30 March 2011

"Whence all but he had fled"

For the sake of completeness and because it's an interesting listen:
"Miles Jupp's Muscular Lines.
Can a book of poetry for boys which inspired young men at the beginning of the 20th century work its magic on a new generation? Comedian Miles Jupp revisits his old prep school with a book of Muscular Lines to see if the stirring verse about battles, exploration and moral values is relevant today. Some of today's heroes and explorers reveal the poems that keep them going when times get tough.

28 March 2011

"The World Shall Hear From Me Again!"



Fu Manchu, as any fule kno, has about as much to do with Asian culture as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Much has been said about Sax Rohmer's rather blatant xenophobia and the persistence of Yellow Peril paranoia in the decades since The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu (aka The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu) was first published in 1913. This in the main is not one of those programmes. In Fu Manchu In Edinburgh, Miles Jupp investigates the character's hidden Edinburgh connections. Did the 'Devil Doctor' get his doctorate at Edinburgh University in the 1870's?  If so, what knowledge might he have learned at that time?

 dl

23 March 2011

"By Jove Carruthers!"


From The Solitary Cyclist to The Riddle Of The Sands, he certainly used to get about that Carruthers chap. Come with us now, true believers, as Miles Jupp searches for his secret origins.

From The Radio Times:
"No self-respecting Boys' Own adventure would be complete without a square-jawed subaltern, saving the Empire for his Queen and class, and invariably called Carruthers. Miles Jupp embarks on his own perilous journey, beset with marauding swans and errant bicycles (just listen, it will all make sense) to find out who this character was actually based on. He comes up with some unexpected answers, not least of which is that he may well have been Scottish.


21 March 2011

Ray Cathode


Time Beat/Waltz In Orbit 7" (1962)

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The Machine Stops

'Out Of The Unknown: The Machine Stops' (BBC 1966)
"Oh, hush!" said his mother, vaguely shocked. "You mustn't say anything against the Machine."

It must be almost a quarter century since we studied E.M. Forster's 1909 short story in Eng. Lit. It seemed a quite otherworldly and a bit daft to me at the time, with none of the thrills or prescience of Messrs Wells, Huxley or Orwell. 102 years on however and The Machine Stops seems to have finally come of age...

"How we have advanced, thanks to the Machine!"

The Machine Stops (2009) by The Freise Brothers 

Free E-Book version dl

Librivox audio book dl
 

18 March 2011

3 March 2011

Denton & Cook - Quiller 7"


Denton & Cook are all about the bongos, bass and synth, with this exceedingly funky sig tune from the 1975 TV spy show starring Michael Jayston. Those keyboards might sound hauntingly familiar from being sampled by The Avalanches all those years ago. Also the B-side's not half bad either in a 'contemporary pop' library-music-playing-over-a-kitchen-radio-in-The-Sweeney type way.

Your Michael Jayston themed music needs still not sated? Time to investigate the playful yet haunting sounds of The Jayston Mix by Moon Wiring Club and then do yourself a favour and put an order in for some MWC albums. Your home radiogram unit will thank you for it in the long run, I assure you.