Anyone who's seen Asteroid City will know it evokes the whole Roswell vibe. Wes Anderson's unique homage to all things alien starring Scarlett Johansson and Tom Hanks is a visual delight. Imagine Andy Warhol working for NASA and you're half way there.
Asteroid City (2023) - Trailer
Have Elle Cordova and Toni Lindgren seen Aseroid City? I'd put the house on it. Here's a song they wrote wrote when their van broke down in Roswell New Mexico and were forced to stay in Roswell for 10 days; soaking up all the alien mumbo-jumbo Roswell had to offer: Roswell International UFO Museum, Roswell UFO Spacewalk and of course the infamous Walker Air Base in Roswell. It's called Roswell.
I knew I'd turned a corner when I was well enough to leave the house and get away for a few days. Starting with #BlogCon25 in Bristol and then Whitby, it felt good to be sleeping in a bed that was neither mine nor the NHS's. I'd follow it later in the year with sorties to London, Blackpool, Southwold and most recently the iconic XGenerationX tour which took me & Steve to Hebden Bridge, Glasgow, Nottingham & Leeds.
The tea hut in a chilly Whitby was framed by a brilliant blue sky; whilst pressing the shutter it was easy to fast forward in my mind to next year when, hopefully, the sun will be warmer and I'll have to dig out my passport in order to see it. Ah, thoughts of Summer.
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James Clarke's style was made for the KPM label: richly orchestrated, laid back and very Henry Mancini.
Here's my third photograph to mark 2025. It was April, my final stay in hospital, and I was but a handful of days away away from receiving my leaving papers. This was the corridor leading to Morris Ward. I was on Morris Ward. Great things happen on Morris Ward and great people work there. They offer the ultimate emergency service. Like many parts of City Hospital, that's where lives are saved, mine included. I'll never forget that. I'll also never forget the first day I was allowed to leave my isolation room and slip anchor. I made it as far as the walled courtyard where the sun shone and I drank a cup of real coffee. I took this photograph on the way. For the first time in a long time I was filled with hope.
Here's my second photograph to mark 2025. Back in those lazy, hazy, crazy days of Summer, my good friend Ernesto and I decided to pay a visit to a mannequin graveyard; fifteen thousand mannequins in the middle of nowhere Lincolnshire. Someone in my writing class had given me the steer: 'It's made for you,' she said. Turns out she was right. I took scores of photos that day so editing to down to one was nigh on impossible. But I guess if you have Superman powers then nothing's impossible; here's that one photograph.
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I'm currently obsessed with Library Music and the KPM label. Here's another exponent of the art; where lounge and jazz and soundtracks collide.
It's been one helluva year, I don't mind telling you. I'm not generally one for hyperbole so I'll just say 2025 has been tough. If you want chapter and verse then take a peek at some of my back issues - you'll get the gist. But, and this is a big but, it hasn't all been bad. Friends and family (you know who you are) got me through this. Music got me through this. Books got me through this. Blogging got me through this. And my camera got me through this. During my recuperation I was still able, despite feeling quite weak, to get out most days and get some (much needed) air in my lungs and, whilst out and about, point my camera at whatever and whoever I bumped into.
So what I've done is select 10 photographs I took at some point during the last calendar year. They're not in date order or indeed ordered in any way. Just 10 shots straight off the bat. Also, I've tried to choose images that I haven't previously posted on my blog. Oh, and there may be a piece of music to go with them as well. I say may - I'm not 100% sure yet as to what the other nine pics will be (or even that I'll post them all this side of the New Year).
Anyway, let's start with the lovely Lisa. Lisa & Mike own a rather nice bar in my part of the world. Lisa heard I was poorly and said there'd be a drink with my name on it when I was well enough to venture out. And, sure enough, there was. Thank you, Lisa
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Alan Hawkshaw was, together with Johnny Pearson, the King of Library Music. His compositions spanning 50 years can be heard all over film and TV. He also wrote the theme tunes for Grange Hill and Countdown.
