The Fan letter I never Got To Wrote…(To Morecambe And Wise, With Love).

I joined the party at the right time, so it seems,

for even now, Shirley Bassey in an old Hob

Nail boot makes me smile, Glenda Jackson

as black wigged Cleopatra, Michael Parkinson dancing

with Eddie Waring, up and under, a small shilly-shally

to the songs of South Pacific

prove their ain’t nothing like Eric and Ernie

at the very top of their game.

Forgive me Mr. Morecambe, Mister Wise,

for not writing before, been in a nostalgia fog,

but if I could ask

for your autographs now, I still would smile

The Fan letter I never Got To Wrote…(To Morecambe And Wise, With Love). full post

(203 words, estimated 49 secs reading time)

May This New Year Be Kind, My Friend. With Love From E.

 

At around a quarter to midnight,

I shall go and look

at the world from my front

door step and take stock,

a small overdue cigar

whispering to me of times past.

In my pocket a small brown bag

with a small pinch of salt,

several pieces of coal,

a piece of brown bread

and five gold coins

hugging the paper tightly, not daring

to let go, lest the promise of better times be dashed.

I think of you, as the night and the clock draws on,

May This New Year Be Kind, My Friend. With Love From E. full post

(237 words, estimated 57 secs reading time)

Eric, Ernie And Me. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Stephen Tompkinson, Mark Bonnar, Neil Maskell, Rufus Jones, Liz White, Alex Macqueen, Adam James, Katherine Kingsley, Natasha Joseph, Susan Twist, Isobel Middleton, Lisa Jackson, Louis Emerick, Darren Bransford, John Culshaw, Rosalind Halstead.

Who makes a song a popular hit, is it the singer that captures the soaring notes and melancholy beauty or is it the writer who sits alone and stares at a blank piece of paper waiting for inspiration to come knocking, scribbling down a line, scrawling and scoring, the provider of the smash in waiting. It is the chicken and egg question, who makes who the success?

Eric, Ernie And Me. Television Review. full post

(558 words, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

Little Women (2017). Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Emily Watson, Maya Hawke, Willa Fitzgerald, Kathryn Newton, Annes Elwy, Jonah Hauer-King, Julian Morris, Dylan Baker, Michael Gambon, Adrian Scarborough, Angela Lansbury, Eleanor Methven, Mark Stanley, Kathleen Warner Yates, Amelia Crowley, Ann Skelly, India Mullen, Amy Wren, Max Curnin, Erin Galway-Kendrick, Leah Temple-Lang, John Colleary, Nick Dunning, Nelly Henrion, Felix Mckenzie-Barrow, Mei Bignall, Patrick Flannery, Fode Simbo, Richard Pepple, Aleah Lennon, Will O’Connell.

Little Women (2017). Television Review. full post

(494 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

The Miniaturist. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Romola Garai, Hayley Squires, Paapa Essiedu, Katy Carmichael, Lucas Bond, Lara Bond, Alex Hassell, Sally Messham, Caolan Byrne, Emily Berrington, Ziggy Heath, Aislin McGuckin, Geoffrey Streatfeild, Ian Hogg, Christopher Godwin, Jack Brady, Graham Elwell.

You can be let down if you have high expectations of anything, the possibility of major adaption of a piece of literature can have you believing that television will treat any new drama with respect sometimes falls short, can leave the festive desert leaving the stomach and the mind as lumpy as a debut Christmas pudding offered to the table; over filled with sweetness, too much brandy covering the meal and the chance that it could become a smouldering wreck before it has even had chance to settle.

The Miniaturist. Television Review. full post

(396 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Keeping Books In Order.

You can organize

and categorise your books

just how you want them, neat,

coordinated, by publication date,

by alphabetical treaty

and genre specific,

detailed, arranged with love

like a marriage that was not seen coming,

and yet

somehow

in all the tidying and methodical embrace

of putting the books in a system, upon

shelves and shelves and make shift piles

that befits that page turned embrace and declaration

of stand back and admire your handy-work and dedication

you

still find

one piece

Keeping Books In Order. full post

(95 words, estimated 23 secs reading time)

Liverpool Sound And Vision Review Of 2017.

The year has perhaps been one of diverse feelings across the board in Liverpool, one in which reflection, triumphant returns, masterpieces and some sadness has been experienced. The Playhouse Theatre has undergone work for a while and yet held inside its doors one of the most magnificent scenes caught on camera as Annette Bening and Jamie Bell recreated one of the last days of the film star Gloria Graham for the cinematic love letter, Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool. The much loved Unity Theatre closed its doors for a time and reopened with a flourish as it too underwent a change in its decor and look and yet still retains the welcome that makes it one of the places to visit in the city.

Liverpool Sound And Vision Review Of 2017. full post

(2216 words, estimated 8:52 mins reading time)

A Christmas Engagement.

 

‘Twas the night before Christmas and there’s no one about not even a mouse

Or an eight-legged creepy to scare you out of the house,

Quietly though a figure creeps down the stairs leaving his loved one alone but asleep

He finds what he’s looking for high on a shelf, hidden behind the books three deep

It’s a little Santa ornament hinged in the centre, a small space to hide something

Gold and blue amethyst glint in the night, a beautiful engagement ring

Hidden in Santa and put back on the shelf ready for a surprise on Christmas Day

A Christmas Engagement. full post

(258 words, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

John Thompson, Jobe – The Beginning Of A Liverpool Legend. Book Review.

Jobe- The Beginning of A Liverpool Legend is Liverpool writer John Thompson’s debut novel, and is a nostalgic look at 19th century Liverpool and the thriving port that bought so much wealth to the city.

Mr. Thompson’s research into Victorian Liverpool is extensive and he has created a rich, vibrant description of the city. Mostly seen through the eyes of eight year old Jobe, he has painted a bleak picture of what young Jobe and his friends face daily; the struggles that his mother Kitty faces in the tenement slums where she does her best to keep her son safe. But it has not always been this way, and as is often the case circumstances change the fate for young Jobe that alters the course of his life for good.

John Thompson, Jobe – The Beginning Of A Liverpool Legend. Book Review. full post

(273 words, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

Taking A Leaf Out Of Feng-Shui.

In an effort to make space,

I moved books of every genre around.

A kind of literature feng-shui,

or just a bound refusal to look

at ever letting go of any written

word I have given

house room to since

 I first grasped

 the meaning of the phrase,

In the beginning.

 

Ian D. Hall

Permanent link to this post (57 words, estimated 14 secs reading time)