Terminus

This month sees both the third anniversary of TimeWarden’s Journal, hence the increased activity over the last few weeks, and the first anniversary of my music-clip blog, TimeWarden’s Jukebox, the latter originating as a Photo-log entitled “Editions of You” (after the Roxy Music song from their second album “For Your Pleasure”). But, as you can see, my transport is waiting so it’s time for me to depart. Six months ago, I decided to stop blogging but then, before you could say Russell T. Davies, I gave myself what has turned out to be only a temporary reprieve. That was on my 203rd post and here I am 58 posts later, writing my 261st, saying cheerio once again! My reasons for calling it a day are manifold but I won’t bore you all to death with going into every single one of them. The bottom line is, I don’t really know what the point is, of writing great eulogies that hardly anybody reads. I’ve never courted popularity, and absolutely detest cliques, which means I must’ve been writing primarily to entertain myself. If someone else enjoyed what I’ve written, along the way, that is an added bonus.

I set up TimeWarden’s Journal primarily to write about new “Doctor Who”. But, the tables finally turned against the programme with the content of last season’s finale, “Last of the Time Lords”, the worst-ever episode in the forty-five year history of the time traveller’s adventures. As if to compound the injury, it was immediately followed by the announcement of the return of Catherine Tate. I couldn’t really get a handle on what seem to me to be bizarre production decisions. It wasn’t just those two things, of course, but a continued lack of quality over three years culminating in the absolute garbage of wife abuse and mistreatment of the elderly as family entertainment. It proves to me, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Rusty and his sycophantic cronies are beyond any truly creative narratives in the science fantasy department. I don’t want to spend a quarter of this year negatively reviewing a programme I no longer enjoy anywhere near as much as I once did. And, I certainly don’t want to post a further thirteen images of Catherine Tate, to accompany each critique, when I loathe the very sight of the woman. I can’t think of anything worse except being forced to watch Fiona Phillips, over my breakfast, on the so-abysmal-it-should-be-banned GMTV!

So, that’s it. This blog is no more. It ceases to be. It has expired and gone to meet its maker. Shame, really, as I rather like the TimeWarden moniker! There are many other things I could write about, important issues such as who on earth buys Bobby Billions and Barmy Bierkeller CDs when the pair are so bereft of any talent, musical or otherwise; why no-one should vote at the next General Election and why this country ever abandoned capital punishment. As if the latter needed debating! Still, returning to the trivial, now I might actually find the time to watch some of the television I despise so much but, somehow, I doubt it! A few words of wisdom before I take my leave. Never accept received opinion. Always consider something first hand. And, trust me when I tell you the Sylvester McCoy era is better than the David Tennant one. So long, and thanks for all the fish!

Happy Talk!

Having been tagged by fellow time-traveller Simon, Old Cheeser to all you bloggers out there, I have been summoned to reveal all! Well, not quite all!! Five facts about myself, in fact. Everyone knows of my passion for “Doctor Who” but, around the time of becoming a teen, or perhaps even earlier, emphasis shifted to music; initially pop from which it broadened out to encompass much more. So, I thought I’d try and stick to a musical theme being a qualified composer, but how did I get there?..

The first gig I went to was a revelation. It was at the Cheltenham Town Hall in 1972 and the band was Mott the Hoople. It was shortly after their initial success with “All the Young Dudes”, my all-time favourite single which disappointingly they didn’t perform, but before follow-up hit “Honaloochie Boogie”. It was a wall of sound. If you opened your mouth and spoke it was as though nothing came out. But, I guess that must’ve been when I decided I wanted to play in a rock ‘n’ roll band! What I really wanted to learn in school, thereafter, was how to write music down.

The next revelation was the single “Virginia Plain” by Roxy Music. At the age of 13, it was the weirdest thing I’d ever heard. I can analyse it now. See the mix… of chords with no thirds, descending chromatic bass line, one note synthesiser solo, Ferry’s unusual vocal delivery of his strange lyric, not so much sung as spoken with vibrato, but, back then, the song must have seemed like Stockhausen to me! And that might well be why I went to University to study music and specialise in composition.

A third defining moment was meeting 10cc the very week they were number one for the third and final time. The original line-up had scored number one hits with “Rubber Bullets” and, most famously for six weeks, the spectacularly brilliant “I’m Not in Love”. 10cc mark 2, a 6-piece, reached the top for just one week with “Dreadlock Holiday”, the week I saw them at the Colston Hall, Bristol. The new line-up included one of my keyboard heroes Duncan Mackay whom I’d seen twice before, at the same venue, as part of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel. I was introduced to him backstage afterwards for a chat, along with founder members of 10cc, Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman.

Another shining beacon from my musical history would have to be seeing Kate Bush in Liverpool on the first date of her one and only tour. She was just two albums into her career and responsible for another of my all-time favourite singles, “The Man with the Child in his Eyes”. I didn’t actually like “Wuthering Heights”, initially, until I saw the sheet music and thought, “Wow, unbelievable”, this looks interesting. Incidentally, as well as Steve Harley’s number one “Make Me Smile”, another all-time favourite, and 10cc’s “Dreadlock”, Duncan Mackay’s other number one was playing keyboards on Kate’s only chart topper.

Life’s so much more complicated than that, of course. Liking a few pop records doesn’t get you into University! A lot of hard work does and it doesn’t stop when you get there. I was very lucky to have a brilliant music teacher at school in Michael Rangeley. He laid all the important musical foundations in me. Students in other fields found it surprising that I could be interested in pop, being classically trained. But having been in a band at home, Boulevard, I formed another at Uni, The Disturbed, as glam made way for punk!

From studying with John Tyrrell and composer Nigel Osborne at Nottingham and Stanley Glasser in London, I got to meet Peter Maxwell Davies, composer on Ken Russell’s movies “The Devils” and “The Boy Friend”, work with John Harle, a brilliant saxophonist and composer of the “Silent Witness” theme, but, best of all, become friends with the late Tim Souster, known to SF fans as the arranger of the theme tune of Douglas Adams’ “Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. As you might have guessed, I never became a rock star. Education made me Captain Sensible!

Postcard

It's always nice to receive a postcard, especially with a picture that brings a smile to your face, and one arrived this morning from my Mum and Dad which did exactly that! Not having had a particularly good day yesterday, it was an excellent way to start the day, but then my Mum has always been good at choosing just the right card. As it can't fail to lighten any moment, I thought I'd share the image with the rest of the world!!!

"Exhibition of a Lifetime"

First of all, Captain Jack came face to face with the robot incarnations of Trinny and Susannah, on the Game Station, in the penultimate episode of the recent series of "Doctor Who" and it was assumed he had defeated them but it would seem otherwise... Having relocated to Brighton Pier, the pair of presenters find a new adversary awaits them as Chris pays his second visit to the "Exhibition of a Lifetime", on the eve of his ninth birthday, and overpowers them with nonchalant ease!

Daleks thwarted!

That elusive and enigmatic figure known only as TimeWarden creeps up stealthfully behind two alien visitors from the planet Skaro in an attempt to prevent the Dalek invasion of Gloucester on September 14 of last year! It turned out the creatures had arrived to promote the BBC Experience and the extermination of innocent bystanders and passers-by was thankfully kept to a minimum!!

Two generations of "Doctor Who" fans!!

This is nephew Chris and myself meeting for the first time last August 27 when we travelled back to the age of steam at Brecon Mountain Railway on one of the great little trains of Wales!