Rambling thoughts of an overactive mind

Since moving out to the country during May 2021, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and as a result of the related early retirement, time has been on the writer's side to watch movies, documentaries and TV series on various streaming services such as Netflix, Prime and Disney+, not to forget the one most often used - YouTube. At the end of 2024 a number of interesting Asian (Japanese and Korean) shows were viewed and led to the instigation of the present blog. It will contain brief reviews of interesting items. All are on Netflix unless otherwise indicated, and are highly recommended. * Beyond Goodbye , 14 November 2024, 8 episodes, Japan, English language dubbing. Story of a heart transplant donor and his girlfriend / fiance, a heart transplant recipient and what happens when the latter two meet. Extremely interesting original story which is connected with the issue of consciousness. Drawn out to a degree, and slow moving, but wonderful in that it replicates much of the mood...

Contents Introduction Magic Lantern The Baron & Bailey Light Circus Biography & reviews Lyrics References -------------------- 1. Introduction On 3 January 2025 the writer was introduced to Haymarket Square , a young American (Chicago-based) psychedelic rock band with a female lead vocalist and song writer. Their music was in a similar vein to San Francisco's Jefferson Airplane , though heavier, with drums and fuzz-toned electric guitar to the fore. They took their name from Haymarket Square, a commercial area in Chicago, Illinois, that is known for the Haymarket Affair , a violent confrontation between police and workers that took place there in 1886. The band's one and only recording - 1968's extremely rare 12" LP Magic Lantern (Chaparral Records) - was apparently only released in a limited edition of 80-100 copies. It's sound quality was tinny, which was common for the time in American pop culture recordings primarily aim...

The Kiss, 1902, coloured woodcut, Victoria & Albert Museum, London. The Kiss is a work by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863 - 1944). He is undoubtedly most famous for The Scream , a work which graces t-shirts and variants in the form of social media memes, such is the emotive impact present within the work. It is an impressionist representation of fear. The Scream. The Kiss , on the other hand, is the complete opposite. It originally appeared as a pen drawing in 1895, and was followed in the form of oil painting variant in 1897. Munch subsequently reproduced it in a number of print versions, utilising woodcut, etching and lithographic processes. The Kiss, 1895, ink drawing, MET, New York. It is an incredibly sensual works of art, depicting two lovers embracing so tightly as to almost form a single body. In some versions they are clothed; in others completely naked. The most famous and perhaps popular version is the woodcut, with the simple application of black ink upon ...