Ripper Street: A Brittle Thread. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Adam Rothenberg, MyAnna Buring, Killian Scott, Benjamin O’ Mahony, Joseph Mawle, Jonas Armstrong, Lydia Wilson, Anna Burnett, Matthew Lewis, Ian Pirie, Ellie Haddington.

Society hangs by A Brittle Thread and when it is pulled the whole fabric that has been built up, cherished by some, loathed by others, indifferent to many to whose lives are just about the right side of desperate, when that thread is pulled, it can come crashing down. Since the days that Queen Victoria first sat on her throne, many have tried to pull that strand, some have been part of the so called elite or the institution themselves but somehow it remains, for now, intact; threadbare, wearing thin and scraggy but nonetheless still intact.

Warm Water Skies.

There is a tent under the flyover,

its green membrane door,

old and plastic,

flaps and coughs,

stuttering for a memory,

grasping at the once former etiquette of a visitor

calling at a friend’s house

without prior announcement,

the heavily and obvious cleavage

driven and the naughty never punished

stares of the early morning milk delivery

and the picture postcards

of a long dead era, no milk today,

no festival date by mistake

with a song of one hitting the high notes

and the lifting silver rusted pegs

Rotten Borough England.

No electorate voted,

yet money changed hands,

grubby back street pilfer

and a bomb waiting to explode

on the streets, ticking down

in Rotten Borough England.

There is a misplaced May Queen

out of her depth as she runs around the poles,

kicking other children out of her way

or bribing their parents

to do as she hopes to say,

a small innocuous pay rise of a few percent,

whilst sorry nurse, there is a food bank for you

here in Rotten Borough England.

In The Millennial Dome, Theatre Review. Fredericks, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Alex Ferguson, Geraint R. Williams.

Much is made of the Millennial, to some this group of people who have come into the world after the nihilism and cynicism of Generation X are to be seen with a sneer and not so positive attitude or recommendation appearing on the corners of the mouths of those who came after the end World War Two, the so called Baby Boomers, and those to whom the Counter Culture was not just grasped for but willingly so. However, rather than the strident pessimism of the Generation X and the awkward suspicion of the baby boomer, for those immersed in the unhinged times of the 21st Century, being In The Millennial Dome is perhaps the hardest times of all, and those who fight within should be applauded rather than condemned.

A Strong Word With Time.

 

There is always the moment, dear Time

in which I find that our mutual bond,

is caught between disrepair and the mime

of enjoyment, that we show each other how fond

we are of each other; the lie as we hold hands

and race against the tide you put before us

as they wear down the cliffs of the mind and lands,

crumbling, the path disappears without much fuss,

least of all from me, for I have no hold on Time

I have no control over its actions or accomplishments

Greg Russell, Inclined To Be Red. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are colonies of bees that swarm all over the land in search of such richness, the flower that supplies the seeds for the recipe of the finest honey and the way it adds a slight golden hue to the endeavour of the day’s work; nobody has told them they that to be seen as super productive if front of their demanding queen, all they have to do is listen to the sound of Greg Russell’s debut solo album, Inclined To Be Red, and the elixir of life will be theirs for the taking.

Robin Trower, Time And Emotion. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are times in life when Time and Emotion are necessary answers to the question, What Was I Really Worth To You?, in the case of the audience and musician relationship there should be only one reply but it is one that can be disguised by arrogance and the dismissive thought of when one or the other once cool partners becomes disheartened by the appeal or the pre-requisite of love.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, Lay It On Down. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

They say that life is a journey, that every moment is filled with ability to take a pencil out of your coat pocket, find a clear page in a notebook and consider the achievement of crossing over the bridge, of metaphorically scaling the height of something as tall and monumental and as historic as the Louisiana State Capitol Building or navigating the mighty Sabine River; life is a journey, life demands that anything you believe notable should be written about and above all you should Lay It On Down for others to conjure and wish to experience.

The Pain Of Google Mapping.

I hurt myself last night,

indirectly, in the harsh light of a 20 watt shadow

but instead of beating myself up

and seeing people who have wandered

in and out of my life,

their times and happiness running

through my head, I chose to quieten

them all by looking at Google Maps

and the places where my own happiness

briefly

once stood like a monument

in a desert occupied by barking dogs

and rivers

damned up long ago.

Never trust Time

to stand still for you,

Doctor Who: World Enough And Time. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, Matt Lucas, Michelle Gomez, John Simm, Oliver Lansley, Paul Brightwell, Alison Lintott, Nicholas Briggs.

To the coy Mistress, all will come to pass when she meets her former self, till then “Had we but world enough, and time” then perhaps the puzzle and the death of a friend might be more easily dealt with but then nothing is that simple in the world of the two part finale and especially not in the realm of Time and the Doctor.