The Quatermass Experiment – 1st Edition Paperback

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While out and about I managed to get a little steal of a book.  Its an original 1st edition print penguin from 1959 in excellent condition of The Quatermass Experiment by Nigel Kneale.  Its a script not a novel as the Quatermass Experiment was a six part ground breaking television mini-series in the 1950’s broadcast by the BBC.  For those interested in science fiction and especially British science fiction this series was vitally important for the future creation of not only Doctor Who but also films such as Alien and series like the X-Files too.

The book itself is not very impressive by modern standards.  It is very much a product of its times much like the story is.  Drab, plain and poor the book gives off an air of a time when things were grim and tight and also grey.  But it will be great fun for me to write the scripts for its been many years since I saw Victor Carroon slowly change into a monster.   I saw it on TV as a child of some ten years old back in 1980’s and its fair to say it left as big a mark on a young me as Robocop did and Aliens too but in a different way.  A creeping horror of change and alienation too.  The final cathedral scene I know almost word for word.

If you have not heard of or seen Quatermass then I suggest you do.  The book might be hard to get but the TV serial is out there and BBC4 made a single new episode in 2005 which is also very good.

I could not find another of this book for sale online at the time of writing this post but an estimate of its value compared to others of the time would be eighteen to thirty pounds.  So I am very happy and the book is an excellent aesthetic object too.

GBS

Entering Endgame YES and NO Positions

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I had planned a long blog post here outlining the YES and NO campaign’s leaflets now that we are entering the end game period.  Leaflets that layout why you should vote yes or no.  I was then going to follow it with a run down of the last TV debate two nights ago and end with my own take on the referendum at this stage with only weeks to go.  BUT.  Life gets in the way.  I don’t have the time.  Various projects at work have me running at 95% of full and added to this a bulk of email to answer means this is all the time I can spare.  So it will have to do.  Typed and posted so my apologies for grammar errors and such.  These are my own thoughts.

The debate was much like the last one with Salmond the showman dominating while saying little.  Darling held his own for most of it but its always hard to argue for NO on any topic rather than YES.  There was actually little said except on the issue of currency.  This was actually explained finally and it runs like this.  If the vote is no then everything remains as it is with a hint of more devolved powers.  If the vote is yes then the preferred option is a currency union with the rest of the UK with the Bank of England being Scotland’s paymaster.  Will this work, well its frankly insane to me to think that any Prime Minister will just kick Scotland out and by denying Scotland its share of the sterling assets will remove its share of the UK’s dept.  So that being assumed I think a currency union would happen but it would not work.  After all its done nothing for nations that use the Dollar and its been a bane for Greece being controlled by Germany in the Euro Zone.  Therefore after it breaks down (Salmond tries to explain why London will not give Scotland more money etc) the options are joining the Euro or a separate Sterling Pound (like before the Union).  The Euro has been ruled out (but trust ye not any politician for I think Salmond would run for Brussels given a chance) and my own thinking here is that is a good idea as its a sick man as it were and its not going to last as it is.  A new currency for Scotland would be really hard as Edinburgh has no history of credit, no gold reserves and so on.  We would be starting at the bottom.  So the debate was just like the rest of this process…loose and ongoing.

The leaflets I have pictured above are the last national printed communication for each side and its telling I have had to try and make people read them.  As you would expect NO focuses on what we know and the fear of the unknown.  YES focuses on what we could do without the solid facts for it.  As publications go the YES one is better as it gives you more information and it has the ability to dump on the NO campaigns failures over the last 300 years too. What is noticeable in the leaflets is that YES focuses on children and the young and NO pretty much focuses on the older and pensioners.  So again fear vs optimist and youth.

I understand that people will disagree with me on this and I EXPECT IT as there is nothing solid here only opinions.

My take on this at this point is that its still all to play for.  While YES seems to be winning and is way more vocal its vital to remember that its s tiny minority who are online and in the media or on Facebook or Gplus etc. The majority are silent and I think that silence is more NO than YES.   I have not decided what I will vote as yet and I will admit this is tearing me up.

Another post on this nearer the time of course.  I am of course concerned as I am one of those rare creatures now…a man who makes his living publishing, manufacturing and exporting to the world.  A money maker, a wealth creator.  It will affect me in every facet of life.

GBS

Collectormania 2014 Glasgow

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I had a great day on Saturday from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed late on after watching the taped new episode of Dr Who.  Among the highlights I can share with the public the brightest was my trip to Collectormania 2014 in Glasgow.  Its not often I get enough time together to do something like this but the trip had been planned for two weeks and I was raring to go.  Why you ask..well for the chance to meet two childhood heroes of mine and the chance to get some new t-shirts too.

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I got the shirts and as you can see above it was a smaller sized event, nothing like Salute at Excel in London, but that was good for me.  It meant that there was virtually no que to wait in for an autograph and it meant that you could actually spent a bit of time talking to the person too.  Sylvester McCoy is a really nice person and it was great to be able to speak to him.  I did not mention the seventh Doctor once rather it was more a meeting of two men from the former region of Strathcylde.  However for my good lady the star of the show was Dirk Benedict who took a real shine to her!  After that he was quite happy to talk about the A-Team and his time as Starbuck too.

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We got our autographs which my eldest son who came with us found quite funny.  For you see I put no stock in religion or celebrity or anything else that is beyond my normal grasp as a Man.  I take each on its own merits but actually conversing with these two put a grin on my face that he found amusing!  I might well go back next year.  I missed Sophie Aldred as she was only there today and not Saturday.  Shame but there is always next time.

So I will finish on a last picture of my good lady with The Face Man as he was and still is known.  Hands off mate…she’s mine!

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GBS

Drama – Yes, 1980 – 100th on the List

In a previous post I said I was going to track down the top 100 albums in the Prog Rock magazine count down.  Well I began that journey by purchasing downloads of the one hundreth, ninety nineth and ninety eighth albums on the list.  I began at the top as it seems right to do so and work towards the top ten.  I don’t know how long this will take me and I doubt I will review every album on the list but I will refer to it and let you know as I go.  So….Drama by Yes.  How was it?

“Machine Messiah” and “Tempus Fugit” have rightfully gone down in history as two of the best songs on this album but as I listened to this album ten times over the last three days in the car and at home and by headphones and speakers I felt that the other tracks fell quite short of expectations.  I know its 100th on the list but this is my first experience of Yes as a band so that might have a lot to do with it.   There was a change of vocalist and line up for this album but I did not look this up until after writing down my thoughts.  It does show.  Until I encounter Yes again I will not know if the departing of Jon Anderson as singer made a difference to quality but it did seem to affect the album to my ear.   There are several very weak tracks there including “Does It Really Happen?” which is really, really boring and drawn out.

So purchase it or not?  Well I enjoyed it and if you can get it for under a fiver like I did and you like prog then go ahead.  Amazon link HERE.

GBS

Start of a New School Year 2014

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Today was the start of a new school year here in Girvan for my three sons.  The Thinker, The Poet and The Warrior donned their new uniforms and took up their new jackets (it is Scotland so it was cold in August!) and bags and headed for the class rooms.   This is an occasion for celebration every year but this year there was an extra event as my eldest was now attending secondary school going from a big fish in a little pond to a minnow in a lake.  So he headed off to Girvan Academy while the smaller two went back a year up to Girvan Primary.  As you can see in the image here they looked very smart indeed which is due entirely to my loving wife and not I who has now not shaved in near a week!

As is the duty of all good fathers I asked each how their first day went.  The replies were as follows starting with the youngest The Warrior.  He said that school was cool, that music is now his favourite subject and that having a class smaller than last year made him happy.  So a happy lad.  The middle lad, The Poet, was more reflective and while musing over a new book of tales published in conjunction with the school (in which he had a full entry) said that he hoped it would be pacer quicker than last year as he liked a challenge.  Now the eldest The Thinker looked all grown up in his shirt and tie and what did he think of his first day at a new school?  With a weight of years he said it was a big change with many more subjects and a lot of new faces to get to know.  He was most taken with the idea of responsibility in that he is now allowed out for lunch into the town as well as the canteen.

A big day then and it was a pleasure to see once more what fine lads they are and how they will make their parents justly proud in years to come.

GBS

Mistress Shani burns for The Ion Age!

Sometimes art takes many forms and today I got to see an example of Pyrography which is, to us lay folk, the art of burning images into wood. An ancient and worthy form of art in my opinion. Now to the matter in hand hot as it is!  Shani wife of Mark and a fan of The Ion Age made her loving husband a unique present of a dice box as seen in the image above. It was fashioned to match the cover of the coming Patrol Angis rulebook which you can see below.

I think Shani did an excellent job of it. You can see the original post HERE.

GBS

Going for 100 on Prog!

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I am about to re-enter the realm of fiction.  No, I don’t mean that I am going to cease to be a real person.  I mean that I will be creating new content for Alternative Armies, 15mm.co.uk and The Ion Age.  While there will be more on this as it happens what it does mean is that I will be looking for listening material.  Some people can write while listening to the radio or to recorded audio books but I simply cannot as the voices get confused with my own if you follow me.  So what does that leave as I do like to listen to something as the hours pass.  It leaves music.

I have a large collection of music on CD and on Vinyl and as MP3’s as well.  Last week I saw a magazine for sale that caught my attention.  You can see it above.  I really like Prog Music and since the magazine had a count down of the top 100 albums in this genre a plan was hatched.  I am going to try and get all one hundred of these albums and listen to them essentially in order!

There may be blog reviews of some of them or the better ones but this is more of a mission statement for me.  As it turns out most of these albums are fairly cheap and I have just purchased a download of number 100 on the list.  What is at this barely made it position?  Its the 1980 album Drama by the band Yes.  Find more about it HERE.

I will let you know how it ‘prog’ resses!  Ha!

GBS

Parli italiano? Vuoi giocare?

Over on the Alternative Armies blog which is one of the onlines places which I organise and run there is a short but great posting about a brand new version of my Flintloque 3rd edition wargame rules.  What’s so different about it?  Well its been translated into Italian which is excellent as it means the community of wargamers in that lovely land can now play and read in their native tongue.  Go HERE to read more and to download it if you want to have a look.

Flintloque is adored by thousands of wargamers all over the world who enjoy something unique and with humour but without all the high prices and often soul lacking materials that some other wargame systems have.  I am seen as the father of the community and its a great place to be.  There is a lot happening for the game during the rest of this year and this version of the lite rules is just an awesome bonus.  Ciao!

Thanks Gianmatteo!

GBS

Salmon tonight Darling? A useless debate on Scottish Independence

I watched it last night.  I listened again in bed this morning before getting up for work.  I listened again to it this afternoon while typing emails. It was billed as being that important.  Three times last nights debate between Alistair Darling and Alex Salmond has played through my mind so important is the vote now only six weeks away.  Scottish Independence is coming up to be voted upon and am I closer to a choice.  Am I closer to a decision based on rational arguments, evidence and calm debate through answering questions from a studio audience?  Simply put no I am not.

In a ninety minute exchange the two representatives of the YES and the NO campaigns put forward their cases or rather they repeated the same waffle without concrete facts that I have been hearing for months.  Over all I thought that Alastair Darling came out on top but that was mainly due to Salmond’s personal attacks upon him and childish rhetoric rather than any other reason.  Honestly it is starting to make me sad.  I have been avoiding posting on this subject waiting for something vital that I could point to and run with to voting day…but it has not come.

An in depth look at the debate can be seen HERE on the BBC website for news.  Its worth reading but the debate is not worth watching in full.  I am likely to believe anyone who can actually prove, prove mind not tell, me what will happen.  The truth…I think no one actually knows what will happen.

My own opinion at this moment?  Well despite the excellent result of the 2014 Commonwealth Games for Glasgow and the fun it inflicted on those trying to work about these parts there is no swell of feeling for separation and I think that on the day the result will be a majority return of NO.  That is unless something radically changes soon.  I have yet to make up my own mind as it is on 6th August 2014.

GBS

I got me a tower..of sorts.

Its our biggest code on the Ion Age so far and this little look at it gives you a taste before release day. Our birthday month is heating up and thanks to everyone who has sent in kind words and picked up the figures they missed from the Year One Collection. Read on and dream of a grand space opera setting.  Go to the Ion Age blog and excuse me after a massive typing day for not saying more here inside my own head blog.

GBS