F.I.F.A. World Cup 2014. Costa Rica V Greece, Match Report.

First published by Ace Magazine, Liverpool online. June 2014.

The land of fantasy is at times such an intriguing place to let your mind wander off to. In the world of fantasy anybody can become a hero; the least likely person can walk into the sunset with their head held high having saved another’s life or the hopes of a nation. Whilst nobody on the pitch in Recife surely thought for a single minute they would be the one to take on the might of established convention, the potency of F.I.F.A.’s tight grip on the game, fantasy became reality as Costa Rica, destroyers of football establishment in the likes of Italy, Uruguay, by then unfancied and England, made the quarter finals of the 2014 World Cup by beating the equally surprised last 16 cohorts Greece.

F.I.F.A. World Cup 2014. Costa Rica V Greece, Match Report. full post

(1610 words, estimated 6:26 mins reading time)

Gaffer, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Simon Hedger.

Life’s a pitch for a good manager, in the testosterone filled world of football, there is the hard work but also the banter, the great times of winning a trophy or two, of the desperate times in which a club can come so close to extinction that it threatens a whole community, it can destabilise it to the point where it may never recover. A club’s fortunes doesn’t just depend on what happens on the pitch, with the supporters or indeed with the person who bank rolls it all, it depends on the everyday making headway and for supposed social stigma’s to be recognised as just life. There is no wrong in being different; if you can do the job then you are good enough, no matter who you are.

Gaffer, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(480 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Friday Can’t Come Too Soon.

Ninety-six hours I’m away from your smile.

A delicate touch displayed on an unspoiled face,

I count down the hours, fingers marking time

and try to keep myself amused

through this horrendous trial.

 

Each week we go through the same ritual dance,

a tear hidden behind a fond farewell.

A promise that whatever happens to us

we will call at the same hour, each  separate day.

Wherever I am staying and wherever my thoughts dwell.

 

By Tuesday night I’m climbing the walls.

Friday Can’t Come Too Soon. full post

(177 words, estimated 42 secs reading time)

Locke & Key: Alpha & Omega. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The shadows are drawing in and the darkness has claimed yet more lives in the small American town of Lovecraft, the reckoning is yet to happen and it will take an strength that is far beyond the years of the two older Locke children in which to save humanity from a force that will destroy or enslave them forever. Such is the delicious darkness that lives within the final graphic novel by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez in the Locke and Key series that Alpha & Omega could well be the finest finish to a the finest set of graphic novels ever created.

Locke & Key: Alpha & Omega. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(605 words, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

A Night Out With Metal On The Mind.

The multiple choice between Megadeth, Magnum, ‘Maiden or Metallica

T-shirts, crumpled to hell, beaten, seven shades of death

inside a second hand washing machine that dribbled

four star oil and council pop with regular ease

and threatened to catch fire whenever you weren’t looking,

locked horns with

the odd bit of your own valuable

spilled blood and redeemed soul,

imprinted forever, stained but unsullied and undefeated,

that always goes well with a great pair of jeans and trainers

that none of your well-meaning friends would be seen

dead in.

A Night Out With Metal On The Mind. full post

(1033 words, estimated 4:08 mins reading time)

A Very British Winter

 

Not so long ago but half a life time to me,

a single snowflake would bring joy

to my innocent, eight year old eyes.

A snowdrift would have me jumping

feet in first to feel the suspense filled cold

travel up my body till my hair went limp with dampness

and only a warm bath and heated towel

would suffice to keep me from sneezing.

 

I would love the time

it gave me time to stay at home,

or play down the rec with school friends.

A Very British Winter full post

(328 words, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)

A Farewell To The Military Man.

The train left with military precision

at twelve minutes past the hour.

The driver, so used to punctuality,

waited impassively for the station master’s

whistle to set him free like an eager greyhound

from the traps that bound him.

 

My bag was packed, half empty

having left behind part of my childhood

that would no longer fit within a so called adult world.

A name and number etched forever onto the surface of my skin

And peered at with frustrated,

Damning blue eyes.

 

A Farewell To The Military Man. full post

(245 words, estimated 59 secs reading time)

Secret Sharer, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.CT. Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jack Laskey, Zhu Zhu, Ching-ting Hsia, Leon Dai, Si Qin Chao Ke Tu, Ying Wang, Aroon Wanasbodeewong, Sittinont Ananvorakhun, K.M. Lo, Guo Zhongyou, Song Bin Zhu, Bao Yin Ni Mu Hu.

Man is not an island, unless of course he decides to cocoon himself from danger and the questions of his mind and so called masters, even then he will still find a way to share his secrets with something, even if it’s the sea.

Secret Sharer, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.CT. Liverpool. full post

(500 words, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Cold In July, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.CT. Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Michael C. Hall, Sam Sheppard, Don Johnson, Vinessa Shaw, Wyatt Russell, Nick Damici, Brianda Agramonte, Lanny Flaherty, Ken Holmes, Kristin Griffith, Tim Lajcik, Rachel Zeiger-Haag, Joe Lanza, Laurent Rejto, Brogan Hall.

Cold In July, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.CT. Liverpool. full post

(586 words, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Eagles, The History Of The Eagles, Gig Review. Echo Arena, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The Echo Arena in Liverpool was built for nights such as this, the Midsummer sun starting to wind its way back to the southern hemisphere, the evening glow of June racing its way across the Irish Sea and on its way America to the home of some finest rock bands you could ever hope to see play in the place where legends were born. A city that gave legends its British meaning to the country rock scene of the Eagles, legendary music that if written down in a book would be classed as fable, too fabulous for words but with a spirit that endured for over 40 years. You might never see the Eagles in Liverpool again, for those who took advantage of the summer sun giving its warmth to the city below; they were further warmed by the afterglow of some of the finest music to ever come out of America.

Eagles, The History Of The Eagles, Gig Review. Echo Arena, Liverpool. full post

(884 words, estimated 3:32 mins reading time)