TheBlackfordBookClub

Part 3 of a mini-series of readings from my very first self-published book "Diary From the 2022 FIFA World Cup", and in this reading I recount two last minute winning goals, broken footballing hearts and the beautiful sporting madness that is watching Cameroon in the World Cup. More episodes in this mini-series to follow. Until then, here's a handy link to a book I'm incredibly proud of, other ways and means in which to support me, and a short extract from the chapter being read in this episode: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C2SG69L3 https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford "In order to qualify from Group G in this final evening of Group games before the knock-out madness of this World Cup begins in earnest tomorrow, the “Indomitable Lions” of Cameroon needed a minor miracle, and even an injury time winner against Brazil and the subsequent sending off of their jubilant goal scoring hero Vincent Aboubakar wasn’t enough. Just a few Qatari miles away, Switzerland and Serbia were exchanging goals in a five goal thriller that ended with a brilliant team goal being scored by Nottingham Forest and Swiss international midfielder Remo Freuler on 48 minutes, and even a dramatic late winning goal against the number one ranked team in the world wasn’t enough for Rigobert Song’s brave Cameroonian lions. Brazil, already qualified and virtually certain of winning Group G, were much changed and captained by their legendary full back Dani Alves. I may very well be incredibly biased but I saw a stand out opening 20 minute performance from Liverpool’s Fabinho (but a rather insignificant 2nd half) and Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli impressed me as he always does. He’s only 21 years old and although he wears the wrong red coloured jersey in the Premier League, he’s a real superstar in the making. Aside from this, I thought the blue shirted Brazilians were underwhelming and far away from their traditional yellow shirted excellence. Brazil never seem to be Brazil unless they play in their customary yellow, green and blue! Rigobert Song’s lions were in their pleasingly customary colours, played a little less chaotically than on previous and past World Cup occasions, and thoroughly deserved their win for the ages. Their winning goal, just minutes into injury time, was as pure a footballing goal as you could wish to see. Substitute Ngom Mbekeli’s whipped running cross is met by goal scorer Vincent Aboubakar with a header ever so slightly behind him but with his run taking him slightly to the left and away from goal, he meets the ball just on the downward from its apex and across Ederson in the Brazil goal. The Manchester City goalkeeping custodian can only stand and watch helplessly as this beautiful header nestles perfectly into the corner of his net. Sheer poetry in motion. As was the celebration and it was oh so beautifully Cameroonian! Ripping his shirt off in exuberant and unrestrained joy, Aboubakar is mobbed by players and substitutes alike, I’m sure I saw Rigobert Song celebrating wildly on the pitch with one of his players (there was still 5 or 6 injury time minutes left yet!) and then our goal scoring hero shook the referee’s hand before being sent off for a second yellow card for taking off his shirt!" Thanks for watching! Please like and subscribe! Please also see the links above for ways to support me if you're able and wish to. Thanks.

Part 2 of a mini-series of readings from my very first self-published book "Diary From the 2022 FIFA World Cup" and a run down from day 3 as Argentina are shocked and defeated by an organised Saudi Arabia and the holders and European favourites France begin their defence with an easy victory over the "Socceroos" of Australia. More episodes in this mini-series to follow. Until then, here's a handy link to a book I'm incredibly proud of, other ways and means in which to support me, and a short extract from the chapter being read in this episode: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C2SG69L3 https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford "From time immemorial, or since 1930 if you prefer, the World Cup has been synonymous with the magical and the mystical of a shock victory for a rank underdog. But some shocks are so seismic that they are held up at every tournament since they shook the world as a shining example that every underdog can have its day, and David does occasionally slay Goliath. The two most uniformly rolled out examples would be the humiliating 1–0 defeat meted out to England by a still fledgling USA football team in 1950 and 40 years later, the bruising and chaotic 1–0 defeat of the reigning Champions Argentina by those beautiful upstarts from Cameroon. North Korea beat the might of Italy in the 1966 World Cup, whilst their southern neighbours did the same to shake up the world, and the World Cup, of 2002. But today’s hard fought, hard won and thoroughly deserved 2–1 victory for Saudi Arabia over the might of Argentina could arguably be described as the greatest all time shock in World Cup history. That’s for the future. Hopefully another shock will come along and usurp even today’s magnificent achievement? We’d certainly have a tournament on our hands then! Sure lady luck carried Saudi Arabia through a sticky first half but, and this is a very big but, they were organised, tenacious, physical and even at 1–0 down at half-time, they were in the game. Arguably again, this newly installed “greatest shock in World Cup history” shouldn’t have come anywhere near realisation as in addition to Lionel Messi’s 10th minute penalty he also scored another soon after, so too his attacking partner Lautaro Martínez, twice, yet all three goals were ruled out for offside, and twice via the dreaded eye in the sky VAR killjoy. So the underdogs were a tad lucky to still be in the game but they deserved to be and, crucially, despite the evidence noted above, Argentina weren’t playing all that well. The 5 minutes that shook the world today were set against a cacophonous din from the hordes of travelling fans from Saudi Arabia. It was a real throwback to World Cups of old and that constant barrage of noise, songs, air horns and drums associated with Argentina in 1978 or Mexico in 1986. I don’t make these comparisons lightly either and nor am I lazily linking an Argentinian defeat today to their two world Champion victories of the past and nor am I saying that today’s defeat means they are out of the tournament. They are not. But Argentina weren’t impressive at all, Saudi Arabia matched them all over the field, were more physical and quicker to loose second balls and through the central defensive partnership of Ali Albulayhi and my “Man of the Match” Hassan Altambakti, they repelled everything the highly favoured Argentina team, Lionel Messi and all, could throw at them". Thanks for watching! Please like and subscribe! Please also see the links above for ways to support me if you're able and wish to. Thanks.

Part 1 of a mini-series of readings from my very first self-published book "Diary From the 2022 FIFA World Cup" and the very first day of the World Cup as VAR makes an early introduction into proceedings, allowing me a mini rant as to this dystopian intrusion into the "Beautiful Game". More episodes in this mini-series to follow. Until then, here's a handy link to a book I'm incredibly proud of, other ways in which you can support me, and an extract from the chapter being read in this video: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C2SG69L3 https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford "Well we’re off. The carnival of the bizarre has commenced in Qatar and it took just two minutes for the soul suckers and bureaucratic basket cases running VAR to spoil everyone’s enjoyment. What larks! As television commentators around the world no doubt echoed the BBC with and a celebration for the “first goal of the World Cup”, after 3 or 4 minutes of everyone staring at their shoes they decided this goal, this very first goal of the World Cup had been a trick of the light after all and the all seeing eye decided we hadn’t seen the first goal of the World Cup and that great piece of instantaneous, live sporting art and theatre simply had to be deleted. It just never happened. Ain’t that just swell? We can all point to the fact that the goal scorer of the non-goal, the now deleted, never happened, don’t believe the lying eyes that actually saw the ball hit the back of the net in real time goal, Enner Valencia, would score two further goals before the game reached its halfway point, but it’s still criminally against the spirit of the beautiful game to have disallowed his first “goal” and the very epitome of the slow decaying death of football worldwide. After the goal that wasn’t, Valencia, and the team he captained to an easy victory against this year’s host nation, all crowded together in a kind of celebratory prayer circle to toast the sheer joy of scoring the very first goal of an already horrifically tainted and distasteful World Cup. But the all seeing eye in the sky said no after much hanging around, and the killing of a once previously instantaneous and immediate game stone dead continues. Surrounded by their blue and red crayons of doom, VAR suggested a player's knee (yes, his knee!) was offside, and rather than the majesty of the immediate joy of a goal and the spirit of a vibrant game, we instead all hung around waiting for a ghoul in a suit to press a few buttons and be the killjoy of a system that should be buried in the very centre of middle earth and treated as hazardous waste for all eternity". As you can see, I don't have a lot of love for VAR! Anyway, thanks for watching! Please like and subscribe and please see the links above if you're able to support me in any way. Thank you.

Today's book under discussion was my first ever self-published book in April 2023 and here's a link to the paperback version: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C2SG69L3 The following is taken directly from the book and from part of the excerpt read here on this video: “The Dark Arts” and other tall tales from the World Cup Well we’re nearly there and after World Cup shocks galore, we’re down to the last 4 amid walking football and referees as blind as a Wuhan bat. There’s been some “Dark Arts” apparently, my home nation disappeared in their usual mélange of murky malarkey and VAR continues to destroy the remaining vestiges of what was once the beautiful game. I dream of the day that intervening bureaucratic machine of doom is encased in 10 miles of concrete and buried in the world’s deepest ocean, and I can dream. You just watch me! Those soul sucking bureaucratic authorities can’t stop me dreaming. Not yet anyway. As you’ll have read in my daily diaries hence far, I thought Croatia too old and a tournament too far to beat Brazil but they twistedly deserved their victory over the tournament favourites. Argentina first comprehensively won, then threw away a guaranteed win for a penalty shoot-out victory instead over a one-paced Netherlands. I was as pleased as punch to see Morocco being the underdog we all aspire to be and I believe England thoroughly outplayed and outthought the defending Champions before, as is seemingly scripted, contrived to lose a game their adventurous and attacking style of play deemed them worthy winners of. Thus is tournament football. Thus is life. So we have the showdowns between “The Vatreni” and “Albicelestes”, “The Atlas Lions” and “Les Bleus” and whilst I’m hoping and dreaming of a final between a heavy underdog Morocco and an overwhelming favourite in Argentina, I’m expecting two dogged and low scoring affairs on Tuesday and Wednesday that see Croatia and France facing off on Sunday for the right to be called World Champions, just as they did in Moscow four years ago. The dark arts eh? Have these people lost both their memories as well as their minds? And who are these fools? Maybe it’s because I’m like the lead character in Christopher Nolan’s Memento, old memories are readily available but newer ones? Less so. Perhaps that’s why I snorted so heavily when I heard that Argentina had used “The Dark Arts” when defeating Netherlands on Friday. The Dark Arts? Please!". https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

Today's book under discussion was my first ever self-published book in April 2023 and here's a link to the paperback version: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C2SG69L3 The following is taken directly from the book and from part of the excerpt read here on this video: "Full Moon Fever at the World Cup" "It’s 9.17pm on a bitter and wintery English evening, and under the fullest of moons. The fever took hold earlier, not of your humble football correspondent, good God no, I was busy cleaning the bathroom and if I’m as good a writer as I delude myself into thinking that I am, I’ll return to this particular subject shortly. No, the fever has taken hold of my Sports Editor. That or the vast quantity of alcohol the poor wretch has consumed today and all because there wasn’t any football to watch from the World Cup. He’s passed out now thankfully, a slovenly mess in the corner of the room watching reruns of Austria and West Germany from the 1982 World Cup. “Why won’t they think of the fans?” I hear him mumble, but that’s full moon fever for you. I’m going to let him sleep it off. I need some peace and quiet before I drop the bombshell on the drunken old soak that there isn’t a game tomorrow either. Kids today are just innocent fools aren’t they? Seeking that otherworldly high from an alphabetised drug at hugely inflated prices from the guy next door’s best friend he used to work with? For the birds my friends. For the birds. If only they knew that locking yourself in a bathroom for an hour with an industrialised strength limescale remover ensured you not only see that unicorns are real, you actually get to pet them, tickle their ears and brush their rainbow coloured manes. I emerged from that bathroom earlier arm in arm with the ghosts of Diego Maradona and Lev Yashin as elves from the underworld of the 8th Dimension convinced me that Geoff Hurst’s winning goal in the 1966 World Cup final had indeed crossed the line. And if you thought that was strange, you should have seen what I saw in that glorious if slightly discombobulating hour I spent dancing that fine line between industrial intoxication and insanity. I saw things you wouldn’t believe, like Attack Ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion or beams glittering in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate, but all those moments will be lost in time, like the tears of a defeated team at the end of a World Cup Final. I blame the fever and I fear it taking hold of me now too". From the dedication, thanks and introduction covered in Part 1, Part 3 will also cover the near end tournament rest days that came before the Semi-Finals and a World Cup Final for the ages that I cover at length in Part 4. All of which is to come! As you would expect I'm incredibly proud of this self-published book and following over a decade of writing many hundreds of blog articles on many and varied themes, I've finally found my calling! If life allows and you're able to support my writing in any way, please see the links that follow and thank you sincerely for watching this video. https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

Today's book under discussion was my first ever self-published book in April 2023 and here's a link to the paperback version: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C2SG69L3 The following is taken directly from the book and from part of the excerpt read here on this video: "With the Premier League now closed until it re-opens again with the festive cheers of Boxing Day I am in somewhat of a quandary. I am in need of putting pen to parchment on all matters football and so I’m going to cover the coming World Cup, and all being well, in my own inimitable way. I’ll start as I mean to go on by stating I won’t be covering any England games, unless they face France or the team that defeats Les Bleus or the team that defeats the team that defeats the team from the European continent. I’ll explain why and how shortly. But as an Englishman you’d be forgiven for thinking that I’d be cheering on Gareth Southgate’s “Three Lions” (Trademark) but I haven’t cheered on an England football team in earnest since the sun kissed days of watching the 2002 Japan World Cup on the beautiful Greek island of Zakynthos (otherwise known as Zante) and mainly from the “Flamingo Bar”. It may have been called “The Pink Flamingo Bar”, the memory is either excellent, failing or dropping me into a cinematic sex club, but we don’t have time for such matters of lurid discussion here, we have a French football team to report on. Editor’s Note: Stephen has a faraway look in his eye whenever he recounts the events of that Greek holiday in the sun. It was a bar. It was a tedious 0–0 draw with Nigeria to qualify for the ignominy of *that* Ronaldinho goal for Brazil in the Quarter-Finals. It was watching South Korea astounding the world at 7am in a poolside bar next to the apartment. It was the Blue Caves. It was the evenings playing pool with the most beautiful lady in all the world. It was the spotting of turtles. It was the meeting of the two Manchester City fans whose names are lost to the mists of time. It was the drunken evenings and the avoidance of karaoke. It was an even more drunken evening as I tried to watch the US Open golf from the other side of the world. In a bar named The Flamingo or possibly The Pink Flamingo. It was the evenings playing pool with the most beautiful lady in all the world. So to rid myself from my albeit self imposed quandary, I requested a random number between 1 and 32 from my beautiful son and he plumped, at random, and knowing zero as to the meaning of the choosing of this random number, the number 13, and that’s why I’m reporting on France this winter in the ludicrously timed Qatar World Cup. The rationale was simple: Taking Group A, Team A to be  Qatar, they were allocated Number 1 and Group A, Team B Number 2  which was Ecuador, and so with England being Number 5 (Group B, Team A) and South Korea (Group H, Team D) being Number 32, hence from 8 Groups of 4 we have 32 numbers and purely at random and with my son picking Number 13, this became Group D, Team A and so, completely at random, I’m following and reporting on France this winter". From the dedication, thanks and introduction covered in Part 1 here, 3 further "Parts" will follow in future videos that cover the rest days in the tournament between the Round of 16 and the Quarter-Finals, then between the end of the Quarter-Finals and the beginning of the Semi-Finals before Part 4 ends with my detailed appreciation of a quite incredible World Cup Final on 18th December 2022 between Argentina and France. All of which is to come! As you would expect I'm incredibly proud of this self-published book and following over a decade of writing many hundreds of blog articles on many and varied themes, I've finally found my calling! If life allows and you're able to support my writing in any way, please see the links that follow and thank you sincerely for watching this video. https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

Clearly I was having far too much fun during episode 2 of "The Blackford Book Club" recently!!! Bryon Butler's iconic commentary of Maradona's "Goal of the Century" comes to you via an excitable man in a Beatles t-shirt who self published the book he's reading from in April 2023. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C2SG69L3 Thanks for watching

Following the re-release of my original rambling musings on 2011’s We Need to Talk About Kevin I confessed to seeing and loving director Lynne Ramsay’s fourth cinematic creation on or near its 2017 release date, and vowing to add my thoughts immediately to my career appreciation blog article for the Glasgow born filmmaker. So nearly six years later, here are those thoughts on a genre defying beauty of a film that I re-watched on a cold Friday night into an early Saturday morning this week and I’m pleased to report that I still loved it (though not as much as We Need to Talk About Kevin), the ending is still spectacularly satisfying (a rarity for me) and Joaquin Phoenix’s performance is still as mesmerising as I remember it to be. Which naturally goes without saying. Naturally. The above opening paragraph is taken from my spoiler free review of "You Were Never Really Here" originally penned and posted to my Medium blog site on 22nd January 2023 and the review can be read for free and in full via my Substack site linked immediately below: https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/you-were-never-really-here-2017-bbc961d617 This spoiler free review can also be found within my 7 volume set of "essential film reviews collection" that can be read for free should you have a Kindle "Unlimited" package: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C4HZSTTH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_a_lnk&storeType=ebooks https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Thanks for watching! Please "like" and subscribe! Thank you.

The Outfit is Graham Moore’s directorial film debut and one that had a stage play feel to it, centring as it does in arguably just three rooms of a tailor’s shop in Chicago in 1956. Aside from glimpses into an outside world beyond the shop’s front door and perhaps a room or two obliquely seen in the background, the film is grounded in a light filled reception area, a middle larger room, a smaller one behind, and each room darker than the one before. But where these simple facts should have added more claustrophobic doom to proceedings, they didn’t. Despite our capture within the same repeating walls of familiar rooms, the building menace and gratuitous violence (when it arrives) doesn’t particularly shock or jar and the revelation of the “rat” or the insider is obvious way before it’s eventual reveal. Ostensibly it’s a film of a rube, a placeman, a drop box and the cash shakedowns from local Mafia bosses but what I found most endearing was the performance of the film’s leading man, and his chameleon like qualities that blended perfectly into the madness unfolding around him. The above opening paragraphs are taken from my spoiler free review of "The Outfit" originally penned and published to my Medium blog site on 15th April 2022 and which can be read in full and for free (please also consider subscribing for free too!) via my Substack blog site and article linked immediately below: https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/the-outfit-2022-270716dc7e58 This spoiler free review is also contained within my 7 volumes of "essential film reviews collection" and all 7 volumes can be read for free should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C4HZSTTH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_b_lnk&storeType=ebooks https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Thanks for watching! Please "like" and subscribe! Thank you.

"It’s 1.30am and I have a confession to make. It’s always 1.30am when you haven’t slept for what seems like an entire year and someone is messing with your mind by leaving post-it notes on your refrigerator. Maybe I need some sleep but in all probability I won’t be able to as there’s duplicity in the air, a riddle I can’t solve, and I have a confession to make. Even the confession itself may be a trick of my own imagination or the salve repeatedly placed over an open wound and memories I’m desperate to forget. Who knows? All I do know is it’s 1.30am, it’s always 1.30am, and I have a confession from a dangerous mind that may or may not be as true as those post-it notes you keep leaving for me in a house that it’s crumbling around a shattering mind. As I’ve traversed the rocky road of life, whenever someone, anyone, be it a current love of my life, a mate, a lifelong friend or passing ship in a sleepless night has asked me whether or not I’ve seen The Machinist, my stock answer has always been that yes I have and it’s an incredible film with a skeletal, anxiety inducing performance from Christian Bale. That much is true. Kind of. For I have seen this film before but not for many a sleepless decade and so I hadn’t bargained for how unsettling and horrifying this film truly is. You know what’s coming, it’s just that you have to go through a paranoid panic attack to get there. The film poster above connects the dots from David Fincher’s Fight Club through to Christopher Nolan’s impeccable Memento. High praise indeed for two films I’m already obsessed with and I have no doubt whatsoever that there will be an insomniac reading this in some faraway future who will revere this film as I do the two masterpieces noted above, or the other immediate film that struck me on this evening’s re-watch, Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys. Maybe it’s just that one, repeated, heart breaking scene and maybe it’s the trick of the mind at 1.30am and the memories of a tortured soul that may never find some peace or the relief of some restful sleep". The above is a brief extract from the beginning of my spoiler free film review for 2004's "The Machinist" which I penned and published to my Medium blog site on 11th July 2023 and which is reproduced in full below: https://medium.com/@stephenblackford561/the-machinist-2004-2c7211280bc1 Here follows a link to my "essential film reviews collection" (free to read if you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package) as well as other ways and means of supporting me, if you are able, to continue self-publishing books (two planned for 2024) and further additions to my oh so essential spoiler free film reviews! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C4HZSTTH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_a_lnk&storeType=ebooks https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Thanks for watching! Please "like" and subscribe! Thank you.

Based on and a remake of, a 2018 Danish film of the same name, Antoine Fuqua’s 14th cinematic outing in the director’s chair charts the breakdown and mental anguish of another central character who on the surface is detestable and unlikeable and akin to the Denzel Washington character of The Equalizer franchise, and especially so another of Washington’s collaboration with the director, 2001’s incredible Training Day. The films may be entirely different but the parallels with the central character(s) are stark and as one of only three casted characters “Sergeant Denise Wade” (Christina Vidal) states toward the denouement of this 90 minute film: “broken people save broken people”. But who’s going to save the tormented and broken soul on the end of the telephone? With a cast of only three physical characters, the other roles are filled by “Manny” (Adrian Martinez) a call centre operative at the Los Angeles Police Department fielding 911 emergency calls on a busy LA night of Californian wildfires, and “Joe Baylor” (Jake Gyllenhaal). Whereas Denise and Manny are permanent and integral members of the department, it’s clearly apparent that Joe is not and on a secondment/suspension from his Police Officer role and is only mere hours away from securing a return to his previous position. The above opening paragraphs are taken from my original spoiler free review of "The Guilty" penned and published to my Medium blog site on 25th July 2022 and available to read in full and for free (please also consider subscribing for free too!) via my Substack blog site and my original article linked immediately below: https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/the-guilty-2021-c2fb5e71aba3 This spoiler free review is also contained within my 7 volumes of "essential film reviews collection" (£4.99 per volume) however all 7 volumes are free to read should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C4HZSTTH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_a_lnk&storeType=ebooks https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Thanks for watching! Please "like" and subscribe! Thank you.

Fancy a whistle stop worldwide tour, from the USA to Thailand, via Azerbaijan, Turkey, the UK, Hong Kong, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic before ending with a bloody and brutal hand to hand combat fight in a maze in the grounds of a Croatian mansion? How about another hand to hand combat fight within the tightly packed confines of the launching ground of a ginormous firework display lighting up a darkened Bangkok skyline? Or perhaps a mid-air fight for a parachute as a cargo aeroplane descends into a fiery inferno below? I know! A ridiculous gun fight on a tram speeding through Vienna or perhaps the escape of our hero from an underground dungeon as he fights for his life and from the clutches of the sociopathic assassin who simply can’t allow him to share the damning secrets that will ultimately damn not just him, but everyone in his world of black, off book, operations? Throw in as many CIA Agents, contracted assassins and murderous clandestine operations as you can muster in amongst a bubbly soundtrack bookended by the beautiful “Silver Bird” by Mark Lindsay, a fractured and non-linear timeline helmed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War), captured brilliantly by the cinematography of Stephen Windon and edited frenetically and within an inch of it’s cinematic life by Jeff Groth and Pietro Scalia, and you have the quite wonderful and mightily impressive The Gray Man. The above opening paragraphs are taken from my original spoiler free review of "The Gray Man" originally penned and published to my Medium blog site on 24th July 2022 and can be read in full and for free (please also consider subscribing for free too!) via my Substack blog site and original article linked immediately below: https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/the-gray-man-2022-a63f4ff7dcd3 This spoiler free review is also contained within my 7 volumes of "essential film reviews collection" (£4.99 per volume) or each and every volume can be read for free should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C4HZSTTH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_a_lnk&storeType=ebooks Thanks for watching! Please "like" and subscribe! Thank you.

Wes Anderson’s “Love Letter to Journalists”. As a fan of nearly 25 years since Rushmore blew my mind in 1998 and an obsessive for a decade after the release of Moonrise Kingdom in 2012, I’ve been rather excited to get my first glimpse of Wes Anderson’s new film. As the article linked at the bottom of the page will hopefully demonstrate, I truly obsess over seemingly every frame of Wes’ films and have long adored the quirky offbeat comedies of the aforementioned Rushmore or the more awkward and squirming nature as well as the immense comedic quotas in The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Darjeeling Limited. The attention to detail is paramount in Fantastic Mr Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Isle of Dogs and the reason why I adore Moonrise Kingdom is perhaps because Wes wraps everything that so epitomises his films into his 2012 classic and absolutely smothers it with humanity, exploration, freedom and love in the process. If you’re new to a Wes Anderson film, the picture book nature or the seeming blend of both live action and animation may astound you on first viewing, and equally so the extreme close ups or the obvious blend of the real and the surreal and especially so the overhead shots of inanimate objects, maps, tasks, agendas or a photograph or even a cloakroom ticket. The regular screen ratio size changes (from 16:9 widescreen to 4:3 Letterbox) may befuddle newer viewers to a Wes Anderson film, as will the constant changes between Black and White and Colour which is especially prevalent in this, his latest surreal cinematic offering. If like me you were expecting these tropes to be very definitely to the fore, then you may also conclude like me that The French Dispatch is perhaps the most Wes Anderson film Wes Anderson has ever created, as it’s soaked to its very film marrow with the all of the above as well as Wes’ brilliant use of so many actors and actresses who cannot wait to return to work on a film with the meticulous master of the mesmerising. So if The French Dispatch is in fact the most Wes Anderson inspired film he has directed to date, why don’t I love it so? The above opening paragraphs are taken from my original spoiler free review of "The French Dispatch" originally penned and published to my Medium blog site on 24th February 2022 and can be read in full and for free (please also consider subscribing for free too!) via my Substack blog site and original article linked immediately below: https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/the-french-dispatch-2021-550a6e06e307 This spoiler free review is also contained within my 7 volumes of "essential film reviews collection" (£4.99 per volume) or each and every volume can be read for free should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C4HZSTTH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_a_lnk&storeType=ebooks Thanks for watching! Please "like" and subscribe! Thank you.

"Aided by a beautiful music score from Coen Brothers regular Carter Burwell and the wide angled cinematography of Ben Davis (who also returns from doing likewise on Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), this is yet another difficult to define comedy from London born Martin McDonagh but perfectly in keeping with his Oscar winner from 2017 and In Bruges from 2008. I’ve been a fully paid up member of his cinematic fan club since this film nearly fifteen years ago and through the various existential prisms of loneliness, death, living a life to be remembered, friendship, depression and the passage of time, McDonagh has written, directed and created an absolute gem once again". The above is the final paragraph from my spoiler free film review of "The Banshees of Inisherin" that I originally posted to my Medium blog site on 31st December 2022 with the link below taking you to my now fully populated and all singing and all dancing Substack blog where you can read my review in full: https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/the-banshees-of-inisherin-2022-d20d31c9452e This film review is also included within the 7 volumes of my "essential film reviews collection" linked immediately below, with all 7 volumes free to read should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C4HZSTTH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_b_lnk&storeType=ebooks https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Thanks for watching! Please "like" and subscribe! Thank you.

"Being the admitted film snob that I am and despite being as hooked and addicted to this game along with hundreds of millions of people all around the world, I was slightly hesitant in agreeing to watching this with my son recently and well, we’re all allowed to be wrong sometimes. Any opportunity to watch a film with my son is always gratefully received but I simply didn’t believe this based on true events story would be any good or indeed worthwhile of my taking any notes whatsoever and so instead, and rather ironically, we played an old school card game whilst watching a film about an old school game that bridged the divide between East and West as the countdown to the impending Gamer Wars began and the Cold War was supposedly coming to an end. Regardless, I won at cards and my son won me over with his choice of film!" The above is an extract from my spoiler free review of "Tetris" that I originally penned and published to my Medium blog site on 11th April 2023 and the review can be read in full here: https://medium.com/@stephenblackford561/tetris-2023-8e4f84b06d00 This film also forms part of my 7 volumes of "essential film reviews collection" that are currently only available in E-Book or Kindle form but, should you have a Kindle "Unlimited" package you can read any and every of the 7 volumes for free: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C4HZSTTH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_b_lnk&storeType=ebooks Four self-published books this year, two planned for 2024 so far and the seven volumes of film reviews above, if you are able, here are three further ways and means of supporting me: https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Thanks for watching! Please "like" and subscribe! Thank you.

Just larking around in The Matrix with my mate Salvador Dali, a head full of dreams, and a brief reading from my first self-published book on Liverpool FC - "Chasing the Impossible and a Sword of Damocles" https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C6W6TYCL Thanks for watching! https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

“I’ve told you before, it’s not a play about dating. It’s about death. Make it personal”. Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut is clearly many things. A labour of love for sure and a somewhat autobiographical tale of a man desperately seeking that truly unique piece of artistic creation. Equally Synecdoche, New York (a slight play on words as the film is set primarily in Schenectady, New York and that synecdoche means a part of something that represents the whole, and vice versa — a key theme of the film) has echoes of his screenplay for Being John Malkovich in 1999 and of a man in the midst of an existential crisis, pondering on the meaning of life, and the threat of death. The man in question is “Caden Cotard” and is brilliantly portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his best performances ever to hit the big screen. “Caden Cotard” (Philip Seymour Hoffman) Before and after playing Cotard here, consider these impressive roles portrayed by Hoffman: Scotty J in Boogie Nights, the incredibly sympathetic performance as Phil Parma in Magnolia, Truman Capote, Paul Zara in The Ides of March and the tour de force performance in yet another Paul Thomas Anderson film, The Master, as figurehead Lancaster Dodd. And in my humble opinion his performance here rates amongst the very best of his unfortunately short career. One of the greatest actors of our generation, he gives everything in his portrayal of Cotard as the film spans 30+ years of his life from 40 years of age onward until his death. Cotard is a hypochondriac theatre director seeking to leave the legacy of his lifetime, that one true piece of unique art that he will be remembered by. But from the very outset of the film we see and feel the angst within him. The above paragraphs are taken from my spoiler free review of "Synecdoche, New York" which was originally penned and published some years ago, transferred to my Medium blog site on 29th January 2023 and which can now be read in full and for free (please also consider subscribing for free too!) via my Substack blog site and original article linked immediately below: https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/synecdoche-new-york-2008-3db04ec6dc41 This spoiler free review is also integral to Volume 5 of my "essential film reviews collection". Each volume and e-book is £4.99 however, should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package, all volumes are available to read for free: Volume 5 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4N25YCW 7 Volume Collection https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C4HZSTTH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_a_lnk&storeType=ebooks https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Thanks for watching! Please "like", subscribe, and comment if you wish! Thank you.

Tim Roth at his laconic, existential best. Sundown is director Michel Franco’s 7th directorial stint behind the camera, and a strange one it is too with much to admire. No spoilers here, as ever, but here’s a brief capsule review to hopefully whet your appetite to see this intriguing film, or indeed see it again: An apparently wealthy English family are enjoying an ultra luxurious holiday on the clifftops overlooking Acapulco and are in the very lap of luxury with their own private apartment, clifftop swimming pool and the very opposite of the bustling seaside metropolis below. An unexpected death in the family ends their holiday abruptly but a lost passport means the Patriarch of the family has to remain behind and in keeping with his developing character on screen, he takes up residence in the busy local streets of Acapulco rather than the luxury world just minutes away. Cloaked in anonymity and wrapped up within his own existential thoughts, is he experiencing a mid-life crisis, unable to comprehend the familial death he’s running away from, or is it far, far worse? The above opening paragraphs are taken from my original spoiler free review of "Sundown" originally penned and published to my Medium blog site on 6th June 2022 and can be read in full and for free (please also consider subscribing for free too!) via my Substack blog site and original article linked immediately below: https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/sundown-2022-5d81b029a034 This spoiler free review is also contained within volume 5 of my 7 volumes of "essential film reviews collection" (£4.99 per volume) or each and every volume can be read for free should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package: Volume 5 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4N25YCW 7 Volume collection https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C4HZSTTH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_a_lnk&storeType=ebooks Thanks for watching! Please "like" and subscribe! Thank you.

Thanks for watching and welcome to Part 15 from my self-published book in August 2023, "The Spirit of Cricket". Please see the link below for the paperback version of this, my fourth self-published book, and three ways in which you could support me and poke the traditional publishers in the eye who refused to even read my manuscript! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF4FRKSH https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Here follows a snippet from the chapter being read here, and chapter number 34 of a total of 41 from a book I'm immensely proud of: "It’s exactly 12.18am on a dark and early Saturday morning after the Friday night before, and it’s raining. OK I may be two hours away from Manchester but if the weather reports and those damn doom mongers are to be believed, it’s going to rain everywhere here in England for the entirety of Saturday into Sunday, completely washing out today’s play and threatening the viability of any play on a Sunday also threatened with heavy rain showers. Best case scenarios seem to suggest, weather permitting, a couple of hours play or maybe an elongated session of play on Sunday, at best, and lest we all forget, England HAVE to win this Test Match to have any hope remaining in this series. A drawn game here in Manchester? Australia retain the Ashes regardless of what happens at The Oval next week. So I’m wrapping this diary entry early to perform some reverse rain dances. I may even recreate Tim Robbins’ hands on knees prayers to the almighty in the pouring rain after escaping Shawshank Prison. I also think we’re gonna need a bigger boat. See you tomorrow. Weather permitting". Thanks for watching! Please like and subscribe! I'll pay you back some day in magic beans if you do!

Thanks for watching and welcome to Part 14 from my self-published book in August 2023, "The Spirit of Cricket". Please see the link below for the paperback version of this, my fourth self-published book, and three ways in which you could support me and poke the traditional publishers in the eye who refused to even read my manuscript! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF4FRKSH https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Here's a snippet from the chapter being read here, chapter number 31 of a total of 41 from a book I'm immensely proud of: "With the television otherwise engaged and next to zero chance of watching any of today’s action from Taunton live or even the late night highlights, I turned to the radio once more and that British institution of “Test Match Special” (TMS) for all the colour and cricketing circumstance surrounding the final match in the ladies Ashes series. With the stump microphones turned up capturing the incessant chatter from England’s Amy Jones and Australia’s Alyssa Healy behind the stumps, and other assorted microphones capturing a persistent flock of seagulls as clear and as nearby as the bells from a local church, TMS never seems to fail in bringing such an audio flavour for its listening audience. In short, and perfectly in keeping with this spectacular Summer of Ashes cricket so far, England won by 69 runs sealing the One Day International (ODI) portion of the series 2–1 to go alongside their 2–1 triumph in the IT20 (International T20) section of The Ashes and yet, even with 4 overall victories against Australia’s 3, both teams end up with 8 points each, The Ashes shared but, and it’s the biggest but of them all, as holders, Australia retain The Ashes even after 4 defeats in 5 games. The series commencing Test Match at Trent Bridge in Nottingham was always going to play a pivotal role in not only the series as a whole but with 4 points for the victor, a huge step on the road to winning or indeed retaining The Ashes, and so it proved. The Aussies 89 run victory was the largest run differential or winning margin between the two teams in the entire series and after winning the first IT20 match they held an almost unbeatable 6–0 points lead. Back came Heather Knight’s England to win the IT20 series 2–1 and the series score to 6–4 before levelling matters at 6–6 with a brilliant 2 wicket victory last Wednesday courtesy of a captain’s innings from Knight. The impossible mission of a comeback win for the ages against the World Champions was thwarted on the south coast of Hampshire just 3 days ago and by the margin of just 3 runs and despite today’s more comprehensive win and, lest we forget, beating a virtually unbeatable Australian team in both shorter forms of the game, the 8–8 series tie sees the Ashes urn returning to Australia in the hands of their captain Alyssa Healy". Thanks for reading! Please "like" and subscribe! I'll pay you back in magic beans someday if you do!

Thanks for watching and welcome to Part 13 from my self-published book in August 2023, "The Spirit of Cricket". Please see the link below for the paperback version of this, my fourth self-published book, and three ways in which you could support me and poke the traditional publishers in the eye who refused to even read my manuscript! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF4FRKSH https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Here follows a snippet from the chapter being read here, and chapter number 30 of a total of 41 from a book I'm immensely proud of: "But with the visitors triumph in the Test Match counting double in the points system, and 2 points from their sole victories in the IT20 and ODI games, The Ashes will remain in Australian hands regardless of Tuesday’s outcome. Whilst this cricketing hullabaloo was unfolding 175 odd miles away in my home county of Hampshire (and on the outskirts of a city my hometown friends can’t pronounce without a sneer of contempt!) I was watching my latest hometown team of “Giants” entertain some visiting “Metalheads” in the American pastime of baseball, and all within my spiritual home of Ironbridge on the banks of the River Severn. Being the baseball nut that I am (and proud LA Dodgers fan), I was delighted beyond measure when last Summer I stumbled upon the faintly ridiculous and utterly absurd notion of a game of baseball in England, and that my home team played a mere hop, skip and second base steal from picturesque Ironbridge. So bribed with the prospect of some afternoon fish and chips beside the iron bridge itself and within the bubbling atmosphere that only Ironbridge can provide, my son indulged me for an hour or so of high scoring baseball on the banks of a river in the very heart of central England. With my son insisting on being chief photographer we retrieved errant baseballs from the surrounding trees or used them for temporary cover as yet another rain shower swept through a late July morning that was more reminiscent of a cold day in April. Sunshine and showers was the order of the day, as was the predicted victory for the visiting “Metalheads” from Birmingham who were far too strong for my home team of “Giants”. I had the very real pleasure of explaining the game, a real life game rather than the one I’ve explained via the medium of a television, to a son who rather enjoyed himself (just don’t tell him that!) as well as being magnanimous enough to say I was wrong and there was no way either team would hit a Home Run to the faraway boundaries. No way! Yet in the 3rd inning alone the visiting “Metalheads” crashed 3 multi-scoring “Homers” on their way to scoring 10 runs in the inning, a 12–3 lead entering the 4th inning, and the signal for our departure for a stroll along the River Severn and the delights of fish and chips beside the oldest iron bridge in the world. From 12–3 in favour of Birmingham at the top of the 4th inning, the game ended 5 innings later with a comprehensive score line of 26–11 in favour of the “Metalheads” and with 37 runs being scored and a little piece of amateur sporting heaven on my doorstep, I’ll be returning for their three season ending home fixtures in August. Fish, chips and baseball beside the river? And why not? Why not indeed". Thanks for watching! Please like and subscribe! I'll pay you back some day in magic beans if you do!

Thanks for watching and welcome to Part 12 from my self-published book in August 2023, "The Spirit of Cricket". Please see the link below for the paperback version of this, my fourth self-published book, and three ways in which you could support me and poke the traditional publishers in the eye who refused to even read my manuscript! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF4FRKSH https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Here follows a snippet from the chapter being read here, and chapter number 29 of a total of 41 from a book I'm immensely proud of: "I had to forgo today’s cricketing Ashes battle and the 5th game in a series of 7 between the ladies of England and Australia, as quite simply my son insisted upon us visiting our local cinema to aid Tom Cruise in his impossible mission of saving the world once more. To say we were both excitedly looking forward to this latest instalment in a franchise approaching its third decade is another of my monumental understatements and refraining from any hints, score updates or sporting spoilers, I bubbled myself away in a cocoon until late this evening and the hour long highlights from Bristol of today’s 50 over ODI (One Day International). After saving the world, with the added help of the Impossible Mission Force and Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, I settled in with a pizza to accompany the highlights hoping for an England victory that, like their male counterparts, would keep their Ashes dreams alive. Remarkably, considering England lost the first match in the series and a brilliant Test Match to boot, as well as the first of three IT20 (International T20) matches and trailing 6 points to 0 as a consequence, the Ashes are as alive as England’s hopes following today’s close run 2 wicket triumph over the World Champion Australians. The razor thin margin of victory is perfectly in keeping with the series as well as a mirror to the men’s series recommencing next week and the mirroring theme continues with an Australian team being incredibly difficult to beat and never giving up, and an England team on the rise, a little raw in places, and apt to drop a lot of catches. A lot of catches. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Australia lost captain Alyssa Healy for just 8 before Ellyse Perry and 20 year old Phoebe Litchfield steadied the ship of their innings with a fine partnership that saw Perry granted a cricketing “life” when on just 6 and Litchfield finally dismissed for 34 runs from 36 balls received with unquestionably one of the greatest catches of this sporting Summer. On a day when England would spill 5 catches (with the combined extra cricketing lives costing a mammoth 141 additional runs), youngster Litchfield was brilliantly caught one-handed by a leaping Sophie Ecclestone at the “Mid-On” position. Ecclestone, a mixture of joy, relief and utter astonishment at her incredible grab, simply clasped a hand over her mouth before being mobbed by her jubilant teammates. It was a true highlight of this Ashes Summer, and any cricketing Summer come to that". Thanks for watching! Please like and subscribe! I'll pay you back some day in magic beans if you do!

Thanks for watching and welcome to Part 11 from my self-published book in August 2023, "The Spirit of Cricket". Please see the link below for the paperback version of this, my fourth self-published book, and three ways in which you could support me and poke the traditional publishers in the eye who refused to even read my manuscript! https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Here follows a snippet from the chapter being read here, and chapter number 24 of a total of 41 from a book I'm immensely proud of: "It was an overcast if slightly warmer English Summer’s afternoon as I strolled alongside the River Severn bubbling with more thoughts than simply the fish and chips I’d be treating myself with as I shared a moment or two of reflection in the shadow of the world’s oldest iron bridge. The toytown of Ironbridge itself was humming to the sweet sound of the bells of St Luke’s Church as always and today, the groups of tourists flocking to this World Heritage accredited site mingled with a party of schoolchildren, pencils and pads of paper at the ready as first they doodled their impressions of the river where an excited pack of hungry ducks had formed (as per usual!) before they were sprawled out in an excited hum of their own at the foot of the “Grand Old Lady”. Ironbridge beguiles me. She has a space and time all of her own in a land that has thankfully left her alone in a different century, and with an aura and atmosphere all uniquely her own. Jeremy, the genial owner of the “Old Fashioned Sweet Shop” was present and correct in his little corner of paradise and accompanied (today) by his granddaughter and (always) by his beautiful pug dog named “Bear”. Tall tales were told as usual but for once I left centre-stage to my favourite Welshman born in England, and with far more roots in Ironbridge than I. A tale was told of a ferry crossing to a faraway island to collect a rare motorcycle that was highly prized by our friends in the Czech Republic for more reasons than I truly comprehended, let alone the inner workings of this rare dual-engine beast from the age of the Cold War. I nodded along as though as I knew one end of a motorcycle from another before I quickly crowbarred the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938 and the still incredible “The World at War” documentary narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier into the conversation, and before you could say “Ural Mountains” or “The Sudetenland”, I’d left with a quarter of lemon Bon Bons, a quarter of cough candy twist and some wine gums. There’s a bench right beside the “Grand Old Lady” giving you the most perfect view of a magnificent reminder to a grander age. I’ve long bestowed this simple black bench with the moniker of “Stephen’s Bench” and I’m allowed to and so are you. Just be sure to have the name Stephen if you are to follow my strict example. It’s a little piece of heaven all right, especially when accompanied by the sweet chimes from St Luke’s Church, as well as a perfect spot for some fish and chips, a chat with passing tourists, and naturally, quiet inner ruminations on the week ahead for English cricket. OK I had other thoughts on my mind too, otherwise you’d worry for me and think me an unhinged lunatic who constantly thinks only about Test Match cricket and that my friends is the way to the madhouse, a route I don’t particularly advise you taking". Thanks for watching! Please like and subscribe! I'll pay you back some day in magic beans if you do so!

Thanks for watching and welcome to Part 10 from my self-published book in August 2023, "The Spirit of Cricket". Please see the link below for the paperback version of this, my fourth self-published book, and three ways in which you could support me and poke the traditional publishers in the eye who refused to even read my manuscript! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF4FRKSH https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Here follows a snippet from the chapter being read here, and chapter number 22 of a total of 41 from a book I'm immensely proud of: "It was a little past 7pm and with the dust settling at Lord’s in London after a wonderful 4th day’s play in the Men’s Ashes that sees Australia on the brink of a dominating victory, we crossed to Edgbaston in Birmingham for the 2nd match in the ladies Ashes Series. In our delayed absence the visitors had won the toss, inserted their hosts into bat, and 9 overs into their 20 over stint with the willow England were 58–3 with Sophia Dunkley an impressive 35 not out. The 24 year old from Lambeth in South London would ultimately reach her half century from just 42 balls received before falling shortly thereafter for a well played 56 runs from 48 balls before watching her wicket-keeper Amy Jones rattle 40 quick-fire runs from just 21 balls received as England set their Australian visitors 154 runs for victory. During the brief changeover between innings I mused on the hours of cricket I’d already watched so far today (I was approaching my ninth hour with still another hour and a half to go at least) and thoughts turned, as they always do when watching cricket, to my dear old Mum and the “pyjama cricket” she’d call the one-day version, memories of first seeing this colourful alternative in the early 1980’s but, more memorably, on England’s 1987 Ashes triumph “down under” as well as the controversy laden 1992 World Cup when I first purchased an official light blue England one-day jersey. My Dad’s favourite player Imran Khan broke my heart in the Final as he led his Pakistan team to World Cup glory, but three decades on the ladies game has continued to change radically beyond recognition with an almost full house in Birmingham loudly cheering on the now darker blue and red of England against the pleasingly green and gold of Australia. With the English weather now returned to a more seasonal mix of Summertime daylight and colder Spring like temperatures, I’ve hunkered down and away (for the time being) from my adventures beside the canals and rivers of central England and in the absence of any new films worth my late night time, I’ve disappeared back into the dystopian world of Charlie Brooker and the “Black Mirror” he pertinently shines on the upside down world around us. It’s hard to believe that a decade has now past since I first became hooked on Brooker’s alternate reality and the ever increasing merger with the machines that now, a decade on, largely control so many aspects of our lives as to be wholly forgotten about in an ever quickening pace of life that sees these digital gadgets, dystopian or otherwise, ruling our lives. From the apparently apocryphal story of a British Prime Minister and a pig’s head, Brooker blends the real with the unreal, the imagined to the unimaginable, and of people cycling for digital credits, being constantly credit scored on their social performance or living with a robot replacement for a dearly departed member of the family. Everything is up for grabs as a dark mirror is shone on our digital merger, life after death, synthetic and simulated lives or, as in the case of the latest season, five episodes ranging from being the unwilling participant in a life broadcast to the entire world through alternate universes in the late 1960’s and 1970’s before one of the weakest episodes to date explodes in a fury under a full moon and the howling of a werewolf!" Thanks for watching! Please like and subscribe! I'll pay you back some day in magic beans if you do so!

Thanks for watching and welcome to Part 9 from my self-published book in August 2023, "The Spirit of Cricket". Please see the link below for the paperback version of this, my fourth self-published book, and three ways in which you could support me and poke the traditional publishers in the eye who refused to even read my manuscript! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF4FRKSH https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford Here follows a snippet from the chapter being read here, and chapter number 16 of a total of 41 from a book I'm immensely proud of: "With heavy thunderstorms predicted to pockmark a sweltering, some might say muggy Sunday in the industrial beating heart of central England, I chanced my arm at a late morning stroll into my spiritual hometown of Ironbridge as the rowing regatta was in full weekend swing and I’ll never tire of the walk beside the River Severn as she gently flows with the river of life from Coalbrookdale, and the site of the regatta, to nearby Ironbridge. The rowing club, local park and all available viewing sites at the start of the regatta were teeming with the very essence of excitable life and as busy as I’ve ever seen it, even matching the yearly festival to celebrate Ironbridge’s status as a World Heritage accredited site. Being too busy and merely the starting line for a parade of races heading away from Ironbridge in the direction of Shrewsbury, it became of little interest to a mere interloper seeking “action shots” of the boats on the river and besides, the storm clouds were gathering fast and I decided to go and say hello to a lion on a bridge instead. Ironbridge was its busy Sunday self as always and remains a joy to see alive with the pitter patter of human life. Before I exchanged pleasantries with some poor soul encased within a ginormous and very colourful lion outfit, I marvelled at two dogs scurrying for tennis balls in the river, scattering nearby ducks as they had the time of their canine lives before retreating to a fishing peg on the banks of the river with the most charming view you could wish to imagine. It’s maybe a couple of hundred feet from the bridge itself but with the river still it affords the most magnificent of reflections of the bridge and surrounding river banks. Visitors rarely if ever take the opportunity of relishing this view and so for ten minutes I smoked a cigarette and watched the world go by on the other side of the river. Then I received a cheery wave from a poor wretch inside a blisteringly hot looking lion costume collecting for a local charity and their “Silver Across the Bridge” campaign, resisted the temptation of fish ‘n’ chips from the local chip shop (leftover curry awaited me later) and returned home before the heavens opened and the thunder roared. The afternoon was spent writing a film review for a film I’ve secretly seen twice and bragging into The Matrix that I’d shaken hands with a lion on a bridge before I settled into the highlights of day four of The Ashes Test Match between an England on the brink of defeat and a visiting Australia demonstrating why they, in league with the country’s men’s team, are the Champions of the World". Thanks for watching! Please like and subscribe! I'll pay you back some day in magic beans if you do so!