I knew Laura Dentt Stevens,
intimately perhaps, sharing
the same space
for a while, trading thoughts
and the ultimate fuck you
to the outside world
who thought we were
irrelevant students,
I was too old to have an opinion,
my thoughts immaterial,
unrelated to the hip and groovy
paid by the latest clothes and fashions;
she was, to my mind,
sarcastic, but fun, the kind
of girl who got the point
of existence, which was not
to exist,
or at least not to be an arse about it;
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Nostalgia, the driving force that reminds us that Time is not always a kindly benevolent force, that the moment we find ourselves in must be seized upon, fully explored and the point between the tick and tock is all to fleeting; love, if it is found in that moment, should be dived into regardless of the consequences. Nostalgia, it is what keeps the brain coming back for more of what it needs and the soul for what it loves. In the music of Fleetwood Mac, in whatever form and guise across the decades, is the love that brings many people together and it is with a nostalgic glint in their eyes that Fleetwood Bac play to the audience at the Epstein Theatre with.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There is no point owning a book if you are only ever going to read one chapter at random, if you are going to take one arbitrary sentence and turn it into a mantra for living and believe that it will solve all humanity’s ills and negative aspects; to truly understand the author you have to read the whole thing, you must listen to their words and decipher them, live them fully and drive onto the biggest peak, the largest summit you can master.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Sam Neil, Julian Dennison, Rima Te Wiata, Rachel House, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Oscar Kightley, Stan Walker, Mike Minogue, Cohen Holloway, Rhys Darby, Troy Kingi, Taika Waititi, Hamish Parkinson, Stu Giles.
In Sam Neil the cinema has had one of strongest and most consistent actors of the last 50 years, a man who can easily transfer himself between the rigours of being part of a great film and the sideshow that television sometimes provides. It has always been something of an honour to watch his complex character unfold, and even in films that haven’t quite hit the mark, he still retains that genuine affection from the forgiving cinema goer.
Nostalgia
it burns,
the yearning for yesterday,
the songs and sights
of a past that cannot be connected
or revisited
for the colour photograph in your mind
has turned sepia, discoloured,
browned and parched by the sun,
they can only be seen as
fragments,
disjointed,
the wreckage,
the rubble you left behind.
Nostalgia
I remember you
fondly.
Ian D. Hall 2016
The mould has been broken, the dominant aspect of Country music in its own backyard taken apart, its historical birthplace, has been, if not smashed, then certainly demolished brick by brick, blade of grass by white picket fence and tales of the homely and beautiful swept aside. It is the mould set out by the American Country genre to which The Shires, Chrissie Rhodes and Ben Earle, have become quite rightly known as the band in which sit up, take notice of and toast as the modern day British saviours of a genre that was wobbling under its own weight across the pond.
There is a dark heart
that beats
in your shadows,
double time, occasionally
skipping
and the pulse
oozing a venom
that does much to remove any trace
of humour, sarcasm or the fine
art of gilded laughing;
I despair at the thought
of the Constable
and the modern Haywain
sitting in the bleached over
life dictated by
the divine and the blessed
hand shakes
in Time,
through Time
and across the backs
of those who know nothing more
than veneration.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Progressive Rock in all its glory, all its different shades of colour and often praise worthy offerings, is thankfully still able to command an interest of immense proportions, the old guard with their lyrical genius, of the use of the English language and their seemingly inexhaustible supply of random time signatures, they never truly went away. They were joined when the music world needed them most, by the new breed, the conquerors of the new century and in all honesty the Time has just swept by in an orgy of Progressive Heaven.
Static,
camera in hand, mobile conditioned,
we have all become directors,
producers and stars of our own bubble
reality, too much to say,
we film first for the fascination
of the audience
and the ethereal likes, the thumbs
up and the oh my gosh that
is so cute…
we film first and react later.
I half expect one day
to unbelievingly witness several
different angles, the Blu-Ray
Director’s Cut edition
with bonus features and condescending
commentary supplied by a man in a beret,
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The dawn of a new day, the burst of sunlight upon your face and the aroma of a rose bush hanging in the air is nothing if you don’t face the moment with appreciation, with your senses unlocked to the possibility of calm and joy; from your mind welcoming the new sensation, through to ears receptive of the new storm to the Eyes Wide Open in belief, the dawn of new things is there for the taking.