Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Why, look what I espy. If it's not the first Speak Your Brain of 2025.
But will that new year bring fresh changes to this feature or shall old traditions be adhered to?
I don't have a clue. I'm just doing what any legendary writer does and typing any old rubbish in order to get the post written.
But you may have more of a clue.
And, if you do, this is the perfect place for it because Speak Your Brain is the sensational feature in which you The Reader get to decide the topic of the day. And that topic could be just about anything.
Therefore, spurn ye not the chance to have your voice heard, and make sure to post that topic in the comments section below.
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28 comments:
What stuff - films, TV / books / comics / music - are you looking forward to this year?
And have you watched / read / listened to anything good so far this year?
Thanks for the topic, Matthew. I must admit I'm going to have to think about this one, as I've been heavily suspecting that this is not going to be a year to look forward to.
Oh well. At least Doctor Who's coming back in a the not-too-distant future.
Charlie did see the latest planet of the apes movie and also Conclave. They were satisfying to watch given they were free as part of my six dollar month cable subscription to Peacock and Paramount, which are NBC and CBS.
Also, I just read volume one of the graphic novels of Dune 3-4 years ago. That was enjoyable too, although I’m not quite sure I see what all the excitement is about.
But lately I’ve been buying a handful of Paris match magazines from the mid 60s on eBay featuring Brigitte Bardot. I kinda like those contemporaneous looks into time.
I'm watching the UFO Whistleblower interviews. New ones are popping up every week! Here's two of the recent ones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t37-SKj4rtY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRLmTB00zlI
'Psionic' - wasn't that word used in Chris Claremont stories? Maybe old Chris was ahead of the game!
Phillip
Jeeping it comic related I'm interested in the new Superman movie, the trailers look good with Krypto, Hawkman and (I think) Mr Terrific. At Marvel, Blade could be good If they ever get around to making it ( its been delayed for ages now) and the new FF film, maybe Thunderbolts... but I doubt i wouldxwatch all of these .
Comics/GNs: The " Kryptonite Nevermore " reprint collection from 1970-1971 and the classic Cole Plastic Man collection.
Like Phillip I've been watching the UFO interviews , makes you think .
I can't really think of anything to anticipate this year, but I do anticipate the chance for more reading and watching.
Speaking of watching, like Charlie I just saw "Conclave". Very impressive, and quite relevant to our recent US political campaigns. Also just viewed Pixar's "Inside Out 2" (our family has a tradition of trying to catch some Oscar nominees prior to the awards, and have a competition to pick the most winners). Usually not enthused about sequels, but this one was great! A fascinating / enjoyable examination of emotional change from childood to teenhood, with some distinct application to adulthood as well...
Best thing of 2025 so far is the free Chinese Deep Seek app which is causing panic among the Silicon Valley billionaires :D
Happy Chinese New Year!! The next Chinese New Year falls on 17th Feb 2026, my 60th birthday.
We watched I/O2 at Christmas and it was great. I was quite pleased it didn’t have anything as upsetting as Bing Bong’s last scene in the first movie. And the brief appearances from Nostalgia made my wife laugh and point at me.
Although we also watched Pixar’s ‘Turning Red’ which was another movie about the beginning of adolescence and it too heavily featured the plot device of letting your friends down badly. That’s a lesson Pixar really wants you to learn!
Another nice\fun animation was the Wild Robot film, well worth a watch.
Looking forward to:
- The Apprentice starting this week
- Seeing what happens to my Alma Mata in University Challenge now that they've made it to the quarter final
- A couple of concerts in the diary: Skynyrd supported by Blackberry Smoke in Brighton in the Summer and Bywater Call in Faversham In the Autumn
- Hopefully, filming of Portrait Artist Of The Year and Landscape Artist Of The Year. But I have to get through the selection process first.
Alma Mater apparently
DANGERMASH- What is the UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE? Chrlie has always wondered if the UK has university competitions.
Charlie, in school I studied A-Level French (aged 16 to 18) and every so often our teacher, Miss Davies, handed out copies of Paris Match which she'd finished reading and then passed on to us. I remember one issue had a picture of E.T. on the cover. In those days Paris Match had a fascination with Monaco's royal family as I recall.
Hi COLIN, I’m really not sure of Paris Match’s raison d’etre. But they have lots of pictures about less serious subjects… like royalty and movie stars LOL.
And of course, this is a welcome relief to the situation now in the United States.
I suppose in many ways it’s roughly similar to LIFE magazine in the United States.
A Levels? Should I assume this means you are a fluent French speaker?
Unfortunately not, Charlie.
Chinese New Year today — apparently you’re not supposed to bathe or shower today because it would wash away your good luck for the coming year. I’m usually not very superstitious but since 2025 has been off the f***ing charts awful so far, I’m not taking any chances!
b.t.
BT - can i still use my wam-water bidet which has been very much appreciated the past 36 hours given I’ve got that verdammte Noro virus?
Ohhh the humanity….
ChRlie
Charlie:
Umm…sure, I guess…?
b.t.
Quiz competition on the telly for teams from UK universities or Oxbridge colleges. It's been going since 1962. I think you have College Bowl over in the US? Same format as that.
I’m looking forward to the FF and 28 Years Later movies and new series of The Bear and White Lotus on TV. I’m also looking forward to West Ham competing in Europe again and Big Number #4. Not sure which will come first…
DW
Am I the only one here who's read Alan Moore's recent book 'The Great When' then? Its the first of his 'Long London' quintet - good that he's finally writing about somewhere more interesting than Northampton again! - and unsurprisingly great.
It had a bit in common with another recent book I read, 'The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again' by M John Harrison, and I am wondering whether I have identified a new Brit-lit sub-genre - the post-Brexit fantasy novel!
Looking forward to the second Long London book, 'I Hear a New World', due later this year. Apparently Joe Meek is going to be a character in it!
-sean
I've been enjoying the new Ulver album 'Liminal Animals', which in a bit of a coincidence - or perhaps synchronicity - touches on one or two of the same themes as 'The Great When' (and has a drawing on the cover - or at least will have when the vinyl edition comes out next month - by Austin Osman Spare, the occultist and 'cockney surrealist' who appears in Moore's book).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWb51gNSKRU
Best recent film I've seen has to be Kneecap. I mean, how can you not love an Irish language film in which Gerry Adams has a cameo as a ketamine hallucination?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftBkKt_zPjk
-sean
Although not usually into superhero films I've been curious to see the James Gunn Superman too, Paul.
I read that it also includes the Engineer, to set up an Authority film. Which seems a bit odd, but I guess they've already done the Batman/JLA thing (and maybe a more unexpected approach will be more interesting than that was?)
Mind you, follow ups to Superman don't get more obvious than a Supergirl flick, which I believe is coming in 2026.
-sean
And there's still another 11 months (and 3 years) to go, b.t....
Free Luigi!
-sean
Gents-
Talk Sport reports Noro virus is blazing through the UK! If you get it, best to think of it as a great way to purge and kickstart that body fast for 2025.
And get a stack of comics to while the time! You’ll be out a good 48-72 hours.
ChRlie
Charlie - I've got cluster flies. I've sellotaped a high cupboard, where they were emerging from, yesterday. Only about 5 or 6 of the little buggers have emerged today (rather than over 30 on Tuesday) - so the tape's working. I'd have to watch the cupboard continuously to work out how the outliers are getting through, though. Just thought I'd tell you that riveting little nugget!
Phillip
Apparently Norovirus is named after where it comes from, Charlie - Norwalk, Ohio. Thanks a lot, America!
Can't you lot keep your viruses - and kulture wars - to yourselves?
-sean
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