Woke up this morning and thought…oh yes…of course that’s how it works!
Author of the Nathan Sutherland Venetian mysteries. Currently investigating "The Magus of Sicily" with Nedda and Calogero. Here for Italy, music, old horror films and prog rock! https://linktr.ee/pgjonesvenice https://philipgwynnejones.com
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Woke up this morning and thought…oh yes…of course that’s how it works!
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Jealousy?
What could it possibly be about attractive, successful, working-class woman Angela Rayner that makes them so angry?
Oh, Myfanwy's a lovely writer!
‘If you enjoy Italy, either in reality or imagination, you couldn’t help but enjoy Jones’s books’ Many thanks to the Morning Star! They were the first national to give me a review, all the way back in 2017! I shall raise a comradely spritz to them tonight!
Oh, that's properly good!
I'm saying it as well. "Exorcist 2" is really not that bad. It's only crime is not being "The Exorcist".
#Wordle 1,536 4/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩 🟨⬛⬛⬛🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Link, or this didn’t happen (*) (* it didn’t happen)
And they really, really hate women...
Sorry Daily Mail, but Kim Novak is allowed to look exactly how she wants. (Also, she looks amazing, but even if she didn't 92 year old woman looks 92 is not a story, even to the children you evidently employ as sub-editors).
I'm so sorry Elaine. I only met Bill a couple of times but enjoyed his company very much. I know it must be tough. Sooner or later, we're all going to walk the same path, but that doesn't make it any easier. Sending love from us both xxx
Agree, I think this is a pretty solid film and I love the 60s vibe.
Cor!
Cracking little cameo by Maurice Denham in this!
Martha, DM me if you'd like some signed copies!
1965 brings us the third Hammer collaboration between Jimmy Sangster and Freddie Francis. @househammerpod.bsky.social ask if it hits the heights of "Paranoiac" and "Nightmare", Cev reports on the career of the wonderful Maurice Denham and Smokey tells you everything you need to know about toucans!
Roger Lewis on Peter Sellers. 40+ hours of listening. Lads, I'm going in...
I tried not to burble uncontrollably!
I was there for the Headread Book Festival in Tallinn three years ago; it's a lovely place!
Estonia is a lovely country!
It's not long now...here's @davidhewson.com to tell you all about this year's Venice Noir!
Now available for Estonian readers!
Heh! Really couldnl’t go wrong with this one! #Wordle 1,535 2/6 🟨🟨🟨🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Nothing about it in the Italian press or Meloni’s socials.
Do we have a link? I’ve not seen anything in rhe Italian press and, given the political stripes of the Meloni government, I would be very surprised.
Misogyny and classism all wrapped up in one unlovely right-wing media bunch.
😂
She's got a load of treats! And she curled up to sleep on my pillow this morning.
Trist iawn, ond cofiwch Gary Sobers!
Wonderful, convincingly Poe-like and oppressive. The juvenile leads are a bit stilted, but somehow that actually fits the mood of the film. Price, though, is in his element - it's hard to imagine a more perfect Roderick Usher.
It's fascinating stuff. Part of me wishes it had just ended with Harker's final letter but it's so interesting to see how it developed - it's like looking over Stoker's shoulder as he writes.
If you're interested in Stoker or in Dracula, then of course you need to read this. Yes, the second half is poor but it's fascinating at the same time. And if you can imagine it ending with Harker's final letter then you have a pretty much perfect penny-dreadful Gothic. A cautious recommend!
The shift from the epistolary nature of the Castle Dracula segments to the 3rd person POV of the remainder is also jarring. So what this feels like is Stoker working his ideas through, into what became the final novel...
The remainder (a scant 60 minutes listening on audio) crams in the entire rest of the plot and - well, it isn't good. In fact it's howlingly, shockingly bad making me think that, yes, this must have been Stoker's work as it reminds of the worst of "The Lair of the White Worm"....
The vast majority of this, perhaps 80%, is devoted to Harker's experiences in Castle Dracula. The creeping dread of the original is here replaced with a more penny-dreadful approach as sinister servants, subterannean ceremonies, and saucy ghostly countesses abound. But it's effective and good fun...
#RecentListen "Powers of Darkness" (Valdimar Asmundsson / Bram Stoker). The Icelandic version of "Dracula". No, *not* a translation, that's not what this is. *Makt Myrkranna* is an adaptation of the novel, very probably using an *earlier* version as a basis.
I know! But she’s been properly spoiled in our absence!
I can’t remember what we called them but I’m sure we didn’t call them an ice-cream sandwich!
Damn, it’s another 4 letters that don’t help at line 1! #Wordle 1,534 5/6 ⬛🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟨🟨🟨🟨⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟨🟨🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
In a way, yes…
She was *quite* forgiving. Sat on the suitcase in our room overnight as if daring us to leave…
Literally an ice cream sandwich! Peanut and chocolate in my case. Magnificent but possibly too much of a good thing.
It is a bit!
Once googled, never forgotten…
Belated #Caturday!
Still with us and looks great!
Just landed at Venice and there was a taxi waiting for her with her name on it. Recognised her immediately. So I went up and burbled something about being a huge fan. She smiled and seemed pleased. I don’t think she thought I was a nutter. I’m assuming she’s here for the film festival.
OH MY GOD I JUST MET EDWIGE FENECH!
Still time for lunch though….
Ah, I will miss this view…
The curse of too many letters on the first line. #Wordle 1,533 4/6 ⬛🟨🟨🟨🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Oh, that's nice to see!!
I think he mellowed on Hammer in his later years. But I still remember his introduction to the Lugosi Dracula : “And this is where the story really begins”.
Funny thing is…it’s not the same festival! The one in June is the saint’s day. This is the martyrdom. I had no idea until 2 days ago!
I adore this book. I read it over and over. Simply, it was a life-changer for me. He was wrong about Hammer, but otherwise…the nostalgia I feel just from picking this book up. And, like you, it was a Christmas present on the 70s. I wonder if my parents knew what they’d done?
Meanwhile, in Durham, Reform are taking down the flags 😂 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
One of my favourite dialogues, from any Doctor.
John the Baptist has left the building!
This, really, was the perfect Negroni, just reduced to its constituent parts. No herbs, no spices. Just perfect in its simplicity.
One final Sicilian Negroni…
I've read this, and it's a cracker!
All lit up for Martirio di San Giovanni Battista.
#NowListening Homunculus Res, "Andiamo in Giro di Notte e ci Consumiamo nel Fuoco". Well, we're back to Venice tomorrow, so a little Sicilian Prog to see us off sounds just the thing. Very much *not* the expected Rock Progressivo Italiano thing, but gentle, quirky, whimsical Canterbury - style prog.
Enormo-Spritz!
A good start to the day!
I haven’t managed to work them into every episode…yet…
Mistake at 3 but that actually helped clarify things. #Wordle 1,532 4/6 ⬛🟨⬛⬛🟩 ⬛⬛🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩⬛🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Only just heard. Such sad news. I never met him but he gave every impression of being a lovely, lovely man.
Cheers Cai! Great to have you on the journey with us.
This is such a good film. Some of the images are absolutely iconic and Morell is a delightful hero.
This is not a scam. This is a genuine appeal on behalf of desperate people. Please help if you can.
Honestly, with a Negroni, the simplest ones are the best!
Post someone who looks good in stripes...
Oh, that'll very much do for me!!
Wow! I can imagine! I recently watched the S4C documentary about her...she's a phenomenon!
4)For Hammer fans - no, sadly she doesn't mention her appearance on "Hammer House of Horror". But Hy Hazell gets a proper mention and so we forgive her!
3) You'll learn a lot about fashion - she seems to have a photographic recall of every dress she's ever worn. But as a record of a Wales and London that no longer exist, or simply as an invaluable memoir of a remarkable woman this is invaluable.
2) The coda details her ten year marriage to Robin Sachs, the slightly sad account of two people who quite liked each other but didn't really have much in common. O'Toole emerges as a figure who it would be easy to love but almost impossible to live with, as sadly proved the case.
#RecentListen Sian Phillips, "Private Faces" & "Public Places". Her two volumes of autobiography in one bumper (26 + hours) set. "Faces" records her memories of South Wales and her first encounter with Peter O'Toole. "Places" is dominated by the story of their marriage...
Nice to be cozied up to @stephenking.bsky.social ! Many thanks to Southport Waterstones!
A very lucky first line, so this one doesnt reallt feel “earned”. Still, the streak reaches 100 so I’ll take it. #Wordle 1,531 2/6 🟩⬛🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Might be my favourite Hardy?
Unlikely, that’s not what a VPN is for. Better to check with your service provider or look at a signal booster. (i’ve basically got a VPN so i can watch Pobol y Cwm in Italy!)
Very happy with Nord - easy to use, fast and reliable!
The Negroni Diaries. The bay leaf is back!
Thanks Carolyn!
Cheers Barry!
In normal times this would be a career-ending move. But we’re not in normal times…
Argh!
A very close one. Bur the streak stands at 99! Wordle 1,530 6/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟩🟨 ⬛⬛🟨⬛🟩 ⬛🟩🟨🟩🟩 🟩🟩⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I’d like to think that wanting to make a deal with the *actual fucking Taliban* wouldn’t be a vote winner…
It’s like finding out who made the whistle in that MR James story.
Almost certainly Campari, might have been an alternative vermouth?
Five a day!
Ooh, that’s a lovely cover (and followed)!
“And I don't care about morals 'Cause the world's insane And we're all to blame, anyway” Brilliant song and one of his finest lyrics!