The Girl On The Train, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Édgar Ramírez, Laura Prepon, Allison Janney, Darren Goldstein, Lisa Kudrow, Cleta E. Ellington, Lana Young, Rachel Christopher, Fernando Medina, Gregory Morley, Mac Tavares, John Norris, Nathan Shapiro, Tamiel Paynes, Peter Mayer-Klepchick.

When you reach the bottom of the glass, perception is everything, it can define who you are because of what you see or what you fail to register; the comfort of the glass might be the great pain killer and momentary healer but it does nothing for your eyesight or your ability to think through a situation clearly.

The Girl On The Train, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(451 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

The Rivals, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Desmond Barrit, Nicholas Bishop, Lucy Briggs-Owen, Lily Donovan, Keith Dunphy, Henry Everett, Jessica Hardwick, Julia Legrand, Lee Mango, Shaun Miller, Rhys Rusbatch.

One of 18th Centuries Europe’s finest wits and tamer of words never truly gets the praise he deserves in modern society, it is to be enemy of Time when figures such as Richard Sheridan are venerated and applauded by 21st Century audiences and readers of his work but to whom never seem to see the plays due to the length of the production and the fear of producers to take them beyond the boundaries of London.

The Rivals, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(423 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

You Were Not My Great Love…

You were not my great love

of teenage years, she

was unobtainable,

not the girl I could have kissed

till years had passed and our mutual

sorrow and despair drove us together

for one sweet night

of dope fuelled devotion;

you were not my great love

but you were my first real date,

a Banbury day, a film

and a burger,

I loved you deeply for that day

and the beauty you seared,

hot glowing metal

billowing against my lungs,

I love you for the memory

You Were Not My Great Love… full post

(106 words, estimated 25 secs reading time)

Happy Hour, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Ian Cook, Adam Davies, Eleni Edupidi, Jennifer Essex.

Like convenience food, happiness is pre-packaged, put on a shelf and marketed, it is what everybody desires, everybody grasps for, fights over and goes out of their way to show to the world that they have seen a fleeting glimpse of it as the show an endless parade of pictures of their life on social media; happiness is no longer a cigar, it is an emotion that becomes more flawed and cracked the higher life takes you, for like money, the more you have, the more you need to keep the thrill going.

Happy Hour, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(375 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Lew Thomas, Walks, Talks & Fallouts. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Music will always set you free. It is the key to the prison that many find that they have made themselves, that they have shrunk into without warning or cautionary forewarning; the key is to believe in what you write, that the music you find in your soul is enough to disturb the lock so you can walk free, head held high and with a finger or two raised in admonishment to those who never trusted your instincts.

Lew Thomas, Walks, Talks & Fallouts. Album Review. full post

(369 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Jude Adams, This Girl This Woman. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Whatever the reason, whatever the incentive or the drive, eventually we must find a way to live our dreams, to do the things we have long held dear in the secret chamber of our heart and to live each moment that comes of the realisation of fulfilment. Whatever the spur, it makes you appreciate the moment and for some it can change their lives; This Girl This Woman is for half the population the dawning of contentment and for the other half, arguably a mantra to champion those in your life to achieve their dreams.

Jude Adams, This Girl This Woman. Album Review. full post

(392 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

A Small Poem For The Day.

Thank you

for reading

Keats, Shakespeare and Auden,

cheers from the heart

for digesting,

swallowing whole

the grace of Lanyer,

the nature

and anger of Anne Askew

and the wrathful might

of Mary Wroth.

Across the ages,

a mighty

show

of immediate gratitude

and appreciation

for revelling in Ginsberg, Kerouac and McGough,

today is their moment,

always the moment

pick up a pen,

type without discretion

or pain,

a small sonnet of love

on a Poet’s day.

A Small Poem For The Day. full post

(86 words, estimated 21 secs reading time)

Paul Armour, The Poets & The Beats. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

At its very best music should sweep you along, it should be rich, intoxicating and free to roam the imagination at will. Music should stalk the memory, haunting the listener, making them remember all the good times and reliving with passion all the bad moments so that they don’t become spectres of the listener’s life and times. Music at its very best should be poetry, the motion of chance and choice, the free style and the beat that should make the heart stir with a gentle tinge of regret and love.

Paul Armour, The Poets & The Beats. Album Review. full post

(402 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Brandon Wildish, Other Side. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It is a truth that during our life we can feel disconnected from the rest of humanity, we seek solace in the hopeful friendships that other enjoy but despite wearing our best smiles and showing the sociable appearance, the Other Side of the emotional gap seems a daunting prospect to gain entry too; it is as if standing in the freezing rain is preferable to enjoying one hour of summer. The Other Side, all that we aspire to be, to be happy, to have a voice and a say, to know that our smiles are fixed, even when the world is a desperate place which only a few can enlighten.

Brandon Wildish, Other Side. Album Review. full post

(366 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)