F.I.F.A. World Cup 2014: Mexico V Cameroon. Match Report.

Originally published by Ace Magazine online June 2014.

Unless something unimaginable happens, Brazil will qualify out of Group A with room to spare. On the basis of the first round of matches to be played, Brazil will qualify; but they won’t have made any friends outside of the confines of the homes, cities, towns and minds of the Brazilian nation. Mexico on the other hand, you can but hope make it at least into the round of 16 for their dogged determination and utter refusal to sink to the depths that they saw happen in the previous day’s game.

F.I.F.A. World Cup 2014: Mexico V Cameroon. Match Report. full post

(1207 words, estimated 4:50 mins reading time)

Do U Want To Stay Asleep?

Do you want to stay asleep

In your somnabulary life

While you are sleeping

You are turning into stone

Petrifying

 

But it only happens if you let it

 

And you let it

Long before

Your hair turned grey

When you started complaining

About the yoofs

In gravity-defying

Low slung jeans

Text speak

And all music released

Since U Can’t Touch This

 

You get so annoyed

When you recall

Your comedian son

With his

‘Stop! Hammer Time’

Do U Want To Stay Asleep? full post

(223 words, estimated 54 secs reading time)

2014 World Cup: Brazil V Croatia, Match Report.

First published by Ace Magazine online, June 2014.

One game in of this 2014 World Cup and already there will be cynics of F.I.F.A. who might teasingly suggest that the straight line drawn by the Japanese official to mark out the 10 yards for Croatia to stand behind for a free kick was one of the very few acts in the game that didn’t have the whiff of something crooked about it.

2014 World Cup: Brazil V Croatia, Match Report. full post

(1795 words, estimated 7:11 mins reading time)

Jules Carter Trio, Done Misbehaving. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If you think you don’t like the Blues, if the thought of a century worth of music is not for you and that Robert Johnson is just a name that holds no fascination then the best thing to do would be to start at the beginning of Jules Carter Trio’s album, Done Misbehaving, and throwing every single odd piece of prejudice out of the window and fall in love with a set of songs that just cry out for attention.

Jules Carter Trio, Done Misbehaving. Album Review. full post

(440 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Pulp: A Film About Life, Death and Supermarkets. Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Nick Banks, Jarvis Cocker, Candida Doyle, Richard Hawley, Steve Mackey, Mark Webber, The People of Sheffield.

Despite their best efforts, there was more to British music other than Blur and Oasis in the mid-1990s. The hyped up Brit-Pop phenomenon that saw British music on the crest of a wave built up by hope, a certain amount of propaganda and teenage excitement rather than idealism and realism would soon come tumbling down and thankfully since around 2003, music has gained a perspective, even the enjoyment of discovery again.

Pulp: A Film About Life, Death and Supermarkets. Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(662 words, estimated 2:39 mins reading time)

All Time England World Cup Squad: 1982-2010.

Originally published by Ace Magazine Liverpool June 2014.

 

When supporting England, the feeling between despondency and elation is sometimes so blurred that you can go from one World Cup competition having crashed out in the second round (1982) but feeling optimistic about the future to then getting so close that the air of expectation hangs round every football fan you meet like a bad smell in summer time (1990). There never has been a real mix of consistency, no real so called Golden Generation, except for what the Fleet Street media like to impose upon the thoughts of the fans that for years have doggedly followed the national team exploits (or lack of them).

All Time England World Cup Squad: 1982-2010. full post

(1513 words, estimated 6:03 mins reading time)

Daniel, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Philip Shaun McGuinness, Wesley Wharton, Nick Crosbie.

It does take someone with extreme passion and an undeniable knowledge of certain genres in which the call change the way they are perceived, to make more relevant to modern society, speaks loudest. The latest film which stared Australian actor Russell Crowe, the much talked about Noah, is one example, perhaps poor one, of a story that in The Bible was, even for the atheist, is one that can be a stirring read. Natasia Hodge, musician, actor, singer, director and soon to be company head of B Tales, takes the story of Daniel from the Old Testament, and unlike Noah, delivers a fine piece of work in which, thanks to the excellent cast and the sublime writing of Laura-Kate Barrows and some clever effects and excellent additional music, is itself just as stirring as the Biblical text laid down.

Daniel, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(514 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Aquaman: Death Of A King, Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The fourth volume in D.C Comics excellent revival of Aquaman brings all the facets together as if the running of a thousand taps had finally found a deep crevice in which to conjoin and multiply in. By bringing all these together and with the exceptional writing and artistry of all involved, it should be noted that Aquaman, the stuff of much unnecessary hilarity due to the poor nature and lack of respect shown the individual in the past; is arguably one of the most interest characterisations in the last 40 years of publications by D.C.

Aquaman: Death Of A King, Graphic Novel Review. full post

(548 words, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

Scattered Records (A Bedroom In Bicester).

How many times does the opportunity arise

in which you can visit the ghosts

and smile with relief as a tear gently rolls down your cheek?

A bedroom door hides many a secret from the world,

the stolen, lengthy, beautiful snog with a girlfriend, heavy petting banned

in the local swimming pool, but a delight worth risking

when she cycles

over to see you from Wendlebury one summer’s day

in ‘85 and music from a band worth loving plays, crackles, skips

like my heart as she leans in again,

Scattered Records (A Bedroom In Bicester). full post

(670 words, estimated 2:41 mins reading time)

Uriah Heep, Outsider. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Regardless of when you may have first come across Uriah Heep, it is an argument worth having that they have been unfortunately been forgotten by many as one of the pioneers of British Heavy Rock and part of The Progressive movement.

Influential on many and yet the popularity of Mick Box’s band has never really attained, especially in later years the popularity they so deserved aside from having many totally enamoured with a couple of early 1970s albums including the superb Salisbury.  Whether the latest release by Uriah Heep, the elegant sounding Outsider, can change that perhaps remains to be seen but in a world that allows certain acts that have gone on reality television shows to garner a following, then surely Uriah Heep can have another sojourn in the unknown world of popular Rock music.

Uriah Heep, Outsider. Album Review. full post

(464 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)