Author Archives: admin

Big Ben Chimes.

Rang an old friend before Midnight,

before the clocks rang out

and Big Ben, guardian and trustee

of celebration, rememberance and morning salutation

looked at the revellers below,

crowded streets, drink passed round

the merry go round as kisses

are exchanged

and promises made, secret liaisons and encounters

hanging in the crisp night air.

I rang my friend at home, a brief call,

from my front step to his leather Lazy Boy

and whilst my year was spiralling down,

his was content,

television drowning the drowning;

Big Ben Chimes. full post

(110 words, estimated 26 secs reading time)

Courtney Marie Andrews, Honest Life. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

To live an Honest Life is one that surely is the advantageous of all, it might not win you plaudits and people might try their damndest to take advantage of you but an Honest Life is and will always be one of purity, heartbreak and outstanding cool. Like an angel who manages to find she is the most sincere in all of creation, the urge to sing and take the lyrical responsibility for ensuring everybody is content is understandable.

Courtney Marie Andrews, Honest Life. Album Review. full post

(353 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

Unwanted Junk Mail.

I hear the door close, one of many,

after one, after one,

I could do the same, shut the door,

slam it, barricade it completely

and let go, hide behind the door,

behind the memory of everything that ever went wrong,

my door, my fault, I am so very sorry

to have let it get to the point

where even the postman cannot push the letterbox,

cannot dump the adverts, the mix and match rubbish

bag fillers, the black plastic coffin

for the unwanted junk mail for this junk male,

Unwanted Junk Mail. full post

(154 words, estimated 37 secs reading time)

(My New Year’s Wish) To You.

I carry in my pocket bread,

two one pound coins, coal from the surround

we can never afford to put on

for more than half an hour,

and salt, it is not a fetish

but just my way of offering you fortune,

life, heat and wealth in the coming year.

I will walk across your threshold

with a smile and propose we shake hands

under your hallway light, twenty watt bulb,

may you be happy and know love

in the next twelve months, may your Sunday

lunch with family and friends

(My New Year’s Wish) To You. full post

(264 words, estimated 1:03 mins reading time)

Lead Me Into Midnight.

Lead me into midnight, let me feel the new

dawn rise, artificial construct though it maybe,

we all need to hear the chime of midnight

and the serenade of ships’ horns on the Mersey,

the minute watched diligently

by a Captain’s beard and the deck hand

letting off a series of fireworks into the cold

night air, no snow, perhaps rain

and the shower of memories to come.

Lead me into midnight where for a moment,

Peace reigns, there is no alarm

at the moment of surrender;

Lead Me Into Midnight. full post

(152 words, estimated 36 secs reading time)

To Walk Invisible. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Finn Atkins, Chloe Pirrie, Charley Murphy, Adam Nagaitis, Jonathan Pryce, Mark Frost, June Watson, Megan Parkinson, Matt Adams, Kris Mochrie, Luke Newberry, David Walmsley, Rory Fleck Byrne, Rebecca Callard, Joe Armstrong, Thomas Howes, Thomas Nelstrop, Karen Shaw, Jonathan Carley, Hugh Simon, Freddie Meredith, Gracie Kelly, David Prosho, Paul Knyman.

To Walk Invisible. Television Review. full post

(547 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

Under The Tree.

You received my parcel

on Christmas Eve,

plain

brown envelope

on the outside, nothing

to distinguish it from

the ray of beauty you told me

it contained when you opened it.

The stated fact that you opened it

at all meant a lot to me,

you could have just

left it on the table

and away from your tree;

decorated tastefully

but still something

you take down

and forget by

 January the sixth.

Ian D. Hall 2016

Under The Tree. full post

(79 words, estimated 19 secs reading time)

Ethel And Ernest. Television Review.

 

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Jim Broadbent, Brenda Blethyn, Luke Treadaway, Roger Allam, Pam Ferris, Peter Wright, Virginia McKenna, June Brown, Simon Day, Alex Jordan, Harry Collett, Gillian Hanna, Duncan Wisbey, Karyn Claydon.

 

If we were all as fortunate, as happy in life as the parents of British artist, cartoonist and graphic novelist Raymond Briggs then the world would arguably be a happier place. In a touching, beautiful piece of animation, the celebrated artist’s portrayal of his mum and dad’s life from the first time they met to the day they both passed away was explored, visually described and heartbreakingly detailed with praise, attention and sheer craft in the feature length Ethel and Ernest.

Ethel And Ernest. Television Review. full post

(473 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Jonathan Creek, Daemon’s Roost. Television Review.

Top of Form

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Alan Davies, Sarah Alexander, Warwick Davis, Ken Bones, Georgie Lord, Emun Elliott, Rosalind March, Jason Barnett, Caoimhe Clough, Sisan Coyle, Jo Martin, Ryan Oliva, Nicole Cooper, Chris Forbes.

 

Let someone get away with murder once and they will believe it can be done again, they will come up with another ingenious way to sidestep justice and the person that helped them be free the first time round will undoubetedly be called upon again to provide the alibi they require.

Jonathan Creek, Daemon’s Roost. Television Review. full post

(492 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Tea For Two.

I know I am

not everybody’s cup

of tea

but then

as I watch them stir their spoons,

plastic or sterling silver,

Hallmarked or fully

acknowledged that someone

with snot running from their nose

had licked it first,

I understand with a smile

that they drink

from the chipped cup,

the bitterest ground

coffee.

Ian D. Hall 2016

Permanent link to this post (60 words, estimated 14 secs reading time)