Sweet Thing

Okay. "Blackstar". But David Bowie was always saying goodbye, wasn't he? That's what's so devastating. Space Oddity. Changes. Time. Let's Dance. Love Is Lost. Was there ever a work where he wasn't, if not raging against, at least charting the dying of the light? Even when he sang about the future it was to sing about a world without him in it. It's ageing to think that now might have stopped.
Not might have. Has.
Maybe they've uploaded him into Roy Batty. Facebook and Twitter are full of Bowie right now, but weren't they always? That's the other thing. Wasn't someone daily finding something Bowie-based which delighted them and inspired them and which they wanted to share? This is so much less fun than when Lemmy passed.
I tweeted, as far as I could within 144 characters, "Here's how it will have to work: We're all Bowie now. Someone dies you take all you loved in them and and become it... Too much isn't there?" Someone else tweeted that they understand now how our parents must have felt when Elvis died. Maybe. But I think it's bigger than that, because THOSE TUNES... Just as Shakespeare would be a genius if he'd only written "Measure For Measure", we'd be honouring Bowie today if he'd only written "Sweet Thing" (the first song of his I went to when I read the news today)...

But that's not how writing works. I guess you keep making things. Last year I lay in and learnt to enjoy not making things and to just take things in, and the year passed as slowly as it would have if I were ten, because it turns that out taking things in - even on youtube - counts as change, and the more change you experience the slower time passes. It was beautiful. This year might have to be different however. I'm sure time will pass slowly if I make things too.
His first wife's in the Big Brother House. Major Tim's in space. I wonder if they know yet. He was beautiful, but it was never about being beautiful. He was sweet too, let's not forget that either. Let's dance.

As Many Stars as there are Ears!

 As you can see, it's been a fun winter apart from the gas leak and the prospect of having all of our floorboards ripped up and – Forget that. Why not enjoy some of the fruits of that winter down the side of your head? And forget about not having any heat, or floor – boiled eggs or floor, that's the deal – But don't worry about that! Here:

 The Monster Hunters Christmas Special! "The Rapping on The Mirror" – NOW with added SCRYING. And a whole Series 3 is on its way! I'm listening again to Series 2 as I write this. Much happy.

 North by Northamptonshire: Full Stop! A "bottle episode", which means I get to do a massive, long scene with Katherine Jakeways and Felicity Montagu and Penelope Wilton AND Geoffrey Palmer, AND Sheila Hancock, AND John Biggins, and TWO Kevin Eldons! All in a bottle! The kind of morning one files under "Christmas has come early", hence the jumper in the photo.

 And finally, this very evening on the BBC's own Radio Four, a BRAND NEW SERIES of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme will be broadcast at half-past six! And then HERE!

 Okay, enough fruit... I wonder if there's any pizza left for breakfast.

PARTY RESPONSIBLY.

 

A very happy Year Twenty-sixteen from Exciting Space Adventures!

To All Our Readers...

"A merry christmas to you." 

"Merry Christmas 

from everyone here at Google! 

 Faster! Hahahaha! Faster!"

  

 "Hey! Hey! Hey! The Happiest of Holidays

from your friend the wheels, 

to anyone who uses wheels!"

"From all of us on here Loose Moon Alpha, 

we hope you enjoy a 

Merry Christmas and a prosperous new 

air AIR! AIR NEED AIR!"

"HI GUYS!!! Thanks to all our fans for making this an AMAZING 2015!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, and here's to an EVEN BETTER 2016 XXX thumb emoji"

"Merry Christmas Everyone! 
No YOU'RE in the distance!"

  "CHRIDMUD! CHRIDMUD! CHRIDMUD! 

 CHRIDMUD! CHRIDMUD! CHRIDMUD!" 

" - - - - - - " 

Yes! To ALL our readers... 

from ALL of us here at the Ole Unattended: 

HAVE A TRULY COOL YULE!

 

EXCITING SPACE ADVENTURE 16

"Bwaap! Okay! Nothing to see here! Move along. No, I don't want to hear it. You don't have to go home but you're not staying here. Move along now, apes. Shoo! Beep! (They were they wearing those before, right?) Bwaap!"

 

Source

(In other news, it looks like my psychedelic sci-fi slacker radio romantic comedy epic "Time Spanner" might actually be getting a pilot! And I hear this the very same day Star Wars opens and Peep Show ends? Coincidence?!?!?! #wheelswithinwheels #openyoureyessheeple)

Smashing Time

Lemon and McCartney

"The Goliath Window" here.
The fourth in Jonn Finnemore's beautiful "Double Acts" series (industry secret: The fourth episode of a series is always the best). SEE how much sleep I got the night before the recording like a proper professional not staying up late all excited like a chancer. HEAR all the lovely stupid sounds John wrote for me to make. WONDER whose bare flesh that is actually being slapped. (It's not mine, I know that - I was holding a script). KEEP up, as six-thousand perfectly selected words are delivered in just under twenty-seven minutes - surely a record! LISTEN to the others too - they're no Episode 4 obviously, but they're still gems and have people in it who are excellent and famous and probably got some sleep.

And on the subject of double-acts, and male modelling, and slapping flesh, and a thinky one and a punchy one, the Monster Hunters return with brand new Hallowe'en webcast "The Doll's House" here.

Featuring me as Sir Maxwell House (no relation... although very possibly a relation to Mark in The Goliath Window, let's face it... voices) and perfect for a Friday the 13th, this beauty features Sir Maxwell posing for a waxwork, lots of unnerving snickering in the dark, Lorrimer Chesterfield's flat getting further annexed by idiots, and Roy Steel facing the very real chance he might be losing his lady powers. Well, I mean, time moves on, Roy. It's won't be the seventies for ever. And what would the Monster Hunters look like in the eighties, eh?

Eh?.......................................

The most off-putting opening credits ever? 

 (If any of you do fancy braving the pilot episode, let me know in the comments below 
where in God's name you think the ZANY first scene is supposed to take place.)

Clean Shirt

"@slepkane has requested pictures of Don Draper illustrated with Mark from Peep Show quotes. Please encourage this."
I have my reasons.
Huge thanks to @Bright0nKath, @untiltheygo, and in particular to @MrJamesBachman, who did nearly all of these and came up with the hashtag #MadMenWithVen.
(And apologies, obviously, to Jez.)
 

Peepshow starts ending this Wednesday. You probably know that.
Mad Men - with its roads not taken, era-defining attention to detail, existential angst, heart-breaking sex addiction, trouser-wetting, office-shitting, lawnmower injuries, revenge vomit and aging child cast - was very definitely the American it.
But that ended.
And now Peepshow - which did it all first - is ending.
Or returning, depending on your POV.
I hope Jez gets that Honda account.

"There are a lot of television rules about story-telling that I didn't believe in... 

like, that you can't tell an internal story."

 Matthew Weiner