Crouching Flu Virus, Hidden Music

Oh brother... taken down by some kind of flu for a couple of days. I don't normally do the 'sick' thing but this one got me good and proper. One minute, I was all prepared to cover the world with fire and ice, the next I was lying on the sofa like a soap opera tragedy wondering what I'd done that was so bad to have clay injected into muscles I didn't know I had.

I think two days is long enough to let any disease have its way with a kindly host though, so we're ignoring it now. It can hang around if it really wants to but let's see how it copes with a diet of nothing but caffeine and nicotine. Surely a more inhospitable environment in which to thrive cannot be found this side of Vesuvius?

Still, being taken down a peg or two in your own head can be quite handy. I didn't think about writing anything at all for those two days and happened to write quite a lot by accident. I also 'accidentally' watched some YouTube videos about how to make your own book completely from scratch - not sure I want to get into that but it's very cool seeing other people doing neat stuff. Maybe that should say, 'I'm not sure I have the talent for that' as all of them were great artists regardless of whether they made their own books or not. Thanks to Jonathan Carroll for that nugget - and if the name means nothing to you, you should go seek him out. Immediately.

Back in the land of something akin to normal, I saw today that netflix are about to launch an originally commissioned movie sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon called Sword of Destiny. It debuts on Friday and if it's anything even close to the original, all bets are off. TV as we know it will be officially dead. It even has a proper poster - they didn't have to commission one I guess, but they did:

OK, so there's not a whole lot of work gone into it, but it's little steps in the right direction that's for sure. Then again, I don't recall the original poster being something to write home about either. The movie itself though... that's a whole other story.

Consider the bar raised. In theory at least...

I got myself in the mood for some new/old vinyl too. Odds on it appearing within 24 hours: slim - but it will be something to behold when it does arrive. What is it? It's a reasonably pristine copy of Young Man's Blues by Rock City Angels. If you weren't in the loop back in 1987 (ish), you missed a treat. Popular rumour has it the band were signed up by Geffen in order to bury them from being in competition with Guns n Roses - and maybe that was smart thinking. If you believed the hype that GnR were the most destructive band in the world, it's a good thing that nobody ever gave Rock City Angels too much money to prove otherwise.

In my opinion, they were a far superior band - and not that it's hugely relevant but in their early days, Rock City Angels were once home to Johnny Depp too. If you need proof of life, here:

Anyway, this album was a tough find but there are copies out there. They appear to have released some other material along the way but nothing at the level of Young Man's Blues - and I'm very much looking forward to it being part of my life again.

I'm pretty sure there are bands this good out there today (there must be) but why do they insist on hiding from me?

Sion Smith 10/04/2012 Sion Smith 10/04/2012

IN WHICH DARK SHADOWS APPEAR...

"What's this new Johnny Depp movie about?" "It's a vampire movie that happens to be a vampire movie rather because Depp's character is a vampire more than because it's about vampires. Does that make sense?"

"Not really. How old is Depp now anyway? He must be getting on for fifty."

"No - he's more around my age I think. 44? 45 maybe."

"That is nearly fifty."

I clammed up. The above is a conversation I had with Eleanor's dad yesterday when he found me hunched over an article in The Times about Dark Shadows. I don't think 44 is anywhere near 50. In the big scheme of things, sure, it's right there on top of it but in a life-span scheme of things, it's miles away. When you're 14, you're not 'nearly 20' - although that might be a bad example because most 14 year olds probable do wish that they were 20. 24 would be a better example. Nobody who is 24 wants to be 30 for any reason at all. Luckily, 24 is also not 'nearly 30'.

Neither is 34 'nearly 40'. A little part of me is wondering whether 54 is 'nearly 60', but it's not. Not even close. Although I have to admit, if I push the equation forward a little, I will run with the concept by admitting that 94 does sound awfully close to 100. I wonder what your opinion on that is if you are 94. Should I have any 94 year old readers, I'd love to hear from you.

Also of note this weekend, went to see Wrath of the Titans. It was OK. You're not missing anything if you don't see it at the cinema and you won't be missing anything if you don't see it on DVD later either. If you do happen across it by accident though, I'm sure you'll agree, it's OK. That's just about an honest review as you'll find of it anywhere in the world.