We’re just over a week into 2018, and already it seems like
2018 : 2017 : : 2017 : 2016
Maybe things look more upbeat in the United States, where instead of Weak And Wobbly Theresa, there’s a VERY STABLE GENIUS!!! in charge.
[Check out the Apoplexy Tiny Letter for bonus Track Nine?!]
Adam West – the TV Batman – died this week. As a wee boy, I loved Batman, and Adam West’s Batman and his awesome Batmobile and his colourful cast of supporting characters was a huge part of that.
Pretty cool. But my love for the Batman character has waned in recent years.
There’s more cool stuff in the Apoplexy Tiny Letter.
And thoughts on the new Wonder Woman movie below…
Continue reading Waiting For Gadot
In the aftermath of my viewing of Argo on the way back from the US, the spy news just kept coming…
But let’s leave Jared Kushner and his back channels out of it for now. (Oo-er, missus!) I briefly mentioned the recent shenanigans in China in last week’s Apoplexy Tiny Letter… Continue reading Saints and Sinners
Long-suffering readers of the blog may recall that I’m a sucker for a good airport.
Yes, Copenhagen is a good example. But this past weekend, as President Trump stuffed sachets of ketchup into his hand luggage before heading off on his whistle-stop tour of some of the world’s top religious sites, we were at Washington’s Dulles International Airport.
[Did you catch last week’s Apoplexy Tiny Letter? It’s a nice warm-up for this post.]
Continue reading Argo
OK. Two weeks ago was #stroke news. Last week was music. That must mean that this week, it’s… SCI-FI!!!
But let’s not be too predictable. I’m not going to bang on too much about last weekend’s Doctor Who. Although Smile was a good little episode. Thought-provoking. In fact, as I think about it again, I reckon that it might have been more satisfying that this week’s bigger, sexier, sci-fi outing.
[For even more satisfaction, check out the Apoplexy Tiny Letter.] Continue reading Ghost in the Shell
Mrs Stroke Bloke and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary this past weekend.
And what a pleasant day our anniversary was. We started off at the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art, which was featuring a Bridget Riley exhibition. I found that some of the impact of seeing her work for the first time in New York many years ago had faded. YMMV, obvs.
For more uninformed opinion, check out the Apoplexy Tiny Letter. Or BBC politics correspondent Norman Smith trying to talk about Scottish politics on the PM show.
Continue reading The Sound of [Young] Scotland
Long-suffering readers of the blog may recall that a couple of years ago I went through a bit of an obsession with the moon. (1, 2)
Yeah. Not Mark Kozelek’s Sun Kil Moon, messiah claimant Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church, or even Ban Ki-moon, eighth Secretary General of the United Nations.
[More, occasionally stroke-related, whimsy here.] Continue reading Moonage Daydream
I heard a story on the radio last week about a man who had suffered 27 heart attacks in a day. These sort of things are always of interest, partly because of the prevalence of heart disease in Scotland and also because of the similarity between strokes and heart attacks. Particularly haemorrhagic strokes like mine that are caused by high blood pressure.
Basically how it went down
Anyway, Ray Woodhall’s story is pretty amazing…
[Need another does of stroke-related whimsy to get through the week?]
I did have a plan for today’s blog. Honest. It was super-clever. So clever, I’m going to retain it for next week’s post.
But in the meantime, I’ve been asked to do a review of David Bowie’s posthumous download-only No Plan EP that dropped yesterday. So I’ve been working on that today.
[Feeling short-changed by today’s post? There’s more at the Apoplexy Tiny Letter.] Continue reading A Cunning Plan
This might be a post for any non-Scottish readers who’ve ever wondered what the chuff I’m on about when I talk about Paw Broon.
The Broons, y’see, are Scotland’s Favourite Family. But then, you knew that already.
Last Thursday, I went to the Perth Concert Hall to watch a new play, The Broons: Maggie’s Wedding, for a review for The Edinburgh Reporter… Continue reading The Broons