Carbomb

Collective Nouns Lions - a pride Chimpanzees - a troupe Dolphins - a pod Crows - a murder White males - a podcast

Run it through Grot, more like

Eva Marie Saint passed away yesterday at the incredible age of 102. Great actress, and stunning to boot - particularly in North by Northwest.

Currently at the new Blue Note London to see Baaba Maal. Always a blast to see/hear him. Last time was a few years ago (can't remember if it was at the Royal Festival Hall or the Barbican though). The venue's gorgeous, as you'd expect a prestigious jazz bar to be, though the corporatism is a bit insistent, as you pass a Blue Note merchandise shop on the way in (amongst the wares is a football scarf).

Think we should still have one of these - just none of the horrendous toxicity we displayed early in the original one. To start off with, Shiza Shahid, who is not only beautiful, but also seems like a good egg, reaching out to help Malala Yousafzai when she was shot, and co-starting the Malala Fund with her.

Was thinking about how I've not listened for quite some to whole albums, because of Youtube, streaming, etc. It's saddening for me, because most Mike Oldfield albums are meant to be listened to in their entirety - the one I was particularly wistful when I realised I hadn't properly listened to it for ages is MO's The Songs of Distant Earth. This also got me thinking: what are my favourite whole albums ever? The first one that always comes to mind when that question comes up is Paul Simon's Graceland. There isn't a single song there that I don't love. Post yours, one a day. Given that YouTube may not necessarily have it, post whatever means you can think of. Paul Simon - Graceland

A couple of weeks ago, something unexpected happened. My dad had been clearing out the clutter in a cupboard, and he'd come to me with a small bundle wrapped in paper, and what I found in it lifted my spirits no end. My maternal grandad, whom I never got to meet as he died a few years before I was born, used to play an unusual instrument: around that part of Yorkshire (at the very least), they were known as "the knackers". From what I understand, others call them "the Irish bones" or simply "the bones". Essentially, pairs of sheep's ribs that had been kept from the knacker's yard, which you played by putting them between your fingers and clacking them. I didn't even know that my grandma had kept them after he died, let alone that my parents had brought them down to our house when she passed, so I was overjoyed - I went on Youtube to find some tutorials, and have been practising ever since - still not great, they're surprisingly complex given their sheer simplicity, but then I guess the simpler the instrument, the more involvement from the body, which is pretty complex. But I'm now playing the bones my grandad used to play; I now have a living, working connection back to him. It's been a difficult time for all of us, beset on all sides by Covid, Tories, anti-immigrant/foreigner rhetoric, etc., so I'm glad to finally be able to talk about something positive, even if it's trivial. How about yourselves? Is there anything that takes the edge off the misery, or raises the mood, or makes you outright happy?

I know there's been a thread in the past, but #megadethtothreads or whatever. Just got back from the 50th Anniversary Experience of Tubular Bells at the Royal Festival Hall. Mike Oldfield, oddly, wasn't performing (I think he may have permanently retired from live performances), but the band was led by the music director he's worked with for the past 30 years, and the whole thing was great. A few different tracks in the first one, including the well-known Moonlight Shadow, and the second half was the entire Tubular Bells album, and a troupe of circus performers doing all sorts of tumbling, contortion, dance, human pyramids, feats of strength, cyr wheel, silks, etc. Really fun. We weren't allowed to film or take pics, so sadly couldn't get anything of the actual performance. EDIT: Forgot to mention. Oldfield always made sure to have a relatively well-known person as "Master of Ceremonies" for the famous bit where each of the instruments are announced in turn for the final run of the main track. First TB was Viv Stanshall, TB2 had Alan Rickman, TB2003 had John Cleese - this one had Sam West!

One song per day. I loves me some Baaba Maal, and was overjoyed to hear some of his music in the Black Panther soundtrack. Have always preferred his more traditional-style stuff, like he did in his Baayo album, but his modern-sounding work is still awesome. Baaba Maal - Mariama Post yer tracks.

Every so often, a thread will come up where we reminisce and wonder about old posters who disappeared and never came back, or very rarely re-appear briefly. However, I'm wondering, with this new forum's function for tagging posters, whether or not it might be possible to "summon" some of the old names back (assuming they'd get a notification in their email)? Is there anyone you remember and you'd like to have a go at resurrecting them forum-side? For me, there are a few I'd like to see back here, like @JLM, @CracktonMoj and @Jaffa. Also, there are the old guard like @Spatular, @Terje Rindal, @Kenny McBride and @bobbins.