5UBBgEFmp8_NliY5r6ZUutKndV2y2hMVSnZE8zpoWR8Ru670b83EYsTUnQ5LztHou94h1rHprqePps6gByWLkTai6vBGi_cxh2kL-cbT5cjbqzz5JIaEWnOZ5_PK1a2Ln_qYptSAfuk2E0GIA63IlngBQLzvAjTn/s500/ood%231.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9U6sHm3U8H6Axnm_mmEWf5lhTfiWh5UBBgEFmp8_NliY5r6ZUutKndV2y2hMVSnZE8zpoWR8Ru670b83EYsTUnQ5LztHou94h1rHprqePps6gByWLkTai6vBGi_cxh2kL-cbT5cjbqzz5JIaEWnOZ5_PK1a2Ln_qYptSAfuk2E0GIA63IlngBQLzvAjTn/s400/ood%231.jpg"/></a></div>It was supposed to be a treat for Donna, the Doctor taking her to her first alien planet, unfortunately the experience almost caused her to regret ever leaving merrie olde terra firma. And it really was a very dark story, drenched in a melancholy tone that in no way prepares the travelers for the horror story at the heart of the bountiful human expansion to the stars. The origins of The Ood's relationship with the human race, a story weighed down with its revelations of monstrous cruelty and exploitation of a vulnerable species. When the truth is revealed it is little wonder Donna is horrified and ashamed of the human race.
When I was growing up and reading the novelizations of classic era stories I was aware they covered four, and sometimes six, episodes. A story that mostly took a month to unfold whereas modern era stories are generally one episode long. So the stories sometimes require a little beefing up. Not padding, the modern generation of writers are smarter than that, just a bit of extra material for the reader to get there teeth into. Although the story whisks along at a fast pace the tragedy of The Ood is laid bare and the guilty are exposed. It took a while though. Two hundred years, sadly.
The Chris Achelious inspired cover is a real treat. One that relects the Doctor/Donna era, a season of exploration, not only of space and time but one that explores the limits of friendship and sacrifice. The whole series, behind and in front of the camera, was on a creative high.
One can't help suspect, and hope, that it's all about to happen again.
Creative high that is.
The Doctir and Donna are such a lively pairinging,bringing the best out in each other.There was a real sense if the pair discovering each other, learning as friends what a wide weird world we all live in.
Hope it's all about to get a whole lot wilder and weirder.
Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-49065917763106194602023-11-12T03:42:00.000-08:002023-11-12T03:42:07.843-08:00The Opium General and Other Stories.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_xfKWKQ1SdK_C4NB3HxcMo9B0biRxmC28D7u4ZQAfblWi6fHqoqk52kFct735dFVdAMgHA_MVDfzM51C7ZykycGrcAmRIClHlouvAN1EmrAvqhgTsgb9KC09FQ-9iw-Q8by_oib6li-1Xhh2zJ4ABpp9C62jTEpuE3NOTfNYM4VIh3FVxcqdt2yDZoomg/s394/opium%230.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_xfKWKQ1SdK_C4NB3HxcMo9B0biRxmC28D7u4ZQAfblWi6fHqoqk52kFct735dFVdAMgHA_MVDfzM51C7ZykycGrcAmRIClHlouvAN1EmrAvqhgTsgb9KC09FQ-9iw-Q8by_oib6li-1Xhh2zJ4ABpp9C62jTEpuE3NOTfNYM4VIh3FVxcqdt2yDZoomg/s400/opium%230.jpg"/></a></div>
The inner sleeve of this nicely formed hard cover collection describes the contents as "a collection of Michael moorcock's most ambitious recent fiction" which might have been an honest declaration of the publisher's intentions in 1984, the year it first hit the shelves, thats almost forty years past.Yet the work feels as forward thinking, as genuinely progressive as it did back then. Although we know the actual historical outcomes of some of the situations Michael Moorcock's prose was taking us tumbling into. Even he did not forsee the pathologies endgames, overtaken as most were in criminal barbarity of every hue. The potency of this collection of prose and essays remains vital if at times fractured, seen through a lens distorted by time and its many resolutions. Things may not always work out the way we hope but is that cause for not hoping?
Certainly not.
It kicks off with a story I read not so long ago. The Alchemist's question which was heralded on the cover as; "including the final Jerry Corneilius adventure." which turned out not to be entirely accurate, as it was not the final word on Jerry, in much the same way as return Of The Jedi turned out not to be the last word on StarWars. Even if I am not entirely sure what I mean by that. And I am someone who watched that movie on Betamex, which makes me a survivor in much the same way as...well, you get the picture. Hopefully.Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-30883520345981788532023-11-12T03:41:00.003-08:002023-11-12T03:41:54.121-08:00An Unearthly Child.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdp9LBvG4NYHC8AuzwjTtTFh4jEfTnCyRl3d1m3C7X8w2Ao3p0PcxVEOSyAmglw-D4s5CHPOQZScIDOynBUGkuZliBfWX58ec4c0CTawOZBr6ADEl5EngYvss_IDVmRnMOKuSWbTs2GJG10aQID0uRqgeL3RAT45Bs474teAbwJ2qtJgUbLocQj87nZiC/s1920/who%231.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdp9LBvG4NYHC8AuzwjTtTFh4jEfTnCyRl3d1m3C7X8w2Ao3p0PcxVEOSyAmglw-D4s5CHPOQZScIDOynBUGkuZliBfWX58ec4c0CTawOZBr6ADEl5EngYvss_IDVmRnMOKuSWbTs2GJG10aQID0uRqgeL3RAT45Bs474teAbwJ2qtJgUbLocQj87nZiC/s400/who%231.jpg"/></a></div>
Can it really be sixty years since the first episodes of Doctor Who were transmitted? Oh yes, absolutely. It will be sixty years and counting for all of us mere mortals walking the slow path. Look at the character studies of the main characters produced for that pilot episode. Even after all these years they have the power to inspire a sense of the uncanny.We were not on Earth for very long before taking off on that long journey througyh space and time.With the vast amount of water under the bridge and the accumulated weight of decades of continuity it is all too easy to forget how alien and otherworldly The Doctor and Susan were.Their names did not ground them, not with the whole of time and space beckoning to them.
And to think we went along for the ride..
Which continues and still manages to take us to new places..<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvsKFaeNKsQGv2q7QujFowpb1bdz1gOecd0RLOZ1tO_KdSL_sAqbexRw6grkF1EMnBTDtw1TBYcif1u57uwfWm8JVLTFZiqv6QOuy_xmkOnhPnSHFVBAP8jk4x4TmCIYBRILwfEGPzOfxCBqWNh1qCE48NjC9zJK1aULqIUrN3gVA-eM2-3ld8ID37kSEX/s2560/who%232.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvsKFaeNKsQGv2q7QujFowpb1bdz1gOecd0RLOZ1tO_KdSL_sAqbexRw6grkF1EMnBTDtw1TBYcif1u57uwfWm8JVLTFZiqv6QOuy_xmkOnhPnSHFVBAP8jk4x4TmCIYBRILwfEGPzOfxCBqWNh1qCE48NjC9zJK1aULqIUrN3gVA-eM2-3ld8ID37kSEX/s400/who%232.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU3rtTXXoioLdwzIgoQX85Y78W_tUtwaDZFC3C7T1aLKclYRs-feeLtAfF8wImwrSN39gS0ucZFIiY64OSbn68mixxOyM_PKluA4gztwyQ3A7eJh8IzVfR0Zys7MHlTFNbdk-pi74Q85zjSBE2gGQ5UMA9R3lM5h24pnCShzxBOpRNuaeZD2mOiv2JCUhm/s2560/who%233.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU3rtTXXoioLdwzIgoQX85Y78W_tUtwaDZFC3C7T1aLKclYRs-feeLtAfF8wImwrSN39gS0ucZFIiY64OSbn68mixxOyM_PKluA4gztwyQ3A7eJh8IzVfR0Zys7MHlTFNbdk-pi74Q85zjSBE2gGQ5UMA9R3lM5h24pnCShzxBOpRNuaeZD2mOiv2JCUhm/s400/who%233.jpg"/></a></div>Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-536071978343651991.post-52512547390940452642023-11-12T03:41:00.002-08:002023-11-12T03:41:39.384-08:00Blood Merridian.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_M90fjdczFGPXXnE6RJ2nqOAZRdNIGp9qRhUq3qKh03YDAS8IULktgb19srHBPthgerQQnb2Sn7zz797oT3Zw-za-g61VHu4yKYVQT7XI2cvVGt7PXV59jCvh7LKrGDbNUOFC5TB648LgjGaoN4dK0he0KWpn9PT0B3ql2bS__YCdj0wh0hqnECSjPWka/s1697/blood%232.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1697" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_M90fjdczFGPXXnE6RJ2nqOAZRdNIGp9qRhUq3qKh03YDAS8IULktgb19srHBPthgerQQnb2Sn7zz797oT3Zw-za-g61VHu4yKYVQT7XI2cvVGt7PXV59jCvh7LKrGDbNUOFC5TB648LgjGaoN4dK0he0KWpn9PT0B3ql2bS__YCdj0wh0hqnECSjPWka/s400/blood%232.jpg"/></a></div>
Oh sweet Jesus and all the saints, what a book. Blood Merridianm not a Wine Dark Merridian or a Purple Merridian but a Blood Merridian.There is something of a bloody sunset to it all, a sense of an ending off sorts, but ike all sunsets it will come again, Provided someone is around to witness it, Not that I am suggesting that unrecorded events may not have existed may not have happened at all. They did, millions and millions of them and after we are gone millions more will take place.
I wonder what Judge Holden would make of that?
God willing we never find out.
There is so much to say about this book, territories to explore, terrible and beautiful, with a powerful sense of a fall from grace.
Need to think some more about it.
Malachy Coney Curiouser and Curiouserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07717535003041483302noreply@blogger.com