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Pretty much everyone except France has looked different shades of shite this world cup.

Argentina were great at the start, but have been terrible the last two. VAR will rob us of the joy of Messi handling in the winning goal. Game's gone.

Been watching my way through Miami Vice a bit more. Season 2 has been really enjoyable so far. The episode with Ted Nugent is class (plus the few directly after it). I know the original pitch was 'MTV cops' and they really live up to it in this season. So many of the bad guys look like they walked off the set off a Duran Duran video 

Saw a class little film called Payday (1973 one). Rip Torn plays a complete bastard of a country singer, touring the bars and motel rooms. One of those characters who's a great charmer and manipulator, but also a total sociopath. Good fun and dark at the same time.

Vai is great live. Saw him solo in Vicar Street way back, and then with Dweezil, also in Vicar Street (great venue, albeit not the fucking amphitheatre in Pompeii, I'll grant you!  ).


Now, since Beatles discussion got interwoven with King Crimson discussion, Thrak: most Beatlesy KC album...?

Was it the Vai show supported by Erik Sardinas? The one where Vai wore the laser suit? That was an awesome show. I walked in halfway through Sardinas' set and I don't think the atmosphere of a live show has ever hit me in such a wave before.

Funny, when Vai's set started there was this little skinny, short, short-haired guy in sunglasses and with a Vai guitar comes out onstage. He's playing, headbanging in a super nerdy way, all goofy happy to be there. I'm like, is that Vai??? Total disappointment. Of course, then Vai himself glides onto the stage a couple of minutes later in all his glory 

It hadn't really clicked for me before either. Randomly, what led me to it was hearing the Beyonce version of Blackbird out in public somewhere, which put me in the mood to listen to the superior original, and then the whole thing just really clicked for me. Sometimes it's just the time!

The strong Northern Irish accent kind of lifted me out of it a bit, just because it was so unexpected in the context.

The Beatles - the white album

I've always been an Abbey Road guy when it comes to The Beatles, but this one was hitting really hard for me this morning. So many fucking amazing songs. I've never been a Beatles superfan or anything, but they definitely grow more and more on me as the years go by. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to hear them in the 60s when they were completely revolutionizing music.

A Field in England

A modern-ish folk horror.

Not sure how I feel about it. Barring a handful of moments it looks like it was made for about 10 bucks. It got good reviews, and definitely had some good bits and pieces, but just not sure I was overly into it. It's on the artier side of things, which sometimes is great, but didn't really grab me this time.

Just watched the Oklahoma Bomber one on Netflix. Paired very nicely with Inferno.

Just saw Angine de Poitrine in Edmonton last night. Great oul craic and well worth it if you can get along. Really fun crowd too, everybody up for it and dancing. Great range of people too from young through to old, normies through to metallers etc. Lots of people in polka dots, or dressed up as the band. One person was simply wearing a polka dot bin on his head. Awesome 

I'm still due my Nosferatu rewatch as well. Been eyeing it up on Prime for the last few weeks but still haven't gotten around to it yet. I seem to remember thinking the acting was shite across the board though. I cannot fucking stand Bill Skarsgard. I know he's the beloved actor of the moment, but for me he's just the modern day Jared Leto. Overdoes it in absolutely everything. Austin Butler is kind of the same. Takes himself way too seriously.

First Inbetweeners film. Always good for a nostalgic buzz.

Joe Pass - Trio

With Oscar Peterson in the band. Amazing album.

Roundabouts can be fucking nuts here in Canada. They're nowhere near as common so people aren't as familiar with them, so sometimes it can be a bit of a free-for-all. People taking the first exit on the inside lane is a big one. All people not knowing how to signal, or people not knowing how to give way. Basically, just trust no-one on a Canadian roundabout 

Stuck on a landfill indie playlist the other night while having a drink. I absolutely hated that stuff at the time but wouldn't you know, now it just sounds nostalgic. Every song sounds like it belongs on an episode of The Inbetweeners.