Ray Newman

Hashtag multipronged marketing blitz.

You can *hear* a sneak preview of one of Ray's new stories in series 5 of the Listen with Other podcast. Very excited to read this new collection! listenwithother.co.uk

The new book is brewing up nicely. In the meantime, do buy these. 👇

“‘J-Horror’ at first encompassed anything Japanese and horrific... It was less a genre than a pragmatic shorthand for fans cobbling together watchlists. [It later became pinned] to a narrower original canon of atmospheric, supernatural shinrei-mono-eiga like Ring and Ju-on.”

I have just seen someone post the phrase “forcive habit” so that’s me done for today I think

Tall pale grass against a bright blue sky.

A signpost pointing to Loxton, Weston Super Mare, Rooksbridge and Bristol.

BlueSky. 📷

Eton mess was better but I didn't mind the Babybel at all.

Babybel had more character than I expected. Eton mess was excellent.

Had both a Babybel and Eton mess for the first time today.

Creative writing lectures and received wisdom: If you're going to have supernatural or science fictional elements in the story, signal them early.

Almodovar: Just around the third act Imma add a scene of telekinesis which will be accepted by the characters and never mentioned again in the film.

A hardback book - Murder On Location. The cover photo features a clapperboard on which various murder weapons are arranged - a gun, a knife, a syringe, some bullets. Also sat on the board, a mannequin head wearing a wide-brimmed hat and red scarf.

The flyleaf blurb for the book 'Nobody had to tell George Kennedy that shooting a movie was hard work. But it wasn't the early calls, endless retakes or life on location in Mexico that got to him. it was murder. One bizarre murder after another. First the pretty script girl was sliced up like cold cuts. Then the stunt man missed his air bag at the bottom of the cliff. With corpses coming in faster than film footage, Kennedy and cop-turned-actor Mike Corby had to figure everyone for a suspect - even stars like Dean Martin, Raquel Welch and Yul Brynner. with no clues, no motive, and death the only alibit, Kennedy and corby had some fast actin to do. Veteran actor Kennedy has tackled some tough roles. But never has he been forced to put his life on the line to finish a film.

A photo of George Kennedy from Cool Hand Luke. He's outside in what looks like a forest landscape, wearing a blue jacket.

Today's best second-hand book buy - Murder On Location, the first crime novel by the actor George Kennedy, all about the actor George Kennedy investigating a series of murders on a film set.

I'm very grateful for the thoughtful input. Much of what you say chimes with the conclusions I've been reaching.

The Return of Cornelius, by Harpeaux Edwards from the album The Monkey Walk

Afew years ago, on the eve of lockdown, I rashly bought a shonky Farfisa and tried to teach myself keyboards. After a few short weeks, I recorded an EP of sax/organ tunes; a decision born of hubris and stupidity. However, I feel it has a rough charm...
harpeauxedwards.bandcamp.com/track/the-re...

A country lane curving in an S.

A hand painted sign lying on the ground: Slow Mud on Road.

Slow mud on road. 📷

A tree covered with pale pink-white blossom against a blue sky.

A road sign lying in a ditch: skid risk, 100 yards. There's a sunny haze over the scene.

Home in Somerset. 📷

The full-on blog post is going to be a while coming (I'm too busy, sob) but the list’ll get you going.

Twin Peaks title card reading "Allister Heath articles"

I memed a meme.

I like short, achievable watchlists. Anyone can list 200 films that might fit, or have some tangential relation... but what use is that to anyone?

A small watchlist emerges. If you didn't know anything about J-Horror, and hadn't seen any, this would work as a starting point.

boxd.it/STdoW

The New Adventures of Tarzan - Wikipedia

There's a good story behind this one off-brand Tarzan film/serial:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New...

Off-model yodel I picked up TARZAN AND THE GREEN GODDESS (1937) for £1.50, because I was curious. Like Tarzan himself, faced with a herd of stampeding rhinoceroses, I was grossly overcharged. The big swizz started…

“Bruce Bennett, deprived of the big MGM sound department, has to manage by himself. His yodel goes something like YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-MMMM-AAAAAH! A bold choice, but it will never live in our hearts like that zesty bellow of the German swimmer and sex pest, J. Weissmuller.”

I was also more excited by the idea than the reality of watching it, 15 or so years ago. I'm more patient now, which helps, but it is definitely slow.

Last time I watched this I found it rather slow and over long. This version, from ITV Retro on YouTube, edits it together into one 3 hour piece and without repetitive opening/closing titles and recaps, it feels much more pacy.

Sapphire (Joanne Lumley), ghost hunter George Tully (Gerald James) and Steel (David McCallum) in a spooky old abandoned railway station.

Now watching: ‘Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 2’, 1979.

'scones' - oval, battered potato and fish in a heating cabinet in a fish and chips shop

I'm in a 'Fishery' - the Yorkshire name for a Fish And Chip shop that makes it sound like you're visiting an aquarium.

Those things are scones. Traditionally found nowhere else on earth other than Keighley and Shipley, inexplicably leapfrogging Bingley, sandwiched between those two towns.

Buying a used book
strange binding, print is crawling
Poof! Now the shop is gone!

Tilling the field: The man who asked the way Has disappeared Buson

Pondering the concept of the uncanny haiku.

Black and white photograph taken at night of the corner of a street, shop shutters are covered in graffiti and a van is parked with 'TLC' spray painted on the side.

Tender Loving Care ❤️
Bristol, UK

(A project I'm working on, looking for quiet in the city after hours. Medium format long exposures, hand-printed in my darkroom).

🎞️ #FilmPhotography #NightPhotography #IlfordPhoto #Darkroom #BlackandWhite #BristolUK #BelieveInFilm #FilmIsNotDead #Photography

I'm fortunate to have read many of these stories as drafts and works in progress. Rory has such an interesting voice and writes in fascinating ways about class, money, heredity, contemporary rural life and, of course, ghosts. I'll be ordering a copy.

This is a good piece, I think, from 2005, on the meanings of J-Horror, its origins, and how the trend ended up lingering outside Japan long after it had collapsed there.

www.midnighteye.com/features/the...