MEATLOAF: HANG COOL TEDDY BEAR

Hollywood scriptwriter and director Kilian Kerwin wrote a short story called 'Hang Cool Teddy Bear' set against the background of the war in Afghanistan. The hero of the story is badly wounded and the only hope of rescue is if he can reach a nearby ridge. Somehow he summons up both the courage and the strength to do it but on reaching the goal has no strength to cry out. After firing a shot in the air he collapses and, in episodic form, his life with a girl called Jenny flashes through his mind.
Taking this story as a basis Meatloaf has made an impressive musical interpretation.
From the moment that the explosive pounding percussion opens the first track 'Peace On Earth' you get caught up in the futility of war and a soldier's wish to just go home.
On this album Meatloaf is joined by a host of stars - Justin Hawkins (The Darkness) who, also, co-wrote two of the songs; Steve Vai and Brian May. Jack Black duets on 'Like A Rose' and there is also a welcome re-union with Patti Russo. The biggest surprise comes with Meatloaf's duet with Kara Dioguardi on 'If I Can't Have You' where the pianist is the actor Hugh Laurie.
All in all I found this album up there with 'Bat Out Of Hell' and I can see this as a great concept for a live show.
While the album can stand on it's own two feet it was good to read the source material which can be found on line.
An album to 'hang cool' with.

WHEN THE COMICS WENT TO WAR

In an age where war is real some would say that that there is no place for war stories in comics. So, it was good to find a book that put the history of the war story in comics into context.
The story goes back to 1855 with 'The Boy's Own Paper' and 'The Boys Of England' launched eleven years later. However, in 1879, Lord Shaftesbury was moved to comment that many of the stories in these and the penny dreadfuls of the time encouraged the growing street crime. The stories that emerged following those comments encouraged a turn towards the acts of heroism in war - most of the stories taking place on land and sea during the Napoleonic and Crimean Wars. Acts of derring do that encouraged young readers to join the Army and Navy of the time.
Many of the big names were to write these tales and included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, R.M.Ballantyne and G.A.Henty who was to edit 'The Union Jack' (1880).
With the advent of the Boer War more and more comics began to appear all with stirring tales.
For many years the comic stories came in prose form and the die had been set.
An interesting reproduction of a story from 'Chum' in 1913 carried a curious warning:
'NOTICE. - This story is not intended to stir up race hatred, but is written as a true picture of what would happen if a great Continental nation attacked our country." The story by Captain Frank Shaw titled 'The Swoop Of The Eagle' saw England at war with Germany almost a year before it became reality.
This book covers the history through to the demise of the comics in the 1990s with the death of 'Victor' and 'Eagle'.
But it brings back the heroes of our time. Biggles, Battler Britton, Rockfist Rogan, Braddock V.C., Paddy Payne, Sergeant Rayker, 'Sniper' Dennison and many, many more.
And the Deathless men of 'V For Vengeance'.
The adventures of 'Sniper' Dennison was one of my favourites. The writing was somewhat darker and the descriptions of combat very vivid. Through this book I discovered that the writer, Alan Hemus, actually trained as a sniper during the second world war.
The evolution from prose to picture stories are covered to the evolution to the 70s comics Warlord, Battle and Action comics.
Adam Riches with Tim Parker and Robert Frankland have put together a very informative book well illustrated with comic covers, with sections from both strips and prose.
The final chapter is a comic in itself with the complete reconstruction of a comic that covers the history of war comics - including a piece with the controversial Hellman.
For comic fans this is a must have.

ALAN WAKE

14th May 2010 - a day that will live in - well, something or other.
But it has been one hell of a long wait for this console game to hit the - well, the console.
I seem to recall this title going around back to about 2005. It never materialised.
Even the promised 2010 release seemed to be going backwards. First it was going to be April and then back to the 21st May but, my guess, is that with the release of 'Red Dead Redemption' on the same day it was rushed to a week earlier.
So was all the hype worth the wait?
I do believe so.
It looks good and feels good - and a good game for writers.
That's the plotline - a writer wakes up in a lonely cabin in the woods only to find that he is a character from one of his own books that he has yet to write.
Confused? Well, there is a lot of time-shifting that the player has to keep up with but there you go.
Billed as a psychological thriller this has undertones of Stephen King. Yes, there are hints of 'Bag Of Bones' (the opening is a clue) and 'The Dark Half'.
One does go along with the media's idea that this is one of those 'must have' games and will, no doubt, top the charts for weeks to come.
Apart from the standard edition there is a Limited Edition that comes with a host of goodies. A Bonus disc that shows how the game was made. A CD Soundtrack and a dashboard piece of wallpaper. Also, the book of the game that makes for interesting reading.
All this inside a book cover.
As you can guess I have the Limited Edition and I think that with all the extras it proved value for money.
Available only on the XBox 360.

One thing to add. Many games have good soundtracks - 'Silent Hill' and 'Red Dead Revolver' come to mind. A soundtrack album issued with the game would be a good idea.

A RESULT! WESTERNS MAKE A COMEBACK

Well the good news is that the good ole western is back on the shelves of a British store.
So there I was in our local branch of Waterstones when I just stopped dead in my tracks. Right there in front of me was a display of westerns. Not the greatest display but a display just the same.
After checking out the shelves I found more titles tucked away including Pete Dexter's 'Deadwood'.
So, let us give Waterstone's a great big hand.
Now, we just have to give W.H.Smith a wake up call.
And, yes, it goes to show that the Tainted Archive's Wild West Monday initiative does work.

A FISTFUL OF LEGENDS: Darke Bounty by Peter Averillo

At the age of sixteen most kids are studying for their GCSEs; chatting on Facebook or their mobiles or taking time out playing on a games console. True to form Chantel was no differant to any other teenager yet she was adding another string to her bow as a writer.
In her own words writing was not at the top of her agenda - she did enough of that at school. Like many of her age she did keep a diary and dabbled in poetry writing.
So why attempt a western? And in an age when young people were unaware that the genre existed.

"The challenge. I took a book to school and found a boy who did read westerns. He had not heard of the writer but when I told him that it was about the way child abuse had affected the bad guy it raised a lot of interest among my friends. I mean the writer highlighted things that affect us in the modern way of life."

So, the story itself. Three men hold up a stagecoach driven by a female known as the breed woman. It is said that it is bad luck to hold her up and that proves true as a bounty hunter catches up with each of them.
A simple story but there is so much more within the prose.
A female bounty hunter - could such a person exist?

"Yes, such a person could have existed.
The internet has been a good place to go. First off, Charlotte Parkhurst better known as Charlie or Charley Parkhurst was a female stagecoach driver though she dressed as a man to do it. After her death stagelines did take on female drivers though they were just a handful.
Then there was Sarah Skull (or Scull) who shot down twenty three men. More than Billy the Kid. Add to the list Pearl Hart the stage robber and haulage wagon driver and Belle Starr who led a bunch of outlaws. Makes me wonder if Martha Jane Canary (Calamity Jane) did more than is attributed to her.
So along those lines a female bounty hunter like Morgana Darke could have existed - but, then, as the Sheriff Rick Blaine says 'what man's going to admit to be taken by a woman.'
But then again each character has their part to play and I think that it all comes across."

What was your ideas behind the creation of your character?

" I wanted to get away from the stereotype. You know, the woman who had to rely on a man to back her up. Read books like 'Lone Star' or 'Angel Eyes' series there's always a hero there. Nor did I want a character who was some kind of sex object. Something like 'Hannie Caulder' who does what she has to after the death of her mentor. A liberated woman who was not totally feminist. A survivor.
Morgana Darke, is also half Romany gypsy. Most times a gypsy turns up in a movie or a book then they are Basque gypsies. But there were Romany's who settled in South Carolina and Tennessee and some of those moved west. Their roots go back to the 1600s and were brought to America as prisoners on the transportation system. Many were horse traders."

Why did you write under the name Peter Averillo?

"Read the story and take a look at Morgana's last lines."

Australian Rules Football: ST. KILDA v COLLINGWOOD

So there we were bacon sarnies in hand and a good supply of coffee savouring the atmosphere of the scene at St.Kilda's ground at Etihad Stadium.
The Saints were at the top of the league having won their first two games and were about to face off against the Collingwood Pies.
From the start it was a very physical game and the Pies looked determined as they opened up the scoring with one goal and a behind netting them 7 points. But the Saints hit back with two goals of their own and two behinds.
The first half was marred by an injury to forward Nick Riewoldt who was taken off with a suspected hamstring problem after a marking contest.
The first two quarters were tight and the Pies showed some real skill with passing and possession. Though scoring goals had problems. All through a game that swung the lead between the teams there was always a 3 point difference.
By the halfway point and an exciting third quarter that produced nothing of value it looked as though the Pies were going to win the match. It was during this third quarter that defender Sam Fisher was knocked unconcious. He returned to action half way through an exciting final quarter.
The Saints came on to the park looking as though they were the hungrier side to win the match and hammered home three goals in what seemed as many minutes. The Saints emerged as victors.
Final Score: St. Kilda: 10 - 9 - 69
Collingwood: 4 - 17 - 41

Blu-Ray: And The Point Is?

Having an HD tv it was suggested that I invested in a Blu-Ray DVD player.
OK - so off I toddled and bought one along with a copy of the new '2012' Blu-Ray DVD.
Plugged it in and put in DVD but when I pressed 'Play' nothing happened.
At first, I thought, dodgy player. Then I thought maybe it was the DVD at fault.
So I checked the DVD on my son's player and he got the message 'Play Prohibited'.
But when he clicked the OK button on his remote we were up and running.
Yet, still no go on my own player.
Went to the troubleshooting section of the Instruction booklet - but no help there.
Right at the back there was a note in capital letters that (I've condensed this bit) explained that Blu-Ray discs were constantly evolving to the point that not all Blu-Ray discs will play.
So, it seems to me that both manufactures of these DVD players and the discs need to get their act together.

On the plus side - and there is one - when I shoved in a normal DVD like the newly released Spaghetti Western 'The Great Silence' I was gobsmacked by the clarity of the picture and the crispness of the sound quality.
In fact, the normal DVD looks just the same as the more expensive Blu-Ray discs. So when you see dust swirl around John Wayne's boots you see dust not a smoky dust cloud. But then this may be down to the fact that the picture you see is boosted to 1080ps (whatever that is).

I guess like all things new there are always plus and minus about them. I like things that do what they say they do but I won't be investing in any more Blu-Ray discs. I'd sooner spend my money on a film that plays just as good as one that costs twice as much that might not play on my player.