Sing me no more sad songs

I've clocked a fair number of miles celebrating Christmas three times and the New Year (once). 

On hotel television I've clocked a couple of road movies too. The Peanut Butter Falcon(2019) and American Honey (2016). 

I've seen American Honey before, and it has a dead-end teen named "Star" (Sasha Lane) trapped raising her trailer-trash mother’s children in the company of Mom’s violent ex-boyfriend. Star joins the flirtatious “Jack” (Shia LaBeouf) and the free-spirits of a door-to-door magazine subscription sales squad. All of them are kids covered in tattoos and piercings and with alternative back stories for the ride. 

English writer-director Andrea Arnold made a similarly themed movie “Fishtank” set in the UK, and there are various of her signature moves transferred into this movie. She adds animal spirits to blend into the mysticism. 

The bear scene is a powerful case in point.

Then, in Peanut Butter Falcon, there's Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a man with Down syndrome, who escapes from a state-run old age care facility with the help of his elderly roommate (Bruce Dern!), to train as a professional wrestler under the guidance of his hero, the Salt Water Redneck.

Meanwhile Tyler (Shia LaBeouf again) is fired for bringing in illegal crab catches, and decides to burn the gear of his rivals, Duncan and Ratboy, and flee. 

While on the run, Zak and Tyler meet, and embark on a journey to the Salt Water Redneck's wrestling school in North Carolina, joined by Dakota Johnson who was searching for the escaped Zak. 

There is much attractive bluegrass, American folk, and spiritual music along the way through these alligator laden bayou. I guess it's a river movie as much as a road movie, but none the worse for it. 

Feelgood to start the year.

ETRM asleep at the wheel or novel inspiration?

Filling my car at the weekend, I was reminded of a time when I worked in the energy sector. There was a particular kind of software called ETRM (Energy Trading Risk Management) designed to predict and offset the effect of forward prices on most forms of energy. 

Now we see Saudi Arabia raising January official selling prices for all crude grades sold to Asia and the United States by up to 80 cents from the previous month. 

This, despite a decision last week by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies including Russia (OPEC+) to continue increasing supplies by 400,000 barrels per day in January.

Add the diminishing prospects of a rise in Iranian oil exports after indirect U.S.-Iranian talks on saving the Iranian nuclear deal broke off. 

OPEC+ has maintained that the decision was purely based on market fundamentals although it is difficult not to see the hand of the U.S. at play, particularly given the concurrent visit of a U.S. delegation to Saudi Arabia. 

Notice also Russia’s total output has failed to rise as its major producers say they are facing technical difficulties.  

It has the components of a good novel, resulting in squeezes on oil, petrol and home energy.

I need a third theme in my Corrupt novel series. Corrupt, Sleaze and maybe Squeeze?

Afterwards

Well, here we are already in the New Year. I've been travelling and had some 600+ unopened emails upon my return. I guess the Taylor Swift one summarises the move into 2022 well enough.

But there were also all of the timed out offers and the invitations to Silvesterfests sprinkled through the incoming.

I could have been atop the Shard, in a prestigious restarant in London Town, or partying in New York, judging by the various adverts and invitations.

But maybe it is simpler to spend the time with friends. And Happy New Year.

Ed Adams briefly mentions chickens (Radio Interview)

Yes, a radio interview from Live in Devon. 'Right Here, Right Now'

Quack

 I usually produce pictures of Boris Johnson as cartoon or clown artwork. This time, I think the whole walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...cynical story needs to be presented. 

With suitable acknowledgements to The Mirror, The Observer, ITV News and BBC.

Last Night in Soho

Edgar Wright has previous form with looming zombie apocalypse kind of movies (World's End?) and I was intrigued to see what he would do with 60's London and the headspace of Eloise from Redruth going to that there London to make it in fashion.

The staging and sets of London in the 60s were exquisite, and although I can't particularly remember it in that era, there was enough of it left in the 70s to still look realistic. It is interesting to see how much the cleanup of some -er -colourful areas has progressed. 

And the film opens with Rita Tushingham explaining 'London can be a lot' and features - yes - Terence Stamp and Diana Rigg at various points within. 

Then there were the songs - definitely those old 45s with the big holes in the centre, and played on a Dansette.

There were also recognisable scenes of crowded London flat-living and not so much bedsit-life as lodger-life. Although I found the ease with which she ringed an advert in the Standard and then bagged the flat somewhat astonishing.

But of course, this nostalgia evocation wasn't the main direction of the plot. We get brash neon lights and echoes of other London films: The Pleasure Girls, The Party’s Over, Absolute Beginners - and more. We see the blurring of realities and spend some time in the head of Eloise as she connects with the spirits of the 60s including roughed-over wannabe singer Sandie played by Anya Taylor-Joy. And the rougher-upper is Matt Smith playing a cockney geezer. By the 4th reel, the movie gets very dark and drifts into Suspira territory.

There's plenty of staged references to other movies and scenes whilst Wright sharpens his blades towards the end.

I can still remember seeing Absolute Beginners in the West End and then leaving the cinema and walking right back into what felt like a continuation of the film set. 'It's the same old London underneath,' says a cabbie in this Edgar Wright movie, which is kind of what I was thinking, almost more than the shocks from the movie.

Pantomime neuralysers and dead cats

[No available pictures from any of the the parties]

The chump gets another episode after the party debacle. He throws a dead cat onto the table and we all look at that instead of the latest malfeasance. I think the American phrase for his view of the partying is plausible deniability.  Maybe we should ask the Deputy Director of Communications?

Just because Carrie Johnson and a few of her Departmental friends might be having an alleged party downstairs doesn't mean Mr Johnson has to know about it. And the fear culture must pervade the government, because no-one has broken ranks to admit anything. Maybe they deserve an award or something? The Men in Black must be running around with their neuralyser mind-zappers.

So, like the vaccine, here's we get another example of an alternative item (Plan B) to come along and run interference.  

A reminder of the last few items on the conveyor belt...

• That non-reported donation of £67,801.72 used for his flat redecoration 
• Clowning around at Cop26
• Forgetting his lines
• The Peppa Pig incident
• The alleged multiplicity of parties during lockdown
• Apologising for something that he apparently did not have a hand in.

and the pantomime response of British electorate: 'Yeah, but it's Boris!'

With all this recent attention on the Beatles, I'm reminded of that Lennon song called 'gimme some truth'. He wrote it around September 1971.

I'm sick and tired of hearin' things

From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded, hypocritics

All I want is the truthJust gimme some truth

I've had enough of readin' things

By neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians

All I want is the truthJust gimme some truth

I've had enough of watchin' scenes

Of schizophrenic, egocentric, paranoiac prima donnas

All I want is the truth now, now

Just gimme some truth

Get Back

Despite all the talk of 4k and 8k video, it was fascinating to watch that 16mm Peter Jackson documentary of The Beatles prepping for a gig ordained to contain 14 new songs and be performed live, from 1969. That was the premise of the ill-fated Get Back sessions, set against a countdown clock ticking for two weeks. Based in a loaned Twickenham studio, they huddled up to one end, someone rigged white photo session screening and some splashes of coloured lights. Despite this, the resultant filmstock has been polished to look 21st century and aside from the interesting choices of clothing and a few vintage bits of kit, it could be contemporary. An alnost current 'in the room with the Beatles' kind of vibe.

I read somewhere that they had to resync all of the sound with the silent film footage too, and yet the audio comes out remarkably well, with good music and well-captured (if occasionally mis-synchronised) chatter from the band. It could have been a dramatisation in places, showing the messy way that an album gets built. Except that these were no actors and no ordinary albums. It was The Beatles, jaded, yet ready to invent and then play more new music. Yet music for which we all know the words.

As you pick through the lengthy session and banter, there's a dazzling amount of new tunes and lyrics. That the Beatles could write most of Let It Be, Abbey Road and a few solo projects by Day 7 of their confinement to the studio shows incredible productivity. And fascinating in all of this is the push that McCartney gives to the process. More a spirited cajoling coupled with a work ethic that didn't stop. He seemed to believe in the project the most, despite the warped 'Live from the Sahara' vibes coming from the people standing around.

That was a bugbear of mine. The extra people in the sessions didn't seem to know how to stand around properly. I've been in on band sessions and even when doing something significant, you have to know how far back to stand. Some of these people just didn't and so sometimes we get an organic Beatles huddle cramped by the extras. Only Linda Eastman, George Martin and a Hare Krishna man seemed to know how to do it properly. 

From this circle of chairs we get the organic beginnings of Get Back, Don't Let Me Down, I've Got a Feeling, (a re-vamped) One After 909, Dig a Pony and most of side two of Abbey Road, plus a few of George Harrison's All Things Must Pass album. 

A moment of joy in this era of B1.1.529.

I assume this documentary merges with the well-known Let It Be Abbey Road sessions in Part Two and then the Savile Row rooftop session. 

They passed the audition.

Ed Adams Podcast

Click anywhere above 😎

Ear age test

Interesting. My ears are about the right age, but my left one is older than my right one!

The Watcher - Cover choices

Time for the next novel. I've reached 200 pages and managed to round it off. The Watcher is an entity as old as time. That's Big Bang to Almighty Whimper. I decided to add this one into the available slot preceding Pulse, so it does, in a way, follow into that novel. And my inspiration was that monument The Watchers on the Tomintoul Road, in Royal Deeside. 

I've been getting opinions about cover designs recently, and apart from a particularly off-beat one from my family - not grammatically correct - needs to be more cheerful - how about adding a kitten?

 - the rest of the variations are largely in a similar line.

There was the dragon/serpent, which almost didn't finally make it to the cover art at all:

This would have worked if I'd wanted a school text book design, I think, but I had a similar problem with my first cover for The Triangle, which did look a little too much like a math textbook. Curiuously enough, I was at a party the other day and someone I didn't know very well introduced me as an author (ho ho). Then the other person to whom I was being introduced replied, 'Oh and what is your subject?' (Gulp). But back to cover designs. We had some ideas about Kali. Including the famous statue at CERN. A good idea, but only fleetingly relevant.

I suppose the dragon made it to the first prototype:

But it wouldn't get much further. I wanted to add some knowledge shards falling and a bit of earth in plight.

However, the graphic of the Watcher gets lost at small size in this colourway, so time to experiment. But before that, I was asked to try a different theme:.

But we were already along the right lines, so the next one cama along as:

And so for a back cover.

Now we need to get it published.

Cold war Courier vs Old vs Invasion

I just watched and hated the movie 'Old' directed and written etc.etc. by M. Night Shyamalan of the Sixth Sense among other movies. I can understand that he is trying to recreate the movie moment of that earlier film where Bruce Willis suddenly realises something significant. 

This one (no spoiler) has everyone on a beach resort holiday where things start to get troublesome. It's the kind of resort where you arrive on a luxury minibus driven by Shyamalan, and are greeted with unusual cocktails then to meet the suave maître d'hôtel  who has only great personalised recommendations for everyone.

It turns into a kind of towering inferno script later when various family units have to resolve unexpected events and it is from around the occurrence of the first one that my brain engaged with the 'other possibilities' thinking, which is a characteristic of Shyamalan's movie making. 

I managed to speculate the 'other possibility' rather early in this case, but I won't explain it here. I really thought this movie more a misfire than anything towering. 

Speaking of towering inferno for a moment, it's also the playbook used in Invasion, a mini series which I found equivalently irritating, with its divergent cast all in various forms of jeopardy.

Sam Neill is the gnarly Sheriff in it and after a retirement from duty in the first episode, he seems to have gone Missing In Action for the next three reels. It is like he is in a different movie from everyone else. Apple must have a lot of money to throw at their productions, if this anything to go by. And now they have debugged everything with this one, they could be all set to make something brilliant. For this one, despite the epic trailers, I must confess to giving up 26 minutes from the end of Episode Four. 

I can't help but contrast this with the action and razor sharp story telling in that classic Fargo Series Two, when gnarly Sheriff Ted Danson gets to investigate the burger joint killings and that space object appears. 

So I was quite pleased to watch a properly good movie on Saturday night. It was the Benedict Cumberbatch cold war film set in a convincingly good 1960s London and Moscow, here Cumberbatch acts as a - er - courier for MI6. 

There is a timelessness to the scripting and direction of the piece which I found enjoyable. The modern camerawork, digital sheen and clever color grading give away that it is from the 21st Century, but the screenplay could be anytime. I think I'll watch it again in black and white. Cumberbatch plays a simple salesman/middleman fixer who knows the moves (be able to drink a lot, lose golf to the clients, show them the best clubs, do them little favours) and gets persuaded by an impressively empowered female from the CIA who manipulates the older men around her to get her way. 

It is supposed to be based upon the Greville Wynne and Oleg Penkovsky story of 5000 documents being slipped to the British and American secret services at around the time of the Cuban missile crisis.   I didn't know of this breach at all, less publicised than the Kim Philby and Cambridge spy ring stories, and it still gave room for trade-craft and back-stories, which may be scripted licence. As a simple check, the pivotal woman from America was a fabrication and used to contrast old-boy network MI6 with the whipper-snapper upstart CIA.

An enjoyable modern classic.